Reminder: The Prince of Prussia is future FW2, AW's son.
Potsdam: July 3rd: At ten (Lord Marischal) carried me to the Parade, which was full of Prussian officers, all bold looking, all gay, all well-dressed. He presented me to the Prince of Prussia, calling me 'd'une tres bonne maison et fort galant homme' . (...) I then waited on Mr. Catt Reader to the King to whom I had a letter from M. de Zuyl He was sick & could not go out with me; but he was civil. I found him dry & even insipid. Madame de Froment & I dined téte á téte, after which we went & were shown the Palace which is magnificent. the King's Concert-Room is very elegant. We looked thro' a glass door & saw his Bedchamber, & a neat little library. All his books were bound in red turkie & handsomely gilt. They made me think of my dear Temple. They would have pleased him much. In the Antichamber were a good many books ,but our conductor would not allow us to lift any of them, for, he said, the King knew the exact place of every one of them. I saw Oeuvres of Voltaire, & a fine quarto edition of the Oeuvres du Philosophe de Sans-Souci. (...) I was in a humour of gallantry tonight. I was pleased with the romantic idea of making love to a Turk. However I talked morality at last & thought myself a Johnson. She seemed too indolent in body & too vivacious in mind to be a very rigid Lady. Besides her ideas were quite different from mine. Her Religion was of a kind very different from mine. Bless me. What are mortals!
Boswell sees Fritz, from a distance, the one way everyone could see him without getting an audience, attending a parade. Note that this was the year when Heinrich pissed him off by not saluting properly.
I rose fresh as a Ro on the Braes of Lochaber. I find that if I had got a Commission in a Highland Corps, I should have been as stout a Donald as the best of them. I waited on my good Lord Marischal, whom I found contented and as cheerful as ever. I then went to the Parade. I saw the King. It was a glorious Sight. He was dressed in a suit of plain blue, with a star, & a plain hat with a white feather. He had in his hand a cane. The sun shone brihgt. He stood before his palace, with an air of iron confidence that could not be opposed. As a loadstone moves needles, or a storm bows the lofty oaks, did Frederic the great make the Prussian officers submissive bend, as he walked majestic in the midst of them. I was in noble spirits & had a full relish of this grand scene, which I shall never forget. I felt a crowd of ideas. I beheld the King who has astonished Europe by his warlike deeds. I beheld (pleasant conceit!) the great defender of the Protestant Cause, who was being prayed for in all the Scots Kirks. I beheld the Philosophe de Sans Souci. I have really a little mind, with all my pride. For I thought one might well endure all the fatigues of war, in order to have an opportunity of appearing grand as this Monarch.
(Boswell will change his mind on this once he comes to Dresden; stay tuned.) Friday 21 September:
The whim struck me to put on a blue bonnet, and appear quite a Scots Gentleman. I went in this dress to the parade of the Prince of Prussia. The Prince observed me & asked Scott Qu'est-ce que ce petit bonnt que porte ce monsieur la? Scott said: C'est le bonnet que portent les Gentilhommes Ecossois. The poor Prince did not like it much, nor could he think that he was a Lord's son who wore it. No matter - I was pleased, and boldly did I march upon the Parade before the Palace, where I again saw the King. But he did not look towards me. However I was pleased to have shown the first blue bonnet on the Prussian Parade.
And that's why your friends won't introduce you to Fritz, Boswell. Otoh, he gets to hang out with "Blancho", who the footnote tells me is the Swedish Ambassador Karl Julius, Count von Bohlen, and on Tudesday, September 4th, shares this spicy bit of gossip:
He entertained me much; being a fellow of knowledge and clear expression. He said the French music was a contrast to the French temper. The French are gay. their music is grave. A Frenchman never looks so serious, as when he sings a song. He said the King of Prussia had been sadly debauched in his youth: for he sued to go to the common bawdy houses as well as to divert himself with the Ladies of the Court. He is now (said Blancho) quite impotent.
Now I would say that Blancho clearly reads anonymous trashy pamphlets, but if I recall correctly the one in question while drawing the STD in his youth => now has to bottom, not top correlation does not claim brothels as well as ladies of the court for young Fritz. This strictly het version, which is exactly the one Zimmermann will provide after Fritz' death, is also interesting because it's not that Boswell censors himself when there's non-het gossip to be had. Elsewhere, with no Fritzian connection, he notes down that such and such is suspect of having "Italian habits", which the footnote says means "is gay".
On Wednesday, September 26th, Boswell, now in Anhalt, hears the story of Voltaire, Fritz and the laundry, in this form: M. Lestock. Gouv: de Prince spoke well - Le Roi de Prusse venoit un jour. Que faites vous Voltaire? Sire, j'arrange votre linge sale.
Which is a bit different to the version we know, but like the many versions of the last Fritz/Katte exchange, there's a shared core. Since Boswell is currently at a minor German court whose prince (AnhaltSophie's brother, married to Mina's sister and driving her to an early grave) isn't even in residence, it really must have spread far and wide.
When Boswell arrives at Dresden, he is well and truly shocked by the scars from the war, and his Fritz opinion plunges downwards. No more hero of the Protestant faith, for:
Tuesday 9 October: I strolled about & viewed the city. It is finely built of freestone. It gave me great pain to see the ruins made by the Prussian bombardments. I hated the barbarous hero. He was under no necessity to bombard Dresden. It was from mere spite that he did it.
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Boswell in Prussia: All Things Fritz
Date: 2020-10-24 03:05 pm (UTC)Potsdam: July 3rd: At ten (Lord Marischal) carried me to the Parade, which was full of Prussian officers, all bold looking, all gay, all well-dressed. He presented me to the Prince of Prussia, calling me 'd'une tres bonne maison et fort galant homme' . (...) I then waited on Mr. Catt Reader to the King to whom I had a letter from M. de Zuyl He was sick & could not go out with me; but he was civil. I found him dry & even insipid. Madame de Froment & I dined téte á téte, after which we went & were shown the Palace which is magnificent. the King's Concert-Room is very elegant. We looked thro' a glass door & saw his Bedchamber, & a neat little library. All his books were bound in red turkie & handsomely gilt. They made me think of my dear Temple. They would have pleased him much. In the Antichamber were a good many books ,but our conductor would not allow us to lift any of them, for, he said, the King knew the exact place of every one of them. I saw Oeuvres of Voltaire, & a fine quarto edition of the Oeuvres du Philosophe de Sans-Souci. (...) I was in a humour of gallantry tonight. I was pleased with the romantic idea of making love to a Turk. However I talked morality at last & thought myself a Johnson. She seemed too indolent in body & too vivacious in mind to be a very rigid Lady. Besides her ideas were quite different from mine. Her Religion was of a kind very different from mine. Bless me. What are mortals!
Boswell sees Fritz, from a distance, the one way everyone could see him without getting an audience, attending a parade. Note that this was the year when Heinrich pissed him off by not saluting properly.
I rose fresh as a Ro on the Braes of Lochaber. I find that if I had got a Commission in a Highland Corps, I should have been as stout a Donald as the best of them. I waited on my good Lord Marischal, whom I found contented and as cheerful as ever. I then went to the Parade. I saw the King. It was a glorious Sight. He was dressed in a suit of plain blue, with a star, & a plain hat with a white feather. He had in his hand a cane. The sun shone brihgt. He stood before his palace, with an air of iron confidence that could not be opposed. As a loadstone moves needles, or a storm bows the lofty oaks, did Frederic the great make the Prussian officers submissive bend, as he walked majestic in the midst of them. I was in noble spirits & had a full relish of this grand scene, which I shall never forget. I felt a crowd of ideas. I beheld the King who has astonished Europe by his warlike deeds. I beheld (pleasant conceit!) the great defender of the Protestant Cause, who was being prayed for in all the Scots Kirks. I beheld the Philosophe de Sans Souci. I have really a little mind, with all my pride. For I thought one might well endure all the fatigues of war, in order to have an opportunity of appearing grand as this Monarch.
(Boswell will change his mind on this once he comes to Dresden; stay tuned.)
Friday 21 September:
The whim struck me to put on a blue bonnet, and appear quite a Scots Gentleman. I went in this dress to the parade of the Prince of Prussia. The Prince observed me & asked Scott Qu'est-ce que ce petit bonnt que porte ce monsieur la? Scott said: C'est le bonnet que portent les Gentilhommes Ecossois. The poor Prince did not like it much, nor could he think that he was a Lord's son who wore it. No matter - I was pleased, and boldly did I march upon the Parade before the Palace, where I again saw the King. But he did not look towards me. However I was pleased to have shown the first blue bonnet on the Prussian Parade.
And that's why your friends won't introduce you to Fritz, Boswell. Otoh, he gets to hang out with "Blancho", who the footnote tells me is the Swedish Ambassador Karl Julius, Count von Bohlen, and on Tudesday, September 4th, shares this spicy bit of gossip:
He entertained me much; being a fellow of knowledge and clear expression. He said the French music was a contrast to the French temper. The French are gay. their music is grave. A Frenchman never looks so serious, as when he sings a song. He said the King of Prussia had been sadly debauched in his youth: for he sued to go to the common bawdy houses as well as to divert himself with the Ladies of the Court. He is now (said Blancho) quite impotent.
Now I would say that Blancho clearly reads anonymous trashy pamphlets, but if I recall correctly the one in question while drawing the STD in his youth => now has to bottom, not top correlation does not claim brothels as well as ladies of the court for young Fritz. This strictly het version, which is exactly the one Zimmermann will provide after Fritz' death, is also interesting because it's not that Boswell censors himself when there's non-het gossip to be had. Elsewhere, with no Fritzian connection, he notes down that such and such is suspect of having "Italian habits", which the footnote says means "is gay".
On Wednesday, September 26th, Boswell, now in Anhalt, hears the story of Voltaire, Fritz and the laundry, in this form: M. Lestock. Gouv: de Prince spoke well - Le Roi de Prusse venoit un jour. Que faites vous Voltaire? Sire, j'arrange votre linge sale.
Which is a bit different to the version we know, but like the many versions of the last Fritz/Katte exchange, there's a shared core. Since Boswell is currently at a minor German court whose prince (AnhaltSophie's brother, married to Mina's sister and driving her to an early grave) isn't even in residence, it really must have spread far and wide.
When Boswell arrives at Dresden, he is well and truly shocked by the scars from the war, and his Fritz opinion plunges downwards. No more hero of the Protestant faith, for:
Tuesday 9 October:
I strolled about & viewed the city. It is finely built of freestone. It gave me great pain to see the ruins made by the Prussian bombardments. I hated the barbarous hero. He was under no necessity to bombard Dresden. It was from mere spite that he did it.