The Last Words of French Philosopher, Voltaire
Compiled by S. B. Shaw
When Voltaire felt the stroke that he realized must terminate in death, he was overpowered with
remorse. He at once sent for the priest, and wanted to be “reconciled with the church.” His infidel flatterers
hasted to his chamber to prevent his recantation; but it was only to witness his ignominy and their own. He cursed them to
their faces; and, as his distress was increased by their presence, he repeatedly and loudly exclaimed:
"Begone! It is you that have brought me to my present condition. Leave me, I say: begone! What a wretched
glory is this which you have produced to me!"
Hoping to allay his anguish by a written recantation, he had it prepared, signed it, and saw it
witnessed. But it was all unavailing. For two months he was tortured with such an agony as led him at times to gnash his teeth
in impotent rage against God and man. At other times, in plaintive accents, he would plead, “O Christ! O Lord Jesus!”
Then, turning his face, he would cry out, “I must die – abandoned of God and of men!”
As his end drew near, his condition became so frightful that his infidel associates were afraid
to approach his bedside. Still they guarded the door, that others may not know how awfully an infidel was compelled to die.
Even his nurse repeatedly said, “For all the wealth of Europe she would never see another infidel die.” It was
a scene of horror that lies beyond all exaggeration. Such is the well-attested end of the one who had a natural sovereignty
of intellect, excellent education, great wealth, and much earthly honor. We may all well exclaim with Balaam, “Let me
die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.”
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The Contrast Between Infidelity and Christianity.
