I have but two things to do with my life: to hazard it with honor, as soon as I can, and to end it in the obscurity of a retreat which suits my way of thinking, my misfortunes, and the knowledge I have of men." Voltaire passed three years in England, engaged in learning English and finishing _La Henriade,_ which he published by subscription in 1727.
Touched by the favor shown by English society to the author and the poem, he dedicated to the Queen of England his new work, which was entirely consecrated to the glory of France; three successive editions were disposed of in less than three weeks.

Lord Bolingbroke, having returned to England and been restored to favor, did potent service to his old friend, who lived in the midst of that literary society in which Pope and Swift held sway, without, however, relaxing his reserve with its impress of melancholy.

"I live the life of a Bosicrucian," he wrote to his friends, "always on the move and always in hiding." When, in the month of March, 1729, Voltaire at last obtained permission to revisit France, he had worked much without bringing out anything.

The riches he had thus amassed appeared ere long: before the end of the year 1731 he put _Brutus_ on the stage, and began his publication of the _Histoire de Charles XII.;_ he was at the same time giving the finishing touch to _Eriphyle_ and _La Mort de Caesar_.

_Zaire,_ written in a few weeks, was played for the first time on the 13th of August, 1732; he had dedicated it to Mr.Falkner, an English merchant who had overwhelmed him with attentions during his exile.