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 superstitious and fanatical religion; and hence he was constantly impelled to provoke the fresh exercise of their arbitrary authority by the indignation which his former injuries had aroused in him. His desire to enjoy free utterance had often led him to contemplate a voluntary exile, and was very strong in him now. "When I gave permission," he says, "to Thiriot, two years ago, to print these cursed letters, I had arranged to quit France, and to go to enjoy in a free country the greatest delight I know, and the best right of humanity, which is to be dependent on law only, not on the caprice of man. I was very resolute in this idea: friendship alone made me entirely change my determination, and has rendered this country dearer to me than I had hoped for." The particular friendship alluded to forms, as we shall now see, a main element in this epoch of his life.