As a sort of follow-up to this post, here's a compilation of Francis Kinloch complaining about studying law. Kinloch's goal was to get a job in the English civil service through the influence of Lord North, but while he waited for this to (never) happen, he began studying law under the direction of his guardian Thomas Boone. We all know that John Laurens also pursued law rather than his preferred study of medicine or the natural sciences due to the influence of his father, but at least Laurens seems to have put some effort into his education. Kinloch...not so much:
Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, August 14, 1777: "how could you, my friend, aggravate the unpleasantness of my situation with so many solicitations to embrace a profession I do not like any more than you do la precherie, & which yourself you would detest? Why spend your time in endeavouring to dazzle my eyes with the advantages of the Law, as if you did not know me? Why tell my Guardian that I had ennuied myself every where, & why make him repent of assisting me to make the tour of Italy by harping upon the old string of my having 'mal jugé des moeurs d'une nation dont je ne savais pas la langue & comme si vous la saviez mieux que moi_ [misjudged the customs of a nation whose language I did not know & made out as if you knew it better than me]' when you appeard so satisfied with my letters at the time? If a man who is deprived of his fortune, who is cut off from his country, who is daily incurring the displeasure of his Mother, & who sees no probability of being provided for but by wading through the Chaos of an interested, laborious, sedentary profession should utter some complaints, why clothe them with the appellation of ennuie, & cut off his only resource_" (Thank you to @my-deer-friend for help with the French!)
Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, August 30, 1777: "Oh, my dear Muller, what a fool I am! I should have taken part with my countrymen from the first, I might then have become something in the end_ As to studying the Law here, I can not bring my mind to it, nor indeed to study any thing at Present_"
Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, September 5, 1777: "If you love me, my good Muller, say nothing more about the Law, or I will certainly quote your own words upon you; no one ever expressed a greater abhorrence for the study of the Law, than you did in some of your first letters to me_"
Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, November 15, 1777: "You have often heard me speak of an old Lady Cleland & I used to live with formerly on our vacations, well, I was upon the point of going to live with Her again the other day on pension, when I reflected that it was better to keep up the farce appearance of studying the Law, which I do by living here, where people give me credit for poring over Coke, whilst I know nothing more of the gentleman than the cut of his beard in the frontispiece._"
Here is a picture of Sir Edward Coke - congratulations, now you know as much about English law as Francis Kinloch:
Poor Laurens was killed in one of the last skirmishes in Carolina, he was a brave and generous Enemy_
Thomas Boone to Johannes von Müller, 7 October 1783
I was hoping for a mention of John Laurens in the Müller letter collection at the Schaffhausen archives, and I found one! It is, of course, about his death.
Thomas Boone was a British official and a Tory, which is why he calls Laurens an "enemy"; however, as with other British accounts of his death, there's an acknowledgment of his virtues.
The inclusion of the news in a letter to Müller also strengthens the case that Laurens and Müller met when they were both in Geneva. There's no doubt that Müller knew of him, given that Francis Kinloch was corresponding with Laurens over the time he was living with Müller (and you can practically imagine them huddling together and dissecting John's heated letters), but it's more likely that Boone would include the mention if there was a direct acquaintance.
It is evidence of Boone's noble way of thinking that he did not seek to influence the political views of his ward and that, when he finally decided to return home, he let him go quietly, although there could be no doubt that Kinloch was pouring out join the cause of his compatriots.
Johannes von Müller, 1752-1809: Bd. 1752-1780 by Karl Heinrich Henking
(google translated from German.)
I’m not sure that Boone letting Kinloch go to America is the same as never influencing him?
"I went to the Pantheon Masquerade last night, & did not rouse the great Magninac [Kinloch's valet] from his slumbers in my fauteuil till past five this morning._ I never in my life saw such a scene before, the building in itself is magnificent, but the profusion of looking glasses, & the happy disposition of lamps of every imaginable colour gave it the air of an inchanted Palace_ add to this an assemblage of Turks, Indians, Spaniards, Gypsies Warriors Witches, devils, Milkmaids, Shepherds, Captive Princesses & Chimney-sweepers, all wich pell mell together, some singing, some dancing, some disputing, & some making love_ I was accosted by a Witch, who, upon examining the lines of my hand, told me whence I came, & in a manner who I was; this surprised me very much, but I was still more astonished when upon her introducing me to a Persian Princess, & A French Marquis, they both called me by my name: I soon found out the Marquis to be a lady, whom I made love to for two or three hours together, without having the remotest idea of who I was speaking to. I was so fond of my My Marquis, that I would not quit her any more, & we danced together in such a set as one would never have thought to find in the same place_ There was the Great Turk footing it away with a Frier, a Flower girl & the devil_ in short the whole was grotesque beyond Every thing_ It is astonishing how untied the tongue is the Moment one has a Mask upon one’s face_ Just before we went I prevailed upon My Marquis to unmask, & recognized a young Lady whom I had never spoken to but once or twice, & who would have thought herself a lost woman if I had come within half a yard of the extremity of her hoop at any other place; If I kist her hand once, I kist it a thousand times, & I had been tender enough to Melt a heart of stone; however no sooner did She unmask, than I began to observe that - the building was very magnificent, that a Masquerade was a very agreeable thing, in short, I began to be as insipid as One is constrained to be vis à vis an English Lady who is not an old acquaintance_ The Witch I at length discovered to be the wife of Mr C: Boone, whom I am well acquainted with, but whom I would not have held the same conversation to at any other place upon any consideration."
- Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, May 6th (or 7th or 8th) 1777
Kinloch paints such a vivid picture of a masquerade held at the Pantheon in London! Masquerades seem to have been a common occurrence at the Pantheon, and some 18th and 19th century art pieces provide additional imagery of these character-filled events.
The below print was made by Charles White in 1773, and it depicts a masquerade at the Pantheon. While the print is satirical in nature, it does give a general idea of what Kinloch would have experienced and shows the inner architecture of the Pantheon.
The below piece "Pantheon Masquerade" by Rudolph Ackermann, John Bluck, Auguste Charles Pugin, and Thomas Rowlandson shows a similar scene. However, this piece was created in 1809, so it depicts the Pantheon after it had been rebuilt following a fire in 1792. It also reflects the fashion of a later era.
Kinloch does not give a description of his own outfit, so we can only imagine how he dressed for the occasion. Since he had only recently arrived in London and did not mention an elaborate costume, it is possible that he wore a basic mask with some standard formal wear (boring).
An important language note: the phrase "make love" had a different meaning in the 18th century. It referred to the act of wooing or courting a person rather than the physical act of sex (thanks to @my-deer-friend for sharing this information). While Kinloch detailed several of his sexual encounters in other letters to Müller, this description is surprisingly chaste. Still, I do find it interesting that Kinloch was infatuated with a woman dressed as a marquis - he even seems to have thought she was a man at first! Feels like a very bisexual choice on his part. Although his interest in the woman quickly faded after the seductive secrecy of the mask was removed... That being said, cross dressing was not uncommon at 18th century masquerades. Rictor Norton gives a great description of this practice here. As written by Janet Couloute, masquerade attendees could "transgress social, class, sexual and racial boundaries." Compared to other social gatherings of the time, masquerades allowed for a certain freedom of expression.
The C. Boone referred to in Kinloch's letter is presumably Charles Boone, the brother of Thomas Boone. Thomas Boone was Kinloch's guardian and was basically a second father to him, so one can only imagine the awkwardness that Kinloch felt at realizing he had actually been conversing with Thomas Boone's sister-in-law throughout the night.
Patriot Mother vs. Loyalist Son: Anne Kinloch's Attempts to Change Francis Kinloch's Political Beliefs
Francis Kinloch's transition from a loyalist receiving an education in England to a (reluctant) patriot fighting in the American military is one that has long intrigued me. In this post, I'll explore how Francis's relationship with his mother contributed to his change of heart. As a preview of the information contained below, please enjoy this (questionably historically accurate) meme:
For those interested in the John Laurens-Francis Kinloch relationship, it is well known that Francis Kinloch was a loyalist at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, much to the detriment of his personal relationships. His loyalist beliefs and preference for a monarchy are conveyed in his letters to John, particularly when they engaged in their political debate throughout the year 1776 (the letters can be found here). Francis's political views may have in part been due to the fact that he was placed under the guardianship of Thomas Boone, a staunch loyalist, after his father's death. Under Boone's direction, Francis was educated in England during 1768-1774 and again during 1777-1778. Despite this, Francis would return to the colonies in 1778 and fight on the American side. This post will address but one of the various factors that contributed to this decision.
Francis's loyalist views were not shared by others in his family. His mother Anne Cleland Kinloch and sister Mary Esther Kinloch Huger remained in South Carolina and supported the patriot cause. Being located in the colonies for the entirety of the war, the two certainly had a much greater exposure to the ongoing conflict. While Francis was abroad, Mary Esther married Major Benjamin Huger, who served in the 5th South Carolina Regiment. Mary Esther unfortunately lost her husband to the war, as Benjamin was killed in a friendly fire incident in Charleston in 1779.
Anne and Francis exchanged letters while Francis was in Europe, and Francis must have made his loyalist beliefs apparent to his mother. A recurring theme in their correspondence is Anne encouraging her son to rethink his views and to return home while Francis wonders how to respond to his mother's exhortations. The collection "Kinloch family history and genealogy research files" in the South Carolina Historical Society archives contains transcripts of parts of letters from Anne to Francis during the American Revolutionary War period. While the following paragraphs were written in different sections across the collection, they all appear to be from the March 10, 1776 letter from Anne to Francis. Any x's are directly copied from the transcripts and may indicate a skipped portion of the transcribed letter. Any ellipses are my own.
"this will be sent to you by an Officer in our Continl [Continental] Troops, who has promised to see you xx who is besides an intimate friend & acquaintance of ours. xx shall show Capt. Gillon & c xx I hope before he leaves you, you may perhaps be able to congratulate yourself on being the subject of a free and great Empire, that may in future times vie with ancient Greece or Rome xx"
"this will be sent you from a Sea port in France by an Officer in our Continental troops who has promised to see you; I have assured him you will with pleasure go to him, as he will be 4 or 5 days ride from you, he says he will meet you half way & perhaps return with you as he will have little else to do but to travel about xxx I have taken the liberty to give him an invitation to your house_ I tell him I am sure you will do everything in your power to make agreeable to him & suppose that tho' tis Bachellor's Hall that you have a spare bed for a friend. We shall all be much obliged to you for any civilities You, or thro' your means your friends shall shew Capt. Gillon whom you will find a agreeable sensible obliging intelligent man & who can give you a very good account of the unhappy differences between our unnatural Parent & us xxx I have had for some time very little of my amiable worthy Huger's company, he being obliged to be on duty in Town in the Service of his Country & has lately been made a major of a Company of Riflemen ... Your old friend Mr Baird is again our neighbour but quite different & an imperious young wife & young children bawling about his ears & for heavens sake my dear Francy if you don't take a wife when you are young, never marry at all & to ad to poor Archie's troubles he cannot be prevailed upon to sign the association so that no person can buy from him, his situation is truly Deplorable, looked at unkindly by his old friends & stigmatized with the detested name of Tory xxx"
"... cause I am hopes to send you a book wrote by a native American, whose arguments will I hope convince you, we are right & which I assure you it will give me great pleasure to hear. … you'll please not to mention to Mr Boone, your going to meet this Gentn [Gentleman], till his return to America, as I suppose you sometimes make little excursions with out his leave, then you may if you please make an apology. At the same time this present situation of our affairs, renders this caution necessary, you'll please likewise to introduce him as coming from America, to none of your English friends. As he is not an American nor an English Man, & speaks many different languages, you may converse in which you please."
Anne appears to have sent both literature and people engaged in the American cause to convince her son to support the side of the colonies. Captain Gillon is likely Alexander Gillon, who was a merchant in Charleston, captain of the German Fusiliers of Charleston, and later Commodore of the South Carolina Navy. He was born in the Dutch Republic, which explains Anne's comments about him being neither American nor English. Anne made her opinions of the British Empire and the revolutionary American colonies clear in her letters. She describes the British Empire as an "unnatural parent" and hopes that her son will one day be proud to call himself a free citizen of America, a soon-to-be formed country that she believes will rival ancient empires. She also clearly realizes that Thomas Boone would be unhappy to know that Francis is associating with members of the American military, and she cautions Francis to avoid mentioning his meeting with Captain Gillon to his guardian. I do not know what role Anne played in naming Boone as the guardian of her children (I assume her late husband Francis was likely the one who made this decision), but it is interesting to see her strive to counteract Boone's influence on her son.
Captain Gillon may not have been the only person who helped Anne get through to her son. According to the "Kinloch family history and genealogy research files," Anne may have worked with John Laurens to persuade Francis to join the American side. As described above, John debated the merits of monarchism and republicanism with Francis in 1776, and the Kinloch family collections suggest that Anne may have been involved in this exchange. There are some brief mentions of John that describe his potential partnership with Anne. These descriptions, to my understanding, are written by descendants of the Kinlochs who compiled biographical information about the family:
"When 21 and travelling in France the American War was beginning and his [Francis's] mother [Anne] wrote to him to return and sent his friend John Laurens & Com. Gillon to urge his doing so."
Another anecdote mentions John without directly connecting him to Anne:
"He [Francis] was [loathe] to abandon England, his allegiance, career, & hopes there and the influence of his guardian & protestations of his friends & relations there detained him But his Mother's earnest solicitations brought him back to Carolina (I have one of her letters to him & his dear friend John Laurens alludes to his position in a letter to his father [Henry Laurens])."
I see two possibilities for these potential interactions between Anne, Francis, and John.
The Kinloch family has correspondence between Anne and John or other documents that indicate the two directly communicated and jointly endeavored to change Francis's political views. These documents, if they exist, do not appear to be present in the "Kinloch family history and genealogy research files."
The Kinloch family read some of John's letters to Francis in 1776 and assumed that Anne encouraged John to send these letters. This assumption may have been false, as there are no surviving letters (or at least no publicly available letters) between Anne and John that suggest they worked together or otherwise interacted. The families certainly knew each other, but we do not know the extent of their interactions outside of Francis Kinloch, Sr. and Henry Laurens engaging in business with one another. I do think it's hilarious that the Kinloch descendants potentially read John's scathing letters to Francis and went "Wow, Anne Kinloch must have asked him to send such blistering letters. Why else would John have been so highly motivated to criticize Francis's beliefs?" When in reality...John was a very passionate person who was Just Like That.
Francis was not immediately receptive to the arguments of his mother and friends, but his mother's criticism did eventually wear him down. He repeatedly wrote to Johannes von Müller about his mother and the conflict he felt between pursuing a career in England and returning home to South Carolina:
"My Mother, I hear, has suffered very much with a pain in her face. This has broke her health so much that She is scarce to be Known again, I hope in God that She may have got rid of it by this time, but the bane idea of her suffering at this very moment perhaps, added to all She must feel on my account, this wrings my very soul_ In the middle of my dreams of Ambition, the thought of Her shoots like lightning across my mind, I see her pale emaciated face, I see Her beckon to me, I hear her tell me how many times She has watched the live long night at my bedside, & Nature stirs within Me._ What can I do, my Muller, You Know, as well as I do, what I owe to My Guardian, You & every one must see the propriety of the plans that he has lay’d for my future welfare, & there is now every probability of their succeeding, on the other hand_" – Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, April 4 [or 14], 1777
"some times I think of living in Switzerland, but then I am afraid of getting too much dishabituated to the World, & particularly to the English world, nor do I Know how soon the sources of my money may be dry, at others I have thought of serving a Campaign as a volunteer with General Howe, but that idea my Guardian has already smothered by objecting that it would immediately be attributed to Him, besides, I should draw down the curses of an angry mother, of a Mother whom I love too, upon my head. What remains then to do? An Idle life I neither can nor will lead_" – Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, July 30, 1777
"Born to a fortune as ample as was necessary to render me independent, for upon moderate Computation My Brother & I would have been worth a thousand a year each, I find myself reduced to thank a Merchant for allowing me what I can just live upon for one year, burning with Ambition & preferring a military life, I am prevented from entering the field of Glory now opened to All corners in my Native Country, & am daily agitated by the sense of what I owe my Mother, whose solicitations should melt a heart much harder than mine, joined to the reflection of the numerous obligations I have received from Mr Boone._" – Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, August 3, 1777
"If a man who is deprived of his fortune, who is cut off from his country, who is daily incurring the displeasure of His Mother, & who sees no probability of being provided for but by wading through the Chaos of an interested, laborious, sedentary, profession should utter some complaints, why clothe them with the appellation of ennuie, & cut off his only resource_" – Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, August 14, 1777
After much contemplation, Kinloch would ultimately leave Europe and return to America in 1778. One can only imagine how Anne felt to finally be reunited with a son she had not seen for 10 years - a son who had left a boy and returned a man, a son who defied her pleadings for so long but ultimately heeded his mother's call.
The tags in one of your recent reblogs mentioned Kinloch having a collection of 1115 books. Can you share more about that?
Of course!
Like many well-educated 18th century men, Kinloch had a strong interest in reading (unless we're talking about reading law texts, which is a completely different story). Kinloch frequently spent his time reading and discussing books with others. Many of his letters to Johannes von Müller are filled with recollections of their time spent reading together and with Kinloch's opinions of the latest books he's read. He accumulated many books throughout his time in Europe and even asked Müller to help him avoid purchasing duplicates. While Kinloch was limited in what he could take with him on his journey back to America, he did make a point of bringing along several books (Kinloch to Müller, April 24, 1778):
I go to New York, & from there by land to Carolina, as I leave every thing bulky behind me, I shall not be embarrassed with much baggage, & may easily find means to make my escape if it should be impossible to get a pass_ I take all my linens, a few coats, Montesquieu, Montaigne, & a few other books amongst which our old friends the Classicks are not forgotten_
…
let me be as far from you, my dear friend, as lands & seas Can divide us, your name shall be engraven upon my heart, & I will often whilst I live, take every now & then a solitary walk, reflect upon the life we have lead together, upon the books we have read, think how we loved each other, & call upon the name of Muller, as if you were still at my side_
It's not specifically mentioned, but I think Kinloch likely brought this book on his voyage, considering it would make its way to other American owners.
Kinloch continued to read and accumulate books throughout his life, and he wrote to his guardian Thomas Boone about his passion for literature:
"My love of reading has not deserted me, I still continue reading every thing Historical and Political I can meet with, and go over the Classics at least once a Year." - Kinloch to Boone, June 27, 1783
"Books, Agriculture, and my little daughter, who just begins to speak, fill up my time very agreably, and I want nothing here but more, and more enlightened society." - Kinloch to Boone, September 1, 1783
A bit of additional context here before we get to the 1,115 books. Kinloch came from a place of extreme wealth, but due to various reasons (mismanagement of finances, natural disasters, etc.), he had to sell all of his property and ended his life with much less to his name. I have a post that discusses this subject in greater detail here.
When Kinloch died in 1826, an inventory was taken of his estate. As mentioned above, the inventory was relatively sparse in most places (especially compared to the massive estate inventory that was compiled upon the death of Kinloch's father in 1767). Among other things, the inventory included various plate, furniture, and housewares amounting to $407 and several bottles of wine amounting to $219. But Kinloch's library "Consist[ed] of 1115 Volumes of book bound & unbound" and was valued at $1 per book, amounting to a whopping $1,115. I also find it somewhat hilarious that, according to the inventory, Kinloch had "2 Atlasses & 5 Maps of Switzerland" (home of beloved Müller) but only one map of his home country (which would have undergone many border changes by this point).
So there you have it. May we all aspire to have 1,115 books in our personal collections.
I noticed an interesting detail on the frame of Francis Kinloch's portrait:
The image is a bit blurry, but the coat of arms from two different families are depicted. The top left corner and the bottom right corner show the Kinloch family coat of arms, which featured a boar's head surrounded by three mascles:
The top right corner and the bottom left corner depict the Cleland family coat of arms from his mother's side, which features a hare with a hunting horn (x):
This was not the only time that Kinloch made use of his mother's coat of arms. In a letter to his guardian Thomas Boone dated May 26, 1788, Kinloch wrote the following:
As I was in Virginia when Mr. Wragg arrived, you will not think it strange, that I should have delayed acknowleging the receipt of your’s by him, & thanking you for the every elegant seal you have sent me, which I think executed in a manner worthy the intaglios of former days._ I begin to think however, that I have committed a mistake, & that this seal is what my Father should have worne, whereas mine, as the representative of my mother, who was an heiress, should have had her shield upon my Father’s thus_ non nostrum est, you will say, tantas componere lites (translation: it is not for us to settle such great disputes), but I should really be obliged to you for information upon this subject, for as our steps towards monarchy are very obvious, I would wish my Children to have all the Rights to rank, & distinction, which is to be claimed from Ancestry._
Kinloch even included a sketch of what he pictured this combined seal to look like:
The center depicts the hare from his mother's coat of arms, and the mascles from his father's coat of arms are retained along the border.
From a hint which Waag dropped at Bath tis expected by the friends of the young Eatonian that he will find a freind in you at Genevé, tho none of 'em have Said a word to me on the Subject. Indeed I don't visit Mr. Boone, he was polite to me at my first arrival, I beleive I omitted an enquiry after Mrs. Boone, either not knowing or not thinking of their Marriage & may have given offence.
Henry Laurens to John Laurens; January 17, 1774 addition to a letter dated January 14, 1774
Forever thinking about (and overthinking) this line.
John was receiving an education in Geneva at this time, and Francis Kinloch would soon join him there. I feel like the oblique reference to Kinloch as "the young Eatonian" could suggest a level of familiarity between the the Kinloch and Laurens families, as Henry would have expected John to understand who he was referring to with this phrase (although the reference to Francis can also be inferred by the following line about Thomas Boone, Francis's guardian). It was not uncommon for the wealthy colonial families to send their children to be educated England. For example, many of the Rutledges, another South Carolinian family, studied law in England. Francis was not unique in his English education, so it is interesting that Henry referred to him in this way.
Additionally, this whole exchange is framed like gossip. The lines "from a hint which Waag dropped" and "tho none of 'em have Said a word to me on the Subject" suggest that this knowledge of Francis going to Geneva and "find[ing] a friend in" John there is some sort of secret. Who are these friends of Francis that know about John and presume the two will be friends? Who is this Waag fellow, and why is he dropping hints about this? Why will no one talk directly with Henry about this? For such seemingly innocuous information, it's odd that it's shared in such a roundabout, clandestine manner. Henry does go on to acknowledge that he may have inadvertently offended Mr. Boone, but I'm not sure that this entirely explains why these people would be withholding information about Francis from Henry.
As mentioned above, I do not know who Waag is. He is briefly mentioned in an earlier line in the same letter:
Squire [blank] the Tulip of the Rooms, a good natured Lad, & quite Conversible when he can get Waag, a second McAlpine, to Sit for a Subject.
The footnotes indicate that "according to the Bath Chronicle, Dec. 16, 1773, Mr. Waag had recently arrived in the city." I cannot access this paper, so I'm not sure what information it would provide. Presumably he arrived from South Carolina? These are the only two mentions of Waag that I can find in the entire collection of The Papers of Henry Laurens. If anyone knows anything about him, please let me know!
