Nor, alas, is the Du Chatelet
relation
itself so
celestial as it once was.
celestial as it once was.
Thomas Carlyle
CHAP.
v.
] BATTLE OF DETTINGEN.
311
16th Aug. 1743.
Reich's elected Kaiser as a merely chimerical personage.
No law of the Reich had been violated against her
Hungarian Majesty or Husband: "What law? " asked
all judges. Vicarius Kur-Sachsen sat in committee,
hatching for many months that Question of the Kur-
Bohmen Vote; and by the prescribed methods, brought
it out in the negative, -- every formality and regularity
observed, and nobody but your Austrian Deputy pro-
testing upon it, when requested to go home. But the
high Maria had a notion that the Reich belonged to
her august Family and her; and that all Elections to
the contrary were an inconclusive thing, fundamentally
void every one of them.
Thus too, long before this, in regard to the Beichs-
Archiv Question. The Archives and indispensablest
Official Records and Papers of the Reich, -- these had
lain so long at Vienna, the high Maria could not think
of giving them up. "So difficult to extricate what
Papers are Austrian specially, from what are Austrian-
Imperial; --. must have time! " answered she always.
And neither the Kaiser's more and more pressing de-
mands, nor those of the late Kur-Mainz, backed by
the Reich, and reiterated month after month and year
after year, could avail in the matter. Mere angry cor-
respondence, growing ever angrier; -- the Archives of
the Reich lay irrecoverable at Vienna, detained on this
pretext and on that: nor were they ever given up; but
lay there till the Reich itself had ended, much more
the Kaiser Karl VII. ! These are high procedures.
As if the Reich had been one's own chattel; as if
a Non-Austrian Kaiser were impossible, and the Reich
and its . laws had, even Officially, become phantasmal!
That, in fact, was Maria Theresa's inarticulate inborn
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? 312 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
16th Aug. 1743.
notion; and gradually, as her successes on the field
rose higher, it became ever more articulate; till this of
"the seyn-sollende Kaiser" put a crown on it. Justi-
fiable, if the Reich with its Laws were a chattel, or
rebellious vassal, of Austria; not justifiable otherwise.
"Hear ye? " answered almost all the Reich (eight Kur-
fursts, with the one exception of Kur-Hanover, as we
observed): "Our solemnly elected Kaiser, Karl VII. , is
a thing of quirks and quiddities, of French shreds and
patches; at present, it seems, the Reich has no Kaiser
at all; and will go ever deeper into anarchies and un-
nameabilities, till it proceed anew to get one, -- of the
right Austrian type! " -- The Reich is a talking entity:
King Friedrich is bound rather to silence, so long as
possible. His thoughts on these matters are not given;
but sure enough they were continual, too intense they
could hardly be. "Compensation;" "The Eeich as
good as mine:" Whither is all this tending! Walrave
and those Silesian Fortifyings, --let Walrave mind his
work, and get it perfected!
Britannic Majesty goes home.
The "Combined Invasion of Elsass," -- let us say
briefly, overstepping the order of date, and still for a
moment leaving Friedrich, -- came to nothing, this
year. Prince Karl was 70,000; Britannic George (when
once those Dutch, crawling-on all summer, bad actually
come up) was 66,000, -- nay 70,000; Karl having lent
him that beautiful cannibal gentleman, "Colonel Mentzel
and 4,000 Tolpatches," by way of edge-trimming. Karl
was to cross in Upper Elsass, in the Strasburg parts;
Karl once across, Britannic Majesty was to cross about
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? CHAP. v. ] BATTLE OF DETTINGEN. 313
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
Mainz, and cooperate from Lower Elsass. And they
should have been swift about it; and were not! All
the world expected a severe slash to France; andFrance
itself had the due apprehension of it: but France and
all the world were mistaken, this time.
Prince Karl was slow with his preparations; Noailles
and Coigny (Broglio's successor) were not slow; "raising
batteries everywhere," raising lines, "10,000 Elsass
Peasants," and what-not; -- so that, by the time
Prince Karl was ready (middle of August), they lay
entrenched and minatory at all passable points; and
Karl could nowhere, in that Upper-Rhine Country, by
any method, get across. Nothing got across; except,
once or twice for perhaps a day, Butcher Trenck and
his loose kennel of Pandours; who went about, plunder-
ing and rioting, with loud rhodomontade, to th& ad-
miration of the Gazetteers, if of no one else.
Nor was George's seconding of important nature;
most dubitative, wholly passive, you would rather say,
though the River, in his quarter, lay undefended. He
did, at last, cross the Rhine about Mainz; went lan-
guidly to Worms, -- did an ever-memorable Treaty of
Worms there, if no fighting there or elsewhere. Went
to Speyer, where the Dutch joined him (sadly short of
number stipulated, had it been the least matter); --
was at Germersheim, at what other places I forget;
manceuvering about in a languid and as if in an aim-
less manner, at least it was in a perfectly ineffectual
one. Mentzel rode gloriously to Trarbach, into Lor-
raine; stuck up Proclamation, "Hungarian Majesty
come, by God's help, for her own again," and the
like; -- of which Document, now fallen rare, we give
textually the last line: "And if any of you don't" (don't
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? 314 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
sit quiet at least), "I will," to be brief, "first cut off
"your ears and noses, and then hang you out of hand. "
The singular Champion of Christendom, famous to the
then Gazetteers! * Nothing farther could George, with
his Dutch now adjoined, do in those parts, but wriggle
slightly to and fro without aim; or stand absolutely
still, and eat provision (great uncertainty and discre-
pancy among the Generals, and Stair gone in a huff),**
-- till at length the "Combined Pragmatic Troops"
returned to Mainz (October 11th); and thence, dread-
fully in ill humour with each other, separated into their
winter-quarters in the Netherlands and adjacent re-
gions.
Prince Karl tried hard in several places; hardest at
Alt-Breisach, far up the River, with Swabian Freiburg
for his place of arms; -- an Austrian Country all that,
"Hither Austria," Swabian Austria. There, at Alt-
Breisach, lay Prince Karl (24th August--3d September),
his left leaning on that venerable sugar-loaf Hill, with
the towers and ramparts on the top of it; looking wist-
fully into Alsace, if there were no way of getting at it.
He did get once half-way across the Eiver, lodging
himself in an Island called Rheinmark; but could get
no farther, owing to the Noailles-Coigny preparations
for him. Called a Council of War; decided that he
had not magazines, that it was too late in the season;
and marched home again (October 12th) through the
Schwabenland; leaving, besides the strong Garrison of
Freiburg, only Trenck with 12,000 Pandours to keep
* In Adelung (iii. 6. 193) the Proclamation at large. I have, or once
had, a Life of Mentzel (Dublin, I think, 1744), "price two-pence,"-- dear at
the money.
** Went, "August 27th, by Worms" (Henderson, Life of Cumberland,
p. 48), just while his Majesty was beginning to cross.
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? CHAP. v. ] BATTLE OF DETTINGEN. 315
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
the Country open for us, against next year. Britannic
Majesty, as we observed, did then, almost simultane-
ously, in like manner march home; * -- one goal is
always clear, when the day sinks: Make for your quar-
ters, for your bed.
Prince Karl was gloriously wedded, this Winter, to
her Hungarian Majesty's young Sister; -- glorious meed
of War; and, they say, a union of hearts withal; --
Wife and he to have Brussels for residence, and be
"Joint-Governors of the Netherlands" henceforth. Stout
Khevenhiiller, almost during the rejoicings, took fever,
and suddenly died; to the great sorrow of her Majesty,
for loss of such a soldier and man. ** Britannic Majesty
has not been successful with his Pragmatic Army. He
did get his new Kur-Mainz, who has brought the Aus-
trian Exorbitancy to a first reading, and into general
view. He did get out of the Dettingen mousetrap;
and, to the admiration of the Gazetteer mind, and (we
hope) envy of Most Christian Majesty, he has, regard-
less of expense, played Supreme Jove on the German
boards for above three months running. But as to
Settlement of the German Quarrel, he has done nothing
at all, and even a good deal less! Let me commend
to readers this little scrap of Note; headed, "Methods
of Pacificating Germany:
"1o. There is one ready method of pacificating Germany:
"That hisBritannicMajestyshould firmly button his breeches-
"pocket, 'Not one sixpence more, Madam! ' -- and go home
"to his bed, if he find no business waiting him at home. Has
"not he always the Ear-of-Jenkins Question, and the Cause of
"Liberty in that succinct form! But, in Germany, sinews of
* Adelung, iii. b. 192, 215; Anonymous, Cumberland, p. 121.
** Maria Theresiens Leben, pp. 94, 45.
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? 316 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
"war being cut, law of gravitation would at once act; and ex-
orbitant Hungarian Majesty, tired France, and all else,
"would in a brief space of time lapse into equilibrium, pro-
"bably of the more stable kind.
"20. Or, if you want to save the Cause of Liberty on a
"grand scale, there are those Hanau Conferences. -- Carteret's
"magnificent scheme: A united Teutschland (England in-
"spiring it), to rush on the throat of France, for 'Compensa-
tion,' for universal salving of sores. This second method,
"Diana having intervened, is gone to water, and even to
'' poisoned water. So that,
"3o. There was nothing left for poor Carteret but a Treaty
"of Worms" (concerning which, something more explicit by
and by): "A Teutschland (the English, doubly and trebly in-
spiring it, as surely they will now need! )to rush as aforesaid,
"in the disunited and indeed nearly internecine state. Which
"third method, -- unless Carteret can conquer Naples for the
"Kaiser, stuff the Kaiser into some satisfactory 'Netherlands'
"or the like, and miraculously do the unfeasible ? (Fortune
"perhaps favouring the brave), -- may be called the unlikely
"one! As poor Carteret probably guesses, or dreads; --had
"he now any choice left. But it was love's last shift! And, by
"aid of Diana and otherwise, that is the posture in which, at
"Mainz, 11th October 1743, we leave the German Question. "
"Compensation," from France in particular, is not
to be had gratis, it appears. Somewhere or other it
must be had! Complaining once, as she very often
does, to her Supreme Jove, Hungarian Majesty had
written: "Why, O why did you force me to give up
Silesia! " -- Supreme Jove answers (at what date I
never knew, though Friedrich knows it, and "has copy
of the Letter"): "Madame, what was good to give is
"good to take back (ce qui est bon a prendre est bon a
"rendre)l"*
* (Euvres de Frederic, iii/27.
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? CHAP. VI. ] volt aire's fourth visi*. Si 7
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
CHAPTER VI.
VOLTAIRE VISITS FRIEDRICH FOR THE FOURTH TIME.
In the last days of August, there appears at Berlin
M. de Voltaire, on his Fourth Visit: -- thrice and four
times welcome; though this time, privately, in a some-
what unexpected capacity. Come to try his hand in
the diplomatic line; to sound Friedrich a little, on be-
half of the distressed French Ministry. That, very
privately indeed, is Voltaire's errand at present; and
great hopes hang by it for Voltaire, if he prove adroit
enough.
Poor man, it had turned out he could not get his
Academy Diploma, after all, -- owing again to intri-
cacies and heterodoxies. King Louis was at first willing,
indifferent; nay the Chateauroux was willing: but
orthodox parties persuaded hisMajesty; wicked Maurepas
(the same who lasted till the Revolution time) set his
face against it; Maurepas, and Anc. de Mirepoix (whom
they wittily call "Ane" or Ass of Mirepoix, that sour
opaque creature, lately monk), were industrious ex-
ceedingly; and put veto on Voltaire. A stupid Bishop
was preferred to him for filling up the Forty. Two
Bishops magnanimously refused; but one was found
with ambitious stupidity enough: Voltaire, for the third
time, failed in this small matter, to him great. Nay,
in spite of that kiss in Me'rope, he could not get his
Mort de Cesar acted; cabals rising; Ancien de Mirepoix
rising: Orthodoxy, sour Opacity prevailing again. To
Madame and him (though finely caressed in the Pari-
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? 318 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Aug. --Oct. 174S.
sian circles) these were provoking months; -- enough
to make a man forswear Literature, and try some other
Jacob's-Ladder in this world. Which Voltaire had
actual thoughts of, now and then. We may ask, Are
these things of a nature to create love of the Hierarchy
in M. de Voltaire? "Your Academy is going to be a
Seminary of Priests," says Friedrieh. The lynx-eyed
animal, -- anxiously asking itself, "Whitherward, then,
out of such a mess? " -- walks warily about, with its
paws of velvet; but has, in posse, claws under them,
for certain individuals and fraternities.
Nor, alas, is the Du Chatelet relation itself so
celestial as it once was. Madame has discovered, think
only with what feelings, that this great man does not
love her as formerly! The great man denies, ready to
deny on the Gospels, to her and to himself; and yet,
at bottom, if we read with the microscope, there are
symptoms, and it is not deniable. How should it?
Leafy May, hot June, by degrees comes October, sere,
yellow; and at last, a quite leafless condition, -- not
Favonius, but gray North-east, with its hail-storms
(jealousies, barren cankered gusts), your main wind
blowing. "Emilie fait de VAlgebre" sneers he once, in
an inadvertent moment, to some Lady-friend: "Emilie
"doing? Emilie is doing Algebra; that is Emilie's
"employment, -- which will be of great use to her in
"the affairs of Life, and of great charm in Society. "*
Voltaire (if you read with the microscope) has, on this
side also, thoughts of being off. "Off on this side? "
Madame flies mad, becomes Megsera, at the mention or
* Letter of Voltaire "To Madame Chambonin," end of 1742 ((Elitres,
Edition in 40 voll. , Paris, 1818, xxxii. 148); -- is missed in the later Edition
(97 voll. , Paris, 1837), to which our habitual reference is.
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? CHAP. VI. ] VOLT AIRE'S FOURTH VISIT. 319
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
suspicion of it! A jealous, high-tempered Algebraic
Lady. They have had to tell her of this secret Mission
to Berlin; and she insists on being the conduit, all the
papers to pass through her hands, here at Paris, during
the great man's absence. Fixed north-east; that is, to
appearance, the domestic wind blowing! And I rather
judge, the great man is glad to get away for a time.
This Quasi-Diplomatic Speculation, one perceives,
is much more serious, on the part both of Voltaire and
of the Ministry, than any of the former had been.
And, on Voltaire's part, there glitter prospects now and
then of something positively Diplomatic, of a real
career in that kind, lying ahead for him. Fond hopes
these! But among the new Ministers, since Fleury's
death, are Amelot, the D'Argensons, personal friends,
old schoolfellows of the poor hunted man, who are
willing he should have shelter from such a pack; and
all French Ministers, clutching at every floating spar,
in this their general shipwreck in Germany, are aware
of the uses there might be in him, in such crisis.
"Knows Friedrich; might perhaps have some power in
persuading him, -- power in spying him at any rate.
Unless Friedrich do step forward again, what is to be-
come of us! " -- The mutual hintings, negotiatings, ex-
press interviews, bargainings and secret-instructions,
dimly traceable in Voltaire's Letters, had been going
on perhaps since May last, time of those Academy
failures, of those Broglio Despatches from the Donau
Countries, "No staying here, your Majesty! " -- and I
think it was, in fact, about the time when Broglio
blew up like gunpowder and tumbled home on the
winds, that Voltaire set out on his mission. "Visit to
Friedrich," they call it; -- "invitation" from Friedrich
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? 320 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
there is, or can, on the first hint, at any point of the
Journey be.
Voltaire has lingered long on the road; left Paris,
middle of June;* but has been exceedingly exerting
himself, in the Hague, at Brussels, and wherever else
present, in the way of forwarding his errand. Spying,
contriving, persuading; corresponding to right and left,
-- corresponding, especially much, with the King of
Prussia himself, and then with "M. Amelot, Secretary
of State," to report progress to the best advantage.
There are curious elucidative sparks, in those Voltaire
Letters, chaotic as they are; small sparks, elucidative,
confirmatory of your dull History Books, and adding
traits, here and there, to the Image you have formed
from them. Yielding you a poor momentary comfort;
like reading some riddle of no use; like light got in-
cidentally, by rubbing dark upon dark (say Voltaire
flint upon Dryasdust gritstone), in those labyrinthic
catacombs, if you are doomed to travel there. A mere
weariness, otherwise, to the outside reader, hurrying
forward, -- to the light French Editor, who can pass
comfortably on wings or balloons! ** Voltaire's assiduous
finessings with the Hague Diplomatist People, or with
their Secretaries if bribeable; nay, with the Dutch Go-
vernment itself ("through channels which I have opened,"
* His Letters ((Euvres. lxxiii. 42, 48).
** (Euvres, lxxiii. pp. 40-138. Clogenson, a Dane (whose Notes, signed
"Clog. ," are in all tolerable recent Editions), has, alone among the Com-
mentators of Voltaire's Letters, made some real attempt towards explaining
the many passages that are fallen unintelligible. "Clog. ," travelling on
foot, with his eyes open, is, -- especially on German-History points, -- in-
comparable and unique, among his French comrades going by balloon;
and drops a rational or half-rational hint, now and then, which is meri-
toriously helpful. Unhappily he is by no means wefl-read in that German
matter, by no means always exact; nor indeed ever quite to be trusted
without trial had.
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? chap. vi. ] voltaire's fourth visit. 321
31st Aug. --10th Sept. 1743.
-- with infinitesimally small result); his spyings
("young Podewils," Minister here, Nephew of the
Podewils we have known, "young Podewils in intrigue
with a Dutch Lady of rank:" think of that, your
Excellency); his preparatory subtle correspondings with
Friedrich; his exquisite manceuverings, and really great
industries in the small way: -- all this, and much
else, we will omit. Impatient of these preludings,
which have been many! Thus, at one point, Voltaire
"took a fluxion" (catarrhal, from the nose only), when
Friedrich was quite ready; then, again, when Voltaire
was ready, and the fluxion off, Friedrich had gone
upon his Silesian Reviews; in short, there have been
such cross-purposes, tedious delays, as are distressing
to think of; -- and we will say only, that M. de
Voltaire did actually, after the conceivable adventures,
alight in the Berlin Schloss (last day of August, as I
count); welcomed, like no other man, by the Eoyal
Landlord there; -- and that this is the Fourth Visit;
and has (in strict privacy) weightier intentions than
any of the foregoing, on M. de Voltaire's part.
Voltaire had a glorious reception; apartment near
the King's; King gliding in, at odd moments, in the
beautifullest way; and for seven or eight days, there
was, at Berlin and then at Potsdam, a fine awakening
of the sphere-harmonies between them, with touches of
practicality thrown in as suited. Of course it was not
long till, on some touch of that latter kind, Friedrich
discerned what the celestial messenger had come upon
withal; -- a dangerous moment for M. de Voltaire
"King visibly irritated," admits he, with the aquiline
glance transfixing him! "Alas, your Majesty, mere
excess of loyalty, submission, devotion, on my poor
Carlyte, Frederick the Gnat. VII. 21
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? 322 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
part! Deign to think, may not this too, -- in the
present state of my King, of my Two Kings, and of
all Europe, -- be itself a kind of spheral thing? " So
that the aquiline lightning was but momentary; and
abated to lambent twinklings, with something even of
comic in them, as we shall gather. Voltaire had his
difficulties with Valori, too; "What interloping fellow
is this? " gloomed Valori. "A devoted secretary of
your Excellency's; on his honour, nothing more! " an-
swered Voltaire, bowing to the ground: and strives to
behave as such; giving Valori "these poor Reports of
mine to put in cipher," and the like. Very slippery
ice hereabouts for the adroit man! His reports to
Amelot are of sanguine tone; but indicate, to the by-
stander, small progress; ice slippery, and a twinkle of
the comic. Many of them are lost (or lie hidden in
the French Archives, and are not worth disinterring):
but here is one, saved by Beaumarchais and published
long afterwards, which will sufficiently bring home the
old scene to us. In the Palace of Berlin or else of
Potsdam (date must be, 6th--8th September 1743),
Voltaire from his Apartment hands-in a "Memorial"
to Eriedrich; and gets it back with Marginalia, -- as
follows:
"Would your Majesty be pleased to have the kind con-
"descension (assez de bonte) to put on the margin your re-
"flexions and orders.
Memorial by Voltaire. Marginalia by Friedrich.
"1o. Your Majesty is to
"know that the Sieur Basse-
"cour" (signifies Backyard), "1o. This Bassecour, or
"chief Burghermaster of Am- "Backyard, seems to be the
"sterdam, has come lately to "gentleman that has charge
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? chap. vi. ] voltaike's fourth visit.
323
31st Aug. --10th Sept. 1743.
"beg M. de la Ville, French
"Minister there, to make Pro-
posals of Peace. La Ville
"answered, If the Dutch had
"offers to make, the King his
"master could hear them.
"20. Is it not clear that the
"Peace Party will infallibly
"carry it, in Holland, -- since
"Bassecour, one of the most
"determined for War, begins
"to speak of Peace? Is it not
"clear that France shows
"vigour and wisdom?
"3o. In these circumstances,
"if your Maj esty took the tone
"of a Master, gave example to
"the Princes of the Empire in
"assembling an Army of Neu-
trality, -- would not you
"snatch the sceptre of Europe
"from the hands of the Eng-
lish, who now brave you, and
"speak in an insolent revolt-
"ing manner of your Maj esty,
"as do, in Holland also, the
"party of the Bentincks, the
"Fagels, theOpdams? I have
"myself heard them, and am
"reporting nothing but what
"is very true.
"4o. Do not you cover your-
"self with an immortal glory
"in declaring yourself, with
"effect," the protector of the
"Empire? And is it not of
"most pressing interest to
"your Majesty, to hinder the
"English from making your
"Enemy the Grand-Duke"
(Maria Theresa's husband)
"King of the Romans?
"of fattening the capons
"and turkeys for their High
"Mightinesses?
"2o. I admire the wisdom
"of France; but God preserve
"me from ever imitating it!
"3o. This would be finer in
"anode than in actual reality.
"I disturb myself very little
"about what the Dutch and
"English say, the rather as I
"understand nothing of those
"dialects (patois') of theirs.
"40. France has more in-
'terest than Prussia to hinder
'that. Besides, on this point,
'dear Voltaire, you are ill in-
'formed. For there can be no
'Election of a King of the
'Romans without the unani-
'mous consent of the Em-
'pire; -- so, you perceive,
'that always depends on me.
? ? 21*
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? 324
EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book xrv.
31st Aug. --10th Sept. 1743.
"5o. Whoever has spoken
"but a quarter of an hour to
"the Duke d'Ahremberg"
(who spilt Lord Stair's fine
enterprises lately, and re-
duced them to a Dettingen], or
a getting into the mousetrap
and a getting out), "to the
"Count Harraeh" (important
Austrian Official), "Lord
"Stairj, or any of the par-
"tisans of Austria, even for a
"quarter of an hour" (as I
have often done), "has heard
"them say, That they burn
"with desire to open the cam-
paign in Silesia again. Have
"you in that case, Sire, any
"ally but France? And how-
. "ever potent you are, is an
''ally useless jto you? You
"know the resources of the
"House of Austria, and how
"many Princes are united to
"it. But will they resist your
"power, joined to that of the
"House of Bourbon?
"6o. If you were but to
'march a body of troops to
'Cleves, do not you awaken
'terror and respect, without
'apprehension that any one
'dare make war on you? Is
'it not, on the contrary, the
'one method of forcing the
'Dutch to concur, under your
"5o. On les y recevra,
"Biribi,
"A la facon de Barbari,
"Mon ami. *
"We will receive them,
"Twiddledee,
"In the mode of Barbary,
"Don't you see?
"6o. Vous voulez qu'en vrai
"dieu de la machine,
"You will have me as
"theatre-god, then,
"J'arrive pour le denoue-
"mentt
"Swoop in, and produce
"the catastrophe?
"Q'aux Anglais, aux Pan-
"dours, a ce peuple insolent,
"J'aille donner la disci-
"plinef --
"Tame to sobriety those
? Form of Song, very fashionable at Paris (see Barbier, saepivs) in
those years: "Biribi," I believe, is a kind of lottery-game.
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? chap. vi. ] voltaire's fourth visit.
325
31st Aug. --10th Sept.
16th Aug. 1743.
Reich's elected Kaiser as a merely chimerical personage.
No law of the Reich had been violated against her
Hungarian Majesty or Husband: "What law? " asked
all judges. Vicarius Kur-Sachsen sat in committee,
hatching for many months that Question of the Kur-
Bohmen Vote; and by the prescribed methods, brought
it out in the negative, -- every formality and regularity
observed, and nobody but your Austrian Deputy pro-
testing upon it, when requested to go home. But the
high Maria had a notion that the Reich belonged to
her august Family and her; and that all Elections to
the contrary were an inconclusive thing, fundamentally
void every one of them.
Thus too, long before this, in regard to the Beichs-
Archiv Question. The Archives and indispensablest
Official Records and Papers of the Reich, -- these had
lain so long at Vienna, the high Maria could not think
of giving them up. "So difficult to extricate what
Papers are Austrian specially, from what are Austrian-
Imperial; --. must have time! " answered she always.
And neither the Kaiser's more and more pressing de-
mands, nor those of the late Kur-Mainz, backed by
the Reich, and reiterated month after month and year
after year, could avail in the matter. Mere angry cor-
respondence, growing ever angrier; -- the Archives of
the Reich lay irrecoverable at Vienna, detained on this
pretext and on that: nor were they ever given up; but
lay there till the Reich itself had ended, much more
the Kaiser Karl VII. ! These are high procedures.
As if the Reich had been one's own chattel; as if
a Non-Austrian Kaiser were impossible, and the Reich
and its . laws had, even Officially, become phantasmal!
That, in fact, was Maria Theresa's inarticulate inborn
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? 312 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
16th Aug. 1743.
notion; and gradually, as her successes on the field
rose higher, it became ever more articulate; till this of
"the seyn-sollende Kaiser" put a crown on it. Justi-
fiable, if the Reich with its Laws were a chattel, or
rebellious vassal, of Austria; not justifiable otherwise.
"Hear ye? " answered almost all the Reich (eight Kur-
fursts, with the one exception of Kur-Hanover, as we
observed): "Our solemnly elected Kaiser, Karl VII. , is
a thing of quirks and quiddities, of French shreds and
patches; at present, it seems, the Reich has no Kaiser
at all; and will go ever deeper into anarchies and un-
nameabilities, till it proceed anew to get one, -- of the
right Austrian type! " -- The Reich is a talking entity:
King Friedrich is bound rather to silence, so long as
possible. His thoughts on these matters are not given;
but sure enough they were continual, too intense they
could hardly be. "Compensation;" "The Eeich as
good as mine:" Whither is all this tending! Walrave
and those Silesian Fortifyings, --let Walrave mind his
work, and get it perfected!
Britannic Majesty goes home.
The "Combined Invasion of Elsass," -- let us say
briefly, overstepping the order of date, and still for a
moment leaving Friedrich, -- came to nothing, this
year. Prince Karl was 70,000; Britannic George (when
once those Dutch, crawling-on all summer, bad actually
come up) was 66,000, -- nay 70,000; Karl having lent
him that beautiful cannibal gentleman, "Colonel Mentzel
and 4,000 Tolpatches," by way of edge-trimming. Karl
was to cross in Upper Elsass, in the Strasburg parts;
Karl once across, Britannic Majesty was to cross about
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? CHAP. v. ] BATTLE OF DETTINGEN. 313
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
Mainz, and cooperate from Lower Elsass. And they
should have been swift about it; and were not! All
the world expected a severe slash to France; andFrance
itself had the due apprehension of it: but France and
all the world were mistaken, this time.
Prince Karl was slow with his preparations; Noailles
and Coigny (Broglio's successor) were not slow; "raising
batteries everywhere," raising lines, "10,000 Elsass
Peasants," and what-not; -- so that, by the time
Prince Karl was ready (middle of August), they lay
entrenched and minatory at all passable points; and
Karl could nowhere, in that Upper-Rhine Country, by
any method, get across. Nothing got across; except,
once or twice for perhaps a day, Butcher Trenck and
his loose kennel of Pandours; who went about, plunder-
ing and rioting, with loud rhodomontade, to th& ad-
miration of the Gazetteers, if of no one else.
Nor was George's seconding of important nature;
most dubitative, wholly passive, you would rather say,
though the River, in his quarter, lay undefended. He
did, at last, cross the Rhine about Mainz; went lan-
guidly to Worms, -- did an ever-memorable Treaty of
Worms there, if no fighting there or elsewhere. Went
to Speyer, where the Dutch joined him (sadly short of
number stipulated, had it been the least matter); --
was at Germersheim, at what other places I forget;
manceuvering about in a languid and as if in an aim-
less manner, at least it was in a perfectly ineffectual
one. Mentzel rode gloriously to Trarbach, into Lor-
raine; stuck up Proclamation, "Hungarian Majesty
come, by God's help, for her own again," and the
like; -- of which Document, now fallen rare, we give
textually the last line: "And if any of you don't" (don't
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? 314 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
sit quiet at least), "I will," to be brief, "first cut off
"your ears and noses, and then hang you out of hand. "
The singular Champion of Christendom, famous to the
then Gazetteers! * Nothing farther could George, with
his Dutch now adjoined, do in those parts, but wriggle
slightly to and fro without aim; or stand absolutely
still, and eat provision (great uncertainty and discre-
pancy among the Generals, and Stair gone in a huff),**
-- till at length the "Combined Pragmatic Troops"
returned to Mainz (October 11th); and thence, dread-
fully in ill humour with each other, separated into their
winter-quarters in the Netherlands and adjacent re-
gions.
Prince Karl tried hard in several places; hardest at
Alt-Breisach, far up the River, with Swabian Freiburg
for his place of arms; -- an Austrian Country all that,
"Hither Austria," Swabian Austria. There, at Alt-
Breisach, lay Prince Karl (24th August--3d September),
his left leaning on that venerable sugar-loaf Hill, with
the towers and ramparts on the top of it; looking wist-
fully into Alsace, if there were no way of getting at it.
He did get once half-way across the Eiver, lodging
himself in an Island called Rheinmark; but could get
no farther, owing to the Noailles-Coigny preparations
for him. Called a Council of War; decided that he
had not magazines, that it was too late in the season;
and marched home again (October 12th) through the
Schwabenland; leaving, besides the strong Garrison of
Freiburg, only Trenck with 12,000 Pandours to keep
* In Adelung (iii. 6. 193) the Proclamation at large. I have, or once
had, a Life of Mentzel (Dublin, I think, 1744), "price two-pence,"-- dear at
the money.
** Went, "August 27th, by Worms" (Henderson, Life of Cumberland,
p. 48), just while his Majesty was beginning to cross.
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? CHAP. v. ] BATTLE OF DETTINGEN. 315
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
the Country open for us, against next year. Britannic
Majesty, as we observed, did then, almost simultane-
ously, in like manner march home; * -- one goal is
always clear, when the day sinks: Make for your quar-
ters, for your bed.
Prince Karl was gloriously wedded, this Winter, to
her Hungarian Majesty's young Sister; -- glorious meed
of War; and, they say, a union of hearts withal; --
Wife and he to have Brussels for residence, and be
"Joint-Governors of the Netherlands" henceforth. Stout
Khevenhiiller, almost during the rejoicings, took fever,
and suddenly died; to the great sorrow of her Majesty,
for loss of such a soldier and man. ** Britannic Majesty
has not been successful with his Pragmatic Army. He
did get his new Kur-Mainz, who has brought the Aus-
trian Exorbitancy to a first reading, and into general
view. He did get out of the Dettingen mousetrap;
and, to the admiration of the Gazetteer mind, and (we
hope) envy of Most Christian Majesty, he has, regard-
less of expense, played Supreme Jove on the German
boards for above three months running. But as to
Settlement of the German Quarrel, he has done nothing
at all, and even a good deal less! Let me commend
to readers this little scrap of Note; headed, "Methods
of Pacificating Germany:
"1o. There is one ready method of pacificating Germany:
"That hisBritannicMajestyshould firmly button his breeches-
"pocket, 'Not one sixpence more, Madam! ' -- and go home
"to his bed, if he find no business waiting him at home. Has
"not he always the Ear-of-Jenkins Question, and the Cause of
"Liberty in that succinct form! But, in Germany, sinews of
* Adelung, iii. b. 192, 215; Anonymous, Cumberland, p. 121.
** Maria Theresiens Leben, pp. 94, 45.
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? 316 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
"war being cut, law of gravitation would at once act; and ex-
orbitant Hungarian Majesty, tired France, and all else,
"would in a brief space of time lapse into equilibrium, pro-
"bably of the more stable kind.
"20. Or, if you want to save the Cause of Liberty on a
"grand scale, there are those Hanau Conferences. -- Carteret's
"magnificent scheme: A united Teutschland (England in-
"spiring it), to rush on the throat of France, for 'Compensa-
tion,' for universal salving of sores. This second method,
"Diana having intervened, is gone to water, and even to
'' poisoned water. So that,
"3o. There was nothing left for poor Carteret but a Treaty
"of Worms" (concerning which, something more explicit by
and by): "A Teutschland (the English, doubly and trebly in-
spiring it, as surely they will now need! )to rush as aforesaid,
"in the disunited and indeed nearly internecine state. Which
"third method, -- unless Carteret can conquer Naples for the
"Kaiser, stuff the Kaiser into some satisfactory 'Netherlands'
"or the like, and miraculously do the unfeasible ? (Fortune
"perhaps favouring the brave), -- may be called the unlikely
"one! As poor Carteret probably guesses, or dreads; --had
"he now any choice left. But it was love's last shift! And, by
"aid of Diana and otherwise, that is the posture in which, at
"Mainz, 11th October 1743, we leave the German Question. "
"Compensation," from France in particular, is not
to be had gratis, it appears. Somewhere or other it
must be had! Complaining once, as she very often
does, to her Supreme Jove, Hungarian Majesty had
written: "Why, O why did you force me to give up
Silesia! " -- Supreme Jove answers (at what date I
never knew, though Friedrich knows it, and "has copy
of the Letter"): "Madame, what was good to give is
"good to take back (ce qui est bon a prendre est bon a
"rendre)l"*
* (Euvres de Frederic, iii/27.
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? CHAP. VI. ] volt aire's fourth visi*. Si 7
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
CHAPTER VI.
VOLTAIRE VISITS FRIEDRICH FOR THE FOURTH TIME.
In the last days of August, there appears at Berlin
M. de Voltaire, on his Fourth Visit: -- thrice and four
times welcome; though this time, privately, in a some-
what unexpected capacity. Come to try his hand in
the diplomatic line; to sound Friedrich a little, on be-
half of the distressed French Ministry. That, very
privately indeed, is Voltaire's errand at present; and
great hopes hang by it for Voltaire, if he prove adroit
enough.
Poor man, it had turned out he could not get his
Academy Diploma, after all, -- owing again to intri-
cacies and heterodoxies. King Louis was at first willing,
indifferent; nay the Chateauroux was willing: but
orthodox parties persuaded hisMajesty; wicked Maurepas
(the same who lasted till the Revolution time) set his
face against it; Maurepas, and Anc. de Mirepoix (whom
they wittily call "Ane" or Ass of Mirepoix, that sour
opaque creature, lately monk), were industrious ex-
ceedingly; and put veto on Voltaire. A stupid Bishop
was preferred to him for filling up the Forty. Two
Bishops magnanimously refused; but one was found
with ambitious stupidity enough: Voltaire, for the third
time, failed in this small matter, to him great. Nay,
in spite of that kiss in Me'rope, he could not get his
Mort de Cesar acted; cabals rising; Ancien de Mirepoix
rising: Orthodoxy, sour Opacity prevailing again. To
Madame and him (though finely caressed in the Pari-
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? 318 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Aug. --Oct. 174S.
sian circles) these were provoking months; -- enough
to make a man forswear Literature, and try some other
Jacob's-Ladder in this world. Which Voltaire had
actual thoughts of, now and then. We may ask, Are
these things of a nature to create love of the Hierarchy
in M. de Voltaire? "Your Academy is going to be a
Seminary of Priests," says Friedrieh. The lynx-eyed
animal, -- anxiously asking itself, "Whitherward, then,
out of such a mess? " -- walks warily about, with its
paws of velvet; but has, in posse, claws under them,
for certain individuals and fraternities.
Nor, alas, is the Du Chatelet relation itself so
celestial as it once was. Madame has discovered, think
only with what feelings, that this great man does not
love her as formerly! The great man denies, ready to
deny on the Gospels, to her and to himself; and yet,
at bottom, if we read with the microscope, there are
symptoms, and it is not deniable. How should it?
Leafy May, hot June, by degrees comes October, sere,
yellow; and at last, a quite leafless condition, -- not
Favonius, but gray North-east, with its hail-storms
(jealousies, barren cankered gusts), your main wind
blowing. "Emilie fait de VAlgebre" sneers he once, in
an inadvertent moment, to some Lady-friend: "Emilie
"doing? Emilie is doing Algebra; that is Emilie's
"employment, -- which will be of great use to her in
"the affairs of Life, and of great charm in Society. "*
Voltaire (if you read with the microscope) has, on this
side also, thoughts of being off. "Off on this side? "
Madame flies mad, becomes Megsera, at the mention or
* Letter of Voltaire "To Madame Chambonin," end of 1742 ((Elitres,
Edition in 40 voll. , Paris, 1818, xxxii. 148); -- is missed in the later Edition
(97 voll. , Paris, 1837), to which our habitual reference is.
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? CHAP. VI. ] VOLT AIRE'S FOURTH VISIT. 319
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
suspicion of it! A jealous, high-tempered Algebraic
Lady. They have had to tell her of this secret Mission
to Berlin; and she insists on being the conduit, all the
papers to pass through her hands, here at Paris, during
the great man's absence. Fixed north-east; that is, to
appearance, the domestic wind blowing! And I rather
judge, the great man is glad to get away for a time.
This Quasi-Diplomatic Speculation, one perceives,
is much more serious, on the part both of Voltaire and
of the Ministry, than any of the former had been.
And, on Voltaire's part, there glitter prospects now and
then of something positively Diplomatic, of a real
career in that kind, lying ahead for him. Fond hopes
these! But among the new Ministers, since Fleury's
death, are Amelot, the D'Argensons, personal friends,
old schoolfellows of the poor hunted man, who are
willing he should have shelter from such a pack; and
all French Ministers, clutching at every floating spar,
in this their general shipwreck in Germany, are aware
of the uses there might be in him, in such crisis.
"Knows Friedrich; might perhaps have some power in
persuading him, -- power in spying him at any rate.
Unless Friedrich do step forward again, what is to be-
come of us! " -- The mutual hintings, negotiatings, ex-
press interviews, bargainings and secret-instructions,
dimly traceable in Voltaire's Letters, had been going
on perhaps since May last, time of those Academy
failures, of those Broglio Despatches from the Donau
Countries, "No staying here, your Majesty! " -- and I
think it was, in fact, about the time when Broglio
blew up like gunpowder and tumbled home on the
winds, that Voltaire set out on his mission. "Visit to
Friedrich," they call it; -- "invitation" from Friedrich
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? 320 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
there is, or can, on the first hint, at any point of the
Journey be.
Voltaire has lingered long on the road; left Paris,
middle of June;* but has been exceedingly exerting
himself, in the Hague, at Brussels, and wherever else
present, in the way of forwarding his errand. Spying,
contriving, persuading; corresponding to right and left,
-- corresponding, especially much, with the King of
Prussia himself, and then with "M. Amelot, Secretary
of State," to report progress to the best advantage.
There are curious elucidative sparks, in those Voltaire
Letters, chaotic as they are; small sparks, elucidative,
confirmatory of your dull History Books, and adding
traits, here and there, to the Image you have formed
from them. Yielding you a poor momentary comfort;
like reading some riddle of no use; like light got in-
cidentally, by rubbing dark upon dark (say Voltaire
flint upon Dryasdust gritstone), in those labyrinthic
catacombs, if you are doomed to travel there. A mere
weariness, otherwise, to the outside reader, hurrying
forward, -- to the light French Editor, who can pass
comfortably on wings or balloons! ** Voltaire's assiduous
finessings with the Hague Diplomatist People, or with
their Secretaries if bribeable; nay, with the Dutch Go-
vernment itself ("through channels which I have opened,"
* His Letters ((Euvres. lxxiii. 42, 48).
** (Euvres, lxxiii. pp. 40-138. Clogenson, a Dane (whose Notes, signed
"Clog. ," are in all tolerable recent Editions), has, alone among the Com-
mentators of Voltaire's Letters, made some real attempt towards explaining
the many passages that are fallen unintelligible. "Clog. ," travelling on
foot, with his eyes open, is, -- especially on German-History points, -- in-
comparable and unique, among his French comrades going by balloon;
and drops a rational or half-rational hint, now and then, which is meri-
toriously helpful. Unhappily he is by no means wefl-read in that German
matter, by no means always exact; nor indeed ever quite to be trusted
without trial had.
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? chap. vi. ] voltaire's fourth visit. 321
31st Aug. --10th Sept. 1743.
-- with infinitesimally small result); his spyings
("young Podewils," Minister here, Nephew of the
Podewils we have known, "young Podewils in intrigue
with a Dutch Lady of rank:" think of that, your
Excellency); his preparatory subtle correspondings with
Friedrich; his exquisite manceuverings, and really great
industries in the small way: -- all this, and much
else, we will omit. Impatient of these preludings,
which have been many! Thus, at one point, Voltaire
"took a fluxion" (catarrhal, from the nose only), when
Friedrich was quite ready; then, again, when Voltaire
was ready, and the fluxion off, Friedrich had gone
upon his Silesian Reviews; in short, there have been
such cross-purposes, tedious delays, as are distressing
to think of; -- and we will say only, that M. de
Voltaire did actually, after the conceivable adventures,
alight in the Berlin Schloss (last day of August, as I
count); welcomed, like no other man, by the Eoyal
Landlord there; -- and that this is the Fourth Visit;
and has (in strict privacy) weightier intentions than
any of the foregoing, on M. de Voltaire's part.
Voltaire had a glorious reception; apartment near
the King's; King gliding in, at odd moments, in the
beautifullest way; and for seven or eight days, there
was, at Berlin and then at Potsdam, a fine awakening
of the sphere-harmonies between them, with touches of
practicality thrown in as suited. Of course it was not
long till, on some touch of that latter kind, Friedrich
discerned what the celestial messenger had come upon
withal; -- a dangerous moment for M. de Voltaire
"King visibly irritated," admits he, with the aquiline
glance transfixing him! "Alas, your Majesty, mere
excess of loyalty, submission, devotion, on my poor
Carlyte, Frederick the Gnat. VII. 21
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? 322 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Aug. --Oct. 1743.
part! Deign to think, may not this too, -- in the
present state of my King, of my Two Kings, and of
all Europe, -- be itself a kind of spheral thing? " So
that the aquiline lightning was but momentary; and
abated to lambent twinklings, with something even of
comic in them, as we shall gather. Voltaire had his
difficulties with Valori, too; "What interloping fellow
is this? " gloomed Valori. "A devoted secretary of
your Excellency's; on his honour, nothing more! " an-
swered Voltaire, bowing to the ground: and strives to
behave as such; giving Valori "these poor Reports of
mine to put in cipher," and the like. Very slippery
ice hereabouts for the adroit man! His reports to
Amelot are of sanguine tone; but indicate, to the by-
stander, small progress; ice slippery, and a twinkle of
the comic. Many of them are lost (or lie hidden in
the French Archives, and are not worth disinterring):
but here is one, saved by Beaumarchais and published
long afterwards, which will sufficiently bring home the
old scene to us. In the Palace of Berlin or else of
Potsdam (date must be, 6th--8th September 1743),
Voltaire from his Apartment hands-in a "Memorial"
to Eriedrich; and gets it back with Marginalia, -- as
follows:
"Would your Majesty be pleased to have the kind con-
"descension (assez de bonte) to put on the margin your re-
"flexions and orders.
Memorial by Voltaire. Marginalia by Friedrich.
"1o. Your Majesty is to
"know that the Sieur Basse-
"cour" (signifies Backyard), "1o. This Bassecour, or
"chief Burghermaster of Am- "Backyard, seems to be the
"sterdam, has come lately to "gentleman that has charge
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? chap. vi. ] voltaike's fourth visit.
323
31st Aug. --10th Sept. 1743.
"beg M. de la Ville, French
"Minister there, to make Pro-
posals of Peace. La Ville
"answered, If the Dutch had
"offers to make, the King his
"master could hear them.
"20. Is it not clear that the
"Peace Party will infallibly
"carry it, in Holland, -- since
"Bassecour, one of the most
"determined for War, begins
"to speak of Peace? Is it not
"clear that France shows
"vigour and wisdom?
"3o. In these circumstances,
"if your Maj esty took the tone
"of a Master, gave example to
"the Princes of the Empire in
"assembling an Army of Neu-
trality, -- would not you
"snatch the sceptre of Europe
"from the hands of the Eng-
lish, who now brave you, and
"speak in an insolent revolt-
"ing manner of your Maj esty,
"as do, in Holland also, the
"party of the Bentincks, the
"Fagels, theOpdams? I have
"myself heard them, and am
"reporting nothing but what
"is very true.
"4o. Do not you cover your-
"self with an immortal glory
"in declaring yourself, with
"effect," the protector of the
"Empire? And is it not of
"most pressing interest to
"your Majesty, to hinder the
"English from making your
"Enemy the Grand-Duke"
(Maria Theresa's husband)
"King of the Romans?
"of fattening the capons
"and turkeys for their High
"Mightinesses?
"2o. I admire the wisdom
"of France; but God preserve
"me from ever imitating it!
"3o. This would be finer in
"anode than in actual reality.
"I disturb myself very little
"about what the Dutch and
"English say, the rather as I
"understand nothing of those
"dialects (patois') of theirs.
"40. France has more in-
'terest than Prussia to hinder
'that. Besides, on this point,
'dear Voltaire, you are ill in-
'formed. For there can be no
'Election of a King of the
'Romans without the unani-
'mous consent of the Em-
'pire; -- so, you perceive,
'that always depends on me.
? ? 21*
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijj Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 324
EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book xrv.
31st Aug. --10th Sept. 1743.
"5o. Whoever has spoken
"but a quarter of an hour to
"the Duke d'Ahremberg"
(who spilt Lord Stair's fine
enterprises lately, and re-
duced them to a Dettingen], or
a getting into the mousetrap
and a getting out), "to the
"Count Harraeh" (important
Austrian Official), "Lord
"Stairj, or any of the par-
"tisans of Austria, even for a
"quarter of an hour" (as I
have often done), "has heard
"them say, That they burn
"with desire to open the cam-
paign in Silesia again. Have
"you in that case, Sire, any
"ally but France? And how-
. "ever potent you are, is an
''ally useless jto you? You
"know the resources of the
"House of Austria, and how
"many Princes are united to
"it. But will they resist your
"power, joined to that of the
"House of Bourbon?
"6o. If you were but to
'march a body of troops to
'Cleves, do not you awaken
'terror and respect, without
'apprehension that any one
'dare make war on you? Is
'it not, on the contrary, the
'one method of forcing the
'Dutch to concur, under your
"5o. On les y recevra,
"Biribi,
"A la facon de Barbari,
"Mon ami. *
"We will receive them,
"Twiddledee,
"In the mode of Barbary,
"Don't you see?
"6o. Vous voulez qu'en vrai
"dieu de la machine,
"You will have me as
"theatre-god, then,
"J'arrive pour le denoue-
"mentt
"Swoop in, and produce
"the catastrophe?
"Q'aux Anglais, aux Pan-
"dours, a ce peuple insolent,
"J'aille donner la disci-
"plinef --
"Tame to sobriety those
? Form of Song, very fashionable at Paris (see Barbier, saepivs) in
those years: "Biribi," I believe, is a kind of lottery-game.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijj Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? chap. vi. ] voltaire's fourth visit.
325
31st Aug. --10th Sept.
