‘To pluck its honours off and sink it down
To teach an awfull moral in the dust.’
Yr honours, good and amiable sr, shall not be pluck't down, yr muse shall not be lai'd in the dust.
‘…allow'd a little space
To shine, attract, then fade, and be forgot’ etc.
By all the saints of Rome, you shall not be forgot. J see in yr work Truth clad in her solemn garments. J'd rather admire Rome in yr verses than at the pope's feet. J was long depriv'd of yr poem thanks to this damnd war. At last it was convey'd to me. War ought not to be waged against muses.
A word again. The description of poor Laura buriing herself in the geole of Virgin Mary, is charming.
Be sure dear sr no man entertains a greater esteem for you in England than j do on the borders of my lake.
J am for ever yr servant, admirer and friend.
Voltaire
aux Délices 30 juin 1760