There was, however, one person who mthe devilish debater could not
vanquish, namely his father back home, whose letters functioned as a sort
of remote control over his son, on whom he implacably imposed his will.
These letters are among the few surviving from the father’s hand, and one
scansthe minvain forsigns ofthe fertilei magination forwhich hehas been
praised. What is striking, however, is his strictness in matters concerning
money. When Peter Christian was in Berlin he received, enclosed with a
letter of credit to a certain “Herrn H. F. Klettwig,” a letter fro mhis father
giving him detailed instructions about how he was to comport himself in
redeeming the letter of credit: He was to send off the letter of credit “in
the first post” and include “a very polite letter” in which he informs Klett-
wig that he will be arriving in Go ̈ttingen “in mid-October,” which ac-
cording to his father’s calculations meant that Peter Christian must leave
Berlin“attheendofAugust”andembarkupon“ajourneyonfoot,”where-
fore he must remember ahead of time to forward his “luggage, properly
packed and secured, via parcel post.” Nothing was to be left to chance,
much less to Peter Christian’s own judgment. “Finally, request that he ac-
knowledgebythenextpostthereceiptofyourletter,beghispardonrepeat-
edly for troubling him, and write your name and your address clearly at the
botto mof the letter.” As a sort of reward, Peter was pro mised a “note for
20 or 25louis d’or,” but here again he was cautioned not to expend more
than half of this su mbefore his arrival in Go ̈ttingen. After all these practical
matters, the father then turned to the pending matter of the evaluation of
his son’s dissertation. He had heard that Andreas Gottlob Rudelbach found
himselfina“completelyimpossible”situation.InotherrespectsRudelbach
was phenomenally capable, one of the most erudite men of his generation,
buthe hadGrundtvigian leaningsand wastherefore inill odorin conserva-
tive circles. So if Peter Christian were to let his dissertation be judged by
Rudelbach, it could certainly damage his future academic career, and his
fathersuggested theGermantheologian F.A.G.Tholuckinstead,“if itdoes
not seem too much to ask of him; in that case you could shorten your
journey, and after an appropriate stay in Halle you could proceed directly
to Go ̈ttingen.”
Peter Christian obeyed the paternal decrees and traveled to Go ̈ttingen,
but scarcely had he arrived before he received yet another officious epistle
fromhisfather.Theletterbeganwiththecomplaintthathissonhadcaused
the family “no little amazement” by neglecting to congratulate his sister
Petrea Severine on her birthday. The letter went on to provide a detailed
discussion of a long “rainy spell” and its negative influence on the harvest
and possible effect on “the price of seed.” The father again asked about the
dissertation.HehadalreadyheardfromRudelbach’ssisterstotheeffectthat
{1813–1834} 25