Frederick the Great to Voltaire (1742 March 23) - Leaf 4
1 2017-06-10T10:36:15-07:00 Curtis Fletcher 3225f3b99ebb95ebd811595627293f68f680673e 8476 2 See the original letter in the USC Digital Library plain 2017-08-14T19:19:09-07:00 Curtis Fletcher 3225f3b99ebb95ebd811595627293f68f680673eThis page is referenced by:
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Frederick the Great to Voltaire - 1742 March 23
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See a translation of this letter.
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50.3429646,13.6091546
1742 March 23
To M. de Voltaire
E/
1. My dear Voltaire, I fear to write to you because I
2. have no news to send you except for the type of news
3. for which you care but very little, or such as you abhor;
4. if I were to tell you, for example, that the people of two
5. different regions of Germany came out from the depths of their
6. dwellings to be cut-throats with other people
7. whose very name they are ignorant and that they
8. sought in distant lands: why?
9. Because their master has entered into a contract
10. with another prince, and because these two wanted to murder
11. a third: you will tell me that these people are lunatics, stupid
12. and raging mad to lend themselves to the whims and
13. brutality of their master.
14. Were I to inform you that we are most carefully
15. preparing to destroy a few walls constructed
16. at great expense, that we are reaping where we
17. have not sown, and that we are masters where no one
18. is strong enough to resist us, you would exclaim, oh!
19. barbarians! oh bandits! Inhuman as you are
20. you would say, the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
21. of heaven according to Saint Matthew, Chap. 12, v. 24[1].
22. Since I foresee all that you would tell me about these
23. subjects I shall not mention them to you. I shall satisfy myself
24. with informing you that a rather crazy man of whom you
25. have heard mention by the name of the king of Prussia,
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26. when being told that the provinces of his ally, the Emperor, were ruined
27. by the Queen of Hungary, flew to his aid, that he has
28. joined his forces with those of the king of Poland to
29. effect a diversion in lower Austria, and that he was so
30. successful that he shortly expects to fight against the
31. main forces of the Queen of Hungary so as to enter into the service of
32. his ally. This is generosity, you will say, this is
33. heroism. However, dear Voltaire, this picture
34. and the former are the one and the same. It is the same woman
35. first seen at night in her night-cap when she is
36. stripped of her charms, and then with her make-up,
37. her teeth, and her pompoms.
38. Under how many ways are
39. objects considered! How much do judgments
40. vary! Men condemn in the evening
41. what they approved in the morning. This same sun that
42. they liked at its dawn tires them at its setting.
43. This is the same of those reputations, established, erased, and which
44. yet recover, and we are foolish enough
45. to busy ourselves, during our whole lives, in the acquisition of fame.
46. Is it possible that we
47. will not be disabused of this counterfeit currency
48. from the time it is known?
49. I do not write to you in verse because
50. I do not have the time to measure syllables and
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51. it would be akin to entertaining a nightingale
52. by the cries of a donkey to send verses to you
53. who write them so divinely;
54. Suffer me to remind you of the
55. history of Louis 14. I threaten you with
56. excommunication from Parnassus, vengeance from
57. Tisiphone[2], and the horrible barking of Cerberus, and
58. of cruel condemnations from Ixion[3] if you do not finish
59. this book. I read it constantly, but
60. I always find myself stopped at page 226.
61. Farewell dear Voltaire, please bestow a little love
62. on the renegade of Apollo who has enlisted
63. under Bellona. He may perhaps return one day to serve
64. under his old flags.
65. I am always your admirer
66. and friend,signedfederic
[Rare fF840 V935 d][4]
[1] EE, Editorial Note 1: “Or rather, I Corinthians vi.9.” (D2600)
[2] In Greek mythology, Tisiphone (avenger of murder) was one of the three Erinyes (greek: Erinues), the Greek infernal goddesses of vengeance and punishment, principally in cases of murder within the family but also of other breaches of natural order such as filial disobedience, inhospitality, and oath-breaking. For more information, see Tisiphone.
[3] In Greek mythology, Ixion, a Thessalian king and the ruler of the Lapiths (the most ancient tribe of Thessaly, in central Greece), was the first mortal to shed a kinsman's blood. Subsequently, he tried to rape Hera, Zeus’s wife. Zeus punished him by crucifying him on the four spokes of an ever-turning wheel of fire. For more information, see Ixion.
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Frederick the Great to Voltaire - 1742 March 23 - Transcription
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A M. de Voltaire
E/
1. Mon cher Voltaire; Je crains de vous Écrire, car Je
2. n'ay d'autres nouvélles a vous mander que d'une Espéce
3. dont vous ne vous souciés guère, où que vous abhorrés;
4. si Je vous Disais par exemple, que des peuples de deux
5. différentes contrées d’allemagne sont sortis du fond de leurs
6. habitations pour se couper la Gorge avec d'autres peuples
7. dont ils Ignoraient[2] J’usqu'au nom même et qu'ils ont
8. été chercher jusques dans un paÿs fort éloigné, pourquoi?
9. puisque leur maitre à fait un contrat avec un
10. autre prince, \et/ qu'ils voulaient Joints ensemble \en/ Égorger.
11. vn troisieme: vous me diriéz[3], que ces gens sont fous, sots
12. et furieux de se prêter ainsi aux caprices et à La
13. Barbarie de leur maitre.
14. Si Je vous Disais que nous nous préparons avec
15. grand soin à détruire quelques Murailles Elevées à
16. grands frais, que nous faisons la moisson où nous
17. n'avons point semés, et les maitres où personne n'est
18. assés fort pour nous résister, vous vous […][4] écrieriés ? ah!
19. Barbares! ah Brigands! Inhumains que vous êtes,
20. diriés vous, les Injustes n'hériteront point du Royaume
21. des Cieux selon st. mathieu, Chap: 12, V. 24 .
22. puisque Je prévois ce que vous me diriés sur ces
23. matières, Je ne vous en parlerai point: Je me contenterai
24. de vous Informer qu'une tête asséz folle dont vous
25. aurés entendu parler sous le nom du[5] \roi de/ Prusse, apprenant
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26. que les états de son allié l'empereur étaient ruinés
27. par la reine d'Hongrie <ont> \a/ volé à son secours, qu'il à
28. Joint ses troupes a célles du Roy de Pologne, pour
29. opérer une Diversion en basse autriche et qu'il a si
30. bien réussi, qu'il s'attend dans peu à combattre les
31. principales forces de la reine d'hongrie pour le service de
32. son allié. voilà de la générosité, dir\i/és vous, voila du
33. héroïsme, cependant cher voltaire, le premier tableau
34. et celui-cy sont les mêmes, c’est la même femme qu’on
35. représente premierement <comme> \en cornettes/ de nuit lorsqu'elle se
36. Dépouille de ses Charmes, et ensuite avec son fard,
37. ses Dents et ses pompons.
38. De Combien de différentes façons n'envisage
39. t’on pas les objets, combien les Jugements ne
40. varient’ ils point? Les hommes Condamnent le soir
41. ce qu'ils approuvaient le matin? ce même soleil qui
42. leur plaisait a son aurore, les fatigue a son couchant,
43. de là viennent ces réputations, Établies, effacées et qui
44. se rétablissent pourtant, et nous sommes assez
45. Insensés <pour> \de/ nous donner, \pour de/ la reputation, du mouvement
46. pendant notre vie entiere, est il possible qu'on ne
47. se soit pas détrompé de cette fausse monnoye depuis
48. le temps qu'elle est connuë?
49. Je ne vous Écris point de vers, parce[6] que Je
50. n'ay pas Le temps de toiser des Syllabes; et <que>
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51. c'est vouloir Divertir un Rossignol par les
52. cris d'un Âne que de vous envoyer des vers à vous
53. qui les faites si Divinement bien.
54. Souffrés que Je vous fasse souvenir de
55. l'histoire de Louis 14, Je vous menace de e [sic]
56. l'excommunication du parnasse, de la veng\e/ance de
57. tisiphône, de l'affreux aboyement de Cerbere, et
58. des Cruélles peines d'ixion si vous n'achevés
59. pas cet ouvrage, Je le lis sans cesse mais Je
60. me trouve toujours arrêté a la page 226.
61. Adieu, cher Voltaire, aimés un peu Je
62. vous prie, ce transfuge d'Apollon qui s'est enrolé
63. chès Bellone, peut être reviendra t’il un Jour servir
64. sous ses vieux Drapeaux.
65. Je suis toujours votre admirateur
66. et Amy , <signé> fédéric
[Shelfmark: Rare fF840 V935 d][7][1] This manuscript (Hoose) is the third of three manuscripts identified both in EE and OCV (Letter D2600). It is described as “Copy of original document: old transcription.”
In EE’s “Manuscript Instances”, the first manuscript is described as “Copy made for Mme Denis”, located at the Voltaire Institute and Museum / Institut et musée Voltaire, Geneva, canton of Geneva, Switzerland, Collection Theodore D. N. Besterman, MS FD, Foliation: pp. 172-175.
The second manuscript is described as “Copy of original document: contemporary transcription”, located at the Public and University Library / Bibliothèque publique et universitaire, Geneva, canton of Geneva, Switzerland, MS Jallabert 80, Foliation: folio/feuillet 128. A footnote indicates: “MS2 is merely an extract sent to Jean Caze by an unknown correspondent.”
For corresponding print instances available in our USC collection, see: Kehl: vol. 65, pp. 126-129; OCV: vol. 92, pp. 178-179.
[2] An ink blot masks a letter in the middle of this word: Igno{.}raient.
[3] This word was written originally as: “dires”. The scribe has overstriked the final “-es” with “iéz”.
[4] It is difficult to determine what is the mark in this location.
[5] The word was initially written “de” and the letter “u” was superimposed on the letter “e”.
[6] the original word was “puis”; the scribe corrected it to “parce” by superimposing “arce” over the original “uis”
[7] This line is penciled at the bottom of page 4, below the University Library Seal. The rest of this page is blank.
![[Rare fF840 V935 d][4]](http://scalar.usc.edu/works/voltaire/media/vol-coll874-01-01~4.jpg){kind=link}