Voltaire And Ferney
The showman's work is very profitable at the country-house of Voltaire,
at Ferney, near Geneva. A Genevese, an excellent calculator, as are all
his countrymen, many years ago valued as follows the yearly profit
derived by the above functionary from his situation:--
Francs.
8000 busts of Voltaire, made with earth of
Ferney, at a franc a-piece 8,000
1200 autograph letters, at 20 francs 24,000
500 walking canes of Voltaire, at 50 francs each 25,000
300 veritable wigs of Voltaire, at 100 francs 30,000
------
In all 87,000
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In the year 1809 was interred, in the churchyard of St. Martin's in the Fields, the body of one Hew Hewson, who died at the age of 85. He was the original of Hugh Strap, in Smollett's Roderick Random. Upwards of forty years he kept a hair-dresser's ... Stammering Wit
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