No More Learning

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? VHI CONTENTS OF VOLUME IX.
CHAPTER PAGK
VII. The SAxons get out of PirnA on DismAl Terms 290
VIII. Winter in Dresden 310
Secret Instruction for the Graf von Finck, p. 612.
Instruction Secrete Pour le Conte de fine, 613.
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? BOOK XVI.
THE TEN YEAKS OF PEACE. 1746--1756.
(continued. )
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. IX.
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? 25th-27th Aug. 1750.
CHAPTER VI.
BERLIN CARROUSEL, AND VOLTAIRE VISIBLE THERE.
Readers have heard of the Place du Carrousel at
Paris; and know probably that Louis XIV. held world-
famous Carrousel there (a. d. 1662); and, in general,
that Carrousel has something to do with Tourneying,
or the Shadow of Tourneying. It is, in fact, a kind
of superb be-tailored running at the ring, instead of
be-blacksmithed running at one another. A Second
milder Edition of those Tournament sports, and dangerous
trials of strength and dexterity, which were so grand a
business in the Old iron Ages. Of which, in the form
of Carrousel or otherwise, down almost to the present
day, there have been examples, among puissant Lords;
-- though now it is felt to have become extremely
hollow; perhaps incapable of fully entertaining any-
body, except children and their nurses on a high
occasion.
A century ago, before the volcanic explosion of so
many things which it has since become wearisome to
think of in this earnest world, the Tournament, emblem
of an Age of Chivalry, which was gone, but had not
yet declared itself to be quite gone, and even to be
turned topsyturvy, had still substance as a mummery,
-- not enough, I should say, to spend much money
upon. Not much real money: except, indeed, the
money were offered you gratis, from other parties in-
1*
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? 4 THE TEN TEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
15th-27th Aug. 1750.
terested? Sir Jonas kindly informs us, by insinuation,
that this was, to a good degree, Friedrich's case in the
now Carrousel: "a thing got up by the private efforts
"of different great Lords and Princes of the blood;"
each party tailoring, harnessing, and furbishing himself
and followers; Friedrich contributing little but the
arena and general outfit. I know not whether even
the 40,000 lamps (for it took place by night) were of
his purchase, though that is likely; and know only
that the Suppers and interior Palace Entertainments
would be his. "Did not cost the King much money,"
says Sir Jonas; which is satisfactory to know. For of
the Carrousel kind, or of the Royal-Mummery kind in
general, there has been, for graceful arrangement, for
magnificence regardless of expense, -- inviting your
amiable Lord Mai ton, and the idlers of all Countries,
and awakening the rapture of Gazetteers, -- nothing
like it since Louis the Grand's time. Nothing, -- ex-
cept perhaps that Camp of Muhlberg or Radowitz,
where we once were. Done, this one, not at the King's
expense alone, but at other people's chiefly: that is an
unexpected feature, welcome if true; and, except for
Sir Jonas, would not have helped to explain the puzzle
for us, as it did in the then Berlin circles. Muhlberg,
in my humble judgment, was worth two of this as a
Mummery; -- but the meritorious feature of Friedrich's
is, that it cost him very little.
It was, say all Gazetteers and idle eye-witnesses, a
highly splendid spectacle. By much the most effulgent
exhibition Friedrich ever made of himself in the Ex-
pensive-Mummery department: and I could give in ex-
treme detail the phenomena of it; but, in mercy to poor
readers, will not. Fancy the assiduous hammering and
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? CHAP. VI. ] VOLTAIRE AT THE BERLIN CARROUSEL. 5
25th-27th Aug. 1750.
sawing on the Schloss-Platz, amid crowds of gay loungers, giving cheerful note of preparation, in those
latter days of August 1750. And, on Wednesday Night
25th August, look and see, -- for the due moments only,
and vaguely enough (as in the following Excerpt):
Palace-Esplanade of Berlin, 25th August 1750 (dusk sinking
into dark): "Under a windy nocturnal sky, a spacious Paral-
lelogram, enclosed for jousting as at Aspramont orTrebi-
"soiid. Wide enough arena in the centre; vast amphitheatre
"of wooden seats and passages, firm carpentry and fitted for
"its business, rising all round; Audience, select though
"multitudinous, sitting decorous and garrulous, say since
"half-past eight. There is royal box on the ground-tier; and
"the King in it, King, with Princess Amelia for the prizes:
"opposite to this, is entrance for the Chevaliers, -- four
"separate entrances, I think. Who come, -- lo, at last! --
"with breathings and big swells of music, as Resuscitations
'' from the buried Ages.
"They are in four 'Quadrilles,' so termed: Romans,
"Persians, Carthaginians, Greeks. Four Jousting Parties,
"headed each by a Prince of the Blood: -- with such a
"splendour of equipment for jewels, silver helmets, sashings,
"housings, as eye never saw. Prancing on their glorious
"battle-steeds (sham-battle, steeds not sham, but champing
"their bits as real quadrupeds with fire in their interior): --
"how many in all, I forgot to count. Perhaps, on the average,
"sixty in each Quadrille, fifteen of them practical Ritters;
"the rest mythologic winged standard-bearers, blackamoors,
"lictors, trumpeters, and shining melodious phantasms as
"escort, -- of this latter kind say in round numbers Two
"Hundred altogether; and of actual Ritters three-score. *
"Who run at rings, at Turks' heads, and at other objects
"with death-doing lance; and prance and flash and career
"along: glorious to see and hear. Under proud flourishings
* Blumenthal, Life of DeZiethen (Ziethen was in it, and gained a prize),
i. 257-26S et seq. ; Voltaire's Letters to Niece Denis ((Euwcs, lxxiv. 174,
179, 198); -- and two contemporary 4tos on the subject, with Drawings, &c,
which may well continue unknown to every reader.
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? 6 THE TEN TEARS OP PEACE. [bookxvt.
25th-27th Aug. 1750.
"of drums and trumpets, under bursts and breathings of
"wind-music; under the shine of Forty-thousand Lamps, for
"one item. All Berlin and the nocturnal firmament looking
"on, -- night rather gusty, 'which blew out many of the
"lamps,'insinuates Hanway.
"About midnight, Beauty in the form of Princess Amelia
"distributes the prizes; Music filling the air; and human
"'Euge's,' and the surviving lamps, doing their best. After
"which the Principalities and Ritters withdraw to their
"Palace, to their Balls and their Supper of the gods; and all
"the world and his wife goes home again, amid various com-
"mentary from high and low. 'Jamais, Never,' murmured
"one high Gentleman, of the Impromptu kind, at the Palace
"Supper-table, --
"Jamais dans Athene et dans Borne
"On n'eut de plus beaux jours, ni de plus digne prix.
"Fai vu le fits de Mars sous les trails de Paris,
"Et Venus qui donnait lapomme. " *
And Amphitheatre and Lamps lapse wholly into
darkness, and the thing has finished, for the time being.
August 27th, it was repeated by daylight; if possible,
more charming than ever; but not to be spoken of
further, under penalties. To be mildly forgotten again,
every jot and tittle of it, -- except one small insigni-
ficant iota, which, by accident, still makes it remark-
able. Namely, that Collini and the Barberinas were
there; and that not only was Voltaire again there
among the Princes and Princesses; but that Collini
saw Voltaire, and gives us transient sight of him, --
thanks to Collini. Thursday, 27th August 1750, was
the Daylight version of the Carrousel; which Collini,
* "Never in Athens or Rome were there braver sights or a worthier
prize: "I have seen the son of Mars" (King Friedrich) "with Paris's
features, "and Venus" (Amelia) "crowning the victorious. " (Euvres de
Voltaire, xvin. 820.
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? CHAP. VI. ] VOLTAIRE AT THE BERLIN CARROUSEL. 7
10th July-- 21st Sept. 1750.
if it were of any moment, takes to have preceded that
of the 40,000 Lamps. Sure enough Collini was there,
with eyes open:
"Madame de Cocceji" (so one may call her, though the
known alias isBarbcrina) "had engaged places; she invited
"me to come and see this Festivity. We went;" and very
grand it was. "The Palace Esplanade was changed" by
carpentries and draperies "into a vast Amphitheatre; the
"slopes of it furnished with benches for the spectators, and,
"at the four corners of it and at the bottom, magnificently
"decorated boxes for the Court. " Vast oval Amphitheatre,
the interior arena rectangular, with its Four Entrances, one
for each of the Four Quadrilles. "The assemblage was
"numerous and brilliant: all the Court had come fromPots-
"dam to Berlin.
"A little while before the King himself made appearance,
"there rose suddenly a murmur ot admiration, and I heard all
"round me, from everybody, the name'Voltaire! Voltaire! '
"Looking down, I saw Voltaire accordingly; among a group
"of great lords, who were walking over the Arena, towards
"one of the Court Boxes. He wore a modest countenance,
"but joy painted itself in his eyes: you cannot love glory,
"and not feel gratefully the prize attached to it," -- attained
as here. "I lost sight of him in few instants," as he ap-
proached his Box, "the place where I was, not permitting
"further view. " *
This was Collini's first sight of that great man
(de ce grand homme). With whom, thanks to Barberina,
he had, in a day or two, the honour of an Interview
(judgment favourable, he could hope); and before many
months, Accident also favouring, the inexpressible
honour of seeing himself the great man's Secretary, --
how far beyond hope or aspiration, in these Carrousel
days!
* Collini, Mon Sejour, p. 21.
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? THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
10th July--21st Sept. 1750.
Voltaire had now been here some Seven Weeks, -- arrived 10th July, as we often note; -- after (on
his own part), a great deal of haggling, hesitating, and
negotiating; which we spare our readers. The poor
man having now become a Quasi-Widower; painfully rallying, with his whole strength, towards new arrange-
ments, -- now was the time for Friedrich to urge him:
"Come to me! Away from all that dismal imbroglio;
hither, I say! " To which Voltaire is not inattentive;
though he hesitates; cannot, in any case, come without
delay; -- lingers in Paris, readjusting many things, the
poor shipwrecked being, among kind D'Argentals and
friends. Poor Ishmael, getting gray; and his tent in the
desert suddenly carried off by a blast of wind!
To the legal Widower, M. le Marquis, he behaves
in money matters like a Prince; takes that Paris Do-
micile, in the Rue Traversiere, all to himself; institutes
a new household there, -- Niece Denis to be female
president. Niece Denis, widow without incumbrances;
whom, in her married state, wife to some kind of
Commissariat-Officer at Lille, we have seen transiently
in that City, her Uncle lodging with her as he passed.
A gadding, flaunting, unreasonable, would-be fashion-
able female -- (a Du Chatelet without the grace or
genius, and who never was in love with you! ) -- with
whom poor Uncle had a baddish life in time coming.
All which settled, he still lingers. Widowed, grown
old and less adventurous! That House in the Rue Traversiere, once his and Another's, now his alone, -- for the time being, it is probably more like a
Mausoleum than a House to him. And Versailles,
with its sulky Trajans, its Crdbillon cabals, what
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? CHAP. VI. ] VOLTAIRE AT THE BERLIN CARROUSEL. 9
10th July--21st Sept. 1750.
charm is in Versailles? He thinks of going to Italy,
for a while; has never seen that fine Country: of
going to Berlin for a while: of going to -- In fact,
Berlin is clearly the place where he will land; but he
hesitates greatly about lifting anchor. Friedrich insists,
in a bright, bantering, kindly way: "You were due
to me a year ago; you said always, 'So soon as the
lying-in is over, I am yours:' -- and now, why don't
you come? "
Friedrich, since they met last, has had some ex-
periences of Voltaire, which he does not like. Their
roads, truly, -- one adulating Trajan in Versailles,
and growing great by "Farces of the Fair;" the other
battling for his existence, against men and devils,
Trajan and Company included, -- have lain far apart.
Their Correspondence perceptibly languishing, in con-
sequence, and even rumours rising on the subject,
Voltaire wrote once: "Give me a yard of ribbon, Sire"
(your Order of Merit, Sire), "to silence those vile
"rumours! " Which Friedrich, on such free-and-easy
terms, had silently declined. "A meddlesome, forward
kind of fellow; always getting into scrapes and brabbles! "
thinks Friedrich. But is really anxious, now that the
chance offers again, to have such a Levite for his Priest,
the evident pink of Human Intellect; and tries various
incitements upon him; -- hits at last (I know not whe-
ther by device or by accident) on one which, say the
French Biographers, did raise Voltaire and set him
under way.
A certain M. Baculard d'Arnaud, a conceited,
foolish young fellow, much patronised by Voltaire,
and given to write verses, which are unknown to me,
has been, on Voltaire's recommending, "Literary Cor-
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? 10 THE TEN TEARS OP PEACE. [book XVI.
10th July-- 21st Sept. 1750.
respondent" to Friedrich (Paris Book-Agent and the
like) for some time past; corresponding much with
Potsdam, in a way found entertaining; and is now
(April 1750) actually going thither, to Friedrich's
Court, or perhaps has gone. At any rate, Friedrich,
-- by accident or by device, -- had answered some
rhymes of this D'Arnaud, "Yes; welcome, young sun-
rise, since Voltaire is about to set! "* I hope it was
by device; DArnaud is such a silly fellow; too absurd,
to reckon as morning to anybody's sunset. Except for
his involuntary service, for and against, in this Voltaire
Journey, his name would not now be mentionable at
all. "Sunset? " exclaimed Voltaire, springing out of
bed (say the Biographers), and skipping about in-
dignantly in his shirt: "I will show them, I am not
set yet! "** And instantly resolved on the Berlin
Expedition. Went to Compiegne, where the Court
then was; to bid his adieus; nay to ask fqrmally the
Royal leave, -- for we are Historiographer and titular
Gentleman of the Chamber, and King's servant in a
sense. Leave was at once granted him, almost huf-
fingly; we hope not with too much readiness? For
this is a ticklish point: one is going to Prussia "on a
Visit" merely (though it may be longish); one would
not have the door of France slammed-to behind one!
The tone at Court did seem a little succinct, something
almost of sneer in it. But from the Pompadour herself
all was friendly; mere witty, cheery graciosities, and
"My Compliments to his Majesty of Prussia," -- Com-
* (Euvres de Frederic, xiv. 95 (Verses "A D'Arnaui," of date December
1749).
** Duvernet (Second), p. 159.
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? CHAP. VI. ] VOLTAIRE AT THE BERLIN CARROUSEL. 11
10th July--21st Sept. 1750.
pliments how answered when they came to hand: "Je
ne la connais pas! "
In short, M. de Voltaire made all his arrangements;
got under way; piously visited Fontenoy and the Battle-
fields in passing: and is here, since July 10th, -- in
very great splendour, as we see: -- on his Fifth Visit
to Friedrich. Fifth; which proved his Last, -- and is
still extremely celebrated in the world. Visit much
misunderstood in France and England, down to this
day. By no means sorted out into accuracy and in-
telligibility; but left as (what is saying a great deal! )
probably the wastest chaos of all the Sections of Fried-
rich's History. And has, alone of them, gone over the
whole world; being withal amusing to read, and there-
fore well and widely remembered, in that mendacious
and semi-intelligible state. To lay these goblins, full
of noise, ignorance and mendacity, and give some true
outline of the matter, with what brevity is consistent
with deciphering it at all, is now our sad task, --
laborious, perhaps disgusting: not impossible, if readers
will loyally assist.
Voltaire had taken every precaution that this Visit
should succeed, or at least be no loss to one of the
parties. In a preliminary Letter from Paris, -- prose
and verse, one of the cleverest diplomatic pieces ever
penned; Letter really worth looking at, cunning as the
song of Apollo, Voltaire symbolically intimates: "Well,
Sire, your old Danae, poor malingering old wretch, is
coming to her Jove. It is Jove she wants, not the
Shower of Jove; nevertheless" -- And Friedrich (thank
Hanbury, in part, for that bit of knowledge) had re-
mitted him in hard money 600 1. "to pay the tolls on
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? 12 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
23d Aug. 1750.
his road. "* As a high gentleman would; to have done
with those base elements of the business.
Nay furthermore, precisely two days before those
splendours of the Carrousel, Friedrich, -- in answer to
new cunning croakeries and contrivances ("Sire, this
Letter from my Niece, who is inconsolable that I should
think of staying here;" where, finding oneself so di-
vinised, one is disposed to stay), -- has answered him
like a King: By Gold Key of Chamberlain, Cross of the
Order of Merit, and Pension of 20,000 francs (850 /. )
a year, --conveyed in as royal a Letter of Business as
I have often read; melodious as Apollo, this too, though
all in business prose, and, like Apollo, practical God
of the Sun in this case. ** Dated 23d August 1750.
This Letter of Friedrich's I fancy to be what Voltaire
calls, "Your Majesty's gracious Agreement with me,"
and often appeals to, in subsequent troubles. Not
quite a Notarial Piece, on Friedrich's part; but strictly
observed by him as such.
Four days after which, Collini sees Voltaire serenely
shining among the Princes and Princesses of the world;
Amphitheatre all whispering with bated breath, "Vol-
taire! Voltaire! " But let us hear Voltaire himself, from
the interior of the Phenomenon, at this its culminating
point:
Voltaire to his D'Argentals, -- to Niece Denis even, with
whom, if with no other, he is quite without reserve, in showing
the bad and the good, -- continues radiantly eloquent in
* Walpole, i. 451 ("Had it from Princess Amelia herself''): see Voltaire
to Friedrich, "Paris, 9th June 1750;" Friedrich to Voltaire, "Potsdam,
24th May " (ffiuwes de Voltaire, Lxxrv. 158,155).
** "Berlin, 23d August 1750" ((. Enures de Fre'de'ric, xxn. 255); -- Vol-
taire to Niece Denis, "24th August" (misprinted "14th"); to D'Argental,
"28th August" ((Euvres de Voltaire, lxxiv. 185,196).
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? CHAP. VI. ] VOLTAIRE AT THE BERLIN CARROUSEL. 13
10th July--21st Sept. 1750.
these first Months: * * "Carrousel, twice over; the like
"never seen for splendour, for" (rather copious on this
sublimity) -- "After which we played Rome Sauvee" (my
Anti-Crebillon masterpiece), "in a pretty little Theatre,
"which I have got constructed in the Princess Amelia's Ante-
"chamber. I, who speak to you, I played Cicero. " Yes;
and was manager and general stage-king and contriver;
being expert at this, if at anything. And these beautiful
Theatricals had begun weeks ago, and still lasted many
weeks;* -- with such divine consultings, directings, even
orderings of the brilliant Royalties concerned. -- Duvernet
(probably onDArget's authority) informs us that "once, in
'' one of the inter-acts, finding the soldiers allowed him for
"Pretorian Guards not to understand their business here,"
not here, as they did at Hohenfriedberg and elsewhere,
"Voltaire shrilled volcanically out to them (happily unin-
"telligible): lF--, Devil take it, 1 asked for men; and they
'"have sent me Germans (J'ai demande des hommes, et Von
"' m'envoie des Allemands)! ' At which the Princesses were
"good-natured enough to burst into laughter. "** Voltaire
continues: "There is an English Ambassador here, who
"knows Cicero's Orations In Catilinam by heart;" an ex-
cellent Etonian, surely. "It is not Milord Tyrconnell"
(blusterous Irish Jacobite, our Ambassador, note him, fat
Valori having been recalled); no, "it is the Envoy fromEng-
"land," Excellency Hanbury himself, who knows his Cicero
by heart. "He has sent me some fine Verses on Rome Sauvee;
"he says it is my best work. It is a Piece appropriate for
"Ministerial people; Madame la Chanceliere," Cocceii's
better half, "is well pleased with it. " *** "And then" --But
enough.
In Princess Amelia's Antechamber there or in other
celestial places, in Palace after Palace, it goes on. Gaiety
succeeding gaiety; mere Princesses and Princes doing parts;
in Rome Sauvee, and in masterpieces of Voltaire's, Voltaire
himself acting Cicero and elderly characters, Lusignan and
the like. Excellent in acting, say the witnesses; superlative,
* Rodenbeck, "August--October" 1750.
** Duvernet (Second), p. 162, -- time probably 15th October.
*** (Euvres, lxxiv. (Letters, to the D'Argentals and Denis, "20th August
-- 23d September 1750"), pp. 187, 219, 241, &c. &<<.
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? 14 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
10th July--21st Sept. 1750.
for certain, as Preceptor of the art, -- though impatient now
and then. And wears such Jewel-ornaments (borrowed partly
from a Hebrew, of whom anon), such magnificence of tasteful
dress; -- and walks his minuet among the Morning Stars.
Not to mention the Suppers of the King: chosen circle, with
the King for centre; a radiant Friedrich flashing out to right
and left, till all kindles into coruscation round him; and it is
such a blaze of spiritual sheet-lightnings, -- wonderful to
think of; Voltaire especially electric. Never, or seldom,
were seen such suppers; such a life for a Supreme Man of
Letters, so fitted with the place due to him. Smelfungus
says:
"And so your Supreme of Literature has got into his due
"place at last, -- at the top of the world, namely; though,
"alas, but for moments or for months. The King's own
"Friend; he whom the King delights to honour. The most
"shining thing in Berlin, at this moment. Virtually a kind of
"Papa, or Intellectual Father of Mankind," sneers Smel-
fungus; "Pope improvised for the nonce. The new Fride-
"ricus Magnus does as the old Pipinus, old Carolus Magnus
"did: recognises his Pope, in despite of the base vulgar;
"elevates him aloft into worship,for the vulgar and for every-
body! Carolus Magnus did that thrice-salutary feat"
(sublimely human, if you think of it, and for long centuries
successful more or less); "Fridericus Magnus, under other
"omens, unconsciously does the like, -- the best he can!
"Let the Opera Fiddlers, theFrerons, Travenols and Des-
"fontaines-of-Sodom's Ghost look and consider! " --
Madame Denis, an expensive gay Lady, still only in her
thirties, improvable by rouge, carries on great work in the
Rue Traversiere; private theatricals, suppers, flirtations
with Italian travelling Marquises; -- finds Intendant Long-
champ much in her way, with his rigorous account-books,
and restriction to 100 louis per month; wishes even her Uncle
were back, and cautions him, Not to believe in Friedrich's
flattering unctions, or put his trust in Princes at all. Voltaire,
with the due preliminaries, shows Friedrich her Letter, one
of her Letters, * -- with result as we saw above.
* Now lost, as most of them are; Voltaire's Answer to it, already
cited, is, "24th August 1750" (misprinted "14th August," (Eueres, lxxiv.
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? CltAP. VI. ] VOLTAIRE AT THE BERLIN CARROUSEL. 15
10th July --21st Sept. 1750.
Formey says: "In the Carnival time, which Voltaire
"usually passed at Berlin, in the Palace, people paid their
"court to him as to a declared Favourite. Princes, Marshals,
"Ministers of State, Foreign Ambassadors, Lords of the
"highest rank, attended his audience; and were received,"
says Formey, nowhere free from spite on this subject, "in a
"sufficiently lofty style (hauteur assez dedaigneuse). * A
"great Prince had the complaisance to play chess with him;
"and to let him win the pistoles that were staked. Some-
"times even the pistole disappeared before the end of the
"game," continues Formey, green with spite; -- and reports
that sad story of the candle-ends; bits of wax-candle, which
should have remained as perquisite to the valets, but which
were confiscated by Voltaire, and sent across to the wax-
chandler's. So, doubtless, the spiteful rumour ran; probably
little but spite and fable, Berlin being bitter in its gossip.
Stupid Thiebault repeats that of the candle-ends, like a thing
he had seen (twelve years before his arrival in those parts);
and adds that Voltaire "put them in his pocket," -- like one
both stupid and sordid. Alas, the brighter your shine, the
blacker is the shadow you cast.
Friedrich, with the knowledge he already had of
his yokefellow, -- one of the most skittish, explosive,
unruly creatures in harness, -- cannot be counted wise
to have plunged so heartily into such an adventure
with him. "An undoubted Courser of the Sun! " thought
Friedrich; -- and forgot too much the signs of bad going
he had sometimes noticed in him, on the common high-
ways. There is no doubt he was perfectly sincere and
simple in all this high treatment of Voltaire. "The fore-
most literary spirit of the world, a man to be honoured
by me, and by all men; the Trismegistus of Human
185; see 16. i. xxv. 135); King Friedrich's practical Answer (so munificent to Denis and Voltaire), "Your Majesty's gracious Agreement," bore date
"August 23d. "
* Formey, Souvenirs, i. 235, 236.
? ? 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
? 16 . THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
10th July--21st Sept. 1750.
Intellects, what a conquest to have made; how cheap
is a little money, a little patience and guidance, for
such solacement and ornament to one's barren Life! "
He had rashly hoped that the dreams of his youth could
hereby still be a little realised; and something of the
old Reinsberg Program become a fruitful and blessed
fact. Friedrich is loyally glad over his Voltaire; eager
in all ways to content him, make him happy; and keep
him here, as the Talking Bird, the Singing Tree, and
the Golden Water, of intelligent mankind; the glory
of one's own Court, and the envy of the world. "Will
teach us the secret of the Muses, too; French Muses,
and help us in our bits of Literature! " This latter,
too, is a consideration with Friedrich, as why should
it not, -- though by no means the sole or chief one,
as the French give it out to be.
On his side, Voltaire is not disloyal either; but is
nothing like so completely loyal. He has, and con-
tinued always to have, not unmixed with fear, a real
admiration for Friedrich, that terrible practical Doer,
with the cutting brilliancies of mind and character, and
the irrefragable common sense; nay he has even a kind
of love to him, or something like it, -- love made up
of gratitude for past favours, and lively anticipation
of future. Voltaire is, by nature, an attached or at-
tachable creature; flinging out fond boughs to every
kind of excellence, and especially holding firm by old
ties he had made. One fancies in him a mixed set of
emotions, direct and reflex, -- the consciousness of safe
shelter, were there nothing more; of glory to oneself,
derived and still derivable from this high man: -- in
fine, a sum-total of actual desire to live with King
Friedrich, which might, surely, have almost sufficed
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:31 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd.