Algarotti will say,
Faciamus
Tric tria tabernacula: as
"to me, I can only make duo tabernacula" -- profane Vol-
taire!
"to me, I can only make duo tabernacula" -- profane Vol-
taire!
Thomas Carlyle
net/2027/hvd.
hwiijk Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
? 78 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [nOOK XI.
82d-25th Aug. 1740.
Il e? tait ne? pour la surprise.
Ses cheveux blanes, sa barbe grise,
Formaient un sage exte? rieur.
Le dehors est souvent trompeur;
Qui juge par la reliure
D'un ouvrage et de son auteur
Dans une page de lecture
Peut reconnai^tre son erreur.
u He was born for surprise.
"His white hair, his gray beard,
"Formed a reverend exterior.
"Outsides are often deceptive:
"He that, by the binding, judges
"Of a Book and its Author
"May, after a page of reading,
"Chance to recognise his mistake.
"That was my own experience; for of wisdom I could find
"nothing except in his gray hair and decrepit appearance.
"His first opening betrayed him; no great well of wit this
"Mardchal,
"Who, drunk with his own gran-
"deur,
"Informs you of his name and his
"titles,
"And authority as good as unlimited.
"He cited to me all the records
"Where his name is registered,
"Babbled about his immense power,
"About his valour, his talents
"So salutary to France; --
"He forgot that, three years ago*
"Men did not praise his prudence.
Qui, de sa grandeur enivre? ,
De? cline son nom et ses litres,
Et son pouvoir a` rien borne? ,
il me cita tous les registres
Ou` son nom est enregistre? ;
Bavard de non pouvoir immense,
De sa valeur, de ces talents
Si salutaires a` la France:
H oubliait, passe? trois ans,
Qu'on ne louait pas sa prudence.
"Not satisfied with seeing the Mardchal
"mounted
"By these Frenchmen, burning with
"glory,
"Who, on four sous a day,
"Will make of Kings and of Heroes
"the memory flourish:
"Slaves crowned by the hands of
"Victory,
"Unlucky herds whom the Court
"Tinkles hither and thither by the
"sound of fife and drum.
I saw guard
A ces Franc? ais bru^lants de gloire,
Dote? s de quatre sous par jour,
Qui des row, des he? ros font fleurir la
me? moire,
Esclaves couronne? s des mains de la
victoire,
Troupeaux malheureux que la cour
Dirige au seul bruit du tambour.
"That was my fated term. A deserter from our troops got
"eye on me, recognised me and denounced me.
"This wretched gallows-bird got Ce malheureuxpendard me vit,
"eye on me;
? ? "Such is the lot of all earthly things; Cent le sort de toutes les choses;
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? CHAP. III. l EXCURSION TO THE CLEVE COUNTRIES. 79
22d-25th Aug. 1740.
Well; we must take this glimpse, such as it is, into
the interior of the young man, -- fine buoyant, pungent
German spirit, road-ways for it very bad, and universal
rain-torrents falling, yet with coruscations from a
higher quarter; -- and you can forget, if need be, the
"Literature" of this young Majesty, as you would a
staccato on the flute by him! In after months, on new
occasion rising, "there was no end to his jibings and
"bitter pleasantries on the ridiculous reception Broglio
"had given him at Strasburg," says Valori,* -- of
which this Doggerel itself offers specimen.
"Probably the weakest Piece I ever translated? "
exclaims one, who has translated several such. Never-
theless there is a straggle of pungent sense in it, --
like the outskirts of lightning, seen in that dismally
wet weather, which the Royal Party had. Its wit is
very copious, but slashy, bantery, and proceeds mainly
by exaggeration and turning topsyturvy; a rather
barren species of wit. Of humour, in the fine poetic
sense, no vestige. But there is surprising veracity, --
truthfulness unimpeachable, if you will read well.
What promptitude, too; -- what funds for conver-
sation, when needed! This scraggy Piece, which is
better than the things people often talk to one another,
was evidently written as fast as the pen could go. --
"It is done, if such a Hand could have done it, in the
"manner of Bachaumont and La Chapelle," says
Voltaire scornfully, in that scandalous Vie Prive'e; --
of which phrase this is the commentary, if readers
need one:
"Some seventy or eighty years before that date, a M.
"Bachaumont and a M. la Chapelle, his intimate, published,
* Memoires, I. 88.
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? 80 PRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
29th Aug. 1740,
"in Prose skipping off into dancings of Verse every now and
"then, 'a charming Relation of a certain Voyage or Home
"Tour' (whence or whither, or correctly when, this Editor
"forgets),* which they had made in partnership. 'Relation'
"capable still of being read, if one were tolerably idle; -- it
"was found then to be charming, by all the world; and gave
"rise to a new fashion in writing; which Voltaire often adopts,
"and is supremely good at; and in which Friedrich, who is
"also fond of it, by no means succeeds so well. "
Enough, Friedrich got to Wesel, back to his busi-
ness in a day or two; and had done, as we forever
have, with the Strasburg Escapade and its Doggerel.
Friedrich finds M. de Maupertuis; not yet M. de Voltaire.
Friedrich got to Wesel on the 29th; found Mauper-
tuis waiting there, according to appointment: an ela-
borately polite, somewhat sublime scientific gentleman;
ready to "engraft on the Berlin crabtree," and produce
real apples and Academics there, so soon as the King,
the proprietor, may have leisure for such a thing. Al-
garotti has already the honour of some acquaintance
'with Maupertuis. Maupertuis has been at Brussels, on
the road hither; saw Voltaire and even Madame, --
which latter was rather a ticklish operation, owing to
grudges and tiffs of quarrel that had risen, but it
proved successful under the delicate guidance of Vol-
taire. Voltaire is up to oiling the wheels: "There you
"are, Monsieur, like the" -- (don't name 'What, though
profane Voltaire does, writing to Maupertuis a month
* "First printed in 1665," say the Bibliographies; "but known to La
Fontaine some time before. " Good! -- Bachaumont, practically an impor-
tant and distinguished person, not literary by trade, or indeed otherwise
than by ennui, was he that had given (some fifteen years before) the Nick-
name Fronde (Bickering of Schoolboys) to the wretched Historical Object
which is still so designated in French annals.
\
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? CHAP, in. ] EXCURSION TO THE CLEVE COUNTRIES. 81
June--Sept. 1740.
ago) -- "Three Kings running after you! " A new
Pension to you from France; Russia outbidding France
to have you; and then that Letter of Friedrich's, which
is in all the Newspapers: "Three Kings," -- you plainly
great man, Trismegistus of the Sciences called Pure!
Madame honours you, has always done: one word of
apology to the high female mind, it will work wonders;
-- come now! --*
No reader guesses in our time what a shining celes-
tial body the Maupertuis, who is now fallen so dim
again, then was to mankind. In cultivated French
society there is no such lion as M. Maupertuis since he
returned from flattening the Earth in the Arctic regions.
"The Exact Sciences, what else is there to depend on? "
thinks French cultivated society: "and has not Mon-
sieur done a feat in that line? " Monsieur, with fine
ex-military manners, has a certain austere gravity,
reticent loftiness and polite dogmatism, which confirms
that opinion. A studious ex-military man, -- was
Captain of Dragoons once, but too fond 'of study, who
is conscious to himself, or who would fain be con-
scious, that he is, in all points, mathematical, moral
and other, the man. A difficult man to live with in
society. Comes really near the limit of what we call
genius, of originality, poetic greatness in thinking; --
hut never once can get fairly over said limit, though
always struggling dreadfully to do so. Think of it!
A fatal kind of man; especially if you have made a
Hon of him at any time. Of his envies, deep-hidden
splenetic discontents and rages, with Voltaire's return for
them, there will be enough to say in the ulterior stages.
*Voltaire, tEuvres, lxxii. 217, 216, 230 (Hague, 21st July 1740, and
Brussels, 9th Aug. &c).
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. VI. G
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? 82 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
Juno--Sept 1710.
He wears, -- at least ten years hence he openly wears,
though I hope it is not yet so flagrant, -- "a red wig
"with yellow bottom (crmiere jaune);" and as Flattener
of the Earth, is, with his own flattish red countenance
and impregnable stony eyes, a man formidable to look
upon, though intent to be amiable if you do the proper
homage. As to the quarrel with Madame take this
Note; which may prove illustrative of some things by
and by:
Maupertuisis well known at Cirey; such a lion could not
fail there. All manner of Bernouillis, Clairauts, high mathe-
matical people, are frequent guests at Cirey: reverenced by
Madame, -- who indeed has had her own private Professor of
Mathematics; one Konig from Switzerland (recommendedby
those Bernouillis), diligently teaching her the Pure Sciences
this good while back, not without effect; and has only just
parted with him, when she left on this Brussels expedition. A
bon gart;on, Voltaire says; though otherwise, I think, a little
noisy on occasion. There has been no end of Madame's kind-
ness to him, nay to his Brother and him, -- sons of a Theolo-
fical Professorial Syriac-Hebrew kind of man at Berne who
as too many sons; and I grieve to report that this heedless
Konig has produced an explosion in Madame's feelings, such
as little beseemed him. On the road to Paris, namely, as we
drove hitherward to the Honsbruck Lawsuit by way of Paris,
in Autumn last, there had fallen out some dispute, about the
monads, the vis viva, the infinitely little, between Madame
and Konig; dispute which rose crescendo in disharmonious
duet, and "ended," testifies M. de Voltaire, "in a scene trh
desagreable. " Madame, with an effort, forgave the thoughtless
fellow, who is still rather young, and is without malice. But
thoughtless Konig, strong in his opinion about the infinitely
little, appealed to Maupertuis: "Am not I right, Monsieur? "
uHe is right beyond question! " wrote Maupertuis to Madame;
"somewhat drily," thinks Voltaire: and the result is, there is
considerable rage in one celestial mind ever since against
another male one in red wig and yellow bottom; and they are
not on speaking terms, for a good many months past. Voltaire
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? CHAP. m. ] EXCURSION TO THE CLEVE COUNTRIES. 83
June--Sept. 1740.
has bis heart sore ("fen ai le emir perfe") about it, needs to
double-dose Maupertuis with flattery; and in fact has used the
utmost diplomacy to effect some varnish of a reconcilement as
Maupertuis passed on this occasion. As forKiinig, who had
studied in some Dutch university, he went by and by to be
Librarian to the Prince of Orange; and we shall not fail to
hear of him again, -- once more upon the infinitely little. *
Voltaire too, in his way, is fond of these mathematical
people; eager enough to fish for knowledge, here as in all ele-
ments, when he has the chance offered: this is much an inter-
est of his at present. And he does attain sound ideas, outlines
of ideas, in this province, -- though privately defective in the
due transcendency of admiration for it; -- was wont to discuss
cheerily with Konig, about vis viva, monads, gravitation and
the infinitely little; above all, bows to the ground before the
red-wigged Bashaw, Flattener of the Earth, whom for Ma-
dame's sake and his own he is anxious to be well with. "Pall
onyourfaee nine times,ye esoteric of only Impure Science! "--
intimates Maupertuis to mankind. "By all means! " answers
M. de Voltaire, doing it with alacrity; with a kind of loyalty,
one can perceive, and also with a hypocrisy grounded on love
of peace. If that is the nature of the Bashaw, and one's sole
mode of fishing knowledge from him, why not? thinks M. de
Voltaire. His patience with M. de Maupertuis, first and last,
was very great. But we shall find it explode at length, a dozen
years hence, in a conspicuous manner! --
"Maupertuis had come to us to Cirey, with Jean
"Bernouilli," says Voltaire; "and thenceforth Mau-
pertuis, who was born the most jealous of men, took
"me for the object of this passion, which has always
"been very dear to him. "** Husht, Monsieur! -- Here
is a poor rheumatic kind of Letter, which illustrates
the interim condition, after that varnish of reconcile-
ment at Brussels:
* Prom (Euvres de Voltaire, ii. 126, btxii. (20, 216, 230), lxiii. (229-239),
&c. fkc.
"Vie Privie.
6*
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? 84 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book xr.
June--Sept. 1740.
Voltaire to M. de Maupertuis (at Wesel, waiting for the King,
or with him rather).
"Brussels, 29th August f 1740), 3d year since
"Ike world flallcnetl.
"How the Devil, great Philosopher, would you have had
"me write to you at Wesel? I fancied you gone from Wesel,
"to seek the King of Sages on his Journey somewhere. I had
"understood, too, they were so delighted to have you in that
"fortified lodge (bmtge fortifie) that you must be taking
"pleasure there, for he that gives pleasure gets it.
"You have already seen the jolly Ambassador of the
"amiablest Monarch in the world," -- Camas, a fattish man,
on his road to Versailles (who called at Brussels here, with
fine compliments, and a keg of Hungary Wine, as you may
have heard whispered). "No doubt M. de Camas is with you.
"For my own share, I think it is after you that he is running
"at present. But in truth, at the hour while I say this, you
"are with the King;" -- a lucky guess; King did return to
Wesel this very day. "The Philosopher and the Prince
"perceive already that they are made for each other. You
"and M.
Algarotti will say, Faciamus Tric tria tabernacula: as
"to me, I can only make duo tabernacula" -- profane Vol-
taire!
"Without doubt I would be with you if I were not at
"Brussels; butmy heart is with you all the same; and is the
"subject, all the same, of a King who is formed to reign over
"every thinking and feeling being. I do not despair that Ma-
"dame du Chatelet will find herself somewhere on your route:
"it will be a scene in a fairy tale; -- she will arrive with a
"sufficient reason" (as your Leibnitz says) "and with monads.
"She does not love you the less though she now believes the
"universe a, plenum, and has renounced the notion of void.
"Over her you have an ascendant which you will never lose.
"In fine, my dear Monsieur, I wish as ardently as she to
"embrace you the soonest possible. I recommend myself to
"your friendship in the Court, worthy of you, where you now
"are. " -- Tout a vous, somewhat rheumatic! *
1
* Voltaire, lxxii. p. 213.
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? CHAP. Hi. ] EXCURSION TO THE CLEVE COUNTRIES. 85
Jane-Sept. 1740.
Always an anxious almost tremulous desire to con-
ciliate this big glaring geometrical bully in red wig.
Through the sensitive transparent being of M. de
Voltaire, you may see that feeling almost painfully
busy in every Letter he writes to the Flattener of the
Earth.
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? 86 FRIEDKICH TAKES THE REINS IX HAN'D. [boOK XI.
2d-Uth Sept. 1740.
CHAPTEE IV.
voltaire's first interview with friedrich.
At Wesel, in the rear of all this travelling excite-
ment, Friedrich falls unwell; breaks down there into an
aguish feverish distemper, which, for several months
after, impeded his movements, would he have yielded
to it. He has much business on hand, too, -- some of
it of prickly nature just now; -- but is intent as ever
on seeing Voltaire, among the first things. Diligently
reading in the Voltaire-Friedrich Correspondence (which
is a sad jumble of misdates and opacities, in the com-
mon editions),* this of the aguish condition frequently
turns up; "Quartan ague," it seems; occasionally very
bad: but Friedrich struggles with it; will not be cheated
of any of his purposes by it.
He had a busy fortnight here; busier than we yet
imagine. Much employment there naturally is of the
usual Inspection sort; which fails in no quarter of his
Dominions, but which may be particularly important
here, in these disputed Berg-Julich Countries, when
the time of decision falls. How he does his Inspections
we know; -- and there are still weightier matters afoot
here, in a silent way, of which we shall have to speak
before long, and all the world will speak. Business
enough, parts of it grave and silent, going on, and the
* Preuss (the recent latest Editor, and the only well-informed one, as
we said) prints with accuracy; but cannot be read at all (in the sense of
understood) without other light.
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? chap. iv. ] voltaiue's first interview. 87
2d-llth Sept. 1740.
much that is public, miscellaneous, small: done, all of
it, in a rapid punctual precise manner; -- and always,
after the crowded day, some passages of Supper with
the Sages, to wind up with on melodious terms. A most
alert and miscellaneously busy young King, in spite of
the ague.
It was in these Cleve Countries, and now as pro-
bably as afterwards, that the light scene recorded in
Laveaux's poor History, and in all the Anecdote-Books,
transacted itself one day. Substance of the story is
true; though the details of it go all at random, --
somewhat to this effect:
"Inspecting his Finance Affairs, and questioning the
"parties interested, Friedrich notices a certain Convent in
"Cleve, which appears to have, payable from the Forest-dues,
"considerable revenues bequeathed by the old Dukes, 'for
"masses to be said on their behalf. ' He goes to look at the
"place; questions the Monks on this point, who are all drawn
"out, in two rows, and have broken into Te-Deum at sight of
"him: Husht! ' You still say those Masses, then? ' 'Certainly
"your Majesty! ' -- 'And what good does anybody get of
"them? ' 'Your Majesty, those old Sovereigns are to obtain
"Heavenly mercy by them, to be delivered out of Purgatory
"by them. ' -- 'Purgatory? It is a sore thing for the Forests,
"all this while! And they are not yet out, those poor souls,
"after so many hundred years of praying? ' Monks have a
"fatal apprehension, No. 'When will they be out, and the
"thing complete? ' Monks cannot say. 'Send me a courier
"whenever it is complete! ' sneers the King, and leaves them
"totheir re-jDeum. "*
* C. Hildebrandt's Modern Edition of the (mostly dubious) Anekdoten
tind Charakterzuije aus dem Leben Friedrichs des Grossen (and a very igno-
rant and careless Edition it is; 6volI. 12mo, Halberstadt, 1829), ii. 160;
Laveaux (whom we already cited), Vie de Fr&diric; &c. &c. Nicolafs Anek-
doten alone, which are not included in this Hildebrandt Collection, are of
sure authenticity; the rest, occasionally true, and often with a kind of
mylfiic truth in them worth attending to, are otherwise of all degrees of
dubiety, down to the palpably false and absurd.
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? 88 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
2d-llth Sept. 17i0.
Mournful state of the Catholic Religion so-called!
How long must these wretched Monks go on doing
their lazy thrice-deleterious torpid blasphemy; and a
King, not histrionic but real, merely signify that he
laughs at them and it? Meseems a heavier whip than
that of satire might be in place here, your Majesty?
The lighter whip is easier; -- Ah yes, undoubtedly!
cry many men. But horrible accounts are running up,
enough to sink the world at last, while the heavier
whip is lazily withheld, and lazy blasphemy, fallen
torpid, chronic, and quite unconscious of being blas-
phemous, insinuates itself into the very heart's-blood
of mankind! Patience, however; the heavy whip too
is coming, -- unless universal death be coming. King
Friedrich is not the man to wield such whip. Quite
other work is in store for King Friedrich; and Nature
will not, by any suggestion of that terrible task, put
him out in the one he has. He is nothing of a Luther,
of a Cromwell; can look upon fakeers praying by their
rotatory calabash, as a ludicrous platitude; and grin
delicately as above, with the approval of his wiser con-
temporaries. Speed to him on his own course!
What answer Friedrich found to his English pro-
posals, -- answer due here on the 24th from Captain
Dickens, -- I do not pointedly learn; but can judge
of it by Harrington's reply to that Despatch of Dickens's,
which entreated candour and open dealing towards his
Prussian Majesty. Harrington is at Herrenhausen,
still with the Britannic Majesty there; both of them
much at a loss about their Spanish War, and the French
and other aspects upon it; "Suppose his Prussian Ma-
jesty were to give himself to France against us! " We
will hope, not. Harrington's reply is to the effect,
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? chap, iv. ] voltaire's first interview. 89
2d-llt! i Sept. 17i0.
"Hum, drum: -- Berg and Jiilich, say you? Impos-
"sible to answer; minds not made up here: -- What
"will his Prussian Majesty do for us? " Not much, I
should guess, till something more categorical come
from you! His Prussian Majesty is careful not to
spoil anything by over-haste; but will wait and try
farther to the utmost, Whether England or France is
the likelier bargain for him.
Better still, the Prussian Majesty is intent to do
something for himself in that Berg-Jiilich matter: we
find him silently examining these Wesel localities for
a proper "Entrenched Camp," Camp say of 40,000,
against a certain contingency that may be looked for.
Camp which will much occupy the Gazetteers when
they get eye on it. This is one of the concerns he
silently attends to, on occasion, while riding about in
the Cleve Countries. Then there is another small
item of business, important to do well, which is now in
silence diligently getting under way at Wesel; which
also is of remarkable nature, and will astonish the
Gazetteer and Diplomatic circles. This is the affair
with the Bishop of Liege, called also the Affair of
Herstal, which his Majesty has had privately laid up
in the corner of his mind, as a thing to be done during
this Excursion. Of which the reader shall hear anon,
to great lengths, -- were a certain small preliminary
matter, Voltaire's Arrival in these parts, once off our
hands.
Friedrich's First Meeting with Voltaire! These
other high things were once loud in the Gazetteer and
Diplomatic circles, and had no doubt they were the
World's History; and now they are sunk wholly to the
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? 90 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN IIAND. [book XI.
2d-llth Sept. 1740.
Nightmares, and all mortals have forgotten them, --
and it is such a task as seldom was to resuscitate the
least memory of them, on just cause of a Friedrich or
the like, so impatient are men of what is putrid and
extinct: -- and a quite unnoticed thing, Voltaire's
First Interview, all readers are on the alert for it, and
ready to demand of me impossibilities about it! Pa-
tience, readers. You shall see it, without and within,
in such light as there was, and form some actual notion
of it, if you will cooperate. From the circumambient
inanity of Old Newspapers, Historical shot-rubbish,
and unintelligible Correspondences, we sift out the
following particulars, of this First Meeting, or actual
Osculation of the Stars.
The Newspapers, though their eyes were not yet
of the Argus quality now familiar to us, have been in-
tent on Friedrich, during this Baireuth-Cleve Journey,
especially since that sudden eclipse of him at Stras-
burg lately; forming now one scheme of route for him,
now another; Newspapers, and even private friends,
being a good deal uncertain about his movements.
Rumour now ran, since his reappearance in the Cleve
Countries, that Friedrich meant to have a look at Hol-
land before going home. And that had, in fact, been
a notion or intention of Friedrich's. "Holland? We
could pass through Brussels on the way, and see Vol-
taire! " thought he.
In Brussels this was, of course, the rumour of ru-
mours. As Voltaire's Letters, visibly in a twitter, still
testify to us. King of Prussia coming! Madame du
Chatelet, the "Princess Tour" (that is, Tour-and-Taxis),
all manner of high Dames, are on the tiptoe. Princess
Tour hopes she shall lodge this unparalleled Prince in
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? chap, iv. ] voltaire's first interview. 91
2il-lHh Sept. mo.
her Palace: "You, Madame? " answers the Du Chatelet,
privately, with a toss of her head: "His Majesty, I
hope, belongs more to M. de Voltaire and me: he shall
lodge here, please Heaven! " Voltaire, i can observe,
has sublime hostelry arrangements chalked out for his
Majesty, in case he go to Paris; which he doesn't, as
we know. Voltaire is all on the alert, awake to the
great contingencies far and near; the Chatelet-Voltaire
breakfast-table, -- fancy it on those interesting morn-
ings, while the post comes round! *
Alas, in the first days of September, -- Friedrich's
Letter is dated ''Wesel, 2d" (and has the Stvasburg
Doggerel enclosed in it), -- the Brussels Postman de-
livers far other intelligence at one's door; very morti-
fying to Madame: "That his Majesty is fallen ill at
"Wesel; has an aguish fever hanging on him, and
"only hopes to come:" Vbila, Madame! -- Next Letter,
Wesel, Monday, 5th Sept. , is to the effect: "Do still
"much hope to come; tomorrow is my trembling day;
if that prove to be off! " -- Out upon it, that proves
not to be off; that is on: next Letter, Tuesday,
Sept. 6th, which comes by express (Courier dash-
ing up with it, say on the Thursday following) is, --
alas, Madame! -- here it is:
King Friedrich to M. de Voltaire at Brussels.
"Wesel, 6th Sept. 1740.
"My dear Voltaire, -- In spite of myself, I have to yield to
"the Quartan Fever, which is more tenacious than a Jansenist;
"and whatever desire I had of going to Antwerp and Brussels,
"I find myself not in a condition to undertake such a journey
"without risk. I would ask of you, then, if the road from
"Brussels to Cleve would not to you seem too long for a meet-
"ing; it is the one means of seeing you which remains to me.
'Voltaire, lxxli. 233-250 (Letters 22d August -- 22d September 1740).
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? 92 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
2d-llth Sept.
? 78 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [nOOK XI.
82d-25th Aug. 1740.
Il e? tait ne? pour la surprise.
Ses cheveux blanes, sa barbe grise,
Formaient un sage exte? rieur.
Le dehors est souvent trompeur;
Qui juge par la reliure
D'un ouvrage et de son auteur
Dans une page de lecture
Peut reconnai^tre son erreur.
u He was born for surprise.
"His white hair, his gray beard,
"Formed a reverend exterior.
"Outsides are often deceptive:
"He that, by the binding, judges
"Of a Book and its Author
"May, after a page of reading,
"Chance to recognise his mistake.
"That was my own experience; for of wisdom I could find
"nothing except in his gray hair and decrepit appearance.
"His first opening betrayed him; no great well of wit this
"Mardchal,
"Who, drunk with his own gran-
"deur,
"Informs you of his name and his
"titles,
"And authority as good as unlimited.
"He cited to me all the records
"Where his name is registered,
"Babbled about his immense power,
"About his valour, his talents
"So salutary to France; --
"He forgot that, three years ago*
"Men did not praise his prudence.
Qui, de sa grandeur enivre? ,
De? cline son nom et ses litres,
Et son pouvoir a` rien borne? ,
il me cita tous les registres
Ou` son nom est enregistre? ;
Bavard de non pouvoir immense,
De sa valeur, de ces talents
Si salutaires a` la France:
H oubliait, passe? trois ans,
Qu'on ne louait pas sa prudence.
"Not satisfied with seeing the Mardchal
"mounted
"By these Frenchmen, burning with
"glory,
"Who, on four sous a day,
"Will make of Kings and of Heroes
"the memory flourish:
"Slaves crowned by the hands of
"Victory,
"Unlucky herds whom the Court
"Tinkles hither and thither by the
"sound of fife and drum.
I saw guard
A ces Franc? ais bru^lants de gloire,
Dote? s de quatre sous par jour,
Qui des row, des he? ros font fleurir la
me? moire,
Esclaves couronne? s des mains de la
victoire,
Troupeaux malheureux que la cour
Dirige au seul bruit du tambour.
"That was my fated term. A deserter from our troops got
"eye on me, recognised me and denounced me.
"This wretched gallows-bird got Ce malheureuxpendard me vit,
"eye on me;
? ? "Such is the lot of all earthly things; Cent le sort de toutes les choses;
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? CHAP. III. l EXCURSION TO THE CLEVE COUNTRIES. 79
22d-25th Aug. 1740.
Well; we must take this glimpse, such as it is, into
the interior of the young man, -- fine buoyant, pungent
German spirit, road-ways for it very bad, and universal
rain-torrents falling, yet with coruscations from a
higher quarter; -- and you can forget, if need be, the
"Literature" of this young Majesty, as you would a
staccato on the flute by him! In after months, on new
occasion rising, "there was no end to his jibings and
"bitter pleasantries on the ridiculous reception Broglio
"had given him at Strasburg," says Valori,* -- of
which this Doggerel itself offers specimen.
"Probably the weakest Piece I ever translated? "
exclaims one, who has translated several such. Never-
theless there is a straggle of pungent sense in it, --
like the outskirts of lightning, seen in that dismally
wet weather, which the Royal Party had. Its wit is
very copious, but slashy, bantery, and proceeds mainly
by exaggeration and turning topsyturvy; a rather
barren species of wit. Of humour, in the fine poetic
sense, no vestige. But there is surprising veracity, --
truthfulness unimpeachable, if you will read well.
What promptitude, too; -- what funds for conver-
sation, when needed! This scraggy Piece, which is
better than the things people often talk to one another,
was evidently written as fast as the pen could go. --
"It is done, if such a Hand could have done it, in the
"manner of Bachaumont and La Chapelle," says
Voltaire scornfully, in that scandalous Vie Prive'e; --
of which phrase this is the commentary, if readers
need one:
"Some seventy or eighty years before that date, a M.
"Bachaumont and a M. la Chapelle, his intimate, published,
* Memoires, I. 88.
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? 80 PRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
29th Aug. 1740,
"in Prose skipping off into dancings of Verse every now and
"then, 'a charming Relation of a certain Voyage or Home
"Tour' (whence or whither, or correctly when, this Editor
"forgets),* which they had made in partnership. 'Relation'
"capable still of being read, if one were tolerably idle; -- it
"was found then to be charming, by all the world; and gave
"rise to a new fashion in writing; which Voltaire often adopts,
"and is supremely good at; and in which Friedrich, who is
"also fond of it, by no means succeeds so well. "
Enough, Friedrich got to Wesel, back to his busi-
ness in a day or two; and had done, as we forever
have, with the Strasburg Escapade and its Doggerel.
Friedrich finds M. de Maupertuis; not yet M. de Voltaire.
Friedrich got to Wesel on the 29th; found Mauper-
tuis waiting there, according to appointment: an ela-
borately polite, somewhat sublime scientific gentleman;
ready to "engraft on the Berlin crabtree," and produce
real apples and Academics there, so soon as the King,
the proprietor, may have leisure for such a thing. Al-
garotti has already the honour of some acquaintance
'with Maupertuis. Maupertuis has been at Brussels, on
the road hither; saw Voltaire and even Madame, --
which latter was rather a ticklish operation, owing to
grudges and tiffs of quarrel that had risen, but it
proved successful under the delicate guidance of Vol-
taire. Voltaire is up to oiling the wheels: "There you
"are, Monsieur, like the" -- (don't name 'What, though
profane Voltaire does, writing to Maupertuis a month
* "First printed in 1665," say the Bibliographies; "but known to La
Fontaine some time before. " Good! -- Bachaumont, practically an impor-
tant and distinguished person, not literary by trade, or indeed otherwise
than by ennui, was he that had given (some fifteen years before) the Nick-
name Fronde (Bickering of Schoolboys) to the wretched Historical Object
which is still so designated in French annals.
\
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? CHAP, in. ] EXCURSION TO THE CLEVE COUNTRIES. 81
June--Sept. 1740.
ago) -- "Three Kings running after you! " A new
Pension to you from France; Russia outbidding France
to have you; and then that Letter of Friedrich's, which
is in all the Newspapers: "Three Kings," -- you plainly
great man, Trismegistus of the Sciences called Pure!
Madame honours you, has always done: one word of
apology to the high female mind, it will work wonders;
-- come now! --*
No reader guesses in our time what a shining celes-
tial body the Maupertuis, who is now fallen so dim
again, then was to mankind. In cultivated French
society there is no such lion as M. Maupertuis since he
returned from flattening the Earth in the Arctic regions.
"The Exact Sciences, what else is there to depend on? "
thinks French cultivated society: "and has not Mon-
sieur done a feat in that line? " Monsieur, with fine
ex-military manners, has a certain austere gravity,
reticent loftiness and polite dogmatism, which confirms
that opinion. A studious ex-military man, -- was
Captain of Dragoons once, but too fond 'of study, who
is conscious to himself, or who would fain be con-
scious, that he is, in all points, mathematical, moral
and other, the man. A difficult man to live with in
society. Comes really near the limit of what we call
genius, of originality, poetic greatness in thinking; --
hut never once can get fairly over said limit, though
always struggling dreadfully to do so. Think of it!
A fatal kind of man; especially if you have made a
Hon of him at any time. Of his envies, deep-hidden
splenetic discontents and rages, with Voltaire's return for
them, there will be enough to say in the ulterior stages.
*Voltaire, tEuvres, lxxii. 217, 216, 230 (Hague, 21st July 1740, and
Brussels, 9th Aug. &c).
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. VI. G
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? 82 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
Juno--Sept 1710.
He wears, -- at least ten years hence he openly wears,
though I hope it is not yet so flagrant, -- "a red wig
"with yellow bottom (crmiere jaune);" and as Flattener
of the Earth, is, with his own flattish red countenance
and impregnable stony eyes, a man formidable to look
upon, though intent to be amiable if you do the proper
homage. As to the quarrel with Madame take this
Note; which may prove illustrative of some things by
and by:
Maupertuisis well known at Cirey; such a lion could not
fail there. All manner of Bernouillis, Clairauts, high mathe-
matical people, are frequent guests at Cirey: reverenced by
Madame, -- who indeed has had her own private Professor of
Mathematics; one Konig from Switzerland (recommendedby
those Bernouillis), diligently teaching her the Pure Sciences
this good while back, not without effect; and has only just
parted with him, when she left on this Brussels expedition. A
bon gart;on, Voltaire says; though otherwise, I think, a little
noisy on occasion. There has been no end of Madame's kind-
ness to him, nay to his Brother and him, -- sons of a Theolo-
fical Professorial Syriac-Hebrew kind of man at Berne who
as too many sons; and I grieve to report that this heedless
Konig has produced an explosion in Madame's feelings, such
as little beseemed him. On the road to Paris, namely, as we
drove hitherward to the Honsbruck Lawsuit by way of Paris,
in Autumn last, there had fallen out some dispute, about the
monads, the vis viva, the infinitely little, between Madame
and Konig; dispute which rose crescendo in disharmonious
duet, and "ended," testifies M. de Voltaire, "in a scene trh
desagreable. " Madame, with an effort, forgave the thoughtless
fellow, who is still rather young, and is without malice. But
thoughtless Konig, strong in his opinion about the infinitely
little, appealed to Maupertuis: "Am not I right, Monsieur? "
uHe is right beyond question! " wrote Maupertuis to Madame;
"somewhat drily," thinks Voltaire: and the result is, there is
considerable rage in one celestial mind ever since against
another male one in red wig and yellow bottom; and they are
not on speaking terms, for a good many months past. Voltaire
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? CHAP. m. ] EXCURSION TO THE CLEVE COUNTRIES. 83
June--Sept. 1740.
has bis heart sore ("fen ai le emir perfe") about it, needs to
double-dose Maupertuis with flattery; and in fact has used the
utmost diplomacy to effect some varnish of a reconcilement as
Maupertuis passed on this occasion. As forKiinig, who had
studied in some Dutch university, he went by and by to be
Librarian to the Prince of Orange; and we shall not fail to
hear of him again, -- once more upon the infinitely little. *
Voltaire too, in his way, is fond of these mathematical
people; eager enough to fish for knowledge, here as in all ele-
ments, when he has the chance offered: this is much an inter-
est of his at present. And he does attain sound ideas, outlines
of ideas, in this province, -- though privately defective in the
due transcendency of admiration for it; -- was wont to discuss
cheerily with Konig, about vis viva, monads, gravitation and
the infinitely little; above all, bows to the ground before the
red-wigged Bashaw, Flattener of the Earth, whom for Ma-
dame's sake and his own he is anxious to be well with. "Pall
onyourfaee nine times,ye esoteric of only Impure Science! "--
intimates Maupertuis to mankind. "By all means! " answers
M. de Voltaire, doing it with alacrity; with a kind of loyalty,
one can perceive, and also with a hypocrisy grounded on love
of peace. If that is the nature of the Bashaw, and one's sole
mode of fishing knowledge from him, why not? thinks M. de
Voltaire. His patience with M. de Maupertuis, first and last,
was very great. But we shall find it explode at length, a dozen
years hence, in a conspicuous manner! --
"Maupertuis had come to us to Cirey, with Jean
"Bernouilli," says Voltaire; "and thenceforth Mau-
pertuis, who was born the most jealous of men, took
"me for the object of this passion, which has always
"been very dear to him. "** Husht, Monsieur! -- Here
is a poor rheumatic kind of Letter, which illustrates
the interim condition, after that varnish of reconcile-
ment at Brussels:
* Prom (Euvres de Voltaire, ii. 126, btxii. (20, 216, 230), lxiii. (229-239),
&c. fkc.
"Vie Privie.
6*
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? 84 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book xr.
June--Sept. 1740.
Voltaire to M. de Maupertuis (at Wesel, waiting for the King,
or with him rather).
"Brussels, 29th August f 1740), 3d year since
"Ike world flallcnetl.
"How the Devil, great Philosopher, would you have had
"me write to you at Wesel? I fancied you gone from Wesel,
"to seek the King of Sages on his Journey somewhere. I had
"understood, too, they were so delighted to have you in that
"fortified lodge (bmtge fortifie) that you must be taking
"pleasure there, for he that gives pleasure gets it.
"You have already seen the jolly Ambassador of the
"amiablest Monarch in the world," -- Camas, a fattish man,
on his road to Versailles (who called at Brussels here, with
fine compliments, and a keg of Hungary Wine, as you may
have heard whispered). "No doubt M. de Camas is with you.
"For my own share, I think it is after you that he is running
"at present. But in truth, at the hour while I say this, you
"are with the King;" -- a lucky guess; King did return to
Wesel this very day. "The Philosopher and the Prince
"perceive already that they are made for each other. You
"and M.
Algarotti will say, Faciamus Tric tria tabernacula: as
"to me, I can only make duo tabernacula" -- profane Vol-
taire!
"Without doubt I would be with you if I were not at
"Brussels; butmy heart is with you all the same; and is the
"subject, all the same, of a King who is formed to reign over
"every thinking and feeling being. I do not despair that Ma-
"dame du Chatelet will find herself somewhere on your route:
"it will be a scene in a fairy tale; -- she will arrive with a
"sufficient reason" (as your Leibnitz says) "and with monads.
"She does not love you the less though she now believes the
"universe a, plenum, and has renounced the notion of void.
"Over her you have an ascendant which you will never lose.
"In fine, my dear Monsieur, I wish as ardently as she to
"embrace you the soonest possible. I recommend myself to
"your friendship in the Court, worthy of you, where you now
"are. " -- Tout a vous, somewhat rheumatic! *
1
* Voltaire, lxxii. p. 213.
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? CHAP. Hi. ] EXCURSION TO THE CLEVE COUNTRIES. 85
Jane-Sept. 1740.
Always an anxious almost tremulous desire to con-
ciliate this big glaring geometrical bully in red wig.
Through the sensitive transparent being of M. de
Voltaire, you may see that feeling almost painfully
busy in every Letter he writes to the Flattener of the
Earth.
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? 86 FRIEDKICH TAKES THE REINS IX HAN'D. [boOK XI.
2d-Uth Sept. 1740.
CHAPTEE IV.
voltaire's first interview with friedrich.
At Wesel, in the rear of all this travelling excite-
ment, Friedrich falls unwell; breaks down there into an
aguish feverish distemper, which, for several months
after, impeded his movements, would he have yielded
to it. He has much business on hand, too, -- some of
it of prickly nature just now; -- but is intent as ever
on seeing Voltaire, among the first things. Diligently
reading in the Voltaire-Friedrich Correspondence (which
is a sad jumble of misdates and opacities, in the com-
mon editions),* this of the aguish condition frequently
turns up; "Quartan ague," it seems; occasionally very
bad: but Friedrich struggles with it; will not be cheated
of any of his purposes by it.
He had a busy fortnight here; busier than we yet
imagine. Much employment there naturally is of the
usual Inspection sort; which fails in no quarter of his
Dominions, but which may be particularly important
here, in these disputed Berg-Julich Countries, when
the time of decision falls. How he does his Inspections
we know; -- and there are still weightier matters afoot
here, in a silent way, of which we shall have to speak
before long, and all the world will speak. Business
enough, parts of it grave and silent, going on, and the
* Preuss (the recent latest Editor, and the only well-informed one, as
we said) prints with accuracy; but cannot be read at all (in the sense of
understood) without other light.
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? chap. iv. ] voltaiue's first interview. 87
2d-llth Sept. 1740.
much that is public, miscellaneous, small: done, all of
it, in a rapid punctual precise manner; -- and always,
after the crowded day, some passages of Supper with
the Sages, to wind up with on melodious terms. A most
alert and miscellaneously busy young King, in spite of
the ague.
It was in these Cleve Countries, and now as pro-
bably as afterwards, that the light scene recorded in
Laveaux's poor History, and in all the Anecdote-Books,
transacted itself one day. Substance of the story is
true; though the details of it go all at random, --
somewhat to this effect:
"Inspecting his Finance Affairs, and questioning the
"parties interested, Friedrich notices a certain Convent in
"Cleve, which appears to have, payable from the Forest-dues,
"considerable revenues bequeathed by the old Dukes, 'for
"masses to be said on their behalf. ' He goes to look at the
"place; questions the Monks on this point, who are all drawn
"out, in two rows, and have broken into Te-Deum at sight of
"him: Husht! ' You still say those Masses, then? ' 'Certainly
"your Majesty! ' -- 'And what good does anybody get of
"them? ' 'Your Majesty, those old Sovereigns are to obtain
"Heavenly mercy by them, to be delivered out of Purgatory
"by them. ' -- 'Purgatory? It is a sore thing for the Forests,
"all this while! And they are not yet out, those poor souls,
"after so many hundred years of praying? ' Monks have a
"fatal apprehension, No. 'When will they be out, and the
"thing complete? ' Monks cannot say. 'Send me a courier
"whenever it is complete! ' sneers the King, and leaves them
"totheir re-jDeum. "*
* C. Hildebrandt's Modern Edition of the (mostly dubious) Anekdoten
tind Charakterzuije aus dem Leben Friedrichs des Grossen (and a very igno-
rant and careless Edition it is; 6volI. 12mo, Halberstadt, 1829), ii. 160;
Laveaux (whom we already cited), Vie de Fr&diric; &c. &c. Nicolafs Anek-
doten alone, which are not included in this Hildebrandt Collection, are of
sure authenticity; the rest, occasionally true, and often with a kind of
mylfiic truth in them worth attending to, are otherwise of all degrees of
dubiety, down to the palpably false and absurd.
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? 88 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
2d-llth Sept. 17i0.
Mournful state of the Catholic Religion so-called!
How long must these wretched Monks go on doing
their lazy thrice-deleterious torpid blasphemy; and a
King, not histrionic but real, merely signify that he
laughs at them and it? Meseems a heavier whip than
that of satire might be in place here, your Majesty?
The lighter whip is easier; -- Ah yes, undoubtedly!
cry many men. But horrible accounts are running up,
enough to sink the world at last, while the heavier
whip is lazily withheld, and lazy blasphemy, fallen
torpid, chronic, and quite unconscious of being blas-
phemous, insinuates itself into the very heart's-blood
of mankind! Patience, however; the heavy whip too
is coming, -- unless universal death be coming. King
Friedrich is not the man to wield such whip. Quite
other work is in store for King Friedrich; and Nature
will not, by any suggestion of that terrible task, put
him out in the one he has. He is nothing of a Luther,
of a Cromwell; can look upon fakeers praying by their
rotatory calabash, as a ludicrous platitude; and grin
delicately as above, with the approval of his wiser con-
temporaries. Speed to him on his own course!
What answer Friedrich found to his English pro-
posals, -- answer due here on the 24th from Captain
Dickens, -- I do not pointedly learn; but can judge
of it by Harrington's reply to that Despatch of Dickens's,
which entreated candour and open dealing towards his
Prussian Majesty. Harrington is at Herrenhausen,
still with the Britannic Majesty there; both of them
much at a loss about their Spanish War, and the French
and other aspects upon it; "Suppose his Prussian Ma-
jesty were to give himself to France against us! " We
will hope, not. Harrington's reply is to the effect,
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? chap, iv. ] voltaire's first interview. 89
2d-llt! i Sept. 17i0.
"Hum, drum: -- Berg and Jiilich, say you? Impos-
"sible to answer; minds not made up here: -- What
"will his Prussian Majesty do for us? " Not much, I
should guess, till something more categorical come
from you! His Prussian Majesty is careful not to
spoil anything by over-haste; but will wait and try
farther to the utmost, Whether England or France is
the likelier bargain for him.
Better still, the Prussian Majesty is intent to do
something for himself in that Berg-Jiilich matter: we
find him silently examining these Wesel localities for
a proper "Entrenched Camp," Camp say of 40,000,
against a certain contingency that may be looked for.
Camp which will much occupy the Gazetteers when
they get eye on it. This is one of the concerns he
silently attends to, on occasion, while riding about in
the Cleve Countries. Then there is another small
item of business, important to do well, which is now in
silence diligently getting under way at Wesel; which
also is of remarkable nature, and will astonish the
Gazetteer and Diplomatic circles. This is the affair
with the Bishop of Liege, called also the Affair of
Herstal, which his Majesty has had privately laid up
in the corner of his mind, as a thing to be done during
this Excursion. Of which the reader shall hear anon,
to great lengths, -- were a certain small preliminary
matter, Voltaire's Arrival in these parts, once off our
hands.
Friedrich's First Meeting with Voltaire! These
other high things were once loud in the Gazetteer and
Diplomatic circles, and had no doubt they were the
World's History; and now they are sunk wholly to the
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? 90 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN IIAND. [book XI.
2d-llth Sept. 1740.
Nightmares, and all mortals have forgotten them, --
and it is such a task as seldom was to resuscitate the
least memory of them, on just cause of a Friedrich or
the like, so impatient are men of what is putrid and
extinct: -- and a quite unnoticed thing, Voltaire's
First Interview, all readers are on the alert for it, and
ready to demand of me impossibilities about it! Pa-
tience, readers. You shall see it, without and within,
in such light as there was, and form some actual notion
of it, if you will cooperate. From the circumambient
inanity of Old Newspapers, Historical shot-rubbish,
and unintelligible Correspondences, we sift out the
following particulars, of this First Meeting, or actual
Osculation of the Stars.
The Newspapers, though their eyes were not yet
of the Argus quality now familiar to us, have been in-
tent on Friedrich, during this Baireuth-Cleve Journey,
especially since that sudden eclipse of him at Stras-
burg lately; forming now one scheme of route for him,
now another; Newspapers, and even private friends,
being a good deal uncertain about his movements.
Rumour now ran, since his reappearance in the Cleve
Countries, that Friedrich meant to have a look at Hol-
land before going home. And that had, in fact, been
a notion or intention of Friedrich's. "Holland? We
could pass through Brussels on the way, and see Vol-
taire! " thought he.
In Brussels this was, of course, the rumour of ru-
mours. As Voltaire's Letters, visibly in a twitter, still
testify to us. King of Prussia coming! Madame du
Chatelet, the "Princess Tour" (that is, Tour-and-Taxis),
all manner of high Dames, are on the tiptoe. Princess
Tour hopes she shall lodge this unparalleled Prince in
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? chap, iv. ] voltaire's first interview. 91
2il-lHh Sept. mo.
her Palace: "You, Madame? " answers the Du Chatelet,
privately, with a toss of her head: "His Majesty, I
hope, belongs more to M. de Voltaire and me: he shall
lodge here, please Heaven! " Voltaire, i can observe,
has sublime hostelry arrangements chalked out for his
Majesty, in case he go to Paris; which he doesn't, as
we know. Voltaire is all on the alert, awake to the
great contingencies far and near; the Chatelet-Voltaire
breakfast-table, -- fancy it on those interesting morn-
ings, while the post comes round! *
Alas, in the first days of September, -- Friedrich's
Letter is dated ''Wesel, 2d" (and has the Stvasburg
Doggerel enclosed in it), -- the Brussels Postman de-
livers far other intelligence at one's door; very morti-
fying to Madame: "That his Majesty is fallen ill at
"Wesel; has an aguish fever hanging on him, and
"only hopes to come:" Vbila, Madame! -- Next Letter,
Wesel, Monday, 5th Sept. , is to the effect: "Do still
"much hope to come; tomorrow is my trembling day;
if that prove to be off! " -- Out upon it, that proves
not to be off; that is on: next Letter, Tuesday,
Sept. 6th, which comes by express (Courier dash-
ing up with it, say on the Thursday following) is, --
alas, Madame! -- here it is:
King Friedrich to M. de Voltaire at Brussels.
"Wesel, 6th Sept. 1740.
"My dear Voltaire, -- In spite of myself, I have to yield to
"the Quartan Fever, which is more tenacious than a Jansenist;
"and whatever desire I had of going to Antwerp and Brussels,
"I find myself not in a condition to undertake such a journey
"without risk. I would ask of you, then, if the road from
"Brussels to Cleve would not to you seem too long for a meet-
"ing; it is the one means of seeing you which remains to me.
'Voltaire, lxxli. 233-250 (Letters 22d August -- 22d September 1740).
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? 92 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
2d-llth Sept.
