ce of the
lower classes, the more did he affect the philosophical tone and austere
demeanour of the statesman. It was plainly perceptible in his most
radical propositions, that however he might wish to renew social order
he would not corrupt its elements, and that his eyes to emancipate the
people was not to degrade them.

III.

It was at this period that the Assembly ordered the removal of
Voltaire's remains to the Pantheon: philosophy thus avenged itself on
the anathemas that had been thundered forth, even against the ashes of
the great innovator. The body of Voltaire, on his death, in Paris,
A.D. 1778, had been furtively removed by his nephew at night,
and interred in the church of the abbey of Sellieres in Champagne; and
when the nation sold this abbey, the cities of Troyes and Romilly
mutually contended for the honour of possessing the bones of the
greatest man of the age. The city of Paris, where he had breathed his
last, now claimed its privilege as the capital of France, and addressed
a petition to the National Assembly, praying that Voltaire's body might
be brought back to Paris and interred in the Pantheon, that cathedral of
philosophy. The Assembly eagerly hailed the idea of this homage, that
traced liberty back to its original source. "The people owe their
freedom to him," said Regnault de Saint Jean d'Angely; "for by
enlightening them, he gave them power; nations are enthralled by
ignorance alone, and when the torch of reason displays to them the
ignominy of bearing these chains, they blush to wear them, and snap them
asunder."

On the 11th of July, the departmental and municipal authorities went in
state to the barrier of Charenton, to receive the mortal remains of
Voltaire, which were placed on the ancient site of the Bastille, like a
conqueror on his trophies; his coffin was exposed to public gaze, and a
pedestal was formed for it of stones torn from the foundations of this
ancient stronghold of tyranny; and thus Voltaire when dead triumphed
over those stones which had triumphed over and confined him when living.
On one of the blocks was the inscription, "_Receive on this spot, where
despotism once fettered thee, the honours decreed to thee by thy
country_."

IV.

The next day, when the rays of a brilliant sun had dissipated the mists
of the night, an immense concourse of people followed the car that bore
Voltaire to the Pantheon. This car was drawn by twelve white horses,
harnessed four abre