revolutions. Le meme abus produira en France des effets peut-etre
plus funestes. La liberte indefinie trouveroit, dans la caractere
de la nation, dans son activite, dans son amour pour la nouveaute,
un moyen de plus pour preparer les plus affreuses revolutions (p. 498).

The most interesting private attacks on the _Systeme de la Nature_
came from two somewhat unexpected quarters, from Ferney and Sans Souci.
Voltaire, as usual, was not wholly consistent in his opinions of it,
as is revealed in his countless letters on the subject. Grimm
attributed his hostility to jealousy, and the fear that the
_Systeme de la Nature_ might "renverse le rituel de Ferney et
que le patriarcat ne s'en aille au diable avec lui." [56:4]
George Leroy went so far as to write a book entitled _Reflexions
sur la jalousie, pour servir de commentaire aux derniers ouvrages
de M. de Voltaire_, 1772. Frederick II naturally felt bound to
defend the kings who, as Voltaire said, were no better treated than
God in the _Systeme de la Nature_. [56:5]

Voltaire's correspondence during this period is so interesting that
it seems worth while to quote at length, especially from his letters
to Fredrick the Great. In May 1770, shortly after the publication
of the _Systeme de la Nature_ Voltaire wrote to M. Vernes: [56:6]
"On a tant dit de sottises sur la nature que je ne lis plus aucun
de ces livres la." But by July he had read it and wrote to Grimm: [56:7]
"Si l'ouvrage eut ete plus serre il aurait fait un effet terrible,
mais tel qu'il est il en a fait beaucoup. Il est bien plus eloquent
que Spinoza... J'ai une grande curiosite de savoir ce qu'on en pense
a Paris." In writing to d'Alembert about this time he seemed to have
a fairly favorable impression of the book. "Il m'a paru qu'il y avait
des longueurs, des repetitions et quelques inconsequences, mais il y a