This week we proceed to "The Age of Voltaire", Volume IX of "The Story of Civilization".  Who was Voltaire?"The Story of Civilization" quotes Voltaire on Voltaire (doubtless one of his favorite subjects) "thin, long, and fleshless, without buttocks".  It continues further on, "On May 16, 1717, a lettre de cache directed "that Sieur Arouet be arrested and taken to the Bastille".  The poet was surprised in his rooms and was allowed to take with him nothing but the clothes he wore."His stay at the Bastille was not entirely unpleasant.  Denied paper lest he pen something seditious, he wrote a play on the margins of the books he was allowed to read.  The play written carefully to please all the factions of France in different lines was a hit after his release.The lettre de cache was a warrant for arrest without due process.  Anyone with the power to issue one could order the arrest, detainment, torture, or execution of anyone they chose without investigation or trial of any kind.  It is one of the reasons why Due