_Epitaph on Voltaire_ (Vol. iii., p. 518.).--The question is asked, "Has
the name of the lady of Lausanne, who wrote the epitaph on Voltaire,
'Ci gît l'enfant gâté du monde qu'il gâta,'
been ascertained?" It has; and the lady was Madame la Baronne de
Montolieu, who wrote a great variety of novels, of which by far the
best, and indeed one of the most interesting in the French language, is
her _Caroline de Lichtfield_, first published at Lausanne in 1786, two
volumes 8vo. Her family name was de Bottens (Pauline-Isabelle), born at
Lausanne in 1751, and there died in December, 1832. Her first husband
was Benjamin de Crouzas, son to one of Montesquieu's adversaries, after
whose death she married the Baron de Montolieu. It was Gibbon's most
intimate friend and literary _collaborateur_, Deyverdun, who published,
and indeed corrected, her then anonymous _Caroline de Lichtfield_.
Voltaire's friend and mistress, the learned Madame du Châtelet, had
prepared an inscription for his portrait, which may be considered an
anticipated epitaph:
"Post-genitis Hic canis erit, nunc canis amicis;"
but one of a very different tenor was written by J. J. Rousseau, we are
told by Lord Brougham:
"Plus bel esprit que grand génie,
Sans loi, sans moeurs, et sans vertu;
Il est mort comme il a vécu,
Couvert de gloire et d'infamie."