_Voltaire's "Henriade."_--I have somewhere seen an admirable translation of
this poem into English verse. Perhaps you can inform me of the author's
name. The work seems to be scarce, as I recollect having seen it but once:
it was published, I think, about thirty years ago. (See _ante_, p. 330.)
The house in which Voltaire was born, at Chatnaye, about ten miles from
Paris, is now the property of the Comtesse de Boigne, widow of the General
de Boigne, and daughter of the Marquis d'Osmond, who was ambassador here
during the reign of Louis XVIII. The mother of the poet being on a visit
with _the then_ proprietor (whose name I cannot recollect), was
unexpectedly confined. There is a street in the village called the Rue
Voltaire. The Comtesse de Boigne is my {389} authority for the fact of the
poet's birth having taken place in her house.