145a. Friedrich Schlegel to Wilhelm Schlegel in Amsterdam: Pillnitz, late July 1794 [*]
[Pillnitz, late July 1794]
My dearest friend, as you will see from Charlotte’s response, your letter had an excellent effect. [1] The only remaining difficulty is that Charlotte is quite opposed to the countryside [outside Dresden], and Caroline quite in favor of it. I hope Caroline will acquiesce to living six months in town; in some respects it is incomparably more advantageous. —
Your letter accomplished everything, I myself did not need to say anything, nor did I need to betray even a single one of your secrets, [2] something that can, of course, never happen too late, and even better if it prove not to be necessary at all. —
I said you had sent us your portrait for the time being, pending more specific instructions. [3] — Caroline once wrote me that if she had the original, she would gladly surrender the portrait if by so doing she could win over Lottchen. I advised her to do just that. — I will be cautious and follow up on things in the best possible fashion. . . .
How excited I am at the imminent hope of having Caroline here, and the more distant hope of living reunited with you yourself. I will be living doubly! Until now I truly have been living here in a rather sad state of solitude — which was, however, perhaps beneficial and salutary for me. . . .
Has Caroline told you about my idea concerning Bürger’s Musenalmanach? I would think it worthy of careful consideration. [4]
Be wary of Humbold[t] [5] — do not yet write him that Caroline will be coming here with certainty. . . .
You have written as little about Sophie as . . . From Charlotte’s letter I see only that she is currently out in the countryside. Has your relationship with her changed? — Surely she is really Dutch after all — and you were doubtless merely putting on with your remarks about her being German — a barbarian quality.
Please do forgive me for having written so little; I hope I can write more often soon, certainly this coming winter. We will, I hope, not argue about the Greeks, and will again write whole dissertations for each other, regardless of how much Caroline may make fun of us.
Charlotte now favors the countryside because of the political considerations. I myself find her choice of locale to be quite good and appropriate, along with everything else she considers or believes to be best with regard to the situation. She is being quite cordial in giving these things her attention. Write to her very often indeed to maintain her goodwill, above all through confidence and trust.
I had to tell her the truth about the portrait [6] — in the meantime, I do believe that to be all the better. If Caroline does come, she cannot hang it here in any case, so it will be easier for her to part with it — which is not really a complete separation — since she can see it often.
Notes
[*] Sources: Walzel, 187–89; KFSA 23:201–3. Dating KFSA 23:458. Place: Elsewhere in the letter (passage not included here), Friedrich remarks that he himself would be “going into town [i.e., Dresden] . . . the day after tomorrow,” meaning that he was already staying in Pillnitz, where his sister Charlotte Ernst and her husband seem to have had a summer residence. Back.
[1] Walzel, 187n1, suggests Charlotte’s response was to Caroline and was included in the present letter as an addendum. That response, however, seems to have been lost. Back.
[2] Presumably concerning the background and circumstances of the birth of Caroline’s son in Lucka. Back.
[3] Possibly by Johann Friedrich August Tischbein, which Caroline had had in Lucka. Back.
[4] Caroline and Wilhelm both had personal ties with Gottfried August Bürger from their time in Göttingen (Caroline after being widowed in 1788). After Bürger’s death on 8 June 1794, however, the Göttinger Musenalmanach did not have another editor until 1795; Friedrich is alluding to taking over that editorship. Back.
[5] Wilhelm von Humboldt and his family moved to Jena in June 1794 (Post Karte Durch ganz Deutschland, ed. J. Walch [Augsburg 1795]):
[6] Namely, that Wilhelm had given it to Caroline as a gift. Back.
Translation © 2011 Doug Stott