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And to begin this chapter, we cannot do better than quote a part of a letter from M. l'Abbe O'Flaherty to Madame la Comtesse de X -at Paris: "MADAM, The little Arouet de Voltaire, who hath come 'hither to take a turn in England, as I see by the Post of this morning, hath brought me a charming pacquet from your Ladyship's hands, which ought to render a reasonable man happy; but, alas! makes your slave miserable.
On the contrary, the young fellow got into scrapes again; got into amatory intrigues, young lady visiting you in men's clothes, young lady's mother inveigling, and I know not what; so that the Ambassador was glad to send him home again unmarried; marked, as it were, 'Glass, with care! And the young lady's mother printed his Letters, not the least worth reading: and the old M. Arouet seems now to have flung up his head; to have settled some small allowance on him, with peremptory no hope of more, and said, 'Go your own way, then, foolish junior: the elder shall be my son. M. Arouet disappears at this point, or nearly so, from the history of his son Francois; and I think must have died in not many years.
And the dying man stretched out a bony hand, making a gesture that they should depart, and murmured, "Let me die in peace." "You see," said the Curé to the Abbe, as they withdrew, "you see that he is out of his head!" The father of Voltaire, Francois Arouet, was a notary who looked after various family estates and waxed prosperous on the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table.
Such was the beginning, such the end of that Congress, which Arouet LE JEUNE, in 1722, saw as a contemporary Fact, drinking champagne in Ramillies wigs, and arranging comedies for itself. Made Europe lurch suddenly to the other side, as we phrased it, other gunwale now under water. Wherefore, in Heaven's name, trim your ship again, if possible, ye high mediating Powers.
"My language is my own; my sentiments are those of all men," answered Hamilton: "but are we not, by the by, to have young Arouet here to-night? What a charming person he is!" "Yes," said Boulainvilliers. "He said he should be late; and I expect Fontenelle, too, but he will not come before supper. I found Fontenelle this morning conversing with my cook on the best manner of dressing asparagus.
I wager that long-legged, lightning-eyed Voltaire will have something to say about you, before you get to Paris. But give those Paris people one month, and they will forget all about you." To which, Count Saxe, grinding his teeth, was obliged to agree. It was certainly true that Arouet, the notary's son, would crack some of his infernal jokes upon our unhappy expedition.
Who, in fact, was not the Author; but was not believed on his denial; and saw himself, in spite of his high connections, ruthlessly lodged in the Bastille in consequence. 'Epic Poem, no less; LA LIGUE, as he then called it; which it was his hope the whole world would one day fall in love with; as it did. Law may be considered hopeless, even by M. Arouet Senior.
One night at the Opéra the Chevalier de Rohan-Chabot, of the famous and powerful family of the Rohans, a man of forty-three, quarrelsome, blustering, whose reputation for courage left something to be desired, began to taunt the poet upon his birth 'Monsieur Arouet, Monsieur Voltaire what is your name? To which the retort came quickly 'Whatever my name may be, I know how to preserve the honour of it. The Chevalier muttered something and went off, but the incident was not ended.
"But," I faltered, "she seems a mere child." "Yes, but none the less charming," and he turned away to continue his interrupted conversation with the daring young Arouet, the same who was to acquire universal fame under the name Voltaire. Thus rudely were my new-awakened hopes of love cast down. A wife, and the wife of a friend!
On the next leaf would figure the gentleman with the black coat and white cravat, as he looked when he came and entertained her with stories concerning the death of various little children about her age, to encourage her, as that wicked Mr. Arouet said about shooting Admiral Byng.
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