[Born at Chatenay, in France, 1694. Died in Paris, 1778. Aged 84.]
This extraordinary Intellect was not, as is generally supposed, an
atheist. Voltaire was not destitute of the sense of moral
responsibility; and he hardly believed in the immortality of the soul;
but it was from his pen that fell the startling confession that, “if God
did not exist, it would be necessary to invent his being.” Voltaire was
richly endowed. He wrote the best epic poem in the French language; his
tragedies, full of strength and passion, take high rank; his satire is
cutting and inimitable, and his historical writings are full of life and
movement. Wrapt up, however, in the philosophical spirit of the
eighteenth century, he was ever incapable of judging justly of the
greatness of minds who had received the prejudices of less enlightened
times. For forty years, he led a life of incessant literary action: part
of that time he was forced, in consequence of his satirical writings, to
live in England, where he became the intimate of Bolingbroke, Toland,
and other deists. In 1749, he visited Berlin, on the invitation of
Frederic the Great. Always a persevering and acrimonious enemy of
Christianity, he laughed at Revelation; and, a sneerer at hereditary
orders, he helped largely to the overthrow of the monarchy in France. He
did not live to witness the Revolution; but it is said that he lived
long enough to be horrified at his infidelity. It must be noted to his
honour, that whilst he ridiculed all things in which he had no faith, he
was sincere in his maintenance of the rights of humanity, and in his
denunciations of injustice. He was the idol of all who read and talked
in France in his time.
[From the marble, by Houdon, done in 1778, and signed by him in the
Théâtre Français. There is a fine seated statue of Voltaire in the
Théâtre Français by Houdon considered to be his _chef-d’œuvre_ as a
portrait statue, and remarkable for the noble style in which the
subject is treated. Copies of the same bust and statue exist at
Versailles.]
233A. FRANÇOIS MARIE AROUET DE VOLTAIRE. _Historian, Poet, and Wit._
[By Pajou.]