And then, of course, Fritz writes to Voltaire. Bronisch admits that the double attack of Le Chetardie (the French envoy trying to steer the future King away from Vienna and to France) on the political and Voltaire on the pilosophical front wasn't the only reason why the Fritz/Manteuffel relationship started to get less close, then dissolve in later 1736 to 1737, he says Fritz probably became aware just how much Private Citizen Mantteuffel was involved with Team Habsburg, but he still thinks it's a key factor. Of course, Manteuffel didn't back off without a fight. Among other things, he financed the reprint in Prussia of not one but two anti-Voltaire pamphlets from Voltaire's arch enemies back home in France. This did not work as intended. Then there was the Pyrrhic victory of FW at long last coming around to not just tolerating but reading Wolff in 1739 (which took away from Wolff's remaining coolness in Fritz' eyes, though at that point he'd long since moved on in essence), of which the most blatant proof was in one of FW's hobby paintings from his last months of life. It shows Nossig, who Bronisch says was at that point one of Gundling's successor's as court fool (sigh, see above) and especially stupid. The painting depicts Nossic with asses ears and hung with bells reading various Pietist works, among them, prominently, several books by Joachim Lange, aka Wolff's arch enemy mainly responsible for his banishment, including Lang's "Exegese der Apostelbriefe" which had been printed on FW's orders just a few years earlier. (Manteuffel writes about this painting to Brühl.) However, as felis mentioned, at this point Manteuffel and the other Berlin Wolffians were actually not keen at all in the idea of FW doing the recalling and reinstating of Wolff, because the triumphant return of Wolff was supposed to happen on Fritz' orders, thereby associating Wolff as THE philosopher of the new regime, not some last moment note of grace for the old one. As FW had sent another "court fool" named Morgenstern (meaning: maybe he was a fool, maybe he was, like Gundling, a scholar with the bad luck of being treated like one; at any rate, FW had promotedim in 1735 to Vice President of the university of Frankfurt an der Oder, and ordered as Morgenstern's introduction a debate on the subject of "Scholars are Fools and Blabberboxes") ) to sound out Wolff. This, Morgenstern managed, and heard from Wolff over a shared cup of coffee that sure, he'd love nothing better than return to Halle, especially since his wife is heartily sick of exile and wants back to her old home, if only such and such minor impendiment didn't exist. Morgenstern goes back to Berlin to report this to FW.
Team Berlin Wolffians, mainly bookseller Haude, Reinbek and Manteuffel, do not like to hear this. Haude writes in umistakable terms to Wolff on 31st October 1739 that he should trust his true friends in Berlin, the Aletophiles, and not to a court fool, for God's sake, see attached also two letters from Manteuffel, your most influential patron, Wolff, remember? DO NOT ACCEPT FW'S OFFER. Mantteuffel's own argument is of the psychological type, using period sexism very effectively; if Wolff now attempts, one has to assume that he was "un homme absulement gouverné par sa femme et qui par consequent n'est grand Philosophe". That does it. Wolff says of course he's the boss in his marriage and yeah, no accepting of FW's offer, promise.
Other Manteuffel activities of the 1739 include preparing a translated into French volume of "Best of Wolff" extracts under the title Le Roi Philosophe, dedicated to the Crown Prince of Prussia. Fritz' reply when he gets the printed copy in 1740 a few days before FW's death, once more raises everyone's hopes (Gottsched, another new literary Manteuffel friend at this point) quickly translates into German and spreads it and made the Wolffians hope once more that the fight for Fritz wasn't all lost, as it's very gracious, on the notes that not only every citizen but every prince and king should read this and it is up to the wise of this world to teach princes etc etc., and he's studied this for a long time and is delighted, etc. Alas. Alack. History happens. Btw, to Fritz' credit, especially that he later catches a lot of deserved flack for his treatment of German writers, thinkers and scientists, once Wolff has made it back to Halle, he really does his best to make Wolff accept a membership of the Academy. Which Wolff absolutely won't. One of the main arguments is the langugage: Wolff says that while he can read French, he can't understand it when it's spoken out loud and so quickly (I emphatize), let alone speak it, and Fritz has just nixed the previous Academy language, which was Latin, and which Wolff could speak, and won't accept German. As for the other Academy members already called according to the papers, this Algarotti fellow (WTF Newton for Ladies?), Maupertuis (did he really compare exploring Lappland to exploring a woman's body ?!?) and Voltaire (Arggggggh), yeah, no. "I can't talk to them, and they don't understand me." He stays in Halle, thank you very much.
As for Manteuffel, he moves to Leipzig after Fritz kicks him out shortly before invading Silesia (on November 5th 1740). Even Bronisch admits this was a necessary and prudent measure, since Manteuffel after Grumbkow died in 1739 immediately wrote home to Dresden and asked for a budget raise to he could take over Grumbkow's spy network, which he got and which he did. Post successful Silesian invasion, the remaining Aletophiles in Berlin became splintered, as many were swayed to the Fritzian side. When Reinbek made the mistake of writing a "Silesia Fuck Yeah!" type of letter, Manteuffel fired off a reply that's also an evisceration of Fritz, rethorically asking there was either a legal by HRE law justification for the invasion, or one by natural law, or one on the basis of religion (which Reinbek had argued), i.e. Fritz needing to save the Silesian Protestants from Catholic MT? And his reply to each of these was no. Fritz has become a gangster with good PR just another despot and a robber donning the robes of monarch. So much for you, Alcibiades.
Still, Manteuffel keeps up the good networking work and continues to be an A plus encourager of writers and philosophers. The refounded Aletophiles in Leipzig even have a female member, Louise Gottsched (remember her? Émilie fan and translator?), who points out to him in a letter even before the Silesian invasion that this Roi Philosophe dedication to Fritz and the whole Roi Philosophe concept is a mistake because she knows of not a few princes who had a great education and knew damm well what they were doing and did it anyway. Philosophy does not keep them from this.
Meanwhile, the remaining Berlin Aletophiles, if they haven't changed sides like Haude or miraculously managed remain friendly to both like Formey, don't fare so well. Primary example: Dechamps. Manteuffel protegé Dechamps in 1736 managed to score a double employment - he became Fritz' official court preacher at Rheinsberg (if you're surprised Fritz had an official court preacher at Rheinsberg, remember FW being alive and making surprise visits) as well as teacher to Heinrich and Ferdinand. (How this worked out geographically, I don't know.) He pointedly addresses Wolffian themes in his preachings. In 1741, he attempts to strike out against Voltaire in a major way and gets busy writing Cours abrégé de la philosophie wolffiene en formé de lettres, in wihch he says that Voltaire was just a rude religion mocker with the ability of making some neat verses, and an ugly, grimacing dwarf of a man to boot. Also, the works of the great Wolff naturally can't be understood by such a creature. Dechamps dedicates this to his two students and sends a copy directly to Fritz as soon as it's printed. The reaction doesn't take long. On November 1742, a one act play gets performed in Charlottenburg, Le singe de la Mode, in which a stupid provincial nobleman is looking for books to feel the shelves of his new library with. He discovers that the volumes best suited for this purpose are hundreds of copies of Dechamps' Cours abregé, which he can get to a bargain price since no one wanted to buy or read them. The author of this play: Fritz. How does Dechamps find out? From little Ferdinand. Oh, and he doesn't get his salary for teaching Ferdinand and Heinrich, either, and Fritz appoints Bielfeld as competing teacher, and Dechamps doesn't get to be a member of the Royal Academy. In 1746, he's finally had it (why so late?) and leaves Berlin for The Hague and London.
Formey, otoh, gets asked by Voltaire whether he's one of those men paid to fool the people (Formey is a Calvinist clergyman) when first they meet, but he does get to be an academy member (and a good thing, too, or Mildred would never have read his obituary for Peter). His main work, other than obituaries, is the six volume philosophical novel "La Belle Wolffienne". In volume 2, which he works on in the early 1740s, he gets into a major spiritual crisis, which Manteuffel by mail manages to talk him through, so the rest of the magnum opus can be published. Manteuffel doesn't live long enough to witness the big Voltaire implosion, but he gets to see the first big Academy controversy from afar, see my write up of the Maupertuis biography. He also guides August III's son Christian August in his studies (Christian August, alas, will die in the same year his father will, in 1763), and dies a respected and admired private citizen (we swear!) in 1749.
As for Christian Wolff: in 1743, Fritz en route to Bayreuth stops in Halle. Wolff presents himself, but is told to wait in the antechambre and in the end is not received. This is of course on the same trip where Voltaire is with Fritz, visiting Wilhelmine, so Wolff notes in a letter to Manteuffel. Just to complete the humilation, in Histoire de mon temps, Fritz writes years later that there were only two German professors of genius ever: Only two men distinguish themselves through their genius and honor the nation: the great Leipniz and the learned Thomasius. I'm leaving Wolff aside. He just repeats Leipniz' system and repeats ramblingly what the later has written with fire and inspiration. Most German scholars were simple craftsmen, while the French ones were artists.
1790s German writer Boie, like many young men of the time a frustrated Fritz fan: I won't accept this.
Boie: writes RPF titled "Totengespräche", in which dead Fritz, with Voltaire at his side, meets dead Wolff in the underworld and tells Wolff he was the first one to make him think, the author of his soul and mind, everything he became as a thinker, he owes thus to Wolff. Wolff modestly says there's a much greater one he must present to Fritz and points to Lessing. Fritz and Wolff leave the unworthy shallow Voltaire behind and unite with Gotthold Ephraim Lessing in the Hereafter. Happy ending!
Bronisch: yeah, I know. Even the idea that Wolff would have admired Lessing doesn't fit, never mind Fritz. But I still wanted to tell you the story. One more thing: Fritz totally named Sanssouci after Manteuffel's Sanssouci, and it wasn't because he was looking for his grave, it was because he was pining for the happy time with his mentor in the mid 1730s. So there. The end.
His Name is Diable. Le Diable: Bad Times
Team Berlin Wolffians, mainly bookseller Haude, Reinbek and Manteuffel, do not like to hear this. Haude writes in umistakable terms to Wolff on 31st October 1739 that he should trust his true friends in Berlin, the Aletophiles, and not to a court fool, for God's sake, see attached also two letters from Manteuffel, your most influential patron, Wolff, remember? DO NOT ACCEPT FW'S OFFER. Mantteuffel's own argument is of the psychological type, using period sexism very effectively; if Wolff now attempts, one has to assume that he was "un homme absulement gouverné par sa femme et qui par consequent n'est grand Philosophe". That does it. Wolff says of course he's the boss in his marriage and yeah, no accepting of FW's offer, promise.
Other Manteuffel activities of the 1739 include preparing a translated into French volume of "Best of Wolff" extracts under the title Le Roi Philosophe, dedicated to the Crown Prince of Prussia. Fritz' reply when he gets the printed copy in 1740 a few days before FW's death, once more raises everyone's hopes (Gottsched, another new literary Manteuffel friend at this point) quickly translates into German and spreads it and made the Wolffians hope once more that the fight for Fritz wasn't all lost, as it's very gracious, on the notes that not only every citizen but every prince and king should read this and it is up to the wise of this world to teach princes etc etc., and he's studied this for a long time and is delighted, etc. Alas. Alack. History happens. Btw, to Fritz' credit, especially that he later catches a lot of deserved flack for his treatment of German writers, thinkers and scientists, once Wolff has made it back to Halle, he really does his best to make Wolff accept a membership of the Academy. Which Wolff absolutely won't. One of the main arguments is the langugage: Wolff says that while he can read French, he can't understand it when it's spoken out loud and so quickly (I emphatize), let alone speak it, and Fritz has just nixed the previous Academy language, which was Latin, and which Wolff could speak, and won't accept German. As for the other Academy members already called according to the papers, this Algarotti fellow (WTF Newton for Ladies?), Maupertuis (did he really compare exploring Lappland to exploring a woman's body ?!?) and Voltaire (Arggggggh), yeah, no. "I can't talk to them, and they don't understand me." He stays in Halle, thank you very much.
As for Manteuffel, he moves to Leipzig after Fritz kicks him out shortly before invading Silesia (on November 5th 1740). Even Bronisch admits this was a necessary and prudent measure, since Manteuffel after Grumbkow died in 1739 immediately wrote home to Dresden and asked for a budget raise to he could take over Grumbkow's spy network, which he got and which he did. Post successful Silesian invasion, the remaining Aletophiles in Berlin became splintered, as many were swayed to the Fritzian side. When Reinbek made the mistake of writing a "Silesia Fuck Yeah!" type of letter, Manteuffel fired off a reply that's also an evisceration of Fritz, rethorically asking there was either a legal by HRE law justification for the invasion, or one by natural law, or one on the basis of religion (which Reinbek had argued), i.e. Fritz needing to save the Silesian Protestants from Catholic MT? And his reply to each of these was no. Fritz has become
a gangster with good PRjust another despot and a robber donning the robes of monarch. So much for you, Alcibiades.Still, Manteuffel keeps up the good networking work and continues to be an A plus encourager of writers and philosophers. The refounded Aletophiles in Leipzig even have a female member, Louise Gottsched (remember her? Émilie fan and translator?), who points out to him in a letter even before the Silesian invasion that this Roi Philosophe dedication to Fritz and the whole Roi Philosophe concept is a mistake because she knows of not a few princes who had a great education and knew damm well what they were doing and did it anyway. Philosophy does not keep them from this.
Meanwhile, the remaining Berlin Aletophiles, if they haven't changed sides like Haude or miraculously managed remain friendly to both like Formey, don't fare so well. Primary example: Dechamps. Manteuffel protegé Dechamps in 1736 managed to score a double employment - he became Fritz' official court preacher at Rheinsberg (if you're surprised Fritz had an official court preacher at Rheinsberg, remember FW being alive and making surprise visits) as well as teacher to Heinrich and Ferdinand. (How this worked out geographically, I don't know.) He pointedly addresses Wolffian themes in his preachings. In 1741, he attempts to strike out against Voltaire in a major way and gets busy writing Cours abrégé de la philosophie wolffiene en formé de lettres, in wihch he says that Voltaire was just a rude religion mocker with the ability of making some neat verses, and an ugly, grimacing dwarf of a man to boot. Also, the works of the great Wolff naturally can't be understood by such a creature. Dechamps dedicates this to his two students and sends a copy directly to Fritz as soon as it's printed. The reaction doesn't take long. On November 1742, a one act play gets performed in Charlottenburg, Le singe de la Mode, in which a stupid provincial nobleman is looking for books to feel the shelves of his new library with. He discovers that the volumes best suited for this purpose are hundreds of copies of Dechamps' Cours abregé, which he can get to a bargain price since no one wanted to buy or read them. The author of this play: Fritz. How does Dechamps find out? From little Ferdinand. Oh, and he doesn't get his salary for teaching Ferdinand and Heinrich, either, and Fritz appoints Bielfeld as competing teacher, and Dechamps doesn't get to be a member of the Royal Academy. In 1746, he's finally had it (why so late?) and leaves Berlin for The Hague and London.
Formey, otoh, gets asked by Voltaire whether he's one of those men paid to fool the people (Formey is a Calvinist clergyman) when first they meet, but he does get to be an academy member (and a good thing, too, or Mildred would never have read his obituary for Peter). His main work, other than obituaries, is the six volume philosophical novel "La Belle Wolffienne". In volume 2, which he works on in the early 1740s, he gets into a major spiritual crisis, which Manteuffel by mail manages to talk him through, so the rest of the magnum opus can be published. Manteuffel doesn't live long enough to witness the big Voltaire implosion, but he gets to see the first big Academy controversy from afar, see my write up of the Maupertuis biography. He also guides August III's son Christian August in his studies (Christian August, alas, will die in the same year his father will, in 1763), and dies a respected and admired private citizen (we swear!) in 1749.
As for Christian Wolff: in 1743, Fritz en route to Bayreuth stops in Halle. Wolff presents himself, but is told to wait in the antechambre and in the end is not received. This is of course on the same trip where Voltaire is with Fritz, visiting Wilhelmine, so Wolff notes in a letter to Manteuffel. Just to complete the humilation, in Histoire de mon temps, Fritz writes years later that there were only two German professors of genius ever: Only two men distinguish themselves through their genius and honor the nation: the great Leipniz and the learned Thomasius. I'm leaving Wolff aside. He just repeats Leipniz' system and repeats ramblingly what the later has written with fire and inspiration. Most German scholars were simple craftsmen, while the French ones were artists.
1790s German writer Boie, like many young men of the time a frustrated Fritz fan: I won't accept this.
Boie: writes RPF titled "Totengespräche", in which dead Fritz, with Voltaire at his side, meets dead Wolff in the underworld and tells Wolff he was the first one to make him think, the author of his soul and mind, everything he became as a thinker, he owes thus to Wolff. Wolff modestly says there's a much greater one he must present to Fritz and points to Lessing. Fritz and Wolff leave the unworthy shallow Voltaire behind and unite with Gotthold Ephraim Lessing in the Hereafter. Happy ending!
Bronisch: yeah, I know. Even the idea that Wolff would have admired Lessing doesn't fit, never mind Fritz. But I still wanted to tell you the story. One more thing: Fritz totally named Sanssouci after Manteuffel's Sanssouci, and it wasn't because he was looking for his grave, it was because he was pining for the happy time with his mentor in the mid 1730s. So there. The end.