Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-08-13
Tne Error orIaai.ere,Ion.

People are apt 10 get into mischief by
offering impertinent or at least unde'
sired advice. A droll example has been
quoted from the writing OF Voltaire. as
follows: "A Frenchman had the au-
dacity 10 write TO Law, the famous con
troller general, telling him that he was
the greatest blockhead, the greatest
simpleton or the greatest knaye in prop
agating the belief that a nation can be
made rich by the mere issue OF what Is
called paper money. The Frenchman
was correct in his opinion as to the folly
Of Laws schemes, but he did not act
prudently in thus addressing him. Be-
ing considered a dangerous individual,
the authorities conducted him 10 the
prison Of st, Lazarus.
when he got out Of st. Lazarus,
where he studied great deal and forti-
fed his reason, he went to Rome. He
demanded a public audience OF the
Pope, on condition that no one should
interrupt him during his speech; aud
he thus addressed him: Holy Father,
you are antichrist; and mark how |
shall prove II to Your Holiness. i call
him antichrist whose life and acts are
contrary to what Christ did and COM
manded Now, Christ was poor, and
you are very rich. He paid tribute,
and you exact it. He submitted to the
powers Of this world, and you have be-
come one Of these powers. He went
about on foot, and you 90 to Castel Gau-
dolpho in a sumptuous equipage. he
ate of anything that was given him, and
you compel us TO eat fish on Friday aud
Saturday, though we live far from the
sea and from rivers. He forbade Simon
Barjona to protect himself with the
sword, and you have many swords to
protect you. Therefore in this sense
your holiness is anti-Christ. rever-
ence you very much in every other ca
pacity, and ask Of you an indulgence
in articulo mortis. As might have
been expected, they put the man of the
pure reason in the castle Of St. Angelo.
"When he got out of the castle of St. |
Angelo, he hastened TO Venice, and de- |
manded an audience of the Dodge. |
Your serene highness, said he to him,
must commit an extravagant folly in |
espousing the sea every year, For, in |
the first place, one does not marry him
self twice to the same person. Secondly,
your marriage resembles that of Harle-
quin, which was only half marriage,
since the consent of the other party was
wanting. Thirdly, who can assure you
that the other maritime powers will not /
one day step in and dispossess you of
your bride? Thus he spoke, and they
shut him up in the tower of st. Mark.
"When he regained hisliberty he went
to Constantinople, procured an audience
of the mutt and spoke to him thus:
Your religion, though it may comprt-
hend many good things, such as the wor
ship of the Supreme Being, and the ne
cessity of being just and charitable, is
only patchwork of Judaism, and
tiresome collection of old wives tales.
If the archangel Gabriel did bring from |
some other world the leaves of the Ko-
ran to Mohammed, all Arabia would |
have seen him descend. Nobody saw
him; therefore Mohammed was only a
bold imposter, who deceived those that
we're weak enough to believe him,
Scarcely had he uttered these words,
when he was impalea.
Nevertheless" as Voltaire remarks,
he always spoke pure reason. His
only error was excessive indiscretion.
The naked truth must not always be
told.