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Frederick the Great discussion post 9
...I leave you guys alone for one weekend and it's time for a new Fritz post, lol!
I'm gonna reply to the previous post comments but I guess new letter-reading, etc. should go in this one :)
Frederick the Great links
I'm gonna reply to the previous post comments but I guess new letter-reading, etc. should go in this one :)
Frederick the Great links
Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
My dearest brother,
My return here, along with my sister's stay in Erlangen, deprived me of the pleasure of writing to you. I found, my very dear brother, your dear letter upon my arrival. The good news you give me of your precious health fills me with joy. I am very much of your sentiment, my very dear brother, and am convinced that our soul is the servant of our body. I feel it every day; my soul (if I have one) is always attached to you, and my miserable body remains here without being able to follow its directions. I constantly curse it for being built of flesh and bone, and not being formed like that of sylphs, which are transported in an instant from one place to another. I have to walk this puny shell for a few hours every day, so that I can then think and reflect. But, despite all my thoughts, I still don't know what I am. I notice, however, that when I suffer the most, I do not feel any harm when I can fix my thoughts on some object which deserves application. It is true that this relief is only momentary, the springs of the machine, weakened by pain, cannot endure a long application; I also realize that often I do not see an object appearing before my sight, and I do not hear a sound striking my ear; I don't think about it or pay attention to it. I conjecture from there that there is only the reflection which prints to me the ideas which are brought back to me by the senses. This conjecture sometimes makes me believe that there is something more in me than my body; but I find, on the other hand, so many contradictions, that I return to the other system. Would you not say, my very dear brother, that I am as good a philosopher as a great captain, and that I had better be silent than talk to you about my hollow dreams? But it is new for you to hear unreason. The conversation between Voltaire, Argens and Algarotti will seem all the more pleasant to you; this letter will serve them as a shadow; you need it in a table. Lest it become Italian and too obscure, I finish by reiterating the tenderness and the deep respect with which I will be all my life, my very dear brother, etc.
My dearest sister,
Your letters, far from boring me, are philosophical instructions from which even philosophers could benefit. If there is a created being worthy of having an immortal soul, it is you, without question; if there is an argument capable of making me lean towards this opinion, it is your genius. However, my dear sister, I prefer to believe that nature has made an exception in your favor than to flatter myself with the same benefit. It is of course that, when we represent to ourselves what we are, without the senses and without the memory nothing remains of what makes us, and this is of course what I count on, looking at the time that I live as the only one destined for me between the eternity of the times which preceded me and that which will succeed me. I know that I was not before I was born, and from the past I conclude for the future. Besides, what good would this part of us survive the other? what would she do? what sauce would we put it in? All these reasons strengthen me in my feeling, and I do not believe that we have anything to complain about to become again what we were. For me, I bless nature to have favored me, by being born with a sister who alone could make the consolation of my life, to have given me parents who are esteemed by their virtues, and not to have been given a worried spirit, difficult to satisfy. (If you say so, Fritz.) Here is my little confession of faith, which resembles neither that of Augsburg, nor the catechism of Calvin. It is not given to everyone to be orthodox, but it is up to each one to follow the laws of nature, and it is, I believe, to this practical philosophy that an honest man owes the most. But I don't know what I want to tell you about my daydreams. You, who can be maintained from cedar to hyssop, and pass from the most sublime philosophy to the history of pompoms, you will forgive me if I brighten up my letter with these trifles that I offer to your toilet ; although great philosopher and great captain, you cannot do without spending an hour a day there, and I flatter myself that, at that time, you will sometimes want to use the necklace that I present to you, making sure that it starts from the principle of friendship and the tenderest tenderness with which I am, my very dear sister, etc.
Necklace: As Lehndorff somewhat snarkily remarked, Wilhelmine liked jewelry. Fritz sent her some with the same letter.
Cothenius is Fritz' doctor, "my sister of Ansbach" is poor Friederike Luise (who in order of birth comes after Fritz), formerly spirited girl braving FW, now locked in a miserable marriage.
My dearest sister,
Your letter takes me from the cruelest uncertainty where mortal can be. I was apprehensive for your precious health. I had dispatched Cothenius to Baireuth, and received no news. Thanks to heaven, you give me yourself, and good ones. If my unhappy machine was not chained here on my galley, I would have flown to you to get me out of worry; but I am less in control of my actions than the smallest individual, and I have to row, since it is my destiny to row. However, I had the consolation of seeing my sister from Ansbach again. Judge the pleasure I felt when I kissed a friend from my childhood, a sister I love dearly, and whom I saw last nine years ago. There were only sad partings in all of this, and these are, I believe, moments to be avoided as much as possible. She will be in Braunschweig today, and I think that around the 7th or the 8th of the coming month, she will be in Baireuth. She will tell you, my dear sister, that we have often talked about you, and that you are loved and adored by the whole family. I find her health bad, and I urged her to consult Cothenius on the way to Baireuth. I dare to beg you to make her remember. She heard Dido's opera and my singers, which amused her. (...)
When singers hired by you dare to praise your arch nemesis, it can only have one reason:
La Astrua says a thousand goods from the Queen of Hungary, and I believe that an egret of diamonds that this princess has given her greatly influences the praise she lavishes on her.
It's noticable now that a lot of the fabled Sanssouci table round is no longer in Sanssouci:
I am reduced to the one of Argens, who, for the most part, stays in his bed; Algarotti made a hole in the moon, Maupertuis is sick, and Voltaire is in Switzerland with Mandrin; which reduces me to myself more than ever. I kiss you a thousand times; my heart accompanies you everywhere.
Just two tidbits from the travel correspondance on Fritz' part:
My dearest sister,
You make fun of me and, with good reason, of the stupid moralizing that I subject you to; but, my dear sister, you find yourself among a gay and mad people who inspire you, perhaps in spite of you, with joyful ideas, and for me, I lead the life that a Carthusian spends in his cell. This, I believe, is what contributes to our different way of thinking.
My dearest sister,
I was quite happy to receive two of your dear letters from Bologna and Venice. I believe that, after having seen Rome, the rest of Italy, although beautiful, is not comparable to it. I am delighted that, in the country of Pantaloni, Algarotti behaved in such a way as to please you. (...) I would have liked the Holy Father to have become your Cicisbeo, my dear sister, in place of Cataneo, who must be a rather annoying fat man. I hope that by the end of this month you will be back from your long journey, and that you will be able to rest on your laurels. This rapprochement will in some way lessen the length of the absence, and I would at least believe I see you half here. Goodbye, my dear sister; take good care of your health, and do me the justice to believe me with the most perfect tenderness, my very dear sister, etc.
Wilhelmine is back in Bayreuth, alright, but there are thunderclouds on the political horizon. We haven't touched on this yet, but of course "the 7 Years War" in English usually means the part where the French and the English duked it out in the colonies. Which was indeeed intimatedly connected to the European version, since Fritz allying himself with England at this very point would greatly contribute to France allying itself with Austria.
My dearest sister,
On my return from Silesia, I was delighted by two of your dear letters. I am delighted to know that you are in good health, and I flatter myself that this will continue despite the winter and the harsh seasons. You show me your fears for the war; but, my dear sister, it is very far from the Ohio river at the Sprée, and from the Beau-Sejour fort in Berlin. I would bet that the Austrians will not soon walk in Flanders. War travels like a great lady; it started in America; now it has arrived in the Ocean and in the English Channel; she has not yet landed, and if she takes to the ground in the coming spring, she could perhaps, for greater convenience, take a litter, so that she will be seen coming from afar; and, after all, one is exposed to so many hazards in the common course of life, that war only adds a little more. We can neither make nor destroy the conjunctures; we politicians are only made to profit if we are wise. Now everything is only thinking here of Ferdinand's wedding; it will be done at Charlottenburg, because the Dowager Queen wished it. I will give parties, and Ferdinand will grow stump; you will see a whole tribe come out of this bridal bed; this is only good, because we do not have too much. I kiss your hands, my dear sister, begging you to believe me with the most perfect tenderness
I remain slightly stunned every time I come across this utter lack of predicting anything accurately at the eve of the worst war of the century until Napoleon shows up.
Now, here's a stunner: Fritz mentioning the rape poem:
I will see what I can do this winter to oblige you; there is, among other things, an epic poem of which Valori and Darget are the subjects; but it is so licentious, and besides so badly hatched, that I do not have the courage to submit it to your examination.
Valori, btw, is the French ambassador, with whom the Divine Trio is very friendly. The philosophical letter by AW from Spandau about shooting at sparrows and war as evil which I quote in my review of the Ziebura AW biography is adressed to him. I had forgotten that he also features in this poem. Meaning: Not content with insulting heads of European states (and their mistresses) on a regular basis, Fritz also at a point when France is at war with England and he makes an alliance with England finds time to write satiric porn involving the French ambassador.
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version V: And in the end...
My dearest sister,
I have had the pleasure of receiving two of your letters today, one of which is from the 16th. The bad behavior of my brother of Prussia forces me to leave Leitmeritz; I hope to straighten out his nonsense, if, humanly, this is possible. You judge very well, my dear sister, of our present situation and of what may result from it for the future. As I have no power over secondary causes, I do not pretend to regulate my destinies; I confine myself to behaving wisely, taking advantage of opportunities, if they present themselves to me, and I am resolved to brazenly confreont all the odds that may happen to me. When a horse has taken the bit to the teeth, it does not see, it knows no more danger. I am very angry, my dear sister, for the repercussions you feel from my misfortune; I dare to predict that it will not remain with you, but that the catastrophe will become general, if fortune is not changed soon. In the end, I laugh at the troops of the Empire, and the French, and the Swedes, and the Austrians, if they wanted to succeed one another; but if I had as many arms as Briarée, I could not be enough to dispatch the reborn hydra which presents itself to me, which multiplies every day, and which besieges me on all sides. I am in the case of a traveler attacked by a large troop of brigands who assassinate him, and who share his remains. When I am assassinated, it will not matter to me that two empresses, a Very Christian King, and I do not know how many great princes, all very just and very religious, have done me this honor. I bet for sure that France will sooner or later repent of the folly and the inconsistency of its present conduct; but all that hardly consoles. It sometimes happens that Madame Justice is seduced and allowed to be deceived; we have examples that she hastily hanged men, whose innocence she later recognized, and made very polite apologies to the widow and the children; but it did not restore life to the dead, and he did not only have the consolation of being informed of her regrets. They will not hang me precisely; but the treatment which is being prepared for me is, in truth, hardly much better. Finally, my dear sister, hanged or not, I will be until the last sigh of my life, with the most tender esteem, etc.
Good. Grief.
This is him after winning Roßbach:
My dearest sister,
Finally, my dear sister, I can tell you some good news. You no doubt knew that the coopers, with their circles, wanted to take Leipzig. I came running, and chased them beyond the Saale. The Duke of Richelieu sent them aid of twenty battalions and fourteen squadrons; they said they were sixty-three thousand strong. Yesterday I went to recognize them, and could not attack them in their post, which made them reckless. Today they marched with the intention of attacking me, but I warned them. It was a gentle battle. Thank God I didn't have a hundred men dead; the only badly injured general is Meinike. My brother Henri and General Seydlitz have slight bruises on their arms. We have the whole cannon of the enemy; their rout is total, and I am in full march to push them back beyond the Unstrut. After so many alarms, behold, thanks to heaven, a favorable event, and it will be said that twenty thousand Prussians have defeated fifty thousand French and Germans. Now I will descend peacefully to the grave, since the reputation and honor of my nation is saved. We may be unhappy, but we will not be dishonored. You, my dear sister, my good, divine and tender sister, who deign to take an interest in the fate of a brother who adores you, deign to participate in my joy. As soon as I have time, I will tell you more. I kiss you with all my heart.
And then AW dies. Here I must say the complete letter is actually better than the quote from it I was already familiar with, which was the "I was right, he was wrong" sentence. (It's still incredibly - err, Fritzian.) To recapitulate: The Margrave hadn't told Wilhelmine about AW's death for fear of what it would do to her, and Heinrich had held back for the same reason. Fritz, assuming she already knows, had written the following letter which the Margrave had withheld but eventually, when she worried about not hearing from Fritz and Fritz was freaking out about not hearing from her, gave her, which meant it was thus she found out:
My dearest sister,
I take advantage of a small moment of leisure to renew to you the assurances of my tenderest friendship. You will no doubt know the misfortune which has just taken my brother of Prussia from me. You can judge my affliction and my pain. He had, indeed, last year, acted very badly towards me; but it was rather at the instigation of wicked people than of himself. However, he is no more, and we lose him forever. O you, the dearest of my family! you who hold my heart most in this world, for the love of what is most precious to you, keep yourself, and may I at least have the consolation of being able to shed my tears in your bosom. Do not fear anything for us and for what perhaps will appear to you frightening; you will see that we will get out of this. As I haven't heard from you for a very long time, it makes me tremble for your days. For God, have a servant write: The Margravine is doing well, or: She was inconvenienced. It is better than the cruel uncertainty in which I find myself. Deign to send me a note, and be sure that my existence is inseparable from yours. I am with the most tender friendship and gratitude, my very dear sister, etc.
I had already quoted from the following letter to you; here it is in full: <
My dearest sister,
I was more dead than alive when I received your letter, my dear sister. My God, your handwriting! You must have come back from the tomb, for surely you must have been a hundred times worse than I have been told. I bless heaven for not knowing, but I beg you in grace to borrow the hand of another to write to me, and not to tire yourself so that it could worsen your illness. What! As sick and infirm as you are, you think of all the embarrassments in which I find myself! In truth, this is too much. Rather think, think and persuade yourself well, that without you there is no longer happiness for me in life, that my days depend on yours, and that it depends on you to shorten or extend my career. Yes, my dear sister, it is not really a compliment that I write to you, but it is the bottom of my heart, it is my way of thinking true and constant, from which I cannot give up. Now see if you will take all possible care of your conservation; only on this condition will I judge your kindness for me and the friendship you have with me. I have a terrible task to accomplish; this is what prevents me from talking longer on a matter with which my heart is filled. You may well believe it, just as no one loves or adores you more than, my very dear sister, etc.
My dearest brother,
It is not the king, it is the friend and the dear brother that I dare to take the liberty of writing. My great weakness prevents me from forming characters and even from writing for a long time. I know, my dear brother, that you desire the heart; mine is all yours, for whom my attachment will only end with my life. I have been in hell so far, more spirit than body. To hide from me the loss we have just endured, the Margrave has kept all the letters that have come from you; I thought everything was lost. I have just received these dear letters, which have appeased the bitterness that the death of my brother caused me, to which I was extremely sensitive. You want, my dear brother, to know news of my condition. I have been, like a poor Lazarus, for six months in bed. I have been carried for eight days on a chair and on a chariot, to make me change my attitude a little. I have a dry cough which is very strong, and which we cannot control; my legs, as well as my hands and my face, are swollen like a bushel, which obliges me to reserve to write to you more interesting things by the following part. I am resigned to my fate; I will live and die happy, provided you are happy. My heart tells me that heaven will still work miracles for you. (...) Forgive, my dear brother, if I finish; my chest is so weak that I can barely speak. My heart would chatter from morning until evening, if it could speak and tell you everything it thinks for the dear brother of whom I will be all my life, with very deep respect, etc.
My dearest sister,
Your man wants to leave; I cannot push him out without giving him this letter again. I asked him about everything he knows and doesn't know; he told me he didn't see you. I beg you, please, if you send someone, ensure that he sees you before you leave; I would believe at least find in his eyes the image of the one my heart adores. Finally, my dear sister, I'm starting to flatter myself on your healing, and this idea puts at least a little balm in my blood. For God, don't deny my hopes; it would be a terrible leap, and those kinds of relapses in grief kill. I will go to dinner tomorrow at Dresden, at my brother Henri's. I'm telling you, my dear sister, a foolishness that has crossed my mind, to amuse you. You will say, while reading it: Ah! how crazy! And I will answer you that when one is not destined in the world to become wise, it is hard lost to claim it, and that since the seven wise men of Greece, there was none more. I kiss you a thousand times; my heart and soul are in Baireuth, at home, and my puny body vegetates here, on the highways and in the camps. (...) Deign to do justice to the feelings of an inviolable tenderness that I have vowed to you to the grave, being, my very dear sister, etc.
Wagner is Wilhelmine's doctor:
My dearest brother,
There is never joy without sorrow in this world; if I had followed my inclination, I would have first witnessed to you myself the joy which your last victory caused me; but two swollen arms and the redoubling of the cough prevented me from doing so. I shudder when I think of the unfortunate situation in which you were before this blow, and of which fortunately I only knew a part. (...) You shame, my dear brother, all those who embrace professions. Wagner was quite surprised to see you shine with the ranks of his colleagues. He had already had the good fortune to follow your ideas, but the illness is furiously tenacious; it must be, since you are interested in it, and it does not change, far from it, for I am weakening day by day more. However, the spirit still remains with me. I am with all the tenderness and respect imaginable, my very dear brother, etc.
P. S. My sister Amélie is happy to have had the pleasure of seeing you. If I were healthy, I would brave the Russians and the pandours. Not being able to prove my zeal for the State and for you in the essential things, as did my brothers, allow me to do it for your pleasures by offering trifles which the sky wants you to enjoy soon!
(Meaning: fruit, which she knew he loved. His next letter, the last one, she didn't receive anymore.)
My dearest sister,
Deign to receive kindly the verses I send you. I am so full of you, of your dangers and of my gratitude, that, awake as in a dream, in prose as in poetry, your image also reigns in my mind, and fixes all my thoughts. May the sky grant the wishes that I address to it every day for your convalescence! Cothenius is on the way; I will deify him, if he saves the person in the world who is most dear to my heart, whom I respect and venerate, and whose I am until I return my body to the elements, my dearest sister, etc.
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version V: And in the end...
It's always sad when he writes a letter that's never received. The same happened with his last letter to Algarotti. (Which I have reuploaded to our library, having just realized that the epitaph Fritz wrote got truncated by the script.)
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version V: And in the end...
…yeah.
Here I must say the complete letter is actually better than the quote from it I was already familiar with, which was the "I was right, he was wrong" sentence. (It's still incredibly - err, Fritzian.)
Yeah, I mean, my reaction was, "It's… better than the letter to Heinrich?" But yeah, his pain really comes through in this.
And the rest of the letters are just heartbreaking :(((((((( Oh Fritz, oh Wilhelmine :(
(Also, Margrave! Like, I can see you had good intentions. But ouch!)
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version V: And in the end...
...I wouldn't have wanted to make that call, is what I'm saying, but I think in the end I'd have gone with not letting her imagine Fritz dead, because "first, indissolluble attachments" and all.
BTW, I remember in one of the earliest posts Mildred had asked me whether Fritz was ever known to visit Wilhelmine's grave (to get comparative data for him not visiting Katte's grave), and I couldn't say. That was before I had a clearer idea about the chronology. Given that the war doesn't end until 1763 and the Margrave dies early in that very year, succeeded by crazy uncle Christian who kicks out all the artists and scholars and cuts down contact to the main Hohenzollerns to the absolute mininum, I'm 100% sure he didn't.
(Wilhelmine's daugther the Duchess of Würtemberg who'd been living with her parents moves to Erlangen at this point and also takes up travelling - that's when she meets Voltaire - and visiting Berlin a lot.)
But yes, the letters are heartbreaking, and I'm frowning at Deconstructing Fritz biographer who claims he didn't love her (or any other family member), it was all rethorical posing.
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version V: And in the end...
Wait, a biographer says he didn't love her?? I mean, I could see if you only, like, read the letters where he was mad at her. But!!
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version V: And in the end...
That is useful information! Thank you. I also didn't know anything about the chronology, or uncle Christian, or anyone at all.
Now, I don't *know* that the Antinous statue is the parallel to the Temple of Friendship, but I like to imagine that it was his way of grieving, and that's perfectly valid. There is no One True Way to grieve, pace fans and biographers and Fritz when needling Voltaire, argh.
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
In Fritz's defense (of the timing if not of the content of the poem), the poem itself was composed several years earlier, in 1748-1749, when he had more time. Also, per Preuss, it was heavily influenced by and imitated Voltaire's infamous Pucelle, which Fritz didn't have in complete manuscript form yet, but he had gotten excerpts of beginning in 1742.
Preuss points out that the first line of Pucelle is
Je ne suis né pour célébrer les saints,
and the first line of Palladion is
Je ne suis né pour chanter des héros.
Sincerest form of flattery, Fritz?
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
Incidentally, Ziebura quotes Valori's memoirs a couple of times, but they don't seem to have been published in German. In French, they were published by his descendant in 1820 in two volumes. Valori is respsonsible for one back then often quoted bonmot about Fritz: "Il n'est guère possible d'avoir plus d'esprit, et il est très possible d'en faire un meilleur usage." I wonder whether that got him the dubious honor of starring in the Palladion together with Darget?
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
The thing about Valori is that my sources say Darget was his secretary during the time the poem was set, so if you're writing the poem about Darget, Valori is a logical inclusion, if not a necessary one.
The part I don't understand is why write this poem about someone you want to stay on good terms with. But I haven't read the poem nor do I have enough details about Darget's reaction to have an informed opinion. For example, was Darget's reaction "You WHAT?!" or "This is funny as long as no one else reads it and starts rumors about me, but you surely don't think you can keep this a secret forever, right?--Oh, shit, you just gave Voltaire a copy."
Darget: should have risked being Fritz's Émilie when Fredersdorf was busy having higher priorities, like not antagonizing Fritz.
So, clearly everything would be better if I read this poem, but the chances of me doing that any time soon are low. But! There does seem to be a two-volume German translation (with French original included) plus commentary from 1985. Das Palladion : ein ernsthaftes Gedicht in sechs Gesängen / Friedrich der Grosse ; Kommentarband herausgegeben und erläutert von Jürgen Ziechmann, "Text of poem in French; commentary vol. in German, incl. German translation."
If you ever wanted to see if you could grab that from a library, say. :)
Gossipy sensationalists with scholarly instincts!
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
BTW, Google also tells me that there was a recitation in Neuruppin in 2016. See, they still love you there, Fritz. To the point of reciting your poetry.
Valori shows up quite a lot in Lehndorff's diaries (unsurprisingly, since he was friends with the princes), and our diarist likes him a lot. Must check whether there are any comments about the poem.
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
BTW, Google also tells me that there was a recitation in Neuruppin in 2016. See, they still love you there, Fritz. To the point of reciting your poetry.
Awww. Also, wow, *that* poem. Verily, tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis.
Must check whether there are any comments about the poem.
Please do! Lehndorff's take on this would be amazing, if he has one.
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
Lehndorff on August 10th, 1753: Darget gets his dismissal from the King. He was a man of low birth who had made his name through a beautiful deed when being the secretary of the French envoy Valori. When the envoy was staying in Bohemia in a small town, he was supposed to be arrested by a troop of Austrian husars. As soon as they arrived, Darget threw himself on the bed of his master after having hidden the most important papers away, and claimed to be the envoy himself. He was duly taken prisoner, and only when he was brought in front of Prince Charles - de Lorraine, younger brother of FS - the truth came out. Valori had hidden himself away in a small room and thus escaped a long imprisonment. His Majesty the King who always rewards valiant deeds took him into his service and made him his reader. He has held this position for seven years until his bad state of health made it necessary for him to return to his country. He was a man of wit and of all the Frenchmen at our court the least impudent.
So - his majesty sometimes rewards valiant deeds by writing satiric-erotic poetry about them?
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
Fritz: What's not to like? Everyone should be so lucky as to have a satiric-erotic poem written about their valiant deeds by the King!
Fritz: Just wait until you find the manuscript that contains my take on the Heinrich/Marwitz affair!
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
Speak of holy grails of gossipy sensationalists. :)
Re: Darget and sensationalist gossip, though, I see Trier archive has this to say about him and the Marquis D‘Argent:
D'Argens had a tense relationship with the secretary of the French ambassador, who also worked as a reader from 1749 to 1756 (in this function he followed Lamettrie and was replaced by the Abbé de Prades), secretary and literary agent of Frederick II. Mainvillers reports that Darget in Berlin frequented the house of the Cochois family of actors, which had become a popular meeting place for the theater world, and kept an eye on the third youngest daughter, Marionette (who died of smallpox in 1745). Darget took it into his head to critisize the short-lived magazine L'Observateur Hollandois and Mainvillers Plume sournoise, edited by d'Argens in Berlin. Whereupon D‘Argents responded with a replique in the anonymously published pamphlet Le Galimathias, in which he outed Darget as the author of one of Voltaire's name published Ode To Frederick II. At the same time he worked on Marionette to spoil Darget‘s chances with her. Successfull,y because she then turned to the dancer Novert, who was prettier than Darget and also wanted to marry her. Marionette's brother did his best to end the liaison between his sister and Darget and put Darget out the door. A certain competitive relationship between the two men (Darget and D’Argents) cannot be ruled out.
You think, Trier archive, you think? Also, clearly Voltaire vs Maupertuis was not a the only case of literati feuds at Fritz‘ court, though clearly without Voltaire getting involved, Fritz didn‘t get involved, either. Also, I‘m not clear on whether the implication here is that Darget writing an ode to Fritz and publishing it as supposedly written by Voltaire was a) on Darget‘s own initiative, b) on Fritz‘ orders, or c) because Voltaire was supposed to write it and turned the task over to Darget? (The last I don‘t think is likely because of authorial vanity. Voltaire had too high an opinion of his own talents to allow a ghostwriter to publish verses under his name.).
May I ask what your source is for the story of the French supposedly intending Darget to become a Fritz boytoy and spy on him only to be foiled by either Fritz keeping fondness for good looking men and work apart or Darget being loyal to the King or both? Because it‘s a bit tricky to square it the reason for his hiring as reported by Lehndorff, unless the idea is that Valori and Darget faked the incident in question? Also, what, if anything, DID Fritz think of his pal D‘Argens unmasking his personal reader as the author of an ode to him supposedly written by Voltaire? Isn‘t that, err, a bit embarrassing?
ETA: Also, while Boswell didn‘t manage to get a Fritz audience during his Grand Tour, it looks like he got this on D‘Argens from none other than Lord Marischal, aka Old And Last Surviving Keith: "In the afternoon my Lord was very chatty. He told me that the Marquis d’Argens was a good-natured, amiable man, and much liked by the King of Prussia. He is now old. He has married an actress, whom he keeps in great subjection. He has made her learn Greek, and I don’t know how many things, merely to make her of use to him in studies. He is a miserable being, for he is hypochondriac and terrified for death. He had worn a flannel under-waistcoat four years and durst not take it off for fear of catching cold. The King drove out one fear by another, and told him that if he persisted to wear that waistcoat, his perspiration would be entirely stopped, and he must inevitably die. The marquis agreed to quit his waistcoat. But it had so fixed itself upon him that pieces of his skin came away with it." (Boswell on the Grand Tour: Germany and Switzerland 1764. Edited by Frederick A. Pottle. Melbourne [u.a.]: Heinemann Ltd, S. 15-16)
...these people are all nuts.
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
Speak of holy grails of gossipy sensationalists. :)
I mean, he did say he was going to write their love story! And his erotic poetry has disappeared before, only to turn up later! :D
Darget and D'Argens, sheesh. I don't know enough about the details to have an opinion of my own. I have more questions than answers at this point.
A certain competitive relationship between the two men (Darget and D’Argents) cannot be ruled out.
*blink*
What exactly do they think is a competitive relationship, if not this?
Also, I‘m not clear on whether the implication here is that Darget writing an ode to Fritz and publishing it as supposedly written by Voltaire was a) on Darget‘s own initiative, b) on Fritz‘ orders, or c) because Voltaire was supposed to write it and turned the task over to Darget?
It would help greatly to know what year this was. Also how complimentary vs. snarky the ode was (I trust these people not at all). Agree that (c) is the least likely, because Voltaire.
May I ask what your source is for the story of the French supposedly intending Darget to become a Fritz boytoy and spy on him only to be foiled by either Fritz keeping fondness for good looking men and work apart or Darget being loyal to the King or both? Because it‘s a bit tricky to square it the reason for his hiring as reported by Lehndorff, unless the idea is that Valori and Darget faked the incident in question?
Source is Blanning, who I think is less of an idiot than MacDonogh but I still don't trust him. But I don't think the two stories are irreconcilable, because it goes like this.
According to Blanning, the following are facts:
- Darget was the secretary of Valori.
- Darget got captured by the Austrians pretending to be Valori.
- Fritz requested the French let him have Darget as librarian.
- The French sent Darget as envoy to Fritz in late 1745.
- Darget joined Fritz's court permanently in early 1746.
According to Blanning, the following is an open question:
- Why send a mere secretary on such an important mission to a king, if you're trying not to insult him?
Blanning's headcanon:
- Fritz had already demonstrated that he was attracted to Darget by requesting his transfer to his own court. The French hoped Darget could influence him in ways a more high-ranking but less attractive-to-Fritz official couldn't.
Blanning reports that Fritz refused to stay in the war for the French but kept Darget.
So he's not claiming that the French had Darget infiltrate Fritz's court, just that they used Fritz's pre-existing interest in him. Nothing Blanning says is inconsistent with Lehndorff's story that Fritz was impressed by Darget's loyalty.
But the part about why the French sent Darget as their ambassador is the purest speculation on Blanning's part, which is why I call it a headcanon. If we weren't all gossipy sensationalists looking for homosexual relationships, you could just as easily say that they sent Darget because Fritz had already requested his transfer and the French knew Darget and Fritz were on good terms. Or, if the French political documentation didn't contradict it, that they were very ticked off at the Margrave of Brandenburg, didn't think there was much chance of getting him to not break his word yet again, and sent a secretary on purpose. I mean if Fritz can send a Jacobite envoy to piss off his British relatives...
And as for all the rest of the Darget/d'Argens/Fritz/Voltaire/Palladion madness, I need more facts and more dates before I can venture opinions.
...these people are all nuts.
Have seen this quote, had it bookmarked on my backlog of things to share! In his defense, it's the 18th century, medicine is terrible, nobody has the least idea how disease works, everyone is trying every random thing they can think of to try to stay alive. It's a very common human fallacy (and often not an unreasonable one) to not want to change something you're doing in case that's what's working and not doing it has horrendous consequences.
But as stories go, it's hilarious.
D‘Argens according to Giacomo Casanova
The next day I asked about the Marquis d'Argens and found out that he was in the country with his brother, the President of the Parliament, Marquis d'Eguilles. I went there. The Marquis, who became more famous through the constant friendship of the late Frederick II than through his works that no one reads today, was already old at the time. The Marquis d'Argens lived with the actress Cochois, whom he had married and who knew how to show herself worthy of this honor. As his wife, she felt obliged to be her husband's first servant. The Marquis himself had a thorough knowledge of the Greek and the Hebrew language; he was gifted with a wonderful memory and consequently grafted with scholarship. He received me very well because he remembered what his friend, the Lord Marshal, had written to him about me. He introduced me to his wife and his rather wealthy brother, the President d'Eguilles and a member of parliament in Aix. The later was a friend of literature. He lived a strictly moral way of life, and that was more due to his character than his religious belief. That says a lot; for he was truly pious even though he was a smart man. He was very close to the Jesuits and was even one himself, one of those who were called the short-skinned Jesuits; he loved his brother tenderly and lamented him; but he still hoped that sooner or later the effect of grace would lead him back to the lap of the church. His brother encouraged him to hope and laughed at the same time. Neither could avoid annoying the other with words about religion. (...)
When I had fully regained my strength, I went to the Marquis d'Argens at the President d'Eguilles to say goodbye. After lunch I spent three hours with the learned old gentleman, who told me a hundred stories about the private life of the Prussian king, all of which could be published as anecdotes as soon as I had the time and the desire. He was a ruler with great qualities and big mistakes, like almost all important men; but the entirety and severity of his mistakes were less.
The murdered King of Sweden found pleasure in provoking and defying hatred by following his inclinations. He was born a despot and had to be a despot in order to satisfy his passions, which were dominating him: namely, to talk about himself and be considered a great man. That is why his enemies had dedicated themselves to death to rob him of life. The king should have foreseen his end, for his acts of violence had long driven the oppressed to despair. The Marquis d'Argens gave me all of his works. I asked him if I could really boast of owning all of them and he replied: "Yes, with the exception of part of my life story, which I wrote in my youth and which I printed at that time; now I regret having it written."
„Why?"
"Because I had the enthusiasm of just telling the truth and thereby made myself immortally ridiculous. If you ever feel tempted, dismiss it. I can assure you that you will regret it; because as a man of honor you could only write the truth and as a truth-loving rapporteur you would not only be obliged not to keep silent, but you should not even be cowardly indulgent with the mistakes you made, and as a true philosopher you would then have to list your good deeds as well. You would be obliged to blame and praise yourself alternately... Believe me, dear friend, if a person is not allowed to speak of himself, he is much less permitted to write about himself(. ...)Listen to me, never make the mistake and write down your memoirs. "
Convinced by his wise speeches, I promised him never to commit such foolishness; nevertheless, I have not been doing anything else for seven years, and it has gradually become a necessity for me to finish this, although I already regret starting it. But I write in the hope that my story will never be published; I am sure that during my last illness I will finally be sensible enough to have all my notebooks burned in my presence. If this should not be the case, I count on the indulgence of my readers, and they will not withhold it from me when they learn that writing down my memories was the only cure for me so as not to go mad or die angry at the inconvenience that the villains have given me in the castle of the Count of Waldstein in Dux. By writing ten or twelve hours a day, I prevented the gloomy annoyance from killing me or robbing me of my reason. We'll talk about it in due course.
Re: D‘Argens according to Giacomo Casanova
This reader is deeply glad you wrote your memoirs and they were published, Casanova! Will promise to read them with indulgence. ;)
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
Truly. I see I missed a trick in my Yuletide Madness fluff - because you just know Fritz would have a pseudonymous RPF writers account. (Though the fact he uses this ID to follow Voltaire at his blog and argues in the comments kind of gives it away.)
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
The Very Secret Chat Transcripts: The Sequel
FrankfurtHans: You checked out the comments, didn't you.
F2: I checked out the comments.
FrankfurtHans: Just tell me you didn't link anything that could lead to me. I mean, I live in a free city outside of Prussian territory, but that's never stopped anyone before.
F2: Hey, what do you take me for? No way. It's just... See, when I posted my historical Fritz/Katte AU, I went and checked out the competition. As you do. And in the "Prussian Royalty and Friends RPF" section, there was this guy who had put up some really weird poetry. I mean, the language and metaphors were pretty blah, but it was all RPF. One about what's his name, the Italian has-been, and the other, get this, about how the King's former lector Darget got buggered into gayness. Pretty gross.
FrankfurtHans: Imagine my eyeroll. Look, I've written some explicit stuff myself. It's fine that you don't want to, but some of us dig it.
F2: Thanks for the condescension. Way beside the point. I've read your explicit stuff, if you must know. If you think that poem about how you can't understand Greek and Roman art without having lots of sex is going to cut it... anyway. So this poetry guy has a handle. "Alcibiades", I kid you not. And in addition to the poetry, he's also written some prose RPF about Prince Heinrich and some page. We're talking real names here, man, not AU like me. Some novel called "Henri and the Beautiful Marwitz: An Education for Today's Youth".
FrankfurtHans: I don't get it. I mean, I'm all for fleshing outo supporting characters, but if you are mad enough to write RPF about one of the Hohenzollern using their real names, why Heinrich ? I've seen pictures.
F2: Sometimes I wonder about you, FrankfurtHans.
FranfurtHans: What pleases is permitted. (Erlaubt is, was gefällt.)
F2: If you say so. Aaaaanyway. You know how I'm about to invent the mystery genre for German literature? My sense of said mystery tingled. I thought: who does that? Also, the "Alcibiades" handle sounded familiar, and not from the last time I've read Plato. So I went back to the Ferney_Philosophe blog, and sure enough, some user named Alcibiades is by far the most frequent commenter. Despite being banned by the moderator a couple of times. Though for some reason they keep readmiting him. At that point I smelled a rotten apple.
FrankfurtHans: Are you thinking what I'm thinking...?
F2: Well, if there's another conclusion, I'd like to hear it. And now I'm thinking of taking down my own RPF, because I'm just not cool with all that fourth wall breaking. I like my royals fictional. Or constitutionally fenced in. You-know-who is neither.
FrankfurtHans: Firstly, no way you're taking down that play. It's a masterpiece. And I spent about a million hours beta-reading it. Secondly, for someone who's about to invent the German mystery genre, you're missing one big logical point.
F2: Which is?
FrankfurtHans: You're writing in German. Which means you're totally safe. He's never going to read a single line of your stuff.
F2: ....You know what, you're right. Phew. Okay, gotta go now, duty calls. I can't wait till I'm out of Würtemberg for good!
*F2 has left the Chat*
FrankfurtHans: *uploads "Shakespeare Rocks" Manifesto, "The German Novel: A Primer" Manifesto, "French Drama: Ancient and Outdated" Manifesto* , *German Poetry: A Model of Our Own* Manifesto*
FrankfurtHans: *attaches uploads to email*
FrankfurtHans: *writes Email to FanfictionWriter "Alcibiades": Dear Alcibiades, congrats on the originality of your RPF. Anyone can write about the top dogs; way to go for the bottoms! I'm a fan. However, you might want to branch out, in the interest of reaching a wider readership. Seriously, most users these days just aren't that into French anymore. See documents attached. Hopefully, we'll read your first German story or poem soon! Yours, FrankfurtHans*
FrankfurtHans: *hits *send*
Re: The Very Secret Chat Transcripts: The Sequel
I mean, I live in a free city outside of Prussian territory, but that's never stopped anyone before.
One about what's his name, the Italian has-been
Oh nooo! Awww, poor Algarotti, doomed to being an obscure footnote in the stories of Fritz and Voltaire/Émilie. I love how you worked that in. I love you worked SO MANY things in.
Some novel called "Henri and the Beautiful Marwitz: An Education for Today's Youth".
AHAHAHAHAAA
OH FRITZ
Still waiting for this manuscript to turn up.why Heinrich ? I've seen pictures.
F2: Sometimes I wonder about you, FrankfurtHans.
Lehndorff, who hopefully doesn't follow this, would beg to differ. :P This is SO GREAT.
I like my royals fictional. Or constitutionally fenced in. You-know-who is neither.
With you on that, F2. I like mine 200+ years dead and mostly fictional. :P
You're writing in German. Which means you're totally safe. He's never going to read a single line of your stuff.
LOL FOREVER
FrankfurtHans: *uploads "Shakespeare Rocks" Manifesto, "The German Novel: A Primer" Manifesto, "French Drama: Ancient and Outdated" Manifesto* , *German Poetry: A Model of Our Own* Manifesto*
O.M.G. Way to have your friend's back! (And I do mean that literally and not sarcastically: this is a guaranteed way to ensure complete safety of all German literature from Fritz's, I mean Alcibiades', eyes.)
"French Drama: Ancient and Outdated" Manifesto*"
The only thing that comes to mind is "Them's fightin' words."
Also, the Alcibiades to Voltaire's Socrates, that was another total gem.
Okay, I *really* need to get back to Heinrich correspondence--getting closer!--but then I will go catch up on comments.
Re: The Very Secret Chat Transcripts: The Sequel
Re: The Very Secret Chat Transcripts: The Sequel
FrankfurtHans: You checked out the comments, didn't you.
F2: I checked out the comments.
HAHAHAHAHA
One about what's his name, the Italian has-been
Heeeeeee this made me laugh
Look, I've written some explicit stuff myself. It's fine that you don't want to, but some of us dig it.
All these guys really map way too well on fandom, don't they?
If you think that poem about how you can't understand Greek and Roman art without having lots of sex is going to cut it
Gossipy sensationalisticInquiring but sadly not-literate-enough minds want to know!why Heinrich ? I've seen pictures.
HAHAHAHAHA this was my favorite line!
some user named Alcibiades is by far the most frequent commenter. Despite being banned by the moderator a couple of times. Though for some reason they keep readmiting him.
Heeeeeee! This is sooooo hilarious <3
Hopefully, we'll read your first German story or poem soon! Yours, FrankfurtHans*
FrankfurtHans: *hits *send*
Alcibiades: *spams Twitter, AO3 meta, and all other social media platforms with resulting rant* :D
Re: The Very Secret Chat Transcripts: The Sequel
Re: The Very Secret Chat Transcripts: The Sequel - the literary footnotes
Re: The Very Secret Chat Transcripts: The Sequel - the literary footnotes
Re: The Very Secret Chat Transcripts: The Sequel - the literary footnotes
Re: The Very Secret Chat Transcripts: The Sequel - the literary footnotes
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...