In the last days of August, there appears at Berlin M. de Voltaire,
on his Fourth Visit:--thrice and four times welcome; though this time,
privately, in a somewhat unexpected capacity. Come to try his hand
in the diplomatic line; to sound Friedrich a little, on behalf of the
distressed French Ministry. That, very privately indeed, is Voltaire's
errand at present; and great hopes hang by it for Voltaire, if he prove
adroit enough.
Poor man, it had turned out he could not get his Academy Diploma, after
all,--owing again to intricacies and heterodoxies. King Louis was
at first willing, indifferent; nay the Chateauroux was willing: but
orthodox parties persuaded his Majesty; wicked Maurepas (the same who
lasted till the Revolution time) set his face against it; Maurepas, and
ANC. de Mirepoix (whom they wittily call "ANE" or Ass of Mirepoix, that
sour opaque creature, lately monk), were industrious exceedingly; and
put veto on Voltaire. A stupid Bishop was preferred to him for filling
up the Forty. Two Bishops magnanimously refused; but one was found with
ambitious stupidity enough: Voltaire, for the third time, failed in this
small matter, to him great. Nay, in spite of that kiss in MEROPE, he
could not get his MORT DE CESAR acted; cabals rising; ANCIEN de Mirepoix
rising; Orthodoxy, sour Opacity prevailing again. To Madame and him
(though finely caressed in the Parisian circles) these were provoking
months;--enough to make a man forswear Literature, and try some other
Jacob's-Ladder in this world. Which Voltaire had actual thoughts of, now
and then. We may ask, Are these things of a nature to create love of the
Hierarchy in M. de Voltaire? "Your Academy is going to be a Seminary
of Priests," says Friedrich. The lynx-eyed animal,--anxiously asking
itself, "Whitherward, then, out of such a mess?"--walks warily about,
with its paws of velvet; but has, IN POSSE, claws under them, for
certain individuals and fraternities.
Nor, alas, is the Du Chatelet relation itself so celestial as it once
was. Madame has discovered, think only with what feelings, that this
great man does not love her as formerly! The great man denies, ready to
deny on the Gospels, to her and to himself; and yet, at bottom, if we
read with the microscope, there are symptoms, and it is not deniable.
How should it? Leafy May, hot June, by degrees comes October, sere,
yellow; and at last, a quite leafless condition,--not Favonius, but gray
Northeast, with its hail-storms (jealousies, barren cankered gusts),
your main wind blowing. "EMILIE FAIT DE L'ALGEBRE," sneers he once, in
an inadvertent moment, to some Lady-friend: "Emilie doing? Emilie is
doing Algebra; that is Emilie's employment,--which will be of great use
to her in the affairs of Life, and of great charm in Society." [Letter
of Voltaire "To Madame Chambonin," end of 1742 (_OEuvres,_ Edition in
40 vols., Paris, 1818, xxxii. 148);--is MISSED in the later Edition (97
vols., Paris, 1837), to which our habitual reference is.] Voltaire (if
you read with the microscope) has, on this side also, thoughts of being
off. "Off on this side?" Madame flies mad, becomes Megaera, at the
mention or suspicion of it! A jealous, high-tempered Algebraic Lady.
They have had to tell her of this secret Mission to Berlin; and she
insists on being the conduit, all the papers to pass through her hands
here at Paris, during the great man's absence. Fixed northeast; that is,
to appearance, the domestic wind blowing! And I rather judge, the great
man is glad to get away for a time.
This Quasi-Diplomatic Speculation, one perceives, is much more serious,
on the part both of Voltaire and of the Ministry, than any of the former
had been. And, on Voltaire's part, there glitter prospects now and then
of something positively Diplomatic, of a real career in that kind, lying
ahead for him. Fond hopes these! But among the new Ministers, since
Fleury's death, are Amelot, the D'Argensons, personal friends, old
school-fellows of the poor hunted man, who are willing he should have
shelter from such a pack; and all French Ministers, clutching at every
floating spar, in this their general shipwreck in Germany, are aware of
the uses there might be in him, in such crisis. "Knows Friedrich; might
perhaps have some power in persuading him,--power in spying him at
any rate. Unless Friedrich do step forward again, what is to become of
us!"--The mutual hintings, negotiatings, express interviews, bargainings
and secret-instructions, dimly traceable in Voltaire's LETTERS, had
been going on perhaps since May last, time of those ACADEMY failures,
of those Broglio Despatches from the Donau Countries, "No staying here,
your Majesty!"--and I think it was, in fact, about the time when Broglio
blew up like gunpowder and tumbled home on the winds, that Voltaire set
out on his mission. "Visit to Friedrich," they call it;--"invitation"
from Friedrich there is, or can, on the first hint, at any point of the
Journey be.
Voltaire has lingered long on the road; left Paris, middle of June; [His
Letters (_OEuvres,_ lxxiii. 42, 48).] but has been exceedingly exerting
himself, in the Hague, at Brussels, and wherever else present, in
the way of forwarding his errand, Spying, contriving, persuading;
corresponding to right and left,--corresponding, especially much, with
the King of Prussia himself, and then with "M. Amelot, Secretary of
State," to report progress to the best advantage. There are curious
elucidative sparks, in those Voltaire Letters, chaotic as they are;
small sparks, elucidative, confirmatory of your dull History Books, and
adding traits, here and there, to the Image you have formed from them.
Yielding you a poor momentary comfort; like reading some riddle of
no use; like light got incidentally, by rubbing dark upon dark
(say Voltaire flint upon Dryasdust gritstone), in those labyrinthic
catacombs, if you are doomed to travel there. A mere weariness,
otherwise, to the outside reader, hurrying forward,--to the light French
Editor, who can pass comfortably on wings or balloons! [_OEuvres,_
lxxiii. pp. 40-138. Clogenson, a Dane (whose Notes, signed "Clog.," are
in all tolerable recent Editions), has, alone among the Commentators of
Voltaire's LETTERS, made some real attempt towards explaining the many
passages that are fallen unintelligible. "Clog.," travelling on
foot, with his eyes open, is--especially on German-History
points--incomparable and unique, among his French comrades going by
balloon; and drops a rational or half-rational hint now and then, which
is meritoriously helpful. Unhappily he is by no means well-read in that
German matter, by no means always exact; nor indeed ever quite to be
trusted without trial had.] Voltaire's assiduous finessings with the
Hague Diplomatist People, or with their Secretaries if bribable;
nay, with the Dutch Government itself ("through channels which I have
opened,"--with infinitesimally small result); his spyings ("young
Podewils," Minister here, Nephew of the Podewils we have known, "young
Podewils in intrigue with a Dutch Lady of rank:" think of that, your
Excellency); his preparatory subtle correspondings with Friedrich:
his exquisite manoeuvrings, and really great industries in the small
way:--all this, and much else, we will omit. Impatient of these
preludings, which have been many! Thus, at one point, Voltaire "took
a FLUXION" (catarrhal, from the nose only), when Friedrich was quite
ready; then, again, when Voltaire was ready, and the fluxion off,
Friedrich had gone upon his Silesian Reviews: in short, there had
been such cross-purposes, tedious delays, as are distressing to think
of;--and we will say only, that M. de Voltaire did actually, after
the conceivable adventures, alight in the Berlin Schloss (last day of
August, as I count); welcomed, like no other man, by the Royal Landlord
there;--and that this is the Fourth Visit; and has (in strict privacy)
weightier intentions than any of the foregoing, on M. de Voltaire's
part.
Voltaire had a glorious reception; apartment near the King's; King
gliding in, at odd moments, in the beautifulest way; and for seven or
eight days, there was, at Berlin and then at Potsdam, a fine awakening
of the sphere-harmonies between them, with touches of practicality
thrown in as suited. Of course it was not long till, on some touch of
that latter kind, Friedrich discerned what the celestial messenger had
come upon withal;--a dangerous moment for M. de Voltaire, "King visibly
irritated," admits he, with the aquiline glance transfixing him!" Alas,
your Majesty, mere excess of loyalty, submission, devotion, on my poor
part! Deign to think, may not this too,--in the present state of my
King, of my Two Kings, and of all Europe,--be itself a kind of spheral
thing?" So that the aquiline lightning was but momentary; and abated to
lambent twinklings, with something even of comic in them, as we
shall gather. Voltaire had his difficulties with Valori, too; "What
interloping fellow is this?" gloomed Valori, "A devoted secretary of
your Excellency's; on his honor, nothing more!" answered Voltaire,
bowing to the ground:--and strives to behave as such; giving Valori
"these poor Reports of mine to put in cipher," and the like. Very
slippery ice hereabouts for the adroit man! His reports to Amelot are
of sanguine tone; but indicate, to the by-stander, small progress; ice
slippery, and a twinkle of the comic. Many of them are lost (or lie
hidden in the French Archives, and are not worth disinterring): but here
is one, saved by Beaumarchais and published long afterwards, which will
sufficiently bring home the old scene to us. In the Palace of Berlin or
else of Potsdam (date must be, 6th-8th September, 1743), Voltaire from
his Apartment hands in a "Memorial" to Friedrich; and gets it back with
Marginalia,--as follows:
"Would your Majesty be pleased to have the kind condescension (ASSEZ DE
BONTE) to put on the margin your reflections and orders."
MEMORIAL BY VOLTAIRE. "1. Your Majesty is to know that the Sieur
Bassecour [signifies BACKYARD], chief Burghermaster of Amsterdam,
has come lately to beg M. de la Ville, French Minister there, to make
Proposals of Peace. La Ville answered, If the Dutch had offers to make,
the King his master could hear them.
MARGINALIA BY FRIEDRICH. "1. This Bassecour, or Backyard, seems to be
the gentleman that has charge of fattening the capons and turkeys for
their High Mightinesses?
MEMORIAL BY VOLTAIRE. "2. Is it not clear that the Peace Party will
infallibly carry it, in Holland,--since Bassecour, one of the most
determined for War, begins to speak of Peace? Is it not clear that
France shows vigor and wisdom?
MARGINALIA BY FRIEDRICH. "2. I admire the wisdom of France; but God
preserve me from ever imitating it!
MEMORIAL BY VOLTAIRE. "3. In these circumstances, if your Majesty took
the tone of a Master, gave example to the Princes of the Empire in
assembling an Army of Neutrality,--would not you snatch the sceptre of
Europe from the hands of the English, who now brave you, and speak in an
insolent revolting manner of your Majesty, as do, in Holland also, the
party of the Bentincks, the Fagels, the Opdams? I have myself heard
them, and am reporting nothing but what is very true.
MARGINALIA BY FRIEDRICH. "3. This would be finer in an ode than in
actual reality. I disturb myself very little about what the Dutch
and English say, the rather as I understand nothing of those dialects
(PATOIS) of theirs.
MEMORIAL BY VOLTAIRE. "4. Do not you cover yourself with an immortal
glory in declaring yourself, with effect, the protector of the Empire?
And is it not of most pressing interest to your Majesty, to hinder the
English from making your Enemy the Grand-Duke [Maria Theresa's Husband]
King of the Romans?
MARGINALIA BY FRIEDRICH. "4. France has more interest than Prussia
to hinder that. Besides, on this point, dear Voltaire, you are ill
informed. For there can be no Election of a King of the Romans without
the unanimous consent of the Empire;--so you perceive, that always
depends on me.
MEMORIAL BY VOLTAIRE. "5. Whoever has spoken but a quarter of an hour
to the Duke d'Ahremberg [who spilt Lord Stair's fine enterprises lately,
and reduced them to a DETTINGEN, or a getting into the mouse-trap and a
getting out], to the Count Harrach [important Austrian Official], Lord
Stair, or any of the partisans of Austria, even for a quarter of an hour
[as I have often done], has beard them say, That they burn with desire
to open the campaign in Silesia again. Have you in that case, Sire, any
ally but France? And, however potent you are, is an ally useless to you?
You know the resources of the House of Austria, and how many Princes
are united to it. But will they resist your power, joined to that of the
House of Bourbon?
MARGINALIA BY FRIEDRICH. "5. _On les y recevra, Biribi, A la facon de
Barbari, Mon ami._ We will receive them, Twiddledee, In the mode of
Barbary, Don't you see? [Form of Song, very fashionable at Paris (see
Barbier soepius) in those years: "BIRIBI," I believe, is a kind of
lottery-game.]
MEMORIAL BY VOLTAIRE. "6. If you were but to march a body of troops to
Cleves, do not you awaken terror and respect, without apprehension that
any one dare make war on you? Is it not, on the contrary, the one method
of forcing the Dutch to concur, under your orders, in the pacification
of the Empire, and re-establishment of the Emperor, who will thus a
second time he indebted to you for his throne, and will aid in the
splendor of yours?
MARGINALIA BY FRIEDRICH. "6. _Vous voulez qu'en vrai dieu de la
machine,_ "You will have me as theatre-god, then, _"J'arrive pour te
denouement?_ "Swoop in, and produce the catastrophe? _"Qu'aux Anglais,
aux Pandours, a ce peuple insolent, "J'aille donner la discipline?--_
"Tame to sobriety those English, those Pandours, and obstreperous
people? _"Mais examinez mieux ma mine;_ "Examine the look of me better;
_"Je ne suis pas assez mechant!_ "I have not surliness euough.
MEMORIAL BY VOLTAIRE. "7. Whatever resolution may be come to, will
your Majesty deign to confide it to me, and impart the result,--to your
servant, to him who desires to pass his life at your Court? May I have
the honor to accompany your Majesty to Baireuth; and if your goodness go
so far, would you please to declare it, that I may have time to prepare
for the journey? One favorable word written to me in the Letter on that
occasion [word favorable to France, ostensible to M. Amelot and the most
Christian Majesty], one word would suffice to procure me the happiness
I have, for six years, been aspiring to, of living beside you." Oh, send
it!
MARGINALIA BY FRIEDRICH. "7. If you like to come to Baireuth, I shall be
glad to see you there, provided the journey don't derange your health.
It will depend on yourself, then, to take what measures you please. [And
about the ostensible WORD,--Nothing!]
MEMORIAL BY VOLTAIRE. "8. During the short stay I am now to make, if
I could be made the bearer of some news agreeable to my Court, I would
supplicate your Majesty to honor me with such a commission. [This does
not want for impudence, Monsieur! Friedrich answers, from aloft!]
MARGINALIA BY FRIEDRICH. "8. I am not in any connection with France; I
have nothing to fear nor to hope from France. If you would like, I will
make a Panegyric on Louis XV. without a word of truth in it: but as to
political business, there is, at present, none to bring us together; and
neither is it I that am to speak first. When they put a question to me,
it will be time to reply: but you, who are so much a man of sense, you
see well what a ridiculous business it would be if, without ground given
me, I set to prescribing projects of policy to France, and even put them
on paper with my own hand!
MEMORIAL BY VOLTAIRE. "9. Do whatsoever you may please, I shall always
love your Majesty with my whole heart."
MARGINALIA BY FRIEDRICH. "9. I love you with all my heart; I esteem you:
I will do all to have you, except follies, and things which would make
me forever ridiculous over Europe, and at bottom would be contrary to my
interests and my glory. The only commission I can give you for France,
is to advise them to behave with more wisdom than they have done
hitherto. That Monarchy is a body with much strength, but without, soul
or energy (NERF)."
And so you may give it to Valori to put in cipher, my illustrious
Messenger from the Spheres. [_OEuvres de Voltaire,_ lxxiii. 101-105 (see
Ib. ii. 55); _OEuvres de Frederic,_ xxii. 141-144.]
Worth reading, this, rather well. Very kingly, and characteristic of
the young Friedrich. Saved by Beaumarchais, who did not give it in his
famous Kehl Edition of VOLTAIRE, but "had it in Autograph ever after,
and printed it in his DECADE PHILOSOPHIQUE, 10 Messidor, An vii.
[Summer, 1799]: Beaumarchais had several other Pieces of the same sort;"
which, as bits of contemporary photographing, one would have liked to
see.
FRIEDRICH VISITS BAIREUTH: ON A PARTICULAR ERRAND;--VOLTAIRE ATTENDING,
AND PRIVATELY REPORTING.
This "BIRIBI" Document, I suppose to have been delivered perhaps on the
7th; and that Friedrich HAD it, but had not yet answered it, when he
wrote the following Letter:--
"POTSDAM, 8th SEPTEMBER, 1743 [Friedrich to Voltaire].--I dare not speak
to a son of Apollo about horses and carriages, relays and such things;
these are details with which the gods do not concern themselves, and
which we mortals take upon us. You will set out on Monday afternoon,
if you like the journey, for Baireuth, and you will dine with me in
passing, if you please [at Potsdam here].
"The rest of my MEMOIRE [Paper before given?] is so blurred and in so
bad a state, I cannot yet send it you.--I am getting Cantos 8 and 9 of
LA PUCELLE copied; I at present have Cantos 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 and 9: I keep
them under three keys, that the eye of mortal may not see them.
"I hear you supped yesternight in good company [great gathering in some
high house, gone all asunder now];
"The finest wits of the Canton All collected in your name, People all
who could not but be pleased with you, All devout believers in Voltaire,
Unanimously took you For the god of their Paradise.
"'Paradise,' that you may not be scandalized, is taken here in a general
sense for a place of pleasure and joy. See the 'remark' on the last
verse of the MONDAIN." [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ xxii. 144; Voltaire,
lxxiii. 100] (scandalously MISdated in Edition 1818, xxxix. 466). As to
MONDAIN, and "remark" upon it,--the ghost of what was once a sparkle of
successful coterie-speech and epistolary allusion,--take this: "In the
MONDAIN Voltaire had written, 'LE PARADIS TERRESTRE EST OU JE SUIS;'
and as the Priests made outcry, had with airs of orthodoxy explained the
phrase away,"--as Friedrich now affects to do; obliquely quizzing, in
the Friedrich manner.
Voltaire is to go upon the Baireuth Journey, then, according to prayer.
Whether Voltaire ever got that all-important "word which he could show,"
I cannot say: though there is some appearance that Friedrich may have
dashed off for him the Panegyric of Louis, in these very hours, to serve
his turn, and have done with him. Under date 7th September, day before
the Letter just read, here are snatches from another to the same
address:--
"POTSDAM, 7th SEPTEMBER, 1743 [Friedrich to Voltaire].--You tell me so
much good of France and of its King, it were to be wished all Sovereigns
had subjects like you, and all Commonwealths such citizens,--[you
can show that, I suppose?] What a pity France and Sweden had not had
Military Chiefs of your way of thinking! But it is very certain, say
what you will, that the feebleness of their Generals, and the timidity
of their counsels, have almost ruined in public repute two Nations
which, not half a century ago, inspired terror over Europe."--...
"Scandalous Peace, that of Fleury, in 1735; abandoning King Stanislaus,
cheating Spain, cheating Sardinia, to get Lorraine! And now this manner
of abandoning the Emperor [respectable Karl VII. of your making];
sacrificing Bavaria; and reducing that worthy Prince to the lowest
poverty,--poverty, I say not, of a Prince, but into the frightfulest
state for a private man!" Ah, Monsieur.
"And yet your France is the most charming of Nations; and if it is not
feared, it deserves well to be loved. A King worthy to command it,
who governs sagely, and acquires for himself the esteem of all
Europe,--[there, won't that do!] may restore its ancient splendor,
which the Broglios, and so many others even more inept, have a little
eclipsed. That is assuredly a work worthy of a Prince endowed with
such gifts! To reverse the sad posture of affairs, nobly repairing what
others have spoiled; to defend his country against furious enemies,
reducing them to beg Peace, instead of scornfully rejecting it when
offered: never was more glory acquirable by any King! I shall admire
whatsoever this great man [CE GRAND HOMME, Louis XV., not yet visibly
tending to the dung-heap, let us hope better things!] may achieve in
that way; and of all the Sovereigns of Europe none will be less jealous
of his success than I:"--there, my spheral friend, show that! [_OEuvres
de Frederic,_ xxii. 139: see, for what followed, _OEuvres de Voltaire,_
lxxiii. 129 (report to Amelot, 27th October).]
Which the spheral friend does. Nor was it "irony," as the new
Commentators think; not at all; sincere enough, what you call
sincere;--Voltaire himself had a nose for "irony"! This was what you
call sincere Panegyric in liberal measure; why be stingy with your
measure? It costs half an hour: it will end Voltaire's importunities;
and so may, if anything, oil the business-wheels withal. For Friedrich
foresees business enough with Louis and the French Ministries, though
he will not enter on it with Voltaire. This Journey to Baireuth and
Anspach, for example, this is not for a visit to his Sisters, as
Friedrich labels it; but has extensive purposes hidden under that
title,--meetings with Franconian Potentates, earnest survey, earnest
consultation on a state of things altogether grave for Germany and
Friedrich; though he understands whom to treat with about it, whom
to answer with a "BIRIBIRI, MON AMI." That Austrian Exorbitancy of a
message to the Diet has come out (August 16th, and is struggling
to DICTATUR); the Austrian procedures in Baiern are in their full
flagrancy: Friedrich intends trying once more, Whether, in such crisis,
there be absolutely no "Union of German Princes" possible; nor even of
any two or three of them, in the "Swabian and Franconian Circles," which
he always thought the likeliest?
The Journey took effect, Tuesday, 10th September [Rodenbeck, i. 93.]
(not the day before, as Friedrich had been projecting); went by Halle,
straight upon Baireuth; and ended there on Thursday. As usual, Prince
August Wilhelm, and Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, were of it; Voltaire
failed not to accompany. What the complexion of it was, especially what
Friedrich had meant by it, and how ill he succeeded, will perhaps be
most directly visible through the following compressed Excerpts from
Voltaire's long LETTER to Secretary Amelot on the subject,--if readers
will be diligent with them. Friedrich, after four days, ran across to
Anspach on important business; came back with mere failure, and was
provokingly quite silent on it; stayed at Baireuth some three days more;
thence home by Gotha (still on "Union" business, still mere failure),
by Leipzig, and arrived at Potsdam, September 25th;--leaving Voltaire
in Wilhelmina's charmed circle (of which unhappily there is not a word
said), for about a week more. Voltaire, directly on getting back to
Berlin, "resumes the thread of his journal" to Secretary Amelot; that
is, writes him another long Letter:--
VOLTAIRE (from Berlin, 3d October, 1743) TO SECRETARY AMELOT.
"... The King of Prussia told me at Baireuth, on the 13th or 14th of
last month, He was glad our King had sent the Kaiser money;"--useful
that, at any rate; Noailles's 6,000 pounds would not go far. "That he
thought M. le Marechal de Noailles's explanation [of a certain small
rumor, to the disadvantage of Noailles in reference to the Kaiser] was
satisfactory: 'but,' added he, 'it results from all your secret motions
that you are begging Peace from everybody, and there may have been
something in this rumor, after all.'
"He then told me he was going over to Anspach, to see what could be done
for the Common Cause [Kaiser's and Ours]; that he expected to meet the
Bishop of Wurzburg there; and would try to stir the Frankish and Swabian
Circles into some kind of Union. And, at setting off [from Baireuth,
September 16th, on this errand], he promised his Brother-in-law the
Margraf, He would return with great schemes afoot, and even with great
success;" which proved otherwise, to a disappointing degree.
"... The Margraf of Anspach did say he would join a Union of Princes
in favor of the Kaiser, if Prussia gave example. But that was all. The
Bishop of Wurzburg," a feeble old creature, "never appeared at
Anspach, nor even sent an apology; and Seckendorf, with the Imperial
Army"--Seckendorf, caged up at Wembdingen (whom Friedrich drove off
from Anspach, twenty miles, to see and consult), was in a disconsolate
moulting condition, and could promise or advise nothing satisfactory,
during the dinner one took with him. [September 19th, "under a shady
tree, after muster of the troops" (Rodenbeck, p. 93).] Four days running
about on those errands had yielded his Prussian Majesty nothing. "Whilst
he (Prussian Majesty) was on this Anspach excursion, the Margraf of
Baireuth, who is lately made Field-marshal of his Circle, spoke much to
me of present affairs: a young Prince, full of worth and courage, who
loves the French, hates the Austrians,"--and would fain make himself
generally useful. "To whom I suggested this and that" (does your
Lordship observe?), if it could ever come to anything.
"The King of Prussia, on returning to Baireuth [guess, 20th September],
did not speak the least word of business to the Margraf: which much
surprised the latter! He surprised him still more by indicating some
intention to retain forcibly at Berlin the young Duke of Wurtemberg,
under pretext, 'that Madam his Mother intended to have him taken to
Vienna,' for education. To anger this young Duke, and drive his Mother
to despair, was not the method for acquiring credit in the Circle of
Swabia, and getting the Princes brought to unite!
"The Duchess of Wurtemberg, who was there at Baireuth, by appointment,
to confer with the King of Prussia, sent to seek me. I found her all
dissolved in tears. 'Ah!' said she,--[But why is our dear Wilhelmina
left saying nothing; invisible, behind the curtains of envious Chance,
and only a skirt of them lifted to show us this Improper Duchess once
more!]--'Ah!' said she (the Improper Duchess, at sight of me), 'will the
King of Prussia be a tyrant, then? To pay me for intrusting my Boys to
him, and giving him two Regiments [for money down], will he force me to
implore justice against him from the whole world? I must have my Child!
He shall not go to Vienna; it is in his own Country that I will have him
brought up beside me. To put my Son in Austrian hands? [unless, indeed,
your Highness were driven into Financial or other straits?] You know if
I love France;--if my design is not to pass the rest of my days there,
so soon as my Son comes to majority!' Ohone, ohoo!
"In fine, the quarrel was appeased. The King of Prussia told me he would
be gentler with the Mother; would restore the Son if they absolutely
wished it; but that he hoped the young Prince would of himself like
better to stay where he was."...--"I trust your Lordship will allow me
to draw for those 300 ducats, for a new carriage. I have spent all I
had, running about these four months. I leave this for Brunswick and
homewards, on the evening of the 12th." [Voltaire, lxxiii. 105-109.]...
And so the curtain drops on the Baireuth Journey, on the Berlin Visit;
and indeed, if that were anything, on Voltaire's Diplomatic career
altogether. The insignificant Accidents, the dull Powers that be, say
No. Curious to reflect, had they happened to say Yes:--"Go into the
Diplomatic line, then, you sharp climbing creature, and become great by
that method; WRITE no more, you; write only Despatches and Spy-Letters
henceforth!"--how different a world for us, and for all mortals that
read and that do not read, there had now been!
Voltaire fancies he has done his Diplomacy well, not without fruit;
and, at Brunswick,--cheered by the grand welcome he found there,--has
delightful outlooks (might I dare to suggest them, Monseigneur?) of
touring about in the German Courts, with some Circular HORTATORIUM, or
sublime Begging-Letter from the Kaiser, in his hand; and, by witchery
of tongue, urging Wurtemberg, Brunswick, Baireuth, Anspach, Berlin,
to compliance with the Imperial Majesty and France. [Ib. lxxiii. 133.]
Would not that be sublime! But that, like the rest, in spite of one's
talent, came to nothing. Talent? Success? Madame de Chateauroux had,
in the interim, taken a dislike to M. Amelot; "could not bear
his stammering," the fastidious Improper Female; flung Amelot
overboard,--Amelot, and his luggage after him, Voltaire's diplomatic
hopes included; and there was an end.
How ravishing the thing had been while it lasted, judge by these
other stray symptoms; hastily picked up, partly at Berlin, partly at
Brunswick; which show us the bright meridian, and also the blaze, almost
still more radiant, which proved to be sunset. Readers have heard of
Voltaire's Madrigals to certain Princesses; and must read these Three
again,--which are really incomparable in their kind; not equalled in
graceful felicity even by Goethe, and by him alone of Poets approached
in that respect. At Berlin, Autumn 1743, Three consummate Madrigals:--
1. TO PRINCESS ULRIQUE.
"Souvent un peu de verite
Se mele au plus grossier mensonge:
Cette nuit, dans l'erreur d'un songe,
Au rang des rois j'etais monte.
Je vous aimais, Princesse, et j'osais vous le dire!
Les dieux a mon reveil ne m'ont pas tout ote,
Je n'ai perdu que mon empire."
2. TO PRINCESSES ULRIQUE AND AMELIA.
"Si Paris venait sur la terre
Pour juger entre vos beaux yeux,
Il couperait la pomme en deux,
Et ne produirait pas de guerre."
3. TO PRINCESSES ULRIQUE, AMELIA AND WILHELMINA.
"Pardon, charmante Ulrique; pardon, belle Amelie;
J'ai cru n'aimer que vous la reste de ma vie,
Et ne servir que sous vos lois;
Mais enfin j'entends et je vois
Cette adorable Soeur dont l'Amour suit les traces:
Ah, ce n'est pas outrager les Trois Graces
Que de les aimer toutes trois!"
[1. "A grain of truth is often mingled with the stupidest delusion.
Yesternight, in the error of a dream, I had risen to the rank of king;
I loved you, Princess, and had the audacity to say so! The gods, at my
awakening, did not strip me wholly; my kingdom was all they took from
me." 2. "If Paris [of Troy] came back to decide on the charms of you
Two, he would halve the Apple, and produce no War." 3. "Pardon, charming
Ulrique; beautiful Amelia, pardon: I thought I should love only you for
the rest of my life, and serve under your laws only: but at last I hear
and see this adorable Sister, whom Love follows as Page:--Ah, it is not
offending the Three Graces to love them all three!" --In _Oeuvres de
Voltaire,_ xviii.: No. 1 is, p. 292 (in _OEuvres de Frederic,_ xiv.
90-92, the ANSWERS to it); No. 2 is, p. 320; No. 3, p. 321.]
BRUNSWICK, 16th October (blazing sunset, as it proved, but brighter
almost than meridian), a LETTER FROM VOLTAIRE TO MAUPERTUIS (still in
France since that horrible Mollwitz-Pandour Business).
"In my wanderings I received the Letter where my dear Flattener of this
Globe deigns to remember me with so much friendship. Is it possible
that--... I made your compliments to all your friends at Berlin; that
is, to all the Court." "Saw Dr. Eller decomposing water into elastic
air [or thinking he did so, 1743]; saw the Opera of TITUS, which is a
masterpiece of music [by Friedrich himself, with the important aid of
Graun]: it was, without vanity, a treat the King gave me, or rather gave
himself; he wished I should see him in his glory.
"His Opera-House is the finest in Europe. Charlottenburg is a delicious
abode: Friedrich does the honors there, the King knowing nothing of
it.... One lives at Potsdam as in the Chateau of a French Seigneur who
had culture and genius,--in spite of that big Battalion of Guards, which
seems to me the terriblest Battalion in this world.
"Jordan is still the same,--BON GARCON ET DISCRET; has his oddities, his
1,600 crowns (240 pounds) of pension. D'Argens is Chamberlain, with a
gold key at his breast-pocket, and 100 louis inside, payable monthly.
Chasot [whom readers made acquaintance with at Philipsburg long since],
instead of cursing his destiny, must have taken to bless it: he is Major
of Horse, with income enough. And he has well earned it, having saved
the King's Baggage at the last Battle of Chotusitz,"--what we did not
notice, in the horse-charges and grand tumults of that scene.
"I passed some days [a fortnight in all] at Baireuth. Her Royal
Highness, of course, spoke to me of you. Baireuth is a delightful
retreat, where one enjoys whatever there is agreeable in a Court,
without the bother of grandeur. Brunswick, where I am, has another
species of charm. 'Tis a celestial Voyage this of mine, where I pass
from Planet to Planet,"--to tumultuous Paris; and, I do hope, to
my unique Maupertuis awaiting me there at last. [Voltaire, lxxiii.
122-125.]'
We have only to remark farther, that Friedrich had again pressed
Voltaire to come and live with him, and choose his own terms; and that
Voltaire (as a second string to his bow, should this fine Diplomatic
one fail) had provisionally accepted. Provisionally; and with one most
remarkable clause: that of leaving out Madame,--"imagining it would be
less agreeable to you if I came with others (AVEC D'AUTRES); and I own,
that belonging to your Majesty alone, I should have my mind more at
ease:" [_OEuvres de Voltaire, _ lxxiii. 112,116 (Proposal and Response,
both of them "7th October," five days before leaving Berlin).]--whew!
And then to add a third thing: That Madame, driven half delirious, by
these delays, and gyratings from Planet to Planet, especially by that
last Fortnight at Baireuth, had rushed off from Paris, to seek her
vagabond, and see into him with her own eyes: "Could n't help it, my
angels!" writes she to the D'Argentals (excellent guardian angels,
Monsieur and Madame; and, I am sure, PATIENT both of them, as only
MONSIEUR Job was, in the old case): "A whole fortnight [perhaps with
madrigals to Princesses], and only four lines to me!"--and is now in
bed, or lately was, at Lille, ill of slow fever (PETITE FIEVRE); panting
to be upon the road again. [_Lettres inedites de Madame du Chastelet a
M. le Comte d'Argental_ (Paris, 1806) p. 253. A curiously elucidative
Letter this ("Brussels, 15th October, 1743"); a curious little Book
altogether.]
Fancy what a greeting for M. de Voltaire, from those eyes HAGARDES ET
LOUCHES; and whether he mentioned that pretty little clause of going to
Berlin "WITHOUT others," or durst for the life of him whisper of going
at all! After pause in the Brussels region, they came back to Paris
"in December;" resigned, I hope, to inexorable Fate,--though with such
Diplomatic and other fine prospects flung to the fishes, and little but
GREDINS and confusions waiting you, as formerly.