what splendor of reward. Alas, and the feat done was, to one of the
parties, so unspeakably contemptible! Voltaire pensively surveying Life,
brushes the sounding strings; and hums to himself, the carbuncle eyes
carrying in them almost something of wet:--

"MON Henri Quatre ET MA Zaire,
ET MON AMERICAIN Alzire,
NE M'ONT VALU JAMAIS UN SEUL REGARD DU ROI;
J'AVAIS MILLE ENNEMIS AVEC TRES PEU DE GLOIRE:
LES HONNEURS ET LES BIENS PLEUVENT ENFIN SUR MOI
POUR UN FARCE DE LA FOIRE."

["My HENRI QUATRE, my ZAIRE, my ALZIRE [high works very many], could
never purchase me a single glance of the King; I had multitudes of
enemies, and very little fame:--honors and riches rain on me, at last,
for a Farce of the Fair" (--OEuvres,--ii. 151). The "Farce" (which by no
means CALLED itself such) was PRINCESSE DE NAVARRE (--OEuvres,--lxxiii.
251): first acted 23d February, 1745, Day of the Wedding. Gentlemanship
of the Chamber thereupon (which Voltaire, by permission, sold, shortly
after, for 2,500 pounds, with titles retained), and appointment as
Historiographer Royal. Poor Dauphiness did not live long; Louis XVI.'s
Mother was a SECOND Wife, Saxon-Polish Majesty's Daughter.] Yes, my
friend; it is a considerable ass, this world; by no means the Perfectly
Wise put at the top of it (as one could wish), and the Perfectly Foolish
at the bottom. Witness--nay, witness Psyche Pompadour herself, is not
she an emblem! Take your luck without criticism; luck good and bad
visits all.

2. AND GOT INTO THE ACADEMY NEXT YEAR, IN CONSEQUENCE. In 1746, the
Academy itself, Pompadour favoring, is made willing; Voltaire sees
himself among the Forty: soul, on that side too, be at ease, and hunger
not nor thirst anymore. ["May 9th, 1746, Voltaire is received at the
Academy; and makes a very fine Discourse" (BARBIER, ii. 488).--OEuvres
de Voltaire,--lxxiii. 355, 385, and i. 97.] This highest of felicities
could not be achieved without an ugly accompaniment from the surrounding
Populace. Desfontaines is dead, safe down in Sodom; but wants not for
a successor, for a whole Doggery of such. Who are all awake, and giving
tongue on this occasion. There is M. Roi the "Poet," as he was then
reckoned; jingling Roi, who concocts satirical calumnies; who collects
old ones, reprints the same,--and sends Travenol, an Opera-Fiddler,
to vend them. From which sprang a Lawsuit, PROCES-TRAVENOL, of famous
melancholy