For most ecclesiastics valued power more dearly than truth.

And in power they valued most dearly the atrocious right of silencing, by foul means or fair, all opinions that were not official.
III.
Having thus described the general character and purport of the Encyclopaedia, we have still to look at a special portion of it from a more particular point of view.

We have already shown how multifarious were Diderot's labours as editor.

It remains to give a short account of his labours as a contributor.

Everything was on the same vast scale.