This gentleman, whom let me present to Monsieur Sherlock, is a Jesuit—he wears his hat; I am a poor invalid—I wear my nightcap.'
In the course of dinner, Mr Sherlock asked how he had found la chère Anglaise?—which may be translated either "the English fare," or "the dear Englishwoman." The reverend gentleman's question of course related to the diet; but the gay Voltaire, taking it mischievously in the other sense, replied, "I found her very fresh and white."
"Many subjects were talked of pleasantly, English and French; and Voltaire remarked, 'When I see an Englishman subtle and fond of lawsuits, I say, "There is a Norman, who came in with William the Conqueror;" when I see a man good-natured and polite, "That is one who came with the Plantagenets;" a brutal character, "That is a Dane:" for your nation, Monsieur, as well as your language, is a medley of many others.'
"After dinner, passing through a little parlour, he took me by the arm and stopped me. 'Do you know this bust?' (of Sir Isaac Newton.) 'It is the greatest genius that ever existed. If all the geniuses of the universe were assembled, he should lead the band.'
"It was of Newton, and of his own works, that M. de Voltaire always spoke with the greatest warmth."
Not only did work of a cast suited to the gravity of age continue to occupy the last years of his long life, but those lighter pieces, products of the exuberant fertility and impulsive fancy which are the attributes of youth, were as numerous as ever. Only they took a deeper tone, and one always deepening as he consciously drew nearer and nearer to that close which for him, steadfastly gazing on it, was wrapt in impenetrable
