nation, it is seen that no other end was possible for it. It prided itself on having issued from Egypt like a horde of robbers, carrying off all that it had borrowed from the Egyptians; it was its glory never to have spared age or sex in the towns which it had captured. It dared to manifest an irreconcilable hatred for all other nations; it revolted against all its masters; always superstitious, always barbarous, abject in misfortune, and insolent in prosperity. Such were the Jews in the eyes of the Greeks and Romans, who could read their books; but in the eyes of Christians enlightened by faith, they have been our precursors, they have prepared the way for us, they have acted as the heralds of Providence."
A firm believer in the benefits of civilisation, Voltaire, in forming his estimate of the character of a nation, notes carefully the extent and success of its efforts to rise out of barbarism; a constant friend of humanity, he applauds the spirit of mercy and tolerance wherever he finds it; and himself an apostle of natural religion, he seeks carefully for all tokens of its existence, coming to the following conclusion:—
"A very pure religion existed among the nations whom we call Pagans, Gentiles, and Idolators, though the peoples and their priests followed shameful customs, childish ceremonies, and ridiculous doctrines, and though they even poured out human blood in honour of those imaginary gods whom their wise men despised and detested. This pure religion consisted in the recognition of the existence of a supreme God, of His providence, and His justice."
Arriving at the time of Charlemagne, he again takes a survey of the condition of all civilised nations—their religions, customs, and laws—and thence from epoch to epoch down to the age preceding his own, when he thus reviews his work in the same spirit which has directed him throughout:—
