“Aux manes de Voltaire,
L’Assemblée nationale
A décrétée le 30 mai, 1791,
Qu’il avoit mérité les honneurs
Dûs aux grandes hommes[58].”
On the second side.
“Poet, historien, philosophe,
Il aggrandit l’esprit humain,
Et l’apprit, qu’il devoit être libre[59].”
On the third side.
“Il défendit Calas,
Serven,
De la Barre et Mont Bally[60].”
On the fourth side.
“Il combattit les athées
Et les fanatiques.
Il inspira la tolérance.
Il réclama les droits de l’homme,
Contre le monstre de la féodalité[61].”
The bones of these distinguished men are in the tombs, which I have described. Rousseau was removed from the garden of Ermenonville, where his shade reposed in its favourite retreat, under the auspices of friendship; and the heart of Voltaire, which had remained for some years, as he desired, among those whom he loved at Ferney, was dragged from its former resting place to this more splendid, but less tranquil sepulchre.
I am, &c.