t wwwgutenbergnet102310234 or filename 24689 would be found at wwwgutenbergnet246824689 An alternative method of locating eBooks wwwgutenbergnetGUTINDEXALL *** END FULL LICENSE *** The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at wwwgutenbergnet Title The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 14, No 384, Saturday, August 8, 1829 Author Various Release Date February 21, 2004 [EBook #11219] Language English Character set encoding ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE *** Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION VOL XIV, No 384] SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 1829 [PRICE 2d * * * * * Voltaire's Chateau, at Ferney [Illustration] Voltaire is the bronze and plaster poet of France Cheek by jowl with Rosseau, (their squabbles are forgotten in the roll of fame), you see him perched on mantel, bracket, _ecritoire_, and bookcase in short, their effigies are as common as the plaster figures of Shakspeare and Milton are in England How far the rising generation of France may profit by their household memorials--or the sardonic and satanic smile of their great poet--we will not pretend to determine; neither do we invite any comparison; although Voltaire, with all his trickseyings and panting after fame, never inculcated so sublime a lesson as is conveyed in "The cloud-capp'd towers," &c which are inscribed beneath the bust of our immortal bard But we turn from Voltaire and his stormy times to the seat of his retirement--Ferney, about six miles from Geneva; where he lived for twenty years; but in his eighty-fourth year actually quitted this scene of delightful repose for the city of Paris--there to enjoy a short triumph, and die The latter event took place in 1778 At pages 62 and 69 of vol xii of THE MIRROR, we have given a brief description of Ferney, with many interesting anecdotes, carefully compiled from a variety of authorities Here Voltaire lived in princely style, as Condorcet says, "removed from illusion, and whatever could excite momentary, or personal passion" According to M Simond, a recent tourist, the _chateau_ is still visited by travellers, and Voltaire's bed-room is shown in the state he left it The date of our view is about the year 1800, since which the residence has been much neglected and during the late war, it was frequently the quarters of the Austrian soldiers The gardens are laid out in the formal, geometrical style, and they command a view of the town and lake of Geneva The apartments of the ground-floor of the house are in the same state as during Voltaire's lifetime In the dining-hall is a picture, representing demons horsewhipping Freron[1] such was Voltaire's mode of perpetuating his antagonists [Footnote 1 Freron was an eminent journalist of the last century his criticisms procured him many powerful enemies, among whom was Voltaire] Of the purchase of Ferney, Voltaire thus speaks in his memoirs-- "I bought, by a very singular kind of contract, of which there was no example in that country, a small estate of about sixty acres, which they sold me for about twice as much as it would have cost me at Paris; but pleasure is never too dear The house was pretty and commodious, and the prospect charming; it astonishes without tiring on one side is the lake of Geneva, and the city on the other The Rhone rushes from the former with vast impetuosity, forming a canal at the bottom of my garden, whence is seen the Arve descending from the Savoy mountains, and precipitating itself into the Rhone, and farther still another river A hundred country seats, a hundred delightful gardens, ornament the borders of the lakes and rivers The Alps at a great distance rise and terminate the horizon, and among their prodigious precipices, twenty leagues extent of mountain are beheld covered with eternal snows" Upon Voltaire's settlement at Ferney, the country was almost a savage desert The village contained but fifty inhabitants, but became by the poet's means the residence of 1,200 persons, among which were a great number of artists, principally watch makers, who established their manufacture under his auspices, and exported their labours throughout the continent Voltaire also invited to Ferney, and afforded protection to, the young niece of the celebrated Corneille; here she was educated, and Voltaire even carried his delicacy so far as not to suffer the establishment of Madlle Corneille to appear as his benefaction The family of Calas, likewise, came to reside in the neighbourhood, and to this circumstance may be attributed the zeal which Voltaire evinced in their ill fate * * * * * DURHAM HOUSE, STRAND MARRIAGE OF LADY JANE GREY (_For the Mirror_) Why did ye me dysseyve, With faynyng fantzye agenst all equitie and right, The regall powers onjustly to receyve, To serve your tornes, I do right well perceyve; For I was your instrument to worke your purpose by; All was but falshed to bleere withall myn eye _Cavendish's Metrical Visions_ The short but eventful period between the death of the last Henry, and the succession of his bigoted and intolerant daughter Mary, presents a wide and fertile field for the inquiring mind both of the historian and philosopher The interest attached to the memory of the beauteous but unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, renders the slightest even