Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouet. Autograph letter, in French, 4 pages, (9 ? x 7 ¼ in.; 232 x 184 mm.), At d'elices, 6 Decembe...

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Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouet. Autograph letter, in French, 4 pages, (9 ? x 7 ¼ in.; 232 x 184 mm.), At d'elices, 6 December [no year.], to the philosopher, mathematician, physicist and music theorist, Jean le Rond d'Alembert; in pristine condition. A personal letter to the philosopher d'Alembert discussing political issues and the King of Prussia with mention of Hume and Diderot. Voltaire writes in full; translated from French: I have just received your letter dated October 1. I am not sure if I have thanked you enough for the excellent work you wrote in honor of the memory of du Marsay, who might have not been remembered without it. But I know that I will never be able to tell you how grateful I am to you for using your eloquence and reasoning to support me as I have heard you did regarding the loathsome murder of Servet [Michel Servet was burned alive in 1553 at Calvin's instigation because of his unorthodox beliefs and publications] and also for what you wrote about the virtue of tolerance in the Geneva article. I look forward to receiving a copy of it. Some wretches feel so close to the [spirit of the] sixteenth century that they have dared to justify the murder of Servet in this century. These contemptible people are priests. I can assure you that I have not read a word of what they wrote. It was enough for me to know that they are a source of shame to all honest people. One of these rascals has asked the Council of the 25 in Geneva for the files of this trial that will make Calvin execrable forever. The Council has regarded this request an insult. Magistrates despise the crime their ancestors were led into by fanaticism and some priest would like to canonize it! You can be sure that this last despicable act will bring upon them as much hate as they deserve. I have received only compliments from all honest local people. Who on earth is this young priest who wants to make you out to be a usurer? Did you, by any chance, borrow some money at usurious rates when your Prussian, during the battle of Kolin, did not seem willing to pay the pensions? But I am sure that at the battle of the 5th, everyone must have lent you money. Here is more bad news about the pensions. The Austrians, who arrived before Breslaw on the 22nd, avenged and humiliated us terribly. They attacked the Prussian entrenchments thirteen times for six hours. No victory before has ever been so bloody and horribly beautiful. We funny Frenchmen are quicker and we are all done in five minutes. The King of Prussia keeps writing me verses, sometimes as a man in despair, sometimes as a hero. As for me, I try to live as a philosopher in my retreat. He has obtained what he had always longed for, that is to defeat the French, to make them like him and to make fun of them. But the Austrians are really making fun of him too. He has won glory from our disgrace on the 5th, but he will have to content himself with this passing glory that he has won too easily. He will lose his territories along with the ones that he has gained, unless the French manage to lose their army again as they did during the 1741 war. Tell me about writing his story. He will never leave this to anyone. He makes a point of doing it himself. Yes, you are right; he is unique. Let us get back to you, who are as famous in your field as he is in his. I knew nothing about the silly thing you tell me. I will get some information about it and you will have me read the Mercure. I do as Cato, I always finish my harangue saying deleatur Catago. I must say that there are some lines in the eulogy of du Marsais that are really comforting. Five or six philosophers working together would be enough to knock down the colossus. The point is not so much to prevent our lackeys from going to church; we have to shield family men from the tyrannical powers wielded over them by impostors, and to inspire people with a spirit of tolerance. This important mission has already succeeded. Sometimes. The vine of truth is cultivated by people like d'Alembert, Diderot, Bollinbroke, Hume, etc. Had this King of Prussia of yours decided to limit himself to this Holy Mission, he would have lived happily and blessed by all European learned societies. Truth is making so much progress that I have seen in my retreat some Spaniards and Portuguese who hated the Inquisition as much as the French do. Macte animo generose puer sic itur ad astrae. In the past, one would have said sic itur ad ignem. I do not like all the fuss du Marsais made before his death. I have read that this small-townish man from the Landes region who had written about the history of philosophy in such a provincial style, asked before he died that his book, Of the Great Men Who Died Laughing, be burned. But who on earth knew that he had written that book? Talking about burning, please burn my letter. Mrs. D sends you her best regards. The chatterbox gives you a big hug. Do you still see the clearsighted blind Mrs. Du Deffant? If you happen to see her, please tell her that I still think of her affectionately! The relationship between Voltaire and Frederick the Great began in 1736, when the Crown Prince was twenty-four years old and the philosopher some eighteen years his senior. Throughout the rest of Voltaire's life this relationship rode through the tides--its vicissitudes, asperities and periods of calm, even silence--and was accompanied by correspondence, visits, gifts and exchanges of verses and other writings. The relationship began with a young man, heir to the powerful throne of Prussia, spontaneously approaching Voltaire out of respect and admiration. This early phase is mainly filled with literature and, above all, philosophy. On literature too there is much to exchange. Frederick transmits some of his own compositions. In return, Voltaire dispatches numerous works, which Frederick is avid to obtain. Eventually, Frederick receives Voltaire's major works which not only elicit passionate admiration but provoke differences in opinions, objections, discontent and cynical conduct, causing vacillations in their relationship from the bitterest quarrels to great intimacy. Haydn Mason in his biography, Voltaire, concludes that "The quarrels between Voltaire and Frederick have a heroic quality, as befits two personalities so vigorous, so complex and so enterprising. Each recognised in the other a great man, for all their faults. Frederick's energy inspired the philosophe to work; Voltaire had never, he said, seen a man so industrious. Frederick for his part was to continue to see Voltaire not merely as a rascal, but also as a god. Beneath the rancour, contempt, jealousies, lay an enduring reciprocal esteem . . . no place could house them together for long, the more so because the one was born to command and the other to seek his independence. An important letter with significant content from one philosopher to another.