Noted as the most influential event of his career, Voltaire's living in England between 1726 and 1729 inspired his famous Letters on the English (or Letters Concerning the English Nation), published in 1733. These were not letters, but actually a series of essays about the author's experiences of events, places and people. Letters on the English consists of 24 essays on subjects including the Quakers, Church of England, Presbyterians, Socinains, Parliament, government, trade, inoculation, Lord Bacon, Locke, Descartes, Isaac Newton, attraction, tragedy, comedy, geometry, the Earl of Rochester, Alexander Pope and more. Although the portrayal of English people and government was largely positive, Voltaire had no problem finding people and institutions to satirize, including the Presbyterians and the House of Commons. He first published the essays in English, and upon seeing the success of the papers, published them in French the following year. The letters were immediately suppressed and banned in France as they were seen as an attack on the French government. Today, the letters are translated from the controversial French versions rather than the original English ones.
