M. Arouet was deeply pained by the course his sonwas taking ; he considered the career of a literary manthat of disgrace and ruin. He proposed to him toaccept the office of counsellor to parliament; his sonreplied, that he would not buy, but earn, distinction.
His attempt with the academy, and the literary quarrelsthat ensued, raised his father’s inquietudes to the great-est height; he threatened his son with various marks ofhis severity, and the quarrel was becoming critical, whenthe marquis de Chateauneuf, ambassador to Holland,offered to take him with him to that country in thequality of page. His father readily consented to a planwhich removed him from a scene where his literaryambition was excited by rivalship, and fostered by ad-miration.
It is, as it appears to us, a most interesting task to 1714.inquire into the early days of such a man as Voltaire ; -dita^to find the exterior circumstances that influenced his ~ 0 'mind, and the passions that were excited in his un-formed character. The atmosphere of wit and gaietywhich Voltaire carried with him wherever he wentmade him a favourite; and this favour again impartedzest to his desire for literary advancement. His father’sopposition produced a thousand struggles in his mind,that tended, in the end, to give force to his inclinations:he became eager to exonerate himself, and to elevatethe profession which he wished to adopt; and this gavedignity to his endeavours. Now, torn from his partialfriends, and thrown on a new scene, his mind was yetfurther excited to gain strength. His curiosity, as tothe manners and peculiarities of a strange country, wasinsatiable: he carried everywhere his keen observingspirit; and his early travels out of France tended toenlarge his understanding, and shake his prejudices.
Youthful passion intruded to disturb his residence inHolland. Madame du Noyer was born a Protestant;she abjured her religion when she married ; and then,desirous of separating from her husband, she made re-ligion the pretext, and fled to Holland with her two'e 4