Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 42

[cahn]

Last post, we had (among other things) Danish kings and their favorites; Louis XIV and Philippe d'Orléans; reviews of a very shippy book about Katte, a bad Jacobite novel, and a great book about clothing; a fic about Émilie du Châtelet and Voltaire; and a review of a set of entertaining Youtube history videos about Frederick the Great.

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Titley

[mildred_of_midgard]

one given by Newcastle writing to Titley in Copenhagen

Continuing with the theme of snarky descriptions by modern historians, I have to give you Michael Roberts' description of an episode from Titley's career, recounted in British Diplomacy and Swedish Politics. Titley, you may recall, was a sickly minister who hung out in Copenhagen representing Britain but didn't do much active negotiating any more. When Goodricke showed up, bursting with energy, Bernstorff, Moltke, and others found it more useful to talk to him, even though he was just the minister to Sweden unavoidable detained in Copenhagen.

The two British princesses, Louise and Caroline Mathilde, were both married to the Danish heir during Titley's time, but I have a feeling most of the actual negotation was done by the Danish ambassador in London.

Anyway, at one point, this happens to Titley:

Towards the end of November [1765] Walter Titley, the British minister to Denmark, was startled to receive from the office a dispatch dealing with matters of policy, and enjoining positive action. Such a thing had not happened to him for some years... Long experience had convinced Titley of the unwisdom of being too busy (he complained on one occasion of one of his diplomatic colleagues that he was "always negotiating"), but the shock of receiving instructions of any but the most formal and trivial nature shook him out of his ordinary comfortable habits, and produced an initiative which those instructions had certainly not enjoined.

Titley: So, Bernstorff, does Denmark have any engagements that might preclude an alliance with England?

Bernstorff, privately thinking "Where on earth did this come from?": Uh, no, but we do have a foreign policy that involves getting sucked into other countries' wars, which is the most likely outcome of an alliance with England. Other than that minor detail, though, nothing specific. Why do you ask, out of curiosity?

*crickets*

Bernstorff: Does anyone know where Titley went?

Other minister: Back to his country house, 40 miles away from Copenhagen, where he spends most of his time.

Bernstorff: Well, yeah, we're all kind of used to that, but for a minute there he was acting like he wanted to negotiate something? And then he disappeared. Was he offended? Did his government send him counter-orders?

The answer, of course, was neither the one nor the other: it was probably only that after this unwonted burst of energy Titley had felt the need for a period of recuperation.

The snark is worthy of Voltaire.