Voltaire

(Marie Francis Arouet de), a French writer of celebrity, born at Paris, 20th Feb. 1694. He was so feeble at his birth, that it was long doubiful whether he could’ reared. From his earliest years he evinced superior powers, so that he said, he wrote verses before he left his cradle. He was educated in the college of Lewis the Great, where he made such progre , that Ninon de l’Enclos left hin 2000 livres to buy him a library. He was intended for the law; but the muses had. greater charms, and among the courtiers of, Lewis XIV. he acquired those graces of deli-. cate humour and easy expre ion by which he was so much distinguished. His fondne for: satire procured his imprisonment in the Bas-. tille for one year, from which he was liberated by Orleans, who was pleased with the repre- sent at i on of Qidipus, the first tragedy which he wrote, 1718. Some of his plays were after- wards unsucce ful, and the poet, indignant at the censures of his countrymen, left Paris, and came to England, where be, was noticed by George I. and queen Caroline, under. whose patronage he published his Henriade.. Flatter- ed with this and with the handsome property which he had realized by the liberality of his subscribers, he in 1728 returned to Paris, and while he laboured by commerce to improve his income, he devoted the best part of his time to literary pursuits. His Brutus, the most nervous of his tragedies, appeared in 1730, and was soon succeeded by Zara, the most pat he- tic of his pieces. His lettres philosophiques at. this time gave such offence for their indecent witticisms, that they were burnt by.a decree of the parliament, and the author withdrew. to. the seat of madame de Chatelet. His Alzire, Mahomet, and Merope, produced soon after, placed him at the head of the dramatic poets of France, and introduced him to the court a¢ the favourite of madame Pompadour. He was appointed gentleman of the bedchamber to the king, and historiographer of France, and in 1746 had a seat in ‘the academy of sciences. ‘Though thus popular, he yet found a host of rivals, and to fly from them, he retired to Berlin. The confidence of the Pru ian monarch, and a liberal pension of 22,000 livres, for a while commanded his attachment, but a quarrel with Maupertuis, who was at the head of the Berlin academy, and that spirit of independence which always marked his conduct, soon after brought on his disgrace, and after being dispo e ed of a volume of royal verses, which he wished to carry away, he left the kingdom. The publication of an obscene poem at that time rendered his return to Paris dangerous, and therefore after staying one year at Colwar, he purchased an estate near Geneva, where he fixed his residence. This place he soon abandoned for Ferney, on the borders of France, where he established a colony of industrious artisans, and received in progre of time. the homage and the respect of the learned of Europe. He received the adulation “of the great, and the liberal presents of crowned heads, especially of the king of Pru ia, and of the empre Catherine, and continued long to direct the taste and the literature of the world. At last, in 1778. he ventured to exchange the tranquillity of Ferney for the capital, and surrounded with glory and with wealth, he appeared at Paris, where. he was received with unusual honours by all the learned bodies, and crowned with the poetic wreath in the theatre, amidst applauding you sands. These honours} and the complimentary visits of ceremony which they’produced, were, however, too burdensome for his great age and change of regimen, and continued fatigue inflamed his blood and brought on a hemorrhage. As if foreboding his end, he declared when he reached Paris, that he came to seek glory and death, and when presented by an artist with a picture of his triumph, he observed,, ‘¢ a tomb-would be fitter for me than a triumph.” When unable to enjoy his usual rest, and unable to bear his reflections, he took a large dose of opium, which deprived him of his senses, and he died soon after, 30th May, 1778. He was buried at Sell i eres, between Nogent and Troyes, and his remains were, during the revolution, removed to the church of St. Genevieve, at Paris, bya decree of the convention. Voltaire, as the leader of a new sect, has caused a revolution in wit and morals, and whilst he has often exerted his powerful talents to promote the cause of reason and of humanity, to inspire princes with toleration, and with a horror for war, he has too often exerted himself in extending principles of irreligion, anarchy, and libertinism. Ever inconstant, he was the free thinker at London, the Cartes i an at Versailles, the pretended Christian at Nancy, and the undisguised infidel at Berlin. From the high character of the moralist, he frequently descended into the buffoon, from the philosopher he became an enthusiast, from mildne he pa ed to pa ion, from flattery to satire, from the love of money to the love of luxury, from > the modesty of a wise man to the vanity of an impious wit. It has been said, that his physiognomy partook of that of the eagle and of the ape, and his character exhibited him occasionally with sensibility, but void of affection, voluptuous, but without pa ions, open without sincerity, and liberal without generosity. aman of letters he must stand on very high round for versality of talent, for brilliancy of Imagination, for astonishing ease, for exquisite taste, and for vast extent of knowledge. He wrote, besides, several tragedies, the last of | which was Irene—several comedies, the best of which are, in disc ret, l’enfant prodigue, and Nanine—operas—fugitive pieces—e ai sur Phistoire generale—les siecles de Louis XIV. and Louis XV.—history of Charles XII.—of the czar Peter—melanges de literature—dic- tionaire philosophique—philosophie de l’his- toire, arid other works of impious tendency— theatre of Peter and Th. Corneille, . The most correct edition of his works is that of Geneva, in 30 vols. 4to. and the most copious, that of Basil, in 71 vols. 8vo. Condor cet records of Voltaire, First, that he conceived the design of overturning. the Christian religion, and that by his own hand. ** T am wearied,” said he, ‘¢ of hearing it re« peated ‘that twelve men were sufficient to es- tablish Christianity; and I wish to prove that there needs but one to destroy it.” Secondly, that in pursuit of this object, he was threaten-. ed with a prosecution; to avoid which he re- ceived the sacrament, and publicly declared his respect for the church, and his disdain for #hose who had called in question his Christianity! Thirdly, that in his last illne , in Paris, being desirous of obtaining what is called Christian burial, he sent for a priest, to whom’ he declared that he ‘* died in the catholic faith in which he was born.” Fourthly, that another priest (curate of the parish) troubled him eA Quai tions. Among other things he asked, ‘* Do you believe the divinity of Jesus Christ?” ‘* In the name of God, sir,” replied Voltaire,, ‘* speak to me no more of that man, but let me die in peace.” How different from the language of David, Psalm xvii. 15. ' For an account of Voltaire’s shameful interpolations, . in his edition of Pas¢al’s Thoughts, see PAscAL. 181