the house at Cirey. But Ãmilie and Voltaire shook their heads in private over his Newtonianismo per le dame, which they thought too frivolous, with too many jokes and not enough stuffing. Ãmilie begged him to come whenever he liked and stay as long as he could. She pointed out that she and Voltaire each had an excellent library, hers being scientific and philosophical, and his literary and historical. Algarotti stayed, this first time, for a month, November 1735. When he left he turned out to be a poor letter-writer, and both the âEmiliansâ scolded him constantly; however, he made up for this by returning to Cirey for another long visit the following year.
Like all those who live in the country, Voltaire and Mme du Châtelet greatly depended on the post-bag. They complained loudly if they thought that their friends did not write often enough, though they seldom praised a letter, except from royal personages. LordHervey, with whom Voltaire had been intimate in London, would have been a more agreeable acquaintance, they said, were he capable of answering a letter. He did not even acknowledge a book that Voltaire sent him, which was not only unfriendly but rude. Thieriot, lazy and selfish, was, of course, a hopeless correspondent. Cideville was better: he lived in the country and had more time. DâArgental, the guardian angel, was perfection in this as in every other way; but then he lived for Voltaire, his only other interest in life being the Comédie Française. He had been so passionately in love with Adrienne Lecouvreur that he had asked her to marry him in spite of her profession, reputation and illegitimate children. After her death he married a charming person, much loved by Voltaire and Ãmilie, a second angel. He was a pillar of the theatre, had great influence with the actors, and was particularly useful to Voltaire when he could not be in Paris to rehearse his own plays. Voltaire never minded how much he bothered and teased dâArgental, knowing quite well that all the trouble he took was a joy to him.
Maupertuis wrote sometimes âfrom the poleâ. He went off, in 1736, to Lapland where he expected to prove that Newton was right and the Cassinis, father and son, were wrong about the shape of the earth. Newton said that it was flatter at the poles, while the Cassinis thought that on the contrary it was elongated. Maupertuis was to measure the length of a degree of the meridian. This expedition, which included another friend of Ãmilieâs, the scientist Clairaut, was financed by Louis XV; La Condamine was sent at the same time to the equator, Ãmilie told Richelieu that Maupertuis had only gone because he could not bear Paris without her. When Maupertuis duly brought back the measurements proving Newton to have been right he was said to have flattened the earth and the Cassinis; after this Voltaire dated letters to him such-and-such a time since the earth was flattened. Maupertuis also brought back a female Lapp who had enlivened his sojourn at the pole, and her sister. Les tendres Hyperboréennes seemed very much less attractive in Paris than in their native land; soon he longed to be rid of them. He opened a subscription to which Voltaire gave 100 livres and Ãmilie fifty; with the proceeds he placed one sister in a convent. The Duchesse dâAiguillonâs excellent butler found ahusband for the other, but she turned out to be a disappointing wife, in fact a whore.
From London they heard that a rich, elderly Mr Bond, great admirer of Zaïre, had taken Covent Garden and was putting it on there. He himself was to act the part of Zaïreâs Christian, nobly-born old father. On the night, he threw himself into it with such fervour that when the moment came for him to die in her arms, he did, actually, expire. This display of sensibility was very well received at Cirey.
They also heard from London that Everard Fawkener, now a knight, had been appointed
Like all those who live in the country, Voltaire and Mme du Châtelet greatly depended on the post-bag. They complained loudly if they thought that their friends did not write often enough, though they seldom praised a letter, except from royal personages. LordHervey, with whom Voltaire had been intimate in London, would have been a more agreeable acquaintance, they said, were he capable of answering a letter. He did not even acknowledge a book that Voltaire sent him, which was not only unfriendly but rude. Thieriot, lazy and selfish, was, of course, a hopeless correspondent. Cideville was better: he lived in the country and had more time. DâArgental, the guardian angel, was perfection in this as in every other way; but then he lived for Voltaire, his only other interest in life being the Comédie Française. He had been so passionately in love with Adrienne Lecouvreur that he had asked her to marry him in spite of her profession, reputation and illegitimate children. After her death he married a charming person, much loved by Voltaire and Ãmilie, a second angel. He was a pillar of the theatre, had great influence with the actors, and was particularly useful to Voltaire when he could not be in Paris to rehearse his own plays. Voltaire never minded how much he bothered and teased dâArgental, knowing quite well that all the trouble he took was a joy to him.
Maupertuis wrote sometimes âfrom the poleâ. He went off, in 1736, to Lapland where he expected to prove that Newton was right and the Cassinis, father and son, were wrong about the shape of the earth. Newton said that it was flatter at the poles, while the Cassinis thought that on the contrary it was elongated. Maupertuis was to measure the length of a degree of the meridian. This expedition, which included another friend of Ãmilieâs, the scientist Clairaut, was financed by Louis XV; La Condamine was sent at the same time to the equator, Ãmilie told Richelieu that Maupertuis had only gone because he could not bear Paris without her. When Maupertuis duly brought back the measurements proving Newton to have been right he was said to have flattened the earth and the Cassinis; after this Voltaire dated letters to him such-and-such a time since the earth was flattened. Maupertuis also brought back a female Lapp who had enlivened his sojourn at the pole, and her sister. Les tendres Hyperboréennes seemed very much less attractive in Paris than in their native land; soon he longed to be rid of them. He opened a subscription to which Voltaire gave 100 livres and Ãmilie fifty; with the proceeds he placed one sister in a convent. The Duchesse dâAiguillonâs excellent butler found ahusband for the other, but she turned out to be a disappointing wife, in fact a whore.
From London they heard that a rich, elderly Mr Bond, great admirer of Zaïre, had taken Covent Garden and was putting it on there. He himself was to act the part of Zaïreâs Christian, nobly-born old father. On the night, he threw himself into it with such fervour that when the moment came for him to die in her arms, he did, actually, expire. This display of sensibility was very well received at Cirey.
They also heard from London that Everard Fawkener, now a knight, had been appointed
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