Into the mouth of the victim was placed a horn holding three pints of
water. In this way thirty pints of water were forced into the body
of the sufferer. The pain was beyond description, and yet Jean Calas
remained firm.
He was then carried to the scaffold in a tumbril.
He was bound to a wooden cross that lay on the scaffold. The executioner
then took a bar of iron, broke each leg and each arm in two places,
striking eleven blows in all. He was then left to die if he could. He
lived for two hours, declaring his innocence to the last. He was slow
to die, and so the executioner strangled him. Then his poor lacerated,
bleeding and broken body was chained to a stake and burned.
All this was a spectacle--a festival for the savages of Toulouse. What
would they have done if their hearts had not been softened by the glad
tidings of great joy--peace on earth and good will to men?
But this was not all. The property of the family was confiscated; the
son was released on condition that he become a Catholic; the servant
if she would enter a convent. The two daughters were consigned to a
convent, and the heart-broken widow was allowed to wander where she
would.
Voltaire heard of this case. In a moment his soul was on fire. He took
one of the sons under his roof. He wrote a history of the case. He
corresponded with kings and queens, with chancellors and lawyers. If
money was needed, he advanced it. For years he filled Europe with the
echoes of the groans of Jean Calas. He succeeded. The horrible judgment
was annulled--the poor victim declared innocent and thousands of dollars
raised to support the mother and family.
This was the work of Voltaire.