tonnes du noeud qui les rassemble.

Apparently Voltaire was aware of these deficiencies, for in the English
edition of the book he caused the following curious excuses to be
inserted in the preface:

Some of his _English_ Readers may perhaps be dissatisfied at his
not expatiating farther on their Constitution and their Laws, which
most of them revere almost to Idolatry; but, this Reservedness is
an effect of _M. de Voltaire's_ Judgment. He contented himself with
giving his opinion of them in general Reflexions, the Cast of which
is entirely new, and which prove that he had made this Part of the
_British_ Polity his particular Study. Besides, how was it possible
for a Foreigner to pierce thro' their Politicks, that gloomy
Labyrinth, in which such of the _English_ themselves as are best
acquainted with it, confess daily that they are bewilder'd and
lost?

Nothing could be more characteristic of the attitude, not only of
Voltaire himself, but of the whole host of his followers in the later
eighteenth century, towards the actual problems of politics. They turned
away in disgust from the 'gloomy labyrinth' of practical fact to take
refuge in those charming 'general Reflexions' so dear to their hearts,
'the Cast of which was entirely new'--and the conclusion of which was
also entirely new, for it was the French Revolution.

It was, indeed, typical of Voltaire and of his age that the _Lettres
Philosophiques_ should have been condemned by the authorities, not for
any political heterodoxy, but for a few remarks which seemed to call in
question the immortality of the soul. His attack upon the _ancien
regime_ was, in the main, a theoretical attack; doubtless its immediate
effectiveness was thereby diminished, but its ultimate force was
increased. And the _ancien regime_ itself was not slow to realise the
danger: to touch the ark of metaphysical orthodoxy was in its eyes the
unforgiveable sin. Voltaire knew well enough that he must be careful.

Il n'y a qu'une lettre touchant M. Loke [he wrote to a friend]. La
seule matiere philosophique que j'y traite est la petite bagatelle
de l'immortalite de l'ame; mais la chose a trop de consequence pour
la traiter serieusement. Il a fallu l'egorger pour ne pas heurter
de front nos seigneurs les theologiens, gens qui voient si
clairement la spiritualite de l'ame qu'ils feraient bruler, s'ils
pouvaien