f the judges, and the condemnation of Calas by
the parliament of Toulouse. Moreover, he had to reverse their decision
against a dead man, and that man a detested Huguenot.

Nevertheless Voltaire took up the case. He wrote letters to his
friends in all parts of France. He wrote to the sovereigns of Europe.
He published letters in the newspapers. He addressed the Duke de
Choiseul, the King's Secretary of State. He appealed to philosophers,
to men of letters, to ladies of the court, and even to priests and
bishops, denouncing the sentence pronounced against Calas,--the most
iniquitous, he said, that any court professing to act in the name of
justice had ever pronounced. Ferney was visited by many foreigners,
from Germany, America, England, and Russia; as well as by numerous
persons of influence in France. To all these he spoke vehemently of
Calas and his sentence. He gave himself no rest until he had inflamed
the minds of all men against the horrible injustice.

At length, the case of Calas became known all over France, and in fact
all over Europe. The press of Paris rang with it. In the boudoirs and
salons, Calas was the subject of conversation. In the streets, men
meeting each other would ask, "Have you heard of Calas?" The dead man
had already become a hero and a martyr!

An important point was next reached. It was decided that the case of
Calas should be remitted to a special court of judges appointed to
consider the whole matter. Voltaire himself proceeded to get up the
case. He prepared and revised the memorials, he revised all the
pleadings of the advocates, transforming them into brief, conclusive
arguments, sparkling with wit, reason, and eloquence. The revision of
the process commenced. The people held their breaths while it
proceeded.

At length, in the spring of 1766--four years after Calas had been
broken to death on the wheel--four years after Voltaire had undertaken
to have the unjust decision of the Toulouse magistrates and parliament
reversed, the court of judges, after going completely over the
evidence, pronounced the judgment to have been entirely unfounded!

The decree was accordingly reversed. Jean Calas was declared to have
been innocent. The man was, however, dead. But in order to compensate
his family, the ministry granted 36,000 francs to Calas's widow, on
the express recommendation of the court which reversed the abominable
sentence.[76]

[Footnote 76: It may be added that, after