Voltaire’s first literary conceptions were formed in the Bastile, that infamous representative of despotic caprice, to which some verses of which he was the reputed author, satirising the licentious extravagance of the Court of the late king, Louis XIV., had consigned him at the age of twenty. Soon afterwards appeared the tragedy of _Ædipe_ (founded upon the well-known dramas of Sophocles), the first modern drama in which the universal and traditional love scenes were discarded. This contempt for the conventionalities, however, excited the indignation of the play-goers, and the _Ædipe_ was, at its first representation, hissed off the stage. The author found himself forced to sacrifice to the popular tastes, and his tragedy was received with applause. Two memorable verses indicated the bias of the future antagonist of ecclesiastical orthodoxy, and naturally provoked the hostility of the profession which he had dared so openly to assail:-- “Nos prêtres ne sont pas ce qu’un vain peuple pense: Notre credulité fait toute leur science.” It was during this imprisonment, too, that he formed the first idea of the _Henriade_ (or _The League_, as it was originally called), the only epic poem worthy of the name in the French language. A chance quarrel with an insolent courtier was the cause of Voltaire’s second incarceration in the Bastile with, at the end of six months, a peremptory order to absent himself from the capital. These experiences of despotic caprice and of sophisticated society he long afterwards embodied in two of his best romances, _L’Ingénu_ and _Micro-mégas_ (the “Little-Big Man”), one of the most exquisite productions of Satire. The youthful victim of these malicious persecutions determined upon seeking refuge in England, whose freer air had already inspired Newton, Locke, Shaftesbury, and other eminent leaders of Thought. A flattering welcome awaited him--and subscriptions to the _Henriade_, better received here than in France, gratified his pride and filled his purse. During his sojourn of three years in this country, he made the most of his time in studying its best literature, and cultivating the acquaintance of its most eminent living writers. His tragedy of _Brutus_ was followed by _La Mort de César_ which, from its taint of liberalism, was not allowed to be printed in France. Upon his return to Paris he published his _Zaïre_--finished in eighteen days--the first tragedy in which, deserting the footsteps of Corneille and Racine, he ventured to follow the bent of his own genius. The plan of _Zaïre_ has been pronounced to be one of the most perfect ever contrived for the stage.