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FREDERICK II (1712-1786, 'the Great'), King of Prussia. Autograph letter signed ('Frederic') to Tilio de Camas, Ruppin, 15 March 1739, in French, 1½ pages, 4to.
A letter to a friend in which Frederick denies that his intellectual preoccupations conflict with the obligations of friendship: 'Il n'y a aucune rettrato as[s]éz profonde, aucun engagement as[s]éz pressent, aucune passion asséz forte pour me rendre inaccessible à mes amis ... Vous devriéz croire que les Sentimens du Coeur sont toujours plus vifs que les ef[f]orts de la speculation, en un mot que le nom seul de Mons[ieu]r de Camas me feroit tombér des mains et Livres et Philsophie'. Recovering his health and absent from politics he continues 'doucement à l'ombre', but will not be caught off guard at the forthcoming review. Referring to Camas's lectures, one to be given at Crossen, Frederick concludes with a typically rhetorical flourish, 'A revoir mon cher non pas dans les Champs Eliséens, mais dans les Champs, ou Lon Moissone reguillerement toute [sic] les anées la gloire, ou les Vainqueurs sont couronéz des Couronnes Civiques'.
Written during the Arcadian time before his accession when, living mostly with his own court at Rheinsberg (near Ruppin), Frederick, to his father's disquiet, devoted himself to philosophy, science, music and literature, and particularly the composition of high-minded verse. The letter indicates his habitual anxiety about his health. Colonel Paul-Henri Tilio de Camas, of French origin but born in Prussia, was one of Frederick's older and highly educated friends; he is mentioned in his letters to Voltaire and Count Algarotti.
A letter to a friend in which Frederick denies that his intellectual preoccupations conflict with the obligations of friendship: 'Il n'y a aucune rettrato as[s]éz profonde, aucun engagement as[s]éz pressent, aucune passion asséz forte pour me rendre inaccessible à mes amis ... Vous devriéz croire que les Sentimens du Coeur sont toujours plus vifs que les ef[f]orts de la speculation, en un mot que le nom seul de Mons[ieu]r de Camas me feroit tombér des mains et Livres et Philsophie'. Recovering his health and absent from politics he continues 'doucement à l'ombre', but will not be caught off guard at the forthcoming review. Referring to Camas's lectures, one to be given at Crossen, Frederick concludes with a typically rhetorical flourish, 'A revoir mon cher non pas dans les Champs Eliséens, mais dans les Champs, ou Lon Moissone reguillerement toute [sic] les anées la gloire, ou les Vainqueurs sont couronéz des Couronnes Civiques'.
Written during the Arcadian time before his accession when, living mostly with his own court at Rheinsberg (near Ruppin), Frederick, to his father's disquiet, devoted himself to philosophy, science, music and literature, and particularly the composition of high-minded verse. The letter indicates his habitual anxiety about his health. Colonel Paul-Henri Tilio de Camas, of French origin but born in Prussia, was one of Frederick's older and highly educated friends; he is mentioned in his letters to Voltaire and Count Algarotti.
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