It was intelligence that triumphantly entered the city of Louis XIV.

over the ruins of the prejudices of birth.

It was philosophy taking possession of the city and the temple of Sainte Genevieve.

The remains of two schools, of two ages, and two creeds were about to strive for the mastery even in the tomb.

Philosophy who, up to this hour, had timidly shrunk from the contest, now revealed her latest inspiration--that of transferring the veneration of the age from one great man to another.
V.
Voltaire, the sceptical genius of France in modern ages, combined, in himself, the double passion of this people at such a period--the passion of destruction, and the desire of innovation, hatred of prejudices, and love of knowledge: he was destined to be the standard-bearer of destruction; his genius, although not the most elevated, yet the most comprehensive in France, has hitherto been only judged by fanatics or his enemies.