Sentence:  M. de Voltaire's scale of the balance, careless of <WSD>antecedences</WSD> and consequences alike; flying with the spirit of an angry brood-hen, at the face of mastiffs in defense of any feather that is M. de Voltaire's. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  That which precedes something or someone (e.g. prior events, origin, ancestry).