Chapter XXV
Original French
Suite & Conclusion.
NOus apprenons que le 7 Mars 1763, tout le Conseil d'Etat, assemblé à Versailles, les Ministres d'Etat y assistant, le Chancelier y présidant, Mr. de Crosne, Maître des Requêtes, rapporta l'affaire des Calas avec l'impartialité d'un Juge, l'exactitude d'un homme parfaitement instruit, & l'éloquence simple & vraie d'un Orateur homme d'Etat, la seule qui convienne dans une telle Assemblée. Une foule prodigieuse de personnes de tout rang attendait dans la Galerie du Château la décision du Conseil. On annonça bientôt au Roi que toutes les voix, sans en excepter une, avaient ordonné que le Parlement de Toulouse enverrait au Conseil les pieces du procès, & les motifs de son arrêt, qui avait fait expirer Jean Calas sur la roue; Sa Majesté approuva le jugement du Conseil.
Il y a donc de l'humanité & de la justice chez les hommes! & principalement dans le Conseil d'un Roi aimé, & digne de l'être. L'affaire d'une malheureuse famille de Citoyens obscurs a occupé Sa Majesté, ses Ministres, le Chancelier, & tout le Conseil, & a été discutée avec un examen aussi réfléchi que les plus grands objets de la guerre & de la paix peuvent l'être. L'amour de l'équité, l'intérêt du Genre-humain ont conduit tous les Juges. Graces en soient rendues à ce Dieu de clémence, qui seul inspire l'équité & toutes les vertus!
Nous l'attestons, que nous n'avons jamais connu ni cet infortuné Calas, que les huit Juges de Toulouse firent périr sur les indices les plus faibles, contre les Ordonnances de nos Rois, & contre les Loix de toutes les Nations; ni son fils Marc-Antoine, dont la mort étrange a jetté ces huit Juges dans l'erreur; ni la mere, aussi respectable que malheureuse; ni ses innocentes filles, qui sont venues avec elle de deux cents lieues mettre leur désastre & leur vertu au pied du Trône.
Ce Dieu sait que nous n'avons été animés que d'un esprit de justice, de vérité & de paix, quand nous avons écrit ce que nous pensons de la Tolérance, à l'occasion de Jean Calas, que l'esprit d'intolérance a fait mourir.
Nous n'avons pas cru offenser les huit Juges de Toulouse, en disant qu'ils se sont trompés, ainsi que tout le Conseil l'a présumé: au contraire, nous leur avons ouvert une voye de se justifier devant l'Europe entiere: cette voye est d'avouer que des indices équivoques, & les cris d'une multitude insensée, ont surpris leur justice, de demander pardon à la veuve, & de réparer autant qu'il est en eux la ruine entiere d'une famille innocente, en se joignant à ceux qui la secourent dans son affliction. Ils ont fait mourir le pere injustement; c'est à eux de tenir lieu de pere aux enfants, supposé que ces orphelins veuillent bien recevoir d'eux une faible marque d'un très-juste repentir. Il sera beau aux Juges de l'offrir, & à la famille de le refuser.
C'est sur-tout au Sr. David, Capitoul de Toulouse, s'il a été le premier persécuteur de l'innocence, à donner l'exemple de remords. Il insulta un pere de famille mourant sur l'échafaud. Cette cruauté est bien inouie; mais puisque Dieu pardonne, les hommes doivent aussi pardonner à qui répare ses injustices.
On m'a écrit du Languedoc cette Lettre, du 20 Février 1763.
…
…
Votre Ouvrage sur la Tolérance me paraît plein d'humanité, & de vérité; mais je crains qu'il ne fasse plus de mal que de bien à la famille des Calas. Il peut ulcérer les huit Juges qui ont opiné à la roue: ils demanderont au Parlement qu'on brule votre Livre; & les Fanatiques, car il y en a toujours, répondront par des cris de fureur à la voix de la raison, &c.
Voici ma Réponse:
Les huit Juges de Toulouse peuvent faire bruler mon Livre s'il est bon; il n'y a rien de plus aisé: on a bien brulé les Lettres Provinciales qui valaient sans doute beaucoup mieux: chacun peut bruler chez lui les Livres & papiers qui lui déplaisent.
Mon Ouvrage ne peut faire ni bien ni mal aux Calas, que je ne connais point. Le Conseil du Roi, impartial & ferme, juge suivant les Loix, suivant l'équité, sur les Pieces, sur les Procédures, & non sur un Ecrit qui n'est point juridique, & dont le fonds est absolument étranger à l'affaire qu'il juge.
On auroit beau imprimer des in-folio pour ou contre les huit Juges de Toulouse, & pour ou contre la Tolérance; ni le Conseil, ni aucun Tribunal ne regardera ces Livres comme des Pieces du Procès.
Je conviens qu'il y a des Fanatiques qui crieront, mais je maintiens qu'il y a beaucoup de Lecteurs sages qui raisonneront.
J'apprends que le Parlement de Toulouse & quelques autres Tribunaux ont une Jurisprudence singuliere; ils admettent des quarts, des tiers, des sixiemes de preuve. Ainsi, avec six oui-dires d'un côté, trois de l'autre, & quatre quarts de présomption, ils forment trois preuves complettes; & sur cette belle démonstration, ils vous rouent un homme sans miséricorde. Une légere connaissance de l'art de raisonner suffirait pour leur faire prendre une autre méthode. Ce qu'on appelle une demi-preuve, ne peut être qu'un soupçon: il n'y a point à la rigueur de demi-preuve; ou une chose est prouvée, ou elle ne l'est pas; il n'y a point de milieu.
Cent mille soupçons réunis ne peuvent pas plus établir une preuve, que cent mille zéros ne peuvent composer un nombre.
Il y a des quarts de ton dans la Musique, encore ne les peut-on exécuter; mais il n'y a ni quart de vérité, ni quart de raisonnement.
Deux témoins qui soutiennent leur déposition sont censés faire une preuve; mais ce n'est point assez: il faut que ces deux témoins soient sans passion, sans préjugés, & sur-tout, que ce qu'ils disent ne choque point la raison.
Quatre personnages des plus graves auraient beau dire qu'ils ont vu un vieillard infirme saisir au collet un jeune homme vigoureux, & le jetter par une fenêtre à quarante pas: il est clair qu'il faudrait mettre ces quatre témoins aux petites maisons.
Or, les huit Juges de Toulouse ont condamné Jean Calas sur une accusation beaucoup plus improbable; car il n'y a point eu de témoin oculaire, qui ait dit avoir vu un vieillard infirme, de soixante & huit ans, pendre tout seul un jeune homme de vingt-huit ans, extrêmement robuste.
Des Fanatiques ont dit seulement que d'autres Fanatiques leur avaient dit qu'ils avaient entendu dire à d'autres Fanatiques, que Jean Calas, par une force surnaturelle, avait pendu son fils. On a donc rendu un jugement absurde sur des accusations absurdes.
Il n'y a d'autre remede à une telle Jurisprudence, sinon que ceux qui achetent le droit de juger les hommes, fassent dorénavant de meilleures études.
Cet Ecrit sur la Tolérance est une Requête que l'humanité présente très-humblement au pouvoir & à la prudence. Je seme un grain qui pourra un jour produire une moisson. Attendons tout du temps, de la bonté du Roi, de la sagesse de ses Ministres, & de l'esprit de raison qui commence à répandre par-tout sa lumiere.
La nature dit à tous les hommes: Je vous ai tous fait naître faibles & ignorants, pour végéter quelques minutes sur la terre & pour l'engraisser de vos cadavres. Puisque vous êtes faibles, secourez-vous; puisque vous êtes ignorants, éclairez-vous & supportez-vous. Quand vous seriez tous du même avis, ce qui certainement n'arrivera jamais, quand il n'y aurait qu'un seul homme d'un avis contraire, vous devriez lui pardonner; car c'est moi qui le fais penser comme il pense. Je vous ai donné des bras pour cultiver la terre, & une petite lueur de raison pour vous conduire: j'ai mis dans vos cœurs un germe de compassion pour vous aider les uns les autres à supporter la vie. N'étouffez pas ce germe; ne le corrompez pas; apprenez qu'il est divin; & ne substituez pas les misérables fureurs de l'école à la voix de la nature.
C'est moi seule qui vous unis encore malgré vous par vos besoins mutuels, au milieu même de vos guerres cruelles si légérement entreprises, théâtre éternel des fautes, des hasards & des malheurs. C'est moi seule qui dans une Nation arrête les suites funestes de la division interminable entre la Noblesse & la Magistrature, entre ces deux Corps & celui du Clergé, entre le Bourgeois même & le Cultivateur. Ils ignorent tous les bornes de leurs droits; mais ils écoutent tous malgré eux à la longue ma voix qui parle à leur cœur. Moi seule, je conserve l'équité dans les Tribunaux, où tout serait livré sans moi à l'indécision & aux caprices, au milieu d'un amas confus de Loix faites souvent au hasard, & pour un besoin passager, différentes entre elles de Province en Province, de Ville en Ville, & presque toujours contradictoires entre elles dans le même lieu. Seule je peux inspirer la justice, quand les Loix n'inspirent que la chicane: celui qui m'écoute, juge toujours bien; & celui qui ne cherche qu'à concilier des opinions qui se contredisent, est celui qui s'égare.
Il y a un édifice immense dont j'ai posé le fondement de mes mains; il était solide & simple, tous les hommes pouvaient y entrer en sûreté; ils ont voulu y ajouter les ornements les plus bizarres, les plus grossiers & les plus inutiles; le bâtiment tombe en ruine de tous les côtés; les hommes en prennent les pierres, & se les jettent à la tête; je leur crie: Arrêtez, écartez ces décombres funestes qui sont votre ouvrage, & demeurez avec moi en paix dans l'édifice inébranlable qui est le mien.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation directly from French, reviewed against it. Includes all 25 chapters, Voltaire’s notes and the added Article with six edition references. Article transcription: French Wikisource, Garnier 1879, revision 15479820. Translation and Article: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.
Continuation and conclusion.
We learn that on March 7, 1763, the entire Council of State having assembled at Versailles, with the ministers of state in attendance and the chancellor presiding, Monsieur de Crosne, master of requests, reported on the Calas case with a judge’s impartiality, the precision of a thoroughly informed man, and the simple, truthful eloquence of an orator and statesman—the only eloquence suited to such an assembly. An immense crowd of people of every rank waited in the palace gallery for the council’s decision. The king was soon informed that every vote, without a single exception, had ordered the Toulouse parlement to send the council the trial documents and the grounds for its judgment, which had caused Jean Calas to die on the wheel. His Majesty approved the council’s ruling.
There is, then, humanity and justice among human beings! And above all in the council of a king who is loved and deserves to be. The case of an unfortunate family of obscure citizens has occupied His Majesty, his ministers, the chancellor, and the entire council, and has been examined as thoughtfully as the greatest matters of war and peace could be. Love of equity and concern for the human race have guided every judge. Thanks be given to that God of mercy who alone inspires equity and every virtue!
We attest that we have never known either the unfortunate Calas, whom the eight judges of Toulouse put to death on the flimsiest evidence, against the ordinances of our kings and the laws of every nation; or his son Marc-Antoine, whose strange death led those eight judges into error; or the mother, as worthy of respect as she is unfortunate; or her innocent daughters, who have traveled two hundred leagues with her to lay their calamity and their virtue at the foot of the throne.
God knows that we were moved only by a spirit of justice, truth, and peace when we wrote our thoughts on tolerance on the occasion of Jean Calas, whom the spirit of intolerance put to death.
We did not believe we were offending the eight judges of Toulouse by saying that they were mistaken, as the entire council has presumed. On the contrary, we opened a way for them to justify themselves before all Europe: to acknowledge that ambiguous evidence and the cries of a senseless multitude took their judgment by surprise; to ask the widow’s forgiveness; and to repair, as far as they can, the complete ruin of an innocent family by joining those who help it in its affliction. They unjustly put the father to death; it falls to them to take a father’s place toward his children, supposing these orphans are willing to receive from them a slight token of a most just repentance. It will be noble of the judges to offer it, and of the family to refuse.
Above all, it falls to Monsieur David, a capitoul of Toulouse, if he was the first persecutor of innocence, to set an example of remorse. He insulted a father dying on the scaffold. Such cruelty is unheard of; but since God forgives, human beings must also forgive those who repair their injustices.
This letter, dated February 20, 1763, was sent to me from Languedoc.
…
…
“Your work on tolerance seems to me full of humanity and truth; but I fear it may do the Calas family more harm than good. It may embitter the eight judges who voted for the wheel. They will ask the parlement to have your book burned; and the fanatics—for there are always some—will answer the voice of reason with cries of fury, and so on.”
Here is my reply:
“The eight judges of Toulouse may have my book burned if it is good; nothing could be easier. The Provincial Letters, which were doubtless much better, were burned too. Everyone may burn in his own home the books and papers that displease him.
“My work can do neither good nor harm to the Calas family, whom I do not know. The king’s council, impartial and firm, judges according to the laws, according to equity, on the documents and the proceedings—not on a piece of writing that is not a legal pleading, and whose substance is entirely foreign to the case before it.
“Folio volumes might be printed for or against the eight judges of Toulouse, and for or against tolerance, without either the council or any court regarding those books as documents in the case.
“I agree that there are fanatics who will shout, but I maintain that there are many wise readers who will reason.
“I learn that the Toulouse parlement and some other courts have a peculiar jurisprudence: they admit quarters, thirds, and sixths of a proof. Thus, with six pieces of hearsay on one side, three on the other, and four quarters of a presumption, they construct three complete proofs; and on this splendid demonstration they break a man on the wheel without mercy. A slight acquaintance with the art of reasoning would suffice to make them adopt another method. What is called a half-proof can only be a suspicion: strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a half-proof. Either something is proved or it is not; there is no middle ground.
“A hundred thousand suspicions combined can no more establish a proof than a hundred thousand zeros can make a number.
“There are quarter tones in music, though they cannot be performed; but there is no quarter of a truth or quarter of an argument.
“Two witnesses who stand by their testimony are held to constitute a proof; but that is not enough. Those two witnesses must be free of passion and prejudice, and above all what they say must not offend reason.
“Four of the most respectable persons might claim that they had seen an infirm old man seize a vigorous young man by the collar and throw him forty paces through a window: plainly, those four witnesses would have to be put in a madhouse.
“Yet the eight judges of Toulouse condemned Jean Calas on a far more improbable accusation, for there was no eyewitness who said he had seen an infirm old man of sixty-eight hang, single-handed, an extremely robust young man of twenty-eight.
“Some fanatics merely said that other fanatics had told them they had heard other fanatics say that Jean Calas, by supernatural strength, had hanged his son. An absurd judgment was therefore delivered on absurd accusations.
“There is no remedy for such jurisprudence except for those who buy the right to judge human beings to pursue better studies in the future.”
This work on tolerance is a petition that humanity most humbly submits to power and prudence. I am sowing a seed that may one day yield a harvest. Let us expect everything from time, from the king’s goodness, from his ministers’ wisdom, and from the spirit of reason that is beginning to shed its light everywhere.
Nature says to all people: “I brought you all into the world weak and ignorant, to vegetate for a few minutes upon the earth and fertilize it with your corpses. Since you are weak, help one another; since you are ignorant, enlighten and bear with one another. Even if you all held the same opinion—which certainly will never happen—and there were only one person of a contrary opinion, you ought to forgive him; for it is I who make him think as he does. I gave you arms to cultivate the earth and a small glimmer of reason to guide you. I placed a seed of compassion in your hearts to help you bear life together. Do not stifle that seed; do not corrupt it. Know that it is divine, and do not substitute the wretched frenzies of the schools for nature’s voice.
“It is I alone who still unite you, despite yourselves, through your mutual needs, even in the midst of your cruel wars, so lightly undertaken, that eternal theater of mistakes, accidents, and misfortunes. It is I alone who, within a nation, check the fatal consequences of the endless division between the nobility and the judiciary, between those two bodies and the clergy, even between the townsman and the farmer. None of them knows the bounds of his rights; yet despite themselves, in the end they all listen to my voice speaking to their hearts. I alone preserve equity in the courts, where without me everything would be left to indecision and caprice amid a confused mass of laws, often made at random and for a passing need, differing from province to province, from town to town, and almost always contradicting one another in the same place. I alone can inspire justice when the laws inspire only legal wrangling. Whoever listens to me always judges well; whoever seeks only to reconcile contradictory opinions is the one who goes astray.
“There is an immense building whose foundation I laid with my own hands. It was solid and simple; everyone could enter it safely. People wished to add the strangest, crudest, and most useless ornaments. The building is falling into ruin on every side; people seize its stones and throw them at one another’s heads. I cry to them, ‘Stop! Clear away these deadly ruins of your own making, and live with me in peace in the unshakable building that is mine.’”
Plain English translation
Independent, complete machine-assisted Plain English translation directly from French, reviewed against it. All 25 chapters, author’s notes and added Article with six edition references are retained. Article transcription: French Wikisource, Garnier 1879, revision 15479820. Translation and Article: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.
Continuation and Conclusion.
We learn that on March 7, 1763, the whole Council of State met at Versailles, with the ministers of state attending and the chancellor presiding. De Crosne, a master of requests, presented the Calas case with a judge's impartiality, the accuracy of someone thoroughly informed, and the simple, truthful eloquence of an orator and statesman—the only kind appropriate to such an assembly. An enormous crowd of people of every rank waited in the palace gallery for the Council's decision. The king was soon informed that every member, without a single exception, had voted to order the parlement of Toulouse to send the Council the trial documents and the grounds for its judgment, which had caused Jean Calas to die on the wheel. His Majesty approved the Council's decision.
So humanity and justice do exist among people, especially in the council of a king who is loved and deserves to be! The case of an unfortunate family of obscure citizens has occupied His Majesty, his ministers, the chancellor, and the entire Council. It has been discussed and examined as carefully as the greatest questions of war and peace could be. A love of fairness and concern for the human race guided all the judges. Thanks be to the God of mercy, who alone inspires fairness and every virtue!
We bear witness that we never knew the unfortunate Calas, whom the eight judges of Toulouse put to death on the weakest circumstantial evidence, against the ordinances of our kings and the laws of all nations. Nor did we know his son Marc-Antoine, whose strange death led these eight judges into error; the mother, as worthy of respect as she is unfortunate; or her innocent daughters, who traveled two hundred leagues with her to lay their disaster and their virtue at the foot of the throne.
God knows that we were moved only by a spirit of justice, truth, and peace when we wrote our thoughts on tolerance in connection with Jean Calas, whom the spirit of intolerance killed.
We did not think we were offending the eight judges of Toulouse by saying they were mistaken, as the whole Council has presumed. On the contrary, we opened a way for them to clear themselves before all Europe. That way is to admit that ambiguous evidence and the cries of a senseless crowd misled their judgment; to ask the widow's forgiveness; and to repair, as far as they can, the complete ruin of an innocent family, by joining those helping it in its distress. They unjustly killed the father. It is for them to take a father's place for the children, assuming these orphans are willing to accept from them a small sign of a very justified repentance. It would be noble of the judges to offer it and of the family to refuse it.
It is especially for Mr. David, a municipal magistrate of Toulouse, to set an example of remorse, if he was the first to persecute the innocent. He insulted a father dying on the scaffold. Such cruelty is unheard of. But since God forgives, people too must forgive anyone who repairs his injustices.
This letter, dated February 20, 1763, was sent to me from Languedoc.
…
…
"Your work on tolerance seems to me full of humanity and truth. But I fear it may do the Calas family more harm than good. It may embitter the eight judges who voted for the wheel. They will ask the parlement to have your book burned. And the fanatics—for there are always fanatics—will answer the voice of reason with furious cries, etc."
Here is my answer:
"The eight judges of Toulouse can have my book burned if it is good. Nothing could be easier. They burned the Provincial Letters, which were certainly much better. Anyone can burn books and papers they dislike in their own home.
"My work can do neither good nor harm to the Calas family, whom I do not know. The king's Council, impartial and firm, judges according to the laws and fairness, on the documents and the proceedings—not on a piece of writing that is not a legal document and whose substance is entirely unrelated to the case it is judging.
"People could publish volumes in folio for or against the eight judges of Toulouse, and for or against tolerance. Neither the Council nor any court will regard those books as documents in the case.
"I agree that some fanatics will shout. But I maintain that many sensible readers will reason.
"I learn that the parlement of Toulouse and some other courts have a strange system of evidence. They admit quarters, thirds, and sixths of a proof. Thus, with six pieces of hearsay on one side, three on the other, and four quarters of a presumption, they produce three complete proofs. On the strength of this fine demonstration, they break a man on the wheel without mercy. A little knowledge of reasoning would be enough to make them adopt another method. What is called a half-proof can only be a suspicion. Strictly speaking, there is no half-proof. Either something is proved or it is not; there is no middle ground.
"A hundred thousand suspicions together can no more establish proof than a hundred thousand zeros can make a number.
"There are quarter tones in music, though they cannot be performed. But there is no quarter of a truth or quarter of an argument.
"Two witnesses who stand by their testimony are considered to establish proof. But that is not enough. Those two witnesses must be free from passion and prejudice. Above all, what they say must not contradict reason.
"Four people of the utmost respectability might say that they saw a feeble old man seize a strong young man by the collar and throw him forty paces through a window. Clearly, those four witnesses would have to be put in a madhouse.
"Yet the eight judges of Toulouse condemned Jean Calas on a much more unlikely accusation. There was no eyewitness who said he had seen a feeble old man of sixty-eight hang an extremely strong young man of twenty-eight all by himself.
"Some fanatics merely said that other fanatics had told them they had heard other fanatics say that Jean Calas, by supernatural strength, had hanged his son. So an absurd judgment was passed on absurd accusations.
"There is no remedy for such a system of justice except for those who buy the right to judge people to study better from now on."
This work on tolerance is a petition that humanity most humbly presents to power and wisdom. I am planting a seed that may one day produce a harvest. Let us place all our hopes in time, the king's goodness, the wisdom of his ministers, and the spirit of reason that is beginning to spread its light everywhere.
Nature says to everyone, "I made you all weak and ignorant at birth, to vegetate for a few minutes on earth and fertilize it with your corpses. Since you are weak, help one another. Since you are ignorant, enlighten and tolerate one another. Even if you all held the same opinion—which certainly will never happen—and only one person held a different one, you should forgive him, for I am what makes him think as he does. I gave you arms to cultivate the earth and a little glimmer of reason to guide you. I placed a seed of compassion in your hearts so you could help one another bear life. Do not smother that seed or corrupt it. Know that it is divine. Do not replace nature's voice with the miserable fury of the schools.
"I alone still unite you, despite yourselves, through your mutual needs, even amid your cruel wars, undertaken so lightly: an endless theater of mistakes, accidents, and disasters. I alone hold back, within a nation, the disastrous consequences of the endless division between the nobility and the magistrates, between those two bodies and the clergy, and even between townspeople and farmers. None of them knows the limits of their rights. But in the long run, despite themselves, they all listen to my voice speaking to their hearts. I alone preserve fairness in the courts. Without me everything there would be left to uncertainty and whim, amid a confused heap of laws often made at random to meet a passing need, differing from province to province and town to town, and almost always contradicting one another in the same place. I alone can inspire justice when laws inspire only quibbling. Whoever listens to me always judges well. Whoever seeks only to reconcile contradictory opinions goes astray.
"There is an immense building whose foundation I laid with my own hands. It was solid and simple; everyone could enter it safely. People wanted to add the strangest, crudest, and most useless decorations. The building is falling apart on every side. People pick up its stones and throw them at one another's heads. I cry out to them: Stop! Clear away these deadly ruins that you have made, and live with me in peace in the unshakable building that is mine."
About this section
Chapter XXV is part of Treatise on Tolerance by Voltaire. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 25 of 26 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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