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The cairn

Chapter 96: Prayer—Voltaire.
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About This Book

A compact miscellany of short essays, anecdotes, prayers, poems, and biographical sketches that collects reflections on grief, maternal love, benevolence, virtue, taste, and historical episodes. The pieces alternate personal memories, moral aphorisms, humorous and touching anecdotes, and brief portraits of public figures, often framed as letters, epitaphs, or short narratives. Recurring themes include the effects of sorrow and joy, domestic affection, charity, the vicissitudes of fortune, and the consolations of faith and art. The tone moves between intimate recollection and light moralizing, presenting varied, self-contained vignettes meant to instruct, console, and amuse.

Prayer—Voltaire.

Voltaire’s Prayer.

O Dieu! qu’on méconnait, O Dieu! que tout annonce,
Entends les derniers mots que ma bouche prononce:
Si je me suis trompé, c’est en cherchant ta loi;
Mon cœur peut s’égarer, mais il est plein de toi.
Je vois sans m’alarmer l’Eternité paraître,
Et je ne puis penser qu’un Dieu qui m’a fait naître;
Qu’un Dieu qui sur mes jours versa tant de bienfaits,
Quand mes jours sont éteints me tourmente à jamais.