Fashioning the Emotional Self The Dutch Statesman Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck ( 1761-1825 ) and the Cult of Sensibility 1 edwina hagen

This article proposes a combined perspective of Greenblatt’s famous concept of ‘self-fashioning’ and Reddy’s well-known theory of ‘emotives’ as a possible new approach to the study of Dutch political culture, and more specifically to political figures. Exploring emotions as an aspect of public self-fashioning, it focuses on the Dutch statesman Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck as an early modern example. Schimmelpenninck, like his fellow revolutionaries, radicals and moderates, was familiar with the vocabulary of the French political version of sensibility (Reddy’s sentimentalism) with its strong emphasis on sincerity. However, in contrast to France, emotions in Dutch revolutionary politics remained of crucial importance thanks to the emergence of an alternative calm style developed by the moderates, most fully embodied by Schimmelpenninck. Helped in part by his republican friends, he promoted himself by stressing his ‘meekness’ as the virtue of his political leadership, but it was precisely this aspect of his public persona that his Dutch political enemies equated with ‘weakness’.


Political emotions around 1800
When Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck became the head of state of the Batavian Republic (renamed the Batavian Commonwealth) in May 1805, many of his friends among journalists and poets helped to build a sort of early modern version of a 'president's cult of personality' around him.Jean Chas, a French hack writer who earned his living by writing eulogies for the first American presidents and Napoleon Bonaparte, praised the Dutch statesman as the ideal new leader of the country because he was 'meek, without being weak'. 2 However, it was precisely this aspect of Schimmelpenninck's reputation as a tender-hearted and gentle but powerful ruler that gave his political opponents an opening to make him an object of mockery.Ultimately, it was Napoleon who removed him from power, but, as will be argued in this article, Schimmelpenninck's downfall was also helped by a form of character assassination that seemed to be particularly focused on his emotional image.3 batavian phlegm?
The role of emotions in politics has become a major area of international study.In particular with regards to the late eighteenth century William Reddy's The Navigation of Feeling (2001) on how emotions drove the French Revolution has been crucial.4 As in France, Britain and America 'the cult of sensibility' (redubbed by Reddy 'sentimentalism') 5 was rooted in literature, but was also used in the sphere of political culture.6 According to Nicole Eustace for instance, in colonial Pennsylvania a changing emotional discourse united the revolutionaries in their opposition to British oppression under the flag of a new kind of masculine passion.7 In France sensibility, or sentimentalism, even became fashionable within the sphere of formal political discourse in the National Assembly and in the speeches of Robespierre.8 In the Netherlands sentimentalism generally refers to a late eighteenth-century literary fashion of sentimental fiction, which was inspired by the international cult of sensibility, but with its own twist.9 Nevertheless, the (potentially) political meaning of literary sentimentalism as yet is a new field of research.10 In contrast, in the field of political history the study of political emotions has been recognised as a valuable new field 11 , but until now almost all publications on the topic deal with the political emotions of the late nineteenth-and twentieth century.12 A key-concept that Reddy uses in his analysis of emotional culture is that of 'emotives'.To Reddy they are emotional expressions in language, spoken or written, or in gestures that describe certain personal emotional states in such a powerful way that they have the capacity to transform reality (such as: 'I am angry!').13 In particular, this concept of emotives as a self-altering type of speech act could provide an interesting framework for studying the political emotions of the Dutch revolutionaries during the Batavian-French era, notably between 1795 and 1806, the years of the Batavian Republic.This new Republic, which followed the Republic of the United Netherlands, was not only founded with the armed support of the fashioning the emotional self hagen batavian phlegm?
revolutionary French Republic, its political culture was also influenced by its French counterpart, and vice versa.14 Nevertheless, comparing the two is complicated: Reddy's revolutionary 'emotional regime' -in which sincere feelings became an important measure of someone's political integrity -did not have a lasting impact.The Terror discredited everyone whose feelings were believed to be false.15 The Batavian Revolution broke out in 1795 and clearly postdates the French Terror.However, in the light of the transnational nature of the Batavian and French revolutionary cultures and the intense cultural dialogue between the two countries, the question whether Reddy's emotives as an aspect of the period's sentimentalism also played a part in Dutch politics might still be relevant.16 This perspective also offers an opportunity to take into account One would assume that all these rapid and often very chaotic events changed the nature and role of the emotions of the people involved.In order to analyse the shifting influence of emotions on Schimmelpenninck's political image his career will be examined in two different periods.A distinction will be made between the revolutionary years of 1795-1798, and the years 1801-1805/1806, which by their nature of successively authoritarian regimes can be seen as a partial reaction to the revolution.Considering the years 1796-1797 when Schimmelpenninck became a member of the National Assembly, the first part of this article will seek an answer to the question whether or not Schimmelpenninck can be seen as representative of the (newly developed) Batavian emotional culture.The second part of this article will explore the possible influence of the French or transnational emotional culture after Schimmelpenninck's return from the negotiations for the Peace of Amiens ( 1802), when he became a rising diplomatic star with all of the associated cosmopolitan allure.

'My heart bleeds': Schimmelpenninck's moderate use of the passions
The first National Assembly in which Schimmelpenninck was a representative opened its doors on 1 March 1796.It must have been a highly emotional event.
As one of the many journalists attending noted that the Binnenhof before the parliamentary building complex was packed with large crowds of people all shedding 'tears of gratitude'.26 The audiences of the debates certainly reacted emotionally: shortly after the creation of the parliament new rules were instituted to ban applause, waving arms, shouting and yelling in the public tribunes.27 Expressions of strong emotions were also prevalent in interactions between the politicians themselves.Cornelis van der Aa, a political opponent of the new revolutionary regime, described the National Assembly a few years later as the perfect 'learning school' to explore 'the human heart'. of religious fanaticism.In the new positive meaning it was appreciated as a potent force behind the revolutionary drive to make an end to all injustice in the world.34 As such it was an indispensible element to stimulate the revolution; however in daily practice there seemed to be a fine line between enthusiasm and 'passion' (drift), which was considered to be a source of negative behaviour of impulsive, uncontrolled hotheads.35 On the top ten list of parliament members who quickly became known for their fierce temper were Coert Lambertus van Beyma, Jacob Hahn, Johannes Henricus Midderigh, Jan van Hooff and the aforementioned Van Hamelsveld.They were all very much their own persons, but tended to be more radical than moderates like Schimmelpenninck.When they were called to order by the Speaker, they invariably freely admitted: 'Yes, I am impassioned!', but after they nearly always made an effort to change public interpretation of their behaviour.In doing so, they denied that their violent outbursts, including all of the visible physical signs, had anything to do with uncontrolled anger or rage.Instead, they claimed them to be legitimate expressions of genuine political geestdrift.
Contrary to passion, enthusiasm was considered to be the highest form of a deeply felt and sincere commitment to the Batavian revolution.36 Schimmelpenninck consciously distanced himself from those in the National Assembly who, in his eyes, went overboard in their political enthusiasm and were overly theatrical or passionate.He deeply regretted the occasions on which their hot-headed responses were dominant in parliament.
To counteract and reshape this tendency, he continued to advocate the political value of calmness and determination.Even when emotional rhetoric flared up during political debates on controversial topics, such as citizenship for the Jews or occasional death sentences, he chose not to display his personal feelings.He took on the role of the conciliator, always stressing that abusive and insulting behaviour was highly inappropriate in a rational political debate.37 One could say that his widely acknowledged natural authority rested largely on his ongoing attempt to steer the political culture of the Batavian Revolution into the less militant and more sophisticated direction of politesse.38 However, this does not necessarily mean that only the more Hagen and Leemans, 'Een "vuurige aandoening van het hart"', 540-546 and English Summary.

Ibid.
Striking examples can be found in many

Affectionate father
As a politician Schimmelpenninck had always been a man of moderate passions, and it seems that from about the time of his stay in Paris he also began to use the personal dimension of his sensibility more actively as a political weapon.Around 1800 he thought of becoming the head of state himself, while he carefully avoided premature public disclosure of this intention.He cautiously started to lobby for it in private meetings with Napoleon and Talleyrand.Indirectly however, in fact from the beginning of his diplomatic career, he promoted an image of himself that implied he was fit to lead the Batavian nation.As ambassador in Paris he fashioned a public image making use of the monumental buildings in which he lived, by wearing an elaborate ambassador's costume, but, above all, by publicly displaying his wife, Catharina.She was his greatest trump card.Not only was she his greatest political confident, she was also widely celebrated for her representational qualities and extraordinary beauty.Schimmelpenninck exploited her for the benefit of the construction of his public persona, just as he also skilfully used the press and the media for this purpose.The Treaty of Amiens, in which he participated, failed miserably, but by providing only positive information he still managed to be highly praised by many journalists, as well as playwrights and poets, as an important European peacemaker.64 At the same time, as a way to support his self-declared diplomatic successes, he also commissioned many portraits of himself and his    In this respect he must certainly have been out of tune with the fashion in France, but also in the Netherlands.In his seven-year absence the political culture of his own country had also moved on.With hindsight, the fashioning the emotional self hagen William Reddy, The Navigation of Feeling: A Framework for the History of Emotions (Cambridge 2001).See also: Reddy, 'Sentimentalism and Its Erasure: The Role of Emotions in the Era of the French Revolution', The Journal of Modern History 72:1 (2000) 109-152; Reddy, 'Historical Research on the Self and Emotions', Emotion Review 1:4 (2009) 302-315.Regarding the terminology of the emotional culture of the late eighteenth century Dutch, rather than to stick to the terms of sentimentalism or sensibility I prefer to make use of the much wider description of Dorothée Sturkenboom, as she defines the 'emotional culture' as 'the total set of feeling rules', 'expression norms' and 'emotion words' as well as 'ideals, theories and popular convictions that guide the recognition, experience, evaluation, expression and knowledge of emotions and feelings within a certain group and period of time'.See the English summary of: Dorothée Sturkenboom, Spectators van hartstocht.Sekse en emotionele cultuur in de achttiende eeuw (Hilversum 1998).See for instance: J. Lewis, '"Those Scenes for Which Alone my Heart was made": Affection and Politics in the Age of Jefferson and Hamilton', in: P.N.Stearns and J. Lewis (eds.),An Emotional History of the United States (New York 1998) 52-66; G.J. Ellison, Cato's Tears and the Making of Anglo-American Emotion (Chicago 1999); J. Barker-Benfield, Abigail and John Adams: The Americanization of Sensibility (Chicago 2010).7 Nicole Eustace, Passion is the Gale: Emotion, Power and the Coming of the American Revolution (Chapel Hill 2008).8 David Andress, 'Living the Revolutionary Melodrama: Robespierre's Sensibility and the Construction of Political Commitment in the French Revolution', Representations 114:1 (2011) 103-128.9 According to Annemieke Meijer the original Dutch sentimental novels were totally lacking in political references: Annemieke Meijer, The Pure Language of the Heart: Sentimentalism in the Netherlands, 1775-1800 (Amsterdam 1998) 150.This presumed feature is most remarkable since the first sentimental novel, Julia, was published in and by an author -Rhijnvis Feith -who was an adherent of the revolution himself: Marleen de Vries, 'Loflied op de gevoelige man', Mededelingen van de Stichting Jacob Campo Weyerman 29 (2006) 251-260, 258. 10 De Vries, 'Loflied op de gevoelige man', 251-260; Dorothée Sturkenboom convincingly analysed how gender played an important role in the literary (spectatorial) construction of emotional identities.She also touched upon the political context and political implications of this, but without much further elaboration: Sturkenboom, Spectators van hartstocht.See for some examples of the political dimension of literary sentimentalism such as the role of empathy in the opposition to the slave-trade and slavery also: Inger Leemans and Gert-Jan Johannes, Worm en donder.Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse literatuur: de Republiek.1700-1800 (Amsterdam 2013).11 Catrien Santing, '"Vergeet de hartstocht niet".De zin van gevoeligheid in de politieke geschiedenis', Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden -The Low Countries Historical Review 121:2 (2006) 269-277; Henk te Velde, 'The Opening Up of Political History', in: Willibald Steinmetz, Ingrid Gilcher-Holtey and Heinz-Gerhard Haupt (eds.),Writing Political History Today (Frankfurt am Main 2013) 383-396, 394.A promising example of an ongoing project (at the Max-Planck-Institute) is: Democratic Emotions: Compromise and Parliamentary Culture in German History.12 On emotions and politics in the nineteenth and twentieth century see: R. Aerts, 'Emotie in de politiek.Over politieke stijlen in Nederland sinds 1848', Jaarboek Parlementaire Geschiedenis 5 (2003) 12-25; Marjan Schwegman, 'Hysterische mannen en koele vrouwen.Politiek, sekse en emoties in de lange negentiende eeuw', Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden -The Low Countries Historical Review 121:2 (2006) 278-284.On emotions and politics in the late eighteenth century see: Edwina Hagen and Inger Leemans, 'Een "vuurige aandoening van het hart".Drift en geestdrift in het Nederlands theater en de Nationale Vergadering, 1780-1800', Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis (2013) 531-547; Joris Oddens, 'Een lam republikeintje als ik.Jacob Hahn, het achttiende-eeuwse gevoelsdenken en de ordeverstoringen in de Nationale Vergadering', in: Peter van Dam, Bram Mellink and Jouke Turpijn (eds.),Onbehagen in de polder.Nederland in conflict sinds 1795 (Amsterdam 2014) 139-162.13 Reddy, The Navigation of Feeling, passim; see also Rosenwein's very lucid explanatory summary of Reddy's thesis in: Barbara H. Rosenwein, Emotional Communities in the Early Middle Ages (New York 2006) Introduction, 18.
family.The French painter Pierre-Paul Prud'hon portrayed him together with his wife Catharina and their twelve-year-old daughter Kitty and eight-year-old son Gerrit.65 This work, known as Réunion de famille, could be understood as a statesman's portrait in disguise.The picture does not reveal any references to the Dutch identity of the family.It breathes a cosmopolitan atmosphere, enhanced by the English landscape garden depicted and the choice of a French painter.Implicitly however, it places Schimmelpenninck clearly in the Dutch literary mode of 'homely poetry', which was closely linked to new ideas on nature and the philosophy of happiness.66 Key elements of this ideological stance were the inner feeling of well-being and contentment instilled by life at home with family, combined with the belief of the typical Dutchness of this lifestyle.67 This kind of domestic life was particularly promoted by Johannes Florentius Martinet.His influential books, such as his iconic Home Digest for the Nation's Families (1793), most likely had an impact on the Schimmelpennincks.

A
selection, with references to the pages on Schimmelpenninck: [H.Stewarton], The Secret History of the Court and Cabinet of St. Cloud in a Series of Letters from a Gentleman at Paris to a Nobleman in London, written during the Months of August, September, and October, 1805 Volume 2 (London 1806) 34-44; [H.Stewarton], The Revolutionary Plutarch: Exhibiting the Most Distinguished Characters, Literary, Military, and Political in the Recent Annals of the French Republic.The Greater Part from the Original Information of a Gentleman Resident at Paris.Volume 3 (London 1806) 411-422; [H.Stewarton], A Picture of the Empire of Buonaparte: and his Federale Nations, or the Belgium Traveller through Holland, France and Switzerland during the Years 1804-1805 in a Series of Letters From a Nobleman to a Minister of State (Middletown, CT 1807) 183.Stewarton's anonymous works are often ascribed to Lewis Goldsmith (1763-1846).Like Goldsmith's Stewarton's books should also be seen within the context of anti-Napoleonic propaganda.However they are not the same person: S. Burrows, 'Britain and the Black Legend: The Genesis of the Anti-Napoleonic Myth', in: M. Philp (ed.), Resisting Napoleon: The British Response to the Threat of Invasion, 1797-1815 (Aldershot 2006) 141-158.Only Stewarton's Secret History of the Court was published in a Dutch translation, in 1814.The most slanderous text fragments about Schimmelpenninck's sexual debauchery were censored.It is difficult to say what the impact was on Dutch public opinion, but Stewarton claimed he had Dutch informants.The way he wrecked Schimmelpenninck's reputation (in the style of French libellers as was analysed by Robert Darnton in his The Devil in the Holy Water, 2010) perfectly suited a gossip campaign stirred by Rutger Jan's own Batavian colleagues.See: Hagen, President van Nederland, chapter 6. 85 [Stewarton], The Secret History of the Court and Cabinet of St. Cloud, 34-44.86 Letter from Gerard Brantsen to Maarten van der Goes, 31 January 1806, in: Colenbrander, Gedenkstukken, IV, 2, nr.630, 614; letter from Brantsen toVan der Goes, 17 April 1806, in: ibid.IV,   2, nr.650, 630.
rise and fall of Schimmelpenninck as an emotional public personaTo Schimmelpenninck, as to many other moderate republicans, after the first exciting days of the revolution, and even more after the turn of the century, extreme emotions were no longer desirable in the formal political discourse of the Batavian parliament.In this respect one could argue that the Dutch example fits into Reddy's analysis of the breakdown of sentimentalism after 9Thermidor.However, while Reddy argued that the Terror marked 'the end of almost all attempts to establish a positive role for emotions in politics', the case of the Batavian Revolution proves otherwise.88 To the Dutch revolutionaries emotions in politics remained of crucial importance, thanks to the emergence of an alternative calm style developed by the moderates and most perfectly embodied by Schimmelpenninck.89 However, after his stay in Paris and, even more so, after his participation in the peace conference in Amiens, it seems that he developed his own cosmopolitan variant of the 'cult of sensibility' as part of his personal stamp and which also incorporated his wife.This obviously requires more detailed investigation, but it does suggest some influence of French postrevolutionary sentimentalism.As Reddy has argued, under the influence of the Directory a new emotional regime was created in which sentimentalism became removed from politics and was replaced by 'masculine reason'.90 A new type of male empathy sprang into being, partially in response to Kant, who dismissed the ability to attune to the feeling of others as 'unmanly' 91 ; but, as Reddy continues, in another, renewed form the emotionally sensitive man re-appeared in literary and artistic imaginaries of intimate family life.92 Prud'hon's family portrait may be seen as a reflection of this shift and of the Dutch homely tradition, though Schimmelpenninck did not entirely adapt his political style to the new, less sensitive mode of masculinity.After he was appointed head of state, he lived under the constant pressure of Napoleon's capricious autocratic will.As a result, he felt that he was left with almost no other choice than to increase his national credibility by an exuberant cultural self-(re)presentation.In his public performances covered by the media of his time, he still linked sensitivity and compassion with manliness.

Schimmelpenninck through the prism of emotions
another historiographical trend that has appeared in research articles on political figures in revolutionary France and America, appropriating Stephen Greenblatt's Renaissance Self-Fashionings from More toShakespeare (1980).17Within the historiography of 'self-fashioning', and in a broader sense secondary literature of the 'self', one can also find inspiring studies in which emotions as part of rhetorical skills and strategies of revolutionaries are understood as Annie Jourdan, 'Politieke en culturele transfers in een tijd van revolutie: Nederland 1795-1805', Commonwealth (Bataafse Gemeenebest) 24 , but this lasted only thirteen months.In 1806 Napoleon established the Kingdom of Holland with his brother Louis as king.25 members, since the revolution gave equal rights to politically disadvantaged groups such as Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters.29Astriking example of a particular kind of emotional behaviour was displayed by IJsbrand van Hamelsveld.30 His theatrical style of speaking with grotesque hand and arm gestures, and even rolling his eyes, was reminiscent of an actor on stage.Once he even became so emotional about a political conflict that as he said: 'My heart speaks; I am so deeply moved that tears are flowing from my eyes'.31 Perhaps this 'emotive expression', as defined by Reddy, must be seen in close connection to the fact that Van Hamelsveld was trained as a Reformed minister.In England and also later in the Netherlands, in the mid eighteenth century pulpit oratory found a welcome ally in the contemporary culture of sensibility and in various Pietist variants.32 However, although a display of tearfulness might have been considered to be effective in the pulpit, in parliament it was generally not done.33 28 The parliamentary proceedings indeed do report quite a number of moments of high drama taking place during the debates.Different emotional styles were at work, which perhaps could partially be explained by the very different educational, socio-economic and religious backgrounds of the parliamentary A more general emotional strategy within the Batavian parliament could be described as a display of 'enthusiasm' (in Dutch: geestdrift), which was promoted as a new political concept, freed from its original connotations At least one third of his parliamentary colleagues came from more or less the same background: they were almost exclusively reformed protestant and educated as lawyers.The other two thirds in parliament came from different backgrounds, socially, economically and religiously.Among these were a few lawyers, medical doctors and clergymen, but they were merely craftsmen and merchants, who had no, or hardly any, administrative experience since they suffered discrimination until they gained civil rights in 1796: Oddens, Pioniers in schaduwbeeld, chapter 3. See also: Edwina Hagen, '"Een zaal van staatsmannen, hart"', 546; Van Hamelsveld was also discredited as 'childish' in: Gerrit Paape, De onverbloemde geschiedenis van het Bataafsch patriottismus, van deszelfs begin tot op de 12 Junij 1798 (Delft 1798) 237.

small jalousies and interpersonal dislikes
republicans in Dutch parliament fit Reddy's category of sentimental politicians Jacobin-style.Schimmelpenninck's style was not emotionless either.On the contrary, he tried to establish himself as a role model by a modest display of sensitivity, or, in his own terms 'a sensitive and merciful heart'.39He wanted to be seen as compassionate.Responding to Pieter Vreede's dramatic and impassioned plea to stop turning a blind eye to the severe sufferings of black slaves, he appealed to the same level of empathy: that is, he used the same claim to suffering, but then in favour of the white victims of slave rebellions, as he referred to the Haitian Revolution of 1791.40When he wrote to his colleagues about the appalling state of the nation he used the same dramatic phrase (or 'emotive') 'my heart bleeds' over and over again.41As all of his republican peers, Schimmelpenninck gained his power on the basis of his education and personal merits rather than on his family background or church membership, as had been the case with the old ruling elite.Hence, he felt so strongly he could only properly represent the people on the basis of absolute integrity.As he himself put it dramatically, if he ever would be forced to speak differently than as he truly felt, he would not want to survive that moment.42In a way similar to what we know of the famous letters between John and Abigail Adams, the fashion of putting great value on feelings also exerted a great influence on Schimmelpenninck's marriage, in romantic problems, in the way he and his wife should rear their children, or in family matters concerning illnesses or death of close relatives.45Avivid example is the way Schimmelpenninck responded to Catharina's sister after she left her husband because, as she wrote to him, it was impossible to resist her passion for her new lover.She counted on Smith.55 The typically late eighteenth-century sentimental figure such as Harley, the protagonist in Mackenzie's work, was also presented in Dutch Enlightened journals, as a product of 'bourgeois' anti-aristocratic discourses.56 At first sight Schimmelpenninck's emotional register, with its emphasis on the pure and compassionate heart, almost seems to be an example of how the literary concept of the 'man of feeling' was also practiced in late eighteenth century daily life 57 , but as a statesman who stood for political moderation in general and the moderate use of the passions in particular, Schimmelpenninck made a clear attempt to find a middle way between being too sensitive and too insensitive as the hallmark of the truly masculine Batavian politician. of (the wrong kind of) passion.60 However when the 'Staatsbewind' or State Authority, the governing council of the Batavian Republic, came into power after a coup d'état against the 'Uitvoerend Bewind' (Executive Authority) on 17 October 1801, he feared that the twelve people who together formed the head of state would drag each other down in a turmoil of 'petty passions, small jalousies and interpersonal dislikes'.61 of his parliamentary speeches, of which the most important ones are published in: Schimmelpenninck, Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck de achttiende eeuw', in: R. Aerts and H. te Velde (eds.),Destijlvan de burger.Over Nederlandse burgerlijke cultuur vanaf de middeleeuwen (Kampen 1998) 80-99.radicalApureheartAsSchimmelpenninck himself stated, from a very early age on he knew he perfectably fit the profile of 'an energetic republican' because of his inborn sense of equality, 'high body strength' and the confidence to trust his own 'heart', meaning his own personal feelings.43He consciously steered by them, as he always claimed they were an important compass of his moral and political judgments.This was not just a feature of his public identity as a member of parliament or diplomat: it was also part of his personal day-today idiom, as it can be clearly seen from a large number of letters he wrote to his wife Catharina Nahuys in the periods when they were separated by their 149 commitments.44man, he ended the courtship, because, as he explained to the girl, he believed she first needed to learn more about her own 'feelings and sentiments' in order to make the right choice on which her personal lifelong happiness would depend.47ToSchimmelpenninck, men and women were equally capable of cultivating a 'pure heart'.A 'tender heart' on the other hand, he appreciated as a particular feminine trait of nature.48 To a twenty-first century reader the gender differences in the emotional language of that time are almost too subtle to grasp, but apparently they were clear to the people of the eighteenth century.Schimmelpenninck's frequent displays of sensitiveness did not prevent his peers from praising him for his 'masculine performance', the trait of 'a true and wise statesman'.49 In fact, with this he personified the ideal Batavian politician: a 'man of honour' with 'masculine courage' and 'masculine greatness'.50 This focus on masculinity might resemble Cicero's influential advise to the republican statesman to always remain masculine, but had also something to do with the ideological background of the Batavians: since the Once again, Dutch political sentimentalism cannot be associated only with the 'Robespierre-types' but perhaps the moderates in general were more, if only slightly, prone to the British version of sentimentalism than their 'hot brothers', as Schimmelpenninck called his radical opponents.54 As yet this awaits investigation on the level of the intellectual development of individual Batavians.However in earlier days at least, some of the moderates had a certain taste for the British literary mode of sentimental fiction.Schimmelpenninck's political friend, Johannes Lublink de Jonge, even translated The Man of Feeling, Henry Mackenzie's famous tear-jerker novel, which alluded to the philosophical constructions of the feeling subject as imagined by Hume and Justice and the Moral Sentiments in the Eighteenth Century and Today (Oxford 2010) 12. Stephan Klein analysed Schimmelpenninck's thoughts on political theory (note 20).It should be noted that Schimmelpenninck's private collection of books has now become more easily accessible.54 See for the reference on 'hot brothers' for instance Schimmelpenninck's letter to Maarten van der Goes, 22 October 1801, in: Colenbrander, Gedenkstukken, IV, 2, 637.151 While the fiery passion fuelling the revolutionary 'emotives' of many Batavian republicans surely resembled the French emotional culture until 9 Thermidor, Schimmelpenninck distanced himself from those of his peers whom he thought indulged too much in their 'human passions'.58 As a moderate he could not abide fanaticism.Before the radical coup d'état of January 21st-22nd, 1798, he left parliamentary politics.From his new location in Paris, where he was stationed as the Dutch ambassador to France from November 1798, he condemned the political overthrow as the work of 'blind enthusiasm'.59 He hoped that the new constitution of the unitary government established by moderates on 12 June was going to be the work of common sense rather than 55 Ildiko Csengei, '"I will not weep": Reading through the Tears of Henry Mackenzie's Man of Feeling', he gave a speech in the National Assembly on the nation's importance of the 'tender joy' of 'individual homely happiness'.69Inline with this, he did not have himself portrayed by Prud'hon as a diplomat, but as a husband and father, surrounded by family harmony and the green of nature, which perfectly suited the Dutch 'sensitive enlightened expectations of happiness'.70Withhisdreamy gaze, accentuated by the book on his lap, his image perfectly fitted the ideal of the man of feeling 71 but as an exemplary family man, he could also easily be seen as responsible, stable and trustworthy -not in the sense of a patriarchal authority with little visible emotion, but as a sensitive and affectionate father.72WeseeCatharina standing behind her husband, wearing a white dress (somewhat yellowed due to old varnish on the painting).It is fascinating to note that in the original sketch she leaned towards him in a motherly and homely manner.This pose was indeed painted, but finally altered although it is still visible; the surface of the painting still shows a thickening where the arm used to be.In the present portrait she looks much more representational, in the sense of less intimate and more distant.Interestingly enough, a preliminary sketch of Schimmelpenninck shows that his pose was also changed, but then in a contrary way.Initially the idea was that he would have his arms crossed over his chest, but in the final version his body is positioned in a more open and more relaxed manner.73This all might be due to compositional reasons, One could say that with Prud'hon's portrait Schimmelpenninck hinted at a new political regime that he secretly hoped that in the near future he himself would embody.Around this time rumours circulated that he could be a second George Washington.75When Schimmelpenninck became Grand Pensionary three years later, dozens of Dutch and French poems and accounts of the times, mostly written by close political friends, praised him highly.This was done by the use of the same key elements of the public imagery of himself that Schimmelpenninck had launched, among which was his selfcultivated emotional image, confirmed by Prud'hons portrait.76 It seems to have made him very popular.The speech he held in 1805 after he was installed as the new head of state was particularly well received.Schimmelpenninck's biggest and most loyal fan, the journalist Petrus Loosjes, wrote that the listening audience had trembled all over their bodies because they felt that the words of their new political leader came straight from the heart.77 As another journalist, Anna Catharina Brinkman, also euphorically wrote, with his speeches he managed to 'let tears flow, and hearts glow'.To Brinkman he was, above all, 'tender-hearted'.78 Many poets, among whom the sentimental author Rhijnvis Feith and the moderate politicians Jacob Kantelaar, Johannes Lublink de Jonge and Jacobus Scheltema, as well as the French Napoleonic propagandists Jean-Charles-Julien Luce de Lancival and Jean Chas, used In their words the new head of the Batavian state was 'gentle', 'amiable', 'masculine' and 'humanitarian'.According to Joan Melchior Kemper, Schimmelpenninck earned public admiration particularly because he dedicated his political talents to the relief of the nation's pain and sorrow.He gave the Dutch citizens hope and helped them to stop mourning over the decline over their country.80 In Feith's sentimental poem on The author, who did not reveal any information about his true identity, must have been well-informed as he depicted Schimmelpenninck's youth, schooling and career in sufficient detail.85 His slander especially focused on Schimmelpenninck's time as an ambassador in Paris, where it was claimed that he visited numerous prostitutes and courtesans and even kept a Dutch mistress.In Stewarton's writings Schimmelpenninck now appeared to be someone who was not strong because of his sensitivity, but someone with no control of his feelings at all.To add insult to injury, Stewarton confirmed what was being said at that time also by Schimmelpenninck's Batavian opponents in semi-private letters, namely that Catharina exercised the real political power.86 Whereas Schimmelpenninck was the weak and emotional one, his wife was accused of being cool and calculating, which, according to Stewarton, the French ascribed to her 'native insensibility' and 'Batavian phlegm'.87 As a child Catharina, who was born in 1770, received a private education from Martinet.68Schimmelpenninck even introduced Martinet's ideas in to be visualised in Prud'hon's painting Réunion de famille.83Ultimately it was exactly this sensitive image for which Schimmelpenninck received much praise that was used against him.His fall from power in June 1806 was accompanied by a gossip and slander campaign, initially launched by his own Batavian colleagues, but taken up by international journalists as well.From 1805, the year in which Schimmelpenninck began to lead his one-man regime, the English society author Stewarton published several bestsellers about Napoleon's inner 79 R. Feith, 'Mijn lier', and J. Kantelaar, 'Wie is die held', in: Aan R.J. Schimmelpenninck in Mei 1805 (Amsterdam 1805); J. Lublink de Jonge, Hulde aan zijne excellentie R.J. Schimmelpenninck, bij zijne terugkomst uit Parijs (s.l.[1805]); J. Scheltema, door 's volks keuze (s.l.[1805]); J.Ch.J. Luce de Lancival, Ode à Son Excellence monsieur R.-J.Schimmelpenninck, Grand Pensionnaire de la République Batave (Paris 1805); [Chas], Coup-d'oeil rapide sur M. Schimmelpenninck, Dutch translation: Vlugtige oogslag op zijne excellentie den heere R.J.
89 This has also been argued by Oddens in his: '"Een lam republikeintje als ik"'.I would like to thank him for allowing me to read this article, which is yet to be published.90 Reddy, The Navigation of Feeling; Rosenwein, Emotional Communities, Introduction.91 Ute Frevert, Emotions in History: Lost and Found (Berlin 2012) 173.92 Reddy, The Navigation of Feeling; Rosenwein, Emotional Communities, Introduction.