Tea at Trianon: Frederick II: The Philosopher King

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Frederick II: The Philosopher King

Frederick II was the principle enemy of Empress Maria Theresa. From The Catholic Textbook Project:

Fritz at this time began writing letters to Voltaire; the two men’s correspondence would continue for 42 years. The crown prince’s letters showed the deepest respect for Voltaire, while the French philosophe came to honor Fédéric (as Fritz signed his letters) for his keen mind. Voltaire had great hopes that when Fédéric became king, he would be the wisest of rulers — the first true “philosopher king.”
While at Rheinsberg, Fritz wrote a book in which he presented his ideas of how a king should rule. Called The Anti-Machiavelli, the crown prince’s book rejected the Italian Renaissance philosopher Machiavelli’s notion that a ruler should do everything possible, even immoral deeds, to obtain and keep power. Rather, said The Anti-Machiavelli, a ruler should think of himself not as the master, but as the first servant of those over whom he rules. He should act toward them with “works of kindness, justice, and clemency.” This work enthused Voltaire, who had it published without revealing that its author was the crown prince of Prussia. (Read more.)