Illustrated biography; or, Memoirs of the great and the good of all nations and all times; comprising sketches of eminent statesmen, philosophers, heroes, artists, reformers, philanthropists, mechanics, navigators, authors, poets, divines, soldiers, savans, etc . lentswhich warranted the highest expectations ; and having recited from memory apoem of Rousseau, before the celebrated Ninon de 1Enclos, she was so pleasedwith the talent of the boy, that she left him a legacy of two thousand livres topurchase a library. His father intended him for the law, but he declined tofollow the profession, an
Illustrated biography; or, Memoirs of the great and the good of all nations and all times; comprising sketches of eminent statesmen, philosophers, heroes, artists, reformers, philanthropists, mechanics, navigators, authors, poets, divines, soldiers, savans, etc . lentswhich warranted the highest expectations ; and having recited from memory apoem of Rousseau, before the celebrated Ninon de 1Enclos, she was so pleasedwith the talent of the boy, that she left him a legacy of two thousand livres topurchase a library. His father intended him for the law, but he declined tofollow the profession, and assiduously cultivated his taste for literary pursuits. In 1716, he was imprisoned in the Bdstile, on an unfounded suspicion ofhaving written a l:bel on the government; and, while there, he formed the planof the <! Henriade, and completed the tragedy of CEdipus, which was repre-sented in 1718 with singular success. A second unjust confinement in theBastile induced him to take up his residence in England for three years, wherehe was favorably received, and obtained a most liberal subscription for hisHenriade. On his return to France in 1730, he published his Brutus,which was followed by Zara, the most affecting of his tragedies. His next 940 Voltaire. work, the Lettres Philosophiques, gave such offence by its profaneness, thatthe parliament of Paris condemned the book to be burnt, and warrants wereissued, for apprehending the author. He therefore passed some years in con-cealment at Cirey, near Yassi, in Champagne, where he was treated with thegreatest kindness by the mistress of the estate, the marchioness du Chatelet,and wrote his Siemens de la Philosophic de Newton, to make his country-men acquainted with the great discoveries of the English philosopher. Healso produced the plays of Alzira and Mohammed, which last was cen-sured as immoral and irreligious; but his Merope, brought out in 1743, wasreceived with such applause, that the poet became a favorite at co
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectbiography, bookyear18
