Duke of Orleans, then Prince
Regent. Accused of writing two libels, he was arrested, May 16, 1717,
and sent to the Bastile, in which prison he spent eleven months. While
here he gave himself to serious literary labor. At this time he
changed his name, and was henceforth known as Arouet de Voltaire. The
origin of the new name is one of the disputed problems of biography.

Released from the Bastile, he was, according to custom, ordered into
exile, being permitted to go to a place owned by his father in the
village of Chatenay. In October, 1718, he was permitted formally to
return to Paris. In the spring of the following year he was suspected
of having written the "Philippiques," and was banished informally from
Paris. Most of this period he spent with Marshal Villars, and gathered
more of those reminiscences, which he used with so much skill later in
his career, besides making harmless love to the duchess, the wife of
his host. In 1721 his father died, leaving him an income of about four
thousand livres a year, and this was further increased by a pension of
two thousand livres a year from the Regent in recognition of his
ability as a dramatic writer.

Several years were spent in Paris in literary labors and in acquiring
powerful friends and more powerful enemies; among the latter was the
Chevalier de Rohan, who insulted Voltaire on different occasions,
which led to sharp replies from the caustic youth. The chevalier hired
some roughs to give him a caning. Voltaire could get no one to take
his part, so he challenged the chevalier to a duel. The challenge was
accepted, but on the morning of the day appointed for the meeting the
Government interfered by kindly arresting Voltaire and putting him
again in the Bastile.

After fifteen days of imprisonment he was released on condition that
he would go to England. The chief turnkey of the Bastile was
instructed to go as far as Calais with the troublesome prisoner, in
order to be sure that he was forwarded to his destination. Nothing in
Voltaire's history did more to form his career than his visit to
England. He made a good deal of money there, and it is said, laid the
foundations of his fortune. He formed acquaintances among the foremost
literary men of that nation, such as the Walpoles, Bubb Doddington,
Bolingbroke, Congreve, Sir Everard Falkener, and the poet Pope. The
effect of these associations in the literary career of Voltaire is
marked. They deepened and broadened his