The first draft of my comment above actually said that Voltaire said Maupertuis was slandering him, and then I thought, let me read that one more time before I press "post comment" on that, and then I was like... hmm...
:) Yep, it's all a matter of phrasing. (Hey, Voltaire had experience with law suits by then!) At no point does he deny having said it. Incidentally, since La Mettrie was the source Voltaire names for the orange peel quote, I looked up again what Nicolai claims D'Argens told him re: his fellow knights of the Sanssouci Table Round (reminder: in summation, that none of them loved Fritz and were worthy the way D'Argens was) , and it is this:
De La Mettrie wasn't really held in high regard by the King. Instead, (Fritz) regarded him as a clown who could amuse him entre deux vins now and then. De La Mettrie behaved very undignified towards the King; not only did he blab everywhere in Berlin about everything that was talked about at the King's table, he also narrated everything twistedly, with malicious addenda.
Though Nicolai doesn't say so directly, I do suspect that refers to the orange peel quote, and if so, note the La Mettrie put down doesn't claim La Mettrie invented stories, just that he "narrated everything twistedly". And so you don't have to look it up at Rheinsberg, here's D'Argens-via-Nicolai on Maupertuis and Voltaire:
Maupertuis, whom the King esteemed for his scientific abilities and pleasant manners, was full of quirks and pretensions, and envious of everyone for whom the King had as much as a kind word, for he thought he'd lose whatever the other gained. He was never satisfied, and consequently caused great irritation to the King whom he annoyed with his quirks and who would have liked to see him content.
Voltaire, although the greatest writer of them all by far, was the most ungrateful towards the King. He was jealous of everyone whom the King preferred. His utmost bitterness resulted from believing the King didn't distinguish him enough from the other scholarly favourites. Full of pride and petulance, he often when everyone was in great spirits lashed out against the others in the King's company, which displeased the King himself not a few times; two times, when Voltaire had been too insolent, the King had to speak as a King, and Voltaire, as proud as he'd been, was now immediately humbled. But he avenged himself through impudent and partially false stories he spread behind the King's back.
(Footnote from Nicolai here: D'Argens once told me with the vivaciousness of a Provence man about Voltaire: Le Bastard a de l'esprit come trente, mais il est malicious come un vieux singe.)
As I said in my original Nicolai write up - partially false? I note you never enlighten us which parts you and D'Argens think weren't false, Nicolai.
Re: Pamela
:) Yep, it's all a matter of phrasing. (Hey, Voltaire had experience with law suits by then!) At no point does he deny having said it. Incidentally, since La Mettrie was the source Voltaire names for the orange peel quote, I looked up again what Nicolai claims D'Argens told him re: his fellow knights of the Sanssouci Table Round (reminder: in summation, that none of them loved Fritz and were worthy the way D'Argens was) , and it is this:
De La Mettrie wasn't really held in high regard by the King. Instead, (Fritz) regarded him as a clown who could amuse him entre deux vins now and then. De La Mettrie behaved very undignified towards the King; not only did he blab everywhere in Berlin about everything that was talked about at the King's table, he also narrated everything twistedly, with malicious addenda.
Though Nicolai doesn't say so directly, I do suspect that refers to the orange peel quote, and if so, note the La Mettrie put down doesn't claim La Mettrie invented stories, just that he "narrated everything twistedly". And so you don't have to look it up at Rheinsberg, here's D'Argens-via-Nicolai on Maupertuis and Voltaire:
Maupertuis, whom the King esteemed for his scientific abilities and pleasant manners, was full of quirks and pretensions, and envious of everyone for whom the King had as much as a kind word, for he thought he'd lose whatever the other gained. He was never satisfied, and consequently caused great irritation to the King whom he annoyed with his quirks and who would have liked to see him content.
Voltaire, although the greatest writer of them all by far, was the most ungrateful towards the King. He was jealous of everyone whom the King preferred. His utmost bitterness resulted from believing the King didn't distinguish him enough from the other scholarly favourites. Full of pride and petulance, he often when everyone was in great spirits lashed out against the others in the King's company, which displeased the King himself not a few times; two times, when Voltaire had been too insolent, the King had to speak as a King, and Voltaire, as proud as he'd been, was now immediately humbled. But he avenged himself through impudent and partially false stories he spread behind the King's back.
(Footnote from Nicolai here: D'Argens once told me with the vivaciousness of a Provence man about Voltaire: Le Bastard a de l'esprit come trente, mais il est malicious come un vieux singe.)
As I said in my original Nicolai write up - partially false? I note you never enlighten us which parts you and D'Argens think weren't false, Nicolai.