#essay 15

In German. Most of this information comes from the book, Johannes von Müller, 1752-1809: Bd. 1752-1780 by Karl Heinrich Henking, which is in German, parts of which I google translated. So... it’s probable there are some translation errors. This post is kind of just a messy list of the information from the pages I’ve translated, but there is some stuff that was new to me.

So! Francis Kinloch and Johannes von Müller met at Charles Bonnet (I assume, but the book only refers to him by the surname ‘Bonnet’)’s house, and got along really fast, which made Madame Bonnet very happy.

Beginning perhaps even before 1775 they would meet several times during the week to read and study together, and Kinloch helped Müller with his English, much as he did with De Végobre. 

The aforementioned book makes it apparent that Müller greatly admired Kinloch for many reasons, stating,

“Müller praises his new friend for his fiery, astute mind, the extraordinary thirst for knowledge, the natural and engaging courtesy which made him popular with men and women; ‘He is the noblest, friendliest and most virtuous youth; even his faults are gracious.’”

Then Kinloch started addressing “his letters to Müller ‘to the beloved of my heart.’” (all quotes from the book mentioned at the top of the post.) Well. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from that, but that’s very affectionate.

I’ll do something longer on this, (I already posted a quote about it, and @john-laurens posts about it here) but during the summer of 1775, Kinloch, Müller, and Müller’s lover Charles Victor de Bonstetten, were all living together, in a six-room house. I am unsure about the nature of Bonstetten and Kinloch’s relationship, the only thing I’ve been able to find about that is that Kinloch wrote to Müller much later in life, (1804, I think) “I see Bonstetten here frequently-- I love him for your sake, as well as for his chearful & various conversation...”

Later in that summer, Alleyne Fitzherbert (for whom Mt. St. Helens is named, fun fact,) came to join them. 

I’ll also do something longer on this, but Kinloch and Müller also went on a trip around Switzerland together in August of 1775, to many places, and Müller observed everything to see if the writings on the different parts of Switzerland were true.