The Red Cloud chief., 1878-05-02

81 |LNI If VHtTN n m VIII t
II grcat who are divided ID lie arc
Dmetmcs united In death by the hon
~ Of sepulture or Of monumental CON-
\ -DhOsetion. In ouc Of the transepts Of
ostmlnstcr Abbey, called eThe States
11an's AISLE" lie. almost side by side,
~ mortal ROMANS Of those mighty RI.
~ fladiaaors Of tho parliamentary 70
nm, the younger Pitt and tho younger
X01; end, decreasing this ancientP Pantheon
Sl1 British WORTHLESS, and aauuterine Into
s<sSChe Poets Corner" tho visitor will
4led ThAckeray and Dickens, between
whom. during lite, no love was lost,
HQrits their studied politencss, ncstling
t0gstAsrsa ~
y somewhat similar posthumous
1ooicn 10 now proposed, by some entha.
eo4etc Fronchmen, between voltaire
md Rousseau. Both these i~oonoclsstic
spQSA3ers II Ill that the world Of Franco
49, thought scored, died In the year
i3l43 and, - Il happens, the csntenna.
tyoy their deaths 70 70 be marked by
ttnAl6Fd Paris Worlds Fair. So their
{l1lrors suggest that . common mOnu.
ooat b ereeted In some conspicuous
D0t 10 thor memories.
How would voltairs's rasping tongue
MO- with epiGrammatic bitterness
GUo1d he know that his counterfeit pro-
egntmonk In enduring bronae or mar.
~ 3as about TO 60 down to tho centu.
No. linked arm.in-Arm with that Of tho
etesesd and dcspised author Of the
~ pnfseaionsw With what oager and
aveluble protcstation. too, would Rous.
>eoeu exclaim against perpetual Siamcae
\ twlnship with the msrcllcss old PAGE OF
yernayi II II not always. indeed, that
history, even after the 1spse Of Q ccntu.
nv. cAa, sit In judicial and temperate
34dgment upon the famous people Of
)Ao past; aud this n empha&icalfy true
~ those eighteenth.csntury pkiloso-
Inhers Of France Who sOwed the seeds
0llke Of political and Of religious ovsr.
ttqynlng. and the stormy celebration Of
Whose lives took place In the rsvolu.
J )UAafy tornado that burst ovor France
Twelve years after they had boon laid Ii
S1AGr. graves. To one 0lass Of living
|RonCkmeu VoltAirs wAs Distinctly tho
opaesngsr and emiasary Of Satan, 70
mother, perhaps yet larger GLASS, he
Ms . woodworking relormsr. The
Nass OF his o0untrymen. however. -
yst probably undecided - to whether
- wa = glory or . Disgrace to France.
We cannot but think that his sarcaam
send soothing, his Offering wit, his bold,
Iirrsvorent cpigram, his piercing ridi.
onle. did more 10 dissolve the misty
curtain Of awe long spread around re-
S11g1On than did, later, all tho polished
gket0riC and research Of Renan, and all
he labored logic and learning Of
6tvAusa. , &
II we regard voltairc apart from his
Corvantes-like crusade against chiyslry
md faith. both Of which he sought 10
laugh ont of the world. II we consider
= im not on that side of his character in
0hlch 10 was ''the vitruyius Of ruin"
causing terrified capuchins 10 call him
The Antichrist," wa find much that IL
worth ndmiring, and some few things
that r great. His best quality wss
one not Of the head, hut Of tho heart.
He wrote interminable poems, that were
the wonder Of Europe In his day, and
that nobody thinks Of reading In ours;
be Illuminated lampoons thaa shook
thrones, bat which have been now
altogether forgotten; his wit was keenly
sharp and penetrating, but an epigrasn
of his 10 - rarely quoted In these days
- are the indecent couplets Of ia
Rucelle." Yet he viii always be ro-
membered - tho champion al that uu.
'4eppy Protestant family Of the Calases,
1yhoee head was 20 inhumanly muir.
4ersd by tho blgotry Of the dominant
CAulch and the s~uhscrvience Of Bour.
~ Judges. v0ltairo had the COURAGE
- brave every obloquy and every dan
: r. avert this giant wrong; and Il IL
ne fnircst title he has to good renown.
Acid MI his vagsries and his force Ia
tooevg kcs Of what had been and what
~. voitaire .'had," ~ Carlyle says,
- keen sensa for rectitudc, indeed, Tor
~ v~irtue;' with the '.utmost vivacity
~ temperament" and 40 quick suscep-
31bility 70 every form Of beauty" He
Nnps . least, % far noblcr than Roas-
oo1s h that be did not teach immoral
undsr : 6owery garb Of sentimental
e(or'c, nor hide abominable teachings