A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 09

One hundred and sixty-eight designs, comprising reproductions of rare old engravings, steel plates, photogravures, and curious fac-similes VOLUME XIII E.R. DuMONT PARIS : LONDON : NEW YORK : CHICAGO _The WORKS of VOLTAIRE_ _"Between two servants of Humanity, who appeared eighteen hundred years apart, there is a mysterious relation. * * * * Let us say it with a sentiment of profound respect: JESUS WEPT: VOLTAIRE SMILED. Of that divine tear and of that human smile is composed the sweetness of the present civilization."_ _VICTOR HUGO._ LIST OF PLATES--VOL. IX THE HOUDON BUST--_Frontispiece_ GENIUS INSPIRING THE MUSES SAMSON DESTROYING THE TEMPLE JOHN LOCKE * * * * * VOLTAIRE A PHILOSOPHICAL DICTIONARY IN TEN VOLUMES VOL. IX. PROPERTY--STATES-GENERAL * * * * * PROPERTY. "Liberty and property" is the great national cry of the English. It is certainly better than "St. George and my right," or "St. Denis and Montjoie"; it is the cry of nature. From Switzerland to China the peasants are the real occupiers of the land. The right of conquest alone has, in some countries, deprived men of a right so natural. The general advantage or good of a nation is that of the sovereign, of the magistrate, and of the people, both in peace and war. Is this possession of lands by the peasantry equally conducive to the prosperity of the throne and the people in all periods and circumstances?…