VOLTAIRE 252 VOLTERBA longing to the Marchioness du Chatelet, a lady celebrated for her love of mathe- matics and abstruse sciences, and who read Leibnitz and Newton in the original Latin. During the several years of his residence with Mme. du Chatelet, a con- nection which Lord Brougham defends as entirely Platonic, he wrote, between other works, his "Elements of the Phil- osophy of Newton," in which he ex- plained fhe theories of the great dis- coverer, with clearness, elegance, and learning, though perhaps not always 'vith accuracy. A new epoch opened in his life, when, in 1736, he was flattered by a letter from Frederick, Prince-royal of Prussia, afterward Frederick the Great. These two remarkable men first met after the accession of Fredei'ick to the throne in 1740. The meeting was at a chateau near Cleves, and a second took place soon after at Berlin. The first Silesian war separated them, and Vol- taire returned to Holland. They con- tinued, however, to correspond. For a while, in 1746, Voltaire removed to Paris, where he received the appointment of historiographer of France and gentleman of the king's bed chamber. He was at the same time received at the Academy. Soon losing favor at the court, he ac- cepted, in 1750, the often renewed invita- tion of Frederick II. to settle at his court. Frederick received him with transports of joy. He was lodged in the apartments of the Marshal de Saxe; the king's cooks, servants, and horses were placed at his disposal; he was granted a pension of $4,000; and he and the king studied together for two hours a day, while he was welcomed to the king's table in the evening. At first the con- nection seemed a charming one, but Vol- taire soon learned by demonstration, not only that courts are wearisome places, but that Frederick of Prussia and Francois Arouet were too much like each other to become real friends. Their in- timacy, chiefly fruitful in jealousies, dis- sensions, and all kinds of uneasiness, ended after three years by the flight of Voltaire. At Frankfort he was joined by his niece, Mme. Denis; and at the same city he was arrested by the Prussian res- ident, and detained till a volume of Frederick's poems was given up. After a short stay at Colmar, and some trouble about his "Essay on Morals" he settled with Madame Denis at Ferney, then a mere hamlet, near the Genevese terri- tory. There he passed the last 20 years of his life, unwearied in writing, and at the same time active in promoting the in- terests of the little village, which, under his fostering care, grew up into a neat little town, and became the seat of a flourishing colony of watchmakers. As the home of Voltaire, Ferney be- came a center of attraction for the most distinguished persons of all countries. Voltaire carried on correspondence with Frederick the Great and Catherine II. of Russia; pleaded eloquently and suc- cessfully for the Calas family; educated the grand-niece of Corneille, and gave her a marriage portion; and offered Rousseau an asylum. His books and his speculation in the funds had made him enormously rich, but he spent nobly his fortune, and the fugitives from the civil troubles of Geneva and other towns always found an asylum beneath his roof. At the age of 84, yielding to the impor- tunity of his niece, he once more visited Paris, where he brought out a new tragedy, "Irene." His whole journey and his reception there was one continuous splendid triumph. He was everywhere attended by crowds; occupied the direc- tor's seat at the Academy, was crowned at the theater ; and then exhausted by the excitement and loss of sleep, took opiates, and, after great suffering, fell into a lethargy, and so died. May 30, 1778. Among his latest words were these: "I die worshiping God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, but detesting superstition." The cure of St. Sulpice refused the rites of burial, and the body of the "great mocker" was interred by night in the abbey of Sullieres, whence it was removed at the Revolution and de- posited in the Pantheon. The works of Voltaire in the most complete editions, fill 70 volumes, 8vo. In addition to those already named, are the plays, "Zaire," "Mahomet," "Merope," and "Oreste"; the too celebrated poem "La Pucelle"; the "Story of Charles XIL"; the "Cen- tury of Louis XIV."; the "Essay upon the Morals and Wit of Nations"; the satirical novel, "Candide, the Optimist"; and the "Dictionary of Philosophy." VOLTAMETER, in electricity, an in- strument for measuring the work, and thus indirectly the strength of a voltaic current. This is done by the amount of electro-chemical decomposition, a certain current reducing a certain amount of hydrogen from water, silver or copper from their salts, etc. This must not be confounded with voltmeter. VOLTERRA, a town of Italy, province of Pisa; 5 miles from Saline, which is 48^ miles S. E. of Leghorn. It is sur- rounded by ancient walls with great gates, the chief of which is the Porta all'- Arca. The cathedral, opened in 1120, contains fine marble sculptures; the baptistry of St. Giovanni and the church of St. Francesco have valuable frescoes and other paintings. The citadel, founded in 1343, with a more modern
