TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY 
 
 H.R.H. Princess Christian 
 of Sghleswig Holstein 
 
 bk$ 
 
 M
 
 THE 
 
 MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH 
 
 AND 
 
 VOLTAIRE.
 
 THE 
 
 MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH 
 
 AND 
 
 VOLTAIRE 
 
 BY 
 
 Dr. GEORGE HORN 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY 
 
 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCESS CHRISTIAN 
 
 OF SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN 
 PRINCESS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 
 
 NEW YORK 
 SCRIBNER & WELFORD 
 
 1888
 
 LIBRARY 
 UNIVFF CALIFORNIA 
 
 • RA 
 
 TO 
 
 MY DEAR HUSBAND 
 
 THIS TRANSLATION 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 A few months ago Dr. George Horn of Berlin, sent me 
 an interesting little volume, containing the correspondence 
 (published for the first time) between the Margravine 
 of Baireuth and the great French author Voltaire. The 
 letters were interspersed with explanatory remarks and 
 comments on them. It struck me that a translation 
 of this volume would be a fitting sequel to that of the 
 curious Memoirs of the Margravine, published lately by 
 me. Having obtained the necessary permission, I now 
 venture to make public my effort, trusting it may meet 
 with as kind a reception as the previous one alluded to. 
 I am quite aware that the volume is open to the 
 criticism that it contains some repetition of matter to be 
 found in the Memoirs, but it should be remembered that 
 the repetition, if such has occurred, was necessary to 
 explain certain subjects to which the letters refer. The 
 correspondence besides, stretches over that period of the 
 Margravine's life, of which she herself gives no account 
 and gives us a fuller and more varied insight into her 
 character. 
 
 In her Memoirs she often appears harsh and embittered, 
 whilst her letters prove her to have been a large-hearted
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 and generous-minded woman, who forgot her own misfor- 
 tunes in her solicitude for others. 
 
 Voltaire's letters are both graceful and witty, and whilst 
 showing his capacity for true devotion and friendship, he 
 yet maintains throughout them that egotism and vanity 
 which have always characterized him. 
 
 I have endeavoured to translate the letters as literally 
 as possible, but as the book was written for Germany, 
 I have been obliged to make the translation a free one, 
 adhering however throughout, strictly to the sense. I 
 have entirely omitted some passages as being of no 
 interest to English readers. 
 
 Cumberland Lodge, 
 
 May, 1888.
 
 THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH 
 AND VOLTAIRE. 
 
 During the eighteenth century Germany, or rather the Holy 
 Roman Empire, was broken up into many small princi- 
 palities, numbering about three hundred. However great 
 was the mischief wrought to the Grerman people by the 
 shattering of this great territory, so much the greater on the 
 other hand was the benefit its intellectual development 
 derived therefrom. The Grerman nation had since the Thirty 
 Years' War sunk into complete apathy as regarded higher and 
 nobler interests, and it required some stimulus of an intellectual 
 nature to rouse it. This was given by these tiny Courts. 
 The principalities were small, there was little to do in them, 
 and the leisure thus naturally resulting, in a great measure, was 
 the cause of many of the Grerman Courts of the eighteenth 
 century, and especially the less important ones, becoming the 
 seats of science and learning, and spreading their healthy influ- 
 ence over the nation. With many of these princes the cultiva- 
 tion of literature and art may in part have been in imitation of 
 Louis XIY. Every one fancied himself imbued with some of 
 his genius, and was anxious to walk in his footsteps in this direc- 
 tion, though unable to emulate his greatness and splendour. 
 
 B
 
 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Of those, however, possessed of capabilities of a higher order, 
 it was the innate desire to extricate themselves from the 
 national degradation to which Grermany had sunk, and to take 
 refuge in the vast sphere of intellectual culture. Grermany 
 had at that time no literature of its own of any importance, 
 such as is now the case. French was spoken and written at 
 all German Courts, to which the society of the scientific and 
 learned was almost entirely confined. French literature 
 reigned supreme. This could not be called national progress, 
 but it laid the seeds for future intellectual development. 
 
 Next to Rheinsberg and later on Sans Souci, the Court 
 of the Margrave Frederic of Brandenburg-Baireuth held a 
 foremost place as regards science and learning, due 
 almost entirely to the influence of his wife, Frederica 
 Wilhelmine, Princess of Prussia. She was Frederic the 
 Great's favourite sister, and she was a worthy object of so 
 great a man's affection. For twenty-three years the Court 
 of a country numbering only 200,000 inhabitants rivalled 
 those of other great countries in intellectual importance and 
 renown. The Margravine was the magnet which attracted 
 all that was greatest and most celebrated, all that was most 
 worthy of esteem and consideration. Much of the evidence 
 of the Margravine's intercourse with her great contempo- 
 raries has been lost, but one of the most interesting pieces 
 has yet been preserved to us, and we feel it a duty to 
 make it public. 
 
 Among the papers of the family of F. von Miedel, in 
 Baireuth, the author found an old manuscript, yellow with 
 age, on the title-page of which stood written in large 
 characters, " Letters from Voltaire." 
 
 After comparing the handwriting of this title-page with 
 that of the copy of the Memoirs kept in the Royal Library 
 at Berlin, there was no doubt that it was that of the 
 Margravine. This manuscript contained nothing less than 
 twenty-five unpublished letters of the celebrated writer to
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 
 
 the Princess, and one to the Marquis d'Adheniar. These 
 letters are all in Voltaire's own small and original hand- 
 writing, and read now like thrusts from a dagger, now like 
 arrows shot from Cupid's bow, and each yet unmistakable in 
 its originality, even where the writer seems most t desirous 
 of combining the beauty of his mind with the elegance of his 
 handwriting, in order to do honour to the King's daughter. 
 
 This same manuscript contained also twelve autograph 
 letters from Baron von Polnitz to the Margravine. Who is 
 there who has not heard of him and of his amusing 
 and often times spiteful descriptions of persons and courts 
 of his time ? There were few sovereigns whom he had not 
 served, and there was scarcely any Court in Europe which 
 he had not visited. He had acquired his knowledge of the 
 French language whilst a light-hearted page at the Court of 
 the Duchess Elizabeth- Charlotte of Orleans, in Paris and at 
 Versailles. He then served three Prussian kings, as Master 
 of the Ceremonies and Chamberlain ; changed his faith three 
 times, and remained true to that one only which allowed 
 that he was the most intellectual and amusing of courtiers, 
 and that a man, especially if he were called Polnitz, required 
 much money. 
 
 The witty gossip of the Prussian Chamberlain, together 
 with the Memoirs of the Margravine of Baireuth, are still the 
 best source for studies of German Court life during the early 
 part of the eighteenth century. The reader will therefore 
 observe that the letters from Baron von Polnitz (which are 
 given together with those from Voltaire) throw many a 
 side light on Voltaire's relations to the Knights of the Pound 
 Table of Sans Souci. 
 
 Polnitz was well aware how best to use his pen and his 
 wit. In order to fill his generally empty purse, he wrote de- 
 scriptions of festivities given, and journeys made by the 
 Prussian Court, the copies of which he then sent in the form 
 of Memoirs, to the different absent members of the Prussian 
 
 b 2
 
 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Royal Family. This was at all times a profitable trans- 
 action, as he had ample compensation given him for the 
 outlay in pens and ink. 
 
 Such a Memoir, relating to the journey of the Queen 
 Mother to Oranienburg and Rheinsberg, was likewise found 
 with the manuscript, accompanied by a few lines in the 
 writer's own hand. The copy of a play which was acted in 
 honour of the Margravine of Baireuth's birthday, at her 
 country seat, the Hermitage, on the 3rd of July, 1744, was 
 amongst these papers. According to a marginal note on the 
 index of the manuscript, this piece was supposed to have been 
 written by Voltaire, but we have no confirmation of this 
 supposition. There were also found three autograph letters 
 from La Bruyere, written from Naples and Rome in the 
 years 1743 and 1744. 
 
 The chief interest of our discovery, however, belongs to 
 Voltaire's letters. They date from 1742 to 1758. How the 
 Von Miedels became possessed of these papers has never 
 been explained. The words written on the outer sheet, and 
 which might have cleared up the mystery, had evidently 
 been effaced with a purpose ; only three words could be 
 deciphered, and these would lead one to suppose that after 
 the death of the Margravine, the manuscript had been taken 
 to Stuttgard. It undoubtedly became the property of the 
 Margravine's only child Frederica, wife of Duke Charles of 
 Wurtemberg — the same Prince by whose tyrannical be- 
 haviour Schiller's genius was so early matured. The Duchess 
 of Wurtemberg died at Baireuth in 1780, separated from her 
 husband, after an unhappy married life. Tradition says she 
 died in consequence of a vegetable poison, which she had 
 used daily for the purpose of preserving her complexion. 
 
 Her personal property, amongst it her library which no 
 doubt contained our manuscript, was sold by auction, and 
 was probably bought by a member of the family of Von 
 Miedel, who was Chamberlain at the Court of Baireuth, and
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 
 
 possessed of literary and artistic tastes. For more than a 
 century Voltaire's letters to the Margravine lay buried and 
 unknown, whilst the corresponding letters from the Mar- 
 gravine to Voltaire had already been published in several 
 editions of his own works, more especially in that edited by 
 Beuchot. Those from Voltaire, with the exception of two 
 which were printed in Volume VII of this writer's cor- 
 respondence, were believed to be lost. Yet it was but a 
 century's dust which hid them. 
 
 The published letters of the Margravine receive in a great 
 measure their real meaning and importance from their 
 connection with those of Voltaire. Read together, the whole 
 picture stands complete before us, as does many a beautiful 
 mosaic dug out in parts from its grave of centuries. It 
 represents the relations existing not only between the poet 
 and the Margravine, but also between them on the one hand, 
 and Frederic the Great on the other ; an intellectual union, 
 the interest in which becomes deepened the more truly the 
 three great personages who formed it are brought before us. 
 
 The style in which letters were written in the eighteenth 
 century is different to that of the present day. Then ideas pre- 
 dominated, whilst now facts form the ground work. Then 
 is to be observed the desire of soaring above the confused 
 social conditions, and the unthinking, unpoetic, realistic life, 
 into the sunshine of a life of thought. The aim of writers 
 of the nineteenth century, on the other hand, is to beautify and 
 glorify the events of real life with its ideal acquisitions. 
 This is in great measure the reason why we found so few real 
 facts contained in the letters written in the last century, and 
 so much philosophic reasoning, self-conceit, fine words,and 
 self-glorification. In times like our own, truthfulness is 
 what is aimed at, though oftentimes expressed in terms 
 somewhat more rough and inconsiderate than of old. Yet 
 even those who lived in the times of powder and paint were 
 unable to entirely hide their real nature when anything
 
 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 touched them nearly. Their joy or sorrow, enthusiasm or 
 indignation, broke through the artificial harriers, and they 
 showed themselves as they were, and not as they wished to 
 appear. 
 
 "We should destroy the interest in the following pages, 
 were we to say that this short criticism on letter writing 
 during the eighteenth century had no connection with the cor- 
 respondence now before us. The reader will be the best judge 
 of this. Voltaire and Frederic the Great were not only 
 men of their day, but they were the two great landmarks of 
 it, and in fact represented their time ; Wilhelmine sharing 
 her brother's intellectual superiority. Although the letters 
 contain nothing startling in their novelty, yet they will 
 perhaps place Voltaire's relations to the great king in a 
 clearer light. 
 
 Voltaire's writings gained their importance chiefly through 
 the influence they exercised on that period, and not owing to 
 any innate beauty such as rendered those of Shakespeare, 
 Corneille, and Goethe immortal. Nevertheless, the interest 
 felt in his personality, and in the opinions expressed in his 
 letters, will long outlive his tragedies, comedies, novels, 
 historical works and poems, with the exception of his 
 madrigals. 
 
 The following letters show Voltaire partly in a new light, 
 as possessed of amiable and tender feelings, of an enthusiastic 
 and sincere devotion for a woman, who certainly was one 
 of the most gifted and remarkable persons of her own rank 
 and time. 
 
 No one escaped Voltaire's biting sarcasm, nothing was 
 holy to him, and yet before this woman his love of mockery 
 seemed to have died within him, his respect for people to 
 have returned, and he seemed to have become imbued with 
 kindly feelings towards all mankind. 
 
 Not Voltaire alone, but also the Margravine is presented 
 to us in a different light to that in which she generally appears.
 
 AND THE MAKGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 
 
 In these days when so much stress is laid on family affec- 
 tions, she has, so to speak, fallen into discredit by the 
 inconsiderate manner in which she refers to her family in 
 her Memoirs. Certainly the bitter animosity with which 
 Wilhelmine speaks of her Royal parents can in no way be 
 justified, though, when one has read the account of her sad 
 childhood, it is to be understood. In those days the general 
 desire to appear intellectual prevailed, even at the expense of 
 the most sacred feelings. For the sake of making a witty 
 remark or an appropriate bon mot no mercy was shown, not 
 even to those entitled to consideration. Even though this 
 mania represented but a style affected in society and in 
 reality not so pernicious as it might appear, yet it was not 
 calculated to promote the kindlier feelings in human nature 
 or strengthen family affection. Wilhelmine suffered from 
 the prevailing evil. It must also be taken into account that 
 her Memoirs were not intended for publication. They were 
 the unrestrained outpouring of her heart, besides which, they 
 were written at a period in her life when the suppressed 
 grief at the loss of her husband's affections made the events 
 of her troubled childhood appear darker and more bitter than 
 they would otherwise have done. 
 
 Although she may have been guilty of some inaccuracies 
 and exaggerations, yet these certainly were unintentional on 
 her part. The Margravine was endowed with the nervous 
 sensitiveness of her century, and she was irritable to a 
 degree. She was but a woman, and, as such, wrote on the 
 impulse of the moment. This, in great measure, proves that 
 she was anything but heartless or unfeeling, as historians 
 generally represent her. These and all other accusations 
 which may be made against her, are more than counter- 
 balanced by the heroism of that love she showed her brother 
 in the hours of his greatest need, an affection so great and 
 strong that her feeble frame sunk under it. 
 
 The Margravine Frederica Sophie Wilhelmine of Branden-
 
 8 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 burg-Baireutk was the eldest daughter of King Frederic 
 William I of Prussia, and was born in Berlin 3rd July 
 1709. On November 20th, 1731, she was married to the 
 hereditary Prince of Brandenburg-Baireuth (her cousin 
 being one of the Franconian Hohenzollern line), who 
 became Margrave in 1735. This marriage was to a certain 
 extent an act of desperation on Wilhelmine's part. Who is 
 there who is not acquainted with that catastrophe in Frederic 
 the Great's childhood, that terrible tragedy enacted in a 
 Royal family. 
 
 The old alliance between the Hohenzollerns and the 
 Guelphs was, now that the cheery Elector of Hanover 
 had become the grave and constitutional King of England, 
 to be re-established on a new and firmer footing. To attain 
 this end, the well-known project of a double marriage had 
 been planned, according to which Wilhelmine was to marry 
 her cousin, the son of the Prince of Wales afterwards 
 George II, and the Prussian Crown Prince, Princess Amelia 
 of England. The Queen of Prussia, daughter of George I 
 of England, a proud and ambitious woman, revelled in this 
 plan. She looked on it as a settled matter, all the more so 
 as her husband, the rough, uneducated, and yet straight- 
 forward, practical King Frederic William I was not 
 adverse to it. He felt satisfied that he need give his 
 daughter no marriage portion nor increase his son's income. 
 For these reasons the King was quite satisfied. Wilhelmine, 
 Queen of England ! ! Everything had been arranged by 
 the Queen in anticipation of this event, but she had for- 
 gotten the House of Hapsburg. Would not such a 
 close alliance between these two Protestant powers be a 
 source of continual danger to this Imperial House ? Although 
 England would not be so much to be feared, yet there was 
 Prussia. The House of Hapsburg had always looked with 
 suspicion and distrust on this " new kingdom," with its 
 Puritanical Court, its well-ordered finances, and tall soldiers.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 
 
 Would not the protectorship, already exercised by Prussia 
 with such effect over the oppressed imperial Protestant 
 subjects, eventually become a great power ; and would 
 Prussia not one day throw down the gauntlet to the House 
 of Hapsburg and wrest the imperial crown from its head ? 
 Not that visible crown which was kept in the Cathedral at 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, but the invisible one, which the newly 
 awakened national spirit places upon him who realizes its 
 longings, feelings, and thoughts. For this reason these 
 marriages must not take place. It was, therefore, necessary 
 that those about the King who were for Austria, and who 
 stood in its pay, should do their utmost to sow the seeds 
 of dissatisfaction and suspicion in his mind. They must 
 endeavour to arouse and keep alive his displeasure and 
 anger, chiefly against those who were nearest and dearest to 
 him, his wife and children, but especially against Wilhelmine 
 and the Crown Prince. The two Austrian agents, Grunikow 
 and Seckendorf, succeeded so well in their machinations, that 
 they finally brought about a catastrophe such as to fill even 
 them with horror and dread, viz., the unsuccessful attempt 
 at flight by the Crown Prince, and the sentence of death 
 subsequently passed on him and his accomplice, Katte, by a 
 special order from the King. 
 
 Katte had to die before the eyes of the Crown Prince. It was 
 with the greatest difficulty that the King was prevented, by the 
 earnest representations of foreign courts and influential 
 people, from insisting on his son's execution. Amongst those 
 who helped to prevent it, was the energetic Madame de 
 Kamke, the Queen's Mistress of Robes. She had the courage 
 to address the enraged King as follows : " You have prided 
 yourself hitherto on being a just, righteous, and God fearing 
 Prince. God has rewarded you by showering untold blessings 
 on you. Tremble to depart from His holy laws, and fear the 
 divine wrath. It has already punished two Sovereigns who, 
 in the same manner as you are about to do, shed the blood
 
 10 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 of their own sons. Philip II and Peter the Great both 
 died without male heirs. Their countries became the prey to 
 foreign and civil wars, and these two sovereigns, however great 
 they may have been, have become the horror of mankind. 
 Repent Sire. The first outburst of your anger is still pardon- 
 able, but it will become criminal if you do not endeavour to 
 control it." 
 
 Hapsburg saw its plans crowned with success. The King 
 of Prussia took a decided aversion to the English marriages. 
 The Crown Prince was to receive full pardon and be released 
 from his confinement in the fortress of Kustrin, on condition 
 that the Princess "Wilhelmine agreed to marry her Branden- 
 burg cousin, the Hereditary Prince of Baireuth. This 
 sacrifice she was ready to make — for a sacrifice it was to accept 
 a husband whom she did not know, and had not even seen 
 — for the sake of that brother who, from his earliest days, had 
 been the object of her love and care, and for the sake 
 of the peace and happiness of her family. Wilhelmine, 
 to whom the choice of four crowns had been offered, (Sweden, 
 Poland, Russia, and England), married the future Heir to a 
 country which, though prosperous and nourishing, was yet 
 of so small dimensions, that its affairs of state could be settled 
 at breakfast. Her brother, indeed, repaid her for this proof 
 of her devotion by the tenderest affection of which he was 
 capable. 
 
 The danger which the Imperial House had apprehended 
 from the English marriages was obviated by these means. 
 Another, greater though unforeseen, had, however, arisen 
 in its stead. The intrigues of the Austrian Court had tended 
 to develop the character of the heir to the Prussian throne. 
 The greater the depths to which these proceeded, the more 
 the strength of his nature matured. He only waited for a 
 favourable moment to make the House of Hapsburg pay the 
 penalty for the sorrows, troubles, and struggles it had caused 
 him. Hapsburg itself had sown the dragon's teeth, and
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 11 
 
 Silesia became the pearl in Prussia's crown, the price to 
 be paid for Frederic's miserable youth. 
 
 Professor Preuss, the well-known historian of the House of 
 Brandenburg and the first authority on Frederic the Great, 
 quotes the following remark which De Catt (Frederic's 
 reader) heard from the King's own lips : " When I was 
 young I never would do anything, but was always running 
 about. My sister of Baireutli said to me, ' Are you not 
 ashamed so to neglect your talents ? ' I then took to my 
 books." 
 
 It was Wilhelmine, therefore, who first roused in her 
 brother that desire for mental culture, the results of which, 
 in its varied aspects, has distinguished him for all ages. 
 The sister, in all probability, was more remarkable than the 
 brother through the influence of her writings, not alone in 
 philosophical speculations, but also in her love for what was 
 highest and noblest in art. A few words are often sufficient 
 for her to give a true and withal grotesque picture of people. 
 
 Those who are acquainted with the character of King 
 Frederic William I, and his abhorrence for all art 
 and learning, cannot but be surprised that his eldest 
 daughter had nevertheless received an education so far 
 superior to that which was generally given to royal 
 princesses in those days. The King troubled himself but 
 little about the education of his daughters. That which he 
 looked upon as a danger to his son, and tried in every way 
 to prevent, he let pass by unobserved in his daughter, all the 
 more so as she was destined to be Queen of England. He 
 at least respected in Wilhelmine the likeness to his mother, 
 Sophie Charlotte, the friend and admirer of the celebrated 
 Leibnitz. She also had founded the Academy of Arts and 
 Sciences at Berlin, in imitation of the one in France. 
 Princess Wilhelmine bore out in a striking manner the 
 assertion that great qualities and mental capacities are 
 generally again apparent in the second, and not the first,
 
 12 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 descendants of a family. She was the worthy grand-daughter 
 of Sophie Charlotte, and perpetuated the principles of mental 
 culture held by that philosophical Queen. These were 
 fostered in the Princess by her governess, Frl. von Sonnsfeld, 
 former lady in waiting to that Queen. " She taught me 
 what real feeling was," Wilhelmine writes in her Memoirs. 
 " I now did my lessons with delight, and began to take an 
 " interest in literature and reading, which soon became my 
 " favourite occupation. I had an English and an Italian 
 " master added to the others. I was well versed in ancient 
 " and modern history, geography, and the first principles of 
 " philosophy ; I understood music thoroughly, and I made 
 " great progress with my studies." 
 
 Her zeal for her studies was shared by her brother, with 
 whom she had made learning a point of honour. Frederic 
 came every afternoon to see his sister, and they then read 
 and studied together in order to enlarge their minds and 
 views on all subjects of interest. Wilhelmine certainly 
 occupied the post of teacher, not alone as elder sister, but 
 because she at that time possessed the superior mind of the 
 two. She superintended the education of her younger 
 sisters, and, although but a child, was treated as a grown 
 up person by her parents and their Court. 
 
 Fun and jokes were not excluded from these hours of 
 serious study, and the little weaknesses of those around 
 them roused the love of mockery innate in the Princess and 
 her brother. They used Scarron's* humorous novel, by 
 making satires from it applicable to the Imperial party at 
 Court, and were thus enabled before others to amuse them- 
 selves at the expense of these hateful personages without its 
 being found out. Grumkow, for instance, was La Ran- 
 cune, Seckendorf La Rapiniere. When the brother and 
 
 •Paul Scarron, born 1610 or 1611, died 1660; was Madame de Main- 
 tenon's first husband, and a French poet.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 13 
 
 sister joked about Madame de Bouvillion, the portly good- 
 natured Frau von Kamke was meant. This lady enquired 
 one day who Madame de Bouvillion was, and the Crown 
 Prince, with a malicious look at his sister, replied, " She 
 was mistress of robes to the Queen of Spain." A short time 
 after this, the conversation turning on the Spanish Court, 
 Frau von Kamke, who had never heard of Scarron's novel, 
 said that all the mistresses of the robes of the Spanish Queen 
 were of the family of Bouvillion. Everybody laughed, and 
 she soon found out that she had made a stupid remark, and 
 had been taken in by the Crown Prince. Even the King 
 was not spared by his children in their satires, for they had 
 assigned to him the part of Le Eagotin. In later years 
 the Margravine heartily repented this want of filial respect. 
 It would be almost impossible rightly to understand the 
 peculiar characteristics of Wilhelmine and Frederic, were 
 one to forget the strange circumstances under which they 
 grew up. These were so entirely opposite to the strict puri- 
 tanical orthodoxy of the Court, and of the existing state of 
 society and learning of that day. 
 
 Frederic William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg, had, 
 after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, allowed the 
 exiled Protestants from France to take refuge in his do- 
 minions. A large number of these refugees came to Berlin 
 and there founded the still flourishing French colony. The 
 French brought fresh industries into the country, as well as 
 new ideas and a new spirit altogether. The simple matter of 
 fact people of the province of Brandenburg, who loved to 
 examine everything minutely and to distinguish between 
 reality and fiction, found totally new elements amongst 
 them. The French influence seemed to sharpen their hitherto 
 somewhat phlegmatic natures, and really brought their finer 
 and nobler instincts to light. The German disposition united 
 to French culture supplemented each other. Wilhelmine and 
 her brother, who were born in Brandenburg and educated by
 
 14 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 such French emigrants as Madame de Rocoule, Mademoiselle 
 de Montbail, M. Diihan, and La Croze, are the brilliant and 
 striking examples of that German and French fusion. They 
 can be looked upon as the first representatives of that 
 particular school of thought, which as yet stands alone in 
 Germany. 
 
 Wilhelmine's and Frederic's first acquaintance with Vol- 
 taire's writings (which adorned the first half of the eighteenth 
 century) was made, without doubt, during their secret hours 
 of study. We can picture to ourselves the eagerness with 
 which they read the " Henriade." In what contrast those 
 elegant graceful verses stood to those in the old German 
 Hymn Book, which they were obliged to sing twice each 
 Sunday. What a difference was there in the fine poetry of 
 the " OEdipe " when compared with that of the coarse Ger- 
 man comedies, which they were so often forced to witness in 
 the King's presence ! What life and fire was there not con- 
 tained in Voltaire's commentaries on English philosophers ! 
 The liberty of thought of such men as Newton, Locke, Pope, 
 stood out brilliantly when contrasted with the narrow-minded 
 orthodox teaching of Pastor Franke, from Halle, whose 
 religious services the Royal children had to attend. In one 
 word, the totally new line of thought disclosed to them was 
 contained in the one name, Voltaire ! 
 
 The commencement of Frederic the Great's intercourse 
 with the great French author dates from the well known 
 letter of the 8th of August, 1736. This letter contained a 
 complete declaration of his views on modern thought, and 
 closed with an invitation to Rheinsberg. Frederic was only 
 twenty-four years of age at that time. Voltaire felt himself 
 greatly flattered by the homage paid him by the young 
 Prince in this letter. " He is a philosophical Prince, he is 
 a man, and therefore a most rare thing," he wrote to one of 
 his friends. He was naturally at no small pains to make this 
 as public as possible, so that it even got into some German
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 15 
 
 newspapers. Of these newspapers the " Nuremberg Peace 
 and War Courier " was the most important, and Frederic 
 evidently alludes to its Editor when, in writing to his sister, 
 3rd February, 1737, he says : " I do not know how I have 
 managed to insinuate myself into the good graces of the 
 ' Nuremberg Courier,' but it does me great honour in crying 
 me up in this manner. I, who am but an ignorant man, and 
 who have no other merit but that of not being blind about 
 myself . Voltaire is corresponding with me, which may have 
 caused people to think that he was coming here." This is 
 the first allusion to the famous author. After a most lively 
 correspondence between the Crown Prince and Voltaire, 
 for a space of four years, the long desired personal acquaint- 
 ance took place at the Castle of Moyland, near Wesel, in 
 the autumn of 1740. Voltaire found his friend " a small fever 
 stricken man, wrapped in a dressing gown of coarse blue 
 cloth." " Monsieur de Voltaire," announced the servant, as 
 he ushered him into the King's presence. At last the long 
 wished for moment had arrived, and Voltaire was there ! 
 " The hope of mankind " and this frail young man, " the 
 Solomon of the North," struck down by fever, are together ! 
 Had the King expected to find " the hope of mankind " so 
 feeble and wizen ; had the poet pictured to himself " the 
 Solomon of the North " so small a man, with such meagre 
 surroundings ? Who can tell ! The room in which the King 
 was sitting consisted of four bare walls, lit by a single candle. 
 The demons of fever fled as quickly at the sight of the son of 
 Apollo, as they did four weeks later when the King heard 
 of the death of the last of the Hapsburgs, 26th October, 
 1740. 
 
 Voltaire's second visit followed quickly on the first. On 
 the 21st November of the same year, he again arrived at 
 Rheinsberg, nominally to report on the publication of the 
 " Antimachiavelli," but in reality sent by the French 
 Cardinal Minister Fleury.
 
 16 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 The King was having fortresses erected on the Rhine, 
 and this was making the old gentleman in purple, at Paris, 
 unnecessarily uneasy ; for, though the King was moving 
 troops to the Rhine, he was thinking of Silesia. The 
 French Envoy at Berlin, Marquis de Beauvean, could gain no 
 information in the matter. What it was impossible for a 
 diplomate to discover, a friend might possibly extract from 
 the King. Voltaire would have been the happiest of mortals 
 could he one day, were it even at the smallest court, be 
 received as Envoy Extraordinary of his most Catholic 
 Majesty. Even towards " the hope of mankind " Frederic 
 maintained his silence on the matter. It was probably to 
 evade the renewed careful enquiries of his friend that the 
 King one evening interrupted their conversation, and taking 
 Voltaire by the hand, led him up to a lady with these words, 
 " I here present you to my beloved sister." This lady was 
 of graceful stature, with a small and delicately-modelled head, 
 a marvellously white and transparent complexion. This 
 lady, whose large blue eyes must have sparkled with 
 enthusiastic interest at beholding the great genius, whose 
 small and generally somewhat mocking mouth must have 
 uttered words of admiration to the learned philosopher in his 
 own tongue, was the Margravine of Baireuth. 
 
 Rheinsberg was built by the Crown Prince Frederic. Tt is 
 situated amidst lakes, small hills, and beechwoods, twelve 
 miles from Berlin. A life of complete freedom, and at the 
 same time of thorough enjoyment, was led there. Here the 
 " nuits blanches " of Sceaux * were repeated, only with this 
 difference, that no conspiracies were formed, excepting 
 against boredom. It was as if Watteau t and Lancret, + 
 
 * Festivities given at night by the Duchessedu Maine, at Sceaux, a small 
 town south of Paris. Voltaire played a great part in these entertainments 
 as actor. 
 
 f Jean Antoine Watteau, famous French painter, born 1684, died 1721. 
 
 I Nicolas Lancret, French painter, born 1690, died 1743.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 17 
 
 with whose works the castle was filled, had hid themselves 
 amongst the bushes and found here the subjects for their 
 pictures. Lakes, gardens, pavilions, grottoes, hermitages, 
 gay cavaliers, beautiful ladies, singing, dancing, and playing, 
 — such were the scenes at Rheinsberg. 
 
 When evening comes, with the rough and chilly autumn 
 air so common to that part of Grermany, the candles are 
 lit in the Queen's apartments, beautifully decorated by 
 Pesue.* The King, who has all day sat brooding over 
 serious undertakings against the House of Hapsburg, now 
 makes his appearance. The concert begins ; the King leads 
 the Margravine to the piano, and then takes his flute. 
 During the pauses between the different pieces, the Mar- 
 gravine holds philosophic and other discussions with Mau- 
 pertuis.f Algarotti,J Jordan, and Keyserling, but chiefly 
 with Voltaire, whose society was so new, interesting, and 
 invigorating. 
 
 How many interests these two have in common ! One can 
 almost hear the Margravine asking Voltaire what he thought 
 of his relations to the Court of Versailles, of Louis XV, 
 Madame de Pompadour, and Cardinal Fleury ; did he 
 prefer Lecouvreur § to Clairon in tragedy ; whose music 
 was the deepest, Hasse II or Gbraun ; at what results had he 
 arrived from his studies of Newton ; what was his opinion 
 
 *Antoine Pesue, born at Paris, 1684; died at Berlin, 1757; portrait 
 painter. 
 
 f Pierre Louis Morraude Maupertuis, celebrated French mathematician, 
 born 1698, died 1759. 
 
 X Francesco, Count Algarotti, Italian physiologist, born 1712, died 1764. 
 
 § Adrienne Lecouvreur, celebrated French actress, born 1690, died 
 1730. — Clairon, great French tragedian, born 1723, died 28th January, 
 1803. 
 
 || Hasse, German composer, born 1699, died 1783. — Graun, celebrated 
 German composer, born 1701, died 1759. 
 
 C
 
 18 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 of Wolff,* her brother's master in philosophy, of 
 Descartes,t whose views she has subscribed to. What 
 delightful, never to be forgotten days ; but with them the 
 splendour of Rheinsberg vanished ! It was the real Sans 
 Souci of the great King, and, strange to say, he never saw it 
 again in later years. 
 
 * Caspar F. Wolff, German anatomist and physiologist, born 1733, 
 died 1794. 
 
 f R6ne Descartes, famous French philosopher, born 1596, died 1650.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Voltaire spent another fortnight at Berlin with the King 
 and his sister, and then returned to Brussels to the Marquise 
 du Chatelet. Although he left laden with honours, he did 
 so empty handed as regarded any knowledge of Frederic's 
 political plans. The Margravine did not return to Baireuth 
 till after the conquest of Silesia, and Frederic's return to 
 Berlin on June 5th, 1741. 
 
 The impressions made on Wilhelmine by her intercourse 
 with "Voltaire were lasting ones. A year after a parcel 
 reached Cirey or Brussels, evidently in remembrance of the 
 first meeting. It contained a present, and was accompanied 
 by a letter from the Margravine's private secretary, Mons. de 
 Superville, or " the philosopher Superville," as Voltaire 
 called him. Who was there who was not a philosopher in 
 the eighteenth century ? Philosophy was then the fashion 
 as to-day the sciences are, and as everybody deems 
 himself well up in natural physics who knows that fire is 
 not a substance but a power. In this manner all then 
 believed themselves philosophers who had not faith in the 
 biblical devil. 
 
 The present sent Voltaire by the Margravine, as well as 
 the letter from her doctor, Superville (the same to whom 
 the latter gave the manuscript of her celebrated Memoirs), 
 received no acknowledgment. It may be that she gave 
 some sign of astonishment, perhaps through M. de Superville. 
 At the beginning of October, the first letter written 
 by the poet himself arrived at the Castle of Baireuth. 
 Voltaire was then at Brussels, where he was in the habit 
 of going from time to time with the Marquise du Chatelet. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 He had gone from there to Aix-la-Chapelle to pay his 
 respects to his royal friend, the hero of Mollwitz * and 
 
 Czaslov.f 
 
 Pity me, thou hast moved in Pallas' train ; 
 I mourn a terrible mishap to wit: 
 That sixty verses in thine honour writ 
 Are lost for ever, and beyond regain. 
 
 'Tis sometimes thus, when a poor mortal lies 
 With outstretched hands and spirit wrapt in prayer 
 At the high Altar's base ; then murm'ring tries, 
 In accents cold, to raise an anthem there, 
 That Satan bars all roads to Paradise, 
 And heart's desires are melted into air. 
 
 Brussels, 
 
 26tft Sept., 1742. 
 
 Your Royal Highness sees that such is my destiny in 
 regard to herself. About a year ago, I received a very charm- 
 ing little packet from you, accompanied by a letter from 
 the philosopher M. de Superville. I was just starting for 
 Paris when I received this proof of your gracious favour. I 
 call Apollo, the nine muses and the great goddess of gratitude 
 to witness, that during my journey I composed a great num- 
 ber of indifferent verses, to which on my arrival at Paris, I 
 added four pages of prose. This large parcel I myself took 
 to the chief post office in Paris and registered it with such 
 care that they evidently believed that it contained great 
 secrets. The curious will doubtless have been disappointed, 
 but I, Madame, am still more so, through what I learn to-day. 
 I am informed that your Royal Highness has neither received 
 the verses nor the prose ; and you have therefore every reason 
 
 * The Battle of Mollwitz, fought during the First Silesian War, 10th 
 April, 1741. Frederic the Great's first great victory over the Austrians. 
 t Battle of Czaslov, fought 17th May, 1742.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 21 
 
 to consider me a barbarian, idle and devoid of any knowledge 
 of my first duties. 
 
 Do me justice, Madame, consider how impossible it is for 
 me even to forget your many favours, and believe that not 
 only had I done myself the honour of writing to your Royal 
 Highness, but that I would have come to your own country, 
 personally to thank you — had fate permitted me to undertake 
 so pleasant a journey. No, Madame, I shall ever remember 
 the Princess, the Philosopher, the Patron of Art, the accom- 
 plished Musician, and the example of perfect courtesy and 
 affability. The King, your most august and amusing brother, 
 commanded me not long ago, to pay him my court at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle. He was well and looking like a hero, making fun 
 of his doctors and taking the baths for his amusement. I 
 found him unaltered, except in face. The last time I saw 
 him, two years ago, it was thin from the effects of fever ; it 
 has now grown quite round, which well becomes a crown of 
 laurels. Two more victories have not made him less humane 
 or less amiable. I shall never cease to regret those days 
 when I had the honour of paying my respects to your Royal 
 Highness and to His Majesty, at your retreat at Rheinsberg. 
 The kindness shown to me by the Margrave will ever be 
 present to me, and all that I most desire, is that I may once 
 more be permitted during my life to enjoy the same honour. 
 
 I am with the profoundest respect, 
 Madame, 
 
 Of your Your Royal Highness, 
 
 The very humble and very obedient 
 Servant, 
 
 Yoltaire. 
 
 It seemed like the irony of fate that the Margravine should 
 always meet Voltaire when he was suffering from one of his 
 diplomatic paroxysms. The great statesman Richelieu always
 
 22 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 desired to be a great poet, whilst the famous author Voltaire 
 aspired to be a distinguished statesman, and consequently both 
 failed signally in what they attempted to be. It was one of 
 these efforts at diplomacy which brought Yoltaire to Berlin in 
 August, 1743, for the purpose of inducing Frederic the 
 Great to take part in the Austrian-Bavarian war of succes- 
 sion.* He was to place an army at the disposal of the Elector 
 of Bavaria, the unfortunate German Emperor, Charles VII, 
 and his allies the French Ministers Amelot and Maurepas. 
 The King had however not the slightest intention of med- 
 dling in this business. When Voltaire laid his proposals 
 before him, the King laughed at him and suggested that, 
 instead of acting the part of a diplomatic agent, he should 
 accompany him to Baireuth. This indeed was a more fitting 
 occupation for the great author. Frederic had a political 
 project in view, but it was not one which agreed with France's 
 propositions. He wished to form a confederation of German 
 Princes to uphold the weak Charles VII against Austria. 
 For this purpose he made a digression to Anspach, where he 
 hoped to meet the Prince Bishop of Wurzburg, in order to 
 sound him as to the views held by the Franconian Princes 
 with reference to his project. Voltaire remained behind at 
 Baireuth. The King could not have ventured to have taken 
 him from the midst of such attractions as were offered to Mm 
 at the hands of a Royal Lady. There was at Baireuth besides 
 
 * After the death of Charles VII, Emperor of Germany, the Elector, 
 Charles Albert of Bavaria, in virtue of his relationship to the Emperor 
 Joseph I, and in consequence of a supposed clause in Emperor Ferdinand I's 
 will, laid claim to the greater part of the Austrian dominions. He made war 
 against Maria Theresa with the help of a French army, had himself 
 crowned King of Bohemia in 1741, and even in 1742 at Frankfort as Em- 
 peror of Germany, under the name of Charles VII. The Austrians mean- 
 while occupied Bavaria. On Charles VII's return to Munich he died, 1745. 
 His son Maximilian III made peace with Austria at Fiissen, acknowledged 
 the Pragmatic Sanction and received back his Bavarian territories taken by 
 Austria.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 23 
 
 the Margravine, the Duchess of Wurtemberg, who became 
 later on mother-in-law to Wilhelmine's daughter. She was a 
 woman of some cultivation but of rather extraordinary man- 
 ners, and she spent the nights at Baireuth in secretly making 
 a copy of "La Pucelle." Wilhelmine had assembled numerous 
 young ladies about her, who had probably read less of 
 Voltaire's works than would account for the admiration and 
 courtesy with which they surrounded him. 
 
 It is easily to be believed that the Margravine should have 
 written to the King at Anspach, " He is in the best humour 
 possible," for such feminine worship was much to Voltaire's 
 taste. Although the Princes Augustus "William of Prussia 
 and Ferdinand of Brunswick had remained at Baireuth, yet 
 Voltaire was the king of all the brilliant festivities. Wilhel- 
 mine had naturally done her utmost to make the visit of her 
 guests as pleasant and enjoyable as possible. She may too 
 have been anxious to show her family that, although she had 
 given up all thoughts of greatness and splendour, it was yet 
 possible for her in so remote a part of Germany to enjoy to 
 the full the pleasures of life. 
 
 The Margravine's guests remained a fortnight at her Court ; 
 it was the first and only time that Voltaire ever was 
 at Baireuth. Yet these days, spent in friendly and in- 
 tellectual intercourse with Wilhelmine, shed a purifying light 
 over the rest of his life. The impressions Baireuth made on 
 Voltaire can be compared to those which a hidden and beau- 
 tiful valley makes on him who has been continually tempest 
 tossed on life's stormy seas. " Baireuth is a delicious retreat," 
 Voltaire writes to Maupertuis on the 16th October, 1743, 
 " where one can enjoy all the advantages of a court, without 
 being inconvenienced by its grandeur." 
 
 It was a necessity with Voltaire to have the devotion of a 
 woman. First of all it was actresses who fulfilled this duty, 
 and later on the Marquise du Chatelet. " Uranie " as he 
 called her in the letter which he addresses to her at the com-
 
 24 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 mencement of his " Elements de la Philosophie de Newton." 
 Her ruling passions were Voltaire and Algebra. On his side 
 there was less enthusiasm, at first Voltaire probably cared for the 
 Marquise more out of curiosity — a mathematical mistress was 
 something new and interesting — than from habit. " La 
 sublime Emilie" was of a very jealous nature. Although 
 outwardly no longer resembling an angel, she drove all other 
 feminine influence out of her paradise with a flaming sword. 
 Only the good-natured Madame de Grraffigny, the authoress 
 of the "Lettres Peruviennes" and other less important works 
 was tolerated at Cirey. She was however no longer a 
 dangerous rival, being fifty-six. This is the reason of the 
 somewhat singular fact, that during the Cirey period 
 Voltaire's correspondence with women was far more rare than 
 before and after that time. The death of the Marquise at 
 Luneville, 10th September, 1749, was a great turning point 
 in Voltaire's life. What attraction was there now to keep 
 him in his own country, and prevent his accepting the 
 tempting proposals of his Royal friend, which had for 
 thirteen years been so often repeated and of late still more 
 urgently? Was it perhaps the persecutions of the Jesuits, 
 or the dislike of Louis XV, or the attacks of envious and 
 spiteful authors ? Voltaire saw how, in his own fatherland, 
 a great country was sinking into ruin, through the mis- 
 management of a bad government, whilst in Prussia he saw 
 a state rising up to power and importance through the wise 
 rule of its Sovereign ! Voltaire longed for a peaceful and 
 quiet asylum. Sans Souci offered him rest, honour, liberty — 
 a new life. With what pride must he have heard the loud 
 whispers of admiration on the occasion of his first public 
 appearance at a great fete at Berlin, on the 25th September, 
 1750. This brilliant entertainment, which took place in the 
 Lust Grarten (pleasure garden), of Berlin, illuminated by 
 30,000 coloured lamps, was given in honour of the Margravine 
 of Baireuth. Voltaire and Wilhelmine had not met for
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 
 
 25 
 
 seven years, nor had they corresponded together except 
 through third persons such as M. de Superville. During 
 the Margravine's visit of three months at Berlin and Potsdam 
 (from August 8th till November 26th), their acquaintance 
 became more intimate, their relations closer, and their 
 correspondence a regular one. 
 
 Wilhelmine was no longer a happy wife since she had 
 made the painful discovery that her husband's affections 
 had been stolen from her by one of her own ladies, and this 
 the one she had loved and favoured the most. Even 
 Descartes' " Idees innees " could not help her to overcome 
 this first bitter sorrow. She had to battle it out alone ! 
 Who knows if she would not gladly have sacrificed all her 
 learning in exchange for one sign of affection from her 
 husband! Hers was not a demonstrative nor exacting 
 nature, but it was one which needed love and affection. 
 After many a bitter struggle she resigned herself to her fate. 
 
 Many changes had taken place in Wilhelmine's character 
 during the last seven years. Sorrow and trouble had made 
 her richer in experience ; intellectual intercourse became a 
 greater want, and intimate friends found her far more 
 communicative. The Margravine conversed openly with 
 Voltaire on all details connected with her family life. The 
 elasticity of youth was past and gone, Wilhelmine required 
 society and companionship, and as she could not find these at 
 Baireuth, Voltaire undertook to procure her both. He first 
 of all sent the actor Heurtand, to augment the French 
 troupe at Baireuth. This actor had played with Lekain on 
 Voltaire's own theatre at Paris, especially built for the 
 representations of the author's own works. The court at 
 Baireuth kept up an Italian Opera and French Comedy ; 
 Consuelo* and Lekain had both acted there. The Margrave 
 
 A famous Italian singer.
 
 26 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Frederic had built an Opera House, the size and splendour of 
 which still now create admiration, and once caused Frederic 
 the Great to ask his brother-in-law where he had taken the 
 money from wherewith to build it. It would have been 
 more appropriate to have asked where the audience was to 
 come from, to fill such a large house. Not only actors were 
 sent to that lovely residence in the valley of the Main, but 
 also other personages of interest. 
 
 " The Margravine wishes to attract Madame de Graffigny 
 " to her court," Voltaire writes to his niece, Madame Denis, 
 on 22nd August, 1750, "and I have besides suggested the 
 " Marquis d'Adhemar to her. There is no room for him 
 " here in the army, he ought at least to speak German well, 
 " and this would be the least of the difficulties. To my 
 " mind he could do nothing better during this time of peace 
 " than to attach himself to the Court of Baireuth. Most of 
 " the German courts resemble in fact that of the old Palatine, 
 " at any rate during the time of the tournaments. They are 
 " old castles where one endeavours to spend a pleasant and 
 " enjoyable life. Beautiful ladies are to be seen, and elegant 
 "cavaliers. Jugglers are sent for, and there is an Italian 
 " Opera and a French Theatre at Baireuth, also a fine 
 " Library, of which the Princess makes good use. I think it 
 " will be a bargain for which both sides can be grateful to 
 " me. With respect to Madame ' La Peruvienne,' she will 
 " be more difficult to transplant. She has become at home in 
 " Paris, is well thought of there, and has friends whom at 
 " her age one dislikes giving up." It may be that Voltaire 
 did not wish to see Madame de Graffigny hold an appoint- 
 ment about the Margravine. The "Peruvian" friend had 
 been witness of many scenes at Cirey, between the poet and 
 his beloved "Uranie," which he probably did not wish 
 spoken about, and it seems that Madame de Graffigny was 
 very fond of talking. The words quoted from Voltaire's 
 letter are like a slight hint sent to Paris, and Madame
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 
 
 27 
 
 Denis' answer may have been somewhat to the same effect, 
 for the letter written by Voltaire to the Margravine (bearing 
 no date of any kind) would lead one to infer that he had 
 arranged matters as he wished. This letter must have been 
 written in September, 1750, as the subjects mentioned in it 
 are also touched on in another to Madame Denis, where 
 Voltaire mentions having acted the part of Cicero in the 
 tragedy of " Eome Sauvee." This piece was given several 
 times at Berlin after the King's return from Silesia in 
 September, 1750. Another proof that this letter must have 
 been written about that time, is contained in the fact of the 
 poet's writing to his niece, Madame de Fontaine, on the 
 23rd September, 1750, speaking of his attacks of illness 
 mentioned in the following letter. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 I pray your Eoyal Highness to give up 
 Madame de Graffigny ; she is old and ailing. But you are 
 ill and old, your Eoyal Highness will reply. Yes, Madame ; 
 but my feelings are still young, and the King, your brother, 
 makes me grow younger. In a word, Madame de Graffigny 
 does not wish to leave Paris, and I do not wish to leave 
 Frederic the Great. In this world each one of us is 
 governed by his own tastes. I will unearth some pleasant 
 woman, neither young nor old, not a mischief-maker, clever, 
 virtuous, and of good birth, and you shall have her for a new 
 year's gift, as well as a certain little maniac called Heurtand, 
 who has been retained by M. de Montperni. He makes you 
 roar with laughter in comedy, and shed tears in tragedy. 
 No Eome is saved to-day, you must have the King quite to 
 yourself. Cicero is meanwhile tormented by infernal pains, 
 and is therefore prevented from paying his court and appear- 
 ing in shoes to-day. 
 
 I lay myself at your Eoyal Highness's feet. 
 
 Voltaire.
 
 28 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 The Margravine had returned on the 26th November, 
 1750, to her home. Voltaire had at last been induced to 
 remain at Berlin, near the King; that is to say, he had 
 always intended doing so when he came to Berlin, but the 
 question had arisen as to what he was to receive for doing so. 
 In order to make his salary as high a one as possible, he 
 threatened to return to France, and then to make his 
 " pilgrimage to Italy, to see St. Peter's at Eome, the Pope, 
 " and the Yenus di Medici." Voltaire did not go to France, 
 neither did he ever see Italy. The King gave him his order 
 "Pour le Merite," the Lord Chamberlain's Key of Office, and 
 a pension of 4,000 Thalers;* and another to Madame Denis 
 of 4,000 "Livres"; besides this he had apartments, free 
 table, and horses and carriages both at Berlin and at Potsdam. 
 What could he want more ? 
 
 The poet and the Margravine had given each other a 
 promise on taking leave to keep up a regular correspondence. 
 Voltaire was the first to begin it. He was most anxious to 
 see the Marquis d'Adhemar appointed to the Court of 
 Baireuth. We will gladly believe that it was as much in 
 the Margravine's interest as in that of his friend. Who, 
 after all, was the Marquis d'Adhemar ? An acquaintance 
 Voltaire had made at the Court of King Stanislas of Poland, 
 at Luneville, at the time of a curious intrigue planned by 
 the Jesuit Menon, confessor to the old weak-minded Polish 
 King. This priest, jealous of the influence exercised over 
 the King by the Marquise de Boufflers (his favourite), wished 
 to replace her by the Marquise du Chatelet. Voltaire and 
 his " Uranie " came to Luneville, but instead of taking part 
 against Madame de Boufflers they became her fast friends in 
 order to make war on the Jesuit priest. 
 
 It is to be supposed that Voltaire's acquaintance with 
 
 £600.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 29 
 
 Adhemar dates from the year 1749. We imagine the 
 friendship to have arisen in this way : The Marquis, who 
 belonged to one of the oldest families of the French nobility, 
 being a young man of a poetical turn of mind, had been 
 eager to show the celebrated author his admiration and 
 respect. Voltaire, who was very susceptible to such atten- 
 tions, had encouraged Adhemar to visit him at Paris. The 
 Marquis spent the winter of 1749-50 in the French capital, and 
 was much at Voltaire's house, where he took part in the 
 theatrical representations ; amongst others he acted Caesar in 
 " Rome sauvee." Adhemar seems to have been a great 
 favourite not only with the poet, but also with his niece. A 
 picture of Madame Denis hangs in one of the drawing-rooms 
 at Sans Souci. She is there represented as young and pretty, 
 with a very winning expression. Madame Denis courted 
 admiration, and it may be for this reason that Voltaire was at 
 such great pains to get the Marquis to Baireuth and away 
 from Paris and his niece. The little we know of him, and 
 of his relations to Voltaire and the Margravine, would lead 
 us to infer that his was one of those sensitive amiable 
 natures, that easily attached themselves to people, too much a 
 man of society ever to figure prominently in the more impor- 
 tant events of public life. He was the author of a work 
 called the " Eloge historique de la Margrave de Baireuth." 
 
 At the end of the next letter, which was sent from the 
 " Abbey of Sans Souci " to Baireuth, mention is made of 
 Arnaud, who was the cause of all those misunderstandings 
 which three years later brought about a complete rupture 
 between Voltaire and Frederic the Great. " Place two 
 " women, two authors, and two bigots at the end of the 
 " world, there will still be one of them who will play tricks 
 " to the others," Voltaire writes in one of his letters, and we 
 apply this sentence to himself. Arnaud, author of the 
 comedy "Le Mauvais Riche," came to Berlin on the recom- 
 mendation of the Marquis d'Argens. " He gave himself out
 
 30 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 " to be of high rank," Voltaire writes, " having lost his titles 
 " of nobility, his poems, and the portraits of his mistresses on 
 " the road, all of which he had enclosed in his nightcap." 
 When Yoltaire appeared at Berlin, Arnand had already been 
 established there for eight months in the capacity of literary 
 correspondent, or, as Voltaire called him, "the King's 
 " poem boy." The King had some time previously, whilst 
 endeavouring to disgust Voltaire with his residence in France, 
 and forcing him to come and settle at Berlin, sent a satire of 
 the poet's on his old enemy " l'Ancien Eveque Mirepoix " or 
 " l'Ane Mirepoix," as he called him, to the said Bishop 
 through Count Rothenburg. But this had no effect ; Vol- 
 taire would not leave France. The King now thought of a 
 fresh way of gaining his wish, viz., to praise another author's 
 poems, and this plan succeeded admirably. Voltaire ap- 
 peared shortly at Berlin. In some very civil lines addressed to 
 Arnaud by the King, Frederic had compared him to the rising, 
 and Voltaire to the setting sun. Voltaire was furiously jealous 
 of Arnaud on account of these flattering terms, and Arnaud 
 was in turn much offended witli Voltaire on account of the 
 distinctions shown him by the King. Arnaud was too vain 
 a creature, and possessed of too little genius to understand 
 the appreciation of a greater one than his, even though to it 
 he owed much gratitude. Voltaire pretended that Arnaud 
 was in league with his enemies at Paris, and finally placed 
 the alternative before the King, " Your Majesty — he or I ? " 
 Frederic reflected, that although he had no cause of complaint 
 against Arnaud, yet Voltaire was of greater and more prac- 
 tical importance to him, therefore Arnaud must be sacrificed. 
 Arnaud was the beginning of the end. Voltaire seems to 
 have felt something of this kind himself, when he wrote to 
 his niece, " My triumph grieves me." Yet his cold calcu- 
 lating nature prevented his standing still and considering the 
 possible results of his conduct ; he felt himself so secure in 
 the King's favour.
 
 AKD THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 31 
 
 Potsdam, 
 
 9th December, 1750. 
 Madame, 
 
 Great devotion leads one very far, and I should 
 have had the honour of following the worthy sister of a hero 
 to Baireuth, had not the advantages of living near the hero 
 still kept me at his feet. Your Eoyal Highness knows that 
 I was to start on the 15th December for France, but how is 
 it possible to have any other Fatherland but that of Frederic 
 the Great ? The only grief one has, is in no longer seeing 
 your Eoyal Highness there. One is consoled by the news 
 received of your health. It is said that it is re-established, 
 that you bore the fatigues of the journey well. If your 
 Royal Highness could have a body as perfect as your soul, 
 and health equal to your beauty, what more could you wish for 
 on earth ? Perhaps, Madame will feel the desire of making 
 some more people happy, and will draw around her some 
 fresh, pleasant companions, worthy of seeing and of listening 
 to her ? 
 
 As I am unable to return to Paris as early as I intended, 
 I have entrusted the duty of finding a Lady of rank, a widow, 
 who is clever, literary, and fond of conversation, to my niece. 
 Perhaps the desire of carrying out your wishes, will enable 
 her to find that which your Royal Highness desires. 
 Anyhow, I can assure you, that she will do her utmost, and 
 that your Royal Highness can confidently accept what she 
 will present to you. I still think that the Marquis d'Adliemar, 
 who is known at your Court, would be a very proper person. 
 I can answer for his good sense, for his cleverness, and for 
 his worth. I do not think the Margrave could make a better 
 choice, but on this point I shall await your orders. I feel 
 more sure of the great acquisition which he would be to your 
 Court, than I do of the Marquis d'Adhemar's present 
 arrangements, but having had the honour of approaching 
 your Royal Highness, who could doubt his wish of establishing
 
 82 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 himself in her service. Deprived as I am of the pleasure 
 of passing my life at your feet, and at those of the Margrave, 
 I should he happy if my friend should be able to do so. 
 
 You are no doubt aware, Madame, that the King ordered 
 d'Arnaud to leave Berlin at twenty-four hours' notice. He 
 is now at Dresden, where he brags of his successes at the 
 Court of Berlin. 
 
 I am, with the most profound respect, your Eoyal 
 Highness's most humble and obedient servant 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 The following day, December 10th, the Margravine ful- 
 filled her promise by writing a letter to Voltaire which 
 crossed his from Potsdam. In person she was at the Castle 
 of Baireuth, but in mind she dwelt in the "Abbey" or 
 " Monastery," for by this name Frederic the Great's 
 intimate circle called the Palace of Sans Souci. It was 
 situated amidst terraces and vineyards at Potsdam. At the 
 end of the left wing of the Palace an apartment had been 
 arranged for the King's favourite. It was full of costly 
 furniture, rare china, had a dressing-table such as Madame 
 de Pompadour could scarcely have possessed. In this room, 
 at a gilt writing table, covered with blue velvet, Voltaire 
 worked, whenever Frederic sent for him to Sans Souci. He 
 came there but rarely and lived generally in the Castle at 
 Potsdam, which is only a quarter of an hour's walk from 
 Sans Souci. His rooms in the castle were directly under 
 those of the King, and looked out upon the " Lust Garten," 
 the famous drill ground of the Prussian army. As we 
 mentioned before, Sans Souci bore the name of the "Abbey " 
 or " Monastery." The King was called the " Prior " or 
 " Abbot " of this half military and half literary monastery, 
 those around him were the " Brother Monks," and for this 
 reason also Voltaire hereafter signs himself in his letters as 
 " Brother Voltaire." Those members of the " Brotherhood "
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 33 
 
 not actually at Sans Souci were called " deacons.'' Their 
 community was called " The Church," and everything con- 
 demned by the Church of Rome, they considered as " Holy." 
 This profanation of clerical institutions, which the reader 
 will often meet with in the following pages, was the outcome 
 of the prevailing opinions and tone of the times. It was the 
 natural reaction after the exclusive dominion and tyrannical 
 oppressions which the Church's authority had exercised over 
 all minds up to this time. In no other place in Europe, 
 during the years preceding the Seven Years' War, was this 
 revolutionary process against old institutions and the substi- 
 tution of new ones so marked and characteristic as at Sans 
 Souci. 
 
 10th December, 1750. 
 
 I promised you, Sir, to write to you, and I keep my word. 
 I trust our correspondence will not be as meagre as are our 
 two persons, and that you will often give me cause to reply 
 to you. I will not speak to you of my regrets ; it would 
 only be renewing them. I am constantly transported to 
 your Abbey, and you will understand that he who is its 
 abbot occupies me always. I have executed your commis- 
 sions with the Margrave. He desires me to assure you of 
 his friendship, and begs you will conclude matters regarding 
 the Marquis d'Adhemar. He will be charmed to take him 
 in his service, as Chamberlain, and will make him con- 
 ditions with which he can be satisfied. Although your 
 recommendation suffices to the Margrave, it will be necessary 
 for the satisfaction of the Marquis to have one either from 
 Mons. de Puisieulx or from Mons. d'Argenson, which he 
 could produce at Court. I should be much obliged to you if 
 you would persuade him to come here soon, where we have 
 great need of help to fill up the gaps in the conversation, 
 which seem to be with us very like Chinese music, in which 
 there are long pauses ending up in discordant tones. I am 
 
 l)
 
 34 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 afraid that my letter suffers from it ; so much the better for 
 you, Sir. Some moments of weariness are necessary in life, 
 so as to set off to advantage those which give pleasure. After 
 reading this letter, the little suppers will seem far more 
 agreeable to you. Think of me sometimes, I beg of you, 
 during them, and be convinced of my perfect esteem. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 In the next letter from the Margravine (the third which 
 follows here) there is a note made at the words, " I have 
 " received your consoling epistle." This note is by the 
 author of Voltaire's published correspondence, and is as 
 follows : " Letter unknown." We give the letter here, which 
 is one of the most graceful of all those he wrote to Wil- 
 helmine. 
 
 December, 1750. 
 Madame, 
 
 Tour Royal Highness is perfectly right ; one 
 ought to have a quiet peaceable life. 
 
 Princes and monks have only their lives in this world. 
 It is not Regiments which constitute happiness, but to pass 
 the twenty-four hours of the day in quietness, and this is far 
 more difficult than one would suppose. The Great Turk is 
 bored at Constantinople, and yet it is a beautiful town. The 
 situation of Baireuth is not a very cheerful one, but cleverness 
 and affability embellish all things. "Well then, Madame, 
 as it is necessary to use " big words," what would you do 
 with your intelligence, and your charms, if your Royal 
 Highness had not half a dozen people of worth to be 
 influenced by them? It is a very good idea to add some 
 more voices to your orchestra. I have written twice again 
 letters to the Marquis d'Adhemar, but have still no answer — 
 he must be under the charm of some Armida. I have 
 written a furious letter to my niece, she must use her 
 authority, and disenchant Adhemar, so as to send him more
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 35 
 
 enchanted to your feet. But, Madame, it would require two 
 Adhemars, and two Graffignys, as recruits to pleasure. 
 
 I swear by the devotion I bear to your Royal Highness 
 that had I been able to go to Paris, I should have brought 
 you some recruits, not beardless boys, not fools, composers 
 of high-flown verses, but people worthy of paying you their 
 court. Ah ! Madame, romances sometimes pass through my 
 mind. I say to myself : supposing that during the months 
 of November, December, and January, when the King had 
 enough company, I could go and pay my respects to the 
 divine sister ! If whilst I came there from the East, my 
 niece should come there from the West ? And then the 
 operas, the new dramas, would not that all be far more worth 
 while than going to Italy ? Madame, I would prefer you to 
 St. Peter at Rome, to the subterranean city — to the Pope 
 himself. Is that possible ? I know nothing about it. I 
 live from one day to another, working day and night at the 
 century of Louis XIV. I am endeavouring to present a 
 great picture of the revolution of the human mind, during 
 that time when people began to think, from the Alps to the 
 Carpathians. It may help to amuse some of your Eoyal 
 Highness's leisure moments. But I must get rid of my 
 romance about Baireuth, for to dream that you possess a 
 treasure, and to wake up and find oneself empty-handed, is 
 too sad. 
 
 I am writing all this accompanied by the sound of drums, 
 of trumpets, and of incessant reports of firearms, which 
 deafen my pacific ears ; it is good for Frederic the Great. 
 He requires his armies of a morning, and Apollo in the 
 afternoon. He possesses everything : he forms battalions 
 and composes rhymes. As to the rest, each brother is 
 peaceably established in his cell; M. de Rothenbourg still 
 continues ill, Maupertuis also, Polnitz is rather sad. 
 
 I am always pining and sickly — always working hard, and 
 always longing to pay my respects to your Royal Highnesses. 
 
 d 2
 
 36 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Would it be permitted, if not wanting in respect, to 
 beg that M. de Maupertuis may not be forgotten. My 
 paper is at an end, and there is no room for the expression 
 of my profound respect. What does it matter ? 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 We shall often meet with the name of the Marquis de 
 Montperni in the following correspondence. He was a 
 Frenchman by birth, Lord Chamberlain to the Margravine, 
 and Director of the Theatre and public works at Baireuth. 
 He was much esteemed by the Margrave and Margravine, 
 as well as by Frederic the Great, for his noble character. 
 It was to his house that the Margravine was carried from 
 her bed of sickness when the Castle of Baireuth was nearly 
 burnt down, January 26, 1753. Montperni accompanied 
 the Margravine on her last visit to Berlin. It was there 
 apparently that Voltaire made his acquaintance. 
 
 It was a peculiarity of Voltaire's to speak in derision of 
 his own ugly appearance. He used to compare himself in 
 this respect with Angelo Cori, manager of the Berlin Opera. 
 This Italian was the ugliest man in all Berlin, and therefore 
 often spoken of there as " Angel Cori." Hofrath L. 
 Schneider, in his excellent history of the Berlin Opera, gives 
 a description of Cori, according to which Voltaire certainly 
 had the satisfaction of knowing that there existed at least 
 one person more frightful than himself. 
 
 In Voltaire's next letter he makes mention of this mutual 
 ugliness. The Margravine was at this time occupied in 
 turning Voltaire's " Semiramis " into an opera. She com- 
 posed the music and Cori wrote the Italian libretto, which 
 was submitted to the poet for correction, although he 
 personally disliked the whole undertaking. The opera was 
 not to be detrimental to the orignal work, but it could not 
 help detracting from its interest. The tragedy had not been 
 well received by the Berlin public. " Zaire," on the contrary,
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 37 
 
 which, strange to say, Voltaire did not think worth one single 
 scene of " Rome Sauvee," had met with a greater success. 
 This piece was given by Prince Henry of Prussia's little 
 troupe, i.e., Prince Augustus William and Prince Henry, 
 Princess Amelie, who acted the chief part, and Voltaire, who 
 took the part of " the good Lusignan." Perhaps, on this 
 occasion, Voltaire wore the diamonds about which he had the 
 lawsuit with the Jew, Hirsch. Lady Tyrconnel, wife of the 
 French envoy at Berlin, was " Andromache," but the one 
 actor who seemed most at home in his part was the burly 
 Irish Lord Tyrconnel. He had nothing else to do but to 
 sit at the dinner table. The chief event of the winter 
 festivities was the artistic representation of the opera 
 " Phaeton." Gxaun had composed the music and directed it 
 in person, sitting at the piano in a red coat, with a white wig. 
 This opera enchanted the court and the public, not so much 
 on account of the music and the singers, as for the marvellous 
 manner it had been put on the stage, a thing never before 
 seen at Berlin. Above all, the Temple of the Sun God, 
 composed of columns of glass, illuminated by numberless 
 lamps, produced a dazzling effect. 
 
 At Berlin, 
 
 12th December, 1750. 
 Madame, 
 
 Your Royal Highness's commands have crossed 
 with the expression of my homage, and whilst I was 
 placing myself at her feet she was deigning to write to me. 
 I was anxious for the Marquis d'Adhemar and Spada's sake, 
 and I would venture to say also for that of your Royal 
 Highnesses that he should be at your Court. Permit me, 
 Madame, to have the honour of explaining to you that it is 
 difficult to suggest to him to carry about letters of intro- 
 duction in his pocket. He is the son of the Great Chamber- 
 lain of King Stanislas, and it only depended on himself
 
 38 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 to become Chamberlain at that Court with every advantage 
 his birth and abilities could procure him. His love of war 
 prevented his taking this post. He is one of the King of 
 France's best officers. He was a captain in the cavalry ; he 
 had been promised a regiment, which promise was never kept. 
 He was to have been sent as the King's minister to Brussels ; 
 again he was passed over. 
 
 This is the situation. I imagined that his disappointment 
 at being useless, and the knowledge he has of your Royal 
 Highness, might induce him to associate himself with your 
 Court. I must obtain your Eoyal Highness's permission not 
 to speak with Mons. d'Adhemar till after you have been fully 
 informed of his worth. It will be easy for the King's 
 minister to obtain this at Paris. 
 
 You can also, Madame, desire Mons. d'Ammon, the King's 
 Chamberlain, who is going to France about a Treaty of 
 Commerce, to report to you on Mons. d'Adhemar, and to 
 speak to the ministers about it, without letting it be suspected 
 that he wishes to leave France. 
 
 Graciously remember, Madame, that I have made no pro- 
 mises respecting the Marquis d'Adhemar, that I told your 
 Eoyal Highness that I would do my utmost to get hold of 
 him ; I still persist in this wish, because I know Mons. 
 d'Adhemar is capable of attachment, and that he is not one 
 of those who are likely to leave a charming Court to go and 
 settle at Monaco. I shall await your Eoyal Highness's 
 orders on this subject. I shall still remain three months in 
 this monastery, where you are regretted every day. I am 
 still a monk at Berlin, as I was at Potsdam, being only 
 acquainted with my cell and with the reverend Father Abbot, 
 near to whom I wish to live and die, and who alone consoles 
 me for not passing my days with your Eoyal Highness. 
 Tour monastery and his are the only ones where a soul like 
 mine can find salvation. I have heard the service of 
 "Saint Semiramis" put into verse, or something like it, by
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 39 
 
 Brother Cori, Chaplain to the Opera. Sparks of that divine 
 fire which animate the august Wilhelmine are to be found 
 in Brother Cori's poems. We had a representation of 
 " Phaeton " yesterday, and in order to give a truer idea of the 
 conflagration caused by this audacious personage, the scenery 
 caught fire. The King was slightly indisposed and did not 
 see the opera. Prince Henry's little troupe are going to give 
 " Zaire," but whilst amusement is prevailing here, great 
 mortality rages among the animals ; the horses have got the 
 plague in England ; mankind has it in Poland and on the 
 frontiers of Wallachia. 
 
 Live happy, Madame, and take care of your precious 
 health, and deign still to bestow your favours and that of the 
 Margrave on me. I have attended to your commands. 
 
 I renew to your Eoyal Highnesses the expression of my 
 profound respect. 
 
 Brother Voltaire.
 
 40 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 The Margravine, it would appear, was in singularly good 
 spirits and humour at this time. The King, writing to his 
 sister on the 31st December, 1750, says, " The only thing 
 which comforts me for your absence is the knowledge of 
 your being so well in health and in such good temper ; at 
 least so it appears from your letter." 
 
 Her letters are full of jokes, and she sometimes seems to 
 go somewhat too far in her love of making witty remarks. 
 One can fancy the dismay of the old court Chaplain Nol- 
 tenius, before whom Wilhelmine had made her declaration 
 of faith as a child, could he have heard his former pupil cite 
 St. Paul as the author of the Epistle to the " elect Lady " 
 instead of St. John ! Such mistakes are pardonable, but to 
 place the epistle of one of the Apostles in the same category 
 as that of a French author of comedies, and to speak of the 
 miracles of the Holy Spirit in a profane manner in connection 
 with the birth of the Elector Frederic Augustus of Saxony, 
 was giving her wit too much license. 
 
 The House of Hohenzollern belonged to that branch of 
 Protestantism which owned the cold fanatic Calvin as its 
 head. His dogmas were quite as rigid as those of the Roman 
 Catholic Church, though they lacked the attractive forms of 
 the latter. The devil played a great part in the religious 
 belief, " no devil, no God " was its creed. Everyone who 
 did not believe in the former was looked on as a heretic. 
 According to this opinion the Margravine certainly was one. 
 She was averse to all restraint and rule in matters of faith, 
 though she on the other hand fully accepted our Saviour's 
 teaching of love and charity. The philosophy of her master
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 41 
 
 Descartes sprang from his belief in God and led back to Him 
 again. "I pity your blindness only to believe in one God 
 and to deny Christ," Wilhelmine writes to Voltaire. Could 
 a true Christian have given a more decided proof of faith 
 than this? As to Voltaire, the excesses which had been 
 perpetrated for ages under the cloak of Christianity had 
 raised doubts in his mind, and had led him at last to deny 
 the existence of a Saviour. It was at this point that Wilhel- 
 mine and Voltaire's paths separated. 
 
 In the Margravine and her brother Christian faith was 
 innate, but from their earliest youth they had rebelled against 
 being forced to adhere to certain formulas laid down for them. 
 Their independent spirit and desire for liberty of thought 
 led them to look for a life-giving power in Christianity, and 
 they found only a doctrine of dead letters and set forms. Is it 
 therefore to be wondered at that these young minds should 
 have refused to believe in what was placed before them in so 
 cold and unmeaning a form, though beneath it lay so much 
 hidden treasure ? Is it strange that they should have be- 
 come callous, nay, have begun to doubt, even to deny ? In 
 Frederic's case there was no recovery from this state of un- 
 belief, and he sought compensation for it in restless activity. 
 With Wilhelmine, however, sorrow, trouble, and the experi- 
 ences of life transformed the dry dogmas into a real and lively 
 faith which satisfied her longings and aspirations. In her 
 belief in Christ she found light, love, peace ; hence her 
 deeply rooted hatred for all unchristian demeanour, insolent 
 bigotry, fanatical persecutions, and narrow-minded super- 
 stition ; in one word, for the dark cloud of ignorance which 
 lay over mankind. 
 
 The reader must not be misled by a satirical remark here 
 and there : it but represents a peculiarity which arose, in great 
 measure, from the prevailing tone adopted by society. Let 
 us bear in mind that one striking remark : "I pity your 
 blindness only to believe in one God and to deny Christ."
 
 42 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 25th December, 1750. 
 
 Sister Gruillemette to Brother Voltaire, greeting : for I 
 number myself among the happy inmates of your Abbey, 
 although I am no longer there, and I am counting much, if 
 (rod gives me a good and long life, to take my place there again 
 one day. I have received your consoling epistle. I swear 
 my biggest oath, that it edified me infinitely more than that 
 of St. Paul* to the elect Lady, which epistle caused me 
 to feel a certain drowsiness worthy of opium, preventing 
 me seeing its beauties. Yours had the contrary effect, it 
 roused me from my lethargy, and has restored action to my 
 vital spirits. 
 
 Although you have postponed your journey to Paris, I hope 
 you will keep your word and that you will come and see me. 
 Apollo used to familiarize himself with mortals, and did not 
 scorn to become a pastor in order to instruct them. Do the 
 same, Sir, you cannot follow a better example. 
 
 What do you say to the arrival of the Messiah at Dresden ? 
 Will you be able after that to question miracles ? If I had 
 been the Prince Royal of Saxony I would have given the 
 whole honour to the Holy Spirit ; but he thinks like 
 Charles VI. 
 
 When the Empress gave birth to the Archduke, people 
 said that St. Nepomuck had the credit of it ; " God forbid," 
 the Emperor said, " I should then be a cuckold." 
 
 But let us there leave the Holy Spirit and the Messiah. 
 Although he is born to-day, I assure you I never should have 
 thought of him, without the marvellous event in Saxony. I 
 prefer to think of the " beaux esprits " of Potsdam, of its 
 Abbot and its monks. In your turn, think sometimes of 
 those who are absent. Rely always on me, as on a true 
 friend. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 * The Margravine evidently means 3rd Epistle of St. John.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 43 
 
 The Margravine sends the foregoing letter in answer to 
 one Voltaire wrote her in December, 1750. On the 28th 
 December she seems not yet to have received the one written 
 on 19th December. To this latter she sends the following 
 answer. 
 
 6th January, 1752. 
 
 I take advantage of a moment remaining to me, to acquaint 
 you, Sir, that the Duke of Wurtemberg intends taking the 
 Marquis d'Adhemar into his service. He became acquainted 
 with him at Paris, and I learned from a gentleman in the 
 Duke's suite, that the Marquis d'Adhemar proposed himself 
 coming here. I beg you to be beforehand, and to engage him 
 to come soon to this Court. I wish you perfect health during 
 this year. It is the only thing you lack to make you happy. 
 We are acting here as you are doing at Berlin. Good bye. 
 I must leave you to rehearse my part. Be persuaded of my 
 perfect esteem. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 Berlin, 
 
 6th January, 1751. 
 Madame, 
 
 Brother Yoltaire has only changed his cell. 
 He lives at Berlin, as at Potsdam, in great retirement, 
 thinking much of your Royal Highness. He promises 
 to come in person to your royal monastery, to ask your 
 blessing, as soon as he returns from that great town of Paris, 
 to which he must at last repair to put his temporal affairs in 
 order, which he has too long neglected for the spiritual ones 
 of the Rev. Father Abbot. I am much surprised that your 
 reverence should not have received two letters from me 
 instead of one. I certainly had the honour of writing twice 
 to you from the Priory of Potsdam. It seems that heaven 
 does not favour the intercourse of such lax monks as we are. 
 Tour reverence makes some most salutary reflections on the
 
 44 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 last miracle. You know how necessary miracles sometimes are. 
 "We formerly required a Virgin in France, and oftentimes 
 the reverse was required elsewhere. signore, signore 
 figliuoli in ogni tnodo ! Love was the Holy Spirit of ancient 
 days. It was he who concerned himself in those matters. 
 In our present times it is the monks and the saints. Our 
 mythology is pitiable ; nothing falls so flat as what is called 
 Catholicism. 
 
 Let us now turn to the commands your Royal Highness 
 has given me concerning the Marquis d'Adhemar. I have 
 written to him, and shall do myself the honour of reporting 
 his answer. I feel sure that he will he most sensible of the 
 happiness of being admitted a member of your court. He 
 has a soul worthy of yours, and I venture to say that he is 
 just the person made to suit the Margrave and yourself. 
 M. de Montperni will find in him a most agreeable com- 
 panion. He possesses, besides, much taste, composes pretty 
 verses, and he is above all things the most upright man in 
 this world, as he is the most courageous. It is sad to be 
 obliged to speak to a man with such a character of such 
 rubbish as salary and money, and it is to sully the paper 
 and fatigue your Royal Highness with these nothings, which 
 Sister Gruillemette despises so thoroughly. But these matters 
 being an absolute necessity in this life, and as Kings as well 
 as charcoalburners are unable to do anything without money, 
 I have mentioned the subject in my letter to the Marquis 
 d'Adhemar. I do not think your Royal Highness will dis- 
 avow me, and I therefore wrote that 1500 crowns* would be 
 about what was necessary. I think that M. de Montperni's 
 salary does not amount to more, and we must not give any 
 cause for jealousy, even between persons who cannot be 
 jealous. I have considered your purse, and done violence to 
 your generosity by proposing 1500 crowns. It will be only 
 
 * Quinze cents ecus.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 45 
 
 your Royal Highness and the Margrave who can scold me 
 for having offered little, for my friend d'Adhemar will not. 
 In a word, he cannot live at a more generous Court, and 
 this Court cannot make a more worthy acquisition. I 
 wish he could start with my niece and me, but ah ! 
 adorable Abbesse, if we were all three in your convent, we 
 would wish never to leave it. All the other Brothers 
 kiss the hem of your sacred robe. 
 
 I do not know if M. de Montperni has received news of a little 
 mad comic actor whom I had procured as a recruit for your 
 troupe. I do not quite know how to call myself to M. de Mont- 
 perni's remembrance ; one cannot take such liberties in writing 
 to your Royal Highness. I lay myself at your Royal High- 
 ness' feet, and at those of His Royal Highness. We acted 
 "Zaire" yesterday. Prince Henry surpassed himself; the 
 Prince Royal spoke very distinctly. Prince Ferdinand 
 softened his voice, Princess Amelie displayed much tender- 
 ness, and the Queen-Mother was enchanted. But, Baireuth, 
 Baireuth, when shall I have the happiness of witnessing your 
 fetes, and above all of admiring, of revering, and of daring to 
 adore from nearer that august Princess to whom I present 
 
 my profound respects from so far ? 
 
 Yoltaire. 
 
 23rd January, 1751. 
 
 I must have explained myself very badly in my last letter, 
 since you have not understood the sense of it. I was per- 
 haps at that moment inspired by the Holy Spirit. As you 
 are not an Apostle, you found most obscure that which 
 I thought perfectly clear. I come to the explanation of it. 
 The Duke of Wurtemberg announced to me that he had the 
 intention of taking the Marquis d'Adhemar into his service. 
 I feared he would inform you of it, and asked you to arrange 
 in such a way that the Marquis should refuse the offer made 
 to him in the Duke's name. The Margrave will not disavow
 
 46 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 you respecting the fifteen hundred crowns which you have 
 offered him as salary. I beg you to hurry on this business, 
 and to engage M. d'Adhemar to come here soon. It is 
 intended to give him an office above that of Chamberlain, 
 and you can count on the Margrave showing him every 
 imaginable attention. 
 
 I think your residence in Germany inspired all hearts with 
 a rage for reciting poetry. The Court of Wurtemberg 
 returns here on purpose to act with us. The sensible Yriot 
 has, according to my mind, chosen the most detestable play 
 there is as regards versification: it is " Orestes and Pylades," by 
 La Motte. I admire the different modes of thought which 
 there are in the world. You exclude women from your 
 tragedies at Potsdam, and we would, if we had a Voltaire, 
 diminish the number of men in those we act here. Cannot 
 you possibly arrange a piece for us, and give the two 
 principal parts to women ? The Duke and my daughter act 
 very prettily, but that is all. Poor Montperni is still too 
 languid to take any chief part, and the others only mutilate 
 your pieces. I did not dare propose " Semiramis," the 
 Duchess-mother having acted that piece at Stuttgard. 
 
 I have seen, during these last days, a very singular person- 
 age. It is one of the Pope's referendaries, a prelate, Canon of 
 S. Marie, and in spite of all that, a sensible man, exasperated 
 against the monks, free from prejudices, and speaking only of 
 tolerance. 
 
 Your little actor has arrived. As I have been much indis- 
 posed all this time, I have not yet seen him, but they have 
 spoken very well of him to me. 
 
 Come soon and visit us in our convent ; it is all that we 
 wish. The Margrave sends you many messages. Greet all 
 the Brothers who still remember me, and be persuaded that 
 the Abbess of Baireuth desires nothing so much as to be able 
 to convince Brother Voltaire of her perfect esteem. 
 
 WlLHELMINE.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 47 
 
 A great genius makes itself everywhere apparent, and 
 Voltaire would have become as great a banker as he was 
 an author. He would have made a most brilliant speculation, 
 had his transaction with the Saxon bank bills succeeded. 
 What would have been considered a very clever operation on 
 the Bourse in these days was, at that time of financial igno- 
 rance in Germany, looked on as a crime in Voltaire, and an 
 abuse of his position. One of the conditions of the Peace of 
 Dresden had been, that all Prussian subjects who had money 
 invested in the Saxon Bank should receive not only the full 
 interest due to them, but have the whole capital paid back to 
 them within a given period. At the same time the bank bills 
 were not to be used for speculation. It was against this deci- 
 sion that Voltaire sinned. He sent the Jew Abraham Hirsch 
 to Dresden and Leipzig with Bills of Exchange, in order to 
 buy bank bills standing at 65.* Hirsch had given him 
 diamonds as a security for the Bills of Exchange. Whilst 
 Hirsch was on his way to Dresden, another Jewish business- 
 man, named Ephraim, oflered to do the same business for 
 Voltaire without receiving any commission for it. Voltaire 
 was merely to recommend him at the Court of Berlin. This 
 would cost the poet no money, above all a few words, so 
 much the better. In order to cancel the transaction with 
 Abraham Hirsch, Voltaire managed to have the Bills of 
 Exchange he had given him dishonoured from Paris two 
 days before they fell due. Abraham Hirsch returned from 
 Saxony without the bank bills, and much put out at the Bills 
 of Exchange having been dishonoured, as he pretended this 
 measure had done his own business harm, he threatened 
 Voltaire with legal proceedings. These would have been 
 most unpleasant for the poet, on account of the stipulations 
 contained in the Treaty of Dresden. He therefore promised 
 
 * £4,500.
 
 48 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Hirsch compensation for his travelling expenses, trouble, 
 and loss of time, in offering to buy the diamonds from 
 him. These stones were set in buckles of various sizes and 
 in rings, which Voltaire had worn at the representation of 
 one of his tragedies at Potsdam. No actor had probably ever 
 acted in more splendid attire than did Voltaire adorned with 
 these diamonds, and who knows if he was not prouder of them 
 than of his verses ! It seems that later on the poet regretted his 
 purchase, preferring money to precious stones, and brought 
 an action against Hirsch. He accused the Jew of having 
 cheated him, who in return insisted that Mons. de Voltaire 
 had altered the document authorizing the transaction, and 
 had changed some of the stones. Enough, the questions of 
 dispute were never thoroughly examined from a legal point 
 of view. The King had desired the Chancellor Cocceji to 
 treat the whole matter strictly according to law, without any 
 consideration being shown to either side. Yet it would 
 appear from the legal documents that the Judges had passed 
 over much, and entirely in Voltaire's favour. At length a 
 compromise was effected between the contending parties, 
 through which Voltaire gained no great advantage. 
 
 Baron Polnitz gives the following account of a visit 
 which Voltaire paid to the Chancellor whilst the lawsuit was 
 proceeding. " Voltaire said he had come in order to submit 
 " some remarks to him he had made on the Code of Justice, 
 " just published by his Excellency, and which contained some 
 " great absurdities, particularly with respect to Bills of Ex- 
 " change. The Chancellor thanked him for his remarks, and 
 " promised to profit by them in the future. He, however, 
 " expressed the wish that things might remain as they were 
 " till judgment had been pronounced on the lawsuit." 
 
 This whole quarrel has been treated here at some length, 
 as the reader would in all probability not be acquainted with 
 the facts of the case, and also because mention is often made 
 of it both by Voltaire and the Margravine in their letters.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 49 
 
 It was in great measure the cause of the first serious estrange- 
 ment between the poet and his Royal friend, and was one 
 of the chief accusations which Frederic brought against 
 Voltaire. Besides this, a visit paid by him to the Russian 
 Envoy, Mons. de Grass, was brought up against him, as it 
 was supposed to have caused serious political complications. 
 
 The Austrian, French, and Russian alliance, which six 
 years later gave occasion to Frederic to display the full glory 
 of his military genius, was already impending in the year 
 1750. Mons. de Grrass had been sent to Berlin by the 
 Empress Elizabeth of Russia, in order to bring about a 
 rupture between the Courts of Petersburg and Prussia. By 
 what means was immaterial, as long as they succeeded. The 
 Russian Envoy was at a loss how to fulfil his mission. A 
 bright thought suddenly struck him. At a fete given at 
 Charlottenburg, the Diplomatic Corps were to be invited to 
 stay to supper. Mons. de Grrass becoming aware of this, 
 very cleverly left the royal apartments a quarter-of-an-hour 
 before the invitation could reach him. He was not asked to 
 supper ! What an unheard of insult to his sovereign ! He 
 left Berlin, the diplomatic relations between the two powers 
 were broken off, the war between Prussia and Russia was 
 declared seven years later, and all on account of a supper. 
 
 30 th January, 1751. 
 Madame, 
 
 Your Royal Highness has more rivals 
 than you are aware of, but I think that the Marquis 
 d'Adhemar will give you the preference. I have again 
 written strongly to him. My whole desire is to be 
 able to be at your feet this spring. But who is the 
 man who is master of his fate ? Brother Voltaire is here 
 undergoing punishment ; he has a troublesome lawsuit 
 with a Jew, and according to the law of the Old Testament, 
 he will have to pay for having been robbed ; but over and 
 
 E
 
 <50 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 above all, the result of it is a delightful quarrel, which, if 
 subdivided into four or five smaller ones, would be a fitting 
 subject for a comedy, as amusing as the manifesto of the 
 Czarina, who calls Europe to witness that M. de Grass was not 
 invited to supper. It would be an amusing piece for your 
 Royal Highness's theatre at Baireuth. Prince Henry acted 
 Sidney yesterday, as the finale to the Carnival. It seemed to 
 me like putting on mourning on a day of rejoicing. It was a 
 strange subject for a Prince of nineteen years to choose. 
 I would as soon see a funeral as this piece. Prince Henry, 
 however, recites so well, and is so graceful in all he does, 
 that he entirely saved me from the disgust and the painfulness 
 of the work. 
 
 Madame, when we act at Potsdam without women, I assure 
 you that it is much against our will. The monks pray to Grod 
 to send them women, but believe me, do not try to do without 
 men at Baireuth. The stage is the representation of human 
 life, and in this life it is necessary that men and women 
 should be together, as otherwise it would only be half an 
 existence. 
 
 Take care of your health, Madame, that is the most 
 essential point. If worth were able to bestow health, then 
 you would have the best any Princess in this world could 
 enjoy, but unfortunately in your case the most solid 
 worth is contained in the weakest of human frames. Tou 
 are condemned to a strict regime whilst La Metrie has two 
 fits of indigestion a day, and only feels the better for them. 
 Your Royal Highness and the King are, I think, of all 
 Princes blessed with the greatest intellects and with the 
 worst digestions. But there must be compensation for every- 
 thing. As to myself, poor wretch, I intend to spin out 
 here another month, and then go to Paris to arrange my 
 affairs. 
 
 I do not think that there is any other route to Paris than 
 over Baireuth, and my heart, which alone guides me, tells
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 51 
 
 me I must take that road. I lay myself at your Royal 
 
 Highness's feet, and present to you my profound respect as 
 
 well as to the Margrave. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 It is remarkable how in the course of years the opinions on 
 historical personages of past centuries alter. The two next 
 letters are very interesting in this respect. " Grood King 
 Henry IV " of France was Voltaire's hero. It was natural 
 he should he so, considering the century in which Voltaire 
 lived and the nation to which he belonged. Henry IV was 
 also held up in opposition to Louis XV's indolence, intoler- 
 ance, and weakness. The " Henriade " was an indirect 
 satire on this latter King. The enthusiasm which still exists 
 in France for the first Bourbon is really due to the 
 " Henriade," and Henry IV could not have had a more 
 skilful partisan than Voltaire, though no one would wish to 
 dispute the great qualities of this Sovereign. The Margra- 
 vine's clear and unprejudiced judgment did not however allow 
 her to be blinded, and she was convinced in her own mind 
 that Henry IV owed his glory alone to the genius of his 
 ministers. She courageously asserted as her own individual 
 opinion what now-a-days has become an acknowledged fact. 
 
 18th February, 1751. 
 
 If you desire to see me again very much, the feeling is re- 
 ciprocal. Brother Voltaire will be welcome at whatever 
 time it be, and we will try to make our abbey as pleasant to 
 him as it is possible. Do not be surprised at my former 
 language. It was ingenuous, and who says ingenuous says 
 it was sincere. In short, I am reading Sully's Memoirs ; I 
 have read through all those I have on the History of France. 
 These secret memoirs make one far better acquainted with 
 facts than general histories, where the authors often attribute 
 great deeds — sometimes political, sometimes military — to 
 
 e 2
 
 52 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 those who were but little concerned in them. I have come to 
 the conclusion that you have had some very great men and 
 some very commonplace Kings. Henry IV might perhaps 
 never have reigned, or would not have been able to maintain 
 his position without a Sully ; and Louis XIV without a 
 Louvois, a Colbert and a Turenne would never have acquired 
 the name of the Great. Such is the world : one sacrifices to 
 greatness, but rarely to merit. 
 
 You tell me many extraordinary things. Apollo having a 
 lawsuit with a Jew ! Fie, Sir, that is abominable ! I have 
 searched through the whole mythology, and have not found 
 a shadow of pleadings of such description in the Parnassus. 
 However comical it may be, I do not wish to see it repre- 
 sented on the stage. Great men ought only to appear on it 
 in their lustre. I wish to contemplate you as judge of the 
 mind, talent and sciences, triumphing over Racine and 
 Corneille, and the perpetual dictator of the republic of the 
 " Belles Lettres." I hope your Israelite will have borne 
 the punishment of his knavery, and that you will have a 
 quiet mind. Send us soon the Marquis d'Adhemar ; think 
 of happiness, renounce repentance, keep well, think some- 
 times of me, and rely on my perfect esteem. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 1st March, 1751. 
 Madame, 
 
 Brother Voltaire received your Eoyal Reverence's bene- 
 diction the day before yesterday. The style of the " good 
 old times " suits you equally well as that of the present day. 
 You possess the delicacy of the one and the ingenuousness 
 of the other. If the Due de Sully could have known that his 
 waste papers, economical, royal, and political, were one day 
 to be studied by the Margravine of Baireuth, his vanity would 
 have been greatly heightened. 
 
 I think your Royal Highness is the first person who has
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 53 
 
 placed the Due de Sully above Henri Quatre. As to myself, 
 weak minded man that I am, I confess that I prefer the weak- 
 nesses of that good King to all the austere virtues of his 
 minister. I think even that as regards the powers of govern- 
 ment, Henry the Great possessed them to a greater extent 
 than did the Due de Sully. We owe several manufactures, 
 and above all the introduction of silk worms, to the enlight- 
 ened persistence of that worthy King, who overcame the 
 obstinate and blind resistance of his minister. 
 
 Besides the Due de Sully had several lawsuits against Jews 
 who supplied the army ; for that reason I must be forgiven 
 for having been able to win one against a scoundrel of the 
 Old Testament, whom after all I treated with too much 
 generosity after having had him condemned. This affair 
 troubled me greatly, because, as your Royal Highness says, 
 men of letters appear only to exist for the purpose of writing, 
 and that they ought not to buy diamonds. 
 
 M. d'Adhemar makes me hope daily that he will be for- 
 tunate enough to come to your Eoyal Highness's Court. If 
 I were in his place, I should have started for it long ago. I 
 hope that the Chamberlain, M. d'Ammon, who lodges in my 
 house in Paris, and who has supper every evening with the 
 Marquis d'Adhemar, will not run counter to my negociation. 
 As regards the lady I am anxious to find for your Royal 
 Highness, there is but little hope of my finding one at present. 
 The reason of this is, that of two things, either I shall die 
 here of my chest, or I shall go to Italy before seeing Paris 
 again. But be certain, Madame, that my heart will secretly 
 prefer the stay at Baireuth to St. Peter's at Rome or St. Mark 
 at Venice. The benedictions of the Pope and the buffooneries 
 of Venice are certainly not worth the honour of approaching 
 you, and the pleasure of listening to you. I lay myself at 
 the Margrave's feet and assure your Royal Highnesses of the 
 renewed expression of the profound respect and sincere attach- 
 ment of the poor suffering Brother Voltaire.
 
 54 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Your kindness towards M. de Montperni, of which he is so 
 deserving, seems to require me to offer my best wishes for his 
 health. A good monk should always pray for all the 
 Brothers. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 In spite of all Voltaire's exertions and entreaties, the 
 charming, amiable, and talented Marquis d'Adhemar had 
 not yet appeared at Baireuth. Indeed, he did not arrive 
 there for some time. Paris had too great attractions for him ; 
 to be far from it was like being banished out of the world. 
 Baireuth and the Margravine could always be fallen back 
 upon in case of need. It may be a false supposition, for 
 there is nowhere positive proof of the fact, but the feeling 
 existed that Mad. Denis was the " fair Armida " who kept 
 Adhemar a prisoner at Paris. Voltaire clearly saw how 
 matters stood, but explained them differently to the Mar- 
 gravine. How else are his anxiety and feverish eagerness 
 for Adhemar's departure from Paris to be understood ? It 
 seems the Marquis had supper every evening with the 
 Chamberlain d'Ammon who lived in the poet's house, and 
 Mad. Denis did the honours ! Patience ! The Marquis will 
 eventually come to Baireuth, when the little romance in 
 Paris is at an end. Another guest arrived at the Mar- 
 gravine's Court (but not the long hoped-for one), in the 
 person of the King's physician, the grave Cothenius. He 
 seems not to have been very entertaining, but he had a 
 great gift, that of curing sick people, and all were ill, the 
 world and the century. How could it otherwise have been 
 so interesting ? 
 
 The King had given other evidence of his extra- 
 ordinary good judgment in the choice of those with whom 
 he surrounded himself, by attaching Cothenius to his 
 service. This physician was born in the town of Havel- 
 berg, in Brandenburg ; he was extremely clever, and
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTK. 55 
 
 rendered the King good service during the seven years' 
 war. Cothenius often repeated his visits to Baireuth, as 
 the Margravine's own doctor, and- Daniel de Superville had 
 exchanged his medical profession for that of diplomacy, 
 having gone as Envoy to the Hague. For some time past 
 Wilhelmine's health had caused much anxiety, and the 
 attacks of illness increased in gravity the oftener they 
 recurred. Cothenius started for his first visit to Baireuth 
 in May 1751, and was the bearer of a letter from Voltaire. 
 
 Potsdam, 
 
 8th May, 1751. 
 Madame, 
 
 Tour Eoyal Highness expected M. d'Adhemar 
 and Cothenius. Instead of being surrounded by pleasures of 
 all descriptions, is she forced to have nothing but juleps and 
 globules ? Shall we always be in fear and trembling for a 
 precious life ? If the deep interest shown here by all in your 
 health could be of any avail, your Royal Highness would 
 soon completely recover. 
 
 Tour Royal Highness knows the feeling I bear her ; and 
 she knows too, the dominion she exercises over people's 
 hearts. I am equally devoted to brother and to sister. I 
 should like to sing my matins at Potsdam, and my vespers 
 at Baireuth. 
 
 If I was certain that this letter would reach you at a 
 moment when you were less ailing, I would speak to you of 
 the Marquis d'Adhemar, who has not yet been able to make 
 up his mind to leave Paris. I would also speak to you of a 
 gentleman from Lorraine, called Liebaud, an officer, a man 
 of letters, sensible, educated, and on whom one can depend. 
 I can, however, only speak of your health, and of our anxiety 
 and grief. Why cannot I accompany M. Cothenius ? Why 
 can I not come and lay myself at your feet, and at those of 
 His Royal Highness? The King is going to Cleves. I
 
 56 CORRESPONDENCE EETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 remain scribbling in my cell. The bodily ills from which I 
 suffer make me lead a sedentary life ; but I forget my suffer- 
 ings, Madame, only to think of those you endure, and I am 
 indignant with nature that I am not the only one to suffer. 
 Why must so strong a soul be lodged in so frail a body ? We 
 have ten thousand big boys here at Potsdam, who think of 
 nothing, and who, as I write, are firing off ten thousand 
 rounds of ammunition at the gates. They are all as well as 
 possible, and the Margravine of Baireuth is suffering ! And 
 Providence, where is it ? I shall not be its servant, if you 
 have no health, and I will sing a Te Deuni when Cothenius 
 
 returns. 
 
 Brother Voltaire.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 57 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 After this last letter an interval of ten months occurs in 
 the correspondence. " I am too lazy to write letters," Wil- 
 helmine's friend writes to his niece, Madame de Fontaine. 
 " I have been very ill this winter, and thought I should have 
 died, but I have only grown old." 
 
 The relations between Voltaire and the King had lately 
 become less intimate, and there were signs of apparent 
 displeasure on Frederic's part. " In the circle of the 
 Queen Mother it is generally believed that I have fallen 
 into disgrace with your Majesty," the poet writes to the 
 King on January 30th, 1752. " Le chef de la Bande," Baron 
 Polnitz says with ill-disguised jealousy, " is still in disgrace, 
 and yet better treated than Ovid was in the time of his 
 favour at the Court of Augustus." Voltaire still retained his 
 apartments in the Castles, his horses and carriages, but the King 
 gave him so much liberty, that it made him quite unhappy. 
 He saw him very seldom, and the effect this produced on the 
 former favourite, who had been courted by Generals, 
 Ministers and Field-marshals, is evident from the following 
 letter of Polnitz : " Voltaire is alone here, so greatly depressed 
 " in mind and body as scarcely to be recognized. He spent two 
 " hours with me yesterday, and our conversation was most 
 "gloomy, his from grief, and mine from the feeling of 
 " the superiority of his genius. After some silence, he told 
 " me that he was on the point of starting for Italy. He 
 " asked me if he should make a digression and pass by 
 " Baireuth. A moment later he asked me to let him have 
 " the house I now occupy with all its furniture, adding that 
 " he felt he could not tear himself away from here, as he was
 
 58 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 " too much devoted to the King ever to leave him. Then a 
 " quarter of an hour later, he asked what orders I had for 
 " Paris, as he hoped to arrive there on the 15th — 16th May." 
 
 This morose and unsettled mood is apparent in Voltaire's 
 next letter. The Margravine had, as she herself remarks, 
 reproached him, or had him reproached, for his silence. The 
 beginning of his letter refers to this. How could Voltaire 
 otherwise break off suddenly from the subject in order to 
 speak of "La Pucelle," if "Wilhelmine had not made some 
 such remark in a former letter ? In one to Mad. Denis, of 
 the 3rd January, 1751, the poet complains to her that his 
 secretary had given up "Jeanne, that girl who ought to have 
 " been kept under lock and key," to Prince Henry, after 
 much earnest entreaty. Already on 22nd February, 1747, the 
 king had written to Voltaire : " You sent your ' Pucelle ' to 
 " the Duchess of Wurtemberg ; learn that she had it copied 
 " during the night." It had happened during those enjoy- 
 able days at Baireuth. It is positive that a question was put 
 to Voltaire by Willielmine with regard to "La Pucelle," a 
 poem of which fragments were scattered at Berlin, Stuttgard, 
 and Vienna. 
 
 Lord Tyrconnel, the French Envoy at Berlin, had died on 
 12th March, 1752, preceded by his friend La Metrie on 11th 
 November, 1751. Lord Tyrconnel's house had been among the 
 first in Berlin society. Lady Tyrconnel had introduced high 
 play, dined at 5 or 6 o'clock, and went to parties at mid- 
 night, an unheard of novelty at Berlin. Voltaire had acted, 
 dined, and joked with Lord Tyrconnel. He wished to erect 
 a monument to his departed friend, and did so in his 
 " Pucelle," upon which he was just at work. " Le Due 
 Tyrconnel," who so suddenly interrupts the interview between 
 " Dorothee" and " LaTremouille," is the true representation 
 of the " frais, fort et rigoureux Milord Tyrconnel " ; at the 
 end of the piece he becomes a Carthusian monk, which was a 
 symbolic allusion to his having become " a silent man."
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 59 
 
 Berlin, 
 
 28th March, 1751. 
 Madame, 
 
 This sickly brother, this moping brother, this 
 scribbling brother is more than ever at your Eoyal Highness' 
 feet. If he wrote to her as often as he thinks of her, 
 she "would receive five or six letters a day. 
 
 I am waiting, Madame, for the happy moment when my 
 health will permit of my undertaking the journey to Baireuth. 
 It seems to me that I have given up going to France and to 
 Italy, but I console myself with the hope of paying you my 
 court. 
 
 Those fond of the fine arts were formerly obliged to 
 go to Naples, to Florence, to Ferrara; now they go to 
 Baireuth. 
 
 If your Eoyal Highness has the wish to have a new opera 
 given at Baireuth, let me advise you not to choose "Orpheus," 
 which the King, your brother, has just had played. I never 
 saw a more foolish Pluto or a more tiresome Orpheus. 
 There are always fine things in Grraun's music, but in this 
 case he was overpowered by the poet. The King, who under- 
 stands these things, fortunately had the piece greatly 
 shortened. I remarked to an old military gentleman who 
 was sitting yawning at my side, and who did not, besides, 
 understand one word of Italian, " In truth, the King is one 
 of the best Princes who has ever lived ; he has, more than 
 ever, pity on his people." " How do you mean? " he replied. 
 " Yes," I added, " he has shortened this opera by one half." 
 I flatter myself that your Royal Highness has had some 
 charming fetes this winter, and good health. Above all 
 things, Madame, take care of your health. It is this which 
 we must wish you ; for beauty, greatness, cleverness, the gift 
 of pleasing, all are in vain if you have a bad digestion. 
 Happiness depends on your stomach. 
 
 Really, Madame, I know more about " La Pucelle " than
 
 60 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 your Royal Highness thinks. The Duchess of "Wurtemherg 
 did indeed pass a night in your castle to copy some fragments 
 of it. But what is possessed at Vienna of this work, was got 
 hold of during the battle of Soar. Whilst the King was 
 occupied in fighting the regular Austrian troops, some 
 hussars amused themselves in pillaging his baggage, 
 and stole the " Siecle de Louis XIV " and what the 
 King possessed of "La Pucelle," about 700 — 800 verses 
 detached from the body of the work ; so that " Jeanne " has 
 been somewhat battered about, though she has not entirely 
 lost her maidenhood. This Jeanne seemed always fated to 
 be made prisoner during war. I composed two new stanzas 
 about her a few months back, and introduced a certain burly 
 Tyrconnel, but Tyrconnel was not successful. 
 
 Pardon me, Madame, but I have no space left to present 
 to your Eoyal Highnessess the profound respects of 
 
 Brother Voltaire. 
 
 Potsdam, 
 
 10th April, 1752. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 I have not had any news of the Marquis 
 d'Adhemar for a year, who had much wished to be attached 
 to your Royal Highness' Court, and whom you also seemed 
 desirous of having in your house. He had till now not been 
 able to surmount the difficulties placed in his way by his 
 father, who is, as your Royal Highness probably knows, 
 Great Chamberlain to King Stanislas at Luneville. He has 
 at length informed me that he has succeeded in removing all 
 obstacles, and that he is ready to come and lay himself at your 
 Royal Highness's feet. I am ignorant, Madame, if you are 
 still of the same mind regarding him. As all the appoint- 
 ments at your Royal Highness's Court are filled up, he would 
 ask to be named Honorary Equerry. It is a post scarcely
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 61 
 
 known in France, and which, I think, corresponds with that 
 of Master of the Horse. It is merely a title, and nothing more, 
 and only important from the fact that it wonld not look well 
 to appear to be a useless member of your Court. I remem- 
 ber that your Eoyal Highness decided that his salary should 
 be 1500 crowns. This is the actual state of this little matter 
 at the moment. I have answered the Marquis d'Adhemar 
 that I was awaiting your commands, and I have committed 
 your Eoyal Highness to nothing. I shall inform him, 
 Madame, of your latest decision and of the orders with which 
 you will honour me. All that I am certain of is, that I 
 should like, in company with him, to swell the number of 
 your courtiers, but Brother Voltaire does not know as yet 
 when he will put his nose outside his cell. He is the best 
 monk that ever existed, and has become too easily accustomed 
 to a solitary life. I might be able to get leave and pay you 
 my court after Prince Henry's marriage. However, I am 
 certain of nothing, and resign myself entirely to the decrees 
 of Providence. I am in hopes, Madame, that your health has 
 escaped from those storms which gave cause for so much 
 anxiety, and that therefore nothing may disturb the peaceful 
 tenor of your existence. 
 
 Permit me, Madame, to renew for ever to your Royal 
 Highness and His Highness, the expression of my profound 
 respect and unalterable attachment. If I dared, I would add 
 a message for M. de Montperni ; but how could I take such 
 
 a liberty ? 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 20th April, 1752. 
 
 The penance which you impose on yourself has succeeded 
 in appeasing my wrath. I had yet been unable to forget 
 your indifference. It required not less than a pilgrimage to 
 our Lady of Baireuth to wipe out your sin. Brother 
 Voltaire will be forgiven at such a price. He will be
 
 62 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 welcome there, and will find friends eager to oblige him and 
 to show him their esteem. I still doubt in the fulfilment of 
 your promises. Has the German climate been able in so 
 short a time to reform French levity ? The journey to 
 France and Italy having been reduced to castles in the air 
 makes me fear the same fate for this one. Be therefore more 
 than German in your resolutions, and procure me soon the 
 pleasure of seeing you again. 
 
 Although absent, you have had the faculty of making me 
 shed tears. I saw your false Prophet given yesterday. 
 The actors surpassed themselves, and you have had the 
 glory of touching our Franconian hearts, which moreover 
 resemble somewhat the rocks amongst which they live. 
 
 The Marquis d'Adhemar had M. de Folard written to 
 four weeks ago. I forgot to aquaint you with it in my last 
 letter. You can easily judge that his offers were received 
 with pleasure. Montperni has consequently written to him. 
 I hope that he will be satisfied with the conditions. They 
 are more advantageous than those which he desired. They 
 consist in 4,000 " livres," free table, and the keep of his 
 carriages and horses. I beg you to finish your work, and to 
 manage so that it should soon be terminated. I shall be 
 under a great obligation to you for doing so. You know 
 that the title he asks for is not one customary in Germany. 
 As it answers to that of Chamberlain, he will have this title 
 about me. 
 
 Time prevents my saying more to you about it to-day. 
 Be persuaded that I shall always be your friend, 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 It is not the qualities of the mind, but those of the charac- 
 ter, which cause estrangements. Whilst Voltaire's wonderful 
 intellect was irresistibly attractive, his personality was always 
 repulsive to Frederic's nature ; and in these conflicting
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 63 
 
 feelings will be found the clue to the instability of their 
 friendship. Besides the affair with Arnaud and the lawsuit 
 about the diamonds, the King had been much displeased at a 
 visit the poet paid to the Russian Envoy, Mons. de Grass. 
 The intercourse with foreign diplomatists was not approved 
 of at Court at that moment. Not only had Voltaire acted 
 in direct opposition to Frederic's wishes on this point, but he 
 had allowed Mons. de Grass to infer that he had been sent 
 by Frederic, when the supper incident was spoken of. In 
 such matters the King would not allow himself to be trifled 
 with. The welfare of his kingdom was of too paramount an 
 importance to him that he should take the interests of private 
 individuals into consideration. Throughout his reign he 
 drew a distinct line between matters of State and those 
 relating to his private life, and herein lay the secret of much 
 of his success. During the day he was the King, and nothing 
 but the King, and Mons. de Voltaire was unknown to him. 
 Of an evening, however, at the suppers held at Sans 
 Souci, or at the Castle of Potsdam where Frederic did the 
 honours as host, Voltaire was his friend, his favorite, the 
 King of the entertainment. The Poet could not understand 
 nice distinctions ; he was accustomed to the back door system 
 and petites entrees of Versailles. There the King was the 
 State, and the Sovereign was Madame de Pompadour, 
 Voltaire's former intimate friend, with whom he was no 
 longer on such good terms. Such a system of intrigue and 
 underhand dealing had a great charm for Voltaire. He 
 loved mixing himself up in politics and in meddling in the 
 affairs of the State, but unfortunately this in no wise suited 
 Frederic's views. The Hohenzollerns have at all times 
 insisted on the same strict line being observed in the audience 
 Chamber as on the drill ground. 
 
 Added to these provoking incidents before mentioned, 
 ill-natured gossip, intrigues and unfortunate misunderstand- 
 ings tended to increase the tension existing between Voltaire
 
 64 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 and the King. Although Frederic was careful to observe all 
 rules of civility towards his guest, and offer him all the advan- 
 tages to be enjoyed at his Court, he nevertheless was increas- 
 ingly distant and cold in his demeanour towards him. Voltaire 
 brooded in silence over the King's altered manner, and resolved 
 to induce the Margravine to influence her Brother in his favour. 
 He would willingly have borne the King's anger, but this 
 studied civility was unbearable to him. In Wilhelmine's 
 letter to the poet of the 12th June, 1752, she mentions 
 having written to the King on the subject, but it is 
 nevertheless apparent that she would rather not be mixed up 
 in this matter. She knew the King well, and being besides 
 aware of the terms in which he had spoken of his former 
 friend, was prepared for His Majesty's answer. 
 
 The following letter from Voltaire is interesting on account 
 of his allusions to the King and his own disgrace. It con- 
 tains besides some graceful little verses written in honour of 
 the marriage of the King's second brother, Prince Henry, 
 the future hero of Freiberg. He married the Princess of 
 Hesse Cassel on the 25th June, 1752. Chevalier de Folard, 
 mentioned in the letters, was the French Envoy at the Diet of 
 Regensburg, and nephew of the celebrated Commentator of 
 Polybius. 
 
 End of May, 1752. 
 Madame, 
 
 I have not yet received any answer from the 
 Marquis d'Adhemar. I wrote to him the same day as that 
 on which I had the honour of receiving your Royal 
 Highness's orders. It may be that he has addressed 
 himself to M. de Folard, or that he did himself the 
 honour of writing to your Royal Highness. Perhaps 
 he has already the happiness of being near you without 
 my having been informed of it here, in my complete 
 and happy solitude at Potsdam. Or he has not yet been able
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIRETJTH. 65 
 
 to make up his mind. It seems difficult, Madame, from what 
 I see, to get hold of Adhemars and Grraffignys, but it is quite 
 easy to take possession of some poor Yoltaires, people who 
 are good for nothing, yet who devote themselves heart and 
 soul to those whom they have the insolence of loving. I 
 remained at Potsdam whilst the King, your brother, made 
 war in the plains around Berlin. You are probably aware 
 that he has had a long and severe attack of gout. Do you 
 also know, Madame, that during the attack he put his 
 swollen foot into a boot and was present at reviews held in the 
 rain? Future generations will therefore not be surprised that 
 he won battles. I admire him daily more, both as King and 
 as man. His kindness and indulgence in society are the 
 charm of my life. He had every right to say, as he did in 
 one of his beautiful letters, that he was a stern King and a 
 humane man ; but I think he is far more the humane man 
 than the stern King. His virtues and his talents, his 
 philosophy, his abhorrence of all superstition, his retiring 
 nature, the regularity of his life, his application, his mental 
 research, as well as care for his kingdom, all these have 
 attached me intimately and for ever to him. I shall 
 never repent having given up everything for his sake. In 
 truth, Madame, I really think your Royal Highness should 
 warn him in one of your letters that he is turning my head. 
 He inspires me with more enthusiasm than fanaticism does 
 its devotee. But I do not speak to him of it, and he 
 does not know the whole of my secret. I speak 
 rather unreservedly to your Royal Highness of my 
 attachment for you, and of my great desire of paying 
 you my court at Baireuth, and of thus going from 
 one paradise into another ; but when will that be ? I really 
 cannot tell in the least. I am like Adhemar in respect to 
 my journeys, who cannot make up his mind to migrate. 
 What I do know, however, is this: that when once at 
 Baireuth or at Potsdam, one never wishes to leave them. 
 
 F
 
 66 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 You are going, Madame, to have a new sister-in-law. Pre- 
 parations are being made for brilliant festivities, but in my 
 eyes they will not in the least compare with those which 
 I saw two years ago ; you adorned them, and, besides, 
 ought an old philosopher, living in retirement, to present 
 himself to a newly-married couple ? Am I made to be best 
 man ? I pray, as a good monk should, for all prosperity and 
 success to Prince Henry. 
 
 " Ye joys and graces with the loves entwine, 
 And lightly hover where the Prince doth lie. 
 Fleet, youthful choir, your grief is less than mine, 
 That we, alas ! have parted company." 
 
 I present my profound respects and unchanging devotion 
 to your Royal Highness, and to the Margrave. Has M. de 
 Montperni forgotten 
 
 Brother Voltaire ? 
 
 Potsdam, 
 
 5th June, 1752. 
 Madame, 
 
 Brother Voltaire who is quite undone, brother 
 Voltaire who is dying, interrupts his death throes to tell your 
 Royal Highness that he believes that M. d'Adhemar is now 
 in your service, and that he is aware of his good fortune. 
 As to myself, I am no longer good for anything, and I do 
 not understand how the King your brother has the kindness 
 to let me remain. It is said that the Margravine of 
 Anspach is at Berlin. A Margravine exists whom I should 
 like to see return there, and I believe that the honour of 
 paying her my court would restore me to health. Why 
 should you not come there, Madame ? People pretend that 
 the plague is raging in Uie Upper Palatinate, it is perhaps 
 not true ; the most notorious facts do not reach Potsdam when 
 the King is not there, and one is separated from mankind in
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 67 
 
 general. If the King is absent, everything stagnates. If it 
 is true that the plague has appeared in your dominions, then 
 Potsdam is a real safeguard; some detachments of tall 
 grenadiers will be sent to fight it, and it will take to flight, 
 as the Austrians did. 
 
 The Marquis d'Adhemar has written again to me to say 
 that he would already have been at your Royal Highness's 
 feet, but for a serious illness he has suffered from. I flatter 
 myself that it was not the plague. Brother Voltaire 
 prostrates himself on his pallet before your Royal Highness 
 and the Margrave. 
 
 12th June, 1752. 
 
 The Marquis d'Adhemar has not yet arrived ; we expect 
 him at any moment. He has been ill, which has delayed his 
 departure. I think it is much easier to have Adhemars and 
 Graffignys than Yoltaires. It is only the King who has the 
 right to possess these. You make me experience the fate of 
 Tantalus. You always flatter me by the promise of coming 
 here, and then when I am expecting to see you, my hopes 
 fade away. If you really had had the desire, you could have 
 taken advantage of the King's absence ; but you follow the 
 maxims of many great ministers, who make fine speeches 
 without results. I have written to the King what you asked 
 me to do on his account. It is difficult to know him without 
 loving and becoming attached to him. He is one among the 
 number of those phenomena, which at most only appear once 
 in a century. You know my feelings for that dear brother, 
 so I break off short on that subject. We are at present 
 leading a country life. I divide my time between my body 
 and my mind ; we must sustain the one, to maintain the 
 other, for I observe more and more, that we think and act 
 only according as our machine is wound up. You seem to 
 have become very misanthropical. You remain at Potsdam 
 
 f 2
 
 68 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 whilst the King is at Berlin, and you imagine that a 
 philosopher does not suit a wedding. One can see that you 
 have never tried marriage, and that you ignore that one of 
 the essential points" in that state is to be a good philosopher, 
 above all in Germany. The four verses which you make on 
 the subject seem to me rather Epicurian, and this Epicurianism 
 is incompatible with misanthropy. Tou only require a new 
 mania to take you out of your gloomy reflections, and to 
 restore you to the love of pleasures. 
 
 The Margrave sends you many messages. Montperni is 
 always among your friends. We often speak of you; but 
 eccentric, and moreover overwhelmed with business, he cannot 
 write to you. His pains are abating, but he still has them 
 for several hours each day, and lives like a monk in order to 
 try and get well. I only see him for a moment every day. 
 He was the chief ornament of our little society. I hope 
 Adhemar will supply the deficiency. Be persuaded that I am 
 only looking for the occasions of convincing you of my 
 perfect esteem. 
 
 "WlLHELMINE. 
 
 p.S. — The King told me when I was at Berlin that he 
 wished to get " l'Esprit de Bayle " written. If this work 
 is ready, and is to be had, I beg you to procure it for 
 me. I have received the supplement to the dictionary 
 written in England. To my mind, it is very inferior to the 
 original. 
 
 Poisdam, 
 
 June 17th, 1752. 
 Madame, 
 
 Brother Voltaire does not know what he says; he 
 will never believe what he hears discussed in his cell, whilst 
 the hero of the report is not at Potsdam — poor man, having 
 received the news of the arrival of a Margravine at Berlin
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OP BAIREUTH. 69 
 
 and of the plague at Augsburg, he begs your Royal 
 Highness's pardon many times ! All that he knows is, 
 that the Marquis d'Adhemar swears that he is going 
 to place himself at your feet if he is not there already. It 
 would be well if Brother Voltaire never left his cell, but to 
 go to your abbey. He renews his good wishes and his fervent 
 prayers for the health, prosperity, and long life of your 
 Royal Highness, but none for eternal life. 
 
 VOLTATRE. 
 
 The Abbe de Prades had arrived at Berlin in the beginning 
 of August, 1752. Voltaire took great interest in him, partly 
 because he had been recommended by D'Alembert * to 
 Madame de Denis, and by her to her uncle, and partly 
 because he was one of the victims of the Parisian clergy, 
 although an innocent one. In truth, they could not have 
 done him a greater honour than to condemn his " These " as 
 heretical. The Sorbonne held that it contained matter which 
 showed a strong leaning towards the English Deist doctrine. 
 The Abbe awoke one morning to find himself considered as a 
 danger to the State, and prosecuted by Parliament. He fled 
 from Paris to Holland, and from there came to Berlin. The 
 fact of his being condemned on account of his religious views 
 was his best recommendation there. Voltaire and the 
 Marquis d'Argens endeavoured to procure him an appoint- 
 ment at Court. He became Reader and Literary Secretary 
 to the King ; a worthy successor to La Metrie, being just as 
 light-hearted, fat, and with an equally good appetite. He 
 was always called " Frere Graillard " by " La Bande." His 
 deficiency in general knowledge was amply compensated for 
 by his power of talk ; the King mentions him as having been 
 
 * Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, famous mathematician and philosopher, one 
 of the leading members of the Encyclopedists. Born at Paris, 1719, 
 died 1783.
 
 70 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 possessed of a marvellous pair of lungs. Voltaire's next 
 letter contains a recommendation for the Abbe. Although 
 he is not mentioned by name, there is no doubt that the 
 references made relate to him. There was most likely some 
 difficulty at first in procuring employment for him, and 
 Voltaire may therefore have thought of recommending him 
 to the Margravine, till on his return from Silicia the King 
 took him into his own service. The Abbe, however, proved 
 himself unworthy of the post he occupied, for whilst Frederic 
 was at war with France, he was engaged in secret treasonable 
 negotiations with the French Commander-in-Chief, notwith- 
 standing all the favour and pecuniary advantages bestowed 
 on him by the King. The Abbe seemed to have forgotten 
 that honesty is better than patriotism. He was imprisoned 
 in the fortress of Magdeburg, and for ever banished from the 
 King's service. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 Brother Voltaire, as your Royal Highness 
 perceives, only writes about the Almighty. He is also in a 
 convent, where his salvation is being worked out. A much 
 bigger volume would be made on the theological subject in 
 question than that of the "Suniniae-theologiaB of St. Thomas." 
 He lays the accompanying essay at your feet. It is for your 
 Royal Reverence to give judgment. There are in France 
 monks of Fentevraux, who blindly obey an Abbesse. I feel 
 I belong to these. Madame, do you require the service of a 
 reader, with a strong chest and indefatigable intelligence, a 
 theologian who does not believe in Grod, and as learned as a 
 Lucraze, almost as stout as he is, and eating nearly as much, 
 very serviceable and not expensive? If you do, I could procure 
 him for your Royal Highness. You know I never make you 
 useless presents, and that you can rely on the zeal which I 
 shall have all my life for your service. 
 
 I have executed your commands respecting Baron de
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 71 
 
 Polnitz. It is enough to restore him to health, and he is 
 already much better. If I ever possess the health which the 
 Author of natural religion has absolutely denied me, I shall 
 certainly come to Baireuth to enquire after that of your 
 Royal^Highness ! Baireuth is the church to which I wish 
 to make a pilgrimage, there to worship as I would to Grod 
 Himself, and to bow down before the august Saint to whom 
 I pray with such deep respect. 
 
 Would the Margrave deign to accept my homage, and 
 your Royal Highness graciously allow me to enclose a letter 
 for M. d'Adhemar ? I am much concerned about M. de 
 Montperni. Tour Royal Highness would lose in him a 
 servant such as Princes do not often possess. 
 
 Potsdam, 
 
 2<Wi October, 1752. 
 Madame, 
 
 Brother Voltaire, who has been dead to the 
 world, in love with his cell and his convent, which he has not 
 left for eight months, at last breaks through his silence for 
 the sake of your Royal Highness. His separation from all 
 human things has left him some weaknesses, and one of these, 
 Madame, is entirely for you. He even thinks it is none, and 
 that God will pardon him for retaining his attachment for one 
 of his most perfect creatures. I take the liberty of sending 
 you a small book of Devotions which I have written for my 
 very Reverend Father in Grod, the philosopher of Sans Souci. 
 I earnestly implore your Royal Reverence not to allow a copy 
 to be made of it. The mysteries of the Saints must not be 
 exposed to the eyes of the profane. This pious manuscript is 
 written in very small characters, but the Marquis d'Adhemar 
 or M. de Montperni, deacons of his church, can read it to you. 
 I am very sorry to be obliged to presume only that 
 M. d'Adhemar is with your Royal Highness, as I have no 
 news from him for six months. If he is with you I am not
 
 72 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 surprised that he should forget the human race. I am still 
 always hoping to make a little journey to Italy, and to see 
 the subterranean city before I die. But before going to see 
 what is under the earth, I rely much on being able to pay 
 my court to the most adorable being yet living on earth, and 
 of renewing the expressions of ardent devotion borne to your 
 Royal Highness by 
 
 Brother, Voltaire. 
 
 This letter would probably have reached the Margravine at 
 Erlangen, a tower in the southern part of the Margravate of 
 Baireuth. The Margrave was in the habit of spending some 
 time each autumn there for the purpose of shooting. The 
 Margravine did not accompany him on these expeditions, but 
 remained at the pretty little castle from where she wrote the 
 following answer. The short, philosophical treatise, in which 
 Wilhelmine's warm feelings and speculative mind became 
 apparent, is well suited to the locality in which she wrote it. 
 She had founded a University at Erlangen in 1743, which 
 continues of much repute to the present day, and is a seat of 
 German learning, especially of Theology. On the occasion 
 of the inauguration of this university, the pupil of Descartes 
 had given the following sentence as a subject for discussion : 
 " Matter can think." Voltaire had made the same assertion 
 in his letters on Locke, following in the footsteps of his 
 English master, who in turn had taken it from Spinoza, and 
 worked it out according to his own theory. Spinoza held that 
 mind and matter are one and the same thing, and that the 
 supposed difference between the two proceeded from our own 
 limited understanding. Locke went a step further, and main- 
 tained that the intellectual activity of man was caused by 
 impulses of the functions of the human body. It is evident 
 that this question occupied the minds of men a hundred, nay, 
 a thousand years ago, as it does now. It still remains unsolved 
 to this hour.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 73 
 
 Erlang, 
 
 Nov. 1, 1752. 
 
 It requires more intelligence and more delicacy than I 
 possess, worthily to praise the work I have received from you. 
 One should be prepared for everything from Brother Voltaire. 
 The fine things he writes no longer cause surprise, admira- 
 tion has long since succeeded to astonishment. Your poem 
 on natural law has enchanted me. Everything is to be found 
 in it ; the novelty of the subject, the sublimity of the 
 thoughts, and the beauty of the versification. Dare I say 
 it ? Only one thing is wanting to make it perfect. The 
 subject requires to be treated at greater length than you have 
 done. The first proposition, above all things, requires to be 
 more fully demonstrated. Allow me to acquaint you with 
 my doubts. 
 
 God, you say, has given to all men justice and a conscience 
 to warn them, just as he has provided them with what is 
 necessary to them. 
 
 Grod having given man justice and a conscience, these two 
 virtues are innate in him, and become an attribute of his 
 being. The necessary consequence of this is that he must 
 act in accordance, and that he can neither be unjust nor have 
 any remorse, as he can never overcome an instinct which is 
 part of his being. 
 
 Experience proves the reverse. If justice were an 
 attribute of our nature, then all quarrels would be banished ; 
 the lawyers would die of hunger ; the parliamentary coun- 
 cillors would not occupy themselves, as they are doing, about 
 a piece of bread given or refused ; the Jesuits and Jansen- 
 ists would confess their ignorance in matters of doctrine. 
 
 Virtues are but accidental and dependent on society. 
 Self-love has given birth to justice. In early times men 
 tore each other to pieces for mere trifles (as they still do 
 nowadays) ; there was no safety either for your home or
 
 74 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 your life. Mine and thine, unfortunate distinctions (on 
 which too much stress is laid in present times) made all 
 unions impossible. Man, enlightened by reason, and urged 
 on by self-love, discovered at length that society could 
 not possibly exist without order. Two feelings belonging 
 to his being, and innate in himself, caused him to become 
 just. Conscience was but the consequence of justice. The 
 two feelings I wish to speak of, are aversion to suffering 
 and love of pleasure. 
 
 Trouble can only beget sorrow, whilst tranquillity is the 
 mother of happiness. I have made it a special study to 
 thoroughly examine the human heart. I judge what I 
 see by what has been. But I bury myself too much in 
 this subject, and might see myself precipitated from the 
 heavens like Icarus. I await your decisions with im- 
 patience ; I look on them like oracles. Lead me in the 
 paths of truth, and be persuaded that I have no more 
 evident wish than to prove to you that I am your sincere 
 friend, 
 
 WlLHELMINE.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 75 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 At Berlin things were fast approaching that crisis which 
 Drought about the final and complete rupture between 
 Frederic the Great and Voltaire. Two natures such as 
 Maupertuis and Voltaire could not long exist side by side. 
 The former was just as jealous as the latter. The peace 
 which had hitherto reigned amongst the Knights of the 
 Round Table of Sans Souci had been but a conditional one, 
 maintained by social considerations. Already at the end of 
 the year 1751 Polnitz had written to the Margravine : 
 
 " Our ' beaux esprits ' live in apparent cordiality. Mons. 
 " de Maupertuis alone, who cannot endure seeing anyone else 
 " enjoy the King's favour, is living at Berlin for the last three 
 " months. The rest are most friendly, calling each other 
 " ' dear Isaac,' " (this was Voltaire's pet name for his dear 
 friend the Marquis d'Argens, author of the " Lettres Juives"), 
 " dear Marquis, dear Count. I am certain that in spite of 
 " these affectionate demonstrations they would be delighted 
 "to part at any price." 
 
 It is impossible to read the following account of the 
 unhappy quarrel which put so complete an end to a friend- 
 ship of many years' standing, without feelings of pain for 
 Voltaire and those of pity for Maupertuis. Who was wisest 
 of the two it is difficult to say, but who possessed the greater 
 mind is easily to be guessed. Voltaire was the most dis- 
 tinguished, but Maupertuis was nevertheless the more power- 
 ful. He was President of the Academy of Science and 
 Learning, which gave him a certain position, and he had 
 besides a hold on Berlin society through his wife, who
 
 76 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 afterwards became Mistress of the Robes to Princess Amelie 
 of Prussia. 
 
 The dispute arose as follows : Maupertuis asserted having 
 discovered anew Law of Nature — " The use of the minimum 
 of power as applied to the action of bodies." This assertion 
 Professor Konig, of the Hague, a mathematician, opposed in 
 the most distinct manner. He said he could prove from a 
 letter of the great Leibnitz — a copy of part of which he 
 produced — that the philosopher had already in those days 
 made mention of this particular Law, and had pronounced 
 against it. Maupertuis, greatly incensed with this opposition, 
 declared at a public meeting of the Academy, that the letter 
 was a forged one. To vindicate his action Konig now 
 produced the whole letter, as well as two others from Leibnitz 
 on the same subject. Voltaire, who had never much cared 
 for Konig, hailed his appearance on the scene of the dis- 
 pute with lively satisfaction. He was longing himself to 
 be in the midst of the fray, and had with difficulty kept 
 silent. He wrote a letter purporting to be from a member 
 of the Academy, in which he accused Maupertuis of 
 plagiarism, and represented the influence he had exercised 
 on the Academy as a pernicious abuse of his position. This 
 letter was so defiant that an answer soon followed, written by 
 the King himself, in which he defended Maupertuis by 
 energetically declaring Voltaire's Letter to be " a dishonour- 
 able libel." Both letters were anonymous, but their authors 
 knew each other perfectly. It is easily to be understood 
 how painful it must have been for the philosophical master 
 to find himself attacked by his pupil with the very weapons 
 he had taught him to wield. There was, however, no 
 possibility of retreat left to Voltaire ; he was ready for action, 
 and determined to fight " L'Aplatisseur de la Terre " to the 
 bitter end, if possible to annihilate him completely. His 
 pen seemed to have acquired fresh force and vigour, and his 
 biting satire on Maupertuis' scientific crotchets, entitled
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 77 
 
 " FHistoire du Docteur Akakia" was launched into publicity, 
 adding fresh fuel to the fire. Maupertuis' cause was now 
 lost, for it had been turned into ridicule. 
 
 Frederic had read the pamphlet in manuscript, and had 
 been much amused at the way in which the learned President 
 of the Academy had been made fun of. He had at the same 
 time, however, begged Voltaire not to have it printed. In 
 spite of this request it was nevertheless published, the poet 
 having misused the King's permission for the publication 
 of another work for this purpose. The copies were confiscated 
 by Frederic's orders. As the pamphlet was forbidden to be 
 sold in Berlin, it now reappeared at Dresden, where anything 
 directed against Prussia was allowed to pass unpunished. 
 The King could no longer tolerate these public insults 
 heaped on the President of his Academy of Sciences. It 
 was not the learned Maupertuis, it was his own office which 
 was being held up to derision, and this could not be left 
 unnoticed. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 24th December, Christmas Eve, 
 when it is customary for all Berlin to be out in the streets, a 
 great fire was lit in one of the open squares, into which the 
 public executioner threw a quantity of books. Voltaire saw 
 this autodafe from his windows, and suspecting what was 
 taking place, sent his secretary to enquire the name of the 
 book which was being thus destroyed. The answered 
 returned was, " L'Histoire du Docteur Akakia." The flames, 
 which were gradually disappearing on the snow covered 
 ground, burst forth afresh in the poet's breast. The fire had 
 not alone destroyed Doctor Akakia, but also what remained 
 of Voltaire's devotion, respect, consideration, and gratitude 
 for the King. He sent his order and the Lord Chamber- 
 lain's key of office back to Frederic, who however returned 
 them to him, accompanied by a gracious message and an 
 invitation to come to Potsdam and occupy his usual 
 quarters.
 
 78 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 It would have been impossible to understand how Voltaire 
 and the King ever could have thought of keeping up their 
 former intimate relations, had these two been looked on as 
 ordinary commonplace mortals, and not as the striking 
 historic personages they were. They both felt what impor- 
 tant parts they played in the century's history, that a common 
 tie bound them closely together — viz., that of elevating 
 their times to a height never previously attained. This 
 was the secret magnetic power which attracted them to each 
 other, and which made them anxious, if possible, to begin 
 the old life afresh, although estranged for a time. Intellect 
 unites people, character separates them. The question may 
 reasonably be put, whether Voltaire's character, such as it 
 really showed itself, ever would have become apparent 
 without that remarkable correspondence with the King ? 
 People whose intercourse has been confined to the exchange 
 of letters should avoid a nearer personal acquaintance. The 
 reality nearly always falls short of the ideal, and the 
 consequent disappointment is apt to cause misunderstandings, 
 not to say lasting estrangements. 
 
 Frederic and Voltaire bore the stamp of their time, a 
 century of striking contradictions. Voltaire probably felt 
 himself that the former intimate friendship between him and 
 the King could never be re-established, although absolutely 
 reconciled. The King writes as follows to his sister : " It is 
 a great pity that, possessing so much talent, this madman 
 should be so bad, and cause so much vexation, yet to many 
 fools it will be a consolation, that, in spite of great intellect, 
 one is not worth more." 
 
 Voltaire left Potsdam on the 26th March, 1753, for 
 Plombieres. On his departure he left three copies of his 
 " Siecle de Louis XIV " as a gift for the Royal household, 
 instead of any pecuniary gratification. His niece, Madame 
 Denis, was to meet him at Frankfort. Arrived at Leipzig, 
 he not only threatened Maupertuis with fresh libels, but
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 79 
 
 wrote insulting articles against the King, in the appendix of 
 his novel " Zadig," and in " Les Voyages de Scarmentado." 
 His pen seemed possessed by an evil spirit. 
 
 After spending a few days with the accomplished Duchess 
 Dorothea of Saxe-Gotha, at the Castle of Friedenstein at 
 Gotha, and with the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, Voltaire 
 arrived at Frankfort-on-the-Main at the end of May, 1753. 
 Scarcely had he reached this town than he experienced a 
 treatment at the hands of Prussian officials, which, had it not 
 been explained away, must have left a stain on the King's 
 reputation which nothing could have effaced. Frederic, 
 however, declared that the only orders he had given to the 
 Military Councellor von Freytag were to demand the order 
 and Lord Chamberlain's key from Voltaire, as well as his 
 letters and poems. 
 
 In later years Voltaire threw all the blame on Freytag 
 only. The remembrance of those days roused such bitter 
 feelings in the poet's mind, that he wrote, in 1757, to 
 Marshal Eichelieu, who with the French troops was on his 
 march to Germany, " If you pass through Frankfort, 
 Madame Denis earnestly entreats you to send her the four 
 ears of those two villains, Freytag and his accomplice 
 Schmidt." 
 
 The disgraced favourite delivered up everything demanded 
 of him, as well as the volume of the King's poems which he 
 had received on June 17th. As no order had arrived from 
 Potsdam, although matters had been arranged and Voltaire 
 had attempted flight, Freytag had him and his niece arrested 
 on June 20. They were taken under an escort of soldiers to 
 prison, where Madame Denis was exposed to the most dis- 
 graceful treatment, and kept in confinement till June 25th. 
 Voltaire, however, remained a prisoner till July 6th, 
 although an order for his immediate release had arrived on 
 the 5th. 
 
 What irony of fate ! Voltaire, the ideal of the Parisians, the
 
 80 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 spoilt favourite of the great Frederic, given over into the 
 hands of coarse, uneducated people, exposed to insult and 
 outrage ! Why the King did not ask for his poems back 
 before the poet left Potsdam is but a natural question ; the 
 following reasons would give the best answer. It was not 
 till Voltaire reached Leipzig, that the King became aware, from 
 the poet's behaviour there, of the use to which he might put 
 his poems. Many of these contained satirical attacks -on 
 foreign Courts, and especially against influential personages 
 at Versailles. The King found that he had not been wrong 
 in his apprehensions. To his poems, and also to the sharp 
 and cutting remarks he had often made about those to whom 
 the destinies of France were entrusted, Frederic owed many 
 of his worst and bitterest enemies. Frederic the Great could 
 win battles, but he could never restrain a satirical remark. 
 Already, whilst at Berlin and Potsdam, Voltaire's thoughts 
 and hopes were constantly directed to France. That which 
 he had hoped to obtain in Prussia, viz., some diplomatic 
 position, he now looked to find in his own country. In order 
 to regain some of the confidence and favour he had lost in 
 France, he betrayed the trust reposed in him at Sans Souci. 
 Frederic had already found him out, whilst still apparently 
 on intimate terms with him. 
 
 At the time Voltaire first came to Prussia and lived in 
 daily and confidential intercourse with the Eoyal Philosopher, 
 the words of a future poet seemed about to be realized, " that 
 the poet and King should walk together, both living in regions 
 to which other mortals could not attain." Most of the poets 
 in similar positions had natures like Icarus, their imaginations 
 raised them up to the sun, but they lost their balance and 
 fell. Only Goethe understood how to maintain himself in 
 such heights. In Voltaire's case this was impossible ; his 
 position and his theories were in perpetual conflict. He 
 lived in the glare of a brilliant court, and sunned himself 
 in the King's favour, whilst at the same time all his
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIRETJTH. 81 
 
 energies were directed towards bringing about the downfall 
 of monarchy. 
 
 And what was the end of all this ? A prison at Frankfort ! 
 It was this catastrophe which roused the poet's hatred and 
 resentment, and led him to commit so many unworthy actions 
 against his former royal friend. 
 
 Madame Denis had written to the King on the 11th June 
 imploring her uncle's release ; she could address him directly, 
 as a lady and as a Frenchwoman. There was no past to come 
 between her and the King, as was the case with Voltaire. 
 It must have required all her self-command to pen the letter 
 to Frederic ; for she hated the King, apparently on account 
 of her uncle's treatment, but in reality because she had been 
 compelled to live alone in Paris, far from him whose triumphs 
 she was accustomed to share and to enjoy. Voltaire had also 
 sent a letter to the Abbe de Prades, but no answer was 
 vouchsafed either to Madame Denis or to the poet. It was 
 difficult to understand the reason of this silence. The means 
 of communication were indeed very deficient, and it took 
 from four to five days to reach Frankfort from Potsdam. The 
 King's journey would have increased any delay, but even 
 taking all this into consideration there would have been ample 
 time for some reply to have reached the unhappy petitioners. 
 
 Already, towards the end of the year 1752, soon after the 
 publication of " l'Histoire du Doctor Akakia," Voltaire had 
 sent the King a letter through the Margravine, in which he 
 defended himself and endeavoured to regain his lost favour. 
 Who could have possibly been a better mediator than 
 Wilhelmine ? Voltaire could only turn to her, as he felt 
 uncertain whether Frederic would receive any communication 
 from him . His letter to the Margravine tallied in every 
 respect with the one his niece had written to Frederic. Both 
 had exaggerated the facts, for they mention, amongst other 
 things, having been guarded by twelve soldiers, whilst, in 
 fact, there were only two ; neither had the poet the intention
 
 82 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 of going to Baireuth from Frankfort. He wrote the follow- 
 ing letter on the same evening after he had been arrested. 
 
 Madame, 
 May your Royal Highness's compassion be aroused, and 
 may your goodness protect us. My niece Madame Denis, who 
 had undertaken the journey to Frankfort in order to comfort 
 me, and who counted on coming with me to lay ourselves at 
 your feet, implores your mediation. A woman honoured and 
 respected in Paris has just been taken to prison by Mons. 
 Freytag, the resident official of His Majesty the King, your 
 Brother. This man in the King's name has dragged her through 
 the crowd to the same house to which I have been transferred ; 
 they have taken her maid and her servant from her, four 
 soldiers are posted before her door, the official spends the 
 night in her rooms, and this is the reason of it all. When 
 Mons. Freytag arrested me, in the King's name, on the 1st 
 June, I handed over to him all those letters from His Majesty 
 which I had been able to preserve. He asked me for a 
 volume of the King's poems ; this book was packed away in 
 a trunk which was to leave Leipzig for Hamburg. Mons. 
 Freytag signed two notes for me, written in the following 
 terms : " As soon as the box is returned, and the volume of 
 poems the King desires restored to him has been handed 
 over to me, you are free to leave and go wherever you please." 
 
 The book in question arrived on the 17th. I wished to start 
 to-day, the 20th, having fulfilled all my engagements. They 
 have arrested my secretary, my niece, and me. We have 
 twelve soldiers guarding the doors of our rooms. At this 
 moment, whilst I am writing, my niece lies in convulsions. 
 We feel certain that the King would not approve such 
 horrible violence. 
 
 Deign, Madame, to send him this letter. Deign to assure 
 him that in the midst of such unheard of misfortunes I shall 
 die, filled with the same feelings of veneration, and the same
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 83 
 
 attachment to Ms person. I implore him once more most 
 humbly for forgiveness of my faults. I always thought that 
 he would have allowed me to try and defend myself against 
 Maupertuis. But if this displeases him, there shall never 
 again be a question of it. Once more, Madame, my heart 
 has not failed, and never will fail the King, and it will ever 
 remain filled with the deepest and most tender respect for 
 your Royal Highness. 
 
 Alas, it was formerly 
 
 Brother Voltaire. 
 
 Frankfort, 20th June, At ten o'clock at night. 
 
 Voltaire's letter reached Baireuth seven days later, and on 
 the 29th June the Margravine wrote to the King from The 
 Hermitage in the following terms : "I have just received a 
 " packet from Voltaire and Madame Denis, which I am bold 
 " enough to send you. I am sorry that they should have 
 " turned to me, and fearing lest I might get entangled in this 
 " bad business, I send you, dearest brother, every communi- 
 " cation I have had from them. 
 
 " If Voltaire has been wanting either by word of mouth or 
 " otherwise, in the proper respect due to you, then I consider 
 "him the most wretched and unworthy of beings. Such 
 " behaviour can only draw down the contempt of all honour- 
 " able people upon him. Yet his age, his physical weakness, 
 " and the loss of his reputation in consequence of this un- 
 " fortunate catastrophe, fill me with pity for him. A man, 
 " when driven to despair, is capable of anything. In your 
 " opinion, dear brother, I may perhaps think too highly of 
 " him with respect of his intellectual powers, but I feel sure 
 " that in your heart you will not upbraid me for my pity. 
 " Even a criminal may expect that much, when he is un- 
 " fortunate." 
 
 g 2
 
 84 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 "Wilhelmine in reality pitied Voltaire more truly than she 
 dared avow to her brother. She did not deny Voltaire's 
 faults, but she could understand them. 
 
 The King would have infinitely preferred that Voltaire 
 should have gone straight to Baireuth, instead of going to 
 Grotha and to Frankfort. He would have been able to send 
 some one there to ask him to return his key of office and the 
 papers in question ; but this would, on the other hand, 
 have placed the Margravine in a painful position, and it is 
 natural that she should have been anxious to be spared this, 
 and under the circumstances prevented Voltaire and his niece 
 coming to Baireuth. The following lines, written to her 
 brother, show how keenly she felt the rupture between the 
 poet and Frederic, and how desirous she was of acting the 
 part of peacemaker. " The letters Voltaire has written to 
 " his friends here (which were written without the slightest 
 " feeling of suspicion or distrust, and only shown me after 
 " much entreaty) speak of you with the utmost respect. He 
 " considers you, and justly so, as the great man that you are. 
 " He complains of the preference you have shown Mau- 
 " pertuis, and of your prejudice towards himself. His 
 " sarcastic remarks on the former are so comic, that I assure 
 " you, my dear brother, I was unable to read them without 
 " laughing." 
 
 On the 7th July the King replied to his sister that he had 
 already, a fortnight before this, sent orders for Voltaire's 
 release, and that of his niece. This order was already in 
 the hands of the official, but, being of a timorous nature, 
 he had thought it necessary to wait for an answer to a 
 report he had meantime sent to the King, even if Voltaire 
 should thereby be detained as a prisoner for a few days 
 longer. In his despair the poet at last mustered up 
 courage to address the King directly, sending his letter 
 by the Margravine, to whose influence he finally owed 
 his liberty.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 85 
 
 Frankfort, 
 
 June 17, 1753. 
 
 I take the liberty of most earnestly entreating your 
 Eoyal Highness to deign to forward this petition to His 
 Majesty. Our only hope is in his protection. The cruel 
 condition in which I find myself is the excuse, if I am only 
 able to write these few lines watered by my tears. 
 
 I lay myself at his feet. 
 
 Yoltaire.
 
 86 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Voltaire at length left Frankfort on July 7th, 1753. He 
 went by way of Mayence and Worms to Mannheim and the 
 Castle of Schwetzingen, where the Elector Theodore, of the 
 Palatinate, received him most kindly, and overwhelmed him with 
 honours. From Schwetzingen he went to Rastatt and Kehl, 
 making a stay of some days at Strasburg. The thought of a 
 possible return to Potsdam now began to occupy Voltaire's 
 imagination. It would almost seem as if he had felt that 
 there, after all, he had had a home, an asylum for his liberty 
 of thought ; that he realized that he had held a distinguished 
 position at the brilliant Court, and had been honoured with 
 the friendship of a great Sovereign, whom he could in return 
 look up to and esteem. No fanatical priests existed at 
 Potsdam, as they did at Colmar, who could force him to send 
 for a Capucin monk at Easter, and confess, in order to prove 
 his innocence of State intrigues. Where could he find such a 
 resting place ? Surely not in France, where a longer stay 
 was impossible ; he had been given to understand this from 
 Paris. Voltaire still hoped for a reconciliation with the King, 
 and if anyone could bring this about it was the Margravine. 
 
 Strasbtjrg, 
 
 22nd December, 1753. 
 Madame, 
 
 I should consider myself guilty towards 
 your Royal Highness and untrue to my dearest feelings if I 
 did not write to you on this occasion. 
 
 The Duchess of Grotha has filled me with surprise and grati- 
 tude, by informing me that she had instructed M. de Grotter 
 to speak to the King, your brother, and to implore your pro-
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 87 
 
 tection on my behalf with him. Your Boyal Highness knows 
 I have never wished for any other. Had it not been for the 
 fatal circumstance of my niece's journey, I should have come 
 direct from Leipzig to Baireuth, to lay myself at your feet. 
 The harm has been done, but is there no remedy? The 
 King's philosophy, your humane nature, your advice, your 
 prayers, will all these be of no avail ? Who will tell the 
 truth to a great man, if it be not you, Madame ? I own it, 
 I have said so. I have written it to the King, and shall 
 maintain it as long as I live, that I erred in being thus 
 obstinate ; but, Madame, is this a State crime ? It is literary 
 childishness, a quarrel about algebra, a mere nothing ; and it 
 is for this that I was kept a prisoner for six weeks at 
 Frankfort, that I lost the season at a watering-place whilst 
 seriously ill, that my niece was dragged by soldiers through 
 the streets of Frankfort, that a wretched being who had been 
 alone with her all night, got rid of her servants and tried to 
 outrage her ! These deeds of violence were committed by a 
 certain Freytag, who called himself one of the King's minis- 
 ters. The King does probably not know that this man had 
 been condemned to the stocks, and to hard labor at Dresden. 
 All these terrible circumstances are well known at all other 
 Courts, but his Majesty may be ignorant of them. 
 
 And as to myself, what is my position ? I am old and 
 infirm, I had sacrificed the last remaining years of my life to 
 the King, and for three whole years I have only lived for 
 him. All my time was devoted to him, and I gave up myself 
 to work all my time for him, he knows it, will he therefore 
 only remember a literary quarrel? I must tell you the 
 truth, Madame, for it is right that your Royal Highness 
 should know it ! The whole mischief was caused by the 
 letter the King had published against Konig and against 
 myself, at a time when he was unaware of the dispute. I do 
 not say this in order to lessen the blame attaching to myself. 
 I shall always acknowledge that I was much in fault not to
 
 88 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 have kept silent, and to have been so obstinate. Surely 
 
 fifteen years of the greatest devotion should excuse a 
 
 momentary outburst of bad temper. I venture to ask your 
 
 Royal Highness to be the judge of this. I appeal to you 
 
 whether it does not tend more to the glory of a great man 
 
 to forget a fault, and only to remember past services. Shall 
 
 so many mementos of the correspondence the King honoured 
 
 me with, and of my idolatry for him, remain to posterity for 
 
 it only to say : The end of all this was a prison, and 
 
 insults offered to an innocent woman ? 
 
 Ah ! Madame, does glory only consist in possessing a fine 
 
 Army ? The King your brother loves true fame, and he 
 
 deserves it ; he loves you, and therefore will believe you. 
 
 Madame, it is an opportunity of showing the true greatness 
 
 of your heart, and of touching his. Do just as you think 
 
 best, I leave myself entirely in your hands. I will mention 
 
 nothing to your Eoyal Highness of what is said at 
 
 Versailles, at Vienna, or at Paris, or London ; you must 
 
 listen to your heart alone, and it is to that of the King that 
 
 you must appeal. You will succeed, as you have undertaken 
 
 to do so. My heart will for ever be filled with the most 
 
 profound and tender respect for your Eoyal Highness. 
 
 Will your Eoyal Highness permit me to lay myself at the 
 
 Margrave's feet. 
 
 Formerly Brother Voltaire ? 
 
 This is a curious letter. According to a communication 
 from the Marquis d'Argens to d'Alembert, it would seem 
 that the Margravine had endeavoured to make peace between 
 her brother and Voltaire. But her efforts proved fruitless, 
 as did also those of the Duchess of Gotha. The King was 
 not to be moved. Voltaire was, and remained to him, 
 nothing more than " formerly Brother Voltaire." 
 
 " With reference to yourself, dear sister," Frederic had 
 written to Wilhelmine on April 12, 1753, " I would advise
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 89 
 
 "you not to write to him yourself. I have already been 
 "caught by doing so." This warning, which the Margravine 
 may have looked on as a command, is in all probability the 
 reason that no more letters from her to Voltaire are to be 
 found from that period till 1757. It is likely that the inti- 
 macy was kept up by Adhemar and the Marquis de Mont- 
 perni. Although Wilhelmine had become more cautious, 
 her friendship for the poet remained unimpaired, and it was 
 owing to her that an apparent intercourse between the King 
 and Voltaire was maintained. The poet wrote her civil letters, 
 and sent her books, amongst others the " Annales de 
 l'Empire," which he was writing at Gotha, and afterwards 
 completed at Colmar. In 1754 he was able to send a few 
 printed copies of his latest historical work to his friends at 
 Baireuth. 
 
 Colmar, 
 
 25th January, 1757. 
 Madame, 
 
 I lay this fresh expression of my devotion at your 
 Eoyal Highness's feet, and beg you to believe that Brother 
 Voltaire is always the same ; he has only changed his cell ; 
 he has not changed in feeling, and perhaps some day the 
 very renowned and very respectable Father Superior will 
 know that his monk has never failed him, and will retain his 
 devotion till the grave. 
 
 I entreat your Royal Highness to permit me to present, 
 through your hands, which beautify all they touch, this humble 
 work to him who has ever been the object of what I thought, 
 and of what I wrote, and who is, like yourself, the best 
 judge. 
 
 I shall remain all my life, with the profoundest respect 
 and inviolable attachment to your Eoyal Highness, the very 
 humble and very obedient servant, 
 
 Voltaire.
 
 90 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Will you allow me to enclose two copies in this packet for 
 M. d'Adhemar and M. de Montperni ? 
 
 The Margravine had faithfully discharged the commissions 
 entrusted to her. On the 10th of March (1754) the 
 King sent her the following reply : "I was much surprised 
 at receiving the book from Voltaire with a long letter. I 
 will have it acknowledged by the Abbe de Prades, so that I 
 may not compromise myself in any way." 
 
 Ten months had elapsed when, on October 23, 1754, the 
 hermit of Colmar suddenly received a message which caused 
 him as much surprise as it did satisfaction. " Sister Wilhel- 
 mine " announced her arrival at Colmar to " Brother 
 Voltaire," and begged him to come and see her. 
 
 The Margravine's increasing delicacy of health had given 
 cause for serious anxiety, and the milder and softer air of 
 Italy and the South of France was deemed an imperative 
 necessity. She was on her journey thither, and was anxious 
 to see her friends. 
 
 Voltaire hastened to fulfil the request ; " the meeting was 
 a most touching one." He stayed to supper, and spent eight 
 hours in the society of his friend. Their conversation was 
 the more unrestrained as the Margrave was not expected to 
 arrive till next day. During these hours the ties of friend- 
 ship, which time had perhaps loosened, were strengthened 
 anew. How much had they not to say to one another ! 
 
 Wilhelmine endeavoured to pour oil on the troubled waters, 
 and to heal the wounds which the sad occurrences at Frank- 
 fort had made. She was at no small pains to-day to convince 
 him that the King was not so much to blame, and endea- 
 voured to overcome his hatred and anger against him. The 
 Margravine gave him a costly present, and finally asked to 
 see Madame Denis, who came and paid her respects next 
 morning. The days and hours spent at Rheinsberg, 
 Baireuth, and Sans Souci, were recalled; Voltaire and the 
 Margravine discussed the theories of Descartes, Locke's
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BA1REUTH. 91 
 
 "Essay," and laughed and joked about "La Pucelle." 
 " She overwhelmed me with kindness," the poet writes ; " she 
 " made me a beautiful present. She insisted on seeing my 
 " niece. In one word, she had but one thought, that of 
 " making up for all the evil wrought me in her brother's 
 "name. We must own that women, are worth a deal more 
 " than men. It has all seemed to me like a dream." 
 
 The Margravine met Voltaire again at Lyons, where she 
 made a lengthened stay. Here she saw much of the 
 Cardinal Tencin and the Jesuit priests, so much so, that one 
 day the news reached Berlin that " the Margrave and 
 Margravine had become Eoman Catholics." Voltaire hastened 
 to pay his respects to Cardinal Tencin, Archbishop of Lyons. 
 Having passed through the long passages leaning on his 
 Secretary's arm, he entered the Cardinal's audience room 
 alone, but returned a few minutes later, deeply wounded and 
 offended at the reception he had met with. He had scarcely 
 made his bow, when the Cardinal told him he could not 
 invite him to dinner, as he was in such bad odour at Court. 
 This uncivil treatment was fully made up for by the 
 enthusiasm with which he was received by the public, and by 
 theMargravine'sgraciousbehaviour. Voltaire had left Colmar 
 with the intention of settling down near Lyons for the rest 
 of his life. His old enemies the Jesuits, however, had made 
 it impossible for him. They had openly burned Bayle's 
 Dictionary* at Lyons, and were bitter to a degree in their 
 hatred of Voltaire. "Dear Friend," he had said to his 
 secretary after his interview with Tencin, " this country 
 does not suit me ; and what Kings cannot give, or rather, 
 what they take from one, are peace and liberty." The old, 
 frail poet was therefore forced to begin his wanderings afresh, 
 and to seek a resting place in Switzerland. 
 
 * A historical and critical Dictionary compiled by Bayle, who held very 
 advanced views, in which Voltaire shared.
 
 92 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 At first he bought " Maurion," a house situated in a 
 vineyard between Lausanne and the Lake of Geneva. He 
 only lived there a short time, as he missed the many comforts 
 to which he and his niece (a spoilt Parisian lady) were 
 accustomed. He therefore moved to a larger house, "Les 
 Delices," and established himself there in a grand style. It 
 was all the more surprising, as he had always been con- 
 sidered a great miser. His income at that time amounted 
 to 160,000 francs,* resulting from lucky financial specula- 
 tions, and not so much from the sale of his literary works. 
 With these latter, i.e., his manuscripts, he had very bad luck. 
 Voltaire was a most careful and anxious writer, and following 
 Horace's principles, kept his manuscripts for years in his 
 desk before publishing them. Many of his books would 
 never have appeared during his lifetime, had he not been 
 forced to publish them by the appearance of copies, printed 
 from manuscripts which he had from time to time given 
 to Royal personages or friends. Such had been the case 
 with " La Pucelle," and also with his poems, which appeared 
 with the incorrect title of " Sur la Religion naturelle." He 
 had written it hastily for the King of Prussia, and sent 
 a copy of it to the Margravine. Meanwhile a very faulty 
 edition of it was published at Paris. The Margravine alone 
 could have lent the manuscript. Voltaire himself remarked 
 to his friends that " she must have made copies of it." 
 He could not tell her so to her face, so he accused a 
 certain princess' of Passau Saarbriick, who never existed, 
 of being the culprit. 
 
 The following letter is of interest, as it may, perhaps, be 
 of use in deciding the literary dispute as to whom Voltaire's 
 poem on ' La Loi naturelle ' was dedicated ? " 
 
 La Harpe asserts that it was first dedicated to Frederic the 
 Great, and then to the Margravine, " with whom he spent 
 
 * £4,000 a year.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 93 
 
 some time, after bis quarrel with Frederic." However, as 
 the poet was not at Baireuth, but on a visit to the Duchess 
 of Gotha at that period, it must have been to the latter. 
 Collini, Voltaire's secretary, affirms this, and so does the 
 author himself in a letter to D'Argental, written on 22nd 
 March, 1756. "lam informed that 'La Eeligion naturelle ' 
 " has been printed for the Duchess of Gotha, as well as for the 
 " King of Prussia." It would therefore appear from this that 
 there were three dedications, one to Frederic the Great, one 
 to the Duchess of Gotha, and the third to the Margravine, 
 but this latter is supposed to be the only really authentic one. 
 
 In the poem, " Sur le Desastre de Lisbonne," which 
 Voltaire mentions in his letter of the 17th February, 1756, 
 to the Margravine as " another sermon," he endeavours to 
 contradict Pope's maxim, "All is good." He will not allow 
 that the hope of a better and higher existence hereafter can 
 in any way compensate for the sufferings and troubles 
 endured here on earth. For Voltaire, there did certainly 
 still exist some hope in this life, and that was to regain the 
 King's good graces. He again corresponded with the 
 " Solomon of the North," who sent him replies through the 
 Abbe de Prades. The historical events of the next years 
 seemed to be centred in Sans Souci. New dangers threatened, 
 and new wars awaited the King. All Europe seemed to 
 rise in arms against him. England alone stood by him, 
 and the sympathy felt for him in that country is well 
 expressed in a letter of Pitt's: "I feel the most grateful 
 " sentiments of veneration and zeal for a Prince who stands 
 " the unshaken bulwark of Europe against the most powerful 
 " and malignant confederacy that ever yet had threatened 
 "the independence of mankind." Frederic concluded the 
 important treaty with England, 1756. 
 
 All this took place without Voltaire, and the road 
 leading from the Lake of Geneva to Sans Souci seemed 
 barred to him for ever.
 
 94 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 MaTJRION, NEAR LAUSANNE, 
 
 17th February, 1756. 
 Madame. 
 
 You are one of those divinities who are made 
 for the purpose of scattering gracious kindnesses. It is said 
 that Grod does no evil, but that He permits it. 
 
 The Princess of Passau-Saarbriick has sent a particular 
 work on natural religion to Paris, and I can swear to your 
 Royal Highness that I have never given away a single copy 
 of it, except to you alone. The King your brother has never 
 dispossessed himself of the original. It was a very crude 
 poem. I have corrected it a good deal lately, and this is how 
 it commences : — 
 
 " Queen without pomp and unbeaet 
 " By woman's weakness, woman yet, 
 11 In reason manlike, firm and wise, 
 " Rather thy precious qualities 
 " Than the seductive fires that fly 
 " Forth from the loadstar of thine eye, 
 " Draw me to thee. Thou worthy sign 
 " Of God's own handiwork divine, 
 " Know we our master," &c. 
 
 After this little beginning your Royal Highness cannot 
 fail to take the sermon and the preacher under your protec- 
 tion. The King, your brother, adds to his glory, which 
 seemed impossible to increase ; he makes treaties, which are 
 worth more than victories, he keeps strangers aloof from his 
 country, he strengthens the thrones of other sovereigns, and 
 makes his own secure. But this is not all, he sends me my 
 " Merope," converted by himself into an opera. All this is 
 very fine, but he fails to love me. 
 
 Will your Royal Highness deign to be amused by another 
 sermon which I have the honour to send you, and then 
 judge between Pope and myself. I pray that everything 
 may be well at all times with you. I lay myself at his
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 95 
 
 Royal Highness feet, and at yours, with the profonndest 
 respect and the eternal zeal of Brother 
 
 Yoltaire. 
 
 Voltaire's " Essai sur l'Histoire generale " appeared at the 
 end of the year 1756, a book which proved how incapable 
 the eighteenth century was of rightly estimating the historic 
 value of the past, especially of the middle ages. Copies of 
 the work were sent at once to the author's friends, and 
 to the Margravine. Almost at the moment when all were 
 reading the chapter containing the account of Henry IY's 
 murder by Ravaillac, the news arrived from Paris of the 
 attempt made on the life of Louis XV by Damien, a 
 former servant in a Jesuit College. The King had been 
 wounded in the side with a penknife, whilst getting out 
 of his carriage. Voltaire was greatly excited by the news, 
 less, perhaps, from affection for his sovereign, whose "gentil- 
 homme ordinaire de la chambre " he had still remained, as 
 from hatred to his old enemies, the Jesuits. Damien, 
 Voltaire was convinced, was their tool, and this deed had 
 done them greater injury than the King, of which he 
 was heartily glad. This time, however, Voltaire did them 
 injustice. Damien had no accomplices; he represented the 
 national feeling which had been roused by the opposition 
 of the Parliament. This attempt on the King of France's 
 life was among the "extraordinary news" of which Voltaire 
 speaks in his next letter. It is probable that a detailed 
 account of the event was enclosed in the letter. He had 
 received close on fifty letters about it from Paris, showing 
 how great the excitement was. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 Allow me to reiterate my prayers for your 
 Royal Highness' health, and to thank you for the assurance
 
 96 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 given me by the Marquis d'Adhemar of the continuance of 
 your favour. 
 
 I take the liberty of sending you news from Paris, which 
 may strike you as extraordinary, and will exercise your 
 philosophy. 
 
 I am ignorant if your Royal Highness has received the 
 copies of the History which I lay at your feet. I flatter 
 myself that the King your brother will continue to furnish 
 modern History with the most brilliant subjects, but to 
 Caesar alone it belongs to write his own commentaries. 
 
 I am still persuaded that he will remember that he made 
 me leave my country, that it was for him I gave up my King, 
 my employment, and my family. 
 
 If he were at Berlin, I should take the liberty of asking 
 him to send me some melon seeds, and I would beg for your 
 Royal Highness' protection. But he has other things to do 
 than to honour my kitchen garden with his melons. Will 
 your Royal Highness and the Margrave always deign to 
 accept the profound respect and prayers of Brother 
 
 Yoltaire. 
 
 In a letter of the 18th February, Voltaire mentions an invi- 
 tation he had received from the Empress Elizabeth of Russia to 
 go to St. Petersburg, also the change which had taken place in 
 the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the pass to which 
 things were brought, when verses were written in honour of 
 Madame de Pompadour, as had been the case with the 
 Abbe Bernis, Voltaire's enemy, then his friend, and finally 
 neither. He was sure the Abbe would seek revenge for the 
 contempt with which Frederic had mentioned him in the 
 following line, "Evitez de Bernis la sterile abondance." 
 A remark of that kind, made by a King, remains an ever- 
 lasting wound to a vain and conceited poet. Why had the 
 King not been more cautious ? Was he not aware that
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 97 
 
 everything was possible at Versailles, and that an Abbe, 
 although not possessing the talent of a Richelieu and Mazarin, 
 might yet become Minister ? Would not Madame de Pom- 
 padour's creature seek to revenge himself, and perhaps in the 
 most unpleasant manner ? A coalition between France and 
 Austria would have placed the Prussian hero in a most 
 awkward position. As the letter has no individual interest 
 it is not given here. Voltaire was not the least anxious to go 
 to Russia, still less so since Russia had joined the Austrian- 
 French alliance. The French were on their road to the West- 
 phalian provinces of Prussia, and the Russians would not long 
 delay to invade Prussia from the other side. Voltaire writes 
 he does " not wish for Kings or an autocratic Empress," but 
 he desires the restitution of his order and key of office from 
 Frederic, " ces brimborions " as he calls them, to which, 
 however, he attaches great importance. He makes indirect 
 allusions to the sacrifices he has brought to the King, but he 
 is careful not openly to express the wishes which lay nearest 
 his heart. He has retired into private life, only now 
 and then he has a longing to gain fresh laurels at the 
 theatre of the amiable and beautiful Marquise Grentil de 
 Langalerie, instead of at that at Lausanne. He becomes 
 more and more identified with the small world of that town ; 
 even a troupe of amateurs act better in his eyes than the 
 actors on the royal stage at Paris. 
 
 Maurion, 
 
 5th March, 1757. 
 Madame, 
 
 Will your Royal Highness deign to continue 
 your favours to me, may Grod protect you from the Russians, 
 and me, poor frail creature, from the ice of Petersburg ! 
 I was tempted one fine sunny day, to visit next summer 
 this capital of a new empire, whose history they wish me 
 to write. I said to myself, " I will go to Baireuth, and 
 
 H
 
 98 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 " lay myself at the feet of my protectress. I shall obtain 
 " passports from the King, her brother, which I shall owe 
 " to the protection of his benevolent sister ! " The north 
 winds, the respect I have for the hussars, and the excellent 
 assistance a traveller meets with in Poland, have destroyed 
 my castles in the air, and I have reduced myself to acting 
 the part of the good fellow " Lusignan," in "Zaire,'* before 
 a grave Swiss audience. In truth, our troupe would not 
 have been unworthy of appearing before your Royal 
 Highness. 
 
 There is a talented girl at Geneva, Madame, who sings 
 almost as well as Mademoiselle Astrua, and who is especially 
 inimitable in comic operas. Not that operas are given at 
 Geneva, only psalms are sung there. I noticed in times past 
 that your Royal Highness was inclined to attach to herself a 
 person of talent and intelligence. This young lady, who is 
 of very good birth, would be far more suited for the Court of 
 Baireuth than for Geneva. "We must not, however, speak of 
 amusements when everything is preparing itself for so 
 serious a war. The Court of Versailles has just made eight 
 " Marshals of France," and fifty thousand men are actually 
 starting for Flanders ; at least the Quarter Masters have 
 already left. The King, your brother, will be within reach 
 of performing far greater deeds than he has yet done. 
 Thence he will turn again to philosophy, for which he is 
 born as well as for heroism, and he will call to mind a man 
 who for his sake had left his country. He does not know 
 how much I was attached to his person. 
 
 Your chamberlain, Madame, who is returning from Italy, 
 knows that one can live happily in my little retreat near 
 Geneva called " Les Delices," but he is aware too, that a 
 man who has paid his court to your Royal Highness can- 
 not live in happiness anywhere else. Will you permit me 
 to offer a thousand prayers for your health, nature has 
 endowed you with everything else. But of what use are
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 99 
 
 beauty, greatness, cleverness and charms, when the body is 
 suffering ? 
 
 Will your Royal Highness and the Margrave accept the 
 profound respect and fervent prayers of Brother 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 Ai7x Delices, on the Lake op Geneva, 
 
 15^ July, 1757. 
 Madame, 
 
 Brother Voltaire will never cease in his devotion 
 for your Royal Highness, and you will therefore permit me 
 to join the number of those who deplore the death of your 
 Royal mother deeply, and who at the same time wish the 
 worthiest daughter of the departed the longest and hap- 
 piest life. 
 
 Oh ! Madame, it is no small thing to be happy, in fact it 
 is easier to perform great deeds than to preserve the true 
 peace of mind; and, although glory and fame are dearly 
 bought, yet they are far less rare than this happiness. 
 
 Your Royal Highness has lost a mother; you see your 
 brother constantly exposed to the greatest dangers, and war is 
 raging on the borders of your country. Ah ! Madame, how 
 much more enjoyable were those days when you so admi- 
 rably represented Roxane at your theatre, and I had the 
 honour of personating the part of Acomat, when I appeared 
 in a Chinese costume, and was witness of the beautiful fetes 
 you gave your Royal brother. 
 
 I was very happy then ; I was daily near your Royal 
 Highness, lost in admiration of your many talents and 
 graceful ways, and listening to the sound of your voice. I do 
 not know what will be the end of this cruel war, which 
 paralyses all Germany ; but of this I am certain, that there 
 is no one more worthy of devotion or more amiable than the 
 Margravine of Baireuth. Friend and foe agree on this 
 point ; it is an article of faith which no one dares to attack. 
 
 h 2
 
 100 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 I hear with pleasure that your health is improving, and 
 that you have no reason to miss the climate of Provence and 
 Italy. Baireuth must be a pleasant residence in spite of 
 being so near to the seat of war. Perhaps one of your gentle- 
 men who is travelling has told you that you are really wor- 
 shipped in the little Hermitage on the Lake of Geneva. You 
 have altars wherever it can be imagined. 
 
 I pray that your Royal Highness and the Margrave will 
 continue your favour towards me. A few months ago, His 
 Majesty the King, your brother, was gracious enough to 
 write to me again ; I should not dare take such a liberty as 
 to answer him, save through your Royal Highness's kind 
 offices, which you will always grant to Brother Voltaire; 
 be assured of his deepest respect. 
 
 Voltaire was becoming a landed proprietor in his old age. 
 Besides Maurion and a house in Lausanne he had, before 
 acquiring Ferney, bought a charming villa in the neighbour- 
 hood of Greneva, called by him Les Delices. He had left 
 Lausanne to establish himself near Geneva, where the 
 presence of the famous doctor Tronchin was the great attrac- 
 tion. As long as he was near him, Voltaire felt he could 
 not die. What a curious fancy, for the older he grew, the 
 more charm life seemed to have for him. 
 
 It is from " Les Delices " that Voltaire's next letters are 
 written. From his peaceful retreat he observed with 
 philosophical satisfaction " that the Sovereigns of Europe 
 " did not enjoy the same peaceful repose." Half Europe 
 had risen in arms against the Prussian King, and on the 
 18th of June, 1757, he sat on a fallen tree near the battle- 
 field of Kolin drawing figures in the sand, lost in thought, 
 and quite stunned by the terrible disaster which had 
 overtaken him, who was only accustomed to be victorious. 
 The following letter from the Margravine to her friend at 
 Geneva gives a graphic account of the troubles and dangers 
 which beset her brother.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 101 
 
 28th October, 1757. 
 
 Your letters have all safely reached me. The agitation of 
 my mind has so weighed down my body, that I have been 
 unable to answer you sooner. I am surprised that you are 
 astonished at our despair. News must but rarely reach your 
 Cantons, since you are ignorant of what is taking place in 
 the world. I had the intention of giving you a detailed 
 account of the series of our misfortunes. I shall do so but 
 briefly. The battle of Kolin was already won, and the 
 Prussians were masters of the battle-field on a hill on the 
 right wing of the enemy, when a certain evil spirit, whom 
 you never liked, took it into his head, against the express 
 orders he had received from the Xing, to attack the main 
 body of the Austrians, which caused a great gap between the 
 victorious left wing of the Prussians, and the main body of 
 the enemy. It also prevented this wing from being 
 supported. The King filled up the gap with two regiments 
 of cavalry. A discharge of artillery caused them to retire 
 and take to flight. The Austrians, who had had time to 
 recover themselves, fell upon the flank and rear of the 
 Prussians. The King, in spite of his skill and exertions, 
 was unable to remedy the disorder. He was himself in 
 danger of being taken prisoner or killed. The first battalion 
 of the foot guards gave him time to retire by throwing itself 
 in front of him. He saw his brave men massacred, all of 
 whom perished with the exception of two hundred, after 
 having inflicted cruel slaughter on the enemy. The blockade of 
 Prague was raised next day. The King formed two armies. 
 He gave the command of the one to my brother of Prussia, 
 and kept the other himself. He drew a line from Lissa to 
 Leitmeritz, where he pitched his camp. 
 
 Desertions began to take place in his army ; out of thirty 
 thousand Saxons, there scarcely remained two to three 
 thousand. The King had Nadasti's army facing him, and
 
 102 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 my brother, who was at Lissa, that of Dawn. My brother 
 drew his supplies from Zittau, and the King from Leitmeritz. 
 Dawn crossed the Elbe and stole a march on the Prince of 
 Prussia. He took Gabel, where there were four Prussian 
 battalions, and marched on Zittau. The Prince hurried off to 
 go to the succour of this town ; he lost his train and his 
 pontoons, the carriages being too large and unable to pass 
 through the narrow mountain roads. He arrived in time to 
 save the garrison and part of the magazine. The King was 
 obliged to re-enter Saxony. The two combined armies en- 
 camped at Bautzen and Bernstadt ; that of the Austrians 
 between Gorlitz and Schonau, in unassailable positions. On 
 the 17th September the King marched against the enemy, in 
 order to try and take Gorlitz. The two armies, face to face, 
 kept up an ineffectual cannonade, but the Prussians gained 
 their end and took Gorlitz. They pitched their camp then 
 upon the heights of Javernic, extending from Bernstadt as 
 far as the Neisse, where General Winterfeld's corps lay, and 
 was beginning to extend itself as far as Eadomeritz. The 
 army of the Prince of Soubise, having combined with that of 
 the Empire, had advanced to Erfurt. It could have cut off the 
 passage of the Elbe by establishing itself at Leipzig, which 
 would have made the King's position a most dangerous one. 
 He therefore left the army, the command of which he entrusted 
 to the Prince of Bevern, and marched with all speed and great 
 secrecy on Erfurt. He very nearly surprised the army of 
 the Empire ; but these timid troops fled in disorder into the 
 impenetrable mountain passes of Thuringia, behind Eisenach. 
 The Prince of Soubise, too weak to withstand the Prussians, 
 had already retired thither. It was at Erfurt, and afterwards 
 at Naumburg, where fate launched her poisoned arrows 
 against the King. He was informed of the] shameful treaty 
 concluded by the Duke of Cumberland, the march of the 
 Duke of Richelieu, the death and defeat of Winterfeld, who 
 was attacked by the whole of Nadasti's corps, consisting
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF HAIREUTH. 103 
 
 of twenty-four thousand men, he only having six thousand 
 to defend himself with ; he heard of the entry of the 
 Austrians into Silesia, and of that of the Swedes into the 
 Ulter-Mark, where they seemed to be taking the route to 
 Berlin. Add to all this, from Memmel to Konigsberg, Prussia 
 is reduced to a complete desert. Behold a sample of our mis- 
 fortunes. Since then, the Austrians have advanced on Breslau. 
 The skilful tactics of the Prince of Bevern has prevented 
 their laying siege to it. At this present time they are 
 occupied with the siege of Schweidnitz. A party of them, 
 numbering four thousand men, has levied contributions at 
 Berlin itself. The arrival of Prince Maurice made them 
 evacuate the King's country. I have just been told that 
 Leipzig is blockaded, that my brother of Prussia is very ill 
 there, the King is at Torgau, judge of my anxieties and 
 my sufferings. I am scarcely in a state to finish this letter. 
 I tremble for the King, and that he may take some violent 
 resolution. Good-bye ; wish that I may die, it is the hap- 
 piest thing which could happen to me. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 Four nations, France, Austria, Russia, and Sweden, were 
 allied against Frederic and his people. How could he with- 
 stand them ? The first and important point was to sever the 
 alliance between France and Austria, and to induce the 
 former to make peace. At the Court of the Margravine 
 lived a certain Louis Alexandre de Eiqueti, Comte de 
 Mirabeau, one of the same family from which the famous 
 revolutionist Mirabeau descended, and who was besides a 
 relation of the Abbe Bernis, afterwards a minister. Eiqueti 
 was sent by the Margravine to Paris with the full knowledge 
 of the King. He was empowered to see the Marquise de 
 Pompadour, and to offer her half a million thalers* if she 
 
 * £75,000.
 
 104 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 would make peace. The mission failed. Louis XV. 's 
 favourite could refuse half a million, but could not forget 
 the sarcastic remarks the Prussian King had made about 
 her. The knowledge of these remarks Frederic owed to his 
 friend, who had treacherously let them reach the Marquise's 
 
 ears. 
 
 Up to this time the correspondence between Voltaire and 
 Wilhelmine had, with a few exceptions, been of the most 
 amusing kind ; but now that sorrow and trouble had over- 
 taken the Margravine, the letters bear the impress of this 
 terrible period of despair and danger. It was at this moment 
 that the brother and sister showed themselves to their greatest 
 advantage, Frederic in his undaunted courage, and Wilhel- 
 mine in her unselfish devotion. 
 
 But Voltaire's character, on the other hand, shows much 
 indecision, which is the case with people who, like him, are 
 governed by momentary impulses, and not by firm prin- 
 ciples. Voltaire was unable to separate the interests and 
 feelings of his own person in judging of things ; he was 
 never consistent, except in his negation of all that was 
 positive. On the one hand he spread malicious reports about 
 Frederic, whilst on the other he flattered him. One day he 
 speaks of having invented a new weapon of war against 
 him, and the next he extols his victories with pride. His 
 whole nature seems made up of contradictions and ambi- 
 guities. But even he must have been touched by the cry of 
 despair from Baireuth. Such was the sister's distress, that 
 in her love and devotion to Frederic, she was ready to start 
 for Paris herself to settle matters for him. Her character 
 was calculated to bring matters to a satisfactory issue, had 
 not her enfeebled health prevented the execution of such 
 a plan. 
 
 The following letter from Voltaire is evidently an answer 
 to one from the Margravine, which, however, is not in our 
 possession :
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 105 
 
 At the " Delices," 
 
 August, 1757. 
 Madame, 
 
 My heart is more than ever touched by the kind- 
 ness and confidence your Royal Highness deigns to show me. 
 How is it possible, then, that I should not be enthusiastically 
 moved by it ? I observe that it is only your beautiful soul 
 which makes you unhappy. I feel myself born to be devoted 
 with idolatry to superior and sensitive minds, which think as 
 you do. You know how much at heart I have always been 
 attached to the King your brother. The more my old age 
 is tranquil, the more I have given all else up, the more I 
 make a home of my place of retirement, the more I am de- 
 voted to this philosophical King. I write nothing to him 
 but what I feel at the bottom of my heart, nothing but what 
 I believe to be perfectly true ; and if your Royal Highness 
 thinks my letter a proper one, I entreat you to forward it to 
 him, as was the case with the former ones. 
 
 Tour Royal Highness will find things in this letter bearing 
 upon matters which have already engaged your thoughts. 
 Although the first suggestions regarding peace have failed, 
 I am persuaded that they will in the end meet with success. 
 
 Permit me to venture to communicate to you an idea of 
 mine. I fancy that the Marshal de Richelieu would be 
 flattered if he was addressed personally. I believe that he 
 thinks that it is necessary to keep up a balance, and that he 
 would be glad if the interests of his King and master coin- 
 cided with those of his allies and of your own. If upon any 
 occasion you wished to have him sounded, it would not be 
 difficult. 
 
 Nobody would be more fit than M. de Richelieu to take 
 such a ministry. I am bold enough to mention this, Madame, 
 in the supposition that the King, your brother, should be 
 obliged to take this decision, and I venture to say that in this 
 case he would be under great obligations to you. As to this
 
 106 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 idea, it is not even a suggestion, far less advice, which it does 
 not pertain to me to dare to give ; it is a simple wish which 
 has its origin in my zeal alone. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 19th August, 1757. 
 
 One only knows one's friends when one is in 
 trouble. The letter you have written to me does much honour 
 to your manner of thinking. I do not know in what way to 
 show you how sensible I am of your conduct. The King is 
 as much so as I am. You will find a note enclosed herewith, 
 which he has ordered me to send you. This great man is 
 always the same. He bears his misfortunes with a courage 
 and firmness worthy of him. He was not able to copy the 
 letter he was writing to you. It began with some verses. 
 Instead of throwing sand over it, he took the inkstand, which 
 is the reason that it is destroyed. I am in a terrible state, 
 and I shall not survive the destruction of my house and my 
 family. It is the only comfort which remains to me. You 
 will have some fine subjects for tragedies to workout. Oh ! 
 times ! Oh ! morals ! You will perhaps cause tears to flow by an 
 illusive representation, whilst one contemplates with dry eyes 
 the misfortunes of a whole house, against whom at bottom 
 there is no real cause of complaint. I cannot say more to 
 you on this subject ; my heart is so troubled that I do not 
 know what I am doing. But whatever may happen, be 
 assured that I am more than ever your friend. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 At the Dblices, 
 
 29th August, 1757. 
 Madame, 
 
 I have been moved to tears by the letter your 
 Royal Highness has honoured me with. I should ask your
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 107 
 
 permission to come and lay myself at your feet, if I could 
 leave my unfortunate, and I venture to say, respectable niece, 
 who has followed me in my retirement, and who has given 
 up everything for my sake. Yet in my obscurity I have not 
 for a moment lost sight of your Royal Highness and your 
 august house. Your generous heart, Madame, is undergoing 
 severe trials. What lias happened in Sweden, what is taking 
 place in Germany, tries your sensitiveness. It is to be pre- 
 sumed that the storm will not extend to your states, but 
 your soul experiences all the shocks, and it is through your 
 heart alone that you can be unhappy. May such well founded 
 alarms not injure your health. But those about you will 
 look to this better than I can. It is much to be desired for 
 your sake, for Grermany, and for Europe, that an honourable 
 peace, based on all the old treaties, should put an end to so 
 much trouble and to so many misfortunes. But it does 
 not appear to me that this peace is so near. 
 
 Under these circumstances, Madame, may I be permitted to 
 place this letter, that I have ventured to write to his Majesty 
 the King, your brother, under your protection. Your Royal 
 Highness will allow it to reach him if you think it proper. 
 In any case, you will become aware of my sentiments, and 
 I am sure that you will approve of them. Meanwhile I shall 
 never consider things desperate as long as the King has 
 an army. He has often conquered, and can conquer still, 
 but if time and the number of his enemies leave him nothing 
 but his courage, this courage will be respected by Europe. 
 The King, your brother, will always remain a great man, and 
 if he experiences misfortunes like so many other Princes, he 
 will have a new kind of glory. I wish he were persuaded 
 of his own personal worth, for he has reached that point where 
 many people of all ranks respect him more as a man than as 
 a King. Who, Madame, must feel more than you do, what it 
 is to be superior to one's birth. It would take up too much 
 time were I to say all I thought, and all that my tender
 
 108 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 respect inspires me with. Deign to read the heart of 
 Brother 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 12th September, 1757. 
 
 Tour letter has greatly touched me, and the one you 
 addressed to the King has produced the same effect on him. 
 I hope that you will be satisfied with his answer, as far as 
 it concerns yourself ; but you will be as little so as I am, 
 with his resolves. I had flattered myself that your reflections 
 would have made some impression on his mind. You will 
 perceive the reverse in the note enclosed. It only remains to 
 me to follow his fate, if it is unfortunate. I have never 
 prided myself on being a philosopher, I have tried to become 
 one. The little progress I have made has taught me to despise 
 greatness and riches ; but I have found nothing in philosophy 
 which could heal the wounds of the heart, except the means of 
 getting rid of one's sorrows by ceasing to live. The state in 
 which I am is worse than death. I see the greatest man of 
 this century, my brother, my friend, reduced to the direst 
 extremity. I see my whole family exposed to dangers and 
 perils, my fatherland torn by merciless enemies, the. country 
 in which I am perhaps threatened by the same misfortunes. 
 Would to God that I alone had to bear all the troubles I have 
 just described to you ; I would endure them with fortitude. 
 
 Forgive me for this detail. You encourage me by the 
 interest you take in what concerns me, to open my heart to 
 you. Alas, hope is almost banished from it. Fortune, when 
 it changes, is as consistent in its persecutions as it is in its 
 favours. History is full of these examples, but I have 
 nowhere found any in it, to compare to those we see, nor so 
 inhuman and cruel a war among civilized populations. You 
 would groan were you aware of Germany and Prussia's sad 
 situation. The cruelties which the Russians perpetrate in
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 109 
 
 this latter country make nature shudder. How happy you 
 are in your hermitage, where, resting on your laurels, you can 
 philosophize in cold Hood on the errors of men. I wish you 
 all the happiness possible in it. If fortune favours us again, 
 count on my entire gratitude. I shall never forget the proofs 
 of attachment you have given me, my tender feelings are 
 guarantees to you for it ; I am never a friend by halves, and 
 I shall always truly be one to Brother Voltaire. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 Many compliments to Madame Denis ; continue, I beg of 
 you, to write to the King.
 
 110 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 Voltaire again assumed the part of a diplomatist and secret 
 agent, and was this time more skilful and successful, for the 
 first of the four previous letters would really do an 
 experienced politician honour, without taking his friendly- 
 feelings into account. Frederic was really inclined, and did 
 in fact follow Voltaire's suggestion, and entered into nego- 
 tiations with the Marshal de Richelieu. The Marshal was 
 an enthusiastic admirer of the King, and adhered to the 
 traditional hatred of his family against the house of 
 Hapsburg. At Versailles, however, there was a certain 
 amount of sympathy for Austria, notwithstanding the lack 
 of common interests between the houses of Bourbon and 
 Hapsburg. The alliance was more one of mutual spite 
 against Prussia. Frederic sent Colonel Von Balbi disguised 
 into Richelieu's camp, and although his mission was unsuc- 
 cessful, still the time which the negotiations occupied was 
 a gain. Wilhelmine had forwarded Voltaire's note to the 
 King, who had replied to it in the following somewhat curt 
 terms : "I have been informed of the interest you take in 
 "my successes and my reverses. Nothing remains to me 
 " but to sell my life for the highest possible price." It is to 
 be observed that Voltaire's attitude during this period did 
 not please Frederic, yet at the same time he was unwilling 
 to reject his propositions. It is possible the King had not 
 much hope, but he was nevertheless anxious to find a way 
 out of these labyrinths. The unfortunate retreat of the 
 Prince of Prussia, the loss of the magazine of Zittau, the 
 defeat of the Duke of Cumberland at Hasterbeck and the 
 consequent convention of Closter-Seven, the unsuccessful
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. Ill 
 
 fight by Moys, the death of General Winterfeld, the 
 Swedish invasion into Pomerania, that of the Austrians into 
 Silesia, and the march of General Hadik on Berlin — every- 
 where defeats, disasters ; these were too much for a human 
 being to bear with equanimity. 
 
 Vaincu, persecute, fugitif dans le monde, 
 
 Trahi par des amis pervers, 
 Je souffre en ma douleur profonde 
 
 Plus de maux dans cet univers 
 Que dans les fractions de la fable 
 
 N'en a jamais souffert Promethee aux enfers. 
 
 Is it to be wondered at, that the thought of death should 
 have been full of comfort to him. With death he would find 
 peace, liberty, deliverance. " I am determined to throw 
 "myself upon the first General among the enemy who 
 " approaches me near enough in battle, at the risk of what- 
 " ever may happen. I shall thank God for His clemency 
 " if He allows me to die sword in hand." 
 
 These words were addressed by Frederic to his sister on 
 the 17th September, 1757. " You are the only thing which 
 " remains to me on earth," he continues, " it is you alone who 
 " attach me to it ; my dearest friends and relations are in 
 " the grave, I have lost everything." No, he had not lost 
 everything, for his sister remained to him, to share his 
 misfortunes and to speak to him words of comfort and 
 encouragement. She was in a most precarious state of 
 health at this time, and these constant anxieties doubtless 
 hastened her end. " Oh ! my dear Brother, whatever may 
 " befall you, I shall not survive you," and she kept her 
 word, this faithful sister, by her death on the night of 
 Frederic's defeat at Hochkirch. 
 
 The moment of greatest despair in Frederic II's life is 
 expressed in a few lines he wrote to the Marquis d'Argens, 
 but it was only for a moment that his courage was near
 
 112 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 sinking ; a letter to Voltaire shows him the undaunted hero 
 
 of old. " 
 
 " Je vais en effrontant 1'orage 
 
 " Penser vivre et mourir en roi ! " 
 
 The Margravine sent then this verse to her " Swiss friend " 
 on the 16th October, and adds the following lines. 
 
 16th October, 1757. 
 
 Overwhelmed by the sufferings of mind and body, I can 
 only write you a little letter. You will find one enclosed 
 herewith, which will reward you a hundred-fold for the 
 brevity of my own. Our situation is always the same. A 
 grave is the limit of our view. Although everything seems lost, 
 things remain to us which cannot be taken from us; they are 
 fortitude, and the feelings of the heart. Be persuaded of 
 our gratitude, and of all the sentiments which you deserve 
 by your attachment and way of thinking, worthy of a true 
 philosopher. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 On the 5th November, 1757, the King gave the order from 
 the Herrenhaus at Rossbach to " march." This day was to 
 decide his fate, and the cannonade at Rossbach dispersed the 
 dark clouds which had gathered round him ; at the Castle 
 of Baireuth, Wilhelmine sat waiting for tidings of victory, 
 hope, and life ! The next letter describes the eventful day at 
 Rossbach. 
 
 23rd November, 1757. 
 
 My body has succumbed under the agitations of my mind, 
 which has prevented my answering you. I shall entertain 
 you to-day with far more interesting news than that concern- 
 ing myself. I had informed you that the allied army had 
 blockaded Leipzig ; I continue my narrative. On the 26th
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 113 
 
 the King threw himself into the town with a corps of ten 
 thousand men ; Marshal Keith had already done so with a 
 similar number of troops. A lively skirmish took place 
 between the Austrians, the Imperial troops, and the Prus- 
 sians ; these latter gained the whole advantage, and took five 
 hundred Austrians prisoners. The allied army retired to 
 Mersebourg, burned the bridge of that town and of Weissen- 
 feld ; the one at Halle had already been destroyed. They 
 pretend that this quick retreat had been caused by the earnest 
 representations of the Queen of Poland, who foresaw, with 
 good reason, the total ruin of Leipzig if the siege were con- 
 tinued. The plan of the French was to become masters of 
 the Sale. The King marched on Mersebourg, where he fell 
 upon the French rear-guard, gained possession of the town, 
 and took five hundred French prisoners. The Austrians 
 who had been taken in the skirmish before Leipzig, had been 
 shut up in an old castle on the walls of the town. They 
 were obliged to give up their abode to the five hundred 
 French, because it was more convenient, and they were 
 transferred to the Bridewell. It is in order to make you 
 aware of the attentions shown to your country that I tell 
 you these trifles. Marshal Keith marched to Halle, where 
 he reconstructed the bridge. The King having no pontoons, 
 made use of trestles, on which boards were fastened, and in 
 this manner restored the two bridges of Mersebourg and of 
 Weissenfeld. The corps he was commanding joined that of 
 Marshal Keith at Bornerode. This latter had been rein- 
 forced by eight thousand men under the command of Prince 
 Ferdinand of Brunswick. 
 
 On the 4th they went to reconnoitre the enemy, who was 
 encamped on the heights of St. Micheln. The position being 
 one which could not be attacked, the King pitched his camp 
 in a plain at Possbach. He had a hill with a gentle slope in 
 his rear. On the 5th, whilst the King was quietly dining 
 with his generals, news was brought him by two of the 
 
 i
 
 114 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 patrols that the enemy were making a movement on their 
 left. The King got up from table ; the cavalry, which was 
 out foraging, was recalled, and they remained quiet, think- 
 ing the enemy were marching on Freiburg, a little town 
 which was in the rear, but it became apparent that they 
 were drawing near the left flank of the Prussians. Upon 
 this the King struck his camp, and filed off to the left on to 
 the hill. This was done an galop both by the infantry and 
 by the cavalry. This manoeuvre was, according to all appear- 
 ance, executed to deceive the French. This army in con- 
 fusion, at once as if by magic, was ranged in battle order 
 in one line. The artillery then opened a terrific fire, so that 
 the French to whom I have spoken, say that each discharge 
 killed or wounded eight or nine men. The musketry fire 
 took equal effect. The French continued to advance in 
 column, in order to attack with the bayonet. They were not 
 more than a hundred yards off from the Prussians, when the 
 Prussian cavalry, making a detour on the flank of the French 
 cavalry charged with incredible fury. The French were thrown 
 into confusion and fled. The infantry, attacked in flank, over- 
 whelmed by the artillery fire, charged by battalions and the 
 regiment of gensdarmes, were cut to pieces and entirely 
 routed. 
 
 Prince Henry, who commanded on the right of the King, 
 gained the greater part of this victory, in which he received 
 a slight wound. The loss of the French is very great. In 
 addition to the five thousand prisoners and more than three 
 hundred officers taken in this battle, they lost nearly all their 
 artillery. In fact, all I tell you I have heard from fugitives and 
 from the reports of some Prussian officers. The King only 
 had time to notify the victory to me, he has not been able to 
 send me any account of it. The King singles out and cares 
 for the French officers, as he would do for his own. He has 
 had the wounded dressed in his presence, and has given the 
 most precise orders that they should want for nothing. After
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 115 
 
 having pursued the enemy to Spielberg, he returned to 
 Leipzig, from where he started on the 10th to march on 
 Torgau. The Marshal- General of the Austrians, who had 
 appeared to intend entering the province of Brandenburg 
 with thirteen to fourteen thousand men, retired to Bautzen 
 on the approach of the Prussians. The King is pursuing 
 him in the hopes of being able to attack him. His plan is 
 then to enter Silesia. Unfortunately we have to-day learned 
 the fall of Schweidnitz, which capitualated on the 13th, after 
 having sustained an assault. This news causes me the greatest 
 anxiety. To reply to the subject of your two letters, I wish 
 to tell you that deafness is becoming an epidemic evil in 
 France. If I dared, I would add that blindness is combined 
 with it. I could tell you many things by word of mouth I 
 cannot entrust to my pen, which would convince you of the 
 good intentions that there have been. They still exist. I 
 will write on the first occasion to the Cardinal.* Assure him, 
 I pray you, of all my esteem, and tell him that I persist in 
 my system of Lyons, but that I wish much that most people 
 were of his way of thinking, as in that case we should soon be 
 in harmony. I am very mad to mix myself in politics; 
 my mind is fit for nothing else but for a hospital. You make 
 me exert mind and body in order to write such a long letter. 
 I can only procure for you the pleasure of narratives. I must 
 take advantage of these, as I cannot give you better ones, 
 and such as my gratitude desires. Many compliments to 
 Madame Denis, and count on having no better friend than 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 The period from the 18th June till the 5th November, 
 1757, brought that crisis in the life of the King which we 
 can so often trace in the histories of great heroes. That crisis 
 
 * De Tencin.
 
 116 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 involved the terrible alternative " to stand or to fall." 
 Great men are, we might almost say, a destiny in themselves, 
 and on them depends the fate of nations and of kingdoms. 
 In this particular case, the past and the future of Prussia's 
 crown, honour and existence were at stake. It was at the 
 moment of his direst misfortunes that Frederic attained the 
 height of his greatness. If the desire to make a name for 
 himself had tempted the King, at the age of twenty-eight, to 
 declare war, not the less was he now, at the age of forty-five, 
 imbued with the conviction that he was the chosen tool of 
 Providence, destined to work out Prussia's welfare under 
 unheard of difficulties. He saw that it was a struggle of 
 historical importance, that it was not Prussia and Austria 
 who confronted each other, but the power of a spirit in the 
 world fighting for supremacy over an old and decaying 
 order of things. 
 
 Voltaire was truly devoted to the Margravine, but equally 
 so to the King. He loved him with the passion a poet 
 displays for his hero, and could not look on with equanimity 
 at the defeat of a great and powerful man by a combination 
 of smaller powers. He saw that a separate peace with 
 France was the only thing which could save his royal friend, 
 while it was the best way for France to extricate herself from 
 a bad business. Voltaire therefore advised the Margravine 
 to enter into negotiations with the French Court through 
 the agency of the Cardinal de Tencin, Archbishop of Lyons, 
 formerly Minister of Foreign affairs, who still exercised 
 great political influence at the Court of Versailles. We 
 remember Wilhelmine's stay at Lyons, and the exchange of 
 civilities between her and the Cardinal, and we also call to 
 mind the visit Voltaire paid to him there. The poet, how- 
 ever, overcame his bitter feelings at the treatment he had 
 then received, out of devotion to the Margravine, out of 
 interest for Prussia, and not least, because of his love for 
 political intrigue. He knew Tencin, and also knew that a
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 117 
 
 Cardinal's hat was no compensation for an office of State, and 
 that since he had left the Ministry, he was more than ever 
 inclined to mix himself up in the affairs of France. It was 
 not the Cardinal who took the initiative in this matter, but 
 Voltaire himself. This becomes evident through the recently 
 discovered correspondence between him and the banker 
 Tronchin. Tronchin was brother to the famous doctor at 
 Geneva, and was acquainted both with the poet and Tencin, 
 who availed themselves of his services in financial specula- 
 tions. The banker at Lyons was the Cardinal's agent, as the 
 Margravine was her brother's, whilst Voltaire was the channel 
 of communication between France and Germany. Wilhel- 
 mine besides had the assistance of the Marquis d'Adhemar 
 and Spada, whom she had taken into her confidence, and 
 who carried on most of the correspondence. 
 
 It is remarkable, that among the letters which passed be- 
 tween the Margravine and her brother, as well as among 
 those of the King to Voltaire, those from the poet are wanting, 
 which bear reference to these negotiations. Probably most of 
 them were written to the Marquis d'Adhemar, and those 
 addressed to the Margravine were sent on to the King. 
 
 On October 24th, 1757, Voltaire received a communication 
 from Tronchin, in which he stated that the Cardinal would 
 be willing to forward a letter from the Margravine to Louis 
 XV. Wilhelmine informed her brother of this fact. Even 
 the battle of Leuthen, on the 5th December, 1757, did not 
 interrupt the negotiations. Frederic was still anxious to rid 
 himself of the French, whilst the Court of Versailles was 
 more inclined to listen to propositions. 
 
 The Margravine seems to have written two letters to the 
 "Chapeau rouge," as she jokingly calls Tencin. The first was 
 full of conventionalities, in the second she would most likely 
 have entered more fully into the subject, and her letter to 
 Louis XV was enclosed in it. These two she sent to Voltaire, 
 accompanied by the following lines.
 
 118 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 27 ih December, 1757. 
 
 If my body was to lend itself to the promptings 
 of my mind, you would receive news from me by every post. 
 I am, you would tell me, as eccentric as you are, and yet I 
 write. To this I reply, that there is only one Voltaire in 
 the world, and he must not judge others by himself. 
 But enough of this frivolity. I see your impatience to be 
 informed of things which interest you. A battle won, 
 Breslau in the King's power, thirty-three thousand prisoners, 
 seven hundred officers and fourteen generals taken, besides a 
 hundred-and-fifty cannon, and four thousand waggons con- 
 taining provisions, baggage and ammunition, is the news that 
 I am able to give you. I have not done. Four thousand 
 dead were left on the battlefield, four thousand wounded 
 were found at Breslau, and the deserters are calculated at 
 four thousand five hundred. You can count on this being a 
 fact, not only acknowledged by the King and the whole 
 army, but even by a crowd of Austrian deserters who have 
 been here. The Prussians lost five hundred killed, and have 
 three thousand wounded. This action is unique, and seems 
 fabulous. The Austrians were eighty thousand men strong. 
 The Prussians only had thirty-six thousand. The victory 
 was hard fought for, but the whole affair only lasted four 
 hours. I do not feel happy at this prodigious change of 
 fortune. I must add one more anecdote. The corps com- 
 manded by the King had marched forty-two German miles 
 in a fortnight, and had had only one day to rest before 
 fighting this memorable battle. The King can say as Csesar 
 did : "I came, I saw, I conquered." He has informed me 
 that he is at present only troubled how to feed and where to 
 post this enormous number of prisoners. The letter you 
 wrote him, in which you ask him for the account of the 
 battle of Merseburg, was carried off with mine. Happily, 
 there was nothing in it which could do you any harm. I
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 119 
 
 address the enclosed letter for the " Chapeau rouge " to you. 
 As to trickery, there is none ; as to soft words, I will not 
 answer. 
 
 "We had three days ago three shocks of an earthquake, four 
 miles from here. They say the first shock was severe, and 
 that subterranean noises were heard. No harm has been 
 done. There is no example of such a phenomenon in this 
 country. I leave it to you to find out the reason of it. 
 Many compliments to Madame Denis. Be persuaded of all 
 my esteem. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 The next letter, written on June 2nd, 1758, shows Wilhel- 
 mine's wonderful intelligence, and the power she possessed 
 of not only grasping ideas, but also of judging facts in their 
 real importance. The position of Europe seemed to be clearly 
 defined before her. She had no other end in view but the 
 peace, happiness and welfare of the world in general. 
 Everything she says on the subject is simple, true, and to 
 the point, yet in perfect harmony with her warm-hearted 
 disposition. The two great victories gained by her brother 
 helped to cheer her up, but her anxiety for him remained 
 unabated. She sees him threatened with the fate of Orpheus, 
 to be torn in pieces, but not like the poet, through ardent love, 
 but through the revengeful hatred of three women, Madame 
 de Pompadour, the weak-minded Elizabeth of Russia, and the 
 embittered Maria Theresa, whilst the English, " un peuple 
 avare," were watching the course of events. She longed for 
 peace to put an end to her country's woes. 
 
 2nd January, 1758. 
 
 For thank heaven, we have finished the most 
 disastrous of years. You say so many kind things to me for 
 the present one, that they form one reason the more for my 
 gratitude. I wish you everything that can make you
 
 120 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 perfectly happy. As regards myself, I leave my fate to 
 destiny. We often form desires which would be very preju- 
 dicial if realized, therefore I make none. If anything in 
 the world could satisfy my wishes, it would be peace ; I 
 think as you do about war, and we have quite a third who 
 certainly share our views. But can we always act up 
 to what we think best ? Must we not submit to many 
 laws established since the world began ? Man runs 
 after the glitter of reputation, everyone seeks to find 
 it in his calling and in his talents ; we desire to 
 immortalize ourselves. Ought we not to seek for this 
 chimeric glory in the true or the false ideas man sets up for 
 himself ? Democritus had good reason to laugh at human 
 folly. I see, on the one hand, a hypocrite taking part in 
 processions and supplicating saints, occupied in setting all 
 Europe by the ears, and depriving it of its inhabitants. 
 I see, on the other hand, a philosopher causing (although 
 with regret) oceans of human blood to flow. I see an 
 avaricious people combined to ruin others for the sake of 
 their riches. But enough ! I could see too much, and that 
 is needless. You must content yourself this time with what 
 I say and with my reflections, for I have no news since the 
 last letter you received from me. What you propose to me is 
 a little dangerous. I explain myself upon this subject in the 
 letter which I send you. I come back to my old saying, 
 people are deaf in your country. If I could speak to you, 
 you would possibly judge differently to what you do. The 
 King is in the position of Orpheus, if his good fortune does 
 not extricate him. He wishes for peace, but there are many 
 buts. If peace is not made before the spring, all Germany 
 will be ruined and desolated. The state in which it already 
 is, is terrible. However wise the measures adopted, violence 
 and pillage cannot be guarded against. I should never 
 finish if I gave you a detailed account of the misfortunes 
 which overwhelm us. It is a shame, that in this civilized
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 121 
 
 century, people should behave with such cruelty. The King 
 does not suffer from it. In spite of all that is said, the 
 Saxon people love him, but the aristocracy hate him, because 
 they are deprived of the pensions and salaries they draw. 
 Atrocious calumnies are circulated about him. Can they be 
 believed? They emanate from his enemies. Envy has 
 persecuted all great men, animosity must be added to it. 
 Would that we were deaf, when she shoots forth her poisoned 
 
 arrows ! Once more I must end, I perceive that 
 
 I am saying too much. Be persuaded of all my esteem, and 
 that I shall always be, all my life, the true friend of the Swiss 
 Brother. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 The " Pandours," or rather hussars, commanded by the 
 Austrian colonel, the Prince of Coburg, were marching in 
 the neighbourhood of Baireuth, and had seized letters from 
 the Margravine and Voltaire to the King. An occurrence 
 which proved the necessity of caution caused Wilhelmine to 
 write the following gracefully expressed letter. Measures 
 had been taken that the peace negotiations should not 
 again be interrupted by Austrian hussars. To write about 
 peace, and to speak with the Cardinal Tencin of other 
 important matters, would have been most dangerous, as the 
 Prince of Coburg would certainly read the intercepted 
 letters. Who would, however, have discovered that the plan 
 for an Italian comedy was the cloak used to disguise the 
 negotiations for peace, and that the "scour Mezetin " was the 
 Margravine of Baireuth ? It is certain, however, that in this 
 manner the correspondence was enabled to be carried on 
 without the risk of a third person understanding what the 
 letters really meant. 
 
 Letter erom the Paudotjrs to Brother Voltaire, 1757. 
 
 Why do you call us villains ? We pillage, we 
 sack and we are privileged thieves, that is true. For being
 
 122 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 such, are we more guilty than those who govern the world, 
 those authors who steal others' thoughts, and the saints 
 of paradise who, in order to build churches, appropriate 
 to themselves the goods of the nation and of private people ? 
 Surely not. Do us therefore more justice, and wish, 
 instead of abusing us, that the Sovereigus of Europe may for 
 the future follow our example, that they may become as 
 eager to possess your letters as we are, that they may learn 
 from their perusal to become philosophers, and Pandours of 
 virtue. If we ever have the happiness of catching you, we 
 shall endeavour to pillage your mind and your knowledge, 
 out of revenge for your contempt. Our Rosinantes will 
 then be metamorphosed into a Pegasus, and we shall know 
 with the help of a certain lady, who calls herself Reason, how 
 to prevent your making " neuvaines " against us. 
 
 P.S. I have received all your letters, and answer them 
 all at once. Your plan for the Italian comedy is not quite 
 accurate. But it would ill befit me to criticize your works. 
 The sister " Mezetin " dares not meddle with what does 
 not concern her, besides which, it is very dangerous to under- 
 take to act a comedy, as one runs the risk of being carried 
 off by Pandours, or that the part should be intercepted. It is 
 more than four weeks that I have no news of the King. It 
 may be that he has written to me, which I certainly think he 
 has, but I fancy the letters have taken a route which does 
 not lead here. 
 
 It is said the French have had a slight repulse at Bremen, 
 and that seven thousand men were beaten. The Swedes are 
 at their worst in Pomerania. Their cavalry had retired to 
 the Island of Riigen. Their infantry is blockaded at 
 Stralsund, where they are going to be bombarded. This is 
 all I know. My brother of Prussia has sent me this letter 
 for you. You can see from the date how regularly letters 
 reach here. I pity your blindness, only to believe in one 
 God, and to deny J ! How will you have your cause
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BA1REUTH. 123 
 
 pleaded ? If anything could still divert me, it would be to 
 see your apology. Good bye. Please let me have news of 
 you, and above all of my lover, Heaven grant that it may 
 be good. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 I forgot to tell you that it is I who am the Pandour. I 
 made a mistake, and sent the King a piece of blank paper 
 instead of your letter, which I have found again. I have 
 sent it off. If it arrives safely, you will soon have an 
 answer. 
 
 The news, alas, was anything but good. The Cardinal wrote 
 a letter to Louis XV, enclosing one from the Margravine. 
 The answer which he, however, received, nearly caused the 
 Cardinal to become as red as his hat from anger and 
 vexation. Louis XY, in a most curt answer, informed him 
 that the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs would send 
 his Eminence a reply to his communication. Thus the great 
 Cardinal received the answer he was to send the Margravine 
 from the little Abbe de Bernis. It contained a refusal of the 
 proposals for peace. Cardinal Tencin died a fortnight after 
 this occurrence, and Voltaire declares his death was caused 
 by disappointment at this letter. Madame de Pompadour's 
 hatred of Frederic the Great, and the nattering terms in 
 which Maria Theresa addressed her, proved more powerful 
 than the voice of reason and consideration for France's real 
 interests. 
 
 If Voltaire really intended (as he says in his Memoirs he 
 did) merely to take part in these negotiations, in the hopes of 
 seeing Cardinal Tencin meet with failure, he must have de- 
 ceived himself. He never could have said so had the Cardinal 
 succeeded, and peace been made. Voltaire certainly makes 
 many satirical allusions to Tencin in his correspondence with 
 Tronchin, more particularly with respect to an answer which 
 the Cardinal gave the Pope in the year 1741. The latter
 
 124 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 had expressed his fear that the alliance of France with 
 Prussia, during the Bavarian war of succession, would render 
 "Le Marquis de Brandebourg " too powerful! To this 
 Tencin is said to have replied, " Your Holiness need have 
 no apprehensions. France will be able to humble this heretic 
 as easily as she has raised him up." There can be no doubt 
 that Voltaire ardently desired the success of the undertaking, 
 as he had hoped, were the result favourable, that it would 
 have brought about a reconciliation between him and the 
 King. These hopes he expressed in the following letter, in 
 which he speaks of the peace negotiations, and then of the 
 victories obtained by the King, first at Eossbach over the 
 French, then at Leuthen over the Austrians, and finally at 
 Zorndorf over the Russians. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have received the gracious letter you have 
 written to me, " the Swiss," concerning the general peace, made 
 or ready to be made through the mediation of his Excellency 
 de Spada. I was greatly pleased that they should commence 
 by hanging several ministers, but I should like to know if 
 they will die in fours or in sixes. I am amazed, Sire, at his 
 Majesty the King, who goes about so, who beats three great 
 nations one after the other. I have written to a learned 
 Benedictin, my cousin, that he should be pleased to search 
 among all his books if any mention be made of another man 
 like his Majesty the King, and I await his reply. I thought 
 I had approached (that is now five years ago) this great man, 
 but it was not he. You know that the one I saw had a 
 gentle face and large blue eyes, and he had a most agreeable 
 nature, very agreeable, my good Sire, and that he was very 
 witty, and he composed the prettiest stanzas in the world, as 
 much in prose as in verse, and that he was very philosophical. 
 Oh ! it is he, whom I shall always regret, for I also am a 
 philosopher, I am, but only at intervals. I am very fond of
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 125 
 
 a great King, who is all over a man. I think, God forgive 
 me, my good Sire, that I will come and see him when he has 
 leisure, for I have a great curiosity for rarities. But I am 
 so old, so old, my good Sire, and he so very great, that I 
 shall never have strength to go. 
 
 We say prayers every day in our holy Church for his holy 
 preservation. All our Brothers give you the kiss of peace. 
 
 At the time the following note from Voltaire reached 
 Baireuth, Wilhelmine was lying dangerously ill, and her 
 days seemed numbered. Yet her spirit and her mind 
 remained as strong as of old, and all her thoughts seemed 
 concentrated on the one beloved object, her brother. To her, 
 her life had been one long pilgrimage of suffering. The last 
 anxious weeks between the battles of Kolin and Eossbach 
 had broken her heart, it was only with difficulty that she 
 struggled on till at last her body succumbed. In July, 1758, 
 her weakness had so increased that the letter she wrote to 
 the King, congratulating him on his victory at Zorndorf , was 
 scarcely legible. Voltaire had been kept informed of her 
 dangerous condition, which doubtless caused him to betray 
 his great anxiety in his letter to her. 
 
 At the Delices, 
 
 27th September, 1758. 
 Madame, 
 
 If this note should find your Eoyal Highness 
 at leisure and in health, I would implore you to have this 
 answer of " the Swiss " sent to the great man your brother. 
 But my urgent care is to beg you to send a detailed account 
 of your illness to Tronchin. 
 
 You have never had, Madame, so many reasons to love 
 life. You do not know how precious that life is to all those 
 who have had the happiness of approaching your Eoyal 
 Highness. Be sure that if there is anyone on this earth
 
 126 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 capable of giving you relief and of prolonging your precious 
 existence, it is Tronchin. In the name of all thinking beings, 
 do not neglect to consult him, Madame ; and if it were 
 necessary that he should come to see you, or if, were he 
 unable to do so, he thought you might undertake the journey, 
 there would not be a moment to lose ; you must live, all else 
 is nothing, I am filled with grief and anxiety, and these 
 feelings outweigh the profound respect and tender devotion 
 of the old Swiss hermit. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 I hope the Margrave shares my opinion ? 
 
 This last letter was written like that to the Marquis d'Ad- 
 hemar, on a sheet of paper of small octavo size. Both letters 
 were found together as they had arrived at the Castle of 
 Baireuth a hundred and six years ago, only a few days before 
 the death of the Margravine. 
 
 Wilhelmine, who had ever been so ready with her pen, was 
 no longer able to use it, not even to bid a last farewell to her 
 friend. Yet, in token of how much her thoughts were with 
 him, she sent him her picture a fortnight before her end, as a 
 last message of friendship and gratitude. Soon her spirit 
 would fathom the great mysteries which had occupied her 
 during her life. Who is there who would not believe in 
 affection's double-sight ? In the same night, at the same 
 hour in which her brother suffered a crushing defeat at the 
 hands of the Austrians at Hochkirch, Wilhelmine breathed 
 her last, 14th October, 1758. Her last words, her last 
 thoughts, were for the happiness and welfare of the King. 
 She desired to have her brother's letters buried with her. 
 This wish was, however, not fulfilled. At her especial 
 request the funeral oration to be held at her grave was to 
 contain but little mention of herself, the vanity of all human 
 things being made the chief subject of it. She was buried, 
 according to her instructions, in the simplest and quietest
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 127 
 
 manner in the Chapel of the Castle of Baireuth, a striking 
 contrast to that love of pomp and outward show with which 
 she had always been credited. 
 
 The impression which the news of the Margravine's death 
 produced on Frederic the Great is best shown by the account 
 given by his reader, De Catt, in his journal kept at that 
 time. It will not be out of place to give some extracts from 
 it here. 
 
 " The Marquis d'Adhemar, Chamberlain to the Margra- 
 ' vine," writes De Catt, " announced that this Princess was 
 ' very ill, and that her weakness gave cause for the gravest 
 ' apprehensions. I gave the King the letter. ' Ah ! my 
 ' dear friend, it is a letter to prepare me for the worst. I am 
 ' sure that dear sister is no more. I received the fatal letter on 
 ' my return from a visit to the camp, and to make my sorrow 
 ' greater, had to compose my countenance, in order that my 
 ' guests should not perceive the sorrow which overwhelmed 
 ' me. Nearly all my people take fright if they imagine 
 ' they see a cloud on my face ; they at once believe that the 
 ' affairs of the State are desperate.' The King then recited 
 ' the following verses from Iphigenia to me : 
 
 " ' Juste ciel c'est ainsi qu'assurant ta vengeance 
 " Tu romps tons ressorts de ma vaine prudence, 
 " Encore, si je pouvais, libre dans mon malheur 
 u Par des larmes au moins soulager ma douleur. 
 
 " Triste destin des rois ! esclaves que nous sommes 
 " Et des rigueurs du sort et des discours des hommes, 
 " Nous nous voyons sans cesse assieg6s de temoins — 
 " Et les plus malheureux osent pleurer le moins.' 
 
 " He then again said, after having been silent for a few 
 " moments, ' Surely this dear Sister is no more ! What do 
 " you think, dear friend ? Does she still live ? ' He cried 
 " bitterly ! ' Speak to me friend ; don't flatter me, she is 
 " surely dead ! '
 
 128 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 " Sir, I replied ; this great misfortune may have taken 
 place, and I fear as they have written to your Majesty, 
 you must call all your philosophy, and all your firmness of 
 mind, which places you so far above other mortals, to your 
 aid. It requires more than fortitude to bear such losses. 
 The King replied, ' I have enough courage to repair all the 
 disasters of the 14th. Call my brother to me, and you will 
 see whether Dawn will gain any advantage from the blow 
 he has dealt us ! But how can I make up for the loss 
 which everything warns me of; how can I replace this 
 beloved and adorable sister, who has loved me so dearly ? 
 How could I believe that she to whom, since my earliest 
 youth, I have confided my every thought, should so soon 
 be taken from me ? Must every misfortune overwhelm 
 me ? I pity you, my friend, that you should be a continual 
 witness of events which, succeeding each other rapidly, 
 torment every moment of my life. What a sad existence I 
 oblige you to endure.' The King then sent me away, 
 begging me, however, not to go far away from head- 
 quarters, as he might send for me at any moment 
 
 "17th October, 1758. 
 
 " Having had much trouble in getting to sleep, 
 " I at last slept soundly, till I was roused at 2 o'clock in the 
 " morning by one of the King's footmen, begging me to 
 " come to him as soon as ever I was dressed. I at once knew 
 " what was the reason of this summons, and the servant 
 " confirmed my suspicions. 
 
 " I found the King sobbing bitterly, and was for some 
 " moments in his presence before he was able to speak to 
 "me. 
 
 " At last he cried, ' my sister is lost to me for ever ! 
 " Dear friend, I shall never see her again ! It is the most 
 " terrible blow which could have fallen upon me. I have
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 129 
 
 " now lost mother, brother and sister, all that is most dear 
 " to me. These losses have fallen one on the other.'* 
 
 " This is the account of the first moments after the defeat 
 " and the sad news of the Margravine's death. I have 
 " written it down faithfully for myself, as I was anxious to 
 " have a clear idea of the workings of the heart and mind of 
 " this extraordinary Prince." 
 
 Our task is now at an end, for with the death of the Mar- 
 gravine the correspondence closes. If these pages should 
 have been able to show the better and nobler side of Voltaire's 
 character, and by so doing, soften the severe criticism it 
 generally meets with, then our object has been attained. 
 
 BothWilhelmine and the poet possessed the sensitive excit- 
 ability and the changeable character of their century, and it 
 was for this reason that they shared the same fate in the 
 judgment of posterity, of being held answerable chiefly for 
 their shortcomings, without taking the times they lived in, 
 and the difficulties with which they were surrounded into 
 consideration. 
 
 * After the battle of Kolin, the King heard of his mother's death ; 
 whilst raising the siege of Olmutz, of that of his brother, the Prince of 
 Prussia, and, lastly, of the Margravine's end two days after the surprise at 
 Hochkirch. 
 
 K
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 K 2
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. 
 
 LETTEES OF THE MAEGEAVINE OF 
 BAIEEUTH TO VOLTAIEE. 
 
 A Bruxelles, le 26 Septembre, 1742. 
 
 O vous qui de Minerve avez suivi les traces, 
 
 Par quel effroyable revers 
 Aurais-je done perdu plus de soixante vers 
 
 En l'honneur de vos bonnes graces ? 
 C'est ainsi quelquefois qu'un malheureux mortel, 
 L'esprit en oraison et les mains etendues, 
 Marmotte un f roid cantique au pied du maitre-autel ; 
 Un diable vient boucher tous les chemins du ciel, 
 
 Et les prieres sont perdues. 
 
 Votre Altesse Eoyale saura que voila ma destinee aupres 
 d'elle. Je recus, il y a environ un an, un petit paquet fort 
 joli de sa part avec une lettre du philosophe M. de Superville. 
 Je partais pour Paris, precisement dans le moment que je 
 recus ee temoignage de ses bontes ; je prends a temoin 
 Apollon, les neuf Muses et la grande divinite de la recon- 
 naissance, que je fis sur la route un nombre tres considerable de 
 mauvais vers, lesquels je joignis, en arrivant a Paris, a quatre 
 pages de prose ; je portai l'enorme paquet moi-meme a la 
 grande poste de Paris, et je le recommandai avec tant 
 d'empressement, qu'on crut apparemment qu'il contenait de 
 grands mysteres. Les curieux furent confondus sans doute, 
 mais, Madame, c'est moi qui le suis par ce qui me revient 
 aujourd'hui. J'apprends que Votre Altesse Eoyale n'a recu
 
 134 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 ni prose ni vers, et qu'elle me croit avec raison un barbare, 
 paresseux, sans aucune connaissance de ses premiers devoirs. 
 
 Eendez-moi justice, Madame, songez combien il est impos- 
 sible d'oublier vos bontes, et croyez que non-seulement j'eus 
 l'honneur d'ecrire a Yotre Altesse Royale, mais que je serais 
 venu la remereier dans ses Etats si ma destinee m'avait permis 
 de faire cet agreable voyage. Non, Madame, je n'oublierai 
 jamais la princesse philosophe, la protectrice des arts, la 
 musicienne parfaite, le modele de la politesse et de l'affabilite. 
 Le Roi, votre tres-auguste et tres-amusant frere, m'ordonna, il 
 n'y a pas longtemps, de lui faire ma cour a Aix-la-Chapelle ; 
 je le vis, Madame, se portant comme un heros, se moquant 
 des medecins et se baignant pour son plaisir ; je ne trouvai 
 rien de change en lui que son visage, que j'avais vu, il y a 
 deux ans, un peu effile par la fievre quarte, et qui est devenu 
 d'une rondeur qui sied tres-bien avec une couronne de 
 lauriers ; deux victoires de plus ne l'ont rendu ni moins 
 humain, ni moins affable. Je ne cesserai, Madame, de 
 regretter les jours ou j'ai eu l'honneur de faire ma cour a 
 Votre Altesse Royale et a Sa Majeste, dans la retraite de 
 Rheinsberg ; les bontes dont m'honora Monseigneur le Mar- 
 grave me seront toujours presentes, et tout ce que je souhaite, 
 c'est de pouvoir encore jouir au moins une fois en ma vie du 
 meme honneur. 
 
 Je suis, avec le plus profond respect, Madame, de Yotre 
 Altesse Royale, le tres-humble et tres-obeissant serviteur. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 Que Votre Altesse Royale renonce a Madame 
 de Grraffigny ; elle est vieille, elle est malade. Mais vous etes 
 malade et vieux, me dira Votre Altesse Royale ; oui, Madame, 
 mais j'ai les passions jeunes, et le Roi votre frere me rajeunit. 
 En un mot, Madame de Graffigny ne veut point quitter Paris, et
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 135 
 
 moi je ne veux point quitter Frederic le Grand. Chacun dans 
 ce monde est gouverne par son gout. Je vous deterrerai quelque 
 complaisante, ni jeune ni vieille, point tracassiere, femme 
 d'esprit, femme honnete, femme de condition, et vous aurez 
 cela pour vos etrennes, aussi bien qu'un certain petit fou 
 nomme Heurtand que M. de Montperni a retenu. II fait 
 pleurer dans la tragedie et pouffer de rire dans le comique. 
 Point de " Rome Sauvee " aujourd'hui, il faut que vous 
 jouissiez du Eoi tout a votre aise. Ciceron a d'ailleurs ses 
 coliques infernales qui l'enipechent de vous faire sa cour et de 
 briller en brodequins aujourd'hui. 
 
 Je me mets aux pieds de Votre Altesse Royale. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 A Potsdam, ce 9 Decembre, 1750. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 Les grandes passions menent bien loin et 
 j'aurais eu l'honneur de suivre a Baireuth la digne sceur 
 d'un heros, si l'avantage de vivre aupres de ce heros ne 
 m'avait retenu encore a ses pieds. Votre Altesse Royale sait 
 que je devais partir pour la France le 15 Decembre, mais 
 peut-on avoir d'autre patrie que celle de Frederic le Grand ? 
 On n'y a qu'un seul chagrin, c'est de n'y plus voir Votre 
 Altesse Roy ale. On est console au moins par les nouvelles 
 qu'on a de votre sante. On dit qu'elle se raffermit et que 
 vous avez tres-bien soutenu les fatigues du voyage. Si Votre 
 Altesse Royale peut parvenir a avoir un corps digne de son 
 ame et une sante egale a sa beaute, qu'aurez-vous a desirer 
 dans le monde ? Peut-etre, Madame, sentez-vous le besoin 
 de faire de nouveaux heureux, en approchant encore de votre 
 personne quelques gens de bonne compagnie, dignes de vous 
 voir et de vous entendre. 
 
 Ne pouvant aller si tot a Paris, j'ai charge ma niece de 
 chercher une dame de condition, veuve, qui ait de l'esprit,
 
 136 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 des lettres et de la conversation. Peut-etre que l'envie d'obeir 
 a vos ordres lui fera trouver ce qu'il faut a Yotre Altesse 
 Eoyale. Du moins je vous reponds, Madame, qu'elle y fera 
 tons ses efforts et que Votre Altesse Eoyale pourra accepter 
 de sa main la personne qu'elle presentera. Je persiste a 
 penser que le Marquis d'Adhemar, deja connu a votre cour, 
 serait un homme bien convenable. Je reponds hardiment de 
 sa sagesse, de son esprit et de sa valeur. Je ne crois pas que 
 Monseigneur le Margrave puisse jamais faire un meilleur 
 choix ; j'attendrai sur cela vos ordres. Je suis plus sur de la 
 bonne acquisition que ferait votre cour, que je ne le suis des 
 dispositions presentes du Marquis d'Adhemar, mais ayant eu 
 le bonheur d'approcher de Votre Altesse Eoyale, peut-on 
 douter qu'il ne veuille se fixer a son service ? Prive, comme 
 je le suis, du bonheur de passer ma vie a vos pieds, et a ceux 
 de Monseigneur le Margrave, je serais heureux d'y savoir 
 mon ami. 
 
 Vous savez sans doute, Madame, que le Eoi a ordonne a 
 d'Arnaud de partir dans les vingt-quatre heures; il est a 
 Dresde, ou il se vante des bonnes fortunes de la cour de 
 Berlin. 
 
 Je suis avec le plus profond respect, de Votre Altesse 
 Eoyale, 
 
 Le tres-humble et tres-soumis serviteur, 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 le 10 Becembre. 
 
 Je vous ai promis, Monsieur, de vous ecrire, et je vous tiens 
 parole. J'espere que notre correspondance ne sera pas 
 aussi maigre que nos deux individus, et que vous me 
 donnerez sou vent sujet de vous repondre. Je ne vous 
 parlerai point de mes regrets ; ce serait les renouveler. Je 
 suis sans cesse transported dans votre abbaye, et vous jugez 
 bien que celui qui en est abbe m'occupe tou jours. Je me
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OE BA1REUTH. 137 
 
 suis acquittee de vos commissions aupres du Margrave. 
 II me charge de vous assurer de son amitie et vous prie 
 de mettre a fin l'affaire du Marquis d'Adhemar. II sera 
 charme de le prendre a. son service comme chambellan, 
 et lui fera des conditions dont il pourra etre content. 
 Quoique votre recommandation suffise aupres du Margrave, 
 il serait pourtant necessaire pour l'agrement du Marquis, 
 d'en avoir une ou de Mon. de Puisieulx ou de M. d'Argenson 
 qu'il put produire a la cour. Je vous serai bien obligee si 
 vous pouvez le determiner a venir bientot ici, ou nous avons 
 grand besoin de secours pour remplir les vides de la conversa- 
 tion. Nos entretiens me semblent comme la musique chinoise, 
 ou il y a de longues pauses qui finissent par des tons discor- 
 dants. Je crains que ma lettre ne s'en ressente ; tant mieux 
 pour vous, Monsieur ; il faut des moments d'ennui dans 
 la vie pour faire valoir d'autant plus ceux qui font plaisir. 
 Apres la lecture de cette lettre, les petits soupers vous 
 paraitront bien plus agreables. Pensez-y quelquefois 
 a moij je vous en prie, et soyez persuade de ma parfaite 
 estime. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 Decembre, 1750. 
 Madame, 
 
 Vofre Altesse Royale a grandement raison ; il 
 faut avoir du bon temps. Les princes et les moines n'ont 
 que leur vie en ce monde. Ce ne sont pas des regiments qui 
 rendent heureux, c'est de passer doucement les vingt-quatre 
 heures du jour, et cela est plus difficile qu'on ne pense. Le 
 grand Turc s'ennuie a Constantinople ; c'est pourtant une 
 belle ville. La situation de Baireuth n'est pas si riante, mais 
 l'esprit et les graces embellissent tout. Eh bien, Madame, 
 puisqu'il faut dire les gros mots, que ferez-vous avec votre 
 esprit et vos graces si Votre Altesse Eoyale n'a pas une 
 demi-douzaine de gens de merite pour sentir le votre ? C'est
 
 138 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 une idee bien raisonnable de mettre quelques voix de plus 
 dans votre concert. J'ai ecrit encore deux fois au Marquis 
 d' Adhemar ;. point de reponse encore ; il faut qu'il soit 
 enchante chez quelque Armide. J'ecris une lettre fulminante 
 a ma niece ; il faut qu'elle use de son autorite et qu'elle 
 desenchante Adhemar pour l'envoyer plus enchante a vos 
 pieds. Mais, Madame, il faudrait deux Adhemar, deux 
 Grraffigny, des recrues de plaisir. 
 
 Je jure par mon sincere attachement a 'Vos Altesses 
 Royales que si j'avais pu aller a Paris, je vous aurais amene 
 des recrues, non pas des blancs-becs, non pas de sots faiseurs 
 de vers ampoules, mais des gens dignes de vous faire leur 
 cour. Ah ! Madame, il me passe quelquefois des romans par 
 la tete. Je me dis : Si pendant les mois de Novembre, 
 de Decembre et de Janvier, ou le Roi a assez de monde, 
 on pouvait aller rendre ses respects a sa divine sceur ! Si 
 pendant que j'y viendrais de l'Orient, ma niece y venait 
 de l'Occident ! Et puis des operas, des tragedies nouvelles ; 
 cela ne vaudrait-il pas mieux que d'aller en Italie ? Madame, 
 je vous prefererais a Saint -Pierre de Rome, a la ville souter- 
 raine, au pape. Cela est-il impossible ? Je n'en sais rien. 
 Je vis au jour la journee, je travaille au " Siecle de Louis 
 XIV." soir et matin, je fais im grand tableau de la revolution 
 de l'esprit humain dans ce siecle ou l'on a commence a penser 
 depuis les Alpes jusqu'aux Krapaths. Cela pourra amuser le 
 loisir de Yotre Altesse Royale. Mais je veux chasser de ma 
 tete mon roman de Baireuth, car rever qu'on a un tresor, et 
 se reveiller les mains vides, cela est trop triste. 
 
 J'ecris tout cela au son du tambour et des trompettes et de 
 mille coups de fusil qui assourdissent mes pacifiques oreilles ; 
 cela est bon pour Frederic le Grand. II lui faut des armees 
 le matin, et Apollon l'apres-midi. II a tout : il carre des 
 bataillons et des periodes. Du reste, chaque frere est dans 
 sa cellule paisiblement ; M. de Rothembourg est tou jours 
 malade, Maupertuis aussi, frere Polnitz un peu triste, moi
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREVTH. 139 
 
 toujours malingre, tou jours travaillant, tou jours plein de 
 l'envie de faire ma cour a Vos Altesses Eoyales. 
 
 Serait-il permis, sauf le respect, de ne pas oublier M. de 
 Montperni? Le papier manque. Point de place pour les 
 tres-profonds respects. Qu'importe ? 
 
 Yoltaire. 
 
 A Berlin", 19 Decembre, 1750. 
 Madame, 
 
 Les ordres de Yotre Altesse Eoyale ont croise 
 mes hommages, et je me mettais a, ses pieds quand elle 
 daignait m'ecrire. J'ai souhaite pour M. le Marquis d'A- 
 dhemar et Spada, j'ose dire aussi pour Vos Altesses Eoyales, 
 qu'il fiit a votre cour. Permettez-moi, Madame, d'avoir 
 l'honneur de vous dire qu'il est bien difficile de lui proposer 
 de porter en poche des lettres de recommandation. Ce serait 
 de lui que des honimes peu connus en prendraient pour etre 
 presentes. II est fils du grand marechal du Eoi Stanislas, et 
 il n'a tenu qu'a lui d'etre chambellan de cette cour avec tous 
 les agrements que sa naissance et son merite peuvent pro- 
 curer. Le gout de la guerre Ten a empeche. C'est un des 
 meilleurs officiers qu'ait le Eoi de France ; il etait capitaine 
 de cavalerie, on lui avait promis un regiment, on ne lui a pas 
 tenu parole. II devait etre envoye comme ministre du Eoi a 
 Bruxelles, on lui a manque encore. Voila sa situation. J'ai 
 imagine que le chagrin d'etre inutile et l'idee qu'il a de Votre 
 Altesse Eoyale pourraient le determiner a s'associer a votre 
 cour. Je demande d'abord en grace a Votre Altesse Eoyale 
 de souffrir que je n'en parle a M. d'Adhemar que quand elle 
 sera instruite de son merite ; il sera aise de charger le 
 ministre du Eoi de s'en informer a Paris. Madame peut 
 encore faire charger M. d'Ammon, chambellan du Eoi, qui va 
 en France pour un traite de commerce, de lui rendre compte 
 de M. d'Adhemar, et d'en parler aux ministres sans laisser 
 soupconner que M. d'Adhemar veuille quitter la France.
 
 140 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 On verrait bien que j'ai part a cet enlevement, et on 
 ajouterait, aux reproches qu'on m'a faits de quitter mon pays, 
 celui d'engager encore des deserteurs. 
 
 Daignez surtout vous souvenir, Madame, que je n'ai point 
 promis le Marquis d'Adhemar, que j'ai dit a Yotre Altesse 
 Royale que je ferais Pimpossible pour l'acquerir. Je persiste 
 toujours dans ce dessein de vous prouver mon zele, parce que 
 je sais que M. d'Adhemar est capable d'un attachement solide 
 et que ce n'est point un homme a quitter une cour charmante 
 pour aller a. Monaco. J'attendrai sur cela les ordres de Vos 
 Altesses Royales. Je resterai encore pres de trois mois dans 
 cette abbaye ou l'on vous regrette tous les jours. Je suis 
 toujours moine, a Berlin comme a Potsdam, ne connaissant 
 que ma cellule et le reverend pere abbe aupres de qui je 
 veux vivre et mourir, et qui seul me console de ne pas passer 
 mes jours aupres de Votre Altesse Eoyale. Votre abbaye et 
 la sienne sont les seules ou une ame comme la mienne puisse 
 faire son salut. J'ai vu 1' office de sainte Semiramis mis 
 en vers ou a peu pres par frere Cori, chapelain de l'Opera. 
 On trouve pourtant dans la poesie de frere Cori des etmcelles 
 du feu divin qui anime l'auguste Wilhelmine. On eut hier ici 
 "Phaeton," et pour mieux representer l'embrasement qu'avait 
 jadis cause ce temeraire, le feu prit aux decorations. Le roi 
 etait un peu indispose et ne vit point l'opera. La petite 
 troupe de Monseigneur le prince Henri va jouer "Zaire," 
 mais tandis qu'on se rejouit, la mortalite emporte les bestiaux, 
 les chevaux ont la peste en Angleterre, et les hommes en 
 Pologne, sur les frontieres de la Valachie. 
 
 Vivez heureuse, Madame ; ayez soin d'une sante si pre- 
 cieuse, daignez me conserver vos bontes et celles de Monsei- 
 gneur le Margrave. J'ai execute vos ordres. Je renouvelle a 
 Vos Altesses Royales mes profonds respects. 
 
 Frere Voltaire.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 141 
 
 25 Decembre, 1750. 
 
 Scaur Gruilleniette a frere Voltaire, salut ; car je me 
 compte parrai les heureux habitants de votre abbaye, quoique 
 je n'y sois plus : et je compte tres-fort si Dieu me donne 
 bonne vie et longue, d'y aller reprendre ma place unjour. 
 J'ai recu votre consolante epitre. Je vous jure mon grand 
 juron, Monsieur, qu'elle m'a infiniment plus edifiee que 
 celle de Saint Paul a la dame elue. Celle-ci me causait un 
 certain assoupissement qui valait l'opium, et m'empechait 
 d'en apercevoir les beautes. La votre a fait un effet con- 
 traire ; elle m'a tiree de ma lethargie, et a remis en mouve- 
 ment mes esprits vitaux. 
 
 Quoique vous ayez remis votre voyage de Paris, j'espere 
 que vous me tiendrez parole, et que vous viendrez me voir ici. 
 Apollon vint jadis se familiariser avec les mortels, et ne 
 dedaigna pas de se faire pasteur pour les instruire. Faites- 
 en de meme, Monsieur ; vous ne pouvez suivre de meilleur 
 modele. 
 
 Que dites-vous de l'arrivee du Messie a Dresde ? Pour- 
 rez-vous apres celarevoquer en doute les miracles ? Si j'avais 
 ete le Prince Royal de Saxe, j'en aurais laisse tout l'honneur 
 au Saint-Esprit ; mais il pense comme Charles VI. Lorsque 
 l'Imperatrice accoucha de l'Archiduc, on cria que c'etait a 
 Nepomucene qu'on devait l'obligation : " a Dieu ne plaise " 
 dit l'Empereur, "je serais done cocu." 
 
 Mais laissons la le Saint-Esprit et le Messie. Quoiqu'il 
 fut ne aujourd'hui, je vous assure que je n'aurais pas pense 
 a lui, sans l'aventure merveilleuse de Saxe. J'aime mieux 
 penser aux beaux-esprits de Potsdam, a son abbe et a ses 
 moines. Ressouvenez-vous quelquefois en revanche des 
 absents ; et comptez toujours sur moi comme sur une veri- 
 table amie. 
 
 WlLHELMINE.
 
 142 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 le 6 de Janvier, 1752. 
 
 Je profite d'un moment qui me reste pour vous avertir, 
 Monsieur, que le Due de Wirtemberg a dessein d'engager 
 le Marquis d'Adhemar dans son service. II a fait connaissance 
 avec luia Paris, et j'ai appris par un cavalier de la suite du 
 Due, que le Marquis d'Adhemar se proposait de venir ici. Je 
 vous prie de le prevenir, et de l'engager a se rendre bientot en 
 cette cour. Je vous souhaite dans le cours de cette annee 
 uae sante parfaite. C'est la seule chose qui vous manque 
 pour vous rendre heureux. Nous histrionons ici comme vous 
 le faites a Berlin. Adieu, il faut que je vous quitte pour 
 repasser mon role. Soyez persuade de ma parfaite estime. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 A Berlin, le 6 Janvier, 1751. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 Frere Voltaire n'a fait que changer de cellule. 
 II est a Berlin comme a Potsdam, tres-retire" et tres-pensant a 
 Votre Altesse Royale. II vous promet, Madame, foi de moine, 
 de venir vous demander votre benediction dans votre abbaye 
 souveraine, a son retour de cette grande ville de Paris, ou 
 il faut bien enfin qu'il aille mettre ordre a ses affaires tem- 
 porelles, qu'il a trop longtemps negligees pour les affaires 
 spirituelles du reverend pere abbe. Mais je suis fort etonne 
 que Votre Reverence n'ait pas recu deux lettres de moi, 
 indigne, au lieu d'une. J'ai eu certainement l'honneur de 
 vous ecrire deux fois du prieure de Potsdam. II faut ap- 
 paremment que la benediction du ciel ne favorise pas le 
 commerce des moines aussi relaches que nous le sommes. 
 Votre Reverence fait de tres-salutaires reflexions sur le 
 dernier miracle. Elle sait combien les miracles sont quelque- 
 fois necessaires. II nous fallut autrefois en France une 
 pucelle. II a fallu souvent ailleurs tout le contraire. " 
 Signore, Signore, figliuoli in ogni modo ! " L'amour etait le
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 143 
 
 Saint-Esprit de l'antiquite. C'etait lui qui se melait de ces 
 affaires-la. Aujourd'hui ce sont des moines et des saints. 
 Notre mythologie fait pitie ; il n'y a rien de si plat que ce 
 qu'on appelle la catholicite. 
 
 Venons, Madame, aux ordres que Votre Altesse Royale 
 me donne pour le Marquis d'Adhemar. Je lui ai ecrit et 
 j'aurai l'honneur de vous rendre compte de sa reponse. Je 
 suis persuade qu'il sera bien sensible au bonheur d'etre admis 
 dans votre cour. II a une ame digne de la votre, et j'ose 
 dire qu'il est fait pour Monseigneur le Margrave et pour vous. 
 M. de Montperni trouvera en lui une societe bien agreable. 
 II a d'ailleurs beaucoup de gout, il fait joliment des vers, et, 
 par-dessus tout eela, c'est le plus honnete homme du monde 
 comme le plus brave. II est triste d'etre oblige de parler a 
 un homme de ce caractere, de cette guenille qu'on nomme 
 appointements et argent, et c'est salir le papier que de fatiguer 
 Votre Altesse Royale de ces miseres que sceur Guillemette 
 meprise si fort ; mais ces guenilles etant absolument neces- 
 saires dans ce monde-ci, et les rois comme les charbonniers 
 ne pouvant rien faire du tout sans argent, j'en ai parle dans 
 malettre au Marquis d'Adhemar. Je crois que Votre Altesse 
 Royale ne me d^savouera pas ; j'ai done ecrit que quinze 
 cents ecus seraient a peu pres ce qu'il faudrait. II me 
 semble que les appointements de M. de Montperni ne montent 
 pas au-dela et qu'il ne faut pas donner lieu a la jalousie, 
 meme entre des personnes qui ne peuvent etre jalouses. 
 J'ai menage votre bourse et j'ai fait violence a votre gene- 
 rosite en proposant quinze cents ecus. II n'y aura que vous, 
 Madame, et Monseigneur le Margrave qui pouvez me gronder 
 d'avoir offert peu, mais mon ami M. d'Adhemar ne m'en 
 grondera pas. En un mot, il ne peut jamais vivre dans une 
 cour plus genereuse, et cette cour ne peut faire une plus noble 
 acquisition. Je voudrais qu'il put partir avec ma niece et 
 moi, mais, 6 adorable abbesse, si nous etions tous trois dans 
 votre couvent, nous n'en voudrions jamais sortir. Le daignez
 
 144 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 faire de lui. Tous les autres freres baisent le bas de votre 
 sacree robe. 
 
 Je ne sais si M. de Montperni a recu des nouvelles d'un 
 petit fou de comedien que je lui avais procure pour recruter 
 votre troupe. Je voudrais savoir comment il faut s'y prendre 
 pour faire souvenir ici de moi M. de Montperni ; on ne peut 
 prendre de ces libertes-la en ecrivant a, Votre Altesse Royale. 
 Je me mets aux pieds de Votre Altesse Royale, de Mon- 
 seigneur. Nous jouames hier " Zaire," Monseigneur le Prince 
 Henri se surpasse, Monseigneur le Prince Royal prononca 
 tres-distinctement. Monseigneur le Prince Ferdinand adoucit 
 sa voix, Madame la Princesse Amelie eut de la tendresse, et 
 la reine-mere fut encbantee. Mais Baireutb, Baireutb, quand 
 serai-je assez beureux pour voir vos fetes et surtout pour 
 admirer, pour reverer, pour oser cberir de plus pres cette 
 auguste princesse, a qui je presente mes tres-profonds respects 
 de trop loin ! ' 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 le 23 Janvier, 1751. 
 
 II faut que je me sois tres-mal expliquee dans ma derniere 
 lettre, puisque vous n'en avez pas compris le sens. Peut- 
 etre etais-je dans ce moment-la, inspiree du Saint-Esprit. 
 Comme vous n'etes pas apotre, vous avez trouve fort obscur 
 ce que je croyais fort clair. J'en viens a, Texplication. Le 
 Due de Wirtemberg m'a marque qu'il avait dessein d'engager 
 le Marquis d'Adbemar a. son service. J'ai craint qu'il ne 
 vous prevint, et vous ai prie de faire en sorte que le Marquis 
 refuse les propositions qu'on lui fera de la part du Due. 
 Le Margrave ne vous dementira point par rapport aux 
 quinze cents ecus d'appointements que vous lui avez offerts. 
 Je vous prie de depecber cette affaire, et d'engager 
 M. d'Adbemar a se rendre bientot ici. On lui destine 
 une charge de cour au-dessus de celle de Chambellan, et
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 145 
 
 vous pouvez compter que le Margrave aura pour lui toutes 
 les attentions imaginables. 
 
 Je crois que votre sejour en Allemagne inspire dans tous 
 les coeurs la fureur de reciter des vers. La cour de Wirtem- 
 berg revient expres ici pour histrioner avec nous. Le sense 
 Vriot nous a choisi, selon moi, la plus detestable piece de 
 theatre qu'il y ait pour la versification : c'est " Oreste et 
 Pilades " de La Motte. J'admire les differentes facons de 
 penser qu'il y a dans le monde. Yous excluez les femmes 
 de vos tragedies de Potsdam, et nous voudrions, si nous 
 avions un Voltaire, retrancher les hommes de celles que nous 
 jouons ici. N'y aurait-il pas moyen que vous puissiez nous 
 accommoder une de vos pieces, et y donner les deux prin- 
 cipaux roles aux femmes ? Le Due et ma fille jouent fort 
 joliment ; mais c'est tout. Le pauvre Montperni est encore 
 trop languissant pour prendre un grand role, et le reste ne 
 fait qu'estropier vos pieces. Je n'ai ose proposer " Semi- 
 ramis " ; la Duchesse mere ay ant represents cette piece a 
 Stutgard. 
 
 J'ai vu ces jours passes un personnage singulier. C'est 
 un referendaire du Pape ; prelat, Chanoine de Sainte-Marie, 
 et malgre tout cela homme sense, dechaine contre les moines, 
 a, l'abri du prejuge, et ne parlant que de tolerance. 
 
 Yotre petit acteur est arrive. Comme j'ai ete tout ce 
 temps incommodee, je ne l'ai point encore vu ; mais on m'en 
 dit beaucoup de bien. 
 
 Venez bientot nous voir dans notre couvent ; c'est tout 
 ce que nous souhaitons. Le Margrave vous fait bien des 
 amities. Saluez tous les freres qui se souviennent encore de 
 moi, et soyez persuade que l'Abbesse de Baireuth ne desire 
 rien tant que de pouvoir convaincre frere Voltaire de sa 
 parfaite estime. 
 
 WlLHELMINE.
 
 146 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 30 Janvier, 1751. 
 Madame, 
 
 Votre Altesse Royale a plus de rivaux qu'elle 
 ne pense, mais je crois que le Marquis d'Adhemar vous 
 donnera la preference. Je lui ecris encore fortement. Tout 
 mon desir est de pouvoir etre a vos pieds au printemps. 
 Mais quel est rhomme qui soit le maitre de sa destinee ? 
 Frere Voltaire est ici en penitence, il a un chien de proces 
 avec un juif, et selon la loi de l'Ancien Testament, il lui en 
 coutera encore pour avoir ete vole, et, par-dessus le marche, 
 il en resulte une tres-belle tracasserie, laquelle, subdivisee en 
 quatre ou cinq petites, pourrait former un sujet de comedie 
 aussi plaisant que le manifeste de la Czarine, qui prend 
 l'Europe a temoin que M. Grass n'a pas ete prie a souper. 
 Cela amuserait Votre Altesse Royale sur votre theatre de 
 Baireuth. Monseigneur le Prince Henri joua hier " Sidney " 
 pour la cloture du carnaval. II me semble que c'est mettre 
 un habit de deuil un jour de gala. Voila un etrange sujet 
 de comedie pour un prince de dix-neuf ans. J'aimerais 
 autant voir un enterrement que cette piece. Mais Monsei- 
 gneur le Prince Henri met tant de grace dans tout ce qu'il 
 recite et dans tout ce qu'il fait, qu'il ma sauve entitlement 
 le degout et la tristesse de oet ouvrage. 
 
 Madame, quand nous jouons a Potsdam sans femmes, je 
 vous jure que c'est bien a notre corps defendant. Les 
 nioines demandent a Dieu des femmes, mais croyez-moi, ne 
 cherchez point dans Baireuth a vous passer d'hommes. Le 
 theatre est la peinture de la vie humaine, et dans cette vie il 
 faut que les hommes et les femmes soient ensemble ; sans 
 quoi, on ne vit guere qu'a demi. Songez, Madame, a votre 
 sante, voila le point essentiel. Si le merite en donnait, vous 
 vous porteriez mieux que toutes les princesses de ce monde, 
 mais malheureusement le merite le plus solide se trouve chez 
 vous dans le corps le plus faible. Vous etes condamnee au 
 regime tandis que la Metrie se donne par jour deux indiges-
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 147 
 
 tions et ne s'en porte que mieux. Votre Altesse Royale et 
 le Roi votre frere sont, je crois, les princes de la terre les 
 mieux partages en esprit et le plus mal en estomacs. II faut 
 que tout soit compense. Pour moi chetif, je compte trainer 
 ici encore un mois ou six semaines, et aller ensuite arranger 
 mes petites affaires a Paris. Je ne crois pas qu'on puisse 
 aller a Paris par d'autres chemins que par Baireuth, et mon 
 cceur qui me conduit seul, dit qu'il faut que je prenne cette 
 route. Je me mets aux pieds de Votre Altesse Royale et je 
 lui presente mes tres-profonds respects aussi bien qu'a 
 Monseigneur. 
 
 Yoltaire. 
 
 le 18 Fevrier, 1751. 
 
 Si vous desirez grandement me revoir, je vous rends le 
 reciproque ; partout frere Voltaire sera le bienvenu, en 
 quelque temps que ce soit : et nous tacherons de lui rendre 
 notre abbaye agreable, autant que faire sera possible. Ne 
 vous emerveillez pas de mon langage de jadis. II etait 
 naif ; et qui dit naif dit sincere. Bref, je lis les Memoires de 
 Sully, etj'ai parcouru tous ceux que j'ai sur l'Histoire de 
 France. Ces memoires secrets mettent infiniment mieux au 
 fait que les histoires generales, ou les auteurs attribuent 
 souvent les belles actions, tant politiques que militaires, 
 a ceux qui n'y ont eu que peu de part. J'ai conclu que vous 
 avez eu de tres-grands hommes, et des Rois tres ordinaires. 
 Henri IV. n'aurait peut-etre jamais regne, ou ne se serait 
 pas maintenu, sans un Sully ; et Louis XIV. sans les 
 Louvois, les Colbert et les Turenne, n'aurait jamais acquis le 
 surnom de Grand. Tel est le monde : on sacrifie a la 
 grandeur et rarement au merite. 
 
 Vous me mandez des choses bien extraordinaires. 
 Apollon est en proces avec un juif ? Fi done, Monsieur, cela 
 est abominable. J'ai cherche dans toute la mythologie, et 
 n'ai trouve ombre de plaidoyer dans ce gout au Parnasse. 
 
 l 2
 
 148 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Quelque comique qu'il soit, je ne veux point le voir 
 representer sur la scene. Les grands hommes n'y doivent 
 paraitre que dans leur lustre. Je veux vous y contempler 
 juge de l'esprit, des talents et des sciences, triomphant des 
 Racine et des Corneille, et dictateur perpetuel de la 
 republique des belles-lettres. J'espere que votre Israelite 
 aura porte la peine de sa fourberie, et que vous aurez l'esprit 
 tranquille. 
 
 Envoyez-nous bientot le Marquis d'Adhemar ; songez 
 a la joie, renoncez a la repentance ; portez-vous bien ; pensez 
 quelquefois a moi, et comptez sur ma parfaite estime. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 ler Mars, 1751. 
 Madame, 
 
 Frere Voltaire recut avant-hier la benediction de 
 Yotre Reverence Royale. Le style du bon vieux temps vous 
 sied aussi bien que celui d'aujourd'hui, vous avez la delicatesse 
 de l'un et la naivete de l'autre. Si le Due de Sully avait 
 prevu que ses paperasses economiques, royales et politiques, 
 seraient lues un jour par Madame la Margrave de Baireuth, 
 il aurait redouble de vanite. 
 
 Je crois, Madame, que Votre Altesse Royale est la premiere 
 personne qui ait mis le Due de Sully au-dessus de Henri 
 Quatre. Pour moi, homme tres-faible, j'avoue que j'aime 
 mieux les faiblesses de ce bon Roi que toutes les vertus 
 austeres de son ministre. Je crois meme qu'en fait de 
 gouvernement, Henri le Grand en savait encorejplus que le Due 
 de Sully. Nous ne devons plusieurs manufactures et surtout 
 l'etablissement des vers a soie qu'a la Constance eclairee 
 de ce digne roi qui l'emporta sur la resistance opiniatre 
 et aveugle de son ministre. 
 
 Au reste, le Due de Sully eut souvent des proces contre les 
 Juifs qui fournissaient les armees; ainsi, il faut me par-
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 149 
 
 donner d'en avoir pu gagner un contre un scelerat de 
 l'Ancien Testament, que j'ai traite encore avec trop de 
 generosite apres l'avoir fait condamner. Cette affaire m'a 
 fait une peine horrible, parce que, comme dit Yotre Altesse 
 Royale, les gens de lettres ne semblent etre en ce monde que 
 pour ecrire, et qu'ils ne doivent pas acheter des diamants. 
 
 M. d'Adhemar me fait esperer tous les jours qu'il sera 
 assez heureux pour venir aupres de Votre Altesse Roy ale. 
 Si j'etais a sa place, il y a longtemps que je serais parti. 
 J'espere que le chambellan d'Ammon, qui loge cbez moi a 
 Paris et qui soupe tous les jours avec le Marquis d'Adhemar, 
 ne me traversera pas dans ma negociation. Pour la dame 
 qu'il vous faut, il n'y a pas d'apparence que j'en donne sitot 
 une a. Yotre Altesse Poyale ; la raison en est que de deux 
 choses l'une, ou je mourrai ici de la poitrine, ou j'irai en 
 Italie avant de revoir Paris ; mais, Madame, soyez tres-sure 
 que mon cceur prefer era en secret le sejour de Baireuth a, 
 Saint- Pierre de Rome et a la place Saint-Marc. Les bene- 
 dictions du pape et les pantalonnades venitiennes ne valent 
 pas assurement l'honneur de vous approcher et le plaisir de 
 vous entendre. Je me mets aux pieds de Monseigneur 
 le Margrave et je renouvelle a Vos Altesses Royales les tres- 
 profonds respects et le sincere attachement du pauvre malade 
 frere Voltaire. 
 
 Yos bontes pour M. de Montperni dont il est si digne 
 semblent me mettre en droit de faire ici des vceux pour sa 
 sante ; un bon moine doit prier pour tous les freres. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 X Potsdam, 
 
 8 Mai, 1751. 
 Madame, 
 
 Votre Altesse Royale attendait des Adhemars, et 
 elle a des Cothenius. Au lieu des plaisirs qui devraient etre 
 en foule autour d'elle, faudra-t-il qu'elle n'ait que des juleps
 
 150 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 et des pilules ? Faudra-t-il toujours craindre pour une sante 
 si precieuse ? Si le vif interet que tout le monde prend ici a, 
 eette sante pouvait etre de quelque secours a Yotre Altesse 
 Royale, vous seriez bientot guerie. Le convent de Potsdam 
 redouble pour vous, Madame, ses devotes prieres; et moi, 
 frere indigne de ce monastere, je ne suis pas celui dont les 
 vceux sont les moins fervents. Votre Altesse Roy ale sait 
 quels sentiments je lui ai voues, elle connait l'empire qu'elle 
 a sur les cceurs. Je suis egalement attache a la soeur et au 
 frere. Je voudrais chanter mes matines a Potsdam et mes 
 vepres a Baireuth. 
 
 Si j'etais sur, Madame, que cette lettre vous parvint dans 
 un temps ou votre sante serait meilleure, je vous parlerais du 
 Marquis d'Adhemar qui n'a pas encore pu se resoudre a quitter 
 Paris ; je vous parlerais d'un gentilhomme lorrain nomme 
 Liebaud, qui est officier, qui est homme de lettres, sage, 
 instruit, et dont on repond. Mais je ne peux j>arler que de 
 la sante de Yotre Altesse Royale, de nos inquietudes et de 
 notre douleur. Que ne puis-je accompagner M. Cothenius ! 
 que ne puis-je venir me mettre a vos pieds et a ceux de Mon- 
 seigneur ! Le Roi va a Cleves ; je reste a griffonner dans 
 ma cellule ; les maladies qui m'accablent me rendent 
 sedentaire, mais, Madame, j 'oublie mes maux pour ne songer 
 qu'aux votres ; je suis indigne contre la nature de ce que je ne 
 suis pas le seul qui souflre. Pourquoi faut-il qu'une ame 
 aussi ferme que la votre soit logee dans un corps si delicat ! 
 Nous avons dix mille grands garcons qui ne pensent point et 
 qui tirent actuellement dix mille coups de fusil aux portes de 
 Potsdam. lis se portent a merveille et Madame la Margrave 
 de Baireuth souffre ! Et la Providence ! Ou est-elle done ? 
 Je ne serai pas son serviteur si vous n'avez de la sante, et je 
 veux chanter un Te Deum au retour de Cothenius. 
 
 Frere Voltaire.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 151 
 
 Berlin, 
 
 28 Mars, 1751. 
 Madame, 
 
 Frere malingre, frere hibou, frere griffonneur est 
 plus que jamais aux pieds de Votre Altesse Eoyale ; s'il lui 
 ecrivait aussi souvent qu'il pense a elle, Son Altesse Eoyale 
 aurait des lettres de lui cinq ou six fois par jour. 
 
 J'attends, Madame, l'heureux temps oii j'aurai assez de 
 sante pour faire le voyage de Baireuth ; il me semble que j'ai 
 renonce a celui de France et d'ltalie, mais je me berce 
 toujours de l'esperance de vous faire ma cour. II fallait 
 autrefois que les virtuoses allassent a Naples, a Florence, a 
 Ferrare ; c'est maintenant a Baireuth qu'il faut aller. 
 
 Si Yotre Altesse Eoyale a envie de faire representor un 
 nouvel opera chez elle, qu'elle ne prenne pas " Orphee " que 
 le Eoi son frere vient de faire jouer. Jamais je n'ai vu un si 
 sot Pluton et un Orphee si ennuyeux. II y a toujours de 
 beaux morceaux dans la musique de Grraun, mais cette fois-ci 
 le poete l'avait subjugue. Le Eoi, qui s'y connait bien, 
 avait heureusement fait beaucoup de retranchements. Je 
 disais a un vieux militaire qui baillait a cote de moi et qui 
 n'entendait pas un mot d'italien, " En verite, le Eoi est le 
 meilleur prince de la terre, il a plus que jamais piti6 de son 
 peuple. Comment done ? dit-il. Oui, ajoutai-je, il a accourci 
 cet opera-ci de moitie ! " Je me flatte que Votre Altesse 
 Eoyale aura eu cet hiver de belles fetes et de la sante\ 
 Mais, Madame, songez a la sante surtout. C'est la ce qu'il 
 faut vous souhaiter ; la beaute, la grandeur, l'esprit, le don 
 de plaire, tout est perdu quand on digere mal. C'est l'estomac 
 qui fait les heureux. 
 
 Vraiment, Madame, je sais plus de nouvelles de la Pucelle 
 que Votre Altesse Eoyale ne croit. II est vrai que Madame 
 la Duchesse de Wirtemberg passa une nuit chez vous a en 
 transcrire quelques lambeaux. Mais ce qu'on a a Vienne des 
 depouilles de cette Pucelle vient de la bataille de Sore ; les
 
 152 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 houzards, qui s'aniuserent a piller les bagages du Roi pendant 
 qu'il battait les troupes reglees d'Autriche, volerent le " Siecle 
 de Louis XIV." et ce que le Roi avait de la Pucelie; cela 
 consiste en sept ou huit cents vers detaches du corps de 
 l'ouvrage. Ainsi Jeanne a ete un peu houspillee, mais elle 
 n'a pas tout a fait perdu son pucelage. Cette Jeanne etait 
 destinee a etre tou jours prise a la guerre. 
 
 J'en fis deux nouveaux chants il y a quelques mois ; j 'y 
 fourrai un gros Tirconel, mais mon Tirconel ne l'a pas porte 
 loin. 
 
 Pardon, Madame, il ne me reste point de place pour 
 presenter a, Vos Altesses Royales les profonds respects de 
 
 Frere Voltaire. 
 
 Potsdam, 
 
 10 Avril, 1752. 
 Madame, 
 
 Je n'avais point eu de nouvelles depuis un 
 an du Marquis d'Adhemar, qui avait tant d'envie de s'attacher 
 a Votre Altesse Royale, et que vous paraissiez desireux d'avoir 
 dans votre maison. II n'avait pu jusqu'a present surmonter 
 les difficultes que lui faisait son pere, qui est, comme le sait 
 probablement Votre Altesse Royale, grand marechal du Roi 
 Stanislas a Luneville. Enfin, il me mande qu'il a leve les 
 obstacles qu'on lui opposait et qu'il est pret a venir se mettre 
 aux pieds de Votre Altesse Royale ; j 'ignore si vous etes 
 tou jours, Madame, dans les memes sentiments. Comme 
 toutes les charges de votre maison sont remplies, il deman- 
 derait un titre de chevalier d'honneur ; c'est une charge que 
 je ne crois guere connue qu'en France et qui repond a celle 
 de premier ou grand ecuyer ; mais ce n'est qu'un simple 
 titre et il ne s'agit seulement que de n'avoir pas l'air d'etre un 
 homme inutile. Je me souviens que Votre Altesse Royale 
 avait compte lui donner quinze cents ecus d'appointements. 
 Voila l'etat ou est cette petite affaire. J'ai repondu au Mar-
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 153 
 
 quis d'Adbemar que j'attendais vos ordres, et je n'ai engage 
 
 Votre Altesse Royale en rien. Je lui ferai part, Madame, de 
 
 vos dernieres resolutions et des commandements dont il vous 
 
 plaira de m'honorer. Tout ce que je sais, c'est que je voudrais 
 
 bien grossir quelque temps avec lui le nombre de vos cour- 
 
 tisans ; mais frere Voltaire ne sait encore quand il mettra le 
 
 nez bors de sa cellule. II est le meilleur moine du monde, et 
 
 s'accoutume trop a la vie solitaire. Je pourrai bien, apres 
 
 le mariage de Monseigneur le Prince Henri, prendre mon 
 
 essor et venir vous faire ma cour. Mais je ne reponds de 
 
 rien et me resigne entierement a la Providence. Je me natte 
 
 que votre sante, Madame, n'eprouve plus de ces orages qui 
 
 nous ont tant alarmes et qu'ainsi aucune amertume ne se 
 
 mele a la douceur de votre vie. 
 
 Permettez-moi de renouveler pour jamais a Votre Altesse 
 
 Royale et a Monseigneur le Margrave mes plus profonds 
 
 respects et mon inviolable attachement. Si j'osais, je mettrais 
 
 ici quelque cbose pour M. de Montperni. Mais comment 
 
 prendre la liberte ? 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 le 20 Avril, 1752. 
 
 La penitence que vous vous imposez a acbeve de flecbir mon 
 courroux. Je n'avais pu encore oublier votre indifference. 
 II ne fallait pas moins qu'un pelerinage a Notre-Dame de 
 Baireuth pour effacer votre pecbe. Frere Voltaire sera par- 
 donne a ce prix. II sera le bienvenu ici, et y trouvera des 
 amis empresses a l'obliger et a lui temoigner leur estime. 
 Je doute encore de l'accomplissement de vos promesses. 
 Le climat d'Allemagne a-t-il pu en si peu de temps 
 reformer la legerete franc aise ? Le voyage de France et 
 d'ltalie reduits en cbateaux en Espagne, me font craindre 
 le meme sort pour celui-ci. Soyez done arcbi-germain dans 
 vos resolutions, et procurez-moi bientot le plaisir de vous 
 revoir.
 
 154 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Quoiqu'absent vous avez eu la faculte de m'arracher des 
 larmes. J'ai vu hier repres enter votre faux prophete. Les 
 acteurs se sont surpasses, et vous avez eu la gloire d'emouvoir 
 nos cceurs franconiens, qui d'ailleurs ressemblent assez aux 
 rochers qu'ils habit ent. 
 
 Le Marquis d'Adhemar a fait ecrire il y a quatre se- 
 maines a M. de Folard. J'ai oublie de vous le mander dans ma 
 derniere lettre. Vous jugez bien que ses off res ont ete 
 re9ues avec plaisir. Montperni lui a ecrit en consequence. 
 J'espere qu'il sera content des conditions. Elles sont plus 
 avantageuses que celles qu'il avait desirees. Elles consistent 
 en 4,000 Livres, la table, et l'entretien de ses equipages. Je 
 vous prie d'achever votre ouvrage, et de faire en sorte qu'il 
 soit bientot fini. Je vous en aurai une grande obligation. 
 Vous savez que le titre qu'il demande n'est point usite en 
 Allemagne. Comme il repond a celui de Chambellan il aura 
 ce titre aupres de moi. 
 
 Le temps m'empeche de vous dire davantage aujourd'hui. 
 Soyez persuade que je serai toujours votre amie. 
 
 WlLHELMINE-. 
 
 Fin Mai, 1752. 
 Madame, 
 
 Je n'ai point encore recu de reponse du 
 Marquis d'Adhemar. Je lui ecrivis le jour meme que j'eus 
 recu les ordres dont Votre Altesse Poyale m'honora. II 
 se peut faire qu'il se soit adresse a M. le chevalier de Follard, 
 ou qu'il ait eu l'honneur d'ecrire a Votre Altesse Royale. 
 Peut-etre a-t-il deja le bonheur d'etre aupres d'elle sans que 
 j'en sois instruit dans la profonde et heureuse solitude de 
 Potsdam. Peut-etre n'a-t-il point encore pu prendre son 
 parti. II est difficile, Madame, a ce que je vois, d'avoir des 
 Adhemar et des Grraffigny ; il est plus aise de s'emparer des 
 pauvres Voltaires, gens qui ne sont bons a rien, mais qui se
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 155 
 
 donnent de tout cceur a ce qu'ils ont Finsolence d'aimer. 
 Je suis reste a Potsdam pendant que le Eoi votre frere est 
 alle faire la guerre dans les campagnes de Berlin. Yous 
 savez qu'il a eu un acees de goutte assez long et assez violent. 
 Savez-vous, Madame, que pendant cet acces il mettait son 
 pied enfle dans une botte et s'en allait faire des revues 
 pendant la pluie ? La posterite ne s'etonnera pas apres cela 
 qu'il ait gagne des batailles. Je l'admire tous les jours, et 
 comme roi, et comme homme. Sa bonte et son indulgence 
 dans la societe font le charme de ma vie. II a eu bien 
 raison de dire, dans une de ses belles epitres : qu'il etait roi 
 severe et citoyen humain, mais il est encore plus citoyen 
 humain que roi severe. Ses vertus et ses talents, sa pkilosophie, 
 son mepris pour les superstitions, sa retraite, l'uniformite 
 de sa vie, son application continuelle a l'etude comme 
 au soin de ses Etats, tout cela m'attache a lui bien 
 intimement et pour jamais. Je suis bien loin de me 
 repentir d'avoir tout quitte pour lui. En verite, Madame, 
 Votre Altesse Royale devrait bien l'avertir dans quel- 
 qu'une de ses lettres qu'il me tourne la tete. II m'inspire 
 plus d'enthousiasme que le fanatisme n'en donne aux devots. 
 Mais je ne lui en dis mot et il ne sait pas tout mon secret. 
 Je parle un peu plus librement a Votre Altesse Eoyale de mon 
 attachement pour elle, de mon envie de lui faire ma cour a 
 Baireutb et d'aller ainsi d'un paradis dans un autre, mais 
 quand ? Je n'en sais rien du tout. Je suis pour mes voyages 
 ce qu'est d'Adhemar pour la transmigration, je ne prends 
 point de parti. Tout ce que je sais, c'est que quand on est 
 une fois a Baireuth ou a Potsdam, on n'en veut point sortir. 
 Vous allez, Madame, avoir une nouvelle belle-sceur. Tout 
 se prepare pour des fetes brillantes, mais elles ne vaudront 
 pas a mes yeux celles que j'ai vues il y a deux ans; vous 
 les embellissiez, et d'ailleurs, un vieux philosophe retire 
 doit-il se produire a de nouvelles mariees ? Suis-je fait 
 pour etre garcon de la noce? Je fais des voeux en bon
 
 156 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 moine pour les grands succes de Monseigneur le Prince 
 Henri. 
 
 riaisirs, graces, amours, troupe jeune et legere, 
 Voltigez pres du lit ou ce prince est couche. 
 
 Avec vous je n'ai rien a faire, 
 
 Et plus que vous j'en suis fache. 
 
 Je presente mon profond respect et mon devouement 
 inviolable a Votre Altesse Royale et a. Monseigneur le 
 Margrave. M. de Montperni a-t-il oublie 
 
 Frere Voltaire ? 
 
 A Potsdam, Juin 5, 1752. 
 Madame, 
 
 Frere Voltaire qui n'en peut plus, frere Voltaire 
 qui se meurt, interrompt l'agonie pour dire a Votre Altesse 
 Royale qu'il croit a present M. d'Adhemar a votre service, il 
 me parait qu'il sent tout son bonheur. Pour moi, je ne suis 
 plus bon a rien et je ne sais pas comment le Eoi votre frere a 
 la bonte de me garder. On dit que Madame la Margrave 
 d'Ansbach est a Berlin. II y a une Margrave que je 
 voudrais bien y voir revenir, j 'imagine que l'honneur de lui 
 faire ma cour me rendrait ma sante. Pourquoi n'y viendriez- 
 vous pas, Madame ? On pretend que la peste est clans le Haut- 
 Palatinat, cela n'est peut-etre pas vrai, la renommee ne va 
 pas a Potsdam quand le Roi n'y est pas. On y est sequestre 
 du genre humain. Lui absent, tout est enterre. S'il est 
 vrai que la peste est dans vos quartiers, Potsdam est une 
 vraie sauvegarde ; on enverra contre elle des detachements de 
 grands grenadiers ; elle s'enfuira comme les Autrichiens. 
 
 Le Marquis d'Adhemar m'ecrit encore pour me dire qu'il 
 serait deja aux pieds de Votre Altesse Royal e sans une 
 grande maladie qu'il a eue ; je me flatte que ce n'est pas la 
 peste. Frere Voltaire se prosterne sur son grabat devant 
 Votre Altesse Royale et devant Monseigneur.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 157 
 
 le 12 Juin, 1752. 
 
 Le Marquis d'Adhemar n'est point encore arrive, mais 
 nous l'attendons a toute heure. II a ete malade, ce qui a 
 diflere son depart. Je crois qu'il est beaucoup plus facile 
 d'avoir des Adhernar et des Grraffigny, que des Voltaire. 
 II n'y a que le Eoi qui soit en droit de posseder ceux-ci. 
 Yous me faites eprouver le sort de Tantale. Vous me 
 flattez toujours par la promesse de venir faire un tour ici, 
 et lorsque je m'attends a vous voir, mes esperances s'evanouis- 
 sent. Si vous en aviez eu bonne envie, vous auriez pu 
 profiter de l'absence du Hoi ; mais vous suivez la maxime de 
 beaucoup de grands ministres, qui payent de belles paroles 
 sans eftet. J'ai ecrit au Roi ce que vous me mandez sur 
 son sujet. II est difficile de le connaitre sans l'aimer, et 
 sans s'attacher a lui. II est du nombre de ces phenomenes 
 qui ne paraissent tout au plus qu'une fois dans un siecle. 
 Vous connaissez mes sentiments pour ce cher Frere, ainsi je 
 tranche court sur ce sujet. Nous menons presentement une 
 vie champetre. Je partage mon temps entre mon corps et 
 mon esprit : il faut bien soutenir l'un pour conserver l'autre, 
 car je m'apercois de plus en plus que nous ne pensons et 
 n'agissons que selon que notre machine est montee. Vous 
 semblez devenu bien misanthrope. Vous restez a Potsdam 
 tandis que le Roi est a Berlin, et vous vous imaginez qu'un 
 philosophe ne convient point a une noce. On voit bien que 
 vous n'avez jamais tate du mariage, et que vous ignorez 
 qu'un des points essentiels dans cet etat est d'etre bon 
 philosophe, surtout en Allemagne. Les quatre vers que vous 
 faites sur ce sujet, me paraissent un peu epicuriens, et cet 
 epicurianisme est incompatible avec la misanthropie. II ne 
 vous faudrait qu'une nouvelle Uranie pour vous tirer de vos 
 reflexions noires, et pour vous remettre dans le gout des 
 plaisirs. 
 
 Le Margrave vous fait bien des amities. Montperni est
 
 158 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 tou jours de vos amis. Nous parlons souvent de vous ; mais 
 cacochyme, et d'ailleurs accable d'affaires, il ne peut vous 
 ecrire. Ses douleurs diminuent, mais il les a tous les jours 
 pendant quelques heures, et vit comme un moine pour tacher 
 de se retablir. Je ne le vois qu'un moment par jour. II 
 faisait la meilleure piece de notre petite societe. J'espere 
 qu'Adhemar y suppleera. 
 
 Soyez persuade que je ne cherche que les occasions de 
 vous convaincre de ma parfaite estime. 
 
 P.S. — Le Eoi me dit lorsque j'etais a Berlin qu'il voulait 
 faire ecrire l'Esprit de Bayle. Si cet ouvrage a eu lieu, et 
 qu'on puisse l'avoir, je vous prie de me le procurer. J'ai 
 recu un supplement au dictionnaire fait en Angleterre. Selon 
 moi, il repond tres-mal a son original. 
 
 Potsdam, 17 Juin, 1752. 
 Madame, 
 
 Frere Voltaire ne sait ce qu'il dit, il ne croira 
 jamais ce qu'il entendra debiter dans sa cellule quand le 
 heros de la renommee ne sera pas a Potsdam. Le pauvre 
 homme, avec sa nouvelle de l'arrivee d'une Margrave 
 a Berlin et de la peste a Augsbourg ! II demande bien 
 pardon a Yotre Altesse Royale. Tout ce qu'il sait, c'est que 
 le Marquis d'Adhemar jure qu'il va se remettre a vos pieds 
 s'il n'y est deja. Frere Voltaire ferait bien de ne quitter 
 jamais sa cellule que pour venir dans votre abbaye. II 
 continue ses vceux et ses ferventes prieres, pour la sante, 
 la prosperity, la longue vie de Votre Altesse Royale et celle 
 de Monseigneur, et point du tout pour la vie eternelle. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 Frere Voltaire, comme voit Votre Altesse Royale, 
 n'ecrit que de Dieu. Aussi est-il dans un couvent ou l'on fait 
 son salut. II y aurait un plus gros volume que la Somme de
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 159 
 
 Saint-Thomas a faire sur la theologie dont il est question ; il 
 met a vos pieds la these ci-jointe. C'est a Votre Reverence 
 Royale a prononcer. II y a en France des moines de 
 Fontevraux .qui obeissent aveuglement a une abesse, je me 
 sens de ce nombre. Auriez-vous besoin, Madame, d'un 
 lecteur, d'une poitrine et d'un esprit infatigables, theologien 
 ne croyant pas en Dieu, savant comme Lacroze, aussi gros que 
 lui, mangeant tout autant, tres-serviable et peu cher ? Je 
 pourrais le procurer a Yotre Altesse Royale. Elle sait que 
 je ne lui fais pas de mauvais presents, et elle peut compter 
 sur le zele que j'aurai toute ma vie pour son service. 
 
 J'ai execute ses ordres aupres du Baron de Polnitz. C'est 
 de quoi lui rendre la sante, et il s'en porte deja mieux : si 
 jamais j'ai cette sante que l'auteur de la Religion naturelle 
 m'a refusee tout net, je viendrai surement m'informer a 
 Baireuth de la votre. Baireuth est l'eglise ou je veux aller en 
 pelerinage ofirir un culte de latrie et me prosterner devant 
 l'auguste sainte que je prie avec le plus profond respect. 
 
 Monseigneur daigne-t-il agreer meSj hommages et Son 
 Altesse Royale daigne-t-elle permettre que je mette dans ce 
 paquet une lettre pour M. d'Adhemar ? Je suis bien touche 
 de l'etat de M. de Montperni. Votre Altesse Royale 
 perdrait la un serviteur tel que les princes n'en trouvent 
 guere. 
 
 A Potsdam, 
 
 24 Odobre, 1752. 
 Madame, 
 
 Frere Voltaire, mort au monde, amoureux de sa 
 cellule et de son couvent dont il n'est sorti depuis huit mois, 
 rompt enfin son silence pour Votre Altesse Royale. Son 
 detachement des choses humaines lui laisse encore quelque 
 faiblesse, et cette faiblesse, Madame, est toute pour vous. II 
 croit meme que ce n'en est point une, et que Dieu lui
 
 160 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 pardonnera de conserver un attachement si raisonnable pour 
 une de ses plus parfaites creatures. Je prends la liberte 
 de lui envoyer un petit ouvrage de devotion que j'ai 
 fait pour mon tres-reverendissime pere en Dieu, le philo- 
 sophe de Sans Souci. Je supplie instamment Yotre 
 Reverence Royale de ne pas permettre qu'on en fasse de 
 copie. II ne faut pas que les niysteres des saints soient 
 exposes a des yeux profanes. Ce pieux manuscrit est en bien 
 petits caracteres, mais elle pourra se le faire lire par M. le 
 Marquis d'Adhemar, ou par M. le Marquis de Montperni, 
 diacres de son eglise. Je suis bien fache d'etre reduit a 
 presumer seulement que M. d'Adhemar soit aupres de Son 
 Altesse Royale ; je n'ai aucune nouvelle de lui depuis six 
 mois. S'il est aupres de vous, Madame, je ne suis pas surpris 
 qu'il oublie le genre humain. J'espere toujours faire un 
 petit voyage en Italie et voir la ville souterraine avant de 
 mourir. Mais avant d'aller voir ce qui est sous terre, je 
 compte bien venir faire ma cour a ce qu'il y a sur la terre de 
 plus adorable, et renouveler a Votre Altesse Royale et a 
 Monseigneur les profonds respects et la devotion ardente de 
 Frere 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 Erlang, le premier de Novembre, 1752. 
 
 II faudrait avoir plus d'esprit et de delicatesse que je 
 n'en ai pour louer dignement l'ouvrage que j 'ai recu de votre 
 part. On doit s'attendre a tout de frere Voltaire. Ce qu'il 
 fait de beau ne surprend plus, l'admiration depuis longtemps 
 a succede a la surprise. Votre poeme sur la loi naturelle 
 m'a enchantee. Tout s'y trouve. La nouveaute du sujet, 
 l'elevation des pensees, et la beaute de la versification. 
 Oserai-je le dire? II n'y manque qu'une chose pour le 
 rendre parfait. Le sujet exige plus d'etendue que vous 
 ne lui en avez donne. La premiere proposition demande
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 161 
 
 surtout une plus ample demonstration. Permettez que je 
 m'instruise, et que je vous fasse part de mes doutes. 
 
 Dieu, dites-vous, a donne a, tous les hommes la justice et 
 la conscience pour les avertir, comme il leur a donne ce qui 
 leur est necessaire. 
 
 Dieu ayant donne a, l'homme la justice et la conscience ces 
 deux vertus sont innees dans l'homme et deviennent un 
 attribut de son etre. II s'ensuit de toute necessite que 
 l'homme doit agir en consequence, et qu'il ne saurait etre 
 ni injuste ni sans remords, ne pouvant combattre un instinct 
 attache a son essence. L'experience prouve le contraire. Si 
 la justice etait un attribut de notre etre, la chicane serait 
 bannie ; les avocats mourraient de f aim ; vos conseillers au 
 Parlement ne s'occuperaient pas, comme ils sont, a troubler la 
 France pour un morceau de pain donne ou refuse ; les 
 Jesuites, les Jansenistes confesseraient leur ignorance en fait 
 de doctrine. 
 
 Les vertus ne sont qu'accidentelles et relatives a, la societe. 
 L'amour propre a donne le jour a la justice. Dans les 
 premiers ,temps les hommes s'entre dechiraient pour des 
 bagatelles (comme ils font encore de nos jours) ; il n'y avait 
 ni surete pour le domicile, ni siirete pour la vie. Le tien et le 
 mien, malheureuses distinctions (qu'on ne fait que tropde notre 
 temps) bannissaient tout union. L'homme eclaire par la raison, 
 et pousse par l'amour propre s'apercut enfin que la societe ne 
 pouvait subsister sans ordre. Deux sentiments attaches a son 
 etre et inne sen lui, le porterent a devenir juste. La conscience 
 ne fut qu'une suite de la justice. Les deux sentiments dont 
 je veux parler sont l'aversion des peines, et l'amour du plaisir. 
 
 Le trouble ne peut qu'enfanter la peine, la tranquillite est 
 mere du plaisir. Je me suis fait une etude particuliere 
 d'approfondir le coeur humain. Je juge par ce que je vois 
 de ce qui a ete. Mais je m'enfonce trop dans cette matiere 
 et pourrais bien, comme Icare, me voir precipiter du haut 
 des cieux. J'attends vos decisions avec impatience; je les 
 
 M
 
 162 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 regarderai comme des oracles. Conduisez-moi dans le 
 cheniin de la verite, et soyez persuade qu'il n'y en a point de 
 plus evidente que le desir que j'ai de vous prouver que je 
 suis votre sincere amie. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 A Francfort, 
 
 17 Juin, 1753. 
 
 Je prends la liberte de supplier instamment Son Altesse 
 Roy ale de daigner seulement faire parvenir a Sa Majeste 
 cette requete. Nous n'avons d'esperance que dans sa pro- 
 tection. L'etat cruel ou je suis est mon excuse si je ne peux 
 ecrire que ce peu de lignes trempe de mes larmes. 
 
 Je me mets a ses pieds. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 A Strasbourg, 
 
 le 22 Decembre, 1753. 
 Madame, 
 
 Je me regarderais comme coupable envers Votre 
 Altesse Royale, et je trahirais mes plus chers sentiments si je 
 ne lui ecrivais pas dans cette occasion. 
 
 Mme la Duchesse de Grotha vient de me remplir de 
 surprise et de reconnaissance, en me mandant qu'elle a 
 charge M. de Grotter de parler au Itoi votre frere et d'implorer 
 en ma faveur votre protection aupres de Sa Majeste. Votre 
 Altesse Royale n'ignore pas que je n'en ai jamais voulu 
 d'autre que la votre. Sans la fatale circonstance et le 
 malheureux voyage de ma niece, j'aurais ete de Leipzick a 
 Baireuth me mettre a vos pieds. Le mal est fait, mais est- 
 il sans remede ? La pkilosophie du Hoi, votre humanite, vos 
 conseils, vos prieres, tout cela ne pourra-t-il rien ? Qui dira 
 la verite a un grand homme, si ce n'est pas vous, Madame ? 
 J'avoue, j'ai ecrit au Roi et je dirai toute ma vie que j'ai eu 
 tort de m'opiniatrer, mais, Madame, est-ce une affaire cl'Etat ? 
 c'est une puerilite de litterature, c'est une querelle d'algebre,
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 163 
 
 c'est un minimum, et c'est pour cela que j'ai ete prisonnier 
 six semaines a Francfort ; que j'ai perdu la saison des eaux 
 dans une maladie affreuse ; que ma niece a ete trainee par 
 des soldats dans les rues de Francfort ; qu'un malheureux, 
 qui a ete seul avec elle pendant toute la nuit, et qui lui a ote 
 ses domestiques, Fa voulu outrager ? Ces violences ont ete 
 exercees par un nomme Freitag qui se dit ministre du Roi. 
 Le Roi ne sait pas que c'est un homme qui a ete condamne 
 a etre sous la potence et a trainer la brouette a Dresde. 
 Toutes ces affreuses circonstances sont connues dans toutes 
 les cours, et Sa Majeste les ignore peut-etre. 
 
 Pour moi, Madame, quel est mon etat ? Je suis vieux et 
 infirme, j 'avais sacrifie au Roi les dernieres annees de ma vie, 
 je n'ai v£cu que pour lui seul pendant trois annees. Tout 
 mon temps a ete partage entre lui et le travail. J'ai tout 
 abandonne pour lui, il le sait ; ne se souviendra-t-il que d'une 
 rnalheureuse querelle litteraire ? II faut, Madame, vous dire 
 la verite ! Votre Altesse Royale est digne de l'entendre. 
 Tout le mal vient de la lettre que le Roi fit imprimer contre 
 Koenig et contre moi dans le temps qu'il n'etait pas instruit 
 de la dispute. Je ne dis pas cela pour diminuer mon tort. 
 J'avouerai toujours que j'en ai un tres-grand, de n'avoir pas 
 garde le silence et de m'etre opiniatre ; mais quinze ans de 
 l'attachement le plus tendre doivent assurement trouver grace 
 pour un moment d'humeur. J'ose en faire juge Votre Altesse 
 Royale. Je lui demande s'il n'est pas de la gloire d'un aussi 
 grand homme d'oublier une faute et de se souvenir des 
 services ? Faudra-t-il qu'il reste a la posterite tant de monu- 
 ments de la correspondance dont le Roi m'a honore et de 
 l'idolatrie que j'ai eue pour lui, et que la posterite dise : 
 Tout a fini par la prison et par insulter une f emme innocente ? 
 Ah ! Madame, n'y a-t-il de gloire qu'a avoir une bonne 
 armee ? Le Roi votre frere aime la veritable gloire et il la 
 merite ; il vous aime, il doit vous croire ; Madame, il s'agit 
 de signaler la grandeur de votre ame et de toucher la sienne. 
 
 m 2
 
 164 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Faites tout ce qu'il vous plaira, je me mets entitlement entre 
 vos mains respectables. Je ne parle pas a Yotre Altesse 
 Royale de tout ce qu'on dit a Versailles, a Vienne, a Paris, a 
 Londres ; c'est votre cceur seul qu'il faut ecouter, c'est au 
 cceur seul du Roi que vous parlerez. Vous le toucherez 
 puisque vous l'avez entrepris. Le mien sera a jamais penetre 
 du plus profond et du plus tendre respect pour Votre Altesse 
 Royale. Votre Altesse Royale permet-elle que je me mette 
 aux pieds de Monseigneur 
 
 Jadis Frere Voltaire ? 
 
 A COLMAR, 
 
 25 Janvier, 1757. 
 Madame, 
 
 Je mets aux pieds de Votre Altesse Royale 
 
 ce nouvel hommage que je vous supplie d'agreer. Frere 
 
 Voltaire est toujours le meme, il n'a fait que changer de 
 
 cellule, il n'a point change de sentiment, et peut-etre qu'un 
 
 jour le tres-renomme et tres-respectable pere prieur saura que 
 
 son moine ne lui a jamais manque et qu'il conservera son 
 
 attachement jusqu'au tombeau. 
 
 Je supplie Votre Altesse Royale de vouloir permettre que 
 je presente par ses mains, qui embellissent tout ce qu'elles 
 touchent, ce faible ouvrage a celui qui a ete toujours l'objet 
 de ce que j'ai pense et de ce que j'ai ecrit, et qui en est 
 comme vous le meilleur juge. 
 
 Je serai toute ma vie avec le plus profond respect et 
 l'attachement le plus inviolable, Madame, de Votre Altesse 
 Royale le tres-humble et tres-obeissant serviteur, 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 Permettra-t-elle que je mette deux exemplaires dans ce 
 paquet pour M. d'Adhemar et pour M. de Montperni ?
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 165 
 
 A. Maurion, pres be Lausanne, 
 17 Fevrier, 1756. 
 Madame, 
 
 Vous etes de ces divinites qui ne sont faites 
 que pour repandre des graces. On dit de Dieu qu'il ne fait 
 point le mal, mais qu'il le permet. 
 
 Mme la Princesse de Passau Saarbruck a envoye a Paris 
 certain ouvrage sur la Religion naturelle et je peux jurer a 
 Yotre Altesse Poyale que je n'en avais jamais donne de copie 
 qu'a vous seule. Le Poi votre frere ne s'est jamais dessaisi 
 de l'original. C'etait un poeme tres-informe, je l'ai beaucoup 
 corrige depuis, et voici comment il commence : 
 
 Souveraine sans faste et femme sans faiblesse, 
 
 Vous dont la raison male et la ferme sagesse 
 
 Sont pour moi des attraits plus chers, plus precieux 
 
 Que les feux seduisants qui partent de vos yeux, 
 
 Digne ouvrage d'un Dieu, connaissons notre maitre, etc. 
 
 Apres ce petit debut, Yotre Altesse Poyale ne peut 
 manquer de prendre le sermon et le predicateur sous sa 
 protection. Le Roi votre frere ajoute a sa gloire qui semblait 
 ne pouvoir plus croitre ; il fait des traites qui valent mieux 
 que des victoires, il ecarte les etrangers de sa patrie, il 
 affermit le trone des autres et il assure le sien. Ce n'est pas 
 tout, il m'envoie ma " Merope " tournee par lui en opera. 
 Tout cela est beau, mais il manque de m'aimer. 
 
 Que Votre Altesse Poyale daigne s'amuser d'un autre 
 sermon que j'ai l'honneur de lui envoy er, qu'elle juge entre 
 Pope et moi. Je souhaite que tout soit bien a jamais pour 
 elle. Je me mets aux pieds de Monseigneur et aux votres 
 avec le plus profond respect et le zele eternel de frere 
 
 Voltaire.
 
 166 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Je prendrais la liberie de le supplier de m'envoyer des 
 grains de ses melons, et je demanderais la protection de 
 Votre Altesse Royale, s'il etait a Berlin. 
 
 Mais il a autre chose a faire qu'a honorer de ses melons 
 mes potagers. 
 
 Que Votre Altesse Eoyale et Monseigneur daignent 
 tou jours agreer les profonds respects et les prieres de frere 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 A Matxrion, 
 
 5 Mars, 1757. 
 Madame, 
 
 Que Votre Altesse Royale daigne me conserver 
 ses bontes, que Dieu la preserve des Russes, et moi, chetif, 
 des glaces de Petersbourg ! J'ai ete tente, un jour qu'il 
 faisait un beau soleil, d'aller voir l'ete prochain cette capitale 
 d'un empire nouveau dont on veut que j'ecrive l'histoire. 
 Je me disais : " J'irai a Baireuth me mettre aux pieds de 
 " ma protectrice, j'aurai des passe-ports du Eoi son frere, que 
 " je devrai a la protection de sa bienfaisante sceur." Mais le 
 vent du nord, mon respect pour les houzards et les beaux 
 secours qu'un voyageur trouve en Pologne, ont detruit ma 
 chimere, et je me suis reduit a jouer le bonbomme Lusignan 
 dans " Zaire," devant une grave assemblee Suisse. Notre 
 troupe, en verite, n'aurait pas ete indigne de paraitre devant 
 Votre Altesse Royale. 
 
 II y a, Madame, une fille d'esprit a Geneve qui chante a 
 peu pres comme Mademoiselle Astrux, et qui est surtout 
 inimitable dans les operas-bouffes. Ce n'est pas qu'on joue 
 des operas dans Geneve ; on n'y chante que des psaumes. 
 J'ai vu autrefois Votre Altesse Royale dans le gout de 
 s'attacher une personne d'esprit et de talent. Cette 
 demoiselle, tres-bien nee, serait plus faite pour la cour de 
 Baireuth que pour Geneve. Mais il ne faut pas parler
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. * 167 
 
 d'amusements quand tout se prepare pour une guerre si 
 serieuse. La cour de Versailles vient de creer huit marecbaux 
 de France, et cinquante mille bonimes defilent actuellement 
 pour la Flandre ; du moms les marecbaux des logis sont 
 deja partis. Le Roi votre frere sera a portee de faire de plus 
 grandes choses qu'il n'en a faites encore. De la, il retournera 
 a la pbilosopbie pour laquelle il est ne aussi bien que pour 
 l'heroisme, et il se souviendra d'un liomme qui avait quitte 
 pour lui sa patrie. II ne sait pas eombien j'etais attacbe a. 
 sa personne. 
 
 Votre cbambellan, Madame, qui recent d'ltalie, sait qu'on 
 peut vivre beureux dans ma petite retraite aupres de Geneve, 
 appelee les Delices, mais il sait aussi qu'un liomme qui a fait 
 sa cour a Votre Altesse Royale ne peut vivre beureux 
 ailleurs ; qu'elle me permette de faire mille voeux pour sa 
 sante, la nature lui a donne tout le reste. Mais a quoi 
 servent la beaute, la grandeur, l'esprit et les graces, quand le 
 corps souftre ? 
 
 Que Son Altesse Royale et Monseigneur agreent le 
 profond respect et les ferventes prieres de frere 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 le 28 Octobre, 1757. 
 
 Vos lettres me sont toutes bien parvenues. 
 L'agitation de mon esprit a si fort accable mon corps, que je 
 n'ai pu vous repondre plus tot. Je suis surprise que vous 
 soyez etonne de notre desespoir. II faut que les nouvelles 
 soient bien rares dans vos cantons, puisque vous ignorez ce 
 qui se passe dans le monde. J'avais dessein de vous faire une 
 relation detaillee de l'enchainement de nos malbeurs. Je ne 
 vous la ferai que tres abregee. La bataille de Kolin etait 
 deja gagnee, et les Prussiens etaient les maitres du cbamp de 
 bataille, sur la inontagne, a l'aile droite des ennemis, lorsqu'un 
 certain mauvais genie, que vous n'aimiez point, s'avisa,
 
 168 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 contre les orclres expres qu'il avait recus du Roi, d'attaquer 
 le corps de bataille Autrichien ; ce qui causa un grand inter- 
 valle entre l'aile gauche Prussienne, qui etait vietorieuse, et 
 ce corps. II empecha aussi que cette aile f ut soutenue. Le 
 Eoi boucha le vide avec deux regiments de cavalerie. Une 
 decharge de canons a cartouches les fit reculer et fuir. Les 
 Autrichiens qui avaient eu le temps de se reconnaitre, 
 tomberent en flanc et a dos sur les Prussiens. Le Roi, 
 malgre son habilete et ses peines, ne put remedier au desordre. 
 II fut en danger d'etre pris ou tue. Le premier bataillon des 
 gardes a pied lui donna temps de se retirer en se jetant 
 devant lui. II vit massacrer ses braves gens, qui perirent 
 tous, a la reserve de deux cents, apres avoir fait une cruelle 
 boucherie des ennemis. Le blocus de Prague fut leve le 
 lendemain. Le Roi forma deux armees. II donna le com- 
 mandement de l'une a mon frere de Prusse, et garda l'autre. 
 II tira un cordon depuis Lissa jusqu'a Leitmeritz ou il posa 
 son camp. La desertion se mit dans son armee. De pres de 
 trente mille Saxons a peine il en resta deux a trois mille. 
 Le Roi avait en face l'armee de Nadasti, mon Frere qui etait 
 a Lissa, celle de Tawn. Mon Frere tirait ses vivres de Zittau, 
 le Eoi, de Leitmeritz. Tawn passa l'Elbe et deroba line 
 marche au Prince de Prusse. II prit Grabel ou etaient quatre 
 bataillons Prussiens, et marcha a Zittau. Le Prince decampa 
 pour aller au secours de cette ville. II perdit les equipages 
 et les pontons, les voitures etant trop larges et ne pouvant 
 passer par les chemins etroits des montagnes. II arriva a 
 temps pour sauver la garnison et une partie du magasin. 
 Le Roi fut oblige de rentrer en Saxe. Les deux armees 
 combinees camperent a Bautzen et a Bernstadt, celle des 
 Autrichiens entre Grorlitz et Schonau dans un poste inatta- 
 quable. Le 17 Septembre le Roi marcha a l'ennemi pour 
 tacher de s'emparer de Gorlitz. Les deux armees en presence 
 se canonnerent sans effet ; mais les Prussiens parvinrent a 
 leur but, et prirent Gorlitz. lis se camperent alors depuis
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 169 
 
 Bernstadt, sur les hauteurs de Javernic, jusqu'a la Neisse, 
 ou le corps du General Winterfeld commencait, s'etendant 
 jusqu'a Radomeritz. L'armee du Prince de Soubise, com- 
 binee avec celle de l'Empire, s'etait avancee jusqu'a Erfort. 
 Elle pouvait couper l'Elbe en se postant a Leipsick, ce qui 
 aurait rendu la position du Roi fort dangereuse. II quitta 
 done l'armee, dont il donna le commandement au Prince de 
 Bevern, et marcha avec beaucoup de precipitation et de secret 
 sur Erfort. II faillit surprendre l'armee de l'Empire ; mais 
 ces troupes craintives s'enfuirent en desordre dans les denies 
 impenetrates de la Thuringe derriere Eisenach. Le Prince 
 de Soubise, trop faible pour s'opposer aux Prussiens, s'y etait 
 deja retire. Ce fut a Erfort et ensuite a Naumbourg ou le 
 destin dechaina ses fleches empoisonnees contre le Roi. II 
 apprit l'indigne traite conclu par le Due de Cumberland, la 
 marche du Due de Richelieu, la mort et la defaite de Winter- 
 feld, qui fut attaque par tout le corps de Nadasti, consistent 
 en vingt-quatre mille hommes, et n'en ayant que six mille 
 pour se defendre ; l'entree des Autrichiens en Silesie et celle 
 des Suedois dans l'Ulter-Marc, ou ils semblaient prendre la 
 route de Berlin. Joignez a cela la Prusse depuis Memmel 
 jusqu'a Konigsberg reduite en un vaste desert. Voila un 
 echantillon de nos infortunes. Depuis, les Autrichiens se 
 sont avances jusqu'a Breslau. L'habile conduite du Prince 
 de Bevern les a empeches d'y mettre le siege. Ils sont 
 presentement oceupes a celui de Sehweidnitz. Un de leurs 
 partis, de quatre mille hommes, a tire des contributions de 
 Berlin meme. L'arrivee duPrince Maurice leur a fait vider le 
 pays du Roi. Dans ce moment on vient me dire que Leipsiek 
 est bloque ; mon Frere de Prusse y est fort malade ; le Roi 
 est a Torgau ; jugez de mes inquietudes et de mes souffrances; 
 a peine suis-je en etat de finir cette lettre. Je tremble pour 
 le Roi, et qu'il ne prenne quelque resolution violente. Adieu, 
 souhaitez-moi la mort, e'est ce qui pourra m'arriver de plus 
 heureux. 
 
 WlLHELMINE.
 
 ]70 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 Atjx D&LICES, 
 
 Aout, 1757. 
 Madame, 
 
 Mon cceur est touche plus que jamais de la 
 bonte et de la confiance que Yotre Altesse Royale daigne me 
 temoigner. Comment ne serais- je pas attendri avec transport ! 
 Je vois que c'est uniquement votre belle ame qui vous rend 
 malheureuse. Je me sens ne pour etre attache avec idolatrie 
 a des esprits superieurs et sensibles qui pensent comme vous. 
 Youssavez combien, dans le fond, j'ai toujours ete attaclie au 
 Roi votre frere. Plus ma vieillesse est tranquille, plus j'ai 
 renonce a tout, plus je me fais une patrie de la retraite et plus 
 je suis devoue a ce Roi pliilosophe. Je ne lui ecris rien que je 
 ne pense du fond de mon cceur, rien que je ne croie tres-vrai, 
 et, si ma lettre parait convenable a Yotre Altesse Roy ale, je 
 la supplie de la proteger aupres de lui comme les precedentes. 
 
 Yotre Altesse Royale trouvera dans cette lettre des choses 
 qui se rapportent a ce qu'elle a pense elle-meme. Quoique 
 les premieres insinuations pour la paix n'aient pas reussi, je 
 suis persuade qu'elles peuvent enfin avoir du succes. 
 
 Permettez que j 'ose vous communiquer une de mes idees. 
 J'imagine que le marechal de Richelieu serait flatte qu'on 
 s'adressat a lui. Je crois qu'il pense qu'il est necessaire de 
 tenir une balance et qu'il serait fort aise que l'interet du Roi 
 son maitre s'accordat avec l'interet de ses allies et avec les 
 votres. Si, dans l'occasion, vous vouliez le faire sonder, cela 
 ne serait pas difficile. 
 
 Personne ne serait plus propre que M. de Richelieu a 
 prendre un tel ministere. Je ne prends la liberte d'en parler, 
 Madame, que dans la supposition que le Roi votre frere fut 
 oblige de prendre ce parti, et j'ose vous dire qu'en ce cas il 
 vous aurait beaucoup d'obligation, quand cette idee, non pas 
 comme une proposition, encore moins comme un conseil, il ne 
 m'appartient pas d'oser en donner, mais comme un simple 
 souhait qui n'a sa source que dans mon zele. 
 
 YOLTAIRE.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 171 
 
 le 19 Auguste, 1757. 
 
 On ne connait ses amis que dans le malheur. La lettre 
 que vous m'avez ecrite fait bien honneur a votre facon de 
 penser. Je ne saurais vous temoigner combien je suis 
 sensible a votre procede. Le Roi Test autant que moi. 
 Vous trouverez ci- joint un billet qu'il m'a ordonne de vous 
 remettre. Ce grand homme est toujours de meme. II 
 soutient les infortunes avee un courage et une fermete dignes 
 de lui. II n'a pu transcrire la lettre qu'il vous ecrivait. 
 Elle commencait par des vers. Au lieu d'y jeter du sable, il 
 a pris Fencrier, ee qui est cause qu'elle est coupee. Je suis 
 dans un etat affreux, et ne survivrai pas a la destruction de 
 ma maison et de ma famille. C'est l'unique consolation qui 
 me reste. Vous aurez de beaux sujets de tragedies a 
 travailler. temps ! moeurs ! Vous ferez peut-etre 
 verser des larmes par une representation illusoire, tandis 
 qu'on contemple d'un ceil sec les malheurs de toute une 
 maison, contre laquelle, dans le fond, on n'a aucune plainte 
 reelle. Je ne puis vous en dire davantage ; mon ame est si 
 troublee que je ne sais ce que je fais. Mais quoiqu'il puisse 
 arriver, soyez persuade que je suis plus que jamais votre 
 amie. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 Attx Deuces, 
 
 29 Aout, 1757 
 
 Madame, 
 
 J'ai ete touche jusqu'aux larmes de la lettre 
 dont Votre Altesse Royale m'a honore. Je vous demanderais 
 la permission de venir me mettre a vos pieds, si je pouvais 
 quitter cette niece infortunee, et j'ose dire respectable, qui 
 m'a suivie dans ma retraite, et qui a tout abandonne pour moi. 
 Mais, dans mon obscurite, je n'ai pas perdu un moment de
 
 172 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 vue Votre Altesse Roy ale et son auguste maison. Votre 
 coeur genereux, Madame, est a de rudes epreuves. Ce qui 
 s'est passe en Suede, ce qui arrive en Allemagne, exerce votre 
 sensibilite. II est a. presumer, Madame, que Forage ne 
 s'etendra pas a vos Etats, mais votre ame en ressent toutes les 
 secousses, et c'est par le cceur seul que vous pouvez etre mal- 
 heureuse. Puissent de si justes alarmes ne pas alterer votre 
 sante ! C'est sans doute que vous representent mieux que 
 moi ceux qui sont attaches a Votre Altesse Royale. II est 
 bien a souhaiter pour elle, pour l'Allemagne et pour l'Europe, 
 qu'une bonne paix fondee sur tous les anciens traites finisse 
 tant de troubles et de malheurs. Mais il ne me parait pas que 
 cette paix soit si prochaine. 
 
 Dans ces circonstances, Madame, me sera-t-il permis de 
 mettre sous votre protection cette lettre que j'ose ecrire a Sa 
 Majeste le Roi votre frere ? Votre Altesse Royale la lui fera 
 tenir si elle le juge convenable. Elle y verra du moins mes 
 sentiments et je suis sur qu'elle les approuvera. Au reste, je 
 ne croirai jamais les choses desesperes tant que le Roi aura une 
 arniee. II a souvent vaincu, il peut vaincre encore. Mais si 
 le temps et le nombre de ses ennemis ne lui laissent que son 
 courage, ce courage sera respecte de l'Europe. Le Roi, votre 
 frere, sera toujours grand, et, s'il eprouve des malheurs 
 comme tant d'autres princes, il aura une nouvelle sorte de 
 gloire. Je voudrais qu'il fut persuade de son merite 
 personnel, il est au point que beaucoup de personnes de tout 
 rang le respectent plus comme homme que comme roi. Qui 
 doit sentir mieux que vous, Madame, ce que c'est que d'etre 
 superieur a, sa naissance ! Je serais trop long si je disais ce 
 que je pense et tout ce que mon tendre respect m'inspire. 
 Daignez lire dans le cceur de frere 
 
 Voltaire.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 173 
 
 le 12 Septembre, 1757. 
 Yotre lettre m'a sensiblement touchee ; celle que vous 
 m'avez adressee pour le Eoi a fait le meme effet sur lui. 
 J'espere que vous serez satisfait de la reponse pour ce qui 
 vous concerne ; mais vous le serez aussi peu que moi de ses 
 resolutions. Je m'etais flattee que vos reflexions feraient 
 quelque impression sur son esprit. Vous venez le contraire 
 dans le billet ci-joint. II ne me reste qu'a suivre sa destinee, 
 si elle est malheureuse. Je ne me suis jamais piquee d'etre 
 philosophe. J'ai fait mes efforts pour le devenir. Le peu 
 de progres que j'ai fait m'a appris amepriser les grandeurs et 
 les richesses ; mais je n'ai rien trouve dans la philosophie qui 
 puisse guerir les plaies du cosur, que le moyen de s'affranchir 
 de ses maux en cessant de vivre. L'etat ou je suis est pire 
 que la mort. Je vois le plus grand homme du siecle, mon 
 frere, mon ami, reduit a la plus affreuse extremite. Je vois 
 ma f amille entiere exposee aux dangers et aux perils ; ma 
 patrie decniree par d'impitoyables ennemis ; le pays ou je 
 suis, peut-etre menace de pareils malheurs. Plut au ciel que 
 je fusse chargee toute seule des maux que je viens de vous 
 decrire. Je les soufrrirais, et avec fermete. 
 
 Pardonnez-moi ce detail. Vous m'engagez, par la part 
 que vous prenez, a ce qui me regarde, de vous ouvrir mon 
 coeur. Helas ! l'espoir en est presque banni. La fortune 
 lorsqu'elle change, est aussi constante dans ses persecutions 
 que dans ses faveurs. L'histoire est pleine de ces exemples ; 
 mais je n'y en ai point trouve de pareils a celui que nous 
 voyons, ni une guerre aussi inhumaine et cruelle, parmi des 
 peuples polices. Vous gemiriez si vous saviez la triste situa- 
 tion de l'Allemagne et de la Prusse. Les cruautes que les 
 Russes commettent dans cette derniere font fremir la nature. 
 Que vous etes heureux dans votre hermitage, ou vous vous 
 reposez sur vos lauriers, et ou vous pouvez philosopher de 
 sang froid sur Pegarement des hommes ! Je vous y souhaite 
 tout le bonheur imaginable. Si la fortune nous favorise
 
 174 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 encore, comptez sur toute ma reconnaissance ; et je n'oublierai 
 jamais les marques d'attachement que vous m'avez donnees : 
 ma sensibilite vous en est garant ; je ne suis jamais amie a 
 demi, et je le serai toujours veritablement de frere Voltaire. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 Bien des compliments a Madame Denis ; continuez, je vous 
 prie, d'ecrire au Roi. 
 
 le 16 Octobre, 1757. 
 
 Accablee par les maux de l'esprit et du corps, je ne puis 
 vous ecrire qu'une petite lettre. Vous en trouverez une 
 ci-jointe, qui vous recompensera au centuple de ma brievete. 
 Notre situation est toujours la meme. Un tombeau fait 
 notre point de vue. Quoique tout semble perdu, il nous 
 reste des choses qu'on ne pourra nous enlever : c'est la 
 fermete et les sentiments du cceur. Soyez persuade de notre 
 reconnaissance, et de tous les sentiments que vous meritez par 
 votre attacbement et votre facon de penser, digne d'un vrai 
 philosophe. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 le 23 Novembre. 
 
 Mon corps a succombe sous les agitations de 
 mon esprit, ce qui m'a empeche de vous repondre. Je vous 
 entretiendrai aujourd'hui de nouvelles bien plus interessantes 
 que celles de mon individu. Je vous avais mande que l'armee 
 des allies bloquait Leipsick ; je continue ma narration. Le 
 26 le Roi se jeta dans la ville avec un corps de dix mille 
 liommes ; le Marecbal Keit y etait deja entre avec un pareil 
 nombre de troupes ; il y eut une vive escarmouche entre les 
 Autriehiens, ceux de l'Empire et les Prussiens : les derniers 
 remj)orterent tout l'avantage et prirent cinq cents Autriehiens. 
 L'armee alliee se retira a Mersebourg ; elle brula le pont de
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 175 
 
 cette ville et celui de Weissenfeld ; celui de Halle avait deja 
 ete detruit. On pretend que cette subite retraite fut causee 
 par les vives representations de la Eeine de Pologne, qui 
 previt, avec raison, la ruine totale de Leipsick, si on con- 
 tinuait a l'assieger. Le projet des Francais etait de se rendre 
 maitres de la Sale. Le Roi marcha sur Mersebourg, ou il 
 tomba sur 1'arriere-garcle Francaise, s'empara de la ville, ou 
 il fit cinq cents prisonniers Francais. Les Autrichiens, pris a 
 l'escarmouche devant Leipsick, avaient ete enfermes dans un 
 vieux chateau sur les murs de la ville. lis furent obliges de 
 ceder leur gite aux cinq cents Francais, parce qu'il etait plus 
 commode, et on les mit dans la maison de correction. C'est 
 pour vous marquer les attentions qu'on a pour votre nation 
 que je vous fais part de ces bagatelles. Le Marechal Keit 
 marcha a Halle ou il retablit le pont. Le Roi n'ayant point 
 de pontons, se servit de treteaux sur lesquels on assura des 
 planches, et releva de cette facon les deux ponts de Mersebourg 
 et de "Weissenfeld. Le corps qu'il commandait se reunit a 
 celui du Marechal Keith a Bornerode. Le dernier avait tire 
 a lui huit mille hommes, commanded par le Prince Ferdinand 
 de Brunswick. On alia reconnaitre, le 4, l'ennemi campe sur 
 la hauteur de Saint-Micheln ; le poste n'etant pas attaquable, 
 le Roi fit dresser le camp a Rosbac, dans une plaine. II avait 
 une colline a dos, dont la pente etait fort douce. Le 5, tandis 
 que le Roi dinait tranquillement avec ses generaux, deux 
 patrouilles vinrent l'avertir que les ennemis faisaient un 
 mouvement sur leur gauche. Le Roi se leva de table ; on 
 rappela la cavalerie qui etait au fourrage ; et on resta tran- 
 quille, croyant que l'ennemi marchait a Freibourg, petite ville 
 qu'il avait a dos ; mais on s'apercut qu'il tirait sur le flanc 
 gauche des Prussiens. Sur quoi le Roi fit lever le camp, et 
 defila par la gauche sur cette colline, ce qui se fit au galop, 
 tant pour l'inf anterie que pour la cavalerie. Cette manoeuvre, 
 selon toute apparence, a ete faite pour donner le change aux 
 Francais. Aussitot, comme par un coup de sifflet, cette armee
 
 176 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 en confusion fut rangee en ordre de bataille sur une ligne. 
 Alors l'artillerie fit un feu si terrible que des Francais, 
 auxquels j'ai parle, disent que chaque coup tuait ou blessait 
 huit ou neuf personnes. La mousqueterie ne fit pas moins 
 d'effet. Les Francais avancaient toujours en colonne pour 
 attaquer avec la baionnette. lis n'etaient plus qu'a cent pas 
 des Prussiens lorsque la cavalerie Prussienne, prenant un 
 detour vint tornber en flanc sur la leur avec une furie in- 
 croyable. Les Francais furent culbutes et mis en fuite. 
 L'infanterie, attaquee en flanc, foudroyee par les canons, et 
 chargee par six bataillons et le regiment des gendarmes, fut 
 taillee en pieces et entitlement dispersee. 
 
 Le Prince Henri, qui commandait a la droite du Roi, a eu 
 la plus grande part a cette victoire, ou il a recu une legere 
 blessure. La perte des Francais est tres grande. Outre cinq 
 mille prisonniers et plus de trois cents officiers pris dans cette 
 bataille, ils out perdu presque toute l'artillerie. Au reste, je 
 vous mande ce que j'ai appris de la bouche des fuyards et de 
 quelques rapports d'officiers Prussiens. Le Roi n'a eu que le 
 temps de me notifier sa victoire, et n'a pu m'envoyer la 
 relation. Le Roi distingue et soigne les officiers Francais, 
 comme il pourrait faire les siens propres. II a fait panser 
 les blesses en sa presence, et a donne les ordres les plus precis 
 pour qu'on ne leur laisse manquer de rien. Apres avoir 
 poursuivi l'ennemi jusqu'a Spielberg, il estretourne aLeipsick, 
 d'ou il est reparti le 10 pour marcher a Torgau. Le General - 
 Marechal des Autricbiens faisant mine d'entrer dans leBrande- 
 bourg avec treize ou quatorze mille bommes, a l'approche des 
 Prussiens, ce corps a retrograde a Bautzen en Lusace. Le 
 Roi le poursuit pour l'attaquer s'il le peut. Son dessein est 
 d'entrer ensuite en Silesie. Malheureusement nous avons 
 appris aujourd'hui la reddition de Schweidnitz, qui s'est 
 rendu le 13 apres avoir soutenu l'assaut, ce qui me rejette 
 dans les plus violentes inquietudes. Pour repondre aux 
 articles de vos deux lettres, je vous dirai que la surdite devient
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 177 
 
 un mal ^pidemique en France. Si j'osais, j'ajouterais qu'on y 
 joint l'aveuglement. Je pourrais vous dire bien des choses 
 de boucheque je ne puis confier a la plume, par ou vous serez 
 convaincu des bonnes intentions qu'on a eues. On les a encore. 
 J'ecrirai au premier jour au Cardinal.* Assurez-le, je vous 
 prie, de toute mon estime, et dites-lui que je persiste tou jours 
 dans mon systeme de Lyon, mais que je souhaiterai beaucoup 
 que bien des gens eussent sa facon de penser, qu'en ce cas 
 nous serious bientot d'accord. Je suis bien folle de me meler 
 de politiquer. Mon esprit n'est plus bon qu'a etre mis a 
 I'hopital. Vous me faites faire des efforts tant d'esprit que 
 de corps, pour ecrire une si longue lettre. Je ne puis vous 
 procurer que le plaisir des relations. II faut bien que j'en 
 profite, ne pouvant vous en procurer de plus grands, et tels 
 que ma reconnaissance les desire. Bien des compliments a 
 Madame Denis, et comptez que vous n'avez de meilleure amie 
 que 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 le 27 Decembre, 1757. 
 
 Si mon corps voulait se preter aux insinuations 
 de mon esprit, vous recevriez toutes les postes de mes nouvelles. 
 Je suis, me direz-vous, aussi cacochyme que vous, et cependant 
 j'ecris. A cela, je vous reponds, qu'il n'y a qu'un Voltaire 
 dans le monde, et qu'il ne doit pas juger d'autrui par lui- 
 raeme. Voila bien du bavardage. Je vois votre impatience a 
 apprendre les choses qui vous interessent. Une bataille 
 gagnee; Breslau au pouvoir du Roi ; trente-trois milleprison- 
 niers, sept cents officiers et quatorze generaux de pris, outre 
 cent cinquante canons, et quatre mille chariots, de vivres, de 
 bagages et de munitions, sont des nouvelles que je puis vous 
 
 De Tencin. 
 
 N
 
 178 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 doimer. Je n'ai pas fini. II est reste quatre mille morts sto- 
 le champ de bataille, quatre mille blesses se sont trouves a 
 Breslau, et on compte quatre mille cinq cents deserteurs. 
 Vous pouvez compter que c'est un fait, non-seulement avert*. 
 par le Koi et toute l'armee, mais meme par une foule de 
 deserteurs Autrichiens qui ont ete ici. Les Prussiens ont cinq 
 cents morts, et trois mille blesses. Cette action est unique et 
 parait fabuleuse. Les Autrichiens etaient fort de quatre- 
 vingt mille hommes, les Prussiens n'en avaient que trente-six 
 mille. La victoire a ete disputee ; mais toute l'affaire n'a 
 dure que quatre heures. Je ne me sens pas de joie de ce 
 prodigieux changement de fortune. Je dois a j outer encore 
 une anecdote. Le corps que commandait le Roi, avait fait 
 quarante-deux milles d'Allemagne en quinze jours de temps, 
 et n'avait eu qu'un jour pour se reposer avant de livrer cette 
 bataille memorable. Le Roi peut dire comme Cesar : " Je 
 suis venu, j'ai vu, j'ai vaincu." II me mande qu'il n'est 
 embarrasse a present que de nourrir et de placer ce prodigieux 
 nombre de prisonniers. La lettre que vous lui avez ecrite, 
 ou vous lui demandez la relation de la bataille de Mersebourg, 
 a £te enlevee avec la mienne. Heureusement il n'y avait rien 
 qui puisse vous faire du tort. Je vous adresse la lettre ci-jointe 
 pour le chapeau rouge* Pour des coquineries, il n'y en a 
 point, pour des douceurs, je n'en reponds pas. 
 
 Nous avons eu, il y a trois jours, trois secousses d'un trem- 
 blement de terre a quatre milles d'ici. On dit que la 
 premiere etait forte, et qu'on a entendu des bruits souterrains. 
 II n'a cause aucun dommage. On n'a point d'exemple 
 d'un pareil phenomene dans ce pays ; je vous laisse le soin 
 d'en trouver la raison. Bien des compliments a Madame 
 Denis. Soyez persuade de toute mon estime. 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 Le Cardinal de Tencin.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 179 
 
 le 2 Janvier, 1758. 
 
 Car, grace au ciel, nous avons fini la plus 
 fuueste des annees. Vous me dites tant de choses obligeantes 
 sur celle qui court, que c'est un sujet de reconnaissance de 
 plus pour moi. Je vous souhaite tout ce qui peut vous rendre 
 parfaitement heureux. Pour ce qui ine regarde, j'abandonne 
 mon sort a la destinee. On forme souvent des vceux qui nous 
 seraient prejudiciables s'ils s'accomplissaient, aussi n'en fais- 
 je plus. Si quelque chose au monde peut contenter mes 
 desirs, c'est la paix. Je pense comme vous sur la guerre ; 
 nous avons un tiers qui pense certainement comme nous. 
 Mais peut-on toujours suivre sa facon de penser ? Ne faut-il 
 pas se soumettre a bien des prejuges etablis depuis que le 
 monde existe ? L'homme court apres le clinquant de la 
 reputation, chacun la cherche dans son metier et dans ses 
 talents ; on veut s'immortaliser. Ne faut-il pas chercher 
 cette gloire chimerique dans les id^es vraies ou f ausses que 
 l'esprit de l'homme s'en fait ? Democrite avait bien raison 
 de rire de la folie humaine. 
 
 Je vois une hypocrite, d'un cote, courant les processions 
 et implorant les saints, occupee a brouiller toute l'Europe, 
 et a la priver de ses habitants. Je vois de 1'autre 
 cote, un philosophe (quoiqu'avec regret) faire couler des 
 flots de sang humain. Je vois un peuple avare, conjure 
 a la perte des mortels pour accumuler ses richesses. Mais 
 baste, je pourrais trop voir, et cela n'est pas necessaire. 
 II faut vous contenter pour cette fois de mon verbiage et 
 de mes reflexions, car je n'ai point de nouvelles depuis la 
 derniere lettre que vous avez recue de moi. Ce que vous 
 me proposez est un peu scabreux ; je m'explique sur ce 
 sujet dans la lettre que je vous adresse. J'en reviens a ma 
 vieille phrase, que l'on est sourd dans votre patrie. Si je 
 pouvais vous parler vous jugeriez peut-etre differemment que 
 vous ne le faites. Le lloi est dans le cas d'Orphee, si sa 
 
 n 2
 
 180 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 bonne fortune ne le tire d'affaire. II souhaite la paix, mais 
 il y a bien des mais. Si elle ne se fait avant le printemps 
 toute l'Allemagne sera ruinee et desolee. L'etat oii elle se 
 trouve deja est affreux. Quelque conduite sage qu'on tienne, 
 on ne peut se mettre a l'abri des violences et du pillage. Je 
 ne finirais point si je vous faisais un detail des malheurs qui 
 l'accablent. C'est une honte, que dans un siecle police on en 
 agisse avec tant de cruaute. Le Roi n'en souffre point. 
 Malgre tout ce qu'on en dit, le peuple Saxon l'aime, mais la 
 noblesse le hait, parce qu'elle est privee des pensions et des 
 appointements qu'elle retirait. On debite contre lui des 
 calomnies atroces. Peut-on y aj outer foi ? Elles viennent 
 de ses ennemis. L'envie a persecute tous les grands homines; 
 il faut y joindre l'animosite. Que n'est-on sourd quand elle 
 
 lance ses traits empoisonnes Encore une fois, il 
 
 faut que je finisse, car je m'apercois que je bavarde trop. 
 Soyez persuade de toute mon estime, et que je serai toute ma 
 vie, la veritable amie du Frere Suisse. 
 
 WlLHELMlNE.
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 181 
 
 II. 
 
 LETTRE DES PANDOURES AU FRERE SUISSE. 
 
 Pourquoi nous nommez-vous vilains ? Nous pillons, nous 
 saccageons, et sommes larrons privilegies, cela est vrai. 
 Sommes-nous en cela plus condamnables que ceux qui 
 gouvernent le monde, que les auteurs qui derobent les pensees 
 d'autrui, et que les saints du paradis, qui pour fonder des 
 eglises et des couvents s'appropriaient les biens du peuple et 
 des particuliers ? non assurement. Rendez-nous done plus de 
 justice, et soubaitez, au lieu de nous injurier, que les 
 souverains de l'Europe suivent a l'avenir notre exemple, qu'ils 
 deviennent aussi avides que nous de posseder vos lettres, 
 qu'ils apprennent par leur lecture a devenir pbilosopbes, et 
 pandoures de la vertu. Si jamais nous avons le bonbeur de 
 vous attraper, nous tacberons de piller votre esprit et vos 
 connaissances, pour nous venger de votre mepris. Nos 
 Rossinantes seront alors metamorpboses en Pegasses, et 
 nous saurous bien avec le secours d'une certaine dame, qui se 
 nomme Raison, vous empecber de faire des neuvaines contre 
 nous. Adieu. 
 
 P.S. — J'ai recu toutes vos lettres, et j'y reponds a la fois. 
 Le plan de la comedie Italienne n'est pas tout-a-fait assez 
 juste. Mais il me sierait mal de vouloir critiquer vos 
 ouvrages. La sceur de Mezetin n'ose se meler que de ce qui 
 la regarde, et d'ailleurs il est bien dangereux d'entreprendre 
 de jouer la comedie, puisqu'on risque d'etre enleve par les 
 pandoures ou que les roles ne soient intercepted. II y a plus 
 de quatre semaines que je n'ai aucunes nouvelles du Roi.
 
 182 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE 
 
 II se peut qu'il m'ait ecrit, ce que je crois tres surement ; 
 mais je pense que ses lettres ont peut-etre pris des routes qui 
 ne conduisent pas ici. On dit que les Francais out recu 
 un petit echec a Bremen, et qu'il y a eu sept mille kommes 
 de battus. Les Suedois sont au pis en Pomeranie. Leur 
 cavalerie s'est retiree dans Pile de Rugen. L'infanterie est 
 a Stralsund ou on les a bloques, et ou l'on va les bombarder. 
 Voila. tout ce que je sais. Mon frere de Prusse m'a adresse 
 cette lettre pour vous. Vous pouvez voir par la date com- 
 bien les lettres arrivent regulierement iei. Je plains votre 
 
 aveuglement de ne croire qu'un Dieu, et de renier J 
 
 Comment ferez-vous pour plaider votre cause ? Si quelque 
 chose pouvait me divertir encore, se serait de voir votre 
 apologie. Adieu, donnez-moi je vous prie de vos nouvelles, 
 et surtout de celles de mon amant. Yeuille le ciel qu'elles 
 soient bonnes ! 
 
 WlLHELMINE. 
 
 J'ai oublie de vous dire que c'est moi qui suis la pandoure. 
 Je me suis meprise, et j'ai envoye un papier blanc au Roi, 
 au lieu de votre lettre que j'ai retrouvee. Je l'ai fait re'partir. 
 Si elle arrive a bon port, vous aurez bientot reponse. 
 
 Monsir, 
 
 J'ai bien recu la gracieuse lettre que vous avez 
 ecrite a moi Suisse, concernant la paix generale ou faite ou 
 prete a faire sous la mediation de son Excellence de Spada. 
 J'ai eu une satisfaction grande que l'on commencerait par 
 pendre plusieurs ministres, mais je voudrais un peu plus de 
 particularity, par exemple savoir si on les pendra quatre a 
 quatre ou six a, six. Je suis grandement ebaki, Monsir, de 
 S. M. le Poi qui court la pretentaine, et qui rosse trois 
 grandes nations l'une apres 1' autre. J'ai ecrit a" un savant 
 benedictin mon cousin issu de germain pour qu'il lui plaise
 
 AND THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH. 183 
 
 de chercher dans tous ses livres s'il y a mention par kasard 
 d'un pareil homme que S. M. le Eoi et j 'attends sa reponse. 
 Je croyais avoir approche (sont a, present cinq ans passes) de 
 lui grand homme, mais ce n'etait pas celui-la, car vous 
 saurez que celui que j'ai vu avait un visage doux, et des 
 grands yeux bleus, et qu'il avait un esprit fort agreable, 
 tres agreable, mon bon Monsir, et qu'il disait des bons mots, 
 et qu'il faisait les plus jolies choses du monde, tant en prose 
 qu'en vers, et qu'il etait bien philosophe. Oh ! c'est celui- 
 la que jeregrettrai touj ours, car je le suis aussi, moi, mais par 
 intervalles, et j'aime beaucoup un grand Roi et qui est tout 
 comme un homme. Je crois, Dieu me pardonne, mon bon 
 Monsir, que j'irais le voir quand il sera de loisir, car je suis 
 curieux des grandes rarites, mais je suis si vieux — -si vieux, 
 mon bon Monsir, et lui si grandement grand que je n'aurai 
 jamais la force d'aller la. 
 
 Nous faisons tous les jours des prieres pour sa sainte 
 conservation dans nos saintes Eglises. Tous nos freres vous 
 donnent le baiser de paix. 
 
 Atjx Delices, 
 
 27 Septembre, 1758. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 Si ce billet trouvait Yotre Altesse Royale dans 
 un moment de sante et de loisir, je la supplierais de faire 
 envoyer au grand homme son frere cette reponse du Suisse ; 
 mais mon soin le plus presse est de la supplier d'envoyer a 
 Tronchin un detail de sa maladie. 
 
 Yous n'avez jamais eu, Madame, tant de raisons d'aimer 
 la vie. Yous ne savez pas combien cette vie est chere a, tous 
 ceux qui ont le bonheur d'approcher Yotre Altesse Royale. 
 Comptez que s'il est quelqu'un sur la terre capable de vous 
 donner du soulagement et de prolonger des jours si precieux,
 
 184 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VOLTAIRE, &V. 
 
 c'est Tronohin. Au nom de tous les etres pensants, Madame, 
 ne negligez pas de le consulter ; et s'il etait necessaire qu'il 
 se rendit aupres de votre personne, ou si, ne pouvant pas y 
 venir, il jugeait que vous pouviez entreprendre le voyage, il 
 n'y aurait pas un moment a perdre ; il faut vivre, tout le 
 reste n'est rien. Je suis penetre de douleur et d'inquietude, 
 ces sentiments l'emportent encore sur le profond respect et le 
 tendre attachement du vieux frere ermite Suisse 
 
 VOLTAIEE. 
 
 J'espere que Monseigneur sera de mon avis. 
 
 Henderson, Bait, &. Spalding, General Printers, 3 Sc 5, Marylelwne Lane, London, W.
 
 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCESS CHRISTIAN. 
 
 Now Ready, Demy 8vo, cloth. Price 12s. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF WILHELMINE, 
 
 MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH, 
 
 TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY 
 
 HER EOYAL HIGHNESS PRINCESS CHRISTIAN OF 
 SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 
 
 WITH PORTRAIT OF THE MARGRAVINE. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 "The Times." 
 
 " We welcome this admirable translation as most interesting reading. The Margravine wrote 
 her Memoirs in a plain-spoken age, when gross court scandals were circulated in undisguised 
 coarseness. She had strong feelings, strong prejudices, and a calmer temperament might well 
 have been provoked by the grievances of which she was the victim, and the troubles of her 
 chequered existence." 
 
 "The Saturday Review." 
 
 " The Princess Christian has at least paid the general reader a handsome compliment by- 
 translating the Memoirs of the Margravine of Baireuth for his benefit. It is not to be supposed 
 that any one who has a real interest in the history of the eighteenth century, or in memoir 
 literature at large, can be so ignorant of the French language as to require an English version 
 of Wilhelmine's delightful book. Therefore it must be meant for the reader of English only 
 who has no particular subject, and it is decidedly to his credit that he should be supposed to 
 wish to become acquainted with anything so good. And the compliment is not only well meant 
 but well turned. The translator has given an English version which is thoroughly alive— as, 
 indeed, it ought to be. In mere dictionary accuracy it is sound, and it has the higher accuracy 
 of spirit. There are suppressions which Her Royal Highness justifies because of the coarse 
 character of the original. Now Wilhelmine had that fine eighteenth century habit of being 
 outspoken, and has unquestionably spoken of certain matters in connection with Augustus 
 the Strong and Peter the Great, which a lady of her position, or indeed any lady, in these 
 days would leave among the tacenda." 
 
 "The Woman's World." 
 
 "The Princess Christian's translation of 'The Memoirs of Wilhelmine, Margravine 
 of Bayreuth' is a most fascinating and delightful book. The Margravine and her brother, 
 Frederick the Great, were, as the Princess herself points out in an admirably written 
 introduction, 'among the first of those questioning minds that strove after spiritual freedom' 
 in the last century. ' They had studied,' says the Princess, ' the English philosophers, Newton, 
 Locke, and Shaftesbury, and were roused to enthusiasm by the writings of Voltaire and 
 Rousseau. Their whole lives bore the impress of the influence of French thought on the 
 burning questions of the day. In the eighteenth century began that great struggle of philosophy 
 against tyranny and worn-out abuses which culminated in the French Revolution. The noblest 
 minds were engaged in the struggle, and, like most reformers, they pushed their conclusions to 
 extremes, and too often lost sight of the need of a due proportion in things. The Margravine's 
 influence on the intellectual development of her country is untold. She formed at Bayreuth 
 a centre of culture and learning which had before been undreamt of in Germany.' The 
 historical value of these ' Memoirs ' is, of course, well known. Carlyle speaks of them as being 
 'by far the best authority ' on the early life of Frederick the Great." 
 
 "The Literary Churchman." 
 
 "The most curious piece of autobiography, written by one royal personage and translated 
 by another of her own kindred, nearly one hundred and fifty years later, has more of interest 
 and purpose to our modern generation than appears at first in its small gossipand petty scandal 
 of a gone-by period. It conveys a vivid picture, and we fear a true one, of the ordinary run of 
 court life at that time, such as would hardly be credible, were it not transmitted by one of 
 those to whom such lite was the ordinary thing, and it certainly answers emphatically the 
 question as to whether the general current of life, court or other, is improved in our day. It is 
 scarcely possible to believe that such a state of degradation, coarseness — we must call it 
 brutality — could have been the ordinary condition of European life in the eighteenth century ; 
 and yet here we have it minutely portrayed by a member of the Prussian Royal family, who, 
 bitterly as she complains of much that she underwent, does not seem to look upon it all as 
 anything very extraordinary, or to be greatly wondered at." 
 
 "Pall Mall Gazette." 
 
 " Thanks are due to the Princess Christian for the translation which has to a great extent 
 the character of original writing, so clear and terse are the sentences." 
 
 LONDON: DAVID STOTT, 370, OXFORD STREET, W.
 
 abib <Stott0 ijtcto |l«bUcation0. 
 
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