Not if he doesn't want to get replaced as envoy (see above).
I should say that most of the Fritz and Mitchell conversations reported in the dispatches and the journal are on military matters. Conversations like that about Fritz' youth are the exceptions, not the rule. Which is why Mitchell never was treasured a source as Henri de Catt was. But they really seem to have gotten along well, even after Fritz went off the Brits for not giving him money anymore. Also, it amuses me that all the English sources mention Fritz crying at his funeral as a big deal. I mean, for Victorian and current day British men, sure, but not for Rokoko guys. Fritz: crying over poetry and proud of it. Also not an exception in this. (This being said, the fact he went to the funeral, which he surely didn't do for cousin G3's sake, says a lot.)
Our Lehndorff, as mentioned elsewhere, likes Mitchell very much, too. In the second volume (aka all the bits 1906 editor cut out from the first), Mitchell shows up a lot, not just the two times he's mentioned in the first volume, and typical entries go:
I had the urgent wish to make friends with Mr. Mitchell, the English envoy. His personality, his conversation, his natural manners agree with me, but I let the first six weeks of his being here pass in order to give him time to settle in. Now I start to socialize with him, and I observe he seems to be receptive to the friendship I show him.
Remember, though, end of 1755/ first half of 1756 is Lehndorff's time with Hotham, learning English and hoping to make it across the pond. Two days later:
I participate in a nice dinner organized by Count Finck. Another guest is Mr. Mitchell who wins himself more and more friend with his integrity and sense of justice.
And just a few days before the famous Marwitz entry: From there, I go to my friend Mitchell, who has arrived from Dresden as well. (As well as Heinrich, whom Lehndorff naturally visited first.) He is as pleased to see me as I am to embrace him. He is a true Englishman* with all the virtues of this nation. It seems that he's fed up with the war he's currently experiencing at the King's side and would be glad to resume his work as ambassador in quiet Berlin.
We're still in 1756, mind. Seven more years to go. But Mitchell stays "my friend Mitchell". Before you ask, no, Lehndorff isn't mentioned in the dispatches and journal excerpts selected by Bisset. Which isn't surprising. It's 1850, no one knows who Lehndorff was, and even if they did, they'd hardly care about the Queen's chamberlain. Bisset's selection of Mitchell's papers is focused on the 7 Years War as the era of most interest to his British readers; there are only a few documents from the peace time aftewards (though Mitchell continued to live in Berlin until his death in the 1770s), because, says Bisset, a diplomat's work in peace time is boring to the reader.
*He's a Scot from Aberdeen, Lehndorff! I hope you didn't praise his Englishness too much in front of him.
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Re: Saxon envoys
Date: 2020-02-18 10:35 am (UTC)I should say that most of the Fritz and Mitchell conversations reported in the dispatches and the journal are on military matters. Conversations like that about Fritz' youth are the exceptions, not the rule. Which is why Mitchell never was treasured a source as Henri de Catt was. But they really seem to have gotten along well, even after Fritz went off the Brits for not giving him money anymore. Also, it amuses me that all the English sources mention Fritz crying at his funeral as a big deal. I mean, for Victorian and current day British men, sure, but not for Rokoko guys. Fritz: crying over poetry and proud of it. Also not an exception in this. (This being said, the fact he went to the funeral, which he surely didn't do for cousin G3's sake, says a lot.)
Our Lehndorff, as mentioned elsewhere, likes Mitchell very much, too. In the second volume (aka all the bits 1906 editor cut out from the first), Mitchell shows up a lot, not just the two times he's mentioned in the first volume, and typical entries go:
I had the urgent wish to make friends with Mr. Mitchell, the English envoy. His personality, his conversation, his natural manners agree with me, but I let the first six weeks of his being here pass in order to give him time to settle in. Now I start to socialize with him, and I observe he seems to be receptive to the friendship I show him.
Remember, though, end of 1755/ first half of 1756 is Lehndorff's time with Hotham, learning English and hoping to make it across the pond. Two days later:
I participate in a nice dinner organized by Count Finck. Another guest is Mr. Mitchell who wins himself more and more friend with his integrity and sense of justice.
And just a few days before the famous Marwitz entry: From there, I go to my friend Mitchell, who has arrived from Dresden as well. (As well as Heinrich, whom Lehndorff naturally visited first.) He is as pleased to see me as I am to embrace him. He is a true Englishman* with all the virtues of this nation. It seems that he's fed up with the war he's currently experiencing at the King's side and would be glad to resume his work as ambassador in quiet Berlin.
We're still in 1756, mind. Seven more years to go. But Mitchell stays "my friend Mitchell". Before you ask, no, Lehndorff isn't mentioned in the dispatches and journal excerpts selected by Bisset. Which isn't surprising. It's 1850, no one knows who Lehndorff was, and even if they did, they'd hardly care about the Queen's chamberlain. Bisset's selection of Mitchell's papers is focused on the 7 Years War as the era of most interest to his British readers; there are only a few documents from the peace time aftewards (though Mitchell continued to live in Berlin until his death in the 1770s), because, says Bisset, a diplomat's work in peace time is boring to the reader.
*He's a Scot from Aberdeen, Lehndorff! I hope you didn't praise his Englishness too much in front of him.