Potsdam 1, august n.s. 1750
J have receiv'd at Postdam the obliging letter you directed to Paris, but j have not yet receiv'd the favour of yr book.
The wisdom that shines in yr letter, raises in me more and more the desire to read that performance.
J am confident you have been faithfull to yr Tittle, in writing impartially as an honest man, and a philosofer ought to do. You are certainly in the right, when you assert the privileges of mankind. T'is yr duty to love and to praise the form of the british governement but do not believe we blame it in France. The situation of our country, the genius of our nation, and many other reasons have submitted us to monarchik power mitigated by the amiable mildness of our manners rather than by our laws. All wise men amongst us live happy under such a government, and admire that of great Britain.
As to the task of writing a true and complete history of the late war, t'is an heavy burthen. J hope you are wel inform'd of all the transactions pass'd in yr cowntry. All the secrets of the back-stairs at yr court, are no secret in a few years. Each party spies, discovers and exagerates the intrigues and the faults of the opposite party, and from the shok of so many flints some flashes of truth may shoot, and enligthen the mind of a wise historian.
But in other cowntries state misterys lay hid under a curtain that few men are able to remove. My office of the crown's historian intitled me to the communication of all the letters rit to the ministers. Yet j am not satisfi'ed with so good materials, and j must hunt again after my favourite game, truth, in foreign cowntries. J travel like Polibus to see the different teaters of the war. J do consult both friends and ennemys, j doubt not yr book sir will help me very much. Yr tittle which promises impartiality shall put me alwais in mind of my duty. History must be neither a satir nor an encomium, and j hope a frenchman, and even a gentleman of the King's Chamber may tell open truth with security. A moderate man can not offend when he will not offend, and he may say harsh things if he never uses harsh words. J am at leisure, i'll publish my history as late as j can, but j'll' read yr as soon as possible. J thank you from my heart, and j am
sr
yr most hum, ob.serv.
Voltaire, gentilhome de la chambre du roy de France