2 VOLTAIRE. 



unseen an enemy whose assaults were directed by 

 malignant passions, aided by unscrupulous contrivances, 

 and, above all, pressed by the unlawful weapon of 

 ridicule, not the fair armoury of argument ; in a 

 word, he is regarded as a scoffer, not a reasoner. Akin 

 to this is the other charge which makes us shudder 

 by the imputation of blasphemy. Now, upon this 

 manner of viewing Voltaire some things are to be 

 explained, and some to be recalled, that they may be 

 borne in mind during the discussion of his character. 

 Let us begin with the last charge, because, until it 

 is removed, no attention is likely to be gained by any- 

 thing that can be urged in defence or in extenuation. 

 It is evident that, strictly speaking, blasphemy can 

 only be committed by a person who believes in the 

 existence and in the attributes of the Deity whom he 

 impugns, either by ridicule or by reasoning. An atheist 

 is wholly incapable of the crime. When he heaps 

 epithets of abuse on the Creator, or turns His attributes 

 into ridicule^ he is assailing or scoffing at an empty 

 name at a being whom he believes to have no 

 existence. In like manner if a deist, one who dis- 

 believes in our Saviour being either the Son of God 

 or sent by God as his prophet upon earth, shall argue 

 against his miracles, or ridicule his mission or his 

 person, he commits no blasphemy; for he firmly 

 believes that Christ was a man like himself, and that 

 he derived no authority from the Deity. Both the 

 atheist and the deist are free from all guilt of blas- 

 phemy, that is, of all guilt towards the Deity or 

 towards Christ. It is wholly another question 

 whether or not they are guilty towards men. They 



