



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 POPE, THE POMPADOUR, AND “THE TEMPLE OF GLORY”               159

XVI. THE ACADEMY, AND A VISIT                                        167

XVII. COURT DISFAVOUR, AND HIDING AT SCEAUX                          175

XVIII. THE MARQUIS DE SAINT-LAMBERT                                  183

XIX. THE DEATH OF MADAME DU CHÂTELET                                 194

XX. PARIS, “ORESTE” AND “ROME SAUVÉE”                                206

XXI. GLAMOUR                                                         221

XXII. THE RIFT WITHIN THE LUTE                                       233

XXIII. THE QUARREL WITH MAUPERTUIS                                   249

XXIV. THE FLIGHT FROM PRUSSIA                                        265

XXV. THE COMEDY OF FRANKFORT                                         274

XXVI. THE “ESSAY ON THE MANNERS AND MIND OF NATIONS”                 286

XXVII. THE ARRIVAL IN SWITZERLAND                                    296

XXVIII. THE DÉLICES, AND THE “POEM ON THE DISASTER OF LISBON”        307

XXIX. “NATURAL LAW,” THE VISIT OF D’ALEMBERT, AND THE AFFAIR OF BYNG 318

XXX.   THE INTERFERENCE IN THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR, THE
“GENEVA” ARTICLE, AND LIFE AT DÉLICES                                329

XXXI. “THE LITERARY WAR,” AND THE PURCHASE OF FERNEY AND TOURNEY     344

XXXII. FERNEY                                                        356

XXXIII. “CANDIDE,” AND “ÉCRASEZ L’INFÂME”                            369

XXXIV. THE BATTLE OF PARTICLES, AND THE BATTLE OF COMEDIES           384

XXXV. BUILDING A CHURCH, AND ENDOWING A DAUGHTER                     401

XXXVI. THE AFFAIR OF CALAS                                           413

XXXVII. THE “TREATISE ON TOLERANCE”                                  429

XXXVIII. THE SIRVENS AND LA BARRE                                    446

XXXIX. VOLTAIRE AND GENEVA: VOLTAIRE AND LA HARPE                    463

XL. THE COLONY OF WATCHMAKERS AND WEAVERS                            481

XLI. THE PIGALLE STATUE, AND THE VINDICATION OF LALLY                497

XLII. LATTER DAYS                                                    514

XLIII. THE LAST VISIT                                                530

XLIV. THE END                                                        553


INDEX                                                                573




ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                             FACING PAGE

VOLTAIRE                                                   _Frontispiece_
_From the Statue by Houdon at the Comédie Française._

NINON DE L’ENCLOS                                                      6
_From an original Picture given by herself to the Countess of Sandwich._

J. B. ROUSSEAU                                                        32
_From an Engraving after a Picture by J. Aved._

LOUIS XV.                                                             40
_From the Picture by Carle Van Loo in the Museum at Versailles._

MADAME DU CHÂTELET                                                    70
_From an Engraving after Marianne Loir._

MADAME DE POMPADOUR                                                  152
_From the Painting by François Boucher in the possession, and by kind
permission, of Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild._

MARIA LECZINSKA                                                      172
_From the Picture by Carle Van Loo in the Louvre._

FREDERICK THE GREAT                                                  210
_From an Engraving by Cunejo, after the Painting by Cunningham._

MOREAU DE MAUPERTUIS                                                 238
_From an Engraving after a Painting by Tourmere._

LEKAIN                                                               292
_From an Engraving after a Painting by S. B. Le Noir._

THE CHÂTEAU OF FERNEY                                                334
_From an Engraving._

VOLTAIRE                                                             370
_From the Bust by Houdon._

MADEMOISELLE CLAIRON                                                 426
_From an Engraving after a Picture by Carle Van Loo._

VOLTAIRE                                                             486
_From the Etching by Denon._

LOUIS XVI.                                                           496
_From the Portrait by Callet in the Petit Trianon._

VOLTAIRE’S DECLARATION OF FAITH                                      506
_From the Original in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris._

“TRIOMPHE DE VOLTAIRE”                                               530
_From a Contemporary Print._




SOME SOURCES OF INFORMATION


Œuvres Complètes de Voltaire. _Beuchot._

La Jeunesse de Voltaire. _Gustave Desnoiresterres._

Voltaire au Château de Cirey. _Gustave Desnoiresterres._

Voltaire à la Cour. _Gustave Desnoiresterres._

Voltaire et Frédéric. _Gustave Desnoiresterres._

Voltaire aux Délices. _Gustave Desnoiresterres._

Voltaire et J. J. Rousseau. _Gustave Desnoiresterres._

Voltaire et Genève. _Gustave Desnoiresterres._

Voltaire. Son Retour et sa Mort. _Gustave Desnoiresterres._

Voltaire. _Morley._

Vie de Voltaire. _Condorcet._

Mon Séjour auprès de Voltaire. _Collini._

Mémoires sur Voltaire. _Longchamp et Wagnière._

Critical Essays. _Carlyle._

Vie de Voltaire. _Abbé Duvernet._

Le Roi Voltaire. _A. Houssaye._

Voltaire et son Temps. _F. Bungener._

Voltaire à Ferney. _M. Bavoux._

The Life of Voltaire. _James Parton._

Voltaire et le Président de Brosses. _Foisset._

Les Ennemis de Voltaire. _Charles Nisard._

Ménage et Finances de Voltaire. _Nicolardot._

Voltaire et le Voltairisme. _Nourrisson._

Voltaire au Collège. _Henri Beaune._

Voltaire et les Génevois. _Gabarel._

Vie Privée de Voltaire et de Madame du Châtelet. _Madame de Graffigny._

Voltaire’s Visit to England. _Archibald Ballantyne._

Voltaire, sa Vie et ses Œuvres. _Eugène Noel._

Voltaire et Rousseau. _Maugras._

Voltaire avant et pendant la Guerre de Sept Ans. _Duc de Broglie._

Bolingbroke and Voltaire in England. _Churton Collins._

Voltaire for English Readers. _Colonel Hamley._

Voltaire et Madame du Châtelet. _Havard._

Centenaire de Voltaire. _Victor Hugo._

Vie Intime de Voltaire aux Délices et Ferney. _Perry et Maugras._

La Physique de Voltaire. _E. Saigey._

Histoire Littéraire de Voltaire. _Marquis de Luchet._

Mémoires de Marmontel.

Mémoires, ou Essai sur la Musique. _Grétry._

Mémoires. _Madame de Genlis._

Mémoires sur la Vie de Ninon de l’Enclos.

Mémoires. _Président Hénault._

Mémoires. _Saint-Simon._

Mémoires. _Marquis d’Argenson._

Journal et Mémoires. _Marais._

Mémoires. _Madame d’Épinay._

Journal. _Collé._

Mémoires. _Comte de Ségur._

Mémoires et Correspondance. _Diderot._

Souvenirs d’un Citoyen. _Formey._

La Jeunesse de Florian, ou Mémoires d’un jeune Espagnol.

Mémoires de Madame du Hausset.

Mémoires et Lettres du Cardinal de Bernis.

Madame de Pompadour. _De Goncourt._

Letters of an English Traveller. _Martin Sherlock._

The State of Music in France and Italy. _Dr. Burney._

A View of Society and Manners in France, etc. _Dr. John Moore._

Mémoires. _Lekain._

Lettres. _Madame Suard._

Lettres et Pensées du Maréchal Prince de Ligne.

The Private Correspondence of Garrick.

Lettres du Chevalier de Boufflers sur son Voyage en Suisse.

Letters of Horace Walpole.

Frederick the Great. _Carlyle._

Frederick the Great and his Times. _T. Campbell._

Œuvres. _