instruction, he afterwards went to Venice, where he executed engravings, in connexion with Bartolozzi, for Wagner, a picture dealer, and finally left Venice for Rome. Here a society of amateurs, at the head of whom was Ercole Bonajuti, had been formed for the purpose of procuring engravings of Raphael's works in the Vatican. The drawings of the Spanish painter La Veja, in eighty sheets, which had been prepared by a labor of three years for cardinal Silvio Valenti, and which had been bequeathed by the cardinal Luigi Valenti to the Vatican library, were made the basis of this work. Volpato was employed in its execution, and soon became distinguished among the artists connected with him. The six sheets executed by him are of the highest merit. They reproduce, as far as is possible in a small space, the impression of the original, and prove how fully the artist appreciated the pictorial merits of those great paintings, by his masterly distribution of light and shade. The most skilful union of the burin with the dry-point could alone have enabled him to accomplish this difficult task in a work of such extent. The publication of Raphael's loggie and arabesques placed Volpato at the head of a school of design, and gave him the honor of having rendered the productions of that great master more generally known, and of having awakened a purer taste among engravers. Accuracy of execution, and attention to the pictorial effect, so far as it depends not upon coloring, but upon light and shade, are the distinguishing merits of his school, from which proceeded Raphael Morghen (q. v.), at first the pupil, afterwards the friend, and finally the sonin-law of Volpato. Gavin Hamilton, the companion of his Socratic suppers, at which Canova also used to be present, was not without influence upon the taste of the artist. Volpato died in 1803, and Canova honored the memory of his friend and benefactor by a relief, which is placed in the hall of the church of the Apostles in Rome.

VOLSCI; an Ausonian tribe, which resided, before the foundation of Rome, in the ancient Latium (now Campagna di Roma). They had a republican government. Livy calls them the eternal enemies of Rome. Their principal city was Antium, the ruins of which are to be seen in the neighborhood of cape Angio. Corioli, from which Coriolanus derived his surname, was another city of theirs. After having several times endangered the Roman

state, they were conquered, and disappeared from history, like the other tribes of Latium.

VOLTA, Alessandro, descended from a respectable family of Como, was born in that place, in 1745, and died there in 1827. While pursuing his studies at Como, he displayed not less inclination for the poetic art than for the severe sciences, and composed a fine Latin poem upon physics. But he soon after devoted himself entirely to physical inquiries, and laid the foundation of his fame in two treatises, published in 1769 and 1771, in which he gave a description of a new electrical machine. In 1774, Volta became rector of the gymnasium in Como, and professor of physics, and, in 1779, was transferred to Pavia. Here he occupied himself entirely with electrical researches. He had previously (1777) invented the electrophorus, and his invention of the electroscope was also an important improvement. (See Electricity.) His observations upon the bubbles which arise from stagnant water, led him also to some valuable discoveries in regard to gases. The electrical pistol, the eudiometer, the lamp with inflammable air, the electrical condenser, and other inventions, are among his claims to renown. He next turned his attention to some of the atmospherical phenomena, as the nature of hail, &c., and subsequently increased his reputation by the discovery of the Voltaic pile (see Galvanism), and, in 1782, made a tour through France, Germany, England and Holland, on which occasion he was treated with great respect by Haller, Joseph II and Voltaire. On his return to Italy, he introduced the cultivation of the potato into Lombardy. In 1794, he received the Copleian medal from the royal society of London, on account of his paper upon the condenser; and, in 1801, his electric apparatus attracted so much notice in France that the first consul made him a present of 6000 francs. He was subsequently deputy from the university of Pavia to the consulta held at Lyons, and Napoleon conferred upon him the cross of the legion of honor, and the order of the iron crown. In 1815, the emperor Francis appointed him director of the philosophical faculty in the university of Pavia. As a man, Volta was simple, modest and religious, a good father and citizen. Antinori edited a collection of his works (Opere di Volta, Florence, 1816, 5 vols.), and professor Zuccala published a eulogy upon him (Elogio di Volta) in 1827.

VOLTAIC PILE. (See Galvanism.) VOLTAIRE, Francis Marie Arouet de. If any man ever showed the natural soyereignty of the intellect, and its superiority to all earthly splendor, it was this distinguished man, who, in a nation, and at a time, when the learned and scientific were considered in the light of upper domestics of the great, undertook to secure for them an independent station. His influence was felt throughout Europe; and never did a man, by the force of his writings, obtain such power over his nation. Voltaire was born at Chatenay, near Paris, Feb. 20, 1694. His father, Francis Arouet, notary of the Châtelet, and finally treasurer of the chamber of accounts, possessed considerable property, so that he was enabled to give his son an excellent education. Voltaire received his first instruction in the Jesuits' college of Louis XIV., under Porée and Le Jay. Here he displayed talents which warranted the highest expectations. In his third year he was able to repeat the fables of La Fontaine, and, somewhat later, recited, from memory, a poem of Rousseau (La Moisade), before the celebrated Ninon de l'Enclos, who was so much pleased with the talent of the boy, that she left him a legacy of 2000 livres to purchase a library. According to the custom of the time, he was obliged to leave the family name to the eldest son, and therefore assumed that name which has since become so famous. His father wished to see him a lawyer and advocate; but his love of literature and general study did not allow him long to devote himself to the law. He wrote poetry continually, and cultivated his talents in the company of men of much accomplishment and wit, but of little principle; such as Chaulieu, the marquis de la Fare, marshal Villars, the grand prior of Vendome, the prince of Conti, and others. Here he caught the tone of polished society which distinguishes his writings, and which greatly contributed to his influence. His father was displeased with his mode of life, and entreated the marquis of Chateauneuf, French minister to Holland, to take the young Voltaire with him as a page. He consented; but Voltaire fell in love with the daughter of madame Noyer, a refugee in Holland, and was therefore sent back to his family. His father would receive him into favor again only on condition of his resuming the study of the law. A friend of his father, monsieur Caumartin, at length released him from the necessity of pursuing this study, by offering

him a quiet residence on his estate, where Voltaire became intimate with the elder Caumartin, who awakened in him a great admiration of Henry IV, and of Sully, and gave him a lively idea of the court of Louis XIV. Hence originated the Henriade and the Siècle de Louis XIV. In 1716, he was imprisoned in the Bastile, on the charge of having written a satire against the government. He remained in confinement a year and a half, and, in this situation, planned a poem upon the league, the result of which was the Henriade. He likewise improved his tragedy Edipus, which was brought upon the stage in 1718, and was performed forty-five times in one year. Meanwhile, the poet had been released from prison in consequence of the real author of the satire having disclosed himself, but had been banished from Paris. Now, however, in consequence of the regent, the duke of Orleans, being delighted with the Edipus, he was allowed to return. His father himself was so much pleased with the representation of this play, that he embraced his son with tears in his eyes, and from this time left him to his own inclination. Voltaire now fell passionately in love with the marchioness of Villars, so that his attention was withdrawn, for a time, from poetry; but, having recovered from this passion, he wrote the play of Artémire, which was unsuccessful. It was afterwards brought upon the stage, in 1725, under the name of Marianne, when it met with much applause, and was often repeated. In 1722, he accompanied madame de Rupelmonde to Brussels, where he became acquainted with Jean Baptiste Rousseau; but the characters of the two were so different, that their acquaintance terminated in a complete separation. In 1723, Voltaire was engaged in completing the Henriade, which, about this period, appeared for the first time in London, under the name of the League, but without the consent of Voltaire, and in a very imperfect state. The president Hénault, and other friends, disturbed him so much by their criticisms upon this production, that he threw it into the fire. Hénault snatched it out, with these words: "Your poem is like your hero: notwithstanding his faults, he was a great king, and the best of men." In 1726, Voltaire was again imprisoned, at the age of thirty-two years, in the Bastile. He had offended the chevalier de Rohan, a proud young nobleman, who, in consequence, caused him to be beaten by his servant. Voltaire now learned to fence, and challenged the

him at certain hours, and had a table and equipage at his command. He spent every day two hours with the king, and revised his literary productions, when, as he himself said, he never failed to praise the good, and quietly to strike out the bad. But this friendship continued hardly a year. A quarrel between Maupertuis, president of the Berlin academy, and a mathematician named Konig, in which Voltaire took part, drew upon him the displeasure of Frederic, who caused his Akakia, a satire upon Maupertuis, to be burnt in the presence of the writer, and sent him his dismission. Voltaire return ed to the king the chamberlain's key and the cross of the order which had been conferred on him, with some verses, in which he compared himself to a lover who sends back the portrait of his mistress; but the king soon restored them. Voltaire now made a visit to the duchess of Gotha. During his absence, Maupertuis succeeded in depriving him of the favor of the king, and he concluded to return to France. When he reached Frankfort on the Maine, he was stopped by order of Frederic, because he had with him various productions of the king, who feared that he would use them to his prejudice. He was likewise compelled to resign the chamberlain's key, his order, and his promise of a pension of 22,000 livres. The breach between Frederic and Voltaire was now irreparable. Voltaire wished to reside in Paris; but his Pucelle d'Orléans had excited so much displeasure, that he was not allowed to remain in the capital. He now resided for some years at Colmar, where he wrote the Orphan of China, and bought a country seat in the neighborhood of Geneva. Jean Jacques Rousseau sent him his wellknown treatise which had gained the prize of the academy of Dijon. Voltaire returned him an answer which, among many flattering remarks, contained the following sentence: "When I read your treatise, I desire to creep upon all-fours." This ridicule made the author of Emile his irreconcilable enemy. Soon after, Voltaire took part in the political contentions then prevailing in Geneva; and, having become involved in disputes with many of the principal people, he thought it best to leave the place. He therefore purchased the estate of Ferney, in the Pays de Gex, where he resided the rest of his life, with his niece, madame Denis. He drew manufacturers, and other settlers, into his district, obtained for them, through his influence, important advantages, and

reigned like a petty prince among his subjects. Here he erected a new and elegant church, with the inscription Deo erexit Voltaire. A decided enemy of tyranny and oppression, he afforded aid and protection to many persecuted persons; among others, to the family of Jean Calas, who had fallen a victim to fanaticism. At that time, he wrote his masterly treatise upon toleration. The granddaughter of the great Corneille also experienced his bounty. In the numerous writings which he composed in this retreat, his free spirit employed the weapons of ridicule, and the boldest eloquence, against all which contravened his ideas of freedom and independence. To the clergy he was particularly hostile, on account of their intolerance and persecuting spirit. But he often injured the cause of religion itself while he attacked its servants. His motives, moreover, were not always of the highest kind. In 1757, the first edition of his works appeared, prepared under his own eye. It reconciled him with Frederic the Great. This monarch renewed his correspondence with Voltaire, and sent him his own bust, of porcelain, with the inscription Viro immortali. The empress Catharine of Russia sent him, likewise, splendid presents, accompanied by the most flattering letters. In return for an ivory box, made by herself, and for her instructions (prepared for the direction of a law commission which she had instituted), he sent her a bracelet netted by his own hands. In 1769, a medal was stamped in honor of him, the inscription on which was a verse taken from the Henriade: Il ôte aux nations le bandeau de l'erreur. Some French literati, together with Frederic, erected a statue to him, with the inscription Statue erigée à Voltaire par les hommes de lettres ses compatriotes; and Louis XV said, "He deserves it." All strangers of distinction who passed by Ferney stopped to testify their esteem for this remarkable man. Joseph II only did not visit him. Nevertheless, Voltaire was by no means happy. Too much accustomed to the constant admiration of the world, he soon became weary of his quiet life, and went, even in his advanced age (February, 1778), once more to Paris. Here he found many admirers, who adored him, and many bitter enemies. He was sensible of the dislike entertained towards him; and, therefore, when stopped by the officers of the customs, with the inquiry if he had any contraband goods with him, he replied, "No, no; there is nothing contraband here but

myself." The inquiry of the king, on his arrival, if the decree of the parliament was still in force against him, made him anxious; but nothing further was done to molest him. The French academy sent three of their members to welcome him, though, in similar cases, it was customary to send but one. The actors waited upon him in a body: "We have come," said they, "to beseech you to inspire us with your odes." "I live only for you and through you" was his answer-a proof that he considered his dramas as his chief productions; and, in truth, dramatic works were his last labors. He wrote his Tancrède in the sixty-sixth year of his age. The calls upon him were so constant that he felt himself oppressed by them. "I am suffocated," said he, "but it is with roses." Franklin came, with his grandson, to see Voltaire: "My son," said he, "fall upon your knees before this great man." Voltaire gave the boy his blessing, with the words "God and freedom." He had brought with him a new tragedy, Irène, which was performed on the 16th of May. The royal family was present, and the piece was received with unbounded applause. The French academy sent him their gratulations on this occasion, and placed his bust by the side of Corneille. At the sixth representation, he came into the theatre; and, when he had sat down in his box, a player entered, and presented him with a laurel wreath; and, at the conclusion of the piece, his bust was also crowned in the theatre. All these excitements, together with incessant literary labors, and the change from his accustomed manner of life, affected his health so much that it seemed as if he could not live much longer. He perceived this plainly: "I have come to Paris," he said, "to find my glory and my grave." He could not sleep; and a large dose of opium, which he took without the advice of his physician, is thought to have hastened his death. When his tenants heard of his sickness, they wished to go to Paris, and carry him, in a litter, to Ferney. He resided in Paris with the marquis de Villette. The latter sent to the principal clergyman of St. Sulpice, to induce him to beg Voltaire to submit to the ceremony which Catholic Christians undergo on leaving the world. The circumstances of the case have been related differently; but it is certain that Voltaire died without receiving the sacrament, in the eightyfifth year of his age, May 30, 1778. The archbishop of Paris is said to have denied the corpse Christian burial; and it was

therefore interred secretly at Scellières, a Bernardine abbey, between Nogent and Troyes. By a decree of the national assembly (1791), his remains were placed in the Pantheon, in Paris, near those of J. J. Rousseau and other great men.-The exterior of Voltaire was quite characteristic. In his countenance, as has been said, there was a mixture of the eagle and the monkey; and, in character, he united the boldness of the one with something of the malice of the other. He was impetuous, irritable, sensitive, but also mild, compassionate, benevolent, cheerful, and lively from principle. With noble views and principles, his actions were not always the most praiseworthy; and many of his good deeds did not flow from the purest sources. He had something vacillating in his character; and, notwithstanding his hatred of prejudice, he frequently bowed to it in a manner which did him little honor. From vanity he flattered the great, and often sought their company for the same reason. His fame did not become great till after his retirement from court. He was too selfish to inspire love, and avarice is said to have had much ascendency over him. Yet he was, in his latter years, the friend of the poor, and the protector of the oppressed. Notwithstanding all his admirers, he gained no friend. He had great talents, but not an elevated character; and his writings want the charm which only a great soul can give. Nevertheless, he often acted nobly. The abbé Desfontaines, to whom he had shown much kindness, published, without any authority, an edition of the Henriade from a very imperfect manuscript. Desfontaines became unfortunate, repented of what he had done, and Voltaire became again his benefactor. Being arrested on account of a dishonorable accusation, the abbé owed to Voltaire's influence with madam de Prie his freedom, his honor, and perhaps his life. Desfontaines recompensed this favor by a severe criticism and a bitter lampoon. To a peasant, deprived, by an unjust sentence, of his land, who applied to Voltaire for assistance, he gave 3000 livres, and invited him to settle in Ferney. In company, Voltaire was agreeable, polite, and a complete courtier. The activity of his temperament was so great that he often labored all night. Even in his eightieth year, he worked fourteen hours a day. Among his works, his dramas hold the first place. He is the worthy rival of Racine and Corneille, and his pieces are still favorites with the French. Notwithstanding his great wit,