Voltaire came to England in 1726, after his quarrel with the Duke de Sully. Some months’ detention in the Bastille, followed by an order to quit Paris, had driven him into exile. In the warmth of his welcome to England he found a balm for his wounded feelings, and he stayed in this country more than two years. He found in England many congenial spirits, and delighted in the freedom of discussion and latitude of opinion everywhere prevalent, from the Court downwards, especially in the brilliant literary circle where he foregathered. He warmly admired the religious and civil liberty of England, and testified his admiration in his _Lettres Philosophiques_, also called _Lettres sur les Anglais_. He wrote in England his _Tragedy of Brutus_, and here also he brought out, in 1728, the first edition of his poem _La Henriade_. To Caroline, who often received him at Leicester House as Princess of Wales, and who welcomed him with equal cordiality at court when she became Queen, he dedicated this edition of _La Henriade_. The dedication, in English, ran as follows:-- “TO THE QUEEN. “MADAM--It was the fate of Henry the Fourth to be protected by an English Queen. He was assisted by the great Elizabeth, who was in her age the glory of her sex. By whom can his memory be so well protected as by her who resembles so much Elizabeth in her personal virtues? “Your Majesty will find in this book bold, impartial truths; morality unstained with superstition; a spirit of liberty, equally abhorrent of rebellion and of tyranny; the rights of kings always asserted, and those of mankind never laid aside. “The same spirit in which it is written gave me the confidence to offer it to the virtuous Consort of a King who, among so many crowned heads, enjoys almost alone the inestimable honour of ruling a free nation; a King who makes his power consist in being beloved, and his glory in being just. “Our Descartes, who was the greatest philosopher in Europe before Sir Isaac Newton appeared, dedicated the _Principles_ to the celebrated Princess Palatine Elizabeth; not, said he, because she was a princess (for true philosophers respect princes, and never flatter them); but because of all his readers she understood him the best, and loved truth the most. “I beg leave, Madam (without comparing myself to Descartes), to dedicate _La Henriade_ to your Majesty upon the like account, and not only as the protectress of all arts and sciences, but as the best judge of them. “I am, with that profound respect which is due to the greatest virtue as well as the highest rank, may it please your Majesty, your Majesty’s most humble, most dutiful, and most obliged servant, “VOLTAIRE.”