Landgraf of Hessen (wise Wilhelm, whom we knew) honour-
ably lodging him; innkeepers calling him "Your Excellency,"
or "M.
ably lodging him; innkeepers calling him "Your Excellency,"
or "M.
Thomas Carlyle
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
? 136 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
25th. March 1753.
forget that I expect to see you again after the Waters! "
such was Friedrich's adieu, say the French Biographers,*
"who is himself just going off to the Silesian Reviews,"
add they; -- who does, in reality, drive to Berlin that
day; but not to the Silesian Reviews till May fol-
lowing. As Voltaire himself will experience, to his
cost!
* Collini, p. 57; Duvernet, p. 186; (Euvres de Voltaire, lxxv. 187
("will return in October'*).
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? CHAP. XII. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 137
April--July 1753.
CHAPTER XII.
OF THE AFTERPIECE, WHICH PROVED STILL MORE
TRAGICAL.
Voltaire, once safe on Saxon ground, was in no
extreme haste for Plombieres. He deliberately settled
his Printing Affairs, at Dresden; then at Leipzig; --
and scattered through Newspapers, or what portholes
he had, various fiery darts against Maupertuis; ag-
gravating the humours in Berlin, and provoking Mau-
pertuis to write him an express Letter. Letter which
is too curious, especially the Answer it gets, to be quite
omitted:
Maupertuis to Voltaire (at Leipzig).
"Berlin, 3d April 1753. If it is true that you design to
"attack me again" (with your La-Beaumelle doggeries and scurrilous discussions), "I declare to you that I have still
"health enough to find you wherever you are, and to take
"the most signal vengeance on you (vengeance la plus ecla-
"tante). Thank the respect and the obedience which have
"hitherto restrained my arm, and saved you from the worst
"adventure you have ever yet had. -- MAupektuis. "
Voltaire's Answer (from Leipzig, a few days after).
"M. le President, -- I have had the honour to receive your
"Letter. You inform me that you are well; that yourstrength
"is entirely returned; and that, if I publish La Beaumelle's
"Letter" (private Letter of his, lent me by a Friend, which
proves that you set him against me), "you will come and as-
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? 138 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
April --July 1753.
"sassinate me. What ingratitude to your poor medical man
"Akakia! ** If you exalt your soul so as to discern futurity,
"you will see that if you come on that errand to Leipzig,
"where you are no better liked than in other places, and
"where your Letter is in safe Legal hands, you run some risk
"of being hanged. Poor me, indeed, you will find in bed; and
"I shall have nothing for you but my syringe and vessel of
"dishonour: but so soon as I have gained a little strength, I
"will have my pistols charged cum pulverepyrio; andmulti-
"plying the mass by the square of the velocity, so as to
"reduce the action and you to zero, I will put some lead in
"your head; -- it appears to have need of it. Adieu, mon Presi- "dent. -- AkAkiA. "*
Here, in the history of Duelling, or challengings
to mortal combat, is a unique article! At which the
whole world haha'd again; perhaps King Friedrich
himself; though he was dreadfully provoked at it, too:
"No mending of that fellow! " -- and took a resolution
in consequence, as will be seen.
Dresden and Leipzig done with, Voltaire accepted
an invitation to the Court of Sachsen-Gotha (most po-
lite Serene Highnesses there, and especially a charming
Duchess, -- who set him upon doing the Annales de
VEmpirr, decidedly his worst Book). "About April
21st," Voltaire arrived, stayed till the last days of
May;** and had, for five weeks, a beautiful time at
Gotha; -- Wilhelmina's Daughter there (young Duchess
of Wiirtemberg, on visit, as it chanced),*** and all manner of graces, melodies and beneficences; a little
* Duvernet, pp. 186, 187; (Euvres de Voltaire, lxi. 55-60.
** (Euvres de Voltaire, lmv. 182 n. (Clogenson's Note).
*** Wilhelmina-Friedrich Correspondence ((Euvres de Frediric, xxvn.
III. 258, 249).
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? CHAP. XII. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 139
April--July 1753.
working, too, at the Annales, in the big Library, be-
tween whiles. Five decidedly melodious weeks. Beauti-
ful interlude, or half-hour of orchestral fiddling in this
Voltaire Drama; half-hour which could not last! On
the heel of which there unhappily followed an After-
piece or codicil to the Berlin Visit; which, so to speak,
set the whole theatre on fire, and finished by explosion
worse than Akakia itself. A thing still famous to man-
kind;-- of which some intelligible notion must be left
with readers.
The essence of the story is briefly this. Voltaire,
by his fine deportment in parting with Friedrich, had
been allowed to retain his Decorations, his Letter of
Agreement, his Royal Book of Poesies (one of those
"Twelve Copies," printed au Donjon, da Chateau, in
happier times! ) -- and, in short, to go his ways, as a
friend, not as a run-away or one dismissed. But now,
by his late procedures at Leipzig, and "firings out of
portholes" in that manner, he had awakened Friedrich's
indignation again, -- Friedrich's regret at allowing him
to take those articles with him; and produced a reso-
lution in Friedrich to have them back. They are not
generally articles of much moment; but as marks of
friendship, they are now all falsities. One of the
articles might be of frightful importance: that Book of
Poesies; thrice-private CEuvre de Poesies, in which are
satirical spurts affecting more than one crowned head:
one shudders to think what fires a spiteful Voltaire
might cause by publishing these! This was Friedrich's
idea; -- and by no means a chimerical one, as the
Fact proved; said CEuvre being actually reprinted upon
him, at Paris afterwards (not by Voltaire), in the crisis
of the Seven-Years War, to put him out with his Uncle
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? 140 THE TEN TEAKS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
April --July 1753.
of England, whom it quizzed in passages. * "We "will
have those articles back," thinks Friedrich; that CEuvre
most especially! No difficulty: wait for him at Frank-
furt, as he passes home; demand them of him there. "
And has (directly on those new "firings through port-
holes" at Leipzig) bidden Fredersdorf take measures
accordingly. **
Fredersdorf did so; early in April and onward, had
his Official Person waiting at Frankfurt (one Freytag,
our Prussian Resident there, very celebrated ever since),
vigilant in the extreme for Voltaire's arrival, -- and
who did not miss that event. Voltaire, arriving at last
(May 31st), did, with Freytag's hand laid gently on
his sleeve, at once give up what of the articles he had
about him; -- the CEuvre, unluckily, not one of them;
and agreed to be under mild arrest ("Parole d'honneur;
in the Lion-d'Or H6tel here! ") till said CEuvre should
come up. Under Fredersdorfs guidance, all this, and
what follows; King Friedrich, after the general Order
given, had nothing more to do with it, and was gone
upon his Reviews.
In the course of two weeks or more, the CEuvre de
Poesies did come. Voltaire was impatient to go. And
he might perhaps have at once gone, had Freytag
been clearly instructed, so as to know the essential
from the unessential here. But he was not; -- poor
subaltern Freytag had to say, on Voltaire's urgencies:
* Title of it is, (Euvres du Philosophe de Sans-Souci (Paris, pretending
to be "Potsdam," 1760), lvol. 12mo: at Paris, "in January" this; where-
upon, at Berlin, with despatch, "April 9th," "the real edition" (properly
castrated) was sent forth, under title, Poisies Diverses, 1 vol. big 8vo.
(Preuss, in (Euvres de Frederic, x. Preface, p. x. SeeFormey, n. 225, under
date misprinted "1763").
>><< "Friedrich to Wilhelmina, 12th April 1753" ((Entires, xxvh. m. 227).
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? CHAP. xir. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 141
April--July 1753.
"I will at once report to Berlin; if the answer be (as
we hope), 'All right,' you are that moment at liberty! "
This was a thing unexpected, astonishing to Voltaire;
a thing demanding patience, silence: in three days
more, with silence, as turns out, it would have been
all beautifully over, -- but he was not strong in those
qualities!
Voltaire's arrest hitherto had been merely on his
word of honour, "I promise, on my honour, not to go
"beyond the Garden of this Inn. " But he now, without
warning anybody, privately revoked said word of
honour; and Collini and he, next morning, whisked
shiftily into a hackney-coach, and were on the edge of
being clear off. To Freytag's terror and horror; who,
however, caught them in time: and was rigorous
enough now, and loud enough;-- street-mob gathering
round the transaction; Voltaire very loud, and Trey tag
too, -- the matter taking fire here; and scenes oc-
curring, which Voltaire has painted in a highly flagrant
manner!
On the third day, Answer from Berlin had come,
as expected; answer (as to the old score): "All right;
let him go! " But to punctual Freitag's mind, here is
now a new considerable item of sundries: insult to his
Majesty, to wit; breaking his Majesty's arrest, in such
insolent loud manner: -- and Freitag finds that he
must write anew. Post is very slow; and, though
Fredersdorf answers constantly, from Berlin, "Let him
go, let him go," there have to be writings and re-writings;
and it is not till July 7th (after a detention, not of
nearly three weeks, as it might and would have been,
but of five and a day) that Voltaire gets off, and then
too at full gallop, and in a very unseemly way.
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? 142 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVI.
11th April 1753.
This is authentically the world-famous Frankfurt
Affair; -- done by Fredersdorf, as we say, Friedrich,
absent in Silesia, or in Preussen even, having no hand
in it, except the original Order left with Fredersdorf.
Voltaire has used his flamingest colours on this occa-
sion, being indeed dreadfully provoked and chagrined;
painting the thing in a very flagrant manner, -- known
to all readers. Voltaire's flagrant Narrative had the
round of the world to itself, for a hundred years; and
did its share of execution against Friedrich. Till at
length, recently, a precise impartial hand, the Herr
Varnhagen, thought of looking into the Archives; and
has, in a distinct, minute and entertaining way, ex-
plained the truth of it to everybody; -- leaving the
Voltaire Narrative in rather sad condition. * We have
little room; but must give, compressed, from Varn-
hagen and the other evidences, a few of the character-
istic points. The story falls into two Parts.
Parti. Fredersdorfsends Instructions; the " CEuvre de Poesies"
is got; but --
Aprilllth, 1753 (few days after that of Maupertuis's Cartel,
Voltaire having set to firing through portholes again, and the
King being swift in his resolution on it), Factotum Freders-
dorf, who nas a free-flowing yet a steady and compact pen,
directs Herr Freytag, our Resident at Frankfurt-on-Mayn,
To procure from the Authorities there, on Majesty's request,
the necessary powers; then vigilantly to look out for Vol-
taire's arrival; to detain the said Voltaire, and, if necessary,
arrest him, till he deliver certain articles belonging to his
Majesty: Cross of Merit, Gold Key, printed CEuvre de Poesies
and Writings (Skripturen) of his Majesty's; in short, various
articles, -- the specification of which is somewhat indistinct.
* Varnhagen von Ense, Voltaire in Frankfurt amMayn, 1753 (Separate,
as here, 12mo, p. 92; or in Berliner Kalcnder for 1846).
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? CHAP. xn. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 143
31st May 1753.
In Fredersdorfs writing, all this; not so mathematically
luminous and indisputable as, in Eichel's, it would have been.
Freytag put questions, and there passed several Letters be-
tween Fredersdorf and him; but it was always uncomfortably
hazy to Freytag, and he never understood or guessed that the
(Euvre de Poesies was the vital item, and the rest formal in com-
parison. Which is justly considered to have been an unlucky
circumstance, as matters turned. For help to himself, Frey-
tag is to take counsel with one HofrathSchmidt; a substantial
experienced Burgher of Frankfurt, whose rathship is Prussian.
April21st, Freytag answers, ThatSchmidt and he received
his Majesty's All-gracious Orders, the day before yesterday
(Post takes eight days, it would seem); that they have pro-
cured the necessary powers; and are now, and will be, dili-
gently watchful to execute the same. Which, one must say,
they in right earnest are; patrolling about, with lips strictly
closed, eyes vividly open; and have a man or two privately
on watch at the likely stations, on the possible highways; --
and so continue, Voltaire doing his Annals of the Empire, and
enjoying himself at Gotha, for weeks after, * -- much uncon-
scious of their patrolling.
Freytag is in no respect a shining Diplomatist;--probably
some Emeritus Lieutenant, doing his function for SOI. a-year:
but does it in a practical solid manner. Writes with stiff
brevity, stiff but distinct; with perfect observance of grammar
both in French and German; with good practical sense, and
faithful effort to do aright what his order is: no trace of
"Monsir," of "(Euvre dePoe's&ies," to be found in Freytag;
and most, or all, of the ridiculous burs stuck on him by Vol-
taire, are to be pulled off again as -- as fibs, or fictions,
solacing to the afflicted Wit. Freytag is not of quick or bright
intellect: and unluckily, just at the crisis of Voltaire's actual
arrival, both Schmidt and Fredersdorf are off to Embden,
where there is "Grand Meeting of the Embden Shipping Com-
pany" (with comfortable dividends, let us hope), -- and have
left Freytag to his own resources, in case of emergency.
Thursday, May 31st, "about eight in the evening," Voltaire
does arrive, --most prosperous journey hitherto, by Cassel,
Marburg, Warburg, and other places famous then or since;
* "Left Gotha, 25th May" (Clog, in (Euvres de Voltaire, lxxv. 192 n. ).
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? 144 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
1st June 1753.
Landgraf of Hessen (wise Wilhelm, whom we knew) honour-
ably lodging him; innkeepers calling him "Your Excellency,"
or "M. leComte;"-- and puts up at the Golden Lion atFrank-
furt, where rooms have been ordered; Freytag well aware,
though he says nothing.
Friday morning, June 1st, "his Excellency and Suite"
(Voltaire and Collini) have their horses harnessed, carriage
out, and are about taking the road again, -- when Freytag,
escorted by a Dr. Kiicker, "Frankfurt Magistrate de mauvaise
mine"* and a Prussian recruiting Lieutenant, presents him-
self in Voltaire's apartment! Readers know Voltaire's account
and MonstVCollini s; and may now hearFreytag's own, which
is painted from fact:
"Introductory civilities done (nach gemachten Politessen),
"I made him acquainted with the will of your most All-
"gracious Majesty. He was much astonished (bestiirzt," no
wonder); "he shut his eyes, and flung himself back in his
"chair. ** Calls in his friend Collini, whom, at first, I had
requested to withdraw. Two coffers are produced, and
opened, by Collini; visitation, punctual, long and painful,
lasted from nine A. m. till five p. m. Packets are made, -- a
great many Papers, "and one Poem which he was unwilling
to quit" (perilous La Pucelle); -- inventories are drawn, duly
signed. Packets are signeted, mutually sealed, Riicker claps
on the Town-seal first, Freytag and Voltaire following with
theirs. "He made thousand protestations of his fidelity to
"your Majesty; became pretty weak" (like fainting, think
you, Herr Resident? ), "and indeed he looks like a skeleton. "
-- "We then made demand of the Book, CEuvre de Poesies:
"That, he said, was in the Big Case; and he knew not
"whether at Leipzig or Hamburg (knew very well where it
was); and finding nothing else would do, wrote for it, showing
Freytag the Letter; and engaged, on his word of honour, not
to stir hence till it arrived.
Upon which, -- what is farther to be noted, though all
seems now settled, -- Freytag, at Voltaire's earnest entreaty,
"for behoof of Madame Denis, a beloved Niece, Monsieur,
who is waiting for me hourly at Strasburg, whom such fright
might be the death of! " -- puts on paper a few words (the few
* Collini, p. 77. "Varnhagen, p. 10.
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? CHAP. XII. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 145
1st June 1753.
which Voltaire has twisted into "MonsiV," "Poe'sMes," and so
forth), to the effect, "That whenever the CEuvre comes, Vol-
taire shall actually have leave to go. " And so, after eight-
hours labour (nine A. m. to five p. m. ), everything is hushed
again. Voltaire, much shocked and astonished, poor soul,
"sits quietly down to his Annates" (says Collini), -- to work-
ing, more or less; a resource he often flies to, in such cases.
Madame Denis, on receiving his bad news at Strasburg, sets
off towards him; arrives some days before the CEuvre and its
Big Case. King Friedrich had gone, May 1st, for some weeks,
to his Silesian Keviews; June 1st (very day of this great sort-
ing in the Lion d'Or), he is off again, to utmost Prussia this
time; -- and knows, hitherto and till quite the end, nothing,
except that Voltaire has not turned up anywhere.
* * Voltaire cannot have done much at his Annals, in this
interim at the Golden Lion, "where he has liberty to walk in
the Garden. " He has been, and is, secretly corresponding,
complaining and applying, all round, at a great rate: to
Count Stadion the Imperial Excellency at Mainz, to French
friends, to Princess Wilhelmina, ultimately to Friedrich
himself. * He has been receiving visits, from Serene High-
nesses, "Duke of Meiningen" and the like, who happen to
be in Town. Visit from iniquitous Dutch Bookseller, Van
Duren (Printer of the Anti-Macchiavel); with whom we had
such controversy once. Iniquitous, now opulent and pros-
perous, Van Duren, happening to be here, will have the
pleasure of calling on an old distinguished friend: distin-
guished friend, at sight of him entering the Garden, steps
hastily up, gives him a box on the ear, without words but an
interjection or two; and vanishes within doors. That is some-
thing! "Monsieur," said Collini, striving to weep, but un-
able, "you have had a blow from the greatest man in the
world. "** In short, Voltaire has been exciting great sen* In (Euvres de Voltaire, lxxv. 207-14, &e. , Letters to Stadion (of
strange enough tenor: see Varnhagen, pp. SO, &c). In (Euvres de Frederic,
xxn. 303, and in (Euvres de Voltaire, lxxv. 185, is the Letter to Friedrich
(dateless, totally misplaced, and rendered unintelligible, in both Works): Letter sent through Wilhelmina (see her fine remarks in forwarding ir^
(Enures de Frederic, xxvn. m. 234).
** Collini, p. 182.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. IX. 10
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? 146 THE TEN YEAKS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
20th June --7th July 1753.
sation in Frankfurt; and keeping Freytag in perpetual fear
and trouble.
Monday, 18th June, The big Case, lumbering along, does
arrive. It is carried straight to Freytag's; and at eleven in
the morning, Collini eagerly attends to have it opened. Frey-
tag, -- to whom Schmidt has returned from Embden, but no
Answer from Potsdam, or the least light about those Skrip-
turen, -- is in the depths of embarrassment; cannot open, till
he know completely what items and Skripturen he is to make
sure of on opening: "I cannot, till the King's answer come! "
-- "But your written promise to Voltaire? " "Tush, that
was my own private promise, Monsieur; my own private pre-
diction of what would happen; a thing pro forma, and to save
Madame Denis's life. Patience; perhaps it will arrive this
very day. Come again to me, at three p. m. ; -- there is Berlin
post today; then again in three days: -- I surely expect the
Order will come by this post or next; God grant it may be by
this! " Collini attends at three; there is Note fromFreders-
dorf: King's Majesty absent in Preussen all this while; ex-
pected now in two days. Freytag's face visibly brightens:
"Waittill next post; three days more, only wait! "* And,
in fact, by next post, as we find, the Open-Sesame did punc-
tually come. Voltaire, and all this big cawing rookery of
miseries and rages, would have at once taken wing again,
into the serene blue, could Voltaire but have had patience
three days more! But that was difficult for him, too difficult.
Part II. Voltaire, in spite of his efforts, does get away
(June 20th--July 7th).
Wednesday, June 20th, Voltaire and Collini ("word of
honour" fallen dubious to them, dubious or more), -- having
laid their plan, striving to think it fair in the circumstances,
-- walk out from the Lion d'Or, "Voltaire in black velvet
coat,"** with their valuablest effects (La Pucelle and money-
box included); leaving Madame Denis to wait the disem-
prisonment of CEuvre de Poisies, and wind up the general busi-
ness. Walk out, very gingerly, -- duck into a hackney-
coach; and attempt to escape by the Mainz Gate! Freytag's
spy runs breathless with the news; never was a Freytag in
* Varnhagen, pp. 39-41. ** lb. p. 46.
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? CHAP. XII. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 147
20th Jane --7th July 1753.
such taking. Terrified Freytag has to "throw on his coat;"
order out three men to gallop by various routes; jump into
some Excellency's coach (kind Excellency lent it), which is
luckily standing yoked near by; and shoot with the velocity
of life and death towards Mainz Gate. Voltaire, whom the
well-affected Porter, suspecting something, has rather been
retarding, is still there: "Arrested, in the King's name! " --
and there is such a scene! For Freytag, too, is now raging,
ignited by such percussion of the terrors; and speaks, not
like what they call "a learned sergeant," but like a drilled
sergeant in heat of battle: Voltaire^ tongue, also, and Col-
lini s, -- "YourExcellenz never heard such brazen-faced lies
"thrown on a man; that I had offered, for 1,000 thalers, to
"let them go; that I had" -- In short, the thing has caught
fire; broken into flaming chaos come again.
"Freytag" (to give one snatch from Collini's side) "got
"into the carriage along with us, and led us, in this way,
"across the mob of people to Schmidt's" (to see what was to
be done with us). "Sentries were put at the gate to keep out
"the mob; we are led into a kind of counting-room; clerk,
"maid- and man-servants are about; Madam Schmidt passes
"before Voltaire with a disdainful air, to listen to Freytag,
"recounting," in the tone not of a learned sergeant, whatthe
matter is. They seize our effects; under violent protest, worse
than vain. "Voltaire demands to have at least his snuffbox,
"cannot do without snuff; they answer, 'It is usual to take
"'everything. '
"His," Voltaire's, "eyes were sparkling with fury; from
"time to time he lifted them on mine, as if to interrogate me.
"All on a sudden, noticing a door half-open, he dashes
"through it, and is out. Madam Schmidt forms her squad,
"shopmen and three maid-servants; and, at their head,rushes
"after. 'What? ' cries he, 'cannot I be allowed to -- to
"'vomit, then? '" They form circle round him, till he do it;
call out Collini, who finds him "bent down, with his fingers in
"his throat, attempting to vomit; and is terrified; 'Mon Dieu,
'"are you ill, then? ' He answered in a low voice, tears in
"his eyes, iFingo, fingo (I pretend),'" and Collini leads him
back, reinfecta. "The Author of the Henriade and Me'rope; "what a spectacle! " f * * "Not for two hours had they
+ Collini, p. 81, 86.
10*
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? 148 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
20th June --7th July 1753.
"done with their writings and arrangings. Our portfolios
"and cassette (money-box) were thrown into an empty trunk"
(what else could they be thrown into? ) -- "which was locked
"with a padlock, and sealed with a paper, Voltaire's arms on
"the one end, and Schmidt's cipher on the other. Dorn,
"Freytag's Clerk, was bidden lead us away. Sign of the
"Bouc" (orBilly-Goat; there henceforth; LiondOr refusing
to be concerned with us farther); twelve soldiers; Madame
Denis with curtains of bayonets, -- and other well-known
flagrancies. * * The 7th of July, Voltaire did actually
go; and then in an extreme hurry, -- by his own blame,
again.
These final passages we touch only in the lump;
Voltaire's own Narrative of these being so copious,
flamingly impressive, and still known to everybody.
How much better for Voltaire and us, had nobody ever
known it; had it never been written; had the poor
hubbub, no better than a chance street-riot all of it,
after amusing old Frankfurt for a while, been left to
drop into the gutters forever! To Voltaire and various
others (me and my poor readers included), that was
the desirable thing.
Had there but been, among one's resources, a little
patience and practical candour, instead of all that vitu-
perative eloquence, and power of tragicomic description!
Nay, in that case, this wretched street-riot hubbub
need not have been at all. Truly M. de Voltaire had
a talent for speech, but lamentably wanted that of
silence! -- We have now only the sad duty of point-
ing out the principal mendacities contained in M. de
Voltaire's world-famous Account (for the other side has
been heard since that); and so of quitting a painful
business. The principal mendacities, -- deducting all
that about "Poe'shies" and the like, which we will define
as poetic fiction, -- are:
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? CHAP. XII. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MOKE TRAGICAL. 149
20th June--7th July 1753.
1? . That of the considerable files of soldiers (almost a
Company of Musketeers, one would think) stuck up round
M. de Voltaire and Party, in The Billy-Goat; Madame Denis's
bed-curtains being a screen of bayonets, and the like. The
exact number of soldiers I cannot learn: "a Schildwache of
the Townguard" (means one; surely does not mean Four? )
"for each prisoner," reports the arithmetical Freytag; which,
in the extreme case, would have been twelve in whole (as
Collini gives it); and "next day we reduced them to two,"
says Freytag.
2? . That of the otherwise frightful night Madame Denis
had; "the fellow Dorn" (Freytag's Clerk, a poor, hard-
worked frugal creature, with frugal wife and family not far
off) "insisting to sit in the Lady's bedroom; there emptying
"bottle after bottle; nay at last" (as Voltaire bethinks him,
after a few days) "threatening to" -- Plainly to excel all
belief! A thing not to be spoken of publicly: indeed, what
Lady could speak of it at all, except in hints to an Uncle of
advanced years? -- Proved fact being, that Madame Denis,
all in a flutter, that first night at The Billy-Goat, had engaged
Dorn, "for a louis-d'or, to sit in her bed-room; and did
actually pay him a louis-d'or for doing so! This is a very
bad mendacity; clearly conscious on M. de Voltaire's part,
and even constructed by degrees.
3? . Very bad also is that of the moneys stolen from him by
those Official people. M. de Voltaire knows well enough
how he failed to get his moneys, and quitted Frankfurt in a
hurry! Here, inexorably certain from the Documents, and
testimonies on both parts, is that final Passage of the long
Firework; last crackle of the rocket before it dropped per-
pendicular:
July 6th, complete Open-Sesame having come, Freytag
and Schmidt duly invited Voltaire to be present at the open-
ing of seals (his and theirs), and to have his moneys and
effects returned from that "old trunk" he speaks of. But
Voltaire had by this time taken a higher flight. July 6th,
Voltaire was protesting before Notaries, about the unheard-
of violence done him, the signal reparations due; and dis-
dained, for the moment, to concern himself with moneys or
opening of seals: "Seals, moneys? Ye atrocious Highway-
men! "
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? 150 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVI.
20th June --7th July 1753.
Upon which, they sent poor Dorn with the sealed trunk
in corpore, to have it opened Dy Voltaire himself. Collini, in
The Billy-Goat, next morning (July 7th), says, he (Collini) had
just loaded two journey-pistols, part of the usual carriage
furniture, and they lay on the table.
? 136 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
25th. March 1753.
forget that I expect to see you again after the Waters! "
such was Friedrich's adieu, say the French Biographers,*
"who is himself just going off to the Silesian Reviews,"
add they; -- who does, in reality, drive to Berlin that
day; but not to the Silesian Reviews till May fol-
lowing. As Voltaire himself will experience, to his
cost!
* Collini, p. 57; Duvernet, p. 186; (Euvres de Voltaire, lxxv. 187
("will return in October'*).
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? CHAP. XII. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 137
April--July 1753.
CHAPTER XII.
OF THE AFTERPIECE, WHICH PROVED STILL MORE
TRAGICAL.
Voltaire, once safe on Saxon ground, was in no
extreme haste for Plombieres. He deliberately settled
his Printing Affairs, at Dresden; then at Leipzig; --
and scattered through Newspapers, or what portholes
he had, various fiery darts against Maupertuis; ag-
gravating the humours in Berlin, and provoking Mau-
pertuis to write him an express Letter. Letter which
is too curious, especially the Answer it gets, to be quite
omitted:
Maupertuis to Voltaire (at Leipzig).
"Berlin, 3d April 1753. If it is true that you design to
"attack me again" (with your La-Beaumelle doggeries and scurrilous discussions), "I declare to you that I have still
"health enough to find you wherever you are, and to take
"the most signal vengeance on you (vengeance la plus ecla-
"tante). Thank the respect and the obedience which have
"hitherto restrained my arm, and saved you from the worst
"adventure you have ever yet had. -- MAupektuis. "
Voltaire's Answer (from Leipzig, a few days after).
"M. le President, -- I have had the honour to receive your
"Letter. You inform me that you are well; that yourstrength
"is entirely returned; and that, if I publish La Beaumelle's
"Letter" (private Letter of his, lent me by a Friend, which
proves that you set him against me), "you will come and as-
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? 138 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
April --July 1753.
"sassinate me. What ingratitude to your poor medical man
"Akakia! ** If you exalt your soul so as to discern futurity,
"you will see that if you come on that errand to Leipzig,
"where you are no better liked than in other places, and
"where your Letter is in safe Legal hands, you run some risk
"of being hanged. Poor me, indeed, you will find in bed; and
"I shall have nothing for you but my syringe and vessel of
"dishonour: but so soon as I have gained a little strength, I
"will have my pistols charged cum pulverepyrio; andmulti-
"plying the mass by the square of the velocity, so as to
"reduce the action and you to zero, I will put some lead in
"your head; -- it appears to have need of it. Adieu, mon Presi- "dent. -- AkAkiA. "*
Here, in the history of Duelling, or challengings
to mortal combat, is a unique article! At which the
whole world haha'd again; perhaps King Friedrich
himself; though he was dreadfully provoked at it, too:
"No mending of that fellow! " -- and took a resolution
in consequence, as will be seen.
Dresden and Leipzig done with, Voltaire accepted
an invitation to the Court of Sachsen-Gotha (most po-
lite Serene Highnesses there, and especially a charming
Duchess, -- who set him upon doing the Annales de
VEmpirr, decidedly his worst Book). "About April
21st," Voltaire arrived, stayed till the last days of
May;** and had, for five weeks, a beautiful time at
Gotha; -- Wilhelmina's Daughter there (young Duchess
of Wiirtemberg, on visit, as it chanced),*** and all manner of graces, melodies and beneficences; a little
* Duvernet, pp. 186, 187; (Euvres de Voltaire, lxi. 55-60.
** (Euvres de Voltaire, lmv. 182 n. (Clogenson's Note).
*** Wilhelmina-Friedrich Correspondence ((Euvres de Frediric, xxvn.
III. 258, 249).
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? CHAP. XII. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 139
April--July 1753.
working, too, at the Annales, in the big Library, be-
tween whiles. Five decidedly melodious weeks. Beauti-
ful interlude, or half-hour of orchestral fiddling in this
Voltaire Drama; half-hour which could not last! On
the heel of which there unhappily followed an After-
piece or codicil to the Berlin Visit; which, so to speak,
set the whole theatre on fire, and finished by explosion
worse than Akakia itself. A thing still famous to man-
kind;-- of which some intelligible notion must be left
with readers.
The essence of the story is briefly this. Voltaire,
by his fine deportment in parting with Friedrich, had
been allowed to retain his Decorations, his Letter of
Agreement, his Royal Book of Poesies (one of those
"Twelve Copies," printed au Donjon, da Chateau, in
happier times! ) -- and, in short, to go his ways, as a
friend, not as a run-away or one dismissed. But now,
by his late procedures at Leipzig, and "firings out of
portholes" in that manner, he had awakened Friedrich's
indignation again, -- Friedrich's regret at allowing him
to take those articles with him; and produced a reso-
lution in Friedrich to have them back. They are not
generally articles of much moment; but as marks of
friendship, they are now all falsities. One of the
articles might be of frightful importance: that Book of
Poesies; thrice-private CEuvre de Poesies, in which are
satirical spurts affecting more than one crowned head:
one shudders to think what fires a spiteful Voltaire
might cause by publishing these! This was Friedrich's
idea; -- and by no means a chimerical one, as the
Fact proved; said CEuvre being actually reprinted upon
him, at Paris afterwards (not by Voltaire), in the crisis
of the Seven-Years War, to put him out with his Uncle
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? 140 THE TEN TEAKS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
April --July 1753.
of England, whom it quizzed in passages. * "We "will
have those articles back," thinks Friedrich; that CEuvre
most especially! No difficulty: wait for him at Frank-
furt, as he passes home; demand them of him there. "
And has (directly on those new "firings through port-
holes" at Leipzig) bidden Fredersdorf take measures
accordingly. **
Fredersdorf did so; early in April and onward, had
his Official Person waiting at Frankfurt (one Freytag,
our Prussian Resident there, very celebrated ever since),
vigilant in the extreme for Voltaire's arrival, -- and
who did not miss that event. Voltaire, arriving at last
(May 31st), did, with Freytag's hand laid gently on
his sleeve, at once give up what of the articles he had
about him; -- the CEuvre, unluckily, not one of them;
and agreed to be under mild arrest ("Parole d'honneur;
in the Lion-d'Or H6tel here! ") till said CEuvre should
come up. Under Fredersdorfs guidance, all this, and
what follows; King Friedrich, after the general Order
given, had nothing more to do with it, and was gone
upon his Reviews.
In the course of two weeks or more, the CEuvre de
Poesies did come. Voltaire was impatient to go. And
he might perhaps have at once gone, had Freytag
been clearly instructed, so as to know the essential
from the unessential here. But he was not; -- poor
subaltern Freytag had to say, on Voltaire's urgencies:
* Title of it is, (Euvres du Philosophe de Sans-Souci (Paris, pretending
to be "Potsdam," 1760), lvol. 12mo: at Paris, "in January" this; where-
upon, at Berlin, with despatch, "April 9th," "the real edition" (properly
castrated) was sent forth, under title, Poisies Diverses, 1 vol. big 8vo.
(Preuss, in (Euvres de Frederic, x. Preface, p. x. SeeFormey, n. 225, under
date misprinted "1763").
>><< "Friedrich to Wilhelmina, 12th April 1753" ((Entires, xxvh. m. 227).
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? CHAP. xir. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 141
April--July 1753.
"I will at once report to Berlin; if the answer be (as
we hope), 'All right,' you are that moment at liberty! "
This was a thing unexpected, astonishing to Voltaire;
a thing demanding patience, silence: in three days
more, with silence, as turns out, it would have been
all beautifully over, -- but he was not strong in those
qualities!
Voltaire's arrest hitherto had been merely on his
word of honour, "I promise, on my honour, not to go
"beyond the Garden of this Inn. " But he now, without
warning anybody, privately revoked said word of
honour; and Collini and he, next morning, whisked
shiftily into a hackney-coach, and were on the edge of
being clear off. To Freytag's terror and horror; who,
however, caught them in time: and was rigorous
enough now, and loud enough;-- street-mob gathering
round the transaction; Voltaire very loud, and Trey tag
too, -- the matter taking fire here; and scenes oc-
curring, which Voltaire has painted in a highly flagrant
manner!
On the third day, Answer from Berlin had come,
as expected; answer (as to the old score): "All right;
let him go! " But to punctual Freitag's mind, here is
now a new considerable item of sundries: insult to his
Majesty, to wit; breaking his Majesty's arrest, in such
insolent loud manner: -- and Freitag finds that he
must write anew. Post is very slow; and, though
Fredersdorf answers constantly, from Berlin, "Let him
go, let him go," there have to be writings and re-writings;
and it is not till July 7th (after a detention, not of
nearly three weeks, as it might and would have been,
but of five and a day) that Voltaire gets off, and then
too at full gallop, and in a very unseemly way.
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? 142 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVI.
11th April 1753.
This is authentically the world-famous Frankfurt
Affair; -- done by Fredersdorf, as we say, Friedrich,
absent in Silesia, or in Preussen even, having no hand
in it, except the original Order left with Fredersdorf.
Voltaire has used his flamingest colours on this occa-
sion, being indeed dreadfully provoked and chagrined;
painting the thing in a very flagrant manner, -- known
to all readers. Voltaire's flagrant Narrative had the
round of the world to itself, for a hundred years; and
did its share of execution against Friedrich. Till at
length, recently, a precise impartial hand, the Herr
Varnhagen, thought of looking into the Archives; and
has, in a distinct, minute and entertaining way, ex-
plained the truth of it to everybody; -- leaving the
Voltaire Narrative in rather sad condition. * We have
little room; but must give, compressed, from Varn-
hagen and the other evidences, a few of the character-
istic points. The story falls into two Parts.
Parti. Fredersdorfsends Instructions; the " CEuvre de Poesies"
is got; but --
Aprilllth, 1753 (few days after that of Maupertuis's Cartel,
Voltaire having set to firing through portholes again, and the
King being swift in his resolution on it), Factotum Freders-
dorf, who nas a free-flowing yet a steady and compact pen,
directs Herr Freytag, our Resident at Frankfurt-on-Mayn,
To procure from the Authorities there, on Majesty's request,
the necessary powers; then vigilantly to look out for Vol-
taire's arrival; to detain the said Voltaire, and, if necessary,
arrest him, till he deliver certain articles belonging to his
Majesty: Cross of Merit, Gold Key, printed CEuvre de Poesies
and Writings (Skripturen) of his Majesty's; in short, various
articles, -- the specification of which is somewhat indistinct.
* Varnhagen von Ense, Voltaire in Frankfurt amMayn, 1753 (Separate,
as here, 12mo, p. 92; or in Berliner Kalcnder for 1846).
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? CHAP. xn. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 143
31st May 1753.
In Fredersdorfs writing, all this; not so mathematically
luminous and indisputable as, in Eichel's, it would have been.
Freytag put questions, and there passed several Letters be-
tween Fredersdorf and him; but it was always uncomfortably
hazy to Freytag, and he never understood or guessed that the
(Euvre de Poesies was the vital item, and the rest formal in com-
parison. Which is justly considered to have been an unlucky
circumstance, as matters turned. For help to himself, Frey-
tag is to take counsel with one HofrathSchmidt; a substantial
experienced Burgher of Frankfurt, whose rathship is Prussian.
April21st, Freytag answers, ThatSchmidt and he received
his Majesty's All-gracious Orders, the day before yesterday
(Post takes eight days, it would seem); that they have pro-
cured the necessary powers; and are now, and will be, dili-
gently watchful to execute the same. Which, one must say,
they in right earnest are; patrolling about, with lips strictly
closed, eyes vividly open; and have a man or two privately
on watch at the likely stations, on the possible highways; --
and so continue, Voltaire doing his Annals of the Empire, and
enjoying himself at Gotha, for weeks after, * -- much uncon-
scious of their patrolling.
Freytag is in no respect a shining Diplomatist;--probably
some Emeritus Lieutenant, doing his function for SOI. a-year:
but does it in a practical solid manner. Writes with stiff
brevity, stiff but distinct; with perfect observance of grammar
both in French and German; with good practical sense, and
faithful effort to do aright what his order is: no trace of
"Monsir," of "(Euvre dePoe's&ies," to be found in Freytag;
and most, or all, of the ridiculous burs stuck on him by Vol-
taire, are to be pulled off again as -- as fibs, or fictions,
solacing to the afflicted Wit. Freytag is not of quick or bright
intellect: and unluckily, just at the crisis of Voltaire's actual
arrival, both Schmidt and Fredersdorf are off to Embden,
where there is "Grand Meeting of the Embden Shipping Com-
pany" (with comfortable dividends, let us hope), -- and have
left Freytag to his own resources, in case of emergency.
Thursday, May 31st, "about eight in the evening," Voltaire
does arrive, --most prosperous journey hitherto, by Cassel,
Marburg, Warburg, and other places famous then or since;
* "Left Gotha, 25th May" (Clog, in (Euvres de Voltaire, lxxv. 192 n. ).
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? 144 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
1st June 1753.
Landgraf of Hessen (wise Wilhelm, whom we knew) honour-
ably lodging him; innkeepers calling him "Your Excellency,"
or "M. leComte;"-- and puts up at the Golden Lion atFrank-
furt, where rooms have been ordered; Freytag well aware,
though he says nothing.
Friday morning, June 1st, "his Excellency and Suite"
(Voltaire and Collini) have their horses harnessed, carriage
out, and are about taking the road again, -- when Freytag,
escorted by a Dr. Kiicker, "Frankfurt Magistrate de mauvaise
mine"* and a Prussian recruiting Lieutenant, presents him-
self in Voltaire's apartment! Readers know Voltaire's account
and MonstVCollini s; and may now hearFreytag's own, which
is painted from fact:
"Introductory civilities done (nach gemachten Politessen),
"I made him acquainted with the will of your most All-
"gracious Majesty. He was much astonished (bestiirzt," no
wonder); "he shut his eyes, and flung himself back in his
"chair. ** Calls in his friend Collini, whom, at first, I had
requested to withdraw. Two coffers are produced, and
opened, by Collini; visitation, punctual, long and painful,
lasted from nine A. m. till five p. m. Packets are made, -- a
great many Papers, "and one Poem which he was unwilling
to quit" (perilous La Pucelle); -- inventories are drawn, duly
signed. Packets are signeted, mutually sealed, Riicker claps
on the Town-seal first, Freytag and Voltaire following with
theirs. "He made thousand protestations of his fidelity to
"your Majesty; became pretty weak" (like fainting, think
you, Herr Resident? ), "and indeed he looks like a skeleton. "
-- "We then made demand of the Book, CEuvre de Poesies:
"That, he said, was in the Big Case; and he knew not
"whether at Leipzig or Hamburg (knew very well where it
was); and finding nothing else would do, wrote for it, showing
Freytag the Letter; and engaged, on his word of honour, not
to stir hence till it arrived.
Upon which, -- what is farther to be noted, though all
seems now settled, -- Freytag, at Voltaire's earnest entreaty,
"for behoof of Madame Denis, a beloved Niece, Monsieur,
who is waiting for me hourly at Strasburg, whom such fright
might be the death of! " -- puts on paper a few words (the few
* Collini, p. 77. "Varnhagen, p. 10.
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? CHAP. XII. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 145
1st June 1753.
which Voltaire has twisted into "MonsiV," "Poe'sMes," and so
forth), to the effect, "That whenever the CEuvre comes, Vol-
taire shall actually have leave to go. " And so, after eight-
hours labour (nine A. m. to five p. m. ), everything is hushed
again. Voltaire, much shocked and astonished, poor soul,
"sits quietly down to his Annates" (says Collini), -- to work-
ing, more or less; a resource he often flies to, in such cases.
Madame Denis, on receiving his bad news at Strasburg, sets
off towards him; arrives some days before the CEuvre and its
Big Case. King Friedrich had gone, May 1st, for some weeks,
to his Silesian Keviews; June 1st (very day of this great sort-
ing in the Lion d'Or), he is off again, to utmost Prussia this
time; -- and knows, hitherto and till quite the end, nothing,
except that Voltaire has not turned up anywhere.
* * Voltaire cannot have done much at his Annals, in this
interim at the Golden Lion, "where he has liberty to walk in
the Garden. " He has been, and is, secretly corresponding,
complaining and applying, all round, at a great rate: to
Count Stadion the Imperial Excellency at Mainz, to French
friends, to Princess Wilhelmina, ultimately to Friedrich
himself. * He has been receiving visits, from Serene High-
nesses, "Duke of Meiningen" and the like, who happen to
be in Town. Visit from iniquitous Dutch Bookseller, Van
Duren (Printer of the Anti-Macchiavel); with whom we had
such controversy once. Iniquitous, now opulent and pros-
perous, Van Duren, happening to be here, will have the
pleasure of calling on an old distinguished friend: distin-
guished friend, at sight of him entering the Garden, steps
hastily up, gives him a box on the ear, without words but an
interjection or two; and vanishes within doors. That is some-
thing! "Monsieur," said Collini, striving to weep, but un-
able, "you have had a blow from the greatest man in the
world. "** In short, Voltaire has been exciting great sen* In (Euvres de Voltaire, lxxv. 207-14, &e. , Letters to Stadion (of
strange enough tenor: see Varnhagen, pp. SO, &c). In (Euvres de Frederic,
xxn. 303, and in (Euvres de Voltaire, lxxv. 185, is the Letter to Friedrich
(dateless, totally misplaced, and rendered unintelligible, in both Works): Letter sent through Wilhelmina (see her fine remarks in forwarding ir^
(Enures de Frederic, xxvn. m. 234).
** Collini, p. 182.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. IX. 10
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? 146 THE TEN YEAKS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
20th June --7th July 1753.
sation in Frankfurt; and keeping Freytag in perpetual fear
and trouble.
Monday, 18th June, The big Case, lumbering along, does
arrive. It is carried straight to Freytag's; and at eleven in
the morning, Collini eagerly attends to have it opened. Frey-
tag, -- to whom Schmidt has returned from Embden, but no
Answer from Potsdam, or the least light about those Skrip-
turen, -- is in the depths of embarrassment; cannot open, till
he know completely what items and Skripturen he is to make
sure of on opening: "I cannot, till the King's answer come! "
-- "But your written promise to Voltaire? " "Tush, that
was my own private promise, Monsieur; my own private pre-
diction of what would happen; a thing pro forma, and to save
Madame Denis's life. Patience; perhaps it will arrive this
very day. Come again to me, at three p. m. ; -- there is Berlin
post today; then again in three days: -- I surely expect the
Order will come by this post or next; God grant it may be by
this! " Collini attends at three; there is Note fromFreders-
dorf: King's Majesty absent in Preussen all this while; ex-
pected now in two days. Freytag's face visibly brightens:
"Waittill next post; three days more, only wait! "* And,
in fact, by next post, as we find, the Open-Sesame did punc-
tually come. Voltaire, and all this big cawing rookery of
miseries and rages, would have at once taken wing again,
into the serene blue, could Voltaire but have had patience
three days more! But that was difficult for him, too difficult.
Part II. Voltaire, in spite of his efforts, does get away
(June 20th--July 7th).
Wednesday, June 20th, Voltaire and Collini ("word of
honour" fallen dubious to them, dubious or more), -- having
laid their plan, striving to think it fair in the circumstances,
-- walk out from the Lion d'Or, "Voltaire in black velvet
coat,"** with their valuablest effects (La Pucelle and money-
box included); leaving Madame Denis to wait the disem-
prisonment of CEuvre de Poisies, and wind up the general busi-
ness. Walk out, very gingerly, -- duck into a hackney-
coach; and attempt to escape by the Mainz Gate! Freytag's
spy runs breathless with the news; never was a Freytag in
* Varnhagen, pp. 39-41. ** lb. p. 46.
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? CHAP. XII. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MORE TRAGICAL. 147
20th Jane --7th July 1753.
such taking. Terrified Freytag has to "throw on his coat;"
order out three men to gallop by various routes; jump into
some Excellency's coach (kind Excellency lent it), which is
luckily standing yoked near by; and shoot with the velocity
of life and death towards Mainz Gate. Voltaire, whom the
well-affected Porter, suspecting something, has rather been
retarding, is still there: "Arrested, in the King's name! " --
and there is such a scene! For Freytag, too, is now raging,
ignited by such percussion of the terrors; and speaks, not
like what they call "a learned sergeant," but like a drilled
sergeant in heat of battle: Voltaire^ tongue, also, and Col-
lini s, -- "YourExcellenz never heard such brazen-faced lies
"thrown on a man; that I had offered, for 1,000 thalers, to
"let them go; that I had" -- In short, the thing has caught
fire; broken into flaming chaos come again.
"Freytag" (to give one snatch from Collini's side) "got
"into the carriage along with us, and led us, in this way,
"across the mob of people to Schmidt's" (to see what was to
be done with us). "Sentries were put at the gate to keep out
"the mob; we are led into a kind of counting-room; clerk,
"maid- and man-servants are about; Madam Schmidt passes
"before Voltaire with a disdainful air, to listen to Freytag,
"recounting," in the tone not of a learned sergeant, whatthe
matter is. They seize our effects; under violent protest, worse
than vain. "Voltaire demands to have at least his snuffbox,
"cannot do without snuff; they answer, 'It is usual to take
"'everything. '
"His," Voltaire's, "eyes were sparkling with fury; from
"time to time he lifted them on mine, as if to interrogate me.
"All on a sudden, noticing a door half-open, he dashes
"through it, and is out. Madam Schmidt forms her squad,
"shopmen and three maid-servants; and, at their head,rushes
"after. 'What? ' cries he, 'cannot I be allowed to -- to
"'vomit, then? '" They form circle round him, till he do it;
call out Collini, who finds him "bent down, with his fingers in
"his throat, attempting to vomit; and is terrified; 'Mon Dieu,
'"are you ill, then? ' He answered in a low voice, tears in
"his eyes, iFingo, fingo (I pretend),'" and Collini leads him
back, reinfecta. "The Author of the Henriade and Me'rope; "what a spectacle! " f * * "Not for two hours had they
+ Collini, p. 81, 86.
10*
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? 148 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
20th June --7th July 1753.
"done with their writings and arrangings. Our portfolios
"and cassette (money-box) were thrown into an empty trunk"
(what else could they be thrown into? ) -- "which was locked
"with a padlock, and sealed with a paper, Voltaire's arms on
"the one end, and Schmidt's cipher on the other. Dorn,
"Freytag's Clerk, was bidden lead us away. Sign of the
"Bouc" (orBilly-Goat; there henceforth; LiondOr refusing
to be concerned with us farther); twelve soldiers; Madame
Denis with curtains of bayonets, -- and other well-known
flagrancies. * * The 7th of July, Voltaire did actually
go; and then in an extreme hurry, -- by his own blame,
again.
These final passages we touch only in the lump;
Voltaire's own Narrative of these being so copious,
flamingly impressive, and still known to everybody.
How much better for Voltaire and us, had nobody ever
known it; had it never been written; had the poor
hubbub, no better than a chance street-riot all of it,
after amusing old Frankfurt for a while, been left to
drop into the gutters forever! To Voltaire and various
others (me and my poor readers included), that was
the desirable thing.
Had there but been, among one's resources, a little
patience and practical candour, instead of all that vitu-
perative eloquence, and power of tragicomic description!
Nay, in that case, this wretched street-riot hubbub
need not have been at all. Truly M. de Voltaire had
a talent for speech, but lamentably wanted that of
silence! -- We have now only the sad duty of point-
ing out the principal mendacities contained in M. de
Voltaire's world-famous Account (for the other side has
been heard since that); and so of quitting a painful
business. The principal mendacities, -- deducting all
that about "Poe'shies" and the like, which we will define
as poetic fiction, -- are:
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? CHAP. XII. ] AFTERPIECE STILL MOKE TRAGICAL. 149
20th June--7th July 1753.
1? . That of the considerable files of soldiers (almost a
Company of Musketeers, one would think) stuck up round
M. de Voltaire and Party, in The Billy-Goat; Madame Denis's
bed-curtains being a screen of bayonets, and the like. The
exact number of soldiers I cannot learn: "a Schildwache of
the Townguard" (means one; surely does not mean Four? )
"for each prisoner," reports the arithmetical Freytag; which,
in the extreme case, would have been twelve in whole (as
Collini gives it); and "next day we reduced them to two,"
says Freytag.
2? . That of the otherwise frightful night Madame Denis
had; "the fellow Dorn" (Freytag's Clerk, a poor, hard-
worked frugal creature, with frugal wife and family not far
off) "insisting to sit in the Lady's bedroom; there emptying
"bottle after bottle; nay at last" (as Voltaire bethinks him,
after a few days) "threatening to" -- Plainly to excel all
belief! A thing not to be spoken of publicly: indeed, what
Lady could speak of it at all, except in hints to an Uncle of
advanced years? -- Proved fact being, that Madame Denis,
all in a flutter, that first night at The Billy-Goat, had engaged
Dorn, "for a louis-d'or, to sit in her bed-room; and did
actually pay him a louis-d'or for doing so! This is a very
bad mendacity; clearly conscious on M. de Voltaire's part,
and even constructed by degrees.
3? . Very bad also is that of the moneys stolen from him by
those Official people. M. de Voltaire knows well enough
how he failed to get his moneys, and quitted Frankfurt in a
hurry! Here, inexorably certain from the Documents, and
testimonies on both parts, is that final Passage of the long
Firework; last crackle of the rocket before it dropped per-
pendicular:
July 6th, complete Open-Sesame having come, Freytag
and Schmidt duly invited Voltaire to be present at the open-
ing of seals (his and theirs), and to have his moneys and
effects returned from that "old trunk" he speaks of. But
Voltaire had by this time taken a higher flight. July 6th,
Voltaire was protesting before Notaries, about the unheard-
of violence done him, the signal reparations due; and dis-
dained, for the moment, to concern himself with moneys or
opening of seals: "Seals, moneys? Ye atrocious Highway-
men! "
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? 150 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVI.
20th June --7th July 1753.
Upon which, they sent poor Dorn with the sealed trunk
in corpore, to have it opened Dy Voltaire himself. Collini, in
The Billy-Goat, next morning (July 7th), says, he (Collini) had
just loaded two journey-pistols, part of the usual carriage
furniture, and they lay on the table.
