1740 and All That

First of all, authorship to this book is credit to the Earl of Ilchester and Mrs. Langford-Brooke, which I took to meaning the Earl provided a great many of the papers and Mrs. L-B did the actual writing. The preface details the convoluted fate of H-W's papers, and how, among other events, earlier attempts to write is biography or publish a collection of his poetry failed, the later because Southey, the poet entrusted with the task, flat out refused because of changed morality. To which I say: Southey, you had it coming. Partly because of this, I presume, our author(s) are at pains to emphasize how Sir Charles Hanbury-Williams was a man of his time, alright, but not really a coarse Georgian, and would that he had lived in better times. Hence no syphilis, no non-straight verses (though his insinuating comments on Fritz and Hervey are kept intact), and of the het verses, nothing explicit.

This said, it's a biography that uses a lot of primary material - not just Hanbury's own papers but the national archives (which for example the mid 19th century Mitchell editor and publisher Andrew Bisset also used) for all the diplomatic dispatches, and in this regard, it's a treasure trove. Most of the footnotes go to primary sources. On the downside, it doesn't feel like the author(s) consulted many non-British sources - I mainly noticed Poniatowski's and Catherine's memoirs -, but not much else, and nothing German, despite H-W's work in Dresden, Berlin, Vienna, and of course all the Hannover stuff. And even of the British contemporaries, non-complimentary takes on H-W are dismissed in footnotes or in the final chapter with two sentences, like when we're told Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu didn't have a high opinion of him, but as she was friends with his wife, she wouldn't have. (Love the argument, as opposed to "she was on the other side of a feud you even quoted a poem of his from, wherein not only Hervey but she get direclty attacked, and oh, yes, she was friends with Hervey much more intensely - the Algarotti triangle not withstanding - than she was with his wife.) It very much feels like an authorized biography written centuries after the fact.

( Charles Hanbury-Williams: Youth and Soulmate )


Back to the 1920s hagioraphy: At any event, Wimmington's death is what ultimately pushes H-W into his envoy career later. But first Charles is a young man about town, and our authors are at pains to emphasize he was NOT a member of the Hellfire Club and did not participate in its orgies, he was a member of the Society of Dilettanti, which was a slightly more respectable frat boy union and future office holder network. He falls in love with Peg Woffington, the great actress of the day, but while accepting his suit she's also lovers with David Garrick, most famous actor of the day, and this leads to the anecdote where a jealous H-W accuses her of having seen Garrick only this morning, when she told him she hadn't seen Garrick for eons. Replies Peg: "And is not that an age ago?"

We've now reached the early 1740s, and the contortion of "don't say syphilis!" re: H-W's impending marital breakup is so great that I must quote:

( The Illness that Dare Not Speak Its Name )

Simultanously to having his marriage explode, H-W bitches with the Foxes about Hervey.

( We hates him, Precious! )

( Charles Hanbury Williams gets into politics )

( Execution of two Jacobite Lords )

( First Posting: Anglo Among Saxons )

( Second Posting: Meet the Hohenzollerns )

( Interlude: The Mystery of Madame Brandt )

Back to H-W's Prussian adventures.

( Avoiding Jacobite Exiles, Meeting Voltaire, Still Not Meeting Fritz )

Wilhelmine visits, and thus we get a H-W written portrait of her:

( I never met with a woman so learnedly ignorant )

And now for the big letterly explosion. Our biographer tells us this rant on why Fritz sucks, sucks, sucks, is so "outspoken as to be partly unpublishable", because clearly he agrees with Georg Schnath on the tender sensibilities of 1920s readers. Still, what we get is:

( The completest Tyrant that God ever sent for a scourge )

( Fatherly Advice Interlude )


After a brief second Saxon interlude, H-W gets posted to Vienna because London is under the impression the current envoy, Robert Keith, isn't tough enough on MT. As mentioned elsewhere, H-W was that rarity, an envoy who succeeded in making himself unpopular in Vienna and Berlin to the same degree. As with Fritz, he came with an already formed opinion, slightly revised it upon being received by FS & MT (as opposed to Fritz, they received him quickly), and then went back into critique.

( Charles Hanbury-Williams Tells It All: Habsburg Edition )

So no, that diplomatic posting isn't a roaring success, either. Exit Charles Hanbury-Williams. Russia awaits!

( Russian Prelude, more fatherly advice )

( Meeting Catherine The Not Yet Great: Diplomatic Success at Last! )

( Corresponding With Catherine )

( Saying goodbye to Poniatowski and Catherine )

H-W's journey back is described including a mental breakdown in Hamburg. Again, no mention of syphilis. Instead, we leanr that vulnerable Sir Charles manages to attract an enterprising adventuress named Julie John or Johnes who manages, after three days of acquaintance, to extract a marriage pledge and a grant of 10,000 roobles. She will actually show up in England later waving the marriage pledge at his family and will have to be paid off. Says the book: Whether from noxious drugs or from more natural causes, Sir Charles became completely deranged during those days in Hamburg.

Aaand he's off, with another member of the Marwitz clan as escort. He's not locked up in the proverbial attic in England but cared for in a nice house, and his daughters visit, which he reports in a short letter showing he can pull himself together that much. But basically, it's the end for Charles Hanbury-Williams.

( Charles Hanbury-Williams: The Rebuttal )

James Boswell, 18th century diarist, biographer, and tireless celebrity gatecrasher extraordinaire provides us with some terrific glimpses on the German states in 1764, directly after the Seven Years War, starring various Fredericians, which I've collected and am sharing in this post.

First, a note on the source material.

( The edition(s) of Boswell's journal I used )

The preface - always useful, prefaces! - also contains information on just how - i.e. by which transport means - Boswell travelled through the German principalities. This is highly useful in case anyone wants to write other 18th century people hitting the road, so, check it out:

( Cheap and expensive ways of travelling through the German states )

Amusingly the editors also point out that Boswell by managing to get himself invited a lot in the various towns and residences he visited saved a considerable sum of money for meals. (He also promoted himself to "Baron von Boswell" in order to score all these invites, though not when gatecrashing chez Rousseau and Voltaire.

I tried to order the quotes by subject, starting with George Keith, Lord Marischal, whom Boswell brings to life in a way the various Fritz biographies I've read don't.

( George Keith, Lord Marischal: Travelling with Frederick's BFF )

( All Things Fritz: of parades and STDS )


Naturally, Boswell visits the British envoy and his father's old pal in Berlin.

( Meeting Mr. Mitchell, Envoy Extraordinaire )

Boswell doesn't just meet exiled Scots and German nobility, though. He befriends a couple of families which I had to skip, and also, being a good tourist, checks out more than palaces and parades.

( If I ever laugh at Germans, I am a villain! )

With his talent for structuring his life like a novel, Boswell reserved the two most famous celebrities for the last (before moving on to Italy, that is): in Switzerland, he managed to talk his way into not one but several meetings (each) with both Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire.

( Talking about sex with Rousseau )

Boswell did go to Corsica – and wrote a book about the cause of the Corsicans as a result – but went to visit the other greatest philosopher of the age and arch-rival of Rousseau first, to wit, Voltaire. Unlike Rousseau, Voltaire was fluent in English, so most of the transcripts here are in English, and they give a great, vivid impression of what Voltaire was like in his 70s.

( He said the King of Prussia wrote like your footboy )

Farewell indeed. While it's a shame Boswell didn't manage an audience with Fritz himself, this hands-down most vivacious of English language diarists of the 18th century provided us with more than enough gems.