Frederick to Voltaire - 1766 September 1
Letter from the king
of Prussia to
Mr de Voltaire
E/
1 You will have read, in my previous letter[1], that
2 peaceful philosophers should expect to be
3 well-received by me. I have neither seen nor spoken to the son
4 of the modern Hippocrates. I do not know what can have
5 happened to the plans of your philosophers; I wash
6 my hands of it. I am here in a province where
7 physics are preferred to metaphysics; people cultivate their fields,
8 they have rebuilt 8,000 houses, and they bring forth thousands of children
9 annually, to replace those which the frenzy of politics
10 and warfare have caused to perish.
11 I do not know whether, all things well considered, it is not
12 more advantageous to labor at population-building than
13 at the creation of bad arguments. The lords and the
14 people, caught up in their own restitution, live in
15 peace; and they are so consumed by their own work that
16 no one pays attention to the belief system of his neighbor.
17 The sparks of religious hatred, which often were revived
18 before the war[2], are extinct; and the spirit
19 of tolerance is gaining ground daily in the
20 ways of thinking of the people. Please believe that
21 idleness gives rise to most disputes.
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22 To extinguish them in France, you need but renew
23 the time of the defeats of Poitiers and Agincourt[3]; your
24 churchmen and your parliaments totally preoccupied
25 by their own affairs, would think only of themselves,
26 and would leave the public and the government alone.
27 This is a proposition to be made to these gentlemen;
28 However, I doubt that they will agree to it.
29 Your works are widespread here, and in the
30 hands of everyone. There is no region,
31 no people that has not heard your name, nor
32 is there any civilized society in which your fame does not shine brightly.
33 Enjoy your glory, and enjoy it for a long
34 time. Whereupon I pray God that he keep you in
35 his holy and august protection . /.
F
[1] The previous letter to which Frederick is referring was written on August 20, 1766 (EE: D13508). In this letter, he assures Voltaire that the philosophers are welcome at his estate: “Il ne dépend que des philosophes de partir & d'établir leur séjour dans le lieu de mes états qui leur conviendra le mieux” (“It is entirely up to the philosophers to leave and establish their residence in the location in my estates which suits them best”).
[2] In the time of the War of Austrian Succession and continuing on in the Seven Years War, the town of Breslau and the greater Silesia region were constantly fought over, making it a highly turbulent environment. For more information see Breslau.
[3] Both the battle of Poitiers (19 September 1356) and the battle of Agincourt (25 October 1415) were devastating defeats for the French against the English during the Hundred Years’ War. Between these two battles alone, almost 9,000 French soldiers were killed. (See: The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide, Helicon, 2010).
