147a. Philipp Michaelis to Wilhelm Schlegel in Amsterdam: Leiden, Holland, 2 September 1794 [*]
Leiden, 2 September [17]94
— — You calmed me a bit by relating Caroline’s plans to me. Göttingen is admittedly not the place where she can reside permanently; although I saw that from the very outset, I imagined her situation to be more unpleasant than it in fact was. And yet it will certainly not be improved now by the arrival of the Bethmann family. [1] —
I would like to have more specific information concerning several things about which I know only that they did indeed happen, especially concerning her reception in B[öhmer?]s’ house. [2] Such things, however, are always best related in person, something which unfortunately is now rather unlikely. — Caroline did not write me anything about an eye ailment. — —
Notes
[*] Source: Waitz (1882), 27. Passages Waitz did not include are indicated by “—.” See the editorial note to Philipp Michaelis’s letter to Wilhelm on 27 August 1794 (letter 146a) concerning their locations in Holland. Back.
[1] Uncertain reference; it was through Sophie Bethmann that Philipp was able to secure access to Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia in securing Caroline’s release from prison in July 1793 (see Caroline’s letter to Friedrich Wilhelm and Luise Gotter on 13 July 1793 [letter 131], note 1, and Luise Wiedemann’s account in her Erinnerungen, pp. 81–82). It is unclear why (and where) their presence would have posed a problem. Back.
[2] Concerning Caroline’s reception by her in-laws in Göttingen, see her letter to Friedrich Ludwig Wilhelm Meyer on 30 August 1794 (letter 147), where she remarks that “people received me there much better than I had expected. — The Böhmer family was very kind.” Back.
Translation © 2011 Doug Stott