But
in Rome is my friend Benedict XIV; he is also a man of peace, and
the first Pope, moreover, who acknowledges the King of Prussia. He
tolerates Protestants, helps forward science, and has allowed
latitude and longitude to be measured...."
"And expelled the Jesuits, whom you, sire, have received. You ought
not to have done that."
"What do you know of the Jesuits? In Spain we have Ferdinand VI, who
encourages mining, combats the Inquisition, fosters the sciences."
"The itch for writing seems to be spreading over the earth like a
pestilence."
"In England my uncle George, the pupil of Adam Smith, is working
solely for the commercial prosperity of his country. The others we
know. But we ought to remember the great discoveries of our century
--fire-machines, thermometers, lightning-conductors, anchor-watches.
In fact it is the Golden Age which has returned at this late epoch."
"Think only of the fire-machines which they now call steam-engines.
And of the telegraphs! What may we not next expect!"
"War, of course."
"I have never loved war, as you know, but I have been driven to it."
"With the stick."
The King was not angry, but he was troubled that a remarkable man,
who had been his friend and teacher, should commit such a _betise_.
"You are right; it was my father's stick, and I bless it.
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