of Voltaire's new visit, his Third to Friedrich. Here is what
little we have,--if the lively reader will exert his fancy on it.

Voltaire and his Du Chatelet had been to Cirey, and thence been at
Paris through this Spring and Summer, 1742;--engaged in what to
Voltaire and Paris was a great thing, though a pacific one:
The getting of MAHOMET brought upon the boards. August 9th,
precisely while the first vanguard of the Army of Redemption got
across the Rhine at Dusseldorf, Voltaire's Tragedy of MAHOMET came
on the stage.

August 9th, llth, 13th, Paris City was in transports of various
kinds; never were such crowds of Audience, lifting a man to the
immortal gods,--though a part too, majority by count of heads, were
dragging him to Tartarus again. "Exquisite, unparalleled!"
exclaimed good judges (as Fleury himself had anticipated, on
examining the Piece):--"Infamous, irreligious, accursed!"
vociferously exclaimed the bad judges; Reverend Desfontaines (of
Sodom, so Voltaire persists to define him), Reverend Desfontaines
and others giving cue; hugely vociferous, these latter, hugely in
majority by count of heads. And there was such a bellowing and such
a shrieking, judicious Fleury, or Maurepas under him, had to
suggest, "Let an actor fall sick; let M. de Voltaire volunteer to
withdraw his Piece; otherwise--!" And so it had to be: Actor fell
sick on the 14th (Playbills sorry to retract their MAHOMET on the
14th); and--in fact, it was not for nine years coming, and after
Dedication to the Pope, and other exquisite manoeuvres and
unexpected turns of fate, that MAHOMET could be acted a fourth time
in Paris, and thereafter AD LIBITUM down to this day.
[ OEuvres de Voltaire, ii. 137 n.; &c. &c.]