18th Century: Age of Enlightenment

Palomar · 2002-09-13 21:10:52

*The following is one of my favorite stories by Voltaire; it is
loaded with wisdom. And the sweetest thing about it: It's short.

"When the hospital of the Quinze Vingt was first founded, the
pensioners were all equal, and their little affairs were concluded by
a majority of votes. They dinstinguished perfectly, by the touch,
between copper and silver coin; they never mistook the wine of Brie
for that of Burgundy. Their sense of smelling was finer than that of
their neighbors, who had the use of two eyes. They reasoned very
well on the four senses; that is, they knew everything they were
permitted to know, and they lived as peaceably and as happily as
blind people could be supposed to do. But unfortunately one of their
professors pretended to have clear ideas in respect to the sense of
seeing things; he drew attention; he intrigued; he formed
enthusiasts; and at last he was acknowledged chief of the community.
He pretended to be a judge of colors, and everything was lost.

This dictator of the Quinze Vingt chose at first a little council, by
the assistance of which he got possession of all the alms. On this
account, no person had the resolution to oppose him. He decreed that
all the inhabitants of the Quinze Vingt were clothed in white. The
blind pensioners believed him; and nothing was to be heard but their
talk of white garments, though, in fact, they possessed not one of
that color. All their [seeing]acquaintances laughed at them. They
made their complaints to the dictator, who received them very ill; he
rebuked them as innovators, freethinkers, rebels, who had suffered
themselves to be seduced by the errors of those who had eyes, and who
presumed to doubt that their chief was infalliable. This contention
gave rise to two parties.

To appease the tumult, the dictator issued a decree, importing that
all their vestments were red. There was not one vestment of that
color in the Quinze Vingt. The poor men were laughed at more than
ever. Complaints were again made by the community. The dictator
rushed furiously in; and the other blind men were as much enraged.
They fought a long time; and peace was not restored until the members
of the Quinze Vingt were permitted to suspend their judgments in
regard to the color of their dress.

A deaf man, reading this little history, allowed that these people,
being blind, were to blame in pretending to judge of colors; but he
remained steady in his own opinion that those persons who were deaf
were the only proper judges of music."

[From _World Classics Library: Voltaire_]

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-09-15 11:19:00

*Posted by me to my mailing list:

Mining: Science vs. Superstition

The following is taken from _A Diderot Pictorial Encyclopedia of
TRADES & INDUSTRY, Volume 1_. I have used an asterisk where
Diderot used emphasis in the quoted text:

"There are, in the Encyclopedia, a number of illustrations which do
not support the text, but which were attractive enough that Diderot
was, presumably, reluctant to omit them. Something of the sort might
be the explanation of the device being used to locate the metallic
veins in the next plate [illustration]. It looks very much like a
divining rod--the 'dowsing' rod of American water diviners. [I'll
describe the illustration: The top half of it shows a small mountain
range to the reader's right, 3 men standing talking near the mountain
range, and another man walking away from them, holding a diving rod--
which is large and horseshoe in shape. To the reader's left is a
small hill with trees and bushes. The bottom half of this
illustration is 'cut-away'; it attempts to portray the ground beneath
the men, and veins of minerals and ores]. The text of the article on
mining, however, is very severe about the 'baguette divinatoire':

'on which people in some countries were weak enough to depend in
seeking metals. This is a *superstitious practice*, which sound
science has long since discarded.'

Sound science, indeed, classified the planning and design of mine
shafts as 'subterranean geometry,' and the Encyclopedist would,
presumably, have approved the rational patterning of excavation being
traced out, of which the basket of ore brought up [illustrated in
another plate] is the due reward.

Mining differed from other ventures requiring capital risk, in that
the entrepreneur was usually a landowner or nobleman, rather than a
bourgeois. Ownership of land as a rule carried with it mineral
rights, and exploiting them did not involve the stigma attaching to
commerce any more than did farming the surface.

Like everything else of which they disapproved in Europe, the
Encyclopedists blamed the backwardness of mining on supersitition and
idle nobility, the one abetting the other. Diderot cited as a
worthier example the energy of the German princelings, many of whom
both governed and mined their little states. These rulers even
maintained schools of rational mineralogy like the famous
Bergakademie at Freiberg-im-Sachsen, which brought science to bear on
technology. 'Subterranean geometry,' wrote the Encyclopedist,
flourishes only in Germany, where men 'have *interests* to discuss
the entrails of the earth.'"

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-09-24 11:54:38

*This web site was contributed to my mailing list by one of my members, regarding Benjamin Franklin [too bad it incorporates the word "rotten" in it, as the site is anything but!]:

http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-09-25 10:18:19

*Posted by me recently to my mailing list, quoting Voltaire:

::Aristotle, Descartes, and Gassendi::

"Aristotle begins by saying that incredulity is the source of wisdom;
Descartes has carried this sentiment still farther, and they have
both taught me to believe nothing they say. This Descartes,
particularly, after pretending to doubt, speaks in such an
affirmative manner of what he does not understand; he is sure of the
fact, when he is grossly mistaken in physics; he has built such an
imaginary world; his whirlwinds and three elements are so
prodigiously ridiculous, that I ought to suspect everything he says
upon the soul, after he has imposed upon me with respect to bodies.

He believes, or affects to believe, that we are born with
metaphysical ideas. I would as soon aver that Homer was born with
the Iliad in his head. It is very true that Homer, at his birth, had
a brain so constructed that having afterwards acquired poetical
ideas, sometimes fine, sometimes incoherent, or sometimes
exaggerated, at length composed the Iliad. We bring into the world
at our birth the seed of what afterwards displays itself in us; but
we have really no more innate ideas than Raphael and Michael Angelo
had at their birth pencils or colors.

Descartes endeavors to unite his scattered chimeras by supposing men
always to think; I would as soon imagine that birds never cease
flying or dogs running, because they are endowed with these abilities.

We need only consult a little of our experience and that of human
nature to be thoroughly convinced of the contrary; there is no man
mad enough to firmly believe he has thought all of his life, night
and day, without interruption, from the time of his being a foetus
till his last illness. The only resource of those who have defended
such a romance has been to say that we always think, but we do not
always perceive that we think. It might as well also be asserted that we
drink, eat, and ride on horseback without knowing it! If you don't
perceive that you possess any ideas, how can you affirm that you have
any? Gassendi ridiculed this extravagant system as it deserved. Do
you know what was the consequence? Gassendi and Descartes were both
pronounced atheists."

[Material taken from _World Classics Library: Voltaire_]

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-09-26 12:02:51

*Posted by me recently, to my mailing list. The web site referred to was recently posted here.

::Ben Franklin: Tornado Chaser! -and- Hot Air Balloons::

From the web site Armand contributed: "In 1743, Ben observed that
northeast storms begin in the southwest. He thought it was odd that
storms travel in an opposite direction to their winds. He predicted
that a storm's course could be plotted. Ben rode a horse through a
storm and chased a whirlwind three-quarters of a mile in order to
learn more about storms."

*Anyone who would fly a kite in a thunderstorm is sure to have chased
a tornado on horseback! What a man!

"In November of 1783, Ben happened to be in Paris, France working on
a Peace Treaty to end the American war against England. From his
hotel window, he was able to watch the world's first known hot air
balloon flight. The balloon lifted the Montgolfier brothers off of
the ground as the first human beings ever known to fly. Ben was very
interested in the idea of flight, predicting that one day balloons
would be used for military spy flights and dropping bombs during
battle. Soon, balloons were actually being used for recreation,
military, and scientific purposes. Even though they could not yet be
steered, many people volunteered to take a ride just for fun! Sadly,
Ben Franklin died three years before the first American hot air
balloon voyage. In 1793, Jean Pierre Blanchard lifted off from the
Walnut Street Prison Yard in Philadelphia, beginning the hot air
balloon craze in America."

*Hmmmm. I'm not familiar with the history of the hot air balloon at
all, but I do seem to recall a hot air balloon having been
illustrated in one of the plates for Diderot's INDUSTRY & TRADES
section of the Encyclopedia, regarding military matters. However, if
I recall correctly, that hot air balloon remained tethered to the
ground via very long ropes...thus, not actually a "flight", as
related at the web site. Interesting. I'll try to relocate the
illustration from the Encyclopedic plates.

Note: The Encyclopedia illustrations were drawn and printed decades before the hot air balloon flight witnessed by Franklin.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-10-01 10:38:57

*Recently posted by me to my mailing list. Voltaire would've felt right at home with the Mars Society, no doubt...

::Voltaire on Philosophical Systems & the Mechanical Arts::

"I believe that there never was a creator of a philosophical system
who did not confess at the end of his life that he had wasted his
time. It must be admitted that the inventors of the mechanical arts
have been much more useful to men than the inventors of syllogisms.
He who imagined a ship, towers considerably above him who imagined
innate ideas." [from _The Portable Voltaire Reader_].

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-10-05 11:31:03

*Voltaire's last home, Chateau de Fernex:

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes/VS … hateau.jpg

*A painting of Voltaire (to your left) greeting visitors [I love the way they dressed back then!]:

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes....rs.jpeg

*Voltaire's bedroom:

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes/VS … droom.jpeg

*The salon of Chateau de Fernex:

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes/VS … salon.jpeg

[url=http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes/VSA/images/salon.jpeg[/URL]]http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes/VSA/images/salon.jpeg[/URL][/url]

*Voltaire at his work table [in his elder years...and yes, he is without teeth by this point in his life because of his life-long chronically bad health; his teeth fell out in his early 50s]:

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes/VS … table.jpeg

*Voltaire talking with some local "common folk." He was interested in people of all walks of life. This is one of my favorites.

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes/VS … sants.jpeg

*Statue of Voltaire by Pigalle. The optimistic expression on Voltaire's face says a lot...

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7308/voltaire.gif

*Two portraits of Voltaire, at different ages:

http://www.visitvoltaire.com/voltaire_bio.htm

--Cindy

P.S.: Shaun, I think a certain starship captain has gotten ousted as my #1 weakness!

Palomar · 2002-10-10 13:48:53

*Benjamin Franklin's "The Rattlesnake as Symbol of America":

http://sln.fi.edu/qa99/musing3/index.html

--Cindy

Good old Ben!

Palomar · 2002-10-10 16:32:52

*I just found this wonderfully beautiful poem written by Thomas Paine, while I was browsing through some links relative to Benjamin Franklin. I posted it to my private mailing list, and want to share it here:

"In a chariot of light from the regions of the day,
The Goddess of Liberty came,
Ten thousand celestials directed her way,
And hither conducted the dame.
A fair budding branch from the gardens above,
Where millions with millions agree,
She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love,
and the plant she named Liberty Tree."

"The celestial exotic stuck deep in the ground,
Like a native it flourished and bore;
The fame of its fruit drew the nations around
To seek out this peaceable shore.
Unmindful of names or distinctions they came,
For freemen like brothers agree;
With one Spirit endued, they one friendship pursued,
And their temple was Liberty Tree.

"But hear, O ye swains ('tis a tale most profane),
How all the tyrannical powers,
Kings, Commons, and Lords, are uniting amain
To cut down this guardian of ours.
From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms,
Thro' the land let the sound of it flee:
Let the far and the near all unite with a cheer,
In defense of our Liberty Tree."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-10-10 16:38:41

*This web site will take you to a brief biography of Thomas Paine -and- includes the entire texts, for online reading, of his books "Common Sense"; "The Crisis"; "The Rights of Man"; and "Age of Reason."

http://www.ushistory.org/paine/

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-10-11 16:14:45

*Okay, I just now noticed [at another forum] that I mistakenly copied the photo link to Voltaire's salon twice, the 2nd of which was supposed to show him playing chess...with a wrap on his head. Maybe I can get it right this time!

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes/VS … chess.jpeg

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-10-16 10:42:03

*The following web link was found and contributed by a member of my private mailing list, Aline, who is from Brazil; d'Alembert is her favorite 18th-century philosophe. Aline is fluent in French and English, so her knowledge of d'Alembert excels mine. Apparently she's read, in French texts, that d'Alembert had a great sense of humor and kept the salons laughing with his intense physical imitations of everyone from opera singers to members of the government...complete with voice affectations and mannerisms. Besides being a salon jester, he was also an accomplished mathematician, was originally co-editor of "l'Encyclopedie" with Denis Diderot, and wrote articles pertaining to enlightenment philosophy. The web link came about as a cooperative project between school children and is wonderful:

http://asijonline.net/math/d_alembert/d_alembert.htm

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-10-16 13:05:05

*This web link was found and contributed by Aline, a member of my mailing list. It includes tidbits of information regarding astronomy in the 17th and 18th centuries, including illustrations and photos of equipment of the time:

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line … /seven.asp

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-10-23 14:24:23

*I posted this recently to my mailing list; I was discussing 3 books either about or by Denis Diderot [1713-1784] I've recently purchased, whose greatest contribution to the Enlightenment was producing [as editor and co-author] The Encyclopedia; the following is a partial quote of my discussion. Some scholars consider Diderot the "most human" of all the 18th-century French "philosophes," and I have posted material about him previously at this folder:

Regarding Diderot I found _Diderot's Selected Writings_, published in
1966. It was compiled by a Mr. Lester G. Crocker and includes a very
informative Introduction, a Chronology of Diderot's life, and Notes.
In this book is the quote of Jean-Jacques Rousseau in which he
praises Diderot: "A transcendant genius which had not equal in his
age." Mr. Crocker also tells us that by the 1740s [Diderot was born
in 1713], his brother, a religious fanatic, denounced Denis as "The
Antichrist." I also discovered [perhaps I knew this fact before, and
forgot it due to the tremendous amount of reading I do] that Diderot
wrote plays. A recurrent theme I've seen in Diderot's writings is
that of wishing mankind happiness, and encouraging people to not only
use their reasoning skills, but also to embrace their emotional
lives -- to feel, to experience, to express, and to ENJOY life. In
_Diderot's Selected Writings_ is this quote: "Extraordinary men lose
their eminence when their passions become dulled. Restraint destroys
the greatness and energy of nature. Consider that tree; you owe the
cool spread of its shade to the luxuriance of its branches, and you
will enjoy that shade until winter comes to strip away their
foliage. When superstition is allowed to perform the task of old age
in dulling the human temperament, we can say good-bye to all
excellence in poetry, in painting, in music." He also says, "To
attempt the destruction of our passions is the height of folly. What 'noble aim' is that of the zealot who tortures himself like a
madman in order to desire nothing, love nothing, feel nothing, and
who, if he succeeded, would end up a complete monster!"

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-10-25 10:16:55

*I posted the following to my private mailing list a short while ago:

::Who Was Vauvenargues?::

I asked this question in Message #311. I found the answer this
evening, while reading _The Age of Voltaire_ by Will & Ariel
Durant.

I will summarize the material in my own words; any direct quotes from
the book will be shown with quotation marks:

His name was Luc de Clapiers, the Marquis de Vauvenargues. He joined
the King's Army at age 18 and took part in a campaign which went very
badly, from 1741-1743. During a retreat from Prague his legs froze
from the winter's cold. His health deteriorated to the point where
he retired from the army. His career option after army service was to
be a diplomat. With Voltaire's help he had almost secured a diplomatic
position when he was struck down with smallpox. He survived, but his
face was disfigured from the smallpox. His eyesight also began to
fail and he developed a "chronic consumptive cough" that disabled him
from active life. Just how Vauvenargues became known to Voltaire isn't
related in the material I've read.

Vauvenargues found comfort in books. He said, "The best things are
common; you can purchase the mind of Voltaire for a crown." He
believed clarity was the "ornament of deep thought."

In 1746 Vauvenargues published "Introduction a la connoissance de
l'esprit humain." He then published "Reflexions et maximes," which
was 115 pages long. A year later, in a poor Parisian hotel, he died
at age 32. The Durants hail Vauvenargues and his early death as "the
Mozart and Keats of French philosophy." They also consider
Voltaire's eulogy of Vauvenargues as among the most eloquent and
poignant of all Voltaire's writings. I'd like to find and read this
eulogy!

Vauvenargues believed philosophy went through "fashions," like
costumes, music, architecture, etc. A few years before Jean Jacques
Rousseau came onto the philosophical scene with his idealization of
nature and equality of man, Vauvenargues wrote his own ideas of
nature and man:

1. He believed nature was a harsh struggle for power, and that
equality is a delusion: "Among kings, among peoples, among
individuals, the stronger gives himself rights over the weaker, and
the same rule is followed by animals and inanimate beings, so that
everything in the universe is executed by violence; and this order,
which we blame with some semblance of justice, is the most general
law, the most immutable, and the most important in nature."

2. As to human equality: "It is not true that equality is a law of
nature. Nature has made nothing equal; her sovereign law is
subordination and dependence...He who is born to obey will obey even
on the throne."

3. Vauvenargues believed free will is a "myth."

4. Vauvenargues believed in God. This surprised me. He felt that
only through faith could life and history have any meaning other than
that of everlasting strife and defeat.

5. The Durants point out that "the most individual feature" of
Vauvenargue's philosophy was his defense of the passions. He
believed the passions are not to be destroyed, as they are the root
of personality, genius, and vitality of thought: "The mind is the
eye of the soul, but not its force. Its force is in the heart; that
is to say, in the passions. The most enlightened reason does not
give us the power to act and to will...Great thoughts come from the
heart...Perhaps we owe to the passions the greatest accomplishments
of the intellect...Reason and feeling advise and supplement each
other turn by turn. Whoever consults only one of them, and renounces
the other, foolishly deprives himself of a part of the resources
given us for our conduct." Here, he reminds me of Diderot.

6. Vauvenargue believed in self-love, and considered it a rational
necessity and not a vice, as self-love is self-preservation. He also
advocated ambition, pointing out that no nation ever came to glory
without it...or individuals. However, he did point out his belief
that there are indeed real vices, which must be controlled by laws
and moral codes: "the science of government lies in guiding them
[vices] to the public good." He also believed there are true and
genuine virtues: "The first days of spring have less grace and charm
than the growth of virtue in a youth."

7. Though Vauvenargue had his concessions to Hobbes and La
Rouchefoucauld, and despite his own harsh experiences with ills in
his life, he retained his faith in mankind. Marmontel, his friend,
said of him: "He knew the world and did not despise it. Friend of
men, he ranked vice among the misfortunes [rather than among the
crimes] of men and pity held in his heart the place of indignation
and hatred...He never humiliated anyone...An unalterable serenity
concealed his pains from the eyes of his friends. To sustain
adversity one needed only his example; seeing the equanimity of his
spirit, we did not dare be unhappy before him."

Voltaire described Vauvenargues as "the most unfortunate of men, and
the most tranquil."

The Durants state: "One of the most gracious aspects of French
literature in the 18th century is the warm sympathy and friendly aid
that Voltaire, apostle of reason, extended to Vauvenargues, defender
of Pascal and the 'heart.' The youthful philosopher [Vauvenargues]
confessed his admiration for 'a man who honors our century, and who
is not less great, nor less celebrated, than his predecessors.' And
the older man [Voltaire] wrote to him in a moment of modesty, 'If you
had been born a few years earlier, my writings would have had more
worth.'"

I am very impressed with Vauvenargues as having been a complex,
thoughtful, and sincere man. No wonder he was fondly remembered and
loved by his contemporaries.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-11-01 14:06:53

*I posted this to my mailing list earlier today:

Subject: The Encyclopedists: Optimists -and- Realists

Quoting from the Mr. Stephen J. Gendzier's Introduction of _Denis Diderot, The Encyclopedia, Selections_, which he edited and translated:

"Reason as a tool in the hands of the philosophe had to be directed
by the proper needs of humanity, by the proper moral concern for all
living beings, not excluding Hugenots, Jews, Negro slaves, or even
animals...The Encyclopedists wanted to establish what we today call
civil rights and liberties...The new man of the Age of Enlightenment
not only lost his theological sense of original sin and pessimism; he
replaced these feelings with an epicurean sense of joy in existence.
Diderot's article 'Enjoyment' is a lyrical hymn to all the pleasures
of life, including the sexual ones. There is a defense of erotic
passions here that would have been as offensive to a Jansenist as the
subversive political and religious ideas in the Encyclopedia.

This uplift in man's spirit, this belief in progress, was -not- the
naive faith of dogmatic fools, as had been claimed by many
contemporaries and subsequent critics. They knew that progress was
slow and painful; they were well aware of political power; they knew
the nature of ignorance and fanaticism, which they saw all around
them. The reader has only to glimpse at the Foreward to Volume VIII
(1765) to realize that their optimism was tempered by moods of black
pessimism. But science, general enlightenment, and the observance
of just laws could make the difference, and they thought the battle
worth fighting -- as it is today, even with our recent history of
concentration camps and the imminent danger of nuclear holocaust."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-11-09 14:39:56

*Recently posted by me to my mailing list:

::The Importance of the Encyclopedia Project::

Mr. Stephen J. Gendzier, editor and translator of a book I have
regarding the Encyclopedia project and Diderot's role in it, has
summed up beautifully the primary importance of the Encyclopedia, and
what this project has meant to the Western world. As he has summed up
its attributes and results more eloquently than I can, I'll quote him briefly:

"The Encyclopedists helped to destroy the cliches, prejudices, and
ignorance of the past. They made fanaticism, superstition, and
intolerance unfashionable, calling these excesses by their proper
names. They broke the stranglehold of the Church on man's soul,
making it preferable for all religions to evolve a more humane
approach to human beings. Their liberal political ideas were
directly incorporated into the _Declaration of the Rights of Man and
the Citizen_, establishing a powerful tradition in western
civilization. The pursuit of happiness, the question of our time,
was a principle and a consequence of their thinking. Above all, the
inalienable rights of all individuals to follow their own ways of
life..."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-11-09 14:42:26

*Recently posted to my mailing list by me:

Madame de Pompadour was, to my current knowledge, the only female
presence in "l'Encyclopedie." She contributed the
article "Rouge." I'm glad this elegant and wonderful lady
decided to poke her satin-slippered toe into the project.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-11-20 23:21:26

"Thirteen years have passed since Voltaire's death. The Bastille has
fallen, the Reign of Terror has not yet commenced. One of the
revolutionaries is the Marquis de Villette. It is he who proposes
that the remains of Voltaire be brought from their provincial resting
place to Paris.

A triumphal procession to the capital, the coffin carried on a high
car decorated with laurel and escorted by a detachment of the new
National Guard.

At Paris the mayor meets it. Voltaire's remains are taken to the
ruins of the Bastille, and placed on an altar made from stones of the
fortress, and bearing the inscription -- 'Upon this spot, where
despotism chained thee, Voltaire, receive the homage of a free
people!'

From the Bastille the sarcophagus is carried to the Pantheon. It
rests now on a small tower forty feet high, drawn by twelve horses.
On the sides of the tower are such inscriptions as 'He defended
Calas, La Barre, Sirven, and Montbailly -- Poet, philosopher,
historian, he gave a great impulse to the human mind and prepared us
to be free -- He combated the fanatics -- He inspired toleration --
He claimed the rights of man against serfdom and feudalism.'

Behind the great car walk Belle-et-Bonne [Voltaire's adopted daughter
in his Ferney days] and her husband. A hundred thousand persons are
in the process, and half a million people look on.

The procession's first stopping place is the Opera House. Here the
song from the first act of Voltaire's _Samson_, 'People awake! Break
your chains!' is sung.

The next stop is the house of Villettes, on the Quai of the Monks,
the name of which has been changed by the revolutionaries to the Quai
de Voltaire. Here the car passes under a great triumphal arch. The
two daughters of Calas, wearing mourning, come forward and kiss the
sarcophagus.

On to the Theatre-Francais, now the Theatre of the Nation. The
theatre, too, is covered with inscriptions. One reads, 'He wrote
Oedipe at seventeen.' Another, 'He wrote Irene at eighty-three.'
Thirty-two medallions decorate the pillars, each bearing the name of
one of Voltaire's dramas. A crown and wreaths are placed on
Voltaire's statue.

At ten o'clock in the evening the sarcophagus isplaced in the
Pantheon."

-Victor Thaddeus, _Voltaire: Genius of Mockery_

***

Catherine the Great's high praise and gratitude:

"The Empress Catherine proves by her actions that, in Russia,
Voltaire has left friends. She buys Voltaire's library from Madame
Denis. 'I will regard it,' she says, 'As a precious trust, which
susceptible souls will never see without remembering that this great
man knew how to inspire human beings with the universal benevolence
which all his writings breathe, even those of pure diversion, because
his own soul was profoundly affected with it.' The library contains
6,210 volumes and she pays 135,000 livres for it.

She gives Voltaire's secretary, Wagniere, a pension, and asks him to
come to Petersburg to arrange the books on the shelves exactly as
they had been at Ferney. In Wagniere's presence Catherine the Great
again testifies to the debt she is under to the dead man. Bowing low
to a bust of Voltaire in the library, when she enters this for the
first time to look at the arrangement, the Empress turns to the
secretary and says, 'Monsieur, this is the man to whom I owe all that
I know, and all that I am.'"

[Victor Thaddeus, _Voltaire: Genius of Mockery_]

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-11-20 23:23:20

Of Voltaire's generosity:

"That Voltaire thirsted for wealth there can be no doubt...there is
ample evidence that his fingers began to itch whenever he thought
there were sous to be made. But Voltaire was no miser, nor was he
even selfish. He was generous to his relatives, his friends, his
tenants, the refugees who fled the rigors of Geneva to breathe the
free air of Ferney, and men and women of all kinds who came within
reach of his assistance. He could give with an open hand."

[Ben Ray Redman, _The Portable Voltaire Reader_]

***

Life at Ferney: The chateau was rebuilt, marshes were drained, and
hundreds of trees planted ["avenues of trees"]. There was horse
breeding, silkworm culture, bee keeping, lace making, manufacture of
silk and silk stockings [Voltaire personally wore pairs of these
stockings on his final visit to Paris, and made sure people knew they
were made in Ferney, i.e. advertising them!], watch- and clockmaking
[Catherine the Great purchased goods made in Ferney, including
clocks], assisting and caring for the residents of the village of
Ferney which included mitigation of feudal rights and the decrease of
taxes.

One particular matter which gave Voltaire the greatest pride and
pleasure in the village of Ferney [built on his land] was the
religious tolerance; he was happy to see Protestants and Catholics
talking with one another as neighbors, visiting each other when ill,
etc. -- something quite unknown elsewhere in Europe during his time.

Voltaire had so many visitors to Ferney that he called himself
the "Innkeeper of Europe." As there was no hotel in the village, the
visitors were given a meal and slept overnight in Voltaire's home.
Voltaire often had an average of *40* visitors in his home at the
same time! So generous.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-11-20 23:25:17

Guests of Voltaire's homes were treated to various forms of
entertainment by their host. We've discussed previously the plays
and operas performed in his private theaters; when Emilie was alive
she always took the lead female role, of course. According to
Voltaire, she had a "divine voice." Neighbors, servants, and guests
themselves were called upon to take a role and join in the
entertainment.

Voltaire also put on puppet shows; I presume marionette types of
puppets.

Another favorite entertainment was the magic lantern show. What's a
magic lantern show? That's what I wondered, and so immediately did a
search on Google. Here are two wonderful links which will provide
answers to your questions; the first web site provides "virtual"
magic lantern shows [if you enjoy the web site as much as I did,
please be sure to drop "Professor Clark" a note of appreciation]:

http://hometown.aol.com/larrykench/

Another marvellous web site:

http://www.victorianstation.com/history.htm

This web site discusses the "Fantasmagorie," which was a huge success
in Paris in 1799.

It would have been wonderful to sit and listen to Voltaire's
doubtless witty repertoire and story telling during magic lantern and
puppet shows; apparently his guests had a great time, for more than
one wrote that they laughed until nearly exhausted.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-11-20 23:26:28

Though a vivacious and gifted talker, Voltaire disliked "small
talk." He always stressed the importance of time, and not wasting it.

The laboratory at Cirey contained such equipment as air pumps,
thermometers, furnaces, crucibles, a telescope, microscopes, prisms,
compasses, and scales. Speaking of Voltaire's scientific interests,
both Nancy Mitford in _Voltaire In Love_ and the Durants in _The Age
of Voltaire_ mention Voltaire's experiments in a foundry in
neighboring Chaumont. He took notes of his experiments, of course,
and later study of these notes [after his death] revealed that he had
come very close to discovering oxygen. He and Emilie also both tried
to weigh fire, among other experiments.

I just recently learned that Voltaire sometimes went deer hunting for
exercise.

When Madame de Graffigny came to stay at Cirey for a few winter
months, she was ushered into her room by Emilie; she arrived in the
early evening, after dark. The glow of a candle in the corridor
approached her door as she and Emilie talked; Voltaire then appeared
in the doorway with his candle, waiting to be invited in. Mme de
Graffigny wrote in her diary that Voltaire embraced and kissed her
numerous times in greeting.

A visitor to Ferney reported that Voltaire loved sweet oranges,
stating "These must have been the forbidden fruit."

Rameau and Voltaire worked together on the "divertissement" for the
impending wedding of the Dauphin and the Infanta of Spain. Rameau
was considered to be "a bit mad," and Voltaire's friends complained
that he was wearing Voltaire out with constant demands, i.e. 8 verses
of music here should be shortened to 4; 4 verses of music there
lengthened to 8, and so on. Voltaire remained patient with Rameau,
and made the changes as requested. In yet another demonstration of
his consistent generosity, Voltaire requested that his portion of the
royalties for the "divertissement" go to Rameau.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2002-11-20 23:28:14

Images:

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Coffeehou … taire.html

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes/VS … galle.jpeg [A
different angle of the Pigalle statue; Voltaire's face looks, to me,
from this angle, pensive and serious as compared to a differently
angled photo I have in our Links section; in that photo, his face
appears very smiling].

http://www.newcastle.edu.au/discipline/ … vater/lav-
p19V.htm

***

Tribute from Ben Ray Redman, editor of _The Portable Voltaire
Reader_: "[Regarding reason over faith] Voltaire stands,
and will stand, as a landmark and a symbol; toweringly identified
with one notable stage of man's development; perfectly representing
one of man's possible responses to the challenge of life. And, for
those of us who are incapable of finding supernatural solace, the
rationalism of Voltaire -- with all its limitations -- must remain
the best hope and the best instrument that man has on earth."

I quite agree!

***

Humanitarian to the very end; Voltaire's last letter, a mere 4 days
prior to his death on May 30, 1778, at 83 years of age:

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/homes/VS … .1778.html

***

As I'm not a poet by any means, I'll close my birthday honors to
Voltaire by quoting a poem by the great Henry David Thoreau:

Every leaf in the forest
Every blade in the meadow
Lays down its life in its season
As beautifully as it was taken up

--Cindy

AltToWar · 2002-11-21 08:44:19

I saw on PNS last night that Voltaire was initiated into the Masons by Ben Franklin.

Palomar · 2002-11-21 10:10:42

I saw on PNS last night that Voltaire was initiated into the Masons by Ben Franklin.

*Yes, I saw the special on Benjamin Franklin you're referring to; it was great. What a man! I took lots of notes, and am going to share them with my mailing list. I have Carl Van Doren's Pulitzer-Prize winning biography of Franklin as well; I need to start reading it here soon [I'm currently reading 5-6 other books].

Here's a little additional something from my mailing list from quite a while ago:

>Yes, Msr Franklin did meet Voltaire; Msr Franklin ask for Voltaire
>to bless his grand-child, so Voltaire puts his hand on the head of
>the child and say "God and Liberty". When they meet in front of
>people, hand-shake not enough, the crowd will not satisfied until
>Voltaire & Franklin HUG each other. Then the crowd shouted with
>joy! :-) It is in history I read.
>
> ARMAND

*Yes, I've read this as well; BR Redman records it in the "Editor's
Introduction" of _The Portable Voltaire Reader_: "The scene was the
Academy of Sciences. The reporter was John Adams, writing in his
Diary. When the two famous men were introduced, they merely bowed
politely to each other, but this did not satisfy the assembled
audience. So, going a step further, they clasped each other by the
hand. But it was still not enough. Finally, they understood that
they were expected to embrace 'a la Francaise.' This they graciously
consented to do, whereupon, writes Adams,'the cry immediately spread
through the whole kingdom and, I suppose, over Europe, "How
delightful to see Solon and Sophocles embrace!"'".

Also, when Franklin met Voltaire in Paris, along with a long line of
other people, Voltaire insisted on conversing in English. He liked
to use English whenever he could [former visitors to Fernex, from
England, remarked with surprise that Voltaire's English was so good --
considering he hadn't been to England for decades, and then as a
very young man; all those years later, he retained a very good memory
of what English he'd learned, and was very careful to pronounce and
articulate as clearly as possible]. Franklin obliged him, of course,
and then the group standing around [French speakers] began to
complain that they couldn't understand the conversation. Voltaire
apologized to them in French, explaining he liked to use English
whenever he could. I think he also wanted to show off this
ability. He congratulated Franklin on the American effort
[post-1776] and expressed a desire to visit America if he were still
young enough to do so [I read of this in _Voltaire: Mockery of
Genius_ by Victor Thaddeus].

It would have been wonderful to see them together.

--Cindy

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