ABSTRACT
Voltaire's three-act comedy Nanine is an adaptation of Pamela to the French stage. He strove to be received in the highest of social circles wherever he went; and he met a number of monarchs during his life. More than once he recurs to representing England as tolerant and/or 'meritocratic', in order to create a telling contrast with France. He himself strikes a pessimistic note even in those early days of knowing Frederick. Key passages of the Anti-Machiavel reveal how Frederick's defence of meritocracy fell short in the eyes of his philosophical 'editor'. He distinguishes between those 'generous rulers' who reward service from 'greatness of soul' and those who do so merely from amour-propre. The comparison between Adam and Frederick thus suggests that the king is as far above other humans as Adam was above the animals. The king must know, then, that God ends Adam's solitude by creating Eve.
