Helvétius was in decidedly unatheistic company. The essential thesis of his discussion was that such questions could not be decided empirically, and there is no reason to assume that d'Holbach's Système de la nature would not have struck ...

the administration of a medicine, of an oath, of justice, or of the sacrament.

In another case an etheromaniac earl committed extravagances which, from a moral point of view, classified him among mental deficients.

roasted in wrath and fire