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in all nations of the earth, where letters have flourished, falfe wit has fucceeded true genius.

It is here that our Author concludes the prefent memoir. For though the following ages, down to the conclufion of the Eaftern empire, produced poets, whofe works are extant, and not all contemptible; fuch as Dionyfius Periegetes, Oppian, Nonnus, Quinctus Calaber, Coluthus, Tryphiodorus, and others, not to mention Chriftian poets, and feveral whofe fragments we have in the Anthologics; yet as thefe are all much inferior to their predeceffors, and are all fcattered far and wide through a long tract of time, that forms no fixed epocha or period, M. MERIAN paffes them by. He promifes us, however, that he will follow, in another memoir, the fugitive mufes to Latium, and vifit them in Rome, the mistress of the world. He does not tell us when he will take this trip; but whenever it is, we fhall willingly be of the party, for we think him exceeding good company in fuch a journey.

Concerning the Philofophy of Hiftory, by M. WEGUELIN,-the Fifth and Laft Memoir.

We have already given our opinion of the chiaro obscuro manner of this Academician, in which the obscuro so predominates, that it requires a great deal of analytic labour to come at the valuable fum and substance of what is contained in his Memoirs. The matters, treated in this last Memoir, are the difference between truth and probability;-the various degrees of the latter, and the application of the rules that muft guide us in its pursuit to a great diverfity of cafes and objects that occur in hiftorywriting. There are feveral ftreaks of light in this piece that furnish matter of useful reflexion.

Memoir concerning an expedition executed by the troops of the emperor Otho the Great, before the city of Troyes in Champagne. By M. de FRANCHEVILLE.

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Memoires et Anecdotes pour fervir à l'Hiftoire de Voltaire depuis ja Naiffance jafqu'à sa Mort, &c.—Memoirs relative to the History of M. de VOLTAIRE, from his Birth to his Death, preceded by his Eulogy, which obtained the Prize of the French Academy in the Year 1779,-and followed by the Pieces that were published on Occafion of his laft Vifit to Paris, and his Tragedy of Irene. Paris. 12mo. 1780.

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HE anecdotes and memoirs which, alone, we propofe to give an account of here, make but a fmall part of this publication. Some of them are trite and ftale, others are new, or not generally known; and they are all, more or lefs, a proper object of curiofity, as they regard an extraordinary man, who divided too violently the fuffrages of Europe to render it 6

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poffible that his character fhould be juftly appreciated fo foon after his demife.-How far we may depend upon the truth of thefe anecdotes, we cannot pretend to fay: the work is anonymous, and the Author is unknown to us; but he feems to be well informed, well acquainted with his fubject: and he tells us feveral things that may prove interefting to thofe who make much of Voltaire: we fhall pick up here and there, for the entertainment of fuch, a handful of thefe anecdotes.

It is well known, that the first period of Voltaire's youth was not paffed in obfcurity.-He was very early in life admitted to the company of the abbé Chaulieu, the marquis de la Fare, the duke de Sully, the abbé Courtin; and he ufed often to fay, that his father thought him undone, because he kept good company and made verfes.- But we never fhould have thought, that at any period, or moment of his life, Voltaire was thoughtlefs of literary fame, and therefore the following anecdote did not a little furprise us: When Oedipus was offered to the comedians, they difcovered a reluctance to act a piece, which feemed to contend for the prize with a tragedy of Corneille, on the fame fubject; it was, however, brought upon the stage, by dint of influence, and fplendid protection, in the year 1718. The young bard was fo little awed by this critical moment, and fo little attentive to the fuccefs of his tragedy, that he was playing tricks, upon the stage, during the reprefentation, and carried, in a ludicrous manner, the train, or rather the tail, of the highprieft, in a scene in which that grave perfonage made a very tragical appearance. The duchefs de Villars afked, who was the young man that was thus playing off the powers of pleafantry and ridicule against the fuccefs of the piece; and being told it was the author himself, fhe fent for him immediately, and commenced an intimacy with him, into which the marshal entered with cordiality, for his part, and which lasted as long as their lives.

Voltaire used to say, that when he began to compofe his Oedipus and his Henriade, he had no hopes of finishing them, and neither knew the rules of tragic nor of epic poetry. The latter was begun at the country feat of M. de Caumartin, fuperintendant of the finances, whofe extraordinary veneration for the memory of Henry IV. tranfmitted a high degree of enthu siasm into the fancy of the young bard, and animated him to undertake the arduous work. Having read, one day, several cantos of this poem, at the house of the young prefident Des Maifons, the company affailed the poet with a multitude of ob jections, which fo much irritated his natural impatience (which never could bear contradiction or oppofition of any kind), that he threw his manuscript into the fire, and it would have perished in the flames, had it not been fnatched from them by the prefi

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dent Henault, at the expence of a fine pair of ruffles, which were burnt in the undertaking.

His tragedy of Mariamne, at its first reprefentation in 1722, was put out of countenance by the pleafantry of a cabal, which was formed in oppofition to the growing reputation of the Auther. While Mariamne was putting to her lips the fatal cup, the cabal cried out, filence-the queen drinks, and the piece fell. The mortifications Voltaire received from this cabal, determined him to publifh his Henriade in England; where his work, by the influence of the king and the princess of Wales (afterwards queen Caroline), was honoured with a numerous fubscription. His tragedy of Brutus, though one of his moft vigorous productions, was feverely criticized. His Zara drew many tears, but excited, though very unjustly, more hiffes: it was parodied at the Italian Theatre of the Fair; and when its Author, by the intervention of fome friends, was candidate for a vacant place in the French academy, Mr. Boze declared, that the writer of Brutus and Zara could never come into confideration for a preferment of that kind. If this be true, it is an indelible reproach either on the tafte or candour of Mr. Boze.

About this time Voltaire applied himself to ftudies of a more ferious kind. He compofed his Elements of the Philofophy of Newton; and his embracing the ideas of this great man, in natural philofophy, and of Mr. Locke in metaphyfics, exposed him to the refentment and oppofition of a new fet of adverfaries; for the French were as yet Cartefians, almost to a man. It was on this occafion that Voltaire, in a letter to Sir Everard Falkner, hit off a curious line of the character of that people in the following remarkable paffage: It is generally imagined that the French are fond of what is new: but this is only true with refpect to ragouts and modes; for new discoveries in science are profcribed among us; and truths and inventions must be old before they can get admittance.'

There is an anecdote, relative to this publication, which our Author has not mentioned, and which (confidering the title of his work) had a right to a place in it. It is pretty generally known, that Voltaire compofed this Lilliputian miniature of the Newtonian philofophy to facilitate his admiffion to the Academy of Sciences; a literary honour that he fought with eagernefs, but never obtained. When, therefore, his philofophical Vade Mecum was publifhed, he fent prefents of it to all the academicians, and to all the gentlemen and ladies who dabbled in philofophy in the great city of Paris and its purlieus. The title of the piece was, La Philofophie de Newton mife à la Portée de tout le Monde.-i. e. The Philofophy of Newton adapted to every Capacity. A literary wag (the abbé Desfontaines) knowing the prefents that had been made of the book, and bearing

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no good-will to the author, raised an univerfal laugh against him, by obferving to the public, that there was a prefs-error in the title of Mr. Voltaire's book; and that, inftead of à la portée (within the reach), it was neceflary to read à la porte (at the door); because the author had, in effect, laid his book, or the Philofophy of Newton, at every body's door.

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The anecdotes of Voltaire's life, relative to his literary labours; his advancement to the place of chamberlain to the king, by the intereft of Madame de Pompadour; his connections and misunderstandings with the king of Pruffia; and the various fteps, by which he arcfe to opulence and reputation, are well known, and therefore need not be repeated here. Our Author relates them with fimplicity and truth; and his narration of the laft fcene, that concluded the life of this fingular man, is equally impartial. There is, indeed, no gravity of recital that can prevent its appearing one of the most ridiculous farces that could poffibly be exhibited in such a serious moment. We fhall give it in the words of our Author, only with fuch abridgments as are neceffary to reduce it within the bounds of an extract.

Had Voltaire remained at Ferney, where he felt the calm pleasure of a delicious rural retirement, far removed from the noife of folly, embellished by acts of beneficence, and enjoyed with a kind of dignity, amidft the homage that was paid, by a multitude of admirers, to his wit and genius, his enemies would -have beheld his end with a certain mixture of humanity and respect; and would, at leaft, have been deprived of that ample vengeance, which they drew from the ridicule that covered his. fetting fun.-But a strange inquietude, increased by the importunate and urgent folicitations of his friends, brought him from Ferney to Paris, about the beginning of the year 1778, accompanied by his niece Madame Denis, and Madame de Villette. He lodged in the houfe of the latter; and, for a whole week after his arrival, he received the vifits of courtiers and citizens in his night-gown and night-cap. His apartments had the afpect of a levée.-Nobles, ladies, philofophers, poets, comedians, reps, and muficians-known and unknown-conducted thither by admiration or curiofity, were prefented to the Bard of Ferney; who, in the intervals of each vifit, retired to his cabinet to dictate to his fecretary the corrections he was making in his tragedy of Irene; the representation of which was one of the principal objects that brought him to Paris.

The 12th of February, two days after he came to Paris, the French Academy fent a deputation of three of their members to compliment him on his arrival.-The 13th, the company of comedians performed the fame ceremony; and their speech, not inferior to that of their predeceffors, was answered with the greatest affability by the aged poet, who told them, that he

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lived now only for them and by them-meaning, no doubt, that the only comfort he expected in the remainder of his days was to fee Irene well acted.-Several repartees and bons mots passed on this occafion between M. de Voltaire, Madame Veftris, and Mademoiselle Arnoux, ladies of the ton, who came at the tail of the deputation.

Thefe oblations of incenfe, mingled with lively conversation, and exertions of wit, made a fad wafte in the animal fpirits of the aged bard, and exhaufted him fo, that hand-bills were fometimes fent about in the morning to inform the public, that, on fuch a day, there would be no general audience. However, even on these excepted days, particular favourites, fuch as Madame Necker, Madame Veftris the actress, and Dr. Franklin were admitted. The embraces and expreffions of affection and tenderness that paffed between Dr. FRANKLIN and VOLTAIRE have been mentioned in all the European and American newspapers, and have produced various effects upon the mufcles of the face, according to the refpective notions or creeds of each reader.

It was a painful task for the celebrated bard of Ferney, after many years spent in a peaceful retirement, where he was repofing his aged head upon his literary laurels, to be obliged (for fo he thought himself) to maintain the reputation he had acquired, by perpetual fallies of wit, humour, and elegant repartee; and thus to fhew, that he had loft none of his urbanity or court-manners among his milk-maids and pealants. He was, moreover, obliged to reftrain the effufions of another kind of humour, which had its free courfe at Ferney.-This prodigality of animal spirits, on the one hand, and thefe efforts of felf-government on the other, exhaufted his strength; and thefe attacks being feconded by the fuffocations of flattery coming from mouths innumerable, and of all kinds, (which made him cry out, they fifle me! but it is with rofes!) reduced him to the greatest weakness.

-This was ftill farther increafed by a certain fermentation, which feveral poignant fatires, that were addreffed to him amidft a multitude of panegyrics, produced in his mind. Among thefe there was a poem full of wit and bitter malignity, which reprefented him as a rare animal, that was to be feen at the marquis of Villette's, and whofe qualities are described with a great deal of humour, and in fuch a manner as to render the application eafy.

The clergy, if we may credit our Author (and the thing is not at all improbable), were deeply and painfully affected by the honourable reception which this old champion of infidelity met with at Paris; and as they knew that neither the King nor monfieur (the count de Provence) were difpofed to patronize him, they employed all the means that zeal and fagacity could fug

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