



Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images available at The Internet Archive)









                          _By S. G. Tallentyre_


                          The Life of Voltaire
                          The Life of Mirabeau
                          Matthew Hargraves




                               THE LIFE

                                  OF

                               VOLTAIRE

   [Illustration: _Voltaire from the statue by Houdon at the Comédie
                             Française._]




                               THE LIFE

                                  OF

                               VOLTAIRE


                                  BY
                           S. G. TALLENTYRE

               AUTHOR OF “THE WOMEN OF THE SALONS,” ETC.


     “_Je n’ai point de sceptre, mais j’ai une plume._”--VOLTAIRE


                          WITH ILLUSTRATIONS


                             THIRD EDITION

                          G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
                          NEW YORK AND LONDON
                        The Knickerbocker Press




CONTENTS


CHAPTER                                                             PAGE

I. THE BOYHOOD                                                         1

II. EPIGRAMS AND THE BASTILLE                                         16

III. “ŒDIPE,” AND THE JOURNEY TO HOLLAND                              25

IV. THE “HENRIADE,” AND A VISIT TO COURT                              37

V. ENGLAND, AND THE “ENGLISH LETTERS”                                 48

VI. PLAYS, A BURLESQUE, AND THE APPEARANCE OF THE “LETTERS”           60

VII. MADAME DU CHÂTELET                                               74

VIII. A YEAR OF STORMS                                                86

IX. WORK AT CIREY                                                     96

X. PLEASURE AT CIREY                                                 106

XI. THE AFFAIR DESFONTAINES                                          117

XII. FLYING VISITS TO FREDERICK                                      127

XIII. TWO PLAYS AND A FAILURE                                        137

XIV. VOLTAIRE AS DIPLOMATIST AND COURTIER                            149

XV. THE PO