Wow, there were so many things I meant to say yesterday, but 4 hours of sleep turned my memory into a sieve.
1.) Formey in his write up of Manteuffel says Old Dessauer (who disliked him of old) scored a point with Fritz by saying how ridiculous it looked for a prince at Fritz' age to still need a teacher to guide him.
I was going to say, I'm in my 30s and I have a teacher! Her name is Selena. ;)
More seriously, I'm curious whether this was before or after Fritz wrote
But, my dear Suhm, do not forget the tenderness which you owe to an infant whom you have not yet weaned in the school of philosophy. What would I have become? for I feel that I need your eyes to see, and that, losing sight of my guide, I run the risk of losing my way.
in June 1736, which is apparently when he still very much wants a teacher to guide him at his age.
Aw, thank you, and also, LOL re: the Fritz-to-Suhm quote. (Bronisch would eagerly add that sure, he may write that to Suhm in July, but he's already written to Manteuffel in April "moi, qui suis votre disciple".) You could add the entire first letter to Voltaire who is but the latest Socrates candidate, after all. This being said, Voltaire is far away, and Suhm is a) also not often around, and b) a low-key personality, whom nobody could suspect of dominating Fritz. Manteuffel isn't a bulldozer personality, not even when hanging out with FW and certainly not when he hangs out with Fritz, but he is, as ex-cabinet minister of Saxony, more of a political weight even if you don't know/assume he's still in contact with the current Saxon PTB, and he's actively compaigning for Wolff and involving himself in big scholarly/philosophical debates of the day. (When Suhm tranlates Wolff for Fritz, it's at Fritz' request. Suhm doesn't undertake public campaigns for Wolff.) Taking Suhm as a teacher/philophical guide is a private (in as much as it can be for a prince) affair; taking someone like Manteuffel is a public one. (Even before the indiscretion with the painting.) And Fritz has issues with authority and anyone being seen as pulling his strings which surely don't just break out in 1740, especially since Dad is still around grumbling he just knows Fritz will ruin the kingdom when he takes over and be run by his mistresses and favourites. So I can see Fritz minding the old Dessauer's dig. Not as a sole reason to break things off, absolutely not, but as one of several factors.
You could add the entire first letter to Voltaire who is but the latest Socrates candidate, after all.
Yeah, I was thinking that even in 1750, when Fritz will *only* talk literature with Voltaire and will not be guided by anyone politically, he still wants a teacher of poetry composition!
But yes, your point about Manteuffel and Fritz's issues with anyone having authority or influence over him is very accurate. Big difference between Manteuffel and Suhm.
(Bronisch would eagerly add that sure, he may write that to Suhm in July, but he's already written to Manteuffel in April "moi, qui suis votre disciple".)
So, like, at the same time of his life, Bronisch. :PP
Suhm was...a low-key personality, whom nobody could suspect of dominating Fritz.
No, no, other way around. Though I suspect he and Fredersdorf had in common the ability to convince Fritz he was totally in charge while couching their ideas in a way he could accept.
So I can see Fritz minding the old Dessauer's dig. Not as a sole reason to break things off, absolutely not, but as one of several factors.
Voltaire would observe that he may have been the latest, but he turned out to be the only one who lasted, as evidenced by the fact that Fritz ditched Wolff easily as a philosophical guide whereas he spent the rest of his life following Voltaire's taste in literature, and both reading his books and alternatingly cursing and praising his person till the day he died. And hey, no one complained their correspondence was boring or dared to edit it in ways where mostly Fritz' letters are there. :)
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Re: Le Diable: The Political Biography - B
1.) Formey in his write up of Manteuffel says Old Dessauer (who disliked him of old) scored a point with Fritz by saying how ridiculous it looked for a prince at Fritz' age to still need a teacher to guide him.
I was going to say, I'm in my 30s and I have a teacher! Her name is Selena. ;)
More seriously, I'm curious whether this was before or after Fritz wrote
But, my dear Suhm, do not forget the tenderness which you owe to an infant whom you have not yet weaned in the school of philosophy. What would I have become? for I feel that I need your eyes to see, and that, losing sight of my guide, I run the risk of losing my way.
in June 1736, which is apparently when he still very much wants a teacher to guide him at his age.
Re: Le Diable: The Political Biography - B
Re: Le Diable: The Political Biography - B
Yeah, I was thinking that even in 1750, when Fritz will *only* talk literature with Voltaire and will not be guided by anyone politically, he still wants a teacher of poetry composition!
But yes, your point about Manteuffel and Fritz's issues with anyone having authority or influence over him is very accurate. Big difference between Manteuffel and Suhm.
(Bronisch would eagerly add that sure, he may write that to Suhm in July, but he's already written to Manteuffel in April "moi, qui suis votre disciple".)
So, like, at the same time of his life, Bronisch. :PP
Suhm was...a low-key personality, whom nobody could suspect of dominating Fritz.
No, no, other way around. Though I suspect he and Fredersdorf had in common the ability to convince Fritz he was totally in charge while couching their ideas in a way he could accept.
So I can see Fritz minding the old Dessauer's dig. Not as a sole reason to break things off, absolutely not, but as one of several factors.
Yep, makes perfect sense.
Re: Le Diable: The Political Biography - B
You could add the entire first letter to Voltaire who is but the latest Socrates candidate, after all.
BURN! Lol Voltaire!
But also this is fascinating and makes a lot of sense!
Re: Le Diable: The Political Biography - B