VOLTAIRE. 



FicDch academy. In coufequciicc of urgent iiivitalions on 

 the part of the king of Pruffia, and afliiraiice of a pL-nfion of 

 22,oco ]ivres, with other benefits, ho arrived at I'otfdam in 

 June, 1750; and was received by the king with the moll 

 flattering tokens of refpedt. Here it was Jiis prafticc to 

 fpend two hours in the day with his majefly, during which 

 he employed himfelf in corredling his works ; and the rell 

 of his time was at his own difpofal. His tranquillity, how- 

 ever, was foon interrupted, on occafion of a difpute between 

 Maupertuis and Koenig ; for tliough the king defired him 

 not to interfere, he took part againil Maupertuis, and Fre- 

 deric fent him his difmifilon. During his abfence on a viiit 

 to the dnchefs of Saxe-Gotha, Maupertuis, as he fays, 

 ufed his influence to lower him in the king's eflimation ; 

 and, therefore, inftead of returniTjg to Berlin, he proceeded 

 towards France ; but at Frankfort he was arrefted by the 

 king's order, and obliged to rellore his poems, with which 

 he had been intrulled for correction, together with his key, 

 crofs, and the brevet for his penlion. It was now his wi(h 

 to refide at Paris ; but he could not obtain permiflion ^r 

 this purpofe, as he had publiflied a very indecent and licen- 

 tious poem, " La Pucelle d'Orleans," which had railed a 

 violent outcry agaiull him ; and, th..'refore, after a year's 

 ftay at Colmar, he purchalc-d a country-houfe near Geneva ; 

 and having gratified his petulant difpofition by interfering in 

 the political difputes of this place, he thought proper to 

 remove, and bought an eitate at Fcrncy, in the Pays de 

 Gex. Here he lived, as one of his biographers has faid, 

 " like a petty prince in his own territory ;" — " improving 

 his own village by encouraging colonills, and introducing 

 manufactures, which through his influence obtained a fale in 

 many countries of the continent." — " A declared enemy to 

 tyranny and oppreflion of every kind, he undertook the pro- 

 tection of fevcral fufferers from injullice, among whom were 

 the family of Calas, a noted viflim of religious bigotry. He 

 made the enormity of thefc abufes of power known through- 

 out Europe, and fet himfelf up as a kind of general cenfor, 

 to whofe tribunal the higheit ranks were amenable." All 

 his motives his biographer does not attempt to jullify. He 

 likewife poured forth from tiiis retreat a variety of works, 

 which were fought after and generally read, directing the 

 fcHtiments and influencing the condudt of many who perufed 

 them, whether always to their own iionour and advantage 

 we leave others who are acquainted witii llieni to determine. 

 In general, his extended fway over the opinions of the 

 civilized part of mankind, fays the biographer of whofe 

 obfervations wo avail ourfelves in the compilation of 

 this article, " was dircSed to the fubverfion of both civil 

 and c-ccleCaftical tyranny ; but his attacks on the latter in- 

 cluded hoftilities againil religion in general, at leaft of the 

 revealed clafs : and, whilil he admitted natural religion, he 

 dellroyed its moral effi 



of laurel ; and Mad. Veftris, advancing to tiie front of the 

 llage, pronounced fome verfes to his praife, compofed uit 

 fpot by a nobleman, amid the (houts of the audience. 



tl 



ble frame, whick 

 Voltaire himfelf 



:acy." In his retreat he was vifited 

 by the mod diilinguiflied perfons who came near his abode, 



and he correfponded with fome of the chief fovereigns of fur Hilloire generale," and tlie " Siicles de Louis XIV 

 Europe. Neverthelefs he was not happy. Impatient and 

 reftlefs in his difpofition, and irritable in his temper, he was 

 felf-tormented. In advanced life he wiflicd again to emerge 

 from obfcurity ; and in February, 1778, he vifitcd Paris, 

 nhere he had many admirers, and where he was regarded 

 alfo with averfion and alarm. Here his vanity and love of 

 admiration and praife mull be fully gratified, by the mantier 

 in which he was received at the the.itre, after tlie exhibition 

 of his " Irene," which he had brought with him. As foon 

 at he was feated in his box, after having received repeated 

 plaudits in his way to it, an aftor placed a crown on his 

 head. When the play was concluded, the drawing up of 



lay wa 

 the curtain difplayed ;ill the adlors and aftrefles furrounding 

 a bud of Voltaire, and by turns covering it with garlatids 



This reception produced effects on his fe 



probably hallened its difiblution. Of thi . ^ ^„ 



leems to have been apprifed, when he faid in a tone of deep 

 melancholy, " I am come to Paris to find glory and a 

 tomb." Unable to fleep, it is thought that he accelerated 

 his death by taking too large a dofe of opium. When he 

 was thought to be near his laft moments, the marquis de 

 Villette, with whom he refided, fent for the reftor of St. 

 Sulpice to adminiiler the lall offices which are thought ef- 

 fential to the fafety of a Cathohc Chriflian. What pafll-d 

 between Voltaire and the redor on this occafion has been 

 diff"erently flated ; but it is certain that he died, without the 

 lafl; facraments, on the 30th of May, 1778, in the 85th 

 year of his age. If is faid that the archbiihop of Paris ab- 

 folutely refuted to allow him Chriflian buiiaj, and that his 

 body was fecretly conveyed for interment to Sellieres, an 

 abbey of Bernardines, between Nogent and Troyes. It 

 was thence brought, by a decree of the national aflembly in 

 1791, to be repofiled in St. Genevieve's at Paris. 



" The phyfiognoniy of Voltaire," fays his biographer, 

 " was indicative of his difpofition. It is faid to have par- 

 taken of the eagle and the monkey ; and to the fire and 

 rapidity of the former animal, he united the mifchievous and 

 malicious propenfities of the latter. With fliong percep- 

 tions of moral excellence and elevation, he was little and 

 mean in conduft, a vidlim to petty palfions and caprices ; 

 never at reft either in mind or body, never tranquil or 

 fedate. If he was a piiilofopher, it was in his opinions, not 

 in his aftions. He had been accuflomed from his youth to 

 pay as much homage to rank and wealth as his vanity would 

 permit ; his taftes of life were vitiated, and his manners cor- 

 rupted : he could not, therefore, be a confillcnt friend to 

 virtue and liberty, though he might occalionally be capti- 

 vated with their charms, and even zcilous in their fupport. 

 He was habitually avaricious, though he performed fome 

 generous adls, wliich, however, he took care to make 

 known. He was too felfifli to iiifpire love, and too capri- 

 cious to me^it elleem. He had numerous admirers, but 

 probably not one friend." 



As a poetical writer, he was diftinguilhed by his " Hen- 

 riade," which was confidered as the principal epic poem in 

 the French language, and by his tragedies, which are fanl 

 to have more variety of ftyle and fubjcd than thofe of Cor- 

 neille and Racine ; but in comedy and lyric compofition he 

 was not equally fuccefsful. The morality of his moral 

 epifllcs, which are excellent in their manner, is liable to 

 many objcdlions. As a profe writer, Voltaire has been 

 commended for that kind of middle llyle, which is pure, 

 unaftefted, lively, precifc, and always in good tafte. In 

 the department of hillory, his principal works are the " Effai 

 fur Hilloire generale," and tlie " Slides de Louis XIV. ct 

 de Louis XV." His " Hilloire de Charles XII." is a 

 model of royal biography. Of his witty writings, which 

 are very numerous, we may obfervc in general, that they 

 •■";*-" '"it only depreciated in real value, but rendered per- 

 nicious in their tendency and efleft, by his frequently re- 

 curring attacks and larcjf'ma, levelled againil revealed 

 religion : nor fhall we be thought deficient in candour if wc 

 add, that, whatever inflrudlion or amufement his produc- 

 tions of the latter clafs afford, they have done greater injury, 

 m a moral and religious view of them, particularly among 

 perfons of little rctleftion, than thofe of any other author. 

 All the works of Voltaire amount to 30 vols. 410. of the 



Genevan ediuon, and. 71 vols. 3vo. in the more complete 

 edition of Bafil. Gcji. Biog. by Aikin. 



I'he 



