Passionate Minds by David Bodanis

Author:David Bodanis [Bodanis, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-49724-6
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2006-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

17

Frederick

FLANDERS AND PRUSSIA, 1740–1741

In June 1740 Frederick's father did finally die, which meant that the young, timid Frederick was now king, and Voltaire could begin his plan. He arranged with the top official in the French foreign ministry to be allowed to leave Louis XV's kingdom and garner what information he could about Prussia's future intentions. That ostensible spy mission—combined with an attempt to influence the diplomatic alliances Frederick chose—was what would convince the French government to let him leave. On a deeper level, though, he wanted to get close enough to the new king to be able to influence his policy for domestic reform as well.

He began by writing to Frederick, trying to console the youngster at the shock of losing his father:

“Your Royal Highness, there is one thing I would dare to take the liberty of asking,” Voltaire wrote paternally. “It is whether the late king, before he died, knew and loved all the merit of my adorable prince.”

Emilie still had her doubts. She wasn't sure if Voltaire's plans would work, and knew how much she'd miss him if he was away for weeks or perhaps months. Yet she also could tell how much Voltaire wanted to go on this mission—and he could be immensely persuasive when he wanted. She'd not wanted him to go to Prussia back in 1737, and he understood that. Frederick hadn't even been on the throne then: his brutal father was. But that had changed. And, Voltaire now asked, couldn't a son be different from his father?

It was an artful argument. Emilie couldn't tell him this was out of the question, for she knew how much he had hated his own father, the narrow-minded notary, and how he had tried to create a life as different from his father's as possible. And anyway—as Voltaire was quick to point out, when he saw her resistance wilting—Frederick was in fact showing signs of carrying out everything he'd promised in his letters and other writings so far.

His father had recruited regiments of giants, selected from across Europe, and had wasted a great deal of tax money keeping them equipped. Frederick had already disbanded those regiments. He had banned torture from any civilian courts in his kingdom; he had declared freedom of religion (at least to Christians); he was in the process of ending all censorship.

There was a final argument for going. Emilie had argued in Brussels that God could order the universe to produce the best possible arrangement. Well, would it be fair to stop Voltaire from trying to help that along? Prussia was small, but its army was powerful. Frederick himself had explained that he had nothing to do with that crude army—when he'd been imprisoned after trying to escape his father's cruel kingdom, at the age of eighteen, its soldiers had taunted him as he tried to practice the flute and read French literature in his cell. Voltaire was convinced there were hotheads within the Prussian military who would try to take advantage of this untried boy—unless he got firm, worldly, wise advice fast.

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