Voltaire, in Letters on England (known also as Philosophical Letters), intends to heap praise on England for the relative freedom of its cultural, social, political and religious institutions, and to criticize France for its relative lack of such freedoms. Voltaire wrote the letters in England during a forced period away from France as the result of his having once too often challenged the powers-that-be. Although he praises England, he is not idealistic in his assessment, but instead uses personal and practical standards in his various evaluations. He has some negative comments about England, just as he has some positive comments about France. After all, his work was first aimed at his French readers, who were not likely to take to a work of unadulterated praise for England and unadulterated criticism of France. However, even more important and essential than his overall attitudes toward England and France is his position as an individual thinker free of nationalistic limitations. Although the reader has much to learn from Voltaire about the cultural and historical realities in England and France in the early 18th century, the most valuable lesson to be learned from Voltaire's letters is that each individual has the responsibility of thinking for himself or herself. That is precisely what Voltaire does in the letters, eschewing any overriding theory for the sake of remaining true to his own individual perceptions and conclusions.
As an individual thinker, Voltaire believes in personally exploring an issue or subject himself, never taking anything for granted, never accepting as fact what others have to say about the subject. He also feels no need to offer black-and-white, either/or judgments of the subjects he investigates, but instead sees clearly what is true or deceptive in the specific topic at hand.
All of these individualistic qualities are on display in Voltaire's examination of Quakerism. He goes to the source for h...