parties fit down with cofts. There was 
ground for complaint on either fide. This 
ig an additional proof that men of genius 
have their extravagancies. 
Volt.—Se, fo, you are pleafed to mo- 
ralize upon the fubject. You are right, 
my friend, the wifeft of us have our 
weaknefles, and we ought to futfer for 
them. Moreover, did. not Routleau make 
his recantation? te fent me one day 
an ode, “which fete {wong of apoplexy, 
Y think it was about the year 1738. He 
gave me to undeiftand, that it proceeded 
from Chriftian humility ; that he had 
always efteemed me, and that I might 
have been his friend if I would. I re- 
turned for anfwer, that there was cer- 
tainly a degree of humility in the com- 
polition of the ode, and much more in 
the tranfmiffion of it to me; but whether 
it was Chriftian humility I did not know, 
for I underftood nothing of fuch mat- 
ters. LI added, that I underftood better 
what honeity was; and that, in order to 
be humble, 1t was firft neceflary to be 
jult ; that as he entertained a regard for 
me, he ought not to have calumniated 
me; anil fince he had done fo, he ought 
to retract his calumny : and that I could 
only grant his pardon upon that eondi- 
tion; Such were my fentiments, as I 
delivered them upon the occalion, and I 
think I made him a proper return for his 
ode. By the bye, I have a. curious cir- 
cumftance to relate to you refpeéting 
him. I received a letter from Br uffels, 
acyuainting me that the Sieur Roufleau, 
in a confeffion he had made to 2 Carme- 
lite prieft, had declared he had no rela- 
tions at. Paris: though he has a fifter 
living there, and a coufin, a fhoemaker, 
in the Bue dela Harpe. Beine attacked 
with a fertous fit of ficknels, ‘he caufed 
three matles to be faid for bis recovery, 
and made a pilgrimage to an image of 
the Virgin. He recovered from bis ill- 
nels, ‘and compofed an ode upon the 
Virgin’Mary’s miraculous interv ention in 
his favour. 
Mud. Denys.—My dear uncle, Jet us 
hear no more of Rouffeau’s convertion, 
nor of his pedigree, but proceed with 
* your ow nc onfeffion. 
Vott.—Well, then we All leave Rouf- 
feau amongit ‘the marthes’ of - Bruffels ; 
and I will now convey you to Mai'ons, 
a charming retreat.on the banks of the 
Seine, and near the foreft of St. ‘Ger- 
m ain. “Lt was the feat of feiénce, and 
there I hoped to partake of. every felicity 
which an agreeable fuciety is capable of 
producing. But how vain and delufive 
‘are hopes 1 On: the very ‘pe! of ny ars 
Poltaire’s Literary Confeffions. 
[May 1, 
rival I found myfelf indifpofed ; a fever 
attacked me, and the moft malignant 
fort of {mall-pox declared itfelf. Thanks 
to the {kill of Gervafi, I got the better 
of my illneis. He was looked upon as a 
quack;'I undertook his defence, and I 
ftood forth in juttification of his practice, 
of the emetic he gave me, and the hun- 
dred quarts of Icmonade which I drank | 
during the cure. At the end ofa month, 
weak as I was, I had a defire to go to 
Paris. I had f{carcely left the villa, when 
a fire broke out in the apartment I had 
quitted. It would feem as if I came to 
my friend’s houfe to. fall fick in it, and 
afterwards fet it on fire by way of reconi- 
pence for his kindnefs, The tragedy of 
Mariamne was produced durimg my con- 
valefcence. Old Baron performed the 
character of Herod. » Mariamne is pre- 
fénted with a bowl of poifon, which the 
drinks upon the ftage; and this caufed 
fome unlucky merriment. However, you 
will allow fuch a feene could not but 
produce a theatrical effect, and muft ex~ 
cite the emotions of pity ‘and terror. 
At length my Henriad made its ap- 
pearance. A baftard of Scarron’s took 
upon hin to tr a | that epic poem. A 
pretended wit, and a college pedant, 
fet themfelves to work, and faid all they 
could to decry it. However, it was 
eagerly read all over Europe ; a king 
wrote a preface to it, and it was trau- 
flated inte all languages. You will fap- 
pofe that my poem anderwent the ordeal 
of criticilim every where: but I armed 
myfelf with epig grams, and ftood the 
brunt againft all the critics that decried 
it, 
I had at firft inferted fome epigrais 
matic ftrokes againft the court of Rome, 
from which, how ever, I received a con- 
_fiderable prefent; in imitation, no doubt, 
of the ancient Romans who factificed to 
the Fever. I fuppreffed thefe farcafms 
afterwards; and yvood judges have ac= 
‘ knowledged that “fhieré! are a number of 
very fine. “lines in iny paem. 
~ TL have been accufed, in fume fceanda- 
lous wridugs, of having been the ruin of 
a dozen bookfellers at leaft, This was 
one of the graud engmes which my ene- 
mies fet to work to bring me into dif- 
grace. Who ‘can think “without indig- 
nation upon fuch black defigns? It is 
horrid, i¢ 1s difhgnourable to the human 
underftanding, that fcience fhould be 
liable to-be eras infeéted by cabals, ma- 
lice, and treachery. Through thefe dii= 
putes ofien arife open wars. ‘There is a 
printed book, de Morbis Artificum (of 
the Difeates of Vradefmen.) ‘The mott ii 
curable 
