He was not disappointed; King George the First and the Princess of Wales (afterwards Queen Caroline) distinguished him by their protection, and obtained a noble and liberal subscription for the Henriade, and his fortune also received a considerable increase by the sale of his writings. At his return to France, in 1728, he speculated very successfully with his English cash in a lottery established by M. Desforts, comptroller general of the finances. The adventurers received a rent-charge on the Hotel de Ville for their tickets, and the prizes were paid in ready money; so that if a society had taken all the tickets, it would have gained a million of livres. Voltaire joined with a numerous company of adventurers, and was fortunate.

The acquirement of wealth did not inter

rupt Voltaire in the cultivation of the Belles Lettres. In 1730 he produced Brutus, which is reckoned to be his most spirited tragedy; Condorcet speaks of it with enthusiasm; the opinion of Fontenelle coincided not with his; when he told the author of it that he had no genius for writing tragedy, for his style was too bold, pompous, and brilliant, Voltaire replied calmly, "Je vais donc relire vos pastoralles."

Voltaire now aspired to a place in the French academy, and may be deemed modest to have waited so long; but he had not even the honour of sharing the votes of the academicians. De Bose pronounced in a dictatorial manner that Voltaire should never be one of their dignified members. By that illiberal negative alone is De Bose remembered, while the memory of Voltaire is immortalised by the brilliancy of his genius.

In 1731 his interesting tragedy of Zaïre was performed, and affected most part of the audience to tears, yet it could scarcely be rescued from damnation. It was parodied at the Italian comedy at the fair, and

called The Foundlings, or Harlequin on Parnassus.

About the same period he wrote also Eryphile, and La Mort de César. The former was acted with no success, and the latter was not performed until some years after, at a college, but not suffered to be printed.

His elegy on the death of Mademoiselle Le Couvreur, for which he suffered persecution, and was obliged to quit the capital until it was forgotten, and the ill success of Adélaide Du Guesclin, a piece afterwards intitled Duc de Foix, which from the alterations and corrections met with a better reception under the new name; added to the treatment of his Lettres sur les Anglais, in which he made known to France the principal philosophers and poets of the English nation, a work which offended the bigots in power, (it was burnt by order of the parliament, and his own liberty threatened,) all conspired to make him seek for peace and happiness in retirement and friendship. The Marchioness du Chatelet offered him an agreeable asylum at Circy, on the borders

of Champagne and Lorraine. At this castle he had a gallery erected, where, with the illustrious and learned lady, he performed all the experiments on light and electricity. But those philosophical pursuits did not prevent his devotion to the Muses; at Cirey he wrote Alzire, Zulime, and Mahomet; there he finished his Discours sur l'Homme, wrote l'Histoire de Charles XII., planned Le Siécle de Louis XIV., and selected materials for his Essai sur les Mœurs et l'Esprit des Nations depuis Charlemagne jusqu'à Louis XIII.

Voltaire, who understood English very well, taught it to Madame de Chatelet, and in three months she was able to read with her instructor the favourite authors of the British nation. She learned Italian in as short a time, and when Algaroth visited Cirey, he found her skilled in his own language, and possessed of such philosophical knowledge that he profited by some excellent informations which she gave him, and he finished his Neutonianismo per le Dame during his visit at her castle.

The celebrated Koenig philosophized with them, in that retreat, for two years, and they enjoyed the society of many other learned guests. At Cirey, Voltaire was honoured with the correspondence of the Prince Royal of Prussia, who chose him for the confidant and director of his literary pursuits. He sent his portrait and his manuscripts to Voltaire, who returned the compliment by sending his own works to the young Frederic.

Mahomet was performed at Lisle in 1741, for he feared to risk it at Paris, where it was not acted until ten years after, and then with great applause. Zulime did not succeed. Merope appeared February the 26th, 1743. Without any aid from the interesting passion of love it affected the hearts of the audience. Mademoiselle Dumensnik gave the character all the most beautiful and empassioned tones of nature, and the pit applauded with enthusiastic rapture.

After this he became a favourite at court through the interest of Madame d'Etoile, afterwards the Marchioness of Pompadour.