the
facts were in favor of the accused. The united strength of the
defendants could not have done the deed.

Jean Calas was doomed to torture and to death upon the wheel. This was
on the 9th of March, 1762, and the sentence was to be carried out the
next day. On the morning of the 10th the father was taken to the
torture room. The executioner and his assistants were sworn on the
cross to administer the torture according to the judgment of the court.
They bound him by the wrists to an iron ring in the stone wall four
feet from the ground and his feet to another ring in the floor. Then
they shortened the ropes and chains until every joint in his arms and
legs were dislocated. Then he was questioned. He declared that he was
innocent. Then the ropes were again shortened until life fluttered in
the torn body; but he remained firm. This was called the question
ordinaire. Again the magistrate exhorted the victim to confess, and
again he refused, saying that there was nothing to confess. Then came
the question extraordinaire. Into the mouth of the victim was placed a
horn holding three pints of water. In this way thirty pints of water
were forced into the body of the sufferer. The pain was beyond
description, and yet Jean Calas remained firm. He was then carried to
a scaffold in a tumbril. He was bound to a wooden cross that lay on
the scaffold. The executioner then took a bar of iron, broke each leg
and arm in two places, striking eleven blows in all. He was then left
to die if he could. He lived for two hours, declaring his innocence to
the last. He was slow to die and so the executioner strangled him.
Then his poor lacerated, bleeding and broken body was chained to a
stake and burned. All this was a spectacle--a festival for the savages
of Toulouse. What would they have done if their hearts had not been
softened by the glad tidings of great joy, peace on earth and good will
to men?

But this was not all. The property of the family was confiscated; the
son was released on condition that he become a Catholic; the servant if
she would enter a convent. The two daughters were consigned to a
convent and the heart-broken widow was allowed to wander where she
would.

Voltaire heard of this case. In a moment his soul was on fire. He took
one of the sons under his roof. He wrote a history of the case. He
corresponded with kings and queens, with chancellors and lawyers. If
money was needed he advanced it