Excerpt from The Works of Voltaire, Vol. 39 of 43: A Contemporary Version, With Notes by Tobias Smollett, Revised and Modernized New Translations by William F. Fleming, and an Introduction by Oliver H. G. Leigh
Voltaire recorded his views upon the English people and government in a series of "Philosophic Letters," which were published in France and in England in 1733. According to Parton, Lafayette declared that it was his reading of these letters that made him a republican at nine years of age, and to them Rousseau "attributed in great measure the awakening of his late-maturing intelligence." The author had to tone the letters down to get them passed by the censor. His praise of English liberty of thought and speech even then proved too irritating to the authorities. The book was denounced as heretical, in May, 1734. Every known copy was confiscated. The publisher was sent to the Bastille; a lettre de cachet was issued against the author; his house was searched, and the Parliament of Paris had the book publicly burned by the executioner. A few later pieces have been included here.
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