English Deism was reinforced by the atheism of France before the
invasion of Germany by either, so did the same copartnership take place
in reference to Holland.

The works of the French skeptics were as copiously distributed in
Holland as at home. Many of them were issued by Dutch publishing houses.
Des Sandes published his _Reflections on Great Men_, in Amsterdam;
Toussaint's _Morals_ gained the honor of more than one edition in the
same city; and De Prades, who had been condemned by the Sorbonne on
account of the thesis by which he tried to gain his baccalaureate,
published his _Defense_ in Amsterdam in 1753. It was in this work that
he compared the miracles of Jesus to those of AEsculapius. Hase says that
it was in Holland, and not in London, that the _Systeme de la Nature_
first came to light. Rousseau's _Emile_, which had been burned by the
sheriffs in France, had the largest liberty afforded it beyond the
northern frontier. The Dutch would not be sated with Volney until they
had published and read three editions of his works.

Voltaire was very popular throughout the country. A number of
periodicals arose, having the avowed object of disseminating the views
of himself and his friends wherever the Dutch language was spoken. La
Mettrie, driven from France, here found a home. Voltaire barely escaped
the Bastille by fleeing thither, though when he left the land which had
given him shelter, he bade it the graceful farewell: "Adieu canals,
ducks, and common people! I have seen nothing among you that is worth a
fig!" But Voltaire had cause to cherish no very pleasant feelings toward
Holland. Her great men had received him coldly. His excessive vanity was
never so deeply wounded as by the sober Dutchmen. Desiring to make the
acquaintance of Boerhaave, the most celebrated physician in Europe, he
called upon him, stating that he "wished to see him." Instead of
becoming rapturous at the Frenchman's compliment, the plain old Leyden
burgher coolly replied: "Oh, sit as long as you please, sir, and look at
me; but excuse me if I go on with my writing." On offering one of his
philosophical books to Professor Gravesande, the latter returned it to
Voltaire in a few days with only this comment: "You are a poet, sir; a
very good poet, indeed!"

The chief disaster resulting from the French skeptical writings was not
so much the skeptical indoctrination of the people as the general
diffusion of a light and frivolous indifference to