Ritson supplements the virtual adhesion of Lord Chesterfield to the principles of Humanity, with some remarks of Sir W. Jones, the eminent Orientalist, who (protesting against the selfish callousness of “Sportsmen” and even of “Naturalists” in the infliction of pain) writes: “I shall never forget the couplet of Ferdusi[159] for which Sadi,[160] who cites it with applause, pours blessings on his departed spirit:-- “Ah! spare yon emmet, rich in hoarded grain: He lives with pleasure and he dies with pain.” To which creditable expression of feeling we would append a word of astonishment at that very common inconsistency, and failure in elementary logic, which permits men--while easily and hyperbolically commiserating the fate of an emmet, a beetle, or a worm--to ignore the necessarily infinitely greater sufferings of the highly-organised victims of the _Table_.” XXIV. VOLTAIRE. 1694-1778. Of the life and literary productions of the most remarkable name in the whole history of literature--if at least we regard the extent and variety of his astonishing genius, as well as the immense influence, contemporary and future, of his writings--only a brief outline can be given here. Yet, as the most eminent humanitarian prophet of the eighteenth century, the principal facts of his life deserve somewhat larger notice than within the general scope of this work. François Marie Arouet--commonly known by his assumed name of Voltaire--on his mother’s side of a family of position recently ennobled, was born at Chatenay, near Paris. He was educated at the Jesuits’ College of Louis XIV., where, it is said, the fathers already foretold his future eminence. Like many other illustrious writers he was originally destined for the “Law,” which was little adapted to his genius, and, like his great prototype, Lucian, and others, he soon abandoned all thought of that profession for letters and philosophy. He had the good fortune, at an early age, to gain the favour of the celebrated Ninon de Lenclos, who left him a legacy of 2,000 livres for the purchase of a library--an important event which was doubtless the means of confirming his intellectual bias.