I'm not sure that Lehndorff is right about him secretly wanting another war despite of what he says. Though on the other hand, he could be, or at the very least torn. He is restless, he knows he's good at war, and like all of FW's kids, he believes in being useful. Then again, he probably imagines, like MT at the same time in Vienna, what a disaster another bloody war would be for everyone involved and shudders.
Mixed feelings makes sense to me. At the very least, I agree he wasn't gung-ho about it, not after the Seven Years' War.
So: some people actually get out of town when told they should get out of town! Just saying.
Lol. :P Clearly, she didn't have a princess to protect!
Incidentally, if Voltaire did take too much opium, then, based on the fact he spent the last week of his life in tremendous physical pain, I'd speculate it was quite intentionally (on both his and Richelieu's part).
That's exactly what I was thinking, having read your account of his last days.
Lehndorff knows about Fritz' spectacles and mentions them casually, so presumably this isn't newas or something lately learned by him.
Interesting! Maybe it's less of a problem to need glasses in 1778 (the man is 66) than in 1740? I mean, this is right around the time Fritz has to stop playing the flute because he's losing his front teeth, so everyone knows he's slowly falling apart (and reports of his impending demise have been greatly exaggerated). Maybe he even pretends, or Lehndorff assumes, he only needs them for reading, i.e. is farsighted like many people as they get older. Especially as the spectacles get mentioned right after "important papers."
Re: The Lehndorff Report: We didn't start the fire! (1778 - 1780)
Mixed feelings makes sense to me. At the very least, I agree he wasn't gung-ho about it, not after the Seven Years' War.
So: some people actually get out of town when told they should get out of town! Just saying.
Lol. :P Clearly, she didn't have a princess to protect!
Incidentally, if Voltaire did take too much opium, then, based on the fact he spent the last week of his life in tremendous physical pain, I'd speculate it was quite intentionally (on both his and Richelieu's part).
That's exactly what I was thinking, having read your account of his last days.
Lehndorff knows about Fritz' spectacles and mentions them casually, so presumably this isn't newas or something lately learned by him.
Interesting! Maybe it's less of a problem to need glasses in 1778 (the man is 66) than in 1740? I mean, this is right around the time Fritz has to stop playing the flute because he's losing his front teeth, so everyone knows he's slowly falling apart (and reports of his impending demise have been greatly exaggerated). Maybe he even pretends, or Lehndorff assumes, he only needs them for reading, i.e. is farsighted like many people as they get older. Especially as the spectacles get mentioned right after "important papers."