In the first place, I will buy
'"of you these Jewels' (this one discovers to have been the
"essence of the operation!
'"of you these Jewels' (this one discovers to have been the
"essence of the operation!
Thomas Carlyle
But for
"near a fortnight after Document First, there is nothing
"dated, or that can be clearly believed, -- till
"Monday, 23d November 1750. It is credibly certain the
"JewHirsch came again, this day, to the Royal Schloss of
"Potsdam, to Voltaire's apartment there" (right overhead of
King Friedrich's, it is! ) -- "where, after such dialogue as
"can be guessed at, there was handed to Hirsch by Voltaire,
"in the form of Two negociable Bills, a sum of about 2,2501. ;
"with which the Jew is to make at once for Dresden, and buy
"Steuer-Scheine. ** Steuer-Scheine without fail: 'but in
"talking or corresponding on the matter, we are always to
"' call them Furs or Diamonds,' -- mystery of mysteries being
* Klein, 259. ** Hirsch's Narrative, in Preface to Tantalc en Proces, p. MO. \
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. VII. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW-LAWSUIT. 31
23d--26th Nov. 1750.
"the rule for us. This considerable sum of 2,250/. may it not
"otherwise, contrives Voltaire, be called a 'Loan' to Jeweller
"Hirsch, so obliging a Jeweller, to buy'Furs'or'Diamonds'
"with? At again of35 per 100Pieces, there will be above
"800/. to me, after all expenses cleared: a very pretty stroke
"of business doable in few days! " --
"Monday, 23d November:" The beautiful Wilhelmina,
one remarks, is just making her packages; right sad to end
such a Visit as this had been! Thursday night, from her
first sleeping-place, there is a touching Farewell to her
Brother; -- tender, melodiously sorrowful, as the Song of the
Swan. * To Voltaire she was always good; always liked
Voltaire. Voltaire would be saying his Adieus, in state,
among the others, to that high Being, -- just in the hours
while such a scandalous Hirsch-Concoction went on under-
ground!
"As to the Two Bills, and Voltaire's security for them,
"readers are to note as follows. Bill First is a Draft on Vol-
taire's Paris Banker for 40,000 livres (about 1,600/0, not
"payable for some weeks: 'This I lend you, Monsieur Hirsch;
'"mind, lend you,--to buy Furs! ' 'Yes, truly, what we
"'call Furs; -- and before the Bill falls payable, there will
"'be effects for it in Monseigneur de Voltaire's hand; which
"'is security enough for Monseigneur. ' The Second Bill,
"again" -- Truth is, there were in succession two Second
Bills, an Intended-Second (of this same Monday 23 d), which
did not quite suit, and an Actual-Second (two days later),
which did. Intended-Second Bill was one for 4,000 thalers
(about 600/. ), drawn by Voltaire on the Sieur Ephraim, -- a
very famous Jew of Berlin now and henceforth, with whom
as moneychanger, if not yet otherwise (which perhaps
Ephraim thinks unlucky), Voltaire, it would seem, is in
frequent communication. This Bill, Ephraim would not
accept; told Hirsch he owed M. de Voltaire nothing; "turned
me rudely away," says Hirsch (two of a trade, and no friends,
he and I! ) -- so that there is nothing to be said of this
Ephraim Bill; and, except as it elucidates some dark portions
of the whirlpools, need not have been noticed at all.
"Hirsch," continues my Authority, "got only Two available
* Wilhelmina to Friedrich, "Brietzen, 26th November, jour funeste
])our moi" (lEuvres de Frederic, xxvn. l. 197J.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 32 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
10th Nov. --25th Dec. 1750.
"Bills; the first on Paris for 1,600? . , payable in some weeks;
"and, after a day or two, this other: The Actual Bill Second;
"which is a Draft for 4,430 thalers (about 6501. ), by old
"Father Hirsch, head of the Firm, on Voltaire himself: --
'"Furs too with that, Monsieur Hirsch, at the rate of 35 per
"'piece, you understand? ' 'Yea, truly, Monseigneur! --
"Draft accepted by Voltaire, and the cash for it now handed
"to Hirsch Son; the only absolutely ready money he has yet
"got, towards the affair.
"For these Two Bills, especially for this Second, I
"perceive, Voltaire holds borrowed jewels (borrowed in
"theatrical times, or partly bought, from the Hirsch Firm,
"and not paid for), which make him sure till he see the Steuer
"Papers themselves. -- 'And now off, my good Sieur Hirsch;
"' and know that if you please me, there are -- things in my
"'power which would suit a man in the Jeweller and Hebrew
"'line! ' Hirsch pushes home to Berlin; primed and loaded in
"this manner; Voltaire naturally anxious enough that the
"shot may hit. Alas, the shot will not even go off, for some
"time: an ill omen!
"Sunday, 29thNovember, Hirsch, we hear, is still in Berlin.
"Fancy the humour of Voltaire, after such a week as last!
"Tuesday, December 1st, Hirsch still is not off: 'Go, you son
"' of Amalek! ' urges Voltaire; and sends his Servant Picard,
"a very sharp fellow, for perhaps the third time, -- who has
"orders now, as Hirsch discovers, to stay with him, not quit
"sight of him till he do go. * Hirsch's hour of departure for
"Dresden is not mentioned in the Acts; but I guess he could
"hardly get over Wednesday, with Picard dogging him on
"these terms; and must have taken the diligence on Wednes-
"day night: to arrive inDresden aboutDecember 4th. 'Well;
"' at least, our shot is off; has not burst out, and lodged in our
"' person here, -- thanked be all the gods! '
"Off, sure enough: -- and what should we say if the whole
"matter were already oozing out; if, on this same Sunday
"evening, November 29th, not quite a week's time yet, the
"matter (as we learn long afterwards) had been privately
"whispered to his Majesty: 'That Voltaire has sent off a Jew
'"to buy Steuer-Scheine, and has promised to get him made
* Hirsch's Narrative; see Voltaire's Letter to D'Arget ((Evvres, lxiv. 11). .
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP, vn. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW-LAWSUIT. 33
10th Nov. --25th Dec. 1750.
"'Court Jeweller! '* So; within a week, and before Hirsch
"is even gone! For men are very porous; weighty secrets
"oozing out of them, like quicksilver through clay jars. I
"could guess, Hirsch, by way of galling insolent Ephraim,
"had blabbed something: and in the course of five days, it
"has got to the very King, -- thisKammerherr Voltaire being
"such a favourite and famous man as never was; the very
"bull's-eye of all kinds of Berlin gossip in these days. 'Hm,
"' Steuer-Scheine, and the Jew Hirsch to be Court Jeweller,
"'you say? ' thinks the King, that Sunday night; but locks
"the rumour in his Royal mind, he, for his part; or dismisses
"it as incredible: 'There ought to be impervious vessels
'"too, among the porous! ' Voltaire notices nothing par-
"ticular, or nothing that he speaks of as particular. This
"must have been a horrid week to him, till Hirsch got away. "
Hirsch is away (December 2d); in Dresden, safe enough;
but --
"But the fortnight that follows is conceivable as still
"worse. Hirsch writing darkly, nothing to the purpose; Vol-
"taire driving often into Berlin, hearing from Ephraim hints
"about, 'No connexion with that House;' 'If Monseigneur
"'have intrusted Hirsch with money, -- may there be a
"'good account of it! ' and the like. Black Care devouring
"Monseigneur; but nothing definite; except the fact too
"evident That Hirsch does not send or bring the smallest
"shadow of Steuer-Scheine, -- 'Peltries,' or 'Diamonds,' we
"mean, -- or any value whatever for that Paris Bill of ours,
"payable shortly, and which he has already got cashed in
"Dresden. Nothing but excuses, prevarications; stupid, in-
coherently deceptive jargon, as of a mule intent on playing
"fox with you. Vivid Correspondence is conceivable; but
"nothing of it definite to us, except this sample" (which we
give translated):
Document Third (torn fraction in Voltaire's hand: To
Hirsch, doubtless; early in December). ** "Not proper (il
"ne fallait pas) to negotiate Bills of Exchange, and never
"produce a single diamond" -- bit of peltry, or ware of any
kind, you son of Amalek! "Not proper to say: I have got
"money for your bills of exchange, and I bring you nothing
* Voltaire, (Euvres, lxxiv. 314 ("Letter toFriedrich,February 1751,"--
after Catastrophe).
Carlylc, Frederick the Great. IX. <<*
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 34 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVI.
12th Deo. 1850.
"back; andl will repay your money when you shall no longer
"be here" (in Germany at all). "Not proper to promise at
"35 louis, and then say 30. To say 20, and then next morn-
"ing 25. You should at least have produced goods (U fallait
"en dormer) at the price current; very easy to do when one
"was on the spot. All your procedures have been faults
"hitherto. "*
"These are dreadful symptoms. Steuer-Notes, promised
"at 35 discount, are not to be had except at 30. Say 30 then,
"and get done with it, mule of a scoundrel! Next day the 30
"sinks to 25; and not a Steuer-Note, on any terms, comes to
"hand. And the mule of a scoundrel has drawn money, in
"Dresden yonder, for my Bill onParis, -- excellent to him for
"trade of nis own! What is to be done with such an Ass of
"Balaam? He has got the bit in his teeth, it would seem.
"Heavens, he too is capable of stopping short, careless of
"spur and cudgel; and miraculously speaking to a new
"Prophet" (strange new "Revealer of the Lords Will," in
modern dialect), "in this enlightened Eighteenth Century
"itself! -- One thing the new Prophet can do: protest his
"Paris Bill.
"December 12th" (our next bit of certainty), "Voltaire
"writes, haste, haste, to Paris, 'Don'tpay;' and intimates to
"Hirsch, 'You will have to return your Dresden Banker his
"'money for that Paris Bill. At Paris I have protested it,
'"mark me; and there it never will be paid to nim or you.
'"And you must come home again instantly, job undone, lies
"'not untold, you --! ' Hirsch, with money on hand, appears
"not to have wanted for a briskish trade of his own in the
"Dresden marts. But this of cutting off his supplies brings
"him instantly back:" --and at Berlin, December 16th, new facts emerge again of a definite nature.
"Wednesday, 16thDecember 1750. 'Today the King with
"' Court and Voltaire come to Berlin for the Carnival;' ** to-
"day also Voltaire, not in Carnival humour, has appointed
"his Jew to meet him. In the Royal Palace itself, -- we hope,
"well remote from Friedrich's Apartment! -- this sordid
"conference, needing one's choicest diplomacy withal, and
"such exquisite handling of bit and spur, goes on. And pro-
? Klein, v. 259. ? * ROdenbeck, i. 209.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. VII. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW-LAWSUIT. 35
16th Dec. 1750.
"bably at great length. Of which, as the finale, and one clear
"feature significant to the fancy, here is,--for record of what
"they call ' Complete Settlement, which it was far from turning
"out to be:
"Document Fourth (in Hirsch's hand, First Piece of it). "Pour quittance generale
"promettant de rendre a Mr. de
"Voltaire tous billets, ordres et
"lettres de change a` moy donnez
"jusqu'a` ce jour, 16 Decembre
"1750"
'Account all settled; Ipro-
"mising to return M. de Vol-
"taire all Letters, Orders, and
"Bills of Exchange given me
"up to this day, 16thDecem-
"berl750. "
"(Hirsch signs. But you have forgotten something, Monsieur
"Hirsch! Whereupon)
"et promets de donner a` Mr. de
"Voltaire dans le jour de de-
"main ou apre`s demain auplus-
"tard deux cent quatre-vingt
"fre? derics d'or au lieu de deux
"cent quatre-vingt louis d'or,
"que je lui ai payez, le tout
"pour quittance generale, ce 16
"Decembre 1750, a` berlin"
"And promise to give M. de
"Voltaire, in the course of to-
"morrow, or the day after to-
"morrow at latest, 280 fre? de? -
"rics d'or, instead of 280 louis
"d'or" (gold fre? de? rics the
preferable coin, say experts)
"which I have now paid
"him; whereby All will be
"settled. "
"(Hirsch again signs; but has again forgotten something,
"most important thing. And)
"je lui remettrai surtout les
"40,000 livres de billets de
"change sur paris qu'il mavoit
"donnez et fiez" "I will especially return him
"the Bill on Paris for 40,000
"livres (1,600/. ), which he had
"given and trusted to me," --
but has since protested, as is
too evident.
"(and Hirsch signs for the last time. "* -- Symptomatic,
surely, of a haggly settlement, these three shots instead of
nnpt -- " Vnl+a. iv<va rp+iirn is-
"Account all settled be-
one ! -- " VoltaircTs return is:
"Pour quittance generale de
"tout compte solde? entre nous,
"tout paye? au sieur abraham
"hersch a` berlin, 16 Decembre
"1750. -- Voltaire"
"tween us , payment of the
"Sieur Abraham Hirsch in"full: Berlin, 16thDecember
"1750"
* Klein, pp. 258, 260.
3*
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 36 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
16th Dec. 1850.
"(which Second Piece, we perceive, is to lie in Hirsch's hand,
"to keep, if he find it valuable).
"This 'Complete Settlement,' --little less than miraculous
"to Voltaire and us, -- one finds, after sifting, to have been
"the fruit of Voltaire's exquisite skill in treating and tuning
"his Hirsch (no harshness of rebuke, rather some gleam of
"hope, of future bargains, help at Court): 'Your expenses;
"'compensation for protesting of that Bill on Paris? Tush,
"' cannot we make all that good!
In the first place, I will buy
'"of you these Jewels' (this one discovers to have been the
"essence of the operation! ), 'all or the best part of them,
"' which I have here in pawn for Papa's Bill: 650/. was it not?
"'Well, suppose Ion the instant take 450/. worth, or so, of
'"these Jewels (I want a great many jewels); and you to pay
'"me down a 200 or so of gold louis as balance, -- gold louis,
"'no, we will say fre'derics rather. There now, that is settled.
'"Nothing more between us but settles itself, if we continue
"'friends! ' Upon which Hirsch walked home, thankful for
"the good job in Jewels; wondering only what the Allowance
"for Expenses and Compensation will be. And Voltaire steps
"out, new-burnished, into the Royal Carnival splendours,
"with a load rolled from his mind.
"This Complete Settlement, meanwhile, rests evidently on
"two legs, both of which are hollow. 'What will the hand-
"'some Compensation be, I wonder? ' thinks Hirsch; -- and
"is horrorstruck to find shortly, that Voltaire considers 60
"thalers (about 91. ) will be the fair sum! 'More than ten
"' times that! ' is Hirsch's privately fixed idea. On the other
"hand, Voltaire has been asking himself, 'My 450/. worth of
"'jewels, were they justly valued, though? ' Jew Ephraim
"(exaggerative and an enemy to this Hirsch House) answers,
"' Justly? I would give from 300/. to 250/. for them! ' -- So
"that the legs both crumbling to powder, Complete Settle-
"ment crashes down into chaos: and there ensues" -- But we
must endeavour to be briefer!
There ensues, for about a week following, such an inextri-
cable scramble between the Sieur Hirsch and M. de Voltaire
as, -- as no reader, not himself in the Jew-Bill line, or paid
for understanding it, could consent to have explained to him.
Voltaire, by way of mending the bad jewel-bargain, will buy
of Hirsch 200/. worth more jewels; gets the new 200/. worth in
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. TO. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW-LAWSUIT. 37
10th Nov. -- 25th Deo. 1750.
hand, cannot quite settle what articles will suit; "This, think
"you? That, think you? " And intricately shuffles them about,
to Hirsch and back. Hirsch, singular to notice, holds fast by
that Protested Paris Bill; on frivolous pretexts, always forgets
to bring that: "May have its uses, that, in a Court of Justice
"yet! " Meetings there are, almost daily, in the Voltaire
Palace-Apartment: December 1. 9th, and December 24th, there
are Two Documents (which we must spare the reader, though
he will hear of them again, as highly notable, especially of
one of them, as notable in the extreme! ) -- indicating the
abstrusest jewel-bargainings, scramblings, re-bargainings.
"My Jewels are truly valued! " asseverates Hirsch always:
"Ephraim is my enemy; ask Herr Reklam, chief Jeweller in
"Berlin, an impartial man! " The meetings are occasionally
of stormy character; Voltaire's patience nearly out: "But
"didn't I return you that Topaz Ring, value 757. ? And you
"have not deducted it; you --! " "One day, Picard and he
"pulled aRing" (doubtless this Topaz) "off my finger," says
the pathetic Hirsch, "and violently shoved me out of the
"room, slamming their door," -- and sent me home, along the
corridors, in a very scurvy humour! Thus, under a skin of
second settlement, there are two galvanic elements, getting
ever more galvanic, which no skin of settlement can prevent
exploding before long.
Explosion there accordingly was; most sad and dismal;
which rang through all the Court circles of Berlin; and, like
a sound ofhooting and of weeping mixed, is audible over seas
to this day. But let not the reader insist on tracing the course
of it henceforth. Klein, though faithful and exact, is not a
Pitaval; and we find in him errors of the press. The acutest
Actuary might spend weeks over these distracted Money-
accounts, and inconsistent Lists of Jewels bought and not
bought; and would be unreadable if successful. Let us say,
The business catches fire at this point; the Voltaire-Hirsch
theatre is as if blown up into mere whirlwinds of igneous ruin
and smoky darkness. Henceforth all plunges into Lawsuit,
into chaos of conflicting lies, -- undecipherable, not worth
deciphering. Let us give what few glimpses of the thing are
clearly discernible at their successive dates, and leave the
rest to picture itself in the reader's fancy.
It appears, that Meeting of December 24th, above alluded
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 38 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
25th Dec. 1750.
to, was followed by another on Christmas Day, which proved
the final one. Final total explosion took place at this new
meeting; -- which, we find farther, was at Chasot's Lodging
(the Chapeau of Hanbury), who is now in Town, like all the
world, for Carnival. Hirsch does not directly venture on
naming Chasot: but by implication, by glimmers of evidence
elsewhere, one sufficiently discovers that it is he: Lieutenant-
Colonel, King's Friend, a man glorious, especially ever since
Hohenfriedberg, and that haul of the "sixty-seven standards"
all at once. In the way of Arbitration, Voltaire thinks Chasot
might do something. In regard to those 450/. worth of bought
Jewels, there is not such a judge in the world! Hirsch says:
"Next morning" (December25th, morrow after that jumbly
Account, with probable slamming of the door, and still
worse! ), "Voltaire went to a Lieutenant-Colonel in the King's
"service; and asked him to send for me. "* This is Chasot;
who knows these jewels well. Duvernet, -- who had talked
a good deal withD'Arget, in latter years, and alone of Frenchmen sometimes yields a true particle of feature in things
Prussian,--Duvernet tells us, these Jewels were once Chasot's
own: given him by a fond Duchess of Mecklenburg, -- musical
old Duchess, verging towards sixty; honi soit, my friend!
What Hirsch gave Chasot for these Jewels is not a doubtful
quantity; and may throw conviction into Hirsch, hopes
Voltaire.
December 25th, 1750. The interview at Chasot's was not
lengthy, but it was decisive. Hirsch never brings that Paris
Bill; privately fixed, on that point. Hirsch's claims, as we
gradually unravel the intricate mule mind of him, rise very high
indeed. "And as to the value of those Jewels, and what I
allowed you for them, Monsieur Chasot; that is no rule: trade-
profits, you know" -- Nay, the mule intimates, as a last shift,
That perhaps they are not the same Jewels; that perhaps
M. de Voltaire has changed some of them! Whereupon the
matter catches fire, irretrievably explodes. M. de Voltaire's
patience flies quite done; and, fire-eyed fury now guiding, he
springs upon the throat of Hirsch like a cat-o-mountain;
clutches Hirsch by the windpipe; tumbles him about the
room: "Infamous canaille, do you know whom you have got
to do with? That it is in my power to stick you into a hole
* Duvernet (Second), p. 172; Hirsch's Narrative (in Tanlale, p. 344).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. vn. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW-LAWSUIT. 39
30th Dec. 1750.
underground for the rest of your life? Sirrah, I will ruin and
annihilate you! " -- and "tossed me about the room with his
"fist on my throat," says Hirsch; "offering to have pity
"nevertheless, if 1 would take back the Jewels, and return all
"writings. "* Eyes glancing like a rattlesnake's, as we
perceive; and such a phenomenon as Hirsch had not expected,
this Christmas! In short, the matter has here fairly exploded,
and is blazing aloft, as a mass of intricate fuliginous ruin,
not to be deciphered henceforth. Such a scene for Chasot on
the Christmas Day at Berlin! And we have got to
Part II. , The Lawsuit itself (30th December 1750--18th and
26th February 1751).
Hirsch slunk hurriedly home, uncertain whether dead or
alive. Old Hirsch, hearing of such explosion, considered his
house and family ruined; and, being old and feeble, took to
bed upon it, threatening to break his heart. Voltaire writes
to Niece Denis, on the morrow; not hinting at the Hirsch
matter, far from that; but in uncommonly dreary humour:
"My splendour here, my glory, never was the like of it; mais,
mais," but, and ever again but, at each new item, -- in fact, the
humour of a glorious Phoenix-Peacock suddenly douched and
drenched in dirty water, and feeling frost at hand! ** Humour
intelligible enough, when dates are compared.
Better than that, Voltaire is applying, on all points of the
compass, to Legal and Influential Persons, for help in a Court
of Law. To Chancellor Cocceji; to Jarriges (eminentPrussian
Frenchman), President of Court; to Maupertuis, who knows
Jarriges, but "will not meddle in a bad business;" -- at last,
even to dull reverend Formey, whom he had not called on
hitherto. Cocceji seems to have answered, to the effect,
"Most certainly: the Courts are wide open;" --but as to
"help"! December 30th, the Suit, Voltaire versus Hirsch,
"comes to Protocol," -- that is, Cocceji, Jarriges, Loper,
three eminent men, have been named to try it; and Herr
HofrathBell, Advocate for Voltaire Plaintiff, hands-in his First
Statement that day. Berlin resounds, we may fancy how!
* Narrative (in Tantale).
? * "To Madame Denis" (lxxiv. 279, "Berlin Palace, 26th December
1750;" --and ib. 249, 257, &c. of other dates).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 40 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVI.
1st Jan. --18tliFeb. 1751.
Kumour, laughter and wonder are in all polite quarters; and
continue, more or less vivid, for above two months coming.
Here is one direct glimpse of Plaintiff, in this interim; which
we will give,, though the eyes are none of the best: "The first
visitl," Formey, "had from Voltaire was in the afternoon of
"January 8th, 1751" (Suit begun, ten days ago). "I had, at
"the time, a large party of friends. Voltaire walked across
"the Apartment, without looking at anybody; and, taking me
"by the hand, made me lead him to a cabinet adjoining. His
"Lawsuit with a Jew was the matter on hand. He talked to
"me at large about his Lawsuit, and with the greatest vehe-
"mence; he wound up by asking me to speak to Law-Presi-
"dent M. de Jarriges (since Chancellor): I answered what was
"suitable;" -- probably did speak to Jarriges, but might as
well have held my tongue. "Voltaire then took his leave:
"stepping athwart the former Apartment with some precipita-
"tion, he noticed my eldest little girl, then in her fourth year,
"who was gazing at the diamonds on his Cross of the Order of
"Merit. 'Bagatelles, bagatelles, mon enfant! ' said he, and
"disappeared. "*
On New-year's-day, Friday 1st January 1751, Voltaire had
legally applied to Herr Minister von Bismark, for Warrant to
arrest Hirsch, as a person that will not give up Papers not be-
longing to him. Warrant was granted, and Hirsch lodged in
Limbo. Which worsens the state of poor old Father Hirsch;
threatening now really to die, of heartbreak and other causes.
Hirsch Son, from the interior of Limbo, appeals to Bismark,
"Lord Chancellor Cocceji is seized of my Plea, your gracious
Lordship! "-- "All the same," answers Bismark; "produce
caution, or you can't get out. " Hirsch produces caution; and
fets out, after a day or two; -- and nas been "brought to
rotocol, January 4th. " No delay in this Court: both parties,
through their Advocates, are now brought to booli; the
points they agree in will be sifted out, and laid on this
side as truth j what they differ in, left lying on that side, as a
mixture of lies to be operated on by further processes and
protocols.
We will not detail the Lawsuit; -- what I chiefly admire in
it is its brevity. Cocceji has not reformed in vain. Good
Advocates, none other allowed; and no Advocate talks; he
* Formey, i. 232.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. vn. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW LAWSUIT. 41
1st Jan. --18th Feb. 1751.
merely endeavours to think, see and discover; holds his tongue
if he can discover nothing: that doubtless is one source of the
brevity! -- Many lies are stated by Hirsch, many by Voltaire:
but the Judges, without difficulty, shovel these aside; and
come step by step upon the truth. Hirsch says plainly, He
was sent to buySteuer-Scheine at35per cent discount; Voltaire
entirely denies the Steuer-Notes; says, It was an affair of Peltries and Jewelries, originating in loans of money to this
ungrateful Jew. Which necessitates much wriggling on the
Eart of M. de Voltaire; -- but he has himself written in a
lawyer's Office, in his young days, and (knows how to twist a
turn of expression. The Judges are not there to judge about
Steuer-Notes; but they give you to understand that Voltaire's
Peltry-and-Jewelry story is moonshine. Hirsch produces the
Voltaire Scraps of Writing, already known to our readers;
Voltaire says, "Mere extinct jottings; which Hirsch has fur-
tively picked out of the grate," -- or may be said to have
picked; Papers annihilated by our Bargain of December 16th,
and which should have been in the grate, if they were not;
this felon never having kept his word in that respect. Peltries
and Jewelries, I say: he will not give me back that Paris Bill
which was protested; pays me the other 3,000crowns (Draft of
6501. ) in Jewels overvalued by half. -- "Jewels furtively
changed since Plaintiff had them of me! " answers Hirsch; --
and the steady Judges keep their sieves going.
The only Documents produced by Voltaire are Two; of
19th December, and oi24th December; -- which the reader has
not yet seen, but ought now to gain some notion of, if possible.
They affect once more, as that of December 16th had done, to
be "Final Settlements" (or Final Settlement of 19th, with
Codicil of 24th); and turn on confused Lists of Jewels, bought,
returned, re-bought (that "Topaz-ring" torn from one's hand,
a conspicuous item), which no reader would have patience to
understand, except in the succinct form. Let all readers note
them, however, -- at least the first of them, that of December
19th; especially the words we mark in Italics, which have
merited a sad place for it in the history of human sin and
misery. Klein has given both Documents in engraved fac-
simile; we must help ourselves by simpler methods. Berlin,
December 18th, 1750; Voltaire writes, Hirsch signs; -- and
the Italics are believed to be words foisted in by M. de
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd.
"near a fortnight after Document First, there is nothing
"dated, or that can be clearly believed, -- till
"Monday, 23d November 1750. It is credibly certain the
"JewHirsch came again, this day, to the Royal Schloss of
"Potsdam, to Voltaire's apartment there" (right overhead of
King Friedrich's, it is! ) -- "where, after such dialogue as
"can be guessed at, there was handed to Hirsch by Voltaire,
"in the form of Two negociable Bills, a sum of about 2,2501. ;
"with which the Jew is to make at once for Dresden, and buy
"Steuer-Scheine. ** Steuer-Scheine without fail: 'but in
"talking or corresponding on the matter, we are always to
"' call them Furs or Diamonds,' -- mystery of mysteries being
* Klein, 259. ** Hirsch's Narrative, in Preface to Tantalc en Proces, p. MO. \
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. VII. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW-LAWSUIT. 31
23d--26th Nov. 1750.
"the rule for us. This considerable sum of 2,250/. may it not
"otherwise, contrives Voltaire, be called a 'Loan' to Jeweller
"Hirsch, so obliging a Jeweller, to buy'Furs'or'Diamonds'
"with? At again of35 per 100Pieces, there will be above
"800/. to me, after all expenses cleared: a very pretty stroke
"of business doable in few days! " --
"Monday, 23d November:" The beautiful Wilhelmina,
one remarks, is just making her packages; right sad to end
such a Visit as this had been! Thursday night, from her
first sleeping-place, there is a touching Farewell to her
Brother; -- tender, melodiously sorrowful, as the Song of the
Swan. * To Voltaire she was always good; always liked
Voltaire. Voltaire would be saying his Adieus, in state,
among the others, to that high Being, -- just in the hours
while such a scandalous Hirsch-Concoction went on under-
ground!
"As to the Two Bills, and Voltaire's security for them,
"readers are to note as follows. Bill First is a Draft on Vol-
taire's Paris Banker for 40,000 livres (about 1,600/0, not
"payable for some weeks: 'This I lend you, Monsieur Hirsch;
'"mind, lend you,--to buy Furs! ' 'Yes, truly, what we
"'call Furs; -- and before the Bill falls payable, there will
"'be effects for it in Monseigneur de Voltaire's hand; which
"'is security enough for Monseigneur. ' The Second Bill,
"again" -- Truth is, there were in succession two Second
Bills, an Intended-Second (of this same Monday 23 d), which
did not quite suit, and an Actual-Second (two days later),
which did. Intended-Second Bill was one for 4,000 thalers
(about 600/. ), drawn by Voltaire on the Sieur Ephraim, -- a
very famous Jew of Berlin now and henceforth, with whom
as moneychanger, if not yet otherwise (which perhaps
Ephraim thinks unlucky), Voltaire, it would seem, is in
frequent communication. This Bill, Ephraim would not
accept; told Hirsch he owed M. de Voltaire nothing; "turned
me rudely away," says Hirsch (two of a trade, and no friends,
he and I! ) -- so that there is nothing to be said of this
Ephraim Bill; and, except as it elucidates some dark portions
of the whirlpools, need not have been noticed at all.
"Hirsch," continues my Authority, "got only Two available
* Wilhelmina to Friedrich, "Brietzen, 26th November, jour funeste
])our moi" (lEuvres de Frederic, xxvn. l. 197J.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 32 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
10th Nov. --25th Dec. 1750.
"Bills; the first on Paris for 1,600? . , payable in some weeks;
"and, after a day or two, this other: The Actual Bill Second;
"which is a Draft for 4,430 thalers (about 6501. ), by old
"Father Hirsch, head of the Firm, on Voltaire himself: --
'"Furs too with that, Monsieur Hirsch, at the rate of 35 per
"'piece, you understand? ' 'Yea, truly, Monseigneur! --
"Draft accepted by Voltaire, and the cash for it now handed
"to Hirsch Son; the only absolutely ready money he has yet
"got, towards the affair.
"For these Two Bills, especially for this Second, I
"perceive, Voltaire holds borrowed jewels (borrowed in
"theatrical times, or partly bought, from the Hirsch Firm,
"and not paid for), which make him sure till he see the Steuer
"Papers themselves. -- 'And now off, my good Sieur Hirsch;
"' and know that if you please me, there are -- things in my
"'power which would suit a man in the Jeweller and Hebrew
"'line! ' Hirsch pushes home to Berlin; primed and loaded in
"this manner; Voltaire naturally anxious enough that the
"shot may hit. Alas, the shot will not even go off, for some
"time: an ill omen!
"Sunday, 29thNovember, Hirsch, we hear, is still in Berlin.
"Fancy the humour of Voltaire, after such a week as last!
"Tuesday, December 1st, Hirsch still is not off: 'Go, you son
"' of Amalek! ' urges Voltaire; and sends his Servant Picard,
"a very sharp fellow, for perhaps the third time, -- who has
"orders now, as Hirsch discovers, to stay with him, not quit
"sight of him till he do go. * Hirsch's hour of departure for
"Dresden is not mentioned in the Acts; but I guess he could
"hardly get over Wednesday, with Picard dogging him on
"these terms; and must have taken the diligence on Wednes-
"day night: to arrive inDresden aboutDecember 4th. 'Well;
"' at least, our shot is off; has not burst out, and lodged in our
"' person here, -- thanked be all the gods! '
"Off, sure enough: -- and what should we say if the whole
"matter were already oozing out; if, on this same Sunday
"evening, November 29th, not quite a week's time yet, the
"matter (as we learn long afterwards) had been privately
"whispered to his Majesty: 'That Voltaire has sent off a Jew
'"to buy Steuer-Scheine, and has promised to get him made
* Hirsch's Narrative; see Voltaire's Letter to D'Arget ((Evvres, lxiv. 11). .
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP, vn. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW-LAWSUIT. 33
10th Nov. --25th Dec. 1750.
"'Court Jeweller! '* So; within a week, and before Hirsch
"is even gone! For men are very porous; weighty secrets
"oozing out of them, like quicksilver through clay jars. I
"could guess, Hirsch, by way of galling insolent Ephraim,
"had blabbed something: and in the course of five days, it
"has got to the very King, -- thisKammerherr Voltaire being
"such a favourite and famous man as never was; the very
"bull's-eye of all kinds of Berlin gossip in these days. 'Hm,
"' Steuer-Scheine, and the Jew Hirsch to be Court Jeweller,
"'you say? ' thinks the King, that Sunday night; but locks
"the rumour in his Royal mind, he, for his part; or dismisses
"it as incredible: 'There ought to be impervious vessels
'"too, among the porous! ' Voltaire notices nothing par-
"ticular, or nothing that he speaks of as particular. This
"must have been a horrid week to him, till Hirsch got away. "
Hirsch is away (December 2d); in Dresden, safe enough;
but --
"But the fortnight that follows is conceivable as still
"worse. Hirsch writing darkly, nothing to the purpose; Vol-
"taire driving often into Berlin, hearing from Ephraim hints
"about, 'No connexion with that House;' 'If Monseigneur
"'have intrusted Hirsch with money, -- may there be a
"'good account of it! ' and the like. Black Care devouring
"Monseigneur; but nothing definite; except the fact too
"evident That Hirsch does not send or bring the smallest
"shadow of Steuer-Scheine, -- 'Peltries,' or 'Diamonds,' we
"mean, -- or any value whatever for that Paris Bill of ours,
"payable shortly, and which he has already got cashed in
"Dresden. Nothing but excuses, prevarications; stupid, in-
coherently deceptive jargon, as of a mule intent on playing
"fox with you. Vivid Correspondence is conceivable; but
"nothing of it definite to us, except this sample" (which we
give translated):
Document Third (torn fraction in Voltaire's hand: To
Hirsch, doubtless; early in December). ** "Not proper (il
"ne fallait pas) to negotiate Bills of Exchange, and never
"produce a single diamond" -- bit of peltry, or ware of any
kind, you son of Amalek! "Not proper to say: I have got
"money for your bills of exchange, and I bring you nothing
* Voltaire, (Euvres, lxxiv. 314 ("Letter toFriedrich,February 1751,"--
after Catastrophe).
Carlylc, Frederick the Great. IX. <<*
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 34 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVI.
12th Deo. 1850.
"back; andl will repay your money when you shall no longer
"be here" (in Germany at all). "Not proper to promise at
"35 louis, and then say 30. To say 20, and then next morn-
"ing 25. You should at least have produced goods (U fallait
"en dormer) at the price current; very easy to do when one
"was on the spot. All your procedures have been faults
"hitherto. "*
"These are dreadful symptoms. Steuer-Notes, promised
"at 35 discount, are not to be had except at 30. Say 30 then,
"and get done with it, mule of a scoundrel! Next day the 30
"sinks to 25; and not a Steuer-Note, on any terms, comes to
"hand. And the mule of a scoundrel has drawn money, in
"Dresden yonder, for my Bill onParis, -- excellent to him for
"trade of nis own! What is to be done with such an Ass of
"Balaam? He has got the bit in his teeth, it would seem.
"Heavens, he too is capable of stopping short, careless of
"spur and cudgel; and miraculously speaking to a new
"Prophet" (strange new "Revealer of the Lords Will," in
modern dialect), "in this enlightened Eighteenth Century
"itself! -- One thing the new Prophet can do: protest his
"Paris Bill.
"December 12th" (our next bit of certainty), "Voltaire
"writes, haste, haste, to Paris, 'Don'tpay;' and intimates to
"Hirsch, 'You will have to return your Dresden Banker his
"'money for that Paris Bill. At Paris I have protested it,
'"mark me; and there it never will be paid to nim or you.
'"And you must come home again instantly, job undone, lies
"'not untold, you --! ' Hirsch, with money on hand, appears
"not to have wanted for a briskish trade of his own in the
"Dresden marts. But this of cutting off his supplies brings
"him instantly back:" --and at Berlin, December 16th, new facts emerge again of a definite nature.
"Wednesday, 16thDecember 1750. 'Today the King with
"' Court and Voltaire come to Berlin for the Carnival;' ** to-
"day also Voltaire, not in Carnival humour, has appointed
"his Jew to meet him. In the Royal Palace itself, -- we hope,
"well remote from Friedrich's Apartment! -- this sordid
"conference, needing one's choicest diplomacy withal, and
"such exquisite handling of bit and spur, goes on. And pro-
? Klein, v. 259. ? * ROdenbeck, i. 209.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. VII. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW-LAWSUIT. 35
16th Dec. 1750.
"bably at great length. Of which, as the finale, and one clear
"feature significant to the fancy, here is,--for record of what
"they call ' Complete Settlement, which it was far from turning
"out to be:
"Document Fourth (in Hirsch's hand, First Piece of it). "Pour quittance generale
"promettant de rendre a Mr. de
"Voltaire tous billets, ordres et
"lettres de change a` moy donnez
"jusqu'a` ce jour, 16 Decembre
"1750"
'Account all settled; Ipro-
"mising to return M. de Vol-
"taire all Letters, Orders, and
"Bills of Exchange given me
"up to this day, 16thDecem-
"berl750. "
"(Hirsch signs. But you have forgotten something, Monsieur
"Hirsch! Whereupon)
"et promets de donner a` Mr. de
"Voltaire dans le jour de de-
"main ou apre`s demain auplus-
"tard deux cent quatre-vingt
"fre? derics d'or au lieu de deux
"cent quatre-vingt louis d'or,
"que je lui ai payez, le tout
"pour quittance generale, ce 16
"Decembre 1750, a` berlin"
"And promise to give M. de
"Voltaire, in the course of to-
"morrow, or the day after to-
"morrow at latest, 280 fre? de? -
"rics d'or, instead of 280 louis
"d'or" (gold fre? de? rics the
preferable coin, say experts)
"which I have now paid
"him; whereby All will be
"settled. "
"(Hirsch again signs; but has again forgotten something,
"most important thing. And)
"je lui remettrai surtout les
"40,000 livres de billets de
"change sur paris qu'il mavoit
"donnez et fiez" "I will especially return him
"the Bill on Paris for 40,000
"livres (1,600/. ), which he had
"given and trusted to me," --
but has since protested, as is
too evident.
"(and Hirsch signs for the last time. "* -- Symptomatic,
surely, of a haggly settlement, these three shots instead of
nnpt -- " Vnl+a. iv<va rp+iirn is-
"Account all settled be-
one ! -- " VoltaircTs return is:
"Pour quittance generale de
"tout compte solde? entre nous,
"tout paye? au sieur abraham
"hersch a` berlin, 16 Decembre
"1750. -- Voltaire"
"tween us , payment of the
"Sieur Abraham Hirsch in"full: Berlin, 16thDecember
"1750"
* Klein, pp. 258, 260.
3*
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 36 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
16th Dec. 1850.
"(which Second Piece, we perceive, is to lie in Hirsch's hand,
"to keep, if he find it valuable).
"This 'Complete Settlement,' --little less than miraculous
"to Voltaire and us, -- one finds, after sifting, to have been
"the fruit of Voltaire's exquisite skill in treating and tuning
"his Hirsch (no harshness of rebuke, rather some gleam of
"hope, of future bargains, help at Court): 'Your expenses;
"'compensation for protesting of that Bill on Paris? Tush,
"' cannot we make all that good!
In the first place, I will buy
'"of you these Jewels' (this one discovers to have been the
"essence of the operation! ), 'all or the best part of them,
"' which I have here in pawn for Papa's Bill: 650/. was it not?
"'Well, suppose Ion the instant take 450/. worth, or so, of
'"these Jewels (I want a great many jewels); and you to pay
'"me down a 200 or so of gold louis as balance, -- gold louis,
"'no, we will say fre'derics rather. There now, that is settled.
'"Nothing more between us but settles itself, if we continue
"'friends! ' Upon which Hirsch walked home, thankful for
"the good job in Jewels; wondering only what the Allowance
"for Expenses and Compensation will be. And Voltaire steps
"out, new-burnished, into the Royal Carnival splendours,
"with a load rolled from his mind.
"This Complete Settlement, meanwhile, rests evidently on
"two legs, both of which are hollow. 'What will the hand-
"'some Compensation be, I wonder? ' thinks Hirsch; -- and
"is horrorstruck to find shortly, that Voltaire considers 60
"thalers (about 91. ) will be the fair sum! 'More than ten
"' times that! ' is Hirsch's privately fixed idea. On the other
"hand, Voltaire has been asking himself, 'My 450/. worth of
"'jewels, were they justly valued, though? ' Jew Ephraim
"(exaggerative and an enemy to this Hirsch House) answers,
"' Justly? I would give from 300/. to 250/. for them! ' -- So
"that the legs both crumbling to powder, Complete Settle-
"ment crashes down into chaos: and there ensues" -- But we
must endeavour to be briefer!
There ensues, for about a week following, such an inextri-
cable scramble between the Sieur Hirsch and M. de Voltaire
as, -- as no reader, not himself in the Jew-Bill line, or paid
for understanding it, could consent to have explained to him.
Voltaire, by way of mending the bad jewel-bargain, will buy
of Hirsch 200/. worth more jewels; gets the new 200/. worth in
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. TO. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW-LAWSUIT. 37
10th Nov. -- 25th Deo. 1750.
hand, cannot quite settle what articles will suit; "This, think
"you? That, think you? " And intricately shuffles them about,
to Hirsch and back. Hirsch, singular to notice, holds fast by
that Protested Paris Bill; on frivolous pretexts, always forgets
to bring that: "May have its uses, that, in a Court of Justice
"yet! " Meetings there are, almost daily, in the Voltaire
Palace-Apartment: December 1. 9th, and December 24th, there
are Two Documents (which we must spare the reader, though
he will hear of them again, as highly notable, especially of
one of them, as notable in the extreme! ) -- indicating the
abstrusest jewel-bargainings, scramblings, re-bargainings.
"My Jewels are truly valued! " asseverates Hirsch always:
"Ephraim is my enemy; ask Herr Reklam, chief Jeweller in
"Berlin, an impartial man! " The meetings are occasionally
of stormy character; Voltaire's patience nearly out: "But
"didn't I return you that Topaz Ring, value 757. ? And you
"have not deducted it; you --! " "One day, Picard and he
"pulled aRing" (doubtless this Topaz) "off my finger," says
the pathetic Hirsch, "and violently shoved me out of the
"room, slamming their door," -- and sent me home, along the
corridors, in a very scurvy humour! Thus, under a skin of
second settlement, there are two galvanic elements, getting
ever more galvanic, which no skin of settlement can prevent
exploding before long.
Explosion there accordingly was; most sad and dismal;
which rang through all the Court circles of Berlin; and, like
a sound ofhooting and of weeping mixed, is audible over seas
to this day. But let not the reader insist on tracing the course
of it henceforth. Klein, though faithful and exact, is not a
Pitaval; and we find in him errors of the press. The acutest
Actuary might spend weeks over these distracted Money-
accounts, and inconsistent Lists of Jewels bought and not
bought; and would be unreadable if successful. Let us say,
The business catches fire at this point; the Voltaire-Hirsch
theatre is as if blown up into mere whirlwinds of igneous ruin
and smoky darkness. Henceforth all plunges into Lawsuit,
into chaos of conflicting lies, -- undecipherable, not worth
deciphering. Let us give what few glimpses of the thing are
clearly discernible at their successive dates, and leave the
rest to picture itself in the reader's fancy.
It appears, that Meeting of December 24th, above alluded
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 38 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
25th Dec. 1750.
to, was followed by another on Christmas Day, which proved
the final one. Final total explosion took place at this new
meeting; -- which, we find farther, was at Chasot's Lodging
(the Chapeau of Hanbury), who is now in Town, like all the
world, for Carnival. Hirsch does not directly venture on
naming Chasot: but by implication, by glimmers of evidence
elsewhere, one sufficiently discovers that it is he: Lieutenant-
Colonel, King's Friend, a man glorious, especially ever since
Hohenfriedberg, and that haul of the "sixty-seven standards"
all at once. In the way of Arbitration, Voltaire thinks Chasot
might do something. In regard to those 450/. worth of bought
Jewels, there is not such a judge in the world! Hirsch says:
"Next morning" (December25th, morrow after that jumbly
Account, with probable slamming of the door, and still
worse! ), "Voltaire went to a Lieutenant-Colonel in the King's
"service; and asked him to send for me. "* This is Chasot;
who knows these jewels well. Duvernet, -- who had talked
a good deal withD'Arget, in latter years, and alone of Frenchmen sometimes yields a true particle of feature in things
Prussian,--Duvernet tells us, these Jewels were once Chasot's
own: given him by a fond Duchess of Mecklenburg, -- musical
old Duchess, verging towards sixty; honi soit, my friend!
What Hirsch gave Chasot for these Jewels is not a doubtful
quantity; and may throw conviction into Hirsch, hopes
Voltaire.
December 25th, 1750. The interview at Chasot's was not
lengthy, but it was decisive. Hirsch never brings that Paris
Bill; privately fixed, on that point. Hirsch's claims, as we
gradually unravel the intricate mule mind of him, rise very high
indeed. "And as to the value of those Jewels, and what I
allowed you for them, Monsieur Chasot; that is no rule: trade-
profits, you know" -- Nay, the mule intimates, as a last shift,
That perhaps they are not the same Jewels; that perhaps
M. de Voltaire has changed some of them! Whereupon the
matter catches fire, irretrievably explodes. M. de Voltaire's
patience flies quite done; and, fire-eyed fury now guiding, he
springs upon the throat of Hirsch like a cat-o-mountain;
clutches Hirsch by the windpipe; tumbles him about the
room: "Infamous canaille, do you know whom you have got
to do with? That it is in my power to stick you into a hole
* Duvernet (Second), p. 172; Hirsch's Narrative (in Tanlale, p. 344).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. vn. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW-LAWSUIT. 39
30th Dec. 1750.
underground for the rest of your life? Sirrah, I will ruin and
annihilate you! " -- and "tossed me about the room with his
"fist on my throat," says Hirsch; "offering to have pity
"nevertheless, if 1 would take back the Jewels, and return all
"writings. "* Eyes glancing like a rattlesnake's, as we
perceive; and such a phenomenon as Hirsch had not expected,
this Christmas! In short, the matter has here fairly exploded,
and is blazing aloft, as a mass of intricate fuliginous ruin,
not to be deciphered henceforth. Such a scene for Chasot on
the Christmas Day at Berlin! And we have got to
Part II. , The Lawsuit itself (30th December 1750--18th and
26th February 1751).
Hirsch slunk hurriedly home, uncertain whether dead or
alive. Old Hirsch, hearing of such explosion, considered his
house and family ruined; and, being old and feeble, took to
bed upon it, threatening to break his heart. Voltaire writes
to Niece Denis, on the morrow; not hinting at the Hirsch
matter, far from that; but in uncommonly dreary humour:
"My splendour here, my glory, never was the like of it; mais,
mais," but, and ever again but, at each new item, -- in fact, the
humour of a glorious Phoenix-Peacock suddenly douched and
drenched in dirty water, and feeling frost at hand! ** Humour
intelligible enough, when dates are compared.
Better than that, Voltaire is applying, on all points of the
compass, to Legal and Influential Persons, for help in a Court
of Law. To Chancellor Cocceji; to Jarriges (eminentPrussian
Frenchman), President of Court; to Maupertuis, who knows
Jarriges, but "will not meddle in a bad business;" -- at last,
even to dull reverend Formey, whom he had not called on
hitherto. Cocceji seems to have answered, to the effect,
"Most certainly: the Courts are wide open;" --but as to
"help"! December 30th, the Suit, Voltaire versus Hirsch,
"comes to Protocol," -- that is, Cocceji, Jarriges, Loper,
three eminent men, have been named to try it; and Herr
HofrathBell, Advocate for Voltaire Plaintiff, hands-in his First
Statement that day. Berlin resounds, we may fancy how!
* Narrative (in Tantale).
? * "To Madame Denis" (lxxiv. 279, "Berlin Palace, 26th December
1750;" --and ib. 249, 257, &c. of other dates).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 40 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVI.
1st Jan. --18tliFeb. 1751.
Kumour, laughter and wonder are in all polite quarters; and
continue, more or less vivid, for above two months coming.
Here is one direct glimpse of Plaintiff, in this interim; which
we will give,, though the eyes are none of the best: "The first
visitl," Formey, "had from Voltaire was in the afternoon of
"January 8th, 1751" (Suit begun, ten days ago). "I had, at
"the time, a large party of friends. Voltaire walked across
"the Apartment, without looking at anybody; and, taking me
"by the hand, made me lead him to a cabinet adjoining. His
"Lawsuit with a Jew was the matter on hand. He talked to
"me at large about his Lawsuit, and with the greatest vehe-
"mence; he wound up by asking me to speak to Law-Presi-
"dent M. de Jarriges (since Chancellor): I answered what was
"suitable;" -- probably did speak to Jarriges, but might as
well have held my tongue. "Voltaire then took his leave:
"stepping athwart the former Apartment with some precipita-
"tion, he noticed my eldest little girl, then in her fourth year,
"who was gazing at the diamonds on his Cross of the Order of
"Merit. 'Bagatelles, bagatelles, mon enfant! ' said he, and
"disappeared. "*
On New-year's-day, Friday 1st January 1751, Voltaire had
legally applied to Herr Minister von Bismark, for Warrant to
arrest Hirsch, as a person that will not give up Papers not be-
longing to him. Warrant was granted, and Hirsch lodged in
Limbo. Which worsens the state of poor old Father Hirsch;
threatening now really to die, of heartbreak and other causes.
Hirsch Son, from the interior of Limbo, appeals to Bismark,
"Lord Chancellor Cocceji is seized of my Plea, your gracious
Lordship! "-- "All the same," answers Bismark; "produce
caution, or you can't get out. " Hirsch produces caution; and
fets out, after a day or two; -- and nas been "brought to
rotocol, January 4th. " No delay in this Court: both parties,
through their Advocates, are now brought to booli; the
points they agree in will be sifted out, and laid on this
side as truth j what they differ in, left lying on that side, as a
mixture of lies to be operated on by further processes and
protocols.
We will not detail the Lawsuit; -- what I chiefly admire in
it is its brevity. Cocceji has not reformed in vain. Good
Advocates, none other allowed; and no Advocate talks; he
* Formey, i. 232.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. vn. ] VOLTAIRE HAS A PAINFUL JEW LAWSUIT. 41
1st Jan. --18th Feb. 1751.
merely endeavours to think, see and discover; holds his tongue
if he can discover nothing: that doubtless is one source of the
brevity! -- Many lies are stated by Hirsch, many by Voltaire:
but the Judges, without difficulty, shovel these aside; and
come step by step upon the truth. Hirsch says plainly, He
was sent to buySteuer-Scheine at35per cent discount; Voltaire
entirely denies the Steuer-Notes; says, It was an affair of Peltries and Jewelries, originating in loans of money to this
ungrateful Jew. Which necessitates much wriggling on the
Eart of M. de Voltaire; -- but he has himself written in a
lawyer's Office, in his young days, and (knows how to twist a
turn of expression. The Judges are not there to judge about
Steuer-Notes; but they give you to understand that Voltaire's
Peltry-and-Jewelry story is moonshine. Hirsch produces the
Voltaire Scraps of Writing, already known to our readers;
Voltaire says, "Mere extinct jottings; which Hirsch has fur-
tively picked out of the grate," -- or may be said to have
picked; Papers annihilated by our Bargain of December 16th,
and which should have been in the grate, if they were not;
this felon never having kept his word in that respect. Peltries
and Jewelries, I say: he will not give me back that Paris Bill
which was protested; pays me the other 3,000crowns (Draft of
6501. ) in Jewels overvalued by half. -- "Jewels furtively
changed since Plaintiff had them of me! " answers Hirsch; --
and the steady Judges keep their sieves going.
The only Documents produced by Voltaire are Two; of
19th December, and oi24th December; -- which the reader has
not yet seen, but ought now to gain some notion of, if possible.
They affect once more, as that of December 16th had done, to
be "Final Settlements" (or Final Settlement of 19th, with
Codicil of 24th); and turn on confused Lists of Jewels, bought,
returned, re-bought (that "Topaz-ring" torn from one's hand,
a conspicuous item), which no reader would have patience to
understand, except in the succinct form. Let all readers note
them, however, -- at least the first of them, that of December
19th; especially the words we mark in Italics, which have
merited a sad place for it in the history of human sin and
misery. Klein has given both Documents in engraved fac-
simile; we must help ourselves by simpler methods. Berlin,
December 18th, 1750; Voltaire writes, Hirsch signs; -- and
the Italics are believed to be words foisted in by M. de
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd.
