Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/408

 3/0 Readings in European History our influence in all the courts of Europe ; he sticks at no calumny, and especially in France, and it is this that makes me doubly regret that the interview between Joseph II and Louis XVI has not taken place. The delight of the king of Prussia is a sure sign of the importance he attached to it, and should serve to unite us all the closer, for united neither he nor any one dare molest us. I cannot conceal from you that scandal has not spared you personally, and I have mentioned to Mercy several darts of slander that have long disquieted me in regard to your amusments, games, excursions ; that you were on bad terms with the king, — that you no longer share his bed, but want to sit up all night playing cards, which the king does not like ; that you were alarmed at the prospect of your brother's visit, — that you did not in the least desire it, and that you are now delighted to be left free to pursue your pleasures. Such are the tales that are sent out from Berlin to Saxony, Poland, everywhere ; and I confess that for several months they have caused me increasing dismay. My only consolation is that, as atrocious slanders are promulgated about the emperor and myself, it must be the same with you ; but, my dear daughter, the newspapers but confirm these accounts of the various amusements in which my dear queen joins without her sisters-in-law or the king, and they give me many sad hours. I love you so tenderly that I cannot but look ahead into the future, and I entreat you to do the same. III. The French intervene in the American Revolution No doubt the influence of the American Revolution upon French affairs has commonly been much exag- gerated, since there is every reason to suppose that the example of the colonists did not really modify essentially the trend of affairs in France toward reform. The course of events can be readily explained even if the American war be quite eliminated from consideration.