The Elegant Magister 127lover. Almost immediately, the Russian commander issued a declaration
that the Russians were again an occupying force. The new empress, how¬
ever, was not interested in keeping the occupied territories, and she or¬
dered the Russian soldiers, who had not been paid for a number of months,
back to Russian soil, thus in effect canceling the alliance with Prussia and
withdrawing from the war. As the Russians left, the Prussian high admin¬
istration returned. Hamann could write to Lindner on July 10: "On Mon¬
day peace was declared here Yesterday evening, the administration met
here. Lauson's wish has been fulfilled. He always prayed that the professor
of poetry would not die until the Prussian administration was here." J. G.
Bock had died two days earlier, and the chair of professor of poetry was
vacant. The king of Prussia would fill it, not the empress of Russia.
Again, there do not appear to have been any great problems connected
with the change of administration. Kant, in any case, made the change
without difficulty. As he had been giving privatissima to Russian officers
before, so he was now teaching the Prussian officers. His connections with
these officers were facilitated by the small military school (ecole militaire) in
Königsberg, which gained in importance after the Seven-Year War. Since
Frederick the Great wanted his officers to be better educated, he required
them to take classes in mathematics and other useful subjects.^121 Hamann
wrote in February of 1764 that Kant "now holds a class {Collegium) for
General Meyer and his officers, which brings him much honor and ad¬
vantage, because he dines [with the General] almost every day and is fetched
in a carriage to give his lectures in mathesis (mathematics) and physical
geography."^122
The General Meyer, the commander of a regiment of dragoons in Königsberg, was a
man of rare education. Kant gave a lecture course on mathematics and physical geog¬
raphy for several officers in his house.... He often dined there because the General
was a bachelor like Kant. Besides the officers many of the most honorable scholars were
invited. Meyer was very concerned with elegance, and he would give his officers a stern
look, if they did not behave properly at the table. When Kant, who sat opposite to the
General on one occasion, spilled red wine on the most exquisite table setting, every¬
one was shocked. The General, in order to avoid an awkward situation, spilled himself
an entire glass, and, since the conversation was dealing with the Dardanelles, he drew
with his fingers their outlines in the spilled wine...^123
Kant became a good friend of this General Meyer. At the same time, Kant
also continued his visits to the Keyserlingks and his other social obligations.
During these years, the life of the elegant Magister became more and more