60
GEORG FORSTER IN PARIS (1793/94)
1
Ch is oph Bode
Geo g (also known as Geo ge o Geo ges) Fo s e was 12 when his i s book came ou , a ansla ion
in o English o Lomonoso ’s Ch onological Ab idgemen o he Russian His o y (1760),
“con inued o he p esen Time by he T ansla o .” He was 17 when, oge he wi h his a he
Johann Reinhold Fo s e , he ansla ed de Bougain ille’s Voyage au ou du monde in o
English (1771). He was 18 when he accompanied Cap ain Cook on his second oyage o he
Sou h Seas, 22 when he published he mos ema kable accoun o ha oyage o explo a ion,
A Voyage Round he Wo ld (1777). Fo s e – whose wo ks, acco ding o F ied ich Schlegel,
“b ea he he spi i o ee p og ession” like nobody else’s – was no only one o he ines
1
My main sou ces a e he s anda d edi ion o Geo g Fo s e ’s comple e wo ks, he so-
called Akademie-Ausgabe: Geo g Fo s e , Geo g Fo s e s We ke: Säm liche Sch i en,
Tagebüche , B ie e, 18 ols. (Be lin: Akademie Ve lag, 1958-2003) [subsequen ly AA],
especially ol. 15, which has all his le e s om Pa is, plus wha is, in my ega d, he
ines biog aphy o Geo g Fo s e o da e, Ludwig Uhlig, Geo g Fo s e : Lebensaben eue
eines geleh en Wel bü ge s (Gö ingen: Vandenhoeck & Rup ech , 2004). Since hese a e
in Ge man, all ansla ions in o English a e my own; e e ences, howe e , a e o he
o iginal Ge man wo ks. I ha e published a iously on Geo g Fo s e , mos ex ensi ely
in F emd-E ah ungen: Disku si e Kons uk ion on Iden i ä in de b i ischen Roman ik, II:
Iden i ä au Reisen (T ie : WVT, 2009) 67-123, which ocuses on A Voyage Round he
Wo ld. My mos subs an ial English-language publica ions on aspec s o Fo s e ’s wo k
a e “Exploded Con ic ions, Pe ished Ce ain ies: The T ans o ma ional Expe ience o
he Sou h Seas in Geo g Fo s e ’s A Voyage Round he Wo ld,” Roman ic Locali ies: Eu ope
W i es Place, ed. Ch is oph Bode and Jacqueline Labbe (London: Picke ing & Cha o,
2010) 221-36, 278-79, and “Geo g(e) Fo s e and he Epis emology o a Viewpoin in
Mo ion: A Composi ion in Fi e Mo emen s,” Roman icism and Knowledge: Selec ed
Pape s om he Munich Join Con e ence o he Ge man Socie y o English Roman icism and
he No h Ame ican Socie y o he S udy o Roman icism, ed. S e anie F icke, Felici as
Mei e -Menha d and Ka ha ina Pink (T ie : WVT, 2015) 97-114.
Geo g Fo s e in Pa is
61
scien is s and e hnog aphe s o he age, whose concep o a holis ic geog aphy, in eg a ing
na u al and social sciences, would deeply in luence his mos p ominen s uden , Alexande on
Humbold , he was also a polyglo cosmopoli an o hyb id and luid na ional and cul u al
iden i ies – and a suppo e o he F ench Re olu ion. In 1793, he a elled o Pa is o ask o
he admi ance o he sho -li ed Republic o Mainz o he F ench Republic, only o die unde
mise able ci cums ances a ew mon hs la e , no ye 40. This essay ocuses on his inal mon hs
(he died in Pa is on 10 Janua y 1794) and on his acquain ances he e (Thé oigne de Mé icou
and Be na din de S . Pie e, o ins ance), including his ela ions wi h o he expa ia es,
Ge man o English (e.g., Helen Ma ia Williams and Ma y Wolls onec a ). Fo s e is p esen ed
he e as an in ellec ual wi h no a ilia ions o loyal ies o any linguis ic, e hnic o na ional
communi y – a ci izen o he wo ld, obliged only o li e a li e in which he p o es o be “wo hy
o himsel .”
Fo s e ’s Li e, Ab idged
Geo g Fo s e was bo n on 27 No embe 1754 in Nassenhuben ( hen in Poland,
la e in P ussia, now in Poland again). His a he was Johann Reinhold Fo s e ,
ica and polyma h. The Fo s e s we e pa ly o English-Sco ish descen . Fo s e
senio ha ed i when his su name was misspel “Fö s e ,” and al hough his son
was ch is ened “Geo g,” Fo s e junio had no objec ions when, li ing in
England and a elling wi h Cook, “Geo g” was na u alized as “Geo ge.” No
did he objec when, la e in F ance, he was, o cou se, e e ed o as “Geo ges”
Fo s e . To him, i did no eally ma e .
In 1765-66, Johann Reinhold Fo s e akes his son wi h him on a scien i ic
excu sion o Russia. I is in S . Pe e sbu g ha Geo g enjoys, b ie ly, he only
o mal schooling he e e had. Bu his a he had sys ema ically u o ed him in
Bo any, Zoology, Geology, Geog aphy and His o y, as well as in English, F ench,
Russian, La in and Ma hema ics. When hey appea in London, in 1766, Geo g is
only ele en yea s old. And a child p odigy. Be o e long, he is he alk o he
own. His a he becomes an ins uc o a he Dissen ing Academy in
Wa ing on (his p edecesso he e was none o he han Joseph P ies ley, and his
successo was Jean-Paul Ma a ), a which poin Geo g emba ks on an English
ansla ion o Mikhail Lomonoso ’s A Ch onological Ab idgemen o he Russian
His o y, hen, oge he wi h his a he , o Louis-An oine de Bougain ille’s Voyage
au ou du monde, wi h i s seminal desc ip ion o Tahi i as La nou elle Cy hè e, he
New Island o Lo e. Finishing he la e in 1771, he is 16. In 1772 his a he ,
suppo ed by Joseph Banks, becomes a membe o he Royal Academy, la e also
o he Socie y o An iqua ians o London and o he Royal Socie y o A s. Geo g
accompanies his a he whe e e he goes. A e y sho no ice, Johann Reinhold
Ch is oph Bode
62
Fo s e is hen asked o eplace Banks as chie scien is on Cook’s second oyage
(1772-75), whose main objec i e i is o ind ou whe he (and whe e) he e is
“ he g ea sou he n con inen ” pos ula ed by so many a mchai geog aphe s.
Fo s e senio insis s on being accompanied by his son Geo g, and his eques is
g an ed. When he Resolu ion se s sail, Geo g is only 17. When hey e u n, he
will p oduce he classic accoun o Cook’s second oyage – no only a hallma k o
eigh een h-cen u y a el w i ing, bu a benchma k in he his o y o accoun s o
scien i ic oyages o disco e y: A Voyage Round he Wo ld, published in wo
olumes in 1777 ( he Ge man ansla ion, p epa ed by he Fo s e s wi h he help
o Rudol E ich Raspe, comes ou in 1778-80).
Wha came a e A Voyage Round he Wo ld? Geo g Fo s e e u ns o Eu ope
in 1778, is lionized in Pa is (whe e he mee s wi h he Con e de Bu on and
Benjamin F anklin), becomes a p o esso , i s in Kassel (1778), hen a he ( hen
Polish) uni e si y o Vilnius in 1784. The ollowing yea he ma ies he daugh e
o a Gö ingen p o esso , The ese Heyne, be o e he e en ually accep s, in 1788,
he posi ion o Head Lib a ian o he uni e si y lib a y in Mainz. His i s isi o
in Mainz is Wilhelm on Humbold , la e he e o me o he P ussian uni e si y
sys em (copied by Ame ica’s I y League uni e si ies), ollowed by his younge
b o he , Alexande , hen a s uden a Gö ingen. In he sp ing o 1790, Geo g
Fo s e (aged 35) and Alexande on Humbold (aged 20) – who would la e
claim ha nobody exe ed a s onge in luence upon his scien i ic hinking han
Fo s e – se ou o a el down he Rhine o he Aus ian Ne he lands (p esen -
day Belgium) and he (Republic o he Uni ed) Ne he lands. F om Dunki k hey
a el o Os end, B uges, Ghen and An we p, hen o The Hague, Ams e dam
and Leiden, inally on o England and back o F ance. The whole ip is
wonde ully cap u ed in Fo s e ’s Ansich en om Niede hein (1791). In London,
hey mee (again, o Geo g) Si Joseph Banks, who occupies a cen al posi ion in
he o ganiza ion o con empo a y science in B i ain.
2
In Pa is, he young and
eage s uden and his much- a elled men o help wi h he p epa a ions o he
i s anni e sa y o he F ench Re olu ion (Humbold ca ies sand in a wheel-
ba ow o he ele a ion o he Temple o F eedom), bu hey do no s ay on o
he es i i ies: hey a e back in Mainz on 11 July 1790. Had hey le England wo
weeks la e ins ead o a he end o June, hey migh ha e been on he same boa
as a young s uden om Camb idge, William Wo dswo h, who a i ed in
2
Richa d Holmes, The Age o Wonde : How he Roman ic Gene a ion Disco e ed he Beau y
and Te o o Science (London: Ha pe P ess, 2009) 1-59.
Geo g Fo s e in Pa is
63
Calais, om Do e , on 13 July 1790: “Bliss was i in ha dawn o be ali e, bu o
be young was e y hea en!”
3
O he isi o s in Mainz include Johann Wol gang on Goe he, who passes
h ough, la e in Augus 1792, on his jou ney o co e he ba le o Valmy (o
which he amously ema ked, “F om he e and oday issues a new pe iod o he
his o y o mankind!”). Fo s e becomes ac i ely in ol ed in he sho -li ed
Mainz epublic and, unlike Goe he, he is a suppo e o he F ench Re olu ion.
He e en ually a els o Pa is in 1793, whe e he is de ained by ci cums ances –
ne e o e u n. His ma iage had disin eg a ed long be o e, The ese be aying
him openly wi h a iend o his, e en when hey we e s ill li ing oge he in
Ge many. F om Pa is and again du ing a inal encoun e on he F ench-Swiss
bo de , Geo g – all unde s anding, passi e, and enligh ened – asks o a ménage à
ois, bu o no a ail. The ese lea es him o e e , wi h hei wo child en. Geo g
Fo s e dies mise ably on 10 Janua y 1794, only 39 yea s old, in abjec po e y.
Why and how exac ly did Fo s e end up in e olu iona y Pa is? Wha made
him an exile and an expa ia e? Wha made him go o F ance a a ime when so
many we e leeing in he opposi e di ec ion? Wha made him an immig an , as
opposed o all hose émig és, who la e on would gain so much mo e a en ion,
empa hy, and pi y?
Why Did Fo s e Go o Pa is in 1793?
The Ge man esponse o he F ench Re olu ion a ied, and he Ge man and
Ge man-speaking p o inces on he le and igh banks o he i e Rhine we e
no excep ion: o example, whe eas S assbu g and he Ge man-speaking
p o ince o Alsace we e in a ou o he e olu ion and a ac ed suppo e s like
Co a, Schneide , and Do sch, Koblenz and o he ci ies in he Mi el hein a ea
we e ho beds o eac iona ies, since he b o he s o Louis XVI and émig é
nobili y had wi hd awn o ha egion. Fo s e ’s own s ance changed o e ime.
Ini ially nei he o he Jacobins no o he Gi ondis es, he w i es o Heyne on
5 June 1792 ha he is “allemal liebe ü als wide die Jakobine ” – “in any case
a he o han agains he Jacobins.” The Ge mans in gene al – “ou ough, poo ,
and uneduca ed people” – he belie es o be un i and “un ei ” ( oo imma u e)
o a e olu ion anyway.
4
In his E inne ungen aus dem Jah e 1790 (Reminiscences
o he Yea 1790) he quo es Lessing (al hough Fo s e places hese wo ds in he
3
William Wo dswo h, The P elude: The Fou Tex s (1798, 1799, 1805, 1850), ed. Jona han
Wo dswo h (Ha mondswo h: Penguin, 1995), 1805, XI, 692-93.
4
C . Uhlig 289, 309.
Ch is oph Bode
64
mou h o Benjamin F anklin) o he e ec ha “Wha e e cos s blood, is no
wo h blood,” bu when his is published in Sep embe 1792, he ic o y a
Valmy and he Sep embe massac es o 1792 ha e shi ed he emphasis – as in
many o he p o- e olu iona y publica ions bo h inside and ou side F ance –
om he ques ion “Violence: yes o no?” o “Wha a e he ue causes o
e olu iona y iolence?” As Fo s e sees i , iolence, in an in e na ional con ex ,
is due o ou side in e e ence – he eac iona y o ces o Eu ope will no allow
he F ench na ion any sel -de e mina ion. Domes ically, howe e , i is caused by
he igno ance and imma u i y o he people, which, in u n, is due o hei
opp ession unde he ancien égime. The e is no poin , a gues Fo s e , in wai ing
un il hey ha e become less igno an and mo e ma u e. Fo his will ne e
happen as long as he cu en ci cums ances p e ail. So, e en be o e he F ench
a i e in Mainz, Fo s e en e ains he idea ha unde some ci cums ances o ce
can be necessa y – o p og essi e ends; and ha since he eac iona ies e iden ly
ha e no qualms abou using o ce, i is jus i iable no only o use o ce in de ence
o he e olu ion bu also o sanc ion hei use by o he s who ye lack he poli ical
consciousness o b ing abou e olu ion o hei own making. This is only
implied in he E inne ungen, hough he seems no en i ely a ease wi h his idea.
On Oc obe 21, 1792, he F ench o ces occupy Mainz wi hou any mili a y
ac ion – he e is no esis ance wha soe e and he Ku ü s (Elec o , elec o al
p ince) o Mainz has led. The F ench a my, unopposed, ma ches on o F ank u .
On 23 Oc obe , le géné al Adam-Philippe de Cus ine (“géné al mous ache”) o e s
Mainz eedom o choice: i i does no accep he eedom he F ench b ing, hen
i s u u e so e eign will be de e mined by a u u e peace ea y. Fo s e , now a
membe o he local Jakobine klub (Jacobins’ Club), which is in a ou o
democ acy and a epublic, is a i s hesi an , especially abou he inco po a ion
o he ci y in o he F ench Republic, bu hen decides o play an ac i e ole (“ o
li e and die a Republican!”) and p omo es wha he, meanwhile, has come o see
as a poli ical necessi y: he inco po a ion o he en i e le -bank Ge man p o inces
in o F ance: i seems o him o be he only way o p ese e he eedom ha has
been b ough o he backwa d Ge mans by he F ench. Dis ega ding no ions like
na ion, s a e, and e hnici y, Fo s e is now objec i ely a secessionis . Since o
him he eal di iding line is no be ween na ions and s a es anyway, bu be ween
p og essi e and eg essi e o ces, and be ween enligh enmen and
obscu an ism, i makes pe ec sense o op o he p og essi e, democ a ic,
e olu iona y camp – which happens o be F ench. On 4 No embe 1792,
Gene al Cus ine w i es o he na ional con en ion in Pa is: “I ha e won Fo s e

Geo g Fo s e in Pa is
65
o he Re olu ion!”
5
Geo g Fo s e is no he leade o his Ge man e olu ion
ha es ablishes he sho -li ed Republic o Mainz, bu , a icula e and polyglo as
he is, he is i s main spokespe son and p opagandis – bo h in Ge man and in
F ench. In ha unc ion, he c ea es a wo king ela ionship wi h Cus ine – he is
he F ench gene al’s main con ac pe son and, by i ue o ha , one o he mos
impo an nego ia o s on he Ge man side.
Meanwhile back in Be lin, Ewald G a He zbe g in e cedes o Fo s e o
become a membe o he P eußische Akademie de Wissenscha en. Based on his
me i s, ha should no ha e been a p oblem: Fo s e is a na u al scien is o
in e na ional enown, an e hnologis wi h immense knowledge and p ac ical
expe ience, a linguis o he highes calib e, and, in addi ion, a Ge man public
in ellec ual. Bu when he au ho i ies in Be lin hea wha Fo s e has been doing
in Mainz, his p ospec s o ad ancemen come o an end. Ins ead o being
appoin ed o he P eußische Akademie, he is, in Decembe 1792, condemned o
High T eason o Reichsach , o Manda um a oca o ium – ou law y in he Ge man
Empe o ’s name. Geo g Fo s e ’s w y commen is: “I’m no P ussian anyway.”
On he F ench side, policy wi h ega d o e i o ial gains had also changed
o e ime: as ea ly as 3 Sep embe 1791 he Cons i uan e na ional assembly had
ou lawed annexa ions and w i en his in o he cons i u ion. Howe e , i
e i o ies asked o be admi ed (as had Sa oy), ha was a di e en ma e , o
ha was no annexa ion, bu eunion. Robespie e, o all people, had sa cas ically
wa ned agains his Gi ondis idea: nobody lo ed a med missiona ies. And
F ench specula ion abou inco po a ing all o Ge many le o he Rhine o c ea e
a Dépa emen du bouche de Main showed ha éunion was a concep ha could be
in la ed almos a will: hese e i o ies had ne e been F ench in all hei his o y.
Since No embe 1792 wi h he o mal e oca ion o he o e o libe a ion, he e
had been moun ing e idence ha his was no longe a wa o libe a ion, bu one
o annexa ion: whoe e did no accep he o e o eedom was ea ed as an
enemy by he F ench. Tha was wha Gene al Cus ine’s o e o eedom o
choice amoun ed o. When on 21 Janua y 1793, Louis XVI is execu ed in Pa is,
Geo g Fo s e endo ses he majo i y o e. Fi e days la e , Gene al Cus ine
decla es he é a de siège o Mainz. Fo s e p o es s wi h him and bi e ly accuses
he F ench o exploi ing and opp essing he Ge mans, who a e in u n deeply
disappoin ed: hey had no been old ha he F ench came as iends, bu only o
now ake e e y hing away. I is no clea whe he his p o es no e e e eached
Cus ine. I so, he e was no esponse; excep ha he F ench con inued hei
con isca ions.
5
C . Uhlig 304.
Ch is oph Bode
66
In spi e o his, Fo s e con inues his agi a ion o inclusion in he F ench
Republic and on 21 Ma ch 1793, nine y delega es om a ious Ge man ci ies (all
le -bank) sign a pe i ion ha asks o inclusion o hei e i o ies ( o ins ance
he e i o ies o Mainz, Landau and Bingen, s anding o a links heinische
deu sche Republik) in o he F ench Republic. Fou days la e , Fo s e lea es
Ge many o ake his pe i ion o Pa is, wi h wo o he delega es, And eas
Pa ocki, a me chan om Mainz, and Adam Lux, a landowne om Kos heim.
Fo s e was ne e o e u n o Ge many.
Mainz alls on 22 July 1793. Fo s e loses his pe sonal lib a y and a chi e. The
Ge man Jacobins and hei ellow- a elle s a e ea ed c uelly by hei ellow
ci izens, he eby p o ing Fo s e igh : hey did no dese e he eedom ha
was b ough o hem. In any case, hey did no wan i . A e he all o Mainz,
Gene al Cus ine, once Fo s e ’s opposi e numbe (bu wi h all he powe on his
side), is dismissed om he F ench a my, cha ged and, a e a ial ha d ew much
public a en ion, e en ually execu ed on 28 Augus 1793. Fo s e canno ha e
missed he news, al hough he was in he no h o F ance when his happened.
Fo s e in Pa is: Con ac s and Reading
On 30 Ma ch 1793 he F ench con en ion accep s, by acclama ion, he admission
o he Rheinisch-Deu sche Republik o he F ench Republic. In u n, Fo s e and his
wo ellow delega es become membe s o he F ench con en ion. A he ime, he
is li ing in he Maison des pa io es Hollandais, Rue des Moulins, nea he Palais
Royal and he Tuilie ies and he p esen loca ion o he Cen e allemand d’his oi e
de l’a .
Apa om his ellow delega es, wha a e his con ac s in e olu iona y Pa is?
On accoun o his le e s, we know ha he mee s Helen Ma ia Williams and he
mo he , whom he me in Ap il (le e s o 13 and 16 Ap il), as well as Ma y
Wolls onec a on 5 Ap il. Wolls onec a , obse es Fo s e , is “a cou eous and
cha ming woman” (“ein seh a iges Weib”), “ he e is much li heness [“ iel
Lian es”] in he , mo e han English women usually ha e.” O Gilbe Imlay he
makes no men ion. His mos equen encoun e s a e wi h he Sco ish adical
Thomas Ch is ie, au ho o Le e s on he Re olu ion in F ance, and on he New
Cons i u ion (1791), and his wi e and sis e -in-law, whom he sees almos on a daily
basis, acco ding o his le e o 23 June. He also mee s Thomas Paine, o whom he
w i es: “I ound no much ema kable in him. Be e enjoy him in his w i ings.
Wha is eccen ic and ego is ical in some Englishmen, he has o he highes deg ee.
Geo g Fo s e in Pa is
67
His ace is sca le and ull o pu ple spo s, which make him ugly; apa om ha ,
he has a spi i ual physiognomy and a ie y eye”
6
(le e o 17 May 1793).
In Pa is, Fo s e seems also o ha e spen much o his ime in he company o
o he Ge man expa ia es, al hough his co espondence may he e be biased.
Since he majo i y o his le e s a e sen o Ge many, Fo s e would, o cou se,
p ima ily men ion encoun e s and acquain ances wi h whose names he
add essees could be amilia . His con ac s include G a Gus a on Schlab endo
(“de einzige Mensch, den ich hie liebgewinne” – “ he only pe son o whom I
can ake he e” – 1 June 1793);
7
F ied ich F eihe on de T enck, he P ussian
o ice , w i e and ad en u e (whom he un ese edly dislikes because o his
ego ism, b agging and ani y), who would e en ually be execu ed in Pa is on
24 July 1795; F anz Michael Leuchsen ing, he sen imen al w i e wi h Jacobin
leanings, p e iously an acquain ance o Jacobi’s, He de ’s, Goe he’s and Moses
Mendelssohn’s; Kon ad Engelbe Oelsne , a jou nalis wi h Gi ondin sympa hies,
a he cen e o a ne wo k o w i e s and poli icians, on whose epo s om
e olu iona y Pa is he Ge mans la gely elied; and inally Johann Geo g Ke ne ,
a physician, jou nalis , and c i ical ch onicle o he Re olu ion. Among his
whole g oup o Ge man expa ia es, Fo s e would ha e s ood ou o a leas
wo easons: he was he only ue celeb i y o in e na ional enown, and he was
a membe o pa liamen o he F ench Republic.
Among he F ench con ac s he men ions (cu iously enough, he does no eco d
he many encoun e s he mus ha e had in his unc ion as delega e o he Na ional
Con en ion), he mos no ewo hy, o him, is Thé oigne de Mé icou , “ he
amazon o he F ench Re olu ion,” whom he mee s in July (le e o 23 July 1793):
Imagine a 25 o 28 yea old anned gi l wi h he mos open ace, wi h
ea u es ha we e beau i ul once, and pa ially s ill a e and which be ay
a simple, noble, i m cha ac e ull o spi i and en husiasm; pa icula ly
much ha bespeaks o gen le ende ness a ound he eyes and mou h. He
whole being is dissol ed in a spi i o libe y [F eihei ssinn], all she e e
speaks o is he e olu ion. And ma k you well: all he assessmen s she
made yes e day u ned ou o be hi ing he ma k, wi hou any excep ion,
de ini e and s aigh hey hi he poin . […] She comes om Luxembu g
[she was ac ually bo n in Liège] and she is mos eage ly engaged o he
a he land’s and Ge many’s eedom. She speaks only F ench, luen ly
6
C . Thomas Manning’s commen s on Paine in Pa is, ci ed in Edwa d Weech’s essay in
he p esen issue.
7
Fo Schlab endo ’s pe spec i e, see Philip Hunnekuhl’s essay in he p esen issue.
Ch is oph Bode
68
and ene ge ically, i no qui e co ec ly – al hough, who speaks co ec ly
hese days?
(AA 15: 400)
Fo s e in lo e? His wa m desc ip ion may sugges i . Wha is ema kable in any
case is ha Fo s e me Thé oigne wo mon hs a e she, on 15 May 1793, had
been physically a acked and badly hu by en aged sans-culo es who ha ed hei
o me idol o ha ing c ossed o e om he Jacobin o he Gi ondin camp. She
only jus su i ed he a ack in spi e o hea y head inju ies (which Fo s e does
no men ion). A yea la e , he b o he would ha e he decla ed insane on
accoun o he consequences o he ea lie mal ea men and had he commi ed
o an asylum, whe e she died wen y- h ee yea s la e .
O he F ench con ac s men ioned by Fo s e include Nicolas Cham o , Head
Lib a ian o he Biblio hèque Na ionale, o me ly a success ul d ama is (possibly
a ghos w i e o Joseph Sieyès and Mi abeau) and pu po edly also coine o he
ph ase (la e aken o e by Geo g Büchne ) “gue e aux châ eaus, paix aux
chaumiè es” (“wa o he palace, peace o he co age”). Be na din de S . Pie e,
amous au ho o Paul e Vi ginie (1788), one o he key ex s o Roman icism
a an la le e in F ance, whom Fo s e desc ibes as “hones ,” and inally, Eugène
On oy, “ he bookselle ,” and Lau en le Coul eux [sic, a he han Cou eulx],
“ he banke .”
As hese names indica e, Fo s e , he cosmopoli an a elle and uni e sally
acknowledged scien is , he e olu iona y go-be ween and ee spi i , enjoyed a
mo e enligh ened and s imula ing company and con e sa ion in Pa is han
o me ly in Mainz. Ye , his idea had no been o s ay in Pa is inde ini ely. He
emained only because, a e he all o Mainz in July, e u n became impossible,
a leas o he ime being; and by he ime he si ua ion changed, he was no
longe ali e.
I he lis o Fo s e ’s pe sonal con ac s in Pa is shows him a he cen e o he
poli ical and in ellec ual scene, his eading ma e o he summe mon hs o
1793 is no less imp essi e. In a le e om July (AA 15: 441), he gi es an o e iew
o wha he has ead ecen ly: A hu Young’s T a els in F ance and I aly,
8
Fa ie ’s
Poli ique de ous les Cabine s de l'Eu ope sous Luois XV. e Louis XVI. [ h oughou ,
I ollow Fo s e ’s spelling], Nou eau Siècle de Louis XVI. (acco ding o him, a kind
o an hology o poems), Taci us, Quin ilian, S ada, A ios , Mably, Phocion,
His o y o he Filibus e s, Mi abeau’s Co espondance sec è e de Be lin, Des ouches
(“howe e , oo dull and uni o m”), Mil on’s smalle poems, A hu Lee’s
8
C . Bode, F emd-E ah ungen 125-64.