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playful sarcasm, which characterises every page he everwrote, in this production reaches home, yet can scarcelybe said to sting. He laughs at Frederic and his(Euvres des Poeshies; he laughs at his own illusions; andthen lingers with fondness on the retreat he had at lastfound from the tumult of society and the friendship orenmity of kings. He congratulates himself on havingmade his own fortune, and confesses that this was doneby speculations in finance. “ It is necessary to be atten-tive to the operations to which the ministry, alwayspressed and always changing, makes in the finances ofthe state,” he observes. “ Something often occurs ofwhich a private individual can profit without beingunder obligations to any one; and it is vastly agreeableto fabricate one’s own fortune. The first step is trouble-some, the rest are easy. One must be economical inone’s youth, and in old age one is surprised at one’swealth. Money is at that time more necessary, andthat time I now enjoy. After having lived with kings,
I am become a king in my home. I possess all theconveniences of life in furniture, equipages, and goodliving. The society of agreeable and clever peopleoccupy all the time spared from study and the care Iam forced to take of my health. While I enjoy themost pleasant style of life that can be imagined, I havethe little philosophic pleasure of perceiving that thekings of Europe do not taste the same happy tran-quillity; and I conclude that the position of a privateperson is often preferable to that of royalty.”
These words were singularly verified in the renewalof his correspondence with the king of Prussia. Fre-deric had begun it by sending him an opera he hadfounded on “ Merope.” Soon after the coalition was 1756 .formed against Prussia, which, victorious at first, -®tat.brought Frederic to the position of rebel against theempire. The loss of a battle reduced him to extremi-ties ; and, rather than submit to his enemies, he re-solved to commit suicide. He wrote a long epistle inverse announcing his intention : Voltaire answered it in