VOLTAIRE. 



847 



sent him, likewise, splendid presents, accompanied 

 by the most flattering letters. In return for an 

 ivory box, made by herself, and for her instructions 

 (prepared for the direction of a law commission 

 which she had instituted), he sent her a bracelet 

 netted by his own hands. In 1769, a medal was 

 stamped in honour of him, the inscription on which 

 was a verse taken from the Henriade? II 6te aux 

 nations le bandeau de Verreur. Some French 

 literati, together with Frederic, erected a statue to 

 him, with the inscription Statue erigee d Voltaire 

 par les hommes de lettres ses compatriotes ; and 

 Louis XV. said, " He deserves it." All strangers 

 of distinction who passed by Ferney stopped to 

 testify their esteem for this remarkable man. Joseph 

 II. only did not visit him. Nevertheless, Voltaire 

 was by no means happy. Too much accustomed 

 to the constant admiration of the world, he soon 

 became weary of his quiet life, and went, even in 

 his advanced age (February, 1778), once more to 

 Paris. Here he found many admirers, who adored 

 him, and many bitter enemies. He was sensible of 

 the dislike entertained towards him ; and, therefore, 

 when stopped by the officers of the customs, with 

 the inquiry if he had any contraband goods with 

 him, he replied, " No, no ; there is nothing con- 

 traband here but. myself." The inquiry of the 

 king, on his arrival, if the decree of the parliament 

 was still in force against him, made him anxious ; 

 but nothing further was done to molest him. The 

 French academy sent three of their members to 

 welcome him, though, in similar cases, it was cus- 

 tomary to send but one. The actors waited upon 

 him in a body : " We have come," said they, " to 

 oeseech you to inspire us with your odes." " I 

 live only for you and through you," was his answer 

 a proof that he considered his dramas as his chief 

 productions; and, in truth, dramatic works were 

 his last labours. He wrote his Tancrede in the 

 sixty-sixth year of his age. The calls upon him 

 were so constant that he felt himself oppressed by 

 them. " I am suffocated," said he, " but it is with 

 roses." Franklin came, with his grandson, to see 

 Voltaire : " My son," said he, " fall upon your knees 

 before this great man." Voltaire gave the boy his 

 blessing, with the words " God and freedom." He 

 had brought with him a new tragedy, Irene, which 

 was performed on the 16th of May. The royal 

 family was present, and the piece was received with 

 unbounded applause. The French academy sent 

 him their gratulations on this occasion, and placed 

 his bust by the side of Corneille's. At the sixth 

 representation, he came into the theatre; and, 

 when he had sat down in his box, a player entered, 

 and presented him with a laurel wreath ; and, at 

 the conclusion of the piece, his bust was also 

 crowned in the theatre. All these excitements, 

 together with incessant literary labours, and the 

 change from his accustomed manner of life, affected 

 his health so much that it seemed as if he could 

 not live much longer. He perceived this plainly : 

 " I have come to Paris," he said, " to find my glory 

 and my grave." He could not sleep ; and a large 

 dose of opium, which he took without the advice 

 of his physician, is thought to have hastened his 

 death. When his tenants heard of his sickness, 

 they wished to go to Paris, and carry him in a lit- 

 ter, to Ferney. He resided in Paris with the mar- 

 quis de Villette. The latter sent to the principal 

 clergyman of St Sulpice, to induce him to beg Vol- 

 taire to submit to the ceremony which Catholic 

 Christians undergo on leaving the world. The cir- 



cumstances of the case have been related differently ; 

 but it is certain that Voltaire died without receiv- 

 ing the sacrament, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, 

 May 30, 1778. The archbishop of Paris is said to 

 have denied the corpse Christian burial ; and it was 

 therefore interred secretly at Scellieres, a Bernar- 

 dine abbey, between Nogent and Troyes. By a 

 decree of the national assembly (1791), his remains 

 were placed in the Pantheon, in Paris, near those 

 of J. J. Rousseau and other great men. 



The exterior of Voltaire was quite characteristic. 

 In his countenance, as has been said, there was a 

 mixture of the eagle and the monkey ; and, in char- 

 acter, he united the boldness of the one with some- 

 thing of the malice of the other. He was impetu- 

 ous, irritable, sensitive, but also mild, compassionate, 

 benevolent, cheerful, and lively from principle. 

 With noble views and principles, his actions were 

 not always the most praiseworthy ; and many of his 

 good deeds did not flow from the purest sources. 

 He had something vacillating in his character ; and, 

 notwithstanding his hatred of prejudice, he fre- 

 quently bowed to it in a manner which did him lit- 

 tle honour. From vanity he flattered the great, 

 and often sought their company for the same reason. 

 His fame did not become great till after his retire- 

 ment from court. He was too selfish to inspire 

 love, and avarice is said to have had much ascend- 

 ency over him. Yet he was, in his latter years, 

 the friend of the poor, and the protector of the op- 

 pressed. Notwithstanding all his admirers, he 

 gained no friend. He had great talents, but not 

 an elevated character; and his writings want the 

 charm which only a great soul can give. Never- 

 theless, he often acted nobly. The abbe Desfon- 

 taines, to whom he had shown much kindness, pub- 

 lished, without any authority, an edition of the 

 Henriade from a very imperfect manuscript. Des- 

 fontaines became unfortunate, repented of what he 

 had done, and Voltaire became again his benefactor. 

 Being arrested on account of a dishonourable ac- 

 cusation, the abbe owed to Voltaire's influence with 

 madame de Prie his freedom, his honour, and per- 

 haps his life. Desfontaines recompensed this favour 

 by a severe criticism and a bitter lampoon. To a 

 .peasant, deprived, by an unjust sentence, of his 

 land, who applied to Voltaire for assistance, he 

 gave 3000 livres, and invited him to settle in Fer- 

 ney. In company, Voltaire was agreeable, polite, 

 and a complete courtier. The activity of his tem- 

 perament was so great that he often laboured all 

 night. Even in his eightieth year, he worked 

 fourteen hours a day. Among his works, his 

 dramas hold the first place. He is the worthy rival 

 of Racine and Corneille, and his pieces are still 

 favourites with the French. Notwithstanding his 

 great wit, however, Voltaire was not distinguished 

 in comedy. The Henriade has many striking pas- 

 sages, but wants true epic characters, and is faulty 

 in its plan. Among his historical works, the Siecle 

 de Louis XIV. et XV. and the Histoire de Charles 

 XII., the Essai sur VHistoire gemrale, sur les 

 Mceurs et I' Esprit des Nations, abound in penetrat- 

 ing views. His merits are not those of thorough 

 investigation, but of striking and happy descrip- 

 tion, and sagacious observation. His prevailing 

 defect is the exaggerated estimation of the superi- 

 ority of the French over other modern nations. 

 His philosophical romances, treatises, smaller poems, 

 narratives, dialogues, &c., show a comprehensive 

 spirit, and great felicity of execution. In the de- 

 partment of fugitive pieces, he is unique. As a 



