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who else have I to thank for other acquaintance so dear to me - How willingly he would always try to make of me more than I was (perhaps the cause of my present disgrace) and more than I was myself aware of being - without his urging I should never have undertaken to make myself known as an author [...] well, what's done is done - I can do nothing but write to him - justify myself in this way as well as I can. [...]

[In this rather absurd passage I think we see Bräker trying to follow the line which he feels a refined gentleman would take, but his common sense stands in the way.] The relationship was quickly restored, Bräker visited Imhof in his parsonage in Emmenthal, and soon after the move Imhof wrote to Füssli asking him to help Bräker, emphasising that he was doing so without Bräker's knowledge.[Voellmy, v 3 p 46].

17th-21st Aug. Bräker travels with his wife to Zürich, he notes that this is not for pleasure "but on other urgent matters". They go by boat from Schmerikon to Pfaffikon in spite of Salome's fear of travel by water, and spend the night at Wädenswil. Salome is not used to travel nor ready to take in new impressions. Next day they go on by boat to Zürich, where they are kindly received as Bräker was in the previous year, but the crowds of people and carriages make Salome feel unwell, she would like to leave the city. Next day is market day, which makes her worse, Bräker agrees to cut the journey short. He receives an advance of ten louis d'ors from Füssli. They return to Wädenswil by boat, Bräker calls it "a village - that in our Helvetia - perhaps in Europe, has few equals in enlightenment... so much reading, and learning, especially beautiful music". On the 21st they travel by boat to Schmerikon and walk the rest of the way. The weather is hot, they rest in Bildhaus till it is somewhat cooler. [Chronik, pp 365-366]

Bräker writes that he has been lending books to other farmers, to see what they think of them. One was a dramatised history of Frederick the Great by August Christian Borheck, published in 1786, another an account of the court at Berlin by Honoré Mirabeau, written in 1786-7, published 1789, and some satirical pamphlets. The first book attracts the most interest.

A friend criticises Bräker's review of Schubart's dialogues. Bräker replies indignantly that he is one of Schubart's greatest admirers. The friend demands that Bräker strike the essay on Schubart out of the diary so that it will not be published. [Chronik, pp 366-367]

[It would be interesting to know who this friend was, from the context it appears that it was not Imhof or any of Bräker's friends who regularly lent him books. The friend would have been uneasy at the idea of Bräker publicly expressing admiration for someone who had been imprisoned on political grounds.]
Voellmy [v 2 pp 56-62] quotes at some length from two dialogues written this year. In the first dialogue four people of the Toggenburg discuss Schubart, mainly his unorthodox ideas on religion.
[Three of the speakers are women, and though they are made to sound rather ridiculous, it does show that Bräker expected women to be able to take part in a serious discussion.]
In the second, a dialogue between "He" - the friend referred to above - and "Myself", Bräker defends his admiration for Schubart's writings and his right to record it,
(though neither of these dialogues was in fact published). Voellmy says that Bräker admired Schubart more for his fiery style than his actual opinions, and was inspired to write of his own life and times in a similar way. He certainly resents the idea that he can legally be prevented from doing so:

"[...] I'm doing just the same as that Swiss man did, who was lying on his deathbed and the priest was speaking to him severely, saying he must be reconciled with his enemy or wander in Hell for ever, and his last words were: "No, I'm a free Swiss, I can go wherever I like." So I said too: "I'm a free man of Toggenburg. I can write whatever I like."

But when his friend suggests that he should write about the various forms of government in Switzerland in a satirical way, Bräker declines:

"That I don't wish to do, and couldn't think of doing it with a clear conscience. I am heartily well content with our rulers, and I wouldn't change the government of the good father of our


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