[53] See _Revelation_, Justin, and Tertullian.
[54] In Voltaire’s time, naturally, the relative priority of Indian,
Egyptian, Babylonian, and Persian civilisations was quite unknown,
and his idea of their relations to each other cannot hold to-day.--J.
M.
[55] The famous “Dies iræ,” sung in Catholic funeral services to-day
in England.--J. M.
[56] Justin and Tertullian.
[57] _Apostolic Constitutions_, Bk. II., ch. lvii.
[58] _Apostolic Constitutions_, VIII., vi.
[59] See the _History of the Church of Constantinople and
Alexandria_, in the Bodleian Library.
[60] _Recognitions_ of St. Clement, Bk. IX., Nos. 32-35.
[61] The pun is lost to readers of the English Bible. In French, as
in Syro-Chaldaic and Greek and (approximately) Latin, “Peter” and
“rock” are the same word. We have it in “salt-petre.”--J. M.
[62] More than a million species, on modern estimates.--J. M.
[63] As is well known, the word “virgin” is a wilful mistranslation
of the text of _Isaiah_. “Girl” is the correct translation.--J. M.
[64] The _kerubim_ (or “cherubim”) of the Old Testament are the
winged bulls of the ancient Babylonians, of which there are two fine
specimens in the British Museum.--J. M.
[65] Had Voltaire known what the modern archæologist has discovered,
he would have added that the age of iron did not even dawn until some
centuries after this supposed episode; and iron was not used in the
East until about six centuries afterwards.--J. M.
[66] The number recognised in the Church of Rome.--J. M.
[67] The author was thinking, apparently, of Pope Alexander VI. [Note
by Voltaire.]
[68] The tortures of the Inquisition.--J. M.
[69] Since the words “it” and “he” are both expressed by the French
word “il,” it is not clear whether Voltaire would have spoken of his
supreme being as “it” or “he.” I interpret his feeling as carefully
as the context permits.--J. M.
[70] Leibnitz taught that material things never acted on each other;
the only cause was God. The leaf fell from the tree, when the wind
blew, because God had pre-established that coincidence, or harmony,
of movements.--J. M.
[71] The allusion is to priests, in their coloured vestments, singing
masses for a successful war.--J. M.
[72] Voltaire always candidly faces the problem of evil, and admits
that it is inconsistent with infinite power and goodness. In another
treatise he makes the bold observation that, since morality is merely
a social law regulating the relations of men, it has no application
to his isolated “great being.”--J. M.
[73] Well-known Jews in mediæval history.--J. M.
[74] “Sub Deo justo nemo miser nisi mereatur [Under a just God no one
is miserable who has not deserved misery.]”--_St. Augustine._
[75] The Egyptian and Persian principles of evil. The problem is
discussed in the preceding essay.--J. M.
[76] In a lengthy note Voltaire explains that Bayle never questioned
Providence, and that the scepticism in which he follows Bayle is in
regard to the source of evil. It will be seen from earlier pages,
however, that Voltaire does not ascribe infinite power to his God.
The words “all-perfect” and “almighty,” which occur in this poem, are
poetic phrases.--J. M.