![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cahnI'm trying to use my other account at least occasionally so I posted about my Yuletide gifts there, including the salon-relevant 12k fic that features Fritz, Heinrich, Voltaire, Fredersdorf, Saint Germain, Caroline Daum (Fredersdorf's wife), and Groundhog Day tropes! (Don't need to know canon.)
Voltaire: The Age of Louis XIV: 3
Date: 2023-01-22 02:05 pm (UTC)He at that time governed the queen of England ; both by the occasion she had for his service, and by the authority his wife had over her affections. He had the command of the parliament by his powerful interest, and by that of the treasurer , Godolphin , whose son married one of his daughters. Thus having the direction of the court, the parliament, the war, and the treasury, more a king than ever William had been, as great a politician , and a much greater general, he exceeded the most sanguine hopes of the allies . He possessed in a degree superior to any general of his time that tranquil courage in the midst of tumult, and serenity of soul in danger, which the English call a cool head. It is perhaps to this qualification, the principal gift in nature for a commander , that the English are indebted for their victories over the French in the fields of Poitiers , Crécy ,and Agincourt.
Marlborough and Eugene are the dream military bromance at the age (Voltaire is also very much into Villars but shows how much infighting and self importance goes on on the French military side:
It now happened , as it too frequently does : the experienced officer was not sufficiently listened to , and the prince's counsel frequently carried it over the general's reasons . Hence arose two parties ; whereas , in the enemy's army, there was but one, that of the public good . Prince Eugene was at that time on the Rhine ; but when he and Marlborough were together, they had but one opinion .
But Marlborough, too, is due for a fall. Voltaire informs us that both Churchills, John and Sarah, were among the best looking people of their generation, but...
But the duke could never get the better of his thirst for riches , nor the duchess of her capricious temper. The queen loved her with a tenderness that went even to submission , and a giving up of all will . In attachments of this nature, we generally find that dislike begins first on the side of the monarch : caprice, pride, and an abuse of superiority are the things which first make the yoke felt, and all these the duchess of Marlborough heaped upon her mistress with a heavy hand . The queen , who could not do without a favorite , turned her eyes on Lady Masham , one of the ladies of her bedchamber. The duchess could not conceal her jealousy ; it broke out on a thousand occasions . A pair of gloves of a particular fashion which she refused the queen , and a jar of water that she let fall in her presence upon Lady Masham's gown , by an affected mistake , changed the face of affairs in Europe . Matters grew warm between the two parties . The new favorite's brother asked the duke for a regiment; the duke refused it , upon which the queen gave it to him herself.
Exit Sarah, exit Marlborough. Voltaire actually met Sarah in her old age when spending two years in England in the 1720s, I think.
Anyway, nothing new or other than what we've heard about how the War of the Spanish Succession ends up except for the "Philippe D'Orleans want to become King of Spain" bit which I already quoted elsewhere. Reminder: The Allies trounce Louis until they overreach themselves by demanding he actively joins in the effort to depose his grandson:
Louis XIV, when he heard the rigorous terms upon him, said to Rouillé: "Well then, since I must make war, I would rather it should be against my enemies than my children."
Which is how the French rally one more time, and the war is ended on honorable-to-them terms, though with devastation everywhere. Like I said, once the war is over and Philippe V. is recognized as King in all of Europe (Charles VI.: Ahem!), and before covering Louis' last three years of life, Voltaire makes a big interlude consisting of anecdotes re: Louis' mistresses throughout his life. With some additional witty remarks about cultural affairs and the state of the sciences in other countries, from Italy - the great Galileo having asked pardon at the age of seventy for being in the right - to, of course, England: In England the exploits of Cromwell are scarcely mentioned , and the disputes of the white and red roses are almost forgotten ; but Newton is studied for whole years together : no one is surprised to see in his epitaph that " he was the glory of mankind ; ” but it would be a matter of great wonder in that country to see the remains of any statesman honored with such a title.
Posting my Montesquieu write up at Rheinsberg, I was reminded again that the preface to Montesquieu's Roman history excuses him for blindly believing all his sources by saying that's what 18th century people with their love for ancient writers did. Meanwhile, guess who doesn't:
Plutarch's "Lives" is but a collection of anecdotes, rather entertaining than true; how could he have procured faithful acco9unts of the private life of Theseus or Lycurgus? Most of the maxims which he puts into the mouths of his heroese advance moral virtue rather than historical truth. The secret history of Procopius is a satire dictated by revenge; and though revengfe may speak the truth, this satire, which contradicts his public history, has not always the appearance of it.
(Voltaire: I know whereof I speak.)
We now are not allowed to imitate even Plutarch, much less Procopius. We admit as historical truths none but what are well supported. When contemporaries like the Cardinal de Retz and the duke de Rochefoucault, inveterate enemies to each other, confirmt he same transaction in both their accounts of it, that transaction cannot be doubted: when they contradict each other, we must doubt them, what does not come within the bounds of probability can deserve no credit, unless several contemporaries of unblemished reputation join unanimously in the assertion.
This is not a bad goal to have for someone writing a history. As mentioned earlier, the "anecdotes" part is also where Voltaire discusses questions like "was Minette poisoned", tells the tale of the Affair of the Poisons, and talks about the most important mistresses and their offspring. Why he places the anecdotes here and not after Louis' death, I don't know. Having told the anecdotes, he goes back to describing the final three years, Louis being a stoic as the doctors butcher him to death, and then rounds it off with this story about Philippe the soon to be Regent:
The duke of Orleans , who in his journey to Marly had no attendants , had now the whole court about him . An empiric , in the last days of the king's illness , gave him an elixir which revived his spirits. He ate , and the empiric affirmed he would recover . The crowds which surrounded the duke of Orleans began to diminish apace . “ If the king eats a second time, " said the duke of Orleans , “ I shall not have a single person in my leveé . ” But the disease was mortal .
Re: Voltaire: The Age of Louis XIV: 3
Date: 2023-01-22 08:10 pm (UTC)Hahaha. Tangentially, allow me to remind everyone that when Cosimo III "the Bigoted" de Medici (father of Gian Gastone) did his Grand Tour and went to England, he had to sit through a whole speech praising his ancestors for their support of the sciences and specifically Galileo, while he of course thought the Church was in the right!
though revengfe may speak the truth, this satire, which contradicts his public history, has not always the appearance of it.
(Voltaire: I know whereof I speak.)
Selena the also witty!
This is not a bad goal to have for someone writing a history.
Yeah, good for him! I remember when he and Fritz had this exchange:
Voltaire: Who even knows if the myths of the Romans and Greeks are true.
Fritz: Me, I know! Let me tell you about Rheinsberg and Remus.
Voltaire: Allow me to explain the concept of source criticism.
Fritz, *backpedaling like mad*: Yes, that's what I meant! I just wanted to share this local German story with you. Who even knows if it's true. *cough*
Thank you as always for the amazing write-up! I might have to check this out in French someday.
Re: Voltaire: The Age of Louis XIV: 3
Date: 2023-01-23 07:30 am (UTC)Thank you as always for the amazing write-up! I might have to check this out in French someday.
You're welcome - it was fun. Even when not bitching about Fritz, Voltaire is immensely readable. :)
Re: Voltaire: The Age of Louis XIV: 3
Date: 2023-01-23 06:02 am (UTC)Voltaire can tell a story!
but Newton is studied for whole years together : no one is surprised to see in his epitaph that " he was the glory of mankind ; ” but it would be a matter of great wonder in that country to see the remains of any statesman honored with such a title.
Ha! Also, aw. Newton!
The secret history of Procopius is a satire dictated by revenge; and though revengfe may speak the truth, this satire, which contradicts his public history, has not always the appearance of it.
(Voltaire: I know whereof I speak.)
LOLOLOL
We now are not allowed to imitate even Plutarch, much less Procopius.
This is not a bad goal to have for someone writing a history.
Okay, so a) yes, good for him! Also b) with the proximity of I know whereof I speak I can't help thinking, oh, you aren't allowed to imitate Procopious in your own, er, secret letters, Voltaire? I'm just saying.
“ If the king eats a second time, " said the duke of Orleans , “ I shall not have a single person in my leveé . ” But the disease was mortal .
Heh. Voltaire does have a way with words.
As do you have a way with writeups! Thank you as always, this was awesome!
Re: Voltaire: The Age of Louis XIV: 3
Date: 2023-01-23 07:43 am (UTC)Voltaire might be past attempting to write scientific works himself, but he's still not missing out the opportunity to remind all his readers how awesome Newton is. Meanwhile, here's what he has to say about Leibniz:
The famous Leibniz was born at Leipzig; he ended his days in Hannover, like a true philosopher, believing in a God, like Newton, without consulting the various opinions of mankind. He was perhaps a man of the most universal learning in Europe; he was a historian indefatigable in his inquiries; a profound civilian, who enlightened the study of law by philosophy, foreign as it may appear to that kind of study; so thorough a metaphysician as to attempt reconciling divinity and the metaphysics; a tolerable Latin poet; and lastly, so good a mathematician as to dispute with the great Newton the invention of the Calculation of Infinities, and to make it for some time doubted which of them had the justest claim to the honor of that discovery.
Note "for some time" and "tolerable poet". It's a mostly approving description of Leibniz, with nothing of the partisanship of when he and Émilie were argueing about him, but Voltaire still manages to make Leibniz sound like the lesser man compared to Newton.
Okay, so a) yes, good for him! Also b) with the proximity of I know whereof I speak I can't help thinking, oh, you aren't allowed to imitate Procopious in your own, er, secret letters, Voltaire? I'm just saying.
Voltaire: I didn't include nearly as much porn as Procopius does. Also, his Secret History won't allow Justinian and Thedora a single good quality, whereas I dare anyone not to admit that my presentations of my Prussian Alcina, be they in my edited letters or in my memoirs or in my pamphlets, do always also include a degree of admiration. In conclusion, I am the superior satirist, and I bet Theodora never kissed Procopius' hand!
Re: Voltaire: The Age of Louis XIV: 3
Date: 2023-02-04 05:40 am (UTC)Heh, yes, that's rather amazing. "So good a mathematician as to dispute with the great Newton," lolololol forever.
Voltaire: I didn't include nearly as much porn as Procopius does.
Well, that's true. In fact there are fewer compromising situations than there were in real life! (Though I'm mostly thinking here of Voltaire/Mme Denis, not Voltaire/Fritz.)
whereas I dare anyone not to admit that my presentations of my Prussian Alcina, be they in my edited letters or in my memoirs or in my pamphlets, do always also include a degree of admiration.
Hee. Indeed this is true!