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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and
+XIXth Centuries, Vol. II., by Gustav Freytag
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries, Vol. II.
+
+Author: Gustav Freytag
+
+Translator: Georgiana Malcolm
+
+Release Date: September 29, 2010 [EBook #33819]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE V. 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+  1. Page scan source:
+     http://www.archive.org/details/picturesgermanl03freygoog
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                        PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE
+
+                                 IN THE
+
+                  EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES.
+
+                             SECOND SERIES.
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+
+                                VOL. II.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                PICTURES
+
+                                   OF
+
+                              GERMAN LIFE
+
+                  In the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries.
+
+
+
+                             Second Series.
+
+
+                                   BY
+                            GUSTAV FREYTAG.
+
+
+                    Translated from the Original by
+                             MRS. MALCOLM.
+
+
+
+                 _COPYRIGHT EDITION.--IN TWO VOLUMES_.
+
+
+                                VOL. II.
+
+
+
+                                LONDON:
+                   CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193 PICCADILLY.
+                                 1863.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                LONDON:
+               BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
+
+
+
+
+                               CONTENTS.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+Away from the Garrison (1700).--The army, and the constitution
+of the State--The country militia and their history--The soldiery of
+the Sovereign--Change of organisation after the war--The beginning
+of compulsory levies about 1700--Gradual introduction of
+conscription--Recruiting and its illegalities--Desertions--Trafficking
+with armies--The Prussian army under Frederic William I.--The regiment
+of guards at Potsdam--Prussian officers--Ulrich Bräcker--Narrative of a
+Prussian deserter
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+The State of Frederic the Great (1700).--The kingdom of the
+Hohenzollerns, its small size; character of the people and
+princes--Childhood of Frederic--Opposition to his
+father--Catastrophe--Training and its influence on his character--His
+marriage and relations with women--Residence in Rheinsberg--His
+character when he became King--Striking contrast between his poetic
+warmth and his inexorable severity--Inward change in the course of the
+first Silesian war--Loss of the friends of his youth--The literary
+period till 1766--His poetry, historical writings, and literary
+versatility--Seven years of iron labour--His method of carrying on war,
+and heroic struggle--Admiration of Germans and foreigners--His
+sufferings and endurance--Extracts from Frederic's Letters from
+1767-1762--Principles of his government--Improvement of
+Silesia--Difference betwixt the Prussian and Austrian
+government--Feeling of duty in the Prussian officials--Acquisition
+of West Prussia--Miserable condition in 1772--Agriculture of
+Frederic--His last years
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+Of the Year of Tuition of the German Citizen (1790).--Influence of
+Frederic on German art, philosophy, and historical writing--Poetry
+flourishes--The aspect of a city in 1790--The coffee gardens and
+the theatres--Travelling and love of the picturesque--Different
+sources of morals and activity amongst the nobles, citizens, and
+peasants--Characteristics of the life of the country nobles--The piety
+of the country people--Education of the citizens--Advantages of the
+Latin schools and of the university education--The sentimentality and
+change in the literary classes from 1750-1790--The Childhood of Ernst
+Frederic Haupt
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+The Period of Ruin (1800).--The condition of Germany--Courts and cities
+of the Empire--People and armies of the Empire--The emigrants--Effect
+of the revolution on the Germans--The Prussian State--Its rapid
+increase--Von Held--Bureaucracy--The army--The Generals--The
+downfall--Narrative of the Years 1806-1807, by Christoph Wilhelm
+Heinrich Sethe--His life
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+Rise of the Nation (1807-1815).--Sorrowful condition of the people in
+the year 1807--The first signs of rising strength--Hatred of the French
+Emperor--Arming of Prussia--Character and importance of the movement of
+1813--Napoleon's flight--Expedition of the French to Russia in
+1812, and return in 1813--The Cossacks--The people rise--General
+enthusiasm--The volunteer Jägers and patriotic gifts--The Landwehr
+and the Landsturm--The first combat--Impression of the war on the
+citizens--The enemy in the city--The course of the war--The celebration
+of victory
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+Illness and Recovery (1815-1848).--The time of reaction--Hopelessness
+of the German question--Discontent and exhaustion of the
+Prussians--Weakness of the educated classes in the north of
+Germany--The development of practical activity--The South Germans and
+their village tales--Description of a Village School by Karl Mathy
+
+
+CONCLUSION.--The Hohenzollerns and the German citizens
+
+
+
+
+
+                        PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE.
+
+
+                             Second Series.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+                        AWAY FROM THE GARRISON.
+                                (1700.)
+
+
+A shot from the alarm-gun! Timidly does the citizen examine the dark
+corners of his house to discover whether any strange man be hid there.
+The peasant in the field stops his horses to consider whether he would
+wish to meet with any fugitive, and earn capture-money, or whether he
+should save some desperate man, in spite of the severe punishment with
+which every one was threatened who enabled a deserter to escape.
+Probably he will let the fugitive run away, though in his power, for in
+his secret soul he has a fellow feeling for him, nay, even admires his
+daring.
+
+There is scarcely any sphere of earthly interest which stamps so
+sharply the peculiarities of the culture of the time, as the army and
+the method of carrying on war. In every century the army corresponds
+exactly with the constitution and character of the state. The
+Franconian landwehr of Charles the Great, who advanced on foot from
+their _Maifeld_ to Saxony, the army of the noble cuirassiers who rode
+under the Emperor Barbarossa into the plains of Lombardy, the Swiss
+and Landsknechte of the time of the Reformation, and the mercenary
+armies of the Thirty Years' War, were all highly characteristic of the
+culture of their time; they sprang from the social condition of the
+people, and changed with it. Thus did the oldest infantry of the
+proprietors take root in the old provincial constitution, the mounted
+chivalry in the old feudalism, the troops of Landsknechte in the rise
+of civic power, and the companies of roving mercenaries in the increase
+of royal territorial dominion; these were succeeded in despotic states,
+in the eighteenth century, by the standing army with uniform and pay.
+
+But none of the older forms of military service were entirely displaced
+by those of later times, at least some reminiscences of them are
+everywhere kept. The ancient landfolge (attendants on military
+expeditions) of the free landowner had ceased since the greater portion
+of the powerful peasantry had sunk into bondsmen, and the strong
+landwehr had become a general levy, of little warlike capacity; but
+they had not been entirely set aside, for still in the eighteenth
+century all freeholders were bound at the sound of the alarum to hasten
+together, and to furnish baggage, horses, and men to work at the
+fortifications. In the same way the knights of the Hohenstaufen were
+dispersed by the army of free peasants and citizens, at Sempach,
+Grunson, Murten, and the lowlands of Ditmarsch, but the furnishing of
+cavalry horses remained as a burden upon the properties of the
+nobility; it was after the end of the sixteenth century--in Prussia,
+first under Frederic William I.--that it was changed into a low
+money-tax, and this tax was the only impost on the feudal property of
+nobles.[1] The roving Landsknecht also, who provided his own equipments
+and changed his banner every summer, was turned into a mounted
+mercenary with an unsettled term of service; but in the new time the
+customs of free enlistment, earnest money, and entering into foreign
+service, were still maintained, although these customs of the
+Landsknecht time were in strange and irreconcilable contrast to the
+fearful severity with which the new rule of a despotic state grasped
+the whole life of the recruit.
+
+The defects of the standing army in the eighteenth century have been
+often criticised, and every one knows something of the rigorous
+discipline in the companies with which the Dessauer stormed the
+defences of Turin, and Frederic II. maintained possession of Silesia.
+But another part of the old military constitution is not equally known,
+and has been entirely lost sight of even by military writers. It shall
+therefore be introduced here.
+
+The regiments which the sovereigns of the eighteenth century led to
+battle, or leased to foreign potentates, were not the only armed
+organisation of Germany. Besides the paid army there was in most of the
+states a militia force, certainly very deficient in constitution, but
+by no means insignificant or uninfluential. At no time had the old
+idea, that every one was bound to defend his own country, vanished from
+the German life. The right of the rulers to employ their subjects in
+the defence of their homes, was, according to the notions of the olden
+time, entirely distinct from their other right of keeping soldiers.
+They could not command their subjects to render military service for
+their political struggles, nor for wars beyond the frontiers. Service
+in war was a free work, for that, they were obliged to invite
+volunteers, that is to say, to enlist, as they were unable to avail
+themselves of their vassals. One of the greatest changes in the history
+of the German nation was owing to the conviction being gradually
+impressed upon the people, by the despotic governments in the former
+century, that they were bound to furnish their rulers with at least a
+portion of their soldiers. And it is not less instructive to find, that
+in our century, after the old system was destroyed, the general idea of
+defensive duty was imbibed by the people. It is worth while to
+investigate the way in which this happened.
+
+Already, towards the end of the sixteenth century, when the
+Landsknechte had become too costly and demoralised, people began to
+think of forming a militia of the men capable of bearing arms in the
+cities and open country, which were to be employed for its protection
+within its frontiers. After 1613, this militia was organised in
+Electoral Saxony and the neighbouring countries, and soon after in the
+other circles of the Empire, and companies established, which were
+sometimes assembled and exercised in military drill. Their collective
+number was fixed and distributed among the districts, the communities
+appointed and armed the men, and if they were in service they received
+pay from the ruler.
+
+The Thirty Years' War was for the most part carried on by enlisted
+soldiers, yet in case of need the militia were here and there turned
+into regulars; either whole regiments were appointed for field service,
+or the gaps in the enlisted troops were filled up by serviceable men.
+But on the whole the loose organisation of this militia did not answer.
+After the peace it was still less possible in the depopulated state of
+the country, to form from it a new military constitution. For the
+citizen and peasant, as taxpayers, as well as for the cultivation of
+the now waste ground, were indispensable. The old imperfect
+constitution of this civic army was, therefore, maintained. The only
+difference made in the militia at this period was that the men were
+chosen by the officers of the Sovereign and that the term of service
+was limited for the young men; the community fell into the back-ground,
+and the Sovereign became more powerful. In this manner were the militia
+brought together in companies and regiments, according to their
+circles, and exercised once or twice a year. Before the war the
+districts had provided them with weapons and equipments; now this also
+was done by the Sovereign; but in the cities the officers were
+appointed by the citizens; only the commanding officer was selected by
+the General The men were usually chosen by lot, and it is an
+interesting circumstance that, as early as 1711, the inscription on the
+Saxon ticket was "_For Fatherland_." But the military education was
+imperfect, exemptions were frequent, and the mode of filling up the
+vacancies inadequate.
+
+And yet this militia more than once did good service; for instance, in
+Prussia. The armed country people, as they were called in the
+description of the battle of Fehrbelliner, were not a mere crowd that
+had flocked together, but the old organised country militia; they took
+an essential share in the first glorious deed of arms, in which the
+Brandenburgers beat a superior enemy by their own unaided efforts. In
+1704, these militia were still much esteemed in Prussia, and those who
+were enrolled in it were exempt from all other military service.[2] It
+is true this was cancelled by Frederic William I., but in the Seven
+Years' War again established, and this militia did then good service
+against Sweden and Russia. In the Empire, also, and in Saxony, they
+were maintained, though weak, unwarlike and despised, till an altered
+state of civilisation made a new organisation of the national militia
+possible. Even now is this new constitution not fully completed.
+
+Entirely distinct from these militia were the soldiery, which the
+Sovereign maintained himself, and paid out of his revenue. It might be
+only a body of guards, for the protection and adornment of his court,
+or it might be many companies whom he levied in order to secure his own
+state, and by gaining influence and power among his equals, to obtain
+money. It was his own private affair, and if he did not overburden his
+people by it, no objection could be made. Those who served him also,
+did it of their own free will; they might engage themselves to other
+Sovereigns at home or abroad, who were obliged to keep the agreements
+they made with them. If the country were in danger from external
+enemies, the states granted the Sovereign money or a special
+contribution for these soldiers, for it was well known that they had
+more military capacity than the militia. Thus it was in Prussia under
+the great Elector, and so it remained in the greater part of Germany
+till late in the eighteenth century.
+
+But this private army which the Sovereign had levied for himself had
+also acquired a new constitution.
+
+Till the end of the Thirty Years' War the enlistment, in most of the
+German armies, had taken place according to Landsknecht custom, at the
+risk of the Colonels. The Colonel concluded a contract with the Prince;
+he filled and sold the captains' commissions; the Prince paid the
+Colonel the money contributed by the district. Thus the regiments were
+essentially dependent on the Colonel, and this was a power which might
+be used against the Prince. The discipline was loose; the officers'
+places occupied by creatures of the Colonel, and at his death the
+regiment was dissolved. The rogueries of Colonels and leaders of
+companies, which were already complained of in 1600 by the military
+writers, had attained a certain virtuosoship in their development.
+Seldom were all the men whose names stood on the rolls, really under
+the banner. The officers drew the pay for numbers who were not there,
+who were called "_Passevolants_," or "_Blinde_," and they appointed
+their grooms and sutlers, from the baggage-waggons, to be
+non-commissioned officers. In the Imperial army, also, complaints were
+endless of the most reckless selfishness from the highest to the
+lowest. In the midst of peace the officers plundered the hereditary
+States in which they were quartered; they fished and hunted in the
+environs, and claimed a portion of the city tolls; they caused beasts
+to be killed and sold; and set up wine and beer taverns. In like manner
+as the officers robbed, the soldiers stole. This continued still in
+1677; and this plague of the country threatened to become lasting. The
+enlisting of recruits was still little organised in this early period;
+and the rogueries, which could not fail to accompany it, were at least
+unsanctioned by the highest authorities.
+
+In Brandenburg the great Elector, immediately after his entrance on the
+government, reformed the connection between the regiments and the
+Sovereign; the enlistment was from thenceforth in his own name; he
+appointed the Colonel and the officers, who could no longer buy their
+commissions. Then first did the paid troops become a standing army,
+clothed, armed, and equipped alike, with better discipline, obedient
+instruments in the hands of the princes. This was the greatest advance
+in the military system since the invention of fire-arms; and Prussia
+owes to the early and energetic introduction of this new system its
+military preponderance in Germany. The commissariat, also, was
+reorganised; the men received, at least in war, their daily food in
+rations, and the provisions were supplied from great magazines. Through
+the efforts of Montecuculi, and later of Prince Eugene, Austria also,
+shortly before 1700, acquired a better disciplined standing army.
+
+The whole complement of these troops could, up to 1700, be procured
+almost exclusively by free enlisting; for long after the great war the
+people continued in a state of restlessness, and had imbibed an
+adventurous spirit, to which military work was very enticing. This
+altered gradually. During the war-like period of Louis XIV., and from
+the increase of the French army, the German princes were compelled to a
+greater increase of their paid armies, and the loss of men occasioned
+by the incessant war had carried off many of the useless and bold
+rabble that collected round the banners. Even before the great war of
+succession the deficiency of men began to be felt; voluntary enlistment
+could nowhere any longer be obtained; complaints of the deeds of
+violence of the recruiting officers became at last troublesome. The
+military ruler, at last, began to scrutinize the men who seized under
+him, and sometimes had them exercised in companies. To use the militia
+for his warlike expeditions was impossible; they were too little
+trained, and, what was more important, they consisted more especially
+of respectable residents, whose labour and taxes could not be dispensed
+with by the State, as the nobility, and, in Catholic countries, the
+ecclesiastics, contributed nothing to his income. Besides this, it was
+an unheard-of thing for the people to be compelled by force into
+military service. However much he might feel himself the master, this
+was an innovation too much against the general feeling; the people bore
+their taxes and burdens expressly that he might carry on war for them.
+The peasant rendered service and soccage to his landlord, because in
+the olden time the latter had gone into the field for him. He then
+rendered taxes and service to the Sovereign because he had gone with
+his paid soldiers into the field for him, when his landlord was no
+longer willing to bear the burden; but now the peasant was to render
+the same service to landlord and Prince, and besides this to march
+himself to battle. This appeared impracticable; but again the pressure
+of bitter necessity was felt, and help must be found. Only the most
+indigent were to be taken--vagrants and idlers; but all whose labour
+was useful to the State, all who raised themselves in any sort out of
+the mass, were not to be disturbed.
+
+Cautiously and slowly began the enlistment of the people for the
+military service of their Prince before 1700. It was proclaimed for the
+first time, but without success, that the country must supply recruits.
+The innovation was first attempted, it appears, by the Brandenburger in
+1693: the provinces were to enlist and present the number of men
+wanting, yet not villeins; and the leaders of companies were to pay two
+thalers earnest money to each man. Soon they went further; and first,
+in 1704, called upon particular classes of tax-payers, and then in 1705
+upon the community, to supply the necessary men. The recruits were to
+serve from two to three years, and those that willingly enlisted for
+six years and more were preferred. Exactly the same arrangement was
+made in Saxony in 1702 by King Augustus. There the communities had to
+provide for the Sovereign, as well as for the militia, an appointed
+number of young sound men, and to decide what individuals could
+be dispensed with. The enlistment-place was the Town-hall; the
+high-constables of the circles had the inspection. The man was
+delivered over without regimentals,--four thalers ready money were
+given,--the time of service two years,--and if the officer refused his
+discharge after two years, he who had served his time had the power to
+go away. Thus, timidly, did they begin to bring forward a new claim;
+and, in spite of all this caution, the opposition of the people was so
+violent and bitter that the new regulation was given up, and they
+returned again to enlistment. In 1708 forcible recruiting was
+abolished, "because it was too great an exaction." The iron will of
+Frederic William I. accustomed his people gradually to submit to this
+compulsion. After 1720 registers were made of children subject to
+military service, and in 1733 the "_canton_"[3] system was introduced.
+The land was divided among the regiments; the citizens and peasants
+were, with many exceptions, declared subject to military service. Every
+year were the deficiencies in the regiments filled up through levies,
+in which, it must be remarked by the way, the greatest despotism on the
+part of the captains remained unpunished.
+
+In Saxony they first succeeded, towards the end of the century, in
+carrying on the conscription together with the enlisting. In other
+parts, especially in small territories, that prospered less.
+
+Thus the military system of Germany presents to our view this
+remarkable phenomenon, that at the same time in which increased
+intellectual development produced in the middle classes greater
+pretensions, together with higher culture and morals, the despotism of
+the rulers gradually effected another great political advance in the
+life of the people--the beginning of our common feeling of the duty of
+self-defence. And it is equally remarkable that this innovation did not
+begin in the form of a great and wise measure, but in conjunction with
+circumstances which would appear to be more especially adverse to it.
+The greatest severity and unscrupulousness of a despotic state showed
+itself precisely in that by which it prepared, though it did not carry
+out, the greatest step in political progress.
+
+Too brutal and unscrupulous was the conduct of the officers who had to
+raise the levies, and too violent was the opposition and aversion of
+the people. The young men left the country in masses; no threatening of
+the gallows, of cutting off ears, or of confiscation of their property,
+could stop the fugitives. More than once the fanatical soldier-zealot
+Frederic William I. of Prussia was counteracted by the necessity of
+sparing his kingdom, which threatened to be depopulated. Never could
+more than half the number required be filled up by this conscription;
+the other half of the deficiency had to be raised by enlistment.
+
+The enlisting, also, in the first half of the eighteenth century, was
+rougher work than it had been. The Sovereigns themselves were more
+dangerous recruiting officers than the captains of the old
+Landsknechte. And although the evils of this system were notorious, no
+one knew how to remedy it. The rulers, it is true, were not so much
+disquieted by the immorality attending it, as they were by the
+insecurity, costliness, and unceasing disputes which it involved, as
+well as by the reclamations of foreign governments. The recruiting
+officers were themselves often bad and untrustworthy men, whose
+proceedings and disbursements could with difficulty be controlled. Not
+a few lived for years a life of dissipation, with their accomplices, in
+foreign countries at the cost of their monarchs; charged exorbitant
+bounties, only succeeded in ensnaring a few, and could scarcely get
+these into the country. It soon followed that not half of those so
+enlisted ever became available to the army; for the greater part were
+the worst rabble, into whom military qualities could not always be
+flogged, whose diseased bodies and vicious habits filled the hospitals
+and prisons, and who ran away on the first opportunity.
+
+The enlisting in the interior was carried on with every kind of
+violence; the officers and recruiting sergeants seized and carried off
+only sons who ought to have been exempt; students from the
+Universities, and whole colonies of villeins whom they settled on their
+own properties. Whoever wished to be exempt, was obliged to bribe, and
+was not even then safe. The officers were so protected in their violent
+extortions, that they openly despised all legal restraints. If there
+happened to be a great deficiency of men in time of war, all regard for
+law ceased. Then a formal, razzia was arranged, the city gates were
+beset by guards, and every one who went in or out subjected to a
+fearful examination, and whoever was tall and strong was seized; houses
+were broken into, and recruits were sought for from cellar to garret,
+even in families that ought to have been exempt. In the Seven Years'
+War, the Prussians even endeavoured to catch the scholars of the upper
+forms of the public schools in Silesia, for military service. In many
+families still lives the remembrance of the terror and danger
+occasioned to the grandfathers by the recruiting system. It was then a
+great misfortune for the sons of the clergy or officials to grow tall,
+and the usual warning of anxious parents was, "Do not grow, or you will
+be caught by the recruiting officer."
+
+Almost worse were the illegalities practised by the recruiting
+sergeants seeking for recruits in foreign countries. The recruit was
+bound by the reception of the money; and the well-known man[oe]uvre was
+to make simple lads drunk in jovial society, to press the money on them
+when intoxicated, take them into strict custody, and when, on becoming
+sober, they resisted, keep them by chains and every means of
+compulsion. Under escort and threatenings, the prisoners were dragged
+under the banners, and compelled to take the oath by barbarous
+punishments. Every other means of seduction was used besides drinking;
+gambling, prostitutes, lying, and every kind of deceit. Individuals
+considered desirable subjects were for days watched by spies. It was
+required of recruiting sergeants, who were paid for this purpose, to be
+especially expert in the art of outwitting. Advancement and presents of
+money depended on their knowing how to catch many men. Frequently they
+avoided, even where enlisting offices were allowed, showing themselves
+in uniform, and tried to seize their victims in every kind of disguise.
+Horrible were the basenesses practised in this man-hunting, and
+connived at by the governments. It was, in fact, slave-hunting; for the
+enlisted soldier could only perform his service in the great machine of
+the army, when he closed with all the hopes and wishes of his former
+life. It is a melancholy task to represent to oneself the feelings
+which worked in these victims; destroyed hopes, faintheartedness under
+violence, and heart-rending grief over a ruined life. It was not always
+the worst men who were hunted to death by running the gauntlet for
+repeated desertions, or flogged on account of insolent disobedience,
+till they lay senseless on the ground. Whoever could overcome his own
+inward struggle and accustom himself to the rough style of his new
+life, became a complete soldier, that is, a man who performed his
+service punctually, showed a firm spirit in attack, honoured or hated
+as enjoined, and perhaps felt some attachment to his flag; and probably
+much greater to the friend which made him for a time forget his
+situation--brandy.
+
+Enlistment in foreign countries could only take place with the consent
+of the Government of the country. Urgently did warlike princes seek for
+permission from their neighbours for an enlistment office. The Emperor,
+indeed, had the best of it, for each of his regiments had, according to
+custom, a fixed recruiting district throughout Germany. The others,
+especially Prussia, had to provide a favourable district for it. The
+larger Imperial cities were frequently courteous enough to grant
+permission to the more powerful Sovereigns; consequently, they were not
+always able to protect the sons of their own noble families. The
+frontiers of France, Holland, and Switzerland, were favourable
+districts for catching recruits; for there were always deserters to be
+found in the territory which was surrounded by foreign domains,
+especially when a foreign fortress, with burdensome garrison service,
+lay in the neighbourhood. Anspach, Baireuth, Dessau, and Brunswick,
+were always a good market for the Prussians.
+
+The recruiting officers of the different governments were not in equal
+repute. The Austrians had the best character; they were considered in
+the soldier world, coarse, but harmless; only took those that willingly
+yielded themselves, and kept to the agreement strictly. They had not
+much to offer, only three kreuzer and two pounds of bread daily; but
+they never were deficient in recruits. The Prussian recruiting
+officers, on the contrary, it must be owned, were in the worst repute;
+they lived in the highest style, were very insolent and unscrupulous,
+and fool-hardy devils. In order to catch a fine lad, they contrived the
+most audacious tricks, and exposed themselves to the greatest dangers:
+one knows that they were sometimes soundly beaten, when they found
+themselves in a minority, that they were imprisoned by foreign
+Governments, and more than one of them stabbed; but all this did not
+frighten them. This evil report lasted till Frederic William II. made
+his new rules of enlistment.
+
+One of the best recruiting places in the empire was Frankfort-ā-M.,
+with its great fair; Prussians, Austrians, and Danes, still, at the end
+of the century, dwelt together there; the Danes had hung out their flag
+at the "Fir-tree;" the Austrians had, from olden times, stopped
+phlegmatically at the inn "The Red Ox;" but the restless Prussian
+recruiting officers were always changing; they were at this time the
+most distinguished and most splendid. A kind of diplomatic intercourse
+was maintained between the different parties; they were, it is true,
+jealous of one another, and endeavoured mutually to intercept each
+other's news; but they continued to visit and took wine and tobacco
+together as comrades. But Frankfort had already, after the seventeenth
+century, become the centre of a special branch of the business for
+entrapping men for the Imperial army. The recruiting officers sought
+not only new men, but also for deserters; and the bad discipline and
+want of military pride of the small southern German countries,
+as well as the facility of desertion, made it alluring to every
+good-for-nothing fellow to obtain new earnest money. In the recruiting
+rooms, therefore, of the Prussians and those of the "Red Ox," there
+hung a great variety of wardrobes from the different territories of the
+empire, which the deserters had left behind. Besides the wish to gain
+more bounty, there was yet another reason which led even the better
+sort of soldiers to desert--the wish to marry. No government approved
+of their soldiers burdening themselves with wives when in garrison,
+but, reckless as the military rulers were, they had no power in this
+respect. For there was no better means of keeping hold of a recruit
+than by marriage. If permission was refused, it was certain in
+garrisons near the frontier, that the soldier would fly with his maiden
+to the nearest inn where there was a foreign recruiting officer; and it
+was equally certain that he would there be married on the spot; for at
+every such recruiting place, there was a clergyman at hand for these
+cases.
+
+The result of this was, that by far the greater number of soldiers were
+married, especially in the small States, where they could easily reach
+the frontier. Thus the Saxon army of about 30,000 men, reckoned in
+1790, 20,000 soldiers' children; in the regiment of Thadden at Halle,
+almost half the soldiers were provided with wives. The soldiers' wives
+and children no longer went into the field, as in the old Landsknecht
+time, under the sergeants, but they were a heavy burden on the garrison
+towns. The women, supported themselves with difficulty by washing and
+other work; the children roamed about wildly without instruction. The
+city schools were almost everywhere closed to them; they were despised
+by the citizens like gipsies. Even in wealthy Lower Saxony at the
+beginning of the French revolution, there was no school for soldiers'
+boys except at Annaberg; this undoubtedly was well regulated, but did
+not suffice. For the girls there were none; there were neither
+preachers nor schools with the regiments. Only in Prussia was the
+education of the children and the training of the grown-up men--through
+preachers, schools, and orphan houses--seriously attended to.
+
+When a man received earnest-money from a recruiting officer, his whole
+life was decided. He was separated from the society of the citizens by
+a chasm which the most persevering could seldom pass. Under the hard
+pressure of service, under rough officers and among still rougher
+comrades, ran the course of his life; the first years in ceaseless
+drilling, the following ones with occasional relaxation which
+allowed him to seek for some small service in the neighbourhood, as
+day-labourer, or some little handicraft. If he was considered secure,
+he would have leave for months, whether he wished it or not; then the
+captain kept his pay, and he had meanwhile to provide for himself. The
+citizens regarded him with distrust and aversion; the honesty and
+morals of the soldiers were in such bad repute, that civilians avoided
+all contact with them, if a soldier entered an inn, the citizen and
+artisan immediately left it, and the landlord considered it a
+misfortune to have visits from soldiers. Thus he was in his hours of
+recreation confined to intercourse with comrades and profligate women.
+Severe was the usage that he met with from his officers; he was cuffed
+and kicked, punished with flogging for the slightest cause, or placed
+on the sharp pointed wooden horse or donkey, which stood in the open
+place near the guard-house; for greater misdemeanors he was confined in
+chains, put on wooden palings, or if the crime was great, he had to run
+the gauntlet of rods cut by the Provost, till he died.
+
+If in Prussia the predilection of the King for uniforms, and under
+Frederic the Great the glory of the army reconciled the Brandenburg
+conscript to the King's coat, this was far less the case in the rest of
+Germany. To the citizen and peasant's son in Prussia who had to serve,
+it was a misfortune, but in the rest of Germany a disgrace. Various
+were the attempts made to evade it by mutilation, but the chopping off
+a finger did not exempt, and was besides as severely punished as
+desertion. In 1790, a rich peasant lad in Lower Saxony, who by the
+hatred of the bailiff had been forced into service, was ashamed to
+enter his native village in uniform. Whenever he obtained leave, he
+stopped outside the village and had his peasant's dress brought to him,
+and a maid carried the uniform through the village in a covered basket.
+
+Desertions, therefore, did not cease; they were the common evil of all
+armies, and were not to be prevented by running the gauntlet the first
+and second time, nor even the third with shot. In the garrisons the
+roll-call, which was incessant, and quiet espionnage of individuals,
+were insufficient means. But when the cannon gave the signal that a man
+had escaped, the alarm was given to the surrounding villages, mounted
+foresters and troopers trotted along all the roads, detachments of foot
+and horse scoured the country as far as the frontiers, and information
+was given to the villages. Whoever brought in a deserter received in
+Prussia ten thalers, but whoever did not stop him, had to pay double
+that sum as a punishment. Every soldier who went along the high road,
+was obliged to have a pass; in Prussia, by the orders of Frederic
+William I., every subject, whether high or low, was bound to detain
+every soldier he met on the road to inquire after his papers. It was a
+terrible thing, for a little artisan lad to be brought to a standstill
+in a lonely street by a desperate six-foot grenadier, with musket and
+sword, who could not be passed. Still worse was it when whole troops
+prepared for flight, like those twenty Russians of the Dessauer
+regiment at Halle, who, in 1734, obtained leave to attend the Greek
+service at Brandenburg, where the King kept a patriarch for his
+numerous Russian Grenadiers. But the twenty were determined to make a
+pilgrimage back to the golden cross of the holy Moscow; they passed
+with great staves through the Saxon villages, and were with difficulty
+caught by the Prussian Hussars, brought back by Dresden to their
+garrison, and there mildly treated. But yet more grievous was it to the
+King, that even among his own Potsdamers a conspiracy broke out, when
+his tall Servian Grenadiers had sworn to burn the town, and to desert
+with arms in their hands. There were people of importance at the bottom
+of it; the executions, cutting off of noses, and other modes of
+punishment, occasioned the King a loss of 30,000 thalers. In the field,
+also, a system of tactical regulations were necessary to restrain
+desertion; every night march, every camp on the outskirts of a wood,
+produced losses; the troops, both on the road and in camp, had to be
+surrounded by strong patrols of Hussars and pickets; in every secret
+expedition it was necessary to isolate the army by means of troops of
+light cavalry, in order that deserters might not carry news to the
+enemy. This order was still given to the Generals by Frederic II. In
+spite of all, however, in every campaign, after each lost battle, and
+even after those which were won, the number of deserters was fearfully
+great. After unfortunate campaigns, great armies were in danger of
+entire dissolution. Many who ran away from one army, went in
+speculation to another, like the mercenaries in the Thirty Years' War;
+indeed this changing and deserting had rough jovial attraction for
+adventurers. An imprisoned deserter was, in the opinion of multitudes,
+anything but an evil-doer,--we have many popular songs which express
+the full sympathy of the village singer for the unfortunate, but the
+happy deserter passed even for a hero, and in some popular tales, the
+valiant fellow who has been compelled to help the fictitious King out
+of danger, and at last marries the Princess, is a runaway soldier.
+
+This royal soldiery was considered, in accordance with the ideas of
+that period, even after the popular arming of the militia, as the
+private possession of the Prince. The German Sovereigns, after the
+Thirty Years' War, had, as once did the Italian condottieri, trafficked
+with their military force; they had leased it to foreign powers, in
+order to make money and increase their influence. Sometimes the
+smallest territorial princes furnished in this way many regiments for
+the service of the Emperor, of the Dutch, and of the King of France.
+After the troops became more numerous, and were for the most part
+supplied from the children of the soil, this abuse of the Prince's
+power began gradually to strike the people with surprise. But it was
+not until after the wars of Frederic II. had inspired the people with
+patriotic warmth, that such appropriation became a subject of lively
+discussion. And when, after 1777, Brunswick, Anspach, Waldeck, Zerbst,
+and more than all Hesse-Cassel and Hanau, let out to England a number
+of regiments for service against the Americans, the indignation of the
+people was loudly expressed. Still it was only a lyrical complaint, but
+it sounded from the Rhine to the Vistula; the remembrance of it still
+lives; still does this misdeed hang like a curse upon one of the ruling
+families who then, to the most criminal extent, bartered away the lives
+of their subjects.
+
+Among the German states Prussia was the one in which the tyranny of
+this military system was most severe, but at the same time it was in
+some respects developed with a rigid grandeur and originality which
+made the Prussian army for half a century the first military power in
+the world, and a model after which all the other armies of Europe were
+formed.
+
+Any one who had entered Prussia shortly before 1740, when under the
+government of Frederic William I., would have been struck the very
+first hour by its peculiar characteristics. At field-labour, and in the
+streets of the cities, he would continually have seen slender men of
+warlike aspect, with a striking red necktie. They were "_canton_" men,
+who already as children had been entered on the register of soldiers,
+and sworn under a banner, and could be called upon if their King needed
+them. Each regiment had 500 to 800 of these reserves; one may therefore
+assume, that by these, an army of 64,000 men, could, in three months,
+be increased about 30,000, for everything was ready in the regimental
+rooms, both clothing and weapons. Anyone too, who first saw a regiment
+of Prussian infantry, would be still more astonished. The soldiers were
+of a height such as had never been seen in the world,--they appeared of
+a foreign race. When the regiment stood four ranks deep in line--the
+position in three ranks was just then introduced--the smallest men of
+the first rank were only a few inches under six foot, the fourth almost
+equally high, and the middle ones little less. One may assume that were
+the whole army placed in four ranks, the heads would make four straight
+lines; the weapons also were somewhat longer than elsewhere. Not less
+striking was the neat appearance of the men, they stood there like
+gentlemen, with good clean linen, their heads nicely powdered, and a
+cue, all in blue coats, with gaiters of unbleached linen up to their
+bright breeches; the regiments were distinguished by the colour of
+their waistcoats, facings, and lace. If a regiment wore beards, as for
+example the old Dessauers at Halle, the beard was nicely greased. Each
+man received yearly, before the review, a new uniform, even to the
+shirt and stockings, and in the field also he had two dresses. The
+officers looked still grander, with embroidered waistcoats, and scarfs
+round the waist, on the sword the "field badge;" all was gold and
+silver, and round the neck the gilded gorget, in the middle of which
+was to be seen on a white ground, the Prussian eagle. The captain and
+lieutenant bore in their hands the partisan, which had already been a
+little diminished, and was called spontoon; the subordinate officers
+still carried the short pike. It was considered smart for the dress to
+fit tight and close, and in the same style the motions of the soldiers
+were precise and angular, the deportment stiff and erect, their heads
+high. Still more remarkable were their movements; for they were the
+first soldiers that marched with equal step, the whole line raising and
+setting down their feet like one man. This innovation had been
+introduced by Dessau; the pace was slow and dignified, and even under
+the worst fire was little hastened: that majestic equal step, in the
+hottest moment at Mollwitz, carried confusion among the Austrians. The
+music also struck them with terror. The great brass drums of the
+Prussians (they have now, alas, come down to the insignificant size of
+a bandbox), raised a tremendous din. When in Berlin, at the parade of
+the Guards, some twenty drums were beaten, it made the windows shake.
+And among the hautboys there was a trumpet, equally a novel invention.
+The introduction of this instrument, created everywhere in Germany
+astonishment and disapprobation, for the trumpeters and kettle drummers
+of the holy Roman Empire formed a guild, which was protected by
+Imperial privileges, and would not tolerate a military trumpeter not
+belonging to it. But the King cared little for this. When the soldiers
+exercised, loaded, and fired, it was with a precision similar to
+witchcraft;[4] for after 1740, when Dessau introduced the iron ramrod,
+the Prussian shot four or five times in a minute,--afterwards he learnt
+to do it quicker; in 1773, five or six times; in 1781, six or seven
+times. The fire of the whole front of the battalion was a flash and a
+crack. When the salvos of the troops, exercising early in the morning
+under the windows of the King's castle, roared, the noise was so great
+that all the little Princes and Princesses were obliged to rise.
+
+But anyone who would have wished to form a right estimate of the
+soldiery should have gone to Potsdam. It had been a poor place,
+situated betwixt the Havel and a swamp; the King had made it into an
+architectural camp; no civilian could carry a sword there, not even the
+minister of state. There, round the King's castle, in small brick
+houses, which were built partly in the Dutch style, were stationed the
+King's giants,--the world-renowned Grenadier regiment. There were three
+battalions of 800 men, besides 600 to 800 reserves. Whoever among the
+Grenadiers was burdened with a wife, had a house to himself; of the
+other Colossuses, as many as four lodged with one landlord, who had to
+wait upon and provide food for them, for which he only received some
+stacks of wood. The men of this regiment never had leave, could carry
+on no public work, and drink no brandy; most of them lived like
+students at the high school, they occupied themselves with books,
+drawing and music, or worked in their houses.[5] They received extra
+pay, the tallest from ten to twenty thalers a month: all these fine men
+wore high plated grenadier caps, which made them about four hand
+breadths taller; the fifers of the regiment were Moors. Whoever
+belonged to the Colonel's own company of the regiment had his picture
+taken and hung up in the corridor of the castle of Potsdam. Many
+distinguished persons travelled to Potsdam to see these sons of Anak at
+parade or exercising. But it was remarked that such giants were
+scarcely useful for real war, and that it had never occurred to any one
+in the world to seek for extraordinary height as advantageous to
+soldiers; this wonder was reserved for Prussia. But anyone who staid in
+the country did well not to express this too openly. For the Grenadiers
+were a passion of the King, which in his latter years amounted almost
+to madness, and for which he forgot his family, justice, honour,
+conscience, and what had stood highest with him all his life, the
+advantage of his State. They were his dear blue children; he was
+perfectly acquainted with each individual; took a lively interest in
+their personal concerns, and tolerated long speeches and dry answers
+from them. It was difficult for a civilian to obtain justice against
+these favourites, and they were with good reason feared by the people.
+Wherever in any part of Europe a tall man was to be found, the King
+traced him out, and secured him either by bounty or force for his
+guard. There was the giant Müller, who had shown himself in Paris and
+London for money--two groschen a person--he was the fourth or fifth in
+the line; still taller was Jonas, a smith's journeyman from Norway;
+then the Prussian Hohmann, whose head King Augustus of Poland,--though
+a man of fine stature--could not reach with his outstretched hand;
+finally later there was James Kirckland, an Irishman, whom the Prussian
+Ambassador Von Borke had carried off by force from England, and on
+account of whom diplomatic intercourse was nearly broken off; he had
+cost the King about nine thousand thalers.
+
+They were collected together from every vocation of life, adventurers
+of the worst kind, students, Roman Catholic priests, monks, and even
+some noblemen stood in rank and file. The Crown Prince Frederic, in his
+letters to his confidential friends, spoke often with aversion and
+scorn of this passion of the King, but he had inherited it to a certain
+extent, and the Prussian army have not yet ceased to take pride in it.
+It extended to other princes also, especially to such as were attached
+to the Hohenzollerns, the Dessauers, and Brunswickers. In 1806, Duke
+Ferdinand of Brunswick, who was mortally wounded at Auerstadt, carried
+on a systematic dealing in men for his regiment at Halberstadt; in his
+own company the first rank were six foot, and the smallest man was five
+foot nine; all the companies were taller than the first regiment of
+guards is now. But in other armies also there was somewhat of this
+predilection. At the end of the last century, an able Saxon officer
+lamented that the first and tallest regiment in the Saxon army could
+not measure with the smallest of the Prussians.[6]
+
+Not less remarkable was the relation in which King Frederic William
+stood to his officers. He heartily feared and hated the wily sagacity
+of the diplomats and higher officials, but he readily confided his
+secret thoughts to the simple, sturdy, straightforward character of his
+officers, which was sometimes a mask. It was a favourite fancy to
+consider himself as their comrade. Many were the hours in which he
+treated as his equals many who wore the sash. He used to greet with a
+kiss all the superior officers down to the major, if he had not seen
+them for a long time. Once he affronted the Major Von Jürgass by using
+the opprobrious word by which officers then denoted a studious man; the
+drunken man replied, "That was the speech of a cowardly rascal," and
+then got up and left the party. The King declared that he could not
+allow that to pass, and was ready to take his revenge for the insult
+with sword or pistol. When those present protested against this,
+the King asked angrily how otherwise he could obtain satisfaction
+for his injured honour? They contrived a means of doing it by
+lieutenant-Colonel Von Einsiedel taking the King's place in the
+battalion, and fighting the duel in his stead. The duel took place,
+Einsiedel was wounded in the arm; for this the King filled his knapsack
+full of thalers, and commanded him to carry the heavy burden home. The
+King could not forget that as Crown Prince he had never risen in the
+service beyond a Colonel, and that a Field-Marshal was higher than
+himself. He therefore lamented in the "_Tabak's Collegium_,"[7] that he
+had not been able to remain with King William of England: "He would
+certainly have made a great man of me, he could even have made me
+Statholder of Holland." And when it was maintained in reply that he
+himself was a greater King, he answered: "You speak according to your
+judgment; he would have taught me how to command the armies of all
+Europe. Do you know of anything greater?" So much did this strange
+Prince feel the not having become Field-Marshal. When he sat dying in
+his wooden chair, had cast behind him all earthly cares, and was
+observing with curiosity the process of dying in himself, he desired
+the funeral horse to be fetched from the stable, and in accordance with
+the old custom of sending it as a legacy from the Colonel to the
+General in command, he ordered the horse to be taken on his behalf to
+Leopold Von Dessau, and the grooms to be flogged because they had not
+put the right housings on him.[8] Such was the Prince whose example was
+followed by the whole nobility of his country and in his army. Already
+under the great Elector had a sovereign contempt for all education
+displayed itself but too frequently in the army; already had such a
+repugnance to all learning been instilled into the early deceased
+Electoral Prince Karl Emil, by the officers around him, that he
+maintained that he who studied and learnt Latin was a coward. In the
+"_Tabak's Collegium_" of King Frederic William, still worse expressions
+were at first applied to this class of men. With the King himself there
+was undoubtedly an alteration in the last years of his life, but this
+tone of indifference to all knowledge which did not bear upon their own
+profession, remained with most of the Prussian officers till this
+century, in spite of all the endeavours of Frederic the Great. In 1790
+the people still used the term, a Frederic William's officer, for a
+tall thin man, in a short blue coat, with a long sword and a tight
+cravat, who was spruce and earnest in all his actions as in service and
+had learnt little. About the same time Lafontaine, chaplain to the
+regiment Von Thadden, at Halle, complained of the little education of
+the officers. Once after giving them an historical lecture, a valiant
+captain took him on one side and said, "You tell us things that have
+happened thousands of years ago, God knows where; will you not tell us
+one thing more? How do you know this?" And when the chaplain gave him
+an explanation, the officer answered, "Curious! I thought it had always
+been as it is now in Prussia." The same captain could not read writing
+hand, but was a brave, trustworthy man.[9]
+
+But King Frederic William I. did not wish that his officers should
+remain quite uninformed. He caused the sons of poor noblemen to be
+educated at his cost, in the great cadet institution at Berlin, and
+practised in the service under the care of able officers; the most
+intelligent he employed as pages, and in small services as guards in
+the castle. As a rule, in Prussia, no poor nobleman had to provide for
+the advancement of his son; the King did it for him. The nobility, it
+was said, were the nursery for the spontoon. As soon as the boy was
+fourteen years old he wore the same coat of blue cloth as the King and
+his Princes; for as yet there were no epaulets or distinctions in the
+embroidery,--only the regiments were denoted by marks of distinction.
+Every Prince of the Prussian family had to serve and become an officer,
+like the son of the poorest nobleman. It was remarked by contemporaries
+that in the battle of Mollwitz ten princes of the King of Prussia's
+family were in the army. It had not previously been the custom
+anywhere, or at any time, that the King should consider himself as an
+officer, and the officer as on an equality with the princes.
+
+By this comrade-training, the officers were placed in a position such
+as they had never had in any nation. It is true that all the faults of
+a privileged order were strikingly perceptible in them. Besides their
+coarseness, love of drinking and gluttony, the rage for duelling, the
+old passion of the German army, was not eradicated, although the same
+Hohenzollern, who had himself wished to fight with his Major, was
+inexorable in punishing with death every officer who killed another in
+a duel. But if such a "brave fellow" saved himself by flight, the King
+rejoiced if other governments promoted him. The duel was not then
+carried on in Prussia according to the usages of the Thirty Years' War:
+there were more seconds, and the number of passages was fixed; they
+fought on horseback with pistols and on foot with a sword. Before the
+combat the opponents shook hands--nay, they embraced each other, and
+exchanged forgiveness in case of death; if they were pious they went
+beforehand to confession and the Lord's Supper; no blow could be given
+till the opponent was in a position to use his sword; in case he fell
+to the ground or was disarmed, generosity was a duty; if anyone wished
+for a fatal result, he spread out his mantle, or, if like the officers
+after 1710 he wore none, he traced with his sword on the ground a
+square grave. After the reconciliation followed a banquet. Frequent and
+unpunished was the presumption of the officers toward the civilian
+officials, and brutal violence against the weak. Even the sensitiveness
+of officers for their honour, which then developed itself in the
+Prussian army, had no high moral authority; it was a very imperfect
+substitute for manly virtue, for it pardoned great vices and privileged
+meannesses. But it was an important step in advance for thousands of
+wild disorderly men.
+
+Through it, was first brought forth in the Prussian army a devotion on
+the part of the nobles, perhaps too exclusive, to the idea of a State.
+It was first in the army of the Hohenzollerns that the idea penetrated
+into the minds of both officers and soldiers, that a man owed his life
+to his father-land. In no part of Germany have brave soldiers been
+wanting to die for their banner; but the merit of the Hohenzollerns,
+the rough, reckless leaders of a wild army, was, that while they
+themselves lived, worked and did good and evil for their State, with
+unbounded devotion, they also knew how to give to their army, besides
+respect for their flag, a patriotic feeling of duty. From the school of
+Frederic William I. sprang forth the army with which Frederic II. won
+his battles, which made the Prussian State of the last century the most
+terrible power in Europe, and by its blood and its victories excited in
+the whole nation the enthusiastic feeling that within the German
+frontiers was a fatherland, of which every individual might be proud,
+and to struggle and to die for which would bring the highest honour and
+the highest fame to every child of the country.
+
+And this advance in German civilisation was contributed to, not only by
+the favoured men who, with gorgets and sashes, sat as comrades with the
+Colonel Frederic William on the stools of his "collegium," but also by
+the much tormented soldiers, who were constrained by blows to discharge
+their guns for their Sovereign's State.
+
+But before speaking of the advantages of the government of a great
+King, we will give a narrative, by a Prussian recruit and deserter, of
+the sufferings occasioned by the old military system, in which the life
+of an insignificant individual is delineated.
+
+The narrator is the Swiss Ulrich Bräcker, the man of Toggenburg, whose
+autobiography has been often printed,[10] and it is one of the most
+instructive accounts that we possess of the life of the people. The
+biography contains, in the first part, an abundance of characteristic
+and pleasing features; the description of a poor family in a remote
+valley; the bitter struggle with poverty; the doings of the herdsmen;
+the first love of the young man; the cunning with which he was
+kidnapped by the Prussian recruiting officer; and his compulsory
+military service up to the battle of Lowositz; his flight home, and
+subsequent weary struggle for existence; the description of his
+household; and, finally, the resignation of a sensitive, enthusiastic
+nature which, partly by its own fault, was disturbed in the firm tenor
+of its own life, by a dreamy tendency and passionate ebullitions. The
+poor man of Toggenburg displays, throughout his detailed statement, a
+poetical and touching child-like spirit, a passionate desire to read,
+reflect, and form himself--in short, a sensitive organisation which was
+ruled by humours and phantasies.
+
+Ulrich Bräcker was at his home in Toggenburg, with his father, occupied
+in felling wood, when an acquaintance of the family, a wandering
+miller, approached the workers, and advised the honest, simple Bräcker
+to go from the valley to the city, in order to make his fortune there.
+Amid the blessings of parents and sisters, the honest youth wanders
+with the friend of the family to Schaffhausen; there he was taken to an
+inn, where he made acquaintance with a foreign officer. When his
+companion accidentally absented himself for a short time, he agreed to
+remain with the officer as servant. The family friend returns, and is
+highly irate, not that Ulrich had entered into service, but that he had
+done this without his interposition; and had thus diminished his
+commission fee. It turned out afterwards that he himself had carried
+off the son of his countryman, in order to sell him, and that he had
+intended to ask twenty _Friedrichsdor_ for him. Ulrich, dressed in a
+new livery, lived for a time very jovially as servant of his dissipated
+master--the Italian Markoni--without concerning himself particularly
+about the secret transactions of the latter. He felt comfortable in his
+new position, and wrote a succession of cheerful letters to his parents
+and his love. At last his master made use of a lie to send him further
+into the country, and finally to Berlin; he there discovered, with
+horror, that his beautiful livery and his jovial life had been nothing
+but a deceit practised on him. His master was a recruiting officer, and
+he himself a recruit. From this point he shall relate his own fate:--
+
+"It was on the 8th of April that we entered Berlin, and I in vain
+inquired for my master, who, as I afterwards learnt, had arrived eight
+days before us. When Labrot brought me into the Krausenstrasse in
+Friedrichstadt, showed me to a lodging, and then left me, saying
+shortly: 'There, messieur! stay till you get further orders!' Hang it!
+thought I, what is all this? It is certainly not even an inn. As I thus
+wondered, a soldier came. Christian Zittermann, and took me with him to
+his room, where there were already two sons of Mars. Now there was much
+wondering and inquiring, who I was? why I had come? and the like. I
+could not well understand their language. I replied shortly: 'I come
+from Switzerland, and am lacquey to his Excellency Herr Lieutenant
+Markoni; the sergeants have shown me here; but I should like to know
+whether my master is arrived at Berlin, and where he lives.' Here the
+fellows began to laugh, whereupon I could have cried, and none of them
+would hear of such an Excellency. Meanwhile they brought me a very
+stiff mess of pease porridge. I eat of it with little appetite.
+
+"We had hardly finished, when an old thin fellow entered the room, who
+I now saw must be more than a common soldier. He was a sergeant. He
+carried a soldier's uniform on his arm, which he spread upon the table,
+laid beside it a six groschen piece, and said: 'That is for you, my
+son! I will bring you directly some ammunition bread.' 'What? for me?'
+answered I, 'from whom? what for?' 'Why your uniform and pay, lad!
+what's the use of asking questions? You are a recruit.' 'How? what? a
+recruit?' answered I; 'God forbid! I have never thought of such a
+thing. No, never in my life. I am Markoni's servant. That was what I
+agreed for and nothing else. No man can tell me otherwise.' 'But I tell
+you, fellow, that you are a soldier, I can answer for that. There is no
+help for it.' I: 'Ah, if my master Markoni were but here!' He: 'You
+will not soon get a sight of him. Would you not rather be a servant to
+our King, than to his lieutenant?' Therewith he went away. 'For God's
+sake, Herr Zittermann,' I continued, 'what does this mean?' 'Nothing,
+sir,' answered he, 'but that you, like I, and the other gentlemen
+there, are soldiers, and consequently all brothers, and that no
+opposition will avail, except to take you to the guard-house, where you
+will have bread and water, have your hands bound, and be flogged till
+your ribs crack, and you are satisfied.' I: 'By my troth that would be
+shameful, wicked!' He: 'Believe me upon my word it will be so, and
+nothing else.' I: 'Then I will complain to the King.' Here they all
+laughed loud. He: 'You will never see him.' I: 'To whom else can I
+complain?' He: 'To our Major, if you choose. But that will be all in
+vain.' I: 'I will try, however, whether it will avail!' The lads
+laughed again." (The Major kicked him out with blows.)
+
+"In the afternoon the sergeant brought me my ammunition bread, together
+with my musket and side-arms and so forth, and asked whether I now
+thought better of it? 'Why not?' answered Zittermann for me; 'he is the
+best lad in the world.' Then they led me into the uniform room, and
+fitted on me a pair of pantaloons, shoes and boots, gave me a hat,
+necktie, stockings, and so forth. Then I had to go with some twenty
+other recruits to Colonel Latorf. They took us into a room as large as
+a church, brought in some tattered flags, and commanded each of us to
+take hold of a corner. An Adjutant, or whoever he was, read us a whole
+heap of the articles of war, and repeated some words which most of them
+murmured after him; but I did not open my mouth, but thought of what
+pleased me, I believe it was of Aennchen; he then waved the banner over
+our heads and dismissed us. Hereupon I went to a cook-shop and got
+something to eat, together with a mug of beer. For this I had to pay
+two groschen. Now I had only four out of the six remaining to me; with
+these I had to provide for myself for four days, and they would
+scarcely last two. Upon this calculation I began to make great
+lamentations to my comrades. One of them, called Eran, said to me with
+a smile, 'You will soon learn. Now it does not signify to you; for have
+you not something to sell? For example your whole servant's livery;
+thus you are at present doubly armed; all that will turn into silver.
+And as to your _ménage_, only observe what others do. Three, four or
+five, club together to buy corn, peas, and potatoes, and the like, and
+cook for themselves. In the morning they have a half-penny worth of bad
+brandy and a piece of ammunition bread; in the middle of the day they
+get a half-penny worth of soup, and take a piece of ammunition bread;
+in the evening they have two penny worth of small beer, and again the
+bread.' 'But that, by Jove, is a cursed life,' I answered; he said,
+'Yes! thus one gets on, and not otherwise. A soldier must learn this;
+for many other things are necessary: pipeclay, powder, blacking, oil,
+emery, and soap, and a hundred other things.' I: 'And that is all to be
+paid for out of six groschen?' He: 'Yes! and still more; as for
+example, the pay for washing, for cleaning the weapons and so forth, if
+you cannot do those things yourself.' Thereupon we went to our
+quarters, and I got on as well as I could.
+
+"During the first week I still had a holiday; I went about the town to
+all the places of drill, and saw how the officers inspected and flogged
+the soldiers, so that beforehand for very fear, great drops of sweat
+broke out on my brow. I therefore begged of Zittermann to show me at
+home how to handle my weapons. 'You will learn that by-and-by,' said
+he, 'but if you are dexterous you will get on like lightning.'
+Meanwhile he was so good as really to show me everything, how to keep
+my weapon clean, how to squeeze myself into my uniform, and to dress my
+hair in a soldierly style, and so forth. After Eran's counsel, I sold
+my boots, and bought with the money a wooden chest to hold my linen. In
+quarters I practised myself in exercising, read the Halle hymn-book or
+prayed. Then I walked by the Spree and saw there hundreds of soldiers
+employed in lading and unlading merchants' wares; the timber yard also
+was full of soldiers at work. Another time I went to the barracks and
+so forth; I found everywhere the like, a hundred sorts of business
+carried on, from works of art to the distaff. If I came to the
+guard-house, I there found those who played, drank, and jested; others
+who quietly smoked their pipes and conversed, some few who read an
+edifying book and explained it to the others. In the cook-shops and
+breweries, things went on after the same fashion. In Berlin we had
+among the military--as I think indeed is the case in all great
+cities--people from all the four quarters of the world, of all nations
+and religions, of all characters and of every profession by which men
+can earn their bread.
+
+"The second week I had to attend every day on the parade-ground, where
+I unexpectedly found three of my country-people. Shärer, Bachmann, and
+Gästli, who were all in the same regiment with me--Itzenplitz--both
+were in the company called Lüderitz. At first I had to learn to march
+under a crabbed corporal, with a crooked nose, by name Mengke; this
+fellow I hated like death; when he hit me on the feet the blood went to
+my head. Under his hands I should have learnt nothing all my days. This
+was observed by Hevel, who man[oe]uvred with his people on the same
+ground, so he exchanged me for another, and took me into his platoon.
+This was a heartfelt pleasure to me. Now I learned in an hour more than
+in ten days with the other.
+
+"Shärer was as poor as I; but he got an augmentation of two groschen
+and a double portion of bread, for the Major thought a good bit more of
+him than of me. Meanwhile we loved each other as brothers; as long as
+one had anything the other would share it with him. Bachmann, on the
+contrary, who also lodged with us, was a niggardly fellow, and did not
+agree with us; nevertheless the hours always appeared as long as day
+when we could not be together. As soon as our drills were over, we flew
+together to Schottmann's cellar, drank our mug of Ruppin or Kotbuss
+beer, smoked a pipe, and trilled a Swiss song. The Brandenburgers and
+Pomeranians always listened to us with pleasure. Some gentlemen even
+sent for us express to a cook-shop, to sing the _ranz-des-vackes_. The
+musicians' pay principally consisted in nasty soup, but in such a
+situation one must be content with still less.
+
+"We often related to one another our manner of life at home; how well
+off we were and how free; and what a cursed life we led here, and the
+like. Then we made plans for our escape. Sometimes we entertained hopes
+that we might succeed; at other times we saw before us insurmountable
+difficulties, and we were principally deterred by thinking of the
+consequences of an unsuccessful attempt. We heard every week fearful
+stories of deserters brought back, who, even when they had been so
+cunning as to disguise themselves in the dresses of sailors and other
+artisans, or even as women, and had concealed themselves in tuns and
+casks, and the like, had yet been caught. Then we had to look on while
+they ran the gauntlet eight times through two hundred men, till they
+sank down breathless--and then again the following day; their clothes
+were torn off from their hacked backs, and the punishment was repeated
+till the coagulated blood hung over their trousers. Then Shärer and I
+looked at each other trembling and deadly pale, and whispered to one
+another, 'Cursed barbarians!' What took place also on the drill-ground
+gave occasion for similar observations. There was no end of the curses
+and scourgings by barbarous Junkers, and again the lamentations of
+those who had been flogged. We ourselves were always the first on the
+ground, and played our part vigorously; but it did not the less give us
+pain to see others so unmercifully treated for every little trifle, and
+ourselves so ill-used year after year; to stand also for five whole
+hours laced up in our uniforms as if screwed to the spot, marching to
+and fro as straight as poles, and to perform uninterrupted manual
+exercise with lightning rapidity; and this all at the command of
+officers who stood before us with furious countenances and raised
+sticks, every moment threatening to beat us about the head as if we
+were cabbages. Under such treatment, a fellow with the strongest nerves
+must become paralysed, and the most patient, raving. And when we
+returned, wearied to death, to our quarters, we had to go headlong to
+our washing, to rub out every spot; for with the exception of the blue
+coat, our whole uniform was white. Weapons, cartouche-boxes, belt,
+every button on the uniform, all must be cleaned as bright as a mirror.
+If there was anything in the least wrong in any of these articles, or
+if a hair was not right on our heads when we appeared on parade, we
+were greeted with a heavy shower of blows. It is true that our officers
+had received the strictest orders to examine us from head to foot; but
+the devil a bit did we recruits know about it, and we thought it was
+the custom of war.
+
+"At last came the great epoch, when it was said '_Allons_, to the
+field!' Now came the route--tears flowed in abundance from citizens,
+soldiers' wives, and the like. Even the soldiers themselves, namely,
+those of the country who had wives and children to leave behind, were
+quite cast down, full of sorrow, and grief: the strangers, on the
+contrary, secretly shouted for joy, and exclaimed, 'At last, God be
+praised; our release will come!' Every one was loaded like mules, first
+buckled round with his sword belt; then with the cartouche-box over his
+shoulder, with a long five-inch strap; over the other shoulder the
+knapsack, with linen, &c.; also the haversack, filled with bread and
+other forage. Besides this, every one must carry a portion of field
+utensils, a flask, kettle, a hatchet, or such like, all fastened by a
+thong; and then a flint, or something of that sort: thus had we five
+straps upon the breast, one across the other, so that in the beginning
+each one thought that he would be suffocated with such a burden. Then
+there was the tight-fitting uniform, and such dog-day heat, that I many
+times thought that I was going upon red hot coals; and if I opened the
+breast of my coat to get a little air, steam came out as from a boiling
+kettle. Often I had not a dry thread on my body, and almost fainted
+from thirst.
+
+"Thus we marched the first day, the 22nd of August, out of the
+Köpeniker gate, and marched for four hours to the little town of
+Köpenik, where from thirty to fifty of us were quartered on the
+citizens, who were obliged to feed us for one groschen. _Potz plunder!_
+how things did go on here! Ha! how we did eat! But only think how many
+great hungry fellows we were! We were all calling out, 'Here, Canaille,
+fetch us what you have in your most secret corner.' At night the rooms
+were filled with straw; there we lay all in rows against the walls.
+Truly a curious household! In every house there was an officer, to keep
+good discipline, but they were often the worst.
+
+"'Hitherto has the Lord helped!' These words were the first text of our
+Chaplain at Pirna. Oh, yes, thought I, that He has, and will, I truly
+hope, help me further to my Fatherland. For what are your wars to me?
+
+"Meanwhile every morning we received orders to load quickly; this gave
+rise among the old soldiers to the following talk: 'What shall we have
+to-day? to-day certainly something is afoot!' Then we young ones
+perspired at all pores if we marched by a bush or a wood, and had to be
+on the alert. Then every one silently pricked up his ears, expecting
+each moment a fiery hail and his death; and when we came again into the
+open, looked right and left, how he could most conveniently escape; for
+we had always the cuirassiers, dragoons, and other soldiers of the
+enemy on both sides.
+
+"At last on the 22nd September, the alarm was sounded, and we received
+orders to break up. In a moment all were in motion; in a few minutes a
+camp a mile in length--like the largest city--was broken up, and
+_Allons_, march! Now we proceeded into the valley, made a bridge at
+Pirna, and formed above the town, in front of the Saxon camp, in a
+line, as if for running the gauntlet; of which the end reached the
+Pirna gate, and through which the whole Saxon army in fours passed
+having first laid down their arms; and one may imagine what mocking,
+taunting words they must have heard during the whole long passage. Some
+went sorrowfully with bent heads; others defiant and reckless; and
+others again with a smile, for which the Prussian mocking-birds would
+gladly have paid them off. I know not, neither do many thousand others,
+what were the circumstances which occasioned the surrender of this
+great army. On the same day we marched a good bit further, and pitched
+our camp near Lilienstein.
+
+"We were often attacked by the Imperial Pandours, or a hail of shot
+came upon us from the carabineers from behind the bushes, so that many
+were killed on the spot and still more wounded. But when our artillery
+directed a few guns towards the copse, the enemy fled head foremost.
+These miserable trifles did not frighten me much. I should have become
+soon accustomed to them, and I often thought, when the thing takes
+place, it is not so bad after all.
+
+"Early on the morning of the 1st of October we had to fall into rank
+and march through a narrow valley towards the great valley. We could
+not see far for the thick fog. But when we had reached the plain and
+joined the great army, we advanced in three divisions, and perceived in
+the distance, through the fog as through a veil, the enemy's troops on
+the plain over against the Bohemian city of Lowositz. It was Imperial
+cavalry, for we never got sight of the infantry, as it had intrenched
+itself near the said city. About 6 o'clock the thunder of the artillery
+both from our front line and also from the Imperial batteries was so
+great that the balls whizzed through our regiment, which was in the
+centre. Hitherto I had always hoped to escape before a battle, but now
+I saw no means of doing so either before or behind me, neither to the
+right nor to the left. Meanwhile we continued to advance. Then all my
+courage oozed away; I could have crept into the bowels of the earth,
+and one could see the same terror and deadly pallor on all faces, even
+those who had hitherto affected so much valour. The empty brandy flasks
+(such as every soldier has) flew among the balls through the air; most
+drank up their little provision to the last drop, for they said,
+'To-day we want courage, to-morrow we may need no drams!' Now we
+advanced quite under the guns, where we changed places with the first
+division. _Potz Himmel!_ how the iron fragments whizzed about our
+heads,--falling now before and now behind us into the earth, so that
+stones and sods flew into the air,--and some into the middle of us, so
+that some of our people were picked off from the ranks as if they had
+been blades of straw. Straight before us we saw nothing but the enemy's
+cavalry, which made movements in all directions; now extended
+themselves lengthways, now as a half moon, then drew together again in
+triangles and squares. Now our cavalry advanced, we made an opening and
+let them through to gallop on the enemy. There was a hailstorm of
+missiles rattling, and sabres glittering as they cut them down; but it
+lasted only a quarter of an hour; our cavalry were beaten by the
+Austrians and pursued almost under our guns. What a spectacle it was to
+see: horses with their riders hanging to the stirrup, others with their
+entrails trailing on the ground. Meanwhile we continued to stand under
+the enemy's fire till towards 11 o'clock, without our left wing closing
+with the skirmishers, although the fire was very hot on the right. Many
+thought we were to storm the Imperial intrenchments. I was no longer in
+such terror as at the beginning, although the gunners of the culverins
+were carried off close on both sides of me, and the field of battle was
+already covered with dead and wounded. About 12 o'clock orders came for
+our regiment, together with two others (I believe Bevern and
+Kalkstein), to march back. Now we thought we were going to the camp,
+and that all danger was over. We hastened therefore with cheerful steps
+up the steep vineyard, filled our hats with beautiful red grapes, eat
+them with heartfelt pleasure, and neither I nor any near me expected
+anything disagreeable, although from the heights we saw our brothers
+beneath, still under fire and smoke, and heard a fearful thundering
+noise; we could not tell which side was victorious. Meanwhile our
+leaders took us still higher up the hill, on the summit of which was a
+narrow pass betwixt rocks, which led down to the other side. As soon,
+however, as our advanced-guard had reached this spot, there was a
+terrible storm of musketry; and now we first discovered what was in the
+wind. Some thousand Imperial Pandours were marching up the other side
+of the hill in order to take our army in rear; this had been betrayed
+to our leaders, and we were to anticipate them; only five minutes later
+and they would have won the heights, and we should probably have been
+worsted. There was indescribable bloodshed before we could drive the
+Pandours from that thicket. Our advanced troops suffered severely, but
+those behind pushed forward headlong till the heights were gained.
+
+"Then we had to stumble over heaps of dead and wounded, and the
+Pandours went pell-mell down the vineyard, leaping over a wall one
+after another into the plain. Our native Prussians and Brandenburgers
+attacked the Pandours like furies. I myself was almost stupefied with
+haste and heat, and felt neither fear nor horror. I discharged almost
+all my cartridges as fast as I could, till my musket was nearly
+red-hot, and I was obliged to carry it by the strap; meanwhile I do not
+believe that I hit a living soul, it all went in the air. The Pandours
+posted themselves again on the plain by the water before the city of
+Lowositz, and blazed away valiantly up into the vineyard, so that many
+in front of and near me bit the ground. Prussians and Pandours lay
+everywhere intermingled, and if one of these last still stirred, he was
+knocked on the head with the butt end of the gun, or run through the
+body with the bayonet. And now the combat was renewed in the plain. But
+who can describe how it went on amidst the smoke and fog from Lowositz,
+where it rattled and thundered as if heaven and earth would be rent in
+twain, and where all the senses were stunned by the ceaseless rumbling
+of many hundred drums, the shrill and heart-stirring tones of all kinds
+of martial music, the commands of so many officers, the bellowing of
+their adjutants, and the death yells and howling imprecations of so
+many thousands of miserable, maimed, dying victims of this day. At this
+time it might be about three o'clock, Lowositz being on fire; many
+hundred Pandours, on whom our advanced troops again broke like wild
+lions, sprang into the water, and the town was then attacked. At this
+time I was certainly not in the van, but in the vineyard above, in the
+rear rank, of whom many, as I have said, more nimble than myself,
+leaped down from one wall over another, in order to hasten to the help
+of their brother soldiers. As I was thus standing on a little
+elevation, and looking down upon the plain as into a dark storm of
+thunder and hail, this moment appeared to me to be the time--or rather
+my good angel warned me--to save myself by flight. I looked therefore
+all round me. Before me all was fire and mist; behind me there were
+still many of our troops hastening after the enemy, and to the right
+two great armies in full order of battle. But at last I saw that to the
+left there were vineyards, bushes, and copseland, only here and there a
+few men Prussians, Pandours, and Hussars, and of these more dead and
+wounded than living. There, there, on that side, thought I; otherwise
+it would be purely impossible.
+
+"I glided, therefore, at first with slow step, a little to the left,
+through the vines. Some Prussians hastened past me. 'Come, come,
+brother!' said they; 'victoria!' I replied not a word, but feigned to
+be wounded, and went on slowly, but truly with fear and trembling. As
+soon as I had got so far, that no one could see me, I mended my pace,
+looked right and left like a hunter, viewed again from a distance--and
+for the last time in my life--the murderous death struggle; rushed at
+full speed past a thicket full of dead Hussars, Pandours, and horses;
+ran breathlessly along the course of the river, and found myself in a
+valley. On the other side some Imperial soldiers came towards me, who
+had equally stolen away from the battle, and when they saw me thus
+making off levelled their guns at me for the third time,
+notwithstanding I had reversed my arms, and given them with my hat the
+usual sign. They did not fire; so I came to the resolution to run
+towards them. If I had taken another course they would, as I afterwards
+learnt, have certainly fired. When I came up to them, I gave myself up
+as a deserter, and they took my weapon away from me, with the promise
+that they would afterwards restore it. But he who had taken upon
+himself to promise it, stole away and took the gun with him. So let it
+be! They then took me to the nearest village, Scheniseck (it might be a
+good hour from Lowositz); here there was a ferry over the water, but
+only one boat for the passage. And there was a piteous shrieking and
+wailing from men, women, and children; each wished to go first over the
+water, for fear of the Prussians; for all thought they were close at
+hand. I also was not one of the last to jump in with a troop of women.
+If the ferryman had not cast out some we should have been drowned. On
+the other side of the stream stood a Pandour guard. My companions led
+me up to them, and these red-moustachioed fellows received me in the
+most polite way; gave me, though neither of us understood a word the
+other said, tobacco and brandy, and a safe conduct, I believe, to
+Leutmeritz, where I passed the night among genuine Bohemians, and truly
+did not know whether I could safely lay my head to rest; but
+fortunately my head was in such confusion from the tumult of the day,
+that this important point signified very little to me. The following
+day (Oct. 2) I went with a detachment to the Imperial camp at Buda.
+Here I met two hundred other Prussian deserters, each of whom had, so
+to speak, taken his own way and his own time.
+
+"We had permission to see everything in the camp. Officers and soldiers
+stood in crowds around us to whom we were expected to tell more than we
+ourselves knew. Some, however, knew how to brag, and flatter their
+present hosts, concocting a hundred lies derogatory to the Prussians.
+There were also among the Imperialists many arrant braggadocios, and
+the smallest dwarf boasted of having, in his own flight, killed, in
+their flight, I know not how many long-legged Brandenburgers. After
+that they took us to fifty prisoners of the Prussian cavalry, a
+pitiable sight! Scarcely one who was not wounded; some cut about the
+face, others on the neck, others over the ears, shoulders, or legs, &c.
+There was amongst all a groaning and moaning. How fortunate did these
+poor fellows esteem us who had escaped a similar fate, and how thankful
+were we to God! We passed the night in the camp, and each received a
+ducat for the expenses of his journey. They sent us then with a cavalry
+escort--there were two hundred of us--to a Bohemian village, from
+whence, after a short sleep, we went, the following day, to Prague.
+There we divided ourselves, and obtained passports for six, ten, or
+even as many as twelve, who were going the same way. We were a
+wonderful medley of Swiss, Suabians, Saxons, Bavarians, Tyrolese,
+Italians, French, Poles, and Turks. Six of us got one passport for
+Ratisbon."
+
+Here we end with Ulrich Bräcker. He arrived happily at home, but no one
+recognised the moustachioed soldier in his uniform. His sister
+concealed herself; his love had been faithless and married another;
+only the mother's heart discovered her son in that wild-looking figure.
+But his later life in the lonely valley was ruined by the adventures he
+had passed through. A strange, uneasy element now pervaded his
+character--irritable restlessness, covetousness, and a distaste to
+labour.
+
+But Frederic II. wrote, after the battle of Lowositz, to Schwerin:
+"Never have any troops done such wonders of valour since I have had the
+honour of commanding them."
+
+He whose narrative we have had was one of them.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+                    THE STATE OF FREDERIC THE GREAT.
+                                (1700.)
+
+
+What was it that after the Thirty Years' War fixed the eyes of
+politicians upon the small State on the north-eastern frontier of
+Germany, towards Sweden and Poland, that was struggling against the
+Hapsburgers and Bourbons? The heritage of the Hohenzollerns was no
+favoured fertile country, in which the peasant dwelt comfortably on
+well-cultivated acres, or to which rich merchants brought in galleons,
+Italian silks, and the spices and ingots of the new world. It was a
+poor devastated, sandy country; the cities were burnt, the huts of the
+country people demolished, the fields uncultivated, many square miles
+denuded of men and beasts of burden, and nature restored to its
+primitive state. When Frederic William, in 1640, assumed the Electoral
+hat, he found nothing but contested claims to scattered territories, of
+about 1450 square miles,[11] and in all the fortresses of his family
+domains, were established domineering conquerors. Out of an insecure
+desert did this clever double-dealing Prince establish his State, with
+a cunning and recklessness in regard to his neighbours which excited a
+sensation even in that unscrupulous period, but at the same time with
+an heroic vigour and enlarged views, by which he more than once
+attained to a higher conception of German honour, than the Emperor or
+any other prince of the Empire.
+
+Nevertheless, when the astute politician died in 1688, what he left
+behind was still only a small nation, not to be reckoned among the
+Powers of Europe. For though his sovereignty comprehended 2034 square
+miles, the population, at the utmost, only amounted to 1,300,000. When
+Frederic II., a century later, assumed the dominions of his ancestors,
+he only inherited a population of 2,240,000 souls, far less than is now
+to be found in the one province of Silesia. What was it then, that,
+immediately after the battles of the Thirty Years' War, excited the
+jealousy of all the governments, especially of the Imperial house, and
+that made such bitter opponents of the hitherto warm friends of the
+Brandenbergers? For two centuries, both Germans and foreigners placed
+their hopes on this new State; equally long have Germans and
+foreigners, first with scorn and then with hatred, called it an
+artificial superstructure, which could not maintain itself against
+violent storms, and which had unjustifiably intruded itself among the
+Powers of Europe. How came it at last that, after the death of Frederic
+the Great, unprejudiced judges declared that it would be better to
+cease prophesying the downfall of this much-hated State? After each
+prostration it rose so vigorously, its injuries and wounds from war
+were so quickly healed, as has not been the case with any other; wealth
+and intelligence assumed larger proportions there than in any portion
+of Germany!
+
+Undoubtedly it was a peculiar nature, a new phase of German character,
+which shewed itself in the Hohenzollerns and their people in the
+conquered Sclavonian territory. It appears that there were greater
+contrasts of character there; for the virtues and failings of its
+governors, the greatness and weakness of their policy, appeared there
+in glaring contrast: narrow-mindedness became more striking,
+shortcomings appeared more conspicuous, and that which was worthy of
+admiration, more wonderful. It appeared that this State produced
+everything that was most strange and uncommon, and only the quiet
+mediocrity, which may elsewhere be useful and bearable, could not exist
+there without injury.
+
+Much of this arose from the position of the country: it had as
+contiguous neighbours Swedes, Sclavonians, French, and Dutch. There was
+scarcely a question of European politics which did not produce welfare
+or injury to this State; scarce a complication which active princes did
+not take advantage of to put in claims. The failing power of Sweden,
+the already beginning process of dissolution in Poland, occasioned
+perplexity of views; the preponderating power of France, the suspicious
+friendship of Holland, necessitated prompt and vigorous foresight.
+After the first year in which the Elector Frederic William took
+possession, by force and cunning, of his own fortresses, it became
+manifest that there, in a corner of the German soil, a powerful,
+circumspect military government would not be wanting for the
+preservation of Germany. After the beginning of the French war, in
+1674, Europe beheld with astonishment the wary policy that proceeded
+from this little spot, which undertook, with heroic daring, to defend
+the west frontier of Germany against the all-powerful King of France.
+
+There was, also, perhaps something peculiar in the character of the
+Brandenburg people, in which both princes and subjects had an equal
+share. The district of Prussia, up to the time of Frederic the Great,
+had given to Germany comparatively few men of learning, poets, or
+artists; even the passionate zeal of the period of the Reformation
+appeared there to be damped. The people who dwelt in the frontier
+countries, mostly of Lower Saxon origin, with a small mixture of
+Sclavonian blood, were a hard, rough race, not very pleasing in their
+modes of life, of uncommonly sharp understanding and sober judgment. In
+the capital they had been, from ancient times, sarcastic and voluble in
+speech; but in all the provinces they were capable of great exertion,
+laborious, tenacious, and of great power of endurance.
+
+But the character of the princes produced still more effect than even
+the situation or character of the people. Their State was constituted
+differently from any other since the days of Charles the Great. Many
+princely houses have furnished a succession of Sovereigns who have been
+the fortunate aggrandisers of their States, as the Bourbons, who have
+collected wide territories into one great kingdom; many families of
+princes have produced generations of valiant warriors, none more so
+than the Vasas and the Protestant Wittelsbacher in Sweden. But there
+have been no trainers of the people like the old Hohenzollerns. As
+great landed proprietors on the desolated country they brought
+about an increase of population, guided the cultivation, for almost
+150 years laboured as strict economists, thought, tolerated, dared
+and did injustice, in order to create for their State a people like
+themselves--hard, parsimonious, discreet, daring, and ambitious.
+
+In this sense one has a right to admire the providential character of
+the Prussian State. Of the four princes who have governed it, since the
+German War up to the day when the grey-headed Abbot closed his weary
+eyes in the monastery of Sans Souci, each one, with his virtues and
+failings, has acted as a necessary supplement to his predecessor. The
+Elector Frederic William, the greatest statesman from the school of the
+German War--the pompous Frederic, the first King--the parsimonious
+despot Frederic William I.--and, finally, he in whom were concentrated
+almost all the talents and great qualities of his ancestors, were the
+flowers of their race.
+
+Life in the King's castle in Berlin was very cheerless when Frederic
+grew up; few of the citizens' homes at that rude time were so poor in
+love and sunshine. One may doubt whether it was the King his father, or
+the Queen, who was most to blame for the disorder of the family life,
+both through failings of their nature, which, in the ceaseless rubs of
+home, ever became greater;--the King, a wonderful tyrant, with a soft
+heart but rough and violent, who wished to compel love and confidence,
+with a keen understanding, but so unwary that he was always in danger
+of being the victim of rogues, and from the gloomy knowledge of his
+weakness became suspicious, stubborn, and violent; the Queen, on the
+other hand, an insignificant woman, with a cold heart, a strong feeling
+of her princely dignity, and much inclination to intrigue, neither
+cautious nor taciturn. Both had the best intentions, and exerted
+themselves honourably to make their children good and capable men, but
+both injudiciously disturbed the sound development of the childish
+soul. The mother had so little tact as to make her children, even in
+their tender youth, the confidants of her chagrins and intrigues; for
+in her chambers there was no end of complaints, rancour, and derision,
+over the undue parsimony of the King, the blows which he so abundantly
+distributed in his apartments, and the monotony of the daily
+regulations which he enforced. The Crown Prince, Frederic, grew up as
+the playfellow of his elder sister, a delicate child with brilliant
+eyes and wonderfully beautiful blond hair. Punctiliously was he taught
+just as much as the King wished, and that was little enough; scarcely
+anything of the Latin declensions--the great King never overcame the
+difficulties of the genitive and dative--French, some history, and
+the necessary accomplishments of a soldier. The ladies inspired the
+boy--who was giddy, and in presence of the King looked shy and
+defiant--with the first interest in French literature; he himself
+afterwards gave the praise to his sister, but his governess also was a
+clever Frenchwoman. That this foreign acquisition was hateful to the
+King, gave it additional value to the son; for, in the apartments of
+the Queen, that was most certain to be praised which was most
+displeasing to the strict master of the family. And when the King
+delivered to his family his blustering pious speeches, then the
+Princess Wilhelmine and the young Frederic looked so significantly at
+one another that, at last, the faces made by one of the children
+excited a childish desire to laugh, and produced an outburst of fury in
+the King! Owing to this the son became, in his early years, an object
+of irritation to his father. He called him an effeminate fellow, who
+did not keep himself clean, and took an unmanly pleasure in dress and
+games.
+
+But from the account of his sister, in whose unsparing judgment it
+appeared easier to blame than to praise, one may perceive how much the
+amiability of the highly gifted boy worked upon his _entourage_;
+whether he secretly read French stories with his sister, and applied
+the comical characters of the novel to the whole court, or, contrary to
+the most positive order, played upon the flute and lute, or visited his
+sister in disguise, when they recited the _rôles_ of the French comedy
+together. But even for these harmless pleasures Frederic was obliged to
+have recourse to lies, deceit, and dissimulation. He was proud,
+high-minded, magnanimous, with an uncompromising love of truth.
+Dissimulation was so repugnant to his nature that where it was required
+he would not condescend to it; and if he was compelled to an unskilful
+hypocrisy, his position with his father became more difficult, the
+distrust of the King greater, and the wounded self-respect of the son
+was always breaking out in defiance.
+
+Thus he grew up surrounded by spies, who conveyed his every word to the
+King. With a richly gifted mind and refined intellectual yearnings, he
+needed that manly society which would have been suitable for him. No
+wonder that the youth went astray. The Prussian passed for a very
+virtuous court in comparison with the other courts of Germany; but the
+tone towards women, and the carelessness with which the most doubtful
+connexions were treated, were there also very great. After a visit to
+the profligate court of Dresden, Prince Frederic began to behave like
+other princes of his time, and he found good comrades among his
+father's young officers. We know little of him at this time, but we may
+conclude that he was undoubtedly in some danger, not of being ruined,
+but of passing the best years of his life amidst debts and worthless
+connexions. It certainly was not the increasing displeasure of his
+father that unhinged his mind at this period, so much as an inward
+dissatisfaction that drove the immature youth more wildly into error.
+
+He determined to escape to England; how his flight miscarried, and how
+great was the anger of Colonel Frederic William against the deserter,
+are well known. With the days of his imprisonment in Küstrin, and his
+residence at Ruppin, his education began in earnest. The horrors he had
+experienced had called forth in him new powers. He had borne all the
+terrors of death, and the most bitter humiliation of princely pride. In
+the solitude of his prison he had reflected on the great riddle of
+life,--on death, and what was to follow after it. He had perceived that
+nothing remained to him but submission, patience, and quiet endurance.
+But bitter corroding misfortune is not a school which develops good
+alone: it gives birth also to many faults. He learnt to hide his
+decisions in his own breast, to look with suspicion on men and use them
+as his tools, to deceive and cajole them with a cold astuteness which
+was foreign to his nature. He flattered the cowardly, mean Grumbkow,
+and was glad when he gradually won the bad man to his purposes; he had
+for years to struggle warily against the dislike and distrust of his
+hard father. His nature always resisted this humiliation, and he
+endeavoured by bitter scorn to atone to his injured self-respect; his
+heart, which glowed for everything noble, saved him from becoming a
+hard egotist, but it did not make him milder or more conciliatory, and
+when he had become a great man and a wise prince, he still retained
+some traces of narrow-minded cunning from this time of servitude. The
+lion had at times not been ashamed to scratch like a spiteful cat.
+
+Yet he learnt during these years to respect some things that were
+useful--the strict economical care with which his narrow-minded but
+prudent father provided for the weal of his household and country.
+When, to please the King, he made estimates of a lease; when he gave
+himself the trouble to increase the profits of a demesne by some
+hundred thalers; when he thought that the King spent more than was
+fitting on his favourite fancy, and proposed to him to kidnap a tall
+shepherd from Mecklenburg as a recruit,--this work was undoubtedly in
+the beginning only a burdensome means of propitiating the King; for
+Grumbkow had to procure him a man who made out estimates instead of
+him, and the officials and exchequer officers gave him hints how, here
+and there, a profit was to be made, and he always jested about the
+giants, where he could venture to do so. But the new world in which he
+found himself, gradually led him on to the practical interests of the
+people and State. It is clear that the economy of his father was often
+tyrannical and extraordinary. The King was always convinced that his
+whole object was the good of the country, and therefore he took upon
+himself to interfere in the most arbitrary way with the possessions and
+affairs of private persons. When he commanded that no male goat should
+be driven with the sheep; that all coloured sheep, grey, black, and
+mixed, should be entirely got rid of within three years, and only white
+wool should be permitted; when he accurately prescribed how the sample
+measure of the Berlin scheffel--which, at the cost of his subjects, he
+had sent throughout the country--should be locked up and preserved,
+that they might not be battered; when, in order to promote the linen
+and woollen trade, he commanded that his subjects should not wear the
+fashionable chintz and calico, threatening with a fine of 300 thalers
+and three days in the pillory, all who, after eight months, should have
+in their house any cotton articles, either nightgowns, caps, or
+furniture,--such measures of government appeared certainly harsh and
+trivial; but the son learnt to honour the shrewd sense and benevolent
+care which were the groundwork of these decrees, and he himself
+gradually became familiar with a multitude of details, with which
+otherwise as a prince he would not have been conversant: the value of
+property, the price of the necessaries of life, the wants of the
+people, and the customs, rights, and duties of life in the lower
+classes. He had also a share of the self-satisfaction with which the
+King boasted of this knowledge of business. When he himself became the
+all-powerful administrator of his State, the incalculable advantage of
+his knowledge of the people and of trade became manifest. It was owing
+to this that the wise economy with which he managed his own house and
+the finances of the country became possible, and that he was enabled to
+advance the agriculture, trade, wealth, and education of his people by
+incessant care of details. Equally with the daily accounts of his
+kitchen he knew how to test the calculations concerning the crown
+demesnes and forests, and the excise. His people had chiefly to thank
+the years in which he was compelled to sit as assessor at the green
+table at Ruppin for his power of overlooking with a sharp eye the
+smallest as well as the greatest affairs. But sometimes what had been
+so vexatious in his father's time happened to himself: his knowledge of
+business details was not sufficient, so that here and there, just like
+his father, he commanded what violently interfered with the life of his
+Prussians, and could not be carried out.
+
+The wounds inflicted upon Frederic by the great catastrophe had
+scarcely been healed, when a new misfortune befell him as great almost
+in its consequences as the first. The King forced a wife upon him.
+Heartrending is the woe with which he strove to escape the bride chosen
+for him. "I do not care how frivolous she may be, as long as she is not
+a simpleton, that, I cannot bear." It was all in vain. With bitterness
+and indignation did he regard this marriage shortly before it took
+place. Never did he overcome the effect of this sorrow, by which his
+father ruined his inward life. His most susceptible feelings, and his
+loving heart, were sold in the roughest way. Not only was he made
+unhappy by it, but also an excellent woman who was deserving of a
+better fate. The Princess Elizabeth of Bevern had many noble qualities
+of heart; she was not a simpleton, she was not ugly, and might have
+passed well through the bitter criticisms of the princesses of the
+royal house. But we fear that, if she had been an angel, the pride of
+the son, who was subjected to the useless barbarity of compulsion,
+would still have protested against her. And yet this union was not
+always so cold as has been supposed. For six years did the goodness of
+heart and tact of the Princess succeed in reconciling the Crown Prince
+to her. In the retirement of Rheinsberg she was in fact the lady of his
+house and the amiable hostess of his guests, and it was reported by the
+Austrian agents that her influence was on the ascendant. But her modest
+clinging nature was too deficient in the qualities calculated to fix
+the attachment of an intellectual man. It was necessary for the
+sprightly children of the house of Brandenburg to give vent to their
+excitable natures by ready and pointed humour. The Princess, when she
+was excited, was as quiet as if paralysed, and she was wanting in the
+easy grace of society. This did not suit. Even the way in which she
+loved her husband, dutifully and submissively, as if repelled and
+overwhelmed by the greatness of his mind, was little interesting to the
+Prince, who had adopted, together with French intellectual culture, not
+a little of the frivolity of French society.
+
+When Frederic became King, the Princess soon lost the very small share
+she had gained in her husband's affections. His long absence during the
+Silesian War finally alienated him from her. More and more distant
+became their mutual intercourse; years passed without their seeing one
+another; an icy brevity and coldness are perceptible in his letters;
+but the high esteem in which the King held her character maintained her
+outward position. His relations with women after that had little
+influence on his inward feelings: even his sister of Baireuth, sickly,
+nervous, and embittered by jealousy of an unfaithful husband, became,
+for years, as a stranger to her brother; it was not till she had
+resigned herself to her own life that this proud child of the House of
+Brandenburg, aged and unhappy, again sought the heart of the brother
+whose little hand had once supported her when at the feet of the stern
+father. The mother also, to whom King Frederic always showed the most
+marked and child-like reverence, could participate little in the
+feelings of the son. His other sisters were younger, and only inclined
+to make a quiet _Fronde_ in the house against him; if the King ever
+condescended to show attention to a lady of the court, or a singer,
+these were to the person concerned full as annoying as flattering.
+Where he found beauty, grace, and womanly dignity combined, as in Frau
+von Camas, the first lady of the bedchamber to his wife, the amiability
+of his nature appeared by his kindly attentions to her. But, on the
+whole, his life received little sunshine from his intercourse with
+women, for he had experienced little of the hearty warmth of family
+life; in this respect his soul was desolate. Perhaps this was fortunate
+for his people, though undoubtedly fatal to his private life; the full
+warmth of his manly feelings was almost exclusively reserved to his
+small circle of confidants, with whom he laughed, wrote poetry,
+philosophised, made plans for the future, and latterly conferred with
+upon his warlike operations and dangers.
+
+His life at Rheinsberg, after his marriage, was the best portion of his
+youth. There he collected around him a number of highly-educated and
+cheerful companions; the small society led a poetic life, of which an
+agreeable picture has been bequeathed to us by those who partook of it.
+Earnestly did Frederic labour to educate himself; easily did his
+excited feelings find expression in French verse; incessantly did he
+labour to acquire the delicacy of the foreign style; but his mind also
+exercised itself upon more serious things. He sought ardently from the
+Encyclopædians, and of Christian Wolf, an answer to the highest
+questions of man; he sat bent over maps and plans of battles; and, amid
+the _rôles_ of his amateur theatricals and plans of buildings, other
+projects were prepared which, after a few years, were to agitate the
+world.
+
+Then came the day on which the government passed from the hands of his
+dying father, who directed the officer who was to make the daily
+bulletin to take his orders from the new military ruler of Prussia.
+What judgment was formed of him by his political contemporaries we
+discover from the character drawn of him shortly before by an Austrian
+agent of the Imperial Court:--"He is agreeable, wears his own hair, has
+a slouching carriage, loves the fine arts and good eating, would wish
+to begin his government with some _éclat_, is a better friend of the
+military than his father, has the religion of a gentleman, believes in
+God and the forgiveness of sins, loves splendour and refinement, and
+will newly arrange all the court offices, and bring distinguished
+people to his court."[12] This prophecy was not fully justified. We
+will endeavour to understand other phases of his character at this
+time. The new King was a man of fiery, enthusiastic temperament,
+quickly excited, and tears came readily to his eyes; with him, as with
+his contemporaries, it was a passionate need to admire what was great,
+and to give himself up to pathetic, soft moods of mind. With tender and
+melting tones he played his adagio on the flute; like other honourable
+contemporaries, it was not easy to him to give full expression in words
+and verses to his inward feelings, but pathetic passages would move him
+to tears. In spite of all his French maxims, the foundation of his
+character was in these respects very German.
+
+Those have judged him most unjustly who have ascribed to him a cold
+heart. It is not the cold royal hearts which generally wound by their
+harshness. Such as these are almost always enabled, by a smooth
+graciousness and its suitable expression, to please their entourage.
+The strongest expressions of antipathy are generally combined with the
+heart-winning tones of a sentimental tenderness. But in Frederic, it
+appears to us, there was a striking and strange combination of two
+quite opposite tendencies of the spirit, which are usually found on
+earth in eternal irreconcilable contention. He had equally the need of
+idealising life, and the impulse mercilessly to destroy ideal frames of
+mind in himself and others. His first characteristic was perhaps the
+most beautiful, perhaps the most sorrowful, that ever man was endowed
+with for the struggle of life. He was undoubtedly a poetic nature; he
+possessed in a high degree that peculiar power which strives to
+transform common realities according to the ideal demands of its own
+nature, and to draw over everything about it the pure lustre of a new
+life. It was necessary to him to decorate with the graces of his fancy
+and the whole magic of emotional feeling the image of those he loved,
+and to adorn his relations with them. There was always something
+playful about it, and even where he felt most passionately he loved
+more the embellished picture of others, which he carried within him,
+than themselves. It was with such a disposition that he kissed
+Voltaire's hand. If at any time he sensibly felt the difference betwixt
+his ideal and the real man, he dropped the real and cherished the
+image. Whoever has received from nature this faculty of investing love
+and friendship with the coloured mirror of poetical dispositions, is
+sure, according to the judgment of others, to show arbitrariness in the
+choice of their objects of preference: a certain equable warmth which
+bethinks itself of everything suitable appears to be denied to such
+natures. To whoever the King became a friend, in his way, to him he
+always showed the greatest consideration and fidelity, however much at
+particular moments his disposition towards him might change. He could,
+therefore, be sentimental in his sorrow over the loss of such a
+cherished image as was only possible for a German of the Werther
+period. He had lived for many years in some estrangement from his
+sister von Baireuth; it was only in the last year before her death,
+amidst the terrors of war, that her image as that of a tender sister
+again revived in him. After her death he felt a gloomy satisfaction in
+recalling to himself and others, the heartfelt tenderness of this
+connection; he built her a small temple, and often made pilgrimages to
+it. Whoever failed to reach his heart by means of poetical feelings, or
+did not stir up in him the love-web of poetry, or who disturbed
+anything in his sensitive nature, to him he was cold, contemptuous, and
+indifferent,--a King who only considered how far the other could be of
+use to him; and he threw him off perhaps when he no longer needed him.
+Such an endowment undoubtedly may have surrounded the life of a young
+man with a bright halo; it invested the common with variegated
+brilliancy and pleasing colours; but it must be united with much good
+moral worth, feeling of duty, and sense of what is higher than itself,
+if it is not to isolate and make his old age gloomy. It will also, even
+in favourable circumstances, raise up the bitterest enemies, together
+with the most devoted admirers. Somewhat of this faculty prepared for
+the noble soul of Goethe bitter sorrows, transient connexions, many
+disappointments, and a solitary old age. It was doubly fatal for a
+King, whom others so seldom approach on a dignified and equal footing,
+to whom openhearted friends might always become admiring flatterers,
+unequal in their behaviour, now servile under the courtly spell of
+majesty, now discontented censurers from a feeling of their own rights.
+
+With King Frederic, however, the yearning for ideal relations, this
+longing for men who could give his heart the opportunity of opening
+itself unreservedly, was crossed in the first place by his penetrating
+acuteness of perception, and also by an incorruptible love of truth,
+which was inimical to all deceptions, struggled against every illusion,
+despised all shams, and searched out the depths of all things. This
+scrutinising view of life and its duties was a good shield against the
+illusions which more often afflict a prince of imaginative tendencies,
+where he has given confidence, than a private man; but his acuteness
+showed itself also in a wild humour which was unsparing in its
+remorselessness, sarcasm, and ridicule. From whence did these
+tendencies arise in him? Was it Brandenburg blood? Was it inherited
+from his great-grandmother, the Electress Sophia of Hanover, or from
+his grandmother--that intellectual woman, the Queen Sophia Charlotte,
+with whom Leibnitz corresponded on the eternal harmony of the world?
+Undoubtedly the rough training of his youth had contributed to it.
+Sharp was his perception of the weaknesses of others; wherever he spied
+out a defect, wherever anything peculiar vexed or irritated him, his
+voluble tongue was set in motion.
+
+His words hit both friends and enemies unsparingly: even when silence
+and endurance were commanded by prudence, he could not control himself;
+his whole spirit seemed changed; with merciless exaggeration he
+distorted the image of others into a caricature. If one examines this
+more closely, one perceives that the main point in this was the
+intellectual pleasure; he freed himself from an unpleasant impression
+by violent outbursts against his victim; he had an inward satisfaction
+in painting him grotesquely, and was much surprised if, when deeply
+wounded, his friend turned his weapons against him. In this there was a
+striking similarity to Luther. Undoubtedly the club blows dealt by the
+great monk of the sixteenth century were far more formidable than the
+stabs which were distributed by the great Prince in the age of
+enlightenment. That it was neither dignified nor suitable was a point
+for which the great King cared as little as the Reformer: both were in
+a state of excitement as if in the chase, and both, in the pleasure of
+the struggle, forgot the consequences; both, also, seriously injured
+themselves and their great objects, and were honestly surprised when
+they discovered it. But when the King bantered and sneered, or
+maliciously teased, it was more difficult for him to draw back from his
+unamiable mood; for his was generally no equal struggle with his
+victim. Thus did the great Prince deal with all his political
+opponents, and excited deadly enmity against himself; he jeered at the
+Pompadour, the Empress Elizabeth, and the Empress Maria Theresa at the
+dinner table, and circulated biting verses and pamphlets. That bad man,
+Voltaire, he sometimes caressed, sometimes scolded and snarled at. But
+he also treated in the same way, men whom he really esteemed, and who
+were in his greatest confidence, whom he had received into the circle
+of his friends. He had drawn the Marquis d'Argens to his court, made
+him his chamberlain, and member of the Academy; he was one of his most
+intimate and dearest companions. The letters which he wrote to him from
+the camp during the Seven Years' War are among the most charming and
+touching reminiscences that remain to us of the King. When he returned
+from that war, his fondest hope was that the marquis would dwell with
+him at Sans Souci. A few years afterwards this delightful connection
+was dissolved. But how was this possible? The marquis was the best
+Frenchman to whom the King had attached himself; a man of honour and of
+refined feeling and cultivation, truly devoted to the King. But he was
+neither a remarkable nor a very superior man. For years the King had
+admired him as a man of learning, which he was not; he had formed to
+himself a pleasant poetical idea of him, as a wise, clear-sighted, safe
+philosopher, with agreeable wit and lively humour. Now, in the
+intercourse of daily life, the King found himself mistaken; a certain
+sentimental tendency in the Frenchman, which dwelt upon its own morbid
+hypochondria, irritated him; he began to discover that the aged marquis
+was neither a great scholar nor a man of strong mind; the ideal he had
+formed of him was destroyed. The King began to quiz him on account of
+his sentimentality; the sensitive Frenchman begged for leave of
+absence, that he might travel to France for some months for his health.
+The King was deeply wounded at this touch of temper, and continued, in
+the friendly letters which he afterwards wrote to him, to quiz this
+morbid disposition. He said, "That it was reported that there was a
+_loup garou_ in France; no doubt this was the marquis as a Prussian, in
+his invalid guise. Did he now eat little children? This bad conduct he
+would not formerly have been guilty of, but men change much in
+travelling." The marquis remained two winters instead of a few months:
+when he was about to return, he sent the certificate of his physician;
+probably the good man was really ill, but the King was deeply wounded
+at this unnecessary verification from an old friend, and when the
+marquis returned, the old connection was spoiled. Yet the King would
+not give him up, but amused himself by punishing his unconfiding friend
+by pungent speeches and sharp jests. Then the Frenchman, most
+thoroughly embittered, demanded his dismissal; he obtained it, and one
+may discover the sorrow and anger of the King from his answer. When the
+marquis, in the last letter he wrote to the King before his death, once
+more represented, not without bitterness, how scornfully and ill he had
+treated an unselfish admirer, the King read his letter in silence. But
+he wrote sorrowfully to the widow, of his friendship for her husband,
+and caused a costly monument to be erected to his memory. Such was the
+case with most of his favourites: magical as was his power of
+attracting, equally demoniacal was his capacity of repelling. But it
+may be answered, to any one who blames this as a fault in the man, that
+in history there is scarcely another king who has so nobly opened his
+most secret soul to his friends, like Frederic.
+
+Frederic II. had not worn the crown many months, when the Emperor
+Charles VI. died. Everything now impelled the young King to play a
+great game. That he should have made such a resolution was, in spite of
+the momentary weakness of Austria, a sign of daring courage. The
+countries which he ruled counted not more than a seventh of the
+population of the wide realm of Maria Theresa. It is true that his army
+was superior in number to the Imperial, and still more in warlike
+capacity; and, according to the representations of the time, the mass
+of the people was not so suitable as now to recruit the army. Little,
+too, did he foresee the greatness of character of Maria Theresa. But in
+his preparations for the invasion the King already showed that he had
+long hoped to measure himself with Austria; he began the struggle in a
+spirit of exaltation that was decisive of his future life and for his
+State. Little did he care for the foundation of his right to the Duchy
+of Silesia, though he employed his pen to demonstrate it to Europe. The
+politicians of the despotic States of the seventeenth and eighteenth
+centuries troubled themselves little on such points. Whoever could give
+a good appearance to his cause, did so; but the most improbable
+evidence, the shallowest pretences, were sufficient. Thus had Louis
+XIV. made war; thus had the Emperor carried out his interests against
+the Turks, Italians, Germans, French, and Spaniards; thus had a portion
+of the advantages gained by the great Elector been marred by others.
+Just where the rights of the Hohenzollerns were most distinct--as in
+Pomerania--they had been most wronged: by none more than the Emperor
+and House of Hapsburg. Now the Hohenzollern sought for revenge. "Be my
+Cicero and prove the justice of my cause, and I will be the Cæsar to
+carry it through," wrote Frederic to his Jordan after the entrance into
+Silesia. Gaily, with winged steps, as to a dance, did the King enter
+upon the field of his victories. Still did he carry on the enjoyments
+of life, pleasant trifling in verses, intellectual talk with his
+intimates upon the amusements of the day, on God, nature, and
+immortality; this converse was the salt of his life. But the great work
+on which he had entered began soon to have its effect on his character,
+even before he had been under fire in the first battle; and it
+afterwards worked on his soul till his hair became grey, and his fiery
+enthusiastic heart became hard as iron. With the wonderful acuteness of
+perception that was peculiar to him, he observed the beginning of this
+change. He reviewed his own life as though he were a stranger. "You
+will find me more philosophic than you think," he writes to a friend;
+"I have always been so, now more, now less. My youth, the fire of
+passion, the desire for fame, nay--to conceal nothing--even curiosity
+and a secret instinct, have driven me from the sweet repose which I
+enjoyed, and the wish to see my name in the newspapers and history have
+led me away. Come here to me; philosophy maintains her claims, and, I
+assure you, if it were not for this cursed love of fame, I should think
+only of quiet comfort."
+
+And when the faithful Jordan came to him, and Frederic saw this man,
+who loved peaceful enjoyment, timid and uneasy in the field, the King
+suddenly felt that he had become an altered and a stronger man than him
+whom he had so long honoured for his learning, who had improved his
+verses, given style to his letters, and was so far superior to him in
+knowledge of Greek. And in spite of all his philosophic culture, he
+gave the King the impression of a man without courage; with bitter
+scorn the king shook him off. In one of his best improvisations, he
+places himself as a warrior, in contradistinction to the sentimental
+philosopher. Unfair, however, as were the satirical verses with which
+he overwhelmed him, yet he soon returned to his old kindly feeling. But
+it was also the first gentle hint of fate to the King himself: the like
+was often to happen to him again; he was to lose valuable men, true
+friends, one after the other; not only by death, but still more by the
+coldness and estrangement which arose betwixt his nature and theirs.
+For the path on which he had now entered was to add strength to all the
+greatness, but also to all the one-sidedness, of his nature. And the
+higher he raised himself above others, the more insignificant did their
+nature appear to him; almost all who in later years he measured by his
+own standard were little fitted to bear the comparison. The
+disappointment and disenchantment he then felt became sharper, till at
+last from his lonely height he looked down with stony eyes on the
+proceedings of the men at his feet. But still, to the last hour of his
+life, the penetrating glance of his brooding countenance was
+intermingled with the bright beams of gentle human feeling. It is this
+which makes the great tragic figure so touching to us.
+
+But now, in the beginning of his first war, he still looks back with
+longing to the quiet repose of his "Remusberg," and deeply feels the
+pressure of the vast destiny before him. "It is difficult to bear good
+fortune and misfortune with equanimity," he writes. "One may easily
+appear to be indifferent in success, and unmoved amid losses, for the
+features of the face can always be made to dissemble; but the man, his
+inward nature, the folds of his heart, will not the less be assailed."
+He concludes, full of hope: "All that I wish is, that the result of my
+success may not be to destroy the human feelings and virtues which I
+have always owned; may my friends always find me such as I have been."
+At the end of the war he writes: "See, your friend is a second time
+conqueror. Who would, some years ago, have said that a scholar in the
+school of philosophy would play a military _rôle_ in the world--that
+Providence should have chosen a poet to upset the political system of
+Europe?"[13] So fresh and young were the feelings of Frederic when he
+returned in triumph to Berlin from the first war.
+
+He goes forth a second time to maintain Silesia. Again he is conqueror;
+he has already the quiet self-confidence of an experienced General;
+lively is his satisfaction at the excellence of his troops. "All that
+is flattering to me in this victory," he writes to Frau von Camas.[14]
+"is, that by rapid decision and bold man[oe]uvres, I have been able to
+contribute to the preservation of many brave men. But I would not have
+one of the most insignificant of my soldiers wounded for idle fame,
+which no longer dazzles me."
+
+But in the middle of the struggle the death of two of his dearest
+friends occurred, Jordan and Kayserlingk. Touching are his
+lamentations. "In less than three months I have lost my two most
+faithful friends--people with whom I have daily lived, agreeable
+companions, estimable men, and true friends. It is difficult for a
+heart so sensitive as mine to restrain my deep sorrow. When I return to
+Berlin I shall feel almost a stranger in my own Fatherland, isolated in
+my home. It has been your fate also to lose at once many persons who
+were dear to you; but I admire your courage, which I cannot imitate. My
+only hope is time, which brings all things in nature to an end. It
+begins by weakening the impressions on our brains, and only ceases by
+destroying ourselves. I now dread every place which recals to me the
+sorrowful remembrance of friends I have for ever lost." And again, a
+month after, he writes to a friend, who endeavoured to comfort him:
+"Do not think that the pressure of business and danger distracts one's
+mind in sorrow? I know from experience that it is unsuccessful. Alas! a
+month has passed since my tears and my sorrow began, but since the
+first vehement outburst of the first days I feel as sorrowful and as
+little comforted as in the beginning." And when his worthy tutor,
+Duhan, sent him some French books of Jordan's, which the King had
+desired, in the latter part of the autumn of the same year, he wrote,
+"The tears came into my eyes when I opened the books of my poor
+departed Jordan, I loved him so much, and it is very painful to me to
+think that he is no more." Not long after, the King lost the friend
+also to whom this letter was addressed.
+
+The loss of his youthful friends in 1745 made a great wrench in the
+inward life of the King. With these unselfish, honourable men died
+almost all who made his intercourse with others happy. The relations
+upon which he now entered were altogether of another kind: the best of
+his men acquaintance only became the intimates of some hours, not the
+friends of his heart. The need of exciting intellectual intercourse
+remained, indeed it became even stronger. For there was this peculiar
+characteristic in him, that he could not exist without cheerful and
+confidential relations, nor without the easy, almost unreserved, talk
+which through all the phases of his moods, whether thoughtful or
+frivolous, touched lightly upon everything, from the greatest questions
+of the human race to the smallest events of the day. Immediately after
+his accession to the throne, he had written to Voltaire, and invited
+him to come to him. Voltaire came, at the cost of much money, for a few
+days to Berlin; he gave the King the impression of his being a fool,
+nevertheless Frederic felt an immeasurable respect for the talent of
+the man. Voltaire appeared to him the greatest poet of all times,--the
+Lord High Chamberlain of Parnassus, where the King so much wished to
+play a _rôle_. Ever stronger became Frederic's wish to possess this
+man. He considered himself as his scholar; he wished his verses to be
+approved of by the master. Among his Brandenburg officers he languished
+for the wit and intellect of the elegant Frenchman; there was also much
+of the vanity of the Sovereign in this: he wished to be as much a
+prince of _bels esprits_ and philosophers as he had been a renowned
+General. Since the second Silesia war his intimates were generally
+foreigners; after 1750 he had the pleasure of seeing the great Voltaire
+established as a member of his court. It was no misfortune that the bad
+man only remained a few years among the barbarians.
+
+It was in the ten years from 1746 to 1756 that Frederic gained an
+importance and a self-confidence as an author, which up to the present
+day is not sufficiently appreciated in Germany. Of his French verses
+the Germans can only judge imperfectly. He had great facility as a
+poet, and could express without trouble every mood in rhyme and verse.
+But in his lyrics he has never, in the eyes of Frenchmen, entirely
+overcome the difficulties of a foreign language, however carefully they
+may have been revised by his intimates; indeed, he was wanting always,
+it appears to us, in that equal rhetorical harmony of style which in
+the time of Voltaire was the first characteristic of a renowned poet,
+for we find commonplace and trivial expressions in splendid diction,
+together with beautiful and pompous periods. His taste, too, was not
+assured and independent enough; he was in his æsthetic judgment rapid
+in admiring and short in deciding, but in reality far more dependent on
+the opinions of his French acquaintance than his pride would have
+admitted. The best off-shoot of French poetry at that time was the
+return to nature, and the struggle of truth against the fetters of old
+_convenances_, This was incomprehensible to the King. Rousseau long
+appeared to him an eccentric poor devil, and the conscientious and pure
+spirit of Diderot he considered as shallow. And yet it appears to us
+that in his own poems, and especially in the light improvisations with
+which he favoured his friends, there is frequently a richness of poetic
+detail and a heart-winning tone of true feeling which they, especially
+his pattern Voltaire, might envy him.
+
+Like Cæsar's "Commentaries," Frederic's History of his Time forms one
+of the most important monuments of historical literature.[15] It is
+true that, like the Roman General and like every practical statesman,
+he wrote the facts as they were reflected from the mind of one who took
+part in them; all is not equally appreciated by him; he does not do
+justice to every party, but he knows incomparably more than those who
+were at a distance, and enters, not quite impartially, but at the same
+time with magnanimity to his opponents, into some of the innermost
+motives of great occurrences. He wrote sometimes without the great
+apparatus that a professional historian must collect around him; it
+therefore happens that his memory and judgment, however authentic they
+may be, sometimes leave him in the lurch; finally, he wrote an apology
+of his house, his policy, and his campaigns, and, like Cæsar, he is
+sometimes silent, and interprets facts as he wishes them to be brought
+before posterity. But the open-heartedness and love of truth with which
+he deals with his own house and his own doings, are not less worthy of
+admiration than the supreme calm and freedom with which he views
+events, in spite of the small rhetorical flourishes which belonged to
+the taste of the time.
+
+Equally astonishing as his fertility is his versatility. One of the
+greatest of military writers, an important historian, a facile poet, a
+popular philosopher, and practical statesman, also even an anonymous
+and very copious pamphlet writer, and sometimes journalist, he is
+always ready for everything: to portray with his pen in the field
+whatever fills, warms, and inspires him, and to attack in prose and
+verse every one who irritates or vexes him, not only Pope and Empress,
+Jesuits and Dutch newspaper writers, but also old friends if they
+appear to him lukewarm, which he could never bear, or threaten to fall
+away from him. Never--since the time of Luther--has there been so
+contentious, reckless, and unwearied a writer. As soon as he puts pen
+to paper he is, like Proteus, everything, sage or intriguer, historian
+or poet, just as situation required, always an excitable, fiery,
+intellectual, and sometimes also an ill-behaved man; but of his kingly
+office he thinks little. All that is dear to him he celebrates by poems
+and eulogies: the exalted precepts of his philosophy, his friends, his
+army, his freedom of faith, independent inquiry, toleration and the
+education of the people.
+
+Victoriously did the mind of Frederic extend itself in all directions.
+Nothing withheld him when ambition drove him on to conquer. Then came
+years of trial, seven years of fearful, heart-rending cares; the period
+when the rich soaring spirit undertook the most difficult task that was
+ever allotted to man; when almost everything seemed to fall from him
+which he possessed for himself, of joy and happiness, hopes and
+egotistical comfort; when everything charming and agreeable to him as
+man was destined to die to him, that he might become the self-denying
+Prince of his people, the great official of the State, the hero of a
+nation. It was not with the lust of conquest that he this time entered
+upon the combat; it had long been clear to him that he had now to
+struggle for his own and his kingdom's life. But so much the loftier
+grew his resolution. Like the storm-wind, he wished to break the clouds
+which gathered on all sides round his head. By the energy of his
+irresistible attacks he thought to dissipate the storm before it burst
+upon him. He had hitherto been unconquered; his enemies were beaten
+whenever he had fallen upon them with the irresistible instrument
+in his hand--his army. This was his hope, his only one. If this
+well-tested power did not fail him now, he might save his State.
+
+But in his first encounter with the Austrians, his old enemies, he saw
+that they also had learnt of him and had become different. To the
+uttermost did he exert his power, and at Collin it failed him. The 18th
+of June, 1757, was the most fatal day in Frederic's life; he found
+there what twice in this war tore the victory from him: that he had too
+little estimated his enemies, and had expected what was beyond human
+powers of his valiant army. After being stunned for a short time,
+Frederic roused himself with fresh energy. From an offensive he was
+driven to a desperate defensive war: on all sides the enemy broke into
+his little country; he was in deadly struggle with every great Power of
+the Continent, the master of only four millions of men, and a conquered
+army. Now he proved his generalship by the way in which, after his
+losses, he retreated from the enemy, then pounced upon and beat them,
+when they least expected him, by throwing himself now against one, and
+now against another army, unsurpassed in his dispositions,
+inexhaustible in his expedients, and unequalled as leader of his
+troops. Thus he maintained himself, one against five, against Austria,
+Russia, and France, each one of which exceeded him in strength; and at
+the same time against Sweden and the German troops of the Empire. Five
+long years did he struggle against this enormous preponderance of
+power,--each spring in danger of being crushed by the masses alone, and
+each autumn again in safety. A loud cry of admiration and sympathy
+echoed through Europe; and among the first unwilling eulogisers were
+his most violent enemies. It was just in these years of changing
+fortune, when the King himself was experiencing the bitter chances of
+the fortunes of war, that his generalship became the astonishment of
+all the armies of Europe. The method in which he arrayed his lines
+against the enemy, always the quickest and most skilful; how he so
+often, by moving in echelon, pressed back the weakest wing of the
+enemy, outflanked and crushed it; how his newly created cavalry, which
+had become the first in the world, charged upon the enemy, broke their
+ranks and burst through their hosts,--all this was considered
+everywhere as a new step in the art of war, as an invention of the
+greatest genius. The tactics and strategy of the Prussian army were,
+for almost half a century, the pattern and model for all the armies of
+Europe. Unanimous was the judgment that Frederic was the greatest
+commander of his time, and that before him, throughout all history,
+there had been few Generals to compare with him. That smaller numbers
+should so frequently conquer the larger, that when beaten they should
+not dissolve away, but, when the enemy had scarcely recovered their
+wounds, should be able to re-encounter him as before, so threatening
+and so disciplined, appeared incredible. But we not only extol the
+generalship of the King, but also the clever discretion of his infantry
+tactics. He knew well how much he was restrained by the consideration
+of magazines and commissariat, by the thousands of waggons full of
+stores and daily necessaries for the soldiers which must accompany him,
+but he also knew that this was his safest course. Once only, when after
+the battle of Rossbach, he made that wonderful march into Silesia,
+forty-one German miles in fifteen days, being in the greatest danger,
+he advanced through the country, as other armies do now, supporting his
+men by the billeting system. But he immediately returned to his former
+wise custom.[16] For if his enemies should learn to imitate this
+independent movement, he would certainly be lost. When the country
+militia of his old province rose up to withstand and drive away the
+Swedes, and valiantly defended Colberg and Berlin, he was much pleased,
+but took care not to encourage popular warfare; and when his East
+Friesland people rose of their own accord against the French, and were
+severely handled by them, he roughly told them it was their own fault,
+as war ought to be carried on by soldiers, and that tranquil labour,
+taxes, and recruiting were for peasants and citizens. He knew well that
+he was lost, if a popular war were excited against him in Saxony and
+Bohemia. This very narrow-mindedness of the cautious General with
+respect to military forms, which alone made the struggle possible, may
+perhaps be reckoned as one of his greatest qualities.
+
+Ever louder became the expression of sorrow and admiration with which
+Germans and foreigners watched the death struggle of the lion beset on
+all sides. As early as 1740, the young King had been extolled by the
+Protestants as the partisan of freedom of conscience and enlightenment,
+against Jesuits and intolerance. When, a few months after the battle of
+Collin, he so entirely beat the French at Rossbach, he became the hero
+of Germany, and there was a burst of exultation everywhere. For
+two centuries the French had inflicted the greatest injury on the
+much-divided country; now the German nature began to oppose itself to
+the influence of French culture, and now the King, who had so much
+admired Parisian verses, had as wonderfully scared away the Parisian
+General. It was such a brilliant victory, the old enemy was so
+disgracefully overthrown, that it rejoiced all hearts throughout the
+Empire; even where the soldiers of the Sovereigns were in the field
+against King Frederic, the citizens and peasants rejoiced secretly at
+his German blows. The longer the war lasted, the firmer became
+the belief in the King's invincibility, so much the more did the
+self-respect of the Germans rise. After long, long years, they had at
+last found a hero, of whose warlike fame they could be proud, who would
+accomplish what was almost more than human. Numberless anecdotes about
+him circulated through the country; every little trait of his
+composure, of his good humour and friendliness with the soldiers, or of
+the fidelity of his army, flew hundreds of miles; how, when in peril of
+death, he played his flute in his tent; how his wounded soldiers
+sang chorales after the battle; how, he had taken off his hat to a
+regiment--he has since been often imitated in this,--all these stories
+were carried to the Neckar and the Rhine, printed and listened to with
+glad smiles and tears of emotion. It was natural that the poets should
+sing his praises; three of them had been in the Prussian army, Gleim
+and Lessing as secretaries to the General in command, and Ewald von
+Kleist, the favourite of a young literary circle, as an officer, till
+at last he was struck by a ball at Kunnersdorf. But still more touching
+to us is the faithful devotion of the Prussian people; the old
+provinces, Prussia, Pomerania, the Marches, and Westphalia, had
+suffered indescribably from the war, but the proud pleasure of having a
+share in the hero of Europe made even the most inconsiderable man
+forget his own sufferings. The armed citizens and peasants for years
+marched to the field as militia-men. When a number of recruits from
+Cleves and the county of Ravensberg, after a lost action, fled
+from their banners and returned home, they were denounced by their
+country-people and relations as perjured, expelled from the villages,
+and driven back to the army.
+
+There was no difference in the opinion abroad. In the Protestant
+cantons of Switzerland as warm an interest was taken in the fate of the
+King as if the descendants of the Rütli men had never been separated
+from the German Empire. There were people there who became ill with
+vexation when the King's affairs were in a bad state.[17] It was the
+same in England. Every victory of the King excited in London loud
+expressions of joy; houses were lighted up; pictures and laudatory
+poems were sold in the streets; and Pitt announced, with admiration, in
+Parliament every new act of the Great Ally. Even in Paris, at the
+theatre and in society, the feeling was more Prussian than French. The
+French jeered at their own Generals, and the clique of Pompadour, which
+was for the war, could hardly, as we are informed by Duclos, appear in
+public. At Petersburg the Grand Duke Peter and his adherents were so
+Prussian that at every loss sustained by Frederic they secretly
+mourned. The enthusiasm reached even to Turkey and the Great Cham of
+Tartary; and this respectful interest outlasted the war in a great
+portion of the world. The painter Hackert, when travelling through a
+small city in the middle of Sicily, received fruit and wine from the
+magistrates as a gift of honour, because they had heard that he was a
+Prussian, a subject of the great King to whom they wished to show
+honour. Muley Ismail, Emperor of Morocco, caused the crew of a vessel
+belonging to a citizen of Emden, which had been carried off by the
+Moors to Magador, to be released without ransom; he sent them newly
+clothed to Lisbon, and assured them that their King was the greatest
+man in the world; that no Prussian should ever suffer imprisonment in
+his country, and that his cruisers should never attack the Prussian
+flag.
+
+Poor oppressed spirit of the German people, how long it had been since
+the men betwixt the Rhine and the Oder had felt the pleasure of being
+esteemed above others among the nations of the earth! Now everything
+was transformed by the magic of the character of one man. The
+countryman, as if awaking from a fearful dream, looked out upon the
+world and into his own heart. Long had they lived lethargically without
+a past in which they could rejoice, or a noble future on which to place
+their hopes. Now they found at once that they had a portion in the
+honours and greatness of the world; that a King and his people, all of
+their blood, had given an aureola of glory to the German nation--a new
+purport to the history of civilised man. Now they had all experienced
+how a great man could struggle, venture, dare, and conquer. Now labour
+in your study, peaceful thinker, imaginative dreamer; you have learnt
+during the night to look abroad with smiles, and to hope great things
+from your own endowments. Try now what will gush from your heart.
+
+Whilst the youthful strength of the people fluttered its wings with
+enthusiastic warmth, what, meanwhile, were the feelings of the great
+Prince, who was incessantly contending with enemies? The enthusiastic
+acclamations of the nation bore only feeble tones to his ear; the King
+received it almost with indifference. In him everything was calm and
+cold; though, undoubtedly, he had hours of passionate sorrow and
+heart-rending care. But he concealed them from his army; the calm
+countenance became harder, the furrows deeper, the expression more
+rigid. There were but few to whom he occasionally opened his heart;
+then, for some moments, the sorrows of the man, which had reached the
+limits of human endurance, broke forth.
+
+Ten days after the battle of Collin, his mother died; a few weeks
+later, in anger, he drove his brother August Wilhelm away from the
+army, because he had not carried on the war with sufficient vigour.
+This Prince died in that same year, of grief, as the King was informed
+by the officer who reported it. Shortly afterwards he received the
+account of the death of his sister of Baireuth. One after another his
+Generals fell by his side, or lost the King's confidence; because they
+were not able to come up to the superhuman requirements of this war.
+His old soldiers, his pride, the iron warriors who had gone through the
+test of three severe wars--they who, dying, still stretched out their
+hands to him and called upon his name--were expiring in heaps around
+him; and those who filled up the wide gaps which death incessantly made
+in his army were young recruits, some of good material, but many bad
+ones. The King used them, as he had done the others, with strictness
+and severity; but even in the worst subjects his look and word inspired
+both bravery and devotion. But he knew that all this would not avail;
+short and cutting was his censure, and sparing was his praise. Thus he
+continued to live; five summers and winters came and went; the labour
+was gigantic; he was unwearied in planning and combining; his eagle eye
+scrutinisingly scanned what was most distant and most trivial, and yet
+there was no change and no hope. The King read and wrote in his hours
+of rest, just as before; he made his verses and kept up a
+correspondence with Voltaire and Algarotti; but he was resolved all
+this must soon come to an end, a short and quick one. He carried with
+him, day and night, what would free him from Daun and Laudon. The whole
+affair of life sometimes appeared to him contemptible.
+
+The disposition of the man, from whom the intellectual life of Germany
+dates its new era, deserves well to be regarded with reverence by
+Germans. It is only possible to give some idea of it by the way in
+which it breaks out in Frederic's letters to the Marquis d'Argens and
+Frau von Camas. Thus does the great King speak of his life:--
+
+"1757, _June_.--The only remedy for my sorrow lies in the daily work I
+am obliged to do, and in the continual distractions which the number of
+my enemies occasion me. If I had died at Collin, I should now be in a
+haven where I should fear no more storms. Now I must navigate on a
+stormy sea till I have discovered in some small corner of earth, that
+good which I have never yet found in this world. For two years I have
+been standing like a wall in which misfortune has made its breaches.
+But do not think that I am becoming weak; one must protect oneself in
+these unfortunate times by bowels of iron and a heart of bronze, in
+order to lose all feeling. The next month will decide the fate of my
+poor country. My calculation is, that I shall save or fall with it. You
+can have no idea of the dangers in which we are, nor of the terrors
+which surround us."
+
+"1758, _December_--I am weary of this life; the Wandering Jew is less
+driven about hither and thither, than I; I have lost all that I have
+loved and honoured in this world; I see myself surrounded by
+unfortunates whose sufferings I cannot aid. My soul is still filled
+with the impression of the ruin of my best provinces, and of the
+horrors which a horde of barbarians, more like unreasoning beasts than
+men, have practised there. In my old age I have come down almost to be
+a theatrical king; you will acknowledge that such a situation is not
+sufficiently attractive to bind the soul of a philosopher to life."
+
+"1759, _March_.--I know not what my fate will be. I will do all that
+depends upon me to save myself; and if I am worsted the enemy shall pay
+dear for it. I have lived, during my winter quarters, as a recluse; I
+have my meals alone, pass my life in reading and writing, and do not
+sigh. When one is sorrowful it costs one too much in the long run to
+conceal one's chagrin incessantly, and it is better to bear one's
+trouble alone than to bring one's vexations into society. Nothing
+comforts me but the violent strain, as long as it lasts, which work
+requires; it drives away sorrowful ideas.
+
+"But ah! when work is ended, then gloomy thoughts become vigorous as
+ever. Maupertuis is right: the amount of evil is greater than of good.
+But it is all the same to me; I have nothing more to lose, and the few
+days that remain to me do not disquiet me so much that I should take a
+lively interest in them."
+
+"1759, 16_th August_.--I will throw myself in their way, and have my
+head cut off, or save the capital. I think that is determination
+enough. I will not answer for the success. If I had more than one life
+I would resign it for my Fatherland; but if this stroke fails I hold
+myself at quits with my country, and I may be allowed to take care of
+myself. There is a limit to everything. I bear my misfortunes without
+losing my courage. But I am quite determined, if this undertaking
+fails, to make myself a way out, that I may not be the sport of every
+kind of accident. Believe me, one requires more than firmness and
+endurance to maintain oneself in my position. But I tell you openly, if
+any misfortune happens to me you must not calculate upon my outliving
+the ruin and destruction of my Fatherland. I have my own way of
+thinking. I will neither imitate Sertorius nor Cato; I do not think of
+my fame, but of the State."
+
+"1760, _Oct_.--Death would be sweet in comparison with such a life. If
+you have any sympathy with my situation, believe me I conceal much
+trouble with which I do not grieve or disquiet others. I regard death
+like a Stoic. Never will I live to see the moment which would oblige me
+to conclude a disadvantageous peace. Either I will bury myself under
+the ruins of my Fatherland, or, if this consolation appears too sweet
+to the fate which pursues me, I will make an end of my sufferings as
+soon as it is no longer possible to bear them. I have acted, and
+continue to act, according to this inward feeling of honour. I have
+sacrificed my youth to my father, and my manhood to my Fatherland. I
+think, therefore, I have acquired the right to dispose of my old age. I
+say it, and I repeat it--never will my hand sign a humiliating peace. I
+have made some observations upon the military talents of Charles
+XII.,[18] but I have never considered whether he ought to have killed
+himself or not. I think that, after the taking of Stralsund, he would
+have done wiser to annihilate himself; but, whatever he did or left
+undone, his example is no rule for me. There are people who learn from
+prosperity. I do not belong to that class. I have lived for others; I
+will die for myself I am very indifferent as to what others may say
+concerning it, and assure you I shall never hear it. Henry IV. was a
+younger son of a good house who achieved his good fortune; it did not
+signify much to him. Why should he have hung himself in misfortune?
+Louis XIV. was a greater king, had greater resources; he got himself
+out of difficulties well or ill. As regards me I have not the resources
+of this man, but I value honour more than he did; and, as I have told
+you, I guide myself after no one. We calculate, if I am right, 5000
+years since the creation of the world; I believe that this reckoning is
+far too low for the age of the universe. The country of Brandenburg has
+existed this whole time, before I did, and will continue after my
+death. States are preserved by the propagation of races, and as long as
+this continues, the masses will be governed by ministers or Sovereigns.
+It is much the same whether they be rather more simple or rather more
+clever; the difference is so little that the mass of the people
+scarcely discover it. Do not, therefore, repeat to me the old answers
+of courtiers; self-love and vanity cannot entirely alter my feelings.
+It is not so much an act of weakness to end such unhappy days, as it is
+cautious policy. I have lost all my friends and dearest relations. I am
+to the last extent unfortunate. I have nothing to hope; my enemies
+treat me with contempt and derision, and in their pride are prepared to
+trample me under foot."
+
+"1760, _Nov_.--My labours are terrible, the war has continued during
+five campaigns. We neglect nothing that can give us means of
+resistance, and I stretch the bow with my whole strength; but an army
+should be composed of arms and heads. Arms do not fail us, but heads
+are no longer to be found; if you would only give yourself the trouble
+to order me some of the sculptor, Adam, they would serve me as well as
+those I have. My duty and honour keep me steadfast; but, in spite of
+stoicism and endurance, there are moments when one feels some desire to
+give oneself up to the devil. Adieu, my dear Marquis, may it fare well
+with you, and pray for a poor devil who will betake himself to that
+meadow where the asphodels grow if the peace does not take effect."
+
+"1761, _June_.--Do not count upon peace this year. If good fortune does
+not abandon me, I shall get out of the business as well as I can; but
+next year I shall still have to dance on the tight-rope and make
+dangerous bounds when it pleases their very Apostolical, very
+Christian, and very Muscovite Majesties to call out, 'Jump, Marquis!'
+Ah, how hard-hearted men are! They tell me, 'You have friends.' Yes,
+fine friends, who cross their arms and say, 'Indeed, I wish you all
+happiness!' 'But I am drowning--hand me a rope!' 'No, you will not
+drown.' 'Yet I must sink the very next moment.' 'Oh, we hope the
+contrary; but, if it should happen, be assured we would place a
+beautiful inscription on your tomb.' Such is the world. These are the
+fine compliments with which I am greeted on all sides."
+
+"1762, _Jan_.--I have been so unfortunate throughout this whole war,
+with my pen as well as with my sword, that I do not believe in any
+fortunate occurrences. Yes; experience is a fine thing. In my youth I
+was as ungovernable as a young colt, that gallops about the meadow
+without bridle; now I am as cautious as an old Nestor: but I am also
+grey and wrinkled with care, and weighed down by bodily suffering; and,
+in a word, only good enough to be thrown to the dogs. You have always
+admonished me to take care of myself; show me the means, my dear
+friend, when one is hauled about as I am. The birds which one delivers
+to the wantonness of children, the tops which are whipped by those
+little monkeys, are not more tossed about and misused than I am now by
+three furious enemies."
+
+"1762, _May_.--I am passing through the school of patience; it is hard,
+tedious, terrible, indeed barbarous. I only help myself out of it by
+looking on the universe in general, as from a distant planet There
+everything appears to me infinitely small, and I pity my enemies for
+taking so much trouble about such trifles. Is this old age, is it
+reflection, is it reason? I regard all the events of life with far more
+indifference than formerly. If there is anything to be done for the
+welfare of the State, I can yet apply some strength to it; but, between
+ourselves, it is no longer with the fiery vehemence of my youth, nor
+the enthusiasm that then animated me. It is time that the war should
+come to an end, for my preachings become tedious, and my hearers will
+soon complain of me."
+
+To Frau von Camas he writes:--"You speak of the death of poor F----.
+Ah, dear mamma, for six years I have mourned more for the living than
+for the dead."
+
+Thus did the King write and grieve, but he held out; and any one who is
+startled by the gloomy energy of his resolves, must guard himself from
+thinking that these were the highest expressions of the powers of this
+wonderful mind. It is true that the King had moments of depression,
+when he desired death under the fire of the enemy rather than seek it
+from his own hand out of the phial which he carried about him. It is
+true that he was firmly determined not to bring destruction on his
+State by allowing himself to live as a prisoner of the Austrians. There
+was a fearful truth in all that he wrote; but he was of a poetic
+disposition; he was a child of the century, which had such a craving
+for great deeds, and took delight in the expression of exalted
+feelings; he was, to his heart's core, a German, with the same longings
+as the immeasurably weaker Klopstock and his admirers. The
+contemplation and decided utterance of this last resolve gave him
+inward freedom and cheerfulness. He wrote concerning it also to his
+sister of Baireuth, in the dismal second year of the war, and this
+letter is particularly characteristic;[19] for she also had decided not
+to outlive the fall of her house; and he approved this decision, to
+which, however, he paid little attention, being immersed in the gloomy
+satisfaction of his own reflections. Both these royal children had once
+secretly recited together the _rôles_ of French tragedies in the strict
+parental house; now their hearts beat again in unison, both thinking of
+freeing themselves, by an antique death, from a life full of illusions,
+errors, and sufferings. But when the excited and nervous sister fell
+dangerously ill, Frederic forgot all his stoical philosophy, and, with
+a passionate tenderness that still clung to life, he fretted and
+grieved about her who was the dearest to him of his family; and when
+she died, his sorrow was, perhaps, more severe from feeling that he had
+enacted a tragic part in the tender life of the woman. Thus, strangely,
+was mixed in the greatest German that arose in the eighteenth century,
+poetical feeling and the wish to appear charming and great with the
+earnest life of reality. The poor little Professor Semler, who, in the
+midst of the deepest emotion, still studied his attitudes and
+prepared his compliments, and the great King, who, in calm expectation
+of the hour of death, wrote in finely-formed periods concerning
+self-destruction, were both sons of that same time in which the pathos
+that found no worthy expression in art twined like a creeper round real
+life. But the King was greater than his philosophy; in fact, he never
+lost his courage, nor the stubborn strength of the German, nor the
+quiet hope which is needful to man for every great work.
+
+And he held out. The strength of his enemies became less, their
+Generals were worn out, and their armies shattered, and at last Russia
+withdrew from the coalition. This, and the King's last victory, decided
+the question. He had triumphed, he had preserved the conquered Silesia
+to Prussia; his people exulted, the faithful citizens of his capital
+prepared him a festive reception, but he avoided all rejoicings, and
+returned alone and quietly to Sans Souci. He wished, he said, to live
+the rest of his days in peace and for his people.
+
+The first three-and-twenty years of his reign he had struggled
+and fought, and established his power throughout the world;
+three-and-twenty years more was he to rule over his people as a
+wise and strict father. The ideas according to which he guided the
+State--with great self-denial, but also self-will, aiming at the
+highest, but also ruling in the most trifling matters--have been partly
+set aside by the higher culture of the present day; they express the
+knowledge which he had gained in his youth, and from the experiences of
+his early manhood. The mind was to be free, and each one to think as he
+chose, but to do his duty as a citizen. As he subordinated his pleasure
+and expenditure to the good of the State, restricting the whole royal
+household to about 200,000 thalers, and thought first of the advantage
+of the people, and not till then of his own; so were all his subjects
+to be ready to do the duties and bear the burdens he might impose upon
+them. Each was to remain in the sphere in which his birth and education
+had placed him; the nobleman was to be landowner and officer; the
+sphere of the citizen was the city, commerce, industry, teaching, and
+invention; that of the peasant was field labour and service. But each
+in his position was to be prosperous and comfortable. There was to be
+equal, strict, rapid justice for all; no favour for the noble or rich,
+but rather, in doubtful cases, for the poor man. The number of working
+men was to be increased, each occupation made as remunerative and as
+prosperous as possible; the less that was imported from abroad the
+better; everything to be produced at home, and the surplus to be
+disposed of beyond the frontiers. Such were the main principles of his
+political economy. Incessantly did he endeavour to increase the number
+of morgens of arable land, and to procure new places for settlers.
+Swamps were drained, lakes drawn off, and dykes thrown up; canals were
+dug, and advances made for the establishment of new manufactories;
+cities and villages rebuilt more solid and convenient than before,
+under the active encouragement of government; the provincial credit
+system, the fire-insurance society, and the royal bank were
+established; popular schools everywhere founded, well-informed people
+encouraged to come, and the education and discipline of the ruling
+official class promoted by examinations and strict control. It is the
+business of historians to enumerate and extol all this, and also to
+recount some vain attempts of the King which failed from his endeavour
+to guide everything himself.
+
+The King looked after all his dominions, and not least after that child
+of sorrow, the newly won Silesia. When he conquered this large province
+it had little more than a million of inhabitants.[20] Greatly was the
+contrast felt between the easy-going Austrian government and the
+strict, restless, stirring rule of Prussia. At Vienna the catalogue of
+forbidden books was greater than at Rome; now ceaseless bales of books
+found their way into the province from Germany: all were free to buy
+and read, even the attacks upon their own ruler. In Austria it was the
+privilege of the nobility to wear foreign cloth; in Prussia, when the
+father of Frederic the Great had forbidden the import of foreign cloth,
+he first dressed himself and his princesses in home-made manufacture.
+At Vienna no office was considered distinguished for which anything
+more was required than representation: all the work was the affair of
+the subalterns; the lord of the bedchamber was more considered than a
+deserving General or minister. In Prussia even the highest in rank was
+little esteemed if he was not useful to the State; and the King himself
+was the most precise official, for he looked after every thousand
+thalers that were saved or disbursed. He who in Austria left the Roman
+Catholic faith was punished with confiscation and banishment; in
+Prussia every one could change his religion as he chose, that was his
+affair. In the Imperial dominions the government felt it burdensome to
+look after anything; the Prussian officials thrust their noses into
+everything. In spite of the three Silesian wars, the country was far
+more flourishing than in the Imperial time; a century had not been
+sufficient to efface the traces of the Thirty Years' War; the people
+remembered well how in the cities heaps of ruins had remained from the
+Swedish time, and everywhere near the newly-built houses, the dismal
+wastes caused by fire. Many little cities had still blockhouses in the
+old Sclavonian style, with straw and shingle roofs, which had long been
+scantily patched. Under the Prussians, not only the traces of the old
+devastation, but even of the Seven Years' War, soon disappeared.
+Frederic had fifteen large cities built up with regular streets at the
+King's cost, and some hundred new villages constructed and occupied by
+freehold colonists; he had laid on the landed proprietors the heavy
+burden of rebuilding some thousands of homesteads, and occupying them
+with tenants with hereditary rights. In the Imperial time the imposts
+had been far less, but they were unequally apportioned, and the
+heaviest burdens were on the poor; the nobles were exempt from the
+greater part; the method of raising them was ill arranged; much was
+embezzled or squandered, and little proportionately found its way into
+the Emperor's coffers. The Prussians, on the other hand, had divided
+the country into small circles, valued the collective acreage, and in a
+few years had withdrawn all exemptions from taxes; the country now paid
+its ground tax, the cities their excise. Thus the province bore a
+double amount of burdens with greater ease, only the privileged
+murmured; and in this way it was able to maintain 40,000 soldiers,
+whilst formerly there had been only 2000. Before 1740 the nobles had
+acted the part of fine gentlemen; any one who was a Roman Catholic, and
+rich, lived at Vienna; others, who could afford it, went to Breslau.
+Now the greater number of the landed proprietors dwelt on their
+properties. Krippenreiters had ceased; the noblemen knew that the King
+considered it honourable in him to care for the culture of his ground,
+and that he showed cold contempt towards those who were not landlords,
+officials, or officers. Formerly, law-suits were incessant and costly,
+and could scarcely be carried on without bribery and great sacrifice of
+money; now the number of lawyers became less, because decisions were so
+rapid. Under the Austrians the caravan traffic with the east of Europe
+had undoubtedly been greater; the Bukowins and Hungarians, and also the
+Poles, became estranged, and already looked to Trieste; but new sources
+of industry arose, large manufactories of wool and cloth, and in the
+mountain valleys linen, were established. Many were dissatisfied with
+the new time, some were in fact oppressed by its harshness, but few
+ventured to deny that on the whole there was improvement.
+
+But there was another characteristic of the Prussian State that made an
+impression on the Silesians, and soon obtained a mastery over their
+minds. This was the devoted Spartan spirit of those who served the
+King, which frequently appeared in the lowest officials. The excise
+officers, even before the introduction of the French system, were
+little liked; they were invalid subaltern officers, old soldiers of the
+King, who had won his battles, and had grown grey in his service. They
+sat now at the gates, and smoked their wooden pipes; they received very
+little pay, and could indulge themselves in little, but were from early
+dawn till late in the evening at their post, did their duty skilfully,
+quickly, and punctually, like old soldiers, received and faithfully
+delivered up the money as a matter of course. They thought always of
+their service: it was their honour, their pride; and long did the old
+Silesians continue to relate to their descendants how much they had
+been struck by the punctiliousness, strictness, and honesty of these
+and other Prussian officials. There was in every district town a
+receiver of taxes; he lived in his small office room, which was perhaps
+at the same time his bedroom, and received in a large wooden dish the
+land tax which the village magistrate brought to his room once a month.
+Many thousand thalers were noted down on the long list, and were
+delivered to the last penny into the State coffers. Small was the
+salary of even such a man as this; he sat, received and packed away in
+bags, till his hair became white, and his trembling hands could no
+longer lay hold of the two-groschen pieces. And the pride of his life
+was, that the King knew him personally, and, if he ever came through
+the place during the change of horses, he fixed on him silently his
+large eyes, or, if he was very gracious, inclined his head a little
+towards him. The people regarded with a certain degree of respect and
+awe these subordinate servants of a new principle. And not the
+Silesians only; it was something new in the world. It was not as a mere
+jest that Frederic II. had called himself the first servant of his
+State. As on the battlefield he had taught his wild nobles that the
+highest honour was to die for the Fatherland, so did his unwearied care
+and high sense of duty imprint upon the soul of the meanest of his
+servants on the most distant frontiers his great idea, that his first
+duty was to live and labour for the good of his King and country.
+
+Though the provinces of Prussia, in the Seven Years' War, were
+compelled to do homage to the Empress Elizabeth, and remained for some
+time incorporated in the Russian Empire, yet the officials of the
+districts under the foreign army and government ventured secretly to
+raise money and provisions for their King, and great art was required
+for the passage of the transports. Many were in the secret, but there
+was not one traitor; they stole in disguise through the Russian camp in
+danger of their lives. They discovered afterwards that they earned
+little thanks by it, for the King did not like his East Prussians; he
+spoke depreciatingly of them; seldom showed them the same favour as the
+other provinces; he looked like stone whenever he learnt that one of
+his young officers was born between the Vistula and Memel, and never
+entered his East Prussian province after the war. But the East
+Prussians were not shaken in their veneration for him: they clung with
+true love to their ungracious master, and his best and most
+intellectual panegyrist was Emmanuel Kant.
+
+The life in the King's service was undoubtedly a rough one: incessant
+were the work and deprivations; it was difficult for the best to do
+enough for so strict a master, and the greatest devotion received but
+curt thanks; if a man was worn out he was probably coldly thrown aside;
+the labour was without end everywhere,--new undertakings--scaffoldings
+of an unfinished building. To any one who came into the country this
+life did not appear cheerful, it was so austere, monotonous, and rough;
+there was little of beauty or pleasure in it; and as the bachelor
+household of the King, with his obedient servants and his submissive
+intimates taking the air under the trees of a quiet garden, gave the
+impression of a monastery to a foreign guest; so he found in the whole
+Prussian regime, something of the self-denial and obedience of a large
+industrious monastic brotherhood.
+
+Somewhat of this spirit had passed into the people themselves. But we
+honour in this an enduring service of Frederic II.: still is this
+spirit of self-denial the secret of the greatness of the Prussian
+State, the last and best guarantee for its duration. The excellent
+machine which the King had erected with so much intelligence and energy
+could not eternally last; it was shattered twenty years after his
+death; but that the State did not at the same time sink,--that the
+intelligence and patriotism of the citizen were in a condition to
+create a new life on new foundations under his successors,--is the
+secret of Frederic's greatness.
+
+Nine years after the conclusion of the last war, which led to the
+retention of Silesia, Frederic increased his kingdom by a new
+acquisition, not much less in number of miles, but with a scanty
+population: it was the district of Poland, which has since passed under
+the name of West Prussia.
+
+If the claims of the King on Silesia had been doubtful, it required all
+the acuteness of his officials to put a plausible appearance on the
+uncertain rights to a portion of the new acquisition. The King himself
+cared little about it; he had, with almost superhuman heroism, defended
+the possession of Silesia in the face of the world; that province had
+been bound to Prussia by streams of blood; but in this case, political
+shrewdness was almost all that had been required. Long, in the opinion
+of men, was the conqueror deficient in that justification which it
+appeared was only given by the horrors of war and the accidental
+fortune of the battle-field. But this last acquisition of the King,
+which was made without the thunder of cannon or the flourish of
+victory, was, of all the great gifts for which the German people had to
+thank Frederic II., the greatest and most beneficial. During many
+hundred years the much-divided Germans were confined and injured by
+ambitious neighbours; the great King was the first conqueror who
+extended the German frontier further to the east. A century after his
+great ancestor had in vain defended the Rhine fortresses against Louis
+XIV., he again gave the Germans the emphatic admonition, that it was
+their task to carry laws, education, freedom, cultivation, and industry
+into the east of Europe. His whole country, with the exception of some
+old Saxon territory, had been won from the Sclavonians by force and
+colonisation; never since the great migration of the Middle Ages had
+the struggle for the wide plains on the east of the Oder ceased; never
+had his house forgotten that it was the guardian of the German
+frontier. Whenever the struggle of arms ceased, politicians contended.
+The Elector Frederic William had freed the Prussian territories of the
+Teutonic order from the Polish suzerainty. Frederic I. had brought this
+isolated colony under the crown. But the possession of East Prussia was
+insecure; the danger was not, however, from the degenerate Republic of
+Poland, but from the rising greatness of Russia. Frederic had learnt to
+consider the Russians as enemies; he knew the high-flown plans of the
+Empress Catherine; the clever Prince knew how to grasp at the fitting
+moment. The new domain--Pommerellen, the Woiwodschaft of Kulm and
+Marienburg, the Bishopric of Ermland, the city of Elbing, a portion of
+Kujavien, and a part of Posen--united East Prussia with Pomerania and
+the Marches of Brandenburg. It had always been a frontier land; since
+ancient times people of different races had thronged to the coast of
+the Northern Sea: Germans, Sclavonians, Lithuanians, and Finns. Since
+the thirteenth century, the Germans had forced themselves into this
+debatable ground as founders of cities and agriculturists; orders of
+knights, merchants, pious monks, German noblemen, and peasants
+congregated there. On both sides of the Vistula arose towers and
+boundary stones of the German colonists. Above all rose the splendid
+Dantzic,--the Venice of the Baltic, the great sea-mart of the
+Sclavonian countries, with its rich Marien-church and the palaces of
+its merchants; behind it, on the other arm of the Vistula, its modest
+rival Elbing; further upwards, the stately towers and broad arcades of
+Marienburg, where is the great princely castle of the Teutonic Knights,
+the most beautiful edifice in the north of Germany; and in the
+luxurious low-countries, in the valley of the Vistula, were the old
+prosperous colonial properties, one of the most favoured districts of
+the world, and defended by powerful dikes against the devastations of
+the Vistula. Still further upwards, Marienwerder, Graudenz, Kulm, and
+in the low countries, Netzebromberg, the centre of a strip of Polish
+frontier. Smaller German cities and village communities were scattered
+through the whole territory, which had been energetically colonised by
+the rich Cistercian monasteries of Oliva and Pelplin. But the
+tyrannical severity of this order drove the German cities and landed
+proprietors of West Prussia, in the fifteenth century, to annex
+themselves to Poland. The Reformation of the sixteenth century subdued
+not only the souls of the German colonists, but also those of the
+Poles. In the great Polish Republic, three-fourths of the nobility
+became Protestants, and in the Sclavonian districts of Pommerellen,
+seventy out of one hundred parishes, did the same. But the introduction
+of the Jesuits brought an unhealthy change. The Polish nobles fell back
+to the Roman Catholic Church, their sons were brought up in the
+Jesuits' schools as converting fanatics. From that time the Polish
+State began to decline; its condition became constantly more hopeless.
+
+There was a great difference in the conduct of the Germans of West
+Prussia with respect to proselytising Jesuits and Sclavonian tyranny.
+The immigrant German nobles became Roman Catholic and Polish, but the
+citizens and peasants remained stubborn Protestants. To the opposition
+of languages was added the opposition of confessions; to the hatred of
+race, the fury of contending faiths. In the century of enlightenment
+there was a fanatical persecution of the Germans in these provinces;
+one Protestant church after another was pulled down, the wooden ones
+were burnt; when a church was burnt, the villages lost the right of
+having bells; German preachers and schoolmasters were driven away and
+shamefully ill-used "_Vexa Lutheranum dabit thalerum_" was the usual
+saying of the Poles against the Germans. One of the great landed
+proprietors of the country, Starost of Gnesen, from the family of
+Birnbaum, was condemned to death, by tearing out his tongue and
+chopping off his hands, because he had copied into a record from German
+books some biting remarks against the Jesuits. There was no law and no
+protection. The national party of Polish nobles, in alliance with
+fanatical priests, persecuted most violently those whom they hated as
+Germans and Protestants. All the predatory rabble joined themselves to
+the patriots or confederates; they hired hordes who went plundering
+about the country and fell upon small cities and German villages. Ever
+more vehement became the rage against the Germans, not only from zeal
+for the faith, but still more from covetousness. The Polish nobleman
+Roskowski put on a red and a black boot: the one signified fire, and
+the other death; thus he rode from one place to another, laying all
+under contribution; at last, in Jastrow, he caused the hands, feet, and
+finally the head of the Evangelical preacher Wellick to be cut off, and
+the limbs to be thrown into a bog. This happened in 1768.
+
+Such was the state of the country shortly before the Prussian
+occupation. Dantzic, which was indispensable to the Poles, kept itself,
+through this century of decay, from the rest of the country; it
+remained a free State under Sclavonian protection, and was long adverse
+to the great King. But the country and most of the German cities
+energetically helped to preserve the King from destruction. The
+Prussian officials who were sent into the country were astonished at
+the wretchedness which existed at a few days' journey from their
+capital. Only some of the larger cities, in which German life was
+maintained by old trading intercourse within strong walls, and
+protected strips of land exclusively occupied by Germans,--like the low
+countries near Dantzig,--the villages under the mild government of the
+Cistercians of Oliva, and the wealthy German districts of Catholic
+Ermland, were in tolerable condition. Other cities lay in ruins, as did
+most of the farms on the plains. The Prussians found Bromberg, a city
+of German colonists, in ruins; it is not possible now accurately to
+ascertain how the city came into this condition;[21] indeed the fate of
+the whole Netze district, in the last ten years before the Prussian
+occupation, is quite unknown. No historians, no records, and no
+registers give any account of the destruction and slaughter with which
+that country was ravaged. Apparently the Polish factions must have
+fought amongst themselves; bad harvests and pestilence may have done
+the rest. Kulm has from ancient times preserved its well-built walls
+and stately churches, but in the streets the covered passages to the
+cellars projected over the rotten wood and the fragments of brick from
+the dilapidated buildings; whole streets consisted of such cellars, in
+which the miserable inhabitants dwelt. Twenty-eight of the forty houses
+of the great market-place had no doors, no roofs, no inhabitants, and
+no proprietors. In a similar condition were other cities.
+
+The greater number of the country people lived in circumstances which
+appeared to the King's officials lamentable; especially on the
+frontiers of Pomerania, where the Windish Kassubes dwelt; the villages
+were a collection of old huts, with torn thatched roofs, on bare
+plains, without a tree and without a garden; there was only the
+indigenous wild cherry-tree. The houses were built of wooden rafters
+and clay; going through the house door, one entered a room with a large
+hearth, without a chimney; stoves were unknown; no candle was ever
+lighted, only fir chips brightened the darkness of the long winter
+evenings; the chief article in the miserable furniture was the
+crucifix, and under it a bowl of holy water. The dirty, forlorn people
+lived on rye porridge, or only on herbs, which they made into soup, or
+on herrings, and brandy, in which both women and men indulged. Bread
+was almost unknown; many had never in their life tasted such a
+delicacy; there were few villages in which there was an oven. If they
+ever kept bees, they sold the honey to the citizens, as well as carved
+spoons and stolen bark; and with the produce, they bought at the fairs,
+coarse blue cloth dresses, with black fur caps, and bright red
+handkerchiefs for the women. There was rarely a weaving-loom, and the
+spinning-wheel was unknown. The Prussians heard there no national
+songs; there were no dances, no music, nor indeed any of the pleasures
+which the most miserable Poles partake of, but stupidly and silently
+the people drank bad drams, fought, and reeled about. The poor noble
+also differed little from the peasant; he drove his own rude plough,
+and clattered in wooden slippers about the unboarded floor of his hut.
+It was difficult, even for the Prussian King, to make anything of these
+people. The use of potatoes spread rapidly, but the people long
+continued to destroy the fruit trees, the culture of which was
+commanded; and they opposed all other attempts at cultivation. Equally
+needy and decaying were the frontier districts with Polish population;
+but the Polish peasant preserved, in his state of poverty and disorder,
+at least the vivacity of his race. Even on the properties of the
+greater nobles, such as the Starosties, and of the crown, all the
+farming buildings were ruined and useless. If any one wished to forward
+a letter, he had to send a special messenger, for there was no post in
+the country; indeed, in the villages no need of it was felt, for a
+great portion of the nobles could not read or write, more than the
+peasants. Were any one ill, no assistance could be obtained but the
+mysterious remedies of some old village crone, for there was no
+apothecary in the whole country. Any one who needed a coat, did well to
+be able to use a needle himself, for no tailor was to be found for many
+miles, unless one passed through the country on a venture.[22] He who
+wished to build a house, had first to ascertain whether he could get
+labourers from the west. The country people still kept up a weak
+struggle with hordes of wolves, and there were few villages in which
+men and beasts were not decimated every winter.[23] If the small-pox
+broke out, or any other infectious illness came into the country, the
+people saw the white figure of the pestilence flying through the air
+and settling down on their huts; they knew what such appearances
+betokened; it was the desolation of their homes, the destruction of
+whole communities; with gloomy resignation they awaited their fate.
+There was hardly any administration of justice in the country; only in
+the larger cities were powerless courts. The Starosts inflicted
+punishment with arbitrary power; they beat and threw into horrible
+jails, not only the peasant, but even the citizens of the country towns
+who rented their houses or fell into their hands. In their quarrels
+amongst themselves they contended by bribery, in any of the few courts
+that had jurisdiction over them. In later years, even that had almost
+fallen into disuse, and they sought revenge with their own hands.
+
+It was indeed a forlorn country, without discipline, without law, and
+without a master; it was a wilderness, with only a population of
+500,000 on 600 square miles--not 850 to the mile. And the Prussian King
+treated his acquisition like an untenanted prairie; almost at his
+pleasure he fixed boundary stones, or removed them some miles further.
+And then he began, in his admirable way, the culture of the country;
+the very rottenness of its condition was attractive to him, and West
+Prussia became, as Silesia had hitherto been, his favourite child, that
+he washed and brushed, and dressed in new clothes, sent to school,
+controlled, and kept under his eyes, with incessant care like a true
+mother. The diplomatic contention about the acquisition still
+continued, but he sent a troop of his best officials into the
+wilderness; the districts were divided into small circles; the whole
+surface of the country valued in the shortest time, and equally taxed;
+and every circle provided with a provincial magistrate, a judicature, a
+post, and a sanitary police. New parishes were called into life as if
+by magic; a company of 187 schoolmasters were introduced into the
+country; the worthy Semler had sought out and drilled some of them.
+Numbers of German artisans were hired, machine and brick makers;
+digging, hammering, and building began all over the country; the cities
+were reinhabited; street upon street arose out of the heaps of ruins;
+the Starosties were changed into crown property; new villages were
+built and colonised, and new agriculture enjoined. In the course of the
+first year after taking possession of the country, the great canal was
+dug, three German miles in length, uniting the Vistula by means of the
+Netze with the Oder and Elbe; a year after, the King had given
+directions for this work, he saw loaded boats from the Oder, 120 feet
+long, passing from the East to the Vistula. By means of the new
+water-wheels, wide districts of country were drained and occupied by
+German colonists. The King worked indefatigably; he praised and blamed;
+and, however great the zeal of his officials, they could seldom do
+enough for him. In consequence of this, the wild Sclavonian tares,
+which had shot up, not only there but also in the German fields, were
+brought under, so that even the Polish districts got accustomed to the
+new order of things; and West Prussia, in the war after 1806, proved
+itself almost as Prussian as the old provinces.
+
+Whilst the grey-headed King was creating and looking after everything,
+one year passed after another over his thoughtful head; all about him
+was more tranquil, but void and lonely, and small was the circle of men
+in whom he confided. He had laid his flute aside, and the new French
+literature appeared to him insipid and prosy; sometimes it seemed as if
+a new life sprouted up under him in Germany, to which he was a
+stranger. Unweariedly did he labour for the improvement of his army and
+the welfare of his people; ever less did he value his tools, and ever
+higher and more passionate was his feeling of the great duties of his
+position.
+
+But if his struggles in the Seven Years' War may be called superhuman,
+equally so did his labours now appear to contemporaries. There was
+something great, but also terrible, in the way in which he made the
+prosperity of the whole his highest and constant object, disregarding
+the comfort of individuals. When, in front of the ranks, he dismissed
+from the service with bitter words of blame the Colonel of a regiment
+which had made a great blunder at a review; when, in the marsh lands of
+the Netze, he calculated more the strokes of the ten thousand spades
+than the hardships of the labourers, who lay, stricken with marsh
+fever, in the hospital he had erected for them; when be overstepped in
+his demands what the most rapid action could accomplish,--terror as of
+one who moved in an unearthly element mingled with the deep reverence
+and devotion of his people. Like Fate, he appeared to the Prussians,
+incalculable, inexorable, and omniscient; superintending the smallest
+as well as the greatest things. When they related to one another that
+he had endeavoured to control Nature also, but that his orange-trees
+had been frozen by the last spring frosts, then they secretly rejoiced
+that there were limits even for their King, but still more that he had
+borne it with such good humour, and had made his bow to the cold days
+of May.
+
+With touching sympathy the people collected all the sayings of the King
+in which there was any human feeling that brought him more into
+communion with them. So lonely were his house and garden, that the
+imaginations of his Prussians continually hovered about the consecrated
+spot. If any one was so fortunate as to come into the neighbourhood of
+the castle on a warm moonlight night, he would perhaps find open doors
+without a guard, and he could see the great King in his bedroom,
+sleeping on his camp-bed. The scent of the flowers, the night song of
+the birds, and the quiet moonlight were the only guards, almost the
+whole regal state, of the lonely man.
+
+For fourteen years after the acquisition of West Prussia, did the
+oranges of Sans Souci bloom; then did Nature reassert her empire over
+the great King. He died alone, only surrounded by his servants.
+
+In the bloom of life he was completely wrapped up in ambitious
+feelings; he had wrested from fate all the high and splendid garlands
+of life,--he, the prince of poets and philosophers, the historian and
+the General. No triumph that he had ever gained contented him; all
+earthly fame had become to him accidental, uncertain, and valueless; an
+iron feeling of duty, incessantly working, was all that remained to
+him. Amid the dangerous alternation of warm enthusiasm and cool
+acuteness, his soul had reached its maturity. He had, in his own mind,
+surrounded with a poetical halo, certain individuals; and he despised
+the multitude about him. But in the struggles of life his egotism
+disappeared; he lost almost all that was personally dear to him, and he
+ended by caring little for individuals, whilst the need of living
+for the whole became ever stronger in him. With the most refined
+self-seeking, he had desired the highest for himself; and at last,
+regardless of himself, he gave himself up for the public weal and the
+lowest. He had entered life as an idealist, and his ideal had not been
+destroyed by the most fearful experiences, but rather ennobled,
+exalted, and purified; he had sacrificed many men to his State, but no
+man so much as himself.
+
+Great and uncommon did this appear to his contemporaries; greater still
+to us, who can perceive, even in the present time, the traces of his
+activity in the character of our people, our political life, our arts,
+and literature.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+                   OF THE SCHOOLING OF THE GERMAN CITIZEN.
+                                (1790.)
+
+
+Many races of poets had passed away; their hearts had never been
+stirred by vivid impressions of a heroes life; they celebrated the
+victories of Alexander and the death of Cato in countless forms, with
+chilling phrases and in artificial periods. Now the smallest story told
+at the house-door by an invalid soldier caused transports, even that
+the great King of Prussia had been seen by him at the cathedral and had
+spoken five words to him. The tale of the simple man brought at once,
+as if by enchantment, before the minds of his hearers the exalted image
+of the man, the camp, the watch-fire, and the watch. How weak was the
+impression produced by the artificial praise of long-spun verses
+against such anecdotes which could be told in a few lines! They excited
+sympathy and fellow-feeling, even to tears and wringing of hands. In
+what lay the magic of these slight traits of life? Those few words of
+the King were so characteristic, one could perceive in them the whole
+nature of the hero, and the rough true-hearted tone of the narrator
+gave his account a peculiar colouring which increased the effect. A
+poetic feeling was undoubtedly produced in the hearer, but different as
+heaven from earth to the old art. And this poetry was felt by every one
+in Germany after the Silesian war; it had become as popular as the
+newspapers and the roll of the soldiers' drum. He who would produce an
+effect as a German poet, must know how to narrate, like that honest man
+of the people, in a simple and homely way, as from the heart, and it
+must be a subject which would make the heart beat quicker. Goethe knew
+well why he referred the whole of the youthful intellectual life of his
+time to Frederic II., for even he had in his father's house been
+influenced by the noble poetry which shone from the life of that great
+man on his contemporaries. The great King had pronounced "Götz von
+Berlichingen" a horrible piece, yet he had himself materially
+contributed to it, by giving the poet courage to weave together the old
+anecdotes of the troopers into a drama. And when Goethe, in his old
+age, concluded his last drama, he brought forward again the figure of
+the old King, and he makes his Faust an indefatigable and exacting
+master, who carries his canal through the marsh lands of the Vistula.
+And it was not different with Lessing, to say nothing of the minor
+poets. In "Minna von Barnhelm," the King sends a decisive letter
+on the stage; and in "Nathan"--the antagonism betwixt tolerance and
+fanaticism, betwixt Judaism and priestcraft--is an ennobled reflex of
+the views of D'Argen's Jewish letters.
+
+It was not only the easily moved spirit of poets that was excited by
+the idea of the King: even the scientific life of the Germans, their
+speculative and moral philosophy, were elevated and transformed by it.
+
+For the freedom of conscience which the King placed at the head of his
+maxims of government, dissolved like a spell the compulsion which the
+church had hitherto laid on the learned. The strong antipathy which the
+King had for priestly rule, and every kind of restraint of the mind,
+worked in many spheres. The most daring teaching, the most determined
+attacks on existing opinions, were now allowed; the struggle was
+carried on with equal weapons, and science obtained for the first time
+a feeling of supremacy over the soul. It was by no accident that Kant
+rose to eminence in Prussia; for the whole stringent power of his
+teaching, the high elevation of the feeling of duty, even the quiet
+resignation with which the individual had to submit himself to the
+"categorical imperative," is nothing more than the ideal counterpart of
+the devotion to duty which the King practised himself and demanded of
+his Prussians. No one has more nobly expressed than the great
+philosopher himself, how much the State system of Frederic II. had been
+the basis of his teaching.
+
+Historical science was not the least gainer by him. Great political
+deeds were so intimately blended with the imaginations and the hearts
+of Germans, that every individual participated in them; manly doings
+and sufferings appeared so worthy of reverence, that the feeling for
+what was significant and characteristic animated in a new way the
+German historical inquirer, and his precepts for the nation attained a
+higher meaning.
+
+It was not, indeed, immediately that the Germans gained the sure
+judgment and political culture which are necessary to every historian
+who undertakes to represent life of his nation. It was remarkable that
+the historical mind of Germany deviated so much from that of England
+and France, but it developed itself in a way that led the greatest
+intellectual acquisitions.
+
+And these new blossoms of intellectual life in Germany, which were
+unfolded after the year 1750, bore a thoroughly national character;
+indeed, their highest gain remains up to the present time almost
+entirely to the German. It began to be recognised that the life of a
+people develops itself, like that of an individual, according to
+certain natural laws; that, through the individual souls of the
+inventor and thinker, a something national and in common penetrates
+from generation to generation, each at the same time limiting and
+invigorating it. Since Winckelman undertook to discern and fix the
+periods of ancient sculptural art, a similar advance was ventured upon
+in other domains of knowledge. Semler had already endeavoured to point
+out the historical development of Christianity in the oldest church.
+The existence of old Homer was denied, and the origin of the epical
+poem sought in the peculiarities of a popular life which existed 3000
+years ago. The meaning of myths and traditions, striking peculiarities
+in the inventions and creations of the youthful period of a people,
+were clearly pointed out; soon Romulus and the Tarquins, and finally
+the records of the Bible, were subjected to the same reckless
+inquiries.
+
+But it was peculiar that these deep-thinking investigations were united
+with so much freedom and power of invention. He who wrote the "Laocoon"
+and the "Dramaturgie" was himself a poet; and Goethe and Schiller, the
+same men whose springs of imagination flowed so full and copiously,
+looked intently into its depth, investigating, like quiet men of
+learning, the laws of life of their novels, dramas, and ballads.
+
+Meanwhile all the best spirits of the nation were enchanted with their
+poems; the beautiful was suddenly poured out over the German soil as if
+by a divinity. With an enthusiasm which often approached to worship,
+the German gave himself up to the charms of his national poetry. The
+world of shining imagery acquired in his eyes an importance which
+sometimes made him unjust to the practical life which surrounded him.
+He, who so often appeared as the citizen of a nation without a State,
+found almost everything that was noble and exalted in the golden realm
+of poetry and art; the realities about him appeared to him common, low,
+and indifferent.
+
+How through this an aristocracy of men of refinement were trained,--how
+the great poets themselves were occupied in looking down with proud
+resignation from their serene heights on the twilight of the German
+earth,--has often been portrayed. Here we will only relate how the time
+worked on the common run of men, remodelling their characters and
+ideas.
+
+It is the year 1790, four years after the death of the great King; the
+second year in which the eyes of Germany had been fixed with
+astonishment on the condition of France. A few individuals only
+interested themselves in the struggle going on in the capital of a
+foreign country betwixt the nation and the throne. The German citizen
+had freed himself from the influence of French culture; indeed Frederic
+II. had taught his country people to pay little attention to the
+political condition of the neighbouring country. It was known that
+great reforms were necessary in France, and the literary men were on
+the side of the French opposition. The Germans were more especially
+occupied with themselves; a feeling of satisfaction is perceptible in
+the nation, of which they had been long deprived; they perceive that
+they are making good progress; a wonderful spirit of reform penetrates
+through their whole life: trade is flourishing, wealth increases, the
+new culture exalts and pleases, youths recite with feeling the verses
+of their favourite poet, and rejoice to see on the stage the
+representations of great virtues and vices, and listen to the
+entrancing sounds of German music. It was a new life, but it was the
+end of the good time. Many years later the Germans looked longingly
+back for the peaceful years after the Seven Years' War.
+
+If any one at this time entered the streets of a moderate-sized city,
+through which he had passed in the year 1750, he would be struck by the
+greater energy of its inhabitants. The old walls and gates are indeed
+still standing; but it is proposed to free from brick and mortar the
+entrances which are too narrow for men and waggons, and to substitute
+light iron trellis-work, and in other places to open new gates in the
+walls. The rampart round the city moat has been planted with pollards,
+and in the thick shade of the limes and chestnuts the citizens take
+their constitutional walks, and the children of the lower orders
+breathe the fresh summer air. The small gardens on the city walls are
+embellished; new foreign blossoms shine amongst the old, and cluster
+round some fragment of a column or a small wooden angel that is painted
+white; here and there a summer-house rises, either in the form of an
+antique temple or as a hut of moss-covered bark, as a remembrance of
+the original state of innocence of the human race, in which the
+feelings were so incomparably purer and the restraints of dress and
+_convenances_ were so much less.
+
+But the traffic of the city has extended itself beyond the old walls,
+where a high road leads to the city, and suburban rows of houses
+stretch far into the plain. Many new houses, with red-tiled roofs under
+loaded fruit-trees, delight the eyes. The number of houses in the city
+has also increased; leaning with broad fronts, gable to gable, there
+they stand, with large windows and open staircases enclosing wide
+spaces. The ornaments that adorn the front are still modestly made of
+plaster of Paris; bright lime-washes of all shades are almost the only
+characteristics, and give the streets a variegated appearance. They
+are, for the most part, built by merchants and manufacturers, who are
+now almost everywhere the wealthy people of the city.
+
+The wounds inflicted by the Seven Years' War on the prosperity of the
+citizens are healed. Not in vain have the police, for more than fifty
+years, admonished and commanded; the city arrangements are well
+regulated; provisions for the care of the poor are organised, funds for
+their maintenance, doctors, and medicine supplied gratuitously. In the
+larger cities much is done for the support of the infirm; in Dresden,
+in 1790, the yearly amount of funds for the poor was 50,000 thalers; in
+Berlin also, where Frederic William had done much for the poor, the
+government warmly participated in rendering assistance,--it was
+reported that more was done there than elsewhere. But the benevolence
+which the educated classes evinced towards the people was deficient in
+judgment--alms-giving was the only thing thought of; a few years later
+it was considered truly patriotic in the finance minister, von
+Struensee, to remit to the Berlin poor a considerable portion of his
+salary. At the same time there were loud complaints of the increasing
+immorality, and of the preponderance of poor. It was remarked, with
+alarm, that Berlin, under Frederic II., had been the only capital in
+the world in which more men were born in the year than died, and that
+now it was beginning to be the reverse. At Berlin, Dresden, and
+Leipzig, beggars were no longer to be seen; indeed there were few in
+any of the Prussian cities, with exception of Silesia and West Prussia;
+but in the smaller places in Lower Saxony they still continued to be a
+plague to travellers. They congregated at the hotels and post-houses,
+and waylaid strangers on their arrival.
+
+But a greater and more satisfactory improvement was made by the
+exertions of the government in the increased care of the sick: the
+devastating pestilence and other diseases were--one has reason to
+believe--shut out from the frontiers of Germany. From 1709-11 the
+plague had raged fearfully in Poland, and even in 1770 there had been
+deaths from it; whole villages had been depopulated by it, but our
+native land was little injured. There was one disease which still made
+its ravages among rich and poor alike--the small-pox. It was Europe's
+great misery--the repulsive visitant of blooming youth, bringing death
+and disfigurement. It was the turning-point of life, how they passed
+through this malady. Much heart-rending misery has now ceased; the
+beauty of our women has become more secure, and the number of diseased
+and helpless, has considerably diminished since Jenner and his friends
+established in London, in 1799, the first public vaccinating
+institution.
+
+Everywhere, about this time, began complaints of the want of economy,
+and immoderate love of pleasure of the working classes: complaints
+which certainly were justified in many cases, but which must inevitably
+be heard where the greater wealth of individuals increases the
+necessities of the people in the lower classes. One must be cautious
+before one assumes from this a decrease in the popular strength; the
+awakening desires of the people is more frequently the first unhealthy
+sign of progress. On the whole it does not appear to have been so very
+bad. Smoking was indeed general; it constantly increased, although
+Frederic II. had raised the price in Prussia by his stamp on each
+packet. The coloured porcelain-headed pipe began to supplant the
+meerschaum. In Northern Germany the white beer became the new
+fashionable drink of the citizens; staid old-fashioned tradesmen shook
+their heads, and complained that their favourite old brew became worse,
+and that the consumption of wine among the citizens increased
+immoderately. In Saxony they began to drink coffee to a great extent,
+however thin and adulterated it might be, and it was the only warm
+drink of the poor. The general complaint of travellers, who came from
+the south of Germany, was that the cooking in Prussia, Saxony, and
+Thuringia was poor and scanty.
+
+The public amusements, also, were neither numerous or expensive.
+Foremost was the theatre; it was quite a passion with the citizens. The
+wandering companies became better and more numerous, the number of
+theatres greater; the best place was the parterre, in which officers,
+students, or young officials, who were frequently at variance, gave the
+tone. The sensation dramas, with dagger, poison, and rattling of
+chains, enchanted the unpretending; pathetic family dramas, with
+iniquitous ministers of state, and raving lovers excited feeling in the
+educated; and the bad taste of the pieces, and the good acting,
+astonished strangers. The entrance of one of these companies within
+walls was an event of great importance; and we see, from the accounts
+of many worthy men, how great was the influence of such representations
+upon their life. It is difficult for us to comprehend the enthusiasm
+with which young people of education followed these performances,
+the intensity of the feelings excited in them. Iffland's pieces,
+"Verbrechen aus Ehrgeiz" and "Der Spieler," drew forth not only tears
+and sobs, but also oaths and impassioned vows. Once at Lauchstädt, when
+the curtain fell at the end of the "Spielers" (Gamblers), one of the
+wildest students of Halle rushed up to another, also of Halle, but whom
+he scarcely knew, and begged him, the tears streaming from his eyes, to
+record his oath that he would never again touch a card. According to
+the account the excited youth kept his word. Similar scenes were not
+extraordinary. Poor students saved money for weeks to enable them to go
+even once from Halle to the theatre in Lauchstädt, and they ran back
+the same night, so as not to miss their lectures the next morning. But,
+lively as was the interest of the Germans in the drama, it was not easy
+for the society of even the larger cities to keep up a stationary
+theatre. At Berlin the French theatre was changed to a German one, with
+the proud title of National Theatre; but this, the only one in the
+capital, was, in 1790, little visited, although Fleck and both the
+Unzelmanns played there. The Italian Opera was, indeed, better
+attended, but it was given at the King's expense; every magistrate had
+his own box; the King still sat, with his court, in the parterre behind
+the orchestra; and throughout the whole winter there were only six
+representations--one new and one old, each performed three times. Then,
+undoubtedly, the public thronged there, to see the splendour of this
+court festival, and were astounded at the great procession of elephants
+and lions in "Darius." It is mentioned that at Dresden, also, the
+children's theatricals in families were far more in request than the
+great theatre; and in Berlin, which was considered so particularly
+frivolous and pleasure-seeking, this same winter, at the great
+masquerade, of which there was so much talk in the country, there was
+only one person dressed in character; the others were all spiritless
+dominoes, and the whole was very dull to strangers.[24] All this does
+not look much like lavish expenditure.
+
+The usual social enjoyment, also, was very moderate in character; it
+was a visit to a public coffee-garden. Nobles, officers, officials, and
+merchants, all thronged there for the sake of some unpretending music
+and coloured lamps. This kind of entertainment had been first
+introduced at Leipzig and Vienna about 1700; the great delights of this
+coffee-drinking in the shade were celebrated in prose and verse, and
+the more frivolous boasted how convenient such assemblages were for
+carrying on tender liaisons. These coffee-gardens have continued
+characteristic of German social intercourse for nearly 150 years.
+Families sat at different tables, but could be seen and observed; the
+children were constrained to behave themselves properly, and careful
+housewives carried with them from home coffee and cakes in cornets.
+
+With the well-educated citizen, hospitality had become more liberal,
+and entertainments more sumptuous; but in their family life they
+retained much of the strict discipline of their ancestors. The power of
+the husband and father was predominant; both the master and mistress of
+the house required prompt obedience; the distinction between those who
+were to command and to obey was more clearly defined. Only husband and
+wife had learnt to address each other with the loving "_thou_"; the
+children of the gentry, and often also of artisans, spoke to their
+parents in the third person plural: the servants were addressed by
+their masters with the "_thou_," but by strangers in the third person
+singular. In the same way the "_he_" was used by the master to his
+journeymen, by the landed proprietor to the "_schulze_," and by the
+gymnastic teacher to a scholar of the upper classes; but in many places
+the scholar addressed his _Herr Director_ with "your honour."
+
+More frequently than forty years before, did the German now leave his
+home to travel through some part of his Fatherland. The means of
+intercourse were intolerable, considering the great extension of
+commerce and the increased love of travelling. Made roads were few and
+short; the road from Frankfort to Mayence, with its avenues of trees,
+pavement, and footpaths, was reputed the best _chausseé_ in Germany;
+the great old road from the Rhine to the east was still only a mud
+road. Still did persons of consequence continue to travel in hired
+coaches or extra post; for though on the main roads the vehicles of the
+ordinary post had roofs, they had no springs, and were considered more
+suitable for luggage than passengers; they had no side doors; it was
+necessary to enter under the roof, or creep in over the pole. At the
+back of the carriage the luggage was stowed up to the roof, and
+fastened with cords; the parcels also lay under the seats; kegs of
+herrings and smoked salmon incessantly rolled on to the benches of the
+passengers, who were constantly occupied in pushing them back; as it
+was impossible for people to stretch out their feet on account of the
+packages, they were obliged in despair to dangle their legs outside the
+carriage. Insupportable were the long stoppages at the stations; the
+carriage was never ready to start under two hours; it took eleven weary
+days and nights of shaking and bruising to get from Cleves to Berlin.
+Travelling on the great rivers was better; down the Danube, it is true,
+there were as yet nothing but the old-fashioned barges, without mast or
+sails, drawn by horses; but on the Rhine the lover of the picturesque
+rejoiced in a passage by the regular Rhine boats; their excellent
+arrangements were extolled, they had mast and sails, and only used
+horses as an assistance; they also had a level deck, with rails, so
+that people could promenade on it, and cabins, with windows and some
+furniture. An ever-changing and agreeable society was to be found
+collected there, as many besides travellers on business used them; for
+Germans, after 1750, had made a most remarkable progress; the love of
+nature had attained a great development. The English landscape
+gardening took the place of the Italian and French architectural
+gardens, and the old Robinsonades were followed by descriptions of
+loving children, or savages in an enchanting and strange landscape. The
+German, later than the highly-cultivated Englishman, was seized with
+the love of wandering in distant countries; but it had only lately
+become an active feeling. It was now the fashion to admire on the
+mountains the rising sun and the floating mist in the valleys; and the
+pastoral life with butter and honey, mountain prospects, the perfume of
+the woods, the flowers of the meadows, and ruins, were extolled, in
+opposition to the commonplace pleasures of play, operas, comedies, and
+balls. Already did the language abound in rich expressions, describing
+the beauties of nature, the mountains, waterfalls, &c.; and already did
+laborious travellers explore not only the Alps, but the Apennines and
+Etna; but the Tyrol was hardly known.
+
+It was still easy to discover by his dialect, even in the centre of
+Germany, to what province the most highly-educated man belonged; for
+the language of family life, giving expression to the deepest feelings
+of the heart, was full of provincial peculiarities, and those were
+called affected and new-fangled who accustomed themselves to pronounce
+words as they were written. Indeed, in the north, as in the south, it
+was considered patriotic to preserve the native dialect pure; the young
+ladies of some of the best families formed an alliance to defend the
+dialect of their city from the bold inroads of the foreigners, who had
+come to settle there. It was said, to the credit of Electoral Saxony,
+that it was the only part where even in the lowest orders intelligible
+German was spoken. A praise that is undoubtedly justified by the
+prevalence for three centuries of the Upper Saxon dialect in the
+written language, which is worthy of our observation, as it gives us an
+idea how the others must have spoken.
+
+In 1790, one might assume that a city community, which was reputed to
+have made any progress, was situated in a Protestant district; for it
+was evident to every traveller that the culture and social condition in
+Protestant and Roman Catholic countries was very different; but even in
+the same Protestant district, within the walls of one city, the
+contrast of culture was very striking. The external difference of
+classes began to diminish, whilst the inward contrast became almost
+greater; the nobleman, the well-educated citizen, and the artisan with
+the peasant, form three distinct circles; each had different springs of
+action, so that they appear to us as if each belonged to a different
+century.
+
+The most confident and light-hearted were the nobles; there was also
+some earnestness of mind in them, not unfrequently accompanied by ample
+knowledge; but the majority lived a life of easy enjoyment: the women,
+on the whole, were more excited than the men, by the poetry and great
+scientific struggle of the time. Already were the dangers which beset
+an exclusive position very visible, more especially in the proudest
+circles of the German landed aristocracy; both the higher and lower
+Imperial nobility were hated and derided. They played the part of
+little Sovereigns in the most grotesque modes; they loved to surround
+themselves with a court of gentlemen and ladies, even down to the
+warder, whose horn often announced across the narrow frontier that his
+lord was taking his dinner; nor was the court dwarf omitted, who,
+perhaps in fantastic attire, threw his misshapen head every evening
+into the _salon_ of the family, and announced it was time to go to bed.
+But the family possessions could not be kept together; one field after
+another fell into the hands of creditors; there was no end to their
+money embarrassments. Many of the Imperial nobles withdrew into the
+capitals of the Ecclesiastical States. In the Franconian bishoprics on
+the Rhine, in Munsterland, an aristocracy established themselves, who,
+according to the bitter judgment of contemporaries, did not display
+very valuable qualities. Their families were in hereditary possession
+of rich cathedral foundations and bishoprics; they were slavish
+imitators of French taste at table, in their wardrobes, and equipages;
+but their bad French and stupid ignorance were frequently thrown in
+their teeth.
+
+The poorer among the landed nobility were in the hands of the Jews,
+especially in East Germany; still, in 1790, the greater part of the
+money that circulated through, the country passed through the hands of
+the nobles. On their properties they ruled as Sovereigns, but the land
+was generally managed by a steward. There was seldom a good
+understanding betwixt the lord and the administrator of his property,
+whose trustworthiness did not then stand in high repute; placed between
+the proprietor and the villein, the steward endeavoured to gain from
+both; he took money from the countrymen, and remitted their farm
+service, and, in the sale of the produce, took as much care of himself
+as of his master.[25]
+
+The country nobleman was glad to spend the winter months in the
+capital of his district; in summer the fashionable amusement was to
+visit the baths. There the family displayed all the splendour in
+their power. Much regard was paid to horses and fine carriages: the
+nobleman liked to use his privilege of driving four-in-hand, and there
+were always running footmen, who went in front of the horses, in
+theatrical-coloured clothes, with a large whip thrown over their
+shoulders, and they wore shoes and white stockings. At evening parties,
+or after the theatre, a long row of splendid carriages--many with
+outriders--were to be seen in the streets, and respectfully did the man
+of low degree look upon the splendour of the lords. They showed their
+rank also in their dress, by rich embroidery, and white plumes round
+their hats; at the masquerade they had a special preference for the
+rose-coloured domino, which Frederic II. had declared to be a privilege
+of the nobility. Many of the richer ones kept chaplains, small concerts
+were frequent; and at their country seats, early on the Sunday morning,
+there was a serenade under the windows, as a morning greeting to the
+lady of the house. Play was a fatal amusement, especially at the baths;
+there the German landed proprietors met together, and played chiefly
+with Poles, who were the greatest gamblers in Europe. Thus it often
+happened to the German gentlemen, that they lost their carriages and
+horses at play, and had to travel home, involved in debt, in hired
+carriages. Such mischances were borne with great composure, and
+speedily forgotten. In point of faith the greater part of the country
+nobility were orthodox, as were most of the village pastors; but more
+liberal minds clung to the French philosophy. Still did Paris continue
+to issue its puppets and pictures of fashions, hats, ribbons, and
+dresses throughout Germany; but even in the modes a great change was
+gradually beginning: hoops and hair cushions were no longer worn by
+ladies of _ton_, except at court; rouge was strongly objected to, and
+war was declared against powder; figures became smaller and thinner,
+and on the head, over small curly locks, the pastoral straw hat was
+worn; with men, also, embroidered coats, with breeches, silk stockings,
+buckled shoes, and the small dress-sword, were only worn as festival
+attire; the German cavalier began to take pleasure in English horses,
+and the round hat, boots, and spurs were introduced; and they ventured
+to appear in ladies' rooms with their riding-whips.[26]
+
+An easy life of enjoyment was frequent in the families of the
+nobility--a cheerful self-indulgence without great refinement, much
+courtly complaisance and good humour; they had also the art of
+narrating well, which now appears to recede further eastward, and of
+interweaving naturally anecdotes with fine phrases in their
+conversation; and they had a neat way of introducing drolleries. The
+morals of these circles, so often bitterly reprobated, were, it
+appears, no worse than they usually are among mere pleasure-seekers.
+They were not inclined to subtle inquiries, nor were they generally
+much disquieted with severe qualms of conscience; their feelings of
+honour were flexible, but certain limits were to be observed. Within
+these boundaries they were tolerant; in play, wine, and affairs of the
+heart, gentlemen, and even ladies, could do much without fear of very
+severe comments, or disturbances of the even tenor of their life. What
+could not be undone they quietly condoned, and, even when the bounds of
+morality had been overstepped, quickly recovered their composure. The
+art of making life agreeable was then more common than now; equally
+enduring was the power of preserving a vigorous, active, genial spirit,
+and a freshness of humour up to the latest age, and of carrying on a
+cheerful and respectable old age, a life rich in pleasure, though not
+free from conflicts between duty and inclination. There may still be
+found old pictures of this time, which give us a pleasant view of the
+naive freshness and easy cheerfulness of the most aged men and women.
+
+Under the nobility were the country people and petty citizens, who, as
+well as the lower officials, took that conception of life which
+prevailed in Germany during the beginning of the century. Life was
+still colourless. We deceive ourselves if we imagine that at the end of
+this century the philosophic enlightenment had produced much
+improvement in the dwellings of the poor, especially in the country. In
+the villages, undoubtedly, there were schools, but the master was
+frequently only a former servant of the landed proprietor, a poor
+tailor or weaver, who gave up his work as little as possible, and
+perhaps left his wife to conduct the school. The police of the low
+countries was still ineffective, and the vagrants were a heavy burden.
+There were certainly strict regulations against roving vagabonds:
+village watchmen and mounted patrols were to stop every beggar, and
+pass him on to his birth-place; but the village watchman did not watch,
+the communities shunned the expenses of transport or feared the revenge
+of the offenders, and the patrols preferred looking after the carriers,
+who went out of the turnpike roads, because these could pay a fine.
+Complaints were made of this even in Electoral Saxony.
+
+The countryman still continued true to his church; there was much
+praying and psalm-singing in the huts of the poor, frequently a good
+deal of pious enthusiasm; there were still revivalists and prophets
+among the country people. In the mountain countries, especially where
+an active industry had established itself, in the poorest huts, among
+the wood carvers, weavers, and lacemakers of the Erzgebirger and of the
+Silesian valleys, a pious, godly feeling was alive. A few years later,
+when the continental embargo annihilated the industry of the poor, amid
+hunger and deprivations which often brought them to the point of death,
+they showed that their faith gave them the power of suffering with
+resignation.
+
+Betwixt the nobility and the mass of the people stood the higher class
+of citizens: literati, officials, ecclesiastics, great merchants, and
+tradespeople. They also were divided from the people by a privilege,
+the importance of which would not be understood in our time,--they were
+exempt from military service. The severest oppression which fell on the
+sons of the people, their children were free from. The sons of peasants
+or artisans who had the capacity for study could do so, but they had
+first to pass an examination, the so-called "genius test," to exempt
+them from service in the army. But to the son of a literary man or a
+merchant it was a disgrace, if, after a learned school education, he
+sank so low as to fall into the hands of recruiting officers. Even the
+benevolent Kant refused the request of a scholar for a recommendation,
+because he had had the meanness to bear his position as a soldier so
+long and so meekly.[27]
+
+In the literary circle there was still an external difference from the
+citizen in dress and mode of life: it was the best portion of the
+nation, in possession of the highest culture of the time. It included
+poets and thinkers, inventive artists and men of learning, all who won
+any influence in the domain of intellectual life, as leaders and
+educators, teachers and critics. Many of the nobility who had entered
+official life, or had higher intellectual tendencies, had joined them.
+They were sometimes fellow-workers, frequently companions and kindly
+promoters of ideal interests.
+
+In every city there were gentry in this literary set. They were
+scholars of the great philosopher of Königsberg; their souls were
+filled with the poetic creations of the great poet, with the high
+results of the knowledge of antiquity. But in their life there was
+still much sternness and earnestness; the performance of duty was not
+easy or cheerful. Their conception of existence wavered betwixt ideal
+requirements and a fastidious, often narrow pedantry, which strikingly
+distinguished them, not always advantageously, from the nobleman.
+
+It is a peculiarity of modern culture, that the impulse of intellectual
+power spreads itself in the middle of the nation between the masses and
+the privileged classes, moulding and invigorating both; the more any
+circle of earthly interests isolates itself from the educated class of
+citizens, the further it is removed from all that gives light, warmth,
+and a secure footing to its life. Whoever in Germany writes a history
+of literature, art, philosophy, and science, does in fact treat of the
+family history of the educated citizen class.
+
+If one seeks what especially unites the men of this class and separates
+them from others, it is not chiefly their practical activity in a
+fortunate middle position, but their culture in the Latin schools.
+Therein lies their pre-eminent advantage,--the great secret of their
+influence. No one should be more willing to acknowledge this than the
+merchant or manufacturer, who has worked his way up from beneath, and
+entered into their circle.
+
+He perceives with admiration the sharpness and precision in thought and
+speech which his sons have attained by occupying themselves with the
+Latin and Greek grammar, which are seldom acquired in any other
+occupation. The unartificial logic, which so strikingly appears in the
+artistic structure of the ancient languages, soon gives acuteness and
+promotes the understanding of all intellectual culture, and the mass of
+the foreign materials of language is an excellent strengthener of the
+memory.
+
+Still more invigorating is the purport conveyed from that distant world
+that was now disclosed to the learner. Still does a very great portion
+of our intellectual riches descend from antiquity. He who would rightly
+understand what works around and in him, and has perhaps long been the
+common property of all classes of the people, must rise up to the
+source; and an acquaintance with a great unfettered national life, and
+a comprehension of some of the laws of life, its beauties and its
+limitations, give a freedom to the judgment upon the condition of the
+present which nothing else can supply. He whose soul has been warmed by
+the Dialogues of Plato, must look down with contempt on the bigotry of
+the monks; and he who has read with advantage the "Antigone" in the
+ancient language, will lay aside the "Sonnenjungfrau" with justifiable
+indifference.
+
+But most important of all was the peculiar method of learning at the
+Latin schools and universities. It is not by the unthinking reception
+of the material presented to them, but their minds are awakened by
+their own investigations and researches. In the higher classes of the
+gymnasiums, and at the universities, the students became the intimates
+of earnest scholars. It was just the disputed questions which most
+stirred them: the inquiries still unanswered, and which most powerfully
+exercised the mind, were those which they most loved to impart. Thus
+the youth penetrated as free investigator into the very centre of life,
+and, however far his later vocation might remove him from these
+investigations, he had received the highest knowledge, and attained to
+the greatest results of the time; and for the rest of his life was
+capable of forming a judgment on the greatest questions of science and
+faith, by accepting or rejecting all the new materials and points of
+view which he had gained. That these schools of learning made little
+preparation for practical life, was no tenable complaint. The merchant
+who took his sons from the university to the counting-house, soon
+discovered that they had not learnt much with which younger apprentices
+were conversant, but that they generally repaired the deficiency with
+the greatest facility.
+
+About 1790, this method of culture had attained so much value and
+importance, that these years might be called the industrious sixth-form
+period of the German people. Eagerly did they learn, and everywhere did
+active spontaneous labour take the place of the old mechanism.
+Philanthropically did the learned strive to create educational
+establishments for every class of the people, and to invent new methods
+of instruction by which the greatest results could be obtained from
+those who had least powers of learning. To instruct, to educate, and to
+raise people from a state of ignorance, was the general desire; not
+that this was useful to the nation in general, for the lower classes
+could not enter into the exalted feelings which gave to the literary
+such enjoyment and elevation of mind.
+
+It is true they themselves felt an inward dissatisfaction. The facts of
+life which surrounded them were often in cutting contrast to their
+ideal requirements. When the peasant worked like a beast of burden, and
+the soldier ran the gauntlet before their windows, nothing seemed to
+remain to them but to shut themselves up in their studies, and to
+occupy their eyes and mind with times in which they were not wounded by
+such barbarities. For it had not yet been tried, what the union of men
+of similar views in a great association would accomplish, in bringing
+about changes in the State and every sphere of practical interest.
+
+Thus, with all their philanthropy, there arose a quiet despondency even
+among the best. They had more soundness and strength of mind than their
+fathers, the source of their morality was purer, and they were more
+conscientious. But they were still private men. Interest in their
+State, in the highest affairs of their nation, had not yet been
+developed. They had learnt to perform their duties as men in a noble
+spirit, and they contrasted, sometimes hypercritically, the natural
+rights of men in a State with the condition under which they lived.
+They had become honourable and strictly moral men, and endeavoured to
+cast off everything mean with an anxiety which is really touching; but
+they were deficient in the power which is developed by the co-operation
+of men of like views, under the influence of great practical questions.
+The noblest of them were in danger, when they could not withdraw into
+themselves, of becoming victims rather than heroes, in the political
+and social struggle. This quality was very striking in the construction
+of their poetry. Almost all the characters which the greatest poets
+produced in their highest works of art were deficient in energy, in
+resolute courage, and political sagacity; even in the heroes of the
+drama with whom such characteristics were least compatible, there was a
+melancholy tendency, as in Galotti, Götz, and Egmont--even in
+Wallenstein and Faust. The same race of men who investigated with
+wonderful boldness and freedom the secret laws of their intellectual
+being, were as helpless and uncertain in the presence of realities, as
+a youth who first passes from the schoolroom among men.
+
+A sentimentality of character, and the craving for great emotions on
+insignificant occasions, had not disappeared. But this ruling tendency
+of the eighteenth century, which has not been entirely cast off even in
+the present day, was restrained in 1790 by the worthier aims of
+intellectual life. Even sentimentality had had, since Pietism crept
+into life, its little history. First, the poor German soul had been
+strongly affected; it easily became desponding, and found enjoyment in
+observing the tears it shed. Afterwards the enjoyment of its feelings
+became more student-like and hearty.
+
+When, in 1750, some jovial companions passed in the extra-post through
+a village, the inhabitants of which had planted the churchyard with
+roses, the contrast of these flowers of love and the graves so excited
+the imagination of these travellers, that they bought a bottle of wine,
+went to the churchyard, and, revelling in the comparison of roses and
+graves, drank up their wine.[28] But the student flavour of roughness
+which was evinced in this enjoyment, passed away when manners became
+more refined and life more thoughtful. When, in 1770, two brothers were
+travelling in the Rhine country, through a sunny valley among blooming
+fruit-trees, one clasped the hand of the other, in order, by the soft
+pressure of his, to express the pleasure he derived from his company;
+both looked at each other with tender emotion, blessed tears of quiet
+feeling rose in the eyes of both, and they embraced each other, or, as
+would then have been said, they blessed the country with the holy kiss
+of friendship.[29] When, about the same period, a society expected a
+dear friend--it must by the way be mentioned that it was a happy
+husband and father of a family--the feelings on this occasion also were
+far more manifold, and the self-contemplation with which they were
+enjoyed, was far greater than with us. The master of the house, with
+another guest, went to await the approaching carriage at the house
+door; the friend arrives and steps out of the carriage, deeply moved
+and somewhat confused. Meanwhile the amiable lady of the house, of whom
+in former days the new guest had been an admirer, also comes down the
+stairs. The new-comer has already inquired after her with some
+agitation, and seems extremely impatient to see her; now he catches
+sight of her and shrinks back with emotion, then turns aside, and at
+the same time throws his hat with vehemence behind him to the ground,
+and staggers towards her. All this has been accompanied with such an
+extraordinary expression of countenance, that the nerves of the
+bystanders are shaken. The lady of the house goes towards her friend
+with outspread arms; but he, instead of accepting her, seizes her hand
+and bends over it so as to conceal his face; the lady leans over him
+with a heavenly countenance, and says in a tone such as no Clairon or
+Dübois could vie with, "Oh, yes; it is you--you are still my dear
+friend!" The friend, roused by this touching voice, raises himself a
+little, looks into the weeping eyes of his friend, and then again lets
+his face sink down on her arm. None of the bystanders can refrain from
+tears; they flow down the cheeks of even the unconcerned narrator, he
+sobs, and is quite beside himself.[30] After this gushing feeling has
+somewhat subsided, they all feel inexpressibly happy, often press each
+other's hands, and declare these hours of companionship to be the most
+charming of their life. And those who thus comported themselves were
+men of well-balanced minds, who looked with contempt on the affectation
+of the weak, who wept about nothing and made a vocation of their tears
+and feelings, as did the hair-brained Leuchsenring.
+
+But shortly after this, sentimental nature received a rude shock.
+Goethe had represented in Werther, the sorrowful fate of a youth who
+had perished in consequence of these moods; but had himself a far
+nobler and more sound conception of sentiment than existed in his
+contemporaries. His narrative was indeed a book for the moulding of
+finer natures, through which their sentimentality was turned towards
+the noble and poetic. Immense was the effect; tears flowed in streams;
+the Werther dress became a favourite costume with sentimental
+gentlemen, and Lotte the most renowned female character of that year.
+That same year, 1774, a number of tender souls at Wetzlar, men in high
+offices and ladies, agreed together to arrange a solemnity at the grave
+of the poor Jerusalem. They assembled in the evening, read "Werther,"
+and sang the laments and songs on the dead. They wept profusely; at
+last, at midnight, the procession went to the churchyard. Every one was
+dressed in black, with a dark veil over the face, and a torch in the
+hand. Any one who met the procession considered it as a procession of
+devils. At the churchyard they formed a circle round the grave, and
+sang, as is reported, the song, "Ausgelitten hast du, ausgerungen;" an
+orator made a eulogy on the dead, and said that suicide was permitted
+to love. Finally the grave was strewed with flowers.[31] The repetition
+of this was prevented by prosaic magistrates.
+
+But the tragical conclusion of Goethe's narrative shocked men of sound
+understanding. It was no longer a question of jest with flowers and
+doves: it was convulsive earnest. When the respectable son of an
+official could arrive at such extravagance as suicide, there was an end
+of jest. Thus this same work gave rise to a reaction in stronger
+natures, and violent literary polemics, from which the Germans
+gradually learnt to regard with irony this phase of sentiment, yet
+without becoming entirely free from it.
+
+For it was undoubtedly only a variation of the same fundamental
+tendency, when souls that had become weary of sighs and tears threw
+themselves into the sublime. Even the monstrous appeared admirable. To
+speak in hyperbolies--to express with the utmost strength the commonest
+things, to give the most insignificant action the air of being
+something extraordinary--became for a long time the fashionable folly
+of the literary circle. But even this exaggeration disappeared About
+1790, the past was looked back upon with smiles, and the spirits of men
+were contented with the homely, modest style in which Lafontaine and
+Iffland produced emotion.
+
+The growth of a child's mind at this period shall be here portrayed. It
+is a narrative of his early youth--not printed--left by a strong-minded
+man to his family. It contains nothing uncommon; it is only the
+unpretending account of the development of a boy by teaching and home,
+such as takes place in a thousand families. But it is just because what
+is imparted is so commonplace, that it is peculiarly adapted to excite
+the interest of the reader. It gives an instructive insight into the
+life of a rising family.
+
+In the first years of the reign of Frederic the Great, a poor teacher
+at Leipzig was lying on his deathbed; the long vexations and
+persecutions he had endured from his predecessor, a vehement pastor,
+had brought him there. His spiritual opponent sought reconciliation
+with the dying man; he promised the teacher, Haupt, to take care of his
+uneducated children, and he kept his word. He placed one son in the
+great commercial house, Frege, which was then at the height of
+prosperity. The young Haupt won the confidence of his principal; and
+when he wished to establish himself at Zittau, the house of Frege made
+the needy youth a loan of 10,000 thalers. The year after, the new
+merchant wrote to his creditor to say that his business was making
+rapid progress, but that he should get into great difficulties if he
+had not the same sum again. His former principal sent him the double.
+After eight years the Zittau merchant repaid the whole loan, and the
+day on which he sent the last sum, he drank in his house the first
+bottle of wine. The son of this man, Ernst Friederich Haupt (he who
+will give an account of his school hours in his father's house),
+studied law and became a Syndicus, and afterwards Burgomaster of his
+native town; he was a man of powerful character and depth of mind, and
+also a literary man of comprehensive knowledge; some Latin poems
+printed by him are among the most refined and elegant specimens of this
+kind of poetry. His life was earnest, and he laboured in a very
+restricted sphere with a zeal which never seemed sufficient to satisfy
+himself. But the weight of his energetic character became, at the
+beginning of the political commotions in 1830, burdensome to the young
+democrats among the citizens. It was in the city where he dwelt that
+the agitation was carried on by an unworthy man, who later, by his evil
+deeds, brought himself to a lamentable end. In the bewilderment of
+the first movement, the citizens destroyed the faithful attachment
+which for thirty years had subsisted between them and their superior.
+The proud and strict man was wounded to his innermost soul by
+heartlessness and ingratitude; he withdrew from all public occupation,
+and neither the entreaties nor the genuine repentance evinced by his
+fellow-citizens shortly after, could make him forget the bitter
+mortification of those years which had left their mark upon his life.
+When he walked through the streets, looking quietly before him, a
+noble melancholy old man with white hair, then--it is related by
+eye-witnesses--the people on all sides took off their caps with timid
+reverence; but he stepped on without looking to right or left, without
+thanks or greeting to the crowd. From that time he lived as a private
+man, given up to his scientific pursuits. But his son, Moriz Haupt,
+Professor of the University of Berlin, became one of our greatest
+philosophers, one of our best men.
+
+Thus begins his account of his first years of school:--
+
+"My earliest recollections begin with the autumn of the year 1776, when
+I was two years and a half old. We travelled to the family property; I
+sat on my mother's lap, and the soft bloom on her face gave me great
+pleasure. I was amused with looking at the trees which appeared to pass
+the carriage so quickly. Still do the same trees stand on the other
+side of the bridge; still, when I look at them, does this recollection
+of the pure world rise before me.
+
+"Already have four-and-forty years passed over the resting-place of
+your holy dust, dear departed! So early torn away from us! Gentle as
+thy friendly face, must thy soul have been! I knew thee not; only faint
+recollections remain to me. I have no picture of thee, not even a sweet
+token of remembrance. Yet shortly before they sent me, not seventeen
+years of age, to Leipzig, I stood on the holy spot that contains thy
+ashes, and sobbing vowed to thee that I would be good!
+
+"Well do I remember the Sunday morning on which my sister Rieckhen was
+born. Running hurriedly--I had got up sooner than my brother--and,
+unasked for, had run into my mother's room. I announced it to every one
+that I found. Some days after, all around me wept 'Mamma is going
+away!' called out our old nurse, wringing her hands. 'Away! where,
+then?' I inquired with astonishment 'To heaven!' was the answer, which
+I did not understand.
+
+"My mother had collected us children once more round her, to kiss and
+bless us. My half-sister Jettchen, then almost ten years old, and my
+brother Ernst, who was four, had wept. I--as I have often been told, to
+my great sorrow--scarcely waited for the kiss, and hid myself playfully
+behind my sister, 'Fritz! Fritz!' said my mother, smiling, 'you are and
+will remain a giddy boy; well, run away!'
+
+"What I heard of heaven and the resurrection confused my thoughts; it
+seemed to me as if my mother would soon awake and be with us again.
+Some time after, my brother, who was much more sensible than I, said,
+as we were kneeling on a stool, looking at the floating evening clouds,
+and talking of our mother: 'No, the resurrection is something quite
+different!' But soon after her burial--it was Sunday--when I was
+playing in the evening in front of our back door, and a beggar spoke to
+me, I exclaimed, 'Mamma is dead!' and ran away from the nurse through
+both courts, in order to seek my father, whom I found sitting
+sorrowfully in his room. He took me and my brother by the hand and
+wept. This appeared strange to me, and I thought, 'So, my father
+also can weep, who is so old.' For my father, who was then scarcely
+forty-seven years of age, appeared old to me,--far older, for example,
+than I now believe myself to look, at almost the same age. But children
+look upon things differently to others; besides which, my father had
+dark eyebrows, in which respect I have become partly like him.
+
+"Six months after my mother's death, my father took his sister to live
+with him, which altered our manner of life in many ways. Our life was
+no longer so quiet as before. Still sweet to me is the remembrance of
+the tales with which our aunt--who was always called by us and all the
+world, _Frau Muhme_--entertained us in the evening. As soon as it was
+twilight we dragged her by force into her chair, and we children sat
+round her and listened. Stories were hundreds of times repeated of our
+father's home, of Leipzig, and of grandfathers and great-grandfathers;
+and I longed to see myself at Leipzig, and to see the great fair, which
+I represented to myself, strangely enough, as an immense staircase hung
+with paper.
+
+"We enjoyed indescribable pleasure when we watched in the evening, by
+moonlight, the motion of the clouds. The view from one window was of
+the hill and woods. In the forms of those clouds we discovered the
+figures of men or animals. There was a solemnity about them which
+enhanced the charm, and when, in my sixteenth year, I for the first
+time read Ossian, and his gloomy world of spirits and misty forms
+passed before me, then did I return in spirit to that window. Equally
+so, when I read the poem, 'Jetzt zieh'n die Wolken, Lotte, Lotte!'
+
+"Visitors also, as was formerly the case in almost every nursery,
+related stories of spirits and ghosts, which we were never tired of
+hearing. Yet, although many who related them believed in them, at no
+time did my brother and I give a moment's credence to these tales.
+Never did we believe in the supernatural; even as boys of fifteen, we
+struggled against superstition. We have to thank our half-sister
+Jettchen for this: a maiden of rare gifts of mind. She pointed out to
+us in simple words the laughable side of these tales. But the awful had
+not the less great power over us, and we were often in fear when we
+were obliged to wander in the dark through the long passage to the
+front drawing-room.
+
+"At the age of three years and a half old, I received my first
+instruction. My brother could already almost read, and I soon advanced
+enough to keep pace with him.
+
+"I cannot say that we were fond of M. Kretzschmar, our first teacher,
+for he was in some degree bizarre, and punched our heads abundantly. It
+is scarcely credible but I can affirm that at five years old I only
+read mechanically, thinking all the time of something else; for
+example, of the flowers in our garden, or our little dog, &c. My own
+words sounded strange in my ears. Therefore I was often dreaming when I
+was asked a question; then followed the usual thump; but then I thought
+of that. Why was it so? It was indisputably for this reason, that our
+teacher did not know how to attract young minds to the subject. My
+brother was a very rare exception of quiet earnestness; and yet who
+knows how often even he may have been equally distracted?
+
+"At five years old we began to learn Latin. Jettchen translated glibly
+Cornelius and Phædrus, and also the French New Testament. We boys
+learnt assiduously from Langen's and Raussendorf's grammar, and I had
+long written what we called 'small exercises,' before I clearly knew
+what I was about. I remember distinctly that it was as if scales fell
+from my eyes when, at six years old, I discovered that we were learning
+the language of the ancient Romans." (Thus was instruction almost
+universally carried on at that time!)
+
+"Nevertheless, in many points of view, I have reason to thank this
+teacher. He taught us to read well, and by the frequent recitation of
+good verses--he did not write bad poetry himself--we imbibed early a
+taste for melody and harmony. We learnt many, very many songs and
+fables by heart. Learning by heart!--a now very antique expression; it
+was then very frequent in the plan of lessons, and it was by this that
+my memory became so strong. We were exercised in committing to memory
+whole pages in a quarter of an hour, and later I often learnt off at
+once eight, ten, or twelve strophes. In short, taken on the whole,
+according to the standard of that time, the pedagogue, with all his
+deficiencies, did not do ill by us. The soul, also, was not unattended
+to. Feddersen's 'Life of Jesus' was our favourite reading. Feder's
+'Compendium' was used for our religious instruction, a book which is
+still highly estimated. Our feeling for the beautiful was also awakened
+and trained in another way. Weiss's Operettes, set to Hiller's music,
+then made a great sensation. Kretzschmar played the harpsichord well,
+and the violin still better. My sister Jettchen played very tolerably
+at sight. Thus by degrees all Weiss's operas were played and sung, and
+we young ones joined in the lighter airs by ear. My father listened,
+and sometimes joined, with pleasure.
+
+"Thus did many autumn and winter evenings pass. Dear scenes of home,
+what have become of you in most families? You are superseded by trashy
+reading, casino, and play!
+
+"The poetry we learnt we recited in the evening, before our father and
+_Muhme_,--nay, in case of need before the maid. Passages which had been
+explained to us, we then explained again. All this suggested to me the
+first idea and wish to consecrate my studies to religion and become a
+preacher.
+
+"We had many playfellows. It was a common custom for children to visit
+one another on Sundays. We were allowed to remain to dinner, and
+accustomed to be well-behaved with grown-up persons. I, as being the
+least, was usually placed by the side of the father and mother of
+the family. Everywhere there was hearty friendliness. This custom,
+also,--at least in this form,--has almost passed away. We might not
+sometimes, perhaps, be quite agreeable to the elders, but this was
+rare. My father was much pleased when children, even as many as six or
+eight, came to us. The old people gladly gave a supper to the merry
+little folk, and they also played with them. Then on Monday we looked
+forward with pleasure to the following Sunday. Is it surprising that we
+still look back with pleasure to those happy days, the remembrance of
+which is wafted to me like the perfume of living flowers?
+
+"With all my youthful gaiety I was still very earnest-minded. Our
+mother, who had been dead only three years, was often spoken of; we had
+learnt a quantity of funeral hymns, and at six years old I certainly
+thought more frequently of death and immortality than many youths, or
+even men. What was to become of animals after death, I had not thought
+of till I was five years old. Then I happened to see a dead dog in the
+city moat, and asked our teacher about it. 'There is no immortality for
+dogs,' he answered, which made me indescribably sorrowful. It was a
+Sunday evening. I told it to my nurse, and wept bitterly.
+
+"At Easter, in 1780, our new teacher came. He had considerable
+knowledge, and lived very quiet and retired, as he secretly reckoned
+himself one of the Moravian brothers. We clung to him with deep love,
+for he devoted himself entirely to us. With no other man did we prefer
+walking; and all his conversation was instructive, for the most part
+religious. His endeavours to conceal from us his inclination for that
+sect which my father hated, gave an air of mystery to his words. We
+gained much in serious feeling through him. He accustomed us not to
+speak lightly of God or Jesus; and on his departure, at the end of two
+years, we were so well grounded in this that months passed without our
+once falling into this error, and when it did happen we sorrowed
+secretly with deep repentance; we left our most amusing game and prayed
+right heartily; we were, indeed, ourselves at last inclined to Pietism,
+for all worldly pleasures were condemned, or looked upon as injurious
+dissipations. So-called books of amusement, bordering upon novels, were
+considered good for nothing; even Gellert's dramas were reckoned among
+his youthful sins; places of amusement--balls, worldly concerts--were
+workshops of the devil! Only oratorios were bearable. Comedies were
+undoubted sins against the Holy Ghost. On my brother, who was naturally
+inclined for melancholy, these opinions took far deeper hold; he wept
+often in secret over his sins, as he called them. I envied him for
+this, considering myself as a reprobate and him as a child of God; but
+with all my endeavours I could not succeed in being so correct! I
+continually rejoiced at the sorrowful emotions which often overcame my
+soft heart.
+
+"Still, still do I consecrate to thee my thanks, thou good and
+righteous teacher! Thou wast the most faithful shepherd of thy little
+flock! He lives still, near eighty years of age. For thirty years I
+have only once seen him, but last year, when my brother died, he wrote
+me a letter, full of faith and piety. In a dream--he attached much
+importance to dreams--he had visited our house on the day of the death
+of my brother, his Ernst. It is touching to read his assurances that
+his convictions were the same as they had been forty years before.
+
+"There is one blessed hour I bear in memory. He went with us to walk in
+the city, and the evening star glanced kindly down upon us. 'What are
+the people above there doing?' said the teacher. This was a new idea to
+us! We were moved with joyful astonishment when he said to us: 'It is
+possible, even probable, that God's goodness has assigned other planets
+as a dwelling-place for living, thinking, and worshipping creatures.'
+Delighted, elevated, and comforted, we turned back. It was the
+counterpoise to that sorrow which fell upon me when I heard that there
+was no future for animals!
+
+"On Christmas Eve, 1780, our dear sister Jettchen died, in her
+fourteenth year; nine days before we were playing merrily, when she was
+suddenly seized with a pain in her stomach. The doctor thought lightly
+of it, and probably mistook the real cause. After seven days she became
+visibly worse, was weak and pale as death; she left her couch for the
+last time in order to reach us our writing books. Yet no one seemed to
+anticipate her death. Alas! it followed that Christmas Eve, early;
+about four o'clock they awoke us to see her once more. Weeping loudly
+we rushed up to her. She did not know us. 'Good night! Jettchen!' we
+exclaimed, and my father prayed, tearfully. Our teacher stood by the
+death-bed and prayed: 'Now take my heart, and take me as I am to thee,
+thou dear Jesus!' (From the Kottbus hymn-book.)
+
+"She departed amidst these prayers, and lay there in heavenly serenity.
+My little sister Rieckchen, three years and a half old, came up and
+said to the sick-nurse: 'When I die, lay me out in just such a white
+cloth as my Jettel.' And seventeen years afterwards the same woman did
+it!
+
+"Before this, in the evening, we had to give our Christmas greetings.
+My brother and Jettchen exchanged greetings--very beautiful--in
+writing. 'She who was your chief is absent,' said my father, weeping.
+On the third day of the feast she was buried. She lay in a white dress
+with pale pink ribbons, a garland on her brown hair, and a small
+crucifix in her hand. 'Sleep well!' exclaimed our old nurse, 'till thy
+Saviour wakes thee!' We could not speak, we only sobbed. Often did my
+dearly beloved Jettchen appear to me in dreams, always lovely, quiet,
+and serious. Once she offered me a wreath; this was considered as a
+sign that I was to die, as I was soon after seriously ill. But since my
+childhood I have not been so fortunate as to dream once of her. She
+loved me tenderly! I may say very particularly so!
+
+"Our sorrow was a little alleviated by our thoughts being distracted by
+a new building of my father's, a new garden-house; he had long wished
+for an extension and entire transformation of the garden. In less than
+two years all was finished, and now we passed most of our summer
+evenings there. The garden had ever been our place for exercise, and
+now it was enlarged. What pleasure it was to us, on the finishing of
+the new building, for the first time to eat our supper in the open air!
+And then we were allowed to remain out till ten o'clock, and go about
+under the starry heaven; and my father discharged small fireworks for
+us!
+
+"In May, 1782, our good teacher left us, having received the rectorship
+at Seidenberg. Our sorrow was great, very great! He blessed us: 'Keep
+steadfastly to the instructions I have given you! Fear God, and all
+will go well with you!' These were his parting words. I threw myself on
+my bed and wept upon my pillow.
+
+"My father was a strict, upright, honourable man. He had raised himself
+from bitter poverty to wealth, by his own exertions. With unremitting
+activity he only thought of maintaining and extending his business; of
+giving employment to many hundred manufacturers, and to securing an
+independence for us, his children. He worked daily ten and often eleven
+hours, only his garden drew him sometimes away; otherwise nothing else
+in the world. He was born to be a merchant, but in the highest sense;
+small accidental gains he despised, and I believe it would have been
+impossible for him to have been a retail dealer. He never made use of
+the frequent opportunities of becoming rich by bankruptcies; he walked
+steadily in the straight path, and was angry if his servants, in his
+absence at the fair, overcharged the purchasers. His external life was
+as simple as his inward principles. His furniture remained almost
+unchanged: the inherited plate kept its form; he only attached value to
+fine linen and good Rhine wine. His table was frugal; with the
+exception of high festival days, he had usually only one dish; of an
+evening frequently only potatoes or radishes. Wine only on Sundays,
+except on a summer evening in the garden. About once a year he gave an
+entertainment, then father Haupt would not do the thing shabbily.
+Champagne he could not bear; this, therefore, came very seldom. But he
+delighted in old Rhine and Hungarian wine, and bishop made of Burgundy.
+On Sunday evenings he walked in the fields, and now and then his life
+was diversified by a drive. He was, moreover, hospitable; very often
+foreign commercial friends came, and he frequently took his favourite
+clerks from the writing-room to dine with him. He was fond of talking
+politics, and often took correct views of the future. Though he was
+grave, he could be very cheerful, and often joked with us. He was
+open-handed to the highest degree; gave much to the poor, and gladly
+supported industrious people. Sometimes a great disinclination to the
+literary class came over him; therefore he frequently declaimed against
+the albums of the scholars; yet he never gave less than one thaler
+eight n. gr., often double, nay, three and four fold. All boasting was
+foreign to him, and he hated all ostentation of riches. If he heard
+that any members of his guild showed such ostentation, he only laughed
+most satirically; but when the boaster made himself too ridiculous he
+would say, 'We have not seen the end of it;' or, 'What wonderful things
+that man has;' or, at all events, at the utmost he said, 'I am not a
+nobody, either.' He was strictly religious, yet without superstition,
+against which, as well as against Popery, priestly pride, and
+hypocrisy, he would loudly declaim. He thought clearly on the most
+important subjects, as he himself knew, and was indeed almost alarmed,
+if he took, as he thought, too free views. It was touching to me; when
+once at Leipzig, during my studies there, he expressed himself freely
+upon confession, and then, drawing back with great modesty, said, 'Yet
+I am saying too much, Fritz, for I know that I am no deep thinking
+man.' He had, as a youth, read part of Wolf's philosophical works; but
+they were too dry for him. In his judgments of men he struck, as they
+say, the right nail on the head; yet he was, like all upright minds,
+often caustic, sharp, and bitter. If he had once said, 'The fellow is
+good for nothing!' he adhered to it.
+
+"From his over-extensive business, in which he had no intelligent men,
+but only mere machines to assist him, we saw but little of him. He was
+obliged to intrust us to the tutor and the woman-kind; the result was
+that we felt more reverence than confidential tenderness for him. Yet
+we loved him from the bottom of our hearts, and his principles, his
+teaching, and his simple life worked upon us beneficially.
+
+"Our aunt had, it is true, her good days, yet she never succeeded in
+entirely gaining our love. Her quarrels with the maids were more
+repugnant to us from the contrast of the familiarity with which it
+alternated; she managed to make use of my father's moments of vexation
+to gain her objects. But all this did not turn our hearts from her,
+as she did us no injury, and often even took our part against the
+ill-treatment of our new tutor. It was only that she was not fitted to
+captivate childish hearts. From this she took a great aversion to our
+nurse, to whom we clung with our whole souls, as she had brought up us
+four motherless orphans without any assistance. Belonging to a better
+class--her husband had rented a large property at Wernigerode--she had
+become impoverished by war, plunder, and a succession of misfortunes,
+her husband had died, and her children had partly gone out into the
+world and partly been brought up by relations. She had an excellent
+woman's head, a clear understanding, endless good-humour, cheerfulness,
+and suitable wit. If it is true that I have sometimes humorous ideas, a
+certain share in the development of this quality belongs to her. I well
+remember that I have gone on for a whole half-hour with her making
+bon-mots and allegories. 'With you I can joke.' With this good opinion
+I was often rewarded. Besides this she was skilful in a thousand
+things, and could always give advice. She was not disinclined to the
+'_Stillen im Lande_,' which from her great sufferings the cup of which
+she had drained to the dregs, could be easily understood. Her heart was
+pure and pious, and she maintained in us the impression of our former
+tutor's admonitions, when his successor would almost have exterminated
+them by his teaching and course of life. Many of her relations, and
+also her son-in-law had become surgeons, and she had, as a maiden,
+given medical assistance. Therefore she possessed more than usual
+knowledge, and astonished a surgeon when she skilfully set my brother's
+foot, which he had dislocated. She understood osteology perfectly;
+perhaps indeed she sometimes had too much confidence in herself, but
+her remedies healed very quickly; and when the surgeon for four months
+vainly endeavoured to cure my brother's foot, and spoke of the bone
+being rotten, she shook her head; he was sent away, and in a month the
+foot was healed.
+
+"The public even believed that she dealt in the black art, but we knew
+better. 'I have sworn to my lady,' (our mother), 'to give my life for
+you, if it can be of use to you, and I will keep what I vowed on her
+deathbed!' Peace be to her ashes! her wish to repose near 'her
+lady' has been fulfilled. 'Children! when I die, I have only one
+request,--lay me near your mother; ah! if I am only under the ledge of
+her tomb, I shall be content.'
+
+"Such was the state of things in our house when the new tutor came--he
+was in every respect the contrary of his predecessor. The one simple,
+straightforward, and just, avoiding even the appearance of evil; the
+other a frivolous, flighty dandy, who--it was then a matter of
+importance--played with a lorgnette, and wore stiff polished boots even
+when he preached; in knowledge below his predecessor; in faith not
+knowing himself what he wished. The former weighed his words, this one
+often swore, and his pupils soon followed his example. He danced, rode,
+played at cards, &c. In short, quite a common-place master. Passionate,
+tyrannical, and severe upon our faults, or rather--for he did not
+concern himself much with our morals--harsh upon slight mistakes in the
+school-room. And yet we learned everything well, and knew more than all
+our playfellows; of that I am very certain.
+
+"He very nearly disgusted me with study, treating me with special
+harshness, from not understanding my ardent mind; meanwhile from this
+bitter my nature drew forth honey. I had often suffered injustice, from
+hence arose the feeling of justice in my soul. 'It is better to suffer
+wrong than to do it!' often said our nurse to me. And out of this
+sprang forth my zeal against oppression, violence, and injustice of all
+kinds. The very depths of my soul were stirred when, being innocent, I
+was ill-treated; suffering seemed more deeply-wounding when inflicted
+by unfeeling arrogance. My brother and I respected the guilty, if they
+repented. Thus it was wholesome to bear undeserved severity! And
+yet,--so forgiving is the pure soul of childhood--that we only hated
+the man for the moment. A friendly word, or one of praise from him, and
+all was forgotten.
+
+"As the Pietism of the other had not quite suited my father, the new
+tutor, in the beginning, was more thought of by him. But he soon learnt
+to know his man; and God knows how my father himself could for five
+long years have borne the misconduct of this man, for he wrote him
+insolent letters if he ever ventured to blame anything. We never dared
+complain, for our father did not stand in very confidential relations
+with us. So we suffered in silence, and often not a little. Often have
+I, in the truest sense of the words, eaten my bread with bitter tears.
+
+"I must here mention, that my first resolution to become a preacher was
+extinguished by this man. 'Law, law,' he often exclaimed to me. What
+that meant was very mysterious to me. At last, however, when I heard
+that there were law professors, I understood it. It was now settled;
+but what attracted me in the Professorship was the opportunity of
+speaking in public. If there was a vocation that suited me it was this.
+
+"Thus passed the years from 1782 to 1786. In the beginning of 1787, my
+brother, still not fourteen years old, was put into a counting-house at
+Chemnitz. Inexpressibly sorrowful was our parting. We loved each other
+as brothers, and if we had small quarrels, in which I was more to blame
+than he, we never let the sun set without being reconciled. But now
+follows an important chapter in my juvenile life.
+
+"The picture of a perfect tutor is indeed charming. More than father
+and mother can do, can be effected by a noble, pious teacher, of simple
+life, full of judgment and moral power; only that scarcely one out of a
+hundred can be found to realise this ideal.'
+
+"A heavy load was lifted from my breast when I felt myself free from
+this tutor's discipline! A feeling I had never experienced before
+stirred in me! I was already half-grown up! Was it an impulse to
+unrestrained roving? or a longing for dissipation? or youthful
+presumption which fancied it needed no guide? In truth no thoughts of
+this kind entered my mind! It was the pure consciousness of having
+suffered injustice; it was the honest feeling that I was not so bad, as
+he in his frantic humour had often said I was; it was the glad prospect
+of being able to strive independently; it was the desire to show that I
+no longer needed leading-strings. Still do I remember the evening of
+the 5th of April, 1787,--Maunday Thursday,--how beautiful the sunset
+was, and I spoke with open heart to my playfellows of the new life that
+was opening to me.
+
+"My father put me under the teaching of the Conrector Müller, and his
+old friend the Subrector Jary, and in this he did well.
+
+"To the Conrector Müller I owe most thanks. I passed from tyrannical
+oppression to his liberal intellectual sway. His kindliness and his
+noble open countenance, speaking of pure goodness of heart, attracted
+me to him when first we spoke together. He understood how to elevate my
+feeling for learning. He knew everything thoroughly. He was strong in
+Latin, not unversed in Greek; the history of the German Empire, and
+political history--but above all, literary history,--together with
+geography, were his favourite studies. He had not one enemy.
+
+"Jary was not born to be a teacher, but he was not without knowledge,
+which he had acquired by industry. His method was defective, but he
+meant to deal faithfully by his scholars, and looked after them. His
+religious opinions were strictly orthodox; and I wept when he expressed
+doubts as to the eternal happiness of Cicero! Yet I owe him also
+thanks; he treated me with earnest kindness, and when he dismissed
+me in 1791, the old man said weeping: 'Fare you well! I shall not
+see you again; fare you well, you are almost the only one who has
+not vexed me!'
+
+"In August, 1788, I partook for the first time of the Lord's Supper. I
+looked up fervently and repeated to myself Kretzschmar's ode: 'Let us
+rejoicing fill the holy vaults of thy temple with hymns of praise.
+Invisibly though perceptibly, does God's grace hover round us!'
+Joyfully, with heaven in my heart, did I approach the altar!
+Nevertheless, when in the afternoon I examined myself during a solitary
+walk, I was dissatisfied with myself. What I had been taught concerning
+the merits of Christ, appeared to me unintelligible; my groping in the
+dark about this, weakened the impression of that day. I worried myself
+with the idea of the atonement by death, and no ray of light entered my
+soul. Besides I loved the old heathens, Cicero, Pliny, Socrates, &c.,
+more than many Christians, together with the Apostles, more than all
+the Jews of the Old Testament, as the people of God did not
+particularly please me. And yet it was doubtful whether God would
+receive Socrates as a child of light. How in the world, I thought,
+could my poor Socrates help not having been born later, not having
+lived in Judea?
+
+"Thus I troubled myself, and was more sorrowful than cheerful.
+
+"At Michaelmas, 1788, my father took me with him to Leipzig, where my
+brother also was to come. Oh, the pleasure of meeting again! No
+language can describe it! My brother's Principal allowed him leave
+every afternoon and also many mornings; so we could have plenty of
+talk. I soon became aware that my brother had read many freethinking
+works upon religion, especially many of Bahrdt's. His own inquiries led
+him still further. This occasioned me much sorrow, for Jary's strict
+orthodoxy had laid hold of me. But I was the happiest. Soon after, I
+attained to clear views in a scientific way, while my brother, left to
+himself, wavered to and fro, which was still perceptible, even in his
+old age. The insoluble question--why reason was reason?--gave
+unspeakable suffering to my poor brother. Undoubtedly my lighter tone
+of mind, my fancy, which gave me a poetic feeling, and especially my
+disposition to give up groping over difficult passages, were a help to
+me. With my brother reason prevailed too much.
+
+"We passed three blessed weeks. To me the Academy was to some extent a
+great pleasure; the Zittauer students took pains to make my residence
+agreeable to me. The theatre we visited assiduously, we loved plays
+passionately, and when the actors were at Zittau, we had learnt under
+the guidance of the last tutor, to criticise with judgment Don Carlos
+was given, Agnes Bernaner, and Kaspar der Thorringer; deep was the
+impression left upon me, and I confessed secretly to myself, that I
+should not find it disagreeable to be an actor. Even in this the idea
+of public speaking exercised its charm upon me. A hundred times,
+perhaps, did we act plays in that year, frequently extempore. It was
+singular that the old _rôles_, as we called them, were particularly
+suitable to me. But comic parts I could not manage, which, strange as
+it may appear, my brother frequently chose, although he had
+qualifications for the more serious ones, and, according to my
+judgment, he often failed in the comic parts. A friend played the
+military _rôles_, to which I had a great aversion.
+
+"How great the advantage of public instruction! It may sometimes have
+its defects, and unfortunately schools are often laboratories of
+temptation. But how true are Quintilian's words, that children often
+carry to school faults from home! Great is the advantage that public
+institutions are open to inspection, and that freedom of mind prospers
+there more than in private education, and emulation awakens and
+nourishes the power of self-exertion.
+
+"These hours of enjoyment with my brother came to an end. On the Monday
+after _oculi_ I was introduced, after a successful examination, by
+Director Sintenis. I became immediately 'sixth form boy' at the third
+table. This excited great envy and caused me many bitter hours. I, who
+without falsehood and malice, meant well by every one, did not
+understand what many of the seniors meant. Finally, however, my good
+behaviour got the better of them, I remained just the same, and bore
+much with patience. It was long before I could conceive what envy was,
+for I had no touch of it in my disposition. My more acute brother, to
+whom I made my lamentations, wrote to me, 'Read Gustav Lindau, or, the
+man who can bear no envy,' by Meissner. He was right, and yet it was
+not till I was thirty-five, that I saw it in its true light.
+
+"When this period of envy had passed away, and Müller said, 'You sit in
+the place that is due to you, but mind you maintain your place,' a
+succession of happier days opened to me.
+
+"Easter drew near; I examined myself and found that I had been very
+industrious. With Müller especially, I had in the last year done much.
+I was behindhand only in Greek, as almost all were; yet I could get on.
+In the Imperial and Saxon history I was well up, and in the knowledge
+of literature very strong for one who was not seventeen. In the
+geography of countries beyond Europe I was deficient. Latin I knew
+best. The most ready amongst us could translate whole pages off hand,
+without a fault, in two or three minutes; it was here and there
+improved in elegance and then read aloud. I owe to these exercises my
+facility in speaking Latin, which I was obliged to acquire at the
+University.
+
+"The time for my departure from the academy was come.
+
+"With all my liveliness, I had also many serious, even melancholy
+hours. The separation from my sisters, whom I dearly loved, disposed me
+often to be sorrowful; I especially loved the youngest, Friederike, who
+clung to me. Especially the last winter we were inseparable, it was as
+if she anticipated that we should soon be parted for ever.
+
+"My heart was pure, untouched by the allurements to which I well knew
+my fellow scholars yielded. I had already determined to continue in the
+same course; this I may affirm now at the end of thirty years. My chief
+fault was hasty anger, which even led me to the verge of giving blows;
+and violent passion is still the dark side of my character! Besides
+this, I was bitter in my censure of the faults of others. Faithful
+self-examination told me all this and more; but I was always forgiving,
+and any feeling of revenge would have been impossible to me.
+
+"My heart glowed with friendship; ingratitude appeared to me, as it
+still does, a black vice. Finally, I must say one word of my feelings
+as a youth; to maiden charms I was very sensitive, but never did a
+faithless word pass my lips. The loves of the scholars were repugnant
+to me, but I will not deny having entertained secretly a hope that some
+female heart might be gracious to me; but pale and thin as I was, I
+often seriously doubted the possibility of it.
+
+"The expression of quiet melancholy in the eyes of L. v. D. attracted
+me early; I had the greatest pleasure in talking to her, and she was
+the only one of my sisters' playfellows with whom I walked, when we
+rambled about the garden. But she left Zittau soon, and never did a
+word escape my lips--and how could it? In 1788, I saw her again once;
+after that time never again.
+
+"My first school occupations drove away all such thoughts, although I
+was teased as well as others, when I had danced more with one maiden
+than another at the school balls. Sometimes undoubtedly there were
+moments, when from braggadocio, I made it appear as if there was
+something in question, where certainly there was nothing.
+
+"But shortly before my departure--at a school ball--I met with Lorchen
+L., who was destined by my stars, to be the companion of my life, and
+entered into conversation with her. Even then I was much charmed with
+her! and danced oftener and with greater pleasure, than with any other
+maiden. It made me uneasy to feel that in some months I should be away.
+The impression upon me was not concealed from my class, and they
+bantered me; and I looked gloomy. Even during more than six years'
+absence, her image ever rose before me. If there are inward voices,
+this was one for me!
+
+"The day dawned on which I was to take leave of Zittau, and my sister
+was to accompany me to Leipzig. With tears I parted from Müller, and
+with emotion from all the teachers. In the evening I took a lonely walk
+in the open air, the evening sky shone bright, the reflection fell on
+my mother's grave. Tears burst from me: 'Yes, mother! I vowed that I
+would be good!' With hasty steps I went home. 'Now we shall never
+more,' said my brother, 'never more,' wander together, he would have
+said, but tears choked his voice.
+
+"We slept little, talking almost the whole night, and early, about four
+o'clock, our travelling carriage rolled out of Zittau."
+
+Thus does a sensible man of the time of our fathers and grandfathers,
+relate the boy-life in a citizen's family, honourable and serious, of
+strict morality, and no common strength of intellect. Still, with depth
+of feeling is united a sentimentality which will perhaps excite a
+smile, perhaps touch the heart. It is the secluded life of a wealthy
+family, but how earnest is the feeling of the child, how laboriously he
+spends his days! The greatest enjoyment of the young boy is in
+learning; he finds an inexhaustible source of elevation and enthusiasm
+in the knowledge that he imbibes.
+
+The narrator seeks his happiness in family life, in the duties of his
+office, and in science and art. He forms an elevated and profound
+conception of everything. Politics only disturb him. It was not till
+the next generation that man's feelings were excited, their powers
+awakened, and new qualities developed by the idea of a Fatherland.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+                          THE PERIOD OF RUIN.
+                                (1800.)
+
+
+Again did evil arise from France, and again did a new life spring from
+the struggle against the enemy.
+
+It was not the first time that that country had inflicted deep wounds
+on German national strength, and had unintentionally awakened a new
+power which victoriously arrested her progress. The policy of Richelieu
+had been the most dangerous opponent of the German Empire, but at the
+same time it had been obliged to support the Protestant party there, in
+which lay the source of all later renovation. After him French
+literature ruled the German mind for a century, and for a long time it
+appeared as if the Academy of Paris and the classical drama were to
+govern our taste, as did the tailors and peruke makers of the Seine.
+But indignation and shame produced, in opposition to French art, a
+poetry and science which, in spite of its cosmopolitan tendency, was
+genuinely national. Now the heir of the French revolution brought
+violent destruction on the declining empire, and gave his commands on
+its ruins like a tyrannical ruler, till at last the Germans resolved to
+drive him away, in order to take their affairs into their own hands.
+
+Defenceless was the frontier against the invading stranger. Only on the
+lower Rhine there was the Prussian realm, but along the other part of
+the stream were the domains of ecclesiastical princes, and small
+territories without any power of resistance. It was the four western
+circles of the empire, the Upper Rhine, Suabia, Franconia, and Bavaria,
+which the North Germans mockingly called the Empire.
+
+Even in the Empire, the ecclesiastical territories and Bavaria were
+very much behindhand, in comparison with Baden and Suabia. The example
+of Frederic II. in Prussia, and the philosophic enlightenment of this
+period, had reformed most of the Protestant courts, as also Electoral
+Saxony, since the Seven Years' War. Greater economy, household order,
+and earnest solicitude for the good of the subject became visible. Many
+governments were models of good administration, like Weimar and Gotha,
+and in the family of one of the great ladies of the eighteenth century,
+the Duchess Caroline of Hesse, as well as in Darmstadt and Baden, there
+was economical mild rule. Even indeed in the court of Duke Karl of
+Wurtemburg there was improvement. He who had dug lakes on the hills,
+and employed his serfs to fill them with water, who had lighted the
+woods with Bengal lights, and caused half-naked Fauns and Satyrs to
+dance there, had learnt a lesson since 1778, and on his fiftieth
+birthday, had promised his people to become economical, and had since
+that been transformed into a careful landlord, under whom the country
+flourished. Even the ecclesiastical courts had experienced somewhat of
+this philosophical tendency, though undoubtedly the activity of an
+enlightened ruler of Würzburg or Munster was much limited by the
+inevitable supremacy of an ecclesiastical aristocracy, and the
+increasing priestly rule.
+
+But the Imperial cities of the south were, with the exception of
+Frankfort, in a state of decadence; they were deeply in debt, and a
+rotten patrician rule prevented modern industry from flourishing. The
+councils still continued to issue high-sounding decrees, but the
+_Senatus populusque, Bopfingensis_, or _Nordlingensis_ as they called
+themselves in heroic style, appeared only a caricature to their
+neighbours. The renowned Ulm, the southern capital of Suabia, once the
+mistress of Italian agency business, had sunk so low that it was
+supposed that she must sell her domain to preserve herself from
+bankruptcy; Augsburg also was only the shadow of its former greatness,
+its princely merchants had become weak commission agents and small
+money-changers: it was said that the city only contained six firms that
+could raise more than 200,000 gulden. The Academy of Arts of the city
+was nothing but a school for artisans. The famous engravers made bad
+pictures of saints for the village trade; the old hatred of confessions
+still raged among the inhabitants, for its famed Senate was divided
+into two factions, and nowhere did the parties of Frederic and Maria
+Theresa contend so bitterly. Even Nuremberg, once the flower and the
+pride of Germany, had been severely injured in the old bad time; its
+30,000 inhabitants were hardly the fifth of that community which, 300
+years earlier, had mustered in fearful battle array; but the city was
+still in the way to gain a modest position in the German markets, no
+longer by the artistic articles of old Nuremberg, but by an extended
+trade in small wares of wood and metal, in which some of the old
+artistic feeling might still be perceived.
+
+It was no better along the Rhine,--the great ecclesiastical street of
+the Empire,--there lay, down the stream, the residences of three
+ecclesiastical Electors in succession. In the Electorate of Mainz,
+which, from olden times, had frequently maintained a great independence
+within the church, two intellectual rulers had undoubtedly given an
+enlightened aspect to a part of their clergy, and to the new portions
+of their city; but in the old city and trades, little of the new time
+was to be perceived, and the prebendaries who read Voltaire and
+Rousseau were by no means an unqualified gain, at least for the
+morality of the citizen. But the great Cologne was in the worst repute;
+the dung-heaps lay all day in the streets, which were not lighted, the
+pavement was miserable, and on dark evenings the necks and limbs of
+passengers were in great danger, the roads also were insecure, filled
+with idling ragamuffins. The beggars formed a great guild, counting
+5000 heads; till noon they sat and lay at the church doors in rows,
+many on chairs, the possession of one of which was considered as a
+secure rent, and assigned as dowry to the beggar's children; when they
+left their places, they went to the houses to demand food for dinner;
+they were a coarse, wicked set.[32] On the whole, it is known that the
+ecclesiastical rulers treated the citizens and peasants with
+comparative mildness, and the military compulsion was less burdensome,
+but they did little for the industry or cultivation of the people.
+
+After them, in this respect, Bavaria was in worst repute, and no other
+people since that has made such great progress; but about 1790 it was
+said to be most behindhand in wealth and morals; the cities, with the
+exception of Munich, looked decayed, and were poorly populated:
+idleness and beggary spread everywhere; except brewers, bakers, and
+innkeepers, there were no wealthy people. Even in Munich, countless
+beggars loitered about, mixed with numbers of modish, dandified
+officials; there was no national industry, only some manufactures of
+articles of luxury favoured by the government. Not long ago it was
+maintained by a Bavarian monthly journal, that manufacturing activity
+and the like were not very practicable for Bavarians, because the great
+river of the country flowed to Austria, and a competition with the
+Imperial hereditary States was not possible. The most flourishing
+countries in Germany, next to the small territories on the North Sea,
+were then Electoral Saxony and the country of the Lower Rhine, up to
+the Westphalian county of Mark; and this is little altered.
+
+To those who dwelt in the Empire the inhabitants of the North were a
+remote people, but they were in the habit of considering Prussia and
+Austria also as foreign powers.
+
+Of the people in Austria the citizens of the Empire knew little. Even
+the Bavarian, before whose eyes his Danube flowed to Vienna, desired no
+intercourse with these neighbours; he preferred looking over the
+mountains to the Tyrol, for the hatred which so readily divides
+frontier people was there in full force. The Saxon had important trade
+with the Germans in Northern Bohemia; it mattered little to him what
+lay beyond; it was a foreign race, in evil repute, from the old war. To
+other Germans the "Bohemian Mountains" and an unknown land signified
+the same thing. The nations which dwelt along the Danube, amongst them
+Czechs, Moravians, Italians, Slovenes, Magyars, and Slovaks, were a
+vigorous, powerful race, of ancient German blood; the Thirty Years' War
+had little injured their stately carriage and personal beauty, but
+their own rulers had estranged them from Germany. By persecution, not
+only the heretics, but also the activity and culture of those who
+remained, had been frightened away; but a life of enjoyment and
+pleasure still pulsated in the great capital. Any one who wished to
+enjoy himself went there--Hungarians, Bohemians, and nobles from the
+Empire. Germany lay outside the Vienna world, and they thought little
+of it.
+
+Undoubtedly the ruler of Austria was also the Emperor of Germany. The
+double eagle hung against all the post-houses in the Empire, and when
+the Emperor died, according to old custom, the church bells tolled. Any
+one who sought for armorial bearings, or quarrelled about privileges,
+went to the Imperial court; otherwise the Empire knew nothing of the
+Emperor or his supremacy. When the soldiers of the Princes of the
+Empire came together with the Austrians and Prussians, they were
+derided as good-for-nothing people; the "_Kostbeutel_"[33] and the
+"Schwabische Kragen" hated each other intensely; when the Austrian
+received a blow, no one was better pleased than the contingent from the
+Empire.
+
+Even among themselves the subjects of the small rulers did not live in
+peace; insulting language and blows were common; the Mainzers attacked
+the inhabitants of the Palatinate, and when the French occupied
+Electoral Mainz, the inhabitants of the Palatinate and Darmstadt
+rejoiced in the sufferings of their neighbours.[34]
+
+The mass of the people in the Empire lived quietly to themselves. The
+peasant performed his service, and the citizen worked; both had been
+worse off than now, but there was no difficulty in earning a
+livelihood. If they had a mild ruler, they served him willingly; the
+citizens clung to the city and province whose dialect they spoke; they
+frequently bore great attachment to their little State, which enclosed
+almost all that they knew, and whose helplessness they only imperfectly
+understood. When it became a cipher, they did not the more know what
+they were, and asked one another with anxious curiosity what they
+should now become. It was an old, quiet misery!
+
+The new ideas that came from France undoubtedly somewhat disquieted
+them; things were better there than with them; they listened
+complacently to foreign emissaries; they put their heads together, and
+determined, sometimes in the evening perhaps, to abolish what annoyed
+them; they also sent petitions to their worthy rulers. The peasants
+here and there became more difficult to manage; but as long as the
+French did not come, the movement was a mere curl of the waves; and
+when the French Custine gained Mainz, he called the Guild together,
+and each one was to give in a project of a constitution. This took
+place. The peruke-makers produced one: "We wish to be diminished to
+five-and-thirty, and the Crab (thus a master was called) shall be our
+president of the council." The hackney-coachmen declared, "We will pay
+no more bridge tolls; then, as far as we are concerned, any one may be
+our Elector who wishes!" No Guild thought of a republic and
+constitution. This was the condition of the small States of the Empire
+in the century of enlightenment.
+
+The people of the Imperial States knew well that the larger ones held
+them in contempt for their want of military capacity; and it was
+natural that in these small States no martial spirit should exist.
+Unwillingly did they form regiments from five, ten, or more
+contemptible contingents; soldiers and officers in the same regiment
+often quarrelled; the uniforms were scarcely the same colour, nor
+the word of command. The citizens despised their soldiers; it was
+told jeeringly that the Mainz soldiers at their post cut pegs for
+the shoemakers; that the guard at Gmünd presented arms to every
+well-dressed foot-passenger, and then stretched out their hats and
+begged for a donation; that a man in uniform was despised and excluded
+from every society; that the wives and mistresses of the officers took
+the field with children and ninepins; that the weapons and discipline
+were miserable, and all the material of war imperfect. This was
+undoubtedly a great misfortune, and apparent to everybody. The worst
+troops in the world were to be found in the Imperial regiments, but
+there were some better companies among them, and some officers of
+capacity. Even out of this bad material a foreign conqueror was able
+afterwards to make good soldiers; for the Germans have always fought
+bravely when they have been well led. Besides the Prussians, there were
+some other small _corps d'armée_, in well-deserved estimation--the
+Saxon, Brunswick, Hanoverian, and Hessian.
+
+On the whole, then, the military power of Germany was not altogether
+unsatisfactory; it could well bear some occasional bad elements, and
+still, in point of number and valour, cope with any army in the world.
+The cause of decay in the army was not the composition of the army
+itself, but discord and bad leading.
+
+After 1790, destruction burst upon the Empire--wave upon wave broke
+over it from west to east.
+
+First came into the country the white Petrels of the Bourbons,
+precursors of the storm--the emigrants. There were many valiant men
+among them, but the larger number, who gave character and repute to the
+whole, were worthless, reckless rabble. Like a pestilence, they
+corrupted the morals of the cities in which they located themselves,
+and the courts of small, simple Sovereigns, who felt themselves
+honoured by receiving these distinguished adventurers. Coblentz, the
+seat of government of Electoral Treves, was their head-quarters, and
+that city was the first where their immorality brought ruin into
+families, and disunion into the State, They were fugitives enjoying the
+hospitality of a foreign country, but with knavish impudence, wherever
+they were the strongest, they ill-treated the German citizens and
+peasants, as well as the foolish nobleman who honoured in them polite
+Paris. When Veit Weber, the valiant author of "Sagen der Vorzeit,"
+whilst travelling in a Rhine boat, was humming a French song upon
+contentment, of which the refrain was, "_Vive la Liberté_," some
+emigrants, who were travelling with him, drew their swords upon him and
+his unarmed companion, misused them with the flat blade, bound them
+with cords round their necks, and so dragged them to Coblentz, where
+they robbed them of their money and passports, and, thus wounded, they
+were imprisoned without examination till the Prussians arrived and
+freed them.[35] Besides brutal violence, the emigrants also introduced
+into the circles which admitted them vices hitherto unknown to the
+people, loathsome diseases, and meannesses of every kind. In the whole
+of the Rhine valley a feeling of hatred and disgust was excited by
+their presence; nothing worked so favourably for the French republican
+party; the feeling became general among the people, that a struggle
+which was to rid France of such evil deeds and abominations must be
+just. They were equally despised by the more powerful States--Prussia
+and Austria. The troops that they hired were composed of the worst
+rabble; even the poor people of the Imperial States looked with
+repugnance on the bands of emigrants.
+
+After the corrupt nobles came the speeches of the National Assembly,
+and the decrees of the Convention; but few of the educated men were
+entirely uninfluenced by them. They were the same ideas and wishes that
+the Germans had. More than one enthusiastic spirit was so attracted by
+them as to give up their Fatherland and go to the west, to their own
+destruction. Not the last of such men was George Foster, whom Germans
+should pity, and not extol. And yet these monstrous events, and
+excitable minds, produced only a slight intoxication. There was great
+sympathy, but it was only a kindly participation in a foreign concern;
+for, hopeless as was the political condition of Germany--imperfect and
+oppressive as was the administration of the greater States--yet there
+was a widespread feeling that social reforms were progressing, which,
+in contrast to the French, would spread peaceably by teaching and good
+example. There were bitter complaints of the perverseness and
+incapacity of many of the princes, but, on the whole, it could not be
+doubted that there was much good-will in the governments. Germany,
+also, had no such aristocracy as France. The lesser nobles, in spite of
+their prejudices and errors, lived, on the whole, in a homely way in
+the midst of the people; and just at this time they counted in their
+ranks many leaders of the enlightenment. What most oppressed the
+cultivated minds of Germany was not so much the vices of the old feudal
+state as their own political insignificance, the clumsiness of the
+constitution of the Empire, the feeling that the Germans, by this
+much-divided rule, had become _Philisters_.
+
+It was then, also, far from Paris to Germany; the characters which
+there contended against each other, the ultimate aim of parties, the
+evil and the good, were much less known than would be the case in our
+time. The larger newspapers only appeared three times a week; they gave
+dry notices, seldom a long correspondence, still less often an
+independent judgment. The flying sheets alone were active; even their
+judgment was moderate; they wished well to the movement, but were
+bolder in the discussion of home matters.
+
+Therefore, though in Paris there were massacres in the streets, and the
+guillotine was incessantly at work, in Germany the French revolution
+had no effect in banding political parties against one another. And
+when the account came that the King had been imprisoned, ill-treated,
+and executed, forebodings, even among the least timid, became general.
+
+Thus it was possible that German officers, even the _gardes du corps_
+at Potsdam, good-humouredly allowed the _įa ira_ to be played, whilst
+the street boys sang to it a rude translation of the text. The ladies
+of the German aristocracy wore tricolour ribbons, and head dresses _ā
+la carmagnole_. Curiosity collected the people in a circle round some
+patriot prisoners of war--dismal tattered figures--whilst they danced
+their wild dances, and accompanied them by pantomime, which expressed
+washing their hands in the blood of the aristocrats; and some
+innocently bought from them the playthings which they had made on the
+march, little wooden guillotines. But it was a morbid simplicity in the
+educated.
+
+There is another thing which appears still stranger to us. Whilst the
+storm raged convulsively in France, and the flood rolled its waves more
+wildly every year over Germany; the eyes and hearts of all men of
+intellect were fixed on a little Principality in the middle of Germany,
+where, amid the deepest tranquillity, the great poet of the nation, by
+the wonderful creations of his mind in prose and verse, dispelled all
+dark forebodings. King and Queen were guillotined, and "Reineke Fuchs"
+made into a poem; there came, together with Robespierre and the reign
+of terror, letters on the æsthetic training of men; with the battles of
+Lodi and Arcole, "Wilhelm Meister," "Horen," and "Xenien"; with the
+French acquisition of Belgium, "Hermann and Dorothea"; with the French
+conquest of Switzerland and the States of the Pope, "Wallenstein"; with
+the French seizure of the left bank of the Rhine, the "Bastard of
+Orleans"; with the occupation of Hanover by Napoleon, the "Bride of
+Messina"; with Napoleon Emperor, "Wilhelm Tell." The ten years in which
+Schiller and Goethe lived in close friendship--the ten great years of
+German poetry, on which the German will look back in distant centuries
+with emotion and sentimental tenderness--are the same years in which a
+loud cry of woe was heard through the air; in which the demons of
+destruction drew together from all sides, with clothes dipped in blood,
+and scorpion scourges in their hands, in order to make an end of the
+unnatural life of a nation without a State. Only sixty years have since
+passed, yet the period in which our fathers grew up is as strange to us
+in many respects as the period in which, according to tradition,
+Archimedes calculated geometrical problems, whilst the Romans were
+storming his city. The movement of this time worked differently on the
+Prussian State. It was no longer the Prussia of Frederic II. In the
+interior, indeed, his regulations had been faithfully preserved; his
+followers mitigated everywhere some severities of the old system, but
+the great reforms which the time urgently required were scarcely begun.
+
+But in the eighteenth century, up to the war of 1806, the external
+boundary of the State increased on a gigantic scale. Frederic had still
+left behind him a little kingdom; a few years after, Prussia might be
+reckoned as one of the great realms of Europe. In the rapidity of this
+growth, there was something unnatural. By the two last divisions of
+Poland, about 1772 square miles of Sclavonic country were added.
+Shortly before, the Principalities of the Franconian Hohenzollerns,
+Anspach and Baireuth, were gained, another 115 square miles. Besides
+this, after the peace of Luneville, forty-seven square miles of the
+Upper Rhine district of Cleves were exchanged for 222 square miles of
+German territory; parts of Thuringia, including Erfurt, half Munster,
+also Hildesheim and Paderborn; finally, Anspach was again exchanged for
+Hanover. After that, Prussia for some months comprised a territory of
+6047 square miles, almost double its extent in 1786, and about a sixth
+more than it at present contains. In this year, Prussia might almost
+have been called Germany; its eagles hovered over the countries from
+Old Saxony up to the North Sea; also over the main territory of Old
+Franconia and in the heart of Thuringia; it ruled the mouths of the
+Elbe; it surrounded Bohemia on two sides, and could, after a short
+day's march, make its war horses drink in the Danube. In the east it
+extended itself far into the valley of the Vistula and to the Bug; and
+its officials governed in the capital of departed Poland. This rapid
+increase, even in peaceful times, might not have been without
+disadvantage, for the amount of constructive power which Prussia could
+employ for the assimilation to itself of such various acquisitions was
+perhaps not great enough.
+
+And yet the excellent Prussian officials, of the old school just then
+greatly distinguished themselves. Organisation was carried on
+everywhere with great zeal and success; brilliant talents, and great
+powers were developed in this work. There were certainly many half
+measures and false steps, but on the whole, when we consider the work,
+the integrity, the intelligence, and the vigorous will which the
+Prussians then showed in Germany, it fills us with respect, especially
+when we compare it with the later French rule, which indeed carried on
+reforms thoroughly and dexterously, but at the same time brought a
+chaos of coarseness and rough tyranny into the country.
+
+The acquisition of Poland was in itself a great gain for Germany, for
+it afforded it a protection against the enormous increase of Russia;
+the east frontier of Prussia gained military security. If it was hard
+for the Poles, it was necessary for the Germans. The desolate condition
+of the half-wild provinces required a proportionate exertion, if they
+were to be made useful, that is to say, if they were to be transformed
+into a German Empire. It was not a time for quiet colonisation; but
+even of this there was not a little.
+
+But another circumstance was ominous. All these extensions were not the
+result of the impulses of a strong national power: they were partly
+forced on Prussia after inglorious campaigns by a too powerful enemy.
+And Germany showed the remarkable phenomena of Prussia being enlarged
+under continued humiliations and diplomatic defeats; and that its
+increase of territory went hand-in-hand with the decrease of its
+consideration in Europe. Thus this diffuse State had at last too much
+the appearance of a group of islands congregated together, which the
+next hurricane would bury under the waves.
+
+The surface of ground was so great, and the life and interests of its
+citizens had become so various, that the power of one individual could
+no longer arbitrarily guide the enormous machine in the old way. And
+yet there was no lack of the great aid--the ultimate regulator both of
+princes and officials--public opinion, which incessantly, honestly, and
+bravely accompanied the doings of rulers, examined their public acts,
+gave expression to the wishes of the people, and felt their needs. The
+daily press was anxiously controlled, accidental flying sheets wounded
+deeply, and were violently suppressed.
+
+The King was a man of strict uprightness and moderation, but he was no
+General, nor a great politician; so he remained all his life too much
+averse to decided and energetic resolves. He was then young and
+diffident of his own powers, and he felt vividly that he superintended
+too little the details of business; the intrigues of greedy courtiers
+put him out of humour, without his knowing how to stop them; his
+endeavours to preserve his own independence, and guard himself from
+preponderating influence, put him in danger of preferring insignificant
+and pliant characters to firm ones. The State had clearly then come
+into a position when the spontaneous action of the people and the
+beginning of constitutional life could no longer be dispensed with. But
+again it seemed so little possible, that the most discontented scarcely
+ventured to whisper it. All the material for it was wanting; the old
+States of Prussia had been thoroughly set aside; the communities were
+governed by officials; even an interest in politics and the life of the
+State was almost confined to them. What the King had seen arise under
+the co-operation of the people in a foreign country, national
+assemblies and conventions, had given him so deep a repugnance to every
+such participation of his Prussians in the work of the State, that, to
+the misfortune of his people and successors, he never, as long as he
+lived, could overcome this feeling. Before 1806, he thought of nothing
+of the kind.
+
+Very strongly did he feel that it was impossible for him to continue to
+govern in the old method of Frederic II. This great King, in spite of
+all his immense power of work and knowledge of minute particulars, had
+only been able to keep the whole in vigorous movement by sacrificing to
+his arbitrary power, even the innocent, in case of need. As he was in
+the position to decide everything himself, and quickly, it frequently
+happened that his decision depended on his humour and accidental
+subordinate considerations. He did not, therefore, hesitate to break an
+officer for a mere oversight, or discharge councillors of the supreme
+court who had only done their duty. And if he discovered that he had
+done an injustice, though he was passionately desirous of doing
+justice, he never once acknowledged the fact; for it was necessary to
+preserve his faith in himself, as well as the obedience and pliancy of
+his officials, and the implicit trust of his people in his final
+decisions. It was not only one of his peculiar characteristics, but
+also his policy, to retract nothing, neither overhaste nor mistake; and
+not to make amends even for obvious injustice, except occasionally and
+secretly. That powerful and wise Prince could venture upon this; his
+successor justly feared to rule in such a way. The grandson of that
+Prince of Prussia, whom Frederic II. angrily removed from the command
+in the middle of the war, felt deeply the severity of this hasty
+decision.
+
+He was therefore obliged to do like his predecessors, to seek to
+control his officials by themselves. Thus began in Prussia the reign of
+the bureaucracy. The number of offices became greater, useless
+intermediate authorities were introduced, and the transaction of all
+business became circuitous. It was the first consequence of the
+endeavour to proceed justly, thoroughly, and securely, and to remodel
+the strict despotism of the olden time. But to the people this appeared
+a loss. As long as there was no press, and no tribunal to help the
+oppressed to their rights, petitions had quite a different
+signification to what they have now; for now the most insignificant can
+gain the sympathy of a whole country by inserting a few lines in a
+newspaper, and set ministers and representatives of the people in
+commotion for days. Frederic II. had received every petition, and
+generally disposed of them himself, and thus, undoubtedly, his kingly
+despotism came to light Frederic William could not bear to have
+petitions presented to himself; he sent them immediately to the courts.
+This was according to rule. But, as the magistrates were not yet
+obliged to take care that these complaints of individuals should be
+made public, they were only too frequently thrown on one side, and the
+poor people exclaimed that there was no longer any help against the
+encroachments of the Landräthe,[36] or against the corruption of
+excisemen. Even the King suffered from it; not his good will, but his
+power was doubted to give help against the officials.
+
+To this evil was added another. The officials of the administration had
+become more numerous, but not more powerful. Life was more luxurious,
+prices had increased enormously, and their salaries, always scanty even
+in the olden time, had not risen in proportion. In the cities, justice
+and administration were not yet separated; a kind of tutelage was
+exercised even in the merest trifles; the spontaneous activity of the
+citizen was failing; the "Directors" of the city were royal officials,
+frequently discharged auditors and quartermasters of regiments. In 1740
+this had been a great advance; in 1806 the education and professional
+knowledge of such men was insufficient. Into the war and territorial
+departments, however, which are now called government departments, the
+young nobility already sought for admittance; among them not a few were
+men of note, who later were reckoned the greatest names in Prussia; and
+most of them, without much exertion, quickly made their fortunes. It
+was complained that in some of the offices almost all the work was done
+by the secretaries. But that, in truth, was only the case in Silesia,
+which had its own minister. After the great Polish acquisition, Count
+Hoym, in Silesia, had for some years the chief administration of the
+Polish province. It was a bad measure to give a subject unlimited power
+over that vast territory; it was a misfortune for him and the State. He
+lived at Breslau as king, and he kept spies at the court of his
+Sovereign, who were to keep him _au fait_ of the state of things. The
+poor nobles of Silesia thronged around him, and he gave his favourites
+office, landed properties, and wealth. The uprightness of the officials
+in the new province was injured by this unfit condition of things.
+Government domains were sold at low prices, and Generals and privy
+councillors were thus enabled to acquire large landed properties for
+little money.
+
+It is curious that the first open resistance to this arose among the
+officials themselves, and that the opposition was carried on, for the
+first time, in Prussia, through the modern weapon of the press. The
+most violent complainant was the chief custom-house officer, Von Held;
+he accused Count Hoym, Chancellor Goldbeck, General Rüchel, and many
+others, of fraud, and compared the present state of Prussia with the
+just time of Frederic II. The case made an immense sensation.
+Investigations were commenced against him and his friends; they were
+prosecuted as members of a secret society, and as demagogues. Held's
+writings were confiscated; and he himself imprisoned and condemned, but
+at last set at liberty. In his imprisonment the irritated and
+embittered man attacked the King himself:[37] he accused him of too
+great economy--which we consider the first virtue of a King of Prussia;
+of hardness--which was unfounded; and of playing at soldiering--this,
+unfortunately, with good grounds. He complained: "When the Prince will
+no longer hear truth, when he throws upright men and true patriots into
+prison, and appoints those who have been accused of fraud to be
+directors of the commission appointed to try them, then must the
+honest, calm, but not the less warm, friends of their Fatherland sigh."
+Meanwhile he did not satisfy himself with sighing, but became
+satirical.
+
+From this dispute, which only turns on an individuals circumstances, we
+learn how bold and reckless was the language of political critics in
+old Prussia; and how low and helpless the position of its princes
+against such attacks. As the King took the whole government upon his
+own shoulders, he bore also the whole responsibility, as he alone
+guided the machine of the State; so every attack on the particular acts
+of the administration, and upon the officials of the State, was a
+personal attack upon him. Wherever there was an error the King bore the
+blame, either because he had neglected something or because he had not
+punished the guilty. Every peasant woman who had her eggs crushed by
+the excise officers at the city gates felt the harshness of the King;
+and if a new tax irritated the city people, the boys in the streets
+cried out and jeered behind the King's horse, and it was even possible
+that a handful of mud might be thrown at his noble head. Again broke
+forth a quiet war betwixt the King of Prussia and the foreign press.
+Even Frederic William I. had, in his "_Tabakacollegium_," exercised his
+powers of imagination in composing a short article against the Dutch
+newspaper writers who had annoyed him; his great son, also, was
+irritated by their pens, but he knew how to pay them in like coin.
+Quite a volley of scorn and spite was fired in innumerable novels,
+satires, and pasquinades against his successor. Of what avail against
+this was violence, the opening of letters and secret investigations?
+What use was confiscation? The forbidden writings were still read, and
+the coarse lies were believed. Of what use was it if the King caused
+himself to be defended by loyal pens, if in a well considered reply the
+public were informed that Frederic William III. had shown no harshness
+to the Countess of Lichtenau; that he was a very good husband[38] and
+father, an upright man who had the best intentions? The people might,
+or might not, believe it; at all events they had made themselves judges
+of the life of their Prince in a manner which, as we view it, was
+highly derogatory to the majesty of the Crown.
+
+Yet the times were quiet, and the culture and mind of the nation was
+not occupied by politics. What would happen if the people were roused
+to political excitement? The monarchy, in this inferior position, would
+be entirely ruined, however good might be the intentions of the
+Hohenzollerns. For they were no longer, as they had been in the
+eighteenth century, and were still in the time of Frederic II., great
+landed proprietors on unpopulated territory; they were, in fact, kings
+of an important nation; they were no longer in the position of
+obtaining the knowledge of every perversity of the great host of
+officials and of ruling over the great administration personally. Now,
+the administration was carried on by officials; if it went right it was
+a matter of course, but every mistake fell upon the King's head. How
+this was to be remedied before 1806 no one, not even the best, knew.
+But discontent and a feeling of insecurity increased among the people.
+
+Such a condition of things, in a transition time, from the old despotic
+state to a new one, gave a helpless aspect to the Prussian
+commonwealth. It was however, in truth, no symptom of fatal weakness,
+as was shortly after shown by zealous Prussians.
+
+For, besides the strength and capacity of self-sacrifice, which was
+still slumbering in the people, a fresh hopeful vigour was already
+visible in a distinguished circle. Again it was to be found among the
+Prussian officials. The supreme court of judicature had maintained
+itself in the high consideration it had gained since the organisation
+of the last King. It was a numerous body; it included the flower of
+Prussian intelligence, the greatest strength of the citizens, and the
+highest culture of the nobles. The elder were trained under Cocceji,
+and the younger under Carmer--judicious, upright, firm men, of great
+capacity for work, of proud patriotism and independence of character,
+who were not led astray by any ministerial rescript. The court
+_coteries_ did not yet venture to assail these unpliable men; and it is
+a merit in the King that he held a protecting hand over their
+integrity. They belonged partly to citizens' families, which for many
+generations had sent their sons to the lecture-rooms of the professors
+of law; in the East to Frankfort and Königsberg, in the West to Halle
+and Göttingen. Their families formed an almost hereditary aristocracy
+of officials. United with them as fellow-students and friends, and
+like-minded, were the best talents of the administration; also
+foreigners who had entered the Prussian civil service. From this circle
+had been produced all the officials, who, after the prostration of
+Prussia, were active in the renovation of the State, Stein, Schön,
+Vinke, Grolmann, Sack, Merkel, and many others, presidents of the
+administration, and heads of the courts of justice after 1815.
+
+It is a pleasure in this time of insecurity to direct our attention to
+the quiet labours of these trustworthy men. Many of them were strictly
+trained bureaucrats, with limited ideas and feelings; on the green
+table of the Board lay the ambition and labour of their whole lives.
+But they, the chief judges, the administrators of the Province,
+maintained faithfully and lastingly through difficult times their
+consciousness of being Prussians; each of them imparted to those about
+him something of the tenacious perseverance and the confident judgment
+which distinguished them. Even when they were severed from the body of
+their State, and were obliged to declare the law under foreign rule,
+they worked on in their sphere unchanged, in the old way; accustomed to
+calm self-control, they concealed in the depths of their souls the
+fiery longing after their hereditary ruler, and perhaps quiet plans for
+a better time.
+
+Whoever will compare these men with some of the powerful talents of the
+official class which were developed at this time in the territories of
+South Germany, will perceive an essential difference. There, even in
+the best, there are frequently traits that are displeasing to us;
+arbitrariness in their political points of view; indifference as to
+whom or for what they served; a secret irony with which they consider
+the petty relations of their country. They all suffer from the want of
+a State which merits the love of a man. This want gives their judgment,
+acute as it may be, something uncertain, unfinished, and peevish; one
+does not doubt their integrity, but one feels strongly that there is a
+moral instability in them which makes them like adventurers, though
+learned and highly cultivated men. Undoubtedly, however, if a Prussian
+once lost his love of Fatherland, he became weaker than them. Karl
+Heinrich Lang is deficient in what Freidrich Gentz once had, and lost
+by moral weakness.
+
+Conscientious officials have admitted at this time the confusion of
+every country, especially the North; but the Prussians may justly claim
+this pre-eminence, that in the circle of their middle order, not the
+most refined, but the soundest culture of that time was to be found,
+not occasionally, but as a rule.
+
+The Prussian army suffered from the same deficiencies as the politics
+and administration of the state. Here also there was improvement in
+many particulars, but much that was old was carefully preserved; what
+once had been progress was now mischievous. This bad condition is
+acknowledged; none have condemned it more strongly than the Prussian
+military writers since the year 1815.
+
+The treatment of the soldiers was still too severe; there was unworthy
+parsimony in their scanty uniforms and small rations, endless was the
+drilling, endless the parades, the ineradicable suffering of the
+Prussian army; the man[oe]uvres had become useless "spectacle," in
+which every movement was arranged and studied beforehand; incapable
+officers were retained to the extreme of old age. Hardly anything had
+been done to adapt the old Prussian system to the changed method of
+carrying on war which had arisen in the Revolution.
+
+The officers were still an exclusive caste, which was almost entirely
+filled by the nobility; only a few not noble were in the Fusilier
+Battalions of Infantry and some among the Hussars. Under Frederic II.,
+during the deficiency of men in the Seven Years' War, young volunteers
+of citizen origin were made officers. Then they were, at least in their
+pay, and frequently in the regimental lists, represented as noble; but
+after the peace, however great their capacity, they were almost always
+kept out of the privileged battalions. This did not improve under the
+later Kings. Only in the Artillery, in 1806, were the greater number of
+officers commoners, but on that account they were not considered as
+equals. It was a bitter irony that a French artillery officer should be
+the person, as Emperor of the French, to think of shattering the
+Prussian army and its State into pieces, at the same time in which they
+were contending in Prussia as to whether an officer of artillery
+should be received upon the general staff, and that the citizen
+Lieutenant-Colonel Schamhorst should be envied this privilege.[39] It
+was natural that all the failings of a privileged order should appear
+in full measure in the Prussian corps of officers. Pride towards the
+citizens, roughness to those under them, a deficiency in cultivation
+and good morals, and in the privileged regiments an unbridled
+insolence. It is a common complaint of contemporaries, that in the
+streets and societies of Berlin people were not secure from the
+insults of the _gens d'armes_, who were the _élite_ of the young
+nobility. Already did these arrogant men, at the beginning of the
+reign of Frederic William III., begin to be ashamed of wearing their
+old-fashioned uniform in society, and where they dared, lounged in with
+protruding white neck-ties, top-boots, and sword-sick.
+
+In spite of these deficiencies, there was still in the Prussian army
+much of the capacity and strength of the olden time. The stout race of
+old subaltern officers had not died out, men who had shed bitter tears
+over the death of their great General in 1786; and still did the common
+soldiers, in spite of the diminished confidence in their leaders, feel
+pride in their well-tried war-like capacity. Many characteristic traits
+have been preserved to us, which give us a pleasing picture of the
+disposition of the army. When, in the campaign of 1792, a Prussian and
+Austrian, as good comrades and malcontents, were complaining to one
+another, and the Prussian did not speak in praise of his King, he yet
+stopped the other, who was repeating his words, with a box on the ear,
+saying: "You shall not speak so of my King;" and on the angry Austrian
+reproaching him with having said the same, the aggressor replied: "I
+may say that, but not you, for I am a Prussian." Such was the feeling
+in most of the regiments. The disgraceful prostration of Prussia was
+not owing to the bad material of the army, nor especially to the
+obsolete tactics. Nay, in the struggle it was shown how great was the
+capacity of both the men and officers who were so shamefully
+sacrificed. Amidst the lawlessness, coarseness, and rapacity which
+inevitably come to light among a demoralised soldiery, we rejoice in
+finding the most worthy soldier-like feeling often amongst the meanest
+of them. One of the many unworthy proceedings of the stupid campaign of
+1806, was the surrender of Hameln. How the betrayed garrison behaved
+has been related in the letter of an officer. The narrator was the son
+of an emigrant, a Frenchman by birth, but he had become an inestimable
+German, of whom our people are proud; he had done his duty as a
+Prussian officer, but at every free moment he devoted himself to German
+literature and science; he had no satisfaction in carrying on war
+against the land of his birth, and had sometimes wished himself away
+from the ill-conducted campaign; but when a bad commander betrayed his
+brave troops, the full anger of an old Prussian was kindled in the
+breast of the adopted child of the German people, he assembled his
+comrades, and urged them to a general rising against their incapable
+commander; all the juniors were as indignant as himself; but in vain.
+They were deceived, and the fortress, in spite of their resistance,
+delivered over to the French. Fearful was the despair of the soldiers;
+they fired their cartridges into the windows of the cowardly commander;
+they shot one another in rage and drunkenness; they dashed their
+weapons on the stones, that they might not be carried with more renown
+by strangers, and the old Brandenburgers wept when they took leave of
+their officers. In the company of Captain von Britzke, regiment von
+Haack, were two brothers, Warnawa, sons of soldiers; they mutually
+placed their muskets to each other's breast, drew the triggers at the
+same time, and fell into each other's arms, that they might not survive
+the disgrace.[40]
+
+But those who were the leaders, but not men, who were they? Experienced
+Generals from the school of the great King, men of high birth, loyal
+and true to their King, grown old in honours. But were they too old?
+They undoubtedly were grey-headed and weary. They had come into the
+army as boys, perhaps from the teaching of the cadet colleges, where
+they had been trained; they had marched and presented arms at the word
+of command; had kept line and distance in countless parades; afterwards
+they had kept a sharp look-out, that others might keep line and
+distance, that the buttons were cleaned, and that the pig-tail was the
+right length. In order to gain promotion, they had taken pains to learn
+at Berlin whether Rüchel or Hohenlohe was in favour. This had been
+their life. They knew little more than the spiritless routine of the
+army, and that they were a wheel in the great machine. Now their army
+was beaten, and the shattered remains in rapid retreat to the east.
+What remained now, what was left of any value to them?
+
+But it was not cowardice that made them such pitiful creatures. They
+had formerly been brave soldiers, and most of them were not old enough
+to be in their dotage. It was something else: they had lost all
+confidence in their State; it appeared to them useless, hopeless to
+defend themselves any longer--a fruitless slaughter of men. Thus did
+these unfortunate ones feel. They had been all their life mediocre
+men--not better nor worse than others; this mediocrity now prevailed,
+as far as their narrow point of view reached, everywhere in the State.
+Where was there anything great or strong? where any fresh life to give
+enthusiasm and warmth? They themselves had been the delight, the
+society of the Hohenzollerns--the first in the State, the salt of the
+country; they were accustomed to look down upon citizens and officials.
+Besides their Prince and the army itself, what had they in Prussia to
+honour? Now the King was away--they knew not where--they were alone
+within the walls of their fortress; and they found little in themselves
+either to shun or to honour; they felt at best that they were weak.
+Thus, in the hour of trial they became bad and mean, because they had
+all their lives been placed higher than their merits. A fearful lesson
+may be learnt from this; may Prussians always think of it. The
+officers, as a privileged class, socially exclusive, with the feeling
+of a privileged position in the State, were in constant danger of
+fluctuating between arrogance and weakness. Only the officer who,
+besides his honour as a soldier and his fidelity to his sovereign, had
+a full participation in all that ennobled and elevated a citizen of his
+time, could in a moment of difficulty find certain strength in his own
+breast.
+
+A period of intellectual poverty and mediocrity brought Prussia to the
+verge of destruction; political passion raised it again.
+
+But here an account shall be given of the feelings of a German citizen
+on the fall of his State. He belonged to that circle of Prussian
+jurists of whom we have just spoken. What he imparts is already known
+from other records, yet his honest description will find sympathy from
+its judicial clearness and simplicity:--
+
+Cristoph Wilhelm Heinrich Sethe, born 1767, deceased 1855. "_Wirklicher
+Geheimer Rath_," and chief president of the Rhenish court of appeal,
+descended from a great legal family in the dukedom of Cleves; his
+grandfather and father had been distinguished officials of the
+government; his mother was a Grolmann. The boy grew up in the
+enjoyment of wealth in his father's town; at sixteen years of age his
+father sent him to the university of Duisburg, and then to Halle and
+Göttingen; on his return he went through the Prussian grades of service
+in the government of Cleve-Mark, an excellent school. These western
+provinces---not of very great extent--comprised a good portion of the
+strength of the Prussian State. This firm, vigorous population clung
+with warm fidelity to the house of their Princes; there was in the
+cities and among the peasants, who lived as freemen on their land, much
+wealth, and the High Court of Justice was one of the best in Prussia
+Sethe was "_Geheimer Rath_," happily married, with his whole heart in
+his home, when a gloom was thrown over his native city and his own life
+by the sound of war, the march and quartering of troops, exciting
+reports, and, finally, the occupation of the town by the French, who,
+as it is well known, allowed the sovereignty of Prussia to continue
+for some years, till the Peace of Amiens took away the last vestige
+of Prussian possession. Then Sethe severed himself from his home,
+and established himself in the Prussian administration of the
+newly-acquired portion of Münster.
+
+He shall now relate himself what he experienced.[41]
+
+"You can easily imagine, my dear children, that the departure from
+Cleve was very distressing to us. It was a bitter feeling to wander in
+this way from home, and leave one's native city under foreign laws and
+the dominion of a foreign people.
+
+"On 3rd October, 1803, we left. We went from Cleve to Münster in three
+days; the journey from Emmerick was extremely difficult and tedious; it
+was over corduroy roads, with loose stones thrown on them."[42]
+
+"In the beginning of our life at Münster we also encountered many
+annoyances. From the number of officials who had removed there, and the
+numerous military, our accommodation was very restricted. Then we
+arrived there towards winter, and provisions were very deficient; in
+Münster there was no regular market, and the women from Cleve were in
+despair, because they could get nothing. This, however, came right, and
+afterwards they got on very well.
+
+"On a friendly reception and courtesy to us intruding strangers we had
+never reckoned, because we knew how much the people of Münster clung to
+their constitution--with what steadfastness a great portion of them
+still relied on their elected bishop, Victor Anton, and how unwillingly
+they endured the new rule of Prussia. I have never blamed them for
+this; it was a praiseworthy trait in their character that they should
+be unwilling to separate from a government under which they had felt
+happy; but others took this much amiss of them, and expected that they
+would receive the Prussians with open arms, and immediately become
+Prussians in heart and soul, which could only be expected from a fickle
+people who had groaned under the fetters of a harsh government.
+
+"Therefore, there was already division and separation between the new
+comers of old Prussia and the people of Münster before our arrival.
+Thus, much took place which was not likely to promote intimacy, or to
+awaken a friendly feeling in the inhabitants.
+
+"By the disbanding of the Münster military, the greater number of the
+officers were dismissed with pensions, and thrown out of their course
+of life. This first consequence of the Prussian occupation not only
+deeply wounded the feelings of those dismissed, but was generally
+considered as unjust; and the more so as among the Münster officers
+there was much culture and scientific knowledge, and the general run of
+Prussian officers could not stand comparison with them.
+
+"The introduction of conscription increased the discontent; but still
+more general indignation was excited by the ill-treatment which the
+enlisted sons of citizens and country people had to bear from the
+non-commissioned officers. I myself was eyewitness of the way in which
+a non-commissioned officer dealt abusive language, blows, and kicks to
+a recruit, and struck him on the shins with his cane, so that tears of
+sorrow coursed down the cheeks of the poor man. The spirit, also, which
+prevailed among the greater number of the Prussian officers, and their
+consequent behaviour, was not calculated to excite a favourable feeling
+in a new country towards the new government. Blücher, indeed, who was
+commandant of Münster, won real esteem and liking by his popular
+manner, his open and upright character, and his justice; and General
+von Wobeser, commander of a dragoon regiment, a very sensible,
+cultivated, moderate man, did so likewise; but the good effect of their
+conduct was spoilt by that of the others, namely, the general body of
+the subaltern officers.
+
+"Once there arose a dispute betwixt some citizens and the guard at the
+Mauritz-gate; the citizens were said to have gone amongst the arms and
+hustled the guard. Blücher was at that time at Pyrmont. There appeared
+then a proclamation, under the signature of a General von Ernest, but
+from another pen, by which every sentry who was touched by a citizen
+should be authorised to strike him down. This irrational order, which
+gave every sentinel power over the lives of the citizens, who, by
+touching them even accidentally, were exposed to their bayonets,
+excited indignation.
+
+"In addition to this, there now happened a disagreeable affair between
+three officers and three prebendaries.[43] There existed at Münster a
+so-called noble ladies' club, which admitted both men and ladies.
+Immediately after the first possession of the place, from political
+motives. Generals Blücher and Wobeser, the President Von Stein, and
+other Prussian officers were admitted, also Blücher's son Franz. In
+balloting for the admittance of another Prussian officer, he was
+blackballed. Indisputably this showed an objection, either to him as a
+Prussian, or to the admittance of more officers, for against the
+individual nothing could be said. This could not fail to increase the
+bad feeling, and it wounded especially the sensitive vanity of the
+young officers. Moreover, the ballot was at first declared to be
+favourable, and it was only upon a revision of the balls that the black
+ball was discovered; that is to say, the lady president of the club,
+the widowed Frau von Droste-Vischering, a very worthy and good-humoured
+lady, either by mistake or from the well-meant intention of preventing
+the disagreeable consequences of blackballing, had counted a white ball
+too much. It was remarked by one of the prebendaries present, that the
+whole number of balls did not agree with the number of votes. On
+counting them again accurately, it was found that the candidate was not
+received. Undoubtedly the younger prebendaries might have co-operated
+in the exclusion.
+
+"The impetuous Lieutenant Franz von Blücher gave vent to his feelings
+concerning this to one of the young prebendaries, and some words ensued
+between them. The following day Franz Blücher challenged this
+prebendary by letter; and two other officers, one of whom was the
+rejected one, challenged two other young prebendaries in the same way.
+Both these, who had not had the slightest hostile communication with
+the challengers, wrote to express their surprise. One of them received
+for answer, that he had laughed at the altercation between Lieutenant
+von Blücher and the other prebendary, and therefore he, the challenger,
+felt himself injured in the person of his friend Blücher. The other
+challenger would not even give such an excuse, he only wrote that he
+felt himself aggrieved, and that was enough.
+
+"The prebendaries, who, on account of their spiritual order, could not
+accept the challenge, informed the King immediately of the occurrence.
+The result was, the appointment of a mixed commission of inquiry under
+the presidency of General von Wobeser, and our President of
+Administration, Von Sobbe, into which I also was introduced, together
+with the quartermaster of the regiment, Ribbentrop. The prebendaries
+were acquitted by the court of justice before which the case was
+brought, and the officers were sentenced by a court-martial to three
+weeks' arrest, which they spent at the guard-house in the society of
+their companions, and promenading before it.
+
+"But the three prebendaries were also wounded in their most sensitive
+feelings by a malicious trick which was played them. Before this
+commission of inquiry was appointed, they were invited, through a
+livery servant, to a great evening party at General Blücher's without
+his knowledge. They were all startled, suspected some mistake, and were
+doubtful about going. But as they were all three invited through a
+servant of the General's, they decided there could be no mistake, and
+also their relations and friends, who thought this invitation was a
+step towards the accommodation of the affair, advised them to go.
+General Blücher, who had never thought of inviting them, was naturally
+very irate at seeing the three prebendaries enter. Being much
+prejudiced against them by his son Franz, who had then much influence
+over his father, and perhaps irritated by invidious remarks from the
+originator of the intrigue, upon their boldness in appearing, he gave
+them to understand that they had not been invited, and might go. They
+indignantly left the party, and not only they, but also their families;
+the ladies hastened home on foot, so deeply did they feel the
+mortification. This concerted deliberate affront excited general
+ill-will, and contributed very much to increase the bad feeling.
+
+"But what more than all increased the bitterness was the exercise of
+'Cabinet justice'[44] in the suit of the firm of Herren von der Beck,
+against the Herren von Landesberg and Von Böselager. By a 'Cabinet
+order' of the 5th September, 1805, obtained by Von der Reck, the suit
+between the two parties pending in the Imperial Aulic Council was
+declared to be legally decided, and a commission of execution was
+appointed to eject the Herren von Landesberg and Von Böselager from
+their property, and to place the Herren von der Reck in possession of
+it.
+
+"This unfortunate business, in a country which had as yet no Prussian
+feeling, revolted all minds. In public writings this violent inroad on
+the course of law was vehemently attacked, and an odious stain was
+inflicted on our Prussian justice, of which we had talked so loudly.
+
+"It was a mistake not to introduce the whole Prussian constitution at
+the outset, there would then have been only one source of discontent
+instead of constantly recurring irritation. Some, of the new things
+that were introduced piecemeal were peculiarly disagreeable to the
+people of Münster, who were quite unaccustomed to them, such as the
+stamp duty, conscription, and the salt monopoly. Also the well-known
+excise was impending. Already were the toll-houses built, and it was to
+have been introduced in 1807, but was prevented by the events of the
+year 1806. But the expectation gave a disagreeable foretaste, and
+through it new fuel was added to the hatred. At last, but much too
+late, as the unhappy war had begun, the chapter was dissolved.
+
+"Under such circumstances, residence in Münster was not agreeable to us
+old Prussians. I indeed felt this less than others; after I had made
+myself, to a certain extent, at home, I got on well with the people
+there; we won many true friends, and experienced from them much love
+and friendship. As in my office, so in social intercourse, I took pains
+to judge justly.
+
+"But the year 1806 came, and one sorrow followed upon another. First
+the three Rhine portions of the Duchy of Cleve, which remained to the
+Prussians, surrendered to Napoleon; he established himself on this side
+of the Rhine, and came into possession of the fortress Wesel, which was
+only too near to the present Prussian frontier. His brother-in-law
+Joachim Murat became duke of the old hereditary possessions of the
+King's family. No one could conceal from himself that our State, which
+spread so wide from east to west, was in a very critical position. Our
+grief was increased by the insolence with which the newly created duke
+carried on his encroachments even as far as Münster.
+
+"New clouds rose darkly over us. Letters from Berlin breathed war
+against Napoleon, Blücher left us, and we expected the French
+occupation of Münster. It is true that General Lecoq had entered it
+with a small corps, but this gave us little comfort, for he appeared to
+wish to abandon the city, with its moats and ramparts, to the evil
+results of a useless defence. When he had felled down a beautiful
+plantation in front of the Egidien gate, and after the appearance of
+our war manifesto, the city was terrified one night by sudden alarm
+signals, in order, as he said, to prove the watchfulness of his
+soldiers; in the middle of October he suddenly withdrew and left us to
+our fate.
+
+"Nevertheless, we old Prussians, confiding in the valour of our
+soldiers, gazed hopefully towards the east, and looked forward with
+impatient expectation to news of victory. And it came--when Napoleon
+was already making his victorious march to Berlin--and it bore such an
+impress of truth, that President Von Vinke[45] ordered it to be
+published. Never was there such exultation; every one hastened to the
+other to convey first the joyful news. But the deepest prostration
+followed; the cup we had now to drink was the more bitter after the
+intoxication of pleasure. A few days after we received from fugitives
+only too certain an account of the loss of the battle of Jena.
+
+"Yet we recovered from the first stupefaction, and did not give up all
+hope. One lost battle could not decide the fate of the whole war.
+
+"But when we received detailed accounts of the terrible consequences of
+this defeat, when the last remains of the army had to lay down their
+arms at Lübeck, when the fortresses of Hameln, Magdeburg, Stettin and
+Castrin had, with unexampled cowardice, been surrendered without a blow
+to the enemy, and the whole Prussian State came under their power, then
+our courage sank, we knew that we were lost.
+
+"Meanwhile the sorrowful intelligence of the lost battle was followed
+by the enemy taking possession of the place.
+
+"Early one morning, a division of cavalry of the army of the King of
+Holland entered. Our anger and sorrow were increased by the feeling of
+the people of Münster, which was very different from ours. Already on
+the arrival of the vanguard of the Dutch army, their long-nourished,
+slumbering indignation against the Prussians manifested itself in
+unconcealed joy. With open arms were the liberators from Prussian
+domination received, and joyfully lodged. Immediately afterwards the
+King of Holland marched in at the head of his army.
+
+"We had hard work in quartering them, as ten thousand men had entered
+the city. But strict discipline was kept, for it was undoubtedly the
+object of the King of Holland not to make the country inimical to him;
+but to treat it in the most conciliatory way. He flattered himself that
+the frontier Prussian province would come to the share of the Kingdom
+of Holland. His proceedings and the language of those about him, showed
+that he already considered himself as possessor of the country. He
+established an upper administrative council, at whose head General
+Daendels was placed, in co-ordinate authority with the presidents of
+the provincial administration and exchequer. Immediately the Münster
+nobles came before him with their complaints of the Prussian rule, to
+which he listened. First stood the abolition of the chapter, and the
+ejection of Herren von Landesberg and von Böselager. He exercised a
+real act of sovereignty, for he reinstated the chapter, and reversed
+the execution against those who had been expelled in the suit of the
+Herren von der Reck.
+
+"Meanwhile his kingdom soon came to an end; he had to march away at the
+command of Napoleon, who divided the conquered Prussian provinces into
+military governments, and appointed Generals and General-Intendants to
+preside. The Principalities of Münster and Lingen, and the counties of
+Mark and Tecklenburg, together with the Domain of Dortmund, formed the
+first of these governments. General Loison came to Münster.
+
+"Thus for the second time I came under French rule. In vain had I
+endeavoured to escape; fruitless were the severe sacrifices I had made
+for this purpose. I had abandoned Fatherland and home, parents and
+property, only to undergo once more in a foreign country the
+catastrophe which I had avoided, and which now came upon me in a far
+worse form. When Cleve became French, I took leave of it; I felt in my
+heart pleasure in returning under the sceptre of my own King, and under
+the rule of home laws; this one anchor to which I had held, was now
+torn from me. The power of Prussia was shattered, the whole State, with
+the exception of a small portion, was now in the power of a conqueror,
+whose ambitious plans displayed themselves more and more. It was only
+too certain that we should be trampled upon; but what our fate might
+be, over that a dark veil was drawn. The grief which gnawed in our
+bosoms and the deep mourning in which we were sunk, were increased by
+the annoyance of witnessing the joyful exultation of the people of
+Münster over their liberation from Prussian rule, and the favour with
+which they were treated by the conqueror and his satellites. It was
+more especially the Münster nobles who thus distinguished themselves,
+and behaved in a most undignified way. I will relate some instances of
+it.
+
+"In order in the speediest way to remove the hated Prussian colours,
+which were painted on the turnpikes, bridges, and public buildings, and
+to replace them by the old Münster colours, a subscription was raised
+to defray the costs, and our colours were erased as soon as possible.
+One of the most opulent nobles took pleasure in showing his warm
+participation in this undertaking, by giving his signature to a
+considerable sum; in order to make known that he could not refrain from
+expressing his satisfaction, he added to his subscription, the phrase:
+'With pleasure,' that no one might doubt his patriotic feeling.
+
+"The presidents, directors, councillors, assessors and referendaries of
+the government, and of the war and royal domain departments, continued
+to wear their official uniforms. These reminiscences of Prussian
+supremacy were an abomination in the eyes of the nobles. They therefore
+endeavoured to work upon General Loison to order the laying aside of
+the uniform; but they only half succeeded. The General expressly
+permitted the continuance of the uniform, and only ordered that the
+Prussian button should be taken away, which we were obliged to change
+for a smooth one. Thus the uniform was not laid aside, and the Geheime
+Rath von Forkenbeck and I still wore it at the council in the year
+1808, when we were called to Düsseldorf.
+
+"This otherwise proud Münster nobility paid as much court to the French
+Generals as to their former ruler, the Prince Bishop.
+
+"The oath prescribed by Napoleon, which was imposed also in Münster,
+was so little obnoxious to them, that they even endeavoured to make a
+solemnity of taking it, and to do it with the ceremony which is only
+customary at doing homage. A canopy was erected in the great hall of
+the castle, under which General Loison received the oath. It was with
+great astonishment that we beheld these preparations, but our surprise
+was still greater when we saw General Loison, accompanied by the
+hereditary and court officials of the former Bishop of Münster; who,
+with their old state ministered to the French General, in the same way
+as to their former Sovereign, and stood at his side as supporters
+during the ceremony.
+
+"A considerable table allowance was appointed for the governor--if I do
+not mistake, 12,000 thalers monthly--which was raised by an
+extraordinary tax. A household was formed, and the pensioned Münster
+officials were again employed. The Court Marshal von Sch. acted in this
+capacity at the table of the French governor; he issued the invitations
+for dinners and evening assemblies, on which occasions he wore his old
+court marshal's uniform, with his marshal's staff in his hand, and
+under him was the court quartermaster with his sword, &c. When we saw
+this servile conduct the first time, the president of the
+administration, Von Sobbe, speaking to me, called the one an arrant
+fool, and the other the court fool.
+
+"Besides this, there was a volunteer guard of honour established for
+General Loison, who equipped themselves. They furnished the daily guard
+at the castle, and accompanied the General, when with a troop of
+soldiers he made a progress into the county of Mark. At the head of
+this guard of honour there were members of the Münster nobility.
+
+"In the noble ladies' club, from which every respectable German had
+been excluded who did not belong to their caste, they received the
+French General with his mistress, in order to exercise more influence
+upon him.
+
+"Nevertheless, they were not so successful with General Loison; he was
+too wary for them, made fun of them in secret, and only cared for the
+presents that were partly given to him and partly promised. They had
+offered him a costly sword as a present, which he accepted graciously.
+The sword was ordered and made at Frankfort, but it only arrived after
+Loison had left the government. Now they were sorry for this too hasty
+offer, and they had no desire to send him the sword, as they had not
+found that complaisance in him which they expected. All this courtly
+_empressement_ became so repugnant to Loison, that he himself prevailed
+on Napoleon to recall him to the army.
+
+"With his weaker successor, Canuel, it succeeded better. My worthy
+friend the president, Von Vinke, was the first to experience it. An
+incidental expression thrown out by him in a remonstrance, 'that
+otherwise he could no longer carry on his office,' was readily laid
+hold of as signifying a resignation, and he was dismissed from his
+post.
+
+"In order to overcome my grief at things that could not be altered, I
+endeavoured to find distraction in a great work. The yet incomplete
+state of the laws of mortgages in the county of Münster, offered me the
+handiest and best material I devoted myself to this tedious work with
+the greatest zeal, and with the assistance of many referendaries, I
+accomplished the registry of all the title deeds which had to be
+recorded in the mortgage book of the government of Münster. Thus I
+succeeded in a certain measure in occupying myself, and I learnt by
+experience that hard work is in truth a soothing balsam, which precedes
+the slow healing powers of time.
+
+"But much as I believed myself to have acquired a kind of philosophic
+tranquillity by this withdrawal into my narrow sphere of business, yet
+I could not escape agitating feelings when the Peace of Tilsit really
+separated us from the Prussian State, and removed its frontier as much
+as forty miles to the east of us. The moving words with which our
+unhappy King took leave of his subjects, in the ceded provinces, and
+discharged the officials from their oath of allegiance, made us feel
+our loss still deeper. 'Dear children, it is an indescribably sorrowful
+feeling when the old ties of allegiance, of love, and confidence, which
+have bound us through long successive years to our ancestors, our
+State, and rulers, are at once violently rent, when a new and foreign
+ruler is forced upon a people, for whom no heart beats, who is received
+with despairing doubts, and who on his side feels nothing for his
+subjects.'"
+
+Here we conclude the narrative of the good Prussian. Münster and the
+county of Mark were attached to the new grand-dukedom of Berg; Sethe
+himself became procurator-general of the Court of Appeals at
+Düsseldorf. But not for long, the firm uprightness of the German
+appeared suspicious to the foreign conqueror; he had not offered his
+aid in supporting the acts of tyranny of the French government;
+therefore he was called with threats to Paris, and there arrested,
+because, in fact, they feared his influence on the patriotic
+disposition of the country. When, in 1813, he was released, and the
+Prussian rule was restored in his Fatherland, he conducted the
+organisation of the legal authorities in the Rhine country. From that
+time he led a long, useful life of activity in his office, one of the
+first Prussian jurists who supported trial by jury, publicity, and
+verbal evidence, against the State government. A firm independence of
+character, truthful, devoted to duty, with deified earnestness and
+simplicity, he was a model of old Prussian official honour. The
+blessing of his life rests on his children.
+
+It is not without an object that in this and the preceding chapter two
+portraitures from the circle of German citizens have been placed in
+juxtaposition. They represent the contrasts that were to be found in
+German life, through the whole of the eighteenth century up to the war
+of freedom. We see Pietists and followers of Wolf; Klopstock and
+Lessing; Schiller and Kant; Germans and Prussians; a rich contemplative
+mind, and a persevering energy, which subjects the external world to
+itself.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+                          RISE OF THE NATION.
+                             (1807-1815.)
+
+
+The greatest blessing which Reformers leave behind them to succeeding
+generations seldom lies in that which they themselves consider as the
+fruit of their earthly life, nor in the dogmas for which they have
+contended, suffered and conquered, and been blessed and cursed by their
+contemporaries. It is not their system which has the lasting effect,
+but the numerous sources of new life, which through their labour is
+brought to light from the depths of the popular mind. The new system
+which Luther opposed to the old church, lost a portion of its
+constructive power a few years after he had laid his head to rest. But
+that which, during his great conflict with the hierarchy, he had done
+to rouse independence of mind in his people, to increase the feeling of
+duty, to raise the morals and to found discipline and culture, the
+impress of his soul in every domain of ideal life, remained in the
+severe struggles of the following century, an indestructible gain from
+which at last grew a fulness of new life. The system also of Frederic
+the Great, not many years after his death, was discarded by a foreign
+conqueror as an imperfect invention; but again the best result of his
+life remained an enduring acquisition for Prussia and Germany. He had
+called forth in thousands of his officials and soldiers zeal and
+faithfulness to duty, and in millions of his subjects devotion to his
+family; he had, as a wise political husbandman, sown everywhere the
+seed of intellectual and material prosperity. This was what remained to
+his State, the excellent cultivated soil from which the new life was to
+blossom. When his army was crushed, the country overrun by strangers,
+and the pangs of bitter need compelled men to seek the means of
+supporting life wherever they could find them, then in the midst of all
+this desolation arose a new power in the nation, their capacity for
+work. Even the rapidity and completeness with which the old system
+broke down, melancholy as it was to behold, was, nevertheless,
+fortunate; for though it did not cast aside suddenly all the upholders
+of the old system, yet it averted the greater danger of their
+resistance. It now became evident how great was the material to be
+found in Prussia, not only among officials and officers, but in the
+people itself. Unexampled was the fall, and equally unexampled was the
+recovery.
+
+The nation was stunned; it looked listlessly on the shipwreck of its
+State; it had always received its impulse from the government. In the
+chaotic confusion that now followed, there seemed no hope of rescue;
+the weak cursed the bad government, the superficial viewed maliciously
+the prostration of the unintellectual and privileged orders, and the
+weakest followed the star of the conqueror. Men of warm feeling
+secluded themselves like Steffens, who wrote a sorrowful ode on the
+fall of the Fatherland; but cooler heads investigated sullenly the
+defects of the old system, and with bitterness condemned alike the good
+and bad.
+
+The misery becomes greater, it is the intention of the Emperor to open
+all the veins, and draw blood from that portion of Prussia to which he
+has left a semblance of life. Exorbitant are the contributions. The
+French army is distributed over the country--it occupies cantonments in
+Silesia and the March; officers and soldiers are billeted upon the
+citizens--they are to be fed and entertained. At the cost of the
+district a table d'hôte is to be established, and balls given. The
+soldier is to be compensated for the hardships of war. We are the
+conquerors, exclaim the officers arrogantly. There is no law against
+their brutality, or the impudence with which they disturb the peace of
+families in which they now rule as masters. If they are polite to the
+ladies of the house, that does not make them more acceptable to the
+men. Still worse is the conduct of the Generals and Marshals.
+
+Prince Jerome has his head-quarters at Breslau, and there keeps a
+dissolute court; the people still relate how licentiously he lived, and
+daily bathed in a cask of wine. At Berlin, General-Intendant Daru
+raises his demands higher every month. Even the humiliating conditions
+of the peace are still too good for Prussia; the tyrant scornfully
+alters the schedules. The fortresses are not restored, as was promised;
+with refined cruelty the war charges are increased enormously. They
+have drawn from the country, which still bears the name of Prussia,
+more than 200 millions of thalers in six years.
+
+On trade and commerce, also, the new system lays its destroying hand.
+By the Continental system, imports and exports are almost abolished.
+Manufactories are stationary, and the circulation of money stagnates;
+the number of bankrupts becomes alarmingly great: even the necessaries
+of daily life are exorbitantly high; the multitude of poor increases
+frightfully; even in the great cities the troops of hungry souls that
+traverse the streets can scarcely be controlled. The more wealthy also
+restrict their wants to the smallest possible compass; they begin a
+voluntary discipline in their own life, denying themselves small
+enjoyments to which they are accustomed. Instead of coffee, they drink
+roasted acorns, and eat black and rye bread; large societies bind
+themselves to use no sugar, and the housewife no longer preserves
+fruit. As Ludwig von Vincke, who then resided as a landed proprietor in
+the new grand-dukedom of Berg, pertinaciously smoked coltsfoot instead
+of tobacco, and made his wine of black currants, so did others renounce
+the necessaries on which the foreign tyrant had imposed a monopoly.
+
+But philosophy begins its great work, bringing blessing upon the State,
+by purifying and elevating the minds of men. While the French drum was
+beating in the streets of Berlin, and the spies of the stranger were
+lurking about the houses, Fichte delivered his discourses on the German
+nation: a new and powerful race was to be trained, the national
+character to be improved, and lost freedom to be regained.
+
+From the extreme east of the State, where now the greatest strength of
+the Prussian bureaucracy is at the head of affairs, a new organisation
+of the people began. Serfdom was abolished, landed property made free,
+and self-government established in the cities. The exclusiveness of
+classes was broken, privileges done away with, and a new constitution
+for the army was prepared by Colonel Scharnhorst. Whatever power of
+life there was in the people was now to have free play.
+
+In the year 1808, Prussia was no longer fainthearted; it began to raise
+its head hopefully, and looked about for aid. The first political
+society formed itself; "_tugendbund_,"[46] education unions, scientific
+societies, and officers' clubs, all had the same object--to free their
+Fatherland, and to educate the people for an approaching struggle.
+There was much trifling and immoderate zeal displayed, but they
+included a large number of patriotic men. Messengers ran actively with
+secret papers, but it was difficult for the unpractised associates to
+deceive the spies of the enemy. Dark plans of revenge were proposed in
+many of these unions; and desperate men hoped, by a great crime, to
+save the Fatherland.
+
+Hopes rise higher the following year: the war has begun in Spain;
+Austria prepares itself for the most heroic struggle that it has ever
+undertaken. In Prussia, also, the ground is hollow beneath the feet of
+the stranger; all is prepared for an outbreak; and the Police
+President, Justice Grüner, is one of the most active leaders of the
+movement. But it is not possible to unite Prussia with Austria; the
+first great rising of the people wastes itself in single hopeless
+attempts. Schill, Dörnberg, the Duke of Brunswick, and the rising in
+Silesia fail. The battle of Wagram destroys the last hope of Austria's
+help.
+
+The courage of many sinks, but not of the best. Unweariedly do the
+friends of the Fatherland exercise themselves in the use of fire-arms;
+the Prussian army, also, which does not amount to more than 42,000 men,
+is secretly increased to more than double that number; and in all the
+military workshops the soldiers sit as artisans working at the
+equipments for a future war.
+
+A second time do the hopes of the people rise; Napoleon prepares
+himself for war against Russia. Again is the time come when a struggle
+is possible; already does Hardenberg venture to tell the French
+ambassador, St. Marsan, that Prussia will not allow itself to be
+crushed, and will encounter a foreign attack with 100,000 soldiers. But
+the King will not resolve upon a desperate resistance; he gives the
+half of his standing army as aid to the French Emperor. Then 300
+officers leave his service, and hasten to Russia, there to fight
+against Napoleon. And again hope diminishes in Prussia, freedom seems
+removed to an immeasurable distance.
+
+Violent has the hatred against the foreign Emperor become in northern
+Germany; above all, west of the Elbe, where his ceaseless wars have
+sacrificed the youth of the country. The conscription is there
+considered as the death lot. The price of a substitute has risen to two
+thousand thalers. In all the streets, mourning attire is to be seen,
+worn by parents for their lost sons. But most violent of all is the
+hatred in Prussia, in every vocation of life, in every house it calls
+to the struggle. Everything that is pure and good in Germany--language,
+poetry, philosophy, and morals--work silently against Napoleon.
+Everything that is bad, corrupt, and wicked, all duplicity and cruelty,
+calumny, knavishness and brutal violence, is considered as Gallic and
+Corsican. Like the fantastic Jahn, other eager spirits call the Emperor
+no longer by his name: they speak of him as once they did of the devil,
+as "he," or with a contemptuous expression as Bonaparte.
+
+Thus had six years hardened the character in Prussia.
+
+It was no longer a great State that in the spring of 1813 armed itself
+for a struggle of life and death. What remained of Prussia only
+comprehended 4,700,000. This small nation in the first campaign brought
+into the field an army of 247,000 men, reckoning one out of nineteen of
+the whole population. The significance of this is clear, when one
+reckons that an equal effort on the part of Prussia as it is, with its
+eighteen millions of inhabitants, would give the enormous amount of
+950,000 soldiers for an army in the field.[47] And this calculation
+conveys only the relative number of men, not the proportion of the then
+and present wealth of the country.
+
+It was a much impoverished nation that entered upon the war. Merchants,
+manufacturers, and artisans, had for six years struggled fearlessly
+against the hard times. The agriculturist had his barns emptied, and
+his best horses taken from his stables; the debased coin that
+circulated in the country disturbed the interior commerce even with the
+nearest neighbours, the thalers which had been saved from a better time
+had long been spent. In the mountain valleys the people were famishing;
+on the line of march of the great armies even the commonest necessaries
+of life were failing; teams and seed had been wanting to the countryman
+as early as 1807; in 1812 there was the same distress.
+
+It is true that there was bitter sorrow among the people over the
+downfall of Prussia, and deep hatred against the Emperor of the French.
+But it would be doing great injustice to the Prussians to consider
+their rising as more especially occasioned by the fiery passion of
+resentment. More than once, both in ancient and modern times, has a
+city or small nation carried on its desperate death-struggle to the
+last extremity; more than once we have been filled with astonishment at
+the wild heroic courage and self-devotion which have led men to
+voluntary death in the flames of their own houses, or under the fire of
+the enemy. But this lofty power of resistance is not perhaps free from
+a certain degree of fanaticism, which inflames the soul almost to
+madness. Of this there is no trace in the Prussians. On the contrary,
+there was a cheerful serenity throughout the whole nation which seems
+very touching to us. It arose from faith in their own strength,
+confidence in a good cause, and, above all, in an innocent youthful
+freshness of feeling.
+
+For the German, this period in the life of his nation has a special
+significance. It was the first time that for many centuries political
+enthusiasm had burst forth in bright flames among the people. For
+centuries there had been in Germany nations of individuals, living
+under the government of princes, for which they had no love or honour,
+and in which they took no active share. Now, in the hour of greatest
+danger, the people claimed its own inalienable right in the State. It
+threw its whole strength voluntarily and joyfully into a death-struggle
+to preserve its State from destruction.
+
+This struggle has a still higher significance for Prussia and its royal
+house. In the course of a hundred and fifty years the Hohenzollerns, by
+uniting unconnected provinces as one State, had formed their subjects
+into a nation. A great prince, and the costly victories, and brilliant
+success of the house, had excited a feeling of love in the new nation
+for their princes. Now the government of a Hohenzollern had been too
+weak to preserve the inheritance of his father. Now did the people,
+whom his ancestors had created, rise and give to the last effort that
+its prince could make, a direction and a grandeur which forced the King
+from his state of prostration almost against his will. The Prussian
+people paid with its blood to the race of its princes the debt of
+gratitude that it owed the Hohenzollerns for the greatness and
+prosperity which they had procured for it. This faithful and dutiful
+devotion arose from feeling that the life and true interests of the
+royal house were one with the people.
+
+But in the glow of popular feeling in 1813 there was something
+peculiar, which already appears strange to us. When a great political
+idea fills a people, we can now accurately define the stages through
+which it must pass before it can be condensed into a firm resolve. The
+press begins to teach and to excite; those of like minds assemble
+together at public meetings, and the discourse of an enthusiastic
+speaker exercises its influence. Gradually the number of those who are
+interested increases; from the strife of different views, which contend
+together in public, is developed a knowledge of what is necessary, an
+insight into the ways and means, the will to meet such requirements,
+and, lastly, self-sacrifice and devotion. Of this gradual growth of the
+popular mind through public life there is scarcely a trace in 1813.
+What worked upon the nation externally was of another kind. The feeling
+was excited by a single great moment; but, in general, a tranquillity
+rested on the nation which one may well call epic. The feeling of
+millions burst forth simultaneously; not abounding in words, without
+any imposing appearance, still quiet, but, like one of nature's forces,
+irresistible There is a pleasure in observing its course in certain
+great moments. It shall be here portrayed, not as it shines forth in
+prominent characters, but as it appears in the life of minor
+personages.
+
+It was after New Year's Day, 1813. The parting year had left a severe
+winter as a heritage to the new one, but, in a moderate-sized city in
+Prussia, the people stood in crowds before the post-office. Happy was
+he who could first carry home a newspaper. Short and cautious were the
+accounts of the events of the day, for in Berlin there was a French
+military governor, who watched every expression of the intimidated
+press. Nevertheless, the news of the fate of the great army had long
+penetrated into the most remote huts; first came vague reports of
+danger and suffering, the account of a tremendous fire in Moscow and
+flames up to the skies, which had risen, as from the earth, around the
+Emperor; then of a flight through snow and desert plains, of hunger and
+indescribable misery. Cautiously did the people speak of it, for the
+French not only occupied the capital and fortresses of the country, but
+had also in the provinces their agents, spies, and hated informers,
+whom the citizens avoided. Within a few days it was known that the
+Emperor himself had fled from his army; in an open sledge, disguised as
+Duke of Vicenza, and, with only one follower, he had travelled day and
+night through Prussia. On the 12th of December, about eight o'clock in
+the evening, he arrived at Glogau, there he reposed for an hour, and
+started again about ten o'clock, in spite of the terrible cold.
+The following morning he entered the castle of Hanau, where the
+posting-station then was. The resolute post-mistress, Kramtsch,
+recognised him, and with violent gestures swore she would give him no
+tea, but rather another drink. At the earnest representations of those
+around her, she was softened so far as to pour some camomile tea into a
+pot with a vehement oath; he, however, drank of it, and went on to
+Dresden. Now he had come to Paris, and it was told in the newspapers
+how happy Paris was, how tenderly his wife and son had greeted him, how
+well he was, and that he had already, on the 27th of December, been to
+hear the beautiful opera of "Jerusalem Delivered." It was said further
+that the great army, in spite of the unfavourable time of year, would
+return in fearful masses through Prussia, and that the Emperor was
+making new preparations. But the trial of General Mallet was also
+reported; and it was known how impudently the French newspapers lied.
+
+It was seen, also, what remained of the great army. In the first days
+of the year the snow fell in flakes; it lay like a shroud over the
+country. A train of men moved slowly and noiselessly along the high
+road to the first houses of the suburb. It was the returning French.
+Only a year ago, they had set forth at sunrise, with the sound of
+trumpets, and the rattle of drums, in warlike splendour, and with
+revolting arrogance. Endless had been the procession of troops; day
+after day, without ceasing, the masses had rolled through the streets
+of the city; never had the people seen so prodigious an army, of all
+nations of Europe, with every kind of uniform, and hundreds of
+Generals. The gigantic power of the Emperor sank deep into all souls,
+the military spectacle still filled the fancy with its splendour and
+its terrors.
+
+But there was also an undefined expectation of a fearful fate. For a
+whole month did this endless passage of troops last; like locusts the
+strangers consumed everything in the country, from Kolberg to Breslau.
+There had been a failure of the harvest in 1811, scarcely had the
+country-people been able to save the seed oats, and these were eaten in
+1812 by the French war horses. They devoured the last blade of grass
+and the last bundle of straw; the villagers had to pay sixteen thalers
+for a shock of chopped straw, and two thalers for a hundredweight of
+hay. And greedily as the animals, did the men consume; from the Marshal
+down to the common French soldier, they were insatiable. King Jerome
+had demanded for his maintenance at Glogau, a not very large town,
+four hundred thalers daily. The Duke of Abrantes had for a month
+seventy-five thalers daily; the officers obliged the wife of a poor
+village pastor to cook their ham with red wine; they drank the richest
+cream out of the pitchers, and poured essence of cinnamon over it; the
+common soldiers, also, even to the drummer, blustered if they did not
+have two courses at dinner. They ate like madmen. But even then the
+people prognosticated that they would not so return. And they said so
+themselves. When formerly they had marched to war with their Emperor
+their horses had neighed whenever they were led from the stable, but
+now they hung their heads sorrowfully; formerly the crows and ravens
+flew the contrary way to the army of the Emperor, now these birds of
+the battle-field accompanied the army to the east, expecting their
+prey.[48]
+
+But those who now returned came in a more pitiable condition than
+anyone had dreamed of. It was a herd of poor wretches who had entered
+upon their last journey--they were wandering corpses. A disorderly
+multitude of all races and nations collected together; without a drum
+or word of command, and silent as a funeral procession, they approached
+the city. They were all without weapons or horses, none in perfect
+uniform, their clothes, ragged and dirty, mended with patches from the
+dress of peasants and their wives. They had hung over their heads and
+shoulders whatever they could lay hands on, as a covering against the
+deadly penetrating cold; old sacks, torn horse-clothes, carpets,
+shawls, and the fresh skins of cats and dogs; Grenadiers were to be
+seen in large sheepskins. Cuirassiers wearing women's dresses of
+coloured baize, like Spanish mantles. Few had helmets or shakos; they
+wore every kind of head-dress, coloured and white nightcaps like the
+peasants, drawn low over their faces, a handkerchief or a bit of fur as
+a protection to their ears, and handkerchiefs also over the lower part
+of their face; and yet the ears and noses of most were frost-bitten or
+fiery red, and their dark eyes were almost extinguished in their
+cavities. Few had either shoe or boot; fortunate was he who could go
+through that miserable march with felt socks or large fur shoes, and
+the feet of many were enveloped in straw, rags, the covering of
+knapsacks, or the felt of an old hat. All tottered, supported by
+sticks, lame and limping. The Guards even were little different from
+the rest; their mantles were scorched, only their bear-skin caps gave
+them still a military aspect. Thus did officers and soldiers, one with
+another, crawl along with bent heads, in a state of gloomy
+stupefaction. All had become forms of horror from hunger, frost, and
+indescribable misery.
+
+Day after day they came along the high road, generally as soon as
+twilight and the iron winter fog were spread over the houses.
+Demoniacal was the effect of these noiseless apparitions of horrible
+figures, terrible the sufferings they brought with them; the people
+asserted that warmth could not be restored to their bodies, nor their
+craving hunger allayed. If they were taken into a warm room, they
+thrust themselves violently against the hot stove, as if they would get
+into it, and in vain did the compassionate women endeavour to keep them
+away from the dangerous heat. Greedily they devoured the dry bread, and
+some would not leave off till they died. Till after the battle of
+Leipzig, the people were under the belief that they had been smitten by
+Heaven with eternal hunger. Even then it occurred that the prisoners,
+when close to their hospital, roasted for themselves pieces of dead
+horses, although they had already received the regular hospital
+food; still, therefore, did the citizens maintain that it was a
+hunger specially inflicted by God; once they had thrown beautiful
+wheat-sheaves into their camp fire, and had scattered good bread on the
+dirty floor, now they were condemned never to be satiated by any human
+food.[49]
+
+Everywhere in the cities, along the road of the army, hospitals were
+prepared for the homeward bound, and immediately all the sick wards
+were overflowing, and virulent fevers annihilated the last strength of
+the unfortunates. Countless were the corpses carried out, and the
+citizens had to be careful that the infection did not penetrate into
+their houses. Any of the foreigners that could, after the necessary
+rest, crept home weary and hopeless. But the boys in the streets sang,
+"Knights without swords, knights without horses, fugitives without
+shoes, find nowhere rest and repose. God has struck man, horse, and
+carriage," and behind the fugitives they yelled the mocking call, "The
+Cossacks are coming." Then there was a movement of horror in the flying
+mass, and they quickly tottered on through the gates.
+
+These were the impressions of 1813. Meanwhile the newspapers announced
+that General York had concluded the convention of Tauroggin with the
+Russian Wittgenstein, and the Prussians read with dismay that the King
+had rejected the stipulations, and dismissed the General from his
+command. But immediately after it was said that he could not be in
+earnest, for the King had left Berlin, where his precious head was no
+longer safe among the French, and gone to Breslau. Now there were some
+hopes.
+
+In the Berlin paper of 4th March, among the foreign arrivals were still
+French Generals; but the same day Herr von Tschernischef, commander of
+a corps of cavalry, entered the capital in peaceful array.
+
+It had been known for three months that the Russian winter, and the
+army of the Emperor Alexander, had destroyed the great army. Already
+had Gropius, at Christmas, introduced a diorama of the burning of
+Moscow. For some weeks many of the new books had treated of Russia,
+giving descriptions of the people; Russian manuals and Russian national
+music were in vogue. Whatever came from the east was glorified by the
+excited minds of the people. Nothing more so than the vanguard of the
+foreign army, the Cossacks. Next the frost and hunger, they were
+considered the conquerors of the French. Wonderful stories of their
+deeds preceded them, they were said to be half wild men, of great
+simplicity of manners, of remarkable heartiness, indescribable
+dexterity, astuteness, and valour. It was reported how active their
+horses were, how irresistible their attacks, that they could swim
+through great rivers, climb the steepest hills, and bear the most
+horrible cold with good courage.
+
+On the 17th February, they appeared in the neighbourhood of Berlin;
+after that, they were expected daily in the cities which lay further to
+the west; daily did the boys go out of the gates to spy out whether a
+troop of them could be descried coming. When, at last, their arrival
+was announced, young and old streamed through the streets. They were
+welcomed with joyful acclamations, eagerly did citizens carry to them
+whatever would rejoice the hearts of the strangers; it was thought that
+brandy, sauerkraut, and herrings would suit their national taste.
+Everything about them was admired; their strong, thick beards, long
+dark hair, thick sheepskins, wide blue trowsers, and their weapons,
+pikes, long Turkish pistols, often of costly work, which they wore in
+broad leather girdles round their bodies, and the crooked Turkish
+sabre. With transport were they watched when they supported themselves
+on their lances and vaulted nimbly over thick cushion saddles, which
+served at the same time as sacks for their mantles; or couched their
+lances, urging on their lean horses with loud hurrahs; and, again, when
+they fastened their lances by a thong to the arm and trotted along,
+swinging that foreign instrument, the kantschu, to the astonishment of
+the youths--everyone stepped aside and looked at them with respect. All
+were enchanted also with their style of riding. They bent themselves
+down to the ground at full gallop, and lifted up the smallest objects.
+At the quickest pace they whirled their pikes round their heads, and
+hit with certainty any object at which they aimed. Astonishment soon
+changed to a feeling of intimacy; they quickly won the heart of the
+people. They were particularly friendly to the young, raised the
+children on their horses, and rode with them round the market-place;
+they sang in families in what was supposed to be the Cossack's style.
+Every boy became either a Cossack, or a Cossack's horse. Some of the
+customs, indeed, of these heroic friends were rather unpleasant, they
+were ill-mannered enough to pilfer, and at their night quarters it was
+plainly perceptible that they were not clean. Nevertheless, there long
+remained a fantastic glitter about them among both friends and foes,
+even when in the struggles that were now carried on among civilised
+men, they showed themselves to be plunderers, not trustworthy, and
+little serviceable. When later they returned home from the war, it was
+remarked that they had much degenerated.
+
+The newspapers were only delivered three times in the week, and the
+roads from the spring thaw then were very bad; thus the news came
+slowly at intervals through the provinces, where it was not stopped by
+the march of troops and the confusion of the struggle between the
+advancing Russians and retreating French. But every sheet, every report
+that conveyed new information, was received with eager sympathy. It was
+talked of in families, and in all the society of the cities, but the
+excitement was seldom expressed with any vehemence. There was a
+pathetic feeling in all hearts, but it no longer showed itself in words
+and gestures. For a century the Germans had found pleasure in their
+tears, had given vent to much feeling about nothing; now that great
+objects engrossed their life they were calm, there was no speechifying,
+with bated breath they restrained the disquiet of their hearts. If
+important news came, the master of the house announced it to his
+family, and quietly wiped away the tears that were in his eyes. This
+tranquillity and self-control was the peculiarity of that time.
+
+Small flying sheets were read with delight, especially what the
+faithful Arndt addressed to his countrymen. New songs spread through
+the country, in small parts, according to the custom of the
+ballad-singers, "printed this year;" generally bad and coarse, full of
+hate and scorn, they were forerunners of the beautiful poetic effusions
+of youthful vigor which were sung some months later by the Prussian
+battalions when they went to battle. The best of these songs were sung
+in families to the harpsichord, or the husband played the melody on the
+flute--which was then a favourite domestic instrument--and the mother
+sang the words with her children; for weeks this was the great evening
+amusement. These verses had more effect on the smaller circles of the
+people than on the more cultivated, they soon supplanted the old street
+songs. Sometimes the citizens bought the frightful caricatures of
+Napoleon and his army which then were sold through the country as
+flying-sheets, but often betrayed, by their Parisian dialect, that they
+were composed by the French. The coarseness and malicious vulgarity
+which now offend us, were easily overlooked, because they served to
+express hatred; it was only in the larger cities that they occupied the
+people in the streets, in the country they exercised little influence.
+
+Such was the disposition of the people when they received the
+proclamations of their King, which between the 3rd of February and the
+17th of March, calling out first volunteer riflemen, and then the
+Landwehr, put the whole defensive force of Prussia under arms. Like a
+spring storm that breaks the ice, they penetrated the souls of the
+people. The flood rose high, all hearts beat with emotion of pleasure
+and proud hope; and again at this moment of highest elevation, we find
+the same simplicity and quiet composure. There were not many words, but
+quick decision. The volunteers collected quietly in the towns of their
+provinces, and marched, singing energetically, to the chief cities,
+Königsberg, Breslau, and Colberg, and then to Berlin. The clergy
+announced in their churches the proclamation of the King, but it was
+hardly necessary. The people knew already what they were to do. When a
+young theologian, taking his father's place, admonished his
+parishioners from the pulpit to do their duty, and added that these
+were not empty words, for, as soon as the service was over, he himself
+would volunteer as a Hussar, a number of young men stood up in the
+church and declared they would do the same. When a betrothed hesitated
+to separate himself from his intended, and at last made known his
+resolve to go, she told him she had secretly lamented that he had not
+been one of the first to depart. Sons hastened to the army, and wrote
+to their parents to tell them of their hasty decision, and the parents
+approved; it was not surprising to them that their sons had done
+spontaneously what was only their duty. When a youth had made his way
+to one of the places of meeting, he found his brother already there,
+who had come from the other side of the country; they had not even
+written to one another.
+
+The academies for lectures were closed at Königsberg, Berlin, and
+Breslau. The University of Halle, also, still under Westphahan rule,
+was closed; the students had gone, either singly or in small bands, to
+Breslau. The Prussian newspapers mentioned laconically in two lines,
+"Almost all the students from Halle, Jena, and Göttingen, are come to
+Breslau, they wish to share in the fame of fighting for German
+freedom."
+
+At the gymnasium the taller and older ones were not considered always
+the best scholars, and the teachers of the Greek grammar had looked
+upon them with contempt; now they were the pride and envy of the
+school, the teachers gave them a hearty shake of the hand, and the
+younger ones looked on them with admiration as they departed. But it
+was not only those in the first bloom of youth who were excited to
+enter into the struggle, but also the officials, those indispensable
+servants of the State, judges and councillors, men from every circle of
+the civil service, from the city courts and the departments of
+government. A royal decree on the 2nd March set limits to this zeal,
+and it was necessary, for the order and administration of the State
+were threatened. The civil service could not be neglected; any one who
+wished to be a soldier was to obtain the permission of his superiors,
+and he who could not bear the refusal of his request must appeal to the
+King. The stronger minded in all circles were at the head of the
+movement, but the weaker followed at last the overpowering impulse.
+There were few families who did not offer their sons to the fatherland;
+many great names stand on the regimental lists; above all, the nobles
+of east Prussia. The same Alexander Count von Dohna-Schlobitten who had
+been minister of the interior in 1802, was the first man who inscribed
+himself in the Landwehr battalion of the Mohrungen district. Wilhelm
+Ludwig Count von der Gröben, chamberlain of Prince William, entered
+into Prince William's dragoons as a subaltern officer, three of his
+family fell on the field of battle in this war. Such examples
+influenced the country people. Multitudes of them gave to the State all
+that they possessed--their sound limbs.
+
+Whilst the Prussians on the Vistula in this emergency carried on their
+preparations independently with rapidly developed order and the
+greatest devotion, Breslau, from the middle of February, had been the
+rendezvous for the interior districts. Crowds of volunteers entered all
+the gates of the old city. Among the first were thirteen miners, with
+three apprentices from Waldenburg; these men had been fitted out by
+their fellow labourers, poor men, who had worked gratuitously
+underground until they had collected 221 thalers for this purpose.
+Immediately afterwards the Upper Silesian miners followed with similar
+zeal. The King could scarcely believe in such self-sacrificing devotion
+in the people; when he looked from the windows of the government
+buildings on the first long train of vehicles and men, who came past
+him from the march and filled the Albrech-strasse, heard their
+acclamations, and perceived the general satisfaction, tears rolled over
+his cheeks, and Scharnhorst asked him whether he at last believed in
+the zeal of his people.
+
+Every day the throng increased. Fathers presented their sons armed;
+among the first the Geheime Kriegsrath Eichmann equipped two sons, and
+the former Secretary of Hangwitz, Bürder, three. The provincial Syndic
+Elsner at Ratisbon offered himself, and armed three volunteer riflemen;
+Geheime Commerzienrath Krause at Swinemund, sent a mounted rifleman,
+entirely armed, with forty ducats, and an offer to arm, and pay for a
+year, twenty foot riflemen, and to furnish ten pigs of lead. Justizrath
+Eckart, at Berlin, gave up his salary of 1450 thalers, and entered the
+service as a trooper. One Rothkirch offered himself and two men fully
+equipped as troopers, besides five horses, 300 scheffels of corn, and
+all the cart-horses on his farm for the baggage-waggons. Amongst the
+most zealous was Heinrich von Krosigk, the eldest of an old family of
+Poplitz, near Alsleben. His property lay in the kingdom of Westphalia.
+In 1807, he had a pillar erected in his park of red sandstone, with
+these words engraven on it, "_Fuimus Troes_," and treated the French
+and the government of Westphalia with bitter contempt. When officers
+were quartered on him, he always gave the worst wine, drinking the best
+with his friends as soon as the strangers were gone, and if a Frenchman
+complained, he was rude and ready to fight; he had always loaded
+pistols on his table. At last he compelled his peasants to arrest the
+gendarmes of his own King. Now he had just broken out of the fortress
+of Magdeburg, where the French had placed him, and had abandoned his
+property to the enemy. The heroic man fell at Möckern.
+
+Thus it went on, and all the cities and districts soon followed the
+example. Scheivelbein, the smallest and poorest district in Prussia,
+was the first to notify that it would furnish, equip, and pay, thirty
+horsemen for three months. Stolpe was one of the first cities that
+announced that it would pay 1000 thalers down, and a hundred for each
+month for the equipment of volunteer riflemen. Stargard had collected
+for the same object, on the 20th of March, 6169 thalers, 585 ounces of
+silver; one landed proprietor, K., had given 308 ounces. Ever greater
+and more numerous became the offers, till the organisation of the
+Landwehr gave the districts full opportunity to give effect to their
+devotion in their own circles.
+
+Individuals did not lag behind. He who did not go to the field himself,
+or equip half his family, endeavoured to help his Fatherland by gifts.
+It is a pleasant labour to examine the long lists of benefactions.
+Officials resigned a portion of their salaries, people of moderate
+wealth gave up a portion of their means, the rich sent their plate,
+those who were poorer brought their silver spoons; he who had no money
+to give offered his effects or his labour. It became common for wives
+to send their gold wedding rings, often the only gold that was in the
+house; they received afterwards iron ones with the picture of Queen
+Louisa; country-people presented horses, landed proprietors corn, and
+children emptied out their saving boxes. There came 100 pair of
+stockings, 400 ells of shirt linen, pieces of cloth, many pairs of new
+boots, guns, hunting knives, sabres and pistols. A forester could not
+make up his mind to give away his dear rifle, as he had promised, among
+some boon companions, and preferred going himself to the field. Young
+women sent their bridal attire, and, besides, the neck-ribbons they had
+received from their lovers. A poor maiden, whose beautiful hair had
+been praised, cut it off to be bought by the _friseur_, and patriotic
+speculation caused rings to be made of it, for which more than a
+hundred thalers were received. Whatever the poor could raise was sent,
+and the greatest self-sacrifice was amongst the lowest.[50]
+
+Often has the German since then been animated by patriotic aims; but
+the gifts of that great year deserve a higher praise; for, excepting
+the great collection of the old Pietists for their philanthropic
+institution, it is the first time that such a spirit of self-sacrifice
+has burst forth in the German people, and more especially the first
+time that the German has had the happiness of giving voluntarily for
+his State.
+
+The sums also which were produced were, as a whole, so far beyond what
+has since been collected from wider districts that they can scarcely be
+compared. The equipment of the volunteer riflemen alone, and what was
+collected in the old provinces for the volunteer corps, must have cost
+far more than a million, and it comprehends only a small fragment of
+the voluntary donations made by the people.[51] And how impoverished
+were the lower orders!
+
+Near together on the Schmiedebrücke, at Breslau, were the two
+recruiting places for the volunteer rifles and the Lützow irregulars.
+Professor Steffens and a portion of the Breslau students were the first
+to set on foot the rifles, Ludwig Jahn spoke, gesticulated, and wrote
+concerning the Lützowers. Both troops were equipped entirely by the
+patriotic gifts of individuals. The contributions for the volunteer
+rifles were collected by Heun. Betwixt the Lützowers and riflemen there
+was a friendly and manly emulation; the contrast of their dispositions
+displayed itself; but whether more German or more Prussian, it was the
+same ray of light, only differently refracted. The old contrast of
+character in the citizens, which had been perceptible for a century,
+showed itself, firm, cautious, and vigorous; and enthusiastic feeling
+with loftier aspirations. The first disposition was mostly the
+characteristic of the Prussians, the last of the patriotic youths who
+hastened thither from foreign parts. Very different was the fate of the
+two volunteer bodies. From the 10,000 rifles who were distributed in
+every Prussian regiment, arose the vigour of the Prussian army; they
+were the moral element in it, the aid, strength, and supply of the body
+of officers; and they not only contributed a stormy valour to the
+Prussia army, but gave an elevation to the character of the nobles
+which was new in the history of the war. The irregulars under Lützow,
+on the other hand, experienced the rude fate that overtakes the
+inspirations of the highest enthusiasm. The poetic feeling of the
+educated class attached itself chiefly to them; they included a great
+part of the German students, of vehement and excitable natures; but
+owing to this they became such a large and unwieldy mass that they were
+scarcely adapted to the work of regular warfare, and their leader, a
+brave soldier, had neither the qualities nor the fortune of a daring
+partisan. Their warlike deeds did not come up to the high-raised
+expectations that accompanied their first taking arms. Later, the best
+portion of them were absorbed in other corps of the army. But among
+their officers was the poet who was destined, beyond all others, to
+hand down in verse to the rising generation the magical excitement of
+those days. Of the many touching, youthful characters that figured in
+that struggle, he was one of the purest and most genial in his poetry,
+life and death: it was Theodore Körner.
+
+But even in the great city where the volunteers were preparing their
+equipments there was no noisy din of excited masses. Quickly and
+earnestly every one did his duty. Those who had no money were supported
+by comrades who had been strangers to them, and met them accidentally.
+The only wish of the new comer was to find his equipments. If he had
+two coats, as a Lützower he had one quickly arranged and coloured
+black; his greatest anxiety was as to whether his cartridge box would
+be ready. If he was deficient in everything, and the bureau would not
+supply him with what was necessary, he ventured, but this was rare, to
+beg through the newspapers. Otherwise, money was of as little
+importance to him as to his comrades. He made shift as he best could,
+what did it signify now? As to high-sounding phrases and patriotic
+speeches he had no time nor ear for them. All hectoring and braggadocio
+was despised. Such was the disposition of the young men. It was a great
+enthusiasm, a deep devotion without the inclination to a loud
+expression of it. The consequential ways and bombast of the zealous
+Jahn disgusted many, and this bad habit soon gave him the reputation of
+a coward.
+
+In many there was a disposition to enthusiastic piety, but not in the
+greater part. All the better sort, however, had strongly the feeling
+that they were undertaking a duty which was superior to every other
+earthly object: from this arose their cheerfulness and a certain solemn
+composure. With this feeling they industriously, honourably, and
+conscientiously performed their duty, exercising themselves unweariedly
+in the movement and use of their weapons in their rooms. They sung
+among their comrades with energetic feeling some of the new war songs,
+but these only kindled them because they were earnest and solemn like
+themselves. They did not like to be called soldiers, that word was in
+ill-repute from the time when the stick had ruled. They were warriors.
+That they must obey, do their duty to their utmost, and perform all the
+difficult mechanism of the service, they were thoroughly convinced; and
+also that they must be a pattern and example for the less educated, who
+were by their side. They were determined to be not only strict
+themselves, but careful of the honour of their comrades. In this holy
+war there was to be none of the insolence and coarseness of the old
+soldiers, to disgrace the cause for which they fought. With their
+"brethren" they held a court of honour and punished the unworthy. But
+they would not remain in the army; when the Fatherland was free, and
+the French put down, they would return to their lectures and legal
+documents in their studies. For this wax was not like another; now they
+stood as common soldiers in rank and file, but if they lived they would
+another year be again what they had been.
+
+Beside one of such volunteers was perhaps an old officer from the time
+of the rule of the nobles and the stick. He had done his duty in
+unlucky wars, had perhaps been a prisoner, plundered of all he had and
+dragged through the streets of Berlin, the people following him with
+jeering and curses, and shaking their fists at him; then after the
+peace a court-martial had been held upon him, he was liberated but
+discharged with a miserable pittance. Since that he had starved, and
+secretly gnashed his teeth when the foreign conqueror looked down on
+him as insolently as he had once done on the civilian. If he had no
+wife or child to maintain, he had lived for years with his companions
+in sorrow in a poor dwelling, with disorderly housekeeping, and some of
+the failings of his old officer class still clung to him; this time of
+deprivation had not made him softer or milder, the ruling feeling of
+his soul was hate, deep furious hatred against the foreign conqueror.
+He had long nourished an uncertain hope, perhaps a vain plan of
+revenge, now the time was come for retaliation. Even he had been
+altered by this time of servitude. He had discovered how unsatisfactory
+his knowledge was, and he had in moments of earnestness done something
+towards educating himself; he had learnt and read, he also had been
+inspired by the noble pathos of Schiller. Still he looked with mistrust
+and disfavour on the new-fashioned warrior who perhaps stood before him
+in the ranks. His old grudge against scribblers was still very active,
+and want of discipline, together with high pretensions, wounded him.
+The same antagonism showed itself in the higher as well as lower grades
+in the ranks. It is a remarkable circumstance in this war that he was
+so well restrained; the volunteers soon learnt military obedience, and
+to value the knowledge of service of those above them; and the officer
+lost somewhat of the rough and arbitrary way with which he used to
+treat his men. At last he listened complacently when a wounded rifleman
+contended with the surgeon whether the _flexor_ of the middle finger
+should be cut through, or when one of his men by the bivouac fire
+discussed with animation--in remembrance of his legal lectures--whether
+the ambiguous relation in which a Cossack had placed himself with
+respect to a certain goose was to be considered _culpa lata_ or
+_dolus_. On the whole, this intermixture answered excellently.
+
+But far more important than the action of the volunteers, was the
+advantage to the government of Prussia, of learning for the first time,
+what was its duty to such a people. The grand dimensions which the
+struggle assumed, the imposing military power of Prussia, and the
+weight which this State, by the importance of its armies, acquired in
+the negotiations for peace, were mainly occasioned by the exalted
+feeling which took the world by surprise in the spring months of that
+year. Through it the government gained courage, and was able to expand
+the power of the country to the immense extent it did. East Prussia,
+besides its contingent to the standing army, by its own strength, and
+almost without asking the government, raised twenty battalions of
+Landwehr and a mounted yeomanry regiment, and nothing but this enormous
+development of power could have made the establishment of the Landwehr
+possible throughout the whole realm.
+
+At the command of its King the nation willingly and obediently and in a
+regular way produced this second army; in the old provinces one hundred
+and twenty battalions and ninety squadrons of Landwehr were equipped
+and maintained, and this was only a portion of its exertions.
+
+How faithfully had it obeyed the commands of its King!
+
+The Landwehr of the spring of 1813 had little of the military aspect
+which it obtained by service and later organisation.[52] The men
+consisted of such as had not been drawn into the service of the
+standing army, and now would be taken by lot and choice up to forty
+years of age. As the youths of education, the first military spirits of
+the nation, had most of them either entered the volunteer rifles, or
+filled up the gaps of the standing army, the elements of the Landwehr
+would probably have been of less military capacity if a certain number
+of proprietors had not voluntarily entered the ranks. The solid masses
+of the war consisted of common soldiers, mostly country people; the
+leaders, of country nobles, officials, old officers on half-pay, and
+whoever else was selected as trustworthy by his district, also of young
+volunteers: a very motley material for field service, many of the
+officers as well as soldiers without any experience in war. The
+equipments also were in the beginning very imperfect; they were mostly
+provided by the circles. The coatee, long trowsers of grey linen, a
+cloth cap with a white tin cross; the weapons in the first ranks were
+pikes, in the second and third muskets; for the horsemen, pistols,
+sabres, and pikes. The men were put into ranks, exercised, and equipped
+in what was necessary in the principal town of the circle. In the great
+haste it sometimes happened that battalions were ordered to the army
+which as yet had no weapons and no shoes; the people went barefooted
+and with poles to the Elbe, resembling in appearance a band of robbers
+more than regular soldiery, but with cheerful alacrity, singing and
+giving vent to hurrahs which they had learned from the Cossacks. For
+some weeks the troops of the line, especially the old officers, looked
+contemptuously on this newly-established force, none with more wrath
+than the strict York. When the worthy Colonel Putlitz, at Berlin,
+begged for a Landwehr command,--he who had already fought valiantly in
+the French campaign, and in the year 1807 had collected a corps of
+sharpshooters in the Silesian mountains,--the staff officers asked him
+ironically, whether he thought of fighting with such hordes. After the
+war the valiant general declaimed, that the time during which he had
+commanded the Landwehr was the happiest of his life. In no part of the
+new organisation of the army did the power of the great year, and the
+capacity of the people, shine so brilliantly as in this. These peasant
+lads and awkward ploughboys became in a few weeks trustworthy and
+valiant soldiers. It is true that they had a disproportionate loss of
+men, and in their first encounter with the enemy did not always keep a
+firm front, and showed the rapid alternations of cowardice and courage
+which are peculiar to young troops; but called together from the plough
+and the workshop, badly clothed, badly armed, and little drilled as
+they were, they had in the very beginning to go through all the severe
+fieldwork of veteran troops. That they were in general capable of doing
+it, that some battalions already fought so bravely that even their
+opponent (York) saluted them by taking off his hat, is as well known as
+it is rare in military history. Soon they could not be distinguished
+from troops of the line; it was between them an emulation of valour.
+
+Justly do the sons of that time boast of the men of the Landwehr who
+readily answered to the call; but not less was the zeal with which the
+people at home laboured after the command was given for the war. People
+of every calling, every citizen, the smallest places, the moat distant
+districts, bore their part in the work, often undergoing the greatest
+labours and sufferings, especially those on the frontiers. A simple
+arrangement sufficed for the business in the circles; a military
+commission was formed of two landed proprietors, one citizen and one
+yeoman, the landrath of the circle, and the burgomaster of the capital
+of the circle, were almost always the almost zealous members of it. It
+was undoubtedly an occupation for simple men which was adapted to
+awaken extraordinary powers. They had to deal with the remains of the
+French army, with their hunger and typhus, with the thronging Russians
+who for many months were in a doubtful position, with two languages,
+that of their new friends being more strange to them than that of their
+retreating enemies; and, added to this, the coarseness and wildness of
+their new allies, whose subaltern officers were for the most part no
+better than their soldiers, lusting after brandy, and at least as
+rapacious and more brutal than irregular troops. Soon did the
+commissioners learn how to deal with the wild people; tobacco chests
+stood open, together with clay pipes, in the office room: it was an
+endless coming and going of Russian officers, they filled their pipes
+and smoked, demanded brandy, and received harmless beer. If ever the
+coarseness of the strangers broke out, the Prussian officials at last
+learnt to punish the ill-behaved with their own weapons, the kantschu,
+which perhaps a Russian officer had left him, that he might more easily
+manage his people. The last typhus sufferers of the French still filled
+the hospitals of the city, the Baschkirs bivouacked with their felt
+caps in the market-place; the inhabitants quarrelled with the
+foreigners quartered on them; every day the Russians required the
+necessaries of life and transport, couriers; Russian and Prussian
+officers demanded relays of horses, the cultivators and peasants of the
+neighbouring villages complained that they had been deprived of theirs,
+that no ploughboys were to be found, and that the cultivation of the
+land was impossible. In the midst of all this hurly-burly came the
+orders of their own government, strong and dictatorial, as was required
+by the times, and not always practical, which was natural in such
+haste; the cloth-makers were to furnish cloth, the shoe-makers shoes,
+the harness-makers and saddlers cartouche-boxes and saddles; so many
+hundred pair of boots and shoes, so many hundred pieces of cloth, and
+so many saddles, all in one short week, without money or secure bills
+of exchange. The artisans were for the greater part poor people without
+credit; how was the raw material to be obtained, how was the workman to
+be paid, how were the means of life to be obtained in these weeks in
+which the usual chance profit was lost? This did not go on for one
+week, but for a whole year. Truly the spirit of sacrifice which showed
+itself in gifts, and in the offer of their own lives, was among the
+highest and noblest things of this great time; but not less honourable
+was the self-sacrificing, unpretending, and unobserved fulfilment of
+duty of many thousands of the lower classes, who, each in his sphere in
+the city or in the village, worked for the same idea of his State to
+the uttermost of his own powers.
+
+The question is still unsolved of the military importance, in a
+civilised country, of a _levée en masse_. The law for the establishment
+of this popular force was carried to the very last possibility of
+demand. In the first edict, the 21st of April, there was an almost
+fanatical strictness, which, in the subsequent laws of the 24th of
+July, was much mitigated. The edict exercised a great moral effect; it
+was a sharp admonition to the dilatory, that it was a question for all,
+of life or death. It had an imposing effect even upon the enemy by its
+Draconic paragraphs. But it was, immediately after its appearance,
+severely blamed by impartial judges, because it demanded what was
+impossible, and it had no great practical effect. The Prussians had
+always been a warlike people, but in 1813 they had not the military
+capacity which they have now. Besides the standing army, there were,
+before the introduction of the universal obligation of service, only
+the peaceful citizens without any practice in arms or movement of
+masses, or at the utmost, the old shooting guilds which handled the
+ancient shooting weapons. But now the nation had sent into the field
+all who were capable of fighting; the strength of the country was
+strained to the uttermost; every family had given up what they
+possessed of military spirit. The older men, who remained behind, who
+were also indispensable for the daily work of the field and workshop,
+were not especially capacitated to do valiant service in arms. Thus it
+was no wonder that this fearful law brought to light the ludicrous side
+of the picture; endless goodwill together with boorishness and
+narrowmindedness. It was read with great edification, that the whole
+people were to take up arms to withstand the invading enemy; that the
+women and children also were to be employed in certain occupations, was
+quite to the reader's mind, especially those who were not grown up; but
+doubts were excited by the sentence in which it was stated, that
+cowardice was to be punished by the loss of weapons, the doubling of
+taxes, and corporeal chastisement, as he who showed the feeling of a
+slave was to be treated as a slave. Then the poor little artisan, who
+could scarcely keep his children from hunger, had never touched a
+weapon, and had all his life anxiously avoided every kind of fighting,
+was placed in the position to put the difficult question wistfully to
+himself--what is cowardice? And when the law further forbade anyone in
+a city which was occupied by the enemy to visit any play, ball, or
+place of amusement, not to ring the bells, to solemnise no marriages,
+and to live as if in deepest mourning, it appeared to the unprejudiced
+minds of Germans as tyrannical--more Spanish and Polish than German.
+
+Yet the people, in the enthusiasm of this spring-time, overlooked these
+hardships, and prepared themselves for the struggle. Even before the
+decree, patriotic feeling had, in East Prussia, established here and
+there similar rules. Now this zeal had spread through the cities more
+than in the open countries. The organisation began almost everywhere,
+and was carried through in many places. Beacons were erected, alarm
+poles rose high from Berlin to the Elbe, and towards Silesia resinous
+pines, on which empty tar-barrels were nailed, surrounded with tarred
+straw; near them a watch was posted, and they more than once did good
+service. All kinds of weapons were searched out, fowling-pieces and
+pistols, which had been cleverly foreseen in the ordinance when it
+directed that, "For ammunition, in case of a deficiency in balls, every
+kind of common shot may be used, and the possessors of fire-arms must
+have a constant provision of powder and lead." He who had no musket,
+furnished himself for the levy as the Landwehr did at first, with
+pikes; they were exercised in companies--the butchers, brewers, and
+farmers formed squadrons. The first rank of infantry were pikemen; the
+second and third, if possible, musketeers. In this also, the
+intellectual leaders of the people showed a good example; they knew
+well that it was necessary, but it was no easy matter for them,
+especially if they were no longer young. At Berlin, Savigny and
+Eichhorn were of the Landwehr committee; in the levy none was more
+zealous than Fichte; his pike, and that of his son, leant against the
+wall in the front hall, and it was a pleasure to see the zealous man
+brandishing his sword on the drill-ground, and placing himself in a
+posture of attack. They wished to make him an officer, but he declined
+with these words: "Here I am, only fit to be a common man." He,
+Buttmann, Rühs, and Schleiermacher drilled in the same company; but
+Buttmann, the great Greek scholar, could not quite distinguish between
+right and left; he declared that was most difficult. Rühs was in the
+same condition, and it constantly happened that the two learned men, in
+their evolutions, either turned their backs, or looked each other in
+the face puzzled. Once, when it was a question of an encounter with the
+enemy, and how a valiant man ought to conduct himself in that case,
+Buttmann listened, leaning sadly on his spear, and said at last: "It is
+very well for you to talk, you are of a courageous nature."[53]
+
+If this _Landsturm_ was to be mobilised for the maintenance of the
+security of the circle, or for service in the rear of the enemy, or in
+the neighbourhood of fortresses still held by them, the alarm bell was
+rung, and the town became in a state of stormy excitement. Anxiously
+did the women pack up food and drink, bandages and lint, in the
+knapsack, for according to the regulations no one was to forget the
+knapsack, bread-bag, and field-flask; it was his duty to carry with him
+provisions for three days; not unfrequently did the female inhabitants
+feel like the wife of a cutler in Burg, who stated to the commanding
+officer that her husband must remain behind, for he was the only cutler
+in the place, or like the wife of a watchmaker, who had compelled her
+husband to conceal himself. He was, however, traced by other women
+whose husbands had gone, was taken by them to the churchyard, placed on
+a grave, and punished in a maternal way with the palm of the hand.
+
+Any one who was a child at that time, will remember the enthusiasm with
+which the boys also armed. The elder ones assembled together in
+companies, and armed themselves with pikes; the smaller ones, too, had
+good cudgels. A poor boy who was working in a manufactory was asked why
+he carried no weapon, "I have all my pockets full of stones," was his
+answer; he carried them about with him against the French.[54] And no
+regulation of the _Landsturm_ ordinance was so zealously obeyed by the
+rising generation, as the provision that every _Landsturmer_ should, if
+possible, carry a shrill-sounding pipe with him, in order to recognise
+others in the dark, and come to an understanding. By the greatest
+industry the boys learnt to produce shrill tones from every kind of
+signal pipe, and there is reason to believe that the present use of the
+pipe in street rows was first adopted by our youths from hatred to the
+French. Seldom were the _Landsturm_ employed in military service in
+1813; they were more often employed in clearing the districts of
+marauding rabble, and as watchers, or in the messenger service; their
+only serious military service against the enemy was performed at that
+Büren, which under Frederic II. had driven back its flying sons to the
+King's army. There, after the peace, all the men wore the military
+medal. Up to the present day the people retain the memory of this
+feature of the great war; it has been more enduring than many others of
+more importance. Still do old people boast that though not in the
+field, yet at home they had borne arms for the Fatherland; it also is
+fitting that their sons should remember it. The time may come when in
+another form, and with stricter discipline, the general armament of the
+people will be an important part of German military power.
+
+But whilst here the dangerous game was not carried on in its terrible
+reality, yet all eyes and ears were incessantly directed to the
+distance. The war had begun in earnest. Those who were left behind were
+in continual anxiety concerning the fate of those they loved, and of
+Fatherland. No day passed without some report, no post came without the
+announcement of some important event; life seemed to fly amidst the
+longing and the expectation with which they looked forth beyond their
+city walls. Every little success filled them with transport; it was
+announced at the door of the town hall, in the church, and in the
+theatre, wherever men were collected together. On the 5th April was the
+conflict, at Zehdenick, the first undoubted victory of the Prussians;
+far and wide through the provinces did people hasten to the church
+towers to endeavour to descry the first intelligence; and when the
+thunder of cannon had ceased, and the joyful news ran through the
+country, there was no bounds to the general exultation; everything that
+was praiseworthy was proudly extolled, above all the valiant artillery
+that with guns and powder waggons had chased the enemy through the
+burning market-place of Leitzkau, amidst the flames that were gathering
+around them; also the black Hussars, with their death's-heads, valiant
+Lithuanians, who had ridden over the smart red Hussars from Paris at
+the first onset. And when the proprietor of the market-place afterwards
+made a collection through the newspapers for his poor people who had
+been burnt out, and excused himself for begging at such a time for aid
+to private misfortune, the country people were not forgotten who had
+first suffered from the war.
+
+Louder became the din of war, more furious did the conflict of masses
+rage; the exultation of victory and fearful anxiety alternated in the
+hearts of those remaining at home. After the battle of Grossgörschen,
+it was proclaimed that assistance was needed for the wounded. Then
+there began everywhere among the people collections of linen and lint;
+unweariedly did not only children but grown-up people draw out the
+threads of old linen, the women cut bandages, and the teachers in
+schools cut the rags which the little girls and boys at their request
+brought with them from their homes, into shape, and whilst they taught
+the children, these with burning tears collected the pieces into great
+heaps. Making lint was the evening work of families; it might be of
+some use to the soldiers.
+
+In the neighbourhood of the allied armies and in the chief cities,
+hospitals were erected, and everywhere the women assisted--court
+ladies, and authoresses like Rachel Levin. In one great hospital at
+Berlin there was Frau Fichte and Frau Reimer, the superintendents of
+the female nurses. The hospital, owing to the retreating French, had
+become a pest-house, bad nervous fevers were prevalent, and the strange
+fancies of the invalids made it a terrible abode. The wife of Fichte
+shuddered at these horrors, but he endeavoured to sustain her in his
+noble way. When she was overtaken with nervous fever, he nursed the
+invalid, caught the infection, and died. Reil also, the great physician
+and scholar, died there in the midst of his philanthropic efforts. Frau
+Reimer was preserved; her house had been, before the war, the resort of
+the Prussian patriots, now her husband had become one of the Landwehr
+under Putlitz; her anxieties about him and his business and her little
+children, neither damped her spirit nor engrossed her time; from
+morning to evening, spring and summer, she was actively occupied; never
+weary, she divided her time betwixt her family and her care of the
+sick, and her life appeared to herself indestructible.[55] To her
+husband, friends and contemporaries, this zeal seemed natural, and a
+matter of course. In a similar way did German women do their duty
+everywhere with the greatest self-denial and devotedness, and with
+quiet enduring energy.
+
+The fearful battle of Bautzen took place; the armistice followed. The
+Prussians were full of uneasiness. Streams of blood had flowed, their
+army was driven back, the Emperor appeared invincible by earthly
+weapons. For some weeks the most intelligent looked gloomily at the
+future, but the people still maintained a right feeling of self-respect
+and elevated resolution. Trust in their own energy, and the goodness of
+their cause, and above all trust in God, were the source of this frame
+of mind. Every one saw that the strength of Prussia in this campaign
+was incomparably greater than in the last unfortunate war. Only a
+little more strength seemed to be necessary to overthrow the tyrant; if
+they could only make a little more exertion, he might be hurled back.
+The voluntary contributions continued, late in the autumn receipts were
+given for them. The equipment of the Landwehr was ended, the artisan
+had everywhere worked for his King and Fatherland.
+
+The war again raged, blow and counterblow, flux and reflux; the armies
+pressed on; now one saw from Thurm the hosts of the enemy, now the
+approach of friends. The cities and provinces of the west learnt from
+Berlin and Breslau the fate of the war. Ah, its terrible features are
+not strange to Germans; up to the time of our fathers, the hearts of
+almost every generation of citizens have been shaken by them.
+
+There are hollow, short reverberations in the air; it is the thunder of
+distant cannon. Listening crowds stand in the market-place, and at the
+gates; little is said, only half words in a subdued tone, as if the
+speaker feared to speak too loud. From the parapet of the towers, and
+the gables of the houses which look towards the field of battle, the
+eyes of the citizens strain anxiously to see into the distance. On the
+verge of the horizon there is a white cloud in the sunlight,
+occasionally a bright flash is perceptible and a dark shadow. But on
+the by-ways which lead from the nearest villages to the high road, dark
+crowds are moving. They are country people flying into the wood or to
+the mountains. Each carries on his shoulders what he has been able to
+scrape together, but few have been able to carry off their property,
+for carts and horses have for some weeks past been taken from them by
+the soldiers; lads and men drive their herds nervously, the women
+loudly wailing, carry their little ones. Again there is a rolling in
+the air, sharper and more distinct. A horseman races through the city
+gate at wild speed, then another. Our troops are retreating, the crowds
+of citizens separate, the people run in terrified anguish into their
+houses, and then again into the street; even in the city they prepare
+for flight. Loud are the cries and lamentations. He who still possessed
+a team of horses, dragged them to the pole, the clothmaker threw his
+bales, and the merchant his most valuable chests on the waggons, and
+over these their children and those of their neighbours. Waggons and
+crowds of flying men thronged to the distant gate. If there is a swampy
+marsh almost impassable, or a thick wood in the neighbourhood, they fly
+thither. Inaccessible hiding-places, still remembered from the time of
+the Swedes, are again sought out. Great troops collect there, closely
+packed; the citizens and countrymen conceal themselves with their
+cattle and horses for many days; sometimes still longer. After the
+battle of Bautzen the parishioners of Tillendorf near Bunzlau abode
+more than a week in the nearest wood, their faithful pastor Senftleben
+accompanied them, and kept order in that wild spot, he even baptised a
+child.[56]
+
+But he who remains in the town with his property, or in the performance
+of his duty, is eager to conceal his family and goods. Long has the
+case been taken into consideration, and hiding-places ingeniously
+devised. If the city has more especially roused the fury of the enemy,
+it is threatened with fire, plunder, and the expulsion of the citizens.
+In such a case the people carry their money firmly sewed in their
+clothes.
+
+One anxious hour passes in feverish hope. The first announcers of the
+retreat clatter through the streets, damaged guns escorted by Cossacks.
+Slowly they return, the number of their men incomplete, and blackened
+by powder, more than one tottering wounded. The infantry follow, and
+waggons overcrowded with wounded and dying men. The rear-guard take up
+their post at the gate and the corners of the streets, awaiting the
+enemy. Young lads run from the houses and carry to the soldiers what
+they have called for, a drink or a bit of bread; they hold the
+knapsacks for the wounded, or help them quickly to bandages.
+
+There are clouds of dust on the high road. The first cavalry of the
+enemy approach the gate, cautiously looking out, the Carabiniers on the
+right flank. A shot falls from the rear-guard, the Chasseur also fires
+his carbine, turns his horse, and retires. Immediately the enemy's
+vanguard press on in quick trot, and the Prussian Tirailleurs withdraw
+from one position to another firing. Finally the last has abandoned the
+line of houses. Once more they collect outside the gate, in order to
+detain the enemy's cavalry, who have again formed into rank.
+
+The streets are empty and shut. Even the boys who have accompanied the
+Prussian Tirailleurs have disappeared; the curtains of the windows are
+let down, and the doors closed; but behind curtain and door are anxious
+faces looking at the approaching enemy. Suddenly a cry bursts forth
+from a thousand rough voices--_vive l'Empereur!_ and, like a flood, the
+French infantry rush into the town. Immediately they knock against the
+doors with the butt ends of their muskets, and if they are not opened
+quick enough they are broken in. Now follow desperate disputes between
+the defenceless citizen and the irritated enemy--exorbitant demands,
+threats, and frequently ill-usage and peril of death--everywhere
+clamour, lamentation, and violence. Cupboards and desks are broken
+open, and everything, both valuable and valueless, plundered, spoiled,
+or destroyed, especially in those houses whose inmates have fled; for
+the property of an uninhabited house, according to the custom of war,
+falls to the share of the soldier. The city authorities are dragged to
+the townhall, and difficult negotiations begin concerning the
+quartering of the troops, the delivery of provisions and forage, and
+impossible contributions.
+
+If the enemy's General cannot be satisfied with gifts, or if the town
+is to be punished, the inhabitants of most consideration are collected,
+forcibly detained, threatened, and, perhaps at last, carried off as
+hostages. If a larger corps is encamped round the city, one battalion
+bivouacs in the market-place. The French are rapidly accommodated. They
+have fetched straw from the suburbs, they have robbed provisions on the
+road, and cut up the doors and furniture for fire-wood. Disagreeably
+sounds the crash of the axe on the beams and woodwork of the houses.
+Brightly blaze up the camp fires, and loud laughter, with French songs,
+sound about the flames.
+
+When the enemy withdraws in the morning, after having remained one
+night through which the citizens have held anxious watch, they gaze
+with astonishment on the rapid devastation of their city, and on the
+sudden change in the country outside the gates. The boundless ocean of
+corn, which yesterday waved round their city walls, is vanished, rooted
+up, crushed and trampled by man and horse. The wooden fences of the
+gardens are broken, summer arbours and houses are torn away, and
+fruit-trees cut down. The fire-wood lies in heaps round the smouldering
+watch-fires, and the citizen may find there the planks of his waggon
+and the doors of his barn. He can scarcely recognise the place where
+his own garden was, for the site of it is covered with camp straw,
+confused rubbish, and the blood and entrails of slaughtered beasts. In
+the distance, where the houses of the nearest village project above the
+foliage of the trees, he perceives no longer the outline of the roofs,
+only the walls are standing, like a heap of ruins.
+
+It was bitter to pass through such an hour, and many lost all heart.
+Even for people of property it was now difficult to support their
+families. All the provisions of the city and neighbourhood were
+consumed or destroyed, and no countryman brought even the necessaries
+of life to the market, it was needful therefore to send far into the
+country for the means to appease hunger. But from a rapid succession of
+great events men had become colder, more sturdy and hardier in
+themselves. The strong participation which every individual had taken
+in the fate of the State made them indifferent to their own hardships.
+After every danger, it was felt to be a comfort that the last thing,
+life, was saved. And there was hope.
+
+Before long the devastating billow surged back. Again roared the
+thunder of guns, and the drums rattled. Our troops are advancing; wild
+struggle rages round the city. The Prussian battalions press forward
+through the streets into the market-place against the enemy, who still
+hold the western suburb. It is the young Landwehr who this day receive
+their baptism of blood. The balls whistle through the streets; they
+strike the tiles and plaster of the houses; the citizens have again
+concealed their wives and children in cellars and out-of-the-way
+places. The battalions halt in the market-place. The ammunition waggons
+are opened. The first companies press forward to the same gate through
+which, a few days before, the enemy had rushed into the city. The
+struggle rages fiercely. In the assault the enemy are thrown back; but
+fresh masses establish themselves in the houses of the suburb, and
+contend for the entrances to the streets. Mutilated and severely
+wounded men are carried back and laid down in the market-place, and
+more than once the combatants have to be relieved. When the
+inexperienced soldiers see their comrades borne back from the fight,
+their faces blackened with powder, and covered with sweat and blood,
+their courage sinks within them; but the officers, who are also for the
+first time in close combat, spring forward, and "Forward, children! the
+Fatherland calls!" sounds through the ranks. At one time the enemy
+succeeded in storming the upper gate, but scarcely have they forced
+their way into the first street leading to the market, when a company
+of Landwehr throw themselves upon them with loud hurrahs, and drive
+them out of the gate.[57]
+
+The thunder roars; the fiery hail pierces through doors and windows;
+the dead lie on the pavement and thresholds of the houses. Then any
+citizen who has a manly heart can no longer bear the close air of his
+hiding place. He presses close behind his fighting countrymen near to
+the struggle. He raises the wounded from the pavement, and carries them
+on his back either to his house or the hospital. Again the boys are not
+among the last; they fetch water, and call at the houses for some drink
+for the wounded whom they support; they climb up the ammunition waggons
+and hand down the cartridges, proud of their work they are unconcerned
+about the whistling bullets. Even the women rush out of the houses,
+with bread in their aprons and full flasks in their hands; they may
+thus do something to help the Fatherland.
+
+The fight is over; the enemy driven back. In the warm sunshine a
+sorrowful procession moves through the city--the imprisoned enemy
+escorted by Cossacks. Hardheartedly do the troopers drive the weary
+crowd; they are allowed only a short rest in the open place of the
+suburb; the prisoners lie exhausted, weary and half fainting, in the
+dust of the high road. It is the second day on which they have had
+neither food nor drink; not once have their guards allowed them a drink
+from brook or ditch; they have ill-treated the weary men with blows and
+thrusts of their lances. These now, with outstretched hands, pour forth
+entreaties in their own language to the citizens, who stand round with
+curiosity and sympathy. They are, for the most part, young Frenchmen
+who are here lamenting, poor boys, with pale and haggard faces. The
+citizens hasten to them with food and drink; ample piles of bread are
+brought; but the Russians are hungry themselves; they roughly push back
+the approaching people, and tear their gifts from them. Then the women
+put baskets and flasks into the hands of their children. A courageous
+lad springs forward; the little troop of maidens and young boys trip
+amongst the prisoners, who are lying on the ground; even the youngest
+totter bravely from man to man, and distribute their gifts smilingly,
+unconcerned about their bearded guards,[58] for the Cossack does no
+injury to children. The German is not unkind to his enemy.
+
+When anyone carries a wounded countryman to his house, how faithfully
+and carefully he nurses him. The family treat him as they would their
+own son or brother who is far away in the king's army. The best room
+and a soft bed is prepared for him, and the mistress of the house
+attends him herself with bandages and all necessary care.
+
+The whole people feel like a great family. The difference of classes,
+the variety of avocations, no longer divide; joy and sorrow are felt in
+common, and goods and gains are willingly shared. The prince's daughter
+stands in union with the wife of the artisan, and both zealously
+co-operate together; and the land junker who, only a few months before,
+considered every citizen as an intruder in his places of resort, now
+rides daily from his property to the city in order to smoke his war
+pipe with his new friends, the alderman or manufacturer, and to chat
+with them over the news; or, what was still more interesting to them,
+over the regiment in which their sons were fighting together. Men
+became more frank, firmer and better in this time; the morose pedantry
+of officials, the pride of the nobleman, and even the suspicious
+egotism of the peasant, were blown away from most, like dust from
+good metal; selfishness was despised by everyone; old injustice and
+long-nourished rancour were forgotten, and the hidden good in man came
+to light. According as every one bestirred himself for his Fatherland,
+he was afterwards judged. With surprise did people, both in town and
+country, see new characters suddenly rise into consideration among
+them; many small citizens who had hitherto been little esteemed, became
+advisers, and the delight and pride of the whole city. But he who
+showed himself weak seldom succeeded in regaining the confidence of his
+fellow citizens; the stain clung to him during the life of that
+generation. And this free and grand conception of life, this hearty
+social tone, and the unconstrained intercourse of different classes
+lasted for years after the war. There are some still living who can
+speak of it.
+
+When after the armistice, the glorious time of victories came,
+Grossbeeren, Hagelsberg, Dennewitz, and the Katzbach; when particular
+Prussian Generals rose higher in the eyes of the people, and millions
+felt pleasure and pride in their army and its leaders; when at last the
+battle of nations was fought, and the great aim attained--the overthrow
+and flight of the hated Emperor, and the delivery of the country from
+his armies--then was the highest rapture that could be felt in this
+world enjoyed with calm intensity. The people hastened to the churches
+and listened reverentially to the thanksgivings of the ecclesiastics,
+and in the evening they illuminated their streets.
+
+This kind of festivity was nothing new. Wherever, in the last years,
+the enemy's troops entered in the evening into a city, they had called
+out for lights; wherever there was a French garrison, the citizens had
+to illuminate for every victory which was announced by the hated ally
+of their King. Now this was done voluntarily; everyone had experience
+in it, and the simple preparation was in every house. Four candles in a
+window were then thought something considerable; even the poorest
+spared a few kreutzers for two, and if he had no candlestick, employed,
+according to old custom, the useful potato; the more enterprising
+ventured upon a transparency, and a poor mother hung out, together with
+the candles, two letters which her son had written from the field.
+These festivities were then simple and unpretending; now we do the same
+kind of thing far more splendidly.
+
+The great rising began in the eastern provinces of the Prussian State;
+how it showed itself among the people there we have endeavoured to
+portray. But the same strong current flowed in the country on the other
+side of the Elbe, not only in the old Prussian districts, but with
+equal vigour on the coasts of the North Sea, in Mecklenburg, Hanover,
+Brunswick, Thuringia, and Hesse, almost in every district up to the
+Maine. It comprehended the districts which, in the eighteenth century,
+had attained a greater military capacity; in the provinces of the old
+Empire it was only partial. The new States which arose there under
+French influence, discovered later, and in an indirect way, the
+necessity of a closer connection with the larger portion of the nation.
+For Austria, this war was an act of political prudence.
+
+Still two years followed of high strained exertion and bloody battles;
+again did the rising youth of the country, who in the first year had
+been wanting in age and strength, throng with enthusiasm into the ranks
+of the army. It was another war, and another victory had to be
+achieved, it was, however, no longer a struggle for the existence of
+Prussia and Germany, but for the ruin and life of the foreign Emperor.
+
+The year 1813 had freed Germany from the dominion of a foreign people.
+Again did the Prussian eagle float over the other side of the Rhine, on
+the old gates of Cleve. It had made a bloody end to an insupportable
+bondage. It had united most of the German races in brotherly ties by a
+new circle of moral interests. It had produced for the first time in
+German history an immense political result by a powerful development of
+popular strength. It had entirely altered the position of the nation to
+their Princes; for, above the interests of dynasties, and the quarrels
+of rulers, it had given existence to a stronger power which they all
+feared, honoured, and must win, in order to maintain themselves. It had
+given a greater aim to the life of every individual, a participation in
+the whole, political feeling, the highest of earthly interests, a
+Fatherland, a State for which he learnt to die and by degrees to live.
+
+The Prussians did the greater part of the work of this year, which will
+never be forgotten by the rest of Germany.
+
+It would not be becoming in us, the sons of the generation of 1813, to
+disparage the glorious struggle of our fathers, because they have left
+us something to do.
+
+Almost all who passed through that great time of struggle and
+self-sacrifice consider the memory of it the greatest possession of
+their later life, and it encircled the heads of many with a bright
+glory. And thousands felt what the warm-hearted Arndt expressed,
+"We can now die at any moment, as we have seen in Germany what
+is alone worth living for, that men, from a feeling of the eternal,
+and imperishable, have been able to offer, with the most joyful
+self-devotion, all their temporalities and their lives as if they were
+nothing."
+
+But in the churches of the country a simple tablet was put up as a
+memorial to later generations, on which was the iron cross of the Great
+Time, and the names of those who had fallen.
+
+As in these pages it has been attempted to portray, in the words of men
+who have passed away, a picture of the time in which they lived, so
+here we will give a record from the year 1813.
+
+
+"Our son George was struck by a ball, at the age of two-and-twenty, on
+the 2nd of April, at the ever-memorable engagement at Lüneburg. As a
+volunteer rifleman in the light battalion of the first Pommeranian
+regiment, he fought, according to the testimony of his brave leader,
+Herr Major von Borcke, by his side, with courage and determination, and
+thus, died for his Fatherland, German freedom, national honour, and our
+beloved King. To lose him so early is hard; but it is comforting to
+feel that we also have been able to give a son for this great and holy
+object. We feel deeply the necessity of such a sacrifice.
+
+                         "The Regierungsrath and Ober-Commissarius
+                                  Häse and his Wife."[59]
+
+"Berlin, 9th April, 1813."
+
+
+That portion of the people also who were not in the habit of expressing
+their feelings in writing felt the same. When the Lützower Gutike,[60]
+in the Summer of 1813, was on his march from Berlin to Perleberg, he
+found at Kletzke the landlady in mourning; she was waiting silently
+upon him, and at last said suddenly, pointing with her hand to the
+ground, "I have one there,--but Peter's wife has two." She felt that
+her neighbour had superior claims to sympathy.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+                       THE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY.
+                              (1815-1848.)
+
+
+When the volunteers of 1813 went to the field, their hope was, at some
+time, to live as citizens, with their friends, in the liberated
+Fatherland, enjoying the freedom, peace, and happiness, which they had
+won. But it is sometimes easier to die for freedom than to live for it.
+
+A few years after victory had been achieved, and Napoleon was prisoner
+in his distant rocky island, Schliermacher said in the pulpit to his
+parishioners: "It was an error when we hoped to rest in comfort after
+the peace. A time is now come, when guiltless and good men are
+persecuted, not only for what they do, but also for the views and
+projects which are attributed to them. But the brave Christian should
+not be faint-hearted, but in spite of danger and persecution remain
+true to truth and virtue." And police spies copied these words, and did
+not forget to add to their report that such and such persons had been
+in the church, or that four bearded students had knelt down at the
+altar after the communion, and had prayed fervently.
+
+The intrepid Arndt was watched and removed. Jahn was put into prison,
+and many of the leaders of the patriotic movement of 1813 were
+persecuted as dangerous men; police officers disturbed the peace of
+their homes, and their papers were seized. A special commission
+outrageously violated the forms of law, acting with mean hate,
+arbitrarily, tyrannically, and perfidiously, like a Spanish
+Inquisition.
+
+It is a sorrowful page in German history. Independent characters
+withdrew, deeply disgusted with the narrow-minded rule which now began
+in most of the States of Germany; common mediocrity again took the
+helm. Prussia's foreign policy was dictated from Vienna and St.
+Petersburgh, and before long its political influence on the history of
+Europe was again less than it had been under the Elector Frederic
+William. When the people rose in war against a foreign enemy, they
+little thought what the result would be when the independence of
+Germany was secured. They themselves brought to the struggle unbounded
+devotion, and supposed a similar feeling in all who had to shape the
+future, in their princes, and even in the allied powers. To no one
+scarcely was it clear how the new Germany was to be arranged. Any
+clear-sighted person could perceive, in the first year of the war, that
+a remodelling of Germany, which would make a great development of the
+power of the nation possible, was not to be hoped for. For it was not
+the people, nor the patriotic army of Blücher that were to decide, but
+the dynasties and cabinets of Europe, according to the position of
+affairs,--Austria, the new States of the Rhineland, the English,
+Hanover, France, Sweden, and above all Russia, each endeavouring to
+guard their own interests. The antagonism between Prussia and Austria
+had already broken out in the negotiations; the Prussians had by an
+immense effort obtained an honourable position in Europe, but neither
+in the opinion of nations nor of cabinets were they considered entitled
+to the leadership. There was hardly a person not Prussian who ever
+thought of excluding Austria from a new confederation; even Prussia
+itself did not think of it.
+
+We know, therefore, that the "German question" was even then hopeless,
+and we do not regret that the old Empire under its Emperor was not
+restored.
+
+But easily as we can now understand how invincible were the
+difficulties, to contemporaries the feeling of disappointment was
+bitter, and an unprejudiced estimate of their position difficult. Among
+the patriots of 1813, a small minority were then full of enthusiastic
+sentimentality; they contrasted their poetical ideas of the old
+splendour of the German Empire with the bad reality; these
+_Deutschthumler_--Teuto-maniacs--as they were called after 1815, had
+been without influence in the great movement Jahn's great beard was
+seldom admired, and the worthy Karl Müller found no favour when he
+began to banish all foreign words from military language. Now after the
+peace these enthusiasts, for the most part not Prussians, collected
+together in small communities at the German universities. They sorrowed
+and hoped, expressed violent indignation, and gave zealous advice; they
+were agreed together that something great must happen, and they were
+ready to stake life and property upon it; only, what was to be done was
+not clear. Between varying moods and wavering projects they came to no
+conclusion. Politically considered this movement was not dangerous,
+till the odious persecution of the governments goaded them into hatred
+and opposition, and throwing a gloom over the minds of some, led to
+fanatical resolves.
+
+It was not the fault of the Prussian government that the hopes of the
+nation for a new German State were disappointed. But it had incurred
+another debt. The King had promised to give his people a constitution.
+If ever a nation had acquired a right to a participation in the
+government, it was the Prussian; for it had raised the State from the
+deepest depression. If the greatest State in Germany had, by legal
+forms, obtained the possibility of a political development of its
+power, every sensible Prussian would have been contented. The press and
+a parliament would gradually have given the loyal nation a feeling of
+prosperity and safe progress, opposing parties would have contended
+publicly, and those who demanded more for Germany than could at present
+be attained, would have been restrained by Prussia. The character of
+the Germans was now freed from the weakness which had pervaded it
+through a whole generation. The State also could no longer do without
+the participation of the people, if it was not to fall back into the
+old state of feebleness, which only a few years before had brought it
+to the verge of ruin. Now, when life was impressed with new ideas, when
+in hundreds of thousands a passionate interest in the State had sprung
+up, the safest support for the throne itself was a constitution. For
+the Prussians were no longer a nation without opinions or will, whose
+destiny an individual could dispose of by his will.
+
+But the King, however honest he might be, who wished to continue to
+govern in the old way through pliant officials, was in danger from this
+new condition of the world of becoming the tool of a noxious faction,
+or the victim of foreign influence. He required a strong counterpoise
+against the preponderating power of Russia, and diplomatic
+entanglements with Austria. This he could only find in the strength of
+an attached people, who in union with him would deliberate on the
+policy and support of his State.
+
+King Frederic William III. never felt the incongruous position in which
+he had placed himself, in respect to the necessities of the time, for
+his image was closely bound up with the grandest reminiscences of the
+people; and the private virtues of his life made him, during a long
+reign, an object of reverence to the rising generation. But his
+successor was to suffer fearfully from the circumstance that he
+himself, his officials, and his people had grown up under a crippled
+system of State.
+
+But that the Prussians of 1813 should so quietly have borne their
+disappointed hopes, that--whilst already in the States of the Rhenish
+Confederation parties were in vehement struggle--the "great State" lay
+so lifeless, is to be attributed to other reasons besides loyalty to
+the Hohenzollerns. The nation was exhausted to the uttermost by the war
+and what had preceded it, and wearied to death. Scarcely had it
+strength to cultivate its land. Years passed over before the live stock
+could be fully replaced. Cities and village communities, landed
+proprietors and peasants were all deeply in debt. The price of landed
+properties sank lower than they had been before 1806. It often happened
+that noble estates remained without masters for many years, when the
+last proprietor had wasted the live stock, and that auctions were often
+unattended by solvent bidders. Commerce and industry had been destroyed
+by the Continental blockade, for the old outlets for linen, cloth, and
+iron, the great branches of Prussian trade, were lost--foreigners had
+appropriated them. And capital also was wanting. Intercourse, also,
+with the Sclavonian eastern districts, a vital question to the old
+provinces, was gradually almost annihilated by the new Russian
+commercial system. But a still greater hindrance arose from the waste
+of men through the war. The whole youth of the country had been under
+arms, a large portion had fallen on the battle-fields, and the
+survivors had been torn away from their citizen life. Many remained in
+the army: full a third part of the Prussian officers who commanded the
+army in the following thirty years consisted of volunteer rifles of
+1813. He who returned to his former vocation found himself reduced in
+circumstances, and his relatives helpless and impoverished. He was at
+last glad to become an unpretending official, and thus to obtain a
+livelihood for himself and his family in the exhausted country. The
+bloody work of three campaigns, and the habits of soldierly obedience
+had not diminished his vigour, but the genial warmth, which enables
+youth to look victoriously upon life, had passed away. He began now a
+struggle for a respectable home, probably with patience and devotion to
+duty, but in the narrow sphere into which he now entered, he could not
+but look back to the mighty past which he had gone through. Thus had
+the manly energy of the generation been spent. The youths also that
+grew up in their families had no longer the advantage of being
+influenced by great impressions, enthusiasm, and devotion.
+
+These misfortunes fell heaviest on the old provinces. The new
+acquisition demanded for many years great official power and much
+government care before it could be moulded into the Prussian
+commonwealth.
+
+It is manifest that a free press and a constitution were the best means
+of healing these weaknesses more rapidly, and of bringing a feeling of
+convalescence and coherence among the people; for warmth and enthusiasm
+are as necessary to the life of a nation as the light of heaven is to
+plants and dew to the clouds. The further its development advances, the
+greater becomes its need of exalted ideas, and of having intellectual
+interests in common. When the Reformation first roused the people to an
+intellectual struggle, it was as if a miracle had been worked upon
+them; their character became stronger, their morality purer, all the
+processes of the mind, all human energy had become stronger; and when
+the awakened need of a common aim was not satisfied in the State life
+of the German Empire, the people became inert and worse. Again, after a
+long and sorrowful time, a great Prince had given to at least a part of
+the Germans new enthusiasm and an ideal aim. The warm interest in the
+fate of their State, which ennobled Frederic's time, and the liberation
+of the mind from the tutelage of the State and the Church, had been a
+second great progress; and again had this progress required an
+answering extension of general interests and a strengthening of
+political action. But in the spiritless and powerless rule of the next
+generation the popular energies again decayed. The fall of Prussia was
+the consequence. Now, for the third time, a great portion of the
+Germans had made a new progress, the nation had given its property and
+its blood for its State, and it had become a passionate necessity to
+care for the Fatherland, and to take a share in its fate; and as this
+longing again met with no satisfaction, the people sank back for a time
+into weakness. The distractions of the year 1848 were the result.
+
+In almost every domain of ideal life the malady became apparent, even
+in philosophy.
+
+Extensive was the domain embraced by German philosophy; new branches of
+knowledge had sprung up with surprising rapidity; there was scarce a
+bygone people in the most distant regions of the earth whose history,
+life, arts, and language were not investigated; above all, the past of
+Germany. With hearty warmth was every expression of our popular mind,
+of which there remained a trace, laid hold of. A wonderful richness of
+life of the olden time was discovered and understood in all its
+specialities. Round the German inquirer arose from the earth the
+spirits of nations which had once lived; he learnt to comprehend what
+was peculiar to each, what was common to all--the action of the human
+mind on the highest phenomena of the globe. Equally did the knowledge
+of objective nature increase. The history of the creation of the earth,
+the organism of everything created, the countless objects invisible to
+the naked eye, and the countless things which arise from the
+combination of simple substances, became known; and again, beyond the
+boundaries of this earth, the life of the solar system, the cosmical
+unit, of which the solar world is an infinitesimal speck.
+
+But the endless abundance of new knowledge which was infused by science
+into the life of the highly educated was dangerous to the character in
+one respect. The German learnt to understand the almost endless
+varieties of character of foreign nations; the most dissimilar kinds of
+culture became clear to him. Impartially, and with lively interest, did
+he enter into the policy of Tiberius, and the enthusiasm of Loyola, the
+gradual development of slavery in North America, and the pedantries and
+dreams of Robespierre. He was, therefore, in danger, in his considerate
+judgment, of forgetting the moral basis of his own life. He who would
+identify himself with so many foreign minds, needs not only the
+capacity to grasp the minds of others, but still more the power to keep
+himself free from the influence exercised over him by foreign
+conditions of life. He who would without prejudice estimate the
+relative value of a foreign point of view, must first know how to
+maintain firmly the moral foundation of his own life. This can only be
+effected by making his own will subservient to the duty of co-operating
+with his contemporaries, by joining in free associations, by a free
+press, and by continuous participation in the greatest political
+conceptions of his time. It was because the Prussians, whose capital at
+this time was the centre of German philosophy, were deprived of this
+regulator, that the cultivated minds of this period acquired a peculiar
+weakness of character, which will appear strange to the next
+generation.
+
+This weakness of will was indeed no new failing of the educated German.
+It was the two hundred years' malady of a people which had no
+participation in the State, and, from its natural disposition, was not
+carried away by the impulse of passion, but composedly deliberates on
+action, and is seldom prevented by vehement excitement from forming a
+moderate judgment. But in the first part of our century their old
+weakness became particularly striking amidst these rich treasures of
+knowledge. Oftener than formerly did the originality of a foreign form
+of life produce an overpowerful influence on them. Instead of
+withstanding some mighty influence, it might be that of Metternich,
+Byron, or Eugene Sue, popery, socialism, or Polish patriotism, being
+foreign, they yielded to its prestige, their own judgment being
+vacillating and uncertain. Though it was easy for the best amongst them
+to talk cleverly upon the most dissimilar subjects, it was difficult
+for them to act consistently.
+
+This malady seized almost all the intellectual portion of the people.
+The salons became _blasé_, authors sensational, statesmen without fixed
+purpose, and officials without energy: these were all different forms
+of the same disease. It was everywhere destructive, nowhere more than
+in Prussia; it gave to this State a specially helpless, nay, even hoary
+aspect, that was in striking contrast to the respectable capacity which
+was not lost in the smaller circles of the people.
+
+But healing came, by degrees, and again in a circuitous way, sometimes
+bounding forwards, and then retrograding; but, on the whole, since
+1830, in continual progress.
+
+For, at the same time in which the July revolution again excited,
+throughout a wide circle of life, an interest in the State, a new
+development of German popular strength began in other spheres,
+especially through the industrious labours of countless individuals, in
+the workshop and the counter. The Zollverein--the greatest creation of
+Frederic William III.--threw down a portion of the barriers which had
+divided separate German States; the railroads and the steam-boats
+became the metallic conductors of technical culture from one end of the
+country to the other. With the development of German manufacturing
+activity came new social dangers, and new remedies had to be supplied
+by the spontaneous activity of the people. Bit by bit was the narrow
+system of government and of characterless officials destroyed; the
+nation acquired a feeling of active growth; everywhere there was a
+youthful interest in life; everywhere energetic activity in
+individuals. A free intelligence developed itself in independent men,
+as well as in the official order, together with other forms of culture
+and other needs of the people. The labour of the inferior classes
+became more valuable; to raise their views and increase their welfare
+was no longer a problem for quiet philanthropists, but a necessity for
+all, a condition of prosperity even for those highest in position.
+Whilst it was complained that the chasm between employers and the
+employed became greater, and the domination of capital more oppressive,
+great efforts were in fact being made by the zeal of literary men, the
+philanthropy of the cultivated, and by the monied classes for their own
+advantage, to increase the knowledge of the people and improve their
+morals. A comprehensive popular literature began to work, commercial
+and agricultural schools were established, and men of different spheres
+of interests organised themselves into associations. By example and by
+teaching it was endeavoured to raise the independence of the weaker,
+and the great principle of association was proclaimed. In the place of
+the former isolation, men of similar views worked together in every
+domain of earthly activity. It was a grand labour to which the nation
+now devoted itself, and it was followed by the greatest and most rapid
+change which the Germans have ever effected.
+
+Both the sound egotism of this work and the practical benevolence of
+those who interested themselves in the welfare of the labouring
+classes, assisted, after the year 1830, in curing the educated of their
+irresolution and feebleness of character. The south of Germany now
+exercised a wholesome influence on the north. Long had the countries of
+the old Empire lived quietly to themselves, receiving more than giving;
+they had sent to the north some great poets and men of learning, but
+considered them as their special property; they had endeavoured to
+protect their native peculiarities against north German influence, and
+they were unwillingly, by Napoleon and the Vienna and Paris treaties,
+apportioned among the greater princely houses of their country; and now
+they supplied what was wanting to the north. The constitutional
+struggles of their little States formed a school for a number of
+political leaders, warm patriots, and energetic, warm-hearted men,
+sometimes with narrow-minded views, but zealous, unwearied, fresh, and
+hopeful. The Suabian poets were the first artist minds of Germany which
+were strengthened by participation in the politics of their homes, and
+the philosophy of southern Germany maintained a patriotic tendency in
+contradistinction to the cosmopolitanism of the north. The people were
+saved from becoming _blasé_, and from subtle formalism and sophistry,
+by warmth of heart, vigorous resolution, a solid understanding, which
+was little accessible to over-great refinements, and a pleasant
+good-humour. In the time from 1830 to 1848 the southern Germans were in
+the foreground of German life.
+
+This hearty participation in the life of the people found expression in
+the art of the southern Germans. The morbid spirit which prevailed in
+the society of the educated, drove the fine arts into the lower circles
+of the people. The popular painters endeavoured to represent the
+figures and occupations of lower life with humour and spirit; the poets
+endeavoured to embellish, with a genial interest, the character and
+condition of the countryman: their village tales, and the interest
+which they excited in the reading world are always considered as a
+symptom of how great was the longing in the educated for quiet comfort
+and a well-regulated activity.
+
+A village tale shall be here given, descriptive of the condition of the
+people at this period; for the life of the southern German, which is
+related, is in many respects characteristic of the fate and inward
+changes in the best spirits of the time which has just passed. The
+movement which, after the revolution of 1830, vibrated all over Europe,
+had excited in him also a lively interest in the national development
+of the Fatherland. The debates of the Chambers of his small country
+were his first auxiliaries. The struggles which took place there did
+not remain without fruit; they relieved agriculture and the peasant
+from the burdens which had hitherto oppressed them; they introduced
+municipal institutions and public and verbal proceedings, even a law
+against the censorship of the press. But the German Diet interposed,
+the law of the press was put an end to, and the complaints of the
+landed proprietors against the exemption laws found favour with it; and
+the Frankfort outrage of the 3rd of April, 1833, produced a re-action.
+Then the author left his official position in a fiscal chamber and
+devoted his energies to the press. When he was deprived of even this
+share in the political destiny of his country, by the malicious
+chicanery of a lawless police, he settled for a few years in
+Switzerland. All his life it had been a pleasure for him to teach. As a
+student, as candidate for the service of the State, he had given
+instruction to young men; he was therefore not unprepared for the
+office of teacher; which he entered upon in that foreign country. He
+relates as follows:--
+
+"On Easter Monday, 1838, in the church at Grenchen, in the canton of
+Solothurn, the Roman Catholic community appointed a Protestant and a
+German as teacher in the newly-erected district school. The community
+had chosen him, and the government had confirmed the choice; I was the
+teacher.
+
+"It was a raw spring morning. The monotonous grey of the clouds covered
+the sides and summit of the Jura, large snow-flakes fell in thick
+drifts, and enveloped the procession that was moving towards the
+church. The words addressed by Father Zweili, superior of the
+Franciscans, and president of the education council, to those
+assembled, would have been suitable to any clergyman. He expressed to
+me that I need have no hesitation in speaking to the scholars on
+religion; 'it is only necessary for you to abstain from touching on the
+few points on which we differ.'
+
+"The Franciscans were learned, industrious men, they lived as
+instructors of philosophy, and were therefore in open feud with the
+Jesuits. The government found in them, powerful supporters and
+co-operators in their exertions for the education of the people; in
+this respect everything had to be done, for the patrician rulers who
+had been overthrown in 1830 had done nothing. In the first place, they
+established preparatory schools, and training colleges for masters, and
+provided for the supervision and conduct of school life. The
+difficulties that had to be overcome were not trifling, but it was all
+accomplished in the course of four years. In the beginning of 1837,
+each parish had its school, each school its master and dotation, and
+each child suitable instruction; the law punished parents for not
+insisting on the regular attendance of their children at school. As
+soon as the preparatory schools were arranged, district schools were
+added; here there was no compulsion; they were established by the
+community, and the attendance of scholars who had left the preparatory
+schools, and had the necessary preliminary knowledge, was voluntary;
+the State assisted the institution by grants, and maintained a
+superintendence. Grenchen was one of the first communities which
+determined on providing means for a district school; the government
+gave an annual contribution of 800 Swiss franks, about 305 thalers. The
+merit of this decision of the community is due above all to the
+physician, Dr. Girard, my dear friend. He could make only a small
+number of his fellow-citizens understand the utility of the
+undertaking, for they had not had the advantage of the instruction
+afforded to the present generation, but they trusted the man who had so
+often showed his unselfish desire to do good. But the desire of this
+people, who are by nature so energetic, to be in advance of other
+communities prevailed, and when it became a question whether Grenchen
+or Selzach should maintain the new school, the thing was decided; the
+institution was to be at that place, whatever it might be. I had great
+pleasure in teaching, and the situation secured me a residence which I
+cared more for than maintenance which might be obtained by other work.
+
+"The village in which I was now to teach was the largest community in
+the canton, with more than 2000 inhabitants, and 400 citizens entitled
+to vote, and it was situated among the outlying hills of the Jura.
+Towards the south, rich meadows and well cultivated fields, slope down
+to the Aar, which hastens with rapid course through the valley to the
+Rhine. On the other side of the Aar the ground rises gently up to hilly
+Emmenthal, and behind it rises the chain of the Alps. The Urner and
+Swiss mountains in the east, the Rigi standing alone in foremost
+grandeur; in the centre the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, up to the Savoy
+Alps, among which Mont Blanc rises its head majestically. Towards the
+west the lakes of Viel, Neufchatel, and Meurten spread their shining
+mirrors. It would be difficult to find anywhere a country so lovely,
+and at the same time grand, as here presents itself to the eyes.
+
+"The houses of the village are detached and scattered about in groups
+for some height up the mountain, almost every one is surrounded by a
+garden and meadow, and shaded by fruit-trees; a clear rivulet glides
+with many windings through the village. Unwillingly do the thatched
+roofs give way to the prescribed tiles. The farming of the inhabitants
+comprises fields, meadows, and woods, the herding of cattle, and on the
+most valuable properties, mountain pastures, and the making of butter
+and cheese. The vine also is cultivated. The Grencheners do not deny
+that in common years their wine is sour, they sneer at it in songs and
+jests, but yet they drink it, and find it wholesome. They are a
+powerful race, of Allemanni origin, the men are mostly slender but
+strong, and some of them uncommonly tall. Among the women and maidens
+there is frequently that Madonna-like beauty which is often to be found
+in Catholic districts. They are cheerful and gifted with humour,
+perseveringly industrious, and skilful in adapting themselves to every
+position and helping themselves. It is not the custom with them to
+close the doors; it is mentioned as an unprecedented circumstance, that
+three years ago a watch was stolen in the village. But the locality is
+not favourable for thieves; woe to him who allows himself to be caught,
+he would not come unscathed into the hands of justice.
+
+"The Grencheners had the repute of untamed lawlessness, which
+manifested itself in litigation and a strong inclination to take the
+law into their own hands; the knife was frequently used, and blood was
+shed. If the result was not mortal all who were concerned in it were
+summoned, in order to keep the magistrates away. The injurer and the
+injured negotiated, through mediators, as to a suitable
+indemnification, and with the conclusion of the treaty the enmity
+terminated. Money was not in my time the standard by which men were
+valued, but their labour. I value a citizen there, who, having by an
+unsuccessful enterprise lost his property, has worked as a street
+servant. His fellow-citizens esteem him as much as before, and praise
+him because he performs his service right well. For lads who did not
+like the labours of peace, foreign service offered them a beaten way,
+which was not objected to by the community, because it freed them from
+many disturbing elements; however, it brought back many wild fellows
+not amended.
+
+"In the year 1790, when the French invaded Switzerland, the cantons
+were very disunited; they carried on their struggle against the enemy
+singly; the Bernese fought well at Neuenegg and the Vierwaldstättersee,
+but one after another were subdued by superior power. The Grencheners
+were bold enough to defend their village against the French invaders;
+they went out, some of them armed with halberds and old weapons,
+against the enemy, and joined in hand-to-hand combat. The name of
+_Jungfer Schürer_ still lives, in the mouths of the inhabitants, and
+they still show the place where she lost her life in the struggle. The
+French officer, her opponent, was brought wounded to the hospital at
+Solothurn, and is said to have there lamented penitently that he was
+obliged to kill a maiden; but he had only the choice of doing this or
+falling under her blows.
+
+"The bath lies in a small secluded valley, separated from the village,
+a building with a large front, betwixt ponds and pleasure-grounds with
+shady groups of trees. Behind it is the spring, a clear iron water. In
+summer the bath is visited by guests from Switzerland--Alsacians and
+others--who accidentally discover the place and take a fancy to it. In
+this century the small valley of marsh and sedge was still the
+possession of the community. The father of Girard obtained the land for
+a moderate price; built his huts upon it, drained the ground, enclosed
+the spring, and arranged the baths--at first in very modest style,
+extending the grounds as means increased. Father and mother both
+exerted themselves, sons and daughters grew up to assist; one son
+studied at German universities, and became a physician. The institution
+has to thank him for its rapid prosperity.
+
+"This was the place where I was presented in the church as
+schoolmaster, not without the opposition of some pious parties.
+
+"All the powers of resistance were roused to the utmost by the
+ultramontane party; publicly by the press, privately by every
+possible means. A heretic to be the only teacher in a Roman Catholic
+school--that was unheard of! The government, the common council, and I
+myself, were overwhelmed with abuse; the ecclesiastics in Grenchen were
+severely blamed for having allowed a wolf to break into the fold, and
+it was set before them as a duty (not only by the newspapers) to use
+their utmost efforts to stifle the devil's brood in the germ.
+
+"The pastor of the place was a stately, fine man,--a favourite of the
+ladies, which gave him influence. But he was not fond of controversy;
+he loved repose and playing on the violin, and would therefore rather
+not have taken a part. As far as his influence went he hindered the
+boys from going to school, and never set his foot in it, so that no
+religious instruction was given, and the hours appointed for it were
+filled up with instruction on other subjects. Personally I was on a
+tolerably good footing with him. It would have given him pleasure if I
+would have allowed him to baptise my little daughter, who was born two
+months before at the Grenchen baths, and he would have taken the
+opportunity of making a quiet effort to convert me, by giving me a book
+to read, pretending to be written by a Protestant, for the
+glorification of the Roman Catholic church. Still less than the pastor
+could his chaplain be used as a battering-ram against the school. He
+had become a theologian at Würzburg, and knew that Leipzig was a nest
+of books. He was a good husbandman and rearers of bees, and had about
+the same amount of education as the people; they, however, did not
+remain stationary. He did not always succeed in preserving his clerical
+dignity and avoiding blame from the authorities. He had never felt it
+necessary to extend his theological knowledge beyond what was
+absolutely necessary, and I was sometimes astonished at the chaos in
+his memory; as when, for example, he related how St. Louis had defended
+Rome against the Huns. If the conversation fell upon books he never
+ceased to praise a narrative of a mission to Otaheite, and I soon
+discovered that this volume was very nearly his whole library. In spite
+of all this he was a good man, and it will not injure him now if I
+relate why I loved him. We were speaking one day of eternal happiness
+and the reverse. I told him how impossible I considered it, that the
+good God could be so cruel as to burn me eternally in hell. It is the
+Lord's fault, not mine, that I was baptised a Calvinist, and had thus
+been instructed and confirmed. Our teacher had told us that we were to
+love our fellow-creatures, and do good to them; and I endeavoured,
+according to the best of my ability, to follow this teaching, and yet I
+was to be eternally condemned! This gave the chaplain pain, and he
+found a theological answer: 'I hope God will deal with you as with one
+of the heathen, of whom it is written, that they will be judged
+according to their works.' He was not dangerous to the school.
+
+"If the clerical leaders had been more energetic, the supporters they
+could have called forth, from out of the population, to oppose the
+school were not to be despised. Besides the women, who for the most
+part were attached to the pastor, there were men whom the new rule had
+deprived of official position in the community. Respectability and
+family connections still gave them importance, and they were led by
+their old masters to persuade the more energetic youths that the new
+constitution would not give them freedom enough; but, on the contrary,
+more burdens, and that they had no reason to be contented with a
+condition of things which the new leaders would turn exclusively to
+their own advantage. These opponents were dangerous. From one of them I
+was in the habit of getting milk for my household; the children fell
+sick, and became feverish. Then we learnt that the milk of a sick cow
+had been given us, and that the seller boasted of it.
+
+"As the party which had just been vanquished in the field of politics
+could not openly make head against the common council and the majority
+of the citizens; they endeavoured to influence the parents, and were
+pleased when, in the beginning, there were only a dozen scholars--a
+small number for a great parish, surrounded by other villages, to whose
+sons the district school was open. There was only one means of saving
+the school from dissolution, and that was, its success. But a
+circumstance occurred to help us, before it could be ascertained that
+useful knowledge might be acquired here.
+
+"Grenchen lies on the frontier towards the canton of Berne, about half
+an hour's distance from the Berne village of Lengnau. The Calvanistic
+common council of Lengnau inquired of their Roman Catholic Solothurner
+neighbours whether, and under what conditions, boys from their place
+would be allowed to attend the district school. The answer was, that
+their sons would be welcome; the instruction would be given
+gratuitously, and that the people of Lengnau would only have to take
+care that the scholars should be quiet and orderly. Hence there was an
+increase of eight or ten boys from Lengnau; in order to preserve quiet,
+one of them had been appointed by the mayor as monitor, and was made
+answerable for their discipline; they marched in military order two and
+two, and returned home in the same way, and there never was the
+slightest quarrel between them and the Grencheners. This example worked
+upon the neighbouring places of the canton; scholars came from Staad,
+Bettlach, and Selzach, and, later, even from the French Jura. One of
+them merits special mention. He was a large strong man, two and thirty
+years of age (a year older than I), from the parish of Ely, in Friburg,
+a distance of two hours behind the Weissenstein, situated in a wild
+lonely country of the Bernese Jura mountains, which he had quitted, in
+order to work on the new high road between Solothurn and Grenchen. When
+he heard of the district school, he altered his determination; he hired
+himself as a servant to a peasant for board and lodging, resigning
+salary for the privilege of being able to attend the school. His desire
+for knowledge and his iron industry helped him to surmount all
+difficulties; he afterwards attended the seminary of education at
+Bünchenbuchsee (Berne); then returned to his home, where he became
+mayor and teacher; in short, all-in-all. Only one thing Xaver Rais did
+not become, that was, father of a family; for he always continued his
+studies, and, as he confided to me afterwards, preferred buying books
+to a wife. The Grencheners reckon him, up to the present day, as one of
+them; and even now, when I go to the place, a message is sent to him;
+then he puts on his satchel, lays hold of his staff, and goes over the
+mountain with long strides.
+
+"The influx of scholars from the neighbourhood did not fail to have an
+effect on the opponents in the place; many boys succeeded in overcoming
+the resistance of their parents, and had the satisfaction of entering
+the institution, which soon numbered between thirty and forty scholars.
+In order to regulate the instruction according to the requirements, I
+was obliged to alter the prescribed plan. I did it on my own
+responsibility, and when at the close of the first year, I reported
+this to the government, what I had done was approved, and a wish
+expressed that the same course might be pursued in the other district
+schools. In the summer I kept school only from six to ten o'clock in
+the morning, in order that the boys might be employed in house and
+field labour. Besides this, the great work of the hay and corn harvest
+was in the holidays. The objects of study I limited in number, but went
+more deeply into them; I honestly lamented that the pastor gave no
+religious instruction, for the boys came from the preparatory school
+very much neglected in this important branch; they had only been
+impressed with two points, the indispensableness of the Ecclesiastical
+order, and the value of relics; of biblical history they were almost
+entirely ignorant. If the pastor did not teach religion, neither did I
+teach politics, but left the Fatherland State system to the school of
+life. On the other hand, the German and French languages, together with
+practice in composition, history, and geography, arithmetic and
+geometry, were carried on with great zeal, and it gave me pleasure to
+observe how forward boys of natural capacity might be brought in a
+short time, when all bombast was abolished, things represented simply,
+and each individual suitably assisted in his intellectual work.
+
+"It was my good fortune to have a tolerable number of clever scholars,
+and for these I always endeavoured to do more than was prescribed. I
+gave them, therefore, at particular hours, instruction in Latin; and I
+made use of this to enlarge their views, and to guide and excite their
+love of learning. They formed a nucleus which gave the school a firm
+position. To them I owe the absence of anxiety about the discipline of
+the school, for their earnest orderly characters had an effect on all.
+During the three years of my office as teacher, I never had recourse to
+punishment; if a boy was idle or untruthful, I used, after admonishing
+him to amend, to add the notification, that the other scholars would
+bear no bad lads amongst them. It certainly sometimes happened that at
+the end of the lesson, in which I had been obliged to give such a
+warning, certain sounds which did not mean approbation, would reach my
+ears; but I forbore inquiring as to the cause. On account of the
+number of scholars, the institution was removed to another place; the
+school-room was on the first story immediately over our sitting-room,
+and my wife often remarked with astonishment, that though thirty
+peasant boys were assembled above, she never heard the least noise; and
+that our little children were not disturbed in their morning sleep.
+
+"Before a year had passed, it was discovered in the village that the
+school was useful; the boys, especially those of the 'guard,' as they
+called my _élite_, were in great request, to read and write German and
+French letters, which were necessary for the traffic in the products of
+the country; also to examine and draw up accounts, and the like. I
+willingly overlooked it when here or there one was an hour late, in
+consequence of having performed these neighbourly acts, for this was of
+advantage both to them and the school. The people saw us undertaking
+the measurement of fields, and trigonometrically determining heights
+and distances with instruments made by ourselves. But the strongest
+impression was produced, when a boy fifteen years of age begged for
+permission to speak before the assembled community for his father. The
+father, a worthy man, well deserving of the community, had, by
+misfortune, become bankrupt. Ruin impended, if the largest creditor did
+not act with consideration, and this creditor was the community itself.
+The son appeared before the assembly, and begged for an abatement of
+the debt. He described the services, the misfortunes, and the state of
+mind of his father; his anxieties about his family, and forlorn future;
+and the advantage it would bring to the community itself, if it
+preserved to the family its supporter, and to itself a useful citizen.
+He spoke with an impressiveness, a warmth and depth of feeling, which
+caused tears to roll down the beards of the most austere men. I can
+certify that many will say this: and at last the remission of the debt
+was passed without a dissenting voice. The boy has now long been a
+professor of Natural Science and Doctor of Philosophy. His speech did
+even more for the place than the act of another scholar, who knocked
+out the brains of a mad dog with his wood axe. This they thought was no
+art, for that every one could do; but the young orator! 'This is the
+way they learn to speak in the school.' From that time the institution
+was firmly established. But I still wanted something more.
+
+"In vain had I begged the government to give an examination. They had
+answered that they were acquainted with the progress of the school, and
+accorded me their confidence. The second year I urgently repeated my
+request, and represented that it would be of use to the school if the
+State took notice of it. The examination was granted, and there
+appeared at it the magistrate of the district Munzinger, many members
+of the council of government, the prior Zweili, different teachers, and
+men of distinction from Solothurn. All went off well; the boys felt
+themselves raised and encouraged by the signs of satisfaction of the
+highest State officials. After the business was over, the members of
+the common council and other gentry, with the officials and friends of
+the school, assembled at a repast. When the strangers had left, the
+inhabitants remained long assembled together; even former opponents had
+joined; very willingly would the chaplain have made his appearance if
+he had not been afraid of the pastor, and so would the pastor himself
+if he had been sure that his superiors would not hear of it. The
+glasses continued to pass round till late in the night, and I was not
+in a position to let them go by me, so much the less that in the eyes
+of these men, he who could not drink with them was considered as a
+weakling, and looked upon as incapable of showing any capacity. From
+the day of the examination, I could consider the school as having taken
+root in the community. The time had passed away when my friends and
+acquaintance at Solothurn had declared to me that they would not be
+surprised to hear an account of my being killed by the wild
+Grencheners.
+
+"I had indeed never been fearful of so unceremonious a proceeding from
+the adherents of the 'Black party,' but it was not till now that I was
+cheered by a feeling of security. Many small but significant traits
+showed me that the people no longer considered me and mine as
+strangers, and an approximation was here accomplished which was perhaps
+the first for some generations. Before the opening of the institution,
+it had been a question of procuring benches and other requisites, and
+it was then remarked that these articles should not be supplied by
+foreign joiners. A long time afterwards one of these came to me--there
+were two brothers--to beg of me to lay a memorial before the
+government, stating that they wished to remain at Grenchen, and obtain
+the rights of citizens. By a new decree, the mayors were ordered to
+examine the papers of settlers, and to send to their own homes all
+whose papers were not according to rule. These had no papers, and were
+therefore in danger of losing their domicile. On my inquiring how long
+they had lived in the place, the man answered, that he and his brother
+had been born there, also their father and mother; their grand-parents
+had wandered there as young people, and, indeed, not from a foreign
+country, or from another canton, but from a Solothurn village, only
+four hours from Grenchen, where, however, they would no longer know
+anything about them. The community had dealt well with them, giving
+them an equal share with the citizens in the communal property, but
+they denied them the rights of citizens. The government then signified
+to the community, that they had neglected to demand from their sires
+the papers, and that the grandchildren must not suffer from it. They
+became citizens, but still remained foreign joiners.
+
+"After a year was passed, fortune was favourable to me. The neighbours'
+children chose mine as playfellows, and the wives sought intercourse
+with mine, whilst many of the men persuaded me to join a union which
+was engaged in objects of general utility; it soon attained a great
+development, and introduced much improvement into the administration
+and economy of the property of the community. I learnt to esteem many
+excellent country people; many have passed away in the vigour of
+manhood. Her Vogt, justice of the peace, a genuine Allemanni, with a
+long thin face and dark hair, adapted by his understanding and
+acuteness to be the champion of the rising enlightenment, was killed
+not long ago by the fall of a tree which he was felling with an axe.
+The common councillor, Schmied Girard, met with an accident in the
+flower of manhood, on the occasion of a bonfire, which was lighted on
+the Warinfluh, high up on the edge of a rocky precipice, in order to
+show the Bernese neighbours sympathy in the celebration of the festival
+in honour of their constitution. He pushed a great log with his foot
+into the fire, slipped, and fell backwards over the rock into the
+abyss. He was an uncompromising opponent of the rotten system in the
+State, and had not feared to make known his sympathy for David Strauss,
+whose call to Zurich in 1839 had brought about the noted Zurich row,
+and to express his conviction that there could be no improvement till
+the community could choose their own pastor, and it should only be for
+five years. No wonder then that the ultramontane party spoke of his
+death in their papers as by the finger of God, for the edification of
+the good, and as a warning to the godless. The Grencheners answered the
+fleeting curse of the pious press by an enduring inscription on stone.
+In the village, by the side of the high road, in a place that every
+traveller who goes along the road must remark, there is a simple
+memorial stone. The inscription says that it is dedicated to the memory
+of the common councillor Girard, who was loved and esteemed by his
+fellow citizens, who laboured and met his death in the cause of
+liberty, justice, and enlightenment. He was a good neighbour to me, and
+a powerful support: my wife gazed at him with astonishment when he took
+her Italian iron out of the fire with his bare hand, and placed it in
+the iron stand.
+
+"An _esprit de corps_ in a good sense soon arose among the scholars;
+they felt themselves a distinguished corporate body. I made expeditions
+with them; amongst others, to Neuenberg, where the curiosities of the
+town, especially the rich collection of natural history, were shown to
+them with praiseworthy willingness. Another time we accepted the
+friendly invitation of a teacher at Solothurn to see a series of
+physical experiments. To the capital of the country the boys would not
+go on foot, but drove, as proud Grencheners, in a carriage decked with
+foliage, drawn by stately horses. In the lecture-room their demeanour
+was quiet, and they showed attention and intelligence, and they could
+see there much that, from want of proper appliances, I could only
+describe to them. The school was the focus of their life, the place
+where they collected on all great occasions. When one night the
+alarm-bell sounded, announcing a fire in the neighbouring village of
+Bettlach, they all came unsummoned to me; we put ourselves in order,
+and hastened with rapid steps to the spot where the fire was; we formed
+a rank to the nearest brook, and received our share in the praise and
+parting thanks of the pastor, for, when the fixe was extinguished, the
+clergyman delivered a speech of thanks to the neighbours who had come
+to help. I became the confidant of the cleverer ones in many features
+of their inward development. The boy who had come forward as advocate
+for his father was, on his first entrance into the school, so uncurbed
+in his overflowing strength, and so untamed by any culture, that,
+instead of taking his place in the usual way, he always vaulted over
+tables and benches; the wild creature scarcely kept within his clothes.
+But very soon all this was changed; Sepp became quiet and serious, and
+his whole strength exerted itself in reflection and learning. I
+expressed to him my pleasure at the change, and he told me that one
+night he had not been able to sleep, and the thought had come into his
+head, 'Thou hast hitherto not been a man, but an animal; now, through
+the means of the school, thou canst become a man, and must do so.' From
+that night he felt himself changed. Another--now an able forest-manager
+and geometrician--had surprised me by an almost sudden transition from
+slow to quick comprehension and rapid progress. He gave me afterwards
+this explanation: 'All at once light broke upon me. You had set us an
+equation; I racked my brains with it, but could not find out a
+solution. I was in the stable milking the cows: I had taken the paper
+with me, laid it beside me on a log, and was looking at it every
+moment. Then it passed like lightning through my brain: "thus must thou
+do it!" I left the cow and pail, took my paper, ran into the room, and
+solved the equation. Since that all my learning has gone on better.'
+
+"The year 1839 had come to an end, and the winter term--the most
+tedious time of the school--had begun with an increased number of
+scholars. One Sunday some old scholars came to me, and suggested that
+the Grencheners had at one period occasionally performed a play. This
+old custom had long fallen into disuse; there had been nothing to see
+except at the carnival, 'the Doctor of Padua,' Punchinello, and the old
+buffoon sports, which had been brought home by mercenaries from the
+Italian wars, and established in the villages; but they wished to have
+again a great play, and begged me to help them. I desired to have time
+to think, and made inquiries of the old people, particularly of old
+Hans Fik, who, at least forty years before had co-operated as a youth,
+and, as he acknowledged to me with shame, had acted the part of the
+'Mother of God.' From him I learnt that the last dramatic performance
+had been the 'St. Genevičve.' He doubted whether this younger
+generation could accomplish anything similar, for such a splendid
+paraphernalia, with many horses, such tremendous jumps clear over the
+horses, could no longer be seen in the present day. The _rôle_ of the
+count had been particularly fatiguing; one man had not sufficed for it;
+they had, therefore, had three counts, who, by turns, exercised their
+gymnastic art. Upon my asking whether there had not been speaking also,
+and whether he could not remember some passage which he could recite
+before me, the old man began to declaim, one tone and a half above his
+natural voice, singing and scanning with a monotonous abrupt rhythm and
+cadence. Undoubtedly this mode of delivery was a tradition from ancient
+times, and the speaking in these representations was an accessory only,
+while the jumping, wrestling, and gymnastics were the main point. From
+the productions of modern art which were at my command, I chose a
+native tragedy, 'Hans Waldmann Bürgermeister von Zürich,' by
+Wurstemberger of Berne. The hero, a leader in the Burgundian war,
+exerted himself to destroy the rule of the nobles in his native city,
+and to introduce reforms in accordance with the spirit of the age. Many
+of these innovations were displeasing to the citizens. The 'man of the
+people' became unpopular, a conspiracy of nobles upset him, and he was
+executed. The piece was not deficient in the necessary action; single
+combats, popular insurrection, fighting, and prison scenes gave spice
+to the dish; and longer dialogues were struck out. When my time for
+consideration had passed, the scholars made their appearance with
+military punctuality, and undertook with acclamation to perform the
+piece I had chosen.
+
+"The young men set actively to work, and showed that innate disposition
+to self-government which had been developed by education and
+practice. Those who took part in it--the elder and fifth-class
+scholars--assembled at the national school, formed a union, and
+constituted it by the election of a president, a treasurer, and a
+secretary. They immediately proceeded to the distribution of parts.
+This took place as follows:--The president inquired of those assembled,
+'Who will act the part of Hans Waldmann?' Three or four candidates
+rise, each brings forward his claims--height, a powerful voice, or
+school education; then they retire, and the discussion begins. Each
+candidate has his adherents and opponents. The discussion is closed,
+and a nearly unanimous majority allots the principal _rôle_ to the
+teacher, Tschui. Thus it went on with all the parts in succession, and
+the remainder of the general body agreed together as to their
+distribution as soldiers, peasants, and peasant women from Lake Zurich.
+The final vote put an end to all contention; there was not the least
+murmuring against the decision of the majority. I had been present at
+the meeting without saying a word; for, willing as the boys always were
+to listen to my advice--nay, even to look to my countenance for the
+expression of a wish,--yet it would have been annoying to them if I had
+obtruded myself upon them on the occasion of this performance. The
+distribution of parts gave perfect satisfaction; if I had undertaken
+it, it could not have turned out better,--probably not so well.
+Immediately after, a number of the elder lads, between twenty and
+thirty years of age, asked me to allow them to assist by acting the
+part of soldiers; they represented that there were some wild fellows
+among the actors, and there might be some ill-conducted lads among the
+spectators who would behave mischievously, and it would be well if they
+were at hand to keep order. Their desire was willingly complied with,
+and the appearance of these stout youths may have contributed to make
+their service unnecessary.
+
+"After the parts had been written out and learnt by heart, the
+rehearsals began, and continued during the whole winter. Most of the
+actors could only be brought to a certain point of proficiency, and
+there they remained; but some, especially the actor of the first part,
+richly repaid the trouble taken with him, and won, both at the
+performance and afterwards, the highest praise. But what delighted me
+most was to observe the moral effect of this dramatic industry of the
+young people on the life of the village. The common councillors
+related, with joyful surprise--what had been unheard of in the memory
+of man--that this winter there had been no fighting, nor the least
+ill-behaviour. The lads no longer sat in the taverns, drinking; they
+practised their parts at home, neighbours and acquaintances listening
+to them. Although women were excluded from the stage, the young ladies
+and peasant women being represented by the boys; yet the women and
+maidens were called upon to co-operate in other ways.
+
+"For many things were to be procured for the theatre--decorations,
+costumes, and orchestra. The newly-built wing of the bath-house was
+chosen for the theatre; this wing contained the dining-room and the
+adjoining dancing-room; the first, a long room, the other somewhat
+smaller and a square; there was an opening in the wall from one room to
+the other, in the form of an arch. The dancing-room was to be the
+stage, and before the arch hung a curtain: the dining-room was for the
+spectators. A platform and benches gave more than a thousand seats, and
+a gallery attached to the wall opposite to the curtain served as boxes.
+The plan of the stage arrangements was devised by a genuine artist, the
+painter Disteli, of Solothurn, known by his pictures of Swiss battles;
+the union took charge of the execution of it. It begged the common
+council to signify what trees might be cut to supply the necessary
+timber; crowds went out; the trees fell under the strokes of the axe;
+the lads harnessed themselves to them, putting on the tinkling-bells of
+the sledge-horses, and exultingly dragged the stems down the steep
+hill-path to the saw-mill. Then came the carpenters of the village,
+assisted by a sufficient number of men; in a short time the theatre
+was ready. The decorations were much aided by the misfortune of a
+play-manager, who, with his company, had for a long time been giving
+representations in a neighbouring city, but then had been obliged, by
+the pressure, not of the public, but of creditors, to go away, leaving
+behind him the whole of his theatrical properties. The scenery,
+therefore, was in the custody of the city, and the theatrical union
+succeeded in hiring, for a moderate sum, what was necessary--a room, a
+street, a wood, and even a dark prison. The costumes were designed by
+the painter Disteli; he coloured not only the particular dresses
+faithfully, according to the attire of the time and place, but
+contrived how it might be most cheaply carried out, by using the
+articles of dress that were at hand,--the aprons, bodices, shawls, and
+cloaks of the women. Whilst the village tailor worked, with an
+additional journeyman, incessantly at the costumes which required a
+higher degree of dexterity, the maidens occupied themselves for weeks
+with the smart dresses of the noble ladies, and the simple, picturesque
+attire of the women of the people; and many heroes owed to the taste
+and skill of a sister or a future bride the plumed cap and mantle which
+made him an object of admiration. If the dress, even less than the
+wearers, left little to desire, so did the equipment of the soldiers
+give a peculiar excellence to this performance; for the union addressed
+a petition to the government of the Canton, to allow them the use of
+the equipments and arms from the Burgundian war that were in the
+armoury at Solothurn, of helmets, armour, armlets, greaves, swords,
+spears, and halberds; and safe securities were offered for the careful
+return of them, with compensation for any damage. The government not
+only granted the request, but their most intelligent members helped
+both by word and deed, and delighted the troops with an old culverin
+and the coal-black equipments of the Burgundian gunners of the end of
+the fifteenth century.
+
+"When February was so far advanced that the days of performance could
+be settled,--it was to be on at least three following Sundays, in order
+to repay in some measure the great preparations,--I pointed out to the
+president of the union, after a general rehearsal, that it would be
+well to have some playbills printed. 'Playbills!' said the president,
+'there can be no harm in that, the people will then know who they have
+before them.' It so happened that the actors had thought of having a
+strip of paper attached to the head-dress of each, on which the public
+could read in large characters the name of the person. This mistake
+induced me to add upon the bills, to the usual contents, a short
+summary of the scenes in each act. The union sent their messengers, and
+I doubt whether there were any town or village within five leagues
+where the bills were not carried. What conduced to all this zeal in the
+preparations, was not only the pleasure of showing themselves before so
+many men, but also the calculation, that only a numerous attendance
+would bring up the entrance money to balance the expenditure, and give
+a chance of an overplus, which would be at the disposal of the union.
+
+"Again the actors came and begged to have a procession, 'such as there
+used to be formerly, in which we ride, the soldiers march, and women
+and others drive in smart carriages.' Those, therefore, who assisted in
+the village, were to assemble and move in regular procession to the
+baths, distant about a quarter of an hour. But the youths who had gone
+through numerous rehearsals, in order to attain the heights of the art,
+wished now to have a rehearsal of their procession, and to put on their
+equipments and beautiful dresses; I left it to them to do as they
+pleased. I learnt too late that to this innocent pleasure was added
+also a plan of revenge. It had come to the ears of the union, that the
+clergy of the place were not favourable to what the worldly authorities
+were so well disposed. The pastor had made a report at Solothurn,
+against the godless intention of performing a worldly piece on a
+Sunday, and the Bishop and Chapter pressed the government to prevent
+such misconduct. This made the young men very indignant. One Sunday
+afternoon, when the church bells sounded for the catechisings, the
+dissonance of a drum mingled with their solemn sound. It was the
+parochial servant, who had become old as a drummer in foreign service;
+he was a master of his instrument, and on this occasion was not in the
+service of the council, but of the actors for the rehearsal of the
+procession. The great strength with which the veteran played in the
+closest vicinity to the church, and the pleased twinkle of his eye,
+betrayed that he had lost at Rome and Naples all respect for
+ecclesiastics, and had particular pleasure in vexing the priests. He
+had before this avowed to me that he did not believe all Calvinists
+would burn in hell; he had told his pastor at confession that he had
+always been good friends with his Bernese comrades, and that he felt
+assured the good God would not cast away such brave fellows into the
+jaws of the devil; when in consequence of this, the pastor had refused
+him absolution, he had gone away saying: 'Good Mr. Pastor, henceforth I
+throw all my sins on your back.' So he marched round the house of God,
+overpowering the voice of the preacher, and causing the young people to
+run out of the church to see the procession. The clergy had good reason
+to complain, as people had been disturbed in their devotions. Soon
+there appeared an order from the government for the affair to be
+investigated; there was some difficulty in bringing it to a
+satisfactory conclusion, but the union promised never again to disturb
+the worship of God, and the ecclesiastics dropped their opposition to
+the performance.
+
+"At last the great day for the first performance came. It was Sunday,
+the 15th of March, 1840. At mid-day the village was all astir; about
+two o'clock the procession was arranged, and began its march along the
+old high road which led from the village to the baths. The ground was
+still covered with snow, but the sun shone bright. First came a
+carriage with a brass band from Fulder, which was travelling in western
+Switzerland; this band played a solemn march. Then the knights with
+mounted retainers, two and two, in brilliant Burgundian armour, as many
+as forty horse; then again carriages adorned with fir-branches and
+ribbons, occupied by the wives and daughters of the nobles and people,
+and with insurgent peasants, the infantry with their gun brought up the
+rear. It was not a bad picture of the old time, the weapons shone in
+the sunshine, and the figures rose, sharply defined, from the dazzling
+snow.
+
+"The performance began about three o'clock, and lasted four hours. The
+success exceeded all expectation; the house was filled, and the
+applause loud. I experienced painful moments behind the scenes, as for
+instance when the fighting heroes, in spite of all admonitions, would
+strike at each other with their long sharp swords, so that the sparks
+flew, and I was obliged to be contented that only a few drops of blood
+flowed from a slight wound in the hand. The play was followed by a
+supper to all who had cooperated, and the gentry of the village, and
+lastly a dance. The knights danced in their armour till midnight,
+having put it on about mid-day. I concluded, therefore, that this race
+had not degenerated in bodily strength from their forefathers, who
+fought at Murten and Granson.
+
+"The two following representations went off as fortunately as the
+first. The population streamed in from far and near, also travellers
+from Basle, Zürich, and other cities. Since that one-and-twenty years
+have passed; in the new school buildings there is a theatre, in which
+the scholars perform small pieces; but the worthy men still look back
+with pride to the great performances of their youth.
+
+"One consequence of this play was, that the master became a part of the
+joyous recollections of the Swiss villages. The house which the
+community had hired for the institution, and the dwelling of the
+master, a provisional locality, stood with its front to the old
+high road; behind lay the little garden, at the back of which was a
+meadow belonging to the house which pastured two goats, and on which
+fruit-trees were planted. My abode was on the ground-floor; on the
+first storey, to which there was a narrow steep staircase, was the
+school-room and a reception-room. In summer acquaintances from the
+neighbourhood came frequently, and relations from home visited us,
+delighting in the country and in the well-disposed people. The
+holiday-time was gladly made use of for expeditions among the
+mountains. The close intercourse with the men of the village was also
+beneficial to the school, of which the wants were amply supplied.
+Without any application, the common councillor let me know, that the
+allowed quantity of wood appeared to him too small; but I need not mind
+that, as I had only to state how much I wanted, and I should have
+enough given me. The scholars were eager to show attentions to my
+little ones, and to render voluntary services for our little household
+and farm. They took care of the garden, mowed the grass, and made the
+hay; I received from them the earliest strawberries and cherries, and
+when the rivulet was fished, the most beautiful trout. Since the
+examination, their zeal for learning had increased. The German and
+French compositions of the clever ones were very creditable; they
+solved equations of the second degree with facility, could explain the
+workmanship of a watch, a mill, and a steam-engine, and also the laws
+of their working; besides this, they could read Cornelius Nepos and
+Cæsar. Instruction in the history of their Fatherland was throughout
+Switzerland carefully attended to, but only the brilliant parts of it.
+Every child knew about the battles of Morgarten, Sempach, and Murten;
+but the submissiveness of their rulers, the French pensions and
+decorations were generally passed over in silence. It appeared to me
+more judicious not to give the light without the shadows.
+
+"I did not consider my duty towards those scholars whose inclination to
+learn was just aroused as ending with the certificate of dismissal. I
+wished to carry them on farther, up to the Canton school at Solothurn,
+which, besides a literary, had a technical class. With this object, it
+was necessary to provide for their maintenance, for they were,
+generally speaking, the sons of poor parents; those who were conscious
+that they would one day possess fields, meadows, and cattle, seldom
+felt the impulse to acquire more than the necessary knowledge. Before
+the close of the second year's course, two scholars showed themselves
+fit for the Canton school. I went to Solothurn, and spoke to the
+Landammann Munzinger and to the Councillor of the Board of Education,
+Dr. F. Both were worthy men, who provided for the boys in a great
+measure out of their own income. Soon I brought them a second, then a
+third couple. For these also, the necessary maintenance was found,
+especially as all who had entered had shown themselves worthy. But Dr.
+F. remarked to me, that he did not see the possibility of providing
+maintenance for any more, and as the parish was wealthy, they could do
+it themselves. I replied that this, without doubt, would be the case,
+as soon as the use of the school and of the further education of clever
+youths was demonstrated to the citizens by examples. Till then the
+government must provide that such witnesses should be forthcoming. A
+somewhat cold and dry answer sent the blood to my head: 'If you do not
+do all that is possible to promote the knowledge and education of the
+people, you may descend from your seats and let the patricians resume
+them, for they understand how to govern better than you!' 'Then I must
+find maintenance for the next scholars that are to be advanced to the
+higher school;' I advised them to apply to the Capuchins at Solothurn,
+as these are bound by their rules to give lodging and board to poor
+students. They had no occasion to repent of it.
+
+"They were a jolly set in the monastery; the civil war in Spain had
+divided them into two parties, Carlists and Christinos, who mutually
+wrote satirical verses against each other. The severest satirist, a
+young Neuer, was the leader among the Christino writers, against whose
+satirical verses the leader of the Carlists could not make head; he was
+an old man of family, who long had guarded the holy chair, and only
+lately exchanged the papal uniform for the cowl. This domestic dispute
+was, however, kept strictly within the cloister walls, for outside of
+them the Fathers were good brothers, and everywhere popular. They lived
+among the people, shared in their pleasures, and comforted the unhappy;
+they knew every family, and more especially frequented those houses
+where the women made the best coffee. The favourite saying of the
+Carlist chief was, 'There is nothing beyond good coffee and making the
+soul happy.' Every spring two Fathers came to Grenchen, and the young
+men collected behind them as behind the rat-catcher from Hameln; the
+first cried out, 'Ho, ho! go and pick up snails!' This call drew all
+the boys from the houses into the wood. The rich booty gave a delicious
+dish to the monastery. The young collectors were repaid with holy
+pictures.
+
+"The news that I had sent two boys to the Capuchins, soon reached the
+Landammann Munzinger, and at my next visit he asked me, 'Whether I did
+not know that they instilled principles into the boys, which were
+different from ours?'--'That I know well,' I answered, 'but I know
+still more; first, that scholars must live if they would learn; then
+that boys who have been two years with me, are so perverted, that no
+Capuchin can do them any good,'--'Then I am content,' said Herr
+Munzinger.
+
+"I cannot part from this excellent man without consecrating a few words
+to his memory. He was a tradesman, and had a public shop at Solothurn.
+He had a philosophical education, was musical, and a man of genuine
+benevolence. Unselfish, of agreeable appearance and manners, he was
+inexorable when it was a question of the public weal; he was an
+opponent of the rule of the old patricians who made use of their power
+at home and their diplomatic service for their own advantage, and had
+no feeling for the interests of the people. In the year 1830, Munzinger
+was at the head of the movement, and the line he took at the popular
+meeting at Balsthal, on the 5th December, decided the fall of the
+Patrician government in the Canton of Solothurn. In the construction of
+the new constitution and laws, in the organisation of the
+administration, and in his co-operation in their labours for the
+exemption of the land from burdens, for the establishment of schools,
+for the formation of roads, for the advancement of agriculture, and the
+administration of justice, he showed himself wonderfully gifted as a
+statesman. Though the State only consisted of a few square miles, with
+some sixty thousand inhabitants, yet the difficulties of constituting
+it were not less than in a larger State. The old rulers and their
+adherents, supported by the clergy, made use of the free press, the
+right of assembly, and their rich ecclesiastical and worldly means, to
+irritate the people against the new order of things. There was no want
+of handles to lay hold of, as arrangements for good objects require
+means, and thus some burdens must be imposed. Thus, for example, the
+community was bound by a law to erect schools, and further, to endow
+them with land; where there was no communal property, land had to be
+bought. Many villages opposed this, but their resistance was forcibly
+overcome. Later, the chief magistrates thanked the Landammann for
+having put force upon them for their good. In a different way did the
+government maintain itself against refractory ecclesiastics. No
+compulsion was put on them, but care was taken that the peace of
+families should not be disturbed by their insubordination. The
+government chose as Chapter-Provost a liberal-thinking ecclesiastic;
+Rome refused to confirm him; the situation remained unoccupied, and the
+income went to the school-fund. The clergy refused to solemnise mixed
+marriages, or to baptise the children; thus such couples had to seek
+for marriage and baptism elsewhere; but the officials of the district
+took care that they were entered in the registers. How well Munzinger
+understood republican freedom may be learnt from an example. The parish
+of Grenchen possessed extensive woodlands, the property of which was
+divided between them and the State. The parish had the right to supply
+themselves with wood, the remainder of the produce went to the State, a
+condition of things which was evidently not favourable to the
+cultivation of timber. The government proposed, therefore, that the
+wood should be divided in proportion to the rights of both sides, and
+to ascertain this more precisely, sent a commission to Grenchen. The
+peasants, accustomed from ancient times to be over-reached by the
+government, were suspicious of being defrauded, and drove the
+commissioners out of the village. Next morning the landjäger of
+Solothurn took the most considerable of the country people into
+custody, and carried them to prison at Solothurn. This had not passed
+without some heart-breaking scenes; women had been alarmed, the
+children cried, and the whole village was filled with lamentation and
+anger.
+
+"From the feeling excited by these circumstances, I went soon after to
+the Landammann, and lamented the harshness of the proceeding. The men
+should have been summoned, none of them would have failed to appear,
+they were not such as would have evaded it. 'Yes,' said Munzinger, 'I,
+alas, was not here.'--'I thought so,' replied I, 'the affair in that
+case would have been managed differently.'--'Undoubtedly,' exclaimed
+the Landammann, colouring, 'I should have sent out the military and
+occupied the village, the seizure would still have taken place.' I
+could not conceal my astonishment at this outburst of anger. 'Yes,'
+continued Munzinger, 'you, with your monarchical notions, can be
+cautious and indulgent; there are always gendarmes and soldiers enough
+at hand to step in if necessary. We have not these means; the people
+have a great degree of freedom, but we cannot allow that in one single
+case even a hair's-breadth should be over-stepped.' A true and manly
+word.
+
+"The Landammann had the welfare of the Confederation as much at heart
+as that of the Canton, and as the people at home submitted to his
+discipline because they recognised that it was for their good, so also
+his guidance was followed in the affairs of the Confederation. In the
+Sonderbund war, Solothurn, although Catholic, was on the side of the
+Diet; its artillery distinguished itself in action, and left many
+valiant men on the field of battle. Munzinger joined in forming the new
+constitution; he was elected to the Diet, and by this into the
+Executive Council. Switzerland honoured one of their best citizens in
+choosing him as President of the Bund, and he dedicated to his
+Fatherland, from which he was too early torn away, all his powers up to
+the last hours of his life.
+
+"The year 1840 introduced into Switzerland and Germany the alarm of
+French invasion; General Aymar had marched from Lyons, and the forces
+of the Confederacy met him on their frontier. The Solothurn Battalion,
+Disteli, which was marching through Grenchen, was refreshed by the
+inhabitants with food and drink, and animated by the cry 'Thrash them
+soundly,' 'Fear nothing!' The storm was allayed, as Louis Napoleon
+withdrew of his own accord from Switzerland to save them from war with
+France. The clouds of war over Germany disappeared also, but they left
+behind a lasting uneasiness in the mind of the people, which was the
+beginning of a succession of years of political excitement. At this
+period I was recalled to Germany by the persuasions of friends and
+feelings of duty, but it cost me a long inward struggle.
+
+"Our departure was to take place at Christmas; it was very painful for
+us to take leave. I shortened as much as possible my separation from
+the scholars. I gave to each of them a book, said farewell, and
+hastened from them. A young man who had not been at the school, but had
+acted as a soldier in 'Hans Waldmann,' inquired from what coachman at
+Solothurn I should hire my carriage. I told him the man. The following
+day he returned to me, and informed me that he had engaged himself as
+servant to this liveryman, and had asked low wages that he might be
+allowed to drive us to Germany, for he wished to take care that we were
+as well attended to as in Grenchen.
+
+"It was a cold, dark winter morning when we drove from the inn in which
+we had passed the last night. Great was our surprise, when, at that
+early hour and in the bitter cold, we saw the whole population, men,
+women, and children, thronging before the house and along the high
+road. They wished once more to press our hands, they said farewell, and
+many other things; 'It is wrong of you to leave us,' 'You must come
+back again,' 'You shall have the freedom of the city.' They raised
+their children up aloft, 'Look at him yet again, look at him yet once
+more!' The whip cracked, and the carriage drove away."
+
+Here we end the narrative of the former schoolmaster of Grenchen.
+
+More than twenty years have passed since the German teacher departed
+from the Swiss village. He had been a strong and moderate leader in the
+political struggles of Germany, he had clearly seen where the greatest
+danger threatened, and his name was often mentioned with warm
+veneration, or with bitter hatred. When years of weak reaction came, he
+went to the north of Germany, and again lived in the active performance
+of his duties as a citizen. Then the faithful companion of his life
+fell sick, and the physicians advised a long residence in pure mountain
+air; they determined to go to the village around which hovered so many
+delightful reminiscences of past times.
+
+The village had changed its aspect; people no longer travelled by the
+high-roads but on the railway to Grenchen, manufactures had been
+introduced, watch-making and inlaid work, and the manufacture of
+cement, and other branches are increasingly developed. But the
+travellers found the old feeling, not only among the old men, but also
+through tradition among the younger ones. On the Sunday after their
+arrival, a long procession moved in the evening from the village to the
+baths. Foremost were the military bands of two battalions, which were
+formed of Grencheners under the direction of the new district-master,
+then the bearers of coloured lanterns, which were a large portion of
+the population. The multitude arranged themselves before the balcony
+of the house in which "Hans Waldmann" had been performed. Great
+chafing-dishes threw a red light over the ponds, jutting fountains and
+the pleasure grounds of the baths, whilst rockets ascended and lighted
+up at intervals the dark background, the mountains of the Jura. The
+guests had to place themselves on the balcony. The music ceased, and a
+former scholar, now a physician in Grenchen, stepped from out of the
+ranks. He commenced his greeting by calling to mind, that on the
+day of their arrival, there had been a great eclipse of the sun;
+two-and-twenty years before, their guests had entered among them at a
+period of intellectual darkness, they had helped to make light
+victorious; he concluded with the assurance that Grenchen would always
+consider the two strangers as belonging to them. When later the people
+of the village joyfully thronged round the friends, the parents pointed
+to a race of young giants that had meanwhile grown up amongst them,
+saying, "See these are the little ones who used to play with your
+children, and could not then go to your school." The German had by his
+side his eldest scholar, Xaver Reis, who had again come to him, over
+the mountain.
+
+The district school has now three masters and ample funds. The new
+school-house rises on a height in front of the church, and is a
+conspicuous object to the surrounding country. The school has trained
+its own advocates and supporters.
+
+The Master who gives this narrative is Karl Mathy, the State councillor
+of Baden, in the year 1848 a member of the Imperial ministry, one of
+the best and strongest champions of the Prussian party.
+
+These pictures began with a description of peasant life at an earlier
+period, it concludes with a true village story of the latest bygone
+times. It is a Swiss village of German race, to which the reader has
+been introduced. Many of its circumstances, the worth and energy of the
+inhabitants, and their self-government, recall to us a lively
+recollection of a German time which is removed from us by many
+centuries. Betwixt the Alps and the Jura also did misrule long retard
+the culture of the country people, but its pressure was harmless in
+comparison with the fate of the German nation: its bondage, and the
+Thirty Years' War.
+
+It was one of the objects of these pages to represent the elevation of
+the German popular mind, from the devastation of that war, and from the
+tyrannical rule of the privileged classes. Deliverance has come to the
+Germans, but they have not recovered their old strength in every sphere
+of life. But we have a right to hope; for we live in the midst of manly
+efforts to remove the old wall of partition that still exists between
+the people and the educated, and to extend, not only to the peasant,
+but also to the prince, and to the man of family, the blessing of a
+liberal education.
+
+
+
+
+                              CONCLUSION.
+
+
+Amidst the noise and confusion of the year 1848, the German people
+began a struggle for a new political constitution of the Fatherland. We
+must look upon the Frankfort parliament as a characteristic phase of
+our life, not as the result, but as the beginning of a noble struggle,
+as a grand dialectic process in which the needs of the nation, and the
+longing for a political idea, passed on to will and decision. What in
+1815 had been only the unimportant fancy of individuals, had become a
+formalised demand of the people, around which the minds of men have
+been tossed in ascending and descending waves.
+
+Since the year 1840 the longing for political life has obtained
+expression in Prussia. There has arisen family discord between the
+Hohenzollern and their people, apparently insignificant, but from it
+has sprung the constitutional life of Prussia, the beginning of a new
+formation of the State, a progress for prince and people. Again it
+becomes manifest that it is not always great times and great characters
+which produce the most important progress.
+
+But how does it happen that the favourites of their people, the Royal
+race on which the hopes and future of Germany depend--that the
+Hohenzollerns regard so hesitatingly and distrustfully the new position
+which the constitution of their State and the Union party of Germany
+offers to them? No royal race has gained their State so completely by
+the sword as they have. Their ancestors have grandly nurtured the
+people; their ancestors have created the State; their greatness, and
+their renown in war originated in the time of the fulness of royal
+power. Thus they naturally feel as a loss what we consider as a gain
+and an elevation.
+
+The whole political contest of the present day, the struggle against
+privileges, the constitutional question, and the German question, are
+all in reality only Prussian questions; and the great difficulty of
+their solution lies in the position which the Royal house of Prussia
+have taken up in regard to them. Whenever the Hohenzollerns shall enter
+warmly and willingly into the needs of the time, their State will
+attain to its long wanted strength and soundness. From this they will
+obtain almost without trouble, as if it came of itself, the conduct of
+German interests, the first lead in German life. This is known to
+friends and enemies.
+
+We faithfully remember how much we owe to them, and we know well that
+the final foundation of our connection with them is indestructible,
+even though they may be angry because we are too bold in our demands,
+or we may grumble because they are too dilatory in granting them. For
+there is an old and hearty friendship betwixt them and the spirit of
+the German nation, and it is a manly friendship which may well bear
+some rubs. But the German citizen feels with pride, that he values the
+honour and greatness of their position, and the honour and happiness of
+the Fatherland, no less than themselves.
+
+The German citizen is in the fortunate position of regarding the old
+dynasties with warm sympathy. They have grown up with his fondest
+reminiscences, a large number of them have become good and trustworthy,
+fellow-workers in the State and in science, and promote the education
+of the people. He will be indulgent when he sees individuals among them
+still prejudiced in their judgment by feeble adherence to the old
+traditions of their order; he will smile when they turn a longing look
+on the times that are gone, when their privileges were numerous and
+undisputed; and he will perhaps investigate, with more acuteness and
+learning than themselves, wherever, in the past of their race, real
+capacity and common sense has appeared. But he will be the inexorable
+opponent of all those political and social privileges by which they lay
+claim to a separate position among the people, not because he envies
+these things, or wishes to put himself in their place, but because he
+sees with regret that their impartiality of judgment, and sometimes
+their firmness of character are diminished by it, and because, through
+some of these obsolete traditions, like their court privileges, our
+Princes are in danger of falling into the narrowmindedness of German
+Junkers.
+
+In the two centuries from 1648 to 1848, the wonderful restoration of
+the German nation was accomplished. After an unexampled destruction,
+its character rose again in faith, science, and political enthusiasm.
+It is now engaged in energetic endeavours to form for itself the
+highest of earthly possessions,--a State.
+
+It is a great pleasure to live in such a time. A hearty warmth, and a
+feeling of youthful vigour fill hundreds of thousands. It has become a
+pleasure to be a German; and before long it may be considered by
+foreign nations also to be a high honour.
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: At the time of Frederic II. it varied in amount; a large
+property had to supply a whole horse (there were half and quarter horse
+imposts), or pay 18 to 24 thalers; in the Electorate it amounted to the
+high sum of 40 thalers.]
+
+[Footnote 2: The strength of the militia under Frederic I. was,
+according to Fassmann, i. p. 720, up to 60,000.]
+
+[Footnote 3: The system of allotting to each regiment its recruiting
+district.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Fassmann, "Life of Frederic William I.;" and Von Loen,
+"The Soldier Depicted."]
+
+[Footnote 5: V. Loen, "Der Soldat," p. 312.]
+
+[Footnote 6: G. V. Griesheim, "Die Taktik," p. 75; v. Liebenrothe,
+"Fragmente," p. 29.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Small smoking society, consisting of the King and his
+intimates.--_Tr_.]
+
+[Footnote 8: It was not the bad combination of colours, the blue and
+yellow velvet housings, that incensed the dying king--those were the
+colours of his body-guard--but he wished to see those of the Dessauer
+on him--blue, red, and white.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Lafontaine's "Life of Gruber," p. 126.]
+
+[Footnote 10: "The Poor Man in Tockenburg," published by Fussli.
+Zurich: 1789 and 1792. Afterwards by G. Bülow, Leipzig, 1852.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Elector Frederic William inherited 1451 square miles,
+with, perhaps, 700,000 inhabitants, most of it in Ordensland,[A]
+Prussia, which was less devastated by the war.
+
+                                        Square Miles.       Inhabitants.
+
+  In the year 1688, the Elector left      2034, with about    1,800,000.
+      "       1713, King Frederic I.      2090,     "         1,700,000.
+      "       1740, King Frederic Wm. I.  2201,     "         2,240,000.
+      "       1786, King Frederic II.     3490,     "         6,000,000.
+      "       1805, King Frederic II.     6563,     "         9,800,000.
+                    (Before the exchange of Hanover.)
+      "       1807, remain                2877,     "         5,000,000.
+      "       1817, were                  5015,     "        10,600,000.
+      "       1830, were 13,000,000 inhabitants; but in 1861, 18,000,000.
+
+[A] Ordensland, the country that once belonged to the Teutonic
+Knights.]
+
+[Footnote 12: "Journal de Seckendorf," 2nd Jan., 1738.]
+
+[Footnote 13: [Oe]uvres, t. xvii., nr. 140, p. 213.]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Ib._, t. xviii., nr. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Portions of his historical works appear under special
+titles with many introductions. "The Memoirs of the House of
+Brandenburg" (begun 1746), the greatest part of it unimportant and
+compiled; "History of My Time" (written 1746-75), his masterpiece; then
+the great history of "The Seven Years' War" (ended 1764); finally,
+"Memoirs after the Hubertsburger Peace" (written 1775-79). They form,
+in spite of inequalities, a connected whole.]
+
+[Footnote 16: V. Templehoff, "Siebenjähriger Krieg," i. p. 282.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Sulzer to Gleim: "Briefe der Schweizer von Körte," p.
+354.]
+
+[Footnote 18: He had in 1759, a year before he wrote the foregoing
+words to the Marquis d'Argen, published through this friend, his
+treatise, "Réflections sur les Talons militaires et sur le Caractčre de
+Charles XII. Roi de Sučde," one of the most remarkable works of the
+King. His view of the faults of Charles XII. was sharpened by the
+personal experience which he had himself made in the lost battles of
+the last year, and, whilst he judges respect fully the unfortunate
+conqueror, he at the same time claims for himself higher credit for his
+own moderate policy. The work is, therefore, not only a very
+characteristic record of his wise moderation, but also a memorial of
+quiet self-enfranchisement and of great inward progress.]
+
+[Footnote 19: [Oe]uvres, xxvii. 1, nr. 328, from 17 Sept.]
+
+[Footnote 20: In the year 1740, 1,100,000; in 1756, 1,300,000; in 1763,
+the number had sunk to 1,150,000; in 1779, there were 1,500,000; it was
+supposed then that the country could maintain 2,300,000 more. It
+numbers now 3,000,000.]
+
+[Footnote 21: New Prussia, "Provinzial Blätter," Jahrg. vi., 1854, nr.
+4, p. 259.]
+
+[Footnote 22: V. Held, "Gepriesenes Preussen," p. 41; Roscius,
+Westpreussen, p. 21.]
+
+[Footnote 23: When, in 1815, the present province of Posen was returned
+to Prussia, the wolves there also were the plague of the country.
+According to a statement in the Posen "Provinzial Blätter," in the
+district of Posen, from 1st Sept. 1815, to the end of February, 1816,
+forty-one wolves were slain; and still in the year 1819, in the
+district of Wongrowitz, sixteen children and three grown-up persons
+were devoured by wolves.]
+
+[Footnote 24: From manuscript records of the year 1790.]
+
+[Footnote 25: The complaints are very frequent. Compare v. Liebenrothe
+Fragm. p. 59.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Much, that is interesting concerning the social condition
+of the North of Germany after 1790 is to be found in "Der
+Schreibtisch," by Caroline de la Motte Fouqué, pp. 46.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Kant's works, xi. 2, p. 80. The man in question was one
+of doubtful reputation.]
+
+[Footnote 28: The drinkers were Klopstock and his friends.]
+
+[Footnote 29: The travellers were Fritz Jacopi and his brother.]
+
+[Footnote 30: The new guest was Wieland; the hosts, Sophie Laroche and
+her husband; and the narrator, Fritz Jacopi.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Leuckhardt relates this in his "Lebensbeschreibung," and
+there is no ground to doubt what is imparted by this disorderly man.]
+
+[Footnote 32: "Reise von Mainz nach Cöln im Jahre, 1794," p. 222;
+"Briefe eines reisenden Franzosen, 1784," ii., p. 258. Both books are
+only to be read with caution.]
+
+[Footnote 33: Slang terms of the period, ridiculing their keen
+appetites and grotesque uniforms.--_Tr_.]
+
+[Footnote 34: "Schilderung der jetzigen Reichsarmee," 1796-8. This
+interesting description is often quoted, but it is not quite
+trustworthy. The author is that Lauckhart, a disorderly theologian, who
+made the Rhine campaign as a musketeer in the regiment Thadden. His
+autobiography is as instructive as it is repulsive.]
+
+[Footnote 35: That this description is not too strong, we have
+sufficient warrant in the many accounts of that time. In "Reise von
+Mainz nach Cöln im Frühjahr," 1794; "Lafonteine Leben," p. 154. The
+description also which Lauckhart gives of the emigrants in his
+autobiography may be examined. These French doings excited disgust and
+horror even in him.]
+
+[Footnote 36: Officials, analogous to the Préfet.]
+
+[Footnote 37: Von Held's writings were, "Das Schwarzebuch"--now very
+rare--"Die Preussischen Jacobiner," and the "Gepriesene Preussen," the
+most notorious. They and their refutations give us the impression that
+the author, as is frequent in such cases, had written many things
+correctly, others inaccurately, but on the whole honestly; but he was
+not to be depended on as a judge of his opponents. Varnhagen knew him,
+and wrote his life.]
+
+[Footnote 38: "Gründliche Widerlegung des gepriesenen Preussens,"
+1804.]
+
+[Footnote 39: "Buchholz, Gemälde des gesellschaftlichen Zustandes in
+Preussen," i.]
+
+[Footnote 40: The narrator is Adelbert von Chamisso. His letter of 22nd
+Nov., 1806, is one of the most valuable relics of that true-hearted
+man. The concluding words deserve well to be remembered by Germans.
+"Oh, my friends, I must atone by a free confession for the secret
+injustice that I have done this brave, warlike people. Officers and
+soldiers, in the harmony of a high enthusiasm, cherished only one
+thought: it was, under the pressure of external and internal enemies,
+to maintain their old fame, and not a recruit, not a drummer-boy would
+have fallen away. Indeed, we were a firm, faithful, good, stout
+soldiery. Oh, if we had but had men to lead us."]
+
+[Footnote 41: The following is taken from an autobiography which he
+left in manuscript for his children. The editor has to thank the family
+of the deceased for it.]
+
+[Footnote 42: In the old Prussian Rhine country stones were beginning
+to be used for the _chaussées_.]
+
+[Footnote 43: The three officers were, Lieutenants von Blücher, von
+Lepel, and von Treskow; the three Prebendaries, von Korff, von
+Bösclager, at Eggermuhlen, and von Merode.]
+
+[Footnote 44: Ministerial decrees setting aside the course of justice.]
+
+[Footnote 45: Vinke had succeeded Stein as First President.]
+
+[Footnote 46: Alliance of students in Germany.]
+
+[Footnote 47: In the number of 247,000 soldiers the volunteers are not
+included, because they in general consisted of those who were not
+native Prussians. Beitzke's calculation, which we here take because it
+is lowest, undoubtedly includes the Landwehr, and the squadrons which,
+in the course of the campaign, were formed on the other side of the
+Elbe; there are, therefore, about 20,000 men to be abstracted from his
+amount. But as his reckoning only comprehends, the strength of the army
+in the field, which up to the battle of Leipzig was almost entirely
+gathered from the old Prussian territory, his figures may be considered
+rather too low than too high. In 1815, the proportion of soldiers to
+population was still more striking. East Prussia contributed then seven
+per cent, of its inhabitants, each seventh man was sent to the war;
+there remained scarcely any but children and old people in the country,
+very few from 18 to 40.
+
+The amount of the population is reckoned according to the last official
+census of 1810. Prussia, after the peace of Tilsit, had been obliged to
+cede New Silesia to Poland, and thus since 1806 had lost more than
+300,000 men. No increase, therefore, of the population can be assumed
+up to the spring of 1813. The chief fortresses, also, were in the hands
+of the French, and their inhabitants should be deducted from any
+calculation of the efforts of the people. According to the proportion
+of 1813, Berlin as at present, could bring into the field an army of
+from 23,000 to 25,000 men; Leipzig, four battalions; and the Dukedom of
+Coburg-Gotha seven battalions, amounting to 1000 men.]
+
+[Footnote 48: Schlosser, "Erlebnisse inns Sachsischen Landpredigers,"
+from 1806 to 1815, p. 66. The foreign nations, Portuguese and Italians,
+were more moderate.]
+
+[Footnote 49: Schlosser, "Erlebnisse," p. 129.]
+
+[Footnote 50: It may be allowable to introduce here some extracts from
+the receipts which Heun brought forward in the newspapers. What was
+placed at the head of them was accidental, especially as his lists only
+enumerate a very small number of the donations, none of those from East
+Prussia are mentioned. We must begin with the first patriotic gift,
+which was announced publicly in 1813. About New Year's Day, long before
+the volunteer rifles were equipped, the Roman Catholic community at
+Marienburg, in West Prussia, placed all the plate of their church that
+could be dispensed with at the disposal of the State (it was about 100
+marks), begging, as they could not give away church property, for the
+interest of the value of the silver in the future. But the first money
+contribution noted down by Heun, was from a master tailor, Hans
+Hofmann, at Breslau, 100 thalers. The first who gave horses were the
+peasants Johann Hinz, in Deutsch-Borgh, Bailiwick of Saarmünd, and
+Meyer, at Elsholz, of the same Bailiwick; the last had only two horses.
+The first who gave oats, 100 scheffel, was one Axleben. The first who
+sent their golden wedding-rings, expressing the hope that much gold
+might be collected if all would do the same, were the lottery-collector
+Rollin and his wife, at Stettin. The first officials who resigned a
+part of their salary were Professor Hermbstädt, at Berlin, 250 thalers;
+Professor Gravenhorst, at Breslau, the half of his salary, and
+Professor David Schultz, 100 thalers. The first who gave a portion of
+his fortune was an unnamed official; of 4000 thalers he gave 1000. The
+first who sent his plate was Count Sandretzky, at Manze, in Silesia,
+value 1700 thalers, besides three beautiful horses; a servant of the
+chancery, four silver spoons; anonymous, 2000 thalers; an old soldier,
+his only gold piece, value forty thalers; anonymous, three gold
+snuff-boxes, with diamonds, value 5300 thalers; an old woman, from a
+little town, a pair of woollen stockings.]
+
+[Footnote 51: 10,000 volunteer riflemen, and about the half of the
+irregulars, amounting to 2500 men, were equipped in the old provinces,
+together with 1500 horses. Putting the cost of each foot-rifleman at 60
+thalers, and that of a horseman at 230 thalers,--the price of horses
+was high,--the amount is 1,150,000 thalers, which is certainly too low.
+And the pay and extras, given by private persons to individual
+riflemen, are not reckoned.]
+
+[Footnote 52: The Editor is indebted for much of this to a record of
+the worth Oberregierungsrath Hackel.]
+
+[Footnote 53: From Family Reminiscences.]
+
+[Footnote 54: Record of the Appellations-gerichtsrath Tepler, who
+himself, as a boy, went to the field with the Landsturm against the
+French at Magdeburg.]
+
+[Footnote 55: She lives in Berlin, and is now mother of a large
+family.]
+
+[Footnote 56: From the diary of the pastor, Frieke, at Bunzlau.]
+
+[Footnote 57: Scene from the fight at Goldberg, on the 23rd August,
+from the account of an eye-witness.]
+
+[Footnote 58: Thus, on the 22nd of May, at Bunzlau, during the retreat
+after the battle of Bautzen, the prisoners, red Hussars, lay in the
+suburb near the Galgenteich.]
+
+[Footnote 59: Vossische Zeitung, No. 45, from the 15th April.]
+
+[Footnote 60: Now a practising doctor at Halle. The account is from the
+mouth of the worthy man.]
+
+
+
+                                THE END.
+
+
+
+               BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth
+and XIXth Centuries, Vol. II., by Gustav Freytag
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+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and
+XIXth Centuries, Vol. II., by Gustav Freytag
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries, Vol. II.
+
+Author: Gustav Freytag
+
+Translator: Georgiana Malcolm
+
+Release Date: September 29, 2010 [EBook #33819]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE V. 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Note:<br>
+1. Page scan source:
+http://www.archive.org/details/picturesgermanl03freygoog</p>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE</h1>
+
+<h4>IN THE</h4>
+<br>
+<h3>EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES.</h3>
+<br>
+<h4>SECOND SERIES.</h4>
+<br>
+<hr class="W20">
+<br>
+<h2>VOL. II.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>PICTURES</h1>
+<br>
+<h4>OF</h4>
+<br>
+<h1>GERMAN LIFE</h1>
+<br>
+
+<h3>In the XVIII<sup>th</sup> and XIX<sup>th</sup> Centuries.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>Second Series.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h4>BY</h4>
+<h2>GUSTAV FREYTAG</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Translated from the Original by</h3>
+<h2>MRS. MALCOLM.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3><i>COPYRIGHT EDITION.&#8212;IN TWO VOLUMES</i>.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>VOL. II.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>LONDON:</h3>
+<h2>CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193 PICCADILLY.
+1863.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h4>LONDON:
+BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.</h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+<br>
+<h3>SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.</h3>
+
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">Away from the Garrison</span> (1700).&#8212;The army, and the constitution
+of the State&#8212;The country militia and their history&#8212;The soldiery of
+the Sovereign&#8212;Change of organisation after the war&#8212;The beginning
+of compulsory levies about 1700&#8212;Gradual introduction of
+conscription&#8212;Recruiting and its illegalities&#8212;Desertions&#8212;Trafficking
+with armies&#8212;The Prussian army under Frederic William I.&#8212;The regiment
+of guards at Potsdam&#8212;Prussian officers&#8212;Ulrich Bräcker&#8212;<span class="sc">Narrative of a
+Prussian deserter</span></p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">The State of Frederic the Great</span> (1700).&#8212;The kingdom of the
+Hohenzollerns, its small size; character of the people and
+princes&#8212;Childhood of Frederic&#8212;Opposition to his
+father&#8212;Catastrophe&#8212;Training and its influence on his character&#8212;His
+marriage and relations with women&#8212;Residence in Rheinsberg&#8212;His
+character when he became King&#8212;Striking contrast between his poetic
+warmth and his inexorable severity&#8212;Inward change in the course of the
+first Silesian war&#8212;Loss of the friends of his youth&#8212;The literary
+period till 1766&#8212;His poetry, historical writings, and literary
+versatility&#8212;Seven years of iron labour&#8212;His method of carrying on war,
+and heroic struggle&#8212;Admiration of Germans and foreigners&#8212;His
+sufferings and endurance&#8212;<span class="sc">Extracts from Frederic's Letters from</span>
+1767-1762&#8212;Principles of his government&#8212;Improvement of
+Silesia&#8212;Difference betwixt the Prussian and Austrian
+government&#8212;Feeling of duty in the Prussian officials&#8212;Acquisition
+of West Prussia&#8212;Miserable condition in 1772&#8212;Agriculture of
+Frederic&#8212;His last years</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">Of the Year of Tuition of the German Citizen</span> (1790).&#8212;Influence of
+Frederic on German art, philosophy, and historical writing&#8212;Poetry
+flourishes&#8212;The aspect of a city in 1790&#8212;The coffee gardens and
+the theatres&#8212;Travelling and love of the picturesque&#8212;Different
+sources of morals and activity amongst the nobles, citizens, and
+peasants&#8212;Characteristics of the life of the country nobles&#8212;The piety
+of the country people&#8212;Education of the citizens&#8212;Advantages of the
+Latin schools and of the university education&#8212;The sentimentality and
+change in the literary classes from 1750-1790&#8212;<span class="sc">The Childhood of Ernst
+Frederic Haupt</span></p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">The Period of Ruin</span> (1800).&#8212;The condition of Germany&#8212;Courts and cities
+of the Empire&#8212;People and armies of the Empire&#8212;The emigrants&#8212;Effect
+of the revolution on the Germans&#8212;The Prussian State&#8212;Its rapid
+increase&#8212;Von Held&#8212;Bureaucracy&#8212;The army&#8212;The Generals&#8212;The
+downfall&#8212;<span class="sc">Narrative of the Years</span> 1806-1807,
+<span class="sc">by Christoph Wilhelm
+Heinrich Sethe</span>&#8212;His life</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">Rise of the Nation</span> (1807-1815).&#8212;Sorrowful condition of the people in
+the year 1807&#8212;The first signs of rising strength&#8212;Hatred of the French
+Emperor&#8212;Arming of Prussia&#8212;Character and importance of the movement of
+1813&#8212;Napoleon's flight&#8212;Expedition of the French to Russia in
+1812, and return in 1813&#8212;The Cossacks&#8212;The people rise&#8212;General
+enthusiasm&#8212;The volunteer Jägers and patriotic gifts&#8212;The Landwehr
+and the Landsturm&#8212;The first combat&#8212;Impression of the war on the
+citizens&#8212;The enemy in the city&#8212;The course of the war&#8212;The celebration
+of victory</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">Illness and Recovery</span> (1815-1848).&#8212;The time of reaction&#8212;Hopelessness
+of the German question&#8212;Discontent and exhaustion of the
+Prussians&#8212;Weakness of the educated classes in the north of
+Germany&#8212;The development of practical activity&#8212;The South Germans and
+their village tales&#8212;<span class="sc">Description of a Village School by Karl Mathy</span></p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">CONCLUSION</span>.&#8212;The Hohenzollerns and the German citizens</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE.</h1>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Second Series.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<hr class="W20">
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+<br>
+<h3>AWAY FROM THE GARRISON.</h3>
+<h4>(1700.)</h4>
+<br>
+<p class="normal">A shot from the alarm-gun! Timidly does the citizen examine the dark
+corners of his house to discover whether any strange man be hid there.
+The peasant in the field stops his horses to consider whether he would
+wish to meet with any fugitive, and earn capture-money, or whether he
+should save some desperate man, in spite of the severe punishment with
+which every one was threatened who enabled a deserter to escape.
+Probably he will let the fugitive run away, though in his power, for in
+his secret soul he has a fellow feeling for him, nay, even admires his
+daring.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There is scarcely any sphere of earthly interest which stamps so
+sharply the peculiarities of the culture of the time, as the army and
+the method of carrying on war. In every century the army corresponds
+exactly with the constitution and character of the state. The
+Franconian landwehr of Charles the Great, who advanced on foot from
+their <i>Maifeld</i> to Saxony, the army of the noble cuirassiers who rode
+under the Emperor Barbarossa into the plains of Lombardy, the Swiss
+and Landsknechte of the time of the Reformation, and the mercenary
+armies of the Thirty Years' War, were all highly characteristic of the
+culture of their time; they sprang from the social condition of the
+people, and changed with it. Thus did the oldest infantry of the
+proprietors take root in the old provincial constitution, the mounted
+chivalry in the old feudalism, the troops of Landsknechte in the rise
+of civic power, and the companies of roving mercenaries in the increase
+of royal territorial dominion; these were succeeded in despotic states,
+in the eighteenth century, by the standing army with uniform and pay.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But none of the older forms of military service were entirely displaced
+by those of later times, at least some reminiscences of them are
+everywhere kept. The ancient landfolge (attendants on military
+expeditions) of the free landowner had ceased since the greater portion
+of the powerful peasantry had sunk into bondsmen, and the strong
+landwehr had become a general levy, of little warlike capacity; but
+they had not been entirely set aside, for still in the eighteenth
+century all freeholders were bound at the sound of the alarum to hasten
+together, and to furnish baggage, horses, and men to work at the
+fortifications. In the same way the knights of the Hohenstaufen were
+dispersed by the army of free peasants and citizens, at Sempach,
+Grunson, Murten, and the lowlands of Ditmarsch, but the furnishing of
+cavalry horses remained as a burden upon the properties of the
+nobility; it was after the end of the sixteenth century&#8212;in Prussia,
+first under Frederic William I.&#8212;that it was changed into a low
+money-tax, and this tax was the only impost on the feudal property of
+nobles.<a name="div2_01" href="#div2Ref_01"><sup>[1]</sup></a> The roving Landsknecht also, who provided his own equipments
+and changed his banner every summer, was turned into a mounted
+mercenary with an unsettled term of service; but in the new time the
+customs of free enlistment, earnest money, and entering into foreign
+service, were still maintained, although these customs of the
+Landsknecht time were in strange and irreconcilable contrast to the
+fearful severity with which the new rule of a despotic state grasped
+the whole life of the recruit.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The defects of the standing army in the eighteenth century have been
+often criticised, and every one knows something of the rigorous
+discipline in the companies with which the Dessauer stormed the
+defences of Turin, and Frederic II. maintained possession of Silesia.
+But another part of the old military constitution is not equally known,
+and has been entirely lost sight of even by military writers. It shall
+therefore be introduced here.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The regiments which the sovereigns of the eighteenth century led to
+battle, or leased to foreign potentates, were not the only armed
+organisation of Germany. Besides the paid army there was in most of the
+states a militia force, certainly very deficient in constitution, but
+by no means insignificant or uninfluential. At no time had the old
+idea, that every one was bound to defend his own country, vanished from
+the German life. The right of the rulers to employ their subjects in
+the defence of their homes, was, according to the notions of the olden
+time, entirely distinct from their other right of keeping soldiers.
+They could not command their subjects to render military service for
+their political struggles, nor for wars beyond the frontiers. Service
+in war was a free work, for that, they were obliged to invite
+volunteers, that is to say, to enlist, as they were unable to avail
+themselves of their vassals. One of the greatest changes in the history
+of the German nation was owing to the conviction being gradually
+impressed upon the people, by the despotic governments in the former
+century, that they were bound to furnish their rulers with at least a
+portion of their soldiers. And it is not less instructive to find, that
+in our century, after the old system was destroyed, the general idea of
+defensive duty was imbibed by the people. It is worth while to
+investigate the way in which this happened.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Already, towards the end of the sixteenth century, when the
+Landsknechte had become too costly and demoralised, people began to
+think of forming a militia of the men capable of bearing arms in the
+cities and open country, which were to be employed for its protection
+within its frontiers. After 1613, this militia was organised in
+Electoral Saxony and the neighbouring countries, and soon after in the
+other circles of the Empire, and companies established, which were
+sometimes assembled and exercised in military drill. Their collective
+number was fixed and distributed among the districts, the communities
+appointed and armed the men, and if they were in service they received
+pay from the ruler.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Thirty Years' War was for the most part carried on by enlisted
+soldiers, yet in case of need the militia were here and there turned
+into regulars; either whole regiments were appointed for field service,
+or the gaps in the enlisted troops were filled up by serviceable men.
+But on the whole the loose organisation of this militia did not answer.
+After the peace it was still less possible in the depopulated state of
+the country, to form from it a new military constitution. For the
+citizen and peasant, as taxpayers, as well as for the cultivation of
+the now waste ground, were indispensable. The old imperfect
+constitution of this civic army was, therefore, maintained. The only
+difference made in the militia at this period was that the men were
+chosen by the officers of the Sovereign and that the term of service
+was limited for the young men; the community fell into the back-ground,
+and the Sovereign became more powerful. In this manner were the militia
+brought together in companies and regiments, according to their
+circles, and exercised once or twice a year. Before the war the
+districts had provided them with weapons and equipments; now this also
+was done by the Sovereign; but in the cities the officers were
+appointed by the citizens; only the commanding officer was selected by
+the General The men were usually chosen by lot, and it is an
+interesting circumstance that, as early as 1711, the inscription on the
+Saxon ticket was &quot;<i>For Fatherland</i>.&quot; But the military education was
+imperfect, exemptions were frequent, and the mode of filling up the
+vacancies inadequate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And yet this militia more than once did good service; for instance, in
+Prussia. The armed country people, as they were called in the
+description of the battle of Fehrbelliner, were not a mere crowd that
+had flocked together, but the old organised country militia; they took
+an essential share in the first glorious deed of arms, in which the
+Brandenburgers beat a superior enemy by their own unaided efforts. In
+1704, these militia were still much esteemed in Prussia, and those who
+were enrolled in it were exempt from all other military service.<a name="div2_02" href="#div2Ref_02"><sup>[2]</sup></a> It
+is true this was cancelled by Frederic William I., but in the Seven
+Years' War again established, and this militia did then good service
+against Sweden and Russia. In the Empire, also, and in Saxony, they
+were maintained, though weak, unwarlike and despised, till an altered
+state of civilisation made a new organisation of the national militia
+possible. Even now is this new constitution not fully completed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Entirely distinct from these militia were the soldiery, which the
+Sovereign maintained himself, and paid out of his revenue. It might be
+only a body of guards, for the protection and adornment of his court,
+or it might be many companies whom he levied in order to secure his own
+state, and by gaining influence and power among his equals, to obtain
+money. It was his own private affair, and if he did not overburden his
+people by it, no objection could be made. Those who served him also,
+did it of their own free will; they might engage themselves to other
+Sovereigns at home or abroad, who were obliged to keep the agreements
+they made with them. If the country were in danger from external
+enemies, the states granted the Sovereign money or a special
+contribution for these soldiers, for it was well known that they had
+more military capacity than the militia. Thus it was in Prussia under
+the great Elector, and so it remained in the greater part of Germany
+till late in the eighteenth century.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But this private army which the Sovereign had levied for himself had
+also acquired a new constitution.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Till the end of the Thirty Years' War the enlistment, in most of the
+German armies, had taken place according to Landsknecht custom, at the
+risk of the Colonels. The Colonel concluded a contract with the Prince;
+he filled and sold the captains' commissions; the Prince paid the
+Colonel the money contributed by the district. Thus the regiments were
+essentially dependent on the Colonel, and this was a power which might
+be used against the Prince. The discipline was loose; the officers'
+places occupied by creatures of the Colonel, and at his death the
+regiment was dissolved. The rogueries of Colonels and leaders of
+companies, which were already complained of in 1600 by the military
+writers, had attained a certain virtuosoship in their development.
+Seldom were all the men whose names stood on the rolls, really under
+the banner. The officers drew the pay for numbers who were not there,
+who were called &quot;<i>Passevolants</i>,&quot; or &quot;<i>Blinde</i>,&quot; and they appointed
+their grooms and sutlers, from the baggage-waggons, to be
+non-commissioned officers. In the Imperial army, also, complaints were
+endless of the most reckless selfishness from the highest to the
+lowest. In the midst of peace the officers plundered the hereditary
+States in which they were quartered; they fished and hunted in the
+environs, and claimed a portion of the city tolls; they caused beasts
+to be killed and sold; and set up wine and beer taverns. In like manner
+as the officers robbed, the soldiers stole. This continued still in
+1677; and this plague of the country threatened to become lasting. The
+enlisting of recruits was still little organised in this early period;
+and the rogueries, which could not fail to accompany it, were at least
+unsanctioned by the highest authorities.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In Brandenburg the great Elector, immediately after his entrance on the
+government, reformed the connection between the regiments and the
+Sovereign; the enlistment was from thenceforth in his own name; he
+appointed the Colonel and the officers, who could no longer buy their
+commissions. Then first did the paid troops become a standing army,
+clothed, armed, and equipped alike, with better discipline, obedient
+instruments in the hands of the princes. This was the greatest advance
+in the military system since the invention of fire-arms; and Prussia
+owes to the early and energetic introduction of this new system its
+military preponderance in Germany. The commissariat, also, was
+reorganised; the men received, at least in war, their daily food in
+rations, and the provisions were supplied from great magazines. Through
+the efforts of Montecuculi, and later of Prince Eugene, Austria also,
+shortly before 1700, acquired a better disciplined standing army.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The whole complement of these troops could, up to 1700, be procured
+almost exclusively by free enlisting; for long after the great war the
+people continued in a state of restlessness, and had imbibed an
+adventurous spirit, to which military work was very enticing. This
+altered gradually. During the war-like period of Louis XIV., and from
+the increase of the French army, the German princes were compelled to a
+greater increase of their paid armies, and the loss of men occasioned
+by the incessant war had carried off many of the useless and bold
+rabble that collected round the banners. Even before the great war of
+succession the deficiency of men began to be felt; voluntary enlistment
+could nowhere any longer be obtained; complaints of the deeds of
+violence of the recruiting officers became at last troublesome. The
+military ruler, at last, began to scrutinize the men who seized under
+him, and sometimes had them exercised in companies. To use the militia
+for his warlike expeditions was impossible; they were too little
+trained, and, what was more important, they consisted more especially
+of respectable residents, whose labour and taxes could not be dispensed
+with by the State, as the nobility, and, in Catholic countries, the
+ecclesiastics, contributed nothing to his income. Besides this, it was
+an unheard-of thing for the people to be compelled by force into
+military service. However much he might feel himself the master, this
+was an innovation too much against the general feeling; the people bore
+their taxes and burdens expressly that he might carry on war for them.
+The peasant rendered service and soccage to his landlord, because in
+the olden time the latter had gone into the field for him. He then
+rendered taxes and service to the Sovereign because he had gone with
+his paid soldiers into the field for him, when his landlord was no
+longer willing to bear the burden; but now the peasant was to render
+the same service to landlord and Prince, and besides this to march
+himself to battle. This appeared impracticable; but again the pressure
+of bitter necessity was felt, and help must be found. Only the most
+indigent were to be taken&#8212;vagrants and idlers; but all whose labour
+was useful to the State, all who raised themselves in any sort out of
+the mass, were not to be disturbed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cautiously and slowly began the enlistment of the people for the
+military service of their Prince before 1700. It was proclaimed for the
+first time, but without success, that the country must supply recruits.
+The innovation was first attempted, it appears, by the Brandenburger in
+1693: the provinces were to enlist and present the number of men
+wanting, yet not villeins; and the leaders of companies were to pay two
+thalers earnest money to each man. Soon they went further; and first,
+in 1704, called upon particular classes of tax-payers, and then in 1705
+upon the community, to supply the necessary men. The recruits were to
+serve from two to three years, and those that willingly enlisted for
+six years and more were preferred. Exactly the same arrangement was
+made in Saxony in 1702 by King Augustus. There the communities had to
+provide for the Sovereign, as well as for the militia, an appointed
+number of young sound men, and to decide what individuals could
+be dispensed with. The enlistment-place was the Town-hall; the
+high-constables of the circles had the inspection. The man was
+delivered over without regimentals,&#8212;four thalers ready money were
+given,&#8212;the time of service two years,&#8212;and if the officer refused his
+discharge after two years, he who had served his time had the power to
+go away. Thus, timidly, did they begin to bring forward a new claim;
+and, in spite of all this caution, the opposition of the people was so
+violent and bitter that the new regulation was given up, and they
+returned again to enlistment. In 1708 forcible recruiting was
+abolished, &quot;because it was too great an exaction.&quot; The iron will of
+Frederic William I. accustomed his people gradually to submit to this
+compulsion. After 1720 registers were made of children subject to
+military service, and in 1733 the &quot;<i>canton</i>&quot;<a name="div2_03" href="#div2Ref_03"><sup>[3]</sup></a> system was introduced.
+The land was divided among the regiments; the citizens and peasants
+were, with many exceptions, declared subject to military service. Every
+year were the deficiencies in the regiments filled up through levies,
+in which, it must be remarked by the way, the greatest despotism on the
+part of the captains remained unpunished.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In Saxony they first succeeded, towards the end of the century, in
+carrying on the conscription together with the enlisting. In other
+parts, especially in small territories, that prospered less.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus the military system of Germany presents to our view this
+remarkable phenomenon, that at the same time in which increased
+intellectual development produced in the middle classes greater
+pretensions, together with higher culture and morals, the despotism of
+the rulers gradually effected another great political advance in the
+life of the people&#8212;the beginning of our common feeling of the duty of
+self-defence. And it is equally remarkable that this innovation did not
+begin in the form of a great and wise measure, but in conjunction with
+circumstances which would appear to be more especially adverse to it.
+The greatest severity and unscrupulousness of a despotic state showed
+itself precisely in that by which it prepared, though it did not carry
+out, the greatest step in political progress.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Too brutal and unscrupulous was the conduct of the officers who had to
+raise the levies, and too violent was the opposition and aversion of
+the people. The young men left the country in masses; no threatening of
+the gallows, of cutting off ears, or of confiscation of their property,
+could stop the fugitives. More than once the fanatical soldier-zealot
+Frederic William I. of Prussia was counteracted by the necessity of
+sparing his kingdom, which threatened to be depopulated. Never could
+more than half the number required be filled up by this conscription;
+the other half of the deficiency had to be raised by enlistment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The enlisting, also, in the first half of the eighteenth century, was
+rougher work than it had been. The Sovereigns themselves were more
+dangerous recruiting officers than the captains of the old
+Landsknechte. And although the evils of this system were notorious, no
+one knew how to remedy it. The rulers, it is true, were not so much
+disquieted by the immorality attending it, as they were by the
+insecurity, costliness, and unceasing disputes which it involved, as
+well as by the reclamations of foreign governments. The recruiting
+officers were themselves often bad and untrustworthy men, whose
+proceedings and disbursements could with difficulty be controlled. Not
+a few lived for years a life of dissipation, with their accomplices, in
+foreign countries at the cost of their monarchs; charged exorbitant
+bounties, only succeeded in ensnaring a few, and could scarcely get
+these into the country. It soon followed that not half of those so
+enlisted ever became available to the army; for the greater part were
+the worst rabble, into whom military qualities could not always be
+flogged, whose diseased bodies and vicious habits filled the hospitals
+and prisons, and who ran away on the first opportunity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The enlisting in the interior was carried on with every kind of
+violence; the officers and recruiting sergeants seized and carried off
+only sons who ought to have been exempt; students from the
+Universities, and whole colonies of villeins whom they settled on their
+own properties. Whoever wished to be exempt, was obliged to bribe, and
+was not even then safe. The officers were so protected in their violent
+extortions, that they openly despised all legal restraints. If there
+happened to be a great deficiency of men in time of war, all regard for
+law ceased. Then a formal, razzia was arranged, the city gates were
+beset by guards, and every one who went in or out subjected to a
+fearful examination, and whoever was tall and strong was seized; houses
+were broken into, and recruits were sought for from cellar to garret,
+even in families that ought to have been exempt. In the Seven Years'
+War, the Prussians even endeavoured to catch the scholars of the upper
+forms of the public schools in Silesia, for military service. In many
+families still lives the remembrance of the terror and danger
+occasioned to the grandfathers by the recruiting system. It was then a
+great misfortune for the sons of the clergy or officials to grow tall,
+and the usual warning of anxious parents was, &quot;Do not grow, or you will
+be caught by the recruiting officer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Almost worse were the illegalities practised by the recruiting
+sergeants seeking for recruits in foreign countries. The recruit was
+bound by the reception of the money; and the well-known man&#339;uvre was
+to make simple lads drunk in jovial society, to press the money on them
+when intoxicated, take them into strict custody, and when, on becoming
+sober, they resisted, keep them by chains and every means of
+compulsion. Under escort and threatenings, the prisoners were dragged
+under the banners, and compelled to take the oath by barbarous
+punishments. Every other means of seduction was used besides drinking;
+gambling, prostitutes, lying, and every kind of deceit. Individuals
+considered desirable subjects were for days watched by spies. It was
+required of recruiting sergeants, who were paid for this purpose, to be
+especially expert in the art of outwitting. Advancement and presents of
+money depended on their knowing how to catch many men. Frequently they
+avoided, even where enlisting offices were allowed, showing themselves
+in uniform, and tried to seize their victims in every kind of disguise.
+Horrible were the basenesses practised in this man-hunting, and
+connived at by the governments. It was, in fact, slave-hunting; for the
+enlisted soldier could only perform his service in the great machine of
+the army, when he closed with all the hopes and wishes of his former
+life. It is a melancholy task to represent to oneself the feelings
+which worked in these victims; destroyed hopes, faintheartedness under
+violence, and heart-rending grief over a ruined life. It was not always
+the worst men who were hunted to death by running the gauntlet for
+repeated desertions, or flogged on account of insolent disobedience,
+till they lay senseless on the ground. Whoever could overcome his own
+inward struggle and accustom himself to the rough style of his new
+life, became a complete soldier, that is, a man who performed his
+service punctually, showed a firm spirit in attack, honoured or hated
+as enjoined, and perhaps felt some attachment to his flag; and probably
+much greater to the friend which made him for a time forget his
+situation&#8212;brandy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Enlistment in foreign countries could only take place with the consent
+of the Government of the country. Urgently did warlike princes seek for
+permission from their neighbours for an enlistment office. The Emperor,
+indeed, had the best of it, for each of his regiments had, according to
+custom, a fixed recruiting district throughout Germany. The others,
+especially Prussia, had to provide a favourable district for it. The
+larger Imperial cities were frequently courteous enough to grant
+permission to the more powerful Sovereigns; consequently, they were not
+always able to protect the sons of their own noble families. The
+frontiers of France, Holland, and Switzerland, were favourable
+districts for catching recruits; for there were always deserters to be
+found in the territory which was surrounded by foreign domains,
+especially when a foreign fortress, with burdensome garrison service,
+lay in the neighbourhood. Anspach, Baireuth, Dessau, and Brunswick,
+were always a good market for the Prussians.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The recruiting officers of the different governments were not in equal
+repute. The Austrians had the best character; they were considered in
+the soldier world, coarse, but harmless; only took those that willingly
+yielded themselves, and kept to the agreement strictly. They had not
+much to offer, only three kreuzer and two pounds of bread daily; but
+they never were deficient in recruits. The Prussian recruiting
+officers, on the contrary, it must be owned, were in the worst repute;
+they lived in the highest style, were very insolent and unscrupulous,
+and fool-hardy devils. In order to catch a fine lad, they contrived the
+most audacious tricks, and exposed themselves to the greatest dangers:
+one knows that they were sometimes soundly beaten, when they found
+themselves in a minority, that they were imprisoned by foreign
+Governments, and more than one of them stabbed; but all this did not
+frighten them. This evil report lasted till Frederic William II. made
+his new rules of enlistment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One of the best recruiting places in the empire was Frankfort-ā-M.,
+with its great fair; Prussians, Austrians, and Danes, still, at the end
+of the century, dwelt together there; the Danes had hung out their flag
+at the &quot;Fir-tree;&quot; the Austrians had, from olden times, stopped
+phlegmatically at the inn &quot;The Red Ox;&quot; but the restless Prussian
+recruiting officers were always changing; they were at this time the
+most distinguished and most splendid. A kind of diplomatic intercourse
+was maintained between the different parties; they were, it is true,
+jealous of one another, and endeavoured mutually to intercept each
+other's news; but they continued to visit and took wine and tobacco
+together as comrades. But Frankfort had already, after the seventeenth
+century, become the centre of a special branch of the business for
+entrapping men for the Imperial army. The recruiting officers sought
+not only new men, but also for deserters; and the bad discipline and
+want of military pride of the small southern German countries,
+as well as the facility of desertion, made it alluring to every
+good-for-nothing fellow to obtain new earnest money. In the recruiting
+rooms, therefore, of the Prussians and those of the &quot;Red Ox,&quot; there
+hung a great variety of wardrobes from the different territories of the
+empire, which the deserters had left behind. Besides the wish to gain
+more bounty, there was yet another reason which led even the better
+sort of soldiers to desert&#8212;the wish to marry. No government approved
+of their soldiers burdening themselves with wives when in garrison,
+but, reckless as the military rulers were, they had no power in this
+respect. For there was no better means of keeping hold of a recruit
+than by marriage. If permission was refused, it was certain in
+garrisons near the frontier, that the soldier would fly with his maiden
+to the nearest inn where there was a foreign recruiting officer; and it
+was equally certain that he would there be married on the spot; for at
+every such recruiting place, there was a clergyman at hand for these
+cases.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The result of this was, that by far the greater number of soldiers were
+married, especially in the small States, where they could easily reach
+the frontier. Thus the Saxon army of about 30,000 men, reckoned in
+1790, 20,000 soldiers' children; in the regiment of Thadden at Halle,
+almost half the soldiers were provided with wives. The soldiers' wives
+and children no longer went into the field, as in the old Landsknecht
+time, under the sergeants, but they were a heavy burden on the garrison
+towns. The women, supported themselves with difficulty by washing and
+other work; the children roamed about wildly without instruction. The
+city schools were almost everywhere closed to them; they were despised
+by the citizens like gipsies. Even in wealthy Lower Saxony at the
+beginning of the French revolution, there was no school for soldiers'
+boys except at Annaberg; this undoubtedly was well regulated, but did
+not suffice. For the girls there were none; there were neither
+preachers nor schools with the regiments. Only in Prussia was the
+education of the children and the training of the grown-up men&#8212;through
+preachers, schools, and orphan houses&#8212;seriously attended to.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When a man received earnest-money from a recruiting officer, his whole
+life was decided. He was separated from the society of the citizens by
+a chasm which the most persevering could seldom pass. Under the hard
+pressure of service, under rough officers and among still rougher
+comrades, ran the course of his life; the first years in ceaseless
+drilling, the following ones with occasional relaxation which
+allowed him to seek for some small service in the neighbourhood, as
+day-labourer, or some little handicraft. If he was considered secure,
+he would have leave for months, whether he wished it or not; then the
+captain kept his pay, and he had meanwhile to provide for himself. The
+citizens regarded him with distrust and aversion; the honesty and
+morals of the soldiers were in such bad repute, that civilians avoided
+all contact with them, if a soldier entered an inn, the citizen and
+artisan immediately left it, and the landlord considered it a
+misfortune to have visits from soldiers. Thus he was in his hours of
+recreation confined to intercourse with comrades and profligate women.
+Severe was the usage that he met with from his officers; he was cuffed
+and kicked, punished with flogging for the slightest cause, or placed
+on the sharp pointed wooden horse or donkey, which stood in the open
+place near the guard-house; for greater misdemeanors he was confined in
+chains, put on wooden palings, or if the crime was great, he had to run
+the gauntlet of rods cut by the Provost, till he died.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If in Prussia the predilection of the King for uniforms, and under
+Frederic the Great the glory of the army reconciled the Brandenburg
+conscript to the King's coat, this was far less the case in the rest of
+Germany. To the citizen and peasant's son in Prussia who had to serve,
+it was a misfortune, but in the rest of Germany a disgrace. Various
+were the attempts made to evade it by mutilation, but the chopping off
+a finger did not exempt, and was besides as severely punished as
+desertion. In 1790, a rich peasant lad in Lower Saxony, who by the
+hatred of the bailiff had been forced into service, was ashamed to
+enter his native village in uniform. Whenever he obtained leave, he
+stopped outside the village and had his peasant's dress brought to him,
+and a maid carried the uniform through the village in a covered basket.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Desertions, therefore, did not cease; they were the common evil of all
+armies, and were not to be prevented by running the gauntlet the first
+and second time, nor even the third with shot. In the garrisons the
+roll-call, which was incessant, and quiet espionnage of individuals,
+were insufficient means. But when the cannon gave the signal that a man
+had escaped, the alarm was given to the surrounding villages, mounted
+foresters and troopers trotted along all the roads, detachments of foot
+and horse scoured the country as far as the frontiers, and information
+was given to the villages. Whoever brought in a deserter received in
+Prussia ten thalers, but whoever did not stop him, had to pay double
+that sum as a punishment. Every soldier who went along the high road,
+was obliged to have a pass; in Prussia, by the orders of Frederic
+William I., every subject, whether high or low, was bound to detain
+every soldier he met on the road to inquire after his papers. It was a
+terrible thing, for a little artisan lad to be brought to a standstill
+in a lonely street by a desperate six-foot grenadier, with musket and
+sword, who could not be passed. Still worse was it when whole troops
+prepared for flight, like those twenty Russians of the Dessauer
+regiment at Halle, who, in 1734, obtained leave to attend the Greek
+service at Brandenburg, where the King kept a patriarch for his
+numerous Russian Grenadiers. But the twenty were determined to make a
+pilgrimage back to the golden cross of the holy Moscow; they passed
+with great staves through the Saxon villages, and were with difficulty
+caught by the Prussian Hussars, brought back by Dresden to their
+garrison, and there mildly treated. But yet more grievous was it to the
+King, that even among his own Potsdamers a conspiracy broke out, when
+his tall Servian Grenadiers had sworn to burn the town, and to desert
+with arms in their hands. There were people of importance at the bottom
+of it; the executions, cutting off of noses, and other modes of
+punishment, occasioned the King a loss of 30,000 thalers. In the field,
+also, a system of tactical regulations were necessary to restrain
+desertion; every night march, every camp on the outskirts of a wood,
+produced losses; the troops, both on the road and in camp, had to be
+surrounded by strong patrols of Hussars and pickets; in every secret
+expedition it was necessary to isolate the army by means of troops of
+light cavalry, in order that deserters might not carry news to the
+enemy. This order was still given to the Generals by Frederic II. In
+spite of all, however, in every campaign, after each lost battle, and
+even after those which were won, the number of deserters was fearfully
+great. After unfortunate campaigns, great armies were in danger of
+entire dissolution. Many who ran away from one army, went in
+speculation to another, like the mercenaries in the Thirty Years' War;
+indeed this changing and deserting had rough jovial attraction for
+adventurers. An imprisoned deserter was, in the opinion of multitudes,
+anything but an evil-doer,&#8212;we have many popular songs which express
+the full sympathy of the village singer for the unfortunate, but the
+happy deserter passed even for a hero, and in some popular tales, the
+valiant fellow who has been compelled to help the fictitious King out
+of danger, and at last marries the Princess, is a runaway soldier.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This royal soldiery was considered, in accordance with the ideas of
+that period, even after the popular arming of the militia, as the
+private possession of the Prince. The German Sovereigns, after the
+Thirty Years' War, had, as once did the Italian condottieri, trafficked
+with their military force; they had leased it to foreign powers, in
+order to make money and increase their influence. Sometimes the
+smallest territorial princes furnished in this way many regiments for
+the service of the Emperor, of the Dutch, and of the King of France.
+After the troops became more numerous, and were for the most part
+supplied from the children of the soil, this abuse of the Prince's
+power began gradually to strike the people with surprise. But it was
+not until after the wars of Frederic II. had inspired the people with
+patriotic warmth, that such appropriation became a subject of lively
+discussion. And when, after 1777, Brunswick, Anspach, Waldeck, Zerbst,
+and more than all Hesse-Cassel and Hanau, let out to England a number
+of regiments for service against the Americans, the indignation of the
+people was loudly expressed. Still it was only a lyrical complaint, but
+it sounded from the Rhine to the Vistula; the remembrance of it still
+lives; still does this misdeed hang like a curse upon one of the ruling
+families who then, to the most criminal extent, bartered away the lives
+of their subjects.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Among the German states Prussia was the one in which the tyranny of
+this military system was most severe, but at the same time it was in
+some respects developed with a rigid grandeur and originality which
+made the Prussian army for half a century the first military power in
+the world, and a model after which all the other armies of Europe were
+formed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Any one who had entered Prussia shortly before 1740, when under the
+government of Frederic William I., would have been struck the very
+first hour by its peculiar characteristics. At field-labour, and in the
+streets of the cities, he would continually have seen slender men of
+warlike aspect, with a striking red necktie. They were &quot;<i>canton</i>&quot; men,
+who already as children had been entered on the register of soldiers,
+and sworn under a banner, and could be called upon if their King needed
+them. Each regiment had 500 to 800 of these reserves; one may therefore
+assume, that by these, an army of 64,000 men, could, in three months,
+be increased about 30,000, for everything was ready in the regimental
+rooms, both clothing and weapons. Anyone too, who first saw a regiment
+of Prussian infantry, would be still more astonished. The soldiers were
+of a height such as had never been seen in the world,&#8212;they appeared of
+a foreign race. When the regiment stood four ranks deep in line&#8212;the
+position in three ranks was just then introduced&#8212;the smallest men of
+the first rank were only a few inches under six foot, the fourth almost
+equally high, and the middle ones little less. One may assume that were
+the whole army placed in four ranks, the heads would make four straight
+lines; the weapons also were somewhat longer than elsewhere. Not less
+striking was the neat appearance of the men, they stood there like
+gentlemen, with good clean linen, their heads nicely powdered, and a
+cue, all in blue coats, with gaiters of unbleached linen up to their
+bright breeches; the regiments were distinguished by the colour of
+their waistcoats, facings, and lace. If a regiment wore beards, as for
+example the old Dessauers at Halle, the beard was nicely greased. Each
+man received yearly, before the review, a new uniform, even to the
+shirt and stockings, and in the field also he had two dresses. The
+officers looked still grander, with embroidered waistcoats, and scarfs
+round the waist, on the sword the &quot;field badge;&quot; all was gold and
+silver, and round the neck the gilded gorget, in the middle of which
+was to be seen on a white ground, the Prussian eagle. The captain and
+lieutenant bore in their hands the partisan, which had already been a
+little diminished, and was called spontoon; the subordinate officers
+still carried the short pike. It was considered smart for the dress to
+fit tight and close, and in the same style the motions of the soldiers
+were precise and angular, the deportment stiff and erect, their heads
+high. Still more remarkable were their movements; for they were the
+first soldiers that marched with equal step, the whole line raising and
+setting down their feet like one man. This innovation had been
+introduced by Dessau; the pace was slow and dignified, and even under
+the worst fire was little hastened: that majestic equal step, in the
+hottest moment at Mollwitz, carried confusion among the Austrians. The
+music also struck them with terror. The great brass drums of the
+Prussians (they have now, alas, come down to the insignificant size of
+a bandbox), raised a tremendous din. When in Berlin, at the parade of
+the Guards, some twenty drums were beaten, it made the windows shake.
+And among the hautboys there was a trumpet, equally a novel invention.
+The introduction of this instrument, created everywhere in Germany
+astonishment and disapprobation, for the trumpeters and kettle drummers
+of the holy Roman Empire formed a guild, which was protected by
+Imperial privileges, and would not tolerate a military trumpeter not
+belonging to it. But the King cared little for this. When the soldiers
+exercised, loaded, and fired, it was with a precision similar to
+witchcraft;<a name="div2_04" href="#div2Ref_04"><sup>[4]</sup></a> for after 1740, when Dessau introduced the iron ramrod,
+the Prussian shot four or five times in a minute,&#8212;afterwards he learnt
+to do it quicker; in 1773, five or six times; in 1781, six or seven
+times. The fire of the whole front of the battalion was a flash and a
+crack. When the salvos of the troops, exercising early in the morning
+under the windows of the King's castle, roared, the noise was so great
+that all the little Princes and Princesses were obliged to rise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But anyone who would have wished to form a right estimate of the
+soldiery should have gone to Potsdam. It had been a poor place,
+situated betwixt the Havel and a swamp; the King had made it into an
+architectural camp; no civilian could carry a sword there, not even the
+minister of state. There, round the King's castle, in small brick
+houses, which were built partly in the Dutch style, were stationed the
+King's giants,&#8212;the world-renowned Grenadier regiment. There were three
+battalions of 800 men, besides 600 to 800 reserves. Whoever among the
+Grenadiers was burdened with a wife, had a house to himself; of the
+other Colossuses, as many as four lodged with one landlord, who had to
+wait upon and provide food for them, for which he only received some
+stacks of wood. The men of this regiment never had leave, could carry
+on no public work, and drink no brandy; most of them lived like
+students at the high school, they occupied themselves with books,
+drawing and music, or worked in their houses.<a name="div2_05" href="#div2Ref_05"><sup>[5]</sup></a> They received extra
+pay, the tallest from ten to twenty thalers a month: all these fine men
+wore high plated grenadier caps, which made them about four hand
+breadths taller; the fifers of the regiment were Moors. Whoever
+belonged to the Colonel's own company of the regiment had his picture
+taken and hung up in the corridor of the castle of Potsdam. Many
+distinguished persons travelled to Potsdam to see these sons of Anak at
+parade or exercising. But it was remarked that such giants were
+scarcely useful for real war, and that it had never occurred to any one
+in the world to seek for extraordinary height as advantageous to
+soldiers; this wonder was reserved for Prussia. But anyone who staid in
+the country did well not to express this too openly. For the Grenadiers
+were a passion of the King, which in his latter years amounted almost
+to madness, and for which he forgot his family, justice, honour,
+conscience, and what had stood highest with him all his life, the
+advantage of his State. They were his dear blue children; he was
+perfectly acquainted with each individual; took a lively interest in
+their personal concerns, and tolerated long speeches and dry answers
+from them. It was difficult for a civilian to obtain justice against
+these favourites, and they were with good reason feared by the people.
+Wherever in any part of Europe a tall man was to be found, the King
+traced him out, and secured him either by bounty or force for his
+guard. There was the giant Müller, who had shown himself in Paris and
+London for money&#8212;two groschen a person&#8212;he was the fourth or fifth in
+the line; still taller was Jonas, a smith's journeyman from Norway;
+then the Prussian Hohmann, whose head King Augustus of Poland,&#8212;though
+a man of fine stature&#8212;could not reach with his outstretched hand;
+finally later there was James Kirckland, an Irishman, whom the Prussian
+Ambassador Von Borke had carried off by force from England, and on
+account of whom diplomatic intercourse was nearly broken off; he had
+cost the King about nine thousand thalers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They were collected together from every vocation of life, adventurers
+of the worst kind, students, Roman Catholic priests, monks, and even
+some noblemen stood in rank and file. The Crown Prince Frederic, in his
+letters to his confidential friends, spoke often with aversion and
+scorn of this passion of the King, but he had inherited it to a certain
+extent, and the Prussian army have not yet ceased to take pride in it.
+It extended to other princes also, especially to such as were attached
+to the Hohenzollerns, the Dessauers, and Brunswickers. In 1806, Duke
+Ferdinand of Brunswick, who was mortally wounded at Auerstadt, carried
+on a systematic dealing in men for his regiment at Halberstadt; in his
+own company the first rank were six foot, and the smallest man was five
+foot nine; all the companies were taller than the first regiment of
+guards is now. But in other armies also there was somewhat of this
+predilection. At the end of the last century, an able Saxon officer
+lamented that the first and tallest regiment in the Saxon army could
+not measure with the smallest of the Prussians.<a name="div2_06" href="#div2Ref_06"><sup>[6]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">Not less remarkable was the relation in which King Frederic William
+stood to his officers. He heartily feared and hated the wily sagacity
+of the diplomats and higher officials, but he readily confided his
+secret thoughts to the simple, sturdy, straightforward character of his
+officers, which was sometimes a mask. It was a favourite fancy to
+consider himself as their comrade. Many were the hours in which he
+treated as his equals many who wore the sash. He used to greet with a
+kiss all the superior officers down to the major, if he had not seen
+them for a long time. Once he affronted the Major Von Jürgass by using
+the opprobrious word by which officers then denoted a studious man; the
+drunken man replied, &quot;That was the speech of a cowardly rascal,&quot; and
+then got up and left the party. The King declared that he could not
+allow that to pass, and was ready to take his revenge for the insult
+with sword or pistol. When those present protested against this,
+the King asked angrily how otherwise he could obtain satisfaction
+for his injured honour? They contrived a means of doing it by
+lieutenant-Colonel Von Einsiedel taking the King's place in the
+battalion, and fighting the duel in his stead. The duel took place,
+Einsiedel was wounded in the arm; for this the King filled his knapsack
+full of thalers, and commanded him to carry the heavy burden home. The
+King could not forget that as Crown Prince he had never risen in the
+service beyond a Colonel, and that a Field-Marshal was higher than
+himself. He therefore lamented in the &quot;<i>Tabak's Collegium</i>,&quot;<a name="div2_07" href="#div2Ref_07"><sup>[7]</sup></a> that he
+had not been able to remain with King William of England: &quot;He would
+certainly have made a great man of me, he could even have made me
+Statholder of Holland.&quot; And when it was maintained in reply that he
+himself was a greater King, he answered: &quot;You speak according to your
+judgment; he would have taught me how to command the armies of all
+Europe. Do you know of anything greater?&quot; So much did this strange
+Prince feel the not having become Field-Marshal. When he sat dying in
+his wooden chair, had cast behind him all earthly cares, and was
+observing with curiosity the process of dying in himself, he desired
+the funeral horse to be fetched from the stable, and in accordance with
+the old custom of sending it as a legacy from the Colonel to the
+General in command, he ordered the horse to be taken on his behalf to
+Leopold Von Dessau, and the grooms to be flogged because they had not
+put the right housings on him.<a name="div2_08" href="#div2Ref_08"><sup>[8]</sup></a> Such was the Prince whose example was
+followed by the whole nobility of his country and in his army. Already
+under the great Elector had a sovereign contempt for all education
+displayed itself but too frequently in the army; already had such a
+repugnance to all learning been instilled into the early deceased
+Electoral Prince Karl Emil, by the officers around him, that he
+maintained that he who studied and learnt Latin was a coward. In the
+&quot;<i>Tabak's Collegium</i>&quot; of King Frederic William, still worse expressions
+were at first applied to this class of men. With the King himself there
+was undoubtedly an alteration in the last years of his life, but this
+tone of indifference to all knowledge which did not bear upon their own
+profession, remained with most of the Prussian officers till this
+century, in spite of all the endeavours of Frederic the Great. In 1790
+the people still used the term, a Frederic William's officer, for a
+tall thin man, in a short blue coat, with a long sword and a tight
+cravat, who was spruce and earnest in all his actions as in service and
+had learnt little. About the same time Lafontaine, chaplain to the
+regiment Von Thadden, at Halle, complained of the little education of
+the officers. Once after giving them an historical lecture, a valiant
+captain took him on one side and said, &quot;You tell us things that have
+happened thousands of years ago, God knows where; will you not tell us
+one thing more? How do you know this?&quot; And when the chaplain gave him
+an explanation, the officer answered, &quot;Curious! I thought it had always
+been as it is now in Prussia.&quot; The same captain could not read writing
+hand, but was a brave, trustworthy man.<a name="div2_09" href="#div2Ref_09"><sup>[9]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">But King Frederic William I. did not wish that his officers should
+remain quite uninformed. He caused the sons of poor noblemen to be
+educated at his cost, in the great cadet institution at Berlin, and
+practised in the service under the care of able officers; the most
+intelligent he employed as pages, and in small services as guards in
+the castle. As a rule, in Prussia, no poor nobleman had to provide for
+the advancement of his son; the King did it for him. The nobility, it
+was said, were the nursery for the spontoon. As soon as the boy was
+fourteen years old he wore the same coat of blue cloth as the King and
+his Princes; for as yet there were no epaulets or distinctions in the
+embroidery,&#8212;only the regiments were denoted by marks of distinction.
+Every Prince of the Prussian family had to serve and become an officer,
+like the son of the poorest nobleman. It was remarked by contemporaries
+that in the battle of Mollwitz ten princes of the King of Prussia's
+family were in the army. It had not previously been the custom
+anywhere, or at any time, that the King should consider himself as an
+officer, and the officer as on an equality with the princes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">By this comrade-training, the officers were placed in a position such
+as they had never had in any nation. It is true that all the faults of
+a privileged order were strikingly perceptible in them. Besides their
+coarseness, love of drinking and gluttony, the rage for duelling, the
+old passion of the German army, was not eradicated, although the same
+Hohenzollern, who had himself wished to fight with his Major, was
+inexorable in punishing with death every officer who killed another in
+a duel. But if such a &quot;brave fellow&quot; saved himself by flight, the King
+rejoiced if other governments promoted him. The duel was not then
+carried on in Prussia according to the usages of the Thirty Years' War:
+there were more seconds, and the number of passages was fixed; they
+fought on horseback with pistols and on foot with a sword. Before the
+combat the opponents shook hands&#8212;nay, they embraced each other, and
+exchanged forgiveness in case of death; if they were pious they went
+beforehand to confession and the Lord's Supper; no blow could be given
+till the opponent was in a position to use his sword; in case he fell
+to the ground or was disarmed, generosity was a duty; if anyone wished
+for a fatal result, he spread out his mantle, or, if like the officers
+after 1710 he wore none, he traced with his sword on the ground a
+square grave. After the reconciliation followed a banquet. Frequent and
+unpunished was the presumption of the officers toward the civilian
+officials, and brutal violence against the weak. Even the sensitiveness
+of officers for their honour, which then developed itself in the
+Prussian army, had no high moral authority; it was a very imperfect
+substitute for manly virtue, for it pardoned great vices and privileged
+meannesses. But it was an important step in advance for thousands of
+wild disorderly men.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Through it, was first brought forth in the Prussian army a devotion on
+the part of the nobles, perhaps too exclusive, to the idea of a State.
+It was first in the army of the Hohenzollerns that the idea penetrated
+into the minds of both officers and soldiers, that a man owed his life
+to his father-land. In no part of Germany have brave soldiers been
+wanting to die for their banner; but the merit of the Hohenzollerns,
+the rough, reckless leaders of a wild army, was, that while they
+themselves lived, worked and did good and evil for their State, with
+unbounded devotion, they also knew how to give to their army, besides
+respect for their flag, a patriotic feeling of duty. From the school of
+Frederic William I. sprang forth the army with which Frederic II. won
+his battles, which made the Prussian State of the last century the most
+terrible power in Europe, and by its blood and its victories excited in
+the whole nation the enthusiastic feeling that within the German
+frontiers was a fatherland, of which every individual might be proud,
+and to struggle and to die for which would bring the highest honour and
+the highest fame to every child of the country.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And this advance in German civilisation was contributed to, not only by
+the favoured men who, with gorgets and sashes, sat as comrades with the
+Colonel Frederic William on the stools of his &quot;collegium,&quot; but also by
+the much tormented soldiers, who were constrained by blows to discharge
+their guns for their Sovereign's State.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But before speaking of the advantages of the government of a great
+King, we will give a narrative, by a Prussian recruit and deserter, of
+the sufferings occasioned by the old military system, in which the life
+of an insignificant individual is delineated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The narrator is the Swiss Ulrich Bräcker, the man of Toggenburg, whose
+autobiography has been often printed,<a name="div2_10" href="#div2Ref_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> and it is one of the most
+instructive accounts that we possess of the life of the people. The
+biography contains, in the first part, an abundance of characteristic
+and pleasing features; the description of a poor family in a remote
+valley; the bitter struggle with poverty; the doings of the herdsmen;
+the first love of the young man; the cunning with which he was
+kidnapped by the Prussian recruiting officer; and his compulsory
+military service up to the battle of Lowositz; his flight home, and
+subsequent weary struggle for existence; the description of his
+household; and, finally, the resignation of a sensitive, enthusiastic
+nature which, partly by its own fault, was disturbed in the firm tenor
+of its own life, by a dreamy tendency and passionate ebullitions. The
+poor man of Toggenburg displays, throughout his detailed statement, a
+poetical and touching child-like spirit, a passionate desire to read,
+reflect, and form himself&#8212;in short, a sensitive organisation which was
+ruled by humours and phantasies.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ulrich Bräcker was at his home in Toggenburg, with his father, occupied
+in felling wood, when an acquaintance of the family, a wandering
+miller, approached the workers, and advised the honest, simple Bräcker
+to go from the valley to the city, in order to make his fortune there.
+Amid the blessings of parents and sisters, the honest youth wanders
+with the friend of the family to Schaffhausen; there he was taken to an
+inn, where he made acquaintance with a foreign officer. When his
+companion accidentally absented himself for a short time, he agreed to
+remain with the officer as servant. The family friend returns, and is
+highly irate, not that Ulrich had entered into service, but that he had
+done this without his interposition; and had thus diminished his
+commission fee. It turned out afterwards that he himself had carried
+off the son of his countryman, in order to sell him, and that he had
+intended to ask twenty <i>Friedrichsdor</i> for him. Ulrich, dressed in a
+new livery, lived for a time very jovially as servant of his dissipated
+master&#8212;the Italian Markoni&#8212;without concerning himself particularly
+about the secret transactions of the latter. He felt comfortable in his
+new position, and wrote a succession of cheerful letters to his parents
+and his love. At last his master made use of a lie to send him further
+into the country, and finally to Berlin; he there discovered, with
+horror, that his beautiful livery and his jovial life had been nothing
+but a deceit practised on him. His master was a recruiting officer, and
+he himself a recruit. From this point he shall relate his own fate:&#8212;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was on the 8th of April that we entered Berlin, and I in vain
+inquired for my master, who, as I afterwards learnt, had arrived eight
+days before us. When Labrot brought me into the Krausenstrasse in
+Friedrichstadt, showed me to a lodging, and then left me, saying
+shortly: 'There, messieur! stay till you get further orders!' Hang it!
+thought I, what is all this? It is certainly not even an inn. As I thus
+wondered, a soldier came. Christian Zittermann, and took me with him to
+his room, where there were already two sons of Mars. Now there was much
+wondering and inquiring, who I was? why I had come? and the like. I
+could not well understand their language. I replied shortly: 'I come
+from Switzerland, and am lacquey to his Excellency Herr Lieutenant
+Markoni; the sergeants have shown me here; but I should like to know
+whether my master is arrived at Berlin, and where he lives.' Here the
+fellows began to laugh, whereupon I could have cried, and none of them
+would hear of such an Excellency. Meanwhile they brought me a very
+stiff mess of pease porridge. I eat of it with little appetite.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We had hardly finished, when an old thin fellow entered the room, who
+I now saw must be more than a common soldier. He was a sergeant. He
+carried a soldier's uniform on his arm, which he spread upon the table,
+laid beside it a six groschen piece, and said: 'That is for you, my
+son! I will bring you directly some ammunition bread.' 'What? for me?'
+answered I, 'from whom? what for?' 'Why your uniform and pay, lad!
+what's the use of asking questions? You are a recruit.' 'How? what? a
+recruit?' answered I; 'God forbid! I have never thought of such a
+thing. No, never in my life. I am Markoni's servant. That was what I
+agreed for and nothing else. No man can tell me otherwise.' 'But I tell
+you, fellow, that you are a soldier, I can answer for that. There is no
+help for it.' I: 'Ah, if my master Markoni were but here!' He: 'You
+will not soon get a sight of him. Would you not rather be a servant to
+our King, than to his lieutenant?' Therewith he went away. 'For God's
+sake, Herr Zittermann,' I continued, 'what does this mean?' 'Nothing,
+sir,' answered he, 'but that you, like I, and the other gentlemen
+there, are soldiers, and consequently all brothers, and that no
+opposition will avail, except to take you to the guard-house, where you
+will have bread and water, have your hands bound, and be flogged till
+your ribs crack, and you are satisfied.' I: 'By my troth that would be
+shameful, wicked!' He: 'Believe me upon my word it will be so, and
+nothing else.' I: 'Then I will complain to the King.' Here they all
+laughed loud. He: 'You will never see him.' I: 'To whom else can I
+complain?' He: 'To our Major, if you choose. But that will be all in
+vain.' I: 'I will try, however, whether it will avail!' The lads
+laughed again.&quot; (The Major kicked him out with blows.)</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the afternoon the sergeant brought me my ammunition bread, together
+with my musket and side-arms and so forth, and asked whether I now
+thought better of it? 'Why not?' answered Zittermann for me; 'he is the
+best lad in the world.' Then they led me into the uniform room, and
+fitted on me a pair of pantaloons, shoes and boots, gave me a hat,
+necktie, stockings, and so forth. Then I had to go with some twenty
+other recruits to Colonel Latorf. They took us into a room as large as
+a church, brought in some tattered flags, and commanded each of us to
+take hold of a corner. An Adjutant, or whoever he was, read us a whole
+heap of the articles of war, and repeated some words which most of them
+murmured after him; but I did not open my mouth, but thought of what
+pleased me, I believe it was of Aennchen; he then waved the banner over
+our heads and dismissed us. Hereupon I went to a cook-shop and got
+something to eat, together with a mug of beer. For this I had to pay
+two groschen. Now I had only four out of the six remaining to me; with
+these I had to provide for myself for four days, and they would
+scarcely last two. Upon this calculation I began to make great
+lamentations to my comrades. One of them, called Eran, said to me with
+a smile, 'You will soon learn. Now it does not signify to you; for have
+you not something to sell? For example your whole servant's livery;
+thus you are at present doubly armed; all that will turn into silver.
+And as to your <i>ménage</i>, only observe what others do. Three, four or
+five, club together to buy corn, peas, and potatoes, and the like, and
+cook for themselves. In the morning they have a half-penny worth of bad
+brandy and a piece of ammunition bread; in the middle of the day they
+get a half-penny worth of soup, and take a piece of ammunition bread;
+in the evening they have two penny worth of small beer, and again the
+bread.' 'But that, by Jove, is a cursed life,' I answered; he said,
+'Yes! thus one gets on, and not otherwise. A soldier must learn this;
+for many other things are necessary: pipeclay, powder, blacking, oil,
+emery, and soap, and a hundred other things.' I: 'And that is all to be
+paid for out of six groschen?' He: 'Yes! and still more; as for
+example, the pay for washing, for cleaning the weapons and so forth, if
+you cannot do those things yourself.' Thereupon we went to our
+quarters, and I got on as well as I could.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;During the first week I still had a holiday; I went about the town to
+all the places of drill, and saw how the officers inspected and flogged
+the soldiers, so that beforehand for very fear, great drops of sweat
+broke out on my brow. I therefore begged of Zittermann to show me at
+home how to handle my weapons. 'You will learn that by-and-by,' said
+he, 'but if you are dexterous you will get on like lightning.'
+Meanwhile he was so good as really to show me everything, how to keep
+my weapon clean, how to squeeze myself into my uniform, and to dress my
+hair in a soldierly style, and so forth. After Eran's counsel, I sold
+my boots, and bought with the money a wooden chest to hold my linen. In
+quarters I practised myself in exercising, read the Halle hymn-book or
+prayed. Then I walked by the Spree and saw there hundreds of soldiers
+employed in lading and unlading merchants' wares; the timber yard also
+was full of soldiers at work. Another time I went to the barracks and
+so forth; I found everywhere the like, a hundred sorts of business
+carried on, from works of art to the distaff. If I came to the
+guard-house, I there found those who played, drank, and jested; others
+who quietly smoked their pipes and conversed, some few who read an
+edifying book and explained it to the others. In the cook-shops and
+breweries, things went on after the same fashion. In Berlin we had
+among the military&#8212;as I think indeed is the case in all great
+cities&#8212;people from all the four quarters of the world, of all nations
+and religions, of all characters and of every profession by which men
+can earn their bread.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The second week I had to attend every day on the parade-ground, where
+I unexpectedly found three of my country-people. Shärer, Bachmann, and
+Gästli, who were all in the same regiment with me&#8212;Itzenplitz&#8212;both
+were in the company called Lüderitz. At first I had to learn to march
+under a crabbed corporal, with a crooked nose, by name Mengke; this
+fellow I hated like death; when he hit me on the feet the blood went to
+my head. Under his hands I should have learnt nothing all my days. This
+was observed by Hevel, who man&#339;uvred with his people on the same
+ground, so he exchanged me for another, and took me into his platoon.
+This was a heartfelt pleasure to me. Now I learned in an hour more than
+in ten days with the other.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Shärer was as poor as I; but he got an augmentation of two groschen
+and a double portion of bread, for the Major thought a good bit more of
+him than of me. Meanwhile we loved each other as brothers; as long as
+one had anything the other would share it with him. Bachmann, on the
+contrary, who also lodged with us, was a niggardly fellow, and did not
+agree with us; nevertheless the hours always appeared as long as day
+when we could not be together. As soon as our drills were over, we flew
+together to Schottmann's cellar, drank our mug of Ruppin or Kotbuss
+beer, smoked a pipe, and trilled a Swiss song. The Brandenburgers and
+Pomeranians always listened to us with pleasure. Some gentlemen even
+sent for us express to a cook-shop, to sing the <i>ranz-des-vackes</i>. The
+musicians' pay principally consisted in nasty soup, but in such a
+situation one must be content with still less.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We often related to one another our manner of life at home; how well
+off we were and how free; and what a cursed life we led here, and the
+like. Then we made plans for our escape. Sometimes we entertained hopes
+that we might succeed; at other times we saw before us insurmountable
+difficulties, and we were principally deterred by thinking of the
+consequences of an unsuccessful attempt. We heard every week fearful
+stories of deserters brought back, who, even when they had been so
+cunning as to disguise themselves in the dresses of sailors and other
+artisans, or even as women, and had concealed themselves in tuns and
+casks, and the like, had yet been caught. Then we had to look on while
+they ran the gauntlet eight times through two hundred men, till they
+sank down breathless&#8212;and then again the following day; their clothes
+were torn off from their hacked backs, and the punishment was repeated
+till the coagulated blood hung over their trousers. Then Shärer and I
+looked at each other trembling and deadly pale, and whispered to one
+another, 'Cursed barbarians!' What took place also on the drill-ground
+gave occasion for similar observations. There was no end of the curses
+and scourgings by barbarous Junkers, and again the lamentations of
+those who had been flogged. We ourselves were always the first on the
+ground, and played our part vigorously; but it did not the less give us
+pain to see others so unmercifully treated for every little trifle, and
+ourselves so ill-used year after year; to stand also for five whole
+hours laced up in our uniforms as if screwed to the spot, marching to
+and fro as straight as poles, and to perform uninterrupted manual
+exercise with lightning rapidity; and this all at the command of
+officers who stood before us with furious countenances and raised
+sticks, every moment threatening to beat us about the head as if we
+were cabbages. Under such treatment, a fellow with the strongest nerves
+must become paralysed, and the most patient, raving. And when we
+returned, wearied to death, to our quarters, we had to go headlong to
+our washing, to rub out every spot; for with the exception of the blue
+coat, our whole uniform was white. Weapons, cartouche-boxes, belt,
+every button on the uniform, all must be cleaned as bright as a mirror.
+If there was anything in the least wrong in any of these articles, or
+if a hair was not right on our heads when we appeared on parade, we
+were greeted with a heavy shower of blows. It is true that our officers
+had received the strictest orders to examine us from head to foot; but
+the devil a bit did we recruits know about it, and we thought it was
+the custom of war.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At last came the great epoch, when it was said '<i>Allons</i>, to the
+field!' Now came the route&#8212;tears flowed in abundance from citizens,
+soldiers' wives, and the like. Even the soldiers themselves, namely,
+those of the country who had wives and children to leave behind, were
+quite cast down, full of sorrow, and grief: the strangers, on the
+contrary, secretly shouted for joy, and exclaimed, 'At last, God be
+praised; our release will come!' Every one was loaded like mules, first
+buckled round with his sword belt; then with the cartouche-box over his
+shoulder, with a long five-inch strap; over the other shoulder the
+knapsack, with linen, &amp;c.; also the haversack, filled with bread and
+other forage. Besides this, every one must carry a portion of field
+utensils, a flask, kettle, a hatchet, or such like, all fastened by a
+thong; and then a flint, or something of that sort: thus had we five
+straps upon the breast, one across the other, so that in the beginning
+each one thought that he would be suffocated with such a burden. Then
+there was the tight-fitting uniform, and such dog-day heat, that I many
+times thought that I was going upon red hot coals; and if I opened the
+breast of my coat to get a little air, steam came out as from a boiling
+kettle. Often I had not a dry thread on my body, and almost fainted
+from thirst.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thus we marched the first day, the 22nd of August, out of the
+Köpeniker gate, and marched for four hours to the little town of
+Köpenik, where from thirty to fifty of us were quartered on the
+citizens, who were obliged to feed us for one groschen. <i>Potz plunder!</i>
+how things did go on here! Ha! how we did eat! But only think how many
+great hungry fellows we were! We were all calling out, 'Here, Canaille,
+fetch us what you have in your most secret corner.' At night the rooms
+were filled with straw; there we lay all in rows against the walls.
+Truly a curious household! In every house there was an officer, to keep
+good discipline, but they were often the worst.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Hitherto has the Lord helped!' These words were the first text of our
+Chaplain at Pirna. Oh, yes, thought I, that He has, and will, I truly
+hope, help me further to my Fatherland. For what are your wars to me?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Meanwhile every morning we received orders to load quickly; this gave
+rise among the old soldiers to the following talk: 'What shall we have
+to-day? to-day certainly something is afoot!' Then we young ones
+perspired at all pores if we marched by a bush or a wood, and had to be
+on the alert. Then every one silently pricked up his ears, expecting
+each moment a fiery hail and his death; and when we came again into the
+open, looked right and left, how he could most conveniently escape; for
+we had always the cuirassiers, dragoons, and other soldiers of the
+enemy on both sides.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At last on the 22nd September, the alarm was sounded, and we received
+orders to break up. In a moment all were in motion; in a few minutes a
+camp a mile in length&#8212;like the largest city&#8212;was broken up, and
+<i>Allons</i>, march! Now we proceeded into the valley, made a bridge at
+Pirna, and formed above the town, in front of the Saxon camp, in a
+line, as if for running the gauntlet; of which the end reached the
+Pirna gate, and through which the whole Saxon army in fours passed
+having first laid down their arms; and one may imagine what mocking,
+taunting words they must have heard during the whole long passage. Some
+went sorrowfully with bent heads; others defiant and reckless; and
+others again with a smile, for which the Prussian mocking-birds would
+gladly have paid them off. I know not, neither do many thousand others,
+what were the circumstances which occasioned the surrender of this
+great army. On the same day we marched a good bit further, and pitched
+our camp near Lilienstein.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We were often attacked by the Imperial Pandours, or a hail of shot
+came upon us from the carabineers from behind the bushes, so that many
+were killed on the spot and still more wounded. But when our artillery
+directed a few guns towards the copse, the enemy fled head foremost.
+These miserable trifles did not frighten me much. I should have become
+soon accustomed to them, and I often thought, when the thing takes
+place, it is not so bad after all.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Early on the morning of the 1st of October we had to fall into rank
+and march through a narrow valley towards the great valley. We could
+not see far for the thick fog. But when we had reached the plain and
+joined the great army, we advanced in three divisions, and perceived in
+the distance, through the fog as through a veil, the enemy's troops on
+the plain over against the Bohemian city of Lowositz. It was Imperial
+cavalry, for we never got sight of the infantry, as it had intrenched
+itself near the said city. About 6 o'clock the thunder of the artillery
+both from our front line and also from the Imperial batteries was so
+great that the balls whizzed through our regiment, which was in the
+centre. Hitherto I had always hoped to escape before a battle, but now
+I saw no means of doing so either before or behind me, neither to the
+right nor to the left. Meanwhile we continued to advance. Then all my
+courage oozed away; I could have crept into the bowels of the earth,
+and one could see the same terror and deadly pallor on all faces, even
+those who had hitherto affected so much valour. The empty brandy flasks
+(such as every soldier has) flew among the balls through the air; most
+drank up their little provision to the last drop, for they said,
+'To-day we want courage, to-morrow we may need no drams!' Now we
+advanced quite under the guns, where we changed places with the first
+division. <i>Potz Himmel!</i> how the iron fragments whizzed about our
+heads,&#8212;falling now before and now behind us into the earth, so that
+stones and sods flew into the air,&#8212;and some into the middle of us, so
+that some of our people were picked off from the ranks as if they had
+been blades of straw. Straight before us we saw nothing but the enemy's
+cavalry, which made movements in all directions; now extended
+themselves lengthways, now as a half moon, then drew together again in
+triangles and squares. Now our cavalry advanced, we made an opening and
+let them through to gallop on the enemy. There was a hailstorm of
+missiles rattling, and sabres glittering as they cut them down; but it
+lasted only a quarter of an hour; our cavalry were beaten by the
+Austrians and pursued almost under our guns. What a spectacle it was to
+see: horses with their riders hanging to the stirrup, others with their
+entrails trailing on the ground. Meanwhile we continued to stand under
+the enemy's fire till towards 11 o'clock, without our left wing closing
+with the skirmishers, although the fire was very hot on the right. Many
+thought we were to storm the Imperial intrenchments. I was no longer in
+such terror as at the beginning, although the gunners of the culverins
+were carried off close on both sides of me, and the field of battle was
+already covered with dead and wounded. About 12 o'clock orders came for
+our regiment, together with two others (I believe Bevern and
+Kalkstein), to march back. Now we thought we were going to the camp,
+and that all danger was over. We hastened therefore with cheerful steps
+up the steep vineyard, filled our hats with beautiful red grapes, eat
+them with heartfelt pleasure, and neither I nor any near me expected
+anything disagreeable, although from the heights we saw our brothers
+beneath, still under fire and smoke, and heard a fearful thundering
+noise; we could not tell which side was victorious. Meanwhile our
+leaders took us still higher up the hill, on the summit of which was a
+narrow pass betwixt rocks, which led down to the other side. As soon,
+however, as our advanced-guard had reached this spot, there was a
+terrible storm of musketry; and now we first discovered what was in the
+wind. Some thousand Imperial Pandours were marching up the other side
+of the hill in order to take our army in rear; this had been betrayed
+to our leaders, and we were to anticipate them; only five minutes later
+and they would have won the heights, and we should probably have been
+worsted. There was indescribable bloodshed before we could drive the
+Pandours from that thicket. Our advanced troops suffered severely, but
+those behind pushed forward headlong till the heights were gained.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then we had to stumble over heaps of dead and wounded, and the
+Pandours went pell-mell down the vineyard, leaping over a wall one
+after another into the plain. Our native Prussians and Brandenburgers
+attacked the Pandours like furies. I myself was almost stupefied with
+haste and heat, and felt neither fear nor horror. I discharged almost
+all my cartridges as fast as I could, till my musket was nearly
+red-hot, and I was obliged to carry it by the strap; meanwhile I do not
+believe that I hit a living soul, it all went in the air. The Pandours
+posted themselves again on the plain by the water before the city of
+Lowositz, and blazed away valiantly up into the vineyard, so that many
+in front of and near me bit the ground. Prussians and Pandours lay
+everywhere intermingled, and if one of these last still stirred, he was
+knocked on the head with the butt end of the gun, or run through the
+body with the bayonet. And now the combat was renewed in the plain. But
+who can describe how it went on amidst the smoke and fog from Lowositz,
+where it rattled and thundered as if heaven and earth would be rent in
+twain, and where all the senses were stunned by the ceaseless rumbling
+of many hundred drums, the shrill and heart-stirring tones of all kinds
+of martial music, the commands of so many officers, the bellowing of
+their adjutants, and the death yells and howling imprecations of so
+many thousands of miserable, maimed, dying victims of this day. At this
+time it might be about three o'clock, Lowositz being on fire; many
+hundred Pandours, on whom our advanced troops again broke like wild
+lions, sprang into the water, and the town was then attacked. At this
+time I was certainly not in the van, but in the vineyard above, in the
+rear rank, of whom many, as I have said, more nimble than myself,
+leaped down from one wall over another, in order to hasten to the help
+of their brother soldiers. As I was thus standing on a little
+elevation, and looking down upon the plain as into a dark storm of
+thunder and hail, this moment appeared to me to be the time&#8212;or rather
+my good angel warned me&#8212;to save myself by flight. I looked therefore
+all round me. Before me all was fire and mist; behind me there were
+still many of our troops hastening after the enemy, and to the right
+two great armies in full order of battle. But at last I saw that to the
+left there were vineyards, bushes, and copseland, only here and there a
+few men Prussians, Pandours, and Hussars, and of these more dead and
+wounded than living. There, there, on that side, thought I; otherwise
+it would be purely impossible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I glided, therefore, at first with slow step, a little to the left,
+through the vines. Some Prussians hastened past me. 'Come, come,
+brother!' said they; 'victoria!' I replied not a word, but feigned to
+be wounded, and went on slowly, but truly with fear and trembling. As
+soon as I had got so far, that no one could see me, I mended my pace,
+looked right and left like a hunter, viewed again from a distance&#8212;and
+for the last time in my life&#8212;the murderous death struggle; rushed at
+full speed past a thicket full of dead Hussars, Pandours, and horses;
+ran breathlessly along the course of the river, and found myself in a
+valley. On the other side some Imperial soldiers came towards me, who
+had equally stolen away from the battle, and when they saw me thus
+making off levelled their guns at me for the third time,
+notwithstanding I had reversed my arms, and given them with my hat the
+usual sign. They did not fire; so I came to the resolution to run
+towards them. If I had taken another course they would, as I afterwards
+learnt, have certainly fired. When I came up to them, I gave myself up
+as a deserter, and they took my weapon away from me, with the promise
+that they would afterwards restore it. But he who had taken upon
+himself to promise it, stole away and took the gun with him. So let it
+be! They then took me to the nearest village, Scheniseck (it might be a
+good hour from Lowositz); here there was a ferry over the water, but
+only one boat for the passage. And there was a piteous shrieking and
+wailing from men, women, and children; each wished to go first over the
+water, for fear of the Prussians; for all thought they were close at
+hand. I also was not one of the last to jump in with a troop of women.
+If the ferryman had not cast out some we should have been drowned. On
+the other side of the stream stood a Pandour guard. My companions led
+me up to them, and these red-moustachioed fellows received me in the
+most polite way; gave me, though neither of us understood a word the
+other said, tobacco and brandy, and a safe conduct, I believe, to
+Leutmeritz, where I passed the night among genuine Bohemians, and truly
+did not know whether I could safely lay my head to rest; but
+fortunately my head was in such confusion from the tumult of the day,
+that this important point signified very little to me. The following
+day (Oct. 2) I went with a detachment to the Imperial camp at Buda.
+Here I met two hundred other Prussian deserters, each of whom had, so
+to speak, taken his own way and his own time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We had permission to see everything in the camp. Officers and soldiers
+stood in crowds around us to whom we were expected to tell more than we
+ourselves knew. Some, however, knew how to brag, and flatter their
+present hosts, concocting a hundred lies derogatory to the Prussians.
+There were also among the Imperialists many arrant braggadocios, and
+the smallest dwarf boasted of having, in his own flight, killed, in
+their flight, I know not how many long-legged Brandenburgers. After
+that they took us to fifty prisoners of the Prussian cavalry, a
+pitiable sight! Scarcely one who was not wounded; some cut about the
+face, others on the neck, others over the ears, shoulders, or legs, &amp;c.
+There was amongst all a groaning and moaning. How fortunate did these
+poor fellows esteem us who had escaped a similar fate, and how thankful
+were we to God! We passed the night in the camp, and each received a
+ducat for the expenses of his journey. They sent us then with a cavalry
+escort&#8212;there were two hundred of us&#8212;to a Bohemian village, from
+whence, after a short sleep, we went, the following day, to Prague.
+There we divided ourselves, and obtained passports for six, ten, or
+even as many as twelve, who were going the same way. We were a
+wonderful medley of Swiss, Suabians, Saxons, Bavarians, Tyrolese,
+Italians, French, Poles, and Turks. Six of us got one passport for
+Ratisbon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here we end with Ulrich Bräcker. He arrived happily at home, but no one
+recognised the moustachioed soldier in his uniform. His sister
+concealed herself; his love had been faithless and married another;
+only the mother's heart discovered her son in that wild-looking figure.
+But his later life in the lonely valley was ruined by the adventures he
+had passed through. A strange, uneasy element now pervaded his
+character&#8212;irritable restlessness, covetousness, and a distaste to
+labour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Frederic II. wrote, after the battle of Lowositz, to Schwerin:
+&quot;Never have any troops done such wonders of valour since I have had the
+honour of commanding them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He whose narrative we have had was one of them.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+<br>
+<h3>THE STATE OF FREDERIC THE GREAT.</h3>
+<h4>(1700.)</h4>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">What was it that after the Thirty Years' War fixed the eyes of
+politicians upon the small State on the north-eastern frontier of
+Germany, towards Sweden and Poland, that was struggling against the
+Hapsburgers and Bourbons? The heritage of the Hohenzollerns was no
+favoured fertile country, in which the peasant dwelt comfortably on
+well-cultivated acres, or to which rich merchants brought in galleons,
+Italian silks, and the spices and ingots of the new world. It was a
+poor devastated, sandy country; the cities were burnt, the huts of the
+country people demolished, the fields uncultivated, many square miles
+denuded of men and beasts of burden, and nature restored to its
+primitive state. When Frederic William, in 1640, assumed the Electoral
+hat, he found nothing but contested claims to scattered territories, of
+about 1450 square miles,<a name="div2_11" href="#div2Ref_11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> and in all the fortresses of his family
+domains, were established domineering conquerors. Out of an insecure
+desert did this clever double-dealing Prince establish his State, with
+a cunning and recklessness in regard to his neighbours which excited a
+sensation even in that unscrupulous period, but at the same time with
+an heroic vigour and enlarged views, by which he more than once
+attained to a higher conception of German honour, than the Emperor or
+any other prince of the Empire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nevertheless, when the astute politician died in 1688, what he left
+behind was still only a small nation, not to be reckoned among the
+Powers of Europe. For though his sovereignty comprehended 2034 square
+miles, the population, at the utmost, only amounted to 1,300,000. When
+Frederic II., a century later, assumed the dominions of his ancestors,
+he only inherited a population of 2,240,000 souls, far less than is now
+to be found in the one province of Silesia. What was it then, that,
+immediately after the battles of the Thirty Years' War, excited the
+jealousy of all the governments, especially of the Imperial house, and
+that made such bitter opponents of the hitherto warm friends of the
+Brandenbergers? For two centuries, both Germans and foreigners placed
+their hopes on this new State; equally long have Germans and
+foreigners, first with scorn and then with hatred, called it an
+artificial superstructure, which could not maintain itself against
+violent storms, and which had unjustifiably intruded itself among the
+Powers of Europe. How came it at last that, after the death of Frederic
+the Great, unprejudiced judges declared that it would be better to
+cease prophesying the downfall of this much-hated State? After each
+prostration it rose so vigorously, its injuries and wounds from war
+were so quickly healed, as has not been the case with any other; wealth
+and intelligence assumed larger proportions there than in any portion
+of Germany!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Undoubtedly it was a peculiar nature, a new phase of German character,
+which shewed itself in the Hohenzollerns and their people in the
+conquered Sclavonian territory. It appears that there were greater
+contrasts of character there; for the virtues and failings of its
+governors, the greatness and weakness of their policy, appeared there
+in glaring contrast: narrow-mindedness became more striking,
+shortcomings appeared more conspicuous, and that which was worthy of
+admiration, more wonderful. It appeared that this State produced
+everything that was most strange and uncommon, and only the quiet
+mediocrity, which may elsewhere be useful and bearable, could not exist
+there without injury.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Much of this arose from the position of the country: it had as
+contiguous neighbours Swedes, Sclavonians, French, and Dutch. There was
+scarcely a question of European politics which did not produce welfare
+or injury to this State; scarce a complication which active princes did
+not take advantage of to put in claims. The failing power of Sweden,
+the already beginning process of dissolution in Poland, occasioned
+perplexity of views; the preponderating power of France, the suspicious
+friendship of Holland, necessitated prompt and vigorous foresight.
+After the first year in which the Elector Frederic William took
+possession, by force and cunning, of his own fortresses, it became
+manifest that there, in a corner of the German soil, a powerful,
+circumspect military government would not be wanting for the
+preservation of Germany. After the beginning of the French war, in
+1674, Europe beheld with astonishment the wary policy that proceeded
+from this little spot, which undertook, with heroic daring, to defend
+the west frontier of Germany against the all-powerful King of France.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was, also, perhaps something peculiar in the character of the
+Brandenburg people, in which both princes and subjects had an equal
+share. The district of Prussia, up to the time of Frederic the Great,
+had given to Germany comparatively few men of learning, poets, or
+artists; even the passionate zeal of the period of the Reformation
+appeared there to be damped. The people who dwelt in the frontier
+countries, mostly of Lower Saxon origin, with a small mixture of
+Sclavonian blood, were a hard, rough race, not very pleasing in their
+modes of life, of uncommonly sharp understanding and sober judgment. In
+the capital they had been, from ancient times, sarcastic and voluble in
+speech; but in all the provinces they were capable of great exertion,
+laborious, tenacious, and of great power of endurance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the character of the princes produced still more effect than even
+the situation or character of the people. Their State was constituted
+differently from any other since the days of Charles the Great. Many
+princely houses have furnished a succession of Sovereigns who have been
+the fortunate aggrandisers of their States, as the Bourbons, who have
+collected wide territories into one great kingdom; many families of
+princes have produced generations of valiant warriors, none more so
+than the Vasas and the Protestant Wittelsbacher in Sweden. But there
+have been no trainers of the people like the old Hohenzollerns. As
+great landed proprietors on the desolated country they brought
+about an increase of population, guided the cultivation, for almost
+150 years laboured as strict economists, thought, tolerated, dared
+and did injustice, in order to create for their State a people like
+themselves&#8212;hard, parsimonious, discreet, daring, and ambitious.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In this sense one has a right to admire the providential character of
+the Prussian State. Of the four princes who have governed it, since the
+German War up to the day when the grey-headed Abbot closed his weary
+eyes in the monastery of Sans Souci, each one, with his virtues and
+failings, has acted as a necessary supplement to his predecessor. The
+Elector Frederic William, the greatest statesman from the school of the
+German War&#8212;the pompous Frederic, the first King&#8212;the parsimonious
+despot Frederic William I.&#8212;and, finally, he in whom were concentrated
+almost all the talents and great qualities of his ancestors, were the
+flowers of their race.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Life in the King's castle in Berlin was very cheerless when Frederic
+grew up; few of the citizens' homes at that rude time were so poor in
+love and sunshine. One may doubt whether it was the King his father, or
+the Queen, who was most to blame for the disorder of the family life,
+both through failings of their nature, which, in the ceaseless rubs of
+home, ever became greater;&#8212;the King, a wonderful tyrant, with a soft
+heart but rough and violent, who wished to compel love and confidence,
+with a keen understanding, but so unwary that he was always in danger
+of being the victim of rogues, and from the gloomy knowledge of his
+weakness became suspicious, stubborn, and violent; the Queen, on the
+other hand, an insignificant woman, with a cold heart, a strong feeling
+of her princely dignity, and much inclination to intrigue, neither
+cautious nor taciturn. Both had the best intentions, and exerted
+themselves honourably to make their children good and capable men, but
+both injudiciously disturbed the sound development of the childish
+soul. The mother had so little tact as to make her children, even in
+their tender youth, the confidants of her chagrins and intrigues; for
+in her chambers there was no end of complaints, rancour, and derision,
+over the undue parsimony of the King, the blows which he so abundantly
+distributed in his apartments, and the monotony of the daily
+regulations which he enforced. The Crown Prince, Frederic, grew up as
+the playfellow of his elder sister, a delicate child with brilliant
+eyes and wonderfully beautiful blond hair. Punctiliously was he taught
+just as much as the King wished, and that was little enough; scarcely
+anything of the Latin declensions&#8212;the great King never overcame the
+difficulties of the genitive and dative&#8212;French, some history, and
+the necessary accomplishments of a soldier. The ladies inspired the
+boy&#8212;who was giddy, and in presence of the King looked shy and
+defiant&#8212;with the first interest in French literature; he himself
+afterwards gave the praise to his sister, but his governess also was a
+clever Frenchwoman. That this foreign acquisition was hateful to the
+King, gave it additional value to the son; for, in the apartments of
+the Queen, that was most certain to be praised which was most
+displeasing to the strict master of the family. And when the King
+delivered to his family his blustering pious speeches, then the
+Princess Wilhelmine and the young Frederic looked so significantly at
+one another that, at last, the faces made by one of the children
+excited a childish desire to laugh, and produced an outburst of fury in
+the King! Owing to this the son became, in his early years, an object
+of irritation to his father. He called him an effeminate fellow, who
+did not keep himself clean, and took an unmanly pleasure in dress and
+games.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But from the account of his sister, in whose unsparing judgment it
+appeared easier to blame than to praise, one may perceive how much the
+amiability of the highly gifted boy worked upon his <i>entourage</i>;
+whether he secretly read French stories with his sister, and applied
+the comical characters of the novel to the whole court, or, contrary to
+the most positive order, played upon the flute and lute, or visited his
+sister in disguise, when they recited the <i>rôles</i> of the French comedy
+together. But even for these harmless pleasures Frederic was obliged to
+have recourse to lies, deceit, and dissimulation. He was proud,
+high-minded, magnanimous, with an uncompromising love of truth.
+Dissimulation was so repugnant to his nature that where it was required
+he would not condescend to it; and if he was compelled to an unskilful
+hypocrisy, his position with his father became more difficult, the
+distrust of the King greater, and the wounded self-respect of the son
+was always breaking out in defiance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus he grew up surrounded by spies, who conveyed his every word to the
+King. With a richly gifted mind and refined intellectual yearnings, he
+needed that manly society which would have been suitable for him. No
+wonder that the youth went astray. The Prussian passed for a very
+virtuous court in comparison with the other courts of Germany; but the
+tone towards women, and the carelessness with which the most doubtful
+connexions were treated, were there also very great. After a visit to
+the profligate court of Dresden, Prince Frederic began to behave like
+other princes of his time, and he found good comrades among his
+father's young officers. We know little of him at this time, but we may
+conclude that he was undoubtedly in some danger, not of being ruined,
+but of passing the best years of his life amidst debts and worthless
+connexions. It certainly was not the increasing displeasure of his
+father that unhinged his mind at this period, so much as an inward
+dissatisfaction that drove the immature youth more wildly into error.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He determined to escape to England; how his flight miscarried, and how
+great was the anger of Colonel Frederic William against the deserter,
+are well known. With the days of his imprisonment in Küstrin, and his
+residence at Ruppin, his education began in earnest. The horrors he had
+experienced had called forth in him new powers. He had borne all the
+terrors of death, and the most bitter humiliation of princely pride. In
+the solitude of his prison he had reflected on the great riddle of
+life,&#8212;on death, and what was to follow after it. He had perceived that
+nothing remained to him but submission, patience, and quiet endurance.
+But bitter corroding misfortune is not a school which develops good
+alone: it gives birth also to many faults. He learnt to hide his
+decisions in his own breast, to look with suspicion on men and use them
+as his tools, to deceive and cajole them with a cold astuteness which
+was foreign to his nature. He flattered the cowardly, mean Grumbkow,
+and was glad when he gradually won the bad man to his purposes; he had
+for years to struggle warily against the dislike and distrust of his
+hard father. His nature always resisted this humiliation, and he
+endeavoured by bitter scorn to atone to his injured self-respect; his
+heart, which glowed for everything noble, saved him from becoming a
+hard egotist, but it did not make him milder or more conciliatory, and
+when he had become a great man and a wise prince, he still retained
+some traces of narrow-minded cunning from this time of servitude. The
+lion had at times not been ashamed to scratch like a spiteful cat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Yet he learnt during these years to respect some things that were
+useful&#8212;the strict economical care with which his narrow-minded but
+prudent father provided for the weal of his household and country.
+When, to please the King, he made estimates of a lease; when he gave
+himself the trouble to increase the profits of a demesne by some
+hundred thalers; when he thought that the King spent more than was
+fitting on his favourite fancy, and proposed to him to kidnap a tall
+shepherd from Mecklenburg as a recruit,&#8212;this work was undoubtedly in
+the beginning only a burdensome means of propitiating the King; for
+Grumbkow had to procure him a man who made out estimates instead of
+him, and the officials and exchequer officers gave him hints how, here
+and there, a profit was to be made, and he always jested about the
+giants, where he could venture to do so. But the new world in which he
+found himself, gradually led him on to the practical interests of the
+people and State. It is clear that the economy of his father was often
+tyrannical and extraordinary. The King was always convinced that his
+whole object was the good of the country, and therefore he took upon
+himself to interfere in the most arbitrary way with the possessions and
+affairs of private persons. When he commanded that no male goat should
+be driven with the sheep; that all coloured sheep, grey, black, and
+mixed, should be entirely got rid of within three years, and only white
+wool should be permitted; when he accurately prescribed how the sample
+measure of the Berlin scheffel&#8212;which, at the cost of his subjects, he
+had sent throughout the country&#8212;should be locked up and preserved,
+that they might not be battered; when, in order to promote the linen
+and woollen trade, he commanded that his subjects should not wear the
+fashionable chintz and calico, threatening with a fine of 300 thalers
+and three days in the pillory, all who, after eight months, should have
+in their house any cotton articles, either nightgowns, caps, or
+furniture,&#8212;such measures of government appeared certainly harsh and
+trivial; but the son learnt to honour the shrewd sense and benevolent
+care which were the groundwork of these decrees, and he himself
+gradually became familiar with a multitude of details, with which
+otherwise as a prince he would not have been conversant: the value of
+property, the price of the necessaries of life, the wants of the
+people, and the customs, rights, and duties of life in the lower
+classes. He had also a share of the self-satisfaction with which the
+King boasted of this knowledge of business. When he himself became the
+all-powerful administrator of his State, the incalculable advantage of
+his knowledge of the people and of trade became manifest. It was owing
+to this that the wise economy with which he managed his own house and
+the finances of the country became possible, and that he was enabled to
+advance the agriculture, trade, wealth, and education of his people by
+incessant care of details. Equally with the daily accounts of his
+kitchen he knew how to test the calculations concerning the crown
+demesnes and forests, and the excise. His people had chiefly to thank
+the years in which he was compelled to sit as assessor at the green
+table at Ruppin for his power of overlooking with a sharp eye the
+smallest as well as the greatest affairs. But sometimes what had been
+so vexatious in his father's time happened to himself: his knowledge of
+business details was not sufficient, so that here and there, just like
+his father, he commanded what violently interfered with the life of his
+Prussians, and could not be carried out.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The wounds inflicted upon Frederic by the great catastrophe had
+scarcely been healed, when a new misfortune befell him as great almost
+in its consequences as the first. The King forced a wife upon him.
+Heartrending is the woe with which he strove to escape the bride chosen
+for him. &quot;I do not care how frivolous she may be, as long as she is not
+a simpleton, that, I cannot bear.&quot; It was all in vain. With bitterness
+and indignation did he regard this marriage shortly before it took
+place. Never did he overcome the effect of this sorrow, by which his
+father ruined his inward life. His most susceptible feelings, and his
+loving heart, were sold in the roughest way. Not only was he made
+unhappy by it, but also an excellent woman who was deserving of a
+better fate. The Princess Elizabeth of Bevern had many noble qualities
+of heart; she was not a simpleton, she was not ugly, and might have
+passed well through the bitter criticisms of the princesses of the
+royal house. But we fear that, if she had been an angel, the pride of
+the son, who was subjected to the useless barbarity of compulsion,
+would still have protested against her. And yet this union was not
+always so cold as has been supposed. For six years did the goodness of
+heart and tact of the Princess succeed in reconciling the Crown Prince
+to her. In the retirement of Rheinsberg she was in fact the lady of his
+house and the amiable hostess of his guests, and it was reported by the
+Austrian agents that her influence was on the ascendant. But her modest
+clinging nature was too deficient in the qualities calculated to fix
+the attachment of an intellectual man. It was necessary for the
+sprightly children of the house of Brandenburg to give vent to their
+excitable natures by ready and pointed humour. The Princess, when she
+was excited, was as quiet as if paralysed, and she was wanting in the
+easy grace of society. This did not suit. Even the way in which she
+loved her husband, dutifully and submissively, as if repelled and
+overwhelmed by the greatness of his mind, was little interesting to the
+Prince, who had adopted, together with French intellectual culture, not
+a little of the frivolity of French society.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Frederic became King, the Princess soon lost the very small share
+she had gained in her husband's affections. His long absence during the
+Silesian War finally alienated him from her. More and more distant
+became their mutual intercourse; years passed without their seeing one
+another; an icy brevity and coldness are perceptible in his letters;
+but the high esteem in which the King held her character maintained her
+outward position. His relations with women after that had little
+influence on his inward feelings: even his sister of Baireuth, sickly,
+nervous, and embittered by jealousy of an unfaithful husband, became,
+for years, as a stranger to her brother; it was not till she had
+resigned herself to her own life that this proud child of the House of
+Brandenburg, aged and unhappy, again sought the heart of the brother
+whose little hand had once supported her when at the feet of the stern
+father. The mother also, to whom King Frederic always showed the most
+marked and child-like reverence, could participate little in the
+feelings of the son. His other sisters were younger, and only inclined
+to make a quiet <i>Fronde</i> in the house against him; if the King ever
+condescended to show attention to a lady of the court, or a singer,
+these were to the person concerned full as annoying as flattering.
+Where he found beauty, grace, and womanly dignity combined, as in Frau
+von Camas, the first lady of the bedchamber to his wife, the amiability
+of his nature appeared by his kindly attentions to her. But, on the
+whole, his life received little sunshine from his intercourse with
+women, for he had experienced little of the hearty warmth of family
+life; in this respect his soul was desolate. Perhaps this was fortunate
+for his people, though undoubtedly fatal to his private life; the full
+warmth of his manly feelings was almost exclusively reserved to his
+small circle of confidants, with whom he laughed, wrote poetry,
+philosophised, made plans for the future, and latterly conferred with
+upon his warlike operations and dangers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">His life at Rheinsberg, after his marriage, was the best portion of his
+youth. There he collected around him a number of highly-educated and
+cheerful companions; the small society led a poetic life, of which an
+agreeable picture has been bequeathed to us by those who partook of it.
+Earnestly did Frederic labour to educate himself; easily did his
+excited feelings find expression in French verse; incessantly did he
+labour to acquire the delicacy of the foreign style; but his mind also
+exercised itself upon more serious things. He sought ardently from the
+Encyclopædians, and of Christian Wolf, an answer to the highest
+questions of man; he sat bent over maps and plans of battles; and, amid
+the <i>rôles</i> of his amateur theatricals and plans of buildings, other
+projects were prepared which, after a few years, were to agitate the
+world.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then came the day on which the government passed from the hands of his
+dying father, who directed the officer who was to make the daily
+bulletin to take his orders from the new military ruler of Prussia.
+What judgment was formed of him by his political contemporaries we
+discover from the character drawn of him shortly before by an Austrian
+agent of the Imperial Court:&#8212;&quot;He is agreeable, wears his own hair, has
+a slouching carriage, loves the fine arts and good eating, would wish
+to begin his government with some <i>éclat</i>, is a better friend of the
+military than his father, has the religion of a gentleman, believes in
+God and the forgiveness of sins, loves splendour and refinement, and
+will newly arrange all the court offices, and bring distinguished
+people to his court.&quot;<a name="div2_12" href="#div2Ref_12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> This prophecy was not fully justified. We
+will endeavour to understand other phases of his character at this
+time. The new King was a man of fiery, enthusiastic temperament,
+quickly excited, and tears came readily to his eyes; with him, as with
+his contemporaries, it was a passionate need to admire what was great,
+and to give himself up to pathetic, soft moods of mind. With tender and
+melting tones he played his adagio on the flute; like other honourable
+contemporaries, it was not easy to him to give full expression in words
+and verses to his inward feelings, but pathetic passages would move him
+to tears. In spite of all his French maxims, the foundation of his
+character was in these respects very German.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Those have judged him most unjustly who have ascribed to him a cold
+heart. It is not the cold royal hearts which generally wound by their
+harshness. Such as these are almost always enabled, by a smooth
+graciousness and its suitable expression, to please their entourage.
+The strongest expressions of antipathy are generally combined with the
+heart-winning tones of a sentimental tenderness. But in Frederic, it
+appears to us, there was a striking and strange combination of two
+quite opposite tendencies of the spirit, which are usually found on
+earth in eternal irreconcilable contention. He had equally the need of
+idealising life, and the impulse mercilessly to destroy ideal frames of
+mind in himself and others. His first characteristic was perhaps the
+most beautiful, perhaps the most sorrowful, that ever man was endowed
+with for the struggle of life. He was undoubtedly a poetic nature; he
+possessed in a high degree that peculiar power which strives to
+transform common realities according to the ideal demands of its own
+nature, and to draw over everything about it the pure lustre of a new
+life. It was necessary to him to decorate with the graces of his fancy
+and the whole magic of emotional feeling the image of those he loved,
+and to adorn his relations with them. There was always something
+playful about it, and even where he felt most passionately he loved
+more the embellished picture of others, which he carried within him,
+than themselves. It was with such a disposition that he kissed
+Voltaire's hand. If at any time he sensibly felt the difference betwixt
+his ideal and the real man, he dropped the real and cherished the
+image. Whoever has received from nature this faculty of investing love
+and friendship with the coloured mirror of poetical dispositions, is
+sure, according to the judgment of others, to show arbitrariness in the
+choice of their objects of preference: a certain equable warmth which
+bethinks itself of everything suitable appears to be denied to such
+natures. To whoever the King became a friend, in his way, to him he
+always showed the greatest consideration and fidelity, however much at
+particular moments his disposition towards him might change. He could,
+therefore, be sentimental in his sorrow over the loss of such a
+cherished image as was only possible for a German of the Werther
+period. He had lived for many years in some estrangement from his
+sister von Baireuth; it was only in the last year before her death,
+amidst the terrors of war, that her image as that of a tender sister
+again revived in him. After her death he felt a gloomy satisfaction in
+recalling to himself and others, the heartfelt tenderness of this
+connection; he built her a small temple, and often made pilgrimages to
+it. Whoever failed to reach his heart by means of poetical feelings, or
+did not stir up in him the love-web of poetry, or who disturbed
+anything in his sensitive nature, to him he was cold, contemptuous, and
+indifferent,&#8212;a King who only considered how far the other could be of
+use to him; and he threw him off perhaps when he no longer needed him.
+Such an endowment undoubtedly may have surrounded the life of a young
+man with a bright halo; it invested the common with variegated
+brilliancy and pleasing colours; but it must be united with much good
+moral worth, feeling of duty, and sense of what is higher than itself,
+if it is not to isolate and make his old age gloomy. It will also, even
+in favourable circumstances, raise up the bitterest enemies, together
+with the most devoted admirers. Somewhat of this faculty prepared for
+the noble soul of Goethe bitter sorrows, transient connexions, many
+disappointments, and a solitary old age. It was doubly fatal for a
+King, whom others so seldom approach on a dignified and equal footing,
+to whom openhearted friends might always become admiring flatterers,
+unequal in their behaviour, now servile under the courtly spell of
+majesty, now discontented censurers from a feeling of their own rights.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With King Frederic, however, the yearning for ideal relations, this
+longing for men who could give his heart the opportunity of opening
+itself unreservedly, was crossed in the first place by his penetrating
+acuteness of perception, and also by an incorruptible love of truth,
+which was inimical to all deceptions, struggled against every illusion,
+despised all shams, and searched out the depths of all things. This
+scrutinising view of life and its duties was a good shield against the
+illusions which more often afflict a prince of imaginative tendencies,
+where he has given confidence, than a private man; but his acuteness
+showed itself also in a wild humour which was unsparing in its
+remorselessness, sarcasm, and ridicule. From whence did these
+tendencies arise in him? Was it Brandenburg blood? Was it inherited
+from his great-grandmother, the Electress Sophia of Hanover, or from
+his grandmother&#8212;that intellectual woman, the Queen Sophia Charlotte,
+with whom Leibnitz corresponded on the eternal harmony of the world?
+Undoubtedly the rough training of his youth had contributed to it.
+Sharp was his perception of the weaknesses of others; wherever he spied
+out a defect, wherever anything peculiar vexed or irritated him, his
+voluble tongue was set in motion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">His words hit both friends and enemies unsparingly: even when silence
+and endurance were commanded by prudence, he could not control himself;
+his whole spirit seemed changed; with merciless exaggeration he
+distorted the image of others into a caricature. If one examines this
+more closely, one perceives that the main point in this was the
+intellectual pleasure; he freed himself from an unpleasant impression
+by violent outbursts against his victim; he had an inward satisfaction
+in painting him grotesquely, and was much surprised if, when deeply
+wounded, his friend turned his weapons against him. In this there was a
+striking similarity to Luther. Undoubtedly the club blows dealt by the
+great monk of the sixteenth century were far more formidable than the
+stabs which were distributed by the great Prince in the age of
+enlightenment. That it was neither dignified nor suitable was a point
+for which the great King cared as little as the Reformer: both were in
+a state of excitement as if in the chase, and both, in the pleasure of
+the struggle, forgot the consequences; both, also, seriously injured
+themselves and their great objects, and were honestly surprised when
+they discovered it. But when the King bantered and sneered, or
+maliciously teased, it was more difficult for him to draw back from his
+unamiable mood; for his was generally no equal struggle with his
+victim. Thus did the great Prince deal with all his political
+opponents, and excited deadly enmity against himself; he jeered at the
+Pompadour, the Empress Elizabeth, and the Empress Maria Theresa at the
+dinner table, and circulated biting verses and pamphlets. That bad man,
+Voltaire, he sometimes caressed, sometimes scolded and snarled at. But
+he also treated in the same way, men whom he really esteemed, and who
+were in his greatest confidence, whom he had received into the circle
+of his friends. He had drawn the Marquis d'Argens to his court, made
+him his chamberlain, and member of the Academy; he was one of his most
+intimate and dearest companions. The letters which he wrote to him from
+the camp during the Seven Years' War are among the most charming and
+touching reminiscences that remain to us of the King. When he returned
+from that war, his fondest hope was that the marquis would dwell with
+him at Sans Souci. A few years afterwards this delightful connection
+was dissolved. But how was this possible? The marquis was the best
+Frenchman to whom the King had attached himself; a man of honour and of
+refined feeling and cultivation, truly devoted to the King. But he was
+neither a remarkable nor a very superior man. For years the King had
+admired him as a man of learning, which he was not; he had formed to
+himself a pleasant poetical idea of him, as a wise, clear-sighted, safe
+philosopher, with agreeable wit and lively humour. Now, in the
+intercourse of daily life, the King found himself mistaken; a certain
+sentimental tendency in the Frenchman, which dwelt upon its own morbid
+hypochondria, irritated him; he began to discover that the aged marquis
+was neither a great scholar nor a man of strong mind; the ideal he had
+formed of him was destroyed. The King began to quiz him on account of
+his sentimentality; the sensitive Frenchman begged for leave of
+absence, that he might travel to France for some months for his health.
+The King was deeply wounded at this touch of temper, and continued, in
+the friendly letters which he afterwards wrote to him, to quiz this
+morbid disposition. He said, &quot;That it was reported that there was a
+<i>loup garou</i> in France; no doubt this was the marquis as a Prussian, in
+his invalid guise. Did he now eat little children? This bad conduct he
+would not formerly have been guilty of, but men change much in
+travelling.&quot; The marquis remained two winters instead of a few months:
+when he was about to return, he sent the certificate of his physician;
+probably the good man was really ill, but the King was deeply wounded
+at this unnecessary verification from an old friend, and when the
+marquis returned, the old connection was spoiled. Yet the King would
+not give him up, but amused himself by punishing his unconfiding friend
+by pungent speeches and sharp jests. Then the Frenchman, most
+thoroughly embittered, demanded his dismissal; he obtained it, and one
+may discover the sorrow and anger of the King from his answer. When the
+marquis, in the last letter he wrote to the King before his death, once
+more represented, not without bitterness, how scornfully and ill he had
+treated an unselfish admirer, the King read his letter in silence. But
+he wrote sorrowfully to the widow, of his friendship for her husband,
+and caused a costly monument to be erected to his memory. Such was the
+case with most of his favourites: magical as was his power of
+attracting, equally demoniacal was his capacity of repelling. But it
+may be answered, to any one who blames this as a fault in the man, that
+in history there is scarcely another king who has so nobly opened his
+most secret soul to his friends, like Frederic.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Frederic II. had not worn the crown many months, when the Emperor
+Charles VI. died. Everything now impelled the young King to play a
+great game. That he should have made such a resolution was, in spite of
+the momentary weakness of Austria, a sign of daring courage. The
+countries which he ruled counted not more than a seventh of the
+population of the wide realm of Maria Theresa. It is true that his army
+was superior in number to the Imperial, and still more in warlike
+capacity; and, according to the representations of the time, the mass
+of the people was not so suitable as now to recruit the army. Little,
+too, did he foresee the greatness of character of Maria Theresa. But in
+his preparations for the invasion the King already showed that he had
+long hoped to measure himself with Austria; he began the struggle in a
+spirit of exaltation that was decisive of his future life and for his
+State. Little did he care for the foundation of his right to the Duchy
+of Silesia, though he employed his pen to demonstrate it to Europe. The
+politicians of the despotic States of the seventeenth and eighteenth
+centuries troubled themselves little on such points. Whoever could give
+a good appearance to his cause, did so; but the most improbable
+evidence, the shallowest pretences, were sufficient. Thus had Louis
+XIV. made war; thus had the Emperor carried out his interests against
+the Turks, Italians, Germans, French, and Spaniards; thus had a portion
+of the advantages gained by the great Elector been marred by others.
+Just where the rights of the Hohenzollerns were most distinct&#8212;as in
+Pomerania&#8212;they had been most wronged: by none more than the Emperor
+and House of Hapsburg. Now the Hohenzollern sought for revenge. &quot;Be my
+Cicero and prove the justice of my cause, and I will be the Cæsar to
+carry it through,&quot; wrote Frederic to his Jordan after the entrance into
+Silesia. Gaily, with winged steps, as to a dance, did the King enter
+upon the field of his victories. Still did he carry on the enjoyments
+of life, pleasant trifling in verses, intellectual talk with his
+intimates upon the amusements of the day, on God, nature, and
+immortality; this converse was the salt of his life. But the great work
+on which he had entered began soon to have its effect on his character,
+even before he had been under fire in the first battle; and it
+afterwards worked on his soul till his hair became grey, and his fiery
+enthusiastic heart became hard as iron. With the wonderful acuteness of
+perception that was peculiar to him, he observed the beginning of this
+change. He reviewed his own life as though he were a stranger. &quot;You
+will find me more philosophic than you think,&quot; he writes to a friend;
+&quot;I have always been so, now more, now less. My youth, the fire of
+passion, the desire for fame, nay&#8212;to conceal nothing&#8212;even curiosity
+and a secret instinct, have driven me from the sweet repose which I
+enjoyed, and the wish to see my name in the newspapers and history have
+led me away. Come here to me; philosophy maintains her claims, and, I
+assure you, if it were not for this cursed love of fame, I should think
+only of quiet comfort.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And when the faithful Jordan came to him, and Frederic saw this man,
+who loved peaceful enjoyment, timid and uneasy in the field, the King
+suddenly felt that he had become an altered and a stronger man than him
+whom he had so long honoured for his learning, who had improved his
+verses, given style to his letters, and was so far superior to him in
+knowledge of Greek. And in spite of all his philosophic culture, he
+gave the King the impression of a man without courage; with bitter
+scorn the king shook him off. In one of his best improvisations, he
+places himself as a warrior, in contradistinction to the sentimental
+philosopher. Unfair, however, as were the satirical verses with which
+he overwhelmed him, yet he soon returned to his old kindly feeling. But
+it was also the first gentle hint of fate to the King himself: the like
+was often to happen to him again; he was to lose valuable men, true
+friends, one after the other; not only by death, but still more by the
+coldness and estrangement which arose betwixt his nature and theirs.
+For the path on which he had now entered was to add strength to all the
+greatness, but also to all the one-sidedness, of his nature. And the
+higher he raised himself above others, the more insignificant did their
+nature appear to him; almost all who in later years he measured by his
+own standard were little fitted to bear the comparison. The
+disappointment and disenchantment he then felt became sharper, till at
+last from his lonely height he looked down with stony eyes on the
+proceedings of the men at his feet. But still, to the last hour of his
+life, the penetrating glance of his brooding countenance was
+intermingled with the bright beams of gentle human feeling. It is this
+which makes the great tragic figure so touching to us.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But now, in the beginning of his first war, he still looks back with
+longing to the quiet repose of his &quot;Remusberg,&quot; and deeply feels the
+pressure of the vast destiny before him. &quot;It is difficult to bear good
+fortune and misfortune with equanimity,&quot; he writes. &quot;One may easily
+appear to be indifferent in success, and unmoved amid losses, for the
+features of the face can always be made to dissemble; but the man, his
+inward nature, the folds of his heart, will not the less be assailed.&quot;
+He concludes, full of hope: &quot;All that I wish is, that the result of my
+success may not be to destroy the human feelings and virtues which I
+have always owned; may my friends always find me such as I have been.&quot;
+At the end of the war he writes: &quot;See, your friend is a second time
+conqueror. Who would, some years ago, have said that a scholar in the
+school of philosophy would play a military <i>rôle</i> in the world&#8212;that
+Providence should have chosen a poet to upset the political system of
+Europe?&quot;<a name="div2_13" href="#div2Ref_13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> So fresh and young were the feelings of Frederic when he
+returned in triumph to Berlin from the first war.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He goes forth a second time to maintain Silesia. Again he is conqueror;
+he has already the quiet self-confidence of an experienced General;
+lively is his satisfaction at the excellence of his troops. &quot;All that
+is flattering to me in this victory,&quot; he writes to Frau von Camas.<a name="div2_14" href="#div2Ref_14"><sup>[14]</sup></a>
+&quot;is, that by rapid decision and bold man&#339;uvres, I have been able to
+contribute to the preservation of many brave men. But I would not have
+one of the most insignificant of my soldiers wounded for idle fame,
+which no longer dazzles me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in the middle of the struggle the death of two of his dearest
+friends occurred, Jordan and Kayserlingk. Touching are his
+lamentations. &quot;In less than three months I have lost my two most
+faithful friends&#8212;people with whom I have daily lived, agreeable
+companions, estimable men, and true friends. It is difficult for a
+heart so sensitive as mine to restrain my deep sorrow. When I return to
+Berlin I shall feel almost a stranger in my own Fatherland, isolated in
+my home. It has been your fate also to lose at once many persons who
+were dear to you; but I admire your courage, which I cannot imitate. My
+only hope is time, which brings all things in nature to an end. It
+begins by weakening the impressions on our brains, and only ceases by
+destroying ourselves. I now dread every place which recals to me the
+sorrowful remembrance of friends I have for ever lost.&quot; And again, a
+month after, he writes to a friend, who endeavoured to comfort him:
+&quot;Do not think that the pressure of business and danger distracts one's
+mind in sorrow? I know from experience that it is unsuccessful. Alas! a
+month has passed since my tears and my sorrow began, but since the
+first vehement outburst of the first days I feel as sorrowful and as
+little comforted as in the beginning.&quot; And when his worthy tutor,
+Duhan, sent him some French books of Jordan's, which the King had
+desired, in the latter part of the autumn of the same year, he wrote,
+&quot;The tears came into my eyes when I opened the books of my poor
+departed Jordan, I loved him so much, and it is very painful to me to
+think that he is no more.&quot; Not long after, the King lost the friend
+also to whom this letter was addressed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The loss of his youthful friends in 1745 made a great wrench in the
+inward life of the King. With these unselfish, honourable men died
+almost all who made his intercourse with others happy. The relations
+upon which he now entered were altogether of another kind: the best of
+his men acquaintance only became the intimates of some hours, not the
+friends of his heart. The need of exciting intellectual intercourse
+remained, indeed it became even stronger. For there was this peculiar
+characteristic in him, that he could not exist without cheerful and
+confidential relations, nor without the easy, almost unreserved, talk
+which through all the phases of his moods, whether thoughtful or
+frivolous, touched lightly upon everything, from the greatest questions
+of the human race to the smallest events of the day. Immediately after
+his accession to the throne, he had written to Voltaire, and invited
+him to come to him. Voltaire came, at the cost of much money, for a few
+days to Berlin; he gave the King the impression of his being a fool,
+nevertheless Frederic felt an immeasurable respect for the talent of
+the man. Voltaire appeared to him the greatest poet of all times,&#8212;the
+Lord High Chamberlain of Parnassus, where the King so much wished to
+play a <i>rôle</i>. Ever stronger became Frederic's wish to possess this
+man. He considered himself as his scholar; he wished his verses to be
+approved of by the master. Among his Brandenburg officers he languished
+for the wit and intellect of the elegant Frenchman; there was also much
+of the vanity of the Sovereign in this: he wished to be as much a
+prince of <i>bels esprits</i> and philosophers as he had been a renowned
+General. Since the second Silesia war his intimates were generally
+foreigners; after 1750 he had the pleasure of seeing the great Voltaire
+established as a member of his court. It was no misfortune that the bad
+man only remained a few years among the barbarians.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was in the ten years from 1746 to 1756 that Frederic gained an
+importance and a self-confidence as an author, which up to the present
+day is not sufficiently appreciated in Germany. Of his French verses
+the Germans can only judge imperfectly. He had great facility as a
+poet, and could express without trouble every mood in rhyme and verse.
+But in his lyrics he has never, in the eyes of Frenchmen, entirely
+overcome the difficulties of a foreign language, however carefully they
+may have been revised by his intimates; indeed, he was wanting always,
+it appears to us, in that equal rhetorical harmony of style which in
+the time of Voltaire was the first characteristic of a renowned poet,
+for we find commonplace and trivial expressions in splendid diction,
+together with beautiful and pompous periods. His taste, too, was not
+assured and independent enough; he was in his æsthetic judgment rapid
+in admiring and short in deciding, but in reality far more dependent on
+the opinions of his French acquaintance than his pride would have
+admitted. The best off-shoot of French poetry at that time was the
+return to nature, and the struggle of truth against the fetters of old
+<i>convenances</i>, This was incomprehensible to the King. Rousseau long
+appeared to him an eccentric poor devil, and the conscientious and pure
+spirit of Diderot he considered as shallow. And yet it appears to us
+that in his own poems, and especially in the light improvisations with
+which he favoured his friends, there is frequently a richness of poetic
+detail and a heart-winning tone of true feeling which they, especially
+his pattern Voltaire, might envy him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Like Cæsar's &quot;Commentaries,&quot; Frederic's History of his Time forms one
+of the most important monuments of historical literature.<a name="div2_15" href="#div2Ref_15"><sup>[15]</sup></a> It is
+true that, like the Roman General and like every practical statesman,
+he wrote the facts as they were reflected from the mind of one who took
+part in them; all is not equally appreciated by him; he does not do
+justice to every party, but he knows incomparably more than those who
+were at a distance, and enters, not quite impartially, but at the same
+time with magnanimity to his opponents, into some of the innermost
+motives of great occurrences. He wrote sometimes without the great
+apparatus that a professional historian must collect around him; it
+therefore happens that his memory and judgment, however authentic they
+may be, sometimes leave him in the lurch; finally, he wrote an apology
+of his house, his policy, and his campaigns, and, like Cæsar, he is
+sometimes silent, and interprets facts as he wishes them to be brought
+before posterity. But the open-heartedness and love of truth with which
+he deals with his own house and his own doings, are not less worthy of
+admiration than the supreme calm and freedom with which he views
+events, in spite of the small rhetorical flourishes which belonged to
+the taste of the time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Equally astonishing as his fertility is his versatility. One of the
+greatest of military writers, an important historian, a facile poet, a
+popular philosopher, and practical statesman, also even an anonymous
+and very copious pamphlet writer, and sometimes journalist, he is
+always ready for everything: to portray with his pen in the field
+whatever fills, warms, and inspires him, and to attack in prose and
+verse every one who irritates or vexes him, not only Pope and Empress,
+Jesuits and Dutch newspaper writers, but also old friends if they
+appear to him lukewarm, which he could never bear, or threaten to fall
+away from him. Never&#8212;since the time of Luther&#8212;has there been so
+contentious, reckless, and unwearied a writer. As soon as he puts pen
+to paper he is, like Proteus, everything, sage or intriguer, historian
+or poet, just as situation required, always an excitable, fiery,
+intellectual, and sometimes also an ill-behaved man; but of his kingly
+office he thinks little. All that is dear to him he celebrates by poems
+and eulogies: the exalted precepts of his philosophy, his friends, his
+army, his freedom of faith, independent inquiry, toleration and the
+education of the people.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Victoriously did the mind of Frederic extend itself in all directions.
+Nothing withheld him when ambition drove him on to conquer. Then came
+years of trial, seven years of fearful, heart-rending cares; the period
+when the rich soaring spirit undertook the most difficult task that was
+ever allotted to man; when almost everything seemed to fall from him
+which he possessed for himself, of joy and happiness, hopes and
+egotistical comfort; when everything charming and agreeable to him as
+man was destined to die to him, that he might become the self-denying
+Prince of his people, the great official of the State, the hero of a
+nation. It was not with the lust of conquest that he this time entered
+upon the combat; it had long been clear to him that he had now to
+struggle for his own and his kingdom's life. But so much the loftier
+grew his resolution. Like the storm-wind, he wished to break the clouds
+which gathered on all sides round his head. By the energy of his
+irresistible attacks he thought to dissipate the storm before it burst
+upon him. He had hitherto been unconquered; his enemies were beaten
+whenever he had fallen upon them with the irresistible instrument
+in his hand&#8212;his army. This was his hope, his only one. If this
+well-tested power did not fail him now, he might save his State.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in his first encounter with the Austrians, his old enemies, he saw
+that they also had learnt of him and had become different. To the
+uttermost did he exert his power, and at Collin it failed him. The 18th
+of June, 1757, was the most fatal day in Frederic's life; he found
+there what twice in this war tore the victory from him: that he had too
+little estimated his enemies, and had expected what was beyond human
+powers of his valiant army. After being stunned for a short time,
+Frederic roused himself with fresh energy. From an offensive he was
+driven to a desperate defensive war: on all sides the enemy broke into
+his little country; he was in deadly struggle with every great Power of
+the Continent, the master of only four millions of men, and a conquered
+army. Now he proved his generalship by the way in which, after his
+losses, he retreated from the enemy, then pounced upon and beat them,
+when they least expected him, by throwing himself now against one, and
+now against another army, unsurpassed in his dispositions,
+inexhaustible in his expedients, and unequalled as leader of his
+troops. Thus he maintained himself, one against five, against Austria,
+Russia, and France, each one of which exceeded him in strength; and at
+the same time against Sweden and the German troops of the Empire. Five
+long years did he struggle against this enormous preponderance of
+power,&#8212;each spring in danger of being crushed by the masses alone, and
+each autumn again in safety. A loud cry of admiration and sympathy
+echoed through Europe; and among the first unwilling eulogisers were
+his most violent enemies. It was just in these years of changing
+fortune, when the King himself was experiencing the bitter chances of
+the fortunes of war, that his generalship became the astonishment of
+all the armies of Europe. The method in which he arrayed his lines
+against the enemy, always the quickest and most skilful; how he so
+often, by moving in echelon, pressed back the weakest wing of the
+enemy, outflanked and crushed it; how his newly created cavalry, which
+had become the first in the world, charged upon the enemy, broke their
+ranks and burst through their hosts,&#8212;all this was considered
+everywhere as a new step in the art of war, as an invention of the
+greatest genius. The tactics and strategy of the Prussian army were,
+for almost half a century, the pattern and model for all the armies of
+Europe. Unanimous was the judgment that Frederic was the greatest
+commander of his time, and that before him, throughout all history,
+there had been few Generals to compare with him. That smaller numbers
+should so frequently conquer the larger, that when beaten they should
+not dissolve away, but, when the enemy had scarcely recovered their
+wounds, should be able to re-encounter him as before, so threatening
+and so disciplined, appeared incredible. But we not only extol the
+generalship of the King, but also the clever discretion of his infantry
+tactics. He knew well how much he was restrained by the consideration
+of magazines and commissariat, by the thousands of waggons full of
+stores and daily necessaries for the soldiers which must accompany him,
+but he also knew that this was his safest course. Once only, when after
+the battle of Rossbach, he made that wonderful march into Silesia,
+forty-one German miles in fifteen days, being in the greatest danger,
+he advanced through the country, as other armies do now, supporting his
+men by the billeting system. But he immediately returned to his former
+wise custom.<a name="div2_16" href="#div2Ref_16"><sup>[16]</sup></a> For if his enemies should learn to imitate this
+independent movement, he would certainly be lost. When the country
+militia of his old province rose up to withstand and drive away the
+Swedes, and valiantly defended Colberg and Berlin, he was much pleased,
+but took care not to encourage popular warfare; and when his East
+Friesland people rose of their own accord against the French, and were
+severely handled by them, he roughly told them it was their own fault,
+as war ought to be carried on by soldiers, and that tranquil labour,
+taxes, and recruiting were for peasants and citizens. He knew well that
+he was lost, if a popular war were excited against him in Saxony and
+Bohemia. This very narrow-mindedness of the cautious General with
+respect to military forms, which alone made the struggle possible, may
+perhaps be reckoned as one of his greatest qualities.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ever louder became the expression of sorrow and admiration with which
+Germans and foreigners watched the death struggle of the lion beset on
+all sides. As early as 1740, the young King had been extolled by the
+Protestants as the partisan of freedom of conscience and enlightenment,
+against Jesuits and intolerance. When, a few months after the battle of
+Collin, he so entirely beat the French at Rossbach, he became the hero
+of Germany, and there was a burst of exultation everywhere. For
+two centuries the French had inflicted the greatest injury on the
+much-divided country; now the German nature began to oppose itself to
+the influence of French culture, and now the King, who had so much
+admired Parisian verses, had as wonderfully scared away the Parisian
+General. It was such a brilliant victory, the old enemy was so
+disgracefully overthrown, that it rejoiced all hearts throughout the
+Empire; even where the soldiers of the Sovereigns were in the field
+against King Frederic, the citizens and peasants rejoiced secretly at
+his German blows. The longer the war lasted, the firmer became
+the belief in the King's invincibility, so much the more did the
+self-respect of the Germans rise. After long, long years, they had at
+last found a hero, of whose warlike fame they could be proud, who would
+accomplish what was almost more than human. Numberless anecdotes about
+him circulated through the country; every little trait of his
+composure, of his good humour and friendliness with the soldiers, or of
+the fidelity of his army, flew hundreds of miles; how, when in peril of
+death, he played his flute in his tent; how his wounded soldiers
+sang chorales after the battle; how, he had taken off his hat to a
+regiment&#8212;he has since been often imitated in this,&#8212;all these stories
+were carried to the Neckar and the Rhine, printed and listened to with
+glad smiles and tears of emotion. It was natural that the poets should
+sing his praises; three of them had been in the Prussian army, Gleim
+and Lessing as secretaries to the General in command, and Ewald von
+Kleist, the favourite of a young literary circle, as an officer, till
+at last he was struck by a ball at Kunnersdorf. But still more touching
+to us is the faithful devotion of the Prussian people; the old
+provinces, Prussia, Pomerania, the Marches, and Westphalia, had
+suffered indescribably from the war, but the proud pleasure of having a
+share in the hero of Europe made even the most inconsiderable man
+forget his own sufferings. The armed citizens and peasants for years
+marched to the field as militia-men. When a number of recruits from
+Cleves and the county of Ravensberg, after a lost action, fled
+from their banners and returned home, they were denounced by their
+country-people and relations as perjured, expelled from the villages,
+and driven back to the army.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was no difference in the opinion abroad. In the Protestant
+cantons of Switzerland as warm an interest was taken in the fate of the
+King as if the descendants of the Rütli men had never been separated
+from the German Empire. There were people there who became ill with
+vexation when the King's affairs were in a bad state.<a name="div2_17" href="#div2Ref_17"><sup>[17]</sup></a> It was the
+same in England. Every victory of the King excited in London loud
+expressions of joy; houses were lighted up; pictures and laudatory
+poems were sold in the streets; and Pitt announced, with admiration, in
+Parliament every new act of the Great Ally. Even in Paris, at the
+theatre and in society, the feeling was more Prussian than French. The
+French jeered at their own Generals, and the clique of Pompadour, which
+was for the war, could hardly, as we are informed by Duclos, appear in
+public. At Petersburg the Grand Duke Peter and his adherents were so
+Prussian that at every loss sustained by Frederic they secretly
+mourned. The enthusiasm reached even to Turkey and the Great Cham of
+Tartary; and this respectful interest outlasted the war in a great
+portion of the world. The painter Hackert, when travelling through a
+small city in the middle of Sicily, received fruit and wine from the
+magistrates as a gift of honour, because they had heard that he was a
+Prussian, a subject of the great King to whom they wished to show
+honour. Muley Ismail, Emperor of Morocco, caused the crew of a vessel
+belonging to a citizen of Emden, which had been carried off by the
+Moors to Magador, to be released without ransom; he sent them newly
+clothed to Lisbon, and assured them that their King was the greatest
+man in the world; that no Prussian should ever suffer imprisonment in
+his country, and that his cruisers should never attack the Prussian
+flag.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Poor oppressed spirit of the German people, how long it had been since
+the men betwixt the Rhine and the Oder had felt the pleasure of being
+esteemed above others among the nations of the earth! Now everything
+was transformed by the magic of the character of one man. The
+countryman, as if awaking from a fearful dream, looked out upon the
+world and into his own heart. Long had they lived lethargically without
+a past in which they could rejoice, or a noble future on which to place
+their hopes. Now they found at once that they had a portion in the
+honours and greatness of the world; that a King and his people, all of
+their blood, had given an aureola of glory to the German nation&#8212;a new
+purport to the history of civilised man. Now they had all experienced
+how a great man could struggle, venture, dare, and conquer. Now labour
+in your study, peaceful thinker, imaginative dreamer; you have learnt
+during the night to look abroad with smiles, and to hope great things
+from your own endowments. Try now what will gush from your heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whilst the youthful strength of the people fluttered its wings with
+enthusiastic warmth, what, meanwhile, were the feelings of the great
+Prince, who was incessantly contending with enemies? The enthusiastic
+acclamations of the nation bore only feeble tones to his ear; the King
+received it almost with indifference. In him everything was calm and
+cold; though, undoubtedly, he had hours of passionate sorrow and
+heart-rending care. But he concealed them from his army; the calm
+countenance became harder, the furrows deeper, the expression more
+rigid. There were but few to whom he occasionally opened his heart;
+then, for some moments, the sorrows of the man, which had reached the
+limits of human endurance, broke forth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ten days after the battle of Collin, his mother died; a few weeks
+later, in anger, he drove his brother August Wilhelm away from the
+army, because he had not carried on the war with sufficient vigour.
+This Prince died in that same year, of grief, as the King was informed
+by the officer who reported it. Shortly afterwards he received the
+account of the death of his sister of Baireuth. One after another his
+Generals fell by his side, or lost the King's confidence; because they
+were not able to come up to the superhuman requirements of this war.
+His old soldiers, his pride, the iron warriors who had gone through the
+test of three severe wars&#8212;they who, dying, still stretched out their
+hands to him and called upon his name&#8212;were expiring in heaps around
+him; and those who filled up the wide gaps which death incessantly made
+in his army were young recruits, some of good material, but many bad
+ones. The King used them, as he had done the others, with strictness
+and severity; but even in the worst subjects his look and word inspired
+both bravery and devotion. But he knew that all this would not avail;
+short and cutting was his censure, and sparing was his praise. Thus he
+continued to live; five summers and winters came and went; the labour
+was gigantic; he was unwearied in planning and combining; his eagle eye
+scrutinisingly scanned what was most distant and most trivial, and yet
+there was no change and no hope. The King read and wrote in his hours
+of rest, just as before; he made his verses and kept up a
+correspondence with Voltaire and Algarotti; but he was resolved all
+this must soon come to an end, a short and quick one. He carried with
+him, day and night, what would free him from Daun and Laudon. The whole
+affair of life sometimes appeared to him contemptible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The disposition of the man, from whom the intellectual life of Germany
+dates its new era, deserves well to be regarded with reverence by
+Germans. It is only possible to give some idea of it by the way in
+which it breaks out in Frederic's letters to the Marquis d'Argens and
+Frau von Camas. Thus does the great King speak of his life:&#8212;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;1757, <i>June</i>.&#8212;The only remedy for my sorrow lies in the daily work I
+am obliged to do, and in the continual distractions which the number of
+my enemies occasion me. If I had died at Collin, I should now be in a
+haven where I should fear no more storms. Now I must navigate on a
+stormy sea till I have discovered in some small corner of earth, that
+good which I have never yet found in this world. For two years I have
+been standing like a wall in which misfortune has made its breaches.
+But do not think that I am becoming weak; one must protect oneself in
+these unfortunate times by bowels of iron and a heart of bronze, in
+order to lose all feeling. The next month will decide the fate of my
+poor country. My calculation is, that I shall save or fall with it. You
+can have no idea of the dangers in which we are, nor of the terrors
+which surround us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;1758, <i>December</i>&#8212;I am weary of this life; the Wandering Jew is less
+driven about hither and thither, than I; I have lost all that I have
+loved and honoured in this world; I see myself surrounded by
+unfortunates whose sufferings I cannot aid. My soul is still filled
+with the impression of the ruin of my best provinces, and of the
+horrors which a horde of barbarians, more like unreasoning beasts than
+men, have practised there. In my old age I have come down almost to be
+a theatrical king; you will acknowledge that such a situation is not
+sufficiently attractive to bind the soul of a philosopher to life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;1759, <i>March</i>.&#8212;I know not what my fate will be. I will do all that
+depends upon me to save myself; and if I am worsted the enemy shall pay
+dear for it. I have lived, during my winter quarters, as a recluse; I
+have my meals alone, pass my life in reading and writing, and do not
+sigh. When one is sorrowful it costs one too much in the long run to
+conceal one's chagrin incessantly, and it is better to bear one's
+trouble alone than to bring one's vexations into society. Nothing
+comforts me but the violent strain, as long as it lasts, which work
+requires; it drives away sorrowful ideas.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But ah! when work is ended, then gloomy thoughts become vigorous as
+ever. Maupertuis is right: the amount of evil is greater than of good.
+But it is all the same to me; I have nothing more to lose, and the few
+days that remain to me do not disquiet me so much that I should take a
+lively interest in them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;1759, 16<i>th August</i>.&#8212;I will throw myself in their way, and have my
+head cut off, or save the capital. I think that is determination
+enough. I will not answer for the success. If I had more than one life
+I would resign it for my Fatherland; but if this stroke fails I hold
+myself at quits with my country, and I may be allowed to take care of
+myself. There is a limit to everything. I bear my misfortunes without
+losing my courage. But I am quite determined, if this undertaking
+fails, to make myself a way out, that I may not be the sport of every
+kind of accident. Believe me, one requires more than firmness and
+endurance to maintain oneself in my position. But I tell you openly, if
+any misfortune happens to me you must not calculate upon my outliving
+the ruin and destruction of my Fatherland. I have my own way of
+thinking. I will neither imitate Sertorius nor Cato; I do not think of
+my fame, but of the State.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;1760, <i>Oct</i>.&#8212;Death would be sweet in comparison with such a life. If
+you have any sympathy with my situation, believe me I conceal much
+trouble with which I do not grieve or disquiet others. I regard death
+like a Stoic. Never will I live to see the moment which would oblige me
+to conclude a disadvantageous peace. Either I will bury myself under
+the ruins of my Fatherland, or, if this consolation appears too sweet
+to the fate which pursues me, I will make an end of my sufferings as
+soon as it is no longer possible to bear them. I have acted, and
+continue to act, according to this inward feeling of honour. I have
+sacrificed my youth to my father, and my manhood to my Fatherland. I
+think, therefore, I have acquired the right to dispose of my old age. I
+say it, and I repeat it&#8212;never will my hand sign a humiliating peace. I
+have made some observations upon the military talents of Charles
+XII.,<a name="div2_18" href="#div2Ref_18"><sup>[18]</sup></a> but I have never considered whether he ought to have killed
+himself or not. I think that, after the taking of Stralsund, he would
+have done wiser to annihilate himself; but, whatever he did or left
+undone, his example is no rule for me. There are people who learn from
+prosperity. I do not belong to that class. I have lived for others; I
+will die for myself I am very indifferent as to what others may say
+concerning it, and assure you I shall never hear it. Henry IV. was a
+younger son of a good house who achieved his good fortune; it did not
+signify much to him. Why should he have hung himself in misfortune?
+Louis XIV. was a greater king, had greater resources; he got himself
+out of difficulties well or ill. As regards me I have not the resources
+of this man, but I value honour more than he did; and, as I have told
+you, I guide myself after no one. We calculate, if I am right, 5000
+years since the creation of the world; I believe that this reckoning is
+far too low for the age of the universe. The country of Brandenburg has
+existed this whole time, before I did, and will continue after my
+death. States are preserved by the propagation of races, and as long as
+this continues, the masses will be governed by ministers or Sovereigns.
+It is much the same whether they be rather more simple or rather more
+clever; the difference is so little that the mass of the people
+scarcely discover it. Do not, therefore, repeat to me the old answers
+of courtiers; self-love and vanity cannot entirely alter my feelings.
+It is not so much an act of weakness to end such unhappy days, as it is
+cautious policy. I have lost all my friends and dearest relations. I am
+to the last extent unfortunate. I have nothing to hope; my enemies
+treat me with contempt and derision, and in their pride are prepared to
+trample me under foot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;1760, <i>Nov</i>.&#8212;My labours are terrible, the war has continued during
+five campaigns. We neglect nothing that can give us means of
+resistance, and I stretch the bow with my whole strength; but an army
+should be composed of arms and heads. Arms do not fail us, but heads
+are no longer to be found; if you would only give yourself the trouble
+to order me some of the sculptor, Adam, they would serve me as well as
+those I have. My duty and honour keep me steadfast; but, in spite of
+stoicism and endurance, there are moments when one feels some desire to
+give oneself up to the devil. Adieu, my dear Marquis, may it fare well
+with you, and pray for a poor devil who will betake himself to that
+meadow where the asphodels grow if the peace does not take effect.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;1761, <i>June</i>.&#8212;Do not count upon peace this year. If good fortune does
+not abandon me, I shall get out of the business as well as I can; but
+next year I shall still have to dance on the tight-rope and make
+dangerous bounds when it pleases their very Apostolical, very
+Christian, and very Muscovite Majesties to call out, 'Jump, Marquis!'
+Ah, how hard-hearted men are! They tell me, 'You have friends.' Yes,
+fine friends, who cross their arms and say, 'Indeed, I wish you all
+happiness!' 'But I am drowning&#8212;hand me a rope!' 'No, you will not
+drown.' 'Yet I must sink the very next moment.' 'Oh, we hope the
+contrary; but, if it should happen, be assured we would place a
+beautiful inscription on your tomb.' Such is the world. These are the
+fine compliments with which I am greeted on all sides.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;1762, <i>Jan</i>.&#8212;I have been so unfortunate throughout this whole war,
+with my pen as well as with my sword, that I do not believe in any
+fortunate occurrences. Yes; experience is a fine thing. In my youth I
+was as ungovernable as a young colt, that gallops about the meadow
+without bridle; now I am as cautious as an old Nestor: but I am also
+grey and wrinkled with care, and weighed down by bodily suffering; and,
+in a word, only good enough to be thrown to the dogs. You have always
+admonished me to take care of myself; show me the means, my dear
+friend, when one is hauled about as I am. The birds which one delivers
+to the wantonness of children, the tops which are whipped by those
+little monkeys, are not more tossed about and misused than I am now by
+three furious enemies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;1762, <i>May</i>.&#8212;I am passing through the school of patience; it is hard,
+tedious, terrible, indeed barbarous. I only help myself out of it by
+looking on the universe in general, as from a distant planet There
+everything appears to me infinitely small, and I pity my enemies for
+taking so much trouble about such trifles. Is this old age, is it
+reflection, is it reason? I regard all the events of life with far more
+indifference than formerly. If there is anything to be done for the
+welfare of the State, I can yet apply some strength to it; but, between
+ourselves, it is no longer with the fiery vehemence of my youth, nor
+the enthusiasm that then animated me. It is time that the war should
+come to an end, for my preachings become tedious, and my hearers will
+soon complain of me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To Frau von Camas he writes:&#8212;&quot;You speak of the death of poor F&#8212;&#8212;.
+Ah, dear mamma, for six years I have mourned more for the living than
+for the dead.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus did the King write and grieve, but he held out; and any one who is
+startled by the gloomy energy of his resolves, must guard himself from
+thinking that these were the highest expressions of the powers of this
+wonderful mind. It is true that the King had moments of depression,
+when he desired death under the fire of the enemy rather than seek it
+from his own hand out of the phial which he carried about him. It is
+true that he was firmly determined not to bring destruction on his
+State by allowing himself to live as a prisoner of the Austrians. There
+was a fearful truth in all that he wrote; but he was of a poetic
+disposition; he was a child of the century, which had such a craving
+for great deeds, and took delight in the expression of exalted
+feelings; he was, to his heart's core, a German, with the same longings
+as the immeasurably weaker Klopstock and his admirers. The
+contemplation and decided utterance of this last resolve gave him
+inward freedom and cheerfulness. He wrote concerning it also to his
+sister of Baireuth, in the dismal second year of the war, and this
+letter is particularly characteristic;<a name="div2_19" href="#div2Ref_19"><sup>[19]</sup></a> for she also had decided not
+to outlive the fall of her house; and he approved this decision, to
+which, however, he paid little attention, being immersed in the gloomy
+satisfaction of his own reflections. Both these royal children had once
+secretly recited together the <i>rôles</i> of French tragedies in the strict
+parental house; now their hearts beat again in unison, both thinking of
+freeing themselves, by an antique death, from a life full of illusions,
+errors, and sufferings. But when the excited and nervous sister fell
+dangerously ill, Frederic forgot all his stoical philosophy, and, with
+a passionate tenderness that still clung to life, he fretted and
+grieved about her who was the dearest to him of his family; and when
+she died, his sorrow was, perhaps, more severe from feeling that he had
+enacted a tragic part in the tender life of the woman. Thus, strangely,
+was mixed in the greatest German that arose in the eighteenth century,
+poetical feeling and the wish to appear charming and great with the
+earnest life of reality. The poor little Professor Semler, who, in the
+midst of the deepest emotion, still studied his attitudes and
+prepared his compliments, and the great King, who, in calm expectation
+of the hour of death, wrote in finely-formed periods concerning
+self-destruction, were both sons of that same time in which the pathos
+that found no worthy expression in art twined like a creeper round real
+life. But the King was greater than his philosophy; in fact, he never
+lost his courage, nor the stubborn strength of the German, nor the
+quiet hope which is needful to man for every great work.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he held out. The strength of his enemies became less, their
+Generals were worn out, and their armies shattered, and at last Russia
+withdrew from the coalition. This, and the King's last victory, decided
+the question. He had triumphed, he had preserved the conquered Silesia
+to Prussia; his people exulted, the faithful citizens of his capital
+prepared him a festive reception, but he avoided all rejoicings, and
+returned alone and quietly to Sans Souci. He wished, he said, to live
+the rest of his days in peace and for his people.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The first three-and-twenty years of his reign he had struggled
+and fought, and established his power throughout the world;
+three-and-twenty years more was he to rule over his people as a
+wise and strict father. The ideas according to which he guided the
+State&#8212;with great self-denial, but also self-will, aiming at the
+highest, but also ruling in the most trifling matters&#8212;have been partly
+set aside by the higher culture of the present day; they express the
+knowledge which he had gained in his youth, and from the experiences of
+his early manhood. The mind was to be free, and each one to think as he
+chose, but to do his duty as a citizen. As he subordinated his pleasure
+and expenditure to the good of the State, restricting the whole royal
+household to about 200,000 thalers, and thought first of the advantage
+of the people, and not till then of his own; so were all his subjects
+to be ready to do the duties and bear the burdens he might impose upon
+them. Each was to remain in the sphere in which his birth and education
+had placed him; the nobleman was to be landowner and officer; the
+sphere of the citizen was the city, commerce, industry, teaching, and
+invention; that of the peasant was field labour and service. But each
+in his position was to be prosperous and comfortable. There was to be
+equal, strict, rapid justice for all; no favour for the noble or rich,
+but rather, in doubtful cases, for the poor man. The number of working
+men was to be increased, each occupation made as remunerative and as
+prosperous as possible; the less that was imported from abroad the
+better; everything to be produced at home, and the surplus to be
+disposed of beyond the frontiers. Such were the main principles of his
+political economy. Incessantly did he endeavour to increase the number
+of morgens of arable land, and to procure new places for settlers.
+Swamps were drained, lakes drawn off, and dykes thrown up; canals were
+dug, and advances made for the establishment of new manufactories;
+cities and villages rebuilt more solid and convenient than before,
+under the active encouragement of government; the provincial credit
+system, the fire-insurance society, and the royal bank were
+established; popular schools everywhere founded, well-informed people
+encouraged to come, and the education and discipline of the ruling
+official class promoted by examinations and strict control. It is the
+business of historians to enumerate and extol all this, and also to
+recount some vain attempts of the King which failed from his endeavour
+to guide everything himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The King looked after all his dominions, and not least after that child
+of sorrow, the newly won Silesia. When he conquered this large province
+it had little more than a million of inhabitants.<a name="div2_20" href="#div2Ref_20"><sup>[20]</sup></a> Greatly was the
+contrast felt between the easy-going Austrian government and the
+strict, restless, stirring rule of Prussia. At Vienna the catalogue of
+forbidden books was greater than at Rome; now ceaseless bales of books
+found their way into the province from Germany: all were free to buy
+and read, even the attacks upon their own ruler. In Austria it was the
+privilege of the nobility to wear foreign cloth; in Prussia, when the
+father of Frederic the Great had forbidden the import of foreign cloth,
+he first dressed himself and his princesses in home-made manufacture.
+At Vienna no office was considered distinguished for which anything
+more was required than representation: all the work was the affair of
+the subalterns; the lord of the bedchamber was more considered than a
+deserving General or minister. In Prussia even the highest in rank was
+little esteemed if he was not useful to the State; and the King himself
+was the most precise official, for he looked after every thousand
+thalers that were saved or disbursed. He who in Austria left the Roman
+Catholic faith was punished with confiscation and banishment; in
+Prussia every one could change his religion as he chose, that was his
+affair. In the Imperial dominions the government felt it burdensome to
+look after anything; the Prussian officials thrust their noses into
+everything. In spite of the three Silesian wars, the country was far
+more flourishing than in the Imperial time; a century had not been
+sufficient to efface the traces of the Thirty Years' War; the people
+remembered well how in the cities heaps of ruins had remained from the
+Swedish time, and everywhere near the newly-built houses, the dismal
+wastes caused by fire. Many little cities had still blockhouses in the
+old Sclavonian style, with straw and shingle roofs, which had long been
+scantily patched. Under the Prussians, not only the traces of the old
+devastation, but even of the Seven Years' War, soon disappeared.
+Frederic had fifteen large cities built up with regular streets at the
+King's cost, and some hundred new villages constructed and occupied by
+freehold colonists; he had laid on the landed proprietors the heavy
+burden of rebuilding some thousands of homesteads, and occupying them
+with tenants with hereditary rights. In the Imperial time the imposts
+had been far less, but they were unequally apportioned, and the
+heaviest burdens were on the poor; the nobles were exempt from the
+greater part; the method of raising them was ill arranged; much was
+embezzled or squandered, and little proportionately found its way into
+the Emperor's coffers. The Prussians, on the other hand, had divided
+the country into small circles, valued the collective acreage, and in a
+few years had withdrawn all exemptions from taxes; the country now paid
+its ground tax, the cities their excise. Thus the province bore a
+double amount of burdens with greater ease, only the privileged
+murmured; and in this way it was able to maintain 40,000 soldiers,
+whilst formerly there had been only 2000. Before 1740 the nobles had
+acted the part of fine gentlemen; any one who was a Roman Catholic, and
+rich, lived at Vienna; others, who could afford it, went to Breslau.
+Now the greater number of the landed proprietors dwelt on their
+properties. Krippenreiters had ceased; the noblemen knew that the King
+considered it honourable in him to care for the culture of his ground,
+and that he showed cold contempt towards those who were not landlords,
+officials, or officers. Formerly, law-suits were incessant and costly,
+and could scarcely be carried on without bribery and great sacrifice of
+money; now the number of lawyers became less, because decisions were so
+rapid. Under the Austrians the caravan traffic with the east of Europe
+had undoubtedly been greater; the Bukowins and Hungarians, and also the
+Poles, became estranged, and already looked to Trieste; but new sources
+of industry arose, large manufactories of wool and cloth, and in the
+mountain valleys linen, were established. Many were dissatisfied with
+the new time, some were in fact oppressed by its harshness, but few
+ventured to deny that on the whole there was improvement.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But there was another characteristic of the Prussian State that made an
+impression on the Silesians, and soon obtained a mastery over their
+minds. This was the devoted Spartan spirit of those who served the
+King, which frequently appeared in the lowest officials. The excise
+officers, even before the introduction of the French system, were
+little liked; they were invalid subaltern officers, old soldiers of the
+King, who had won his battles, and had grown grey in his service. They
+sat now at the gates, and smoked their wooden pipes; they received very
+little pay, and could indulge themselves in little, but were from early
+dawn till late in the evening at their post, did their duty skilfully,
+quickly, and punctually, like old soldiers, received and faithfully
+delivered up the money as a matter of course. They thought always of
+their service: it was their honour, their pride; and long did the old
+Silesians continue to relate to their descendants how much they had
+been struck by the punctiliousness, strictness, and honesty of these
+and other Prussian officials. There was in every district town a
+receiver of taxes; he lived in his small office room, which was perhaps
+at the same time his bedroom, and received in a large wooden dish the
+land tax which the village magistrate brought to his room once a month.
+Many thousand thalers were noted down on the long list, and were
+delivered to the last penny into the State coffers. Small was the
+salary of even such a man as this; he sat, received and packed away in
+bags, till his hair became white, and his trembling hands could no
+longer lay hold of the two-groschen pieces. And the pride of his life
+was, that the King knew him personally, and, if he ever came through
+the place during the change of horses, he fixed on him silently his
+large eyes, or, if he was very gracious, inclined his head a little
+towards him. The people regarded with a certain degree of respect and
+awe these subordinate servants of a new principle. And not the
+Silesians only; it was something new in the world. It was not as a mere
+jest that Frederic II. had called himself the first servant of his
+State. As on the battlefield he had taught his wild nobles that the
+highest honour was to die for the Fatherland, so did his unwearied care
+and high sense of duty imprint upon the soul of the meanest of his
+servants on the most distant frontiers his great idea, that his first
+duty was to live and labour for the good of his King and country.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Though the provinces of Prussia, in the Seven Years' War, were
+compelled to do homage to the Empress Elizabeth, and remained for some
+time incorporated in the Russian Empire, yet the officials of the
+districts under the foreign army and government ventured secretly to
+raise money and provisions for their King, and great art was required
+for the passage of the transports. Many were in the secret, but there
+was not one traitor; they stole in disguise through the Russian camp in
+danger of their lives. They discovered afterwards that they earned
+little thanks by it, for the King did not like his East Prussians; he
+spoke depreciatingly of them; seldom showed them the same favour as the
+other provinces; he looked like stone whenever he learnt that one of
+his young officers was born between the Vistula and Memel, and never
+entered his East Prussian province after the war. But the East
+Prussians were not shaken in their veneration for him: they clung with
+true love to their ungracious master, and his best and most
+intellectual panegyrist was Emmanuel Kant.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The life in the King's service was undoubtedly a rough one: incessant
+were the work and deprivations; it was difficult for the best to do
+enough for so strict a master, and the greatest devotion received but
+curt thanks; if a man was worn out he was probably coldly thrown aside;
+the labour was without end everywhere,&#8212;new undertakings&#8212;scaffoldings
+of an unfinished building. To any one who came into the country this
+life did not appear cheerful, it was so austere, monotonous, and rough;
+there was little of beauty or pleasure in it; and as the bachelor
+household of the King, with his obedient servants and his submissive
+intimates taking the air under the trees of a quiet garden, gave the
+impression of a monastery to a foreign guest; so he found in the whole
+Prussian regime, something of the self-denial and obedience of a large
+industrious monastic brotherhood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Somewhat of this spirit had passed into the people themselves. But we
+honour in this an enduring service of Frederic II.: still is this
+spirit of self-denial the secret of the greatness of the Prussian
+State, the last and best guarantee for its duration. The excellent
+machine which the King had erected with so much intelligence and energy
+could not eternally last; it was shattered twenty years after his
+death; but that the State did not at the same time sink,&#8212;that the
+intelligence and patriotism of the citizen were in a condition to
+create a new life on new foundations under his successors,&#8212;is the
+secret of Frederic's greatness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nine years after the conclusion of the last war, which led to the
+retention of Silesia, Frederic increased his kingdom by a new
+acquisition, not much less in number of miles, but with a scanty
+population: it was the district of Poland, which has since passed under
+the name of West Prussia.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If the claims of the King on Silesia had been doubtful, it required all
+the acuteness of his officials to put a plausible appearance on the
+uncertain rights to a portion of the new acquisition. The King himself
+cared little about it; he had, with almost superhuman heroism, defended
+the possession of Silesia in the face of the world; that province had
+been bound to Prussia by streams of blood; but in this case, political
+shrewdness was almost all that had been required. Long, in the opinion
+of men, was the conqueror deficient in that justification which it
+appeared was only given by the horrors of war and the accidental
+fortune of the battle-field. But this last acquisition of the King,
+which was made without the thunder of cannon or the flourish of
+victory, was, of all the great gifts for which the German people had to
+thank Frederic II., the greatest and most beneficial. During many
+hundred years the much-divided Germans were confined and injured by
+ambitious neighbours; the great King was the first conqueror who
+extended the German frontier further to the east. A century after his
+great ancestor had in vain defended the Rhine fortresses against Louis
+XIV., he again gave the Germans the emphatic admonition, that it was
+their task to carry laws, education, freedom, cultivation, and industry
+into the east of Europe. His whole country, with the exception of some
+old Saxon territory, had been won from the Sclavonians by force and
+colonisation; never since the great migration of the Middle Ages had
+the struggle for the wide plains on the east of the Oder ceased; never
+had his house forgotten that it was the guardian of the German
+frontier. Whenever the struggle of arms ceased, politicians contended.
+The Elector Frederic William had freed the Prussian territories of the
+Teutonic order from the Polish suzerainty. Frederic I. had brought this
+isolated colony under the crown. But the possession of East Prussia was
+insecure; the danger was not, however, from the degenerate Republic of
+Poland, but from the rising greatness of Russia. Frederic had learnt to
+consider the Russians as enemies; he knew the high-flown plans of the
+Empress Catherine; the clever Prince knew how to grasp at the fitting
+moment. The new domain&#8212;Pommerellen, the Woiwodschaft of Kulm and
+Marienburg, the Bishopric of Ermland, the city of Elbing, a portion of
+Kujavien, and a part of Posen&#8212;united East Prussia with Pomerania and
+the Marches of Brandenburg. It had always been a frontier land; since
+ancient times people of different races had thronged to the coast of
+the Northern Sea: Germans, Sclavonians, Lithuanians, and Finns. Since
+the thirteenth century, the Germans had forced themselves into this
+debatable ground as founders of cities and agriculturists; orders of
+knights, merchants, pious monks, German noblemen, and peasants
+congregated there. On both sides of the Vistula arose towers and
+boundary stones of the German colonists. Above all rose the splendid
+Dantzic,&#8212;the Venice of the Baltic, the great sea-mart of the
+Sclavonian countries, with its rich Marien-church and the palaces of
+its merchants; behind it, on the other arm of the Vistula, its modest
+rival Elbing; further upwards, the stately towers and broad arcades of
+Marienburg, where is the great princely castle of the Teutonic Knights,
+the most beautiful edifice in the north of Germany; and in the
+luxurious low-countries, in the valley of the Vistula, were the old
+prosperous colonial properties, one of the most favoured districts of
+the world, and defended by powerful dikes against the devastations of
+the Vistula. Still further upwards, Marienwerder, Graudenz, Kulm, and
+in the low countries, Netzebromberg, the centre of a strip of Polish
+frontier. Smaller German cities and village communities were scattered
+through the whole territory, which had been energetically colonised by
+the rich Cistercian monasteries of Oliva and Pelplin. But the
+tyrannical severity of this order drove the German cities and landed
+proprietors of West Prussia, in the fifteenth century, to annex
+themselves to Poland. The Reformation of the sixteenth century subdued
+not only the souls of the German colonists, but also those of the
+Poles. In the great Polish Republic, three-fourths of the nobility
+became Protestants, and in the Sclavonian districts of Pommerellen,
+seventy out of one hundred parishes, did the same. But the introduction
+of the Jesuits brought an unhealthy change. The Polish nobles fell back
+to the Roman Catholic Church, their sons were brought up in the
+Jesuits' schools as converting fanatics. From that time the Polish
+State began to decline; its condition became constantly more hopeless.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a great difference in the conduct of the Germans of West
+Prussia with respect to proselytising Jesuits and Sclavonian tyranny.
+The immigrant German nobles became Roman Catholic and Polish, but the
+citizens and peasants remained stubborn Protestants. To the opposition
+of languages was added the opposition of confessions; to the hatred of
+race, the fury of contending faiths. In the century of enlightenment
+there was a fanatical persecution of the Germans in these provinces;
+one Protestant church after another was pulled down, the wooden ones
+were burnt; when a church was burnt, the villages lost the right of
+having bells; German preachers and schoolmasters were driven away and
+shamefully ill-used &quot;<i>Vexa Lutheranum dabit thalerum</i>&quot; was the usual
+saying of the Poles against the Germans. One of the great landed
+proprietors of the country, Starost of Gnesen, from the family of
+Birnbaum, was condemned to death, by tearing out his tongue and
+chopping off his hands, because he had copied into a record from German
+books some biting remarks against the Jesuits. There was no law and no
+protection. The national party of Polish nobles, in alliance with
+fanatical priests, persecuted most violently those whom they hated as
+Germans and Protestants. All the predatory rabble joined themselves to
+the patriots or confederates; they hired hordes who went plundering
+about the country and fell upon small cities and German villages. Ever
+more vehement became the rage against the Germans, not only from zeal
+for the faith, but still more from covetousness. The Polish nobleman
+Roskowski put on a red and a black boot: the one signified fire, and
+the other death; thus he rode from one place to another, laying all
+under contribution; at last, in Jastrow, he caused the hands, feet, and
+finally the head of the Evangelical preacher Wellick to be cut off, and
+the limbs to be thrown into a bog. This happened in 1768.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Such was the state of the country shortly before the Prussian
+occupation. Dantzic, which was indispensable to the Poles, kept itself,
+through this century of decay, from the rest of the country; it
+remained a free State under Sclavonian protection, and was long adverse
+to the great King. But the country and most of the German cities
+energetically helped to preserve the King from destruction. The
+Prussian officials who were sent into the country were astonished at
+the wretchedness which existed at a few days' journey from their
+capital. Only some of the larger cities, in which German life was
+maintained by old trading intercourse within strong walls, and
+protected strips of land exclusively occupied by Germans,&#8212;like the low
+countries near Dantzig,&#8212;the villages under the mild government of the
+Cistercians of Oliva, and the wealthy German districts of Catholic
+Ermland, were in tolerable condition. Other cities lay in ruins, as did
+most of the farms on the plains. The Prussians found Bromberg, a city
+of German colonists, in ruins; it is not possible now accurately to
+ascertain how the city came into this condition;<a name="div2_21" href="#div2Ref_21"><sup>[21]</sup></a> indeed the fate of
+the whole Netze district, in the last ten years before the Prussian
+occupation, is quite unknown. No historians, no records, and no
+registers give any account of the destruction and slaughter with which
+that country was ravaged. Apparently the Polish factions must have
+fought amongst themselves; bad harvests and pestilence may have done
+the rest. Kulm has from ancient times preserved its well-built walls
+and stately churches, but in the streets the covered passages to the
+cellars projected over the rotten wood and the fragments of brick from
+the dilapidated buildings; whole streets consisted of such cellars, in
+which the miserable inhabitants dwelt. Twenty-eight of the forty houses
+of the great market-place had no doors, no roofs, no inhabitants, and
+no proprietors. In a similar condition were other cities.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The greater number of the country people lived in circumstances which
+appeared to the King's officials lamentable; especially on the
+frontiers of Pomerania, where the Windish Kassubes dwelt; the villages
+were a collection of old huts, with torn thatched roofs, on bare
+plains, without a tree and without a garden; there was only the
+indigenous wild cherry-tree. The houses were built of wooden rafters
+and clay; going through the house door, one entered a room with a large
+hearth, without a chimney; stoves were unknown; no candle was ever
+lighted, only fir chips brightened the darkness of the long winter
+evenings; the chief article in the miserable furniture was the
+crucifix, and under it a bowl of holy water. The dirty, forlorn people
+lived on rye porridge, or only on herbs, which they made into soup, or
+on herrings, and brandy, in which both women and men indulged. Bread
+was almost unknown; many had never in their life tasted such a
+delicacy; there were few villages in which there was an oven. If they
+ever kept bees, they sold the honey to the citizens, as well as carved
+spoons and stolen bark; and with the produce, they bought at the fairs,
+coarse blue cloth dresses, with black fur caps, and bright red
+handkerchiefs for the women. There was rarely a weaving-loom, and the
+spinning-wheel was unknown. The Prussians heard there no national
+songs; there were no dances, no music, nor indeed any of the pleasures
+which the most miserable Poles partake of, but stupidly and silently
+the people drank bad drams, fought, and reeled about. The poor noble
+also differed little from the peasant; he drove his own rude plough,
+and clattered in wooden slippers about the unboarded floor of his hut.
+It was difficult, even for the Prussian King, to make anything of these
+people. The use of potatoes spread rapidly, but the people long
+continued to destroy the fruit trees, the culture of which was
+commanded; and they opposed all other attempts at cultivation. Equally
+needy and decaying were the frontier districts with Polish population;
+but the Polish peasant preserved, in his state of poverty and disorder,
+at least the vivacity of his race. Even on the properties of the
+greater nobles, such as the Starosties, and of the crown, all the
+farming buildings were ruined and useless. If any one wished to forward
+a letter, he had to send a special messenger, for there was no post in
+the country; indeed, in the villages no need of it was felt, for a
+great portion of the nobles could not read or write, more than the
+peasants. Were any one ill, no assistance could be obtained but the
+mysterious remedies of some old village crone, for there was no
+apothecary in the whole country. Any one who needed a coat, did well to
+be able to use a needle himself, for no tailor was to be found for many
+miles, unless one passed through the country on a venture.<a name="div2_22" href="#div2Ref_22"><sup>[22]</sup></a> He who
+wished to build a house, had first to ascertain whether he could get
+labourers from the west. The country people still kept up a weak
+struggle with hordes of wolves, and there were few villages in which
+men and beasts were not decimated every winter.<a name="div2_23" href="#div2Ref_23"><sup>[23]</sup></a> If the small-pox
+broke out, or any other infectious illness came into the country, the
+people saw the white figure of the pestilence flying through the air
+and settling down on their huts; they knew what such appearances
+betokened; it was the desolation of their homes, the destruction of
+whole communities; with gloomy resignation they awaited their fate.
+There was hardly any administration of justice in the country; only in
+the larger cities were powerless courts. The Starosts inflicted
+punishment with arbitrary power; they beat and threw into horrible
+jails, not only the peasant, but even the citizens of the country towns
+who rented their houses or fell into their hands. In their quarrels
+amongst themselves they contended by bribery, in any of the few courts
+that had jurisdiction over them. In later years, even that had almost
+fallen into disuse, and they sought revenge with their own hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was indeed a forlorn country, without discipline, without law, and
+without a master; it was a wilderness, with only a population of
+500,000 on 600 square miles&#8212;not 850 to the mile. And the Prussian King
+treated his acquisition like an untenanted prairie; almost at his
+pleasure he fixed boundary stones, or removed them some miles further.
+And then he began, in his admirable way, the culture of the country;
+the very rottenness of its condition was attractive to him, and West
+Prussia became, as Silesia had hitherto been, his favourite child, that
+he washed and brushed, and dressed in new clothes, sent to school,
+controlled, and kept under his eyes, with incessant care like a true
+mother. The diplomatic contention about the acquisition still
+continued, but he sent a troop of his best officials into the
+wilderness; the districts were divided into small circles; the whole
+surface of the country valued in the shortest time, and equally taxed;
+and every circle provided with a provincial magistrate, a judicature, a
+post, and a sanitary police. New parishes were called into life as if
+by magic; a company of 187 schoolmasters were introduced into the
+country; the worthy Semler had sought out and drilled some of them.
+Numbers of German artisans were hired, machine and brick makers;
+digging, hammering, and building began all over the country; the cities
+were reinhabited; street upon street arose out of the heaps of ruins;
+the Starosties were changed into crown property; new villages were
+built and colonised, and new agriculture enjoined. In the course of the
+first year after taking possession of the country, the great canal was
+dug, three German miles in length, uniting the Vistula by means of the
+Netze with the Oder and Elbe; a year after, the King had given
+directions for this work, he saw loaded boats from the Oder, 120 feet
+long, passing from the East to the Vistula. By means of the new
+water-wheels, wide districts of country were drained and occupied by
+German colonists. The King worked indefatigably; he praised and blamed;
+and, however great the zeal of his officials, they could seldom do
+enough for him. In consequence of this, the wild Sclavonian tares,
+which had shot up, not only there but also in the German fields, were
+brought under, so that even the Polish districts got accustomed to the
+new order of things; and West Prussia, in the war after 1806, proved
+itself almost as Prussian as the old provinces.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whilst the grey-headed King was creating and looking after everything,
+one year passed after another over his thoughtful head; all about him
+was more tranquil, but void and lonely, and small was the circle of men
+in whom he confided. He had laid his flute aside, and the new French
+literature appeared to him insipid and prosy; sometimes it seemed as if
+a new life sprouted up under him in Germany, to which he was a
+stranger. Unweariedly did he labour for the improvement of his army and
+the welfare of his people; ever less did he value his tools, and ever
+higher and more passionate was his feeling of the great duties of his
+position.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But if his struggles in the Seven Years' War may be called superhuman,
+equally so did his labours now appear to contemporaries. There was
+something great, but also terrible, in the way in which he made the
+prosperity of the whole his highest and constant object, disregarding
+the comfort of individuals. When, in front of the ranks, he dismissed
+from the service with bitter words of blame the Colonel of a regiment
+which had made a great blunder at a review; when, in the marsh lands of
+the Netze, he calculated more the strokes of the ten thousand spades
+than the hardships of the labourers, who lay, stricken with marsh
+fever, in the hospital he had erected for them; when be overstepped in
+his demands what the most rapid action could accomplish,&#8212;terror as of
+one who moved in an unearthly element mingled with the deep reverence
+and devotion of his people. Like Fate, he appeared to the Prussians,
+incalculable, inexorable, and omniscient; superintending the smallest
+as well as the greatest things. When they related to one another that
+he had endeavoured to control Nature also, but that his orange-trees
+had been frozen by the last spring frosts, then they secretly rejoiced
+that there were limits even for their King, but still more that he had
+borne it with such good humour, and had made his bow to the cold days
+of May.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With touching sympathy the people collected all the sayings of the King
+in which there was any human feeling that brought him more into
+communion with them. So lonely were his house and garden, that the
+imaginations of his Prussians continually hovered about the consecrated
+spot. If any one was so fortunate as to come into the neighbourhood of
+the castle on a warm moonlight night, he would perhaps find open doors
+without a guard, and he could see the great King in his bedroom,
+sleeping on his camp-bed. The scent of the flowers, the night song of
+the birds, and the quiet moonlight were the only guards, almost the
+whole regal state, of the lonely man.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For fourteen years after the acquisition of West Prussia, did the
+oranges of Sans Souci bloom; then did Nature reassert her empire over
+the great King. He died alone, only surrounded by his servants.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the bloom of life he was completely wrapped up in ambitious
+feelings; he had wrested from fate all the high and splendid garlands
+of life,&#8212;he, the prince of poets and philosophers, the historian and
+the General. No triumph that he had ever gained contented him; all
+earthly fame had become to him accidental, uncertain, and valueless; an
+iron feeling of duty, incessantly working, was all that remained to
+him. Amid the dangerous alternation of warm enthusiasm and cool
+acuteness, his soul had reached its maturity. He had, in his own mind,
+surrounded with a poetical halo, certain individuals; and he despised
+the multitude about him. But in the struggles of life his egotism
+disappeared; he lost almost all that was personally dear to him, and he
+ended by caring little for individuals, whilst the need of living
+for the whole became ever stronger in him. With the most refined
+self-seeking, he had desired the highest for himself; and at last,
+regardless of himself, he gave himself up for the public weal and the
+lowest. He had entered life as an idealist, and his ideal had not been
+destroyed by the most fearful experiences, but rather ennobled,
+exalted, and purified; he had sacrificed many men to his State, but no
+man so much as himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Great and uncommon did this appear to his contemporaries; greater still
+to us, who can perceive, even in the present time, the traces of his
+activity in the character of our people, our political life, our arts,
+and literature.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+<br>
+<h3>OF THE SCHOOLING OF THE GERMAN CITIZEN.</h3>
+<h4>(1790.)</h4>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Many races of poets had passed away; their hearts had never been
+stirred by vivid impressions of a heroes life; they celebrated the
+victories of Alexander and the death of Cato in countless forms, with
+chilling phrases and in artificial periods. Now the smallest story told
+at the house-door by an invalid soldier caused transports, even that
+the great King of Prussia had been seen by him at the cathedral and had
+spoken five words to him. The tale of the simple man brought at once,
+as if by enchantment, before the minds of his hearers the exalted image
+of the man, the camp, the watch-fire, and the watch. How weak was the
+impression produced by the artificial praise of long-spun verses
+against such anecdotes which could be told in a few lines! They excited
+sympathy and fellow-feeling, even to tears and wringing of hands. In
+what lay the magic of these slight traits of life? Those few words of
+the King were so characteristic, one could perceive in them the whole
+nature of the hero, and the rough true-hearted tone of the narrator
+gave his account a peculiar colouring which increased the effect. A
+poetic feeling was undoubtedly produced in the hearer, but different as
+heaven from earth to the old art. And this poetry was felt by every one
+in Germany after the Silesian war; it had become as popular as the
+newspapers and the roll of the soldiers' drum. He who would produce an
+effect as a German poet, must know how to narrate, like that honest man
+of the people, in a simple and homely way, as from the heart, and it
+must be a subject which would make the heart beat quicker. Goethe knew
+well why he referred the whole of the youthful intellectual life of his
+time to Frederic II., for even he had in his father's house been
+influenced by the noble poetry which shone from the life of that great
+man on his contemporaries. The great King had pronounced &quot;Götz von
+Berlichingen&quot; a horrible piece, yet he had himself materially
+contributed to it, by giving the poet courage to weave together the old
+anecdotes of the troopers into a drama. And when Goethe, in his old
+age, concluded his last drama, he brought forward again the figure of
+the old King, and he makes his Faust an indefatigable and exacting
+master, who carries his canal through the marsh lands of the Vistula.
+And it was not different with Lessing, to say nothing of the minor
+poets. In &quot;Minna von Barnhelm,&quot; the King sends a decisive letter
+on the stage; and in &quot;Nathan&quot;&#8212;the antagonism betwixt tolerance and
+fanaticism, betwixt Judaism and priestcraft&#8212;is an ennobled reflex of
+the views of D'Argen's Jewish letters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was not only the easily moved spirit of poets that was excited by
+the idea of the King: even the scientific life of the Germans, their
+speculative and moral philosophy, were elevated and transformed by it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the freedom of conscience which the King placed at the head of his
+maxims of government, dissolved like a spell the compulsion which the
+church had hitherto laid on the learned. The strong antipathy which the
+King had for priestly rule, and every kind of restraint of the mind,
+worked in many spheres. The most daring teaching, the most determined
+attacks on existing opinions, were now allowed; the struggle was
+carried on with equal weapons, and science obtained for the first time
+a feeling of supremacy over the soul. It was by no accident that Kant
+rose to eminence in Prussia; for the whole stringent power of his
+teaching, the high elevation of the feeling of duty, even the quiet
+resignation with which the individual had to submit himself to the
+&quot;categorical imperative,&quot; is nothing more than the ideal counterpart of
+the devotion to duty which the King practised himself and demanded of
+his Prussians. No one has more nobly expressed than the great
+philosopher himself, how much the State system of Frederic II. had been
+the basis of his teaching.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Historical science was not the least gainer by him. Great political
+deeds were so intimately blended with the imaginations and the hearts
+of Germans, that every individual participated in them; manly doings
+and sufferings appeared so worthy of reverence, that the feeling for
+what was significant and characteristic animated in a new way the
+German historical inquirer, and his precepts for the nation attained a
+higher meaning.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was not, indeed, immediately that the Germans gained the sure
+judgment and political culture which are necessary to every historian
+who undertakes to represent life of his nation. It was remarkable that
+the historical mind of Germany deviated so much from that of England
+and France, but it developed itself in a way that led the greatest
+intellectual acquisitions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And these new blossoms of intellectual life in Germany, which were
+unfolded after the year 1750, bore a thoroughly national character;
+indeed, their highest gain remains up to the present time almost
+entirely to the German. It began to be recognised that the life of a
+people develops itself, like that of an individual, according to
+certain natural laws; that, through the individual souls of the
+inventor and thinker, a something national and in common penetrates
+from generation to generation, each at the same time limiting and
+invigorating it. Since Winckelman undertook to discern and fix the
+periods of ancient sculptural art, a similar advance was ventured upon
+in other domains of knowledge. Semler had already endeavoured to point
+out the historical development of Christianity in the oldest church.
+The existence of old Homer was denied, and the origin of the epical
+poem sought in the peculiarities of a popular life which existed 3000
+years ago. The meaning of myths and traditions, striking peculiarities
+in the inventions and creations of the youthful period of a people,
+were clearly pointed out; soon Romulus and the Tarquins, and finally
+the records of the Bible, were subjected to the same reckless
+inquiries.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But it was peculiar that these deep-thinking investigations were united
+with so much freedom and power of invention. He who wrote the &quot;Laocoon&quot;
+and the &quot;Dramaturgie&quot; was himself a poet; and Goethe and Schiller, the
+same men whose springs of imagination flowed so full and copiously,
+looked intently into its depth, investigating, like quiet men of
+learning, the laws of life of their novels, dramas, and ballads.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile all the best spirits of the nation were enchanted with their
+poems; the beautiful was suddenly poured out over the German soil as if
+by a divinity. With an enthusiasm which often approached to worship,
+the German gave himself up to the charms of his national poetry. The
+world of shining imagery acquired in his eyes an importance which
+sometimes made him unjust to the practical life which surrounded him.
+He, who so often appeared as the citizen of a nation without a State,
+found almost everything that was noble and exalted in the golden realm
+of poetry and art; the realities about him appeared to him common, low,
+and indifferent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">How through this an aristocracy of men of refinement were trained,&#8212;how
+the great poets themselves were occupied in looking down with proud
+resignation from their serene heights on the twilight of the German
+earth,&#8212;has often been portrayed. Here we will only relate how the time
+worked on the common run of men, remodelling their characters and
+ideas.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is the year 1790, four years after the death of the great King; the
+second year in which the eyes of Germany had been fixed with
+astonishment on the condition of France. A few individuals only
+interested themselves in the struggle going on in the capital of a
+foreign country betwixt the nation and the throne. The German citizen
+had freed himself from the influence of French culture; indeed Frederic
+II. had taught his country people to pay little attention to the
+political condition of the neighbouring country. It was known that
+great reforms were necessary in France, and the literary men were on
+the side of the French opposition. The Germans were more especially
+occupied with themselves; a feeling of satisfaction is perceptible in
+the nation, of which they had been long deprived; they perceive that
+they are making good progress; a wonderful spirit of reform penetrates
+through their whole life: trade is flourishing, wealth increases, the
+new culture exalts and pleases, youths recite with feeling the verses
+of their favourite poet, and rejoice to see on the stage the
+representations of great virtues and vices, and listen to the
+entrancing sounds of German music. It was a new life, but it was the
+end of the good time. Many years later the Germans looked longingly
+back for the peaceful years after the Seven Years' War.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If any one at this time entered the streets of a moderate-sized city,
+through which he had passed in the year 1750, he would be struck by the
+greater energy of its inhabitants. The old walls and gates are indeed
+still standing; but it is proposed to free from brick and mortar the
+entrances which are too narrow for men and waggons, and to substitute
+light iron trellis-work, and in other places to open new gates in the
+walls. The rampart round the city moat has been planted with pollards,
+and in the thick shade of the limes and chestnuts the citizens take
+their constitutional walks, and the children of the lower orders
+breathe the fresh summer air. The small gardens on the city walls are
+embellished; new foreign blossoms shine amongst the old, and cluster
+round some fragment of a column or a small wooden angel that is painted
+white; here and there a summer-house rises, either in the form of an
+antique temple or as a hut of moss-covered bark, as a remembrance of
+the original state of innocence of the human race, in which the
+feelings were so incomparably purer and the restraints of dress and
+<i>convenances</i> were so much less.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the traffic of the city has extended itself beyond the old walls,
+where a high road leads to the city, and suburban rows of houses
+stretch far into the plain. Many new houses, with red-tiled roofs under
+loaded fruit-trees, delight the eyes. The number of houses in the city
+has also increased; leaning with broad fronts, gable to gable, there
+they stand, with large windows and open staircases enclosing wide
+spaces. The ornaments that adorn the front are still modestly made of
+plaster of Paris; bright lime-washes of all shades are almost the only
+characteristics, and give the streets a variegated appearance. They
+are, for the most part, built by merchants and manufacturers, who are
+now almost everywhere the wealthy people of the city.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The wounds inflicted by the Seven Years' War on the prosperity of the
+citizens are healed. Not in vain have the police, for more than fifty
+years, admonished and commanded; the city arrangements are well
+regulated; provisions for the care of the poor are organised, funds for
+their maintenance, doctors, and medicine supplied gratuitously. In the
+larger cities much is done for the support of the infirm; in Dresden,
+in 1790, the yearly amount of funds for the poor was 50,000 thalers; in
+Berlin also, where Frederic William had done much for the poor, the
+government warmly participated in rendering assistance,&#8212;it was
+reported that more was done there than elsewhere. But the benevolence
+which the educated classes evinced towards the people was deficient in
+judgment&#8212;alms-giving was the only thing thought of; a few years later
+it was considered truly patriotic in the finance minister, von
+Struensee, to remit to the Berlin poor a considerable portion of his
+salary. At the same time there were loud complaints of the increasing
+immorality, and of the preponderance of poor. It was remarked, with
+alarm, that Berlin, under Frederic II., had been the only capital in
+the world in which more men were born in the year than died, and that
+now it was beginning to be the reverse. At Berlin, Dresden, and
+Leipzig, beggars were no longer to be seen; indeed there were few in
+any of the Prussian cities, with exception of Silesia and West Prussia;
+but in the smaller places in Lower Saxony they still continued to be a
+plague to travellers. They congregated at the hotels and post-houses,
+and waylaid strangers on their arrival.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But a greater and more satisfactory improvement was made by the
+exertions of the government in the increased care of the sick: the
+devastating pestilence and other diseases were&#8212;one has reason to
+believe&#8212;shut out from the frontiers of Germany. From 1709-11 the
+plague had raged fearfully in Poland, and even in 1770 there had been
+deaths from it; whole villages had been depopulated by it, but our
+native land was little injured. There was one disease which still made
+its ravages among rich and poor alike&#8212;the small-pox. It was Europe's
+great misery&#8212;the repulsive visitant of blooming youth, bringing death
+and disfigurement. It was the turning-point of life, how they passed
+through this malady. Much heart-rending misery has now ceased; the
+beauty of our women has become more secure, and the number of diseased
+and helpless, has considerably diminished since Jenner and his friends
+established in London, in 1799, the first public vaccinating
+institution.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Everywhere, about this time, began complaints of the want of economy,
+and immoderate love of pleasure of the working classes: complaints
+which certainly were justified in many cases, but which must inevitably
+be heard where the greater wealth of individuals increases the
+necessities of the people in the lower classes. One must be cautious
+before one assumes from this a decrease in the popular strength; the
+awakening desires of the people is more frequently the first unhealthy
+sign of progress. On the whole it does not appear to have been so very
+bad. Smoking was indeed general; it constantly increased, although
+Frederic II. had raised the price in Prussia by his stamp on each
+packet. The coloured porcelain-headed pipe began to supplant the
+meerschaum. In Northern Germany the white beer became the new
+fashionable drink of the citizens; staid old-fashioned tradesmen shook
+their heads, and complained that their favourite old brew became worse,
+and that the consumption of wine among the citizens increased
+immoderately. In Saxony they began to drink coffee to a great extent,
+however thin and adulterated it might be, and it was the only warm
+drink of the poor. The general complaint of travellers, who came from
+the south of Germany, was that the cooking in Prussia, Saxony, and
+Thuringia was poor and scanty.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The public amusements, also, were neither numerous or expensive.
+Foremost was the theatre; it was quite a passion with the citizens. The
+wandering companies became better and more numerous, the number of
+theatres greater; the best place was the parterre, in which officers,
+students, or young officials, who were frequently at variance, gave the
+tone. The sensation dramas, with dagger, poison, and rattling of
+chains, enchanted the unpretending; pathetic family dramas, with
+iniquitous ministers of state, and raving lovers excited feeling in the
+educated; and the bad taste of the pieces, and the good acting,
+astonished strangers. The entrance of one of these companies within
+walls was an event of great importance; and we see, from the accounts
+of many worthy men, how great was the influence of such representations
+upon their life. It is difficult for us to comprehend the enthusiasm
+with which young people of education followed these performances,
+the intensity of the feelings excited in them. Iffland's pieces,
+&quot;Verbrechen aus Ehrgeiz&quot; and &quot;Der Spieler,&quot; drew forth not only tears
+and sobs, but also oaths and impassioned vows. Once at Lauchstädt, when
+the curtain fell at the end of the &quot;Spielers&quot; (Gamblers), one of the
+wildest students of Halle rushed up to another, also of Halle, but whom
+he scarcely knew, and begged him, the tears streaming from his eyes, to
+record his oath that he would never again touch a card. According to
+the account the excited youth kept his word. Similar scenes were not
+extraordinary. Poor students saved money for weeks to enable them to go
+even once from Halle to the theatre in Lauchstädt, and they ran back
+the same night, so as not to miss their lectures the next morning. But,
+lively as was the interest of the Germans in the drama, it was not easy
+for the society of even the larger cities to keep up a stationary
+theatre. At Berlin the French theatre was changed to a German one, with
+the proud title of National Theatre; but this, the only one in the
+capital, was, in 1790, little visited, although Fleck and both the
+Unzelmanns played there. The Italian Opera was, indeed, better
+attended, but it was given at the King's expense; every magistrate had
+his own box; the King still sat, with his court, in the parterre behind
+the orchestra; and throughout the whole winter there were only six
+representations&#8212;one new and one old, each performed three times. Then,
+undoubtedly, the public thronged there, to see the splendour of this
+court festival, and were astounded at the great procession of elephants
+and lions in &quot;Darius.&quot; It is mentioned that at Dresden, also, the
+children's theatricals in families were far more in request than the
+great theatre; and in Berlin, which was considered so particularly
+frivolous and pleasure-seeking, this same winter, at the great
+masquerade, of which there was so much talk in the country, there was
+only one person dressed in character; the others were all spiritless
+dominoes, and the whole was very dull to strangers.<a name="div2_24" href="#div2Ref_24"><sup>[24]</sup></a> All this does
+not look much like lavish expenditure.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The usual social enjoyment, also, was very moderate in character; it
+was a visit to a public coffee-garden. Nobles, officers, officials, and
+merchants, all thronged there for the sake of some unpretending music
+and coloured lamps. This kind of entertainment had been first
+introduced at Leipzig and Vienna about 1700; the great delights of this
+coffee-drinking in the shade were celebrated in prose and verse, and
+the more frivolous boasted how convenient such assemblages were for
+carrying on tender liaisons. These coffee-gardens have continued
+characteristic of German social intercourse for nearly 150 years.
+Families sat at different tables, but could be seen and observed; the
+children were constrained to behave themselves properly, and careful
+housewives carried with them from home coffee and cakes in cornets.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With the well-educated citizen, hospitality had become more liberal,
+and entertainments more sumptuous; but in their family life they
+retained much of the strict discipline of their ancestors. The power of
+the husband and father was predominant; both the master and mistress of
+the house required prompt obedience; the distinction between those who
+were to command and to obey was more clearly defined. Only husband and
+wife had learnt to address each other with the loving &quot;<i>thou</i>&quot;; the
+children of the gentry, and often also of artisans, spoke to their
+parents in the third person plural: the servants were addressed by
+their masters with the &quot;<i>thou</i>,&quot; but by strangers in the third person
+singular. In the same way the &quot;<i>he</i>&quot; was used by the master to his
+journeymen, by the landed proprietor to the &quot;<i>schulze</i>,&quot; and by the
+gymnastic teacher to a scholar of the upper classes; but in many places
+the scholar addressed his <i>Herr Director</i> with &quot;your honour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">More frequently than forty years before, did the German now leave his
+home to travel through some part of his Fatherland. The means of
+intercourse were intolerable, considering the great extension of
+commerce and the increased love of travelling. Made roads were few and
+short; the road from Frankfort to Mayence, with its avenues of trees,
+pavement, and footpaths, was reputed the best <i>chausseé</i> in Germany;
+the great old road from the Rhine to the east was still only a mud
+road. Still did persons of consequence continue to travel in hired
+coaches or extra post; for though on the main roads the vehicles of the
+ordinary post had roofs, they had no springs, and were considered more
+suitable for luggage than passengers; they had no side doors; it was
+necessary to enter under the roof, or creep in over the pole. At the
+back of the carriage the luggage was stowed up to the roof, and
+fastened with cords; the parcels also lay under the seats; kegs of
+herrings and smoked salmon incessantly rolled on to the benches of the
+passengers, who were constantly occupied in pushing them back; as it
+was impossible for people to stretch out their feet on account of the
+packages, they were obliged in despair to dangle their legs outside the
+carriage. Insupportable were the long stoppages at the stations; the
+carriage was never ready to start under two hours; it took eleven weary
+days and nights of shaking and bruising to get from Cleves to Berlin.
+Travelling on the great rivers was better; down the Danube, it is true,
+there were as yet nothing but the old-fashioned barges, without mast or
+sails, drawn by horses; but on the Rhine the lover of the picturesque
+rejoiced in a passage by the regular Rhine boats; their excellent
+arrangements were extolled, they had mast and sails, and only used
+horses as an assistance; they also had a level deck, with rails, so
+that people could promenade on it, and cabins, with windows and some
+furniture. An ever-changing and agreeable society was to be found
+collected there, as many besides travellers on business used them; for
+Germans, after 1750, had made a most remarkable progress; the love of
+nature had attained a great development. The English landscape
+gardening took the place of the Italian and French architectural
+gardens, and the old Robinsonades were followed by descriptions of
+loving children, or savages in an enchanting and strange landscape. The
+German, later than the highly-cultivated Englishman, was seized with
+the love of wandering in distant countries; but it had only lately
+become an active feeling. It was now the fashion to admire on the
+mountains the rising sun and the floating mist in the valleys; and the
+pastoral life with butter and honey, mountain prospects, the perfume of
+the woods, the flowers of the meadows, and ruins, were extolled, in
+opposition to the commonplace pleasures of play, operas, comedies, and
+balls. Already did the language abound in rich expressions, describing
+the beauties of nature, the mountains, waterfalls, &amp;c.; and already did
+laborious travellers explore not only the Alps, but the Apennines and
+Etna; but the Tyrol was hardly known.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was still easy to discover by his dialect, even in the centre of
+Germany, to what province the most highly-educated man belonged; for
+the language of family life, giving expression to the deepest feelings
+of the heart, was full of provincial peculiarities, and those were
+called affected and new-fangled who accustomed themselves to pronounce
+words as they were written. Indeed, in the north, as in the south, it
+was considered patriotic to preserve the native dialect pure; the young
+ladies of some of the best families formed an alliance to defend the
+dialect of their city from the bold inroads of the foreigners, who had
+come to settle there. It was said, to the credit of Electoral Saxony,
+that it was the only part where even in the lowest orders intelligible
+German was spoken. A praise that is undoubtedly justified by the
+prevalence for three centuries of the Upper Saxon dialect in the
+written language, which is worthy of our observation, as it gives us an
+idea how the others must have spoken.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In 1790, one might assume that a city community, which was reputed to
+have made any progress, was situated in a Protestant district; for it
+was evident to every traveller that the culture and social condition in
+Protestant and Roman Catholic countries was very different; but even in
+the same Protestant district, within the walls of one city, the
+contrast of culture was very striking. The external difference of
+classes began to diminish, whilst the inward contrast became almost
+greater; the nobleman, the well-educated citizen, and the artisan with
+the peasant, form three distinct circles; each had different springs of
+action, so that they appear to us as if each belonged to a different
+century.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The most confident and light-hearted were the nobles; there was also
+some earnestness of mind in them, not unfrequently accompanied by ample
+knowledge; but the majority lived a life of easy enjoyment: the women,
+on the whole, were more excited than the men, by the poetry and great
+scientific struggle of the time. Already were the dangers which beset
+an exclusive position very visible, more especially in the proudest
+circles of the German landed aristocracy; both the higher and lower
+Imperial nobility were hated and derided. They played the part of
+little Sovereigns in the most grotesque modes; they loved to surround
+themselves with a court of gentlemen and ladies, even down to the
+warder, whose horn often announced across the narrow frontier that his
+lord was taking his dinner; nor was the court dwarf omitted, who,
+perhaps in fantastic attire, threw his misshapen head every evening
+into the <i>salon</i> of the family, and announced it was time to go to bed.
+But the family possessions could not be kept together; one field after
+another fell into the hands of creditors; there was no end to their
+money embarrassments. Many of the Imperial nobles withdrew into the
+capitals of the Ecclesiastical States. In the Franconian bishoprics on
+the Rhine, in Munsterland, an aristocracy established themselves, who,
+according to the bitter judgment of contemporaries, did not display
+very valuable qualities. Their families were in hereditary possession
+of rich cathedral foundations and bishoprics; they were slavish
+imitators of French taste at table, in their wardrobes, and equipages;
+but their bad French and stupid ignorance were frequently thrown in
+their teeth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The poorer among the landed nobility were in the hands of the Jews,
+especially in East Germany; still, in 1790, the greater part of the
+money that circulated through, the country passed through the hands of
+the nobles. On their properties they ruled as Sovereigns, but the land
+was generally managed by a steward. There was seldom a good
+understanding betwixt the lord and the administrator of his property,
+whose trustworthiness did not then stand in high repute; placed between
+the proprietor and the villein, the steward endeavoured to gain from
+both; he took money from the countrymen, and remitted their farm
+service, and, in the sale of the produce, took as much care of himself
+as of his master.<a name="div2_25" href="#div2Ref_25"><sup>[25]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">The country nobleman was glad to spend the winter months in the
+capital of his district; in summer the fashionable amusement was to
+visit the baths. There the family displayed all the splendour in
+their power. Much regard was paid to horses and fine carriages: the
+nobleman liked to use his privilege of driving four-in-hand, and there
+were always running footmen, who went in front of the horses, in
+theatrical-coloured clothes, with a large whip thrown over their
+shoulders, and they wore shoes and white stockings. At evening parties,
+or after the theatre, a long row of splendid carriages&#8212;many with
+outriders&#8212;were to be seen in the streets, and respectfully did the man
+of low degree look upon the splendour of the lords. They showed their
+rank also in their dress, by rich embroidery, and white plumes round
+their hats; at the masquerade they had a special preference for the
+rose-coloured domino, which Frederic II. had declared to be a privilege
+of the nobility. Many of the richer ones kept chaplains, small concerts
+were frequent; and at their country seats, early on the Sunday morning,
+there was a serenade under the windows, as a morning greeting to the
+lady of the house. Play was a fatal amusement, especially at the baths;
+there the German landed proprietors met together, and played chiefly
+with Poles, who were the greatest gamblers in Europe. Thus it often
+happened to the German gentlemen, that they lost their carriages and
+horses at play, and had to travel home, involved in debt, in hired
+carriages. Such mischances were borne with great composure, and
+speedily forgotten. In point of faith the greater part of the country
+nobility were orthodox, as were most of the village pastors; but more
+liberal minds clung to the French philosophy. Still did Paris continue
+to issue its puppets and pictures of fashions, hats, ribbons, and
+dresses throughout Germany; but even in the modes a great change was
+gradually beginning: hoops and hair cushions were no longer worn by
+ladies of <i>ton</i>, except at court; rouge was strongly objected to, and
+war was declared against powder; figures became smaller and thinner,
+and on the head, over small curly locks, the pastoral straw hat was
+worn; with men, also, embroidered coats, with breeches, silk stockings,
+buckled shoes, and the small dress-sword, were only worn as festival
+attire; the German cavalier began to take pleasure in English horses,
+and the round hat, boots, and spurs were introduced; and they ventured
+to appear in ladies' rooms with their riding-whips.<a name="div2_26" href="#div2Ref_26"><sup>[26]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">An easy life of enjoyment was frequent in the families of the
+nobility&#8212;a cheerful self-indulgence without great refinement, much
+courtly complaisance and good humour; they had also the art of
+narrating well, which now appears to recede further eastward, and of
+interweaving naturally anecdotes with fine phrases in their
+conversation; and they had a neat way of introducing drolleries. The
+morals of these circles, so often bitterly reprobated, were, it
+appears, no worse than they usually are among mere pleasure-seekers.
+They were not inclined to subtle inquiries, nor were they generally
+much disquieted with severe qualms of conscience; their feelings of
+honour were flexible, but certain limits were to be observed. Within
+these boundaries they were tolerant; in play, wine, and affairs of the
+heart, gentlemen, and even ladies, could do much without fear of very
+severe comments, or disturbances of the even tenor of their life. What
+could not be undone they quietly condoned, and, even when the bounds of
+morality had been overstepped, quickly recovered their composure. The
+art of making life agreeable was then more common than now; equally
+enduring was the power of preserving a vigorous, active, genial spirit,
+and a freshness of humour up to the latest age, and of carrying on a
+cheerful and respectable old age, a life rich in pleasure, though not
+free from conflicts between duty and inclination. There may still be
+found old pictures of this time, which give us a pleasant view of the
+naive freshness and easy cheerfulness of the most aged men and women.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Under the nobility were the country people and petty citizens, who, as
+well as the lower officials, took that conception of life which
+prevailed in Germany during the beginning of the century. Life was
+still colourless. We deceive ourselves if we imagine that at the end of
+this century the philosophic enlightenment had produced much
+improvement in the dwellings of the poor, especially in the country. In
+the villages, undoubtedly, there were schools, but the master was
+frequently only a former servant of the landed proprietor, a poor
+tailor or weaver, who gave up his work as little as possible, and
+perhaps left his wife to conduct the school. The police of the low
+countries was still ineffective, and the vagrants were a heavy burden.
+There were certainly strict regulations against roving vagabonds:
+village watchmen and mounted patrols were to stop every beggar, and
+pass him on to his birth-place; but the village watchman did not watch,
+the communities shunned the expenses of transport or feared the revenge
+of the offenders, and the patrols preferred looking after the carriers,
+who went out of the turnpike roads, because these could pay a fine.
+Complaints were made of this even in Electoral Saxony.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The countryman still continued true to his church; there was much
+praying and psalm-singing in the huts of the poor, frequently a good
+deal of pious enthusiasm; there were still revivalists and prophets
+among the country people. In the mountain countries, especially where
+an active industry had established itself, in the poorest huts, among
+the wood carvers, weavers, and lacemakers of the Erzgebirger and of the
+Silesian valleys, a pious, godly feeling was alive. A few years later,
+when the continental embargo annihilated the industry of the poor, amid
+hunger and deprivations which often brought them to the point of death,
+they showed that their faith gave them the power of suffering with
+resignation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Betwixt the nobility and the mass of the people stood the higher class
+of citizens: literati, officials, ecclesiastics, great merchants, and
+tradespeople. They also were divided from the people by a privilege,
+the importance of which would not be understood in our time,&#8212;they were
+exempt from military service. The severest oppression which fell on the
+sons of the people, their children were free from. The sons of peasants
+or artisans who had the capacity for study could do so, but they had
+first to pass an examination, the so-called &quot;genius test,&quot; to exempt
+them from service in the army. But to the son of a literary man or a
+merchant it was a disgrace, if, after a learned school education, he
+sank so low as to fall into the hands of recruiting officers. Even the
+benevolent Kant refused the request of a scholar for a recommendation,
+because he had had the meanness to bear his position as a soldier so
+long and so meekly.<a name="div2_27" href="#div2Ref_27"><sup>[27]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the literary circle there was still an external difference from the
+citizen in dress and mode of life: it was the best portion of the
+nation, in possession of the highest culture of the time. It included
+poets and thinkers, inventive artists and men of learning, all who won
+any influence in the domain of intellectual life, as leaders and
+educators, teachers and critics. Many of the nobility who had entered
+official life, or had higher intellectual tendencies, had joined them.
+They were sometimes fellow-workers, frequently companions and kindly
+promoters of ideal interests.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In every city there were gentry in this literary set. They were
+scholars of the great philosopher of Königsberg; their souls were
+filled with the poetic creations of the great poet, with the high
+results of the knowledge of antiquity. But in their life there was
+still much sternness and earnestness; the performance of duty was not
+easy or cheerful. Their conception of existence wavered betwixt ideal
+requirements and a fastidious, often narrow pedantry, which strikingly
+distinguished them, not always advantageously, from the nobleman.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is a peculiarity of modern culture, that the impulse of intellectual
+power spreads itself in the middle of the nation between the masses and
+the privileged classes, moulding and invigorating both; the more any
+circle of earthly interests isolates itself from the educated class of
+citizens, the further it is removed from all that gives light, warmth,
+and a secure footing to its life. Whoever in Germany writes a history
+of literature, art, philosophy, and science, does in fact treat of the
+family history of the educated citizen class.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If one seeks what especially unites the men of this class and separates
+them from others, it is not chiefly their practical activity in a
+fortunate middle position, but their culture in the Latin schools.
+Therein lies their pre-eminent advantage,&#8212;the great secret of their
+influence. No one should be more willing to acknowledge this than the
+merchant or manufacturer, who has worked his way up from beneath, and
+entered into their circle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He perceives with admiration the sharpness and precision in thought and
+speech which his sons have attained by occupying themselves with the
+Latin and Greek grammar, which are seldom acquired in any other
+occupation. The unartificial logic, which so strikingly appears in the
+artistic structure of the ancient languages, soon gives acuteness and
+promotes the understanding of all intellectual culture, and the mass of
+the foreign materials of language is an excellent strengthener of the
+memory.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Still more invigorating is the purport conveyed from that distant world
+that was now disclosed to the learner. Still does a very great portion
+of our intellectual riches descend from antiquity. He who would rightly
+understand what works around and in him, and has perhaps long been the
+common property of all classes of the people, must rise up to the
+source; and an acquaintance with a great unfettered national life, and
+a comprehension of some of the laws of life, its beauties and its
+limitations, give a freedom to the judgment upon the condition of the
+present which nothing else can supply. He whose soul has been warmed by
+the Dialogues of Plato, must look down with contempt on the bigotry of
+the monks; and he who has read with advantage the &quot;Antigone&quot; in the
+ancient language, will lay aside the &quot;Sonnenjungfrau&quot; with justifiable
+indifference.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But most important of all was the peculiar method of learning at the
+Latin schools and universities. It is not by the unthinking reception
+of the material presented to them, but their minds are awakened by
+their own investigations and researches. In the higher classes of the
+gymnasiums, and at the universities, the students became the intimates
+of earnest scholars. It was just the disputed questions which most
+stirred them: the inquiries still unanswered, and which most powerfully
+exercised the mind, were those which they most loved to impart. Thus
+the youth penetrated as free investigator into the very centre of life,
+and, however far his later vocation might remove him from these
+investigations, he had received the highest knowledge, and attained to
+the greatest results of the time; and for the rest of his life was
+capable of forming a judgment on the greatest questions of science and
+faith, by accepting or rejecting all the new materials and points of
+view which he had gained. That these schools of learning made little
+preparation for practical life, was no tenable complaint. The merchant
+who took his sons from the university to the counting-house, soon
+discovered that they had not learnt much with which younger apprentices
+were conversant, but that they generally repaired the deficiency with
+the greatest facility.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">About 1790, this method of culture had attained so much value and
+importance, that these years might be called the industrious sixth-form
+period of the German people. Eagerly did they learn, and everywhere did
+active spontaneous labour take the place of the old mechanism.
+Philanthropically did the learned strive to create educational
+establishments for every class of the people, and to invent new methods
+of instruction by which the greatest results could be obtained from
+those who had least powers of learning. To instruct, to educate, and to
+raise people from a state of ignorance, was the general desire; not
+that this was useful to the nation in general, for the lower classes
+could not enter into the exalted feelings which gave to the literary
+such enjoyment and elevation of mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is true they themselves felt an inward dissatisfaction. The facts of
+life which surrounded them were often in cutting contrast to their
+ideal requirements. When the peasant worked like a beast of burden, and
+the soldier ran the gauntlet before their windows, nothing seemed to
+remain to them but to shut themselves up in their studies, and to
+occupy their eyes and mind with times in which they were not wounded by
+such barbarities. For it had not yet been tried, what the union of men
+of similar views in a great association would accomplish, in bringing
+about changes in the State and every sphere of practical interest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus, with all their philanthropy, there arose a quiet despondency even
+among the best. They had more soundness and strength of mind than their
+fathers, the source of their morality was purer, and they were more
+conscientious. But they were still private men. Interest in their
+State, in the highest affairs of their nation, had not yet been
+developed. They had learnt to perform their duties as men in a noble
+spirit, and they contrasted, sometimes hypercritically, the natural
+rights of men in a State with the condition under which they lived.
+They had become honourable and strictly moral men, and endeavoured to
+cast off everything mean with an anxiety which is really touching; but
+they were deficient in the power which is developed by the co-operation
+of men of like views, under the influence of great practical questions.
+The noblest of them were in danger, when they could not withdraw into
+themselves, of becoming victims rather than heroes, in the political
+and social struggle. This quality was very striking in the construction
+of their poetry. Almost all the characters which the greatest poets
+produced in their highest works of art were deficient in energy, in
+resolute courage, and political sagacity; even in the heroes of the
+drama with whom such characteristics were least compatible, there was a
+melancholy tendency, as in Galotti, Götz, and Egmont&#8212;even in
+Wallenstein and Faust. The same race of men who investigated with
+wonderful boldness and freedom the secret laws of their intellectual
+being, were as helpless and uncertain in the presence of realities, as
+a youth who first passes from the schoolroom among men.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A sentimentality of character, and the craving for great emotions on
+insignificant occasions, had not disappeared. But this ruling tendency
+of the eighteenth century, which has not been entirely cast off even in
+the present day, was restrained in 1790 by the worthier aims of
+intellectual life. Even sentimentality had had, since Pietism crept
+into life, its little history. First, the poor German soul had been
+strongly affected; it easily became desponding, and found enjoyment in
+observing the tears it shed. Afterwards the enjoyment of its feelings
+became more student-like and hearty.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When, in 1750, some jovial companions passed in the extra-post through
+a village, the inhabitants of which had planted the churchyard with
+roses, the contrast of these flowers of love and the graves so excited
+the imagination of these travellers, that they bought a bottle of wine,
+went to the churchyard, and, revelling in the comparison of roses and
+graves, drank up their wine.<a name="div2_28" href="#div2Ref_28"><sup>[28]</sup></a> But the student flavour of roughness
+which was evinced in this enjoyment, passed away when manners became
+more refined and life more thoughtful. When, in 1770, two brothers were
+travelling in the Rhine country, through a sunny valley among blooming
+fruit-trees, one clasped the hand of the other, in order, by the soft
+pressure of his, to express the pleasure he derived from his company;
+both looked at each other with tender emotion, blessed tears of quiet
+feeling rose in the eyes of both, and they embraced each other, or, as
+would then have been said, they blessed the country with the holy kiss
+of friendship.<a name="div2_29" href="#div2Ref_29"><sup>[29]</sup></a> When, about the same period, a society expected a
+dear friend&#8212;it must by the way be mentioned that it was a happy
+husband and father of a family&#8212;the feelings on this occasion also were
+far more manifold, and the self-contemplation with which they were
+enjoyed, was far greater than with us. The master of the house, with
+another guest, went to await the approaching carriage at the house
+door; the friend arrives and steps out of the carriage, deeply moved
+and somewhat confused. Meanwhile the amiable lady of the house, of whom
+in former days the new guest had been an admirer, also comes down the
+stairs. The new-comer has already inquired after her with some
+agitation, and seems extremely impatient to see her; now he catches
+sight of her and shrinks back with emotion, then turns aside, and at
+the same time throws his hat with vehemence behind him to the ground,
+and staggers towards her. All this has been accompanied with such an
+extraordinary expression of countenance, that the nerves of the
+bystanders are shaken. The lady of the house goes towards her friend
+with outspread arms; but he, instead of accepting her, seizes her hand
+and bends over it so as to conceal his face; the lady leans over him
+with a heavenly countenance, and says in a tone such as no Clairon or
+Dübois could vie with, &quot;Oh, yes; it is you&#8212;you are still my dear
+friend!&quot; The friend, roused by this touching voice, raises himself a
+little, looks into the weeping eyes of his friend, and then again lets
+his face sink down on her arm. None of the bystanders can refrain from
+tears; they flow down the cheeks of even the unconcerned narrator, he
+sobs, and is quite beside himself.<a name="div2_30" href="#div2Ref_30"><sup>[30]</sup></a> After this gushing feeling has
+somewhat subsided, they all feel inexpressibly happy, often press each
+other's hands, and declare these hours of companionship to be the most
+charming of their life. And those who thus comported themselves were
+men of well-balanced minds, who looked with contempt on the affectation
+of the weak, who wept about nothing and made a vocation of their tears
+and feelings, as did the hair-brained Leuchsenring.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But shortly after this, sentimental nature received a rude shock.
+Goethe had represented in Werther, the sorrowful fate of a youth who
+had perished in consequence of these moods; but had himself a far
+nobler and more sound conception of sentiment than existed in his
+contemporaries. His narrative was indeed a book for the moulding of
+finer natures, through which their sentimentality was turned towards
+the noble and poetic. Immense was the effect; tears flowed in streams;
+the Werther dress became a favourite costume with sentimental
+gentlemen, and Lotte the most renowned female character of that year.
+That same year, 1774, a number of tender souls at Wetzlar, men in high
+offices and ladies, agreed together to arrange a solemnity at the grave
+of the poor Jerusalem. They assembled in the evening, read &quot;Werther,&quot;
+and sang the laments and songs on the dead. They wept profusely; at
+last, at midnight, the procession went to the churchyard. Every one was
+dressed in black, with a dark veil over the face, and a torch in the
+hand. Any one who met the procession considered it as a procession of
+devils. At the churchyard they formed a circle round the grave, and
+sang, as is reported, the song, &quot;Ausgelitten hast du, ausgerungen;&quot; an
+orator made a eulogy on the dead, and said that suicide was permitted
+to love. Finally the grave was strewed with flowers.<a name="div2_31" href="#div2Ref_31"><sup>[31]</sup></a> The repetition
+of this was prevented by prosaic magistrates.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the tragical conclusion of Goethe's narrative shocked men of sound
+understanding. It was no longer a question of jest with flowers and
+doves: it was convulsive earnest. When the respectable son of an
+official could arrive at such extravagance as suicide, there was an end
+of jest. Thus this same work gave rise to a reaction in stronger
+natures, and violent literary polemics, from which the Germans
+gradually learnt to regard with irony this phase of sentiment, yet
+without becoming entirely free from it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For it was undoubtedly only a variation of the same fundamental
+tendency, when souls that had become weary of sighs and tears threw
+themselves into the sublime. Even the monstrous appeared admirable. To
+speak in hyperbolies&#8212;to express with the utmost strength the commonest
+things, to give the most insignificant action the air of being
+something extraordinary&#8212;became for a long time the fashionable folly
+of the literary circle. But even this exaggeration disappeared About
+1790, the past was looked back upon with smiles, and the spirits of men
+were contented with the homely, modest style in which Lafontaine and
+Iffland produced emotion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The growth of a child's mind at this period shall be here portrayed. It
+is a narrative of his early youth&#8212;not printed&#8212;left by a strong-minded
+man to his family. It contains nothing uncommon; it is only the
+unpretending account of the development of a boy by teaching and home,
+such as takes place in a thousand families. But it is just because what
+is imparted is so commonplace, that it is peculiarly adapted to excite
+the interest of the reader. It gives an instructive insight into the
+life of a rising family.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the first years of the reign of Frederic the Great, a poor teacher
+at Leipzig was lying on his deathbed; the long vexations and
+persecutions he had endured from his predecessor, a vehement pastor,
+had brought him there. His spiritual opponent sought reconciliation
+with the dying man; he promised the teacher, Haupt, to take care of his
+uneducated children, and he kept his word. He placed one son in the
+great commercial house, Frege, which was then at the height of
+prosperity. The young Haupt won the confidence of his principal; and
+when he wished to establish himself at Zittau, the house of Frege made
+the needy youth a loan of 10,000 thalers. The year after, the new
+merchant wrote to his creditor to say that his business was making
+rapid progress, but that he should get into great difficulties if he
+had not the same sum again. His former principal sent him the double.
+After eight years the Zittau merchant repaid the whole loan, and the
+day on which he sent the last sum, he drank in his house the first
+bottle of wine. The son of this man, Ernst Friederich Haupt (he who
+will give an account of his school hours in his father's house),
+studied law and became a Syndicus, and afterwards Burgomaster of his
+native town; he was a man of powerful character and depth of mind, and
+also a literary man of comprehensive knowledge; some Latin poems
+printed by him are among the most refined and elegant specimens of this
+kind of poetry. His life was earnest, and he laboured in a very
+restricted sphere with a zeal which never seemed sufficient to satisfy
+himself. But the weight of his energetic character became, at the
+beginning of the political commotions in 1830, burdensome to the young
+democrats among the citizens. It was in the city where he dwelt that
+the agitation was carried on by an unworthy man, who later, by his evil
+deeds, brought himself to a lamentable end. In the bewilderment of
+the first movement, the citizens destroyed the faithful attachment
+which for thirty years had subsisted between them and their superior.
+The proud and strict man was wounded to his innermost soul by
+heartlessness and ingratitude; he withdrew from all public occupation,
+and neither the entreaties nor the genuine repentance evinced by his
+fellow-citizens shortly after, could make him forget the bitter
+mortification of those years which had left their mark upon his life.
+When he walked through the streets, looking quietly before him, a
+noble melancholy old man with white hair, then&#8212;it is related by
+eye-witnesses&#8212;the people on all sides took off their caps with timid
+reverence; but he stepped on without looking to right or left, without
+thanks or greeting to the crowd. From that time he lived as a private
+man, given up to his scientific pursuits. But his son, Moriz Haupt,
+Professor of the University of Berlin, became one of our greatest
+philosophers, one of our best men.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus begins his account of his first years of school:&#8212;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My earliest recollections begin with the autumn of the year 1776, when
+I was two years and a half old. We travelled to the family property; I
+sat on my mother's lap, and the soft bloom on her face gave me great
+pleasure. I was amused with looking at the trees which appeared to pass
+the carriage so quickly. Still do the same trees stand on the other
+side of the bridge; still, when I look at them, does this recollection
+of the pure world rise before me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Already have four-and-forty years passed over the resting-place of
+your holy dust, dear departed! So early torn away from us! Gentle as
+thy friendly face, must thy soul have been! I knew thee not; only faint
+recollections remain to me. I have no picture of thee, not even a sweet
+token of remembrance. Yet shortly before they sent me, not seventeen
+years of age, to Leipzig, I stood on the holy spot that contains thy
+ashes, and sobbing vowed to thee that I would be good!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well do I remember the Sunday morning on which my sister Rieckhen was
+born. Running hurriedly&#8212;I had got up sooner than my brother&#8212;and,
+unasked for, had run into my mother's room. I announced it to every one
+that I found. Some days after, all around me wept 'Mamma is going
+away!' called out our old nurse, wringing her hands. 'Away! where,
+then?' I inquired with astonishment 'To heaven!' was the answer, which
+I did not understand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My mother had collected us children once more round her, to kiss and
+bless us. My half-sister Jettchen, then almost ten years old, and my
+brother Ernst, who was four, had wept. I&#8212;as I have often been told, to
+my great sorrow&#8212;scarcely waited for the kiss, and hid myself playfully
+behind my sister, 'Fritz! Fritz!' said my mother, smiling, 'you are and
+will remain a giddy boy; well, run away!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What I heard of heaven and the resurrection confused my thoughts; it
+seemed to me as if my mother would soon awake and be with us again.
+Some time after, my brother, who was much more sensible than I, said,
+as we were kneeling on a stool, looking at the floating evening clouds,
+and talking of our mother: 'No, the resurrection is something quite
+different!' But soon after her burial&#8212;it was Sunday&#8212;when I was
+playing in the evening in front of our back door, and a beggar spoke to
+me, I exclaimed, 'Mamma is dead!' and ran away from the nurse through
+both courts, in order to seek my father, whom I found sitting
+sorrowfully in his room. He took me and my brother by the hand and
+wept. This appeared strange to me, and I thought, 'So, my father
+also can weep, who is so old.' For my father, who was then scarcely
+forty-seven years of age, appeared old to me,&#8212;far older, for example,
+than I now believe myself to look, at almost the same age. But children
+look upon things differently to others; besides which, my father had
+dark eyebrows, in which respect I have become partly like him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Six months after my mother's death, my father took his sister to live
+with him, which altered our manner of life in many ways. Our life was
+no longer so quiet as before. Still sweet to me is the remembrance of
+the tales with which our aunt&#8212;who was always called by us and all the
+world, <i>Frau Muhme</i>&#8212;entertained us in the evening. As soon as it was
+twilight we dragged her by force into her chair, and we children sat
+round her and listened. Stories were hundreds of times repeated of our
+father's home, of Leipzig, and of grandfathers and great-grandfathers;
+and I longed to see myself at Leipzig, and to see the great fair, which
+I represented to myself, strangely enough, as an immense staircase hung
+with paper.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We enjoyed indescribable pleasure when we watched in the evening, by
+moonlight, the motion of the clouds. The view from one window was of
+the hill and woods. In the forms of those clouds we discovered the
+figures of men or animals. There was a solemnity about them which
+enhanced the charm, and when, in my sixteenth year, I for the first
+time read Ossian, and his gloomy world of spirits and misty forms
+passed before me, then did I return in spirit to that window. Equally
+so, when I read the poem, 'Jetzt zieh'n die Wolken, Lotte, Lotte!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Visitors also, as was formerly the case in almost every nursery,
+related stories of spirits and ghosts, which we were never tired of
+hearing. Yet, although many who related them believed in them, at no
+time did my brother and I give a moment's credence to these tales.
+Never did we believe in the supernatural; even as boys of fifteen, we
+struggled against superstition. We have to thank our half-sister
+Jettchen for this: a maiden of rare gifts of mind. She pointed out to
+us in simple words the laughable side of these tales. But the awful had
+not the less great power over us, and we were often in fear when we
+were obliged to wander in the dark through the long passage to the
+front drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At the age of three years and a half old, I received my first
+instruction. My brother could already almost read, and I soon advanced
+enough to keep pace with him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cannot say that we were fond of M. Kretzschmar, our first teacher,
+for he was in some degree bizarre, and punched our heads abundantly. It
+is scarcely credible but I can affirm that at five years old I only
+read mechanically, thinking all the time of something else; for
+example, of the flowers in our garden, or our little dog, &amp;c. My own
+words sounded strange in my ears. Therefore I was often dreaming when I
+was asked a question; then followed the usual thump; but then I thought
+of that. Why was it so? It was indisputably for this reason, that our
+teacher did not know how to attract young minds to the subject. My
+brother was a very rare exception of quiet earnestness; and yet who
+knows how often even he may have been equally distracted?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At five years old we began to learn Latin. Jettchen translated glibly
+Cornelius and Phædrus, and also the French New Testament. We boys
+learnt assiduously from Langen's and Raussendorf's grammar, and I had
+long written what we called 'small exercises,' before I clearly knew
+what I was about. I remember distinctly that it was as if scales fell
+from my eyes when, at six years old, I discovered that we were learning
+the language of the ancient Romans.&quot; (Thus was instruction almost
+universally carried on at that time!)</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nevertheless, in many points of view, I have reason to thank this
+teacher. He taught us to read well, and by the frequent recitation of
+good verses&#8212;he did not write bad poetry himself&#8212;we imbibed early a
+taste for melody and harmony. We learnt many, very many songs and
+fables by heart. Learning by heart!&#8212;a now very antique expression; it
+was then very frequent in the plan of lessons, and it was by this that
+my memory became so strong. We were exercised in committing to memory
+whole pages in a quarter of an hour, and later I often learnt off at
+once eight, ten, or twelve strophes. In short, taken on the whole,
+according to the standard of that time, the pedagogue, with all his
+deficiencies, did not do ill by us. The soul, also, was not unattended
+to. Feddersen's 'Life of Jesus' was our favourite reading. Feder's
+'Compendium' was used for our religious instruction, a book which is
+still highly estimated. Our feeling for the beautiful was also awakened
+and trained in another way. Weiss's Operettes, set to Hiller's music,
+then made a great sensation. Kretzschmar played the harpsichord well,
+and the violin still better. My sister Jettchen played very tolerably
+at sight. Thus by degrees all Weiss's operas were played and sung, and
+we young ones joined in the lighter airs by ear. My father listened,
+and sometimes joined, with pleasure.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thus did many autumn and winter evenings pass. Dear scenes of home,
+what have become of you in most families? You are superseded by trashy
+reading, casino, and play!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The poetry we learnt we recited in the evening, before our father and
+<i>Muhme</i>,&#8212;nay, in case of need before the maid. Passages which had been
+explained to us, we then explained again. All this suggested to me the
+first idea and wish to consecrate my studies to religion and become a
+preacher.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We had many playfellows. It was a common custom for children to visit
+one another on Sundays. We were allowed to remain to dinner, and
+accustomed to be well-behaved with grown-up persons. I, as being the
+least, was usually placed by the side of the father and mother of
+the family. Everywhere there was hearty friendliness. This custom,
+also,&#8212;at least in this form,&#8212;has almost passed away. We might not
+sometimes, perhaps, be quite agreeable to the elders, but this was
+rare. My father was much pleased when children, even as many as six or
+eight, came to us. The old people gladly gave a supper to the merry
+little folk, and they also played with them. Then on Monday we looked
+forward with pleasure to the following Sunday. Is it surprising that we
+still look back with pleasure to those happy days, the remembrance of
+which is wafted to me like the perfume of living flowers?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With all my youthful gaiety I was still very earnest-minded. Our
+mother, who had been dead only three years, was often spoken of; we had
+learnt a quantity of funeral hymns, and at six years old I certainly
+thought more frequently of death and immortality than many youths, or
+even men. What was to become of animals after death, I had not thought
+of till I was five years old. Then I happened to see a dead dog in the
+city moat, and asked our teacher about it. 'There is no immortality for
+dogs,' he answered, which made me indescribably sorrowful. It was a
+Sunday evening. I told it to my nurse, and wept bitterly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At Easter, in 1780, our new teacher came. He had considerable
+knowledge, and lived very quiet and retired, as he secretly reckoned
+himself one of the Moravian brothers. We clung to him with deep love,
+for he devoted himself entirely to us. With no other man did we prefer
+walking; and all his conversation was instructive, for the most part
+religious. His endeavours to conceal from us his inclination for that
+sect which my father hated, gave an air of mystery to his words. We
+gained much in serious feeling through him. He accustomed us not to
+speak lightly of God or Jesus; and on his departure, at the end of two
+years, we were so well grounded in this that months passed without our
+once falling into this error, and when it did happen we sorrowed
+secretly with deep repentance; we left our most amusing game and prayed
+right heartily; we were, indeed, ourselves at last inclined to Pietism,
+for all worldly pleasures were condemned, or looked upon as injurious
+dissipations. So-called books of amusement, bordering upon novels, were
+considered good for nothing; even Gellert's dramas were reckoned among
+his youthful sins; places of amusement&#8212;balls, worldly concerts&#8212;were
+workshops of the devil! Only oratorios were bearable. Comedies were
+undoubted sins against the Holy Ghost. On my brother, who was naturally
+inclined for melancholy, these opinions took far deeper hold; he wept
+often in secret over his sins, as he called them. I envied him for
+this, considering myself as a reprobate and him as a child of God; but
+with all my endeavours I could not succeed in being so correct! I
+continually rejoiced at the sorrowful emotions which often overcame my
+soft heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Still, still do I consecrate to thee my thanks, thou good and
+righteous teacher! Thou wast the most faithful shepherd of thy little
+flock! He lives still, near eighty years of age. For thirty years I
+have only once seen him, but last year, when my brother died, he wrote
+me a letter, full of faith and piety. In a dream&#8212;he attached much
+importance to dreams&#8212;he had visited our house on the day of the death
+of my brother, his Ernst. It is touching to read his assurances that
+his convictions were the same as they had been forty years before.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is one blessed hour I bear in memory. He went with us to walk in
+the city, and the evening star glanced kindly down upon us. 'What are
+the people above there doing?' said the teacher. This was a new idea to
+us! We were moved with joyful astonishment when he said to us: 'It is
+possible, even probable, that God's goodness has assigned other planets
+as a dwelling-place for living, thinking, and worshipping creatures.'
+Delighted, elevated, and comforted, we turned back. It was the
+counterpoise to that sorrow which fell upon me when I heard that there
+was no future for animals!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On Christmas Eve, 1780, our dear sister Jettchen died, in her
+fourteenth year; nine days before we were playing merrily, when she was
+suddenly seized with a pain in her stomach. The doctor thought lightly
+of it, and probably mistook the real cause. After seven days she became
+visibly worse, was weak and pale as death; she left her couch for the
+last time in order to reach us our writing books. Yet no one seemed to
+anticipate her death. Alas! it followed that Christmas Eve, early;
+about four o'clock they awoke us to see her once more. Weeping loudly
+we rushed up to her. She did not know us. 'Good night! Jettchen!' we
+exclaimed, and my father prayed, tearfully. Our teacher stood by the
+death-bed and prayed: 'Now take my heart, and take me as I am to thee,
+thou dear Jesus!' (From the Kottbus hymn-book.)</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She departed amidst these prayers, and lay there in heavenly serenity.
+My little sister Rieckchen, three years and a half old, came up and
+said to the sick-nurse: 'When I die, lay me out in just such a white
+cloth as my Jettel.' And seventeen years afterwards the same woman did
+it!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Before this, in the evening, we had to give our Christmas greetings.
+My brother and Jettchen exchanged greetings&#8212;very beautiful&#8212;in
+writing. 'She who was your chief is absent,' said my father, weeping.
+On the third day of the feast she was buried. She lay in a white dress
+with pale pink ribbons, a garland on her brown hair, and a small
+crucifix in her hand. 'Sleep well!' exclaimed our old nurse, 'till thy
+Saviour wakes thee!' We could not speak, we only sobbed. Often did my
+dearly beloved Jettchen appear to me in dreams, always lovely, quiet,
+and serious. Once she offered me a wreath; this was considered as a
+sign that I was to die, as I was soon after seriously ill. But since my
+childhood I have not been so fortunate as to dream once of her. She
+loved me tenderly! I may say very particularly so!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Our sorrow was a little alleviated by our thoughts being distracted by
+a new building of my father's, a new garden-house; he had long wished
+for an extension and entire transformation of the garden. In less than
+two years all was finished, and now we passed most of our summer
+evenings there. The garden had ever been our place for exercise, and
+now it was enlarged. What pleasure it was to us, on the finishing of
+the new building, for the first time to eat our supper in the open air!
+And then we were allowed to remain out till ten o'clock, and go about
+under the starry heaven; and my father discharged small fireworks for
+us!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In May, 1782, our good teacher left us, having received the rectorship
+at Seidenberg. Our sorrow was great, very great! He blessed us: 'Keep
+steadfastly to the instructions I have given you! Fear God, and all
+will go well with you!' These were his parting words. I threw myself on
+my bed and wept upon my pillow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My father was a strict, upright, honourable man. He had raised himself
+from bitter poverty to wealth, by his own exertions. With unremitting
+activity he only thought of maintaining and extending his business; of
+giving employment to many hundred manufacturers, and to securing an
+independence for us, his children. He worked daily ten and often eleven
+hours, only his garden drew him sometimes away; otherwise nothing else
+in the world. He was born to be a merchant, but in the highest sense;
+small accidental gains he despised, and I believe it would have been
+impossible for him to have been a retail dealer. He never made use of
+the frequent opportunities of becoming rich by bankruptcies; he walked
+steadily in the straight path, and was angry if his servants, in his
+absence at the fair, overcharged the purchasers. His external life was
+as simple as his inward principles. His furniture remained almost
+unchanged: the inherited plate kept its form; he only attached value to
+fine linen and good Rhine wine. His table was frugal; with the
+exception of high festival days, he had usually only one dish; of an
+evening frequently only potatoes or radishes. Wine only on Sundays,
+except on a summer evening in the garden. About once a year he gave an
+entertainment, then father Haupt would not do the thing shabbily.
+Champagne he could not bear; this, therefore, came very seldom. But he
+delighted in old Rhine and Hungarian wine, and bishop made of Burgundy.
+On Sunday evenings he walked in the fields, and now and then his life
+was diversified by a drive. He was, moreover, hospitable; very often
+foreign commercial friends came, and he frequently took his favourite
+clerks from the writing-room to dine with him. He was fond of talking
+politics, and often took correct views of the future. Though he was
+grave, he could be very cheerful, and often joked with us. He was
+open-handed to the highest degree; gave much to the poor, and gladly
+supported industrious people. Sometimes a great disinclination to the
+literary class came over him; therefore he frequently declaimed against
+the albums of the scholars; yet he never gave less than one thaler
+eight n. gr., often double, nay, three and four fold. All boasting was
+foreign to him, and he hated all ostentation of riches. If he heard
+that any members of his guild showed such ostentation, he only laughed
+most satirically; but when the boaster made himself too ridiculous he
+would say, 'We have not seen the end of it;' or, 'What wonderful things
+that man has;' or, at all events, at the utmost he said, 'I am not a
+nobody, either.' He was strictly religious, yet without superstition,
+against which, as well as against Popery, priestly pride, and
+hypocrisy, he would loudly declaim. He thought clearly on the most
+important subjects, as he himself knew, and was indeed almost alarmed,
+if he took, as he thought, too free views. It was touching to me; when
+once at Leipzig, during my studies there, he expressed himself freely
+upon confession, and then, drawing back with great modesty, said, 'Yet
+I am saying too much, Fritz, for I know that I am no deep thinking
+man.' He had, as a youth, read part of Wolf's philosophical works; but
+they were too dry for him. In his judgments of men he struck, as they
+say, the right nail on the head; yet he was, like all upright minds,
+often caustic, sharp, and bitter. If he had once said, 'The fellow is
+good for nothing!' he adhered to it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From his over-extensive business, in which he had no intelligent men,
+but only mere machines to assist him, we saw but little of him. He was
+obliged to intrust us to the tutor and the woman-kind; the result was
+that we felt more reverence than confidential tenderness for him. Yet
+we loved him from the bottom of our hearts, and his principles, his
+teaching, and his simple life worked upon us beneficially.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Our aunt had, it is true, her good days, yet she never succeeded in
+entirely gaining our love. Her quarrels with the maids were more
+repugnant to us from the contrast of the familiarity with which it
+alternated; she managed to make use of my father's moments of vexation
+to gain her objects. But all this did not turn our hearts from her,
+as she did us no injury, and often even took our part against the
+ill-treatment of our new tutor. It was only that she was not fitted to
+captivate childish hearts. From this she took a great aversion to our
+nurse, to whom we clung with our whole souls, as she had brought up us
+four motherless orphans without any assistance. Belonging to a better
+class&#8212;her husband had rented a large property at Wernigerode&#8212;she had
+become impoverished by war, plunder, and a succession of misfortunes,
+her husband had died, and her children had partly gone out into the
+world and partly been brought up by relations. She had an excellent
+woman's head, a clear understanding, endless good-humour, cheerfulness,
+and suitable wit. If it is true that I have sometimes humorous ideas, a
+certain share in the development of this quality belongs to her. I well
+remember that I have gone on for a whole half-hour with her making
+bon-mots and allegories. 'With you I can joke.' With this good opinion
+I was often rewarded. Besides this she was skilful in a thousand
+things, and could always give advice. She was not disinclined to the
+'<i>Stillen im Lande</i>,' which from her great sufferings the cup of which
+she had drained to the dregs, could be easily understood. Her heart was
+pure and pious, and she maintained in us the impression of our former
+tutor's admonitions, when his successor would almost have exterminated
+them by his teaching and course of life. Many of her relations, and
+also her son-in-law had become surgeons, and she had, as a maiden,
+given medical assistance. Therefore she possessed more than usual
+knowledge, and astonished a surgeon when she skilfully set my brother's
+foot, which he had dislocated. She understood osteology perfectly;
+perhaps indeed she sometimes had too much confidence in herself, but
+her remedies healed very quickly; and when the surgeon for four months
+vainly endeavoured to cure my brother's foot, and spoke of the bone
+being rotten, she shook her head; he was sent away, and in a month the
+foot was healed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The public even believed that she dealt in the black art, but we knew
+better. 'I have sworn to my lady,' (our mother), 'to give my life for
+you, if it can be of use to you, and I will keep what I vowed on her
+deathbed!' Peace be to her ashes! her wish to repose near 'her
+lady' has been fulfilled. 'Children! when I die, I have only one
+request,&#8212;lay me near your mother; ah! if I am only under the ledge of
+her tomb, I shall be content.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Such was the state of things in our house when the new tutor came&#8212;he
+was in every respect the contrary of his predecessor. The one simple,
+straightforward, and just, avoiding even the appearance of evil; the
+other a frivolous, flighty dandy, who&#8212;it was then a matter of
+importance&#8212;played with a lorgnette, and wore stiff polished boots even
+when he preached; in knowledge below his predecessor; in faith not
+knowing himself what he wished. The former weighed his words, this one
+often swore, and his pupils soon followed his example. He danced, rode,
+played at cards, &amp;c. In short, quite a common-place master. Passionate,
+tyrannical, and severe upon our faults, or rather&#8212;for he did not
+concern himself much with our morals&#8212;harsh upon slight mistakes in the
+school-room. And yet we learned everything well, and knew more than all
+our playfellows; of that I am very certain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He very nearly disgusted me with study, treating me with special
+harshness, from not understanding my ardent mind; meanwhile from this
+bitter my nature drew forth honey. I had often suffered injustice, from
+hence arose the feeling of justice in my soul. 'It is better to suffer
+wrong than to do it!' often said our nurse to me. And out of this
+sprang forth my zeal against oppression, violence, and injustice of all
+kinds. The very depths of my soul were stirred when, being innocent, I
+was ill-treated; suffering seemed more deeply-wounding when inflicted
+by unfeeling arrogance. My brother and I respected the guilty, if they
+repented. Thus it was wholesome to bear undeserved severity! And
+yet,&#8212;so forgiving is the pure soul of childhood&#8212;that we only hated
+the man for the moment. A friendly word, or one of praise from him, and
+all was forgotten.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As the Pietism of the other had not quite suited my father, the new
+tutor, in the beginning, was more thought of by him. But he soon learnt
+to know his man; and God knows how my father himself could for five
+long years have borne the misconduct of this man, for he wrote him
+insolent letters if he ever ventured to blame anything. We never dared
+complain, for our father did not stand in very confidential relations
+with us. So we suffered in silence, and often not a little. Often have
+I, in the truest sense of the words, eaten my bread with bitter tears.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I must here mention, that my first resolution to become a preacher was
+extinguished by this man. 'Law, law,' he often exclaimed to me. What
+that meant was very mysterious to me. At last, however, when I heard
+that there were law professors, I understood it. It was now settled;
+but what attracted me in the Professorship was the opportunity of
+speaking in public. If there was a vocation that suited me it was this.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thus passed the years from 1782 to 1786. In the beginning of 1787, my
+brother, still not fourteen years old, was put into a counting-house at
+Chemnitz. Inexpressibly sorrowful was our parting. We loved each other
+as brothers, and if we had small quarrels, in which I was more to blame
+than he, we never let the sun set without being reconciled. But now
+follows an important chapter in my juvenile life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The picture of a perfect tutor is indeed charming. More than father
+and mother can do, can be effected by a noble, pious teacher, of simple
+life, full of judgment and moral power; only that scarcely one out of a
+hundred can be found to realise this ideal.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A heavy load was lifted from my breast when I felt myself free from
+this tutor's discipline! A feeling I had never experienced before
+stirred in me! I was already half-grown up! Was it an impulse to
+unrestrained roving? or a longing for dissipation? or youthful
+presumption which fancied it needed no guide? In truth no thoughts of
+this kind entered my mind! It was the pure consciousness of having
+suffered injustice; it was the honest feeling that I was not so bad, as
+he in his frantic humour had often said I was; it was the glad prospect
+of being able to strive independently; it was the desire to show that I
+no longer needed leading-strings. Still do I remember the evening of
+the 5th of April, 1787,&#8212;Maunday Thursday,&#8212;how beautiful the sunset
+was, and I spoke with open heart to my playfellows of the new life that
+was opening to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My father put me under the teaching of the Conrector Müller, and his
+old friend the Subrector Jary, and in this he did well.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To the Conrector Müller I owe most thanks. I passed from tyrannical
+oppression to his liberal intellectual sway. His kindliness and his
+noble open countenance, speaking of pure goodness of heart, attracted
+me to him when first we spoke together. He understood how to elevate my
+feeling for learning. He knew everything thoroughly. He was strong in
+Latin, not unversed in Greek; the history of the German Empire, and
+political history&#8212;but above all, literary history,&#8212;together with
+geography, were his favourite studies. He had not one enemy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Jary was not born to be a teacher, but he was not without knowledge,
+which he had acquired by industry. His method was defective, but he
+meant to deal faithfully by his scholars, and looked after them. His
+religious opinions were strictly orthodox; and I wept when he expressed
+doubts as to the eternal happiness of Cicero! Yet I owe him also
+thanks; he treated me with earnest kindness, and when he dismissed
+me in 1791, the old man said weeping: 'Fare you well! I shall not
+see you again; fare you well, you are almost the only one who has
+not vexed me!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In August, 1788, I partook for the first time of the Lord's Supper. I
+looked up fervently and repeated to myself Kretzschmar's ode: 'Let us
+rejoicing fill the holy vaults of thy temple with hymns of praise.
+Invisibly though perceptibly, does God's grace hover round us!'
+Joyfully, with heaven in my heart, did I approach the altar!
+Nevertheless, when in the afternoon I examined myself during a solitary
+walk, I was dissatisfied with myself. What I had been taught concerning
+the merits of Christ, appeared to me unintelligible; my groping in the
+dark about this, weakened the impression of that day. I worried myself
+with the idea of the atonement by death, and no ray of light entered my
+soul. Besides I loved the old heathens, Cicero, Pliny, Socrates, &amp;c.,
+more than many Christians, together with the Apostles, more than all
+the Jews of the Old Testament, as the people of God did not
+particularly please me. And yet it was doubtful whether God would
+receive Socrates as a child of light. How in the world, I thought,
+could my poor Socrates help not having been born later, not having
+lived in Judea?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thus I troubled myself, and was more sorrowful than cheerful.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At Michaelmas, 1788, my father took me with him to Leipzig, where my
+brother also was to come. Oh, the pleasure of meeting again! No
+language can describe it! My brother's Principal allowed him leave
+every afternoon and also many mornings; so we could have plenty of
+talk. I soon became aware that my brother had read many freethinking
+works upon religion, especially many of Bahrdt's. His own inquiries led
+him still further. This occasioned me much sorrow, for Jary's strict
+orthodoxy had laid hold of me. But I was the happiest. Soon after, I
+attained to clear views in a scientific way, while my brother, left to
+himself, wavered to and fro, which was still perceptible, even in his
+old age. The insoluble question&#8212;why reason was reason?&#8212;gave
+unspeakable suffering to my poor brother. Undoubtedly my lighter tone
+of mind, my fancy, which gave me a poetic feeling, and especially my
+disposition to give up groping over difficult passages, were a help to
+me. With my brother reason prevailed too much.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We passed three blessed weeks. To me the Academy was to some extent a
+great pleasure; the Zittauer students took pains to make my residence
+agreeable to me. The theatre we visited assiduously, we loved plays
+passionately, and when the actors were at Zittau, we had learnt under
+the guidance of the last tutor, to criticise with judgment Don Carlos
+was given, Agnes Bernaner, and Kaspar der Thorringer; deep was the
+impression left upon me, and I confessed secretly to myself, that I
+should not find it disagreeable to be an actor. Even in this the idea
+of public speaking exercised its charm upon me. A hundred times,
+perhaps, did we act plays in that year, frequently extempore. It was
+singular that the old <i>rôles</i>, as we called them, were particularly
+suitable to me. But comic parts I could not manage, which, strange as
+it may appear, my brother frequently chose, although he had
+qualifications for the more serious ones, and, according to my
+judgment, he often failed in the comic parts. A friend played the
+military <i>rôles</i>, to which I had a great aversion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How great the advantage of public instruction! It may sometimes have
+its defects, and unfortunately schools are often laboratories of
+temptation. But how true are Quintilian's words, that children often
+carry to school faults from home! Great is the advantage that public
+institutions are open to inspection, and that freedom of mind prospers
+there more than in private education, and emulation awakens and
+nourishes the power of self-exertion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;These hours of enjoyment with my brother came to an end. On the Monday
+after <i>oculi</i> I was introduced, after a successful examination, by
+Director Sintenis. I became immediately 'sixth form boy' at the third
+table. This excited great envy and caused me many bitter hours. I, who
+without falsehood and malice, meant well by every one, did not
+understand what many of the seniors meant. Finally, however, my good
+behaviour got the better of them, I remained just the same, and bore
+much with patience. It was long before I could conceive what envy was,
+for I had no touch of it in my disposition. My more acute brother, to
+whom I made my lamentations, wrote to me, 'Read Gustav Lindau, or, the
+man who can bear no envy,' by Meissner. He was right, and yet it was
+not till I was thirty-five, that I saw it in its true light.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When this period of envy had passed away, and Müller said, 'You sit in
+the place that is due to you, but mind you maintain your place,' a
+succession of happier days opened to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Easter drew near; I examined myself and found that I had been very
+industrious. With Müller especially, I had in the last year done much.
+I was behindhand only in Greek, as almost all were; yet I could get on.
+In the Imperial and Saxon history I was well up, and in the knowledge
+of literature very strong for one who was not seventeen. In the
+geography of countries beyond Europe I was deficient. Latin I knew
+best. The most ready amongst us could translate whole pages off hand,
+without a fault, in two or three minutes; it was here and there
+improved in elegance and then read aloud. I owe to these exercises my
+facility in speaking Latin, which I was obliged to acquire at the
+University.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The time for my departure from the academy was come.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With all my liveliness, I had also many serious, even melancholy
+hours. The separation from my sisters, whom I dearly loved, disposed me
+often to be sorrowful; I especially loved the youngest, Friederike, who
+clung to me. Especially the last winter we were inseparable, it was as
+if she anticipated that we should soon be parted for ever.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My heart was pure, untouched by the allurements to which I well knew
+my fellow scholars yielded. I had already determined to continue in the
+same course; this I may affirm now at the end of thirty years. My chief
+fault was hasty anger, which even led me to the verge of giving blows;
+and violent passion is still the dark side of my character! Besides
+this, I was bitter in my censure of the faults of others. Faithful
+self-examination told me all this and more; but I was always forgiving,
+and any feeling of revenge would have been impossible to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My heart glowed with friendship; ingratitude appeared to me, as it
+still does, a black vice. Finally, I must say one word of my feelings
+as a youth; to maiden charms I was very sensitive, but never did a
+faithless word pass my lips. The loves of the scholars were repugnant
+to me, but I will not deny having entertained secretly a hope that some
+female heart might be gracious to me; but pale and thin as I was, I
+often seriously doubted the possibility of it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The expression of quiet melancholy in the eyes of L. v. D. attracted
+me early; I had the greatest pleasure in talking to her, and she was
+the only one of my sisters' playfellows with whom I walked, when we
+rambled about the garden. But she left Zittau soon, and never did a
+word escape my lips&#8212;and how could it? In 1788, I saw her again once;
+after that time never again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My first school occupations drove away all such thoughts, although I
+was teased as well as others, when I had danced more with one maiden
+than another at the school balls. Sometimes undoubtedly there were
+moments, when from braggadocio, I made it appear as if there was
+something in question, where certainly there was nothing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But shortly before my departure&#8212;at a school ball&#8212;I met with Lorchen
+L., who was destined by my stars, to be the companion of my life, and
+entered into conversation with her. Even then I was much charmed with
+her! and danced oftener and with greater pleasure, than with any other
+maiden. It made me uneasy to feel that in some months I should be away.
+The impression upon me was not concealed from my class, and they
+bantered me; and I looked gloomy. Even during more than six years'
+absence, her image ever rose before me. If there are inward voices,
+this was one for me!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The day dawned on which I was to take leave of Zittau, and my sister
+was to accompany me to Leipzig. With tears I parted from Müller, and
+with emotion from all the teachers. In the evening I took a lonely walk
+in the open air, the evening sky shone bright, the reflection fell on
+my mother's grave. Tears burst from me: 'Yes, mother! I vowed that I
+would be good!' With hasty steps I went home. 'Now we shall never
+more,' said my brother, 'never more,' wander together, he would have
+said, but tears choked his voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We slept little, talking almost the whole night, and early, about four
+o'clock, our travelling carriage rolled out of Zittau.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus does a sensible man of the time of our fathers and grandfathers,
+relate the boy-life in a citizen's family, honourable and serious, of
+strict morality, and no common strength of intellect. Still, with depth
+of feeling is united a sentimentality which will perhaps excite a
+smile, perhaps touch the heart. It is the secluded life of a wealthy
+family, but how earnest is the feeling of the child, how laboriously he
+spends his days! The greatest enjoyment of the young boy is in
+learning; he finds an inexhaustible source of elevation and enthusiasm
+in the knowledge that he imbibes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The narrator seeks his happiness in family life, in the duties of his
+office, and in science and art. He forms an elevated and profound
+conception of everything. Politics only disturb him. It was not till
+the next generation that man's feelings were excited, their powers
+awakened, and new qualities developed by the idea of a Fatherland.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+<br>
+<h3>THE PERIOD OF RUIN.</h3>
+<h4>(1800.)</h4>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Again did evil arise from France, and again did a new life spring from
+the struggle against the enemy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was not the first time that that country had inflicted deep wounds
+on German national strength, and had unintentionally awakened a new
+power which victoriously arrested her progress. The policy of Richelieu
+had been the most dangerous opponent of the German Empire, but at the
+same time it had been obliged to support the Protestant party there, in
+which lay the source of all later renovation. After him French
+literature ruled the German mind for a century, and for a long time it
+appeared as if the Academy of Paris and the classical drama were to
+govern our taste, as did the tailors and peruke makers of the Seine.
+But indignation and shame produced, in opposition to French art, a
+poetry and science which, in spite of its cosmopolitan tendency, was
+genuinely national. Now the heir of the French revolution brought
+violent destruction on the declining empire, and gave his commands on
+its ruins like a tyrannical ruler, till at last the Germans resolved to
+drive him away, in order to take their affairs into their own hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Defenceless was the frontier against the invading stranger. Only on the
+lower Rhine there was the Prussian realm, but along the other part of
+the stream were the domains of ecclesiastical princes, and small
+territories without any power of resistance. It was the four western
+circles of the empire, the Upper Rhine, Suabia, Franconia, and Bavaria,
+which the North Germans mockingly called the Empire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Even in the Empire, the ecclesiastical territories and Bavaria were
+very much behindhand, in comparison with Baden and Suabia. The example
+of Frederic II. in Prussia, and the philosophic enlightenment of this
+period, had reformed most of the Protestant courts, as also Electoral
+Saxony, since the Seven Years' War. Greater economy, household order,
+and earnest solicitude for the good of the subject became visible. Many
+governments were models of good administration, like Weimar and Gotha,
+and in the family of one of the great ladies of the eighteenth century,
+the Duchess Caroline of Hesse, as well as in Darmstadt and Baden, there
+was economical mild rule. Even indeed in the court of Duke Karl of
+Wurtemburg there was improvement. He who had dug lakes on the hills,
+and employed his serfs to fill them with water, who had lighted the
+woods with Bengal lights, and caused half-naked Fauns and Satyrs to
+dance there, had learnt a lesson since 1778, and on his fiftieth
+birthday, had promised his people to become economical, and had since
+that been transformed into a careful landlord, under whom the country
+flourished. Even the ecclesiastical courts had experienced somewhat of
+this philosophical tendency, though undoubtedly the activity of an
+enlightened ruler of Würzburg or Munster was much limited by the
+inevitable supremacy of an ecclesiastical aristocracy, and the
+increasing priestly rule.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the Imperial cities of the south were, with the exception of
+Frankfort, in a state of decadence; they were deeply in debt, and a
+rotten patrician rule prevented modern industry from flourishing. The
+councils still continued to issue high-sounding decrees, but the
+<i>Senatus populusque, Bopfingensis</i>, or <i>Nordlingensis</i> as they called
+themselves in heroic style, appeared only a caricature to their
+neighbours. The renowned Ulm, the southern capital of Suabia, once the
+mistress of Italian agency business, had sunk so low that it was
+supposed that she must sell her domain to preserve herself from
+bankruptcy; Augsburg also was only the shadow of its former greatness,
+its princely merchants had become weak commission agents and small
+money-changers: it was said that the city only contained six firms that
+could raise more than 200,000 gulden. The Academy of Arts of the city
+was nothing but a school for artisans. The famous engravers made bad
+pictures of saints for the village trade; the old hatred of confessions
+still raged among the inhabitants, for its famed Senate was divided
+into two factions, and nowhere did the parties of Frederic and Maria
+Theresa contend so bitterly. Even Nuremberg, once the flower and the
+pride of Germany, had been severely injured in the old bad time; its
+30,000 inhabitants were hardly the fifth of that community which, 300
+years earlier, had mustered in fearful battle array; but the city was
+still in the way to gain a modest position in the German markets, no
+longer by the artistic articles of old Nuremberg, but by an extended
+trade in small wares of wood and metal, in which some of the old
+artistic feeling might still be perceived.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was no better along the Rhine,&#8212;the great ecclesiastical street of
+the Empire,&#8212;there lay, down the stream, the residences of three
+ecclesiastical Electors in succession. In the Electorate of Mainz,
+which, from olden times, had frequently maintained a great independence
+within the church, two intellectual rulers had undoubtedly given an
+enlightened aspect to a part of their clergy, and to the new portions
+of their city; but in the old city and trades, little of the new time
+was to be perceived, and the prebendaries who read Voltaire and
+Rousseau were by no means an unqualified gain, at least for the
+morality of the citizen. But the great Cologne was in the worst repute;
+the dung-heaps lay all day in the streets, which were not lighted, the
+pavement was miserable, and on dark evenings the necks and limbs of
+passengers were in great danger, the roads also were insecure, filled
+with idling ragamuffins. The beggars formed a great guild, counting
+5000 heads; till noon they sat and lay at the church doors in rows,
+many on chairs, the possession of one of which was considered as a
+secure rent, and assigned as dowry to the beggar's children; when they
+left their places, they went to the houses to demand food for dinner;
+they were a coarse, wicked set.<a name="div2_32" href="#div2Ref_32"><sup>[32]</sup></a> On the whole, it is known that the
+ecclesiastical rulers treated the citizens and peasants with
+comparative mildness, and the military compulsion was less burdensome,
+but they did little for the industry or cultivation of the people.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After them, in this respect, Bavaria was in worst repute, and no other
+people since that has made such great progress; but about 1790 it was
+said to be most behindhand in wealth and morals; the cities, with the
+exception of Munich, looked decayed, and were poorly populated:
+idleness and beggary spread everywhere; except brewers, bakers, and
+innkeepers, there were no wealthy people. Even in Munich, countless
+beggars loitered about, mixed with numbers of modish, dandified
+officials; there was no national industry, only some manufactures of
+articles of luxury favoured by the government. Not long ago it was
+maintained by a Bavarian monthly journal, that manufacturing activity
+and the like were not very practicable for Bavarians, because the great
+river of the country flowed to Austria, and a competition with the
+Imperial hereditary States was not possible. The most flourishing
+countries in Germany, next to the small territories on the North Sea,
+were then Electoral Saxony and the country of the Lower Rhine, up to
+the Westphalian county of Mark; and this is little altered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To those who dwelt in the Empire the inhabitants of the North were a
+remote people, but they were in the habit of considering Prussia and
+Austria also as foreign powers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of the people in Austria the citizens of the Empire knew little. Even
+the Bavarian, before whose eyes his Danube flowed to Vienna, desired no
+intercourse with these neighbours; he preferred looking over the
+mountains to the Tyrol, for the hatred which so readily divides
+frontier people was there in full force. The Saxon had important trade
+with the Germans in Northern Bohemia; it mattered little to him what
+lay beyond; it was a foreign race, in evil repute, from the old war. To
+other Germans the &quot;Bohemian Mountains&quot; and an unknown land signified
+the same thing. The nations which dwelt along the Danube, amongst them
+Czechs, Moravians, Italians, Slovenes, Magyars, and Slovaks, were a
+vigorous, powerful race, of ancient German blood; the Thirty Years' War
+had little injured their stately carriage and personal beauty, but
+their own rulers had estranged them from Germany. By persecution, not
+only the heretics, but also the activity and culture of those who
+remained, had been frightened away; but a life of enjoyment and
+pleasure still pulsated in the great capital. Any one who wished to
+enjoy himself went there&#8212;Hungarians, Bohemians, and nobles from the
+Empire. Germany lay outside the Vienna world, and they thought little
+of it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Undoubtedly the ruler of Austria was also the Emperor of Germany. The
+double eagle hung against all the post-houses in the Empire, and when
+the Emperor died, according to old custom, the church bells tolled. Any
+one who sought for armorial bearings, or quarrelled about privileges,
+went to the Imperial court; otherwise the Empire knew nothing of the
+Emperor or his supremacy. When the soldiers of the Princes of the
+Empire came together with the Austrians and Prussians, they were
+derided as good-for-nothing people; the &quot;<i>Kostbeutel</i>&quot;<a name="div2_33" href="#div2Ref_33"><sup>[33]</sup></a> and the
+&quot;Schwabische Kragen&quot; hated each other intensely; when the Austrian
+received a blow, no one was better pleased than the contingent from the
+Empire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Even among themselves the subjects of the small rulers did not live in
+peace; insulting language and blows were common; the Mainzers attacked
+the inhabitants of the Palatinate, and when the French occupied
+Electoral Mainz, the inhabitants of the Palatinate and Darmstadt
+rejoiced in the sufferings of their neighbours.<a name="div2_34" href="#div2Ref_34"><sup>[34]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">The mass of the people in the Empire lived quietly to themselves. The
+peasant performed his service, and the citizen worked; both had been
+worse off than now, but there was no difficulty in earning a
+livelihood. If they had a mild ruler, they served him willingly; the
+citizens clung to the city and province whose dialect they spoke; they
+frequently bore great attachment to their little State, which enclosed
+almost all that they knew, and whose helplessness they only imperfectly
+understood. When it became a cipher, they did not the more know what
+they were, and asked one another with anxious curiosity what they
+should now become. It was an old, quiet misery!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The new ideas that came from France undoubtedly somewhat disquieted
+them; things were better there than with them; they listened
+complacently to foreign emissaries; they put their heads together, and
+determined, sometimes in the evening perhaps, to abolish what annoyed
+them; they also sent petitions to their worthy rulers. The peasants
+here and there became more difficult to manage; but as long as the
+French did not come, the movement was a mere curl of the waves; and
+when the French Custine gained Mainz, he called the Guild together,
+and each one was to give in a project of a constitution. This took
+place. The peruke-makers produced one: &quot;We wish to be diminished to
+five-and-thirty, and the Crab (thus a master was called) shall be our
+president of the council.&quot; The hackney-coachmen declared, &quot;We will pay
+no more bridge tolls; then, as far as we are concerned, any one may be
+our Elector who wishes!&quot; No Guild thought of a republic and
+constitution. This was the condition of the small States of the Empire
+in the century of enlightenment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The people of the Imperial States knew well that the larger ones held
+them in contempt for their want of military capacity; and it was
+natural that in these small States no martial spirit should exist.
+Unwillingly did they form regiments from five, ten, or more
+contemptible contingents; soldiers and officers in the same regiment
+often quarrelled; the uniforms were scarcely the same colour, nor
+the word of command. The citizens despised their soldiers; it was
+told jeeringly that the Mainz soldiers at their post cut pegs for
+the shoemakers; that the guard at Gmünd presented arms to every
+well-dressed foot-passenger, and then stretched out their hats and
+begged for a donation; that a man in uniform was despised and excluded
+from every society; that the wives and mistresses of the officers took
+the field with children and ninepins; that the weapons and discipline
+were miserable, and all the material of war imperfect. This was
+undoubtedly a great misfortune, and apparent to everybody. The worst
+troops in the world were to be found in the Imperial regiments, but
+there were some better companies among them, and some officers of
+capacity. Even out of this bad material a foreign conqueror was able
+afterwards to make good soldiers; for the Germans have always fought
+bravely when they have been well led. Besides the Prussians, there were
+some other small <i>corps d'armée</i>, in well-deserved estimation&#8212;the
+Saxon, Brunswick, Hanoverian, and Hessian.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the whole, then, the military power of Germany was not altogether
+unsatisfactory; it could well bear some occasional bad elements, and
+still, in point of number and valour, cope with any army in the world.
+The cause of decay in the army was not the composition of the army
+itself, but discord and bad leading.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After 1790, destruction burst upon the Empire&#8212;wave upon wave broke
+over it from west to east.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">First came into the country the white Petrels of the Bourbons,
+precursors of the storm&#8212;the emigrants. There were many valiant men
+among them, but the larger number, who gave character and repute to the
+whole, were worthless, reckless rabble. Like a pestilence, they
+corrupted the morals of the cities in which they located themselves,
+and the courts of small, simple Sovereigns, who felt themselves
+honoured by receiving these distinguished adventurers. Coblentz, the
+seat of government of Electoral Treves, was their head-quarters, and
+that city was the first where their immorality brought ruin into
+families, and disunion into the State, They were fugitives enjoying the
+hospitality of a foreign country, but with knavish impudence, wherever
+they were the strongest, they ill-treated the German citizens and
+peasants, as well as the foolish nobleman who honoured in them polite
+Paris. When Veit Weber, the valiant author of &quot;Sagen der Vorzeit,&quot;
+whilst travelling in a Rhine boat, was humming a French song upon
+contentment, of which the refrain was, &quot;<i>Vive la Liberté</i>,&quot; some
+emigrants, who were travelling with him, drew their swords upon him and
+his unarmed companion, misused them with the flat blade, bound them
+with cords round their necks, and so dragged them to Coblentz, where
+they robbed them of their money and passports, and, thus wounded, they
+were imprisoned without examination till the Prussians arrived and
+freed them.<a name="div2_35" href="#div2Ref_35"><sup>[35]</sup></a> Besides brutal violence, the emigrants also introduced
+into the circles which admitted them vices hitherto unknown to the
+people, loathsome diseases, and meannesses of every kind. In the whole
+of the Rhine valley a feeling of hatred and disgust was excited by
+their presence; nothing worked so favourably for the French republican
+party; the feeling became general among the people, that a struggle
+which was to rid France of such evil deeds and abominations must be
+just. They were equally despised by the more powerful States&#8212;Prussia
+and Austria. The troops that they hired were composed of the worst
+rabble; even the poor people of the Imperial States looked with
+repugnance on the bands of emigrants.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After the corrupt nobles came the speeches of the National Assembly,
+and the decrees of the Convention; but few of the educated men were
+entirely uninfluenced by them. They were the same ideas and wishes that
+the Germans had. More than one enthusiastic spirit was so attracted by
+them as to give up their Fatherland and go to the west, to their own
+destruction. Not the last of such men was George Foster, whom Germans
+should pity, and not extol. And yet these monstrous events, and
+excitable minds, produced only a slight intoxication. There was great
+sympathy, but it was only a kindly participation in a foreign concern;
+for, hopeless as was the political condition of Germany&#8212;imperfect and
+oppressive as was the administration of the greater States&#8212;yet there
+was a widespread feeling that social reforms were progressing, which,
+in contrast to the French, would spread peaceably by teaching and good
+example. There were bitter complaints of the perverseness and
+incapacity of many of the princes, but, on the whole, it could not be
+doubted that there was much good-will in the governments. Germany,
+also, had no such aristocracy as France. The lesser nobles, in spite of
+their prejudices and errors, lived, on the whole, in a homely way in
+the midst of the people; and just at this time they counted in their
+ranks many leaders of the enlightenment. What most oppressed the
+cultivated minds of Germany was not so much the vices of the old feudal
+state as their own political insignificance, the clumsiness of the
+constitution of the Empire, the feeling that the Germans, by this
+much-divided rule, had become <i>Philisters</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was then, also, far from Paris to Germany; the characters which
+there contended against each other, the ultimate aim of parties, the
+evil and the good, were much less known than would be the case in our
+time. The larger newspapers only appeared three times a week; they gave
+dry notices, seldom a long correspondence, still less often an
+independent judgment. The flying sheets alone were active; even their
+judgment was moderate; they wished well to the movement, but were
+bolder in the discussion of home matters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Therefore, though in Paris there were massacres in the streets, and the
+guillotine was incessantly at work, in Germany the French revolution
+had no effect in banding political parties against one another. And
+when the account came that the King had been imprisoned, ill-treated,
+and executed, forebodings, even among the least timid, became general.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus it was possible that German officers, even the <i>gardes du corps</i>
+at Potsdam, good-humouredly allowed the <i>įa ira</i> to be played, whilst
+the street boys sang to it a rude translation of the text. The ladies
+of the German aristocracy wore tricolour ribbons, and head dresses <i>ā
+la carmagnole</i>. Curiosity collected the people in a circle round some
+patriot prisoners of war&#8212;dismal tattered figures&#8212;whilst they danced
+their wild dances, and accompanied them by pantomime, which expressed
+washing their hands in the blood of the aristocrats; and some
+innocently bought from them the playthings which they had made on the
+march, little wooden guillotines. But it was a morbid simplicity in the
+educated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There is another thing which appears still stranger to us. Whilst the
+storm raged convulsively in France, and the flood rolled its waves more
+wildly every year over Germany; the eyes and hearts of all men of
+intellect were fixed on a little Principality in the middle of Germany,
+where, amid the deepest tranquillity, the great poet of the nation, by
+the wonderful creations of his mind in prose and verse, dispelled all
+dark forebodings. King and Queen were guillotined, and &quot;Reineke Fuchs&quot;
+made into a poem; there came, together with Robespierre and the reign
+of terror, letters on the æsthetic training of men; with the battles of
+Lodi and Arcole, &quot;Wilhelm Meister,&quot; &quot;Horen,&quot; and &quot;Xenien&quot;; with the
+French acquisition of Belgium, &quot;Hermann and Dorothea&quot;; with the French
+conquest of Switzerland and the States of the Pope, &quot;Wallenstein&quot;; with
+the French seizure of the left bank of the Rhine, the &quot;Bastard of
+Orleans&quot;; with the occupation of Hanover by Napoleon, the &quot;Bride of
+Messina&quot;; with Napoleon Emperor, &quot;Wilhelm Tell.&quot; The ten years in which
+Schiller and Goethe lived in close friendship&#8212;the ten great years of
+German poetry, on which the German will look back in distant centuries
+with emotion and sentimental tenderness&#8212;are the same years in which a
+loud cry of woe was heard through the air; in which the demons of
+destruction drew together from all sides, with clothes dipped in blood,
+and scorpion scourges in their hands, in order to make an end of the
+unnatural life of a nation without a State. Only sixty years have since
+passed, yet the period in which our fathers grew up is as strange to us
+in many respects as the period in which, according to tradition,
+Archimedes calculated geometrical problems, whilst the Romans were
+storming his city. The movement of this time worked differently on the
+Prussian State. It was no longer the Prussia of Frederic II. In the
+interior, indeed, his regulations had been faithfully preserved; his
+followers mitigated everywhere some severities of the old system, but
+the great reforms which the time urgently required were scarcely begun.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in the eighteenth century, up to the war of 1806, the external
+boundary of the State increased on a gigantic scale. Frederic had still
+left behind him a little kingdom; a few years after, Prussia might be
+reckoned as one of the great realms of Europe. In the rapidity of this
+growth, there was something unnatural. By the two last divisions of
+Poland, about 1772 square miles of Sclavonic country were added.
+Shortly before, the Principalities of the Franconian Hohenzollerns,
+Anspach and Baireuth, were gained, another 115 square miles. Besides
+this, after the peace of Luneville, forty-seven square miles of the
+Upper Rhine district of Cleves were exchanged for 222 square miles of
+German territory; parts of Thuringia, including Erfurt, half Munster,
+also Hildesheim and Paderborn; finally, Anspach was again exchanged for
+Hanover. After that, Prussia for some months comprised a territory of
+6047 square miles, almost double its extent in 1786, and about a sixth
+more than it at present contains. In this year, Prussia might almost
+have been called Germany; its eagles hovered over the countries from
+Old Saxony up to the North Sea; also over the main territory of Old
+Franconia and in the heart of Thuringia; it ruled the mouths of the
+Elbe; it surrounded Bohemia on two sides, and could, after a short
+day's march, make its war horses drink in the Danube. In the east it
+extended itself far into the valley of the Vistula and to the Bug; and
+its officials governed in the capital of departed Poland. This rapid
+increase, even in peaceful times, might not have been without
+disadvantage, for the amount of constructive power which Prussia could
+employ for the assimilation to itself of such various acquisitions was
+perhaps not great enough.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And yet the excellent Prussian officials, of the old school just then
+greatly distinguished themselves. Organisation was carried on
+everywhere with great zeal and success; brilliant talents, and great
+powers were developed in this work. There were certainly many half
+measures and false steps, but on the whole, when we consider the work,
+the integrity, the intelligence, and the vigorous will which the
+Prussians then showed in Germany, it fills us with respect, especially
+when we compare it with the later French rule, which indeed carried on
+reforms thoroughly and dexterously, but at the same time brought a
+chaos of coarseness and rough tyranny into the country.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The acquisition of Poland was in itself a great gain for Germany, for
+it afforded it a protection against the enormous increase of Russia;
+the east frontier of Prussia gained military security. If it was hard
+for the Poles, it was necessary for the Germans. The desolate condition
+of the half-wild provinces required a proportionate exertion, if they
+were to be made useful, that is to say, if they were to be transformed
+into a German Empire. It was not a time for quiet colonisation; but
+even of this there was not a little.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But another circumstance was ominous. All these extensions were not the
+result of the impulses of a strong national power: they were partly
+forced on Prussia after inglorious campaigns by a too powerful enemy.
+And Germany showed the remarkable phenomena of Prussia being enlarged
+under continued humiliations and diplomatic defeats; and that its
+increase of territory went hand-in-hand with the decrease of its
+consideration in Europe. Thus this diffuse State had at last too much
+the appearance of a group of islands congregated together, which the
+next hurricane would bury under the waves.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The surface of ground was so great, and the life and interests of its
+citizens had become so various, that the power of one individual could
+no longer arbitrarily guide the enormous machine in the old way. And
+yet there was no lack of the great aid&#8212;the ultimate regulator both of
+princes and officials&#8212;public opinion, which incessantly, honestly, and
+bravely accompanied the doings of rulers, examined their public acts,
+gave expression to the wishes of the people, and felt their needs. The
+daily press was anxiously controlled, accidental flying sheets wounded
+deeply, and were violently suppressed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The King was a man of strict uprightness and moderation, but he was no
+General, nor a great politician; so he remained all his life too much
+averse to decided and energetic resolves. He was then young and
+diffident of his own powers, and he felt vividly that he superintended
+too little the details of business; the intrigues of greedy courtiers
+put him out of humour, without his knowing how to stop them; his
+endeavours to preserve his own independence, and guard himself from
+preponderating influence, put him in danger of preferring insignificant
+and pliant characters to firm ones. The State had clearly then come
+into a position when the spontaneous action of the people and the
+beginning of constitutional life could no longer be dispensed with. But
+again it seemed so little possible, that the most discontented scarcely
+ventured to whisper it. All the material for it was wanting; the old
+States of Prussia had been thoroughly set aside; the communities were
+governed by officials; even an interest in politics and the life of the
+State was almost confined to them. What the King had seen arise under
+the co-operation of the people in a foreign country, national
+assemblies and conventions, had given him so deep a repugnance to every
+such participation of his Prussians in the work of the State, that, to
+the misfortune of his people and successors, he never, as long as he
+lived, could overcome this feeling. Before 1806, he thought of nothing
+of the kind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Very strongly did he feel that it was impossible for him to continue to
+govern in the old method of Frederic II. This great King, in spite of
+all his immense power of work and knowledge of minute particulars, had
+only been able to keep the whole in vigorous movement by sacrificing to
+his arbitrary power, even the innocent, in case of need. As he was in
+the position to decide everything himself, and quickly, it frequently
+happened that his decision depended on his humour and accidental
+subordinate considerations. He did not, therefore, hesitate to break an
+officer for a mere oversight, or discharge councillors of the supreme
+court who had only done their duty. And if he discovered that he had
+done an injustice, though he was passionately desirous of doing
+justice, he never once acknowledged the fact; for it was necessary to
+preserve his faith in himself, as well as the obedience and pliancy of
+his officials, and the implicit trust of his people in his final
+decisions. It was not only one of his peculiar characteristics, but
+also his policy, to retract nothing, neither overhaste nor mistake; and
+not to make amends even for obvious injustice, except occasionally and
+secretly. That powerful and wise Prince could venture upon this; his
+successor justly feared to rule in such a way. The grandson of that
+Prince of Prussia, whom Frederic II. angrily removed from the command
+in the middle of the war, felt deeply the severity of this hasty
+decision.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He was therefore obliged to do like his predecessors, to seek to
+control his officials by themselves. Thus began in Prussia the reign of
+the bureaucracy. The number of offices became greater, useless
+intermediate authorities were introduced, and the transaction of all
+business became circuitous. It was the first consequence of the
+endeavour to proceed justly, thoroughly, and securely, and to remodel
+the strict despotism of the olden time. But to the people this appeared
+a loss. As long as there was no press, and no tribunal to help the
+oppressed to their rights, petitions had quite a different
+signification to what they have now; for now the most insignificant can
+gain the sympathy of a whole country by inserting a few lines in a
+newspaper, and set ministers and representatives of the people in
+commotion for days. Frederic II. had received every petition, and
+generally disposed of them himself, and thus, undoubtedly, his kingly
+despotism came to light Frederic William could not bear to have
+petitions presented to himself; he sent them immediately to the courts.
+This was according to rule. But, as the magistrates were not yet
+obliged to take care that these complaints of individuals should be
+made public, they were only too frequently thrown on one side, and the
+poor people exclaimed that there was no longer any help against the
+encroachments of the Landräthe,<a name="div2_36" href="#div2Ref_36"><sup>[36]</sup></a> or against the corruption of
+excisemen. Even the King suffered from it; not his good will, but his
+power was doubted to give help against the officials.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this evil was added another. The officials of the administration had
+become more numerous, but not more powerful. Life was more luxurious,
+prices had increased enormously, and their salaries, always scanty even
+in the olden time, had not risen in proportion. In the cities, justice
+and administration were not yet separated; a kind of tutelage was
+exercised even in the merest trifles; the spontaneous activity of the
+citizen was failing; the &quot;Directors&quot; of the city were royal officials,
+frequently discharged auditors and quartermasters of regiments. In 1740
+this had been a great advance; in 1806 the education and professional
+knowledge of such men was insufficient. Into the war and territorial
+departments, however, which are now called government departments, the
+young nobility already sought for admittance; among them not a few were
+men of note, who later were reckoned the greatest names in Prussia; and
+most of them, without much exertion, quickly made their fortunes. It
+was complained that in some of the offices almost all the work was done
+by the secretaries. But that, in truth, was only the case in Silesia,
+which had its own minister. After the great Polish acquisition, Count
+Hoym, in Silesia, had for some years the chief administration of the
+Polish province. It was a bad measure to give a subject unlimited power
+over that vast territory; it was a misfortune for him and the State. He
+lived at Breslau as king, and he kept spies at the court of his
+Sovereign, who were to keep him <i>au fait</i> of the state of things. The
+poor nobles of Silesia thronged around him, and he gave his favourites
+office, landed properties, and wealth. The uprightness of the officials
+in the new province was injured by this unfit condition of things.
+Government domains were sold at low prices, and Generals and privy
+councillors were thus enabled to acquire large landed properties for
+little money.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is curious that the first open resistance to this arose among the
+officials themselves, and that the opposition was carried on, for the
+first time, in Prussia, through the modern weapon of the press. The
+most violent complainant was the chief custom-house officer, Von Held;
+he accused Count Hoym, Chancellor Goldbeck, General Rüchel, and many
+others, of fraud, and compared the present state of Prussia with the
+just time of Frederic II. The case made an immense sensation.
+Investigations were commenced against him and his friends; they were
+prosecuted as members of a secret society, and as demagogues. Held's
+writings were confiscated; and he himself imprisoned and condemned, but
+at last set at liberty. In his imprisonment the irritated and
+embittered man attacked the King himself:<a name="div2_37" href="#div2Ref_37"><sup>[37]</sup></a> he accused him of too
+great economy&#8212;which we consider the first virtue of a King of Prussia;
+of hardness&#8212;which was unfounded; and of playing at soldiering&#8212;this,
+unfortunately, with good grounds. He complained: &quot;When the Prince will
+no longer hear truth, when he throws upright men and true patriots into
+prison, and appoints those who have been accused of fraud to be
+directors of the commission appointed to try them, then must the
+honest, calm, but not the less warm, friends of their Fatherland sigh.&quot;
+Meanwhile he did not satisfy himself with sighing, but became
+satirical.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From this dispute, which only turns on an individuals circumstances, we
+learn how bold and reckless was the language of political critics in
+old Prussia; and how low and helpless the position of its princes
+against such attacks. As the King took the whole government upon his
+own shoulders, he bore also the whole responsibility, as he alone
+guided the machine of the State; so every attack on the particular acts
+of the administration, and upon the officials of the State, was a
+personal attack upon him. Wherever there was an error the King bore the
+blame, either because he had neglected something or because he had not
+punished the guilty. Every peasant woman who had her eggs crushed by
+the excise officers at the city gates felt the harshness of the King;
+and if a new tax irritated the city people, the boys in the streets
+cried out and jeered behind the King's horse, and it was even possible
+that a handful of mud might be thrown at his noble head. Again broke
+forth a quiet war betwixt the King of Prussia and the foreign press.
+Even Frederic William I. had, in his &quot;<i>Tabakacollegium</i>,&quot; exercised his
+powers of imagination in composing a short article against the Dutch
+newspaper writers who had annoyed him; his great son, also, was
+irritated by their pens, but he knew how to pay them in like coin.
+Quite a volley of scorn and spite was fired in innumerable novels,
+satires, and pasquinades against his successor. Of what avail against
+this was violence, the opening of letters and secret investigations?
+What use was confiscation? The forbidden writings were still read, and
+the coarse lies were believed. Of what use was it if the King caused
+himself to be defended by loyal pens, if in a well considered reply the
+public were informed that Frederic William III. had shown no harshness
+to the Countess of Lichtenau; that he was a very good husband<a name="div2_38" href="#div2Ref_38"><sup>[38]</sup></a> and
+father, an upright man who had the best intentions? The people might,
+or might not, believe it; at all events they had made themselves judges
+of the life of their Prince in a manner which, as we view it, was
+highly derogatory to the majesty of the Crown.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Yet the times were quiet, and the culture and mind of the nation was
+not occupied by politics. What would happen if the people were roused
+to political excitement? The monarchy, in this inferior position, would
+be entirely ruined, however good might be the intentions of the
+Hohenzollerns. For they were no longer, as they had been in the
+eighteenth century, and were still in the time of Frederic II., great
+landed proprietors on unpopulated territory; they were, in fact, kings
+of an important nation; they were no longer in the position of
+obtaining the knowledge of every perversity of the great host of
+officials and of ruling over the great administration personally. Now,
+the administration was carried on by officials; if it went right it was
+a matter of course, but every mistake fell upon the King's head. How
+this was to be remedied before 1806 no one, not even the best, knew.
+But discontent and a feeling of insecurity increased among the people.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Such a condition of things, in a transition time, from the old despotic
+state to a new one, gave a helpless aspect to the Prussian
+commonwealth. It was however, in truth, no symptom of fatal weakness,
+as was shortly after shown by zealous Prussians.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For, besides the strength and capacity of self-sacrifice, which was
+still slumbering in the people, a fresh hopeful vigour was already
+visible in a distinguished circle. Again it was to be found among the
+Prussian officials. The supreme court of judicature had maintained
+itself in the high consideration it had gained since the organisation
+of the last King. It was a numerous body; it included the flower of
+Prussian intelligence, the greatest strength of the citizens, and the
+highest culture of the nobles. The elder were trained under Cocceji,
+and the younger under Carmer&#8212;judicious, upright, firm men, of great
+capacity for work, of proud patriotism and independence of character,
+who were not led astray by any ministerial rescript. The court
+<i>coteries</i> did not yet venture to assail these unpliable men; and it is
+a merit in the King that he held a protecting hand over their
+integrity. They belonged partly to citizens' families, which for many
+generations had sent their sons to the lecture-rooms of the professors
+of law; in the East to Frankfort and Königsberg, in the West to Halle
+and Göttingen. Their families formed an almost hereditary aristocracy
+of officials. United with them as fellow-students and friends, and
+like-minded, were the best talents of the administration; also
+foreigners who had entered the Prussian civil service. From this circle
+had been produced all the officials, who, after the prostration of
+Prussia, were active in the renovation of the State, Stein, Schön,
+Vinke, Grolmann, Sack, Merkel, and many others, presidents of the
+administration, and heads of the courts of justice after 1815.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is a pleasure in this time of insecurity to direct our attention to
+the quiet labours of these trustworthy men. Many of them were strictly
+trained bureaucrats, with limited ideas and feelings; on the green
+table of the Board lay the ambition and labour of their whole lives.
+But they, the chief judges, the administrators of the Province,
+maintained faithfully and lastingly through difficult times their
+consciousness of being Prussians; each of them imparted to those about
+him something of the tenacious perseverance and the confident judgment
+which distinguished them. Even when they were severed from the body of
+their State, and were obliged to declare the law under foreign rule,
+they worked on in their sphere unchanged, in the old way; accustomed to
+calm self-control, they concealed in the depths of their souls the
+fiery longing after their hereditary ruler, and perhaps quiet plans for
+a better time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whoever will compare these men with some of the powerful talents of the
+official class which were developed at this time in the territories of
+South Germany, will perceive an essential difference. There, even in
+the best, there are frequently traits that are displeasing to us;
+arbitrariness in their political points of view; indifference as to
+whom or for what they served; a secret irony with which they consider
+the petty relations of their country. They all suffer from the want of
+a State which merits the love of a man. This want gives their judgment,
+acute as it may be, something uncertain, unfinished, and peevish; one
+does not doubt their integrity, but one feels strongly that there is a
+moral instability in them which makes them like adventurers, though
+learned and highly cultivated men. Undoubtedly, however, if a Prussian
+once lost his love of Fatherland, he became weaker than them. Karl
+Heinrich Lang is deficient in what Freidrich Gentz once had, and lost
+by moral weakness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Conscientious officials have admitted at this time the confusion of
+every country, especially the North; but the Prussians may justly claim
+this pre-eminence, that in the circle of their middle order, not the
+most refined, but the soundest culture of that time was to be found,
+not occasionally, but as a rule.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Prussian army suffered from the same deficiencies as the politics
+and administration of the state. Here also there was improvement in
+many particulars, but much that was old was carefully preserved; what
+once had been progress was now mischievous. This bad condition is
+acknowledged; none have condemned it more strongly than the Prussian
+military writers since the year 1815.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The treatment of the soldiers was still too severe; there was unworthy
+parsimony in their scanty uniforms and small rations, endless was the
+drilling, endless the parades, the ineradicable suffering of the
+Prussian army; the man&#339;uvres had become useless &quot;spectacle,&quot; in
+which every movement was arranged and studied beforehand; incapable
+officers were retained to the extreme of old age. Hardly anything had
+been done to adapt the old Prussian system to the changed method of
+carrying on war which had arisen in the Revolution.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The officers were still an exclusive caste, which was almost entirely
+filled by the nobility; only a few not noble were in the Fusilier
+Battalions of Infantry and some among the Hussars. Under Frederic II.,
+during the deficiency of men in the Seven Years' War, young volunteers
+of citizen origin were made officers. Then they were, at least in their
+pay, and frequently in the regimental lists, represented as noble; but
+after the peace, however great their capacity, they were almost always
+kept out of the privileged battalions. This did not improve under the
+later Kings. Only in the Artillery, in 1806, were the greater number of
+officers commoners, but on that account they were not considered as
+equals. It was a bitter irony that a French artillery officer should be
+the person, as Emperor of the French, to think of shattering the
+Prussian army and its State into pieces, at the same time in which they
+were contending in Prussia as to whether an officer of artillery
+should be received upon the general staff, and that the citizen
+Lieutenant-Colonel Schamhorst should be envied this privilege.<a name="div2_39" href="#div2Ref_39"><sup>[39]</sup></a> It
+was natural that all the failings of a privileged order should appear
+in full measure in the Prussian corps of officers. Pride towards the
+citizens, roughness to those under them, a deficiency in cultivation
+and good morals, and in the privileged regiments an unbridled
+insolence. It is a common complaint of contemporaries, that in the
+streets and societies of Berlin people were not secure from the
+insults of the <i>gens d'armes</i>, who were the <i>élite</i> of the young
+nobility. Already did these arrogant men, at the beginning of the
+reign of Frederic William III., begin to be ashamed of wearing their
+old-fashioned uniform in society, and where they dared, lounged in with
+protruding white neck-ties, top-boots, and sword-sick.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In spite of these deficiencies, there was still in the Prussian army
+much of the capacity and strength of the olden time. The stout race of
+old subaltern officers had not died out, men who had shed bitter tears
+over the death of their great General in 1786; and still did the common
+soldiers, in spite of the diminished confidence in their leaders, feel
+pride in their well-tried war-like capacity. Many characteristic traits
+have been preserved to us, which give us a pleasing picture of the
+disposition of the army. When, in the campaign of 1792, a Prussian and
+Austrian, as good comrades and malcontents, were complaining to one
+another, and the Prussian did not speak in praise of his King, he yet
+stopped the other, who was repeating his words, with a box on the ear,
+saying: &quot;You shall not speak so of my King;&quot; and on the angry Austrian
+reproaching him with having said the same, the aggressor replied: &quot;I
+may say that, but not you, for I am a Prussian.&quot; Such was the feeling
+in most of the regiments. The disgraceful prostration of Prussia was
+not owing to the bad material of the army, nor especially to the
+obsolete tactics. Nay, in the struggle it was shown how great was the
+capacity of both the men and officers who were so shamefully
+sacrificed. Amidst the lawlessness, coarseness, and rapacity which
+inevitably come to light among a demoralised soldiery, we rejoice in
+finding the most worthy soldier-like feeling often amongst the meanest
+of them. One of the many unworthy proceedings of the stupid campaign of
+1806, was the surrender of Hameln. How the betrayed garrison behaved
+has been related in the letter of an officer. The narrator was the son
+of an emigrant, a Frenchman by birth, but he had become an inestimable
+German, of whom our people are proud; he had done his duty as a
+Prussian officer, but at every free moment he devoted himself to German
+literature and science; he had no satisfaction in carrying on war
+against the land of his birth, and had sometimes wished himself away
+from the ill-conducted campaign; but when a bad commander betrayed his
+brave troops, the full anger of an old Prussian was kindled in the
+breast of the adopted child of the German people, he assembled his
+comrades, and urged them to a general rising against their incapable
+commander; all the juniors were as indignant as himself; but in vain.
+They were deceived, and the fortress, in spite of their resistance,
+delivered over to the French. Fearful was the despair of the soldiers;
+they fired their cartridges into the windows of the cowardly commander;
+they shot one another in rage and drunkenness; they dashed their
+weapons on the stones, that they might not be carried with more renown
+by strangers, and the old Brandenburgers wept when they took leave of
+their officers. In the company of Captain von Britzke, regiment von
+Haack, were two brothers, Warnawa, sons of soldiers; they mutually
+placed their muskets to each other's breast, drew the triggers at the
+same time, and fell into each other's arms, that they might not survive
+the disgrace.<a name="div2_40" href="#div2Ref_40"><sup>[40]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">But those who were the leaders, but not men, who were they? Experienced
+Generals from the school of the great King, men of high birth, loyal
+and true to their King, grown old in honours. But were they too old?
+They undoubtedly were grey-headed and weary. They had come into the
+army as boys, perhaps from the teaching of the cadet colleges, where
+they had been trained; they had marched and presented arms at the word
+of command; had kept line and distance in countless parades; afterwards
+they had kept a sharp look-out, that others might keep line and
+distance, that the buttons were cleaned, and that the pig-tail was the
+right length. In order to gain promotion, they had taken pains to learn
+at Berlin whether Rüchel or Hohenlohe was in favour. This had been
+their life. They knew little more than the spiritless routine of the
+army, and that they were a wheel in the great machine. Now their army
+was beaten, and the shattered remains in rapid retreat to the east.
+What remained now, what was left of any value to them?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But it was not cowardice that made them such pitiful creatures. They
+had formerly been brave soldiers, and most of them were not old enough
+to be in their dotage. It was something else: they had lost all
+confidence in their State; it appeared to them useless, hopeless to
+defend themselves any longer&#8212;a fruitless slaughter of men. Thus did
+these unfortunate ones feel. They had been all their life mediocre
+men&#8212;not better nor worse than others; this mediocrity now prevailed,
+as far as their narrow point of view reached, everywhere in the State.
+Where was there anything great or strong? where any fresh life to give
+enthusiasm and warmth? They themselves had been the delight, the
+society of the Hohenzollerns&#8212;the first in the State, the salt of the
+country; they were accustomed to look down upon citizens and officials.
+Besides their Prince and the army itself, what had they in Prussia to
+honour? Now the King was away&#8212;they knew not where&#8212;they were alone
+within the walls of their fortress; and they found little in themselves
+either to shun or to honour; they felt at best that they were weak.
+Thus, in the hour of trial they became bad and mean, because they had
+all their lives been placed higher than their merits. A fearful lesson
+may be learnt from this; may Prussians always think of it. The
+officers, as a privileged class, socially exclusive, with the feeling
+of a privileged position in the State, were in constant danger of
+fluctuating between arrogance and weakness. Only the officer who,
+besides his honour as a soldier and his fidelity to his sovereign, had
+a full participation in all that ennobled and elevated a citizen of his
+time, could in a moment of difficulty find certain strength in his own
+breast.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A period of intellectual poverty and mediocrity brought Prussia to the
+verge of destruction; political passion raised it again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But here an account shall be given of the feelings of a German citizen
+on the fall of his State. He belonged to that circle of Prussian
+jurists of whom we have just spoken. What he imparts is already known
+from other records, yet his honest description will find sympathy from
+its judicial clearness and simplicity:&#8212;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cristoph Wilhelm Heinrich Sethe, born 1767, deceased 1855. &quot;<i>Wirklicher
+Geheimer Rath</i>,&quot; and chief president of the Rhenish court of appeal,
+descended from a great legal family in the dukedom of Cleves; his
+grandfather and father had been distinguished officials of the
+government; his mother was a Grolmann. The boy grew up in the
+enjoyment of wealth in his father's town; at sixteen years of age his
+father sent him to the university of Duisburg, and then to Halle and
+Göttingen; on his return he went through the Prussian grades of service
+in the government of Cleve-Mark, an excellent school. These western
+provinces&#8212;-not of very great extent&#8212;comprised a good portion of the
+strength of the Prussian State. This firm, vigorous population clung
+with warm fidelity to the house of their Princes; there was in the
+cities and among the peasants, who lived as freemen on their land, much
+wealth, and the High Court of Justice was one of the best in Prussia
+Sethe was &quot;<i>Geheimer Rath</i>,&quot; happily married, with his whole heart in
+his home, when a gloom was thrown over his native city and his own life
+by the sound of war, the march and quartering of troops, exciting
+reports, and, finally, the occupation of the town by the French, who,
+as it is well known, allowed the sovereignty of Prussia to continue
+for some years, till the Peace of Amiens took away the last vestige
+of Prussian possession. Then Sethe severed himself from his home,
+and established himself in the Prussian administration of the
+newly-acquired portion of Münster.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He shall now relate himself what he experienced.<a name="div2_41" href="#div2Ref_41"><sup>[41]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You can easily imagine, my dear children, that the departure from
+Cleve was very distressing to us. It was a bitter feeling to wander in
+this way from home, and leave one's native city under foreign laws and
+the dominion of a foreign people.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On 3rd October, 1803, we left. We went from Cleve to Münster in three
+days; the journey from Emmerick was extremely difficult and tedious; it
+was over corduroy roads, with loose stones thrown on them.&quot;<a name="div2_42" href="#div2Ref_42"><sup>[42]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the beginning of our life at Münster we also encountered many
+annoyances. From the number of officials who had removed there, and the
+numerous military, our accommodation was very restricted. Then we
+arrived there towards winter, and provisions were very deficient; in
+Münster there was no regular market, and the women from Cleve were in
+despair, because they could get nothing. This, however, came right, and
+afterwards they got on very well.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On a friendly reception and courtesy to us intruding strangers we had
+never reckoned, because we knew how much the people of Münster clung to
+their constitution&#8212;with what steadfastness a great portion of them
+still relied on their elected bishop, Victor Anton, and how unwillingly
+they endured the new rule of Prussia. I have never blamed them for
+this; it was a praiseworthy trait in their character that they should
+be unwilling to separate from a government under which they had felt
+happy; but others took this much amiss of them, and expected that they
+would receive the Prussians with open arms, and immediately become
+Prussians in heart and soul, which could only be expected from a fickle
+people who had groaned under the fetters of a harsh government.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Therefore, there was already division and separation between the new
+comers of old Prussia and the people of Münster before our arrival.
+Thus, much took place which was not likely to promote intimacy, or to
+awaken a friendly feeling in the inhabitants.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By the disbanding of the Münster military, the greater number of the
+officers were dismissed with pensions, and thrown out of their course
+of life. This first consequence of the Prussian occupation not only
+deeply wounded the feelings of those dismissed, but was generally
+considered as unjust; and the more so as among the Münster officers
+there was much culture and scientific knowledge, and the general run of
+Prussian officers could not stand comparison with them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The introduction of conscription increased the discontent; but still
+more general indignation was excited by the ill-treatment which the
+enlisted sons of citizens and country people had to bear from the
+non-commissioned officers. I myself was eyewitness of the way in which
+a non-commissioned officer dealt abusive language, blows, and kicks to
+a recruit, and struck him on the shins with his cane, so that tears of
+sorrow coursed down the cheeks of the poor man. The spirit, also, which
+prevailed among the greater number of the Prussian officers, and their
+consequent behaviour, was not calculated to excite a favourable feeling
+in a new country towards the new government. Blücher, indeed, who was
+commandant of Münster, won real esteem and liking by his popular
+manner, his open and upright character, and his justice; and General
+von Wobeser, commander of a dragoon regiment, a very sensible,
+cultivated, moderate man, did so likewise; but the good effect of their
+conduct was spoilt by that of the others, namely, the general body of
+the subaltern officers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Once there arose a dispute betwixt some citizens and the guard at the
+Mauritz-gate; the citizens were said to have gone amongst the arms and
+hustled the guard. Blücher was at that time at Pyrmont. There appeared
+then a proclamation, under the signature of a General von Ernest, but
+from another pen, by which every sentry who was touched by a citizen
+should be authorised to strike him down. This irrational order, which
+gave every sentinel power over the lives of the citizens, who, by
+touching them even accidentally, were exposed to their bayonets,
+excited indignation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In addition to this, there now happened a disagreeable affair between
+three officers and three prebendaries.<a name="div2_43" href="#div2Ref_43"><sup>[43]</sup></a> There existed at Münster a
+so-called noble ladies' club, which admitted both men and ladies.
+Immediately after the first possession of the place, from political
+motives. Generals Blücher and Wobeser, the President Von Stein, and
+other Prussian officers were admitted, also Blücher's son Franz. In
+balloting for the admittance of another Prussian officer, he was
+blackballed. Indisputably this showed an objection, either to him as a
+Prussian, or to the admittance of more officers, for against the
+individual nothing could be said. This could not fail to increase the
+bad feeling, and it wounded especially the sensitive vanity of the
+young officers. Moreover, the ballot was at first declared to be
+favourable, and it was only upon a revision of the balls that the black
+ball was discovered; that is to say, the lady president of the club,
+the widowed Frau von Droste-Vischering, a very worthy and good-humoured
+lady, either by mistake or from the well-meant intention of preventing
+the disagreeable consequences of blackballing, had counted a white ball
+too much. It was remarked by one of the prebendaries present, that the
+whole number of balls did not agree with the number of votes. On
+counting them again accurately, it was found that the candidate was not
+received. Undoubtedly the younger prebendaries might have co-operated
+in the exclusion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The impetuous Lieutenant Franz von Blücher gave vent to his feelings
+concerning this to one of the young prebendaries, and some words ensued
+between them. The following day Franz Blücher challenged this
+prebendary by letter; and two other officers, one of whom was the
+rejected one, challenged two other young prebendaries in the same way.
+Both these, who had not had the slightest hostile communication with
+the challengers, wrote to express their surprise. One of them received
+for answer, that he had laughed at the altercation between Lieutenant
+von Blücher and the other prebendary, and therefore he, the challenger,
+felt himself injured in the person of his friend Blücher. The other
+challenger would not even give such an excuse, he only wrote that he
+felt himself aggrieved, and that was enough.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The prebendaries, who, on account of their spiritual order, could not
+accept the challenge, informed the King immediately of the occurrence.
+The result was, the appointment of a mixed commission of inquiry under
+the presidency of General von Wobeser, and our President of
+Administration, Von Sobbe, into which I also was introduced, together
+with the quartermaster of the regiment, Ribbentrop. The prebendaries
+were acquitted by the court of justice before which the case was
+brought, and the officers were sentenced by a court-martial to three
+weeks' arrest, which they spent at the guard-house in the society of
+their companions, and promenading before it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the three prebendaries were also wounded in their most sensitive
+feelings by a malicious trick which was played them. Before this
+commission of inquiry was appointed, they were invited, through a
+livery servant, to a great evening party at General Blücher's without
+his knowledge. They were all startled, suspected some mistake, and were
+doubtful about going. But as they were all three invited through a
+servant of the General's, they decided there could be no mistake, and
+also their relations and friends, who thought this invitation was a
+step towards the accommodation of the affair, advised them to go.
+General Blücher, who had never thought of inviting them, was naturally
+very irate at seeing the three prebendaries enter. Being much
+prejudiced against them by his son Franz, who had then much influence
+over his father, and perhaps irritated by invidious remarks from the
+originator of the intrigue, upon their boldness in appearing, he gave
+them to understand that they had not been invited, and might go. They
+indignantly left the party, and not only they, but also their families;
+the ladies hastened home on foot, so deeply did they feel the
+mortification. This concerted deliberate affront excited general
+ill-will, and contributed very much to increase the bad feeling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But what more than all increased the bitterness was the exercise of
+'Cabinet justice'<a name="div2_44" href="#div2Ref_44"><sup>[44]</sup></a> in the suit of the firm of Herren von der Beck,
+against the Herren von Landesberg and Von Böselager. By a 'Cabinet
+order' of the 5th September, 1805, obtained by Von der Reck, the suit
+between the two parties pending in the Imperial Aulic Council was
+declared to be legally decided, and a commission of execution was
+appointed to eject the Herren von Landesberg and Von Böselager from
+their property, and to place the Herren von der Reck in possession of
+it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This unfortunate business, in a country which had as yet no Prussian
+feeling, revolted all minds. In public writings this violent inroad on
+the course of law was vehemently attacked, and an odious stain was
+inflicted on our Prussian justice, of which we had talked so loudly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was a mistake not to introduce the whole Prussian constitution at
+the outset, there would then have been only one source of discontent
+instead of constantly recurring irritation. Some, of the new things
+that were introduced piecemeal were peculiarly disagreeable to the
+people of Münster, who were quite unaccustomed to them, such as the
+stamp duty, conscription, and the salt monopoly. Also the well-known
+excise was impending. Already were the toll-houses built, and it was to
+have been introduced in 1807, but was prevented by the events of the
+year 1806. But the expectation gave a disagreeable foretaste, and
+through it new fuel was added to the hatred. At last, but much too
+late, as the unhappy war had begun, the chapter was dissolved.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Under such circumstances, residence in Münster was not agreeable to us
+old Prussians. I indeed felt this less than others; after I had made
+myself, to a certain extent, at home, I got on well with the people
+there; we won many true friends, and experienced from them much love
+and friendship. As in my office, so in social intercourse, I took pains
+to judge justly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the year 1806 came, and one sorrow followed upon another. First
+the three Rhine portions of the Duchy of Cleve, which remained to the
+Prussians, surrendered to Napoleon; he established himself on this side
+of the Rhine, and came into possession of the fortress Wesel, which was
+only too near to the present Prussian frontier. His brother-in-law
+Joachim Murat became duke of the old hereditary possessions of the
+King's family. No one could conceal from himself that our State, which
+spread so wide from east to west, was in a very critical position. Our
+grief was increased by the insolence with which the newly created duke
+carried on his encroachments even as far as Münster.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;New clouds rose darkly over us. Letters from Berlin breathed war
+against Napoleon, Blücher left us, and we expected the French
+occupation of Münster. It is true that General Lecoq had entered it
+with a small corps, but this gave us little comfort, for he appeared to
+wish to abandon the city, with its moats and ramparts, to the evil
+results of a useless defence. When he had felled down a beautiful
+plantation in front of the Egidien gate, and after the appearance of
+our war manifesto, the city was terrified one night by sudden alarm
+signals, in order, as he said, to prove the watchfulness of his
+soldiers; in the middle of October he suddenly withdrew and left us to
+our fate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nevertheless, we old Prussians, confiding in the valour of our
+soldiers, gazed hopefully towards the east, and looked forward with
+impatient expectation to news of victory. And it came&#8212;when Napoleon
+was already making his victorious march to Berlin&#8212;and it bore such an
+impress of truth, that President Von Vinke<a name="div2_45" href="#div2Ref_45"><sup>[45]</sup></a> ordered it to be
+published. Never was there such exultation; every one hastened to the
+other to convey first the joyful news. But the deepest prostration
+followed; the cup we had now to drink was the more bitter after the
+intoxication of pleasure. A few days after we received from fugitives
+only too certain an account of the loss of the battle of Jena.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yet we recovered from the first stupefaction, and did not give up all
+hope. One lost battle could not decide the fate of the whole war.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But when we received detailed accounts of the terrible consequences of
+this defeat, when the last remains of the army had to lay down their
+arms at Lübeck, when the fortresses of Hameln, Magdeburg, Stettin and
+Castrin had, with unexampled cowardice, been surrendered without a blow
+to the enemy, and the whole Prussian State came under their power, then
+our courage sank, we knew that we were lost.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Meanwhile the sorrowful intelligence of the lost battle was followed
+by the enemy taking possession of the place.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Early one morning, a division of cavalry of the army of the King of
+Holland entered. Our anger and sorrow were increased by the feeling of
+the people of Münster, which was very different from ours. Already on
+the arrival of the vanguard of the Dutch army, their long-nourished,
+slumbering indignation against the Prussians manifested itself in
+unconcealed joy. With open arms were the liberators from Prussian
+domination received, and joyfully lodged. Immediately afterwards the
+King of Holland marched in at the head of his army.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We had hard work in quartering them, as ten thousand men had entered
+the city. But strict discipline was kept, for it was undoubtedly the
+object of the King of Holland not to make the country inimical to him;
+but to treat it in the most conciliatory way. He flattered himself that
+the frontier Prussian province would come to the share of the Kingdom
+of Holland. His proceedings and the language of those about him, showed
+that he already considered himself as possessor of the country. He
+established an upper administrative council, at whose head General
+Daendels was placed, in co-ordinate authority with the presidents of
+the provincial administration and exchequer. Immediately the Münster
+nobles came before him with their complaints of the Prussian rule, to
+which he listened. First stood the abolition of the chapter, and the
+ejection of Herren von Landesberg and von Böselager. He exercised a
+real act of sovereignty, for he reinstated the chapter, and reversed
+the execution against those who had been expelled in the suit of the
+Herren von der Reck.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Meanwhile his kingdom soon came to an end; he had to march away at the
+command of Napoleon, who divided the conquered Prussian provinces into
+military governments, and appointed Generals and General-Intendants to
+preside. The Principalities of Münster and Lingen, and the counties of
+Mark and Tecklenburg, together with the Domain of Dortmund, formed the
+first of these governments. General Loison came to Münster.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thus for the second time I came under French rule. In vain had I
+endeavoured to escape; fruitless were the severe sacrifices I had made
+for this purpose. I had abandoned Fatherland and home, parents and
+property, only to undergo once more in a foreign country the
+catastrophe which I had avoided, and which now came upon me in a far
+worse form. When Cleve became French, I took leave of it; I felt in my
+heart pleasure in returning under the sceptre of my own King, and under
+the rule of home laws; this one anchor to which I had held, was now
+torn from me. The power of Prussia was shattered, the whole State, with
+the exception of a small portion, was now in the power of a conqueror,
+whose ambitious plans displayed themselves more and more. It was only
+too certain that we should be trampled upon; but what our fate might
+be, over that a dark veil was drawn. The grief which gnawed in our
+bosoms and the deep mourning in which we were sunk, were increased by
+the annoyance of witnessing the joyful exultation of the people of
+Münster over their liberation from Prussian rule, and the favour with
+which they were treated by the conqueror and his satellites. It was
+more especially the Münster nobles who thus distinguished themselves,
+and behaved in a most undignified way. I will relate some instances of
+it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In order in the speediest way to remove the hated Prussian colours,
+which were painted on the turnpikes, bridges, and public buildings, and
+to replace them by the old Münster colours, a subscription was raised
+to defray the costs, and our colours were erased as soon as possible.
+One of the most opulent nobles took pleasure in showing his warm
+participation in this undertaking, by giving his signature to a
+considerable sum; in order to make known that he could not refrain from
+expressing his satisfaction, he added to his subscription, the phrase:
+'With pleasure,' that no one might doubt his patriotic feeling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The presidents, directors, councillors, assessors and referendaries of
+the government, and of the war and royal domain departments, continued
+to wear their official uniforms. These reminiscences of Prussian
+supremacy were an abomination in the eyes of the nobles. They therefore
+endeavoured to work upon General Loison to order the laying aside of
+the uniform; but they only half succeeded. The General expressly
+permitted the continuance of the uniform, and only ordered that the
+Prussian button should be taken away, which we were obliged to change
+for a smooth one. Thus the uniform was not laid aside, and the Geheime
+Rath von Forkenbeck and I still wore it at the council in the year
+1808, when we were called to Düsseldorf.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This otherwise proud Münster nobility paid as much court to the French
+Generals as to their former ruler, the Prince Bishop.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The oath prescribed by Napoleon, which was imposed also in Münster,
+was so little obnoxious to them, that they even endeavoured to make a
+solemnity of taking it, and to do it with the ceremony which is only
+customary at doing homage. A canopy was erected in the great hall of
+the castle, under which General Loison received the oath. It was with
+great astonishment that we beheld these preparations, but our surprise
+was still greater when we saw General Loison, accompanied by the
+hereditary and court officials of the former Bishop of Münster; who,
+with their old state ministered to the French General, in the same way
+as to their former Sovereign, and stood at his side as supporters
+during the ceremony.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A considerable table allowance was appointed for the governor&#8212;if I do
+not mistake, 12,000 thalers monthly&#8212;which was raised by an
+extraordinary tax. A household was formed, and the pensioned Münster
+officials were again employed. The Court Marshal von Sch. acted in this
+capacity at the table of the French governor; he issued the invitations
+for dinners and evening assemblies, on which occasions he wore his old
+court marshal's uniform, with his marshal's staff in his hand, and
+under him was the court quartermaster with his sword, &amp;c. When we saw
+this servile conduct the first time, the president of the
+administration, Von Sobbe, speaking to me, called the one an arrant
+fool, and the other the court fool.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Besides this, there was a volunteer guard of honour established for
+General Loison, who equipped themselves. They furnished the daily guard
+at the castle, and accompanied the General, when with a troop of
+soldiers he made a progress into the county of Mark. At the head of
+this guard of honour there were members of the Münster nobility.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the noble ladies' club, from which every respectable German had
+been excluded who did not belong to their caste, they received the
+French General with his mistress, in order to exercise more influence
+upon him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nevertheless, they were not so successful with General Loison; he was
+too wary for them, made fun of them in secret, and only cared for the
+presents that were partly given to him and partly promised. They had
+offered him a costly sword as a present, which he accepted graciously.
+The sword was ordered and made at Frankfort, but it only arrived after
+Loison had left the government. Now they were sorry for this too hasty
+offer, and they had no desire to send him the sword, as they had not
+found that complaisance in him which they expected. All this courtly
+<i>empressement</i> became so repugnant to Loison, that he himself prevailed
+on Napoleon to recall him to the army.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With his weaker successor, Canuel, it succeeded better. My worthy
+friend the president, Von Vinke, was the first to experience it. An
+incidental expression thrown out by him in a remonstrance, 'that
+otherwise he could no longer carry on his office,' was readily laid
+hold of as signifying a resignation, and he was dismissed from his
+post.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In order to overcome my grief at things that could not be altered, I
+endeavoured to find distraction in a great work. The yet incomplete
+state of the laws of mortgages in the county of Münster, offered me the
+handiest and best material I devoted myself to this tedious work with
+the greatest zeal, and with the assistance of many referendaries, I
+accomplished the registry of all the title deeds which had to be
+recorded in the mortgage book of the government of Münster. Thus I
+succeeded in a certain measure in occupying myself, and I learnt by
+experience that hard work is in truth a soothing balsam, which precedes
+the slow healing powers of time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But much as I believed myself to have acquired a kind of philosophic
+tranquillity by this withdrawal into my narrow sphere of business, yet
+I could not escape agitating feelings when the Peace of Tilsit really
+separated us from the Prussian State, and removed its frontier as much
+as forty miles to the east of us. The moving words with which our
+unhappy King took leave of his subjects, in the ceded provinces, and
+discharged the officials from their oath of allegiance, made us feel
+our loss still deeper. 'Dear children, it is an indescribably sorrowful
+feeling when the old ties of allegiance, of love, and confidence, which
+have bound us through long successive years to our ancestors, our
+State, and rulers, are at once violently rent, when a new and foreign
+ruler is forced upon a people, for whom no heart beats, who is received
+with despairing doubts, and who on his side feels nothing for his
+subjects.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here we conclude the narrative of the good Prussian. Münster and the
+county of Mark were attached to the new grand-dukedom of Berg; Sethe
+himself became procurator-general of the Court of Appeals at
+Düsseldorf. But not for long, the firm uprightness of the German
+appeared suspicious to the foreign conqueror; he had not offered his
+aid in supporting the acts of tyranny of the French government;
+therefore he was called with threats to Paris, and there arrested,
+because, in fact, they feared his influence on the patriotic
+disposition of the country. When, in 1813, he was released, and the
+Prussian rule was restored in his Fatherland, he conducted the
+organisation of the legal authorities in the Rhine country. From that
+time he led a long, useful life of activity in his office, one of the
+first Prussian jurists who supported trial by jury, publicity, and
+verbal evidence, against the State government. A firm independence of
+character, truthful, devoted to duty, with deified earnestness and
+simplicity, he was a model of old Prussian official honour. The
+blessing of his life rests on his children.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is not without an object that in this and the preceding chapter two
+portraitures from the circle of German citizens have been placed in
+juxtaposition. They represent the contrasts that were to be found in
+German life, through the whole of the eighteenth century up to the war
+of freedom. We see Pietists and followers of Wolf; Klopstock and
+Lessing; Schiller and Kant; Germans and Prussians; a rich contemplative
+mind, and a persevering energy, which subjects the external world to
+itself.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+<br>
+<h3>RISE OF THE NATION.</h3>
+<h4>(1807-1815.)</h4>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The greatest blessing which Reformers leave behind them to succeeding
+generations seldom lies in that which they themselves consider as the
+fruit of their earthly life, nor in the dogmas for which they have
+contended, suffered and conquered, and been blessed and cursed by their
+contemporaries. It is not their system which has the lasting effect,
+but the numerous sources of new life, which through their labour is
+brought to light from the depths of the popular mind. The new system
+which Luther opposed to the old church, lost a portion of its
+constructive power a few years after he had laid his head to rest. But
+that which, during his great conflict with the hierarchy, he had done
+to rouse independence of mind in his people, to increase the feeling of
+duty, to raise the morals and to found discipline and culture, the
+impress of his soul in every domain of ideal life, remained in the
+severe struggles of the following century, an indestructible gain from
+which at last grew a fulness of new life. The system also of Frederic
+the Great, not many years after his death, was discarded by a foreign
+conqueror as an imperfect invention; but again the best result of his
+life remained an enduring acquisition for Prussia and Germany. He had
+called forth in thousands of his officials and soldiers zeal and
+faithfulness to duty, and in millions of his subjects devotion to his
+family; he had, as a wise political husbandman, sown everywhere the
+seed of intellectual and material prosperity. This was what remained to
+his State, the excellent cultivated soil from which the new life was to
+blossom. When his army was crushed, the country overrun by strangers,
+and the pangs of bitter need compelled men to seek the means of
+supporting life wherever they could find them, then in the midst of all
+this desolation arose a new power in the nation, their capacity for
+work. Even the rapidity and completeness with which the old system
+broke down, melancholy as it was to behold, was, nevertheless,
+fortunate; for though it did not cast aside suddenly all the upholders
+of the old system, yet it averted the greater danger of their
+resistance. It now became evident how great was the material to be
+found in Prussia, not only among officials and officers, but in the
+people itself. Unexampled was the fall, and equally unexampled was the
+recovery.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The nation was stunned; it looked listlessly on the shipwreck of its
+State; it had always received its impulse from the government. In the
+chaotic confusion that now followed, there seemed no hope of rescue;
+the weak cursed the bad government, the superficial viewed maliciously
+the prostration of the unintellectual and privileged orders, and the
+weakest followed the star of the conqueror. Men of warm feeling
+secluded themselves like Steffens, who wrote a sorrowful ode on the
+fall of the Fatherland; but cooler heads investigated sullenly the
+defects of the old system, and with bitterness condemned alike the good
+and bad.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The misery becomes greater, it is the intention of the Emperor to open
+all the veins, and draw blood from that portion of Prussia to which he
+has left a semblance of life. Exorbitant are the contributions. The
+French army is distributed over the country&#8212;it occupies cantonments in
+Silesia and the March; officers and soldiers are billeted upon the
+citizens&#8212;they are to be fed and entertained. At the cost of the
+district a table d'hôte is to be established, and balls given. The
+soldier is to be compensated for the hardships of war. We are the
+conquerors, exclaim the officers arrogantly. There is no law against
+their brutality, or the impudence with which they disturb the peace of
+families in which they now rule as masters. If they are polite to the
+ladies of the house, that does not make them more acceptable to the
+men. Still worse is the conduct of the Generals and Marshals.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Prince Jerome has his head-quarters at Breslau, and there keeps a
+dissolute court; the people still relate how licentiously he lived, and
+daily bathed in a cask of wine. At Berlin, General-Intendant Daru
+raises his demands higher every month. Even the humiliating conditions
+of the peace are still too good for Prussia; the tyrant scornfully
+alters the schedules. The fortresses are not restored, as was promised;
+with refined cruelty the war charges are increased enormously. They
+have drawn from the country, which still bears the name of Prussia,
+more than 200 millions of thalers in six years.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On trade and commerce, also, the new system lays its destroying hand.
+By the Continental system, imports and exports are almost abolished.
+Manufactories are stationary, and the circulation of money stagnates;
+the number of bankrupts becomes alarmingly great: even the necessaries
+of daily life are exorbitantly high; the multitude of poor increases
+frightfully; even in the great cities the troops of hungry souls that
+traverse the streets can scarcely be controlled. The more wealthy also
+restrict their wants to the smallest possible compass; they begin a
+voluntary discipline in their own life, denying themselves small
+enjoyments to which they are accustomed. Instead of coffee, they drink
+roasted acorns, and eat black and rye bread; large societies bind
+themselves to use no sugar, and the housewife no longer preserves
+fruit. As Ludwig von Vincke, who then resided as a landed proprietor in
+the new grand-dukedom of Berg, pertinaciously smoked coltsfoot instead
+of tobacco, and made his wine of black currants, so did others renounce
+the necessaries on which the foreign tyrant had imposed a monopoly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But philosophy begins its great work, bringing blessing upon the State,
+by purifying and elevating the minds of men. While the French drum was
+beating in the streets of Berlin, and the spies of the stranger were
+lurking about the houses, Fichte delivered his discourses on the German
+nation: a new and powerful race was to be trained, the national
+character to be improved, and lost freedom to be regained.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From the extreme east of the State, where now the greatest strength of
+the Prussian bureaucracy is at the head of affairs, a new organisation
+of the people began. Serfdom was abolished, landed property made free,
+and self-government established in the cities. The exclusiveness of
+classes was broken, privileges done away with, and a new constitution
+for the army was prepared by Colonel Scharnhorst. Whatever power of
+life there was in the people was now to have free play.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the year 1808, Prussia was no longer fainthearted; it began to raise
+its head hopefully, and looked about for aid. The first political
+society formed itself; &quot;<i>tugendbund</i>,&quot;<a name="div2_46" href="#div2Ref_46"><sup>[46]</sup></a> education unions, scientific
+societies, and officers' clubs, all had the same object&#8212;to free their
+Fatherland, and to educate the people for an approaching struggle.
+There was much trifling and immoderate zeal displayed, but they
+included a large number of patriotic men. Messengers ran actively with
+secret papers, but it was difficult for the unpractised associates to
+deceive the spies of the enemy. Dark plans of revenge were proposed in
+many of these unions; and desperate men hoped, by a great crime, to
+save the Fatherland.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hopes rise higher the following year: the war has begun in Spain;
+Austria prepares itself for the most heroic struggle that it has ever
+undertaken. In Prussia, also, the ground is hollow beneath the feet of
+the stranger; all is prepared for an outbreak; and the Police
+President, Justice Grüner, is one of the most active leaders of the
+movement. But it is not possible to unite Prussia with Austria; the
+first great rising of the people wastes itself in single hopeless
+attempts. Schill, Dörnberg, the Duke of Brunswick, and the rising in
+Silesia fail. The battle of Wagram destroys the last hope of Austria's
+help.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The courage of many sinks, but not of the best. Unweariedly do the
+friends of the Fatherland exercise themselves in the use of fire-arms;
+the Prussian army, also, which does not amount to more than 42,000 men,
+is secretly increased to more than double that number; and in all the
+military workshops the soldiers sit as artisans working at the
+equipments for a future war.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A second time do the hopes of the people rise; Napoleon prepares
+himself for war against Russia. Again is the time come when a struggle
+is possible; already does Hardenberg venture to tell the French
+ambassador, St. Marsan, that Prussia will not allow itself to be
+crushed, and will encounter a foreign attack with 100,000 soldiers. But
+the King will not resolve upon a desperate resistance; he gives the
+half of his standing army as aid to the French Emperor. Then 300
+officers leave his service, and hasten to Russia, there to fight
+against Napoleon. And again hope diminishes in Prussia, freedom seems
+removed to an immeasurable distance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Violent has the hatred against the foreign Emperor become in northern
+Germany; above all, west of the Elbe, where his ceaseless wars have
+sacrificed the youth of the country. The conscription is there
+considered as the death lot. The price of a substitute has risen to two
+thousand thalers. In all the streets, mourning attire is to be seen,
+worn by parents for their lost sons. But most violent of all is the
+hatred in Prussia, in every vocation of life, in every house it calls
+to the struggle. Everything that is pure and good in Germany&#8212;language,
+poetry, philosophy, and morals&#8212;work silently against Napoleon.
+Everything that is bad, corrupt, and wicked, all duplicity and cruelty,
+calumny, knavishness and brutal violence, is considered as Gallic and
+Corsican. Like the fantastic Jahn, other eager spirits call the Emperor
+no longer by his name: they speak of him as once they did of the devil,
+as &quot;he,&quot; or with a contemptuous expression as Bonaparte.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus had six years hardened the character in Prussia.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was no longer a great State that in the spring of 1813 armed itself
+for a struggle of life and death. What remained of Prussia only
+comprehended 4,700,000. This small nation in the first campaign brought
+into the field an army of 247,000 men, reckoning one out of nineteen of
+the whole population. The significance of this is clear, when one
+reckons that an equal effort on the part of Prussia as it is, with its
+eighteen millions of inhabitants, would give the enormous amount of
+950,000 soldiers for an army in the field.<a name="div2_47" href="#div2Ref_47"><sup>[47]</sup></a> And this calculation
+conveys only the relative number of men, not the proportion of the then
+and present wealth of the country.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was a much impoverished nation that entered upon the war. Merchants,
+manufacturers, and artisans, had for six years struggled fearlessly
+against the hard times. The agriculturist had his barns emptied, and
+his best horses taken from his stables; the debased coin that
+circulated in the country disturbed the interior commerce even with the
+nearest neighbours, the thalers which had been saved from a better time
+had long been spent. In the mountain valleys the people were famishing;
+on the line of march of the great armies even the commonest necessaries
+of life were failing; teams and seed had been wanting to the countryman
+as early as 1807; in 1812 there was the same distress.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is true that there was bitter sorrow among the people over the
+downfall of Prussia, and deep hatred against the Emperor of the French.
+But it would be doing great injustice to the Prussians to consider
+their rising as more especially occasioned by the fiery passion of
+resentment. More than once, both in ancient and modern times, has a
+city or small nation carried on its desperate death-struggle to the
+last extremity; more than once we have been filled with astonishment at
+the wild heroic courage and self-devotion which have led men to
+voluntary death in the flames of their own houses, or under the fire of
+the enemy. But this lofty power of resistance is not perhaps free from
+a certain degree of fanaticism, which inflames the soul almost to
+madness. Of this there is no trace in the Prussians. On the contrary,
+there was a cheerful serenity throughout the whole nation which seems
+very touching to us. It arose from faith in their own strength,
+confidence in a good cause, and, above all, in an innocent youthful
+freshness of feeling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the German, this period in the life of his nation has a special
+significance. It was the first time that for many centuries political
+enthusiasm had burst forth in bright flames among the people. For
+centuries there had been in Germany nations of individuals, living
+under the government of princes, for which they had no love or honour,
+and in which they took no active share. Now, in the hour of greatest
+danger, the people claimed its own inalienable right in the State. It
+threw its whole strength voluntarily and joyfully into a death-struggle
+to preserve its State from destruction.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This struggle has a still higher significance for Prussia and its royal
+house. In the course of a hundred and fifty years the Hohenzollerns, by
+uniting unconnected provinces as one State, had formed their subjects
+into a nation. A great prince, and the costly victories, and brilliant
+success of the house, had excited a feeling of love in the new nation
+for their princes. Now the government of a Hohenzollern had been too
+weak to preserve the inheritance of his father. Now did the people,
+whom his ancestors had created, rise and give to the last effort that
+its prince could make, a direction and a grandeur which forced the King
+from his state of prostration almost against his will. The Prussian
+people paid with its blood to the race of its princes the debt of
+gratitude that it owed the Hohenzollerns for the greatness and
+prosperity which they had procured for it. This faithful and dutiful
+devotion arose from feeling that the life and true interests of the
+royal house were one with the people.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in the glow of popular feeling in 1813 there was something
+peculiar, which already appears strange to us. When a great political
+idea fills a people, we can now accurately define the stages through
+which it must pass before it can be condensed into a firm resolve. The
+press begins to teach and to excite; those of like minds assemble
+together at public meetings, and the discourse of an enthusiastic
+speaker exercises its influence. Gradually the number of those who are
+interested increases; from the strife of different views, which contend
+together in public, is developed a knowledge of what is necessary, an
+insight into the ways and means, the will to meet such requirements,
+and, lastly, self-sacrifice and devotion. Of this gradual growth of the
+popular mind through public life there is scarcely a trace in 1813.
+What worked upon the nation externally was of another kind. The feeling
+was excited by a single great moment; but, in general, a tranquillity
+rested on the nation which one may well call epic. The feeling of
+millions burst forth simultaneously; not abounding in words, without
+any imposing appearance, still quiet, but, like one of nature's forces,
+irresistible There is a pleasure in observing its course in certain
+great moments. It shall be here portrayed, not as it shines forth in
+prominent characters, but as it appears in the life of minor
+personages.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was after New Year's Day, 1813. The parting year had left a severe
+winter as a heritage to the new one, but, in a moderate-sized city in
+Prussia, the people stood in crowds before the post-office. Happy was
+he who could first carry home a newspaper. Short and cautious were the
+accounts of the events of the day, for in Berlin there was a French
+military governor, who watched every expression of the intimidated
+press. Nevertheless, the news of the fate of the great army had long
+penetrated into the most remote huts; first came vague reports of
+danger and suffering, the account of a tremendous fire in Moscow and
+flames up to the skies, which had risen, as from the earth, around the
+Emperor; then of a flight through snow and desert plains, of hunger and
+indescribable misery. Cautiously did the people speak of it, for the
+French not only occupied the capital and fortresses of the country, but
+had also in the provinces their agents, spies, and hated informers,
+whom the citizens avoided. Within a few days it was known that the
+Emperor himself had fled from his army; in an open sledge, disguised as
+Duke of Vicenza, and, with only one follower, he had travelled day and
+night through Prussia. On the 12th of December, about eight o'clock in
+the evening, he arrived at Glogau, there he reposed for an hour, and
+started again about ten o'clock, in spite of the terrible cold.
+The following morning he entered the castle of Hanau, where the
+posting-station then was. The resolute post-mistress, Kramtsch,
+recognised him, and with violent gestures swore she would give him no
+tea, but rather another drink. At the earnest representations of those
+around her, she was softened so far as to pour some camomile tea into a
+pot with a vehement oath; he, however, drank of it, and went on to
+Dresden. Now he had come to Paris, and it was told in the newspapers
+how happy Paris was, how tenderly his wife and son had greeted him, how
+well he was, and that he had already, on the 27th of December, been to
+hear the beautiful opera of &quot;Jerusalem Delivered.&quot; It was said further
+that the great army, in spite of the unfavourable time of year, would
+return in fearful masses through Prussia, and that the Emperor was
+making new preparations. But the trial of General Mallet was also
+reported; and it was known how impudently the French newspapers lied.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was seen, also, what remained of the great army. In the first days
+of the year the snow fell in flakes; it lay like a shroud over the
+country. A train of men moved slowly and noiselessly along the high
+road to the first houses of the suburb. It was the returning French.
+Only a year ago, they had set forth at sunrise, with the sound of
+trumpets, and the rattle of drums, in warlike splendour, and with
+revolting arrogance. Endless had been the procession of troops; day
+after day, without ceasing, the masses had rolled through the streets
+of the city; never had the people seen so prodigious an army, of all
+nations of Europe, with every kind of uniform, and hundreds of
+Generals. The gigantic power of the Emperor sank deep into all souls,
+the military spectacle still filled the fancy with its splendour and
+its terrors.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But there was also an undefined expectation of a fearful fate. For a
+whole month did this endless passage of troops last; like locusts the
+strangers consumed everything in the country, from Kolberg to Breslau.
+There had been a failure of the harvest in 1811, scarcely had the
+country-people been able to save the seed oats, and these were eaten in
+1812 by the French war horses. They devoured the last blade of grass
+and the last bundle of straw; the villagers had to pay sixteen thalers
+for a shock of chopped straw, and two thalers for a hundredweight of
+hay. And greedily as the animals, did the men consume; from the Marshal
+down to the common French soldier, they were insatiable. King Jerome
+had demanded for his maintenance at Glogau, a not very large town,
+four hundred thalers daily. The Duke of Abrantes had for a month
+seventy-five thalers daily; the officers obliged the wife of a poor
+village pastor to cook their ham with red wine; they drank the richest
+cream out of the pitchers, and poured essence of cinnamon over it; the
+common soldiers, also, even to the drummer, blustered if they did not
+have two courses at dinner. They ate like madmen. But even then the
+people prognosticated that they would not so return. And they said so
+themselves. When formerly they had marched to war with their Emperor
+their horses had neighed whenever they were led from the stable, but
+now they hung their heads sorrowfully; formerly the crows and ravens
+flew the contrary way to the army of the Emperor, now these birds of
+the battle-field accompanied the army to the east, expecting their
+prey.<a name="div2_48" href="#div2Ref_48"><sup>[48]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">But those who now returned came in a more pitiable condition than
+anyone had dreamed of. It was a herd of poor wretches who had entered
+upon their last journey&#8212;they were wandering corpses. A disorderly
+multitude of all races and nations collected together; without a drum
+or word of command, and silent as a funeral procession, they approached
+the city. They were all without weapons or horses, none in perfect
+uniform, their clothes, ragged and dirty, mended with patches from the
+dress of peasants and their wives. They had hung over their heads and
+shoulders whatever they could lay hands on, as a covering against the
+deadly penetrating cold; old sacks, torn horse-clothes, carpets,
+shawls, and the fresh skins of cats and dogs; Grenadiers were to be
+seen in large sheepskins. Cuirassiers wearing women's dresses of
+coloured baize, like Spanish mantles. Few had helmets or shakos; they
+wore every kind of head-dress, coloured and white nightcaps like the
+peasants, drawn low over their faces, a handkerchief or a bit of fur as
+a protection to their ears, and handkerchiefs also over the lower part
+of their face; and yet the ears and noses of most were frost-bitten or
+fiery red, and their dark eyes were almost extinguished in their
+cavities. Few had either shoe or boot; fortunate was he who could go
+through that miserable march with felt socks or large fur shoes, and
+the feet of many were enveloped in straw, rags, the covering of
+knapsacks, or the felt of an old hat. All tottered, supported by
+sticks, lame and limping. The Guards even were little different from
+the rest; their mantles were scorched, only their bear-skin caps gave
+them still a military aspect. Thus did officers and soldiers, one with
+another, crawl along with bent heads, in a state of gloomy
+stupefaction. All had become forms of horror from hunger, frost, and
+indescribable misery.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Day after day they came along the high road, generally as soon as
+twilight and the iron winter fog were spread over the houses.
+Demoniacal was the effect of these noiseless apparitions of horrible
+figures, terrible the sufferings they brought with them; the people
+asserted that warmth could not be restored to their bodies, nor their
+craving hunger allayed. If they were taken into a warm room, they
+thrust themselves violently against the hot stove, as if they would get
+into it, and in vain did the compassionate women endeavour to keep them
+away from the dangerous heat. Greedily they devoured the dry bread, and
+some would not leave off till they died. Till after the battle of
+Leipzig, the people were under the belief that they had been smitten by
+Heaven with eternal hunger. Even then it occurred that the prisoners,
+when close to their hospital, roasted for themselves pieces of dead
+horses, although they had already received the regular hospital
+food; still, therefore, did the citizens maintain that it was a
+hunger specially inflicted by God; once they had thrown beautiful
+wheat-sheaves into their camp fire, and had scattered good bread on the
+dirty floor, now they were condemned never to be satiated by any human
+food.<a name="div2_49" href="#div2Ref_49"><sup>[49]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">Everywhere in the cities, along the road of the army, hospitals were
+prepared for the homeward bound, and immediately all the sick wards
+were overflowing, and virulent fevers annihilated the last strength of
+the unfortunates. Countless were the corpses carried out, and the
+citizens had to be careful that the infection did not penetrate into
+their houses. Any of the foreigners that could, after the necessary
+rest, crept home weary and hopeless. But the boys in the streets sang,
+&quot;Knights without swords, knights without horses, fugitives without
+shoes, find nowhere rest and repose. God has struck man, horse, and
+carriage,&quot; and behind the fugitives they yelled the mocking call, &quot;The
+Cossacks are coming.&quot; Then there was a movement of horror in the flying
+mass, and they quickly tottered on through the gates.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">These were the impressions of 1813. Meanwhile the newspapers announced
+that General York had concluded the convention of Tauroggin with the
+Russian Wittgenstein, and the Prussians read with dismay that the King
+had rejected the stipulations, and dismissed the General from his
+command. But immediately after it was said that he could not be in
+earnest, for the King had left Berlin, where his precious head was no
+longer safe among the French, and gone to Breslau. Now there were some
+hopes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the Berlin paper of 4th March, among the foreign arrivals were still
+French Generals; but the same day Herr von Tschernischef, commander of
+a corps of cavalry, entered the capital in peaceful array.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It had been known for three months that the Russian winter, and the
+army of the Emperor Alexander, had destroyed the great army. Already
+had Gropius, at Christmas, introduced a diorama of the burning of
+Moscow. For some weeks many of the new books had treated of Russia,
+giving descriptions of the people; Russian manuals and Russian national
+music were in vogue. Whatever came from the east was glorified by the
+excited minds of the people. Nothing more so than the vanguard of the
+foreign army, the Cossacks. Next the frost and hunger, they were
+considered the conquerors of the French. Wonderful stories of their
+deeds preceded them, they were said to be half wild men, of great
+simplicity of manners, of remarkable heartiness, indescribable
+dexterity, astuteness, and valour. It was reported how active their
+horses were, how irresistible their attacks, that they could swim
+through great rivers, climb the steepest hills, and bear the most
+horrible cold with good courage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the 17th February, they appeared in the neighbourhood of Berlin;
+after that, they were expected daily in the cities which lay further to
+the west; daily did the boys go out of the gates to spy out whether a
+troop of them could be descried coming. When, at last, their arrival
+was announced, young and old streamed through the streets. They were
+welcomed with joyful acclamations, eagerly did citizens carry to them
+whatever would rejoice the hearts of the strangers; it was thought that
+brandy, sauerkraut, and herrings would suit their national taste.
+Everything about them was admired; their strong, thick beards, long
+dark hair, thick sheepskins, wide blue trowsers, and their weapons,
+pikes, long Turkish pistols, often of costly work, which they wore in
+broad leather girdles round their bodies, and the crooked Turkish
+sabre. With transport were they watched when they supported themselves
+on their lances and vaulted nimbly over thick cushion saddles, which
+served at the same time as sacks for their mantles; or couched their
+lances, urging on their lean horses with loud hurrahs; and, again, when
+they fastened their lances by a thong to the arm and trotted along,
+swinging that foreign instrument, the kantschu, to the astonishment of
+the youths&#8212;everyone stepped aside and looked at them with respect. All
+were enchanted also with their style of riding. They bent themselves
+down to the ground at full gallop, and lifted up the smallest objects.
+At the quickest pace they whirled their pikes round their heads, and
+hit with certainty any object at which they aimed. Astonishment soon
+changed to a feeling of intimacy; they quickly won the heart of the
+people. They were particularly friendly to the young, raised the
+children on their horses, and rode with them round the market-place;
+they sang in families in what was supposed to be the Cossack's style.
+Every boy became either a Cossack, or a Cossack's horse. Some of the
+customs, indeed, of these heroic friends were rather unpleasant, they
+were ill-mannered enough to pilfer, and at their night quarters it was
+plainly perceptible that they were not clean. Nevertheless, there long
+remained a fantastic glitter about them among both friends and foes,
+even when in the struggles that were now carried on among civilised
+men, they showed themselves to be plunderers, not trustworthy, and
+little serviceable. When later they returned home from the war, it was
+remarked that they had much degenerated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The newspapers were only delivered three times in the week, and the
+roads from the spring thaw then were very bad; thus the news came
+slowly at intervals through the provinces, where it was not stopped by
+the march of troops and the confusion of the struggle between the
+advancing Russians and retreating French. But every sheet, every report
+that conveyed new information, was received with eager sympathy. It was
+talked of in families, and in all the society of the cities, but the
+excitement was seldom expressed with any vehemence. There was a
+pathetic feeling in all hearts, but it no longer showed itself in words
+and gestures. For a century the Germans had found pleasure in their
+tears, had given vent to much feeling about nothing; now that great
+objects engrossed their life they were calm, there was no speechifying,
+with bated breath they restrained the disquiet of their hearts. If
+important news came, the master of the house announced it to his
+family, and quietly wiped away the tears that were in his eyes. This
+tranquillity and self-control was the peculiarity of that time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Small flying sheets were read with delight, especially what the
+faithful Arndt addressed to his countrymen. New songs spread through
+the country, in small parts, according to the custom of the
+ballad-singers, &quot;printed this year;&quot; generally bad and coarse, full of
+hate and scorn, they were forerunners of the beautiful poetic effusions
+of youthful vigor which were sung some months later by the Prussian
+battalions when they went to battle. The best of these songs were sung
+in families to the harpsichord, or the husband played the melody on the
+flute&#8212;which was then a favourite domestic instrument&#8212;and the mother
+sang the words with her children; for weeks this was the great evening
+amusement. These verses had more effect on the smaller circles of the
+people than on the more cultivated, they soon supplanted the old street
+songs. Sometimes the citizens bought the frightful caricatures of
+Napoleon and his army which then were sold through the country as
+flying-sheets, but often betrayed, by their Parisian dialect, that they
+were composed by the French. The coarseness and malicious vulgarity
+which now offend us, were easily overlooked, because they served to
+express hatred; it was only in the larger cities that they occupied the
+people in the streets, in the country they exercised little influence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Such was the disposition of the people when they received the
+proclamations of their King, which between the 3rd of February and the
+17th of March, calling out first volunteer riflemen, and then the
+Landwehr, put the whole defensive force of Prussia under arms. Like a
+spring storm that breaks the ice, they penetrated the souls of the
+people. The flood rose high, all hearts beat with emotion of pleasure
+and proud hope; and again at this moment of highest elevation, we find
+the same simplicity and quiet composure. There were not many words, but
+quick decision. The volunteers collected quietly in the towns of their
+provinces, and marched, singing energetically, to the chief cities,
+Königsberg, Breslau, and Colberg, and then to Berlin. The clergy
+announced in their churches the proclamation of the King, but it was
+hardly necessary. The people knew already what they were to do. When a
+young theologian, taking his father's place, admonished his
+parishioners from the pulpit to do their duty, and added that these
+were not empty words, for, as soon as the service was over, he himself
+would volunteer as a Hussar, a number of young men stood up in the
+church and declared they would do the same. When a betrothed hesitated
+to separate himself from his intended, and at last made known his
+resolve to go, she told him she had secretly lamented that he had not
+been one of the first to depart. Sons hastened to the army, and wrote
+to their parents to tell them of their hasty decision, and the parents
+approved; it was not surprising to them that their sons had done
+spontaneously what was only their duty. When a youth had made his way
+to one of the places of meeting, he found his brother already there,
+who had come from the other side of the country; they had not even
+written to one another.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The academies for lectures were closed at Königsberg, Berlin, and
+Breslau. The University of Halle, also, still under Westphahan rule,
+was closed; the students had gone, either singly or in small bands, to
+Breslau. The Prussian newspapers mentioned laconically in two lines,
+&quot;Almost all the students from Halle, Jena, and Göttingen, are come to
+Breslau, they wish to share in the fame of fighting for German
+freedom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the gymnasium the taller and older ones were not considered always
+the best scholars, and the teachers of the Greek grammar had looked
+upon them with contempt; now they were the pride and envy of the
+school, the teachers gave them a hearty shake of the hand, and the
+younger ones looked on them with admiration as they departed. But it
+was not only those in the first bloom of youth who were excited to
+enter into the struggle, but also the officials, those indispensable
+servants of the State, judges and councillors, men from every circle of
+the civil service, from the city courts and the departments of
+government. A royal decree on the 2nd March set limits to this zeal,
+and it was necessary, for the order and administration of the State
+were threatened. The civil service could not be neglected; any one who
+wished to be a soldier was to obtain the permission of his superiors,
+and he who could not bear the refusal of his request must appeal to the
+King. The stronger minded in all circles were at the head of the
+movement, but the weaker followed at last the overpowering impulse.
+There were few families who did not offer their sons to the fatherland;
+many great names stand on the regimental lists; above all, the nobles
+of east Prussia. The same Alexander Count von Dohna-Schlobitten who had
+been minister of the interior in 1802, was the first man who inscribed
+himself in the Landwehr battalion of the Mohrungen district. Wilhelm
+Ludwig Count von der Gröben, chamberlain of Prince William, entered
+into Prince William's dragoons as a subaltern officer, three of his
+family fell on the field of battle in this war. Such examples
+influenced the country people. Multitudes of them gave to the State all
+that they possessed&#8212;their sound limbs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whilst the Prussians on the Vistula in this emergency carried on their
+preparations independently with rapidly developed order and the
+greatest devotion, Breslau, from the middle of February, had been the
+rendezvous for the interior districts. Crowds of volunteers entered all
+the gates of the old city. Among the first were thirteen miners, with
+three apprentices from Waldenburg; these men had been fitted out by
+their fellow labourers, poor men, who had worked gratuitously
+underground until they had collected 221 thalers for this purpose.
+Immediately afterwards the Upper Silesian miners followed with similar
+zeal. The King could scarcely believe in such self-sacrificing devotion
+in the people; when he looked from the windows of the government
+buildings on the first long train of vehicles and men, who came past
+him from the march and filled the Albrech-strasse, heard their
+acclamations, and perceived the general satisfaction, tears rolled over
+his cheeks, and Scharnhorst asked him whether he at last believed in
+the zeal of his people.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Every day the throng increased. Fathers presented their sons armed;
+among the first the Geheime Kriegsrath Eichmann equipped two sons, and
+the former Secretary of Hangwitz, Bürder, three. The provincial Syndic
+Elsner at Ratisbon offered himself, and armed three volunteer riflemen;
+Geheime Commerzienrath Krause at Swinemund, sent a mounted rifleman,
+entirely armed, with forty ducats, and an offer to arm, and pay for a
+year, twenty foot riflemen, and to furnish ten pigs of lead. Justizrath
+Eckart, at Berlin, gave up his salary of 1450 thalers, and entered the
+service as a trooper. One Rothkirch offered himself and two men fully
+equipped as troopers, besides five horses, 300 scheffels of corn, and
+all the cart-horses on his farm for the baggage-waggons. Amongst the
+most zealous was Heinrich von Krosigk, the eldest of an old family of
+Poplitz, near Alsleben. His property lay in the kingdom of Westphalia.
+In 1807, he had a pillar erected in his park of red sandstone, with
+these words engraven on it, &quot;<i>Fuimus Troes</i>,&quot; and treated the French
+and the government of Westphalia with bitter contempt. When officers
+were quartered on him, he always gave the worst wine, drinking the best
+with his friends as soon as the strangers were gone, and if a Frenchman
+complained, he was rude and ready to fight; he had always loaded
+pistols on his table. At last he compelled his peasants to arrest the
+gendarmes of his own King. Now he had just broken out of the fortress
+of Magdeburg, where the French had placed him, and had abandoned his
+property to the enemy. The heroic man fell at Möckern.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus it went on, and all the cities and districts soon followed the
+example. Scheivelbein, the smallest and poorest district in Prussia,
+was the first to notify that it would furnish, equip, and pay, thirty
+horsemen for three months. Stolpe was one of the first cities that
+announced that it would pay 1000 thalers down, and a hundred for each
+month for the equipment of volunteer riflemen. Stargard had collected
+for the same object, on the 20th of March, 6169 thalers, 585 ounces of
+silver; one landed proprietor, K., had given 308 ounces. Ever greater
+and more numerous became the offers, till the organisation of the
+Landwehr gave the districts full opportunity to give effect to their
+devotion in their own circles.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Individuals did not lag behind. He who did not go to the field himself,
+or equip half his family, endeavoured to help his Fatherland by gifts.
+It is a pleasant labour to examine the long lists of benefactions.
+Officials resigned a portion of their salaries, people of moderate
+wealth gave up a portion of their means, the rich sent their plate,
+those who were poorer brought their silver spoons; he who had no money
+to give offered his effects or his labour. It became common for wives
+to send their gold wedding rings, often the only gold that was in the
+house; they received afterwards iron ones with the picture of Queen
+Louisa; country-people presented horses, landed proprietors corn, and
+children emptied out their saving boxes. There came 100 pair of
+stockings, 400 ells of shirt linen, pieces of cloth, many pairs of new
+boots, guns, hunting knives, sabres and pistols. A forester could not
+make up his mind to give away his dear rifle, as he had promised, among
+some boon companions, and preferred going himself to the field. Young
+women sent their bridal attire, and, besides, the neck-ribbons they had
+received from their lovers. A poor maiden, whose beautiful hair had
+been praised, cut it off to be bought by the <i>friseur</i>, and patriotic
+speculation caused rings to be made of it, for which more than a
+hundred thalers were received. Whatever the poor could raise was sent,
+and the greatest self-sacrifice was amongst the lowest.<a name="div2_50" href="#div2Ref_50"><sup>[50]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">Often has the German since then been animated by patriotic aims; but
+the gifts of that great year deserve a higher praise; for, excepting
+the great collection of the old Pietists for their philanthropic
+institution, it is the first time that such a spirit of self-sacrifice
+has burst forth in the German people, and more especially the first
+time that the German has had the happiness of giving voluntarily for
+his State.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The sums also which were produced were, as a whole, so far beyond what
+has since been collected from wider districts that they can scarcely be
+compared. The equipment of the volunteer riflemen alone, and what was
+collected in the old provinces for the volunteer corps, must have cost
+far more than a million, and it comprehends only a small fragment of
+the voluntary donations made by the people.<a name="div2_51" href="#div2Ref_51"><sup>[51]</sup></a> And how impoverished
+were the lower orders!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Near together on the Schmiedebrücke, at Breslau, were the two
+recruiting places for the volunteer rifles and the Lützow irregulars.
+Professor Steffens and a portion of the Breslau students were the first
+to set on foot the rifles, Ludwig Jahn spoke, gesticulated, and wrote
+concerning the Lützowers. Both troops were equipped entirely by the
+patriotic gifts of individuals. The contributions for the volunteer
+rifles were collected by Heun. Betwixt the Lützowers and riflemen there
+was a friendly and manly emulation; the contrast of their dispositions
+displayed itself; but whether more German or more Prussian, it was the
+same ray of light, only differently refracted. The old contrast of
+character in the citizens, which had been perceptible for a century,
+showed itself, firm, cautious, and vigorous; and enthusiastic feeling
+with loftier aspirations. The first disposition was mostly the
+characteristic of the Prussians, the last of the patriotic youths who
+hastened thither from foreign parts. Very different was the fate of the
+two volunteer bodies. From the 10,000 rifles who were distributed in
+every Prussian regiment, arose the vigour of the Prussian army; they
+were the moral element in it, the aid, strength, and supply of the body
+of officers; and they not only contributed a stormy valour to the
+Prussia army, but gave an elevation to the character of the nobles
+which was new in the history of the war. The irregulars under Lützow,
+on the other hand, experienced the rude fate that overtakes the
+inspirations of the highest enthusiasm. The poetic feeling of the
+educated class attached itself chiefly to them; they included a great
+part of the German students, of vehement and excitable natures; but
+owing to this they became such a large and unwieldy mass that they were
+scarcely adapted to the work of regular warfare, and their leader, a
+brave soldier, had neither the qualities nor the fortune of a daring
+partisan. Their warlike deeds did not come up to the high-raised
+expectations that accompanied their first taking arms. Later, the best
+portion of them were absorbed in other corps of the army. But among
+their officers was the poet who was destined, beyond all others, to
+hand down in verse to the rising generation the magical excitement of
+those days. Of the many touching, youthful characters that figured in
+that struggle, he was one of the purest and most genial in his poetry,
+life and death: it was Theodore Körner.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But even in the great city where the volunteers were preparing their
+equipments there was no noisy din of excited masses. Quickly and
+earnestly every one did his duty. Those who had no money were supported
+by comrades who had been strangers to them, and met them accidentally.
+The only wish of the new comer was to find his equipments. If he had
+two coats, as a Lützower he had one quickly arranged and coloured
+black; his greatest anxiety was as to whether his cartridge box would
+be ready. If he was deficient in everything, and the bureau would not
+supply him with what was necessary, he ventured, but this was rare, to
+beg through the newspapers. Otherwise, money was of as little
+importance to him as to his comrades. He made shift as he best could,
+what did it signify now? As to high-sounding phrases and patriotic
+speeches he had no time nor ear for them. All hectoring and braggadocio
+was despised. Such was the disposition of the young men. It was a great
+enthusiasm, a deep devotion without the inclination to a loud
+expression of it. The consequential ways and bombast of the zealous
+Jahn disgusted many, and this bad habit soon gave him the reputation of
+a coward.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In many there was a disposition to enthusiastic piety, but not in the
+greater part. All the better sort, however, had strongly the feeling
+that they were undertaking a duty which was superior to every other
+earthly object: from this arose their cheerfulness and a certain solemn
+composure. With this feeling they industriously, honourably, and
+conscientiously performed their duty, exercising themselves unweariedly
+in the movement and use of their weapons in their rooms. They sung
+among their comrades with energetic feeling some of the new war songs,
+but these only kindled them because they were earnest and solemn like
+themselves. They did not like to be called soldiers, that word was in
+ill-repute from the time when the stick had ruled. They were warriors.
+That they must obey, do their duty to their utmost, and perform all the
+difficult mechanism of the service, they were thoroughly convinced; and
+also that they must be a pattern and example for the less educated, who
+were by their side. They were determined to be not only strict
+themselves, but careful of the honour of their comrades. In this holy
+war there was to be none of the insolence and coarseness of the old
+soldiers, to disgrace the cause for which they fought. With their
+&quot;brethren&quot; they held a court of honour and punished the unworthy. But
+they would not remain in the army; when the Fatherland was free, and
+the French put down, they would return to their lectures and legal
+documents in their studies. For this wax was not like another; now they
+stood as common soldiers in rank and file, but if they lived they would
+another year be again what they had been.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Beside one of such volunteers was perhaps an old officer from the time
+of the rule of the nobles and the stick. He had done his duty in
+unlucky wars, had perhaps been a prisoner, plundered of all he had and
+dragged through the streets of Berlin, the people following him with
+jeering and curses, and shaking their fists at him; then after the
+peace a court-martial had been held upon him, he was liberated but
+discharged with a miserable pittance. Since that he had starved, and
+secretly gnashed his teeth when the foreign conqueror looked down on
+him as insolently as he had once done on the civilian. If he had no
+wife or child to maintain, he had lived for years with his companions
+in sorrow in a poor dwelling, with disorderly housekeeping, and some of
+the failings of his old officer class still clung to him; this time of
+deprivation had not made him softer or milder, the ruling feeling of
+his soul was hate, deep furious hatred against the foreign conqueror.
+He had long nourished an uncertain hope, perhaps a vain plan of
+revenge, now the time was come for retaliation. Even he had been
+altered by this time of servitude. He had discovered how unsatisfactory
+his knowledge was, and he had in moments of earnestness done something
+towards educating himself; he had learnt and read, he also had been
+inspired by the noble pathos of Schiller. Still he looked with mistrust
+and disfavour on the new-fashioned warrior who perhaps stood before him
+in the ranks. His old grudge against scribblers was still very active,
+and want of discipline, together with high pretensions, wounded him.
+The same antagonism showed itself in the higher as well as lower grades
+in the ranks. It is a remarkable circumstance in this war that he was
+so well restrained; the volunteers soon learnt military obedience, and
+to value the knowledge of service of those above them; and the officer
+lost somewhat of the rough and arbitrary way with which he used to
+treat his men. At last he listened complacently when a wounded rifleman
+contended with the surgeon whether the <i>flexor</i> of the middle finger
+should be cut through, or when one of his men by the bivouac fire
+discussed with animation&#8212;in remembrance of his legal lectures&#8212;whether
+the ambiguous relation in which a Cossack had placed himself with
+respect to a certain goose was to be considered <i>culpa lata</i> or
+<i>dolus</i>. On the whole, this intermixture answered excellently.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But far more important than the action of the volunteers, was the
+advantage to the government of Prussia, of learning for the first time,
+what was its duty to such a people. The grand dimensions which the
+struggle assumed, the imposing military power of Prussia, and the
+weight which this State, by the importance of its armies, acquired in
+the negotiations for peace, were mainly occasioned by the exalted
+feeling which took the world by surprise in the spring months of that
+year. Through it the government gained courage, and was able to expand
+the power of the country to the immense extent it did. East Prussia,
+besides its contingent to the standing army, by its own strength, and
+almost without asking the government, raised twenty battalions of
+Landwehr and a mounted yeomanry regiment, and nothing but this enormous
+development of power could have made the establishment of the Landwehr
+possible throughout the whole realm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the command of its King the nation willingly and obediently and in a
+regular way produced this second army; in the old provinces one hundred
+and twenty battalions and ninety squadrons of Landwehr were equipped
+and maintained, and this was only a portion of its exertions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">How faithfully had it obeyed the commands of its King!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Landwehr of the spring of 1813 had little of the military aspect
+which it obtained by service and later organisation.<a name="div2_52" href="#div2Ref_52"><sup>[52]</sup></a> The men
+consisted of such as had not been drawn into the service of the
+standing army, and now would be taken by lot and choice up to forty
+years of age. As the youths of education, the first military spirits of
+the nation, had most of them either entered the volunteer rifles, or
+filled up the gaps of the standing army, the elements of the Landwehr
+would probably have been of less military capacity if a certain number
+of proprietors had not voluntarily entered the ranks. The solid masses
+of the war consisted of common soldiers, mostly country people; the
+leaders, of country nobles, officials, old officers on half-pay, and
+whoever else was selected as trustworthy by his district, also of young
+volunteers: a very motley material for field service, many of the
+officers as well as soldiers without any experience in war. The
+equipments also were in the beginning very imperfect; they were mostly
+provided by the circles. The coatee, long trowsers of grey linen, a
+cloth cap with a white tin cross; the weapons in the first ranks were
+pikes, in the second and third muskets; for the horsemen, pistols,
+sabres, and pikes. The men were put into ranks, exercised, and equipped
+in what was necessary in the principal town of the circle. In the great
+haste it sometimes happened that battalions were ordered to the army
+which as yet had no weapons and no shoes; the people went barefooted
+and with poles to the Elbe, resembling in appearance a band of robbers
+more than regular soldiery, but with cheerful alacrity, singing and
+giving vent to hurrahs which they had learned from the Cossacks. For
+some weeks the troops of the line, especially the old officers, looked
+contemptuously on this newly-established force, none with more wrath
+than the strict York. When the worthy Colonel Putlitz, at Berlin,
+begged for a Landwehr command,&#8212;he who had already fought valiantly in
+the French campaign, and in the year 1807 had collected a corps of
+sharpshooters in the Silesian mountains,&#8212;the staff officers asked him
+ironically, whether he thought of fighting with such hordes. After the
+war the valiant general declaimed, that the time during which he had
+commanded the Landwehr was the happiest of his life. In no part of the
+new organisation of the army did the power of the great year, and the
+capacity of the people, shine so brilliantly as in this. These peasant
+lads and awkward ploughboys became in a few weeks trustworthy and
+valiant soldiers. It is true that they had a disproportionate loss of
+men, and in their first encounter with the enemy did not always keep a
+firm front, and showed the rapid alternations of cowardice and courage
+which are peculiar to young troops; but called together from the plough
+and the workshop, badly clothed, badly armed, and little drilled as
+they were, they had in the very beginning to go through all the severe
+fieldwork of veteran troops. That they were in general capable of doing
+it, that some battalions already fought so bravely that even their
+opponent (York) saluted them by taking off his hat, is as well known as
+it is rare in military history. Soon they could not be distinguished
+from troops of the line; it was between them an emulation of valour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Justly do the sons of that time boast of the men of the Landwehr who
+readily answered to the call; but not less was the zeal with which the
+people at home laboured after the command was given for the war. People
+of every calling, every citizen, the smallest places, the moat distant
+districts, bore their part in the work, often undergoing the greatest
+labours and sufferings, especially those on the frontiers. A simple
+arrangement sufficed for the business in the circles; a military
+commission was formed of two landed proprietors, one citizen and one
+yeoman, the landrath of the circle, and the burgomaster of the capital
+of the circle, were almost always the almost zealous members of it. It
+was undoubtedly an occupation for simple men which was adapted to
+awaken extraordinary powers. They had to deal with the remains of the
+French army, with their hunger and typhus, with the thronging Russians
+who for many months were in a doubtful position, with two languages,
+that of their new friends being more strange to them than that of their
+retreating enemies; and, added to this, the coarseness and wildness of
+their new allies, whose subaltern officers were for the most part no
+better than their soldiers, lusting after brandy, and at least as
+rapacious and more brutal than irregular troops. Soon did the
+commissioners learn how to deal with the wild people; tobacco chests
+stood open, together with clay pipes, in the office room: it was an
+endless coming and going of Russian officers, they filled their pipes
+and smoked, demanded brandy, and received harmless beer. If ever the
+coarseness of the strangers broke out, the Prussian officials at last
+learnt to punish the ill-behaved with their own weapons, the kantschu,
+which perhaps a Russian officer had left him, that he might more easily
+manage his people. The last typhus sufferers of the French still filled
+the hospitals of the city, the Baschkirs bivouacked with their felt
+caps in the market-place; the inhabitants quarrelled with the
+foreigners quartered on them; every day the Russians required the
+necessaries of life and transport, couriers; Russian and Prussian
+officers demanded relays of horses, the cultivators and peasants of the
+neighbouring villages complained that they had been deprived of theirs,
+that no ploughboys were to be found, and that the cultivation of the
+land was impossible. In the midst of all this hurly-burly came the
+orders of their own government, strong and dictatorial, as was required
+by the times, and not always practical, which was natural in such
+haste; the cloth-makers were to furnish cloth, the shoe-makers shoes,
+the harness-makers and saddlers cartouche-boxes and saddles; so many
+hundred pair of boots and shoes, so many hundred pieces of cloth, and
+so many saddles, all in one short week, without money or secure bills
+of exchange. The artisans were for the greater part poor people without
+credit; how was the raw material to be obtained, how was the workman to
+be paid, how were the means of life to be obtained in these weeks in
+which the usual chance profit was lost? This did not go on for one
+week, but for a whole year. Truly the spirit of sacrifice which showed
+itself in gifts, and in the offer of their own lives, was among the
+highest and noblest things of this great time; but not less honourable
+was the self-sacrificing, unpretending, and unobserved fulfilment of
+duty of many thousands of the lower classes, who, each in his sphere in
+the city or in the village, worked for the same idea of his State to
+the uttermost of his own powers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The question is still unsolved of the military importance, in a
+civilised country, of a <i>levée en masse</i>. The law for the establishment
+of this popular force was carried to the very last possibility of
+demand. In the first edict, the 21st of April, there was an almost
+fanatical strictness, which, in the subsequent laws of the 24th of
+July, was much mitigated. The edict exercised a great moral effect; it
+was a sharp admonition to the dilatory, that it was a question for all,
+of life or death. It had an imposing effect even upon the enemy by its
+Draconic paragraphs. But it was, immediately after its appearance,
+severely blamed by impartial judges, because it demanded what was
+impossible, and it had no great practical effect. The Prussians had
+always been a warlike people, but in 1813 they had not the military
+capacity which they have now. Besides the standing army, there were,
+before the introduction of the universal obligation of service, only
+the peaceful citizens without any practice in arms or movement of
+masses, or at the utmost, the old shooting guilds which handled the
+ancient shooting weapons. But now the nation had sent into the field
+all who were capable of fighting; the strength of the country was
+strained to the uttermost; every family had given up what they
+possessed of military spirit. The older men, who remained behind, who
+were also indispensable for the daily work of the field and workshop,
+were not especially capacitated to do valiant service in arms. Thus it
+was no wonder that this fearful law brought to light the ludicrous side
+of the picture; endless goodwill together with boorishness and
+narrowmindedness. It was read with great edification, that the whole
+people were to take up arms to withstand the invading enemy; that the
+women and children also were to be employed in certain occupations, was
+quite to the reader's mind, especially those who were not grown up; but
+doubts were excited by the sentence in which it was stated, that
+cowardice was to be punished by the loss of weapons, the doubling of
+taxes, and corporeal chastisement, as he who showed the feeling of a
+slave was to be treated as a slave. Then the poor little artisan, who
+could scarcely keep his children from hunger, had never touched a
+weapon, and had all his life anxiously avoided every kind of fighting,
+was placed in the position to put the difficult question wistfully to
+himself&#8212;what is cowardice? And when the law further forbade anyone in
+a city which was occupied by the enemy to visit any play, ball, or
+place of amusement, not to ring the bells, to solemnise no marriages,
+and to live as if in deepest mourning, it appeared to the unprejudiced
+minds of Germans as tyrannical&#8212;more Spanish and Polish than German.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Yet the people, in the enthusiasm of this spring-time, overlooked these
+hardships, and prepared themselves for the struggle. Even before the
+decree, patriotic feeling had, in East Prussia, established here and
+there similar rules. Now this zeal had spread through the cities more
+than in the open countries. The organisation began almost everywhere,
+and was carried through in many places. Beacons were erected, alarm
+poles rose high from Berlin to the Elbe, and towards Silesia resinous
+pines, on which empty tar-barrels were nailed, surrounded with tarred
+straw; near them a watch was posted, and they more than once did good
+service. All kinds of weapons were searched out, fowling-pieces and
+pistols, which had been cleverly foreseen in the ordinance when it
+directed that, &quot;For ammunition, in case of a deficiency in balls, every
+kind of common shot may be used, and the possessors of fire-arms must
+have a constant provision of powder and lead.&quot; He who had no musket,
+furnished himself for the levy as the Landwehr did at first, with
+pikes; they were exercised in companies&#8212;the butchers, brewers, and
+farmers formed squadrons. The first rank of infantry were pikemen; the
+second and third, if possible, musketeers. In this also, the
+intellectual leaders of the people showed a good example; they knew
+well that it was necessary, but it was no easy matter for them,
+especially if they were no longer young. At Berlin, Savigny and
+Eichhorn were of the Landwehr committee; in the levy none was more
+zealous than Fichte; his pike, and that of his son, leant against the
+wall in the front hall, and it was a pleasure to see the zealous man
+brandishing his sword on the drill-ground, and placing himself in a
+posture of attack. They wished to make him an officer, but he declined
+with these words: &quot;Here I am, only fit to be a common man.&quot; He,
+Buttmann, Rühs, and Schleiermacher drilled in the same company; but
+Buttmann, the great Greek scholar, could not quite distinguish between
+right and left; he declared that was most difficult. Rühs was in the
+same condition, and it constantly happened that the two learned men, in
+their evolutions, either turned their backs, or looked each other in
+the face puzzled. Once, when it was a question of an encounter with the
+enemy, and how a valiant man ought to conduct himself in that case,
+Buttmann listened, leaning sadly on his spear, and said at last: &quot;It is
+very well for you to talk, you are of a courageous nature.&quot;<a name="div2_53" href="#div2Ref_53"><sup>[53]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">If this <i>Landsturm</i> was to be mobilised for the maintenance of the
+security of the circle, or for service in the rear of the enemy, or in
+the neighbourhood of fortresses still held by them, the alarm bell was
+rung, and the town became in a state of stormy excitement. Anxiously
+did the women pack up food and drink, bandages and lint, in the
+knapsack, for according to the regulations no one was to forget the
+knapsack, bread-bag, and field-flask; it was his duty to carry with him
+provisions for three days; not unfrequently did the female inhabitants
+feel like the wife of a cutler in Burg, who stated to the commanding
+officer that her husband must remain behind, for he was the only cutler
+in the place, or like the wife of a watchmaker, who had compelled her
+husband to conceal himself. He was, however, traced by other women
+whose husbands had gone, was taken by them to the churchyard, placed on
+a grave, and punished in a maternal way with the palm of the hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Any one who was a child at that time, will remember the enthusiasm with
+which the boys also armed. The elder ones assembled together in
+companies, and armed themselves with pikes; the smaller ones, too, had
+good cudgels. A poor boy who was working in a manufactory was asked why
+he carried no weapon, &quot;I have all my pockets full of stones,&quot; was his
+answer; he carried them about with him against the French.<a name="div2_54" href="#div2Ref_54"><sup>[54]</sup></a> And no
+regulation of the <i>Landsturm</i> ordinance was so zealously obeyed by the
+rising generation, as the provision that every <i>Landsturmer</i> should, if
+possible, carry a shrill-sounding pipe with him, in order to recognise
+others in the dark, and come to an understanding. By the greatest
+industry the boys learnt to produce shrill tones from every kind of
+signal pipe, and there is reason to believe that the present use of the
+pipe in street rows was first adopted by our youths from hatred to the
+French. Seldom were the <i>Landsturm</i> employed in military service in
+1813; they were more often employed in clearing the districts of
+marauding rabble, and as watchers, or in the messenger service; their
+only serious military service against the enemy was performed at that
+Büren, which under Frederic II. had driven back its flying sons to the
+King's army. There, after the peace, all the men wore the military
+medal. Up to the present day the people retain the memory of this
+feature of the great war; it has been more enduring than many others of
+more importance. Still do old people boast that though not in the
+field, yet at home they had borne arms for the Fatherland; it also is
+fitting that their sons should remember it. The time may come when in
+another form, and with stricter discipline, the general armament of the
+people will be an important part of German military power.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But whilst here the dangerous game was not carried on in its terrible
+reality, yet all eyes and ears were incessantly directed to the
+distance. The war had begun in earnest. Those who were left behind were
+in continual anxiety concerning the fate of those they loved, and of
+Fatherland. No day passed without some report, no post came without the
+announcement of some important event; life seemed to fly amidst the
+longing and the expectation with which they looked forth beyond their
+city walls. Every little success filled them with transport; it was
+announced at the door of the town hall, in the church, and in the
+theatre, wherever men were collected together. On the 5th April was the
+conflict, at Zehdenick, the first undoubted victory of the Prussians;
+far and wide through the provinces did people hasten to the church
+towers to endeavour to descry the first intelligence; and when the
+thunder of cannon had ceased, and the joyful news ran through the
+country, there was no bounds to the general exultation; everything that
+was praiseworthy was proudly extolled, above all the valiant artillery
+that with guns and powder waggons had chased the enemy through the
+burning market-place of Leitzkau, amidst the flames that were gathering
+around them; also the black Hussars, with their death's-heads, valiant
+Lithuanians, who had ridden over the smart red Hussars from Paris at
+the first onset. And when the proprietor of the market-place afterwards
+made a collection through the newspapers for his poor people who had
+been burnt out, and excused himself for begging at such a time for aid
+to private misfortune, the country people were not forgotten who had
+first suffered from the war.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Louder became the din of war, more furious did the conflict of masses
+rage; the exultation of victory and fearful anxiety alternated in the
+hearts of those remaining at home. After the battle of Grossgörschen,
+it was proclaimed that assistance was needed for the wounded. Then
+there began everywhere among the people collections of linen and lint;
+unweariedly did not only children but grown-up people draw out the
+threads of old linen, the women cut bandages, and the teachers in
+schools cut the rags which the little girls and boys at their request
+brought with them from their homes, into shape, and whilst they taught
+the children, these with burning tears collected the pieces into great
+heaps. Making lint was the evening work of families; it might be of
+some use to the soldiers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the neighbourhood of the allied armies and in the chief cities,
+hospitals were erected, and everywhere the women assisted&#8212;court
+ladies, and authoresses like Rachel Levin. In one great hospital at
+Berlin there was Frau Fichte and Frau Reimer, the superintendents of
+the female nurses. The hospital, owing to the retreating French, had
+become a pest-house, bad nervous fevers were prevalent, and the strange
+fancies of the invalids made it a terrible abode. The wife of Fichte
+shuddered at these horrors, but he endeavoured to sustain her in his
+noble way. When she was overtaken with nervous fever, he nursed the
+invalid, caught the infection, and died. Reil also, the great physician
+and scholar, died there in the midst of his philanthropic efforts. Frau
+Reimer was preserved; her house had been, before the war, the resort of
+the Prussian patriots, now her husband had become one of the Landwehr
+under Putlitz; her anxieties about him and his business and her little
+children, neither damped her spirit nor engrossed her time; from
+morning to evening, spring and summer, she was actively occupied; never
+weary, she divided her time betwixt her family and her care of the
+sick, and her life appeared to herself indestructible.<a name="div2_55" href="#div2Ref_55"><sup>[55]</sup></a> To her
+husband, friends and contemporaries, this zeal seemed natural, and a
+matter of course. In a similar way did German women do their duty
+everywhere with the greatest self-denial and devotedness, and with
+quiet enduring energy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fearful battle of Bautzen took place; the armistice followed. The
+Prussians were full of uneasiness. Streams of blood had flowed, their
+army was driven back, the Emperor appeared invincible by earthly
+weapons. For some weeks the most intelligent looked gloomily at the
+future, but the people still maintained a right feeling of self-respect
+and elevated resolution. Trust in their own energy, and the goodness of
+their cause, and above all trust in God, were the source of this frame
+of mind. Every one saw that the strength of Prussia in this campaign
+was incomparably greater than in the last unfortunate war. Only a
+little more strength seemed to be necessary to overthrow the tyrant; if
+they could only make a little more exertion, he might be hurled back.
+The voluntary contributions continued, late in the autumn receipts were
+given for them. The equipment of the Landwehr was ended, the artisan
+had everywhere worked for his King and Fatherland.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The war again raged, blow and counterblow, flux and reflux; the armies
+pressed on; now one saw from Thurm the hosts of the enemy, now the
+approach of friends. The cities and provinces of the west learnt from
+Berlin and Breslau the fate of the war. Ah, its terrible features are
+not strange to Germans; up to the time of our fathers, the hearts of
+almost every generation of citizens have been shaken by them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There are hollow, short reverberations in the air; it is the thunder of
+distant cannon. Listening crowds stand in the market-place, and at the
+gates; little is said, only half words in a subdued tone, as if the
+speaker feared to speak too loud. From the parapet of the towers, and
+the gables of the houses which look towards the field of battle, the
+eyes of the citizens strain anxiously to see into the distance. On the
+verge of the horizon there is a white cloud in the sunlight,
+occasionally a bright flash is perceptible and a dark shadow. But on
+the by-ways which lead from the nearest villages to the high road, dark
+crowds are moving. They are country people flying into the wood or to
+the mountains. Each carries on his shoulders what he has been able to
+scrape together, but few have been able to carry off their property,
+for carts and horses have for some weeks past been taken from them by
+the soldiers; lads and men drive their herds nervously, the women
+loudly wailing, carry their little ones. Again there is a rolling in
+the air, sharper and more distinct. A horseman races through the city
+gate at wild speed, then another. Our troops are retreating, the crowds
+of citizens separate, the people run in terrified anguish into their
+houses, and then again into the street; even in the city they prepare
+for flight. Loud are the cries and lamentations. He who still possessed
+a team of horses, dragged them to the pole, the clothmaker threw his
+bales, and the merchant his most valuable chests on the waggons, and
+over these their children and those of their neighbours. Waggons and
+crowds of flying men thronged to the distant gate. If there is a swampy
+marsh almost impassable, or a thick wood in the neighbourhood, they fly
+thither. Inaccessible hiding-places, still remembered from the time of
+the Swedes, are again sought out. Great troops collect there, closely
+packed; the citizens and countrymen conceal themselves with their
+cattle and horses for many days; sometimes still longer. After the
+battle of Bautzen the parishioners of Tillendorf near Bunzlau abode
+more than a week in the nearest wood, their faithful pastor Senftleben
+accompanied them, and kept order in that wild spot, he even baptised a
+child.<a name="div2_56" href="#div2Ref_56"><sup>[56]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">But he who remains in the town with his property, or in the performance
+of his duty, is eager to conceal his family and goods. Long has the
+case been taken into consideration, and hiding-places ingeniously
+devised. If the city has more especially roused the fury of the enemy,
+it is threatened with fire, plunder, and the expulsion of the citizens.
+In such a case the people carry their money firmly sewed in their
+clothes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One anxious hour passes in feverish hope. The first announcers of the
+retreat clatter through the streets, damaged guns escorted by Cossacks.
+Slowly they return, the number of their men incomplete, and blackened
+by powder, more than one tottering wounded. The infantry follow, and
+waggons overcrowded with wounded and dying men. The rear-guard take up
+their post at the gate and the corners of the streets, awaiting the
+enemy. Young lads run from the houses and carry to the soldiers what
+they have called for, a drink or a bit of bread; they hold the
+knapsacks for the wounded, or help them quickly to bandages.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There are clouds of dust on the high road. The first cavalry of the
+enemy approach the gate, cautiously looking out, the Carabiniers on the
+right flank. A shot falls from the rear-guard, the Chasseur also fires
+his carbine, turns his horse, and retires. Immediately the enemy's
+vanguard press on in quick trot, and the Prussian Tirailleurs withdraw
+from one position to another firing. Finally the last has abandoned the
+line of houses. Once more they collect outside the gate, in order to
+detain the enemy's cavalry, who have again formed into rank.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The streets are empty and shut. Even the boys who have accompanied the
+Prussian Tirailleurs have disappeared; the curtains of the windows are
+let down, and the doors closed; but behind curtain and door are anxious
+faces looking at the approaching enemy. Suddenly a cry bursts forth
+from a thousand rough voices&#8212;<i>vive l'Empereur!</i> and, like a flood, the
+French infantry rush into the town. Immediately they knock against the
+doors with the butt ends of their muskets, and if they are not opened
+quick enough they are broken in. Now follow desperate disputes between
+the defenceless citizen and the irritated enemy&#8212;exorbitant demands,
+threats, and frequently ill-usage and peril of death&#8212;everywhere
+clamour, lamentation, and violence. Cupboards and desks are broken
+open, and everything, both valuable and valueless, plundered, spoiled,
+or destroyed, especially in those houses whose inmates have fled; for
+the property of an uninhabited house, according to the custom of war,
+falls to the share of the soldier. The city authorities are dragged to
+the townhall, and difficult negotiations begin concerning the
+quartering of the troops, the delivery of provisions and forage, and
+impossible contributions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If the enemy's General cannot be satisfied with gifts, or if the town
+is to be punished, the inhabitants of most consideration are collected,
+forcibly detained, threatened, and, perhaps at last, carried off as
+hostages. If a larger corps is encamped round the city, one battalion
+bivouacs in the market-place. The French are rapidly accommodated. They
+have fetched straw from the suburbs, they have robbed provisions on the
+road, and cut up the doors and furniture for fire-wood. Disagreeably
+sounds the crash of the axe on the beams and woodwork of the houses.
+Brightly blaze up the camp fires, and loud laughter, with French songs,
+sound about the flames.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the enemy withdraws in the morning, after having remained one
+night through which the citizens have held anxious watch, they gaze
+with astonishment on the rapid devastation of their city, and on the
+sudden change in the country outside the gates. The boundless ocean of
+corn, which yesterday waved round their city walls, is vanished, rooted
+up, crushed and trampled by man and horse. The wooden fences of the
+gardens are broken, summer arbours and houses are torn away, and
+fruit-trees cut down. The fire-wood lies in heaps round the smouldering
+watch-fires, and the citizen may find there the planks of his waggon
+and the doors of his barn. He can scarcely recognise the place where
+his own garden was, for the site of it is covered with camp straw,
+confused rubbish, and the blood and entrails of slaughtered beasts. In
+the distance, where the houses of the nearest village project above the
+foliage of the trees, he perceives no longer the outline of the roofs,
+only the walls are standing, like a heap of ruins.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was bitter to pass through such an hour, and many lost all heart.
+Even for people of property it was now difficult to support their
+families. All the provisions of the city and neighbourhood were
+consumed or destroyed, and no countryman brought even the necessaries
+of life to the market, it was needful therefore to send far into the
+country for the means to appease hunger. But from a rapid succession of
+great events men had become colder, more sturdy and hardier in
+themselves. The strong participation which every individual had taken
+in the fate of the State made them indifferent to their own hardships.
+After every danger, it was felt to be a comfort that the last thing,
+life, was saved. And there was hope.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Before long the devastating billow surged back. Again roared the
+thunder of guns, and the drums rattled. Our troops are advancing; wild
+struggle rages round the city. The Prussian battalions press forward
+through the streets into the market-place against the enemy, who still
+hold the western suburb. It is the young Landwehr who this day receive
+their baptism of blood. The balls whistle through the streets; they
+strike the tiles and plaster of the houses; the citizens have again
+concealed their wives and children in cellars and out-of-the-way
+places. The battalions halt in the market-place. The ammunition waggons
+are opened. The first companies press forward to the same gate through
+which, a few days before, the enemy had rushed into the city. The
+struggle rages fiercely. In the assault the enemy are thrown back; but
+fresh masses establish themselves in the houses of the suburb, and
+contend for the entrances to the streets. Mutilated and severely
+wounded men are carried back and laid down in the market-place, and
+more than once the combatants have to be relieved. When the
+inexperienced soldiers see their comrades borne back from the fight,
+their faces blackened with powder, and covered with sweat and blood,
+their courage sinks within them; but the officers, who are also for the
+first time in close combat, spring forward, and &quot;Forward, children! the
+Fatherland calls!&quot; sounds through the ranks. At one time the enemy
+succeeded in storming the upper gate, but scarcely have they forced
+their way into the first street leading to the market, when a company
+of Landwehr throw themselves upon them with loud hurrahs, and drive
+them out of the gate.<a name="div2_57" href="#div2Ref_57"><sup>[57]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">The thunder roars; the fiery hail pierces through doors and windows;
+the dead lie on the pavement and thresholds of the houses. Then any
+citizen who has a manly heart can no longer bear the close air of his
+hiding place. He presses close behind his fighting countrymen near to
+the struggle. He raises the wounded from the pavement, and carries them
+on his back either to his house or the hospital. Again the boys are not
+among the last; they fetch water, and call at the houses for some drink
+for the wounded whom they support; they climb up the ammunition waggons
+and hand down the cartridges, proud of their work they are unconcerned
+about the whistling bullets. Even the women rush out of the houses,
+with bread in their aprons and full flasks in their hands; they may
+thus do something to help the Fatherland.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fight is over; the enemy driven back. In the warm sunshine a
+sorrowful procession moves through the city&#8212;the imprisoned enemy
+escorted by Cossacks. Hardheartedly do the troopers drive the weary
+crowd; they are allowed only a short rest in the open place of the
+suburb; the prisoners lie exhausted, weary and half fainting, in the
+dust of the high road. It is the second day on which they have had
+neither food nor drink; not once have their guards allowed them a drink
+from brook or ditch; they have ill-treated the weary men with blows and
+thrusts of their lances. These now, with outstretched hands, pour forth
+entreaties in their own language to the citizens, who stand round with
+curiosity and sympathy. They are, for the most part, young Frenchmen
+who are here lamenting, poor boys, with pale and haggard faces. The
+citizens hasten to them with food and drink; ample piles of bread are
+brought; but the Russians are hungry themselves; they roughly push back
+the approaching people, and tear their gifts from them. Then the women
+put baskets and flasks into the hands of their children. A courageous
+lad springs forward; the little troop of maidens and young boys trip
+amongst the prisoners, who are lying on the ground; even the youngest
+totter bravely from man to man, and distribute their gifts smilingly,
+unconcerned about their bearded guards,<a name="div2_58" href="#div2Ref_58"><sup>[58]</sup></a> for the Cossack does no
+injury to children. The German is not unkind to his enemy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When anyone carries a wounded countryman to his house, how faithfully
+and carefully he nurses him. The family treat him as they would their
+own son or brother who is far away in the king's army. The best room
+and a soft bed is prepared for him, and the mistress of the house
+attends him herself with bandages and all necessary care.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The whole people feel like a great family. The difference of classes,
+the variety of avocations, no longer divide; joy and sorrow are felt in
+common, and goods and gains are willingly shared. The prince's daughter
+stands in union with the wife of the artisan, and both zealously
+co-operate together; and the land junker who, only a few months before,
+considered every citizen as an intruder in his places of resort, now
+rides daily from his property to the city in order to smoke his war
+pipe with his new friends, the alderman or manufacturer, and to chat
+with them over the news; or, what was still more interesting to them,
+over the regiment in which their sons were fighting together. Men
+became more frank, firmer and better in this time; the morose pedantry
+of officials, the pride of the nobleman, and even the suspicious
+egotism of the peasant, were blown away from most, like dust from
+good metal; selfishness was despised by everyone; old injustice and
+long-nourished rancour were forgotten, and the hidden good in man came
+to light. According as every one bestirred himself for his Fatherland,
+he was afterwards judged. With surprise did people, both in town and
+country, see new characters suddenly rise into consideration among
+them; many small citizens who had hitherto been little esteemed, became
+advisers, and the delight and pride of the whole city. But he who
+showed himself weak seldom succeeded in regaining the confidence of his
+fellow citizens; the stain clung to him during the life of that
+generation. And this free and grand conception of life, this hearty
+social tone, and the unconstrained intercourse of different classes
+lasted for years after the war. There are some still living who can
+speak of it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When after the armistice, the glorious time of victories came,
+Grossbeeren, Hagelsberg, Dennewitz, and the Katzbach; when particular
+Prussian Generals rose higher in the eyes of the people, and millions
+felt pleasure and pride in their army and its leaders; when at last the
+battle of nations was fought, and the great aim attained&#8212;the overthrow
+and flight of the hated Emperor, and the delivery of the country from
+his armies&#8212;then was the highest rapture that could be felt in this
+world enjoyed with calm intensity. The people hastened to the churches
+and listened reverentially to the thanksgivings of the ecclesiastics,
+and in the evening they illuminated their streets.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This kind of festivity was nothing new. Wherever, in the last years,
+the enemy's troops entered in the evening into a city, they had called
+out for lights; wherever there was a French garrison, the citizens had
+to illuminate for every victory which was announced by the hated ally
+of their King. Now this was done voluntarily; everyone had experience
+in it, and the simple preparation was in every house. Four candles in a
+window were then thought something considerable; even the poorest
+spared a few kreutzers for two, and if he had no candlestick, employed,
+according to old custom, the useful potato; the more enterprising
+ventured upon a transparency, and a poor mother hung out, together with
+the candles, two letters which her son had written from the field.
+These festivities were then simple and unpretending; now we do the same
+kind of thing far more splendidly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The great rising began in the eastern provinces of the Prussian State;
+how it showed itself among the people there we have endeavoured to
+portray. But the same strong current flowed in the country on the other
+side of the Elbe, not only in the old Prussian districts, but with
+equal vigour on the coasts of the North Sea, in Mecklenburg, Hanover,
+Brunswick, Thuringia, and Hesse, almost in every district up to the
+Maine. It comprehended the districts which, in the eighteenth century,
+had attained a greater military capacity; in the provinces of the old
+Empire it was only partial. The new States which arose there under
+French influence, discovered later, and in an indirect way, the
+necessity of a closer connection with the larger portion of the nation.
+For Austria, this war was an act of political prudence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Still two years followed of high strained exertion and bloody battles;
+again did the rising youth of the country, who in the first year had
+been wanting in age and strength, throng with enthusiasm into the ranks
+of the army. It was another war, and another victory had to be
+achieved, it was, however, no longer a struggle for the existence of
+Prussia and Germany, but for the ruin and life of the foreign Emperor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The year 1813 had freed Germany from the dominion of a foreign people.
+Again did the Prussian eagle float over the other side of the Rhine, on
+the old gates of Cleve. It had made a bloody end to an insupportable
+bondage. It had united most of the German races in brotherly ties by a
+new circle of moral interests. It had produced for the first time in
+German history an immense political result by a powerful development of
+popular strength. It had entirely altered the position of the nation to
+their Princes; for, above the interests of dynasties, and the quarrels
+of rulers, it had given existence to a stronger power which they all
+feared, honoured, and must win, in order to maintain themselves. It had
+given a greater aim to the life of every individual, a participation in
+the whole, political feeling, the highest of earthly interests, a
+Fatherland, a State for which he learnt to die and by degrees to live.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Prussians did the greater part of the work of this year, which will
+never be forgotten by the rest of Germany.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It would not be becoming in us, the sons of the generation of 1813, to
+disparage the glorious struggle of our fathers, because they have left
+us something to do.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Almost all who passed through that great time of struggle and
+self-sacrifice consider the memory of it the greatest possession of
+their later life, and it encircled the heads of many with a bright
+glory. And thousands felt what the warm-hearted Arndt expressed,
+&quot;We can now die at any moment, as we have seen in Germany what
+is alone worth living for, that men, from a feeling of the eternal,
+and imperishable, have been able to offer, with the most joyful
+self-devotion, all their temporalities and their lives as if they were
+nothing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in the churches of the country a simple tablet was put up as a
+memorial to later generations, on which was the iron cross of the Great
+Time, and the names of those who had fallen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As in these pages it has been attempted to portray, in the words of men
+who have passed away, a picture of the time in which they lived, so
+here we will give a record from the year 1813.</p>
+<br>
+<p class="normal">&quot;Our son George was struck by a ball, at the age of two-and-twenty, on
+the 2nd of April, at the ever-memorable engagement at Lüneburg. As a
+volunteer rifleman in the light battalion of the first Pommeranian
+regiment, he fought, according to the testimony of his brave leader,
+Herr Major von Borcke, by his side, with courage and determination, and
+thus, died for his Fatherland, German freedom, national honour, and our
+beloved King. To lose him so early is hard; but it is comforting to
+feel that we also have been able to give a son for this great and holy
+object. We feel deeply the necessity of such a sacrifice.</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-left:50%">&quot;The Regierungsrath and Ober-Commissarius
+Häse and his Wife.&quot;<a name="div2_59" href="#div2Ref_59"><sup>[59]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Berlin, 9th April, 1813.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<p class="normal">That portion of the people also who were not in the habit of expressing
+their feelings in writing felt the same. When the Lützower Gutike,<a name="div2_60" href="#div2Ref_60"><sup>[60]</sup></a>
+in the Summer of 1813, was on his march from Berlin to Perleberg, he
+found at Kletzke the landlady in mourning; she was waiting silently
+upon him, and at last said suddenly, pointing with her hand to the
+ground, &quot;I have one there,&#8212;but Peter's wife has two.&quot; She felt that
+her neighbour had superior claims to sympathy.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+<br>
+<h3>THE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY.</h3>
+<h4>(1815-1848.)</h4>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">When the volunteers of 1813 went to the field, their hope was, at some
+time, to live as citizens, with their friends, in the liberated
+Fatherland, enjoying the freedom, peace, and happiness, which they had
+won. But it is sometimes easier to die for freedom than to live for it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A few years after victory had been achieved, and Napoleon was prisoner
+in his distant rocky island, Schliermacher said in the pulpit to his
+parishioners: &quot;It was an error when we hoped to rest in comfort after
+the peace. A time is now come, when guiltless and good men are
+persecuted, not only for what they do, but also for the views and
+projects which are attributed to them. But the brave Christian should
+not be faint-hearted, but in spite of danger and persecution remain
+true to truth and virtue.&quot; And police spies copied these words, and did
+not forget to add to their report that such and such persons had been
+in the church, or that four bearded students had knelt down at the
+altar after the communion, and had prayed fervently.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The intrepid Arndt was watched and removed. Jahn was put into prison,
+and many of the leaders of the patriotic movement of 1813 were
+persecuted as dangerous men; police officers disturbed the peace of
+their homes, and their papers were seized. A special commission
+outrageously violated the forms of law, acting with mean hate,
+arbitrarily, tyrannically, and perfidiously, like a Spanish
+Inquisition.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is a sorrowful page in German history. Independent characters
+withdrew, deeply disgusted with the narrow-minded rule which now began
+in most of the States of Germany; common mediocrity again took the
+helm. Prussia's foreign policy was dictated from Vienna and St.
+Petersburgh, and before long its political influence on the history of
+Europe was again less than it had been under the Elector Frederic
+William. When the people rose in war against a foreign enemy, they
+little thought what the result would be when the independence of
+Germany was secured. They themselves brought to the struggle unbounded
+devotion, and supposed a similar feeling in all who had to shape the
+future, in their princes, and even in the allied powers. To no one
+scarcely was it clear how the new Germany was to be arranged. Any
+clear-sighted person could perceive, in the first year of the war, that
+a remodelling of Germany, which would make a great development of the
+power of the nation possible, was not to be hoped for. For it was not
+the people, nor the patriotic army of Blücher that were to decide, but
+the dynasties and cabinets of Europe, according to the position of
+affairs,&#8212;Austria, the new States of the Rhineland, the English,
+Hanover, France, Sweden, and above all Russia, each endeavouring to
+guard their own interests. The antagonism between Prussia and Austria
+had already broken out in the negotiations; the Prussians had by an
+immense effort obtained an honourable position in Europe, but neither
+in the opinion of nations nor of cabinets were they considered entitled
+to the leadership. There was hardly a person not Prussian who ever
+thought of excluding Austria from a new confederation; even Prussia
+itself did not think of it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We know, therefore, that the &quot;German question&quot; was even then hopeless,
+and we do not regret that the old Empire under its Emperor was not
+restored.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But easily as we can now understand how invincible were the
+difficulties, to contemporaries the feeling of disappointment was
+bitter, and an unprejudiced estimate of their position difficult. Among
+the patriots of 1813, a small minority were then full of enthusiastic
+sentimentality; they contrasted their poetical ideas of the old
+splendour of the German Empire with the bad reality; these
+<i>Deutschthumler</i>&#8212;Teuto-maniacs&#8212;as they were called after 1815, had
+been without influence in the great movement Jahn's great beard was
+seldom admired, and the worthy Karl Müller found no favour when he
+began to banish all foreign words from military language. Now after the
+peace these enthusiasts, for the most part not Prussians, collected
+together in small communities at the German universities. They sorrowed
+and hoped, expressed violent indignation, and gave zealous advice; they
+were agreed together that something great must happen, and they were
+ready to stake life and property upon it; only, what was to be done was
+not clear. Between varying moods and wavering projects they came to no
+conclusion. Politically considered this movement was not dangerous,
+till the odious persecution of the governments goaded them into hatred
+and opposition, and throwing a gloom over the minds of some, led to
+fanatical resolves.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was not the fault of the Prussian government that the hopes of the
+nation for a new German State were disappointed. But it had incurred
+another debt. The King had promised to give his people a constitution.
+If ever a nation had acquired a right to a participation in the
+government, it was the Prussian; for it had raised the State from the
+deepest depression. If the greatest State in Germany had, by legal
+forms, obtained the possibility of a political development of its
+power, every sensible Prussian would have been contented. The press and
+a parliament would gradually have given the loyal nation a feeling of
+prosperity and safe progress, opposing parties would have contended
+publicly, and those who demanded more for Germany than could at present
+be attained, would have been restrained by Prussia. The character of
+the Germans was now freed from the weakness which had pervaded it
+through a whole generation. The State also could no longer do without
+the participation of the people, if it was not to fall back into the
+old state of feebleness, which only a few years before had brought it
+to the verge of ruin. Now, when life was impressed with new ideas, when
+in hundreds of thousands a passionate interest in the State had sprung
+up, the safest support for the throne itself was a constitution. For
+the Prussians were no longer a nation without opinions or will, whose
+destiny an individual could dispose of by his will.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the King, however honest he might be, who wished to continue to
+govern in the old way through pliant officials, was in danger from this
+new condition of the world of becoming the tool of a noxious faction,
+or the victim of foreign influence. He required a strong counterpoise
+against the preponderating power of Russia, and diplomatic
+entanglements with Austria. This he could only find in the strength of
+an attached people, who in union with him would deliberate on the
+policy and support of his State.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">King Frederic William III. never felt the incongruous position in which
+he had placed himself, in respect to the necessities of the time, for
+his image was closely bound up with the grandest reminiscences of the
+people; and the private virtues of his life made him, during a long
+reign, an object of reverence to the rising generation. But his
+successor was to suffer fearfully from the circumstance that he
+himself, his officials, and his people had grown up under a crippled
+system of State.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But that the Prussians of 1813 should so quietly have borne their
+disappointed hopes, that&#8212;whilst already in the States of the Rhenish
+Confederation parties were in vehement struggle&#8212;the &quot;great State&quot; lay
+so lifeless, is to be attributed to other reasons besides loyalty to
+the Hohenzollerns. The nation was exhausted to the uttermost by the war
+and what had preceded it, and wearied to death. Scarcely had it
+strength to cultivate its land. Years passed over before the live stock
+could be fully replaced. Cities and village communities, landed
+proprietors and peasants were all deeply in debt. The price of landed
+properties sank lower than they had been before 1806. It often happened
+that noble estates remained without masters for many years, when the
+last proprietor had wasted the live stock, and that auctions were often
+unattended by solvent bidders. Commerce and industry had been destroyed
+by the Continental blockade, for the old outlets for linen, cloth, and
+iron, the great branches of Prussian trade, were lost&#8212;foreigners had
+appropriated them. And capital also was wanting. Intercourse, also,
+with the Sclavonian eastern districts, a vital question to the old
+provinces, was gradually almost annihilated by the new Russian
+commercial system. But a still greater hindrance arose from the waste
+of men through the war. The whole youth of the country had been under
+arms, a large portion had fallen on the battle-fields, and the
+survivors had been torn away from their citizen life. Many remained in
+the army: full a third part of the Prussian officers who commanded the
+army in the following thirty years consisted of volunteer rifles of
+1813. He who returned to his former vocation found himself reduced in
+circumstances, and his relatives helpless and impoverished. He was at
+last glad to become an unpretending official, and thus to obtain a
+livelihood for himself and his family in the exhausted country. The
+bloody work of three campaigns, and the habits of soldierly obedience
+had not diminished his vigour, but the genial warmth, which enables
+youth to look victoriously upon life, had passed away. He began now a
+struggle for a respectable home, probably with patience and devotion to
+duty, but in the narrow sphere into which he now entered, he could not
+but look back to the mighty past which he had gone through. Thus had
+the manly energy of the generation been spent. The youths also that
+grew up in their families had no longer the advantage of being
+influenced by great impressions, enthusiasm, and devotion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">These misfortunes fell heaviest on the old provinces. The new
+acquisition demanded for many years great official power and much
+government care before it could be moulded into the Prussian
+commonwealth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is manifest that a free press and a constitution were the best means
+of healing these weaknesses more rapidly, and of bringing a feeling of
+convalescence and coherence among the people; for warmth and enthusiasm
+are as necessary to the life of a nation as the light of heaven is to
+plants and dew to the clouds. The further its development advances, the
+greater becomes its need of exalted ideas, and of having intellectual
+interests in common. When the Reformation first roused the people to an
+intellectual struggle, it was as if a miracle had been worked upon
+them; their character became stronger, their morality purer, all the
+processes of the mind, all human energy had become stronger; and when
+the awakened need of a common aim was not satisfied in the State life
+of the German Empire, the people became inert and worse. Again, after a
+long and sorrowful time, a great Prince had given to at least a part of
+the Germans new enthusiasm and an ideal aim. The warm interest in the
+fate of their State, which ennobled Frederic's time, and the liberation
+of the mind from the tutelage of the State and the Church, had been a
+second great progress; and again had this progress required an
+answering extension of general interests and a strengthening of
+political action. But in the spiritless and powerless rule of the next
+generation the popular energies again decayed. The fall of Prussia was
+the consequence. Now, for the third time, a great portion of the
+Germans had made a new progress, the nation had given its property and
+its blood for its State, and it had become a passionate necessity to
+care for the Fatherland, and to take a share in its fate; and as this
+longing again met with no satisfaction, the people sank back for a time
+into weakness. The distractions of the year 1848 were the result.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In almost every domain of ideal life the malady became apparent, even
+in philosophy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Extensive was the domain embraced by German philosophy; new branches of
+knowledge had sprung up with surprising rapidity; there was scarce a
+bygone people in the most distant regions of the earth whose history,
+life, arts, and language were not investigated; above all, the past of
+Germany. With hearty warmth was every expression of our popular mind,
+of which there remained a trace, laid hold of. A wonderful richness of
+life of the olden time was discovered and understood in all its
+specialities. Round the German inquirer arose from the earth the
+spirits of nations which had once lived; he learnt to comprehend what
+was peculiar to each, what was common to all&#8212;the action of the human
+mind on the highest phenomena of the globe. Equally did the knowledge
+of objective nature increase. The history of the creation of the earth,
+the organism of everything created, the countless objects invisible to
+the naked eye, and the countless things which arise from the
+combination of simple substances, became known; and again, beyond the
+boundaries of this earth, the life of the solar system, the cosmical
+unit, of which the solar world is an infinitesimal speck.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the endless abundance of new knowledge which was infused by science
+into the life of the highly educated was dangerous to the character in
+one respect. The German learnt to understand the almost endless
+varieties of character of foreign nations; the most dissimilar kinds of
+culture became clear to him. Impartially, and with lively interest, did
+he enter into the policy of Tiberius, and the enthusiasm of Loyola, the
+gradual development of slavery in North America, and the pedantries and
+dreams of Robespierre. He was, therefore, in danger, in his considerate
+judgment, of forgetting the moral basis of his own life. He who would
+identify himself with so many foreign minds, needs not only the
+capacity to grasp the minds of others, but still more the power to keep
+himself free from the influence exercised over him by foreign
+conditions of life. He who would without prejudice estimate the
+relative value of a foreign point of view, must first know how to
+maintain firmly the moral foundation of his own life. This can only be
+effected by making his own will subservient to the duty of co-operating
+with his contemporaries, by joining in free associations, by a free
+press, and by continuous participation in the greatest political
+conceptions of his time. It was because the Prussians, whose capital at
+this time was the centre of German philosophy, were deprived of this
+regulator, that the cultivated minds of this period acquired a peculiar
+weakness of character, which will appear strange to the next
+generation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This weakness of will was indeed no new failing of the educated German.
+It was the two hundred years' malady of a people which had no
+participation in the State, and, from its natural disposition, was not
+carried away by the impulse of passion, but composedly deliberates on
+action, and is seldom prevented by vehement excitement from forming a
+moderate judgment. But in the first part of our century their old
+weakness became particularly striking amidst these rich treasures of
+knowledge. Oftener than formerly did the originality of a foreign form
+of life produce an overpowerful influence on them. Instead of
+withstanding some mighty influence, it might be that of Metternich,
+Byron, or Eugene Sue, popery, socialism, or Polish patriotism, being
+foreign, they yielded to its prestige, their own judgment being
+vacillating and uncertain. Though it was easy for the best amongst them
+to talk cleverly upon the most dissimilar subjects, it was difficult
+for them to act consistently.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This malady seized almost all the intellectual portion of the people.
+The salons became <i>blasé</i>, authors sensational, statesmen without fixed
+purpose, and officials without energy: these were all different forms
+of the same disease. It was everywhere destructive, nowhere more than
+in Prussia; it gave to this State a specially helpless, nay, even hoary
+aspect, that was in striking contrast to the respectable capacity which
+was not lost in the smaller circles of the people.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But healing came, by degrees, and again in a circuitous way, sometimes
+bounding forwards, and then retrograding; but, on the whole, since
+1830, in continual progress.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For, at the same time in which the July revolution again excited,
+throughout a wide circle of life, an interest in the State, a new
+development of German popular strength began in other spheres,
+especially through the industrious labours of countless individuals, in
+the workshop and the counter. The Zollverein&#8212;the greatest creation of
+Frederic William III.&#8212;threw down a portion of the barriers which had
+divided separate German States; the railroads and the steam-boats
+became the metallic conductors of technical culture from one end of the
+country to the other. With the development of German manufacturing
+activity came new social dangers, and new remedies had to be supplied
+by the spontaneous activity of the people. Bit by bit was the narrow
+system of government and of characterless officials destroyed; the
+nation acquired a feeling of active growth; everywhere there was a
+youthful interest in life; everywhere energetic activity in
+individuals. A free intelligence developed itself in independent men,
+as well as in the official order, together with other forms of culture
+and other needs of the people. The labour of the inferior classes
+became more valuable; to raise their views and increase their welfare
+was no longer a problem for quiet philanthropists, but a necessity for
+all, a condition of prosperity even for those highest in position.
+Whilst it was complained that the chasm between employers and the
+employed became greater, and the domination of capital more oppressive,
+great efforts were in fact being made by the zeal of literary men, the
+philanthropy of the cultivated, and by the monied classes for their own
+advantage, to increase the knowledge of the people and improve their
+morals. A comprehensive popular literature began to work, commercial
+and agricultural schools were established, and men of different spheres
+of interests organised themselves into associations. By example and by
+teaching it was endeavoured to raise the independence of the weaker,
+and the great principle of association was proclaimed. In the place of
+the former isolation, men of similar views worked together in every
+domain of earthly activity. It was a grand labour to which the nation
+now devoted itself, and it was followed by the greatest and most rapid
+change which the Germans have ever effected.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Both the sound egotism of this work and the practical benevolence of
+those who interested themselves in the welfare of the labouring
+classes, assisted, after the year 1830, in curing the educated of their
+irresolution and feebleness of character. The south of Germany now
+exercised a wholesome influence on the north. Long had the countries of
+the old Empire lived quietly to themselves, receiving more than giving;
+they had sent to the north some great poets and men of learning, but
+considered them as their special property; they had endeavoured to
+protect their native peculiarities against north German influence, and
+they were unwillingly, by Napoleon and the Vienna and Paris treaties,
+apportioned among the greater princely houses of their country; and now
+they supplied what was wanting to the north. The constitutional
+struggles of their little States formed a school for a number of
+political leaders, warm patriots, and energetic, warm-hearted men,
+sometimes with narrow-minded views, but zealous, unwearied, fresh, and
+hopeful. The Suabian poets were the first artist minds of Germany which
+were strengthened by participation in the politics of their homes, and
+the philosophy of southern Germany maintained a patriotic tendency in
+contradistinction to the cosmopolitanism of the north. The people were
+saved from becoming <i>blasé</i>, and from subtle formalism and sophistry,
+by warmth of heart, vigorous resolution, a solid understanding, which
+was little accessible to over-great refinements, and a pleasant
+good-humour. In the time from 1830 to 1848 the southern Germans were in
+the foreground of German life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This hearty participation in the life of the people found expression in
+the art of the southern Germans. The morbid spirit which prevailed in
+the society of the educated, drove the fine arts into the lower circles
+of the people. The popular painters endeavoured to represent the
+figures and occupations of lower life with humour and spirit; the poets
+endeavoured to embellish, with a genial interest, the character and
+condition of the countryman: their village tales, and the interest
+which they excited in the reading world are always considered as a
+symptom of how great was the longing in the educated for quiet comfort
+and a well-regulated activity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A village tale shall be here given, descriptive of the condition of the
+people at this period; for the life of the southern German, which is
+related, is in many respects characteristic of the fate and inward
+changes in the best spirits of the time which has just passed. The
+movement which, after the revolution of 1830, vibrated all over Europe,
+had excited in him also a lively interest in the national development
+of the Fatherland. The debates of the Chambers of his small country
+were his first auxiliaries. The struggles which took place there did
+not remain without fruit; they relieved agriculture and the peasant
+from the burdens which had hitherto oppressed them; they introduced
+municipal institutions and public and verbal proceedings, even a law
+against the censorship of the press. But the German Diet interposed,
+the law of the press was put an end to, and the complaints of the
+landed proprietors against the exemption laws found favour with it; and
+the Frankfort outrage of the 3rd of April, 1833, produced a re-action.
+Then the author left his official position in a fiscal chamber and
+devoted his energies to the press. When he was deprived of even this
+share in the political destiny of his country, by the malicious
+chicanery of a lawless police, he settled for a few years in
+Switzerland. All his life it had been a pleasure for him to teach. As a
+student, as candidate for the service of the State, he had given
+instruction to young men; he was therefore not unprepared for the
+office of teacher; which he entered upon in that foreign country. He
+relates as follows:&#8212;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On Easter Monday, 1838, in the church at Grenchen, in the canton of
+Solothurn, the Roman Catholic community appointed a Protestant and a
+German as teacher in the newly-erected district school. The community
+had chosen him, and the government had confirmed the choice; I was the
+teacher.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was a raw spring morning. The monotonous grey of the clouds covered
+the sides and summit of the Jura, large snow-flakes fell in thick
+drifts, and enveloped the procession that was moving towards the
+church. The words addressed by Father Zweili, superior of the
+Franciscans, and president of the education council, to those
+assembled, would have been suitable to any clergyman. He expressed to
+me that I need have no hesitation in speaking to the scholars on
+religion; 'it is only necessary for you to abstain from touching on the
+few points on which we differ.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Franciscans were learned, industrious men, they lived as
+instructors of philosophy, and were therefore in open feud with the
+Jesuits. The government found in them, powerful supporters and
+co-operators in their exertions for the education of the people; in
+this respect everything had to be done, for the patrician rulers who
+had been overthrown in 1830 had done nothing. In the first place, they
+established preparatory schools, and training colleges for masters, and
+provided for the supervision and conduct of school life. The
+difficulties that had to be overcome were not trifling, but it was all
+accomplished in the course of four years. In the beginning of 1837,
+each parish had its school, each school its master and dotation, and
+each child suitable instruction; the law punished parents for not
+insisting on the regular attendance of their children at school. As
+soon as the preparatory schools were arranged, district schools were
+added; here there was no compulsion; they were established by the
+community, and the attendance of scholars who had left the preparatory
+schools, and had the necessary preliminary knowledge, was voluntary;
+the State assisted the institution by grants, and maintained a
+superintendence. Grenchen was one of the first communities which
+determined on providing means for a district school; the government
+gave an annual contribution of 800 Swiss franks, about 305 thalers. The
+merit of this decision of the community is due above all to the
+physician, Dr. Girard, my dear friend. He could make only a small
+number of his fellow-citizens understand the utility of the
+undertaking, for they had not had the advantage of the instruction
+afforded to the present generation, but they trusted the man who had so
+often showed his unselfish desire to do good. But the desire of this
+people, who are by nature so energetic, to be in advance of other
+communities prevailed, and when it became a question whether Grenchen
+or Selzach should maintain the new school, the thing was decided; the
+institution was to be at that place, whatever it might be. I had great
+pleasure in teaching, and the situation secured me a residence which I
+cared more for than maintenance which might be obtained by other work.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The village in which I was now to teach was the largest community in
+the canton, with more than 2000 inhabitants, and 400 citizens entitled
+to vote, and it was situated among the outlying hills of the Jura.
+Towards the south, rich meadows and well cultivated fields, slope down
+to the Aar, which hastens with rapid course through the valley to the
+Rhine. On the other side of the Aar the ground rises gently up to hilly
+Emmenthal, and behind it rises the chain of the Alps. The Urner and
+Swiss mountains in the east, the Rigi standing alone in foremost
+grandeur; in the centre the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, up to the Savoy
+Alps, among which Mont Blanc rises its head majestically. Towards the
+west the lakes of Viel, Neufchatel, and Meurten spread their shining
+mirrors. It would be difficult to find anywhere a country so lovely,
+and at the same time grand, as here presents itself to the eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The houses of the village are detached and scattered about in groups
+for some height up the mountain, almost every one is surrounded by a
+garden and meadow, and shaded by fruit-trees; a clear rivulet glides
+with many windings through the village. Unwillingly do the thatched
+roofs give way to the prescribed tiles. The farming of the inhabitants
+comprises fields, meadows, and woods, the herding of cattle, and on the
+most valuable properties, mountain pastures, and the making of butter
+and cheese. The vine also is cultivated. The Grencheners do not deny
+that in common years their wine is sour, they sneer at it in songs and
+jests, but yet they drink it, and find it wholesome. They are a
+powerful race, of Allemanni origin, the men are mostly slender but
+strong, and some of them uncommonly tall. Among the women and maidens
+there is frequently that Madonna-like beauty which is often to be found
+in Catholic districts. They are cheerful and gifted with humour,
+perseveringly industrious, and skilful in adapting themselves to every
+position and helping themselves. It is not the custom with them to
+close the doors; it is mentioned as an unprecedented circumstance, that
+three years ago a watch was stolen in the village. But the locality is
+not favourable for thieves; woe to him who allows himself to be caught,
+he would not come unscathed into the hands of justice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Grencheners had the repute of untamed lawlessness, which
+manifested itself in litigation and a strong inclination to take the
+law into their own hands; the knife was frequently used, and blood was
+shed. If the result was not mortal all who were concerned in it were
+summoned, in order to keep the magistrates away. The injurer and the
+injured negotiated, through mediators, as to a suitable
+indemnification, and with the conclusion of the treaty the enmity
+terminated. Money was not in my time the standard by which men were
+valued, but their labour. I value a citizen there, who, having by an
+unsuccessful enterprise lost his property, has worked as a street
+servant. His fellow-citizens esteem him as much as before, and praise
+him because he performs his service right well. For lads who did not
+like the labours of peace, foreign service offered them a beaten way,
+which was not objected to by the community, because it freed them from
+many disturbing elements; however, it brought back many wild fellows
+not amended.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the year 1790, when the French invaded Switzerland, the cantons
+were very disunited; they carried on their struggle against the enemy
+singly; the Bernese fought well at Neuenegg and the Vierwaldstättersee,
+but one after another were subdued by superior power. The Grencheners
+were bold enough to defend their village against the French invaders;
+they went out, some of them armed with halberds and old weapons,
+against the enemy, and joined in hand-to-hand combat. The name of
+<i>Jungfer Schürer</i> still lives, in the mouths of the inhabitants, and
+they still show the place where she lost her life in the struggle. The
+French officer, her opponent, was brought wounded to the hospital at
+Solothurn, and is said to have there lamented penitently that he was
+obliged to kill a maiden; but he had only the choice of doing this or
+falling under her blows.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The bath lies in a small secluded valley, separated from the village,
+a building with a large front, betwixt ponds and pleasure-grounds with
+shady groups of trees. Behind it is the spring, a clear iron water. In
+summer the bath is visited by guests from Switzerland&#8212;Alsacians and
+others&#8212;who accidentally discover the place and take a fancy to it. In
+this century the small valley of marsh and sedge was still the
+possession of the community. The father of Girard obtained the land for
+a moderate price; built his huts upon it, drained the ground, enclosed
+the spring, and arranged the baths&#8212;at first in very modest style,
+extending the grounds as means increased. Father and mother both
+exerted themselves, sons and daughters grew up to assist; one son
+studied at German universities, and became a physician. The institution
+has to thank him for its rapid prosperity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This was the place where I was presented in the church as
+schoolmaster, not without the opposition of some pious parties.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All the powers of resistance were roused to the utmost by the
+ultramontane party; publicly by the press, privately by every
+possible means. A heretic to be the only teacher in a Roman Catholic
+school&#8212;that was unheard of! The government, the common council, and I
+myself, were overwhelmed with abuse; the ecclesiastics in Grenchen were
+severely blamed for having allowed a wolf to break into the fold, and
+it was set before them as a duty (not only by the newspapers) to use
+their utmost efforts to stifle the devil's brood in the germ.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The pastor of the place was a stately, fine man,&#8212;a favourite of the
+ladies, which gave him influence. But he was not fond of controversy;
+he loved repose and playing on the violin, and would therefore rather
+not have taken a part. As far as his influence went he hindered the
+boys from going to school, and never set his foot in it, so that no
+religious instruction was given, and the hours appointed for it were
+filled up with instruction on other subjects. Personally I was on a
+tolerably good footing with him. It would have given him pleasure if I
+would have allowed him to baptise my little daughter, who was born two
+months before at the Grenchen baths, and he would have taken the
+opportunity of making a quiet effort to convert me, by giving me a book
+to read, pretending to be written by a Protestant, for the
+glorification of the Roman Catholic church. Still less than the pastor
+could his chaplain be used as a battering-ram against the school. He
+had become a theologian at Würzburg, and knew that Leipzig was a nest
+of books. He was a good husbandman and rearers of bees, and had about
+the same amount of education as the people; they, however, did not
+remain stationary. He did not always succeed in preserving his clerical
+dignity and avoiding blame from the authorities. He had never felt it
+necessary to extend his theological knowledge beyond what was
+absolutely necessary, and I was sometimes astonished at the chaos in
+his memory; as when, for example, he related how St. Louis had defended
+Rome against the Huns. If the conversation fell upon books he never
+ceased to praise a narrative of a mission to Otaheite, and I soon
+discovered that this volume was very nearly his whole library. In spite
+of all this he was a good man, and it will not injure him now if I
+relate why I loved him. We were speaking one day of eternal happiness
+and the reverse. I told him how impossible I considered it, that the
+good God could be so cruel as to burn me eternally in hell. It is the
+Lord's fault, not mine, that I was baptised a Calvinist, and had thus
+been instructed and confirmed. Our teacher had told us that we were to
+love our fellow-creatures, and do good to them; and I endeavoured,
+according to the best of my ability, to follow this teaching, and yet I
+was to be eternally condemned! This gave the chaplain pain, and he
+found a theological answer: 'I hope God will deal with you as with one
+of the heathen, of whom it is written, that they will be judged
+according to their works.' He was not dangerous to the school.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If the clerical leaders had been more energetic, the supporters they
+could have called forth, from out of the population, to oppose the
+school were not to be despised. Besides the women, who for the most
+part were attached to the pastor, there were men whom the new rule had
+deprived of official position in the community. Respectability and
+family connections still gave them importance, and they were led by
+their old masters to persuade the more energetic youths that the new
+constitution would not give them freedom enough; but, on the contrary,
+more burdens, and that they had no reason to be contented with a
+condition of things which the new leaders would turn exclusively to
+their own advantage. These opponents were dangerous. From one of them I
+was in the habit of getting milk for my household; the children fell
+sick, and became feverish. Then we learnt that the milk of a sick cow
+had been given us, and that the seller boasted of it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As the party which had just been vanquished in the field of politics
+could not openly make head against the common council and the majority
+of the citizens; they endeavoured to influence the parents, and were
+pleased when, in the beginning, there were only a dozen scholars&#8212;a
+small number for a great parish, surrounded by other villages, to whose
+sons the district school was open. There was only one means of saving
+the school from dissolution, and that was, its success. But a
+circumstance occurred to help us, before it could be ascertained that
+useful knowledge might be acquired here.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Grenchen lies on the frontier towards the canton of Berne, about half
+an hour's distance from the Berne village of Lengnau. The Calvanistic
+common council of Lengnau inquired of their Roman Catholic Solothurner
+neighbours whether, and under what conditions, boys from their place
+would be allowed to attend the district school. The answer was, that
+their sons would be welcome; the instruction would be given
+gratuitously, and that the people of Lengnau would only have to take
+care that the scholars should be quiet and orderly. Hence there was an
+increase of eight or ten boys from Lengnau; in order to preserve quiet,
+one of them had been appointed by the mayor as monitor, and was made
+answerable for their discipline; they marched in military order two and
+two, and returned home in the same way, and there never was the
+slightest quarrel between them and the Grencheners. This example worked
+upon the neighbouring places of the canton; scholars came from Staad,
+Bettlach, and Selzach, and, later, even from the French Jura. One of
+them merits special mention. He was a large strong man, two and thirty
+years of age (a year older than I), from the parish of Ely, in Friburg,
+a distance of two hours behind the Weissenstein, situated in a wild
+lonely country of the Bernese Jura mountains, which he had quitted, in
+order to work on the new high road between Solothurn and Grenchen. When
+he heard of the district school, he altered his determination; he hired
+himself as a servant to a peasant for board and lodging, resigning
+salary for the privilege of being able to attend the school. His desire
+for knowledge and his iron industry helped him to surmount all
+difficulties; he afterwards attended the seminary of education at
+Bünchenbuchsee (Berne); then returned to his home, where he became
+mayor and teacher; in short, all-in-all. Only one thing Xaver Rais did
+not become, that was, father of a family; for he always continued his
+studies, and, as he confided to me afterwards, preferred buying books
+to a wife. The Grencheners reckon him, up to the present day, as one of
+them; and even now, when I go to the place, a message is sent to him;
+then he puts on his satchel, lays hold of his staff, and goes over the
+mountain with long strides.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The influx of scholars from the neighbourhood did not fail to have an
+effect on the opponents in the place; many boys succeeded in overcoming
+the resistance of their parents, and had the satisfaction of entering
+the institution, which soon numbered between thirty and forty scholars.
+In order to regulate the instruction according to the requirements, I
+was obliged to alter the prescribed plan. I did it on my own
+responsibility, and when at the close of the first year, I reported
+this to the government, what I had done was approved, and a wish
+expressed that the same course might be pursued in the other district
+schools. In the summer I kept school only from six to ten o'clock in
+the morning, in order that the boys might be employed in house and
+field labour. Besides this, the great work of the hay and corn harvest
+was in the holidays. The objects of study I limited in number, but went
+more deeply into them; I honestly lamented that the pastor gave no
+religious instruction, for the boys came from the preparatory school
+very much neglected in this important branch; they had only been
+impressed with two points, the indispensableness of the Ecclesiastical
+order, and the value of relics; of biblical history they were almost
+entirely ignorant. If the pastor did not teach religion, neither did I
+teach politics, but left the Fatherland State system to the school of
+life. On the other hand, the German and French languages, together with
+practice in composition, history, and geography, arithmetic and
+geometry, were carried on with great zeal, and it gave me pleasure to
+observe how forward boys of natural capacity might be brought in a
+short time, when all bombast was abolished, things represented simply,
+and each individual suitably assisted in his intellectual work.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was my good fortune to have a tolerable number of clever scholars,
+and for these I always endeavoured to do more than was prescribed. I
+gave them, therefore, at particular hours, instruction in Latin; and I
+made use of this to enlarge their views, and to guide and excite their
+love of learning. They formed a nucleus which gave the school a firm
+position. To them I owe the absence of anxiety about the discipline of
+the school, for their earnest orderly characters had an effect on all.
+During the three years of my office as teacher, I never had recourse to
+punishment; if a boy was idle or untruthful, I used, after admonishing
+him to amend, to add the notification, that the other scholars would
+bear no bad lads amongst them. It certainly sometimes happened that at
+the end of the lesson, in which I had been obliged to give such a
+warning, certain sounds which did not mean approbation, would reach my
+ears; but I forbore inquiring as to the cause. On account of the
+number of scholars, the institution was removed to another place; the
+school-room was on the first story immediately over our sitting-room,
+and my wife often remarked with astonishment, that though thirty
+peasant boys were assembled above, she never heard the least noise; and
+that our little children were not disturbed in their morning sleep.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Before a year had passed, it was discovered in the village that the
+school was useful; the boys, especially those of the 'guard,' as they
+called my <i>élite</i>, were in great request, to read and write German and
+French letters, which were necessary for the traffic in the products of
+the country; also to examine and draw up accounts, and the like. I
+willingly overlooked it when here or there one was an hour late, in
+consequence of having performed these neighbourly acts, for this was of
+advantage both to them and the school. The people saw us undertaking
+the measurement of fields, and trigonometrically determining heights
+and distances with instruments made by ourselves. But the strongest
+impression was produced, when a boy fifteen years of age begged for
+permission to speak before the assembled community for his father. The
+father, a worthy man, well deserving of the community, had, by
+misfortune, become bankrupt. Ruin impended, if the largest creditor did
+not act with consideration, and this creditor was the community itself.
+The son appeared before the assembly, and begged for an abatement of
+the debt. He described the services, the misfortunes, and the state of
+mind of his father; his anxieties about his family, and forlorn future;
+and the advantage it would bring to the community itself, if it
+preserved to the family its supporter, and to itself a useful citizen.
+He spoke with an impressiveness, a warmth and depth of feeling, which
+caused tears to roll down the beards of the most austere men. I can
+certify that many will say this: and at last the remission of the debt
+was passed without a dissenting voice. The boy has now long been a
+professor of Natural Science and Doctor of Philosophy. His speech did
+even more for the place than the act of another scholar, who knocked
+out the brains of a mad dog with his wood axe. This they thought was no
+art, for that every one could do; but the young orator! 'This is the
+way they learn to speak in the school.' From that time the institution
+was firmly established. But I still wanted something more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In vain had I begged the government to give an examination. They had
+answered that they were acquainted with the progress of the school, and
+accorded me their confidence. The second year I urgently repeated my
+request, and represented that it would be of use to the school if the
+State took notice of it. The examination was granted, and there
+appeared at it the magistrate of the district Munzinger, many members
+of the council of government, the prior Zweili, different teachers, and
+men of distinction from Solothurn. All went off well; the boys felt
+themselves raised and encouraged by the signs of satisfaction of the
+highest State officials. After the business was over, the members of
+the common council and other gentry, with the officials and friends of
+the school, assembled at a repast. When the strangers had left, the
+inhabitants remained long assembled together; even former opponents had
+joined; very willingly would the chaplain have made his appearance if
+he had not been afraid of the pastor, and so would the pastor himself
+if he had been sure that his superiors would not hear of it. The
+glasses continued to pass round till late in the night, and I was not
+in a position to let them go by me, so much the less that in the eyes
+of these men, he who could not drink with them was considered as a
+weakling, and looked upon as incapable of showing any capacity. From
+the day of the examination, I could consider the school as having taken
+root in the community. The time had passed away when my friends and
+acquaintance at Solothurn had declared to me that they would not be
+surprised to hear an account of my being killed by the wild
+Grencheners.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had indeed never been fearful of so unceremonious a proceeding from
+the adherents of the 'Black party,' but it was not till now that I was
+cheered by a feeling of security. Many small but significant traits
+showed me that the people no longer considered me and mine as
+strangers, and an approximation was here accomplished which was perhaps
+the first for some generations. Before the opening of the institution,
+it had been a question of procuring benches and other requisites, and
+it was then remarked that these articles should not be supplied by
+foreign joiners. A long time afterwards one of these came to me&#8212;there
+were two brothers&#8212;to beg of me to lay a memorial before the
+government, stating that they wished to remain at Grenchen, and obtain
+the rights of citizens. By a new decree, the mayors were ordered to
+examine the papers of settlers, and to send to their own homes all
+whose papers were not according to rule. These had no papers, and were
+therefore in danger of losing their domicile. On my inquiring how long
+they had lived in the place, the man answered, that he and his brother
+had been born there, also their father and mother; their grand-parents
+had wandered there as young people, and, indeed, not from a foreign
+country, or from another canton, but from a Solothurn village, only
+four hours from Grenchen, where, however, they would no longer know
+anything about them. The community had dealt well with them, giving
+them an equal share with the citizens in the communal property, but
+they denied them the rights of citizens. The government then signified
+to the community, that they had neglected to demand from their sires
+the papers, and that the grandchildren must not suffer from it. They
+became citizens, but still remained foreign joiners.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;After a year was passed, fortune was favourable to me. The neighbours'
+children chose mine as playfellows, and the wives sought intercourse
+with mine, whilst many of the men persuaded me to join a union which
+was engaged in objects of general utility; it soon attained a great
+development, and introduced much improvement into the administration
+and economy of the property of the community. I learnt to esteem many
+excellent country people; many have passed away in the vigour of
+manhood. Her Vogt, justice of the peace, a genuine Allemanni, with a
+long thin face and dark hair, adapted by his understanding and
+acuteness to be the champion of the rising enlightenment, was killed
+not long ago by the fall of a tree which he was felling with an axe.
+The common councillor, Schmied Girard, met with an accident in the
+flower of manhood, on the occasion of a bonfire, which was lighted on
+the Warinfluh, high up on the edge of a rocky precipice, in order to
+show the Bernese neighbours sympathy in the celebration of the festival
+in honour of their constitution. He pushed a great log with his foot
+into the fire, slipped, and fell backwards over the rock into the
+abyss. He was an uncompromising opponent of the rotten system in the
+State, and had not feared to make known his sympathy for David Strauss,
+whose call to Zurich in 1839 had brought about the noted Zurich row,
+and to express his conviction that there could be no improvement till
+the community could choose their own pastor, and it should only be for
+five years. No wonder then that the ultramontane party spoke of his
+death in their papers as by the finger of God, for the edification of
+the good, and as a warning to the godless. The Grencheners answered the
+fleeting curse of the pious press by an enduring inscription on stone.
+In the village, by the side of the high road, in a place that every
+traveller who goes along the road must remark, there is a simple
+memorial stone. The inscription says that it is dedicated to the memory
+of the common councillor Girard, who was loved and esteemed by his
+fellow citizens, who laboured and met his death in the cause of
+liberty, justice, and enlightenment. He was a good neighbour to me, and
+a powerful support: my wife gazed at him with astonishment when he took
+her Italian iron out of the fire with his bare hand, and placed it in
+the iron stand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An <i>esprit de corps</i> in a good sense soon arose among the scholars;
+they felt themselves a distinguished corporate body. I made expeditions
+with them; amongst others, to Neuenberg, where the curiosities of the
+town, especially the rich collection of natural history, were shown to
+them with praiseworthy willingness. Another time we accepted the
+friendly invitation of a teacher at Solothurn to see a series of
+physical experiments. To the capital of the country the boys would not
+go on foot, but drove, as proud Grencheners, in a carriage decked with
+foliage, drawn by stately horses. In the lecture-room their demeanour
+was quiet, and they showed attention and intelligence, and they could
+see there much that, from want of proper appliances, I could only
+describe to them. The school was the focus of their life, the place
+where they collected on all great occasions. When one night the
+alarm-bell sounded, announcing a fire in the neighbouring village of
+Bettlach, they all came unsummoned to me; we put ourselves in order,
+and hastened with rapid steps to the spot where the fire was; we formed
+a rank to the nearest brook, and received our share in the praise and
+parting thanks of the pastor, for, when the fixe was extinguished, the
+clergyman delivered a speech of thanks to the neighbours who had come
+to help. I became the confidant of the cleverer ones in many features
+of their inward development. The boy who had come forward as advocate
+for his father was, on his first entrance into the school, so uncurbed
+in his overflowing strength, and so untamed by any culture, that,
+instead of taking his place in the usual way, he always vaulted over
+tables and benches; the wild creature scarcely kept within his clothes.
+But very soon all this was changed; Sepp became quiet and serious, and
+his whole strength exerted itself in reflection and learning. I
+expressed to him my pleasure at the change, and he told me that one
+night he had not been able to sleep, and the thought had come into his
+head, 'Thou hast hitherto not been a man, but an animal; now, through
+the means of the school, thou canst become a man, and must do so.' From
+that night he felt himself changed. Another&#8212;now an able forest-manager
+and geometrician&#8212;had surprised me by an almost sudden transition from
+slow to quick comprehension and rapid progress. He gave me afterwards
+this explanation: 'All at once light broke upon me. You had set us an
+equation; I racked my brains with it, but could not find out a
+solution. I was in the stable milking the cows: I had taken the paper
+with me, laid it beside me on a log, and was looking at it every
+moment. Then it passed like lightning through my brain: &quot;thus must thou
+do it!&quot; I left the cow and pail, took my paper, ran into the room, and
+solved the equation. Since that all my learning has gone on better.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The year 1839 had come to an end, and the winter term&#8212;the most
+tedious time of the school&#8212;had begun with an increased number of
+scholars. One Sunday some old scholars came to me, and suggested that
+the Grencheners had at one period occasionally performed a play. This
+old custom had long fallen into disuse; there had been nothing to see
+except at the carnival, 'the Doctor of Padua,' Punchinello, and the old
+buffoon sports, which had been brought home by mercenaries from the
+Italian wars, and established in the villages; but they wished to have
+again a great play, and begged me to help them. I desired to have time
+to think, and made inquiries of the old people, particularly of old
+Hans Fik, who, at least forty years before had co-operated as a youth,
+and, as he acknowledged to me with shame, had acted the part of the
+'Mother of God.' From him I learnt that the last dramatic performance
+had been the 'St. Genevičve.' He doubted whether this younger
+generation could accomplish anything similar, for such a splendid
+paraphernalia, with many horses, such tremendous jumps clear over the
+horses, could no longer be seen in the present day. The <i>rôle</i> of the
+count had been particularly fatiguing; one man had not sufficed for it;
+they had, therefore, had three counts, who, by turns, exercised their
+gymnastic art. Upon my asking whether there had not been speaking also,
+and whether he could not remember some passage which he could recite
+before me, the old man began to declaim, one tone and a half above his
+natural voice, singing and scanning with a monotonous abrupt rhythm and
+cadence. Undoubtedly this mode of delivery was a tradition from ancient
+times, and the speaking in these representations was an accessory only,
+while the jumping, wrestling, and gymnastics were the main point. From
+the productions of modern art which were at my command, I chose a
+native tragedy, 'Hans Waldmann Bürgermeister von Zürich,' by
+Wurstemberger of Berne. The hero, a leader in the Burgundian war,
+exerted himself to destroy the rule of the nobles in his native city,
+and to introduce reforms in accordance with the spirit of the age. Many
+of these innovations were displeasing to the citizens. The 'man of the
+people' became unpopular, a conspiracy of nobles upset him, and he was
+executed. The piece was not deficient in the necessary action; single
+combats, popular insurrection, fighting, and prison scenes gave spice
+to the dish; and longer dialogues were struck out. When my time for
+consideration had passed, the scholars made their appearance with
+military punctuality, and undertook with acclamation to perform the
+piece I had chosen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The young men set actively to work, and showed that innate disposition
+to self-government which had been developed by education and
+practice. Those who took part in it&#8212;the elder and fifth-class
+scholars&#8212;assembled at the national school, formed a union, and
+constituted it by the election of a president, a treasurer, and a
+secretary. They immediately proceeded to the distribution of parts.
+This took place as follows:&#8212;The president inquired of those assembled,
+'Who will act the part of Hans Waldmann?' Three or four candidates
+rise, each brings forward his claims&#8212;height, a powerful voice, or
+school education; then they retire, and the discussion begins. Each
+candidate has his adherents and opponents. The discussion is closed,
+and a nearly unanimous majority allots the principal <i>rôle</i> to the
+teacher, Tschui. Thus it went on with all the parts in succession, and
+the remainder of the general body agreed together as to their
+distribution as soldiers, peasants, and peasant women from Lake Zurich.
+The final vote put an end to all contention; there was not the least
+murmuring against the decision of the majority. I had been present at
+the meeting without saying a word; for, willing as the boys always were
+to listen to my advice&#8212;nay, even to look to my countenance for the
+expression of a wish,&#8212;yet it would have been annoying to them if I had
+obtruded myself upon them on the occasion of this performance. The
+distribution of parts gave perfect satisfaction; if I had undertaken
+it, it could not have turned out better,&#8212;probably not so well.
+Immediately after, a number of the elder lads, between twenty and
+thirty years of age, asked me to allow them to assist by acting the
+part of soldiers; they represented that there were some wild fellows
+among the actors, and there might be some ill-conducted lads among the
+spectators who would behave mischievously, and it would be well if they
+were at hand to keep order. Their desire was willingly complied with,
+and the appearance of these stout youths may have contributed to make
+their service unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;After the parts had been written out and learnt by heart, the
+rehearsals began, and continued during the whole winter. Most of the
+actors could only be brought to a certain point of proficiency, and
+there they remained; but some, especially the actor of the first part,
+richly repaid the trouble taken with him, and won, both at the
+performance and afterwards, the highest praise. But what delighted me
+most was to observe the moral effect of this dramatic industry of the
+young people on the life of the village. The common councillors
+related, with joyful surprise&#8212;what had been unheard of in the memory
+of man&#8212;that this winter there had been no fighting, nor the least
+ill-behaviour. The lads no longer sat in the taverns, drinking; they
+practised their parts at home, neighbours and acquaintances listening
+to them. Although women were excluded from the stage, the young ladies
+and peasant women being represented by the boys; yet the women and
+maidens were called upon to co-operate in other ways.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For many things were to be procured for the theatre&#8212;decorations,
+costumes, and orchestra. The newly-built wing of the bath-house was
+chosen for the theatre; this wing contained the dining-room and the
+adjoining dancing-room; the first, a long room, the other somewhat
+smaller and a square; there was an opening in the wall from one room to
+the other, in the form of an arch. The dancing-room was to be the
+stage, and before the arch hung a curtain: the dining-room was for the
+spectators. A platform and benches gave more than a thousand seats, and
+a gallery attached to the wall opposite to the curtain served as boxes.
+The plan of the stage arrangements was devised by a genuine artist, the
+painter Disteli, of Solothurn, known by his pictures of Swiss battles;
+the union took charge of the execution of it. It begged the common
+council to signify what trees might be cut to supply the necessary
+timber; crowds went out; the trees fell under the strokes of the axe;
+the lads harnessed themselves to them, putting on the tinkling-bells of
+the sledge-horses, and exultingly dragged the stems down the steep
+hill-path to the saw-mill. Then came the carpenters of the village,
+assisted by a sufficient number of men; in a short time the theatre
+was ready. The decorations were much aided by the misfortune of a
+play-manager, who, with his company, had for a long time been giving
+representations in a neighbouring city, but then had been obliged, by
+the pressure, not of the public, but of creditors, to go away, leaving
+behind him the whole of his theatrical properties. The scenery,
+therefore, was in the custody of the city, and the theatrical union
+succeeded in hiring, for a moderate sum, what was necessary&#8212;a room, a
+street, a wood, and even a dark prison. The costumes were designed by
+the painter Disteli; he coloured not only the particular dresses
+faithfully, according to the attire of the time and place, but
+contrived how it might be most cheaply carried out, by using the
+articles of dress that were at hand,&#8212;the aprons, bodices, shawls, and
+cloaks of the women. Whilst the village tailor worked, with an
+additional journeyman, incessantly at the costumes which required a
+higher degree of dexterity, the maidens occupied themselves for weeks
+with the smart dresses of the noble ladies, and the simple, picturesque
+attire of the women of the people; and many heroes owed to the taste
+and skill of a sister or a future bride the plumed cap and mantle which
+made him an object of admiration. If the dress, even less than the
+wearers, left little to desire, so did the equipment of the soldiers
+give a peculiar excellence to this performance; for the union addressed
+a petition to the government of the Canton, to allow them the use of
+the equipments and arms from the Burgundian war that were in the
+armoury at Solothurn, of helmets, armour, armlets, greaves, swords,
+spears, and halberds; and safe securities were offered for the careful
+return of them, with compensation for any damage. The government not
+only granted the request, but their most intelligent members helped
+both by word and deed, and delighted the troops with an old culverin
+and the coal-black equipments of the Burgundian gunners of the end of
+the fifteenth century.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When February was so far advanced that the days of performance could
+be settled,&#8212;it was to be on at least three following Sundays, in order
+to repay in some measure the great preparations,&#8212;I pointed out to the
+president of the union, after a general rehearsal, that it would be
+well to have some playbills printed. 'Playbills!' said the president,
+'there can be no harm in that, the people will then know who they have
+before them.' It so happened that the actors had thought of having a
+strip of paper attached to the head-dress of each, on which the public
+could read in large characters the name of the person. This mistake
+induced me to add upon the bills, to the usual contents, a short
+summary of the scenes in each act. The union sent their messengers, and
+I doubt whether there were any town or village within five leagues
+where the bills were not carried. What conduced to all this zeal in the
+preparations, was not only the pleasure of showing themselves before so
+many men, but also the calculation, that only a numerous attendance
+would bring up the entrance money to balance the expenditure, and give
+a chance of an overplus, which would be at the disposal of the union.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Again the actors came and begged to have a procession, 'such as there
+used to be formerly, in which we ride, the soldiers march, and women
+and others drive in smart carriages.' Those, therefore, who assisted in
+the village, were to assemble and move in regular procession to the
+baths, distant about a quarter of an hour. But the youths who had gone
+through numerous rehearsals, in order to attain the heights of the art,
+wished now to have a rehearsal of their procession, and to put on their
+equipments and beautiful dresses; I left it to them to do as they
+pleased. I learnt too late that to this innocent pleasure was added
+also a plan of revenge. It had come to the ears of the union, that the
+clergy of the place were not favourable to what the worldly authorities
+were so well disposed. The pastor had made a report at Solothurn,
+against the godless intention of performing a worldly piece on a
+Sunday, and the Bishop and Chapter pressed the government to prevent
+such misconduct. This made the young men very indignant. One Sunday
+afternoon, when the church bells sounded for the catechisings, the
+dissonance of a drum mingled with their solemn sound. It was the
+parochial servant, who had become old as a drummer in foreign service;
+he was a master of his instrument, and on this occasion was not in the
+service of the council, but of the actors for the rehearsal of the
+procession. The great strength with which the veteran played in the
+closest vicinity to the church, and the pleased twinkle of his eye,
+betrayed that he had lost at Rome and Naples all respect for
+ecclesiastics, and had particular pleasure in vexing the priests. He
+had before this avowed to me that he did not believe all Calvinists
+would burn in hell; he had told his pastor at confession that he had
+always been good friends with his Bernese comrades, and that he felt
+assured the good God would not cast away such brave fellows into the
+jaws of the devil; when in consequence of this, the pastor had refused
+him absolution, he had gone away saying: 'Good Mr. Pastor, henceforth I
+throw all my sins on your back.' So he marched round the house of God,
+overpowering the voice of the preacher, and causing the young people to
+run out of the church to see the procession. The clergy had good reason
+to complain, as people had been disturbed in their devotions. Soon
+there appeared an order from the government for the affair to be
+investigated; there was some difficulty in bringing it to a
+satisfactory conclusion, but the union promised never again to disturb
+the worship of God, and the ecclesiastics dropped their opposition to
+the performance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At last the great day for the first performance came. It was Sunday,
+the 15th of March, 1840. At mid-day the village was all astir; about
+two o'clock the procession was arranged, and began its march along the
+old high road which led from the village to the baths. The ground was
+still covered with snow, but the sun shone bright. First came a
+carriage with a brass band from Fulder, which was travelling in western
+Switzerland; this band played a solemn march. Then the knights with
+mounted retainers, two and two, in brilliant Burgundian armour, as many
+as forty horse; then again carriages adorned with fir-branches and
+ribbons, occupied by the wives and daughters of the nobles and people,
+and with insurgent peasants, the infantry with their gun brought up the
+rear. It was not a bad picture of the old time, the weapons shone in
+the sunshine, and the figures rose, sharply defined, from the dazzling
+snow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The performance began about three o'clock, and lasted four hours. The
+success exceeded all expectation; the house was filled, and the
+applause loud. I experienced painful moments behind the scenes, as for
+instance when the fighting heroes, in spite of all admonitions, would
+strike at each other with their long sharp swords, so that the sparks
+flew, and I was obliged to be contented that only a few drops of blood
+flowed from a slight wound in the hand. The play was followed by a
+supper to all who had cooperated, and the gentry of the village, and
+lastly a dance. The knights danced in their armour till midnight,
+having put it on about mid-day. I concluded, therefore, that this race
+had not degenerated in bodily strength from their forefathers, who
+fought at Murten and Granson.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The two following representations went off as fortunately as the
+first. The population streamed in from far and near, also travellers
+from Basle, Zürich, and other cities. Since that one-and-twenty years
+have passed; in the new school buildings there is a theatre, in which
+the scholars perform small pieces; but the worthy men still look back
+with pride to the great performances of their youth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One consequence of this play was, that the master became a part of the
+joyous recollections of the Swiss villages. The house which the
+community had hired for the institution, and the dwelling of the
+master, a provisional locality, stood with its front to the old
+high road; behind lay the little garden, at the back of which was a
+meadow belonging to the house which pastured two goats, and on which
+fruit-trees were planted. My abode was on the ground-floor; on the
+first storey, to which there was a narrow steep staircase, was the
+school-room and a reception-room. In summer acquaintances from the
+neighbourhood came frequently, and relations from home visited us,
+delighting in the country and in the well-disposed people. The
+holiday-time was gladly made use of for expeditions among the
+mountains. The close intercourse with the men of the village was also
+beneficial to the school, of which the wants were amply supplied.
+Without any application, the common councillor let me know, that the
+allowed quantity of wood appeared to him too small; but I need not mind
+that, as I had only to state how much I wanted, and I should have
+enough given me. The scholars were eager to show attentions to my
+little ones, and to render voluntary services for our little household
+and farm. They took care of the garden, mowed the grass, and made the
+hay; I received from them the earliest strawberries and cherries, and
+when the rivulet was fished, the most beautiful trout. Since the
+examination, their zeal for learning had increased. The German and
+French compositions of the clever ones were very creditable; they
+solved equations of the second degree with facility, could explain the
+workmanship of a watch, a mill, and a steam-engine, and also the laws
+of their working; besides this, they could read Cornelius Nepos and
+Cæsar. Instruction in the history of their Fatherland was throughout
+Switzerland carefully attended to, but only the brilliant parts of it.
+Every child knew about the battles of Morgarten, Sempach, and Murten;
+but the submissiveness of their rulers, the French pensions and
+decorations were generally passed over in silence. It appeared to me
+more judicious not to give the light without the shadows.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did not consider my duty towards those scholars whose inclination to
+learn was just aroused as ending with the certificate of dismissal. I
+wished to carry them on farther, up to the Canton school at Solothurn,
+which, besides a literary, had a technical class. With this object, it
+was necessary to provide for their maintenance, for they were,
+generally speaking, the sons of poor parents; those who were conscious
+that they would one day possess fields, meadows, and cattle, seldom
+felt the impulse to acquire more than the necessary knowledge. Before
+the close of the second year's course, two scholars showed themselves
+fit for the Canton school. I went to Solothurn, and spoke to the
+Landammann Munzinger and to the Councillor of the Board of Education,
+Dr. F. Both were worthy men, who provided for the boys in a great
+measure out of their own income. Soon I brought them a second, then a
+third couple. For these also, the necessary maintenance was found,
+especially as all who had entered had shown themselves worthy. But Dr.
+F. remarked to me, that he did not see the possibility of providing
+maintenance for any more, and as the parish was wealthy, they could do
+it themselves. I replied that this, without doubt, would be the case,
+as soon as the use of the school and of the further education of clever
+youths was demonstrated to the citizens by examples. Till then the
+government must provide that such witnesses should be forthcoming. A
+somewhat cold and dry answer sent the blood to my head: 'If you do not
+do all that is possible to promote the knowledge and education of the
+people, you may descend from your seats and let the patricians resume
+them, for they understand how to govern better than you!' 'Then I must
+find maintenance for the next scholars that are to be advanced to the
+higher school;' I advised them to apply to the Capuchins at Solothurn,
+as these are bound by their rules to give lodging and board to poor
+students. They had no occasion to repent of it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They were a jolly set in the monastery; the civil war in Spain had
+divided them into two parties, Carlists and Christinos, who mutually
+wrote satirical verses against each other. The severest satirist, a
+young Neuer, was the leader among the Christino writers, against whose
+satirical verses the leader of the Carlists could not make head; he was
+an old man of family, who long had guarded the holy chair, and only
+lately exchanged the papal uniform for the cowl. This domestic dispute
+was, however, kept strictly within the cloister walls, for outside of
+them the Fathers were good brothers, and everywhere popular. They lived
+among the people, shared in their pleasures, and comforted the unhappy;
+they knew every family, and more especially frequented those houses
+where the women made the best coffee. The favourite saying of the
+Carlist chief was, 'There is nothing beyond good coffee and making the
+soul happy.' Every spring two Fathers came to Grenchen, and the young
+men collected behind them as behind the rat-catcher from Hameln; the
+first cried out, 'Ho, ho! go and pick up snails!' This call drew all
+the boys from the houses into the wood. The rich booty gave a delicious
+dish to the monastery. The young collectors were repaid with holy
+pictures.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The news that I had sent two boys to the Capuchins, soon reached the
+Landammann Munzinger, and at my next visit he asked me, 'Whether I did
+not know that they instilled principles into the boys, which were
+different from ours?'&#8212;'That I know well,' I answered, 'but I know
+still more; first, that scholars must live if they would learn; then
+that boys who have been two years with me, are so perverted, that no
+Capuchin can do them any good,'&#8212;'Then I am content,' said Herr
+Munzinger.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cannot part from this excellent man without consecrating a few words
+to his memory. He was a tradesman, and had a public shop at Solothurn.
+He had a philosophical education, was musical, and a man of genuine
+benevolence. Unselfish, of agreeable appearance and manners, he was
+inexorable when it was a question of the public weal; he was an
+opponent of the rule of the old patricians who made use of their power
+at home and their diplomatic service for their own advantage, and had
+no feeling for the interests of the people. In the year 1830, Munzinger
+was at the head of the movement, and the line he took at the popular
+meeting at Balsthal, on the 5th December, decided the fall of the
+Patrician government in the Canton of Solothurn. In the construction of
+the new constitution and laws, in the organisation of the
+administration, and in his co-operation in their labours for the
+exemption of the land from burdens, for the establishment of schools,
+for the formation of roads, for the advancement of agriculture, and the
+administration of justice, he showed himself wonderfully gifted as a
+statesman. Though the State only consisted of a few square miles, with
+some sixty thousand inhabitants, yet the difficulties of constituting
+it were not less than in a larger State. The old rulers and their
+adherents, supported by the clergy, made use of the free press, the
+right of assembly, and their rich ecclesiastical and worldly means, to
+irritate the people against the new order of things. There was no want
+of handles to lay hold of, as arrangements for good objects require
+means, and thus some burdens must be imposed. Thus, for example, the
+community was bound by a law to erect schools, and further, to endow
+them with land; where there was no communal property, land had to be
+bought. Many villages opposed this, but their resistance was forcibly
+overcome. Later, the chief magistrates thanked the Landammann for
+having put force upon them for their good. In a different way did the
+government maintain itself against refractory ecclesiastics. No
+compulsion was put on them, but care was taken that the peace of
+families should not be disturbed by their insubordination. The
+government chose as Chapter-Provost a liberal-thinking ecclesiastic;
+Rome refused to confirm him; the situation remained unoccupied, and the
+income went to the school-fund. The clergy refused to solemnise mixed
+marriages, or to baptise the children; thus such couples had to seek
+for marriage and baptism elsewhere; but the officials of the district
+took care that they were entered in the registers. How well Munzinger
+understood republican freedom may be learnt from an example. The parish
+of Grenchen possessed extensive woodlands, the property of which was
+divided between them and the State. The parish had the right to supply
+themselves with wood, the remainder of the produce went to the State, a
+condition of things which was evidently not favourable to the
+cultivation of timber. The government proposed, therefore, that the
+wood should be divided in proportion to the rights of both sides, and
+to ascertain this more precisely, sent a commission to Grenchen. The
+peasants, accustomed from ancient times to be over-reached by the
+government, were suspicious of being defrauded, and drove the
+commissioners out of the village. Next morning the landjäger of
+Solothurn took the most considerable of the country people into
+custody, and carried them to prison at Solothurn. This had not passed
+without some heart-breaking scenes; women had been alarmed, the
+children cried, and the whole village was filled with lamentation and
+anger.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From the feeling excited by these circumstances, I went soon after to
+the Landammann, and lamented the harshness of the proceeding. The men
+should have been summoned, none of them would have failed to appear,
+they were not such as would have evaded it. 'Yes,' said Munzinger, 'I,
+alas, was not here.'&#8212;'I thought so,' replied I, 'the affair in that
+case would have been managed differently.'&#8212;'Undoubtedly,' exclaimed
+the Landammann, colouring, 'I should have sent out the military and
+occupied the village, the seizure would still have taken place.' I
+could not conceal my astonishment at this outburst of anger. 'Yes,'
+continued Munzinger, 'you, with your monarchical notions, can be
+cautious and indulgent; there are always gendarmes and soldiers enough
+at hand to step in if necessary. We have not these means; the people
+have a great degree of freedom, but we cannot allow that in one single
+case even a hair's-breadth should be over-stepped.' A true and manly
+word.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Landammann had the welfare of the Confederation as much at heart
+as that of the Canton, and as the people at home submitted to his
+discipline because they recognised that it was for their good, so also
+his guidance was followed in the affairs of the Confederation. In the
+Sonderbund war, Solothurn, although Catholic, was on the side of the
+Diet; its artillery distinguished itself in action, and left many
+valiant men on the field of battle. Munzinger joined in forming the new
+constitution; he was elected to the Diet, and by this into the
+Executive Council. Switzerland honoured one of their best citizens in
+choosing him as President of the Bund, and he dedicated to his
+Fatherland, from which he was too early torn away, all his powers up to
+the last hours of his life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The year 1840 introduced into Switzerland and Germany the alarm of
+French invasion; General Aymar had marched from Lyons, and the forces
+of the Confederacy met him on their frontier. The Solothurn Battalion,
+Disteli, which was marching through Grenchen, was refreshed by the
+inhabitants with food and drink, and animated by the cry 'Thrash them
+soundly,' 'Fear nothing!' The storm was allayed, as Louis Napoleon
+withdrew of his own accord from Switzerland to save them from war with
+France. The clouds of war over Germany disappeared also, but they left
+behind a lasting uneasiness in the mind of the people, which was the
+beginning of a succession of years of political excitement. At this
+period I was recalled to Germany by the persuasions of friends and
+feelings of duty, but it cost me a long inward struggle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Our departure was to take place at Christmas; it was very painful for
+us to take leave. I shortened as much as possible my separation from
+the scholars. I gave to each of them a book, said farewell, and
+hastened from them. A young man who had not been at the school, but had
+acted as a soldier in 'Hans Waldmann,' inquired from what coachman at
+Solothurn I should hire my carriage. I told him the man. The following
+day he returned to me, and informed me that he had engaged himself as
+servant to this liveryman, and had asked low wages that he might be
+allowed to drive us to Germany, for he wished to take care that we were
+as well attended to as in Grenchen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was a cold, dark winter morning when we drove from the inn in which
+we had passed the last night. Great was our surprise, when, at that
+early hour and in the bitter cold, we saw the whole population, men,
+women, and children, thronging before the house and along the high
+road. They wished once more to press our hands, they said farewell, and
+many other things; 'It is wrong of you to leave us,' 'You must come
+back again,' 'You shall have the freedom of the city.' They raised
+their children up aloft, 'Look at him yet again, look at him yet once
+more!' The whip cracked, and the carriage drove away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here we end the narrative of the former schoolmaster of Grenchen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">More than twenty years have passed since the German teacher departed
+from the Swiss village. He had been a strong and moderate leader in the
+political struggles of Germany, he had clearly seen where the greatest
+danger threatened, and his name was often mentioned with warm
+veneration, or with bitter hatred. When years of weak reaction came, he
+went to the north of Germany, and again lived in the active performance
+of his duties as a citizen. Then the faithful companion of his life
+fell sick, and the physicians advised a long residence in pure mountain
+air; they determined to go to the village around which hovered so many
+delightful reminiscences of past times.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The village had changed its aspect; people no longer travelled by the
+high-roads but on the railway to Grenchen, manufactures had been
+introduced, watch-making and inlaid work, and the manufacture of
+cement, and other branches are increasingly developed. But the
+travellers found the old feeling, not only among the old men, but also
+through tradition among the younger ones. On the Sunday after their
+arrival, a long procession moved in the evening from the village to the
+baths. Foremost were the military bands of two battalions, which were
+formed of Grencheners under the direction of the new district-master,
+then the bearers of coloured lanterns, which were a large portion of
+the population. The multitude arranged themselves before the balcony
+of the house in which &quot;Hans Waldmann&quot; had been performed. Great
+chafing-dishes threw a red light over the ponds, jutting fountains and
+the pleasure grounds of the baths, whilst rockets ascended and lighted
+up at intervals the dark background, the mountains of the Jura. The
+guests had to place themselves on the balcony. The music ceased, and a
+former scholar, now a physician in Grenchen, stepped from out of the
+ranks. He commenced his greeting by calling to mind, that on the
+day of their arrival, there had been a great eclipse of the sun;
+two-and-twenty years before, their guests had entered among them at a
+period of intellectual darkness, they had helped to make light
+victorious; he concluded with the assurance that Grenchen would always
+consider the two strangers as belonging to them. When later the people
+of the village joyfully thronged round the friends, the parents pointed
+to a race of young giants that had meanwhile grown up amongst them,
+saying, &quot;See these are the little ones who used to play with your
+children, and could not then go to your school.&quot; The German had by his
+side his eldest scholar, Xaver Reis, who had again come to him, over
+the mountain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The district school has now three masters and ample funds. The new
+school-house rises on a height in front of the church, and is a
+conspicuous object to the surrounding country. The school has trained
+its own advocates and supporters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Master who gives this narrative is Karl Mathy, the State councillor
+of Baden, in the year 1848 a member of the Imperial ministry, one of
+the best and strongest champions of the Prussian party.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">These pictures began with a description of peasant life at an earlier
+period, it concludes with a true village story of the latest bygone
+times. It is a Swiss village of German race, to which the reader has
+been introduced. Many of its circumstances, the worth and energy of the
+inhabitants, and their self-government, recall to us a lively
+recollection of a German time which is removed from us by many
+centuries. Betwixt the Alps and the Jura also did misrule long retard
+the culture of the country people, but its pressure was harmless in
+comparison with the fate of the German nation: its bondage, and the
+Thirty Years' War.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was one of the objects of these pages to represent the elevation of
+the German popular mind, from the devastation of that war, and from the
+tyrannical rule of the privileged classes. Deliverance has come to the
+Germans, but they have not recovered their old strength in every sphere
+of life. But we have a right to hope; for we live in the midst of manly
+efforts to remove the old wall of partition that still exists between
+the people and the educated, and to extend, not only to the peasant,
+but also to the prince, and to the man of family, the blessing of a
+liberal education.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CONCLUSION.</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Amidst the noise and confusion of the year 1848, the German people
+began a struggle for a new political constitution of the Fatherland. We
+must look upon the Frankfort parliament as a characteristic phase of
+our life, not as the result, but as the beginning of a noble struggle,
+as a grand dialectic process in which the needs of the nation, and the
+longing for a political idea, passed on to will and decision. What in
+1815 had been only the unimportant fancy of individuals, had become a
+formalised demand of the people, around which the minds of men have
+been tossed in ascending and descending waves.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Since the year 1840 the longing for political life has obtained
+expression in Prussia. There has arisen family discord between the
+Hohenzollern and their people, apparently insignificant, but from it
+has sprung the constitutional life of Prussia, the beginning of a new
+formation of the State, a progress for prince and people. Again it
+becomes manifest that it is not always great times and great characters
+which produce the most important progress.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But how does it happen that the favourites of their people, the Royal
+race on which the hopes and future of Germany depend&#8212;that the
+Hohenzollerns regard so hesitatingly and distrustfully the new position
+which the constitution of their State and the Union party of Germany
+offers to them? No royal race has gained their State so completely by
+the sword as they have. Their ancestors have grandly nurtured the
+people; their ancestors have created the State; their greatness, and
+their renown in war originated in the time of the fulness of royal
+power. Thus they naturally feel as a loss what we consider as a gain
+and an elevation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The whole political contest of the present day, the struggle against
+privileges, the constitutional question, and the German question, are
+all in reality only Prussian questions; and the great difficulty of
+their solution lies in the position which the Royal house of Prussia
+have taken up in regard to them. Whenever the Hohenzollerns shall enter
+warmly and willingly into the needs of the time, their State will
+attain to its long wanted strength and soundness. From this they will
+obtain almost without trouble, as if it came of itself, the conduct of
+German interests, the first lead in German life. This is known to
+friends and enemies.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We faithfully remember how much we owe to them, and we know well that
+the final foundation of our connection with them is indestructible,
+even though they may be angry because we are too bold in our demands,
+or we may grumble because they are too dilatory in granting them. For
+there is an old and hearty friendship betwixt them and the spirit of
+the German nation, and it is a manly friendship which may well bear
+some rubs. But the German citizen feels with pride, that he values the
+honour and greatness of their position, and the honour and happiness of
+the Fatherland, no less than themselves.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The German citizen is in the fortunate position of regarding the old
+dynasties with warm sympathy. They have grown up with his fondest
+reminiscences, a large number of them have become good and trustworthy,
+fellow-workers in the State and in science, and promote the education
+of the people. He will be indulgent when he sees individuals among them
+still prejudiced in their judgment by feeble adherence to the old
+traditions of their order; he will smile when they turn a longing look
+on the times that are gone, when their privileges were numerous and
+undisputed; and he will perhaps investigate, with more acuteness and
+learning than themselves, wherever, in the past of their race, real
+capacity and common sense has appeared. But he will be the inexorable
+opponent of all those political and social privileges by which they lay
+claim to a separate position among the people, not because he envies
+these things, or wishes to put himself in their place, but because he
+sees with regret that their impartiality of judgment, and sometimes
+their firmness of character are diminished by it, and because, through
+some of these obsolete traditions, like their court privileges, our
+Princes are in danger of falling into the narrowmindedness of German
+Junkers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the two centuries from 1648 to 1848, the wonderful restoration of
+the German nation was accomplished. After an unexampled destruction,
+its character rose again in faith, science, and political enthusiasm.
+It is now engaged in energetic endeavours to form for itself the
+highest of earthly possessions,&#8212;a State.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is a great pleasure to live in such a time. A hearty warmth, and a
+feeling of youthful vigour fill hundreds of thousands. It has become a
+pleasure to be a German; and before long it may be considered by
+foreign nations also to be a high honour.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_01" href="#div2_01">Footnote 1</a>: At the
+time of Frederic II. it varied in amount; a large
+property had to supply a whole horse (there were half and quarter horse
+imposts), or pay 18 to 24 thalers; in the Electorate it amounted to the
+high sum of 40 thalers.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_02" href="#div2_02">Footnote 2</a>: The
+strength of the militia under Frederic I. was,
+according to Fassmann, i. p. 720, up to 60,000.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_03" href="#div2_03">Footnote 3</a>: The system
+of allotting to each regiment its recruiting
+district.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_04" href="#div2_04">Footnote 4</a>: Fassmann,
+&quot;Life of Frederic William I.;&quot; and Von Loen,
+&quot;The Soldier Depicted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_05" href="#div2_05">Footnote 5</a>: V. Loen,
+&quot;Der Soldat,&quot; p. 312.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_06" href="#div2_06">Footnote 6</a>: G. V.
+Griesheim, &quot;Die Taktik,&quot; p. 75; v. Liebenrothe,
+&quot;Fragmente,&quot; p. 29.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_07" href="#div2_07">Footnote 7</a>: Small
+smoking society, consisting of the King and his
+intimates.&#8212;<i>Tr</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_08" href="#div2_08">Footnote 8</a>: It was not
+the bad combination of colours, the blue and
+yellow velvet housings, that incensed the dying king&#8212;those were the
+colours of his body-guard&#8212;but he wished to see those of the Dessauer
+on him&#8212;blue, red, and white.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_09" href="#div2_09">Footnote 9</a>:
+Lafontaine's &quot;Life of Gruber,&quot; p. 126.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_10" href="#div2_10">Footnote 10</a>: &quot;The Poor
+Man in Tockenburg,&quot; published by Fussli.
+Zurich: 1789 and 1792. Afterwards by G. Bülow, Leipzig, 1852.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_11" href="#div2_11">Footnote 11</a>: Elector
+Frederic William inherited 1451 square miles,
+with, perhaps, 700,000 inhabitants, most of it in Ordensland,[A]
+Prussia, which was less devastated by the war.</p>
+
+<p class="hang2">[A] Ordensland, the country that once belonged to the Teutonic
+Knights.</p>
+
+<table cellpadding="5" style="width:70%; margin-left:17%;">
+<colgroup><col style="width:15%; vertical-align:top; text-align:center">
+<col style="width:35%; vertical-align:top">
+<col style="width:15%; vertical-align:top; text-align:right">
+<col style="width:20%; vertical-align:top; text-align:center">
+<col style="width:15%; vertical-align:top;">
+</colgroup>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+<th colspan="2" style="text-align:center">Square Miles.</th>
+<th>Inhabitants.</th>
+</tr><tr>
+<td>In the year</td>
+<td>1688, the Elector left</td>
+<td>2034,</td>
+<td>with about</td>
+<td>1,800,000.</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>1713, King Frederic I.</td>
+<td>2090,</td>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>1,700,000.</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>1740, King Frederic Wm. I.</td>
+<td>2201,</td>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>2,240,000.</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>1786, King Frederic II.</td>
+<td>3490,</td>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>6,000,000.</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>1805, King Frederic II.</td>
+<td>6563,</td>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>9,800,000.</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td colspan="5" style="text-align:center">(Before the exchange of Hanover.)</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>1807, remain</td>
+<td>2877,</td>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>5,000,000.</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>1817, were</td>
+<td>5015,</td>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td>10,600,000.</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td>&quot;</td>
+<td colspan="3">1830, were 13,000,000 inhabitants; but in 1861,</td>
+<td>18,000,000.</td></tr></table>
+
+
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_12" href="#div2_12">Footnote 12</a>: &quot;Journal
+de Seckendorf,&quot; 2nd Jan., 1738.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_13" href="#div2_13">Footnote 13</a>: &#338;uvres,
+t. xvii., nr. 140, p. 213.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_14" href="#div2_14">Footnote 14</a>: <i>Ib.</i>,
+t. xviii., nr. 10.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_15" href="#div2_15">Footnote 15</a>: Portions
+of his historical works appear under special
+titles with many introductions. &quot;The Memoirs of the House of
+Brandenburg&quot; (begun 1746), the greatest part of it unimportant and
+compiled; &quot;History of My Time&quot; (written 1746-75), his masterpiece; then
+the great history of &quot;The Seven Years' War&quot; (ended 1764); finally,
+&quot;Memoirs after the Hubertsburger Peace&quot; (written 1775-79). They form,
+in spite of inequalities, a connected whole.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_16" href="#div2_16">Footnote 16</a>: V.
+Templehoff, &quot;Siebenjähriger Krieg,&quot; i. p. 282.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_17" href="#div2_17">Footnote 17</a>: Sulzer to
+Gleim: &quot;Briefe der Schweizer von Körte,&quot; p.
+354.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_18" href="#div2_18">Footnote 18</a>: He had in
+1759, a year before he wrote the foregoing
+words to the Marquis d'Argen, published through this friend, his
+treatise, &quot;Réflections sur les Talons militaires et sur le Caractčre de
+Charles XII. Roi de Sučde,&quot; one of the most remarkable works of the
+King. His view of the faults of Charles XII. was sharpened by the
+personal experience which he had himself made in the lost battles of
+the last year, and, whilst he judges respect fully the unfortunate
+conqueror, he at the same time claims for himself higher credit for his
+own moderate policy. The work is, therefore, not only a very
+characteristic record of his wise moderation, but also a memorial of
+quiet self-enfranchisement and of great inward progress.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_19" href="#div2_19">Footnote 19</a>: &#338;uvres,
+xxvii. 1, nr. 328, from 17 Sept.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_20" href="#div2_20">Footnote 20</a>: In the
+year 1740, 1,100,000; in 1756, 1,300,000; in 1763,
+the number had sunk to 1,150,000; in 1779, there were 1,500,000; it was
+supposed then that the country could maintain 2,300,000 more. It
+numbers now 3,000,000.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_21" href="#div2_21">Footnote 21</a>: New
+Prussia, &quot;Provinzial Blätter,&quot; Jahrg. vi., 1854, nr.
+4, p. 259.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_22" href="#div2_22">Footnote 22</a>: V. Held,
+&quot;Gepriesenes Preussen,&quot; p. 41; Roscius,
+Westpreussen, p. 21.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_23" href="#div2_23">Footnote 23</a>: When, in
+1815, the present province of Posen was returned
+to Prussia, the wolves there also were the plague of the country.
+According to a statement in the Posen &quot;Provinzial Blätter,&quot; in the
+district of Posen, from 1st Sept. 1815, to the end of February, 1816,
+forty-one wolves were slain; and still in the year 1819, in the
+district of Wongrowitz, sixteen children and three grown-up persons
+were devoured by wolves.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_24" href="#div2_24">Footnote 24</a>: From
+manuscript records of the year 1790.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_25" href="#div2_25">Footnote 25</a>: The
+complaints are very frequent. Compare v. Liebenrothe
+Fragm. p. 59.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_26" href="#div2_26">Footnote 26</a>: Much,
+that is interesting concerning the social condition
+of the North of Germany after 1790 is to be found in &quot;Der
+Schreibtisch,&quot; by Caroline de la Motte Fouqué, pp. 46.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_27" href="#div2_27">Footnote 27</a>: Kant's
+works, xi. 2, p. 80. The man in question was one
+of doubtful reputation.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_28" href="#div2_28">Footnote 28</a>: The
+drinkers were Klopstock and his friends.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_29" href="#div2_29">Footnote 29</a>: The
+travellers were Fritz Jacopi and his brother.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_30" href="#div2_30">Footnote 30</a>: The new
+guest was Wieland; the hosts, Sophie Laroche and
+her husband; and the narrator, Fritz Jacopi.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_31" href="#div2_31">Footnote 31</a>:
+Leuckhardt relates this in his &quot;Lebensbeschreibung,&quot; and
+there is no ground to doubt what is imparted by this disorderly man.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_32" href="#div2_32">Footnote 32</a>: &quot;Reise
+von Mainz nach Cöln im Jahre, 1794,&quot; p. 222;
+&quot;Briefe eines reisenden Franzosen, 1784,&quot; ii., p. 258. Both books are
+only to be read with caution.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_33" href="#div2_33">Footnote 33</a>: Slang
+terms of the period, ridiculing their keen
+appetites and grotesque uniforms.&#8212;<i>Tr</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_34" href="#div2_34">Footnote 34</a>:
+&quot;Schilderung der jetzigen Reichsarmee,&quot; 1796-8. This
+interesting description is often quoted, but it is not quite
+trustworthy. The author is that Lauckhart, a disorderly theologian, who
+made the Rhine campaign as a musketeer in the regiment Thadden. His
+autobiography is as instructive as it is repulsive.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_35" href="#div2_35">Footnote 35</a>: That this
+description is not too strong, we have
+sufficient warrant in the many accounts of that time. In &quot;Reise von
+Mainz nach Cöln im Frühjahr,&quot; 1794; &quot;Lafonteine Leben,&quot; p. 154. The
+description also which Lauckhart gives of the emigrants in his
+autobiography may be examined. These French doings excited disgust and
+horror even in him.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_36" href="#div2_36">Footnote 36</a>:
+Officials, analogous to the Préfet.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_37" href="#div2_37">Footnote 37</a>: Von
+Held's writings were, &quot;Das Schwarzebuch&quot;&#8212;now very
+rare&#8212;&quot;Die Preussischen Jacobiner,&quot; and the &quot;Gepriesene Preussen,&quot; the
+most notorious. They and their refutations give us the impression that
+the author, as is frequent in such cases, had written many things
+correctly, others inaccurately, but on the whole honestly; but he was
+not to be depended on as a judge of his opponents. Varnhagen knew him,
+and wrote his life.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_38" href="#div2_38">Footnote 38</a>:
+&quot;Gründliche Widerlegung des gepriesenen Preussens,&quot;
+1804.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_39" href="#div2_39">Footnote 39</a>:
+&quot;Buchholz, Gemälde des gesellschaftlichen Zustandes in
+Preussen,&quot; i.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_40" href="#div2_40">Footnote 40</a>: The
+narrator is Adelbert von Chamisso. His letter of 22nd
+Nov., 1806, is one of the most valuable relics of that true-hearted
+man. The concluding words deserve well to be remembered by Germans.
+&quot;Oh, my friends, I must atone by a free confession for the secret
+injustice that I have done this brave, warlike people. Officers and
+soldiers, in the harmony of a high enthusiasm, cherished only one
+thought: it was, under the pressure of external and internal enemies,
+to maintain their old fame, and not a recruit, not a drummer-boy would
+have fallen away. Indeed, we were a firm, faithful, good, stout
+soldiery. Oh, if we had but had men to lead us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_41" href="#div2_41">Footnote 41</a>: The
+following is taken from an autobiography which he
+left in manuscript for his children. The editor has to thank the family
+of the deceased for it.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_42" href="#div2_42">Footnote 42</a>: In the
+old Prussian Rhine country stones were beginning
+to be used for the <i>chaussées</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_43" href="#div2_43">Footnote 43</a>: The three
+officers were, Lieutenants von Blücher, von
+Lepel, and von Treskow; the three Prebendaries, von Korff, von
+Bösclager, at Eggermuhlen, and von Merode.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_44" href="#div2_44">Footnote 44</a>:
+Ministerial decrees setting aside the course of justice.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_45" href="#div2_45">Footnote 45</a>: Vinke had
+succeeded Stein as First President.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_46" href="#div2_46">Footnote 46</a>: Alliance
+of students in Germany.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_47" href="#div2_47">Footnote 47</a>: In the
+number of 247,000 soldiers the volunteers are not
+included, because they in general consisted of those who were not
+native Prussians. Beitzke's calculation, which we here take because it
+is lowest, undoubtedly includes the Landwehr, and the squadrons which,
+in the course of the campaign, were formed on the other side of the
+Elbe; there are, therefore, about 20,000 men to be abstracted from his
+amount. But as his reckoning only comprehends, the strength of the army
+in the field, which up to the battle of Leipzig was almost entirely
+gathered from the old Prussian territory, his figures may be considered
+rather too low than too high. In 1815, the proportion of soldiers to
+population was still more striking. East Prussia contributed then seven
+per cent, of its inhabitants, each seventh man was sent to the war;
+there remained scarcely any but children and old people in the country,
+very few from 18 to 40.</p>
+
+<p class="hang2">The amount of the population is reckoned according to the last
+official
+census of 1810. Prussia, after the peace of Tilsit, had been obliged to
+cede New Silesia to Poland, and thus since 1806 had lost more than
+300,000 men. No increase, therefore, of the population can be assumed
+up to the spring of 1813. The chief fortresses, also, were in the hands
+of the French, and their inhabitants should be deducted from any
+calculation of the efforts of the people. According to the proportion
+of 1813, Berlin as at present, could bring into the field an army of
+from 23,000 to 25,000 men; Leipzig, four battalions; and the Dukedom of
+Coburg-Gotha seven battalions, amounting to 1000 men.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_48" href="#div2_48">Footnote 48</a>:
+Schlosser, &quot;Erlebnisse inns Sachsischen Landpredigers,&quot;
+from 1806 to 1815, p. 66. The foreign nations, Portuguese and Italians,
+were more moderate.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_49" href="#div2_49">Footnote 49</a>:
+Schlosser, &quot;Erlebnisse,&quot; p. 129.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_50" href="#div2_50">Footnote 50</a>: It may be
+allowable to introduce here some extracts from
+the receipts which Heun brought forward in the newspapers. What was
+placed at the head of them was accidental, especially as his lists only
+enumerate a very small number of the donations, none of those from East
+Prussia are mentioned. We must begin with the first patriotic gift,
+which was announced publicly in 1813. About New Year's Day, long before
+the volunteer rifles were equipped, the Roman Catholic community at
+Marienburg, in West Prussia, placed all the plate of their church that
+could be dispensed with at the disposal of the State (it was about 100
+marks), begging, as they could not give away church property, for the
+interest of the value of the silver in the future. But the first money
+contribution noted down by Heun, was from a master tailor, Hans
+Hofmann, at Breslau, 100 thalers. The first who gave horses were the
+peasants Johann Hinz, in Deutsch-Borgh, Bailiwick of Saarmünd, and
+Meyer, at Elsholz, of the same Bailiwick; the last had only two horses.
+The first who gave oats, 100 scheffel, was one Axleben. The first who
+sent their golden wedding-rings, expressing the hope that much gold
+might be collected if all would do the same, were the lottery-collector
+Rollin and his wife, at Stettin. The first officials who resigned a
+part of their salary were Professor Hermbstädt, at Berlin, 250 thalers;
+Professor Gravenhorst, at Breslau, the half of his salary, and
+Professor David Schultz, 100 thalers. The first who gave a portion of
+his fortune was an unnamed official; of 4000 thalers he gave 1000. The
+first who sent his plate was Count Sandretzky, at Manze, in Silesia,
+value 1700 thalers, besides three beautiful horses; a servant of the
+chancery, four silver spoons; anonymous, 2000 thalers; an old soldier,
+his only gold piece, value forty thalers; anonymous, three gold
+snuff-boxes, with diamonds, value 5300 thalers; an old woman, from a
+little town, a pair of woollen stockings.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_51" href="#div2_51">Footnote 51</a>: 10,000
+volunteer riflemen, and about the half of the
+irregulars, amounting to 2500 men, were equipped in the old provinces,
+together with 1500 horses. Putting the cost of each foot-rifleman at 60
+thalers, and that of a horseman at 230 thalers,&#8212;the price of horses
+was high,&#8212;the amount is 1,150,000 thalers, which is certainly too low.
+And the pay and extras, given by private persons to individual
+riflemen, are not reckoned.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_52" href="#div2_52">Footnote 52</a>: The
+Editor is indebted for much of this to a record of
+the worth Oberregierungsrath Hackel.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_53" href="#div2_53">Footnote 53</a>: From
+Family Reminiscences.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_54" href="#div2_54">Footnote 54</a>: Record of
+the Appellations-gerichtsrath Tepler, who
+himself, as a boy, went to the field with the Landsturm against the
+French at Magdeburg.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_55" href="#div2_55">Footnote 55</a>: She lives
+in Berlin, and is now mother of a large
+family.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_56" href="#div2_56">Footnote 56</a>: From the
+diary of the pastor, Frieke, at Bunzlau.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_57" href="#div2_57">Footnote 57</a>: Scene
+from the fight at Goldberg, on the 23rd August,
+from the account of an eye-witness.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_58" href="#div2_58">Footnote 58</a>: Thus, on
+the 22nd of May, at Bunzlau, during the retreat
+after the battle of Bautzen, the prisoners, red Hussars, lay in the
+suburb near the Galgenteich.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_59" href="#div2_59">Footnote 59</a>: Vossische
+Zeitung, No. 45, from the 15th April.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2Ref_60" href="#div2_60">Footnote 60</a>: Now a
+practising doctor at Halle. The account is from the
+mouth of the worthy man.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>THE END.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h4>BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.</h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth
+and XIXth Centuries, Vol. II., by Gustav Freytag
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/33819.txt b/33819.txt
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and
+XIXth Centuries, Vol. II., by Gustav Freytag
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries, Vol. II.
+
+Author: Gustav Freytag
+
+Translator: Georgiana Malcolm
+
+Release Date: September 29, 2010 [EBook #33819]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE V. 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+  1. Page scan source:
+     http://www.archive.org/details/picturesgermanl03freygoog
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                        PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE
+
+                                 IN THE
+
+                  EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES.
+
+                             SECOND SERIES.
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+
+                                VOL. II.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                PICTURES
+
+                                   OF
+
+                              GERMAN LIFE
+
+                  In the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries.
+
+
+
+                             Second Series.
+
+
+                                   BY
+                            GUSTAV FREYTAG.
+
+
+                    Translated from the Original by
+                             MRS. MALCOLM.
+
+
+
+                 _COPYRIGHT EDITION.--IN TWO VOLUMES_.
+
+
+                                VOL. II.
+
+
+
+                                LONDON:
+                   CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193 PICCADILLY.
+                                 1863.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                LONDON:
+               BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
+
+
+
+
+                               CONTENTS.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+Away from the Garrison (1700).--The army, and the constitution
+of the State--The country militia and their history--The soldiery of
+the Sovereign--Change of organisation after the war--The beginning
+of compulsory levies about 1700--Gradual introduction of
+conscription--Recruiting and its illegalities--Desertions--Trafficking
+with armies--The Prussian army under Frederic William I.--The regiment
+of guards at Potsdam--Prussian officers--Ulrich Braecker--Narrative of a
+Prussian deserter
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+The State of Frederic the Great (1700).--The kingdom of the
+Hohenzollerns, its small size; character of the people and
+princes--Childhood of Frederic--Opposition to his
+father--Catastrophe--Training and its influence on his character--His
+marriage and relations with women--Residence in Rheinsberg--His
+character when he became King--Striking contrast between his poetic
+warmth and his inexorable severity--Inward change in the course of the
+first Silesian war--Loss of the friends of his youth--The literary
+period till 1766--His poetry, historical writings, and literary
+versatility--Seven years of iron labour--His method of carrying on war,
+and heroic struggle--Admiration of Germans and foreigners--His
+sufferings and endurance--Extracts from Frederic's Letters from
+1767-1762--Principles of his government--Improvement of
+Silesia--Difference betwixt the Prussian and Austrian
+government--Feeling of duty in the Prussian officials--Acquisition
+of West Prussia--Miserable condition in 1772--Agriculture of
+Frederic--His last years
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+Of the Year of Tuition of the German Citizen (1790).--Influence of
+Frederic on German art, philosophy, and historical writing--Poetry
+flourishes--The aspect of a city in 1790--The coffee gardens and
+the theatres--Travelling and love of the picturesque--Different
+sources of morals and activity amongst the nobles, citizens, and
+peasants--Characteristics of the life of the country nobles--The piety
+of the country people--Education of the citizens--Advantages of the
+Latin schools and of the university education--The sentimentality and
+change in the literary classes from 1750-1790--The Childhood of Ernst
+Frederic Haupt
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+The Period of Ruin (1800).--The condition of Germany--Courts and cities
+of the Empire--People and armies of the Empire--The emigrants--Effect
+of the revolution on the Germans--The Prussian State--Its rapid
+increase--Von Held--Bureaucracy--The army--The Generals--The
+downfall--Narrative of the Years 1806-1807, by Christoph Wilhelm
+Heinrich Sethe--His life
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+Rise of the Nation (1807-1815).--Sorrowful condition of the people in
+the year 1807--The first signs of rising strength--Hatred of the French
+Emperor--Arming of Prussia--Character and importance of the movement of
+1813--Napoleon's flight--Expedition of the French to Russia in
+1812, and return in 1813--The Cossacks--The people rise--General
+enthusiasm--The volunteer Jaegers and patriotic gifts--The Landwehr
+and the Landsturm--The first combat--Impression of the war on the
+citizens--The enemy in the city--The course of the war--The celebration
+of victory
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+Illness and Recovery (1815-1848).--The time of reaction--Hopelessness
+of the German question--Discontent and exhaustion of the
+Prussians--Weakness of the educated classes in the north of
+Germany--The development of practical activity--The South Germans and
+their village tales--Description of a Village School by Karl Mathy
+
+
+CONCLUSION.--The Hohenzollerns and the German citizens
+
+
+
+
+
+                        PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE.
+
+
+                             Second Series.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+                        AWAY FROM THE GARRISON.
+                                (1700.)
+
+
+A shot from the alarm-gun! Timidly does the citizen examine the dark
+corners of his house to discover whether any strange man be hid there.
+The peasant in the field stops his horses to consider whether he would
+wish to meet with any fugitive, and earn capture-money, or whether he
+should save some desperate man, in spite of the severe punishment with
+which every one was threatened who enabled a deserter to escape.
+Probably he will let the fugitive run away, though in his power, for in
+his secret soul he has a fellow feeling for him, nay, even admires his
+daring.
+
+There is scarcely any sphere of earthly interest which stamps so
+sharply the peculiarities of the culture of the time, as the army and
+the method of carrying on war. In every century the army corresponds
+exactly with the constitution and character of the state. The
+Franconian landwehr of Charles the Great, who advanced on foot from
+their _Maifeld_ to Saxony, the army of the noble cuirassiers who rode
+under the Emperor Barbarossa into the plains of Lombardy, the Swiss
+and Landsknechte of the time of the Reformation, and the mercenary
+armies of the Thirty Years' War, were all highly characteristic of the
+culture of their time; they sprang from the social condition of the
+people, and changed with it. Thus did the oldest infantry of the
+proprietors take root in the old provincial constitution, the mounted
+chivalry in the old feudalism, the troops of Landsknechte in the rise
+of civic power, and the companies of roving mercenaries in the increase
+of royal territorial dominion; these were succeeded in despotic states,
+in the eighteenth century, by the standing army with uniform and pay.
+
+But none of the older forms of military service were entirely displaced
+by those of later times, at least some reminiscences of them are
+everywhere kept. The ancient landfolge (attendants on military
+expeditions) of the free landowner had ceased since the greater portion
+of the powerful peasantry had sunk into bondsmen, and the strong
+landwehr had become a general levy, of little warlike capacity; but
+they had not been entirely set aside, for still in the eighteenth
+century all freeholders were bound at the sound of the alarum to hasten
+together, and to furnish baggage, horses, and men to work at the
+fortifications. In the same way the knights of the Hohenstaufen were
+dispersed by the army of free peasants and citizens, at Sempach,
+Grunson, Murten, and the lowlands of Ditmarsch, but the furnishing of
+cavalry horses remained as a burden upon the properties of the
+nobility; it was after the end of the sixteenth century--in Prussia,
+first under Frederic William I.--that it was changed into a low
+money-tax, and this tax was the only impost on the feudal property of
+nobles.[1] The roving Landsknecht also, who provided his own equipments
+and changed his banner every summer, was turned into a mounted
+mercenary with an unsettled term of service; but in the new time the
+customs of free enlistment, earnest money, and entering into foreign
+service, were still maintained, although these customs of the
+Landsknecht time were in strange and irreconcilable contrast to the
+fearful severity with which the new rule of a despotic state grasped
+the whole life of the recruit.
+
+The defects of the standing army in the eighteenth century have been
+often criticised, and every one knows something of the rigorous
+discipline in the companies with which the Dessauer stormed the
+defences of Turin, and Frederic II. maintained possession of Silesia.
+But another part of the old military constitution is not equally known,
+and has been entirely lost sight of even by military writers. It shall
+therefore be introduced here.
+
+The regiments which the sovereigns of the eighteenth century led to
+battle, or leased to foreign potentates, were not the only armed
+organisation of Germany. Besides the paid army there was in most of the
+states a militia force, certainly very deficient in constitution, but
+by no means insignificant or uninfluential. At no time had the old
+idea, that every one was bound to defend his own country, vanished from
+the German life. The right of the rulers to employ their subjects in
+the defence of their homes, was, according to the notions of the olden
+time, entirely distinct from their other right of keeping soldiers.
+They could not command their subjects to render military service for
+their political struggles, nor for wars beyond the frontiers. Service
+in war was a free work, for that, they were obliged to invite
+volunteers, that is to say, to enlist, as they were unable to avail
+themselves of their vassals. One of the greatest changes in the history
+of the German nation was owing to the conviction being gradually
+impressed upon the people, by the despotic governments in the former
+century, that they were bound to furnish their rulers with at least a
+portion of their soldiers. And it is not less instructive to find, that
+in our century, after the old system was destroyed, the general idea of
+defensive duty was imbibed by the people. It is worth while to
+investigate the way in which this happened.
+
+Already, towards the end of the sixteenth century, when the
+Landsknechte had become too costly and demoralised, people began to
+think of forming a militia of the men capable of bearing arms in the
+cities and open country, which were to be employed for its protection
+within its frontiers. After 1613, this militia was organised in
+Electoral Saxony and the neighbouring countries, and soon after in the
+other circles of the Empire, and companies established, which were
+sometimes assembled and exercised in military drill. Their collective
+number was fixed and distributed among the districts, the communities
+appointed and armed the men, and if they were in service they received
+pay from the ruler.
+
+The Thirty Years' War was for the most part carried on by enlisted
+soldiers, yet in case of need the militia were here and there turned
+into regulars; either whole regiments were appointed for field service,
+or the gaps in the enlisted troops were filled up by serviceable men.
+But on the whole the loose organisation of this militia did not answer.
+After the peace it was still less possible in the depopulated state of
+the country, to form from it a new military constitution. For the
+citizen and peasant, as taxpayers, as well as for the cultivation of
+the now waste ground, were indispensable. The old imperfect
+constitution of this civic army was, therefore, maintained. The only
+difference made in the militia at this period was that the men were
+chosen by the officers of the Sovereign and that the term of service
+was limited for the young men; the community fell into the back-ground,
+and the Sovereign became more powerful. In this manner were the militia
+brought together in companies and regiments, according to their
+circles, and exercised once or twice a year. Before the war the
+districts had provided them with weapons and equipments; now this also
+was done by the Sovereign; but in the cities the officers were
+appointed by the citizens; only the commanding officer was selected by
+the General The men were usually chosen by lot, and it is an
+interesting circumstance that, as early as 1711, the inscription on the
+Saxon ticket was "_For Fatherland_." But the military education was
+imperfect, exemptions were frequent, and the mode of filling up the
+vacancies inadequate.
+
+And yet this militia more than once did good service; for instance, in
+Prussia. The armed country people, as they were called in the
+description of the battle of Fehrbelliner, were not a mere crowd that
+had flocked together, but the old organised country militia; they took
+an essential share in the first glorious deed of arms, in which the
+Brandenburgers beat a superior enemy by their own unaided efforts. In
+1704, these militia were still much esteemed in Prussia, and those who
+were enrolled in it were exempt from all other military service.[2] It
+is true this was cancelled by Frederic William I., but in the Seven
+Years' War again established, and this militia did then good service
+against Sweden and Russia. In the Empire, also, and in Saxony, they
+were maintained, though weak, unwarlike and despised, till an altered
+state of civilisation made a new organisation of the national militia
+possible. Even now is this new constitution not fully completed.
+
+Entirely distinct from these militia were the soldiery, which the
+Sovereign maintained himself, and paid out of his revenue. It might be
+only a body of guards, for the protection and adornment of his court,
+or it might be many companies whom he levied in order to secure his own
+state, and by gaining influence and power among his equals, to obtain
+money. It was his own private affair, and if he did not overburden his
+people by it, no objection could be made. Those who served him also,
+did it of their own free will; they might engage themselves to other
+Sovereigns at home or abroad, who were obliged to keep the agreements
+they made with them. If the country were in danger from external
+enemies, the states granted the Sovereign money or a special
+contribution for these soldiers, for it was well known that they had
+more military capacity than the militia. Thus it was in Prussia under
+the great Elector, and so it remained in the greater part of Germany
+till late in the eighteenth century.
+
+But this private army which the Sovereign had levied for himself had
+also acquired a new constitution.
+
+Till the end of the Thirty Years' War the enlistment, in most of the
+German armies, had taken place according to Landsknecht custom, at the
+risk of the Colonels. The Colonel concluded a contract with the Prince;
+he filled and sold the captains' commissions; the Prince paid the
+Colonel the money contributed by the district. Thus the regiments were
+essentially dependent on the Colonel, and this was a power which might
+be used against the Prince. The discipline was loose; the officers'
+places occupied by creatures of the Colonel, and at his death the
+regiment was dissolved. The rogueries of Colonels and leaders of
+companies, which were already complained of in 1600 by the military
+writers, had attained a certain virtuosoship in their development.
+Seldom were all the men whose names stood on the rolls, really under
+the banner. The officers drew the pay for numbers who were not there,
+who were called "_Passevolants_," or "_Blinde_," and they appointed
+their grooms and sutlers, from the baggage-waggons, to be
+non-commissioned officers. In the Imperial army, also, complaints were
+endless of the most reckless selfishness from the highest to the
+lowest. In the midst of peace the officers plundered the hereditary
+States in which they were quartered; they fished and hunted in the
+environs, and claimed a portion of the city tolls; they caused beasts
+to be killed and sold; and set up wine and beer taverns. In like manner
+as the officers robbed, the soldiers stole. This continued still in
+1677; and this plague of the country threatened to become lasting. The
+enlisting of recruits was still little organised in this early period;
+and the rogueries, which could not fail to accompany it, were at least
+unsanctioned by the highest authorities.
+
+In Brandenburg the great Elector, immediately after his entrance on the
+government, reformed the connection between the regiments and the
+Sovereign; the enlistment was from thenceforth in his own name; he
+appointed the Colonel and the officers, who could no longer buy their
+commissions. Then first did the paid troops become a standing army,
+clothed, armed, and equipped alike, with better discipline, obedient
+instruments in the hands of the princes. This was the greatest advance
+in the military system since the invention of fire-arms; and Prussia
+owes to the early and energetic introduction of this new system its
+military preponderance in Germany. The commissariat, also, was
+reorganised; the men received, at least in war, their daily food in
+rations, and the provisions were supplied from great magazines. Through
+the efforts of Montecuculi, and later of Prince Eugene, Austria also,
+shortly before 1700, acquired a better disciplined standing army.
+
+The whole complement of these troops could, up to 1700, be procured
+almost exclusively by free enlisting; for long after the great war the
+people continued in a state of restlessness, and had imbibed an
+adventurous spirit, to which military work was very enticing. This
+altered gradually. During the war-like period of Louis XIV., and from
+the increase of the French army, the German princes were compelled to a
+greater increase of their paid armies, and the loss of men occasioned
+by the incessant war had carried off many of the useless and bold
+rabble that collected round the banners. Even before the great war of
+succession the deficiency of men began to be felt; voluntary enlistment
+could nowhere any longer be obtained; complaints of the deeds of
+violence of the recruiting officers became at last troublesome. The
+military ruler, at last, began to scrutinize the men who seized under
+him, and sometimes had them exercised in companies. To use the militia
+for his warlike expeditions was impossible; they were too little
+trained, and, what was more important, they consisted more especially
+of respectable residents, whose labour and taxes could not be dispensed
+with by the State, as the nobility, and, in Catholic countries, the
+ecclesiastics, contributed nothing to his income. Besides this, it was
+an unheard-of thing for the people to be compelled by force into
+military service. However much he might feel himself the master, this
+was an innovation too much against the general feeling; the people bore
+their taxes and burdens expressly that he might carry on war for them.
+The peasant rendered service and soccage to his landlord, because in
+the olden time the latter had gone into the field for him. He then
+rendered taxes and service to the Sovereign because he had gone with
+his paid soldiers into the field for him, when his landlord was no
+longer willing to bear the burden; but now the peasant was to render
+the same service to landlord and Prince, and besides this to march
+himself to battle. This appeared impracticable; but again the pressure
+of bitter necessity was felt, and help must be found. Only the most
+indigent were to be taken--vagrants and idlers; but all whose labour
+was useful to the State, all who raised themselves in any sort out of
+the mass, were not to be disturbed.
+
+Cautiously and slowly began the enlistment of the people for the
+military service of their Prince before 1700. It was proclaimed for the
+first time, but without success, that the country must supply recruits.
+The innovation was first attempted, it appears, by the Brandenburger in
+1693: the provinces were to enlist and present the number of men
+wanting, yet not villeins; and the leaders of companies were to pay two
+thalers earnest money to each man. Soon they went further; and first,
+in 1704, called upon particular classes of tax-payers, and then in 1705
+upon the community, to supply the necessary men. The recruits were to
+serve from two to three years, and those that willingly enlisted for
+six years and more were preferred. Exactly the same arrangement was
+made in Saxony in 1702 by King Augustus. There the communities had to
+provide for the Sovereign, as well as for the militia, an appointed
+number of young sound men, and to decide what individuals could
+be dispensed with. The enlistment-place was the Town-hall; the
+high-constables of the circles had the inspection. The man was
+delivered over without regimentals,--four thalers ready money were
+given,--the time of service two years,--and if the officer refused his
+discharge after two years, he who had served his time had the power to
+go away. Thus, timidly, did they begin to bring forward a new claim;
+and, in spite of all this caution, the opposition of the people was so
+violent and bitter that the new regulation was given up, and they
+returned again to enlistment. In 1708 forcible recruiting was
+abolished, "because it was too great an exaction." The iron will of
+Frederic William I. accustomed his people gradually to submit to this
+compulsion. After 1720 registers were made of children subject to
+military service, and in 1733 the "_canton_"[3] system was introduced.
+The land was divided among the regiments; the citizens and peasants
+were, with many exceptions, declared subject to military service. Every
+year were the deficiencies in the regiments filled up through levies,
+in which, it must be remarked by the way, the greatest despotism on the
+part of the captains remained unpunished.
+
+In Saxony they first succeeded, towards the end of the century, in
+carrying on the conscription together with the enlisting. In other
+parts, especially in small territories, that prospered less.
+
+Thus the military system of Germany presents to our view this
+remarkable phenomenon, that at the same time in which increased
+intellectual development produced in the middle classes greater
+pretensions, together with higher culture and morals, the despotism of
+the rulers gradually effected another great political advance in the
+life of the people--the beginning of our common feeling of the duty of
+self-defence. And it is equally remarkable that this innovation did not
+begin in the form of a great and wise measure, but in conjunction with
+circumstances which would appear to be more especially adverse to it.
+The greatest severity and unscrupulousness of a despotic state showed
+itself precisely in that by which it prepared, though it did not carry
+out, the greatest step in political progress.
+
+Too brutal and unscrupulous was the conduct of the officers who had to
+raise the levies, and too violent was the opposition and aversion of
+the people. The young men left the country in masses; no threatening of
+the gallows, of cutting off ears, or of confiscation of their property,
+could stop the fugitives. More than once the fanatical soldier-zealot
+Frederic William I. of Prussia was counteracted by the necessity of
+sparing his kingdom, which threatened to be depopulated. Never could
+more than half the number required be filled up by this conscription;
+the other half of the deficiency had to be raised by enlistment.
+
+The enlisting, also, in the first half of the eighteenth century, was
+rougher work than it had been. The Sovereigns themselves were more
+dangerous recruiting officers than the captains of the old
+Landsknechte. And although the evils of this system were notorious, no
+one knew how to remedy it. The rulers, it is true, were not so much
+disquieted by the immorality attending it, as they were by the
+insecurity, costliness, and unceasing disputes which it involved, as
+well as by the reclamations of foreign governments. The recruiting
+officers were themselves often bad and untrustworthy men, whose
+proceedings and disbursements could with difficulty be controlled. Not
+a few lived for years a life of dissipation, with their accomplices, in
+foreign countries at the cost of their monarchs; charged exorbitant
+bounties, only succeeded in ensnaring a few, and could scarcely get
+these into the country. It soon followed that not half of those so
+enlisted ever became available to the army; for the greater part were
+the worst rabble, into whom military qualities could not always be
+flogged, whose diseased bodies and vicious habits filled the hospitals
+and prisons, and who ran away on the first opportunity.
+
+The enlisting in the interior was carried on with every kind of
+violence; the officers and recruiting sergeants seized and carried off
+only sons who ought to have been exempt; students from the
+Universities, and whole colonies of villeins whom they settled on their
+own properties. Whoever wished to be exempt, was obliged to bribe, and
+was not even then safe. The officers were so protected in their violent
+extortions, that they openly despised all legal restraints. If there
+happened to be a great deficiency of men in time of war, all regard for
+law ceased. Then a formal, razzia was arranged, the city gates were
+beset by guards, and every one who went in or out subjected to a
+fearful examination, and whoever was tall and strong was seized; houses
+were broken into, and recruits were sought for from cellar to garret,
+even in families that ought to have been exempt. In the Seven Years'
+War, the Prussians even endeavoured to catch the scholars of the upper
+forms of the public schools in Silesia, for military service. In many
+families still lives the remembrance of the terror and danger
+occasioned to the grandfathers by the recruiting system. It was then a
+great misfortune for the sons of the clergy or officials to grow tall,
+and the usual warning of anxious parents was, "Do not grow, or you will
+be caught by the recruiting officer."
+
+Almost worse were the illegalities practised by the recruiting
+sergeants seeking for recruits in foreign countries. The recruit was
+bound by the reception of the money; and the well-known man[oe]uvre was
+to make simple lads drunk in jovial society, to press the money on them
+when intoxicated, take them into strict custody, and when, on becoming
+sober, they resisted, keep them by chains and every means of
+compulsion. Under escort and threatenings, the prisoners were dragged
+under the banners, and compelled to take the oath by barbarous
+punishments. Every other means of seduction was used besides drinking;
+gambling, prostitutes, lying, and every kind of deceit. Individuals
+considered desirable subjects were for days watched by spies. It was
+required of recruiting sergeants, who were paid for this purpose, to be
+especially expert in the art of outwitting. Advancement and presents of
+money depended on their knowing how to catch many men. Frequently they
+avoided, even where enlisting offices were allowed, showing themselves
+in uniform, and tried to seize their victims in every kind of disguise.
+Horrible were the basenesses practised in this man-hunting, and
+connived at by the governments. It was, in fact, slave-hunting; for the
+enlisted soldier could only perform his service in the great machine of
+the army, when he closed with all the hopes and wishes of his former
+life. It is a melancholy task to represent to oneself the feelings
+which worked in these victims; destroyed hopes, faintheartedness under
+violence, and heart-rending grief over a ruined life. It was not always
+the worst men who were hunted to death by running the gauntlet for
+repeated desertions, or flogged on account of insolent disobedience,
+till they lay senseless on the ground. Whoever could overcome his own
+inward struggle and accustom himself to the rough style of his new
+life, became a complete soldier, that is, a man who performed his
+service punctually, showed a firm spirit in attack, honoured or hated
+as enjoined, and perhaps felt some attachment to his flag; and probably
+much greater to the friend which made him for a time forget his
+situation--brandy.
+
+Enlistment in foreign countries could only take place with the consent
+of the Government of the country. Urgently did warlike princes seek for
+permission from their neighbours for an enlistment office. The Emperor,
+indeed, had the best of it, for each of his regiments had, according to
+custom, a fixed recruiting district throughout Germany. The others,
+especially Prussia, had to provide a favourable district for it. The
+larger Imperial cities were frequently courteous enough to grant
+permission to the more powerful Sovereigns; consequently, they were not
+always able to protect the sons of their own noble families. The
+frontiers of France, Holland, and Switzerland, were favourable
+districts for catching recruits; for there were always deserters to be
+found in the territory which was surrounded by foreign domains,
+especially when a foreign fortress, with burdensome garrison service,
+lay in the neighbourhood. Anspach, Baireuth, Dessau, and Brunswick,
+were always a good market for the Prussians.
+
+The recruiting officers of the different governments were not in equal
+repute. The Austrians had the best character; they were considered in
+the soldier world, coarse, but harmless; only took those that willingly
+yielded themselves, and kept to the agreement strictly. They had not
+much to offer, only three kreuzer and two pounds of bread daily; but
+they never were deficient in recruits. The Prussian recruiting
+officers, on the contrary, it must be owned, were in the worst repute;
+they lived in the highest style, were very insolent and unscrupulous,
+and fool-hardy devils. In order to catch a fine lad, they contrived the
+most audacious tricks, and exposed themselves to the greatest dangers:
+one knows that they were sometimes soundly beaten, when they found
+themselves in a minority, that they were imprisoned by foreign
+Governments, and more than one of them stabbed; but all this did not
+frighten them. This evil report lasted till Frederic William II. made
+his new rules of enlistment.
+
+One of the best recruiting places in the empire was Frankfort-a-M.,
+with its great fair; Prussians, Austrians, and Danes, still, at the end
+of the century, dwelt together there; the Danes had hung out their flag
+at the "Fir-tree;" the Austrians had, from olden times, stopped
+phlegmatically at the inn "The Red Ox;" but the restless Prussian
+recruiting officers were always changing; they were at this time the
+most distinguished and most splendid. A kind of diplomatic intercourse
+was maintained between the different parties; they were, it is true,
+jealous of one another, and endeavoured mutually to intercept each
+other's news; but they continued to visit and took wine and tobacco
+together as comrades. But Frankfort had already, after the seventeenth
+century, become the centre of a special branch of the business for
+entrapping men for the Imperial army. The recruiting officers sought
+not only new men, but also for deserters; and the bad discipline and
+want of military pride of the small southern German countries,
+as well as the facility of desertion, made it alluring to every
+good-for-nothing fellow to obtain new earnest money. In the recruiting
+rooms, therefore, of the Prussians and those of the "Red Ox," there
+hung a great variety of wardrobes from the different territories of the
+empire, which the deserters had left behind. Besides the wish to gain
+more bounty, there was yet another reason which led even the better
+sort of soldiers to desert--the wish to marry. No government approved
+of their soldiers burdening themselves with wives when in garrison,
+but, reckless as the military rulers were, they had no power in this
+respect. For there was no better means of keeping hold of a recruit
+than by marriage. If permission was refused, it was certain in
+garrisons near the frontier, that the soldier would fly with his maiden
+to the nearest inn where there was a foreign recruiting officer; and it
+was equally certain that he would there be married on the spot; for at
+every such recruiting place, there was a clergyman at hand for these
+cases.
+
+The result of this was, that by far the greater number of soldiers were
+married, especially in the small States, where they could easily reach
+the frontier. Thus the Saxon army of about 30,000 men, reckoned in
+1790, 20,000 soldiers' children; in the regiment of Thadden at Halle,
+almost half the soldiers were provided with wives. The soldiers' wives
+and children no longer went into the field, as in the old Landsknecht
+time, under the sergeants, but they were a heavy burden on the garrison
+towns. The women, supported themselves with difficulty by washing and
+other work; the children roamed about wildly without instruction. The
+city schools were almost everywhere closed to them; they were despised
+by the citizens like gipsies. Even in wealthy Lower Saxony at the
+beginning of the French revolution, there was no school for soldiers'
+boys except at Annaberg; this undoubtedly was well regulated, but did
+not suffice. For the girls there were none; there were neither
+preachers nor schools with the regiments. Only in Prussia was the
+education of the children and the training of the grown-up men--through
+preachers, schools, and orphan houses--seriously attended to.
+
+When a man received earnest-money from a recruiting officer, his whole
+life was decided. He was separated from the society of the citizens by
+a chasm which the most persevering could seldom pass. Under the hard
+pressure of service, under rough officers and among still rougher
+comrades, ran the course of his life; the first years in ceaseless
+drilling, the following ones with occasional relaxation which
+allowed him to seek for some small service in the neighbourhood, as
+day-labourer, or some little handicraft. If he was considered secure,
+he would have leave for months, whether he wished it or not; then the
+captain kept his pay, and he had meanwhile to provide for himself. The
+citizens regarded him with distrust and aversion; the honesty and
+morals of the soldiers were in such bad repute, that civilians avoided
+all contact with them, if a soldier entered an inn, the citizen and
+artisan immediately left it, and the landlord considered it a
+misfortune to have visits from soldiers. Thus he was in his hours of
+recreation confined to intercourse with comrades and profligate women.
+Severe was the usage that he met with from his officers; he was cuffed
+and kicked, punished with flogging for the slightest cause, or placed
+on the sharp pointed wooden horse or donkey, which stood in the open
+place near the guard-house; for greater misdemeanors he was confined in
+chains, put on wooden palings, or if the crime was great, he had to run
+the gauntlet of rods cut by the Provost, till he died.
+
+If in Prussia the predilection of the King for uniforms, and under
+Frederic the Great the glory of the army reconciled the Brandenburg
+conscript to the King's coat, this was far less the case in the rest of
+Germany. To the citizen and peasant's son in Prussia who had to serve,
+it was a misfortune, but in the rest of Germany a disgrace. Various
+were the attempts made to evade it by mutilation, but the chopping off
+a finger did not exempt, and was besides as severely punished as
+desertion. In 1790, a rich peasant lad in Lower Saxony, who by the
+hatred of the bailiff had been forced into service, was ashamed to
+enter his native village in uniform. Whenever he obtained leave, he
+stopped outside the village and had his peasant's dress brought to him,
+and a maid carried the uniform through the village in a covered basket.
+
+Desertions, therefore, did not cease; they were the common evil of all
+armies, and were not to be prevented by running the gauntlet the first
+and second time, nor even the third with shot. In the garrisons the
+roll-call, which was incessant, and quiet espionnage of individuals,
+were insufficient means. But when the cannon gave the signal that a man
+had escaped, the alarm was given to the surrounding villages, mounted
+foresters and troopers trotted along all the roads, detachments of foot
+and horse scoured the country as far as the frontiers, and information
+was given to the villages. Whoever brought in a deserter received in
+Prussia ten thalers, but whoever did not stop him, had to pay double
+that sum as a punishment. Every soldier who went along the high road,
+was obliged to have a pass; in Prussia, by the orders of Frederic
+William I., every subject, whether high or low, was bound to detain
+every soldier he met on the road to inquire after his papers. It was a
+terrible thing, for a little artisan lad to be brought to a standstill
+in a lonely street by a desperate six-foot grenadier, with musket and
+sword, who could not be passed. Still worse was it when whole troops
+prepared for flight, like those twenty Russians of the Dessauer
+regiment at Halle, who, in 1734, obtained leave to attend the Greek
+service at Brandenburg, where the King kept a patriarch for his
+numerous Russian Grenadiers. But the twenty were determined to make a
+pilgrimage back to the golden cross of the holy Moscow; they passed
+with great staves through the Saxon villages, and were with difficulty
+caught by the Prussian Hussars, brought back by Dresden to their
+garrison, and there mildly treated. But yet more grievous was it to the
+King, that even among his own Potsdamers a conspiracy broke out, when
+his tall Servian Grenadiers had sworn to burn the town, and to desert
+with arms in their hands. There were people of importance at the bottom
+of it; the executions, cutting off of noses, and other modes of
+punishment, occasioned the King a loss of 30,000 thalers. In the field,
+also, a system of tactical regulations were necessary to restrain
+desertion; every night march, every camp on the outskirts of a wood,
+produced losses; the troops, both on the road and in camp, had to be
+surrounded by strong patrols of Hussars and pickets; in every secret
+expedition it was necessary to isolate the army by means of troops of
+light cavalry, in order that deserters might not carry news to the
+enemy. This order was still given to the Generals by Frederic II. In
+spite of all, however, in every campaign, after each lost battle, and
+even after those which were won, the number of deserters was fearfully
+great. After unfortunate campaigns, great armies were in danger of
+entire dissolution. Many who ran away from one army, went in
+speculation to another, like the mercenaries in the Thirty Years' War;
+indeed this changing and deserting had rough jovial attraction for
+adventurers. An imprisoned deserter was, in the opinion of multitudes,
+anything but an evil-doer,--we have many popular songs which express
+the full sympathy of the village singer for the unfortunate, but the
+happy deserter passed even for a hero, and in some popular tales, the
+valiant fellow who has been compelled to help the fictitious King out
+of danger, and at last marries the Princess, is a runaway soldier.
+
+This royal soldiery was considered, in accordance with the ideas of
+that period, even after the popular arming of the militia, as the
+private possession of the Prince. The German Sovereigns, after the
+Thirty Years' War, had, as once did the Italian condottieri, trafficked
+with their military force; they had leased it to foreign powers, in
+order to make money and increase their influence. Sometimes the
+smallest territorial princes furnished in this way many regiments for
+the service of the Emperor, of the Dutch, and of the King of France.
+After the troops became more numerous, and were for the most part
+supplied from the children of the soil, this abuse of the Prince's
+power began gradually to strike the people with surprise. But it was
+not until after the wars of Frederic II. had inspired the people with
+patriotic warmth, that such appropriation became a subject of lively
+discussion. And when, after 1777, Brunswick, Anspach, Waldeck, Zerbst,
+and more than all Hesse-Cassel and Hanau, let out to England a number
+of regiments for service against the Americans, the indignation of the
+people was loudly expressed. Still it was only a lyrical complaint, but
+it sounded from the Rhine to the Vistula; the remembrance of it still
+lives; still does this misdeed hang like a curse upon one of the ruling
+families who then, to the most criminal extent, bartered away the lives
+of their subjects.
+
+Among the German states Prussia was the one in which the tyranny of
+this military system was most severe, but at the same time it was in
+some respects developed with a rigid grandeur and originality which
+made the Prussian army for half a century the first military power in
+the world, and a model after which all the other armies of Europe were
+formed.
+
+Any one who had entered Prussia shortly before 1740, when under the
+government of Frederic William I., would have been struck the very
+first hour by its peculiar characteristics. At field-labour, and in the
+streets of the cities, he would continually have seen slender men of
+warlike aspect, with a striking red necktie. They were "_canton_" men,
+who already as children had been entered on the register of soldiers,
+and sworn under a banner, and could be called upon if their King needed
+them. Each regiment had 500 to 800 of these reserves; one may therefore
+assume, that by these, an army of 64,000 men, could, in three months,
+be increased about 30,000, for everything was ready in the regimental
+rooms, both clothing and weapons. Anyone too, who first saw a regiment
+of Prussian infantry, would be still more astonished. The soldiers were
+of a height such as had never been seen in the world,--they appeared of
+a foreign race. When the regiment stood four ranks deep in line--the
+position in three ranks was just then introduced--the smallest men of
+the first rank were only a few inches under six foot, the fourth almost
+equally high, and the middle ones little less. One may assume that were
+the whole army placed in four ranks, the heads would make four straight
+lines; the weapons also were somewhat longer than elsewhere. Not less
+striking was the neat appearance of the men, they stood there like
+gentlemen, with good clean linen, their heads nicely powdered, and a
+cue, all in blue coats, with gaiters of unbleached linen up to their
+bright breeches; the regiments were distinguished by the colour of
+their waistcoats, facings, and lace. If a regiment wore beards, as for
+example the old Dessauers at Halle, the beard was nicely greased. Each
+man received yearly, before the review, a new uniform, even to the
+shirt and stockings, and in the field also he had two dresses. The
+officers looked still grander, with embroidered waistcoats, and scarfs
+round the waist, on the sword the "field badge;" all was gold and
+silver, and round the neck the gilded gorget, in the middle of which
+was to be seen on a white ground, the Prussian eagle. The captain and
+lieutenant bore in their hands the partisan, which had already been a
+little diminished, and was called spontoon; the subordinate officers
+still carried the short pike. It was considered smart for the dress to
+fit tight and close, and in the same style the motions of the soldiers
+were precise and angular, the deportment stiff and erect, their heads
+high. Still more remarkable were their movements; for they were the
+first soldiers that marched with equal step, the whole line raising and
+setting down their feet like one man. This innovation had been
+introduced by Dessau; the pace was slow and dignified, and even under
+the worst fire was little hastened: that majestic equal step, in the
+hottest moment at Mollwitz, carried confusion among the Austrians. The
+music also struck them with terror. The great brass drums of the
+Prussians (they have now, alas, come down to the insignificant size of
+a bandbox), raised a tremendous din. When in Berlin, at the parade of
+the Guards, some twenty drums were beaten, it made the windows shake.
+And among the hautboys there was a trumpet, equally a novel invention.
+The introduction of this instrument, created everywhere in Germany
+astonishment and disapprobation, for the trumpeters and kettle drummers
+of the holy Roman Empire formed a guild, which was protected by
+Imperial privileges, and would not tolerate a military trumpeter not
+belonging to it. But the King cared little for this. When the soldiers
+exercised, loaded, and fired, it was with a precision similar to
+witchcraft;[4] for after 1740, when Dessau introduced the iron ramrod,
+the Prussian shot four or five times in a minute,--afterwards he learnt
+to do it quicker; in 1773, five or six times; in 1781, six or seven
+times. The fire of the whole front of the battalion was a flash and a
+crack. When the salvos of the troops, exercising early in the morning
+under the windows of the King's castle, roared, the noise was so great
+that all the little Princes and Princesses were obliged to rise.
+
+But anyone who would have wished to form a right estimate of the
+soldiery should have gone to Potsdam. It had been a poor place,
+situated betwixt the Havel and a swamp; the King had made it into an
+architectural camp; no civilian could carry a sword there, not even the
+minister of state. There, round the King's castle, in small brick
+houses, which were built partly in the Dutch style, were stationed the
+King's giants,--the world-renowned Grenadier regiment. There were three
+battalions of 800 men, besides 600 to 800 reserves. Whoever among the
+Grenadiers was burdened with a wife, had a house to himself; of the
+other Colossuses, as many as four lodged with one landlord, who had to
+wait upon and provide food for them, for which he only received some
+stacks of wood. The men of this regiment never had leave, could carry
+on no public work, and drink no brandy; most of them lived like
+students at the high school, they occupied themselves with books,
+drawing and music, or worked in their houses.[5] They received extra
+pay, the tallest from ten to twenty thalers a month: all these fine men
+wore high plated grenadier caps, which made them about four hand
+breadths taller; the fifers of the regiment were Moors. Whoever
+belonged to the Colonel's own company of the regiment had his picture
+taken and hung up in the corridor of the castle of Potsdam. Many
+distinguished persons travelled to Potsdam to see these sons of Anak at
+parade or exercising. But it was remarked that such giants were
+scarcely useful for real war, and that it had never occurred to any one
+in the world to seek for extraordinary height as advantageous to
+soldiers; this wonder was reserved for Prussia. But anyone who staid in
+the country did well not to express this too openly. For the Grenadiers
+were a passion of the King, which in his latter years amounted almost
+to madness, and for which he forgot his family, justice, honour,
+conscience, and what had stood highest with him all his life, the
+advantage of his State. They were his dear blue children; he was
+perfectly acquainted with each individual; took a lively interest in
+their personal concerns, and tolerated long speeches and dry answers
+from them. It was difficult for a civilian to obtain justice against
+these favourites, and they were with good reason feared by the people.
+Wherever in any part of Europe a tall man was to be found, the King
+traced him out, and secured him either by bounty or force for his
+guard. There was the giant Mueller, who had shown himself in Paris and
+London for money--two groschen a person--he was the fourth or fifth in
+the line; still taller was Jonas, a smith's journeyman from Norway;
+then the Prussian Hohmann, whose head King Augustus of Poland,--though
+a man of fine stature--could not reach with his outstretched hand;
+finally later there was James Kirckland, an Irishman, whom the Prussian
+Ambassador Von Borke had carried off by force from England, and on
+account of whom diplomatic intercourse was nearly broken off; he had
+cost the King about nine thousand thalers.
+
+They were collected together from every vocation of life, adventurers
+of the worst kind, students, Roman Catholic priests, monks, and even
+some noblemen stood in rank and file. The Crown Prince Frederic, in his
+letters to his confidential friends, spoke often with aversion and
+scorn of this passion of the King, but he had inherited it to a certain
+extent, and the Prussian army have not yet ceased to take pride in it.
+It extended to other princes also, especially to such as were attached
+to the Hohenzollerns, the Dessauers, and Brunswickers. In 1806, Duke
+Ferdinand of Brunswick, who was mortally wounded at Auerstadt, carried
+on a systematic dealing in men for his regiment at Halberstadt; in his
+own company the first rank were six foot, and the smallest man was five
+foot nine; all the companies were taller than the first regiment of
+guards is now. But in other armies also there was somewhat of this
+predilection. At the end of the last century, an able Saxon officer
+lamented that the first and tallest regiment in the Saxon army could
+not measure with the smallest of the Prussians.[6]
+
+Not less remarkable was the relation in which King Frederic William
+stood to his officers. He heartily feared and hated the wily sagacity
+of the diplomats and higher officials, but he readily confided his
+secret thoughts to the simple, sturdy, straightforward character of his
+officers, which was sometimes a mask. It was a favourite fancy to
+consider himself as their comrade. Many were the hours in which he
+treated as his equals many who wore the sash. He used to greet with a
+kiss all the superior officers down to the major, if he had not seen
+them for a long time. Once he affronted the Major Von Juergass by using
+the opprobrious word by which officers then denoted a studious man; the
+drunken man replied, "That was the speech of a cowardly rascal," and
+then got up and left the party. The King declared that he could not
+allow that to pass, and was ready to take his revenge for the insult
+with sword or pistol. When those present protested against this,
+the King asked angrily how otherwise he could obtain satisfaction
+for his injured honour? They contrived a means of doing it by
+lieutenant-Colonel Von Einsiedel taking the King's place in the
+battalion, and fighting the duel in his stead. The duel took place,
+Einsiedel was wounded in the arm; for this the King filled his knapsack
+full of thalers, and commanded him to carry the heavy burden home. The
+King could not forget that as Crown Prince he had never risen in the
+service beyond a Colonel, and that a Field-Marshal was higher than
+himself. He therefore lamented in the "_Tabak's Collegium_,"[7] that he
+had not been able to remain with King William of England: "He would
+certainly have made a great man of me, he could even have made me
+Statholder of Holland." And when it was maintained in reply that he
+himself was a greater King, he answered: "You speak according to your
+judgment; he would have taught me how to command the armies of all
+Europe. Do you know of anything greater?" So much did this strange
+Prince feel the not having become Field-Marshal. When he sat dying in
+his wooden chair, had cast behind him all earthly cares, and was
+observing with curiosity the process of dying in himself, he desired
+the funeral horse to be fetched from the stable, and in accordance with
+the old custom of sending it as a legacy from the Colonel to the
+General in command, he ordered the horse to be taken on his behalf to
+Leopold Von Dessau, and the grooms to be flogged because they had not
+put the right housings on him.[8] Such was the Prince whose example was
+followed by the whole nobility of his country and in his army. Already
+under the great Elector had a sovereign contempt for all education
+displayed itself but too frequently in the army; already had such a
+repugnance to all learning been instilled into the early deceased
+Electoral Prince Karl Emil, by the officers around him, that he
+maintained that he who studied and learnt Latin was a coward. In the
+"_Tabak's Collegium_" of King Frederic William, still worse expressions
+were at first applied to this class of men. With the King himself there
+was undoubtedly an alteration in the last years of his life, but this
+tone of indifference to all knowledge which did not bear upon their own
+profession, remained with most of the Prussian officers till this
+century, in spite of all the endeavours of Frederic the Great. In 1790
+the people still used the term, a Frederic William's officer, for a
+tall thin man, in a short blue coat, with a long sword and a tight
+cravat, who was spruce and earnest in all his actions as in service and
+had learnt little. About the same time Lafontaine, chaplain to the
+regiment Von Thadden, at Halle, complained of the little education of
+the officers. Once after giving them an historical lecture, a valiant
+captain took him on one side and said, "You tell us things that have
+happened thousands of years ago, God knows where; will you not tell us
+one thing more? How do you know this?" And when the chaplain gave him
+an explanation, the officer answered, "Curious! I thought it had always
+been as it is now in Prussia." The same captain could not read writing
+hand, but was a brave, trustworthy man.[9]
+
+But King Frederic William I. did not wish that his officers should
+remain quite uninformed. He caused the sons of poor noblemen to be
+educated at his cost, in the great cadet institution at Berlin, and
+practised in the service under the care of able officers; the most
+intelligent he employed as pages, and in small services as guards in
+the castle. As a rule, in Prussia, no poor nobleman had to provide for
+the advancement of his son; the King did it for him. The nobility, it
+was said, were the nursery for the spontoon. As soon as the boy was
+fourteen years old he wore the same coat of blue cloth as the King and
+his Princes; for as yet there were no epaulets or distinctions in the
+embroidery,--only the regiments were denoted by marks of distinction.
+Every Prince of the Prussian family had to serve and become an officer,
+like the son of the poorest nobleman. It was remarked by contemporaries
+that in the battle of Mollwitz ten princes of the King of Prussia's
+family were in the army. It had not previously been the custom
+anywhere, or at any time, that the King should consider himself as an
+officer, and the officer as on an equality with the princes.
+
+By this comrade-training, the officers were placed in a position such
+as they had never had in any nation. It is true that all the faults of
+a privileged order were strikingly perceptible in them. Besides their
+coarseness, love of drinking and gluttony, the rage for duelling, the
+old passion of the German army, was not eradicated, although the same
+Hohenzollern, who had himself wished to fight with his Major, was
+inexorable in punishing with death every officer who killed another in
+a duel. But if such a "brave fellow" saved himself by flight, the King
+rejoiced if other governments promoted him. The duel was not then
+carried on in Prussia according to the usages of the Thirty Years' War:
+there were more seconds, and the number of passages was fixed; they
+fought on horseback with pistols and on foot with a sword. Before the
+combat the opponents shook hands--nay, they embraced each other, and
+exchanged forgiveness in case of death; if they were pious they went
+beforehand to confession and the Lord's Supper; no blow could be given
+till the opponent was in a position to use his sword; in case he fell
+to the ground or was disarmed, generosity was a duty; if anyone wished
+for a fatal result, he spread out his mantle, or, if like the officers
+after 1710 he wore none, he traced with his sword on the ground a
+square grave. After the reconciliation followed a banquet. Frequent and
+unpunished was the presumption of the officers toward the civilian
+officials, and brutal violence against the weak. Even the sensitiveness
+of officers for their honour, which then developed itself in the
+Prussian army, had no high moral authority; it was a very imperfect
+substitute for manly virtue, for it pardoned great vices and privileged
+meannesses. But it was an important step in advance for thousands of
+wild disorderly men.
+
+Through it, was first brought forth in the Prussian army a devotion on
+the part of the nobles, perhaps too exclusive, to the idea of a State.
+It was first in the army of the Hohenzollerns that the idea penetrated
+into the minds of both officers and soldiers, that a man owed his life
+to his father-land. In no part of Germany have brave soldiers been
+wanting to die for their banner; but the merit of the Hohenzollerns,
+the rough, reckless leaders of a wild army, was, that while they
+themselves lived, worked and did good and evil for their State, with
+unbounded devotion, they also knew how to give to their army, besides
+respect for their flag, a patriotic feeling of duty. From the school of
+Frederic William I. sprang forth the army with which Frederic II. won
+his battles, which made the Prussian State of the last century the most
+terrible power in Europe, and by its blood and its victories excited in
+the whole nation the enthusiastic feeling that within the German
+frontiers was a fatherland, of which every individual might be proud,
+and to struggle and to die for which would bring the highest honour and
+the highest fame to every child of the country.
+
+And this advance in German civilisation was contributed to, not only by
+the favoured men who, with gorgets and sashes, sat as comrades with the
+Colonel Frederic William on the stools of his "collegium," but also by
+the much tormented soldiers, who were constrained by blows to discharge
+their guns for their Sovereign's State.
+
+But before speaking of the advantages of the government of a great
+King, we will give a narrative, by a Prussian recruit and deserter, of
+the sufferings occasioned by the old military system, in which the life
+of an insignificant individual is delineated.
+
+The narrator is the Swiss Ulrich Braecker, the man of Toggenburg, whose
+autobiography has been often printed,[10] and it is one of the most
+instructive accounts that we possess of the life of the people. The
+biography contains, in the first part, an abundance of characteristic
+and pleasing features; the description of a poor family in a remote
+valley; the bitter struggle with poverty; the doings of the herdsmen;
+the first love of the young man; the cunning with which he was
+kidnapped by the Prussian recruiting officer; and his compulsory
+military service up to the battle of Lowositz; his flight home, and
+subsequent weary struggle for existence; the description of his
+household; and, finally, the resignation of a sensitive, enthusiastic
+nature which, partly by its own fault, was disturbed in the firm tenor
+of its own life, by a dreamy tendency and passionate ebullitions. The
+poor man of Toggenburg displays, throughout his detailed statement, a
+poetical and touching child-like spirit, a passionate desire to read,
+reflect, and form himself--in short, a sensitive organisation which was
+ruled by humours and phantasies.
+
+Ulrich Braecker was at his home in Toggenburg, with his father, occupied
+in felling wood, when an acquaintance of the family, a wandering
+miller, approached the workers, and advised the honest, simple Braecker
+to go from the valley to the city, in order to make his fortune there.
+Amid the blessings of parents and sisters, the honest youth wanders
+with the friend of the family to Schaffhausen; there he was taken to an
+inn, where he made acquaintance with a foreign officer. When his
+companion accidentally absented himself for a short time, he agreed to
+remain with the officer as servant. The family friend returns, and is
+highly irate, not that Ulrich had entered into service, but that he had
+done this without his interposition; and had thus diminished his
+commission fee. It turned out afterwards that he himself had carried
+off the son of his countryman, in order to sell him, and that he had
+intended to ask twenty _Friedrichsdor_ for him. Ulrich, dressed in a
+new livery, lived for a time very jovially as servant of his dissipated
+master--the Italian Markoni--without concerning himself particularly
+about the secret transactions of the latter. He felt comfortable in his
+new position, and wrote a succession of cheerful letters to his parents
+and his love. At last his master made use of a lie to send him further
+into the country, and finally to Berlin; he there discovered, with
+horror, that his beautiful livery and his jovial life had been nothing
+but a deceit practised on him. His master was a recruiting officer, and
+he himself a recruit. From this point he shall relate his own fate:--
+
+"It was on the 8th of April that we entered Berlin, and I in vain
+inquired for my master, who, as I afterwards learnt, had arrived eight
+days before us. When Labrot brought me into the Krausenstrasse in
+Friedrichstadt, showed me to a lodging, and then left me, saying
+shortly: 'There, messieur! stay till you get further orders!' Hang it!
+thought I, what is all this? It is certainly not even an inn. As I thus
+wondered, a soldier came. Christian Zittermann, and took me with him to
+his room, where there were already two sons of Mars. Now there was much
+wondering and inquiring, who I was? why I had come? and the like. I
+could not well understand their language. I replied shortly: 'I come
+from Switzerland, and am lacquey to his Excellency Herr Lieutenant
+Markoni; the sergeants have shown me here; but I should like to know
+whether my master is arrived at Berlin, and where he lives.' Here the
+fellows began to laugh, whereupon I could have cried, and none of them
+would hear of such an Excellency. Meanwhile they brought me a very
+stiff mess of pease porridge. I eat of it with little appetite.
+
+"We had hardly finished, when an old thin fellow entered the room, who
+I now saw must be more than a common soldier. He was a sergeant. He
+carried a soldier's uniform on his arm, which he spread upon the table,
+laid beside it a six groschen piece, and said: 'That is for you, my
+son! I will bring you directly some ammunition bread.' 'What? for me?'
+answered I, 'from whom? what for?' 'Why your uniform and pay, lad!
+what's the use of asking questions? You are a recruit.' 'How? what? a
+recruit?' answered I; 'God forbid! I have never thought of such a
+thing. No, never in my life. I am Markoni's servant. That was what I
+agreed for and nothing else. No man can tell me otherwise.' 'But I tell
+you, fellow, that you are a soldier, I can answer for that. There is no
+help for it.' I: 'Ah, if my master Markoni were but here!' He: 'You
+will not soon get a sight of him. Would you not rather be a servant to
+our King, than to his lieutenant?' Therewith he went away. 'For God's
+sake, Herr Zittermann,' I continued, 'what does this mean?' 'Nothing,
+sir,' answered he, 'but that you, like I, and the other gentlemen
+there, are soldiers, and consequently all brothers, and that no
+opposition will avail, except to take you to the guard-house, where you
+will have bread and water, have your hands bound, and be flogged till
+your ribs crack, and you are satisfied.' I: 'By my troth that would be
+shameful, wicked!' He: 'Believe me upon my word it will be so, and
+nothing else.' I: 'Then I will complain to the King.' Here they all
+laughed loud. He: 'You will never see him.' I: 'To whom else can I
+complain?' He: 'To our Major, if you choose. But that will be all in
+vain.' I: 'I will try, however, whether it will avail!' The lads
+laughed again." (The Major kicked him out with blows.)
+
+"In the afternoon the sergeant brought me my ammunition bread, together
+with my musket and side-arms and so forth, and asked whether I now
+thought better of it? 'Why not?' answered Zittermann for me; 'he is the
+best lad in the world.' Then they led me into the uniform room, and
+fitted on me a pair of pantaloons, shoes and boots, gave me a hat,
+necktie, stockings, and so forth. Then I had to go with some twenty
+other recruits to Colonel Latorf. They took us into a room as large as
+a church, brought in some tattered flags, and commanded each of us to
+take hold of a corner. An Adjutant, or whoever he was, read us a whole
+heap of the articles of war, and repeated some words which most of them
+murmured after him; but I did not open my mouth, but thought of what
+pleased me, I believe it was of Aennchen; he then waved the banner over
+our heads and dismissed us. Hereupon I went to a cook-shop and got
+something to eat, together with a mug of beer. For this I had to pay
+two groschen. Now I had only four out of the six remaining to me; with
+these I had to provide for myself for four days, and they would
+scarcely last two. Upon this calculation I began to make great
+lamentations to my comrades. One of them, called Eran, said to me with
+a smile, 'You will soon learn. Now it does not signify to you; for have
+you not something to sell? For example your whole servant's livery;
+thus you are at present doubly armed; all that will turn into silver.
+And as to your _menage_, only observe what others do. Three, four or
+five, club together to buy corn, peas, and potatoes, and the like, and
+cook for themselves. In the morning they have a half-penny worth of bad
+brandy and a piece of ammunition bread; in the middle of the day they
+get a half-penny worth of soup, and take a piece of ammunition bread;
+in the evening they have two penny worth of small beer, and again the
+bread.' 'But that, by Jove, is a cursed life,' I answered; he said,
+'Yes! thus one gets on, and not otherwise. A soldier must learn this;
+for many other things are necessary: pipeclay, powder, blacking, oil,
+emery, and soap, and a hundred other things.' I: 'And that is all to be
+paid for out of six groschen?' He: 'Yes! and still more; as for
+example, the pay for washing, for cleaning the weapons and so forth, if
+you cannot do those things yourself.' Thereupon we went to our
+quarters, and I got on as well as I could.
+
+"During the first week I still had a holiday; I went about the town to
+all the places of drill, and saw how the officers inspected and flogged
+the soldiers, so that beforehand for very fear, great drops of sweat
+broke out on my brow. I therefore begged of Zittermann to show me at
+home how to handle my weapons. 'You will learn that by-and-by,' said
+he, 'but if you are dexterous you will get on like lightning.'
+Meanwhile he was so good as really to show me everything, how to keep
+my weapon clean, how to squeeze myself into my uniform, and to dress my
+hair in a soldierly style, and so forth. After Eran's counsel, I sold
+my boots, and bought with the money a wooden chest to hold my linen. In
+quarters I practised myself in exercising, read the Halle hymn-book or
+prayed. Then I walked by the Spree and saw there hundreds of soldiers
+employed in lading and unlading merchants' wares; the timber yard also
+was full of soldiers at work. Another time I went to the barracks and
+so forth; I found everywhere the like, a hundred sorts of business
+carried on, from works of art to the distaff. If I came to the
+guard-house, I there found those who played, drank, and jested; others
+who quietly smoked their pipes and conversed, some few who read an
+edifying book and explained it to the others. In the cook-shops and
+breweries, things went on after the same fashion. In Berlin we had
+among the military--as I think indeed is the case in all great
+cities--people from all the four quarters of the world, of all nations
+and religions, of all characters and of every profession by which men
+can earn their bread.
+
+"The second week I had to attend every day on the parade-ground, where
+I unexpectedly found three of my country-people. Shaerer, Bachmann, and
+Gaestli, who were all in the same regiment with me--Itzenplitz--both
+were in the company called Luederitz. At first I had to learn to march
+under a crabbed corporal, with a crooked nose, by name Mengke; this
+fellow I hated like death; when he hit me on the feet the blood went to
+my head. Under his hands I should have learnt nothing all my days. This
+was observed by Hevel, who man[oe]uvred with his people on the same
+ground, so he exchanged me for another, and took me into his platoon.
+This was a heartfelt pleasure to me. Now I learned in an hour more than
+in ten days with the other.
+
+"Shaerer was as poor as I; but he got an augmentation of two groschen
+and a double portion of bread, for the Major thought a good bit more of
+him than of me. Meanwhile we loved each other as brothers; as long as
+one had anything the other would share it with him. Bachmann, on the
+contrary, who also lodged with us, was a niggardly fellow, and did not
+agree with us; nevertheless the hours always appeared as long as day
+when we could not be together. As soon as our drills were over, we flew
+together to Schottmann's cellar, drank our mug of Ruppin or Kotbuss
+beer, smoked a pipe, and trilled a Swiss song. The Brandenburgers and
+Pomeranians always listened to us with pleasure. Some gentlemen even
+sent for us express to a cook-shop, to sing the _ranz-des-vackes_. The
+musicians' pay principally consisted in nasty soup, but in such a
+situation one must be content with still less.
+
+"We often related to one another our manner of life at home; how well
+off we were and how free; and what a cursed life we led here, and the
+like. Then we made plans for our escape. Sometimes we entertained hopes
+that we might succeed; at other times we saw before us insurmountable
+difficulties, and we were principally deterred by thinking of the
+consequences of an unsuccessful attempt. We heard every week fearful
+stories of deserters brought back, who, even when they had been so
+cunning as to disguise themselves in the dresses of sailors and other
+artisans, or even as women, and had concealed themselves in tuns and
+casks, and the like, had yet been caught. Then we had to look on while
+they ran the gauntlet eight times through two hundred men, till they
+sank down breathless--and then again the following day; their clothes
+were torn off from their hacked backs, and the punishment was repeated
+till the coagulated blood hung over their trousers. Then Shaerer and I
+looked at each other trembling and deadly pale, and whispered to one
+another, 'Cursed barbarians!' What took place also on the drill-ground
+gave occasion for similar observations. There was no end of the curses
+and scourgings by barbarous Junkers, and again the lamentations of
+those who had been flogged. We ourselves were always the first on the
+ground, and played our part vigorously; but it did not the less give us
+pain to see others so unmercifully treated for every little trifle, and
+ourselves so ill-used year after year; to stand also for five whole
+hours laced up in our uniforms as if screwed to the spot, marching to
+and fro as straight as poles, and to perform uninterrupted manual
+exercise with lightning rapidity; and this all at the command of
+officers who stood before us with furious countenances and raised
+sticks, every moment threatening to beat us about the head as if we
+were cabbages. Under such treatment, a fellow with the strongest nerves
+must become paralysed, and the most patient, raving. And when we
+returned, wearied to death, to our quarters, we had to go headlong to
+our washing, to rub out every spot; for with the exception of the blue
+coat, our whole uniform was white. Weapons, cartouche-boxes, belt,
+every button on the uniform, all must be cleaned as bright as a mirror.
+If there was anything in the least wrong in any of these articles, or
+if a hair was not right on our heads when we appeared on parade, we
+were greeted with a heavy shower of blows. It is true that our officers
+had received the strictest orders to examine us from head to foot; but
+the devil a bit did we recruits know about it, and we thought it was
+the custom of war.
+
+"At last came the great epoch, when it was said '_Allons_, to the
+field!' Now came the route--tears flowed in abundance from citizens,
+soldiers' wives, and the like. Even the soldiers themselves, namely,
+those of the country who had wives and children to leave behind, were
+quite cast down, full of sorrow, and grief: the strangers, on the
+contrary, secretly shouted for joy, and exclaimed, 'At last, God be
+praised; our release will come!' Every one was loaded like mules, first
+buckled round with his sword belt; then with the cartouche-box over his
+shoulder, with a long five-inch strap; over the other shoulder the
+knapsack, with linen, &c.; also the haversack, filled with bread and
+other forage. Besides this, every one must carry a portion of field
+utensils, a flask, kettle, a hatchet, or such like, all fastened by a
+thong; and then a flint, or something of that sort: thus had we five
+straps upon the breast, one across the other, so that in the beginning
+each one thought that he would be suffocated with such a burden. Then
+there was the tight-fitting uniform, and such dog-day heat, that I many
+times thought that I was going upon red hot coals; and if I opened the
+breast of my coat to get a little air, steam came out as from a boiling
+kettle. Often I had not a dry thread on my body, and almost fainted
+from thirst.
+
+"Thus we marched the first day, the 22nd of August, out of the
+Koepeniker gate, and marched for four hours to the little town of
+Koepenik, where from thirty to fifty of us were quartered on the
+citizens, who were obliged to feed us for one groschen. _Potz plunder!_
+how things did go on here! Ha! how we did eat! But only think how many
+great hungry fellows we were! We were all calling out, 'Here, Canaille,
+fetch us what you have in your most secret corner.' At night the rooms
+were filled with straw; there we lay all in rows against the walls.
+Truly a curious household! In every house there was an officer, to keep
+good discipline, but they were often the worst.
+
+"'Hitherto has the Lord helped!' These words were the first text of our
+Chaplain at Pirna. Oh, yes, thought I, that He has, and will, I truly
+hope, help me further to my Fatherland. For what are your wars to me?
+
+"Meanwhile every morning we received orders to load quickly; this gave
+rise among the old soldiers to the following talk: 'What shall we have
+to-day? to-day certainly something is afoot!' Then we young ones
+perspired at all pores if we marched by a bush or a wood, and had to be
+on the alert. Then every one silently pricked up his ears, expecting
+each moment a fiery hail and his death; and when we came again into the
+open, looked right and left, how he could most conveniently escape; for
+we had always the cuirassiers, dragoons, and other soldiers of the
+enemy on both sides.
+
+"At last on the 22nd September, the alarm was sounded, and we received
+orders to break up. In a moment all were in motion; in a few minutes a
+camp a mile in length--like the largest city--was broken up, and
+_Allons_, march! Now we proceeded into the valley, made a bridge at
+Pirna, and formed above the town, in front of the Saxon camp, in a
+line, as if for running the gauntlet; of which the end reached the
+Pirna gate, and through which the whole Saxon army in fours passed
+having first laid down their arms; and one may imagine what mocking,
+taunting words they must have heard during the whole long passage. Some
+went sorrowfully with bent heads; others defiant and reckless; and
+others again with a smile, for which the Prussian mocking-birds would
+gladly have paid them off. I know not, neither do many thousand others,
+what were the circumstances which occasioned the surrender of this
+great army. On the same day we marched a good bit further, and pitched
+our camp near Lilienstein.
+
+"We were often attacked by the Imperial Pandours, or a hail of shot
+came upon us from the carabineers from behind the bushes, so that many
+were killed on the spot and still more wounded. But when our artillery
+directed a few guns towards the copse, the enemy fled head foremost.
+These miserable trifles did not frighten me much. I should have become
+soon accustomed to them, and I often thought, when the thing takes
+place, it is not so bad after all.
+
+"Early on the morning of the 1st of October we had to fall into rank
+and march through a narrow valley towards the great valley. We could
+not see far for the thick fog. But when we had reached the plain and
+joined the great army, we advanced in three divisions, and perceived in
+the distance, through the fog as through a veil, the enemy's troops on
+the plain over against the Bohemian city of Lowositz. It was Imperial
+cavalry, for we never got sight of the infantry, as it had intrenched
+itself near the said city. About 6 o'clock the thunder of the artillery
+both from our front line and also from the Imperial batteries was so
+great that the balls whizzed through our regiment, which was in the
+centre. Hitherto I had always hoped to escape before a battle, but now
+I saw no means of doing so either before or behind me, neither to the
+right nor to the left. Meanwhile we continued to advance. Then all my
+courage oozed away; I could have crept into the bowels of the earth,
+and one could see the same terror and deadly pallor on all faces, even
+those who had hitherto affected so much valour. The empty brandy flasks
+(such as every soldier has) flew among the balls through the air; most
+drank up their little provision to the last drop, for they said,
+'To-day we want courage, to-morrow we may need no drams!' Now we
+advanced quite under the guns, where we changed places with the first
+division. _Potz Himmel!_ how the iron fragments whizzed about our
+heads,--falling now before and now behind us into the earth, so that
+stones and sods flew into the air,--and some into the middle of us, so
+that some of our people were picked off from the ranks as if they had
+been blades of straw. Straight before us we saw nothing but the enemy's
+cavalry, which made movements in all directions; now extended
+themselves lengthways, now as a half moon, then drew together again in
+triangles and squares. Now our cavalry advanced, we made an opening and
+let them through to gallop on the enemy. There was a hailstorm of
+missiles rattling, and sabres glittering as they cut them down; but it
+lasted only a quarter of an hour; our cavalry were beaten by the
+Austrians and pursued almost under our guns. What a spectacle it was to
+see: horses with their riders hanging to the stirrup, others with their
+entrails trailing on the ground. Meanwhile we continued to stand under
+the enemy's fire till towards 11 o'clock, without our left wing closing
+with the skirmishers, although the fire was very hot on the right. Many
+thought we were to storm the Imperial intrenchments. I was no longer in
+such terror as at the beginning, although the gunners of the culverins
+were carried off close on both sides of me, and the field of battle was
+already covered with dead and wounded. About 12 o'clock orders came for
+our regiment, together with two others (I believe Bevern and
+Kalkstein), to march back. Now we thought we were going to the camp,
+and that all danger was over. We hastened therefore with cheerful steps
+up the steep vineyard, filled our hats with beautiful red grapes, eat
+them with heartfelt pleasure, and neither I nor any near me expected
+anything disagreeable, although from the heights we saw our brothers
+beneath, still under fire and smoke, and heard a fearful thundering
+noise; we could not tell which side was victorious. Meanwhile our
+leaders took us still higher up the hill, on the summit of which was a
+narrow pass betwixt rocks, which led down to the other side. As soon,
+however, as our advanced-guard had reached this spot, there was a
+terrible storm of musketry; and now we first discovered what was in the
+wind. Some thousand Imperial Pandours were marching up the other side
+of the hill in order to take our army in rear; this had been betrayed
+to our leaders, and we were to anticipate them; only five minutes later
+and they would have won the heights, and we should probably have been
+worsted. There was indescribable bloodshed before we could drive the
+Pandours from that thicket. Our advanced troops suffered severely, but
+those behind pushed forward headlong till the heights were gained.
+
+"Then we had to stumble over heaps of dead and wounded, and the
+Pandours went pell-mell down the vineyard, leaping over a wall one
+after another into the plain. Our native Prussians and Brandenburgers
+attacked the Pandours like furies. I myself was almost stupefied with
+haste and heat, and felt neither fear nor horror. I discharged almost
+all my cartridges as fast as I could, till my musket was nearly
+red-hot, and I was obliged to carry it by the strap; meanwhile I do not
+believe that I hit a living soul, it all went in the air. The Pandours
+posted themselves again on the plain by the water before the city of
+Lowositz, and blazed away valiantly up into the vineyard, so that many
+in front of and near me bit the ground. Prussians and Pandours lay
+everywhere intermingled, and if one of these last still stirred, he was
+knocked on the head with the butt end of the gun, or run through the
+body with the bayonet. And now the combat was renewed in the plain. But
+who can describe how it went on amidst the smoke and fog from Lowositz,
+where it rattled and thundered as if heaven and earth would be rent in
+twain, and where all the senses were stunned by the ceaseless rumbling
+of many hundred drums, the shrill and heart-stirring tones of all kinds
+of martial music, the commands of so many officers, the bellowing of
+their adjutants, and the death yells and howling imprecations of so
+many thousands of miserable, maimed, dying victims of this day. At this
+time it might be about three o'clock, Lowositz being on fire; many
+hundred Pandours, on whom our advanced troops again broke like wild
+lions, sprang into the water, and the town was then attacked. At this
+time I was certainly not in the van, but in the vineyard above, in the
+rear rank, of whom many, as I have said, more nimble than myself,
+leaped down from one wall over another, in order to hasten to the help
+of their brother soldiers. As I was thus standing on a little
+elevation, and looking down upon the plain as into a dark storm of
+thunder and hail, this moment appeared to me to be the time--or rather
+my good angel warned me--to save myself by flight. I looked therefore
+all round me. Before me all was fire and mist; behind me there were
+still many of our troops hastening after the enemy, and to the right
+two great armies in full order of battle. But at last I saw that to the
+left there were vineyards, bushes, and copseland, only here and there a
+few men Prussians, Pandours, and Hussars, and of these more dead and
+wounded than living. There, there, on that side, thought I; otherwise
+it would be purely impossible.
+
+"I glided, therefore, at first with slow step, a little to the left,
+through the vines. Some Prussians hastened past me. 'Come, come,
+brother!' said they; 'victoria!' I replied not a word, but feigned to
+be wounded, and went on slowly, but truly with fear and trembling. As
+soon as I had got so far, that no one could see me, I mended my pace,
+looked right and left like a hunter, viewed again from a distance--and
+for the last time in my life--the murderous death struggle; rushed at
+full speed past a thicket full of dead Hussars, Pandours, and horses;
+ran breathlessly along the course of the river, and found myself in a
+valley. On the other side some Imperial soldiers came towards me, who
+had equally stolen away from the battle, and when they saw me thus
+making off levelled their guns at me for the third time,
+notwithstanding I had reversed my arms, and given them with my hat the
+usual sign. They did not fire; so I came to the resolution to run
+towards them. If I had taken another course they would, as I afterwards
+learnt, have certainly fired. When I came up to them, I gave myself up
+as a deserter, and they took my weapon away from me, with the promise
+that they would afterwards restore it. But he who had taken upon
+himself to promise it, stole away and took the gun with him. So let it
+be! They then took me to the nearest village, Scheniseck (it might be a
+good hour from Lowositz); here there was a ferry over the water, but
+only one boat for the passage. And there was a piteous shrieking and
+wailing from men, women, and children; each wished to go first over the
+water, for fear of the Prussians; for all thought they were close at
+hand. I also was not one of the last to jump in with a troop of women.
+If the ferryman had not cast out some we should have been drowned. On
+the other side of the stream stood a Pandour guard. My companions led
+me up to them, and these red-moustachioed fellows received me in the
+most polite way; gave me, though neither of us understood a word the
+other said, tobacco and brandy, and a safe conduct, I believe, to
+Leutmeritz, where I passed the night among genuine Bohemians, and truly
+did not know whether I could safely lay my head to rest; but
+fortunately my head was in such confusion from the tumult of the day,
+that this important point signified very little to me. The following
+day (Oct. 2) I went with a detachment to the Imperial camp at Buda.
+Here I met two hundred other Prussian deserters, each of whom had, so
+to speak, taken his own way and his own time.
+
+"We had permission to see everything in the camp. Officers and soldiers
+stood in crowds around us to whom we were expected to tell more than we
+ourselves knew. Some, however, knew how to brag, and flatter their
+present hosts, concocting a hundred lies derogatory to the Prussians.
+There were also among the Imperialists many arrant braggadocios, and
+the smallest dwarf boasted of having, in his own flight, killed, in
+their flight, I know not how many long-legged Brandenburgers. After
+that they took us to fifty prisoners of the Prussian cavalry, a
+pitiable sight! Scarcely one who was not wounded; some cut about the
+face, others on the neck, others over the ears, shoulders, or legs, &c.
+There was amongst all a groaning and moaning. How fortunate did these
+poor fellows esteem us who had escaped a similar fate, and how thankful
+were we to God! We passed the night in the camp, and each received a
+ducat for the expenses of his journey. They sent us then with a cavalry
+escort--there were two hundred of us--to a Bohemian village, from
+whence, after a short sleep, we went, the following day, to Prague.
+There we divided ourselves, and obtained passports for six, ten, or
+even as many as twelve, who were going the same way. We were a
+wonderful medley of Swiss, Suabians, Saxons, Bavarians, Tyrolese,
+Italians, French, Poles, and Turks. Six of us got one passport for
+Ratisbon."
+
+Here we end with Ulrich Braecker. He arrived happily at home, but no one
+recognised the moustachioed soldier in his uniform. His sister
+concealed herself; his love had been faithless and married another;
+only the mother's heart discovered her son in that wild-looking figure.
+But his later life in the lonely valley was ruined by the adventures he
+had passed through. A strange, uneasy element now pervaded his
+character--irritable restlessness, covetousness, and a distaste to
+labour.
+
+But Frederic II. wrote, after the battle of Lowositz, to Schwerin:
+"Never have any troops done such wonders of valour since I have had the
+honour of commanding them."
+
+He whose narrative we have had was one of them.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+                    THE STATE OF FREDERIC THE GREAT.
+                                (1700.)
+
+
+What was it that after the Thirty Years' War fixed the eyes of
+politicians upon the small State on the north-eastern frontier of
+Germany, towards Sweden and Poland, that was struggling against the
+Hapsburgers and Bourbons? The heritage of the Hohenzollerns was no
+favoured fertile country, in which the peasant dwelt comfortably on
+well-cultivated acres, or to which rich merchants brought in galleons,
+Italian silks, and the spices and ingots of the new world. It was a
+poor devastated, sandy country; the cities were burnt, the huts of the
+country people demolished, the fields uncultivated, many square miles
+denuded of men and beasts of burden, and nature restored to its
+primitive state. When Frederic William, in 1640, assumed the Electoral
+hat, he found nothing but contested claims to scattered territories, of
+about 1450 square miles,[11] and in all the fortresses of his family
+domains, were established domineering conquerors. Out of an insecure
+desert did this clever double-dealing Prince establish his State, with
+a cunning and recklessness in regard to his neighbours which excited a
+sensation even in that unscrupulous period, but at the same time with
+an heroic vigour and enlarged views, by which he more than once
+attained to a higher conception of German honour, than the Emperor or
+any other prince of the Empire.
+
+Nevertheless, when the astute politician died in 1688, what he left
+behind was still only a small nation, not to be reckoned among the
+Powers of Europe. For though his sovereignty comprehended 2034 square
+miles, the population, at the utmost, only amounted to 1,300,000. When
+Frederic II., a century later, assumed the dominions of his ancestors,
+he only inherited a population of 2,240,000 souls, far less than is now
+to be found in the one province of Silesia. What was it then, that,
+immediately after the battles of the Thirty Years' War, excited the
+jealousy of all the governments, especially of the Imperial house, and
+that made such bitter opponents of the hitherto warm friends of the
+Brandenbergers? For two centuries, both Germans and foreigners placed
+their hopes on this new State; equally long have Germans and
+foreigners, first with scorn and then with hatred, called it an
+artificial superstructure, which could not maintain itself against
+violent storms, and which had unjustifiably intruded itself among the
+Powers of Europe. How came it at last that, after the death of Frederic
+the Great, unprejudiced judges declared that it would be better to
+cease prophesying the downfall of this much-hated State? After each
+prostration it rose so vigorously, its injuries and wounds from war
+were so quickly healed, as has not been the case with any other; wealth
+and intelligence assumed larger proportions there than in any portion
+of Germany!
+
+Undoubtedly it was a peculiar nature, a new phase of German character,
+which shewed itself in the Hohenzollerns and their people in the
+conquered Sclavonian territory. It appears that there were greater
+contrasts of character there; for the virtues and failings of its
+governors, the greatness and weakness of their policy, appeared there
+in glaring contrast: narrow-mindedness became more striking,
+shortcomings appeared more conspicuous, and that which was worthy of
+admiration, more wonderful. It appeared that this State produced
+everything that was most strange and uncommon, and only the quiet
+mediocrity, which may elsewhere be useful and bearable, could not exist
+there without injury.
+
+Much of this arose from the position of the country: it had as
+contiguous neighbours Swedes, Sclavonians, French, and Dutch. There was
+scarcely a question of European politics which did not produce welfare
+or injury to this State; scarce a complication which active princes did
+not take advantage of to put in claims. The failing power of Sweden,
+the already beginning process of dissolution in Poland, occasioned
+perplexity of views; the preponderating power of France, the suspicious
+friendship of Holland, necessitated prompt and vigorous foresight.
+After the first year in which the Elector Frederic William took
+possession, by force and cunning, of his own fortresses, it became
+manifest that there, in a corner of the German soil, a powerful,
+circumspect military government would not be wanting for the
+preservation of Germany. After the beginning of the French war, in
+1674, Europe beheld with astonishment the wary policy that proceeded
+from this little spot, which undertook, with heroic daring, to defend
+the west frontier of Germany against the all-powerful King of France.
+
+There was, also, perhaps something peculiar in the character of the
+Brandenburg people, in which both princes and subjects had an equal
+share. The district of Prussia, up to the time of Frederic the Great,
+had given to Germany comparatively few men of learning, poets, or
+artists; even the passionate zeal of the period of the Reformation
+appeared there to be damped. The people who dwelt in the frontier
+countries, mostly of Lower Saxon origin, with a small mixture of
+Sclavonian blood, were a hard, rough race, not very pleasing in their
+modes of life, of uncommonly sharp understanding and sober judgment. In
+the capital they had been, from ancient times, sarcastic and voluble in
+speech; but in all the provinces they were capable of great exertion,
+laborious, tenacious, and of great power of endurance.
+
+But the character of the princes produced still more effect than even
+the situation or character of the people. Their State was constituted
+differently from any other since the days of Charles the Great. Many
+princely houses have furnished a succession of Sovereigns who have been
+the fortunate aggrandisers of their States, as the Bourbons, who have
+collected wide territories into one great kingdom; many families of
+princes have produced generations of valiant warriors, none more so
+than the Vasas and the Protestant Wittelsbacher in Sweden. But there
+have been no trainers of the people like the old Hohenzollerns. As
+great landed proprietors on the desolated country they brought
+about an increase of population, guided the cultivation, for almost
+150 years laboured as strict economists, thought, tolerated, dared
+and did injustice, in order to create for their State a people like
+themselves--hard, parsimonious, discreet, daring, and ambitious.
+
+In this sense one has a right to admire the providential character of
+the Prussian State. Of the four princes who have governed it, since the
+German War up to the day when the grey-headed Abbot closed his weary
+eyes in the monastery of Sans Souci, each one, with his virtues and
+failings, has acted as a necessary supplement to his predecessor. The
+Elector Frederic William, the greatest statesman from the school of the
+German War--the pompous Frederic, the first King--the parsimonious
+despot Frederic William I.--and, finally, he in whom were concentrated
+almost all the talents and great qualities of his ancestors, were the
+flowers of their race.
+
+Life in the King's castle in Berlin was very cheerless when Frederic
+grew up; few of the citizens' homes at that rude time were so poor in
+love and sunshine. One may doubt whether it was the King his father, or
+the Queen, who was most to blame for the disorder of the family life,
+both through failings of their nature, which, in the ceaseless rubs of
+home, ever became greater;--the King, a wonderful tyrant, with a soft
+heart but rough and violent, who wished to compel love and confidence,
+with a keen understanding, but so unwary that he was always in danger
+of being the victim of rogues, and from the gloomy knowledge of his
+weakness became suspicious, stubborn, and violent; the Queen, on the
+other hand, an insignificant woman, with a cold heart, a strong feeling
+of her princely dignity, and much inclination to intrigue, neither
+cautious nor taciturn. Both had the best intentions, and exerted
+themselves honourably to make their children good and capable men, but
+both injudiciously disturbed the sound development of the childish
+soul. The mother had so little tact as to make her children, even in
+their tender youth, the confidants of her chagrins and intrigues; for
+in her chambers there was no end of complaints, rancour, and derision,
+over the undue parsimony of the King, the blows which he so abundantly
+distributed in his apartments, and the monotony of the daily
+regulations which he enforced. The Crown Prince, Frederic, grew up as
+the playfellow of his elder sister, a delicate child with brilliant
+eyes and wonderfully beautiful blond hair. Punctiliously was he taught
+just as much as the King wished, and that was little enough; scarcely
+anything of the Latin declensions--the great King never overcame the
+difficulties of the genitive and dative--French, some history, and
+the necessary accomplishments of a soldier. The ladies inspired the
+boy--who was giddy, and in presence of the King looked shy and
+defiant--with the first interest in French literature; he himself
+afterwards gave the praise to his sister, but his governess also was a
+clever Frenchwoman. That this foreign acquisition was hateful to the
+King, gave it additional value to the son; for, in the apartments of
+the Queen, that was most certain to be praised which was most
+displeasing to the strict master of the family. And when the King
+delivered to his family his blustering pious speeches, then the
+Princess Wilhelmine and the young Frederic looked so significantly at
+one another that, at last, the faces made by one of the children
+excited a childish desire to laugh, and produced an outburst of fury in
+the King! Owing to this the son became, in his early years, an object
+of irritation to his father. He called him an effeminate fellow, who
+did not keep himself clean, and took an unmanly pleasure in dress and
+games.
+
+But from the account of his sister, in whose unsparing judgment it
+appeared easier to blame than to praise, one may perceive how much the
+amiability of the highly gifted boy worked upon his _entourage_;
+whether he secretly read French stories with his sister, and applied
+the comical characters of the novel to the whole court, or, contrary to
+the most positive order, played upon the flute and lute, or visited his
+sister in disguise, when they recited the _roles_ of the French comedy
+together. But even for these harmless pleasures Frederic was obliged to
+have recourse to lies, deceit, and dissimulation. He was proud,
+high-minded, magnanimous, with an uncompromising love of truth.
+Dissimulation was so repugnant to his nature that where it was required
+he would not condescend to it; and if he was compelled to an unskilful
+hypocrisy, his position with his father became more difficult, the
+distrust of the King greater, and the wounded self-respect of the son
+was always breaking out in defiance.
+
+Thus he grew up surrounded by spies, who conveyed his every word to the
+King. With a richly gifted mind and refined intellectual yearnings, he
+needed that manly society which would have been suitable for him. No
+wonder that the youth went astray. The Prussian passed for a very
+virtuous court in comparison with the other courts of Germany; but the
+tone towards women, and the carelessness with which the most doubtful
+connexions were treated, were there also very great. After a visit to
+the profligate court of Dresden, Prince Frederic began to behave like
+other princes of his time, and he found good comrades among his
+father's young officers. We know little of him at this time, but we may
+conclude that he was undoubtedly in some danger, not of being ruined,
+but of passing the best years of his life amidst debts and worthless
+connexions. It certainly was not the increasing displeasure of his
+father that unhinged his mind at this period, so much as an inward
+dissatisfaction that drove the immature youth more wildly into error.
+
+He determined to escape to England; how his flight miscarried, and how
+great was the anger of Colonel Frederic William against the deserter,
+are well known. With the days of his imprisonment in Kuestrin, and his
+residence at Ruppin, his education began in earnest. The horrors he had
+experienced had called forth in him new powers. He had borne all the
+terrors of death, and the most bitter humiliation of princely pride. In
+the solitude of his prison he had reflected on the great riddle of
+life,--on death, and what was to follow after it. He had perceived that
+nothing remained to him but submission, patience, and quiet endurance.
+But bitter corroding misfortune is not a school which develops good
+alone: it gives birth also to many faults. He learnt to hide his
+decisions in his own breast, to look with suspicion on men and use them
+as his tools, to deceive and cajole them with a cold astuteness which
+was foreign to his nature. He flattered the cowardly, mean Grumbkow,
+and was glad when he gradually won the bad man to his purposes; he had
+for years to struggle warily against the dislike and distrust of his
+hard father. His nature always resisted this humiliation, and he
+endeavoured by bitter scorn to atone to his injured self-respect; his
+heart, which glowed for everything noble, saved him from becoming a
+hard egotist, but it did not make him milder or more conciliatory, and
+when he had become a great man and a wise prince, he still retained
+some traces of narrow-minded cunning from this time of servitude. The
+lion had at times not been ashamed to scratch like a spiteful cat.
+
+Yet he learnt during these years to respect some things that were
+useful--the strict economical care with which his narrow-minded but
+prudent father provided for the weal of his household and country.
+When, to please the King, he made estimates of a lease; when he gave
+himself the trouble to increase the profits of a demesne by some
+hundred thalers; when he thought that the King spent more than was
+fitting on his favourite fancy, and proposed to him to kidnap a tall
+shepherd from Mecklenburg as a recruit,--this work was undoubtedly in
+the beginning only a burdensome means of propitiating the King; for
+Grumbkow had to procure him a man who made out estimates instead of
+him, and the officials and exchequer officers gave him hints how, here
+and there, a profit was to be made, and he always jested about the
+giants, where he could venture to do so. But the new world in which he
+found himself, gradually led him on to the practical interests of the
+people and State. It is clear that the economy of his father was often
+tyrannical and extraordinary. The King was always convinced that his
+whole object was the good of the country, and therefore he took upon
+himself to interfere in the most arbitrary way with the possessions and
+affairs of private persons. When he commanded that no male goat should
+be driven with the sheep; that all coloured sheep, grey, black, and
+mixed, should be entirely got rid of within three years, and only white
+wool should be permitted; when he accurately prescribed how the sample
+measure of the Berlin scheffel--which, at the cost of his subjects, he
+had sent throughout the country--should be locked up and preserved,
+that they might not be battered; when, in order to promote the linen
+and woollen trade, he commanded that his subjects should not wear the
+fashionable chintz and calico, threatening with a fine of 300 thalers
+and three days in the pillory, all who, after eight months, should have
+in their house any cotton articles, either nightgowns, caps, or
+furniture,--such measures of government appeared certainly harsh and
+trivial; but the son learnt to honour the shrewd sense and benevolent
+care which were the groundwork of these decrees, and he himself
+gradually became familiar with a multitude of details, with which
+otherwise as a prince he would not have been conversant: the value of
+property, the price of the necessaries of life, the wants of the
+people, and the customs, rights, and duties of life in the lower
+classes. He had also a share of the self-satisfaction with which the
+King boasted of this knowledge of business. When he himself became the
+all-powerful administrator of his State, the incalculable advantage of
+his knowledge of the people and of trade became manifest. It was owing
+to this that the wise economy with which he managed his own house and
+the finances of the country became possible, and that he was enabled to
+advance the agriculture, trade, wealth, and education of his people by
+incessant care of details. Equally with the daily accounts of his
+kitchen he knew how to test the calculations concerning the crown
+demesnes and forests, and the excise. His people had chiefly to thank
+the years in which he was compelled to sit as assessor at the green
+table at Ruppin for his power of overlooking with a sharp eye the
+smallest as well as the greatest affairs. But sometimes what had been
+so vexatious in his father's time happened to himself: his knowledge of
+business details was not sufficient, so that here and there, just like
+his father, he commanded what violently interfered with the life of his
+Prussians, and could not be carried out.
+
+The wounds inflicted upon Frederic by the great catastrophe had
+scarcely been healed, when a new misfortune befell him as great almost
+in its consequences as the first. The King forced a wife upon him.
+Heartrending is the woe with which he strove to escape the bride chosen
+for him. "I do not care how frivolous she may be, as long as she is not
+a simpleton, that, I cannot bear." It was all in vain. With bitterness
+and indignation did he regard this marriage shortly before it took
+place. Never did he overcome the effect of this sorrow, by which his
+father ruined his inward life. His most susceptible feelings, and his
+loving heart, were sold in the roughest way. Not only was he made
+unhappy by it, but also an excellent woman who was deserving of a
+better fate. The Princess Elizabeth of Bevern had many noble qualities
+of heart; she was not a simpleton, she was not ugly, and might have
+passed well through the bitter criticisms of the princesses of the
+royal house. But we fear that, if she had been an angel, the pride of
+the son, who was subjected to the useless barbarity of compulsion,
+would still have protested against her. And yet this union was not
+always so cold as has been supposed. For six years did the goodness of
+heart and tact of the Princess succeed in reconciling the Crown Prince
+to her. In the retirement of Rheinsberg she was in fact the lady of his
+house and the amiable hostess of his guests, and it was reported by the
+Austrian agents that her influence was on the ascendant. But her modest
+clinging nature was too deficient in the qualities calculated to fix
+the attachment of an intellectual man. It was necessary for the
+sprightly children of the house of Brandenburg to give vent to their
+excitable natures by ready and pointed humour. The Princess, when she
+was excited, was as quiet as if paralysed, and she was wanting in the
+easy grace of society. This did not suit. Even the way in which she
+loved her husband, dutifully and submissively, as if repelled and
+overwhelmed by the greatness of his mind, was little interesting to the
+Prince, who had adopted, together with French intellectual culture, not
+a little of the frivolity of French society.
+
+When Frederic became King, the Princess soon lost the very small share
+she had gained in her husband's affections. His long absence during the
+Silesian War finally alienated him from her. More and more distant
+became their mutual intercourse; years passed without their seeing one
+another; an icy brevity and coldness are perceptible in his letters;
+but the high esteem in which the King held her character maintained her
+outward position. His relations with women after that had little
+influence on his inward feelings: even his sister of Baireuth, sickly,
+nervous, and embittered by jealousy of an unfaithful husband, became,
+for years, as a stranger to her brother; it was not till she had
+resigned herself to her own life that this proud child of the House of
+Brandenburg, aged and unhappy, again sought the heart of the brother
+whose little hand had once supported her when at the feet of the stern
+father. The mother also, to whom King Frederic always showed the most
+marked and child-like reverence, could participate little in the
+feelings of the son. His other sisters were younger, and only inclined
+to make a quiet _Fronde_ in the house against him; if the King ever
+condescended to show attention to a lady of the court, or a singer,
+these were to the person concerned full as annoying as flattering.
+Where he found beauty, grace, and womanly dignity combined, as in Frau
+von Camas, the first lady of the bedchamber to his wife, the amiability
+of his nature appeared by his kindly attentions to her. But, on the
+whole, his life received little sunshine from his intercourse with
+women, for he had experienced little of the hearty warmth of family
+life; in this respect his soul was desolate. Perhaps this was fortunate
+for his people, though undoubtedly fatal to his private life; the full
+warmth of his manly feelings was almost exclusively reserved to his
+small circle of confidants, with whom he laughed, wrote poetry,
+philosophised, made plans for the future, and latterly conferred with
+upon his warlike operations and dangers.
+
+His life at Rheinsberg, after his marriage, was the best portion of his
+youth. There he collected around him a number of highly-educated and
+cheerful companions; the small society led a poetic life, of which an
+agreeable picture has been bequeathed to us by those who partook of it.
+Earnestly did Frederic labour to educate himself; easily did his
+excited feelings find expression in French verse; incessantly did he
+labour to acquire the delicacy of the foreign style; but his mind also
+exercised itself upon more serious things. He sought ardently from the
+Encyclopaedians, and of Christian Wolf, an answer to the highest
+questions of man; he sat bent over maps and plans of battles; and, amid
+the _roles_ of his amateur theatricals and plans of buildings, other
+projects were prepared which, after a few years, were to agitate the
+world.
+
+Then came the day on which the government passed from the hands of his
+dying father, who directed the officer who was to make the daily
+bulletin to take his orders from the new military ruler of Prussia.
+What judgment was formed of him by his political contemporaries we
+discover from the character drawn of him shortly before by an Austrian
+agent of the Imperial Court:--"He is agreeable, wears his own hair, has
+a slouching carriage, loves the fine arts and good eating, would wish
+to begin his government with some _eclat_, is a better friend of the
+military than his father, has the religion of a gentleman, believes in
+God and the forgiveness of sins, loves splendour and refinement, and
+will newly arrange all the court offices, and bring distinguished
+people to his court."[12] This prophecy was not fully justified. We
+will endeavour to understand other phases of his character at this
+time. The new King was a man of fiery, enthusiastic temperament,
+quickly excited, and tears came readily to his eyes; with him, as with
+his contemporaries, it was a passionate need to admire what was great,
+and to give himself up to pathetic, soft moods of mind. With tender and
+melting tones he played his adagio on the flute; like other honourable
+contemporaries, it was not easy to him to give full expression in words
+and verses to his inward feelings, but pathetic passages would move him
+to tears. In spite of all his French maxims, the foundation of his
+character was in these respects very German.
+
+Those have judged him most unjustly who have ascribed to him a cold
+heart. It is not the cold royal hearts which generally wound by their
+harshness. Such as these are almost always enabled, by a smooth
+graciousness and its suitable expression, to please their entourage.
+The strongest expressions of antipathy are generally combined with the
+heart-winning tones of a sentimental tenderness. But in Frederic, it
+appears to us, there was a striking and strange combination of two
+quite opposite tendencies of the spirit, which are usually found on
+earth in eternal irreconcilable contention. He had equally the need of
+idealising life, and the impulse mercilessly to destroy ideal frames of
+mind in himself and others. His first characteristic was perhaps the
+most beautiful, perhaps the most sorrowful, that ever man was endowed
+with for the struggle of life. He was undoubtedly a poetic nature; he
+possessed in a high degree that peculiar power which strives to
+transform common realities according to the ideal demands of its own
+nature, and to draw over everything about it the pure lustre of a new
+life. It was necessary to him to decorate with the graces of his fancy
+and the whole magic of emotional feeling the image of those he loved,
+and to adorn his relations with them. There was always something
+playful about it, and even where he felt most passionately he loved
+more the embellished picture of others, which he carried within him,
+than themselves. It was with such a disposition that he kissed
+Voltaire's hand. If at any time he sensibly felt the difference betwixt
+his ideal and the real man, he dropped the real and cherished the
+image. Whoever has received from nature this faculty of investing love
+and friendship with the coloured mirror of poetical dispositions, is
+sure, according to the judgment of others, to show arbitrariness in the
+choice of their objects of preference: a certain equable warmth which
+bethinks itself of everything suitable appears to be denied to such
+natures. To whoever the King became a friend, in his way, to him he
+always showed the greatest consideration and fidelity, however much at
+particular moments his disposition towards him might change. He could,
+therefore, be sentimental in his sorrow over the loss of such a
+cherished image as was only possible for a German of the Werther
+period. He had lived for many years in some estrangement from his
+sister von Baireuth; it was only in the last year before her death,
+amidst the terrors of war, that her image as that of a tender sister
+again revived in him. After her death he felt a gloomy satisfaction in
+recalling to himself and others, the heartfelt tenderness of this
+connection; he built her a small temple, and often made pilgrimages to
+it. Whoever failed to reach his heart by means of poetical feelings, or
+did not stir up in him the love-web of poetry, or who disturbed
+anything in his sensitive nature, to him he was cold, contemptuous, and
+indifferent,--a King who only considered how far the other could be of
+use to him; and he threw him off perhaps when he no longer needed him.
+Such an endowment undoubtedly may have surrounded the life of a young
+man with a bright halo; it invested the common with variegated
+brilliancy and pleasing colours; but it must be united with much good
+moral worth, feeling of duty, and sense of what is higher than itself,
+if it is not to isolate and make his old age gloomy. It will also, even
+in favourable circumstances, raise up the bitterest enemies, together
+with the most devoted admirers. Somewhat of this faculty prepared for
+the noble soul of Goethe bitter sorrows, transient connexions, many
+disappointments, and a solitary old age. It was doubly fatal for a
+King, whom others so seldom approach on a dignified and equal footing,
+to whom openhearted friends might always become admiring flatterers,
+unequal in their behaviour, now servile under the courtly spell of
+majesty, now discontented censurers from a feeling of their own rights.
+
+With King Frederic, however, the yearning for ideal relations, this
+longing for men who could give his heart the opportunity of opening
+itself unreservedly, was crossed in the first place by his penetrating
+acuteness of perception, and also by an incorruptible love of truth,
+which was inimical to all deceptions, struggled against every illusion,
+despised all shams, and searched out the depths of all things. This
+scrutinising view of life and its duties was a good shield against the
+illusions which more often afflict a prince of imaginative tendencies,
+where he has given confidence, than a private man; but his acuteness
+showed itself also in a wild humour which was unsparing in its
+remorselessness, sarcasm, and ridicule. From whence did these
+tendencies arise in him? Was it Brandenburg blood? Was it inherited
+from his great-grandmother, the Electress Sophia of Hanover, or from
+his grandmother--that intellectual woman, the Queen Sophia Charlotte,
+with whom Leibnitz corresponded on the eternal harmony of the world?
+Undoubtedly the rough training of his youth had contributed to it.
+Sharp was his perception of the weaknesses of others; wherever he spied
+out a defect, wherever anything peculiar vexed or irritated him, his
+voluble tongue was set in motion.
+
+His words hit both friends and enemies unsparingly: even when silence
+and endurance were commanded by prudence, he could not control himself;
+his whole spirit seemed changed; with merciless exaggeration he
+distorted the image of others into a caricature. If one examines this
+more closely, one perceives that the main point in this was the
+intellectual pleasure; he freed himself from an unpleasant impression
+by violent outbursts against his victim; he had an inward satisfaction
+in painting him grotesquely, and was much surprised if, when deeply
+wounded, his friend turned his weapons against him. In this there was a
+striking similarity to Luther. Undoubtedly the club blows dealt by the
+great monk of the sixteenth century were far more formidable than the
+stabs which were distributed by the great Prince in the age of
+enlightenment. That it was neither dignified nor suitable was a point
+for which the great King cared as little as the Reformer: both were in
+a state of excitement as if in the chase, and both, in the pleasure of
+the struggle, forgot the consequences; both, also, seriously injured
+themselves and their great objects, and were honestly surprised when
+they discovered it. But when the King bantered and sneered, or
+maliciously teased, it was more difficult for him to draw back from his
+unamiable mood; for his was generally no equal struggle with his
+victim. Thus did the great Prince deal with all his political
+opponents, and excited deadly enmity against himself; he jeered at the
+Pompadour, the Empress Elizabeth, and the Empress Maria Theresa at the
+dinner table, and circulated biting verses and pamphlets. That bad man,
+Voltaire, he sometimes caressed, sometimes scolded and snarled at. But
+he also treated in the same way, men whom he really esteemed, and who
+were in his greatest confidence, whom he had received into the circle
+of his friends. He had drawn the Marquis d'Argens to his court, made
+him his chamberlain, and member of the Academy; he was one of his most
+intimate and dearest companions. The letters which he wrote to him from
+the camp during the Seven Years' War are among the most charming and
+touching reminiscences that remain to us of the King. When he returned
+from that war, his fondest hope was that the marquis would dwell with
+him at Sans Souci. A few years afterwards this delightful connection
+was dissolved. But how was this possible? The marquis was the best
+Frenchman to whom the King had attached himself; a man of honour and of
+refined feeling and cultivation, truly devoted to the King. But he was
+neither a remarkable nor a very superior man. For years the King had
+admired him as a man of learning, which he was not; he had formed to
+himself a pleasant poetical idea of him, as a wise, clear-sighted, safe
+philosopher, with agreeable wit and lively humour. Now, in the
+intercourse of daily life, the King found himself mistaken; a certain
+sentimental tendency in the Frenchman, which dwelt upon its own morbid
+hypochondria, irritated him; he began to discover that the aged marquis
+was neither a great scholar nor a man of strong mind; the ideal he had
+formed of him was destroyed. The King began to quiz him on account of
+his sentimentality; the sensitive Frenchman begged for leave of
+absence, that he might travel to France for some months for his health.
+The King was deeply wounded at this touch of temper, and continued, in
+the friendly letters which he afterwards wrote to him, to quiz this
+morbid disposition. He said, "That it was reported that there was a
+_loup garou_ in France; no doubt this was the marquis as a Prussian, in
+his invalid guise. Did he now eat little children? This bad conduct he
+would not formerly have been guilty of, but men change much in
+travelling." The marquis remained two winters instead of a few months:
+when he was about to return, he sent the certificate of his physician;
+probably the good man was really ill, but the King was deeply wounded
+at this unnecessary verification from an old friend, and when the
+marquis returned, the old connection was spoiled. Yet the King would
+not give him up, but amused himself by punishing his unconfiding friend
+by pungent speeches and sharp jests. Then the Frenchman, most
+thoroughly embittered, demanded his dismissal; he obtained it, and one
+may discover the sorrow and anger of the King from his answer. When the
+marquis, in the last letter he wrote to the King before his death, once
+more represented, not without bitterness, how scornfully and ill he had
+treated an unselfish admirer, the King read his letter in silence. But
+he wrote sorrowfully to the widow, of his friendship for her husband,
+and caused a costly monument to be erected to his memory. Such was the
+case with most of his favourites: magical as was his power of
+attracting, equally demoniacal was his capacity of repelling. But it
+may be answered, to any one who blames this as a fault in the man, that
+in history there is scarcely another king who has so nobly opened his
+most secret soul to his friends, like Frederic.
+
+Frederic II. had not worn the crown many months, when the Emperor
+Charles VI. died. Everything now impelled the young King to play a
+great game. That he should have made such a resolution was, in spite of
+the momentary weakness of Austria, a sign of daring courage. The
+countries which he ruled counted not more than a seventh of the
+population of the wide realm of Maria Theresa. It is true that his army
+was superior in number to the Imperial, and still more in warlike
+capacity; and, according to the representations of the time, the mass
+of the people was not so suitable as now to recruit the army. Little,
+too, did he foresee the greatness of character of Maria Theresa. But in
+his preparations for the invasion the King already showed that he had
+long hoped to measure himself with Austria; he began the struggle in a
+spirit of exaltation that was decisive of his future life and for his
+State. Little did he care for the foundation of his right to the Duchy
+of Silesia, though he employed his pen to demonstrate it to Europe. The
+politicians of the despotic States of the seventeenth and eighteenth
+centuries troubled themselves little on such points. Whoever could give
+a good appearance to his cause, did so; but the most improbable
+evidence, the shallowest pretences, were sufficient. Thus had Louis
+XIV. made war; thus had the Emperor carried out his interests against
+the Turks, Italians, Germans, French, and Spaniards; thus had a portion
+of the advantages gained by the great Elector been marred by others.
+Just where the rights of the Hohenzollerns were most distinct--as in
+Pomerania--they had been most wronged: by none more than the Emperor
+and House of Hapsburg. Now the Hohenzollern sought for revenge. "Be my
+Cicero and prove the justice of my cause, and I will be the Caesar to
+carry it through," wrote Frederic to his Jordan after the entrance into
+Silesia. Gaily, with winged steps, as to a dance, did the King enter
+upon the field of his victories. Still did he carry on the enjoyments
+of life, pleasant trifling in verses, intellectual talk with his
+intimates upon the amusements of the day, on God, nature, and
+immortality; this converse was the salt of his life. But the great work
+on which he had entered began soon to have its effect on his character,
+even before he had been under fire in the first battle; and it
+afterwards worked on his soul till his hair became grey, and his fiery
+enthusiastic heart became hard as iron. With the wonderful acuteness of
+perception that was peculiar to him, he observed the beginning of this
+change. He reviewed his own life as though he were a stranger. "You
+will find me more philosophic than you think," he writes to a friend;
+"I have always been so, now more, now less. My youth, the fire of
+passion, the desire for fame, nay--to conceal nothing--even curiosity
+and a secret instinct, have driven me from the sweet repose which I
+enjoyed, and the wish to see my name in the newspapers and history have
+led me away. Come here to me; philosophy maintains her claims, and, I
+assure you, if it were not for this cursed love of fame, I should think
+only of quiet comfort."
+
+And when the faithful Jordan came to him, and Frederic saw this man,
+who loved peaceful enjoyment, timid and uneasy in the field, the King
+suddenly felt that he had become an altered and a stronger man than him
+whom he had so long honoured for his learning, who had improved his
+verses, given style to his letters, and was so far superior to him in
+knowledge of Greek. And in spite of all his philosophic culture, he
+gave the King the impression of a man without courage; with bitter
+scorn the king shook him off. In one of his best improvisations, he
+places himself as a warrior, in contradistinction to the sentimental
+philosopher. Unfair, however, as were the satirical verses with which
+he overwhelmed him, yet he soon returned to his old kindly feeling. But
+it was also the first gentle hint of fate to the King himself: the like
+was often to happen to him again; he was to lose valuable men, true
+friends, one after the other; not only by death, but still more by the
+coldness and estrangement which arose betwixt his nature and theirs.
+For the path on which he had now entered was to add strength to all the
+greatness, but also to all the one-sidedness, of his nature. And the
+higher he raised himself above others, the more insignificant did their
+nature appear to him; almost all who in later years he measured by his
+own standard were little fitted to bear the comparison. The
+disappointment and disenchantment he then felt became sharper, till at
+last from his lonely height he looked down with stony eyes on the
+proceedings of the men at his feet. But still, to the last hour of his
+life, the penetrating glance of his brooding countenance was
+intermingled with the bright beams of gentle human feeling. It is this
+which makes the great tragic figure so touching to us.
+
+But now, in the beginning of his first war, he still looks back with
+longing to the quiet repose of his "Remusberg," and deeply feels the
+pressure of the vast destiny before him. "It is difficult to bear good
+fortune and misfortune with equanimity," he writes. "One may easily
+appear to be indifferent in success, and unmoved amid losses, for the
+features of the face can always be made to dissemble; but the man, his
+inward nature, the folds of his heart, will not the less be assailed."
+He concludes, full of hope: "All that I wish is, that the result of my
+success may not be to destroy the human feelings and virtues which I
+have always owned; may my friends always find me such as I have been."
+At the end of the war he writes: "See, your friend is a second time
+conqueror. Who would, some years ago, have said that a scholar in the
+school of philosophy would play a military _role_ in the world--that
+Providence should have chosen a poet to upset the political system of
+Europe?"[13] So fresh and young were the feelings of Frederic when he
+returned in triumph to Berlin from the first war.
+
+He goes forth a second time to maintain Silesia. Again he is conqueror;
+he has already the quiet self-confidence of an experienced General;
+lively is his satisfaction at the excellence of his troops. "All that
+is flattering to me in this victory," he writes to Frau von Camas.[14]
+"is, that by rapid decision and bold man[oe]uvres, I have been able to
+contribute to the preservation of many brave men. But I would not have
+one of the most insignificant of my soldiers wounded for idle fame,
+which no longer dazzles me."
+
+But in the middle of the struggle the death of two of his dearest
+friends occurred, Jordan and Kayserlingk. Touching are his
+lamentations. "In less than three months I have lost my two most
+faithful friends--people with whom I have daily lived, agreeable
+companions, estimable men, and true friends. It is difficult for a
+heart so sensitive as mine to restrain my deep sorrow. When I return to
+Berlin I shall feel almost a stranger in my own Fatherland, isolated in
+my home. It has been your fate also to lose at once many persons who
+were dear to you; but I admire your courage, which I cannot imitate. My
+only hope is time, which brings all things in nature to an end. It
+begins by weakening the impressions on our brains, and only ceases by
+destroying ourselves. I now dread every place which recals to me the
+sorrowful remembrance of friends I have for ever lost." And again, a
+month after, he writes to a friend, who endeavoured to comfort him:
+"Do not think that the pressure of business and danger distracts one's
+mind in sorrow? I know from experience that it is unsuccessful. Alas! a
+month has passed since my tears and my sorrow began, but since the
+first vehement outburst of the first days I feel as sorrowful and as
+little comforted as in the beginning." And when his worthy tutor,
+Duhan, sent him some French books of Jordan's, which the King had
+desired, in the latter part of the autumn of the same year, he wrote,
+"The tears came into my eyes when I opened the books of my poor
+departed Jordan, I loved him so much, and it is very painful to me to
+think that he is no more." Not long after, the King lost the friend
+also to whom this letter was addressed.
+
+The loss of his youthful friends in 1745 made a great wrench in the
+inward life of the King. With these unselfish, honourable men died
+almost all who made his intercourse with others happy. The relations
+upon which he now entered were altogether of another kind: the best of
+his men acquaintance only became the intimates of some hours, not the
+friends of his heart. The need of exciting intellectual intercourse
+remained, indeed it became even stronger. For there was this peculiar
+characteristic in him, that he could not exist without cheerful and
+confidential relations, nor without the easy, almost unreserved, talk
+which through all the phases of his moods, whether thoughtful or
+frivolous, touched lightly upon everything, from the greatest questions
+of the human race to the smallest events of the day. Immediately after
+his accession to the throne, he had written to Voltaire, and invited
+him to come to him. Voltaire came, at the cost of much money, for a few
+days to Berlin; he gave the King the impression of his being a fool,
+nevertheless Frederic felt an immeasurable respect for the talent of
+the man. Voltaire appeared to him the greatest poet of all times,--the
+Lord High Chamberlain of Parnassus, where the King so much wished to
+play a _role_. Ever stronger became Frederic's wish to possess this
+man. He considered himself as his scholar; he wished his verses to be
+approved of by the master. Among his Brandenburg officers he languished
+for the wit and intellect of the elegant Frenchman; there was also much
+of the vanity of the Sovereign in this: he wished to be as much a
+prince of _bels esprits_ and philosophers as he had been a renowned
+General. Since the second Silesia war his intimates were generally
+foreigners; after 1750 he had the pleasure of seeing the great Voltaire
+established as a member of his court. It was no misfortune that the bad
+man only remained a few years among the barbarians.
+
+It was in the ten years from 1746 to 1756 that Frederic gained an
+importance and a self-confidence as an author, which up to the present
+day is not sufficiently appreciated in Germany. Of his French verses
+the Germans can only judge imperfectly. He had great facility as a
+poet, and could express without trouble every mood in rhyme and verse.
+But in his lyrics he has never, in the eyes of Frenchmen, entirely
+overcome the difficulties of a foreign language, however carefully they
+may have been revised by his intimates; indeed, he was wanting always,
+it appears to us, in that equal rhetorical harmony of style which in
+the time of Voltaire was the first characteristic of a renowned poet,
+for we find commonplace and trivial expressions in splendid diction,
+together with beautiful and pompous periods. His taste, too, was not
+assured and independent enough; he was in his aesthetic judgment rapid
+in admiring and short in deciding, but in reality far more dependent on
+the opinions of his French acquaintance than his pride would have
+admitted. The best off-shoot of French poetry at that time was the
+return to nature, and the struggle of truth against the fetters of old
+_convenances_, This was incomprehensible to the King. Rousseau long
+appeared to him an eccentric poor devil, and the conscientious and pure
+spirit of Diderot he considered as shallow. And yet it appears to us
+that in his own poems, and especially in the light improvisations with
+which he favoured his friends, there is frequently a richness of poetic
+detail and a heart-winning tone of true feeling which they, especially
+his pattern Voltaire, might envy him.
+
+Like Caesar's "Commentaries," Frederic's History of his Time forms one
+of the most important monuments of historical literature.[15] It is
+true that, like the Roman General and like every practical statesman,
+he wrote the facts as they were reflected from the mind of one who took
+part in them; all is not equally appreciated by him; he does not do
+justice to every party, but he knows incomparably more than those who
+were at a distance, and enters, not quite impartially, but at the same
+time with magnanimity to his opponents, into some of the innermost
+motives of great occurrences. He wrote sometimes without the great
+apparatus that a professional historian must collect around him; it
+therefore happens that his memory and judgment, however authentic they
+may be, sometimes leave him in the lurch; finally, he wrote an apology
+of his house, his policy, and his campaigns, and, like Caesar, he is
+sometimes silent, and interprets facts as he wishes them to be brought
+before posterity. But the open-heartedness and love of truth with which
+he deals with his own house and his own doings, are not less worthy of
+admiration than the supreme calm and freedom with which he views
+events, in spite of the small rhetorical flourishes which belonged to
+the taste of the time.
+
+Equally astonishing as his fertility is his versatility. One of the
+greatest of military writers, an important historian, a facile poet, a
+popular philosopher, and practical statesman, also even an anonymous
+and very copious pamphlet writer, and sometimes journalist, he is
+always ready for everything: to portray with his pen in the field
+whatever fills, warms, and inspires him, and to attack in prose and
+verse every one who irritates or vexes him, not only Pope and Empress,
+Jesuits and Dutch newspaper writers, but also old friends if they
+appear to him lukewarm, which he could never bear, or threaten to fall
+away from him. Never--since the time of Luther--has there been so
+contentious, reckless, and unwearied a writer. As soon as he puts pen
+to paper he is, like Proteus, everything, sage or intriguer, historian
+or poet, just as situation required, always an excitable, fiery,
+intellectual, and sometimes also an ill-behaved man; but of his kingly
+office he thinks little. All that is dear to him he celebrates by poems
+and eulogies: the exalted precepts of his philosophy, his friends, his
+army, his freedom of faith, independent inquiry, toleration and the
+education of the people.
+
+Victoriously did the mind of Frederic extend itself in all directions.
+Nothing withheld him when ambition drove him on to conquer. Then came
+years of trial, seven years of fearful, heart-rending cares; the period
+when the rich soaring spirit undertook the most difficult task that was
+ever allotted to man; when almost everything seemed to fall from him
+which he possessed for himself, of joy and happiness, hopes and
+egotistical comfort; when everything charming and agreeable to him as
+man was destined to die to him, that he might become the self-denying
+Prince of his people, the great official of the State, the hero of a
+nation. It was not with the lust of conquest that he this time entered
+upon the combat; it had long been clear to him that he had now to
+struggle for his own and his kingdom's life. But so much the loftier
+grew his resolution. Like the storm-wind, he wished to break the clouds
+which gathered on all sides round his head. By the energy of his
+irresistible attacks he thought to dissipate the storm before it burst
+upon him. He had hitherto been unconquered; his enemies were beaten
+whenever he had fallen upon them with the irresistible instrument
+in his hand--his army. This was his hope, his only one. If this
+well-tested power did not fail him now, he might save his State.
+
+But in his first encounter with the Austrians, his old enemies, he saw
+that they also had learnt of him and had become different. To the
+uttermost did he exert his power, and at Collin it failed him. The 18th
+of June, 1757, was the most fatal day in Frederic's life; he found
+there what twice in this war tore the victory from him: that he had too
+little estimated his enemies, and had expected what was beyond human
+powers of his valiant army. After being stunned for a short time,
+Frederic roused himself with fresh energy. From an offensive he was
+driven to a desperate defensive war: on all sides the enemy broke into
+his little country; he was in deadly struggle with every great Power of
+the Continent, the master of only four millions of men, and a conquered
+army. Now he proved his generalship by the way in which, after his
+losses, he retreated from the enemy, then pounced upon and beat them,
+when they least expected him, by throwing himself now against one, and
+now against another army, unsurpassed in his dispositions,
+inexhaustible in his expedients, and unequalled as leader of his
+troops. Thus he maintained himself, one against five, against Austria,
+Russia, and France, each one of which exceeded him in strength; and at
+the same time against Sweden and the German troops of the Empire. Five
+long years did he struggle against this enormous preponderance of
+power,--each spring in danger of being crushed by the masses alone, and
+each autumn again in safety. A loud cry of admiration and sympathy
+echoed through Europe; and among the first unwilling eulogisers were
+his most violent enemies. It was just in these years of changing
+fortune, when the King himself was experiencing the bitter chances of
+the fortunes of war, that his generalship became the astonishment of
+all the armies of Europe. The method in which he arrayed his lines
+against the enemy, always the quickest and most skilful; how he so
+often, by moving in echelon, pressed back the weakest wing of the
+enemy, outflanked and crushed it; how his newly created cavalry, which
+had become the first in the world, charged upon the enemy, broke their
+ranks and burst through their hosts,--all this was considered
+everywhere as a new step in the art of war, as an invention of the
+greatest genius. The tactics and strategy of the Prussian army were,
+for almost half a century, the pattern and model for all the armies of
+Europe. Unanimous was the judgment that Frederic was the greatest
+commander of his time, and that before him, throughout all history,
+there had been few Generals to compare with him. That smaller numbers
+should so frequently conquer the larger, that when beaten they should
+not dissolve away, but, when the enemy had scarcely recovered their
+wounds, should be able to re-encounter him as before, so threatening
+and so disciplined, appeared incredible. But we not only extol the
+generalship of the King, but also the clever discretion of his infantry
+tactics. He knew well how much he was restrained by the consideration
+of magazines and commissariat, by the thousands of waggons full of
+stores and daily necessaries for the soldiers which must accompany him,
+but he also knew that this was his safest course. Once only, when after
+the battle of Rossbach, he made that wonderful march into Silesia,
+forty-one German miles in fifteen days, being in the greatest danger,
+he advanced through the country, as other armies do now, supporting his
+men by the billeting system. But he immediately returned to his former
+wise custom.[16] For if his enemies should learn to imitate this
+independent movement, he would certainly be lost. When the country
+militia of his old province rose up to withstand and drive away the
+Swedes, and valiantly defended Colberg and Berlin, he was much pleased,
+but took care not to encourage popular warfare; and when his East
+Friesland people rose of their own accord against the French, and were
+severely handled by them, he roughly told them it was their own fault,
+as war ought to be carried on by soldiers, and that tranquil labour,
+taxes, and recruiting were for peasants and citizens. He knew well that
+he was lost, if a popular war were excited against him in Saxony and
+Bohemia. This very narrow-mindedness of the cautious General with
+respect to military forms, which alone made the struggle possible, may
+perhaps be reckoned as one of his greatest qualities.
+
+Ever louder became the expression of sorrow and admiration with which
+Germans and foreigners watched the death struggle of the lion beset on
+all sides. As early as 1740, the young King had been extolled by the
+Protestants as the partisan of freedom of conscience and enlightenment,
+against Jesuits and intolerance. When, a few months after the battle of
+Collin, he so entirely beat the French at Rossbach, he became the hero
+of Germany, and there was a burst of exultation everywhere. For
+two centuries the French had inflicted the greatest injury on the
+much-divided country; now the German nature began to oppose itself to
+the influence of French culture, and now the King, who had so much
+admired Parisian verses, had as wonderfully scared away the Parisian
+General. It was such a brilliant victory, the old enemy was so
+disgracefully overthrown, that it rejoiced all hearts throughout the
+Empire; even where the soldiers of the Sovereigns were in the field
+against King Frederic, the citizens and peasants rejoiced secretly at
+his German blows. The longer the war lasted, the firmer became
+the belief in the King's invincibility, so much the more did the
+self-respect of the Germans rise. After long, long years, they had at
+last found a hero, of whose warlike fame they could be proud, who would
+accomplish what was almost more than human. Numberless anecdotes about
+him circulated through the country; every little trait of his
+composure, of his good humour and friendliness with the soldiers, or of
+the fidelity of his army, flew hundreds of miles; how, when in peril of
+death, he played his flute in his tent; how his wounded soldiers
+sang chorales after the battle; how, he had taken off his hat to a
+regiment--he has since been often imitated in this,--all these stories
+were carried to the Neckar and the Rhine, printed and listened to with
+glad smiles and tears of emotion. It was natural that the poets should
+sing his praises; three of them had been in the Prussian army, Gleim
+and Lessing as secretaries to the General in command, and Ewald von
+Kleist, the favourite of a young literary circle, as an officer, till
+at last he was struck by a ball at Kunnersdorf. But still more touching
+to us is the faithful devotion of the Prussian people; the old
+provinces, Prussia, Pomerania, the Marches, and Westphalia, had
+suffered indescribably from the war, but the proud pleasure of having a
+share in the hero of Europe made even the most inconsiderable man
+forget his own sufferings. The armed citizens and peasants for years
+marched to the field as militia-men. When a number of recruits from
+Cleves and the county of Ravensberg, after a lost action, fled
+from their banners and returned home, they were denounced by their
+country-people and relations as perjured, expelled from the villages,
+and driven back to the army.
+
+There was no difference in the opinion abroad. In the Protestant
+cantons of Switzerland as warm an interest was taken in the fate of the
+King as if the descendants of the Ruetli men had never been separated
+from the German Empire. There were people there who became ill with
+vexation when the King's affairs were in a bad state.[17] It was the
+same in England. Every victory of the King excited in London loud
+expressions of joy; houses were lighted up; pictures and laudatory
+poems were sold in the streets; and Pitt announced, with admiration, in
+Parliament every new act of the Great Ally. Even in Paris, at the
+theatre and in society, the feeling was more Prussian than French. The
+French jeered at their own Generals, and the clique of Pompadour, which
+was for the war, could hardly, as we are informed by Duclos, appear in
+public. At Petersburg the Grand Duke Peter and his adherents were so
+Prussian that at every loss sustained by Frederic they secretly
+mourned. The enthusiasm reached even to Turkey and the Great Cham of
+Tartary; and this respectful interest outlasted the war in a great
+portion of the world. The painter Hackert, when travelling through a
+small city in the middle of Sicily, received fruit and wine from the
+magistrates as a gift of honour, because they had heard that he was a
+Prussian, a subject of the great King to whom they wished to show
+honour. Muley Ismail, Emperor of Morocco, caused the crew of a vessel
+belonging to a citizen of Emden, which had been carried off by the
+Moors to Magador, to be released without ransom; he sent them newly
+clothed to Lisbon, and assured them that their King was the greatest
+man in the world; that no Prussian should ever suffer imprisonment in
+his country, and that his cruisers should never attack the Prussian
+flag.
+
+Poor oppressed spirit of the German people, how long it had been since
+the men betwixt the Rhine and the Oder had felt the pleasure of being
+esteemed above others among the nations of the earth! Now everything
+was transformed by the magic of the character of one man. The
+countryman, as if awaking from a fearful dream, looked out upon the
+world and into his own heart. Long had they lived lethargically without
+a past in which they could rejoice, or a noble future on which to place
+their hopes. Now they found at once that they had a portion in the
+honours and greatness of the world; that a King and his people, all of
+their blood, had given an aureola of glory to the German nation--a new
+purport to the history of civilised man. Now they had all experienced
+how a great man could struggle, venture, dare, and conquer. Now labour
+in your study, peaceful thinker, imaginative dreamer; you have learnt
+during the night to look abroad with smiles, and to hope great things
+from your own endowments. Try now what will gush from your heart.
+
+Whilst the youthful strength of the people fluttered its wings with
+enthusiastic warmth, what, meanwhile, were the feelings of the great
+Prince, who was incessantly contending with enemies? The enthusiastic
+acclamations of the nation bore only feeble tones to his ear; the King
+received it almost with indifference. In him everything was calm and
+cold; though, undoubtedly, he had hours of passionate sorrow and
+heart-rending care. But he concealed them from his army; the calm
+countenance became harder, the furrows deeper, the expression more
+rigid. There were but few to whom he occasionally opened his heart;
+then, for some moments, the sorrows of the man, which had reached the
+limits of human endurance, broke forth.
+
+Ten days after the battle of Collin, his mother died; a few weeks
+later, in anger, he drove his brother August Wilhelm away from the
+army, because he had not carried on the war with sufficient vigour.
+This Prince died in that same year, of grief, as the King was informed
+by the officer who reported it. Shortly afterwards he received the
+account of the death of his sister of Baireuth. One after another his
+Generals fell by his side, or lost the King's confidence; because they
+were not able to come up to the superhuman requirements of this war.
+His old soldiers, his pride, the iron warriors who had gone through the
+test of three severe wars--they who, dying, still stretched out their
+hands to him and called upon his name--were expiring in heaps around
+him; and those who filled up the wide gaps which death incessantly made
+in his army were young recruits, some of good material, but many bad
+ones. The King used them, as he had done the others, with strictness
+and severity; but even in the worst subjects his look and word inspired
+both bravery and devotion. But he knew that all this would not avail;
+short and cutting was his censure, and sparing was his praise. Thus he
+continued to live; five summers and winters came and went; the labour
+was gigantic; he was unwearied in planning and combining; his eagle eye
+scrutinisingly scanned what was most distant and most trivial, and yet
+there was no change and no hope. The King read and wrote in his hours
+of rest, just as before; he made his verses and kept up a
+correspondence with Voltaire and Algarotti; but he was resolved all
+this must soon come to an end, a short and quick one. He carried with
+him, day and night, what would free him from Daun and Laudon. The whole
+affair of life sometimes appeared to him contemptible.
+
+The disposition of the man, from whom the intellectual life of Germany
+dates its new era, deserves well to be regarded with reverence by
+Germans. It is only possible to give some idea of it by the way in
+which it breaks out in Frederic's letters to the Marquis d'Argens and
+Frau von Camas. Thus does the great King speak of his life:--
+
+"1757, _June_.--The only remedy for my sorrow lies in the daily work I
+am obliged to do, and in the continual distractions which the number of
+my enemies occasion me. If I had died at Collin, I should now be in a
+haven where I should fear no more storms. Now I must navigate on a
+stormy sea till I have discovered in some small corner of earth, that
+good which I have never yet found in this world. For two years I have
+been standing like a wall in which misfortune has made its breaches.
+But do not think that I am becoming weak; one must protect oneself in
+these unfortunate times by bowels of iron and a heart of bronze, in
+order to lose all feeling. The next month will decide the fate of my
+poor country. My calculation is, that I shall save or fall with it. You
+can have no idea of the dangers in which we are, nor of the terrors
+which surround us."
+
+"1758, _December_--I am weary of this life; the Wandering Jew is less
+driven about hither and thither, than I; I have lost all that I have
+loved and honoured in this world; I see myself surrounded by
+unfortunates whose sufferings I cannot aid. My soul is still filled
+with the impression of the ruin of my best provinces, and of the
+horrors which a horde of barbarians, more like unreasoning beasts than
+men, have practised there. In my old age I have come down almost to be
+a theatrical king; you will acknowledge that such a situation is not
+sufficiently attractive to bind the soul of a philosopher to life."
+
+"1759, _March_.--I know not what my fate will be. I will do all that
+depends upon me to save myself; and if I am worsted the enemy shall pay
+dear for it. I have lived, during my winter quarters, as a recluse; I
+have my meals alone, pass my life in reading and writing, and do not
+sigh. When one is sorrowful it costs one too much in the long run to
+conceal one's chagrin incessantly, and it is better to bear one's
+trouble alone than to bring one's vexations into society. Nothing
+comforts me but the violent strain, as long as it lasts, which work
+requires; it drives away sorrowful ideas.
+
+"But ah! when work is ended, then gloomy thoughts become vigorous as
+ever. Maupertuis is right: the amount of evil is greater than of good.
+But it is all the same to me; I have nothing more to lose, and the few
+days that remain to me do not disquiet me so much that I should take a
+lively interest in them."
+
+"1759, 16_th August_.--I will throw myself in their way, and have my
+head cut off, or save the capital. I think that is determination
+enough. I will not answer for the success. If I had more than one life
+I would resign it for my Fatherland; but if this stroke fails I hold
+myself at quits with my country, and I may be allowed to take care of
+myself. There is a limit to everything. I bear my misfortunes without
+losing my courage. But I am quite determined, if this undertaking
+fails, to make myself a way out, that I may not be the sport of every
+kind of accident. Believe me, one requires more than firmness and
+endurance to maintain oneself in my position. But I tell you openly, if
+any misfortune happens to me you must not calculate upon my outliving
+the ruin and destruction of my Fatherland. I have my own way of
+thinking. I will neither imitate Sertorius nor Cato; I do not think of
+my fame, but of the State."
+
+"1760, _Oct_.--Death would be sweet in comparison with such a life. If
+you have any sympathy with my situation, believe me I conceal much
+trouble with which I do not grieve or disquiet others. I regard death
+like a Stoic. Never will I live to see the moment which would oblige me
+to conclude a disadvantageous peace. Either I will bury myself under
+the ruins of my Fatherland, or, if this consolation appears too sweet
+to the fate which pursues me, I will make an end of my sufferings as
+soon as it is no longer possible to bear them. I have acted, and
+continue to act, according to this inward feeling of honour. I have
+sacrificed my youth to my father, and my manhood to my Fatherland. I
+think, therefore, I have acquired the right to dispose of my old age. I
+say it, and I repeat it--never will my hand sign a humiliating peace. I
+have made some observations upon the military talents of Charles
+XII.,[18] but I have never considered whether he ought to have killed
+himself or not. I think that, after the taking of Stralsund, he would
+have done wiser to annihilate himself; but, whatever he did or left
+undone, his example is no rule for me. There are people who learn from
+prosperity. I do not belong to that class. I have lived for others; I
+will die for myself I am very indifferent as to what others may say
+concerning it, and assure you I shall never hear it. Henry IV. was a
+younger son of a good house who achieved his good fortune; it did not
+signify much to him. Why should he have hung himself in misfortune?
+Louis XIV. was a greater king, had greater resources; he got himself
+out of difficulties well or ill. As regards me I have not the resources
+of this man, but I value honour more than he did; and, as I have told
+you, I guide myself after no one. We calculate, if I am right, 5000
+years since the creation of the world; I believe that this reckoning is
+far too low for the age of the universe. The country of Brandenburg has
+existed this whole time, before I did, and will continue after my
+death. States are preserved by the propagation of races, and as long as
+this continues, the masses will be governed by ministers or Sovereigns.
+It is much the same whether they be rather more simple or rather more
+clever; the difference is so little that the mass of the people
+scarcely discover it. Do not, therefore, repeat to me the old answers
+of courtiers; self-love and vanity cannot entirely alter my feelings.
+It is not so much an act of weakness to end such unhappy days, as it is
+cautious policy. I have lost all my friends and dearest relations. I am
+to the last extent unfortunate. I have nothing to hope; my enemies
+treat me with contempt and derision, and in their pride are prepared to
+trample me under foot."
+
+"1760, _Nov_.--My labours are terrible, the war has continued during
+five campaigns. We neglect nothing that can give us means of
+resistance, and I stretch the bow with my whole strength; but an army
+should be composed of arms and heads. Arms do not fail us, but heads
+are no longer to be found; if you would only give yourself the trouble
+to order me some of the sculptor, Adam, they would serve me as well as
+those I have. My duty and honour keep me steadfast; but, in spite of
+stoicism and endurance, there are moments when one feels some desire to
+give oneself up to the devil. Adieu, my dear Marquis, may it fare well
+with you, and pray for a poor devil who will betake himself to that
+meadow where the asphodels grow if the peace does not take effect."
+
+"1761, _June_.--Do not count upon peace this year. If good fortune does
+not abandon me, I shall get out of the business as well as I can; but
+next year I shall still have to dance on the tight-rope and make
+dangerous bounds when it pleases their very Apostolical, very
+Christian, and very Muscovite Majesties to call out, 'Jump, Marquis!'
+Ah, how hard-hearted men are! They tell me, 'You have friends.' Yes,
+fine friends, who cross their arms and say, 'Indeed, I wish you all
+happiness!' 'But I am drowning--hand me a rope!' 'No, you will not
+drown.' 'Yet I must sink the very next moment.' 'Oh, we hope the
+contrary; but, if it should happen, be assured we would place a
+beautiful inscription on your tomb.' Such is the world. These are the
+fine compliments with which I am greeted on all sides."
+
+"1762, _Jan_.--I have been so unfortunate throughout this whole war,
+with my pen as well as with my sword, that I do not believe in any
+fortunate occurrences. Yes; experience is a fine thing. In my youth I
+was as ungovernable as a young colt, that gallops about the meadow
+without bridle; now I am as cautious as an old Nestor: but I am also
+grey and wrinkled with care, and weighed down by bodily suffering; and,
+in a word, only good enough to be thrown to the dogs. You have always
+admonished me to take care of myself; show me the means, my dear
+friend, when one is hauled about as I am. The birds which one delivers
+to the wantonness of children, the tops which are whipped by those
+little monkeys, are not more tossed about and misused than I am now by
+three furious enemies."
+
+"1762, _May_.--I am passing through the school of patience; it is hard,
+tedious, terrible, indeed barbarous. I only help myself out of it by
+looking on the universe in general, as from a distant planet There
+everything appears to me infinitely small, and I pity my enemies for
+taking so much trouble about such trifles. Is this old age, is it
+reflection, is it reason? I regard all the events of life with far more
+indifference than formerly. If there is anything to be done for the
+welfare of the State, I can yet apply some strength to it; but, between
+ourselves, it is no longer with the fiery vehemence of my youth, nor
+the enthusiasm that then animated me. It is time that the war should
+come to an end, for my preachings become tedious, and my hearers will
+soon complain of me."
+
+To Frau von Camas he writes:--"You speak of the death of poor F----.
+Ah, dear mamma, for six years I have mourned more for the living than
+for the dead."
+
+Thus did the King write and grieve, but he held out; and any one who is
+startled by the gloomy energy of his resolves, must guard himself from
+thinking that these were the highest expressions of the powers of this
+wonderful mind. It is true that the King had moments of depression,
+when he desired death under the fire of the enemy rather than seek it
+from his own hand out of the phial which he carried about him. It is
+true that he was firmly determined not to bring destruction on his
+State by allowing himself to live as a prisoner of the Austrians. There
+was a fearful truth in all that he wrote; but he was of a poetic
+disposition; he was a child of the century, which had such a craving
+for great deeds, and took delight in the expression of exalted
+feelings; he was, to his heart's core, a German, with the same longings
+as the immeasurably weaker Klopstock and his admirers. The
+contemplation and decided utterance of this last resolve gave him
+inward freedom and cheerfulness. He wrote concerning it also to his
+sister of Baireuth, in the dismal second year of the war, and this
+letter is particularly characteristic;[19] for she also had decided not
+to outlive the fall of her house; and he approved this decision, to
+which, however, he paid little attention, being immersed in the gloomy
+satisfaction of his own reflections. Both these royal children had once
+secretly recited together the _roles_ of French tragedies in the strict
+parental house; now their hearts beat again in unison, both thinking of
+freeing themselves, by an antique death, from a life full of illusions,
+errors, and sufferings. But when the excited and nervous sister fell
+dangerously ill, Frederic forgot all his stoical philosophy, and, with
+a passionate tenderness that still clung to life, he fretted and
+grieved about her who was the dearest to him of his family; and when
+she died, his sorrow was, perhaps, more severe from feeling that he had
+enacted a tragic part in the tender life of the woman. Thus, strangely,
+was mixed in the greatest German that arose in the eighteenth century,
+poetical feeling and the wish to appear charming and great with the
+earnest life of reality. The poor little Professor Semler, who, in the
+midst of the deepest emotion, still studied his attitudes and
+prepared his compliments, and the great King, who, in calm expectation
+of the hour of death, wrote in finely-formed periods concerning
+self-destruction, were both sons of that same time in which the pathos
+that found no worthy expression in art twined like a creeper round real
+life. But the King was greater than his philosophy; in fact, he never
+lost his courage, nor the stubborn strength of the German, nor the
+quiet hope which is needful to man for every great work.
+
+And he held out. The strength of his enemies became less, their
+Generals were worn out, and their armies shattered, and at last Russia
+withdrew from the coalition. This, and the King's last victory, decided
+the question. He had triumphed, he had preserved the conquered Silesia
+to Prussia; his people exulted, the faithful citizens of his capital
+prepared him a festive reception, but he avoided all rejoicings, and
+returned alone and quietly to Sans Souci. He wished, he said, to live
+the rest of his days in peace and for his people.
+
+The first three-and-twenty years of his reign he had struggled
+and fought, and established his power throughout the world;
+three-and-twenty years more was he to rule over his people as a
+wise and strict father. The ideas according to which he guided the
+State--with great self-denial, but also self-will, aiming at the
+highest, but also ruling in the most trifling matters--have been partly
+set aside by the higher culture of the present day; they express the
+knowledge which he had gained in his youth, and from the experiences of
+his early manhood. The mind was to be free, and each one to think as he
+chose, but to do his duty as a citizen. As he subordinated his pleasure
+and expenditure to the good of the State, restricting the whole royal
+household to about 200,000 thalers, and thought first of the advantage
+of the people, and not till then of his own; so were all his subjects
+to be ready to do the duties and bear the burdens he might impose upon
+them. Each was to remain in the sphere in which his birth and education
+had placed him; the nobleman was to be landowner and officer; the
+sphere of the citizen was the city, commerce, industry, teaching, and
+invention; that of the peasant was field labour and service. But each
+in his position was to be prosperous and comfortable. There was to be
+equal, strict, rapid justice for all; no favour for the noble or rich,
+but rather, in doubtful cases, for the poor man. The number of working
+men was to be increased, each occupation made as remunerative and as
+prosperous as possible; the less that was imported from abroad the
+better; everything to be produced at home, and the surplus to be
+disposed of beyond the frontiers. Such were the main principles of his
+political economy. Incessantly did he endeavour to increase the number
+of morgens of arable land, and to procure new places for settlers.
+Swamps were drained, lakes drawn off, and dykes thrown up; canals were
+dug, and advances made for the establishment of new manufactories;
+cities and villages rebuilt more solid and convenient than before,
+under the active encouragement of government; the provincial credit
+system, the fire-insurance society, and the royal bank were
+established; popular schools everywhere founded, well-informed people
+encouraged to come, and the education and discipline of the ruling
+official class promoted by examinations and strict control. It is the
+business of historians to enumerate and extol all this, and also to
+recount some vain attempts of the King which failed from his endeavour
+to guide everything himself.
+
+The King looked after all his dominions, and not least after that child
+of sorrow, the newly won Silesia. When he conquered this large province
+it had little more than a million of inhabitants.[20] Greatly was the
+contrast felt between the easy-going Austrian government and the
+strict, restless, stirring rule of Prussia. At Vienna the catalogue of
+forbidden books was greater than at Rome; now ceaseless bales of books
+found their way into the province from Germany: all were free to buy
+and read, even the attacks upon their own ruler. In Austria it was the
+privilege of the nobility to wear foreign cloth; in Prussia, when the
+father of Frederic the Great had forbidden the import of foreign cloth,
+he first dressed himself and his princesses in home-made manufacture.
+At Vienna no office was considered distinguished for which anything
+more was required than representation: all the work was the affair of
+the subalterns; the lord of the bedchamber was more considered than a
+deserving General or minister. In Prussia even the highest in rank was
+little esteemed if he was not useful to the State; and the King himself
+was the most precise official, for he looked after every thousand
+thalers that were saved or disbursed. He who in Austria left the Roman
+Catholic faith was punished with confiscation and banishment; in
+Prussia every one could change his religion as he chose, that was his
+affair. In the Imperial dominions the government felt it burdensome to
+look after anything; the Prussian officials thrust their noses into
+everything. In spite of the three Silesian wars, the country was far
+more flourishing than in the Imperial time; a century had not been
+sufficient to efface the traces of the Thirty Years' War; the people
+remembered well how in the cities heaps of ruins had remained from the
+Swedish time, and everywhere near the newly-built houses, the dismal
+wastes caused by fire. Many little cities had still blockhouses in the
+old Sclavonian style, with straw and shingle roofs, which had long been
+scantily patched. Under the Prussians, not only the traces of the old
+devastation, but even of the Seven Years' War, soon disappeared.
+Frederic had fifteen large cities built up with regular streets at the
+King's cost, and some hundred new villages constructed and occupied by
+freehold colonists; he had laid on the landed proprietors the heavy
+burden of rebuilding some thousands of homesteads, and occupying them
+with tenants with hereditary rights. In the Imperial time the imposts
+had been far less, but they were unequally apportioned, and the
+heaviest burdens were on the poor; the nobles were exempt from the
+greater part; the method of raising them was ill arranged; much was
+embezzled or squandered, and little proportionately found its way into
+the Emperor's coffers. The Prussians, on the other hand, had divided
+the country into small circles, valued the collective acreage, and in a
+few years had withdrawn all exemptions from taxes; the country now paid
+its ground tax, the cities their excise. Thus the province bore a
+double amount of burdens with greater ease, only the privileged
+murmured; and in this way it was able to maintain 40,000 soldiers,
+whilst formerly there had been only 2000. Before 1740 the nobles had
+acted the part of fine gentlemen; any one who was a Roman Catholic, and
+rich, lived at Vienna; others, who could afford it, went to Breslau.
+Now the greater number of the landed proprietors dwelt on their
+properties. Krippenreiters had ceased; the noblemen knew that the King
+considered it honourable in him to care for the culture of his ground,
+and that he showed cold contempt towards those who were not landlords,
+officials, or officers. Formerly, law-suits were incessant and costly,
+and could scarcely be carried on without bribery and great sacrifice of
+money; now the number of lawyers became less, because decisions were so
+rapid. Under the Austrians the caravan traffic with the east of Europe
+had undoubtedly been greater; the Bukowins and Hungarians, and also the
+Poles, became estranged, and already looked to Trieste; but new sources
+of industry arose, large manufactories of wool and cloth, and in the
+mountain valleys linen, were established. Many were dissatisfied with
+the new time, some were in fact oppressed by its harshness, but few
+ventured to deny that on the whole there was improvement.
+
+But there was another characteristic of the Prussian State that made an
+impression on the Silesians, and soon obtained a mastery over their
+minds. This was the devoted Spartan spirit of those who served the
+King, which frequently appeared in the lowest officials. The excise
+officers, even before the introduction of the French system, were
+little liked; they were invalid subaltern officers, old soldiers of the
+King, who had won his battles, and had grown grey in his service. They
+sat now at the gates, and smoked their wooden pipes; they received very
+little pay, and could indulge themselves in little, but were from early
+dawn till late in the evening at their post, did their duty skilfully,
+quickly, and punctually, like old soldiers, received and faithfully
+delivered up the money as a matter of course. They thought always of
+their service: it was their honour, their pride; and long did the old
+Silesians continue to relate to their descendants how much they had
+been struck by the punctiliousness, strictness, and honesty of these
+and other Prussian officials. There was in every district town a
+receiver of taxes; he lived in his small office room, which was perhaps
+at the same time his bedroom, and received in a large wooden dish the
+land tax which the village magistrate brought to his room once a month.
+Many thousand thalers were noted down on the long list, and were
+delivered to the last penny into the State coffers. Small was the
+salary of even such a man as this; he sat, received and packed away in
+bags, till his hair became white, and his trembling hands could no
+longer lay hold of the two-groschen pieces. And the pride of his life
+was, that the King knew him personally, and, if he ever came through
+the place during the change of horses, he fixed on him silently his
+large eyes, or, if he was very gracious, inclined his head a little
+towards him. The people regarded with a certain degree of respect and
+awe these subordinate servants of a new principle. And not the
+Silesians only; it was something new in the world. It was not as a mere
+jest that Frederic II. had called himself the first servant of his
+State. As on the battlefield he had taught his wild nobles that the
+highest honour was to die for the Fatherland, so did his unwearied care
+and high sense of duty imprint upon the soul of the meanest of his
+servants on the most distant frontiers his great idea, that his first
+duty was to live and labour for the good of his King and country.
+
+Though the provinces of Prussia, in the Seven Years' War, were
+compelled to do homage to the Empress Elizabeth, and remained for some
+time incorporated in the Russian Empire, yet the officials of the
+districts under the foreign army and government ventured secretly to
+raise money and provisions for their King, and great art was required
+for the passage of the transports. Many were in the secret, but there
+was not one traitor; they stole in disguise through the Russian camp in
+danger of their lives. They discovered afterwards that they earned
+little thanks by it, for the King did not like his East Prussians; he
+spoke depreciatingly of them; seldom showed them the same favour as the
+other provinces; he looked like stone whenever he learnt that one of
+his young officers was born between the Vistula and Memel, and never
+entered his East Prussian province after the war. But the East
+Prussians were not shaken in their veneration for him: they clung with
+true love to their ungracious master, and his best and most
+intellectual panegyrist was Emmanuel Kant.
+
+The life in the King's service was undoubtedly a rough one: incessant
+were the work and deprivations; it was difficult for the best to do
+enough for so strict a master, and the greatest devotion received but
+curt thanks; if a man was worn out he was probably coldly thrown aside;
+the labour was without end everywhere,--new undertakings--scaffoldings
+of an unfinished building. To any one who came into the country this
+life did not appear cheerful, it was so austere, monotonous, and rough;
+there was little of beauty or pleasure in it; and as the bachelor
+household of the King, with his obedient servants and his submissive
+intimates taking the air under the trees of a quiet garden, gave the
+impression of a monastery to a foreign guest; so he found in the whole
+Prussian regime, something of the self-denial and obedience of a large
+industrious monastic brotherhood.
+
+Somewhat of this spirit had passed into the people themselves. But we
+honour in this an enduring service of Frederic II.: still is this
+spirit of self-denial the secret of the greatness of the Prussian
+State, the last and best guarantee for its duration. The excellent
+machine which the King had erected with so much intelligence and energy
+could not eternally last; it was shattered twenty years after his
+death; but that the State did not at the same time sink,--that the
+intelligence and patriotism of the citizen were in a condition to
+create a new life on new foundations under his successors,--is the
+secret of Frederic's greatness.
+
+Nine years after the conclusion of the last war, which led to the
+retention of Silesia, Frederic increased his kingdom by a new
+acquisition, not much less in number of miles, but with a scanty
+population: it was the district of Poland, which has since passed under
+the name of West Prussia.
+
+If the claims of the King on Silesia had been doubtful, it required all
+the acuteness of his officials to put a plausible appearance on the
+uncertain rights to a portion of the new acquisition. The King himself
+cared little about it; he had, with almost superhuman heroism, defended
+the possession of Silesia in the face of the world; that province had
+been bound to Prussia by streams of blood; but in this case, political
+shrewdness was almost all that had been required. Long, in the opinion
+of men, was the conqueror deficient in that justification which it
+appeared was only given by the horrors of war and the accidental
+fortune of the battle-field. But this last acquisition of the King,
+which was made without the thunder of cannon or the flourish of
+victory, was, of all the great gifts for which the German people had to
+thank Frederic II., the greatest and most beneficial. During many
+hundred years the much-divided Germans were confined and injured by
+ambitious neighbours; the great King was the first conqueror who
+extended the German frontier further to the east. A century after his
+great ancestor had in vain defended the Rhine fortresses against Louis
+XIV., he again gave the Germans the emphatic admonition, that it was
+their task to carry laws, education, freedom, cultivation, and industry
+into the east of Europe. His whole country, with the exception of some
+old Saxon territory, had been won from the Sclavonians by force and
+colonisation; never since the great migration of the Middle Ages had
+the struggle for the wide plains on the east of the Oder ceased; never
+had his house forgotten that it was the guardian of the German
+frontier. Whenever the struggle of arms ceased, politicians contended.
+The Elector Frederic William had freed the Prussian territories of the
+Teutonic order from the Polish suzerainty. Frederic I. had brought this
+isolated colony under the crown. But the possession of East Prussia was
+insecure; the danger was not, however, from the degenerate Republic of
+Poland, but from the rising greatness of Russia. Frederic had learnt to
+consider the Russians as enemies; he knew the high-flown plans of the
+Empress Catherine; the clever Prince knew how to grasp at the fitting
+moment. The new domain--Pommerellen, the Woiwodschaft of Kulm and
+Marienburg, the Bishopric of Ermland, the city of Elbing, a portion of
+Kujavien, and a part of Posen--united East Prussia with Pomerania and
+the Marches of Brandenburg. It had always been a frontier land; since
+ancient times people of different races had thronged to the coast of
+the Northern Sea: Germans, Sclavonians, Lithuanians, and Finns. Since
+the thirteenth century, the Germans had forced themselves into this
+debatable ground as founders of cities and agriculturists; orders of
+knights, merchants, pious monks, German noblemen, and peasants
+congregated there. On both sides of the Vistula arose towers and
+boundary stones of the German colonists. Above all rose the splendid
+Dantzic,--the Venice of the Baltic, the great sea-mart of the
+Sclavonian countries, with its rich Marien-church and the palaces of
+its merchants; behind it, on the other arm of the Vistula, its modest
+rival Elbing; further upwards, the stately towers and broad arcades of
+Marienburg, where is the great princely castle of the Teutonic Knights,
+the most beautiful edifice in the north of Germany; and in the
+luxurious low-countries, in the valley of the Vistula, were the old
+prosperous colonial properties, one of the most favoured districts of
+the world, and defended by powerful dikes against the devastations of
+the Vistula. Still further upwards, Marienwerder, Graudenz, Kulm, and
+in the low countries, Netzebromberg, the centre of a strip of Polish
+frontier. Smaller German cities and village communities were scattered
+through the whole territory, which had been energetically colonised by
+the rich Cistercian monasteries of Oliva and Pelplin. But the
+tyrannical severity of this order drove the German cities and landed
+proprietors of West Prussia, in the fifteenth century, to annex
+themselves to Poland. The Reformation of the sixteenth century subdued
+not only the souls of the German colonists, but also those of the
+Poles. In the great Polish Republic, three-fourths of the nobility
+became Protestants, and in the Sclavonian districts of Pommerellen,
+seventy out of one hundred parishes, did the same. But the introduction
+of the Jesuits brought an unhealthy change. The Polish nobles fell back
+to the Roman Catholic Church, their sons were brought up in the
+Jesuits' schools as converting fanatics. From that time the Polish
+State began to decline; its condition became constantly more hopeless.
+
+There was a great difference in the conduct of the Germans of West
+Prussia with respect to proselytising Jesuits and Sclavonian tyranny.
+The immigrant German nobles became Roman Catholic and Polish, but the
+citizens and peasants remained stubborn Protestants. To the opposition
+of languages was added the opposition of confessions; to the hatred of
+race, the fury of contending faiths. In the century of enlightenment
+there was a fanatical persecution of the Germans in these provinces;
+one Protestant church after another was pulled down, the wooden ones
+were burnt; when a church was burnt, the villages lost the right of
+having bells; German preachers and schoolmasters were driven away and
+shamefully ill-used "_Vexa Lutheranum dabit thalerum_" was the usual
+saying of the Poles against the Germans. One of the great landed
+proprietors of the country, Starost of Gnesen, from the family of
+Birnbaum, was condemned to death, by tearing out his tongue and
+chopping off his hands, because he had copied into a record from German
+books some biting remarks against the Jesuits. There was no law and no
+protection. The national party of Polish nobles, in alliance with
+fanatical priests, persecuted most violently those whom they hated as
+Germans and Protestants. All the predatory rabble joined themselves to
+the patriots or confederates; they hired hordes who went plundering
+about the country and fell upon small cities and German villages. Ever
+more vehement became the rage against the Germans, not only from zeal
+for the faith, but still more from covetousness. The Polish nobleman
+Roskowski put on a red and a black boot: the one signified fire, and
+the other death; thus he rode from one place to another, laying all
+under contribution; at last, in Jastrow, he caused the hands, feet, and
+finally the head of the Evangelical preacher Wellick to be cut off, and
+the limbs to be thrown into a bog. This happened in 1768.
+
+Such was the state of the country shortly before the Prussian
+occupation. Dantzic, which was indispensable to the Poles, kept itself,
+through this century of decay, from the rest of the country; it
+remained a free State under Sclavonian protection, and was long adverse
+to the great King. But the country and most of the German cities
+energetically helped to preserve the King from destruction. The
+Prussian officials who were sent into the country were astonished at
+the wretchedness which existed at a few days' journey from their
+capital. Only some of the larger cities, in which German life was
+maintained by old trading intercourse within strong walls, and
+protected strips of land exclusively occupied by Germans,--like the low
+countries near Dantzig,--the villages under the mild government of the
+Cistercians of Oliva, and the wealthy German districts of Catholic
+Ermland, were in tolerable condition. Other cities lay in ruins, as did
+most of the farms on the plains. The Prussians found Bromberg, a city
+of German colonists, in ruins; it is not possible now accurately to
+ascertain how the city came into this condition;[21] indeed the fate of
+the whole Netze district, in the last ten years before the Prussian
+occupation, is quite unknown. No historians, no records, and no
+registers give any account of the destruction and slaughter with which
+that country was ravaged. Apparently the Polish factions must have
+fought amongst themselves; bad harvests and pestilence may have done
+the rest. Kulm has from ancient times preserved its well-built walls
+and stately churches, but in the streets the covered passages to the
+cellars projected over the rotten wood and the fragments of brick from
+the dilapidated buildings; whole streets consisted of such cellars, in
+which the miserable inhabitants dwelt. Twenty-eight of the forty houses
+of the great market-place had no doors, no roofs, no inhabitants, and
+no proprietors. In a similar condition were other cities.
+
+The greater number of the country people lived in circumstances which
+appeared to the King's officials lamentable; especially on the
+frontiers of Pomerania, where the Windish Kassubes dwelt; the villages
+were a collection of old huts, with torn thatched roofs, on bare
+plains, without a tree and without a garden; there was only the
+indigenous wild cherry-tree. The houses were built of wooden rafters
+and clay; going through the house door, one entered a room with a large
+hearth, without a chimney; stoves were unknown; no candle was ever
+lighted, only fir chips brightened the darkness of the long winter
+evenings; the chief article in the miserable furniture was the
+crucifix, and under it a bowl of holy water. The dirty, forlorn people
+lived on rye porridge, or only on herbs, which they made into soup, or
+on herrings, and brandy, in which both women and men indulged. Bread
+was almost unknown; many had never in their life tasted such a
+delicacy; there were few villages in which there was an oven. If they
+ever kept bees, they sold the honey to the citizens, as well as carved
+spoons and stolen bark; and with the produce, they bought at the fairs,
+coarse blue cloth dresses, with black fur caps, and bright red
+handkerchiefs for the women. There was rarely a weaving-loom, and the
+spinning-wheel was unknown. The Prussians heard there no national
+songs; there were no dances, no music, nor indeed any of the pleasures
+which the most miserable Poles partake of, but stupidly and silently
+the people drank bad drams, fought, and reeled about. The poor noble
+also differed little from the peasant; he drove his own rude plough,
+and clattered in wooden slippers about the unboarded floor of his hut.
+It was difficult, even for the Prussian King, to make anything of these
+people. The use of potatoes spread rapidly, but the people long
+continued to destroy the fruit trees, the culture of which was
+commanded; and they opposed all other attempts at cultivation. Equally
+needy and decaying were the frontier districts with Polish population;
+but the Polish peasant preserved, in his state of poverty and disorder,
+at least the vivacity of his race. Even on the properties of the
+greater nobles, such as the Starosties, and of the crown, all the
+farming buildings were ruined and useless. If any one wished to forward
+a letter, he had to send a special messenger, for there was no post in
+the country; indeed, in the villages no need of it was felt, for a
+great portion of the nobles could not read or write, more than the
+peasants. Were any one ill, no assistance could be obtained but the
+mysterious remedies of some old village crone, for there was no
+apothecary in the whole country. Any one who needed a coat, did well to
+be able to use a needle himself, for no tailor was to be found for many
+miles, unless one passed through the country on a venture.[22] He who
+wished to build a house, had first to ascertain whether he could get
+labourers from the west. The country people still kept up a weak
+struggle with hordes of wolves, and there were few villages in which
+men and beasts were not decimated every winter.[23] If the small-pox
+broke out, or any other infectious illness came into the country, the
+people saw the white figure of the pestilence flying through the air
+and settling down on their huts; they knew what such appearances
+betokened; it was the desolation of their homes, the destruction of
+whole communities; with gloomy resignation they awaited their fate.
+There was hardly any administration of justice in the country; only in
+the larger cities were powerless courts. The Starosts inflicted
+punishment with arbitrary power; they beat and threw into horrible
+jails, not only the peasant, but even the citizens of the country towns
+who rented their houses or fell into their hands. In their quarrels
+amongst themselves they contended by bribery, in any of the few courts
+that had jurisdiction over them. In later years, even that had almost
+fallen into disuse, and they sought revenge with their own hands.
+
+It was indeed a forlorn country, without discipline, without law, and
+without a master; it was a wilderness, with only a population of
+500,000 on 600 square miles--not 850 to the mile. And the Prussian King
+treated his acquisition like an untenanted prairie; almost at his
+pleasure he fixed boundary stones, or removed them some miles further.
+And then he began, in his admirable way, the culture of the country;
+the very rottenness of its condition was attractive to him, and West
+Prussia became, as Silesia had hitherto been, his favourite child, that
+he washed and brushed, and dressed in new clothes, sent to school,
+controlled, and kept under his eyes, with incessant care like a true
+mother. The diplomatic contention about the acquisition still
+continued, but he sent a troop of his best officials into the
+wilderness; the districts were divided into small circles; the whole
+surface of the country valued in the shortest time, and equally taxed;
+and every circle provided with a provincial magistrate, a judicature, a
+post, and a sanitary police. New parishes were called into life as if
+by magic; a company of 187 schoolmasters were introduced into the
+country; the worthy Semler had sought out and drilled some of them.
+Numbers of German artisans were hired, machine and brick makers;
+digging, hammering, and building began all over the country; the cities
+were reinhabited; street upon street arose out of the heaps of ruins;
+the Starosties were changed into crown property; new villages were
+built and colonised, and new agriculture enjoined. In the course of the
+first year after taking possession of the country, the great canal was
+dug, three German miles in length, uniting the Vistula by means of the
+Netze with the Oder and Elbe; a year after, the King had given
+directions for this work, he saw loaded boats from the Oder, 120 feet
+long, passing from the East to the Vistula. By means of the new
+water-wheels, wide districts of country were drained and occupied by
+German colonists. The King worked indefatigably; he praised and blamed;
+and, however great the zeal of his officials, they could seldom do
+enough for him. In consequence of this, the wild Sclavonian tares,
+which had shot up, not only there but also in the German fields, were
+brought under, so that even the Polish districts got accustomed to the
+new order of things; and West Prussia, in the war after 1806, proved
+itself almost as Prussian as the old provinces.
+
+Whilst the grey-headed King was creating and looking after everything,
+one year passed after another over his thoughtful head; all about him
+was more tranquil, but void and lonely, and small was the circle of men
+in whom he confided. He had laid his flute aside, and the new French
+literature appeared to him insipid and prosy; sometimes it seemed as if
+a new life sprouted up under him in Germany, to which he was a
+stranger. Unweariedly did he labour for the improvement of his army and
+the welfare of his people; ever less did he value his tools, and ever
+higher and more passionate was his feeling of the great duties of his
+position.
+
+But if his struggles in the Seven Years' War may be called superhuman,
+equally so did his labours now appear to contemporaries. There was
+something great, but also terrible, in the way in which he made the
+prosperity of the whole his highest and constant object, disregarding
+the comfort of individuals. When, in front of the ranks, he dismissed
+from the service with bitter words of blame the Colonel of a regiment
+which had made a great blunder at a review; when, in the marsh lands of
+the Netze, he calculated more the strokes of the ten thousand spades
+than the hardships of the labourers, who lay, stricken with marsh
+fever, in the hospital he had erected for them; when be overstepped in
+his demands what the most rapid action could accomplish,--terror as of
+one who moved in an unearthly element mingled with the deep reverence
+and devotion of his people. Like Fate, he appeared to the Prussians,
+incalculable, inexorable, and omniscient; superintending the smallest
+as well as the greatest things. When they related to one another that
+he had endeavoured to control Nature also, but that his orange-trees
+had been frozen by the last spring frosts, then they secretly rejoiced
+that there were limits even for their King, but still more that he had
+borne it with such good humour, and had made his bow to the cold days
+of May.
+
+With touching sympathy the people collected all the sayings of the King
+in which there was any human feeling that brought him more into
+communion with them. So lonely were his house and garden, that the
+imaginations of his Prussians continually hovered about the consecrated
+spot. If any one was so fortunate as to come into the neighbourhood of
+the castle on a warm moonlight night, he would perhaps find open doors
+without a guard, and he could see the great King in his bedroom,
+sleeping on his camp-bed. The scent of the flowers, the night song of
+the birds, and the quiet moonlight were the only guards, almost the
+whole regal state, of the lonely man.
+
+For fourteen years after the acquisition of West Prussia, did the
+oranges of Sans Souci bloom; then did Nature reassert her empire over
+the great King. He died alone, only surrounded by his servants.
+
+In the bloom of life he was completely wrapped up in ambitious
+feelings; he had wrested from fate all the high and splendid garlands
+of life,--he, the prince of poets and philosophers, the historian and
+the General. No triumph that he had ever gained contented him; all
+earthly fame had become to him accidental, uncertain, and valueless; an
+iron feeling of duty, incessantly working, was all that remained to
+him. Amid the dangerous alternation of warm enthusiasm and cool
+acuteness, his soul had reached its maturity. He had, in his own mind,
+surrounded with a poetical halo, certain individuals; and he despised
+the multitude about him. But in the struggles of life his egotism
+disappeared; he lost almost all that was personally dear to him, and he
+ended by caring little for individuals, whilst the need of living
+for the whole became ever stronger in him. With the most refined
+self-seeking, he had desired the highest for himself; and at last,
+regardless of himself, he gave himself up for the public weal and the
+lowest. He had entered life as an idealist, and his ideal had not been
+destroyed by the most fearful experiences, but rather ennobled,
+exalted, and purified; he had sacrificed many men to his State, but no
+man so much as himself.
+
+Great and uncommon did this appear to his contemporaries; greater still
+to us, who can perceive, even in the present time, the traces of his
+activity in the character of our people, our political life, our arts,
+and literature.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+                   OF THE SCHOOLING OF THE GERMAN CITIZEN.
+                                (1790.)
+
+
+Many races of poets had passed away; their hearts had never been
+stirred by vivid impressions of a heroes life; they celebrated the
+victories of Alexander and the death of Cato in countless forms, with
+chilling phrases and in artificial periods. Now the smallest story told
+at the house-door by an invalid soldier caused transports, even that
+the great King of Prussia had been seen by him at the cathedral and had
+spoken five words to him. The tale of the simple man brought at once,
+as if by enchantment, before the minds of his hearers the exalted image
+of the man, the camp, the watch-fire, and the watch. How weak was the
+impression produced by the artificial praise of long-spun verses
+against such anecdotes which could be told in a few lines! They excited
+sympathy and fellow-feeling, even to tears and wringing of hands. In
+what lay the magic of these slight traits of life? Those few words of
+the King were so characteristic, one could perceive in them the whole
+nature of the hero, and the rough true-hearted tone of the narrator
+gave his account a peculiar colouring which increased the effect. A
+poetic feeling was undoubtedly produced in the hearer, but different as
+heaven from earth to the old art. And this poetry was felt by every one
+in Germany after the Silesian war; it had become as popular as the
+newspapers and the roll of the soldiers' drum. He who would produce an
+effect as a German poet, must know how to narrate, like that honest man
+of the people, in a simple and homely way, as from the heart, and it
+must be a subject which would make the heart beat quicker. Goethe knew
+well why he referred the whole of the youthful intellectual life of his
+time to Frederic II., for even he had in his father's house been
+influenced by the noble poetry which shone from the life of that great
+man on his contemporaries. The great King had pronounced "Goetz von
+Berlichingen" a horrible piece, yet he had himself materially
+contributed to it, by giving the poet courage to weave together the old
+anecdotes of the troopers into a drama. And when Goethe, in his old
+age, concluded his last drama, he brought forward again the figure of
+the old King, and he makes his Faust an indefatigable and exacting
+master, who carries his canal through the marsh lands of the Vistula.
+And it was not different with Lessing, to say nothing of the minor
+poets. In "Minna von Barnhelm," the King sends a decisive letter
+on the stage; and in "Nathan"--the antagonism betwixt tolerance and
+fanaticism, betwixt Judaism and priestcraft--is an ennobled reflex of
+the views of D'Argen's Jewish letters.
+
+It was not only the easily moved spirit of poets that was excited by
+the idea of the King: even the scientific life of the Germans, their
+speculative and moral philosophy, were elevated and transformed by it.
+
+For the freedom of conscience which the King placed at the head of his
+maxims of government, dissolved like a spell the compulsion which the
+church had hitherto laid on the learned. The strong antipathy which the
+King had for priestly rule, and every kind of restraint of the mind,
+worked in many spheres. The most daring teaching, the most determined
+attacks on existing opinions, were now allowed; the struggle was
+carried on with equal weapons, and science obtained for the first time
+a feeling of supremacy over the soul. It was by no accident that Kant
+rose to eminence in Prussia; for the whole stringent power of his
+teaching, the high elevation of the feeling of duty, even the quiet
+resignation with which the individual had to submit himself to the
+"categorical imperative," is nothing more than the ideal counterpart of
+the devotion to duty which the King practised himself and demanded of
+his Prussians. No one has more nobly expressed than the great
+philosopher himself, how much the State system of Frederic II. had been
+the basis of his teaching.
+
+Historical science was not the least gainer by him. Great political
+deeds were so intimately blended with the imaginations and the hearts
+of Germans, that every individual participated in them; manly doings
+and sufferings appeared so worthy of reverence, that the feeling for
+what was significant and characteristic animated in a new way the
+German historical inquirer, and his precepts for the nation attained a
+higher meaning.
+
+It was not, indeed, immediately that the Germans gained the sure
+judgment and political culture which are necessary to every historian
+who undertakes to represent life of his nation. It was remarkable that
+the historical mind of Germany deviated so much from that of England
+and France, but it developed itself in a way that led the greatest
+intellectual acquisitions.
+
+And these new blossoms of intellectual life in Germany, which were
+unfolded after the year 1750, bore a thoroughly national character;
+indeed, their highest gain remains up to the present time almost
+entirely to the German. It began to be recognised that the life of a
+people develops itself, like that of an individual, according to
+certain natural laws; that, through the individual souls of the
+inventor and thinker, a something national and in common penetrates
+from generation to generation, each at the same time limiting and
+invigorating it. Since Winckelman undertook to discern and fix the
+periods of ancient sculptural art, a similar advance was ventured upon
+in other domains of knowledge. Semler had already endeavoured to point
+out the historical development of Christianity in the oldest church.
+The existence of old Homer was denied, and the origin of the epical
+poem sought in the peculiarities of a popular life which existed 3000
+years ago. The meaning of myths and traditions, striking peculiarities
+in the inventions and creations of the youthful period of a people,
+were clearly pointed out; soon Romulus and the Tarquins, and finally
+the records of the Bible, were subjected to the same reckless
+inquiries.
+
+But it was peculiar that these deep-thinking investigations were united
+with so much freedom and power of invention. He who wrote the "Laocoon"
+and the "Dramaturgie" was himself a poet; and Goethe and Schiller, the
+same men whose springs of imagination flowed so full and copiously,
+looked intently into its depth, investigating, like quiet men of
+learning, the laws of life of their novels, dramas, and ballads.
+
+Meanwhile all the best spirits of the nation were enchanted with their
+poems; the beautiful was suddenly poured out over the German soil as if
+by a divinity. With an enthusiasm which often approached to worship,
+the German gave himself up to the charms of his national poetry. The
+world of shining imagery acquired in his eyes an importance which
+sometimes made him unjust to the practical life which surrounded him.
+He, who so often appeared as the citizen of a nation without a State,
+found almost everything that was noble and exalted in the golden realm
+of poetry and art; the realities about him appeared to him common, low,
+and indifferent.
+
+How through this an aristocracy of men of refinement were trained,--how
+the great poets themselves were occupied in looking down with proud
+resignation from their serene heights on the twilight of the German
+earth,--has often been portrayed. Here we will only relate how the time
+worked on the common run of men, remodelling their characters and
+ideas.
+
+It is the year 1790, four years after the death of the great King; the
+second year in which the eyes of Germany had been fixed with
+astonishment on the condition of France. A few individuals only
+interested themselves in the struggle going on in the capital of a
+foreign country betwixt the nation and the throne. The German citizen
+had freed himself from the influence of French culture; indeed Frederic
+II. had taught his country people to pay little attention to the
+political condition of the neighbouring country. It was known that
+great reforms were necessary in France, and the literary men were on
+the side of the French opposition. The Germans were more especially
+occupied with themselves; a feeling of satisfaction is perceptible in
+the nation, of which they had been long deprived; they perceive that
+they are making good progress; a wonderful spirit of reform penetrates
+through their whole life: trade is flourishing, wealth increases, the
+new culture exalts and pleases, youths recite with feeling the verses
+of their favourite poet, and rejoice to see on the stage the
+representations of great virtues and vices, and listen to the
+entrancing sounds of German music. It was a new life, but it was the
+end of the good time. Many years later the Germans looked longingly
+back for the peaceful years after the Seven Years' War.
+
+If any one at this time entered the streets of a moderate-sized city,
+through which he had passed in the year 1750, he would be struck by the
+greater energy of its inhabitants. The old walls and gates are indeed
+still standing; but it is proposed to free from brick and mortar the
+entrances which are too narrow for men and waggons, and to substitute
+light iron trellis-work, and in other places to open new gates in the
+walls. The rampart round the city moat has been planted with pollards,
+and in the thick shade of the limes and chestnuts the citizens take
+their constitutional walks, and the children of the lower orders
+breathe the fresh summer air. The small gardens on the city walls are
+embellished; new foreign blossoms shine amongst the old, and cluster
+round some fragment of a column or a small wooden angel that is painted
+white; here and there a summer-house rises, either in the form of an
+antique temple or as a hut of moss-covered bark, as a remembrance of
+the original state of innocence of the human race, in which the
+feelings were so incomparably purer and the restraints of dress and
+_convenances_ were so much less.
+
+But the traffic of the city has extended itself beyond the old walls,
+where a high road leads to the city, and suburban rows of houses
+stretch far into the plain. Many new houses, with red-tiled roofs under
+loaded fruit-trees, delight the eyes. The number of houses in the city
+has also increased; leaning with broad fronts, gable to gable, there
+they stand, with large windows and open staircases enclosing wide
+spaces. The ornaments that adorn the front are still modestly made of
+plaster of Paris; bright lime-washes of all shades are almost the only
+characteristics, and give the streets a variegated appearance. They
+are, for the most part, built by merchants and manufacturers, who are
+now almost everywhere the wealthy people of the city.
+
+The wounds inflicted by the Seven Years' War on the prosperity of the
+citizens are healed. Not in vain have the police, for more than fifty
+years, admonished and commanded; the city arrangements are well
+regulated; provisions for the care of the poor are organised, funds for
+their maintenance, doctors, and medicine supplied gratuitously. In the
+larger cities much is done for the support of the infirm; in Dresden,
+in 1790, the yearly amount of funds for the poor was 50,000 thalers; in
+Berlin also, where Frederic William had done much for the poor, the
+government warmly participated in rendering assistance,--it was
+reported that more was done there than elsewhere. But the benevolence
+which the educated classes evinced towards the people was deficient in
+judgment--alms-giving was the only thing thought of; a few years later
+it was considered truly patriotic in the finance minister, von
+Struensee, to remit to the Berlin poor a considerable portion of his
+salary. At the same time there were loud complaints of the increasing
+immorality, and of the preponderance of poor. It was remarked, with
+alarm, that Berlin, under Frederic II., had been the only capital in
+the world in which more men were born in the year than died, and that
+now it was beginning to be the reverse. At Berlin, Dresden, and
+Leipzig, beggars were no longer to be seen; indeed there were few in
+any of the Prussian cities, with exception of Silesia and West Prussia;
+but in the smaller places in Lower Saxony they still continued to be a
+plague to travellers. They congregated at the hotels and post-houses,
+and waylaid strangers on their arrival.
+
+But a greater and more satisfactory improvement was made by the
+exertions of the government in the increased care of the sick: the
+devastating pestilence and other diseases were--one has reason to
+believe--shut out from the frontiers of Germany. From 1709-11 the
+plague had raged fearfully in Poland, and even in 1770 there had been
+deaths from it; whole villages had been depopulated by it, but our
+native land was little injured. There was one disease which still made
+its ravages among rich and poor alike--the small-pox. It was Europe's
+great misery--the repulsive visitant of blooming youth, bringing death
+and disfigurement. It was the turning-point of life, how they passed
+through this malady. Much heart-rending misery has now ceased; the
+beauty of our women has become more secure, and the number of diseased
+and helpless, has considerably diminished since Jenner and his friends
+established in London, in 1799, the first public vaccinating
+institution.
+
+Everywhere, about this time, began complaints of the want of economy,
+and immoderate love of pleasure of the working classes: complaints
+which certainly were justified in many cases, but which must inevitably
+be heard where the greater wealth of individuals increases the
+necessities of the people in the lower classes. One must be cautious
+before one assumes from this a decrease in the popular strength; the
+awakening desires of the people is more frequently the first unhealthy
+sign of progress. On the whole it does not appear to have been so very
+bad. Smoking was indeed general; it constantly increased, although
+Frederic II. had raised the price in Prussia by his stamp on each
+packet. The coloured porcelain-headed pipe began to supplant the
+meerschaum. In Northern Germany the white beer became the new
+fashionable drink of the citizens; staid old-fashioned tradesmen shook
+their heads, and complained that their favourite old brew became worse,
+and that the consumption of wine among the citizens increased
+immoderately. In Saxony they began to drink coffee to a great extent,
+however thin and adulterated it might be, and it was the only warm
+drink of the poor. The general complaint of travellers, who came from
+the south of Germany, was that the cooking in Prussia, Saxony, and
+Thuringia was poor and scanty.
+
+The public amusements, also, were neither numerous or expensive.
+Foremost was the theatre; it was quite a passion with the citizens. The
+wandering companies became better and more numerous, the number of
+theatres greater; the best place was the parterre, in which officers,
+students, or young officials, who were frequently at variance, gave the
+tone. The sensation dramas, with dagger, poison, and rattling of
+chains, enchanted the unpretending; pathetic family dramas, with
+iniquitous ministers of state, and raving lovers excited feeling in the
+educated; and the bad taste of the pieces, and the good acting,
+astonished strangers. The entrance of one of these companies within
+walls was an event of great importance; and we see, from the accounts
+of many worthy men, how great was the influence of such representations
+upon their life. It is difficult for us to comprehend the enthusiasm
+with which young people of education followed these performances,
+the intensity of the feelings excited in them. Iffland's pieces,
+"Verbrechen aus Ehrgeiz" and "Der Spieler," drew forth not only tears
+and sobs, but also oaths and impassioned vows. Once at Lauchstaedt, when
+the curtain fell at the end of the "Spielers" (Gamblers), one of the
+wildest students of Halle rushed up to another, also of Halle, but whom
+he scarcely knew, and begged him, the tears streaming from his eyes, to
+record his oath that he would never again touch a card. According to
+the account the excited youth kept his word. Similar scenes were not
+extraordinary. Poor students saved money for weeks to enable them to go
+even once from Halle to the theatre in Lauchstaedt, and they ran back
+the same night, so as not to miss their lectures the next morning. But,
+lively as was the interest of the Germans in the drama, it was not easy
+for the society of even the larger cities to keep up a stationary
+theatre. At Berlin the French theatre was changed to a German one, with
+the proud title of National Theatre; but this, the only one in the
+capital, was, in 1790, little visited, although Fleck and both the
+Unzelmanns played there. The Italian Opera was, indeed, better
+attended, but it was given at the King's expense; every magistrate had
+his own box; the King still sat, with his court, in the parterre behind
+the orchestra; and throughout the whole winter there were only six
+representations--one new and one old, each performed three times. Then,
+undoubtedly, the public thronged there, to see the splendour of this
+court festival, and were astounded at the great procession of elephants
+and lions in "Darius." It is mentioned that at Dresden, also, the
+children's theatricals in families were far more in request than the
+great theatre; and in Berlin, which was considered so particularly
+frivolous and pleasure-seeking, this same winter, at the great
+masquerade, of which there was so much talk in the country, there was
+only one person dressed in character; the others were all spiritless
+dominoes, and the whole was very dull to strangers.[24] All this does
+not look much like lavish expenditure.
+
+The usual social enjoyment, also, was very moderate in character; it
+was a visit to a public coffee-garden. Nobles, officers, officials, and
+merchants, all thronged there for the sake of some unpretending music
+and coloured lamps. This kind of entertainment had been first
+introduced at Leipzig and Vienna about 1700; the great delights of this
+coffee-drinking in the shade were celebrated in prose and verse, and
+the more frivolous boasted how convenient such assemblages were for
+carrying on tender liaisons. These coffee-gardens have continued
+characteristic of German social intercourse for nearly 150 years.
+Families sat at different tables, but could be seen and observed; the
+children were constrained to behave themselves properly, and careful
+housewives carried with them from home coffee and cakes in cornets.
+
+With the well-educated citizen, hospitality had become more liberal,
+and entertainments more sumptuous; but in their family life they
+retained much of the strict discipline of their ancestors. The power of
+the husband and father was predominant; both the master and mistress of
+the house required prompt obedience; the distinction between those who
+were to command and to obey was more clearly defined. Only husband and
+wife had learnt to address each other with the loving "_thou_"; the
+children of the gentry, and often also of artisans, spoke to their
+parents in the third person plural: the servants were addressed by
+their masters with the "_thou_," but by strangers in the third person
+singular. In the same way the "_he_" was used by the master to his
+journeymen, by the landed proprietor to the "_schulze_," and by the
+gymnastic teacher to a scholar of the upper classes; but in many places
+the scholar addressed his _Herr Director_ with "your honour."
+
+More frequently than forty years before, did the German now leave his
+home to travel through some part of his Fatherland. The means of
+intercourse were intolerable, considering the great extension of
+commerce and the increased love of travelling. Made roads were few and
+short; the road from Frankfort to Mayence, with its avenues of trees,
+pavement, and footpaths, was reputed the best _chaussee_ in Germany;
+the great old road from the Rhine to the east was still only a mud
+road. Still did persons of consequence continue to travel in hired
+coaches or extra post; for though on the main roads the vehicles of the
+ordinary post had roofs, they had no springs, and were considered more
+suitable for luggage than passengers; they had no side doors; it was
+necessary to enter under the roof, or creep in over the pole. At the
+back of the carriage the luggage was stowed up to the roof, and
+fastened with cords; the parcels also lay under the seats; kegs of
+herrings and smoked salmon incessantly rolled on to the benches of the
+passengers, who were constantly occupied in pushing them back; as it
+was impossible for people to stretch out their feet on account of the
+packages, they were obliged in despair to dangle their legs outside the
+carriage. Insupportable were the long stoppages at the stations; the
+carriage was never ready to start under two hours; it took eleven weary
+days and nights of shaking and bruising to get from Cleves to Berlin.
+Travelling on the great rivers was better; down the Danube, it is true,
+there were as yet nothing but the old-fashioned barges, without mast or
+sails, drawn by horses; but on the Rhine the lover of the picturesque
+rejoiced in a passage by the regular Rhine boats; their excellent
+arrangements were extolled, they had mast and sails, and only used
+horses as an assistance; they also had a level deck, with rails, so
+that people could promenade on it, and cabins, with windows and some
+furniture. An ever-changing and agreeable society was to be found
+collected there, as many besides travellers on business used them; for
+Germans, after 1750, had made a most remarkable progress; the love of
+nature had attained a great development. The English landscape
+gardening took the place of the Italian and French architectural
+gardens, and the old Robinsonades were followed by descriptions of
+loving children, or savages in an enchanting and strange landscape. The
+German, later than the highly-cultivated Englishman, was seized with
+the love of wandering in distant countries; but it had only lately
+become an active feeling. It was now the fashion to admire on the
+mountains the rising sun and the floating mist in the valleys; and the
+pastoral life with butter and honey, mountain prospects, the perfume of
+the woods, the flowers of the meadows, and ruins, were extolled, in
+opposition to the commonplace pleasures of play, operas, comedies, and
+balls. Already did the language abound in rich expressions, describing
+the beauties of nature, the mountains, waterfalls, &c.; and already did
+laborious travellers explore not only the Alps, but the Apennines and
+Etna; but the Tyrol was hardly known.
+
+It was still easy to discover by his dialect, even in the centre of
+Germany, to what province the most highly-educated man belonged; for
+the language of family life, giving expression to the deepest feelings
+of the heart, was full of provincial peculiarities, and those were
+called affected and new-fangled who accustomed themselves to pronounce
+words as they were written. Indeed, in the north, as in the south, it
+was considered patriotic to preserve the native dialect pure; the young
+ladies of some of the best families formed an alliance to defend the
+dialect of their city from the bold inroads of the foreigners, who had
+come to settle there. It was said, to the credit of Electoral Saxony,
+that it was the only part where even in the lowest orders intelligible
+German was spoken. A praise that is undoubtedly justified by the
+prevalence for three centuries of the Upper Saxon dialect in the
+written language, which is worthy of our observation, as it gives us an
+idea how the others must have spoken.
+
+In 1790, one might assume that a city community, which was reputed to
+have made any progress, was situated in a Protestant district; for it
+was evident to every traveller that the culture and social condition in
+Protestant and Roman Catholic countries was very different; but even in
+the same Protestant district, within the walls of one city, the
+contrast of culture was very striking. The external difference of
+classes began to diminish, whilst the inward contrast became almost
+greater; the nobleman, the well-educated citizen, and the artisan with
+the peasant, form three distinct circles; each had different springs of
+action, so that they appear to us as if each belonged to a different
+century.
+
+The most confident and light-hearted were the nobles; there was also
+some earnestness of mind in them, not unfrequently accompanied by ample
+knowledge; but the majority lived a life of easy enjoyment: the women,
+on the whole, were more excited than the men, by the poetry and great
+scientific struggle of the time. Already were the dangers which beset
+an exclusive position very visible, more especially in the proudest
+circles of the German landed aristocracy; both the higher and lower
+Imperial nobility were hated and derided. They played the part of
+little Sovereigns in the most grotesque modes; they loved to surround
+themselves with a court of gentlemen and ladies, even down to the
+warder, whose horn often announced across the narrow frontier that his
+lord was taking his dinner; nor was the court dwarf omitted, who,
+perhaps in fantastic attire, threw his misshapen head every evening
+into the _salon_ of the family, and announced it was time to go to bed.
+But the family possessions could not be kept together; one field after
+another fell into the hands of creditors; there was no end to their
+money embarrassments. Many of the Imperial nobles withdrew into the
+capitals of the Ecclesiastical States. In the Franconian bishoprics on
+the Rhine, in Munsterland, an aristocracy established themselves, who,
+according to the bitter judgment of contemporaries, did not display
+very valuable qualities. Their families were in hereditary possession
+of rich cathedral foundations and bishoprics; they were slavish
+imitators of French taste at table, in their wardrobes, and equipages;
+but their bad French and stupid ignorance were frequently thrown in
+their teeth.
+
+The poorer among the landed nobility were in the hands of the Jews,
+especially in East Germany; still, in 1790, the greater part of the
+money that circulated through, the country passed through the hands of
+the nobles. On their properties they ruled as Sovereigns, but the land
+was generally managed by a steward. There was seldom a good
+understanding betwixt the lord and the administrator of his property,
+whose trustworthiness did not then stand in high repute; placed between
+the proprietor and the villein, the steward endeavoured to gain from
+both; he took money from the countrymen, and remitted their farm
+service, and, in the sale of the produce, took as much care of himself
+as of his master.[25]
+
+The country nobleman was glad to spend the winter months in the
+capital of his district; in summer the fashionable amusement was to
+visit the baths. There the family displayed all the splendour in
+their power. Much regard was paid to horses and fine carriages: the
+nobleman liked to use his privilege of driving four-in-hand, and there
+were always running footmen, who went in front of the horses, in
+theatrical-coloured clothes, with a large whip thrown over their
+shoulders, and they wore shoes and white stockings. At evening parties,
+or after the theatre, a long row of splendid carriages--many with
+outriders--were to be seen in the streets, and respectfully did the man
+of low degree look upon the splendour of the lords. They showed their
+rank also in their dress, by rich embroidery, and white plumes round
+their hats; at the masquerade they had a special preference for the
+rose-coloured domino, which Frederic II. had declared to be a privilege
+of the nobility. Many of the richer ones kept chaplains, small concerts
+were frequent; and at their country seats, early on the Sunday morning,
+there was a serenade under the windows, as a morning greeting to the
+lady of the house. Play was a fatal amusement, especially at the baths;
+there the German landed proprietors met together, and played chiefly
+with Poles, who were the greatest gamblers in Europe. Thus it often
+happened to the German gentlemen, that they lost their carriages and
+horses at play, and had to travel home, involved in debt, in hired
+carriages. Such mischances were borne with great composure, and
+speedily forgotten. In point of faith the greater part of the country
+nobility were orthodox, as were most of the village pastors; but more
+liberal minds clung to the French philosophy. Still did Paris continue
+to issue its puppets and pictures of fashions, hats, ribbons, and
+dresses throughout Germany; but even in the modes a great change was
+gradually beginning: hoops and hair cushions were no longer worn by
+ladies of _ton_, except at court; rouge was strongly objected to, and
+war was declared against powder; figures became smaller and thinner,
+and on the head, over small curly locks, the pastoral straw hat was
+worn; with men, also, embroidered coats, with breeches, silk stockings,
+buckled shoes, and the small dress-sword, were only worn as festival
+attire; the German cavalier began to take pleasure in English horses,
+and the round hat, boots, and spurs were introduced; and they ventured
+to appear in ladies' rooms with their riding-whips.[26]
+
+An easy life of enjoyment was frequent in the families of the
+nobility--a cheerful self-indulgence without great refinement, much
+courtly complaisance and good humour; they had also the art of
+narrating well, which now appears to recede further eastward, and of
+interweaving naturally anecdotes with fine phrases in their
+conversation; and they had a neat way of introducing drolleries. The
+morals of these circles, so often bitterly reprobated, were, it
+appears, no worse than they usually are among mere pleasure-seekers.
+They were not inclined to subtle inquiries, nor were they generally
+much disquieted with severe qualms of conscience; their feelings of
+honour were flexible, but certain limits were to be observed. Within
+these boundaries they were tolerant; in play, wine, and affairs of the
+heart, gentlemen, and even ladies, could do much without fear of very
+severe comments, or disturbances of the even tenor of their life. What
+could not be undone they quietly condoned, and, even when the bounds of
+morality had been overstepped, quickly recovered their composure. The
+art of making life agreeable was then more common than now; equally
+enduring was the power of preserving a vigorous, active, genial spirit,
+and a freshness of humour up to the latest age, and of carrying on a
+cheerful and respectable old age, a life rich in pleasure, though not
+free from conflicts between duty and inclination. There may still be
+found old pictures of this time, which give us a pleasant view of the
+naive freshness and easy cheerfulness of the most aged men and women.
+
+Under the nobility were the country people and petty citizens, who, as
+well as the lower officials, took that conception of life which
+prevailed in Germany during the beginning of the century. Life was
+still colourless. We deceive ourselves if we imagine that at the end of
+this century the philosophic enlightenment had produced much
+improvement in the dwellings of the poor, especially in the country. In
+the villages, undoubtedly, there were schools, but the master was
+frequently only a former servant of the landed proprietor, a poor
+tailor or weaver, who gave up his work as little as possible, and
+perhaps left his wife to conduct the school. The police of the low
+countries was still ineffective, and the vagrants were a heavy burden.
+There were certainly strict regulations against roving vagabonds:
+village watchmen and mounted patrols were to stop every beggar, and
+pass him on to his birth-place; but the village watchman did not watch,
+the communities shunned the expenses of transport or feared the revenge
+of the offenders, and the patrols preferred looking after the carriers,
+who went out of the turnpike roads, because these could pay a fine.
+Complaints were made of this even in Electoral Saxony.
+
+The countryman still continued true to his church; there was much
+praying and psalm-singing in the huts of the poor, frequently a good
+deal of pious enthusiasm; there were still revivalists and prophets
+among the country people. In the mountain countries, especially where
+an active industry had established itself, in the poorest huts, among
+the wood carvers, weavers, and lacemakers of the Erzgebirger and of the
+Silesian valleys, a pious, godly feeling was alive. A few years later,
+when the continental embargo annihilated the industry of the poor, amid
+hunger and deprivations which often brought them to the point of death,
+they showed that their faith gave them the power of suffering with
+resignation.
+
+Betwixt the nobility and the mass of the people stood the higher class
+of citizens: literati, officials, ecclesiastics, great merchants, and
+tradespeople. They also were divided from the people by a privilege,
+the importance of which would not be understood in our time,--they were
+exempt from military service. The severest oppression which fell on the
+sons of the people, their children were free from. The sons of peasants
+or artisans who had the capacity for study could do so, but they had
+first to pass an examination, the so-called "genius test," to exempt
+them from service in the army. But to the son of a literary man or a
+merchant it was a disgrace, if, after a learned school education, he
+sank so low as to fall into the hands of recruiting officers. Even the
+benevolent Kant refused the request of a scholar for a recommendation,
+because he had had the meanness to bear his position as a soldier so
+long and so meekly.[27]
+
+In the literary circle there was still an external difference from the
+citizen in dress and mode of life: it was the best portion of the
+nation, in possession of the highest culture of the time. It included
+poets and thinkers, inventive artists and men of learning, all who won
+any influence in the domain of intellectual life, as leaders and
+educators, teachers and critics. Many of the nobility who had entered
+official life, or had higher intellectual tendencies, had joined them.
+They were sometimes fellow-workers, frequently companions and kindly
+promoters of ideal interests.
+
+In every city there were gentry in this literary set. They were
+scholars of the great philosopher of Koenigsberg; their souls were
+filled with the poetic creations of the great poet, with the high
+results of the knowledge of antiquity. But in their life there was
+still much sternness and earnestness; the performance of duty was not
+easy or cheerful. Their conception of existence wavered betwixt ideal
+requirements and a fastidious, often narrow pedantry, which strikingly
+distinguished them, not always advantageously, from the nobleman.
+
+It is a peculiarity of modern culture, that the impulse of intellectual
+power spreads itself in the middle of the nation between the masses and
+the privileged classes, moulding and invigorating both; the more any
+circle of earthly interests isolates itself from the educated class of
+citizens, the further it is removed from all that gives light, warmth,
+and a secure footing to its life. Whoever in Germany writes a history
+of literature, art, philosophy, and science, does in fact treat of the
+family history of the educated citizen class.
+
+If one seeks what especially unites the men of this class and separates
+them from others, it is not chiefly their practical activity in a
+fortunate middle position, but their culture in the Latin schools.
+Therein lies their pre-eminent advantage,--the great secret of their
+influence. No one should be more willing to acknowledge this than the
+merchant or manufacturer, who has worked his way up from beneath, and
+entered into their circle.
+
+He perceives with admiration the sharpness and precision in thought and
+speech which his sons have attained by occupying themselves with the
+Latin and Greek grammar, which are seldom acquired in any other
+occupation. The unartificial logic, which so strikingly appears in the
+artistic structure of the ancient languages, soon gives acuteness and
+promotes the understanding of all intellectual culture, and the mass of
+the foreign materials of language is an excellent strengthener of the
+memory.
+
+Still more invigorating is the purport conveyed from that distant world
+that was now disclosed to the learner. Still does a very great portion
+of our intellectual riches descend from antiquity. He who would rightly
+understand what works around and in him, and has perhaps long been the
+common property of all classes of the people, must rise up to the
+source; and an acquaintance with a great unfettered national life, and
+a comprehension of some of the laws of life, its beauties and its
+limitations, give a freedom to the judgment upon the condition of the
+present which nothing else can supply. He whose soul has been warmed by
+the Dialogues of Plato, must look down with contempt on the bigotry of
+the monks; and he who has read with advantage the "Antigone" in the
+ancient language, will lay aside the "Sonnenjungfrau" with justifiable
+indifference.
+
+But most important of all was the peculiar method of learning at the
+Latin schools and universities. It is not by the unthinking reception
+of the material presented to them, but their minds are awakened by
+their own investigations and researches. In the higher classes of the
+gymnasiums, and at the universities, the students became the intimates
+of earnest scholars. It was just the disputed questions which most
+stirred them: the inquiries still unanswered, and which most powerfully
+exercised the mind, were those which they most loved to impart. Thus
+the youth penetrated as free investigator into the very centre of life,
+and, however far his later vocation might remove him from these
+investigations, he had received the highest knowledge, and attained to
+the greatest results of the time; and for the rest of his life was
+capable of forming a judgment on the greatest questions of science and
+faith, by accepting or rejecting all the new materials and points of
+view which he had gained. That these schools of learning made little
+preparation for practical life, was no tenable complaint. The merchant
+who took his sons from the university to the counting-house, soon
+discovered that they had not learnt much with which younger apprentices
+were conversant, but that they generally repaired the deficiency with
+the greatest facility.
+
+About 1790, this method of culture had attained so much value and
+importance, that these years might be called the industrious sixth-form
+period of the German people. Eagerly did they learn, and everywhere did
+active spontaneous labour take the place of the old mechanism.
+Philanthropically did the learned strive to create educational
+establishments for every class of the people, and to invent new methods
+of instruction by which the greatest results could be obtained from
+those who had least powers of learning. To instruct, to educate, and to
+raise people from a state of ignorance, was the general desire; not
+that this was useful to the nation in general, for the lower classes
+could not enter into the exalted feelings which gave to the literary
+such enjoyment and elevation of mind.
+
+It is true they themselves felt an inward dissatisfaction. The facts of
+life which surrounded them were often in cutting contrast to their
+ideal requirements. When the peasant worked like a beast of burden, and
+the soldier ran the gauntlet before their windows, nothing seemed to
+remain to them but to shut themselves up in their studies, and to
+occupy their eyes and mind with times in which they were not wounded by
+such barbarities. For it had not yet been tried, what the union of men
+of similar views in a great association would accomplish, in bringing
+about changes in the State and every sphere of practical interest.
+
+Thus, with all their philanthropy, there arose a quiet despondency even
+among the best. They had more soundness and strength of mind than their
+fathers, the source of their morality was purer, and they were more
+conscientious. But they were still private men. Interest in their
+State, in the highest affairs of their nation, had not yet been
+developed. They had learnt to perform their duties as men in a noble
+spirit, and they contrasted, sometimes hypercritically, the natural
+rights of men in a State with the condition under which they lived.
+They had become honourable and strictly moral men, and endeavoured to
+cast off everything mean with an anxiety which is really touching; but
+they were deficient in the power which is developed by the co-operation
+of men of like views, under the influence of great practical questions.
+The noblest of them were in danger, when they could not withdraw into
+themselves, of becoming victims rather than heroes, in the political
+and social struggle. This quality was very striking in the construction
+of their poetry. Almost all the characters which the greatest poets
+produced in their highest works of art were deficient in energy, in
+resolute courage, and political sagacity; even in the heroes of the
+drama with whom such characteristics were least compatible, there was a
+melancholy tendency, as in Galotti, Goetz, and Egmont--even in
+Wallenstein and Faust. The same race of men who investigated with
+wonderful boldness and freedom the secret laws of their intellectual
+being, were as helpless and uncertain in the presence of realities, as
+a youth who first passes from the schoolroom among men.
+
+A sentimentality of character, and the craving for great emotions on
+insignificant occasions, had not disappeared. But this ruling tendency
+of the eighteenth century, which has not been entirely cast off even in
+the present day, was restrained in 1790 by the worthier aims of
+intellectual life. Even sentimentality had had, since Pietism crept
+into life, its little history. First, the poor German soul had been
+strongly affected; it easily became desponding, and found enjoyment in
+observing the tears it shed. Afterwards the enjoyment of its feelings
+became more student-like and hearty.
+
+When, in 1750, some jovial companions passed in the extra-post through
+a village, the inhabitants of which had planted the churchyard with
+roses, the contrast of these flowers of love and the graves so excited
+the imagination of these travellers, that they bought a bottle of wine,
+went to the churchyard, and, revelling in the comparison of roses and
+graves, drank up their wine.[28] But the student flavour of roughness
+which was evinced in this enjoyment, passed away when manners became
+more refined and life more thoughtful. When, in 1770, two brothers were
+travelling in the Rhine country, through a sunny valley among blooming
+fruit-trees, one clasped the hand of the other, in order, by the soft
+pressure of his, to express the pleasure he derived from his company;
+both looked at each other with tender emotion, blessed tears of quiet
+feeling rose in the eyes of both, and they embraced each other, or, as
+would then have been said, they blessed the country with the holy kiss
+of friendship.[29] When, about the same period, a society expected a
+dear friend--it must by the way be mentioned that it was a happy
+husband and father of a family--the feelings on this occasion also were
+far more manifold, and the self-contemplation with which they were
+enjoyed, was far greater than with us. The master of the house, with
+another guest, went to await the approaching carriage at the house
+door; the friend arrives and steps out of the carriage, deeply moved
+and somewhat confused. Meanwhile the amiable lady of the house, of whom
+in former days the new guest had been an admirer, also comes down the
+stairs. The new-comer has already inquired after her with some
+agitation, and seems extremely impatient to see her; now he catches
+sight of her and shrinks back with emotion, then turns aside, and at
+the same time throws his hat with vehemence behind him to the ground,
+and staggers towards her. All this has been accompanied with such an
+extraordinary expression of countenance, that the nerves of the
+bystanders are shaken. The lady of the house goes towards her friend
+with outspread arms; but he, instead of accepting her, seizes her hand
+and bends over it so as to conceal his face; the lady leans over him
+with a heavenly countenance, and says in a tone such as no Clairon or
+Duebois could vie with, "Oh, yes; it is you--you are still my dear
+friend!" The friend, roused by this touching voice, raises himself a
+little, looks into the weeping eyes of his friend, and then again lets
+his face sink down on her arm. None of the bystanders can refrain from
+tears; they flow down the cheeks of even the unconcerned narrator, he
+sobs, and is quite beside himself.[30] After this gushing feeling has
+somewhat subsided, they all feel inexpressibly happy, often press each
+other's hands, and declare these hours of companionship to be the most
+charming of their life. And those who thus comported themselves were
+men of well-balanced minds, who looked with contempt on the affectation
+of the weak, who wept about nothing and made a vocation of their tears
+and feelings, as did the hair-brained Leuchsenring.
+
+But shortly after this, sentimental nature received a rude shock.
+Goethe had represented in Werther, the sorrowful fate of a youth who
+had perished in consequence of these moods; but had himself a far
+nobler and more sound conception of sentiment than existed in his
+contemporaries. His narrative was indeed a book for the moulding of
+finer natures, through which their sentimentality was turned towards
+the noble and poetic. Immense was the effect; tears flowed in streams;
+the Werther dress became a favourite costume with sentimental
+gentlemen, and Lotte the most renowned female character of that year.
+That same year, 1774, a number of tender souls at Wetzlar, men in high
+offices and ladies, agreed together to arrange a solemnity at the grave
+of the poor Jerusalem. They assembled in the evening, read "Werther,"
+and sang the laments and songs on the dead. They wept profusely; at
+last, at midnight, the procession went to the churchyard. Every one was
+dressed in black, with a dark veil over the face, and a torch in the
+hand. Any one who met the procession considered it as a procession of
+devils. At the churchyard they formed a circle round the grave, and
+sang, as is reported, the song, "Ausgelitten hast du, ausgerungen;" an
+orator made a eulogy on the dead, and said that suicide was permitted
+to love. Finally the grave was strewed with flowers.[31] The repetition
+of this was prevented by prosaic magistrates.
+
+But the tragical conclusion of Goethe's narrative shocked men of sound
+understanding. It was no longer a question of jest with flowers and
+doves: it was convulsive earnest. When the respectable son of an
+official could arrive at such extravagance as suicide, there was an end
+of jest. Thus this same work gave rise to a reaction in stronger
+natures, and violent literary polemics, from which the Germans
+gradually learnt to regard with irony this phase of sentiment, yet
+without becoming entirely free from it.
+
+For it was undoubtedly only a variation of the same fundamental
+tendency, when souls that had become weary of sighs and tears threw
+themselves into the sublime. Even the monstrous appeared admirable. To
+speak in hyperbolies--to express with the utmost strength the commonest
+things, to give the most insignificant action the air of being
+something extraordinary--became for a long time the fashionable folly
+of the literary circle. But even this exaggeration disappeared About
+1790, the past was looked back upon with smiles, and the spirits of men
+were contented with the homely, modest style in which Lafontaine and
+Iffland produced emotion.
+
+The growth of a child's mind at this period shall be here portrayed. It
+is a narrative of his early youth--not printed--left by a strong-minded
+man to his family. It contains nothing uncommon; it is only the
+unpretending account of the development of a boy by teaching and home,
+such as takes place in a thousand families. But it is just because what
+is imparted is so commonplace, that it is peculiarly adapted to excite
+the interest of the reader. It gives an instructive insight into the
+life of a rising family.
+
+In the first years of the reign of Frederic the Great, a poor teacher
+at Leipzig was lying on his deathbed; the long vexations and
+persecutions he had endured from his predecessor, a vehement pastor,
+had brought him there. His spiritual opponent sought reconciliation
+with the dying man; he promised the teacher, Haupt, to take care of his
+uneducated children, and he kept his word. He placed one son in the
+great commercial house, Frege, which was then at the height of
+prosperity. The young Haupt won the confidence of his principal; and
+when he wished to establish himself at Zittau, the house of Frege made
+the needy youth a loan of 10,000 thalers. The year after, the new
+merchant wrote to his creditor to say that his business was making
+rapid progress, but that he should get into great difficulties if he
+had not the same sum again. His former principal sent him the double.
+After eight years the Zittau merchant repaid the whole loan, and the
+day on which he sent the last sum, he drank in his house the first
+bottle of wine. The son of this man, Ernst Friederich Haupt (he who
+will give an account of his school hours in his father's house),
+studied law and became a Syndicus, and afterwards Burgomaster of his
+native town; he was a man of powerful character and depth of mind, and
+also a literary man of comprehensive knowledge; some Latin poems
+printed by him are among the most refined and elegant specimens of this
+kind of poetry. His life was earnest, and he laboured in a very
+restricted sphere with a zeal which never seemed sufficient to satisfy
+himself. But the weight of his energetic character became, at the
+beginning of the political commotions in 1830, burdensome to the young
+democrats among the citizens. It was in the city where he dwelt that
+the agitation was carried on by an unworthy man, who later, by his evil
+deeds, brought himself to a lamentable end. In the bewilderment of
+the first movement, the citizens destroyed the faithful attachment
+which for thirty years had subsisted between them and their superior.
+The proud and strict man was wounded to his innermost soul by
+heartlessness and ingratitude; he withdrew from all public occupation,
+and neither the entreaties nor the genuine repentance evinced by his
+fellow-citizens shortly after, could make him forget the bitter
+mortification of those years which had left their mark upon his life.
+When he walked through the streets, looking quietly before him, a
+noble melancholy old man with white hair, then--it is related by
+eye-witnesses--the people on all sides took off their caps with timid
+reverence; but he stepped on without looking to right or left, without
+thanks or greeting to the crowd. From that time he lived as a private
+man, given up to his scientific pursuits. But his son, Moriz Haupt,
+Professor of the University of Berlin, became one of our greatest
+philosophers, one of our best men.
+
+Thus begins his account of his first years of school:--
+
+"My earliest recollections begin with the autumn of the year 1776, when
+I was two years and a half old. We travelled to the family property; I
+sat on my mother's lap, and the soft bloom on her face gave me great
+pleasure. I was amused with looking at the trees which appeared to pass
+the carriage so quickly. Still do the same trees stand on the other
+side of the bridge; still, when I look at them, does this recollection
+of the pure world rise before me.
+
+"Already have four-and-forty years passed over the resting-place of
+your holy dust, dear departed! So early torn away from us! Gentle as
+thy friendly face, must thy soul have been! I knew thee not; only faint
+recollections remain to me. I have no picture of thee, not even a sweet
+token of remembrance. Yet shortly before they sent me, not seventeen
+years of age, to Leipzig, I stood on the holy spot that contains thy
+ashes, and sobbing vowed to thee that I would be good!
+
+"Well do I remember the Sunday morning on which my sister Rieckhen was
+born. Running hurriedly--I had got up sooner than my brother--and,
+unasked for, had run into my mother's room. I announced it to every one
+that I found. Some days after, all around me wept 'Mamma is going
+away!' called out our old nurse, wringing her hands. 'Away! where,
+then?' I inquired with astonishment 'To heaven!' was the answer, which
+I did not understand.
+
+"My mother had collected us children once more round her, to kiss and
+bless us. My half-sister Jettchen, then almost ten years old, and my
+brother Ernst, who was four, had wept. I--as I have often been told, to
+my great sorrow--scarcely waited for the kiss, and hid myself playfully
+behind my sister, 'Fritz! Fritz!' said my mother, smiling, 'you are and
+will remain a giddy boy; well, run away!'
+
+"What I heard of heaven and the resurrection confused my thoughts; it
+seemed to me as if my mother would soon awake and be with us again.
+Some time after, my brother, who was much more sensible than I, said,
+as we were kneeling on a stool, looking at the floating evening clouds,
+and talking of our mother: 'No, the resurrection is something quite
+different!' But soon after her burial--it was Sunday--when I was
+playing in the evening in front of our back door, and a beggar spoke to
+me, I exclaimed, 'Mamma is dead!' and ran away from the nurse through
+both courts, in order to seek my father, whom I found sitting
+sorrowfully in his room. He took me and my brother by the hand and
+wept. This appeared strange to me, and I thought, 'So, my father
+also can weep, who is so old.' For my father, who was then scarcely
+forty-seven years of age, appeared old to me,--far older, for example,
+than I now believe myself to look, at almost the same age. But children
+look upon things differently to others; besides which, my father had
+dark eyebrows, in which respect I have become partly like him.
+
+"Six months after my mother's death, my father took his sister to live
+with him, which altered our manner of life in many ways. Our life was
+no longer so quiet as before. Still sweet to me is the remembrance of
+the tales with which our aunt--who was always called by us and all the
+world, _Frau Muhme_--entertained us in the evening. As soon as it was
+twilight we dragged her by force into her chair, and we children sat
+round her and listened. Stories were hundreds of times repeated of our
+father's home, of Leipzig, and of grandfathers and great-grandfathers;
+and I longed to see myself at Leipzig, and to see the great fair, which
+I represented to myself, strangely enough, as an immense staircase hung
+with paper.
+
+"We enjoyed indescribable pleasure when we watched in the evening, by
+moonlight, the motion of the clouds. The view from one window was of
+the hill and woods. In the forms of those clouds we discovered the
+figures of men or animals. There was a solemnity about them which
+enhanced the charm, and when, in my sixteenth year, I for the first
+time read Ossian, and his gloomy world of spirits and misty forms
+passed before me, then did I return in spirit to that window. Equally
+so, when I read the poem, 'Jetzt zieh'n die Wolken, Lotte, Lotte!'
+
+"Visitors also, as was formerly the case in almost every nursery,
+related stories of spirits and ghosts, which we were never tired of
+hearing. Yet, although many who related them believed in them, at no
+time did my brother and I give a moment's credence to these tales.
+Never did we believe in the supernatural; even as boys of fifteen, we
+struggled against superstition. We have to thank our half-sister
+Jettchen for this: a maiden of rare gifts of mind. She pointed out to
+us in simple words the laughable side of these tales. But the awful had
+not the less great power over us, and we were often in fear when we
+were obliged to wander in the dark through the long passage to the
+front drawing-room.
+
+"At the age of three years and a half old, I received my first
+instruction. My brother could already almost read, and I soon advanced
+enough to keep pace with him.
+
+"I cannot say that we were fond of M. Kretzschmar, our first teacher,
+for he was in some degree bizarre, and punched our heads abundantly. It
+is scarcely credible but I can affirm that at five years old I only
+read mechanically, thinking all the time of something else; for
+example, of the flowers in our garden, or our little dog, &c. My own
+words sounded strange in my ears. Therefore I was often dreaming when I
+was asked a question; then followed the usual thump; but then I thought
+of that. Why was it so? It was indisputably for this reason, that our
+teacher did not know how to attract young minds to the subject. My
+brother was a very rare exception of quiet earnestness; and yet who
+knows how often even he may have been equally distracted?
+
+"At five years old we began to learn Latin. Jettchen translated glibly
+Cornelius and Phaedrus, and also the French New Testament. We boys
+learnt assiduously from Langen's and Raussendorf's grammar, and I had
+long written what we called 'small exercises,' before I clearly knew
+what I was about. I remember distinctly that it was as if scales fell
+from my eyes when, at six years old, I discovered that we were learning
+the language of the ancient Romans." (Thus was instruction almost
+universally carried on at that time!)
+
+"Nevertheless, in many points of view, I have reason to thank this
+teacher. He taught us to read well, and by the frequent recitation of
+good verses--he did not write bad poetry himself--we imbibed early a
+taste for melody and harmony. We learnt many, very many songs and
+fables by heart. Learning by heart!--a now very antique expression; it
+was then very frequent in the plan of lessons, and it was by this that
+my memory became so strong. We were exercised in committing to memory
+whole pages in a quarter of an hour, and later I often learnt off at
+once eight, ten, or twelve strophes. In short, taken on the whole,
+according to the standard of that time, the pedagogue, with all his
+deficiencies, did not do ill by us. The soul, also, was not unattended
+to. Feddersen's 'Life of Jesus' was our favourite reading. Feder's
+'Compendium' was used for our religious instruction, a book which is
+still highly estimated. Our feeling for the beautiful was also awakened
+and trained in another way. Weiss's Operettes, set to Hiller's music,
+then made a great sensation. Kretzschmar played the harpsichord well,
+and the violin still better. My sister Jettchen played very tolerably
+at sight. Thus by degrees all Weiss's operas were played and sung, and
+we young ones joined in the lighter airs by ear. My father listened,
+and sometimes joined, with pleasure.
+
+"Thus did many autumn and winter evenings pass. Dear scenes of home,
+what have become of you in most families? You are superseded by trashy
+reading, casino, and play!
+
+"The poetry we learnt we recited in the evening, before our father and
+_Muhme_,--nay, in case of need before the maid. Passages which had been
+explained to us, we then explained again. All this suggested to me the
+first idea and wish to consecrate my studies to religion and become a
+preacher.
+
+"We had many playfellows. It was a common custom for children to visit
+one another on Sundays. We were allowed to remain to dinner, and
+accustomed to be well-behaved with grown-up persons. I, as being the
+least, was usually placed by the side of the father and mother of
+the family. Everywhere there was hearty friendliness. This custom,
+also,--at least in this form,--has almost passed away. We might not
+sometimes, perhaps, be quite agreeable to the elders, but this was
+rare. My father was much pleased when children, even as many as six or
+eight, came to us. The old people gladly gave a supper to the merry
+little folk, and they also played with them. Then on Monday we looked
+forward with pleasure to the following Sunday. Is it surprising that we
+still look back with pleasure to those happy days, the remembrance of
+which is wafted to me like the perfume of living flowers?
+
+"With all my youthful gaiety I was still very earnest-minded. Our
+mother, who had been dead only three years, was often spoken of; we had
+learnt a quantity of funeral hymns, and at six years old I certainly
+thought more frequently of death and immortality than many youths, or
+even men. What was to become of animals after death, I had not thought
+of till I was five years old. Then I happened to see a dead dog in the
+city moat, and asked our teacher about it. 'There is no immortality for
+dogs,' he answered, which made me indescribably sorrowful. It was a
+Sunday evening. I told it to my nurse, and wept bitterly.
+
+"At Easter, in 1780, our new teacher came. He had considerable
+knowledge, and lived very quiet and retired, as he secretly reckoned
+himself one of the Moravian brothers. We clung to him with deep love,
+for he devoted himself entirely to us. With no other man did we prefer
+walking; and all his conversation was instructive, for the most part
+religious. His endeavours to conceal from us his inclination for that
+sect which my father hated, gave an air of mystery to his words. We
+gained much in serious feeling through him. He accustomed us not to
+speak lightly of God or Jesus; and on his departure, at the end of two
+years, we were so well grounded in this that months passed without our
+once falling into this error, and when it did happen we sorrowed
+secretly with deep repentance; we left our most amusing game and prayed
+right heartily; we were, indeed, ourselves at last inclined to Pietism,
+for all worldly pleasures were condemned, or looked upon as injurious
+dissipations. So-called books of amusement, bordering upon novels, were
+considered good for nothing; even Gellert's dramas were reckoned among
+his youthful sins; places of amusement--balls, worldly concerts--were
+workshops of the devil! Only oratorios were bearable. Comedies were
+undoubted sins against the Holy Ghost. On my brother, who was naturally
+inclined for melancholy, these opinions took far deeper hold; he wept
+often in secret over his sins, as he called them. I envied him for
+this, considering myself as a reprobate and him as a child of God; but
+with all my endeavours I could not succeed in being so correct! I
+continually rejoiced at the sorrowful emotions which often overcame my
+soft heart.
+
+"Still, still do I consecrate to thee my thanks, thou good and
+righteous teacher! Thou wast the most faithful shepherd of thy little
+flock! He lives still, near eighty years of age. For thirty years I
+have only once seen him, but last year, when my brother died, he wrote
+me a letter, full of faith and piety. In a dream--he attached much
+importance to dreams--he had visited our house on the day of the death
+of my brother, his Ernst. It is touching to read his assurances that
+his convictions were the same as they had been forty years before.
+
+"There is one blessed hour I bear in memory. He went with us to walk in
+the city, and the evening star glanced kindly down upon us. 'What are
+the people above there doing?' said the teacher. This was a new idea to
+us! We were moved with joyful astonishment when he said to us: 'It is
+possible, even probable, that God's goodness has assigned other planets
+as a dwelling-place for living, thinking, and worshipping creatures.'
+Delighted, elevated, and comforted, we turned back. It was the
+counterpoise to that sorrow which fell upon me when I heard that there
+was no future for animals!
+
+"On Christmas Eve, 1780, our dear sister Jettchen died, in her
+fourteenth year; nine days before we were playing merrily, when she was
+suddenly seized with a pain in her stomach. The doctor thought lightly
+of it, and probably mistook the real cause. After seven days she became
+visibly worse, was weak and pale as death; she left her couch for the
+last time in order to reach us our writing books. Yet no one seemed to
+anticipate her death. Alas! it followed that Christmas Eve, early;
+about four o'clock they awoke us to see her once more. Weeping loudly
+we rushed up to her. She did not know us. 'Good night! Jettchen!' we
+exclaimed, and my father prayed, tearfully. Our teacher stood by the
+death-bed and prayed: 'Now take my heart, and take me as I am to thee,
+thou dear Jesus!' (From the Kottbus hymn-book.)
+
+"She departed amidst these prayers, and lay there in heavenly serenity.
+My little sister Rieckchen, three years and a half old, came up and
+said to the sick-nurse: 'When I die, lay me out in just such a white
+cloth as my Jettel.' And seventeen years afterwards the same woman did
+it!
+
+"Before this, in the evening, we had to give our Christmas greetings.
+My brother and Jettchen exchanged greetings--very beautiful--in
+writing. 'She who was your chief is absent,' said my father, weeping.
+On the third day of the feast she was buried. She lay in a white dress
+with pale pink ribbons, a garland on her brown hair, and a small
+crucifix in her hand. 'Sleep well!' exclaimed our old nurse, 'till thy
+Saviour wakes thee!' We could not speak, we only sobbed. Often did my
+dearly beloved Jettchen appear to me in dreams, always lovely, quiet,
+and serious. Once she offered me a wreath; this was considered as a
+sign that I was to die, as I was soon after seriously ill. But since my
+childhood I have not been so fortunate as to dream once of her. She
+loved me tenderly! I may say very particularly so!
+
+"Our sorrow was a little alleviated by our thoughts being distracted by
+a new building of my father's, a new garden-house; he had long wished
+for an extension and entire transformation of the garden. In less than
+two years all was finished, and now we passed most of our summer
+evenings there. The garden had ever been our place for exercise, and
+now it was enlarged. What pleasure it was to us, on the finishing of
+the new building, for the first time to eat our supper in the open air!
+And then we were allowed to remain out till ten o'clock, and go about
+under the starry heaven; and my father discharged small fireworks for
+us!
+
+"In May, 1782, our good teacher left us, having received the rectorship
+at Seidenberg. Our sorrow was great, very great! He blessed us: 'Keep
+steadfastly to the instructions I have given you! Fear God, and all
+will go well with you!' These were his parting words. I threw myself on
+my bed and wept upon my pillow.
+
+"My father was a strict, upright, honourable man. He had raised himself
+from bitter poverty to wealth, by his own exertions. With unremitting
+activity he only thought of maintaining and extending his business; of
+giving employment to many hundred manufacturers, and to securing an
+independence for us, his children. He worked daily ten and often eleven
+hours, only his garden drew him sometimes away; otherwise nothing else
+in the world. He was born to be a merchant, but in the highest sense;
+small accidental gains he despised, and I believe it would have been
+impossible for him to have been a retail dealer. He never made use of
+the frequent opportunities of becoming rich by bankruptcies; he walked
+steadily in the straight path, and was angry if his servants, in his
+absence at the fair, overcharged the purchasers. His external life was
+as simple as his inward principles. His furniture remained almost
+unchanged: the inherited plate kept its form; he only attached value to
+fine linen and good Rhine wine. His table was frugal; with the
+exception of high festival days, he had usually only one dish; of an
+evening frequently only potatoes or radishes. Wine only on Sundays,
+except on a summer evening in the garden. About once a year he gave an
+entertainment, then father Haupt would not do the thing shabbily.
+Champagne he could not bear; this, therefore, came very seldom. But he
+delighted in old Rhine and Hungarian wine, and bishop made of Burgundy.
+On Sunday evenings he walked in the fields, and now and then his life
+was diversified by a drive. He was, moreover, hospitable; very often
+foreign commercial friends came, and he frequently took his favourite
+clerks from the writing-room to dine with him. He was fond of talking
+politics, and often took correct views of the future. Though he was
+grave, he could be very cheerful, and often joked with us. He was
+open-handed to the highest degree; gave much to the poor, and gladly
+supported industrious people. Sometimes a great disinclination to the
+literary class came over him; therefore he frequently declaimed against
+the albums of the scholars; yet he never gave less than one thaler
+eight n. gr., often double, nay, three and four fold. All boasting was
+foreign to him, and he hated all ostentation of riches. If he heard
+that any members of his guild showed such ostentation, he only laughed
+most satirically; but when the boaster made himself too ridiculous he
+would say, 'We have not seen the end of it;' or, 'What wonderful things
+that man has;' or, at all events, at the utmost he said, 'I am not a
+nobody, either.' He was strictly religious, yet without superstition,
+against which, as well as against Popery, priestly pride, and
+hypocrisy, he would loudly declaim. He thought clearly on the most
+important subjects, as he himself knew, and was indeed almost alarmed,
+if he took, as he thought, too free views. It was touching to me; when
+once at Leipzig, during my studies there, he expressed himself freely
+upon confession, and then, drawing back with great modesty, said, 'Yet
+I am saying too much, Fritz, for I know that I am no deep thinking
+man.' He had, as a youth, read part of Wolf's philosophical works; but
+they were too dry for him. In his judgments of men he struck, as they
+say, the right nail on the head; yet he was, like all upright minds,
+often caustic, sharp, and bitter. If he had once said, 'The fellow is
+good for nothing!' he adhered to it.
+
+"From his over-extensive business, in which he had no intelligent men,
+but only mere machines to assist him, we saw but little of him. He was
+obliged to intrust us to the tutor and the woman-kind; the result was
+that we felt more reverence than confidential tenderness for him. Yet
+we loved him from the bottom of our hearts, and his principles, his
+teaching, and his simple life worked upon us beneficially.
+
+"Our aunt had, it is true, her good days, yet she never succeeded in
+entirely gaining our love. Her quarrels with the maids were more
+repugnant to us from the contrast of the familiarity with which it
+alternated; she managed to make use of my father's moments of vexation
+to gain her objects. But all this did not turn our hearts from her,
+as she did us no injury, and often even took our part against the
+ill-treatment of our new tutor. It was only that she was not fitted to
+captivate childish hearts. From this she took a great aversion to our
+nurse, to whom we clung with our whole souls, as she had brought up us
+four motherless orphans without any assistance. Belonging to a better
+class--her husband had rented a large property at Wernigerode--she had
+become impoverished by war, plunder, and a succession of misfortunes,
+her husband had died, and her children had partly gone out into the
+world and partly been brought up by relations. She had an excellent
+woman's head, a clear understanding, endless good-humour, cheerfulness,
+and suitable wit. If it is true that I have sometimes humorous ideas, a
+certain share in the development of this quality belongs to her. I well
+remember that I have gone on for a whole half-hour with her making
+bon-mots and allegories. 'With you I can joke.' With this good opinion
+I was often rewarded. Besides this she was skilful in a thousand
+things, and could always give advice. She was not disinclined to the
+'_Stillen im Lande_,' which from her great sufferings the cup of which
+she had drained to the dregs, could be easily understood. Her heart was
+pure and pious, and she maintained in us the impression of our former
+tutor's admonitions, when his successor would almost have exterminated
+them by his teaching and course of life. Many of her relations, and
+also her son-in-law had become surgeons, and she had, as a maiden,
+given medical assistance. Therefore she possessed more than usual
+knowledge, and astonished a surgeon when she skilfully set my brother's
+foot, which he had dislocated. She understood osteology perfectly;
+perhaps indeed she sometimes had too much confidence in herself, but
+her remedies healed very quickly; and when the surgeon for four months
+vainly endeavoured to cure my brother's foot, and spoke of the bone
+being rotten, she shook her head; he was sent away, and in a month the
+foot was healed.
+
+"The public even believed that she dealt in the black art, but we knew
+better. 'I have sworn to my lady,' (our mother), 'to give my life for
+you, if it can be of use to you, and I will keep what I vowed on her
+deathbed!' Peace be to her ashes! her wish to repose near 'her
+lady' has been fulfilled. 'Children! when I die, I have only one
+request,--lay me near your mother; ah! if I am only under the ledge of
+her tomb, I shall be content.'
+
+"Such was the state of things in our house when the new tutor came--he
+was in every respect the contrary of his predecessor. The one simple,
+straightforward, and just, avoiding even the appearance of evil; the
+other a frivolous, flighty dandy, who--it was then a matter of
+importance--played with a lorgnette, and wore stiff polished boots even
+when he preached; in knowledge below his predecessor; in faith not
+knowing himself what he wished. The former weighed his words, this one
+often swore, and his pupils soon followed his example. He danced, rode,
+played at cards, &c. In short, quite a common-place master. Passionate,
+tyrannical, and severe upon our faults, or rather--for he did not
+concern himself much with our morals--harsh upon slight mistakes in the
+school-room. And yet we learned everything well, and knew more than all
+our playfellows; of that I am very certain.
+
+"He very nearly disgusted me with study, treating me with special
+harshness, from not understanding my ardent mind; meanwhile from this
+bitter my nature drew forth honey. I had often suffered injustice, from
+hence arose the feeling of justice in my soul. 'It is better to suffer
+wrong than to do it!' often said our nurse to me. And out of this
+sprang forth my zeal against oppression, violence, and injustice of all
+kinds. The very depths of my soul were stirred when, being innocent, I
+was ill-treated; suffering seemed more deeply-wounding when inflicted
+by unfeeling arrogance. My brother and I respected the guilty, if they
+repented. Thus it was wholesome to bear undeserved severity! And
+yet,--so forgiving is the pure soul of childhood--that we only hated
+the man for the moment. A friendly word, or one of praise from him, and
+all was forgotten.
+
+"As the Pietism of the other had not quite suited my father, the new
+tutor, in the beginning, was more thought of by him. But he soon learnt
+to know his man; and God knows how my father himself could for five
+long years have borne the misconduct of this man, for he wrote him
+insolent letters if he ever ventured to blame anything. We never dared
+complain, for our father did not stand in very confidential relations
+with us. So we suffered in silence, and often not a little. Often have
+I, in the truest sense of the words, eaten my bread with bitter tears.
+
+"I must here mention, that my first resolution to become a preacher was
+extinguished by this man. 'Law, law,' he often exclaimed to me. What
+that meant was very mysterious to me. At last, however, when I heard
+that there were law professors, I understood it. It was now settled;
+but what attracted me in the Professorship was the opportunity of
+speaking in public. If there was a vocation that suited me it was this.
+
+"Thus passed the years from 1782 to 1786. In the beginning of 1787, my
+brother, still not fourteen years old, was put into a counting-house at
+Chemnitz. Inexpressibly sorrowful was our parting. We loved each other
+as brothers, and if we had small quarrels, in which I was more to blame
+than he, we never let the sun set without being reconciled. But now
+follows an important chapter in my juvenile life.
+
+"The picture of a perfect tutor is indeed charming. More than father
+and mother can do, can be effected by a noble, pious teacher, of simple
+life, full of judgment and moral power; only that scarcely one out of a
+hundred can be found to realise this ideal.'
+
+"A heavy load was lifted from my breast when I felt myself free from
+this tutor's discipline! A feeling I had never experienced before
+stirred in me! I was already half-grown up! Was it an impulse to
+unrestrained roving? or a longing for dissipation? or youthful
+presumption which fancied it needed no guide? In truth no thoughts of
+this kind entered my mind! It was the pure consciousness of having
+suffered injustice; it was the honest feeling that I was not so bad, as
+he in his frantic humour had often said I was; it was the glad prospect
+of being able to strive independently; it was the desire to show that I
+no longer needed leading-strings. Still do I remember the evening of
+the 5th of April, 1787,--Maunday Thursday,--how beautiful the sunset
+was, and I spoke with open heart to my playfellows of the new life that
+was opening to me.
+
+"My father put me under the teaching of the Conrector Mueller, and his
+old friend the Subrector Jary, and in this he did well.
+
+"To the Conrector Mueller I owe most thanks. I passed from tyrannical
+oppression to his liberal intellectual sway. His kindliness and his
+noble open countenance, speaking of pure goodness of heart, attracted
+me to him when first we spoke together. He understood how to elevate my
+feeling for learning. He knew everything thoroughly. He was strong in
+Latin, not unversed in Greek; the history of the German Empire, and
+political history--but above all, literary history,--together with
+geography, were his favourite studies. He had not one enemy.
+
+"Jary was not born to be a teacher, but he was not without knowledge,
+which he had acquired by industry. His method was defective, but he
+meant to deal faithfully by his scholars, and looked after them. His
+religious opinions were strictly orthodox; and I wept when he expressed
+doubts as to the eternal happiness of Cicero! Yet I owe him also
+thanks; he treated me with earnest kindness, and when he dismissed
+me in 1791, the old man said weeping: 'Fare you well! I shall not
+see you again; fare you well, you are almost the only one who has
+not vexed me!'
+
+"In August, 1788, I partook for the first time of the Lord's Supper. I
+looked up fervently and repeated to myself Kretzschmar's ode: 'Let us
+rejoicing fill the holy vaults of thy temple with hymns of praise.
+Invisibly though perceptibly, does God's grace hover round us!'
+Joyfully, with heaven in my heart, did I approach the altar!
+Nevertheless, when in the afternoon I examined myself during a solitary
+walk, I was dissatisfied with myself. What I had been taught concerning
+the merits of Christ, appeared to me unintelligible; my groping in the
+dark about this, weakened the impression of that day. I worried myself
+with the idea of the atonement by death, and no ray of light entered my
+soul. Besides I loved the old heathens, Cicero, Pliny, Socrates, &c.,
+more than many Christians, together with the Apostles, more than all
+the Jews of the Old Testament, as the people of God did not
+particularly please me. And yet it was doubtful whether God would
+receive Socrates as a child of light. How in the world, I thought,
+could my poor Socrates help not having been born later, not having
+lived in Judea?
+
+"Thus I troubled myself, and was more sorrowful than cheerful.
+
+"At Michaelmas, 1788, my father took me with him to Leipzig, where my
+brother also was to come. Oh, the pleasure of meeting again! No
+language can describe it! My brother's Principal allowed him leave
+every afternoon and also many mornings; so we could have plenty of
+talk. I soon became aware that my brother had read many freethinking
+works upon religion, especially many of Bahrdt's. His own inquiries led
+him still further. This occasioned me much sorrow, for Jary's strict
+orthodoxy had laid hold of me. But I was the happiest. Soon after, I
+attained to clear views in a scientific way, while my brother, left to
+himself, wavered to and fro, which was still perceptible, even in his
+old age. The insoluble question--why reason was reason?--gave
+unspeakable suffering to my poor brother. Undoubtedly my lighter tone
+of mind, my fancy, which gave me a poetic feeling, and especially my
+disposition to give up groping over difficult passages, were a help to
+me. With my brother reason prevailed too much.
+
+"We passed three blessed weeks. To me the Academy was to some extent a
+great pleasure; the Zittauer students took pains to make my residence
+agreeable to me. The theatre we visited assiduously, we loved plays
+passionately, and when the actors were at Zittau, we had learnt under
+the guidance of the last tutor, to criticise with judgment Don Carlos
+was given, Agnes Bernaner, and Kaspar der Thorringer; deep was the
+impression left upon me, and I confessed secretly to myself, that I
+should not find it disagreeable to be an actor. Even in this the idea
+of public speaking exercised its charm upon me. A hundred times,
+perhaps, did we act plays in that year, frequently extempore. It was
+singular that the old _roles_, as we called them, were particularly
+suitable to me. But comic parts I could not manage, which, strange as
+it may appear, my brother frequently chose, although he had
+qualifications for the more serious ones, and, according to my
+judgment, he often failed in the comic parts. A friend played the
+military _roles_, to which I had a great aversion.
+
+"How great the advantage of public instruction! It may sometimes have
+its defects, and unfortunately schools are often laboratories of
+temptation. But how true are Quintilian's words, that children often
+carry to school faults from home! Great is the advantage that public
+institutions are open to inspection, and that freedom of mind prospers
+there more than in private education, and emulation awakens and
+nourishes the power of self-exertion.
+
+"These hours of enjoyment with my brother came to an end. On the Monday
+after _oculi_ I was introduced, after a successful examination, by
+Director Sintenis. I became immediately 'sixth form boy' at the third
+table. This excited great envy and caused me many bitter hours. I, who
+without falsehood and malice, meant well by every one, did not
+understand what many of the seniors meant. Finally, however, my good
+behaviour got the better of them, I remained just the same, and bore
+much with patience. It was long before I could conceive what envy was,
+for I had no touch of it in my disposition. My more acute brother, to
+whom I made my lamentations, wrote to me, 'Read Gustav Lindau, or, the
+man who can bear no envy,' by Meissner. He was right, and yet it was
+not till I was thirty-five, that I saw it in its true light.
+
+"When this period of envy had passed away, and Mueller said, 'You sit in
+the place that is due to you, but mind you maintain your place,' a
+succession of happier days opened to me.
+
+"Easter drew near; I examined myself and found that I had been very
+industrious. With Mueller especially, I had in the last year done much.
+I was behindhand only in Greek, as almost all were; yet I could get on.
+In the Imperial and Saxon history I was well up, and in the knowledge
+of literature very strong for one who was not seventeen. In the
+geography of countries beyond Europe I was deficient. Latin I knew
+best. The most ready amongst us could translate whole pages off hand,
+without a fault, in two or three minutes; it was here and there
+improved in elegance and then read aloud. I owe to these exercises my
+facility in speaking Latin, which I was obliged to acquire at the
+University.
+
+"The time for my departure from the academy was come.
+
+"With all my liveliness, I had also many serious, even melancholy
+hours. The separation from my sisters, whom I dearly loved, disposed me
+often to be sorrowful; I especially loved the youngest, Friederike, who
+clung to me. Especially the last winter we were inseparable, it was as
+if she anticipated that we should soon be parted for ever.
+
+"My heart was pure, untouched by the allurements to which I well knew
+my fellow scholars yielded. I had already determined to continue in the
+same course; this I may affirm now at the end of thirty years. My chief
+fault was hasty anger, which even led me to the verge of giving blows;
+and violent passion is still the dark side of my character! Besides
+this, I was bitter in my censure of the faults of others. Faithful
+self-examination told me all this and more; but I was always forgiving,
+and any feeling of revenge would have been impossible to me.
+
+"My heart glowed with friendship; ingratitude appeared to me, as it
+still does, a black vice. Finally, I must say one word of my feelings
+as a youth; to maiden charms I was very sensitive, but never did a
+faithless word pass my lips. The loves of the scholars were repugnant
+to me, but I will not deny having entertained secretly a hope that some
+female heart might be gracious to me; but pale and thin as I was, I
+often seriously doubted the possibility of it.
+
+"The expression of quiet melancholy in the eyes of L. v. D. attracted
+me early; I had the greatest pleasure in talking to her, and she was
+the only one of my sisters' playfellows with whom I walked, when we
+rambled about the garden. But she left Zittau soon, and never did a
+word escape my lips--and how could it? In 1788, I saw her again once;
+after that time never again.
+
+"My first school occupations drove away all such thoughts, although I
+was teased as well as others, when I had danced more with one maiden
+than another at the school balls. Sometimes undoubtedly there were
+moments, when from braggadocio, I made it appear as if there was
+something in question, where certainly there was nothing.
+
+"But shortly before my departure--at a school ball--I met with Lorchen
+L., who was destined by my stars, to be the companion of my life, and
+entered into conversation with her. Even then I was much charmed with
+her! and danced oftener and with greater pleasure, than with any other
+maiden. It made me uneasy to feel that in some months I should be away.
+The impression upon me was not concealed from my class, and they
+bantered me; and I looked gloomy. Even during more than six years'
+absence, her image ever rose before me. If there are inward voices,
+this was one for me!
+
+"The day dawned on which I was to take leave of Zittau, and my sister
+was to accompany me to Leipzig. With tears I parted from Mueller, and
+with emotion from all the teachers. In the evening I took a lonely walk
+in the open air, the evening sky shone bright, the reflection fell on
+my mother's grave. Tears burst from me: 'Yes, mother! I vowed that I
+would be good!' With hasty steps I went home. 'Now we shall never
+more,' said my brother, 'never more,' wander together, he would have
+said, but tears choked his voice.
+
+"We slept little, talking almost the whole night, and early, about four
+o'clock, our travelling carriage rolled out of Zittau."
+
+Thus does a sensible man of the time of our fathers and grandfathers,
+relate the boy-life in a citizen's family, honourable and serious, of
+strict morality, and no common strength of intellect. Still, with depth
+of feeling is united a sentimentality which will perhaps excite a
+smile, perhaps touch the heart. It is the secluded life of a wealthy
+family, but how earnest is the feeling of the child, how laboriously he
+spends his days! The greatest enjoyment of the young boy is in
+learning; he finds an inexhaustible source of elevation and enthusiasm
+in the knowledge that he imbibes.
+
+The narrator seeks his happiness in family life, in the duties of his
+office, and in science and art. He forms an elevated and profound
+conception of everything. Politics only disturb him. It was not till
+the next generation that man's feelings were excited, their powers
+awakened, and new qualities developed by the idea of a Fatherland.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+                          THE PERIOD OF RUIN.
+                                (1800.)
+
+
+Again did evil arise from France, and again did a new life spring from
+the struggle against the enemy.
+
+It was not the first time that that country had inflicted deep wounds
+on German national strength, and had unintentionally awakened a new
+power which victoriously arrested her progress. The policy of Richelieu
+had been the most dangerous opponent of the German Empire, but at the
+same time it had been obliged to support the Protestant party there, in
+which lay the source of all later renovation. After him French
+literature ruled the German mind for a century, and for a long time it
+appeared as if the Academy of Paris and the classical drama were to
+govern our taste, as did the tailors and peruke makers of the Seine.
+But indignation and shame produced, in opposition to French art, a
+poetry and science which, in spite of its cosmopolitan tendency, was
+genuinely national. Now the heir of the French revolution brought
+violent destruction on the declining empire, and gave his commands on
+its ruins like a tyrannical ruler, till at last the Germans resolved to
+drive him away, in order to take their affairs into their own hands.
+
+Defenceless was the frontier against the invading stranger. Only on the
+lower Rhine there was the Prussian realm, but along the other part of
+the stream were the domains of ecclesiastical princes, and small
+territories without any power of resistance. It was the four western
+circles of the empire, the Upper Rhine, Suabia, Franconia, and Bavaria,
+which the North Germans mockingly called the Empire.
+
+Even in the Empire, the ecclesiastical territories and Bavaria were
+very much behindhand, in comparison with Baden and Suabia. The example
+of Frederic II. in Prussia, and the philosophic enlightenment of this
+period, had reformed most of the Protestant courts, as also Electoral
+Saxony, since the Seven Years' War. Greater economy, household order,
+and earnest solicitude for the good of the subject became visible. Many
+governments were models of good administration, like Weimar and Gotha,
+and in the family of one of the great ladies of the eighteenth century,
+the Duchess Caroline of Hesse, as well as in Darmstadt and Baden, there
+was economical mild rule. Even indeed in the court of Duke Karl of
+Wurtemburg there was improvement. He who had dug lakes on the hills,
+and employed his serfs to fill them with water, who had lighted the
+woods with Bengal lights, and caused half-naked Fauns and Satyrs to
+dance there, had learnt a lesson since 1778, and on his fiftieth
+birthday, had promised his people to become economical, and had since
+that been transformed into a careful landlord, under whom the country
+flourished. Even the ecclesiastical courts had experienced somewhat of
+this philosophical tendency, though undoubtedly the activity of an
+enlightened ruler of Wuerzburg or Munster was much limited by the
+inevitable supremacy of an ecclesiastical aristocracy, and the
+increasing priestly rule.
+
+But the Imperial cities of the south were, with the exception of
+Frankfort, in a state of decadence; they were deeply in debt, and a
+rotten patrician rule prevented modern industry from flourishing. The
+councils still continued to issue high-sounding decrees, but the
+_Senatus populusque, Bopfingensis_, or _Nordlingensis_ as they called
+themselves in heroic style, appeared only a caricature to their
+neighbours. The renowned Ulm, the southern capital of Suabia, once the
+mistress of Italian agency business, had sunk so low that it was
+supposed that she must sell her domain to preserve herself from
+bankruptcy; Augsburg also was only the shadow of its former greatness,
+its princely merchants had become weak commission agents and small
+money-changers: it was said that the city only contained six firms that
+could raise more than 200,000 gulden. The Academy of Arts of the city
+was nothing but a school for artisans. The famous engravers made bad
+pictures of saints for the village trade; the old hatred of confessions
+still raged among the inhabitants, for its famed Senate was divided
+into two factions, and nowhere did the parties of Frederic and Maria
+Theresa contend so bitterly. Even Nuremberg, once the flower and the
+pride of Germany, had been severely injured in the old bad time; its
+30,000 inhabitants were hardly the fifth of that community which, 300
+years earlier, had mustered in fearful battle array; but the city was
+still in the way to gain a modest position in the German markets, no
+longer by the artistic articles of old Nuremberg, but by an extended
+trade in small wares of wood and metal, in which some of the old
+artistic feeling might still be perceived.
+
+It was no better along the Rhine,--the great ecclesiastical street of
+the Empire,--there lay, down the stream, the residences of three
+ecclesiastical Electors in succession. In the Electorate of Mainz,
+which, from olden times, had frequently maintained a great independence
+within the church, two intellectual rulers had undoubtedly given an
+enlightened aspect to a part of their clergy, and to the new portions
+of their city; but in the old city and trades, little of the new time
+was to be perceived, and the prebendaries who read Voltaire and
+Rousseau were by no means an unqualified gain, at least for the
+morality of the citizen. But the great Cologne was in the worst repute;
+the dung-heaps lay all day in the streets, which were not lighted, the
+pavement was miserable, and on dark evenings the necks and limbs of
+passengers were in great danger, the roads also were insecure, filled
+with idling ragamuffins. The beggars formed a great guild, counting
+5000 heads; till noon they sat and lay at the church doors in rows,
+many on chairs, the possession of one of which was considered as a
+secure rent, and assigned as dowry to the beggar's children; when they
+left their places, they went to the houses to demand food for dinner;
+they were a coarse, wicked set.[32] On the whole, it is known that the
+ecclesiastical rulers treated the citizens and peasants with
+comparative mildness, and the military compulsion was less burdensome,
+but they did little for the industry or cultivation of the people.
+
+After them, in this respect, Bavaria was in worst repute, and no other
+people since that has made such great progress; but about 1790 it was
+said to be most behindhand in wealth and morals; the cities, with the
+exception of Munich, looked decayed, and were poorly populated:
+idleness and beggary spread everywhere; except brewers, bakers, and
+innkeepers, there were no wealthy people. Even in Munich, countless
+beggars loitered about, mixed with numbers of modish, dandified
+officials; there was no national industry, only some manufactures of
+articles of luxury favoured by the government. Not long ago it was
+maintained by a Bavarian monthly journal, that manufacturing activity
+and the like were not very practicable for Bavarians, because the great
+river of the country flowed to Austria, and a competition with the
+Imperial hereditary States was not possible. The most flourishing
+countries in Germany, next to the small territories on the North Sea,
+were then Electoral Saxony and the country of the Lower Rhine, up to
+the Westphalian county of Mark; and this is little altered.
+
+To those who dwelt in the Empire the inhabitants of the North were a
+remote people, but they were in the habit of considering Prussia and
+Austria also as foreign powers.
+
+Of the people in Austria the citizens of the Empire knew little. Even
+the Bavarian, before whose eyes his Danube flowed to Vienna, desired no
+intercourse with these neighbours; he preferred looking over the
+mountains to the Tyrol, for the hatred which so readily divides
+frontier people was there in full force. The Saxon had important trade
+with the Germans in Northern Bohemia; it mattered little to him what
+lay beyond; it was a foreign race, in evil repute, from the old war. To
+other Germans the "Bohemian Mountains" and an unknown land signified
+the same thing. The nations which dwelt along the Danube, amongst them
+Czechs, Moravians, Italians, Slovenes, Magyars, and Slovaks, were a
+vigorous, powerful race, of ancient German blood; the Thirty Years' War
+had little injured their stately carriage and personal beauty, but
+their own rulers had estranged them from Germany. By persecution, not
+only the heretics, but also the activity and culture of those who
+remained, had been frightened away; but a life of enjoyment and
+pleasure still pulsated in the great capital. Any one who wished to
+enjoy himself went there--Hungarians, Bohemians, and nobles from the
+Empire. Germany lay outside the Vienna world, and they thought little
+of it.
+
+Undoubtedly the ruler of Austria was also the Emperor of Germany. The
+double eagle hung against all the post-houses in the Empire, and when
+the Emperor died, according to old custom, the church bells tolled. Any
+one who sought for armorial bearings, or quarrelled about privileges,
+went to the Imperial court; otherwise the Empire knew nothing of the
+Emperor or his supremacy. When the soldiers of the Princes of the
+Empire came together with the Austrians and Prussians, they were
+derided as good-for-nothing people; the "_Kostbeutel_"[33] and the
+"Schwabische Kragen" hated each other intensely; when the Austrian
+received a blow, no one was better pleased than the contingent from the
+Empire.
+
+Even among themselves the subjects of the small rulers did not live in
+peace; insulting language and blows were common; the Mainzers attacked
+the inhabitants of the Palatinate, and when the French occupied
+Electoral Mainz, the inhabitants of the Palatinate and Darmstadt
+rejoiced in the sufferings of their neighbours.[34]
+
+The mass of the people in the Empire lived quietly to themselves. The
+peasant performed his service, and the citizen worked; both had been
+worse off than now, but there was no difficulty in earning a
+livelihood. If they had a mild ruler, they served him willingly; the
+citizens clung to the city and province whose dialect they spoke; they
+frequently bore great attachment to their little State, which enclosed
+almost all that they knew, and whose helplessness they only imperfectly
+understood. When it became a cipher, they did not the more know what
+they were, and asked one another with anxious curiosity what they
+should now become. It was an old, quiet misery!
+
+The new ideas that came from France undoubtedly somewhat disquieted
+them; things were better there than with them; they listened
+complacently to foreign emissaries; they put their heads together, and
+determined, sometimes in the evening perhaps, to abolish what annoyed
+them; they also sent petitions to their worthy rulers. The peasants
+here and there became more difficult to manage; but as long as the
+French did not come, the movement was a mere curl of the waves; and
+when the French Custine gained Mainz, he called the Guild together,
+and each one was to give in a project of a constitution. This took
+place. The peruke-makers produced one: "We wish to be diminished to
+five-and-thirty, and the Crab (thus a master was called) shall be our
+president of the council." The hackney-coachmen declared, "We will pay
+no more bridge tolls; then, as far as we are concerned, any one may be
+our Elector who wishes!" No Guild thought of a republic and
+constitution. This was the condition of the small States of the Empire
+in the century of enlightenment.
+
+The people of the Imperial States knew well that the larger ones held
+them in contempt for their want of military capacity; and it was
+natural that in these small States no martial spirit should exist.
+Unwillingly did they form regiments from five, ten, or more
+contemptible contingents; soldiers and officers in the same regiment
+often quarrelled; the uniforms were scarcely the same colour, nor
+the word of command. The citizens despised their soldiers; it was
+told jeeringly that the Mainz soldiers at their post cut pegs for
+the shoemakers; that the guard at Gmuend presented arms to every
+well-dressed foot-passenger, and then stretched out their hats and
+begged for a donation; that a man in uniform was despised and excluded
+from every society; that the wives and mistresses of the officers took
+the field with children and ninepins; that the weapons and discipline
+were miserable, and all the material of war imperfect. This was
+undoubtedly a great misfortune, and apparent to everybody. The worst
+troops in the world were to be found in the Imperial regiments, but
+there were some better companies among them, and some officers of
+capacity. Even out of this bad material a foreign conqueror was able
+afterwards to make good soldiers; for the Germans have always fought
+bravely when they have been well led. Besides the Prussians, there were
+some other small _corps d'armee_, in well-deserved estimation--the
+Saxon, Brunswick, Hanoverian, and Hessian.
+
+On the whole, then, the military power of Germany was not altogether
+unsatisfactory; it could well bear some occasional bad elements, and
+still, in point of number and valour, cope with any army in the world.
+The cause of decay in the army was not the composition of the army
+itself, but discord and bad leading.
+
+After 1790, destruction burst upon the Empire--wave upon wave broke
+over it from west to east.
+
+First came into the country the white Petrels of the Bourbons,
+precursors of the storm--the emigrants. There were many valiant men
+among them, but the larger number, who gave character and repute to the
+whole, were worthless, reckless rabble. Like a pestilence, they
+corrupted the morals of the cities in which they located themselves,
+and the courts of small, simple Sovereigns, who felt themselves
+honoured by receiving these distinguished adventurers. Coblentz, the
+seat of government of Electoral Treves, was their head-quarters, and
+that city was the first where their immorality brought ruin into
+families, and disunion into the State, They were fugitives enjoying the
+hospitality of a foreign country, but with knavish impudence, wherever
+they were the strongest, they ill-treated the German citizens and
+peasants, as well as the foolish nobleman who honoured in them polite
+Paris. When Veit Weber, the valiant author of "Sagen der Vorzeit,"
+whilst travelling in a Rhine boat, was humming a French song upon
+contentment, of which the refrain was, "_Vive la Liberte_," some
+emigrants, who were travelling with him, drew their swords upon him and
+his unarmed companion, misused them with the flat blade, bound them
+with cords round their necks, and so dragged them to Coblentz, where
+they robbed them of their money and passports, and, thus wounded, they
+were imprisoned without examination till the Prussians arrived and
+freed them.[35] Besides brutal violence, the emigrants also introduced
+into the circles which admitted them vices hitherto unknown to the
+people, loathsome diseases, and meannesses of every kind. In the whole
+of the Rhine valley a feeling of hatred and disgust was excited by
+their presence; nothing worked so favourably for the French republican
+party; the feeling became general among the people, that a struggle
+which was to rid France of such evil deeds and abominations must be
+just. They were equally despised by the more powerful States--Prussia
+and Austria. The troops that they hired were composed of the worst
+rabble; even the poor people of the Imperial States looked with
+repugnance on the bands of emigrants.
+
+After the corrupt nobles came the speeches of the National Assembly,
+and the decrees of the Convention; but few of the educated men were
+entirely uninfluenced by them. They were the same ideas and wishes that
+the Germans had. More than one enthusiastic spirit was so attracted by
+them as to give up their Fatherland and go to the west, to their own
+destruction. Not the last of such men was George Foster, whom Germans
+should pity, and not extol. And yet these monstrous events, and
+excitable minds, produced only a slight intoxication. There was great
+sympathy, but it was only a kindly participation in a foreign concern;
+for, hopeless as was the political condition of Germany--imperfect and
+oppressive as was the administration of the greater States--yet there
+was a widespread feeling that social reforms were progressing, which,
+in contrast to the French, would spread peaceably by teaching and good
+example. There were bitter complaints of the perverseness and
+incapacity of many of the princes, but, on the whole, it could not be
+doubted that there was much good-will in the governments. Germany,
+also, had no such aristocracy as France. The lesser nobles, in spite of
+their prejudices and errors, lived, on the whole, in a homely way in
+the midst of the people; and just at this time they counted in their
+ranks many leaders of the enlightenment. What most oppressed the
+cultivated minds of Germany was not so much the vices of the old feudal
+state as their own political insignificance, the clumsiness of the
+constitution of the Empire, the feeling that the Germans, by this
+much-divided rule, had become _Philisters_.
+
+It was then, also, far from Paris to Germany; the characters which
+there contended against each other, the ultimate aim of parties, the
+evil and the good, were much less known than would be the case in our
+time. The larger newspapers only appeared three times a week; they gave
+dry notices, seldom a long correspondence, still less often an
+independent judgment. The flying sheets alone were active; even their
+judgment was moderate; they wished well to the movement, but were
+bolder in the discussion of home matters.
+
+Therefore, though in Paris there were massacres in the streets, and the
+guillotine was incessantly at work, in Germany the French revolution
+had no effect in banding political parties against one another. And
+when the account came that the King had been imprisoned, ill-treated,
+and executed, forebodings, even among the least timid, became general.
+
+Thus it was possible that German officers, even the _gardes du corps_
+at Potsdam, good-humouredly allowed the _ca ira_ to be played, whilst
+the street boys sang to it a rude translation of the text. The ladies
+of the German aristocracy wore tricolour ribbons, and head dresses _a
+la carmagnole_. Curiosity collected the people in a circle round some
+patriot prisoners of war--dismal tattered figures--whilst they danced
+their wild dances, and accompanied them by pantomime, which expressed
+washing their hands in the blood of the aristocrats; and some
+innocently bought from them the playthings which they had made on the
+march, little wooden guillotines. But it was a morbid simplicity in the
+educated.
+
+There is another thing which appears still stranger to us. Whilst the
+storm raged convulsively in France, and the flood rolled its waves more
+wildly every year over Germany; the eyes and hearts of all men of
+intellect were fixed on a little Principality in the middle of Germany,
+where, amid the deepest tranquillity, the great poet of the nation, by
+the wonderful creations of his mind in prose and verse, dispelled all
+dark forebodings. King and Queen were guillotined, and "Reineke Fuchs"
+made into a poem; there came, together with Robespierre and the reign
+of terror, letters on the aesthetic training of men; with the battles of
+Lodi and Arcole, "Wilhelm Meister," "Horen," and "Xenien"; with the
+French acquisition of Belgium, "Hermann and Dorothea"; with the French
+conquest of Switzerland and the States of the Pope, "Wallenstein"; with
+the French seizure of the left bank of the Rhine, the "Bastard of
+Orleans"; with the occupation of Hanover by Napoleon, the "Bride of
+Messina"; with Napoleon Emperor, "Wilhelm Tell." The ten years in which
+Schiller and Goethe lived in close friendship--the ten great years of
+German poetry, on which the German will look back in distant centuries
+with emotion and sentimental tenderness--are the same years in which a
+loud cry of woe was heard through the air; in which the demons of
+destruction drew together from all sides, with clothes dipped in blood,
+and scorpion scourges in their hands, in order to make an end of the
+unnatural life of a nation without a State. Only sixty years have since
+passed, yet the period in which our fathers grew up is as strange to us
+in many respects as the period in which, according to tradition,
+Archimedes calculated geometrical problems, whilst the Romans were
+storming his city. The movement of this time worked differently on the
+Prussian State. It was no longer the Prussia of Frederic II. In the
+interior, indeed, his regulations had been faithfully preserved; his
+followers mitigated everywhere some severities of the old system, but
+the great reforms which the time urgently required were scarcely begun.
+
+But in the eighteenth century, up to the war of 1806, the external
+boundary of the State increased on a gigantic scale. Frederic had still
+left behind him a little kingdom; a few years after, Prussia might be
+reckoned as one of the great realms of Europe. In the rapidity of this
+growth, there was something unnatural. By the two last divisions of
+Poland, about 1772 square miles of Sclavonic country were added.
+Shortly before, the Principalities of the Franconian Hohenzollerns,
+Anspach and Baireuth, were gained, another 115 square miles. Besides
+this, after the peace of Luneville, forty-seven square miles of the
+Upper Rhine district of Cleves were exchanged for 222 square miles of
+German territory; parts of Thuringia, including Erfurt, half Munster,
+also Hildesheim and Paderborn; finally, Anspach was again exchanged for
+Hanover. After that, Prussia for some months comprised a territory of
+6047 square miles, almost double its extent in 1786, and about a sixth
+more than it at present contains. In this year, Prussia might almost
+have been called Germany; its eagles hovered over the countries from
+Old Saxony up to the North Sea; also over the main territory of Old
+Franconia and in the heart of Thuringia; it ruled the mouths of the
+Elbe; it surrounded Bohemia on two sides, and could, after a short
+day's march, make its war horses drink in the Danube. In the east it
+extended itself far into the valley of the Vistula and to the Bug; and
+its officials governed in the capital of departed Poland. This rapid
+increase, even in peaceful times, might not have been without
+disadvantage, for the amount of constructive power which Prussia could
+employ for the assimilation to itself of such various acquisitions was
+perhaps not great enough.
+
+And yet the excellent Prussian officials, of the old school just then
+greatly distinguished themselves. Organisation was carried on
+everywhere with great zeal and success; brilliant talents, and great
+powers were developed in this work. There were certainly many half
+measures and false steps, but on the whole, when we consider the work,
+the integrity, the intelligence, and the vigorous will which the
+Prussians then showed in Germany, it fills us with respect, especially
+when we compare it with the later French rule, which indeed carried on
+reforms thoroughly and dexterously, but at the same time brought a
+chaos of coarseness and rough tyranny into the country.
+
+The acquisition of Poland was in itself a great gain for Germany, for
+it afforded it a protection against the enormous increase of Russia;
+the east frontier of Prussia gained military security. If it was hard
+for the Poles, it was necessary for the Germans. The desolate condition
+of the half-wild provinces required a proportionate exertion, if they
+were to be made useful, that is to say, if they were to be transformed
+into a German Empire. It was not a time for quiet colonisation; but
+even of this there was not a little.
+
+But another circumstance was ominous. All these extensions were not the
+result of the impulses of a strong national power: they were partly
+forced on Prussia after inglorious campaigns by a too powerful enemy.
+And Germany showed the remarkable phenomena of Prussia being enlarged
+under continued humiliations and diplomatic defeats; and that its
+increase of territory went hand-in-hand with the decrease of its
+consideration in Europe. Thus this diffuse State had at last too much
+the appearance of a group of islands congregated together, which the
+next hurricane would bury under the waves.
+
+The surface of ground was so great, and the life and interests of its
+citizens had become so various, that the power of one individual could
+no longer arbitrarily guide the enormous machine in the old way. And
+yet there was no lack of the great aid--the ultimate regulator both of
+princes and officials--public opinion, which incessantly, honestly, and
+bravely accompanied the doings of rulers, examined their public acts,
+gave expression to the wishes of the people, and felt their needs. The
+daily press was anxiously controlled, accidental flying sheets wounded
+deeply, and were violently suppressed.
+
+The King was a man of strict uprightness and moderation, but he was no
+General, nor a great politician; so he remained all his life too much
+averse to decided and energetic resolves. He was then young and
+diffident of his own powers, and he felt vividly that he superintended
+too little the details of business; the intrigues of greedy courtiers
+put him out of humour, without his knowing how to stop them; his
+endeavours to preserve his own independence, and guard himself from
+preponderating influence, put him in danger of preferring insignificant
+and pliant characters to firm ones. The State had clearly then come
+into a position when the spontaneous action of the people and the
+beginning of constitutional life could no longer be dispensed with. But
+again it seemed so little possible, that the most discontented scarcely
+ventured to whisper it. All the material for it was wanting; the old
+States of Prussia had been thoroughly set aside; the communities were
+governed by officials; even an interest in politics and the life of the
+State was almost confined to them. What the King had seen arise under
+the co-operation of the people in a foreign country, national
+assemblies and conventions, had given him so deep a repugnance to every
+such participation of his Prussians in the work of the State, that, to
+the misfortune of his people and successors, he never, as long as he
+lived, could overcome this feeling. Before 1806, he thought of nothing
+of the kind.
+
+Very strongly did he feel that it was impossible for him to continue to
+govern in the old method of Frederic II. This great King, in spite of
+all his immense power of work and knowledge of minute particulars, had
+only been able to keep the whole in vigorous movement by sacrificing to
+his arbitrary power, even the innocent, in case of need. As he was in
+the position to decide everything himself, and quickly, it frequently
+happened that his decision depended on his humour and accidental
+subordinate considerations. He did not, therefore, hesitate to break an
+officer for a mere oversight, or discharge councillors of the supreme
+court who had only done their duty. And if he discovered that he had
+done an injustice, though he was passionately desirous of doing
+justice, he never once acknowledged the fact; for it was necessary to
+preserve his faith in himself, as well as the obedience and pliancy of
+his officials, and the implicit trust of his people in his final
+decisions. It was not only one of his peculiar characteristics, but
+also his policy, to retract nothing, neither overhaste nor mistake; and
+not to make amends even for obvious injustice, except occasionally and
+secretly. That powerful and wise Prince could venture upon this; his
+successor justly feared to rule in such a way. The grandson of that
+Prince of Prussia, whom Frederic II. angrily removed from the command
+in the middle of the war, felt deeply the severity of this hasty
+decision.
+
+He was therefore obliged to do like his predecessors, to seek to
+control his officials by themselves. Thus began in Prussia the reign of
+the bureaucracy. The number of offices became greater, useless
+intermediate authorities were introduced, and the transaction of all
+business became circuitous. It was the first consequence of the
+endeavour to proceed justly, thoroughly, and securely, and to remodel
+the strict despotism of the olden time. But to the people this appeared
+a loss. As long as there was no press, and no tribunal to help the
+oppressed to their rights, petitions had quite a different
+signification to what they have now; for now the most insignificant can
+gain the sympathy of a whole country by inserting a few lines in a
+newspaper, and set ministers and representatives of the people in
+commotion for days. Frederic II. had received every petition, and
+generally disposed of them himself, and thus, undoubtedly, his kingly
+despotism came to light Frederic William could not bear to have
+petitions presented to himself; he sent them immediately to the courts.
+This was according to rule. But, as the magistrates were not yet
+obliged to take care that these complaints of individuals should be
+made public, they were only too frequently thrown on one side, and the
+poor people exclaimed that there was no longer any help against the
+encroachments of the Landraethe,[36] or against the corruption of
+excisemen. Even the King suffered from it; not his good will, but his
+power was doubted to give help against the officials.
+
+To this evil was added another. The officials of the administration had
+become more numerous, but not more powerful. Life was more luxurious,
+prices had increased enormously, and their salaries, always scanty even
+in the olden time, had not risen in proportion. In the cities, justice
+and administration were not yet separated; a kind of tutelage was
+exercised even in the merest trifles; the spontaneous activity of the
+citizen was failing; the "Directors" of the city were royal officials,
+frequently discharged auditors and quartermasters of regiments. In 1740
+this had been a great advance; in 1806 the education and professional
+knowledge of such men was insufficient. Into the war and territorial
+departments, however, which are now called government departments, the
+young nobility already sought for admittance; among them not a few were
+men of note, who later were reckoned the greatest names in Prussia; and
+most of them, without much exertion, quickly made their fortunes. It
+was complained that in some of the offices almost all the work was done
+by the secretaries. But that, in truth, was only the case in Silesia,
+which had its own minister. After the great Polish acquisition, Count
+Hoym, in Silesia, had for some years the chief administration of the
+Polish province. It was a bad measure to give a subject unlimited power
+over that vast territory; it was a misfortune for him and the State. He
+lived at Breslau as king, and he kept spies at the court of his
+Sovereign, who were to keep him _au fait_ of the state of things. The
+poor nobles of Silesia thronged around him, and he gave his favourites
+office, landed properties, and wealth. The uprightness of the officials
+in the new province was injured by this unfit condition of things.
+Government domains were sold at low prices, and Generals and privy
+councillors were thus enabled to acquire large landed properties for
+little money.
+
+It is curious that the first open resistance to this arose among the
+officials themselves, and that the opposition was carried on, for the
+first time, in Prussia, through the modern weapon of the press. The
+most violent complainant was the chief custom-house officer, Von Held;
+he accused Count Hoym, Chancellor Goldbeck, General Ruechel, and many
+others, of fraud, and compared the present state of Prussia with the
+just time of Frederic II. The case made an immense sensation.
+Investigations were commenced against him and his friends; they were
+prosecuted as members of a secret society, and as demagogues. Held's
+writings were confiscated; and he himself imprisoned and condemned, but
+at last set at liberty. In his imprisonment the irritated and
+embittered man attacked the King himself:[37] he accused him of too
+great economy--which we consider the first virtue of a King of Prussia;
+of hardness--which was unfounded; and of playing at soldiering--this,
+unfortunately, with good grounds. He complained: "When the Prince will
+no longer hear truth, when he throws upright men and true patriots into
+prison, and appoints those who have been accused of fraud to be
+directors of the commission appointed to try them, then must the
+honest, calm, but not the less warm, friends of their Fatherland sigh."
+Meanwhile he did not satisfy himself with sighing, but became
+satirical.
+
+From this dispute, which only turns on an individuals circumstances, we
+learn how bold and reckless was the language of political critics in
+old Prussia; and how low and helpless the position of its princes
+against such attacks. As the King took the whole government upon his
+own shoulders, he bore also the whole responsibility, as he alone
+guided the machine of the State; so every attack on the particular acts
+of the administration, and upon the officials of the State, was a
+personal attack upon him. Wherever there was an error the King bore the
+blame, either because he had neglected something or because he had not
+punished the guilty. Every peasant woman who had her eggs crushed by
+the excise officers at the city gates felt the harshness of the King;
+and if a new tax irritated the city people, the boys in the streets
+cried out and jeered behind the King's horse, and it was even possible
+that a handful of mud might be thrown at his noble head. Again broke
+forth a quiet war betwixt the King of Prussia and the foreign press.
+Even Frederic William I. had, in his "_Tabakacollegium_," exercised his
+powers of imagination in composing a short article against the Dutch
+newspaper writers who had annoyed him; his great son, also, was
+irritated by their pens, but he knew how to pay them in like coin.
+Quite a volley of scorn and spite was fired in innumerable novels,
+satires, and pasquinades against his successor. Of what avail against
+this was violence, the opening of letters and secret investigations?
+What use was confiscation? The forbidden writings were still read, and
+the coarse lies were believed. Of what use was it if the King caused
+himself to be defended by loyal pens, if in a well considered reply the
+public were informed that Frederic William III. had shown no harshness
+to the Countess of Lichtenau; that he was a very good husband[38] and
+father, an upright man who had the best intentions? The people might,
+or might not, believe it; at all events they had made themselves judges
+of the life of their Prince in a manner which, as we view it, was
+highly derogatory to the majesty of the Crown.
+
+Yet the times were quiet, and the culture and mind of the nation was
+not occupied by politics. What would happen if the people were roused
+to political excitement? The monarchy, in this inferior position, would
+be entirely ruined, however good might be the intentions of the
+Hohenzollerns. For they were no longer, as they had been in the
+eighteenth century, and were still in the time of Frederic II., great
+landed proprietors on unpopulated territory; they were, in fact, kings
+of an important nation; they were no longer in the position of
+obtaining the knowledge of every perversity of the great host of
+officials and of ruling over the great administration personally. Now,
+the administration was carried on by officials; if it went right it was
+a matter of course, but every mistake fell upon the King's head. How
+this was to be remedied before 1806 no one, not even the best, knew.
+But discontent and a feeling of insecurity increased among the people.
+
+Such a condition of things, in a transition time, from the old despotic
+state to a new one, gave a helpless aspect to the Prussian
+commonwealth. It was however, in truth, no symptom of fatal weakness,
+as was shortly after shown by zealous Prussians.
+
+For, besides the strength and capacity of self-sacrifice, which was
+still slumbering in the people, a fresh hopeful vigour was already
+visible in a distinguished circle. Again it was to be found among the
+Prussian officials. The supreme court of judicature had maintained
+itself in the high consideration it had gained since the organisation
+of the last King. It was a numerous body; it included the flower of
+Prussian intelligence, the greatest strength of the citizens, and the
+highest culture of the nobles. The elder were trained under Cocceji,
+and the younger under Carmer--judicious, upright, firm men, of great
+capacity for work, of proud patriotism and independence of character,
+who were not led astray by any ministerial rescript. The court
+_coteries_ did not yet venture to assail these unpliable men; and it is
+a merit in the King that he held a protecting hand over their
+integrity. They belonged partly to citizens' families, which for many
+generations had sent their sons to the lecture-rooms of the professors
+of law; in the East to Frankfort and Koenigsberg, in the West to Halle
+and Goettingen. Their families formed an almost hereditary aristocracy
+of officials. United with them as fellow-students and friends, and
+like-minded, were the best talents of the administration; also
+foreigners who had entered the Prussian civil service. From this circle
+had been produced all the officials, who, after the prostration of
+Prussia, were active in the renovation of the State, Stein, Schoen,
+Vinke, Grolmann, Sack, Merkel, and many others, presidents of the
+administration, and heads of the courts of justice after 1815.
+
+It is a pleasure in this time of insecurity to direct our attention to
+the quiet labours of these trustworthy men. Many of them were strictly
+trained bureaucrats, with limited ideas and feelings; on the green
+table of the Board lay the ambition and labour of their whole lives.
+But they, the chief judges, the administrators of the Province,
+maintained faithfully and lastingly through difficult times their
+consciousness of being Prussians; each of them imparted to those about
+him something of the tenacious perseverance and the confident judgment
+which distinguished them. Even when they were severed from the body of
+their State, and were obliged to declare the law under foreign rule,
+they worked on in their sphere unchanged, in the old way; accustomed to
+calm self-control, they concealed in the depths of their souls the
+fiery longing after their hereditary ruler, and perhaps quiet plans for
+a better time.
+
+Whoever will compare these men with some of the powerful talents of the
+official class which were developed at this time in the territories of
+South Germany, will perceive an essential difference. There, even in
+the best, there are frequently traits that are displeasing to us;
+arbitrariness in their political points of view; indifference as to
+whom or for what they served; a secret irony with which they consider
+the petty relations of their country. They all suffer from the want of
+a State which merits the love of a man. This want gives their judgment,
+acute as it may be, something uncertain, unfinished, and peevish; one
+does not doubt their integrity, but one feels strongly that there is a
+moral instability in them which makes them like adventurers, though
+learned and highly cultivated men. Undoubtedly, however, if a Prussian
+once lost his love of Fatherland, he became weaker than them. Karl
+Heinrich Lang is deficient in what Freidrich Gentz once had, and lost
+by moral weakness.
+
+Conscientious officials have admitted at this time the confusion of
+every country, especially the North; but the Prussians may justly claim
+this pre-eminence, that in the circle of their middle order, not the
+most refined, but the soundest culture of that time was to be found,
+not occasionally, but as a rule.
+
+The Prussian army suffered from the same deficiencies as the politics
+and administration of the state. Here also there was improvement in
+many particulars, but much that was old was carefully preserved; what
+once had been progress was now mischievous. This bad condition is
+acknowledged; none have condemned it more strongly than the Prussian
+military writers since the year 1815.
+
+The treatment of the soldiers was still too severe; there was unworthy
+parsimony in their scanty uniforms and small rations, endless was the
+drilling, endless the parades, the ineradicable suffering of the
+Prussian army; the man[oe]uvres had become useless "spectacle," in
+which every movement was arranged and studied beforehand; incapable
+officers were retained to the extreme of old age. Hardly anything had
+been done to adapt the old Prussian system to the changed method of
+carrying on war which had arisen in the Revolution.
+
+The officers were still an exclusive caste, which was almost entirely
+filled by the nobility; only a few not noble were in the Fusilier
+Battalions of Infantry and some among the Hussars. Under Frederic II.,
+during the deficiency of men in the Seven Years' War, young volunteers
+of citizen origin were made officers. Then they were, at least in their
+pay, and frequently in the regimental lists, represented as noble; but
+after the peace, however great their capacity, they were almost always
+kept out of the privileged battalions. This did not improve under the
+later Kings. Only in the Artillery, in 1806, were the greater number of
+officers commoners, but on that account they were not considered as
+equals. It was a bitter irony that a French artillery officer should be
+the person, as Emperor of the French, to think of shattering the
+Prussian army and its State into pieces, at the same time in which they
+were contending in Prussia as to whether an officer of artillery
+should be received upon the general staff, and that the citizen
+Lieutenant-Colonel Schamhorst should be envied this privilege.[39] It
+was natural that all the failings of a privileged order should appear
+in full measure in the Prussian corps of officers. Pride towards the
+citizens, roughness to those under them, a deficiency in cultivation
+and good morals, and in the privileged regiments an unbridled
+insolence. It is a common complaint of contemporaries, that in the
+streets and societies of Berlin people were not secure from the
+insults of the _gens d'armes_, who were the _elite_ of the young
+nobility. Already did these arrogant men, at the beginning of the
+reign of Frederic William III., begin to be ashamed of wearing their
+old-fashioned uniform in society, and where they dared, lounged in with
+protruding white neck-ties, top-boots, and sword-sick.
+
+In spite of these deficiencies, there was still in the Prussian army
+much of the capacity and strength of the olden time. The stout race of
+old subaltern officers had not died out, men who had shed bitter tears
+over the death of their great General in 1786; and still did the common
+soldiers, in spite of the diminished confidence in their leaders, feel
+pride in their well-tried war-like capacity. Many characteristic traits
+have been preserved to us, which give us a pleasing picture of the
+disposition of the army. When, in the campaign of 1792, a Prussian and
+Austrian, as good comrades and malcontents, were complaining to one
+another, and the Prussian did not speak in praise of his King, he yet
+stopped the other, who was repeating his words, with a box on the ear,
+saying: "You shall not speak so of my King;" and on the angry Austrian
+reproaching him with having said the same, the aggressor replied: "I
+may say that, but not you, for I am a Prussian." Such was the feeling
+in most of the regiments. The disgraceful prostration of Prussia was
+not owing to the bad material of the army, nor especially to the
+obsolete tactics. Nay, in the struggle it was shown how great was the
+capacity of both the men and officers who were so shamefully
+sacrificed. Amidst the lawlessness, coarseness, and rapacity which
+inevitably come to light among a demoralised soldiery, we rejoice in
+finding the most worthy soldier-like feeling often amongst the meanest
+of them. One of the many unworthy proceedings of the stupid campaign of
+1806, was the surrender of Hameln. How the betrayed garrison behaved
+has been related in the letter of an officer. The narrator was the son
+of an emigrant, a Frenchman by birth, but he had become an inestimable
+German, of whom our people are proud; he had done his duty as a
+Prussian officer, but at every free moment he devoted himself to German
+literature and science; he had no satisfaction in carrying on war
+against the land of his birth, and had sometimes wished himself away
+from the ill-conducted campaign; but when a bad commander betrayed his
+brave troops, the full anger of an old Prussian was kindled in the
+breast of the adopted child of the German people, he assembled his
+comrades, and urged them to a general rising against their incapable
+commander; all the juniors were as indignant as himself; but in vain.
+They were deceived, and the fortress, in spite of their resistance,
+delivered over to the French. Fearful was the despair of the soldiers;
+they fired their cartridges into the windows of the cowardly commander;
+they shot one another in rage and drunkenness; they dashed their
+weapons on the stones, that they might not be carried with more renown
+by strangers, and the old Brandenburgers wept when they took leave of
+their officers. In the company of Captain von Britzke, regiment von
+Haack, were two brothers, Warnawa, sons of soldiers; they mutually
+placed their muskets to each other's breast, drew the triggers at the
+same time, and fell into each other's arms, that they might not survive
+the disgrace.[40]
+
+But those who were the leaders, but not men, who were they? Experienced
+Generals from the school of the great King, men of high birth, loyal
+and true to their King, grown old in honours. But were they too old?
+They undoubtedly were grey-headed and weary. They had come into the
+army as boys, perhaps from the teaching of the cadet colleges, where
+they had been trained; they had marched and presented arms at the word
+of command; had kept line and distance in countless parades; afterwards
+they had kept a sharp look-out, that others might keep line and
+distance, that the buttons were cleaned, and that the pig-tail was the
+right length. In order to gain promotion, they had taken pains to learn
+at Berlin whether Ruechel or Hohenlohe was in favour. This had been
+their life. They knew little more than the spiritless routine of the
+army, and that they were a wheel in the great machine. Now their army
+was beaten, and the shattered remains in rapid retreat to the east.
+What remained now, what was left of any value to them?
+
+But it was not cowardice that made them such pitiful creatures. They
+had formerly been brave soldiers, and most of them were not old enough
+to be in their dotage. It was something else: they had lost all
+confidence in their State; it appeared to them useless, hopeless to
+defend themselves any longer--a fruitless slaughter of men. Thus did
+these unfortunate ones feel. They had been all their life mediocre
+men--not better nor worse than others; this mediocrity now prevailed,
+as far as their narrow point of view reached, everywhere in the State.
+Where was there anything great or strong? where any fresh life to give
+enthusiasm and warmth? They themselves had been the delight, the
+society of the Hohenzollerns--the first in the State, the salt of the
+country; they were accustomed to look down upon citizens and officials.
+Besides their Prince and the army itself, what had they in Prussia to
+honour? Now the King was away--they knew not where--they were alone
+within the walls of their fortress; and they found little in themselves
+either to shun or to honour; they felt at best that they were weak.
+Thus, in the hour of trial they became bad and mean, because they had
+all their lives been placed higher than their merits. A fearful lesson
+may be learnt from this; may Prussians always think of it. The
+officers, as a privileged class, socially exclusive, with the feeling
+of a privileged position in the State, were in constant danger of
+fluctuating between arrogance and weakness. Only the officer who,
+besides his honour as a soldier and his fidelity to his sovereign, had
+a full participation in all that ennobled and elevated a citizen of his
+time, could in a moment of difficulty find certain strength in his own
+breast.
+
+A period of intellectual poverty and mediocrity brought Prussia to the
+verge of destruction; political passion raised it again.
+
+But here an account shall be given of the feelings of a German citizen
+on the fall of his State. He belonged to that circle of Prussian
+jurists of whom we have just spoken. What he imparts is already known
+from other records, yet his honest description will find sympathy from
+its judicial clearness and simplicity:--
+
+Cristoph Wilhelm Heinrich Sethe, born 1767, deceased 1855. "_Wirklicher
+Geheimer Rath_," and chief president of the Rhenish court of appeal,
+descended from a great legal family in the dukedom of Cleves; his
+grandfather and father had been distinguished officials of the
+government; his mother was a Grolmann. The boy grew up in the
+enjoyment of wealth in his father's town; at sixteen years of age his
+father sent him to the university of Duisburg, and then to Halle and
+Goettingen; on his return he went through the Prussian grades of service
+in the government of Cleve-Mark, an excellent school. These western
+provinces---not of very great extent--comprised a good portion of the
+strength of the Prussian State. This firm, vigorous population clung
+with warm fidelity to the house of their Princes; there was in the
+cities and among the peasants, who lived as freemen on their land, much
+wealth, and the High Court of Justice was one of the best in Prussia
+Sethe was "_Geheimer Rath_," happily married, with his whole heart in
+his home, when a gloom was thrown over his native city and his own life
+by the sound of war, the march and quartering of troops, exciting
+reports, and, finally, the occupation of the town by the French, who,
+as it is well known, allowed the sovereignty of Prussia to continue
+for some years, till the Peace of Amiens took away the last vestige
+of Prussian possession. Then Sethe severed himself from his home,
+and established himself in the Prussian administration of the
+newly-acquired portion of Muenster.
+
+He shall now relate himself what he experienced.[41]
+
+"You can easily imagine, my dear children, that the departure from
+Cleve was very distressing to us. It was a bitter feeling to wander in
+this way from home, and leave one's native city under foreign laws and
+the dominion of a foreign people.
+
+"On 3rd October, 1803, we left. We went from Cleve to Muenster in three
+days; the journey from Emmerick was extremely difficult and tedious; it
+was over corduroy roads, with loose stones thrown on them."[42]
+
+"In the beginning of our life at Muenster we also encountered many
+annoyances. From the number of officials who had removed there, and the
+numerous military, our accommodation was very restricted. Then we
+arrived there towards winter, and provisions were very deficient; in
+Muenster there was no regular market, and the women from Cleve were in
+despair, because they could get nothing. This, however, came right, and
+afterwards they got on very well.
+
+"On a friendly reception and courtesy to us intruding strangers we had
+never reckoned, because we knew how much the people of Muenster clung to
+their constitution--with what steadfastness a great portion of them
+still relied on their elected bishop, Victor Anton, and how unwillingly
+they endured the new rule of Prussia. I have never blamed them for
+this; it was a praiseworthy trait in their character that they should
+be unwilling to separate from a government under which they had felt
+happy; but others took this much amiss of them, and expected that they
+would receive the Prussians with open arms, and immediately become
+Prussians in heart and soul, which could only be expected from a fickle
+people who had groaned under the fetters of a harsh government.
+
+"Therefore, there was already division and separation between the new
+comers of old Prussia and the people of Muenster before our arrival.
+Thus, much took place which was not likely to promote intimacy, or to
+awaken a friendly feeling in the inhabitants.
+
+"By the disbanding of the Muenster military, the greater number of the
+officers were dismissed with pensions, and thrown out of their course
+of life. This first consequence of the Prussian occupation not only
+deeply wounded the feelings of those dismissed, but was generally
+considered as unjust; and the more so as among the Muenster officers
+there was much culture and scientific knowledge, and the general run of
+Prussian officers could not stand comparison with them.
+
+"The introduction of conscription increased the discontent; but still
+more general indignation was excited by the ill-treatment which the
+enlisted sons of citizens and country people had to bear from the
+non-commissioned officers. I myself was eyewitness of the way in which
+a non-commissioned officer dealt abusive language, blows, and kicks to
+a recruit, and struck him on the shins with his cane, so that tears of
+sorrow coursed down the cheeks of the poor man. The spirit, also, which
+prevailed among the greater number of the Prussian officers, and their
+consequent behaviour, was not calculated to excite a favourable feeling
+in a new country towards the new government. Bluecher, indeed, who was
+commandant of Muenster, won real esteem and liking by his popular
+manner, his open and upright character, and his justice; and General
+von Wobeser, commander of a dragoon regiment, a very sensible,
+cultivated, moderate man, did so likewise; but the good effect of their
+conduct was spoilt by that of the others, namely, the general body of
+the subaltern officers.
+
+"Once there arose a dispute betwixt some citizens and the guard at the
+Mauritz-gate; the citizens were said to have gone amongst the arms and
+hustled the guard. Bluecher was at that time at Pyrmont. There appeared
+then a proclamation, under the signature of a General von Ernest, but
+from another pen, by which every sentry who was touched by a citizen
+should be authorised to strike him down. This irrational order, which
+gave every sentinel power over the lives of the citizens, who, by
+touching them even accidentally, were exposed to their bayonets,
+excited indignation.
+
+"In addition to this, there now happened a disagreeable affair between
+three officers and three prebendaries.[43] There existed at Muenster a
+so-called noble ladies' club, which admitted both men and ladies.
+Immediately after the first possession of the place, from political
+motives. Generals Bluecher and Wobeser, the President Von Stein, and
+other Prussian officers were admitted, also Bluecher's son Franz. In
+balloting for the admittance of another Prussian officer, he was
+blackballed. Indisputably this showed an objection, either to him as a
+Prussian, or to the admittance of more officers, for against the
+individual nothing could be said. This could not fail to increase the
+bad feeling, and it wounded especially the sensitive vanity of the
+young officers. Moreover, the ballot was at first declared to be
+favourable, and it was only upon a revision of the balls that the black
+ball was discovered; that is to say, the lady president of the club,
+the widowed Frau von Droste-Vischering, a very worthy and good-humoured
+lady, either by mistake or from the well-meant intention of preventing
+the disagreeable consequences of blackballing, had counted a white ball
+too much. It was remarked by one of the prebendaries present, that the
+whole number of balls did not agree with the number of votes. On
+counting them again accurately, it was found that the candidate was not
+received. Undoubtedly the younger prebendaries might have co-operated
+in the exclusion.
+
+"The impetuous Lieutenant Franz von Bluecher gave vent to his feelings
+concerning this to one of the young prebendaries, and some words ensued
+between them. The following day Franz Bluecher challenged this
+prebendary by letter; and two other officers, one of whom was the
+rejected one, challenged two other young prebendaries in the same way.
+Both these, who had not had the slightest hostile communication with
+the challengers, wrote to express their surprise. One of them received
+for answer, that he had laughed at the altercation between Lieutenant
+von Bluecher and the other prebendary, and therefore he, the challenger,
+felt himself injured in the person of his friend Bluecher. The other
+challenger would not even give such an excuse, he only wrote that he
+felt himself aggrieved, and that was enough.
+
+"The prebendaries, who, on account of their spiritual order, could not
+accept the challenge, informed the King immediately of the occurrence.
+The result was, the appointment of a mixed commission of inquiry under
+the presidency of General von Wobeser, and our President of
+Administration, Von Sobbe, into which I also was introduced, together
+with the quartermaster of the regiment, Ribbentrop. The prebendaries
+were acquitted by the court of justice before which the case was
+brought, and the officers were sentenced by a court-martial to three
+weeks' arrest, which they spent at the guard-house in the society of
+their companions, and promenading before it.
+
+"But the three prebendaries were also wounded in their most sensitive
+feelings by a malicious trick which was played them. Before this
+commission of inquiry was appointed, they were invited, through a
+livery servant, to a great evening party at General Bluecher's without
+his knowledge. They were all startled, suspected some mistake, and were
+doubtful about going. But as they were all three invited through a
+servant of the General's, they decided there could be no mistake, and
+also their relations and friends, who thought this invitation was a
+step towards the accommodation of the affair, advised them to go.
+General Bluecher, who had never thought of inviting them, was naturally
+very irate at seeing the three prebendaries enter. Being much
+prejudiced against them by his son Franz, who had then much influence
+over his father, and perhaps irritated by invidious remarks from the
+originator of the intrigue, upon their boldness in appearing, he gave
+them to understand that they had not been invited, and might go. They
+indignantly left the party, and not only they, but also their families;
+the ladies hastened home on foot, so deeply did they feel the
+mortification. This concerted deliberate affront excited general
+ill-will, and contributed very much to increase the bad feeling.
+
+"But what more than all increased the bitterness was the exercise of
+'Cabinet justice'[44] in the suit of the firm of Herren von der Beck,
+against the Herren von Landesberg and Von Boeselager. By a 'Cabinet
+order' of the 5th September, 1805, obtained by Von der Reck, the suit
+between the two parties pending in the Imperial Aulic Council was
+declared to be legally decided, and a commission of execution was
+appointed to eject the Herren von Landesberg and Von Boeselager from
+their property, and to place the Herren von der Reck in possession of
+it.
+
+"This unfortunate business, in a country which had as yet no Prussian
+feeling, revolted all minds. In public writings this violent inroad on
+the course of law was vehemently attacked, and an odious stain was
+inflicted on our Prussian justice, of which we had talked so loudly.
+
+"It was a mistake not to introduce the whole Prussian constitution at
+the outset, there would then have been only one source of discontent
+instead of constantly recurring irritation. Some, of the new things
+that were introduced piecemeal were peculiarly disagreeable to the
+people of Muenster, who were quite unaccustomed to them, such as the
+stamp duty, conscription, and the salt monopoly. Also the well-known
+excise was impending. Already were the toll-houses built, and it was to
+have been introduced in 1807, but was prevented by the events of the
+year 1806. But the expectation gave a disagreeable foretaste, and
+through it new fuel was added to the hatred. At last, but much too
+late, as the unhappy war had begun, the chapter was dissolved.
+
+"Under such circumstances, residence in Muenster was not agreeable to us
+old Prussians. I indeed felt this less than others; after I had made
+myself, to a certain extent, at home, I got on well with the people
+there; we won many true friends, and experienced from them much love
+and friendship. As in my office, so in social intercourse, I took pains
+to judge justly.
+
+"But the year 1806 came, and one sorrow followed upon another. First
+the three Rhine portions of the Duchy of Cleve, which remained to the
+Prussians, surrendered to Napoleon; he established himself on this side
+of the Rhine, and came into possession of the fortress Wesel, which was
+only too near to the present Prussian frontier. His brother-in-law
+Joachim Murat became duke of the old hereditary possessions of the
+King's family. No one could conceal from himself that our State, which
+spread so wide from east to west, was in a very critical position. Our
+grief was increased by the insolence with which the newly created duke
+carried on his encroachments even as far as Muenster.
+
+"New clouds rose darkly over us. Letters from Berlin breathed war
+against Napoleon, Bluecher left us, and we expected the French
+occupation of Muenster. It is true that General Lecoq had entered it
+with a small corps, but this gave us little comfort, for he appeared to
+wish to abandon the city, with its moats and ramparts, to the evil
+results of a useless defence. When he had felled down a beautiful
+plantation in front of the Egidien gate, and after the appearance of
+our war manifesto, the city was terrified one night by sudden alarm
+signals, in order, as he said, to prove the watchfulness of his
+soldiers; in the middle of October he suddenly withdrew and left us to
+our fate.
+
+"Nevertheless, we old Prussians, confiding in the valour of our
+soldiers, gazed hopefully towards the east, and looked forward with
+impatient expectation to news of victory. And it came--when Napoleon
+was already making his victorious march to Berlin--and it bore such an
+impress of truth, that President Von Vinke[45] ordered it to be
+published. Never was there such exultation; every one hastened to the
+other to convey first the joyful news. But the deepest prostration
+followed; the cup we had now to drink was the more bitter after the
+intoxication of pleasure. A few days after we received from fugitives
+only too certain an account of the loss of the battle of Jena.
+
+"Yet we recovered from the first stupefaction, and did not give up all
+hope. One lost battle could not decide the fate of the whole war.
+
+"But when we received detailed accounts of the terrible consequences of
+this defeat, when the last remains of the army had to lay down their
+arms at Luebeck, when the fortresses of Hameln, Magdeburg, Stettin and
+Castrin had, with unexampled cowardice, been surrendered without a blow
+to the enemy, and the whole Prussian State came under their power, then
+our courage sank, we knew that we were lost.
+
+"Meanwhile the sorrowful intelligence of the lost battle was followed
+by the enemy taking possession of the place.
+
+"Early one morning, a division of cavalry of the army of the King of
+Holland entered. Our anger and sorrow were increased by the feeling of
+the people of Muenster, which was very different from ours. Already on
+the arrival of the vanguard of the Dutch army, their long-nourished,
+slumbering indignation against the Prussians manifested itself in
+unconcealed joy. With open arms were the liberators from Prussian
+domination received, and joyfully lodged. Immediately afterwards the
+King of Holland marched in at the head of his army.
+
+"We had hard work in quartering them, as ten thousand men had entered
+the city. But strict discipline was kept, for it was undoubtedly the
+object of the King of Holland not to make the country inimical to him;
+but to treat it in the most conciliatory way. He flattered himself that
+the frontier Prussian province would come to the share of the Kingdom
+of Holland. His proceedings and the language of those about him, showed
+that he already considered himself as possessor of the country. He
+established an upper administrative council, at whose head General
+Daendels was placed, in co-ordinate authority with the presidents of
+the provincial administration and exchequer. Immediately the Muenster
+nobles came before him with their complaints of the Prussian rule, to
+which he listened. First stood the abolition of the chapter, and the
+ejection of Herren von Landesberg and von Boeselager. He exercised a
+real act of sovereignty, for he reinstated the chapter, and reversed
+the execution against those who had been expelled in the suit of the
+Herren von der Reck.
+
+"Meanwhile his kingdom soon came to an end; he had to march away at the
+command of Napoleon, who divided the conquered Prussian provinces into
+military governments, and appointed Generals and General-Intendants to
+preside. The Principalities of Muenster and Lingen, and the counties of
+Mark and Tecklenburg, together with the Domain of Dortmund, formed the
+first of these governments. General Loison came to Muenster.
+
+"Thus for the second time I came under French rule. In vain had I
+endeavoured to escape; fruitless were the severe sacrifices I had made
+for this purpose. I had abandoned Fatherland and home, parents and
+property, only to undergo once more in a foreign country the
+catastrophe which I had avoided, and which now came upon me in a far
+worse form. When Cleve became French, I took leave of it; I felt in my
+heart pleasure in returning under the sceptre of my own King, and under
+the rule of home laws; this one anchor to which I had held, was now
+torn from me. The power of Prussia was shattered, the whole State, with
+the exception of a small portion, was now in the power of a conqueror,
+whose ambitious plans displayed themselves more and more. It was only
+too certain that we should be trampled upon; but what our fate might
+be, over that a dark veil was drawn. The grief which gnawed in our
+bosoms and the deep mourning in which we were sunk, were increased by
+the annoyance of witnessing the joyful exultation of the people of
+Muenster over their liberation from Prussian rule, and the favour with
+which they were treated by the conqueror and his satellites. It was
+more especially the Muenster nobles who thus distinguished themselves,
+and behaved in a most undignified way. I will relate some instances of
+it.
+
+"In order in the speediest way to remove the hated Prussian colours,
+which were painted on the turnpikes, bridges, and public buildings, and
+to replace them by the old Muenster colours, a subscription was raised
+to defray the costs, and our colours were erased as soon as possible.
+One of the most opulent nobles took pleasure in showing his warm
+participation in this undertaking, by giving his signature to a
+considerable sum; in order to make known that he could not refrain from
+expressing his satisfaction, he added to his subscription, the phrase:
+'With pleasure,' that no one might doubt his patriotic feeling.
+
+"The presidents, directors, councillors, assessors and referendaries of
+the government, and of the war and royal domain departments, continued
+to wear their official uniforms. These reminiscences of Prussian
+supremacy were an abomination in the eyes of the nobles. They therefore
+endeavoured to work upon General Loison to order the laying aside of
+the uniform; but they only half succeeded. The General expressly
+permitted the continuance of the uniform, and only ordered that the
+Prussian button should be taken away, which we were obliged to change
+for a smooth one. Thus the uniform was not laid aside, and the Geheime
+Rath von Forkenbeck and I still wore it at the council in the year
+1808, when we were called to Duesseldorf.
+
+"This otherwise proud Muenster nobility paid as much court to the French
+Generals as to their former ruler, the Prince Bishop.
+
+"The oath prescribed by Napoleon, which was imposed also in Muenster,
+was so little obnoxious to them, that they even endeavoured to make a
+solemnity of taking it, and to do it with the ceremony which is only
+customary at doing homage. A canopy was erected in the great hall of
+the castle, under which General Loison received the oath. It was with
+great astonishment that we beheld these preparations, but our surprise
+was still greater when we saw General Loison, accompanied by the
+hereditary and court officials of the former Bishop of Muenster; who,
+with their old state ministered to the French General, in the same way
+as to their former Sovereign, and stood at his side as supporters
+during the ceremony.
+
+"A considerable table allowance was appointed for the governor--if I do
+not mistake, 12,000 thalers monthly--which was raised by an
+extraordinary tax. A household was formed, and the pensioned Muenster
+officials were again employed. The Court Marshal von Sch. acted in this
+capacity at the table of the French governor; he issued the invitations
+for dinners and evening assemblies, on which occasions he wore his old
+court marshal's uniform, with his marshal's staff in his hand, and
+under him was the court quartermaster with his sword, &c. When we saw
+this servile conduct the first time, the president of the
+administration, Von Sobbe, speaking to me, called the one an arrant
+fool, and the other the court fool.
+
+"Besides this, there was a volunteer guard of honour established for
+General Loison, who equipped themselves. They furnished the daily guard
+at the castle, and accompanied the General, when with a troop of
+soldiers he made a progress into the county of Mark. At the head of
+this guard of honour there were members of the Muenster nobility.
+
+"In the noble ladies' club, from which every respectable German had
+been excluded who did not belong to their caste, they received the
+French General with his mistress, in order to exercise more influence
+upon him.
+
+"Nevertheless, they were not so successful with General Loison; he was
+too wary for them, made fun of them in secret, and only cared for the
+presents that were partly given to him and partly promised. They had
+offered him a costly sword as a present, which he accepted graciously.
+The sword was ordered and made at Frankfort, but it only arrived after
+Loison had left the government. Now they were sorry for this too hasty
+offer, and they had no desire to send him the sword, as they had not
+found that complaisance in him which they expected. All this courtly
+_empressement_ became so repugnant to Loison, that he himself prevailed
+on Napoleon to recall him to the army.
+
+"With his weaker successor, Canuel, it succeeded better. My worthy
+friend the president, Von Vinke, was the first to experience it. An
+incidental expression thrown out by him in a remonstrance, 'that
+otherwise he could no longer carry on his office,' was readily laid
+hold of as signifying a resignation, and he was dismissed from his
+post.
+
+"In order to overcome my grief at things that could not be altered, I
+endeavoured to find distraction in a great work. The yet incomplete
+state of the laws of mortgages in the county of Muenster, offered me the
+handiest and best material I devoted myself to this tedious work with
+the greatest zeal, and with the assistance of many referendaries, I
+accomplished the registry of all the title deeds which had to be
+recorded in the mortgage book of the government of Muenster. Thus I
+succeeded in a certain measure in occupying myself, and I learnt by
+experience that hard work is in truth a soothing balsam, which precedes
+the slow healing powers of time.
+
+"But much as I believed myself to have acquired a kind of philosophic
+tranquillity by this withdrawal into my narrow sphere of business, yet
+I could not escape agitating feelings when the Peace of Tilsit really
+separated us from the Prussian State, and removed its frontier as much
+as forty miles to the east of us. The moving words with which our
+unhappy King took leave of his subjects, in the ceded provinces, and
+discharged the officials from their oath of allegiance, made us feel
+our loss still deeper. 'Dear children, it is an indescribably sorrowful
+feeling when the old ties of allegiance, of love, and confidence, which
+have bound us through long successive years to our ancestors, our
+State, and rulers, are at once violently rent, when a new and foreign
+ruler is forced upon a people, for whom no heart beats, who is received
+with despairing doubts, and who on his side feels nothing for his
+subjects.'"
+
+Here we conclude the narrative of the good Prussian. Muenster and the
+county of Mark were attached to the new grand-dukedom of Berg; Sethe
+himself became procurator-general of the Court of Appeals at
+Duesseldorf. But not for long, the firm uprightness of the German
+appeared suspicious to the foreign conqueror; he had not offered his
+aid in supporting the acts of tyranny of the French government;
+therefore he was called with threats to Paris, and there arrested,
+because, in fact, they feared his influence on the patriotic
+disposition of the country. When, in 1813, he was released, and the
+Prussian rule was restored in his Fatherland, he conducted the
+organisation of the legal authorities in the Rhine country. From that
+time he led a long, useful life of activity in his office, one of the
+first Prussian jurists who supported trial by jury, publicity, and
+verbal evidence, against the State government. A firm independence of
+character, truthful, devoted to duty, with deified earnestness and
+simplicity, he was a model of old Prussian official honour. The
+blessing of his life rests on his children.
+
+It is not without an object that in this and the preceding chapter two
+portraitures from the circle of German citizens have been placed in
+juxtaposition. They represent the contrasts that were to be found in
+German life, through the whole of the eighteenth century up to the war
+of freedom. We see Pietists and followers of Wolf; Klopstock and
+Lessing; Schiller and Kant; Germans and Prussians; a rich contemplative
+mind, and a persevering energy, which subjects the external world to
+itself.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+                          RISE OF THE NATION.
+                             (1807-1815.)
+
+
+The greatest blessing which Reformers leave behind them to succeeding
+generations seldom lies in that which they themselves consider as the
+fruit of their earthly life, nor in the dogmas for which they have
+contended, suffered and conquered, and been blessed and cursed by their
+contemporaries. It is not their system which has the lasting effect,
+but the numerous sources of new life, which through their labour is
+brought to light from the depths of the popular mind. The new system
+which Luther opposed to the old church, lost a portion of its
+constructive power a few years after he had laid his head to rest. But
+that which, during his great conflict with the hierarchy, he had done
+to rouse independence of mind in his people, to increase the feeling of
+duty, to raise the morals and to found discipline and culture, the
+impress of his soul in every domain of ideal life, remained in the
+severe struggles of the following century, an indestructible gain from
+which at last grew a fulness of new life. The system also of Frederic
+the Great, not many years after his death, was discarded by a foreign
+conqueror as an imperfect invention; but again the best result of his
+life remained an enduring acquisition for Prussia and Germany. He had
+called forth in thousands of his officials and soldiers zeal and
+faithfulness to duty, and in millions of his subjects devotion to his
+family; he had, as a wise political husbandman, sown everywhere the
+seed of intellectual and material prosperity. This was what remained to
+his State, the excellent cultivated soil from which the new life was to
+blossom. When his army was crushed, the country overrun by strangers,
+and the pangs of bitter need compelled men to seek the means of
+supporting life wherever they could find them, then in the midst of all
+this desolation arose a new power in the nation, their capacity for
+work. Even the rapidity and completeness with which the old system
+broke down, melancholy as it was to behold, was, nevertheless,
+fortunate; for though it did not cast aside suddenly all the upholders
+of the old system, yet it averted the greater danger of their
+resistance. It now became evident how great was the material to be
+found in Prussia, not only among officials and officers, but in the
+people itself. Unexampled was the fall, and equally unexampled was the
+recovery.
+
+The nation was stunned; it looked listlessly on the shipwreck of its
+State; it had always received its impulse from the government. In the
+chaotic confusion that now followed, there seemed no hope of rescue;
+the weak cursed the bad government, the superficial viewed maliciously
+the prostration of the unintellectual and privileged orders, and the
+weakest followed the star of the conqueror. Men of warm feeling
+secluded themselves like Steffens, who wrote a sorrowful ode on the
+fall of the Fatherland; but cooler heads investigated sullenly the
+defects of the old system, and with bitterness condemned alike the good
+and bad.
+
+The misery becomes greater, it is the intention of the Emperor to open
+all the veins, and draw blood from that portion of Prussia to which he
+has left a semblance of life. Exorbitant are the contributions. The
+French army is distributed over the country--it occupies cantonments in
+Silesia and the March; officers and soldiers are billeted upon the
+citizens--they are to be fed and entertained. At the cost of the
+district a table d'hote is to be established, and balls given. The
+soldier is to be compensated for the hardships of war. We are the
+conquerors, exclaim the officers arrogantly. There is no law against
+their brutality, or the impudence with which they disturb the peace of
+families in which they now rule as masters. If they are polite to the
+ladies of the house, that does not make them more acceptable to the
+men. Still worse is the conduct of the Generals and Marshals.
+
+Prince Jerome has his head-quarters at Breslau, and there keeps a
+dissolute court; the people still relate how licentiously he lived, and
+daily bathed in a cask of wine. At Berlin, General-Intendant Daru
+raises his demands higher every month. Even the humiliating conditions
+of the peace are still too good for Prussia; the tyrant scornfully
+alters the schedules. The fortresses are not restored, as was promised;
+with refined cruelty the war charges are increased enormously. They
+have drawn from the country, which still bears the name of Prussia,
+more than 200 millions of thalers in six years.
+
+On trade and commerce, also, the new system lays its destroying hand.
+By the Continental system, imports and exports are almost abolished.
+Manufactories are stationary, and the circulation of money stagnates;
+the number of bankrupts becomes alarmingly great: even the necessaries
+of daily life are exorbitantly high; the multitude of poor increases
+frightfully; even in the great cities the troops of hungry souls that
+traverse the streets can scarcely be controlled. The more wealthy also
+restrict their wants to the smallest possible compass; they begin a
+voluntary discipline in their own life, denying themselves small
+enjoyments to which they are accustomed. Instead of coffee, they drink
+roasted acorns, and eat black and rye bread; large societies bind
+themselves to use no sugar, and the housewife no longer preserves
+fruit. As Ludwig von Vincke, who then resided as a landed proprietor in
+the new grand-dukedom of Berg, pertinaciously smoked coltsfoot instead
+of tobacco, and made his wine of black currants, so did others renounce
+the necessaries on which the foreign tyrant had imposed a monopoly.
+
+But philosophy begins its great work, bringing blessing upon the State,
+by purifying and elevating the minds of men. While the French drum was
+beating in the streets of Berlin, and the spies of the stranger were
+lurking about the houses, Fichte delivered his discourses on the German
+nation: a new and powerful race was to be trained, the national
+character to be improved, and lost freedom to be regained.
+
+From the extreme east of the State, where now the greatest strength of
+the Prussian bureaucracy is at the head of affairs, a new organisation
+of the people began. Serfdom was abolished, landed property made free,
+and self-government established in the cities. The exclusiveness of
+classes was broken, privileges done away with, and a new constitution
+for the army was prepared by Colonel Scharnhorst. Whatever power of
+life there was in the people was now to have free play.
+
+In the year 1808, Prussia was no longer fainthearted; it began to raise
+its head hopefully, and looked about for aid. The first political
+society formed itself; "_tugendbund_,"[46] education unions, scientific
+societies, and officers' clubs, all had the same object--to free their
+Fatherland, and to educate the people for an approaching struggle.
+There was much trifling and immoderate zeal displayed, but they
+included a large number of patriotic men. Messengers ran actively with
+secret papers, but it was difficult for the unpractised associates to
+deceive the spies of the enemy. Dark plans of revenge were proposed in
+many of these unions; and desperate men hoped, by a great crime, to
+save the Fatherland.
+
+Hopes rise higher the following year: the war has begun in Spain;
+Austria prepares itself for the most heroic struggle that it has ever
+undertaken. In Prussia, also, the ground is hollow beneath the feet of
+the stranger; all is prepared for an outbreak; and the Police
+President, Justice Gruener, is one of the most active leaders of the
+movement. But it is not possible to unite Prussia with Austria; the
+first great rising of the people wastes itself in single hopeless
+attempts. Schill, Doernberg, the Duke of Brunswick, and the rising in
+Silesia fail. The battle of Wagram destroys the last hope of Austria's
+help.
+
+The courage of many sinks, but not of the best. Unweariedly do the
+friends of the Fatherland exercise themselves in the use of fire-arms;
+the Prussian army, also, which does not amount to more than 42,000 men,
+is secretly increased to more than double that number; and in all the
+military workshops the soldiers sit as artisans working at the
+equipments for a future war.
+
+A second time do the hopes of the people rise; Napoleon prepares
+himself for war against Russia. Again is the time come when a struggle
+is possible; already does Hardenberg venture to tell the French
+ambassador, St. Marsan, that Prussia will not allow itself to be
+crushed, and will encounter a foreign attack with 100,000 soldiers. But
+the King will not resolve upon a desperate resistance; he gives the
+half of his standing army as aid to the French Emperor. Then 300
+officers leave his service, and hasten to Russia, there to fight
+against Napoleon. And again hope diminishes in Prussia, freedom seems
+removed to an immeasurable distance.
+
+Violent has the hatred against the foreign Emperor become in northern
+Germany; above all, west of the Elbe, where his ceaseless wars have
+sacrificed the youth of the country. The conscription is there
+considered as the death lot. The price of a substitute has risen to two
+thousand thalers. In all the streets, mourning attire is to be seen,
+worn by parents for their lost sons. But most violent of all is the
+hatred in Prussia, in every vocation of life, in every house it calls
+to the struggle. Everything that is pure and good in Germany--language,
+poetry, philosophy, and morals--work silently against Napoleon.
+Everything that is bad, corrupt, and wicked, all duplicity and cruelty,
+calumny, knavishness and brutal violence, is considered as Gallic and
+Corsican. Like the fantastic Jahn, other eager spirits call the Emperor
+no longer by his name: they speak of him as once they did of the devil,
+as "he," or with a contemptuous expression as Bonaparte.
+
+Thus had six years hardened the character in Prussia.
+
+It was no longer a great State that in the spring of 1813 armed itself
+for a struggle of life and death. What remained of Prussia only
+comprehended 4,700,000. This small nation in the first campaign brought
+into the field an army of 247,000 men, reckoning one out of nineteen of
+the whole population. The significance of this is clear, when one
+reckons that an equal effort on the part of Prussia as it is, with its
+eighteen millions of inhabitants, would give the enormous amount of
+950,000 soldiers for an army in the field.[47] And this calculation
+conveys only the relative number of men, not the proportion of the then
+and present wealth of the country.
+
+It was a much impoverished nation that entered upon the war. Merchants,
+manufacturers, and artisans, had for six years struggled fearlessly
+against the hard times. The agriculturist had his barns emptied, and
+his best horses taken from his stables; the debased coin that
+circulated in the country disturbed the interior commerce even with the
+nearest neighbours, the thalers which had been saved from a better time
+had long been spent. In the mountain valleys the people were famishing;
+on the line of march of the great armies even the commonest necessaries
+of life were failing; teams and seed had been wanting to the countryman
+as early as 1807; in 1812 there was the same distress.
+
+It is true that there was bitter sorrow among the people over the
+downfall of Prussia, and deep hatred against the Emperor of the French.
+But it would be doing great injustice to the Prussians to consider
+their rising as more especially occasioned by the fiery passion of
+resentment. More than once, both in ancient and modern times, has a
+city or small nation carried on its desperate death-struggle to the
+last extremity; more than once we have been filled with astonishment at
+the wild heroic courage and self-devotion which have led men to
+voluntary death in the flames of their own houses, or under the fire of
+the enemy. But this lofty power of resistance is not perhaps free from
+a certain degree of fanaticism, which inflames the soul almost to
+madness. Of this there is no trace in the Prussians. On the contrary,
+there was a cheerful serenity throughout the whole nation which seems
+very touching to us. It arose from faith in their own strength,
+confidence in a good cause, and, above all, in an innocent youthful
+freshness of feeling.
+
+For the German, this period in the life of his nation has a special
+significance. It was the first time that for many centuries political
+enthusiasm had burst forth in bright flames among the people. For
+centuries there had been in Germany nations of individuals, living
+under the government of princes, for which they had no love or honour,
+and in which they took no active share. Now, in the hour of greatest
+danger, the people claimed its own inalienable right in the State. It
+threw its whole strength voluntarily and joyfully into a death-struggle
+to preserve its State from destruction.
+
+This struggle has a still higher significance for Prussia and its royal
+house. In the course of a hundred and fifty years the Hohenzollerns, by
+uniting unconnected provinces as one State, had formed their subjects
+into a nation. A great prince, and the costly victories, and brilliant
+success of the house, had excited a feeling of love in the new nation
+for their princes. Now the government of a Hohenzollern had been too
+weak to preserve the inheritance of his father. Now did the people,
+whom his ancestors had created, rise and give to the last effort that
+its prince could make, a direction and a grandeur which forced the King
+from his state of prostration almost against his will. The Prussian
+people paid with its blood to the race of its princes the debt of
+gratitude that it owed the Hohenzollerns for the greatness and
+prosperity which they had procured for it. This faithful and dutiful
+devotion arose from feeling that the life and true interests of the
+royal house were one with the people.
+
+But in the glow of popular feeling in 1813 there was something
+peculiar, which already appears strange to us. When a great political
+idea fills a people, we can now accurately define the stages through
+which it must pass before it can be condensed into a firm resolve. The
+press begins to teach and to excite; those of like minds assemble
+together at public meetings, and the discourse of an enthusiastic
+speaker exercises its influence. Gradually the number of those who are
+interested increases; from the strife of different views, which contend
+together in public, is developed a knowledge of what is necessary, an
+insight into the ways and means, the will to meet such requirements,
+and, lastly, self-sacrifice and devotion. Of this gradual growth of the
+popular mind through public life there is scarcely a trace in 1813.
+What worked upon the nation externally was of another kind. The feeling
+was excited by a single great moment; but, in general, a tranquillity
+rested on the nation which one may well call epic. The feeling of
+millions burst forth simultaneously; not abounding in words, without
+any imposing appearance, still quiet, but, like one of nature's forces,
+irresistible There is a pleasure in observing its course in certain
+great moments. It shall be here portrayed, not as it shines forth in
+prominent characters, but as it appears in the life of minor
+personages.
+
+It was after New Year's Day, 1813. The parting year had left a severe
+winter as a heritage to the new one, but, in a moderate-sized city in
+Prussia, the people stood in crowds before the post-office. Happy was
+he who could first carry home a newspaper. Short and cautious were the
+accounts of the events of the day, for in Berlin there was a French
+military governor, who watched every expression of the intimidated
+press. Nevertheless, the news of the fate of the great army had long
+penetrated into the most remote huts; first came vague reports of
+danger and suffering, the account of a tremendous fire in Moscow and
+flames up to the skies, which had risen, as from the earth, around the
+Emperor; then of a flight through snow and desert plains, of hunger and
+indescribable misery. Cautiously did the people speak of it, for the
+French not only occupied the capital and fortresses of the country, but
+had also in the provinces their agents, spies, and hated informers,
+whom the citizens avoided. Within a few days it was known that the
+Emperor himself had fled from his army; in an open sledge, disguised as
+Duke of Vicenza, and, with only one follower, he had travelled day and
+night through Prussia. On the 12th of December, about eight o'clock in
+the evening, he arrived at Glogau, there he reposed for an hour, and
+started again about ten o'clock, in spite of the terrible cold.
+The following morning he entered the castle of Hanau, where the
+posting-station then was. The resolute post-mistress, Kramtsch,
+recognised him, and with violent gestures swore she would give him no
+tea, but rather another drink. At the earnest representations of those
+around her, she was softened so far as to pour some camomile tea into a
+pot with a vehement oath; he, however, drank of it, and went on to
+Dresden. Now he had come to Paris, and it was told in the newspapers
+how happy Paris was, how tenderly his wife and son had greeted him, how
+well he was, and that he had already, on the 27th of December, been to
+hear the beautiful opera of "Jerusalem Delivered." It was said further
+that the great army, in spite of the unfavourable time of year, would
+return in fearful masses through Prussia, and that the Emperor was
+making new preparations. But the trial of General Mallet was also
+reported; and it was known how impudently the French newspapers lied.
+
+It was seen, also, what remained of the great army. In the first days
+of the year the snow fell in flakes; it lay like a shroud over the
+country. A train of men moved slowly and noiselessly along the high
+road to the first houses of the suburb. It was the returning French.
+Only a year ago, they had set forth at sunrise, with the sound of
+trumpets, and the rattle of drums, in warlike splendour, and with
+revolting arrogance. Endless had been the procession of troops; day
+after day, without ceasing, the masses had rolled through the streets
+of the city; never had the people seen so prodigious an army, of all
+nations of Europe, with every kind of uniform, and hundreds of
+Generals. The gigantic power of the Emperor sank deep into all souls,
+the military spectacle still filled the fancy with its splendour and
+its terrors.
+
+But there was also an undefined expectation of a fearful fate. For a
+whole month did this endless passage of troops last; like locusts the
+strangers consumed everything in the country, from Kolberg to Breslau.
+There had been a failure of the harvest in 1811, scarcely had the
+country-people been able to save the seed oats, and these were eaten in
+1812 by the French war horses. They devoured the last blade of grass
+and the last bundle of straw; the villagers had to pay sixteen thalers
+for a shock of chopped straw, and two thalers for a hundredweight of
+hay. And greedily as the animals, did the men consume; from the Marshal
+down to the common French soldier, they were insatiable. King Jerome
+had demanded for his maintenance at Glogau, a not very large town,
+four hundred thalers daily. The Duke of Abrantes had for a month
+seventy-five thalers daily; the officers obliged the wife of a poor
+village pastor to cook their ham with red wine; they drank the richest
+cream out of the pitchers, and poured essence of cinnamon over it; the
+common soldiers, also, even to the drummer, blustered if they did not
+have two courses at dinner. They ate like madmen. But even then the
+people prognosticated that they would not so return. And they said so
+themselves. When formerly they had marched to war with their Emperor
+their horses had neighed whenever they were led from the stable, but
+now they hung their heads sorrowfully; formerly the crows and ravens
+flew the contrary way to the army of the Emperor, now these birds of
+the battle-field accompanied the army to the east, expecting their
+prey.[48]
+
+But those who now returned came in a more pitiable condition than
+anyone had dreamed of. It was a herd of poor wretches who had entered
+upon their last journey--they were wandering corpses. A disorderly
+multitude of all races and nations collected together; without a drum
+or word of command, and silent as a funeral procession, they approached
+the city. They were all without weapons or horses, none in perfect
+uniform, their clothes, ragged and dirty, mended with patches from the
+dress of peasants and their wives. They had hung over their heads and
+shoulders whatever they could lay hands on, as a covering against the
+deadly penetrating cold; old sacks, torn horse-clothes, carpets,
+shawls, and the fresh skins of cats and dogs; Grenadiers were to be
+seen in large sheepskins. Cuirassiers wearing women's dresses of
+coloured baize, like Spanish mantles. Few had helmets or shakos; they
+wore every kind of head-dress, coloured and white nightcaps like the
+peasants, drawn low over their faces, a handkerchief or a bit of fur as
+a protection to their ears, and handkerchiefs also over the lower part
+of their face; and yet the ears and noses of most were frost-bitten or
+fiery red, and their dark eyes were almost extinguished in their
+cavities. Few had either shoe or boot; fortunate was he who could go
+through that miserable march with felt socks or large fur shoes, and
+the feet of many were enveloped in straw, rags, the covering of
+knapsacks, or the felt of an old hat. All tottered, supported by
+sticks, lame and limping. The Guards even were little different from
+the rest; their mantles were scorched, only their bear-skin caps gave
+them still a military aspect. Thus did officers and soldiers, one with
+another, crawl along with bent heads, in a state of gloomy
+stupefaction. All had become forms of horror from hunger, frost, and
+indescribable misery.
+
+Day after day they came along the high road, generally as soon as
+twilight and the iron winter fog were spread over the houses.
+Demoniacal was the effect of these noiseless apparitions of horrible
+figures, terrible the sufferings they brought with them; the people
+asserted that warmth could not be restored to their bodies, nor their
+craving hunger allayed. If they were taken into a warm room, they
+thrust themselves violently against the hot stove, as if they would get
+into it, and in vain did the compassionate women endeavour to keep them
+away from the dangerous heat. Greedily they devoured the dry bread, and
+some would not leave off till they died. Till after the battle of
+Leipzig, the people were under the belief that they had been smitten by
+Heaven with eternal hunger. Even then it occurred that the prisoners,
+when close to their hospital, roasted for themselves pieces of dead
+horses, although they had already received the regular hospital
+food; still, therefore, did the citizens maintain that it was a
+hunger specially inflicted by God; once they had thrown beautiful
+wheat-sheaves into their camp fire, and had scattered good bread on the
+dirty floor, now they were condemned never to be satiated by any human
+food.[49]
+
+Everywhere in the cities, along the road of the army, hospitals were
+prepared for the homeward bound, and immediately all the sick wards
+were overflowing, and virulent fevers annihilated the last strength of
+the unfortunates. Countless were the corpses carried out, and the
+citizens had to be careful that the infection did not penetrate into
+their houses. Any of the foreigners that could, after the necessary
+rest, crept home weary and hopeless. But the boys in the streets sang,
+"Knights without swords, knights without horses, fugitives without
+shoes, find nowhere rest and repose. God has struck man, horse, and
+carriage," and behind the fugitives they yelled the mocking call, "The
+Cossacks are coming." Then there was a movement of horror in the flying
+mass, and they quickly tottered on through the gates.
+
+These were the impressions of 1813. Meanwhile the newspapers announced
+that General York had concluded the convention of Tauroggin with the
+Russian Wittgenstein, and the Prussians read with dismay that the King
+had rejected the stipulations, and dismissed the General from his
+command. But immediately after it was said that he could not be in
+earnest, for the King had left Berlin, where his precious head was no
+longer safe among the French, and gone to Breslau. Now there were some
+hopes.
+
+In the Berlin paper of 4th March, among the foreign arrivals were still
+French Generals; but the same day Herr von Tschernischef, commander of
+a corps of cavalry, entered the capital in peaceful array.
+
+It had been known for three months that the Russian winter, and the
+army of the Emperor Alexander, had destroyed the great army. Already
+had Gropius, at Christmas, introduced a diorama of the burning of
+Moscow. For some weeks many of the new books had treated of Russia,
+giving descriptions of the people; Russian manuals and Russian national
+music were in vogue. Whatever came from the east was glorified by the
+excited minds of the people. Nothing more so than the vanguard of the
+foreign army, the Cossacks. Next the frost and hunger, they were
+considered the conquerors of the French. Wonderful stories of their
+deeds preceded them, they were said to be half wild men, of great
+simplicity of manners, of remarkable heartiness, indescribable
+dexterity, astuteness, and valour. It was reported how active their
+horses were, how irresistible their attacks, that they could swim
+through great rivers, climb the steepest hills, and bear the most
+horrible cold with good courage.
+
+On the 17th February, they appeared in the neighbourhood of Berlin;
+after that, they were expected daily in the cities which lay further to
+the west; daily did the boys go out of the gates to spy out whether a
+troop of them could be descried coming. When, at last, their arrival
+was announced, young and old streamed through the streets. They were
+welcomed with joyful acclamations, eagerly did citizens carry to them
+whatever would rejoice the hearts of the strangers; it was thought that
+brandy, sauerkraut, and herrings would suit their national taste.
+Everything about them was admired; their strong, thick beards, long
+dark hair, thick sheepskins, wide blue trowsers, and their weapons,
+pikes, long Turkish pistols, often of costly work, which they wore in
+broad leather girdles round their bodies, and the crooked Turkish
+sabre. With transport were they watched when they supported themselves
+on their lances and vaulted nimbly over thick cushion saddles, which
+served at the same time as sacks for their mantles; or couched their
+lances, urging on their lean horses with loud hurrahs; and, again, when
+they fastened their lances by a thong to the arm and trotted along,
+swinging that foreign instrument, the kantschu, to the astonishment of
+the youths--everyone stepped aside and looked at them with respect. All
+were enchanted also with their style of riding. They bent themselves
+down to the ground at full gallop, and lifted up the smallest objects.
+At the quickest pace they whirled their pikes round their heads, and
+hit with certainty any object at which they aimed. Astonishment soon
+changed to a feeling of intimacy; they quickly won the heart of the
+people. They were particularly friendly to the young, raised the
+children on their horses, and rode with them round the market-place;
+they sang in families in what was supposed to be the Cossack's style.
+Every boy became either a Cossack, or a Cossack's horse. Some of the
+customs, indeed, of these heroic friends were rather unpleasant, they
+were ill-mannered enough to pilfer, and at their night quarters it was
+plainly perceptible that they were not clean. Nevertheless, there long
+remained a fantastic glitter about them among both friends and foes,
+even when in the struggles that were now carried on among civilised
+men, they showed themselves to be plunderers, not trustworthy, and
+little serviceable. When later they returned home from the war, it was
+remarked that they had much degenerated.
+
+The newspapers were only delivered three times in the week, and the
+roads from the spring thaw then were very bad; thus the news came
+slowly at intervals through the provinces, where it was not stopped by
+the march of troops and the confusion of the struggle between the
+advancing Russians and retreating French. But every sheet, every report
+that conveyed new information, was received with eager sympathy. It was
+talked of in families, and in all the society of the cities, but the
+excitement was seldom expressed with any vehemence. There was a
+pathetic feeling in all hearts, but it no longer showed itself in words
+and gestures. For a century the Germans had found pleasure in their
+tears, had given vent to much feeling about nothing; now that great
+objects engrossed their life they were calm, there was no speechifying,
+with bated breath they restrained the disquiet of their hearts. If
+important news came, the master of the house announced it to his
+family, and quietly wiped away the tears that were in his eyes. This
+tranquillity and self-control was the peculiarity of that time.
+
+Small flying sheets were read with delight, especially what the
+faithful Arndt addressed to his countrymen. New songs spread through
+the country, in small parts, according to the custom of the
+ballad-singers, "printed this year;" generally bad and coarse, full of
+hate and scorn, they were forerunners of the beautiful poetic effusions
+of youthful vigor which were sung some months later by the Prussian
+battalions when they went to battle. The best of these songs were sung
+in families to the harpsichord, or the husband played the melody on the
+flute--which was then a favourite domestic instrument--and the mother
+sang the words with her children; for weeks this was the great evening
+amusement. These verses had more effect on the smaller circles of the
+people than on the more cultivated, they soon supplanted the old street
+songs. Sometimes the citizens bought the frightful caricatures of
+Napoleon and his army which then were sold through the country as
+flying-sheets, but often betrayed, by their Parisian dialect, that they
+were composed by the French. The coarseness and malicious vulgarity
+which now offend us, were easily overlooked, because they served to
+express hatred; it was only in the larger cities that they occupied the
+people in the streets, in the country they exercised little influence.
+
+Such was the disposition of the people when they received the
+proclamations of their King, which between the 3rd of February and the
+17th of March, calling out first volunteer riflemen, and then the
+Landwehr, put the whole defensive force of Prussia under arms. Like a
+spring storm that breaks the ice, they penetrated the souls of the
+people. The flood rose high, all hearts beat with emotion of pleasure
+and proud hope; and again at this moment of highest elevation, we find
+the same simplicity and quiet composure. There were not many words, but
+quick decision. The volunteers collected quietly in the towns of their
+provinces, and marched, singing energetically, to the chief cities,
+Koenigsberg, Breslau, and Colberg, and then to Berlin. The clergy
+announced in their churches the proclamation of the King, but it was
+hardly necessary. The people knew already what they were to do. When a
+young theologian, taking his father's place, admonished his
+parishioners from the pulpit to do their duty, and added that these
+were not empty words, for, as soon as the service was over, he himself
+would volunteer as a Hussar, a number of young men stood up in the
+church and declared they would do the same. When a betrothed hesitated
+to separate himself from his intended, and at last made known his
+resolve to go, she told him she had secretly lamented that he had not
+been one of the first to depart. Sons hastened to the army, and wrote
+to their parents to tell them of their hasty decision, and the parents
+approved; it was not surprising to them that their sons had done
+spontaneously what was only their duty. When a youth had made his way
+to one of the places of meeting, he found his brother already there,
+who had come from the other side of the country; they had not even
+written to one another.
+
+The academies for lectures were closed at Koenigsberg, Berlin, and
+Breslau. The University of Halle, also, still under Westphahan rule,
+was closed; the students had gone, either singly or in small bands, to
+Breslau. The Prussian newspapers mentioned laconically in two lines,
+"Almost all the students from Halle, Jena, and Goettingen, are come to
+Breslau, they wish to share in the fame of fighting for German
+freedom."
+
+At the gymnasium the taller and older ones were not considered always
+the best scholars, and the teachers of the Greek grammar had looked
+upon them with contempt; now they were the pride and envy of the
+school, the teachers gave them a hearty shake of the hand, and the
+younger ones looked on them with admiration as they departed. But it
+was not only those in the first bloom of youth who were excited to
+enter into the struggle, but also the officials, those indispensable
+servants of the State, judges and councillors, men from every circle of
+the civil service, from the city courts and the departments of
+government. A royal decree on the 2nd March set limits to this zeal,
+and it was necessary, for the order and administration of the State
+were threatened. The civil service could not be neglected; any one who
+wished to be a soldier was to obtain the permission of his superiors,
+and he who could not bear the refusal of his request must appeal to the
+King. The stronger minded in all circles were at the head of the
+movement, but the weaker followed at last the overpowering impulse.
+There were few families who did not offer their sons to the fatherland;
+many great names stand on the regimental lists; above all, the nobles
+of east Prussia. The same Alexander Count von Dohna-Schlobitten who had
+been minister of the interior in 1802, was the first man who inscribed
+himself in the Landwehr battalion of the Mohrungen district. Wilhelm
+Ludwig Count von der Groeben, chamberlain of Prince William, entered
+into Prince William's dragoons as a subaltern officer, three of his
+family fell on the field of battle in this war. Such examples
+influenced the country people. Multitudes of them gave to the State all
+that they possessed--their sound limbs.
+
+Whilst the Prussians on the Vistula in this emergency carried on their
+preparations independently with rapidly developed order and the
+greatest devotion, Breslau, from the middle of February, had been the
+rendezvous for the interior districts. Crowds of volunteers entered all
+the gates of the old city. Among the first were thirteen miners, with
+three apprentices from Waldenburg; these men had been fitted out by
+their fellow labourers, poor men, who had worked gratuitously
+underground until they had collected 221 thalers for this purpose.
+Immediately afterwards the Upper Silesian miners followed with similar
+zeal. The King could scarcely believe in such self-sacrificing devotion
+in the people; when he looked from the windows of the government
+buildings on the first long train of vehicles and men, who came past
+him from the march and filled the Albrech-strasse, heard their
+acclamations, and perceived the general satisfaction, tears rolled over
+his cheeks, and Scharnhorst asked him whether he at last believed in
+the zeal of his people.
+
+Every day the throng increased. Fathers presented their sons armed;
+among the first the Geheime Kriegsrath Eichmann equipped two sons, and
+the former Secretary of Hangwitz, Buerder, three. The provincial Syndic
+Elsner at Ratisbon offered himself, and armed three volunteer riflemen;
+Geheime Commerzienrath Krause at Swinemund, sent a mounted rifleman,
+entirely armed, with forty ducats, and an offer to arm, and pay for a
+year, twenty foot riflemen, and to furnish ten pigs of lead. Justizrath
+Eckart, at Berlin, gave up his salary of 1450 thalers, and entered the
+service as a trooper. One Rothkirch offered himself and two men fully
+equipped as troopers, besides five horses, 300 scheffels of corn, and
+all the cart-horses on his farm for the baggage-waggons. Amongst the
+most zealous was Heinrich von Krosigk, the eldest of an old family of
+Poplitz, near Alsleben. His property lay in the kingdom of Westphalia.
+In 1807, he had a pillar erected in his park of red sandstone, with
+these words engraven on it, "_Fuimus Troes_," and treated the French
+and the government of Westphalia with bitter contempt. When officers
+were quartered on him, he always gave the worst wine, drinking the best
+with his friends as soon as the strangers were gone, and if a Frenchman
+complained, he was rude and ready to fight; he had always loaded
+pistols on his table. At last he compelled his peasants to arrest the
+gendarmes of his own King. Now he had just broken out of the fortress
+of Magdeburg, where the French had placed him, and had abandoned his
+property to the enemy. The heroic man fell at Moeckern.
+
+Thus it went on, and all the cities and districts soon followed the
+example. Scheivelbein, the smallest and poorest district in Prussia,
+was the first to notify that it would furnish, equip, and pay, thirty
+horsemen for three months. Stolpe was one of the first cities that
+announced that it would pay 1000 thalers down, and a hundred for each
+month for the equipment of volunteer riflemen. Stargard had collected
+for the same object, on the 20th of March, 6169 thalers, 585 ounces of
+silver; one landed proprietor, K., had given 308 ounces. Ever greater
+and more numerous became the offers, till the organisation of the
+Landwehr gave the districts full opportunity to give effect to their
+devotion in their own circles.
+
+Individuals did not lag behind. He who did not go to the field himself,
+or equip half his family, endeavoured to help his Fatherland by gifts.
+It is a pleasant labour to examine the long lists of benefactions.
+Officials resigned a portion of their salaries, people of moderate
+wealth gave up a portion of their means, the rich sent their plate,
+those who were poorer brought their silver spoons; he who had no money
+to give offered his effects or his labour. It became common for wives
+to send their gold wedding rings, often the only gold that was in the
+house; they received afterwards iron ones with the picture of Queen
+Louisa; country-people presented horses, landed proprietors corn, and
+children emptied out their saving boxes. There came 100 pair of
+stockings, 400 ells of shirt linen, pieces of cloth, many pairs of new
+boots, guns, hunting knives, sabres and pistols. A forester could not
+make up his mind to give away his dear rifle, as he had promised, among
+some boon companions, and preferred going himself to the field. Young
+women sent their bridal attire, and, besides, the neck-ribbons they had
+received from their lovers. A poor maiden, whose beautiful hair had
+been praised, cut it off to be bought by the _friseur_, and patriotic
+speculation caused rings to be made of it, for which more than a
+hundred thalers were received. Whatever the poor could raise was sent,
+and the greatest self-sacrifice was amongst the lowest.[50]
+
+Often has the German since then been animated by patriotic aims; but
+the gifts of that great year deserve a higher praise; for, excepting
+the great collection of the old Pietists for their philanthropic
+institution, it is the first time that such a spirit of self-sacrifice
+has burst forth in the German people, and more especially the first
+time that the German has had the happiness of giving voluntarily for
+his State.
+
+The sums also which were produced were, as a whole, so far beyond what
+has since been collected from wider districts that they can scarcely be
+compared. The equipment of the volunteer riflemen alone, and what was
+collected in the old provinces for the volunteer corps, must have cost
+far more than a million, and it comprehends only a small fragment of
+the voluntary donations made by the people.[51] And how impoverished
+were the lower orders!
+
+Near together on the Schmiedebruecke, at Breslau, were the two
+recruiting places for the volunteer rifles and the Luetzow irregulars.
+Professor Steffens and a portion of the Breslau students were the first
+to set on foot the rifles, Ludwig Jahn spoke, gesticulated, and wrote
+concerning the Luetzowers. Both troops were equipped entirely by the
+patriotic gifts of individuals. The contributions for the volunteer
+rifles were collected by Heun. Betwixt the Luetzowers and riflemen there
+was a friendly and manly emulation; the contrast of their dispositions
+displayed itself; but whether more German or more Prussian, it was the
+same ray of light, only differently refracted. The old contrast of
+character in the citizens, which had been perceptible for a century,
+showed itself, firm, cautious, and vigorous; and enthusiastic feeling
+with loftier aspirations. The first disposition was mostly the
+characteristic of the Prussians, the last of the patriotic youths who
+hastened thither from foreign parts. Very different was the fate of the
+two volunteer bodies. From the 10,000 rifles who were distributed in
+every Prussian regiment, arose the vigour of the Prussian army; they
+were the moral element in it, the aid, strength, and supply of the body
+of officers; and they not only contributed a stormy valour to the
+Prussia army, but gave an elevation to the character of the nobles
+which was new in the history of the war. The irregulars under Luetzow,
+on the other hand, experienced the rude fate that overtakes the
+inspirations of the highest enthusiasm. The poetic feeling of the
+educated class attached itself chiefly to them; they included a great
+part of the German students, of vehement and excitable natures; but
+owing to this they became such a large and unwieldy mass that they were
+scarcely adapted to the work of regular warfare, and their leader, a
+brave soldier, had neither the qualities nor the fortune of a daring
+partisan. Their warlike deeds did not come up to the high-raised
+expectations that accompanied their first taking arms. Later, the best
+portion of them were absorbed in other corps of the army. But among
+their officers was the poet who was destined, beyond all others, to
+hand down in verse to the rising generation the magical excitement of
+those days. Of the many touching, youthful characters that figured in
+that struggle, he was one of the purest and most genial in his poetry,
+life and death: it was Theodore Koerner.
+
+But even in the great city where the volunteers were preparing their
+equipments there was no noisy din of excited masses. Quickly and
+earnestly every one did his duty. Those who had no money were supported
+by comrades who had been strangers to them, and met them accidentally.
+The only wish of the new comer was to find his equipments. If he had
+two coats, as a Luetzower he had one quickly arranged and coloured
+black; his greatest anxiety was as to whether his cartridge box would
+be ready. If he was deficient in everything, and the bureau would not
+supply him with what was necessary, he ventured, but this was rare, to
+beg through the newspapers. Otherwise, money was of as little
+importance to him as to his comrades. He made shift as he best could,
+what did it signify now? As to high-sounding phrases and patriotic
+speeches he had no time nor ear for them. All hectoring and braggadocio
+was despised. Such was the disposition of the young men. It was a great
+enthusiasm, a deep devotion without the inclination to a loud
+expression of it. The consequential ways and bombast of the zealous
+Jahn disgusted many, and this bad habit soon gave him the reputation of
+a coward.
+
+In many there was a disposition to enthusiastic piety, but not in the
+greater part. All the better sort, however, had strongly the feeling
+that they were undertaking a duty which was superior to every other
+earthly object: from this arose their cheerfulness and a certain solemn
+composure. With this feeling they industriously, honourably, and
+conscientiously performed their duty, exercising themselves unweariedly
+in the movement and use of their weapons in their rooms. They sung
+among their comrades with energetic feeling some of the new war songs,
+but these only kindled them because they were earnest and solemn like
+themselves. They did not like to be called soldiers, that word was in
+ill-repute from the time when the stick had ruled. They were warriors.
+That they must obey, do their duty to their utmost, and perform all the
+difficult mechanism of the service, they were thoroughly convinced; and
+also that they must be a pattern and example for the less educated, who
+were by their side. They were determined to be not only strict
+themselves, but careful of the honour of their comrades. In this holy
+war there was to be none of the insolence and coarseness of the old
+soldiers, to disgrace the cause for which they fought. With their
+"brethren" they held a court of honour and punished the unworthy. But
+they would not remain in the army; when the Fatherland was free, and
+the French put down, they would return to their lectures and legal
+documents in their studies. For this wax was not like another; now they
+stood as common soldiers in rank and file, but if they lived they would
+another year be again what they had been.
+
+Beside one of such volunteers was perhaps an old officer from the time
+of the rule of the nobles and the stick. He had done his duty in
+unlucky wars, had perhaps been a prisoner, plundered of all he had and
+dragged through the streets of Berlin, the people following him with
+jeering and curses, and shaking their fists at him; then after the
+peace a court-martial had been held upon him, he was liberated but
+discharged with a miserable pittance. Since that he had starved, and
+secretly gnashed his teeth when the foreign conqueror looked down on
+him as insolently as he had once done on the civilian. If he had no
+wife or child to maintain, he had lived for years with his companions
+in sorrow in a poor dwelling, with disorderly housekeeping, and some of
+the failings of his old officer class still clung to him; this time of
+deprivation had not made him softer or milder, the ruling feeling of
+his soul was hate, deep furious hatred against the foreign conqueror.
+He had long nourished an uncertain hope, perhaps a vain plan of
+revenge, now the time was come for retaliation. Even he had been
+altered by this time of servitude. He had discovered how unsatisfactory
+his knowledge was, and he had in moments of earnestness done something
+towards educating himself; he had learnt and read, he also had been
+inspired by the noble pathos of Schiller. Still he looked with mistrust
+and disfavour on the new-fashioned warrior who perhaps stood before him
+in the ranks. His old grudge against scribblers was still very active,
+and want of discipline, together with high pretensions, wounded him.
+The same antagonism showed itself in the higher as well as lower grades
+in the ranks. It is a remarkable circumstance in this war that he was
+so well restrained; the volunteers soon learnt military obedience, and
+to value the knowledge of service of those above them; and the officer
+lost somewhat of the rough and arbitrary way with which he used to
+treat his men. At last he listened complacently when a wounded rifleman
+contended with the surgeon whether the _flexor_ of the middle finger
+should be cut through, or when one of his men by the bivouac fire
+discussed with animation--in remembrance of his legal lectures--whether
+the ambiguous relation in which a Cossack had placed himself with
+respect to a certain goose was to be considered _culpa lata_ or
+_dolus_. On the whole, this intermixture answered excellently.
+
+But far more important than the action of the volunteers, was the
+advantage to the government of Prussia, of learning for the first time,
+what was its duty to such a people. The grand dimensions which the
+struggle assumed, the imposing military power of Prussia, and the
+weight which this State, by the importance of its armies, acquired in
+the negotiations for peace, were mainly occasioned by the exalted
+feeling which took the world by surprise in the spring months of that
+year. Through it the government gained courage, and was able to expand
+the power of the country to the immense extent it did. East Prussia,
+besides its contingent to the standing army, by its own strength, and
+almost without asking the government, raised twenty battalions of
+Landwehr and a mounted yeomanry regiment, and nothing but this enormous
+development of power could have made the establishment of the Landwehr
+possible throughout the whole realm.
+
+At the command of its King the nation willingly and obediently and in a
+regular way produced this second army; in the old provinces one hundred
+and twenty battalions and ninety squadrons of Landwehr were equipped
+and maintained, and this was only a portion of its exertions.
+
+How faithfully had it obeyed the commands of its King!
+
+The Landwehr of the spring of 1813 had little of the military aspect
+which it obtained by service and later organisation.[52] The men
+consisted of such as had not been drawn into the service of the
+standing army, and now would be taken by lot and choice up to forty
+years of age. As the youths of education, the first military spirits of
+the nation, had most of them either entered the volunteer rifles, or
+filled up the gaps of the standing army, the elements of the Landwehr
+would probably have been of less military capacity if a certain number
+of proprietors had not voluntarily entered the ranks. The solid masses
+of the war consisted of common soldiers, mostly country people; the
+leaders, of country nobles, officials, old officers on half-pay, and
+whoever else was selected as trustworthy by his district, also of young
+volunteers: a very motley material for field service, many of the
+officers as well as soldiers without any experience in war. The
+equipments also were in the beginning very imperfect; they were mostly
+provided by the circles. The coatee, long trowsers of grey linen, a
+cloth cap with a white tin cross; the weapons in the first ranks were
+pikes, in the second and third muskets; for the horsemen, pistols,
+sabres, and pikes. The men were put into ranks, exercised, and equipped
+in what was necessary in the principal town of the circle. In the great
+haste it sometimes happened that battalions were ordered to the army
+which as yet had no weapons and no shoes; the people went barefooted
+and with poles to the Elbe, resembling in appearance a band of robbers
+more than regular soldiery, but with cheerful alacrity, singing and
+giving vent to hurrahs which they had learned from the Cossacks. For
+some weeks the troops of the line, especially the old officers, looked
+contemptuously on this newly-established force, none with more wrath
+than the strict York. When the worthy Colonel Putlitz, at Berlin,
+begged for a Landwehr command,--he who had already fought valiantly in
+the French campaign, and in the year 1807 had collected a corps of
+sharpshooters in the Silesian mountains,--the staff officers asked him
+ironically, whether he thought of fighting with such hordes. After the
+war the valiant general declaimed, that the time during which he had
+commanded the Landwehr was the happiest of his life. In no part of the
+new organisation of the army did the power of the great year, and the
+capacity of the people, shine so brilliantly as in this. These peasant
+lads and awkward ploughboys became in a few weeks trustworthy and
+valiant soldiers. It is true that they had a disproportionate loss of
+men, and in their first encounter with the enemy did not always keep a
+firm front, and showed the rapid alternations of cowardice and courage
+which are peculiar to young troops; but called together from the plough
+and the workshop, badly clothed, badly armed, and little drilled as
+they were, they had in the very beginning to go through all the severe
+fieldwork of veteran troops. That they were in general capable of doing
+it, that some battalions already fought so bravely that even their
+opponent (York) saluted them by taking off his hat, is as well known as
+it is rare in military history. Soon they could not be distinguished
+from troops of the line; it was between them an emulation of valour.
+
+Justly do the sons of that time boast of the men of the Landwehr who
+readily answered to the call; but not less was the zeal with which the
+people at home laboured after the command was given for the war. People
+of every calling, every citizen, the smallest places, the moat distant
+districts, bore their part in the work, often undergoing the greatest
+labours and sufferings, especially those on the frontiers. A simple
+arrangement sufficed for the business in the circles; a military
+commission was formed of two landed proprietors, one citizen and one
+yeoman, the landrath of the circle, and the burgomaster of the capital
+of the circle, were almost always the almost zealous members of it. It
+was undoubtedly an occupation for simple men which was adapted to
+awaken extraordinary powers. They had to deal with the remains of the
+French army, with their hunger and typhus, with the thronging Russians
+who for many months were in a doubtful position, with two languages,
+that of their new friends being more strange to them than that of their
+retreating enemies; and, added to this, the coarseness and wildness of
+their new allies, whose subaltern officers were for the most part no
+better than their soldiers, lusting after brandy, and at least as
+rapacious and more brutal than irregular troops. Soon did the
+commissioners learn how to deal with the wild people; tobacco chests
+stood open, together with clay pipes, in the office room: it was an
+endless coming and going of Russian officers, they filled their pipes
+and smoked, demanded brandy, and received harmless beer. If ever the
+coarseness of the strangers broke out, the Prussian officials at last
+learnt to punish the ill-behaved with their own weapons, the kantschu,
+which perhaps a Russian officer had left him, that he might more easily
+manage his people. The last typhus sufferers of the French still filled
+the hospitals of the city, the Baschkirs bivouacked with their felt
+caps in the market-place; the inhabitants quarrelled with the
+foreigners quartered on them; every day the Russians required the
+necessaries of life and transport, couriers; Russian and Prussian
+officers demanded relays of horses, the cultivators and peasants of the
+neighbouring villages complained that they had been deprived of theirs,
+that no ploughboys were to be found, and that the cultivation of the
+land was impossible. In the midst of all this hurly-burly came the
+orders of their own government, strong and dictatorial, as was required
+by the times, and not always practical, which was natural in such
+haste; the cloth-makers were to furnish cloth, the shoe-makers shoes,
+the harness-makers and saddlers cartouche-boxes and saddles; so many
+hundred pair of boots and shoes, so many hundred pieces of cloth, and
+so many saddles, all in one short week, without money or secure bills
+of exchange. The artisans were for the greater part poor people without
+credit; how was the raw material to be obtained, how was the workman to
+be paid, how were the means of life to be obtained in these weeks in
+which the usual chance profit was lost? This did not go on for one
+week, but for a whole year. Truly the spirit of sacrifice which showed
+itself in gifts, and in the offer of their own lives, was among the
+highest and noblest things of this great time; but not less honourable
+was the self-sacrificing, unpretending, and unobserved fulfilment of
+duty of many thousands of the lower classes, who, each in his sphere in
+the city or in the village, worked for the same idea of his State to
+the uttermost of his own powers.
+
+The question is still unsolved of the military importance, in a
+civilised country, of a _levee en masse_. The law for the establishment
+of this popular force was carried to the very last possibility of
+demand. In the first edict, the 21st of April, there was an almost
+fanatical strictness, which, in the subsequent laws of the 24th of
+July, was much mitigated. The edict exercised a great moral effect; it
+was a sharp admonition to the dilatory, that it was a question for all,
+of life or death. It had an imposing effect even upon the enemy by its
+Draconic paragraphs. But it was, immediately after its appearance,
+severely blamed by impartial judges, because it demanded what was
+impossible, and it had no great practical effect. The Prussians had
+always been a warlike people, but in 1813 they had not the military
+capacity which they have now. Besides the standing army, there were,
+before the introduction of the universal obligation of service, only
+the peaceful citizens without any practice in arms or movement of
+masses, or at the utmost, the old shooting guilds which handled the
+ancient shooting weapons. But now the nation had sent into the field
+all who were capable of fighting; the strength of the country was
+strained to the uttermost; every family had given up what they
+possessed of military spirit. The older men, who remained behind, who
+were also indispensable for the daily work of the field and workshop,
+were not especially capacitated to do valiant service in arms. Thus it
+was no wonder that this fearful law brought to light the ludicrous side
+of the picture; endless goodwill together with boorishness and
+narrowmindedness. It was read with great edification, that the whole
+people were to take up arms to withstand the invading enemy; that the
+women and children also were to be employed in certain occupations, was
+quite to the reader's mind, especially those who were not grown up; but
+doubts were excited by the sentence in which it was stated, that
+cowardice was to be punished by the loss of weapons, the doubling of
+taxes, and corporeal chastisement, as he who showed the feeling of a
+slave was to be treated as a slave. Then the poor little artisan, who
+could scarcely keep his children from hunger, had never touched a
+weapon, and had all his life anxiously avoided every kind of fighting,
+was placed in the position to put the difficult question wistfully to
+himself--what is cowardice? And when the law further forbade anyone in
+a city which was occupied by the enemy to visit any play, ball, or
+place of amusement, not to ring the bells, to solemnise no marriages,
+and to live as if in deepest mourning, it appeared to the unprejudiced
+minds of Germans as tyrannical--more Spanish and Polish than German.
+
+Yet the people, in the enthusiasm of this spring-time, overlooked these
+hardships, and prepared themselves for the struggle. Even before the
+decree, patriotic feeling had, in East Prussia, established here and
+there similar rules. Now this zeal had spread through the cities more
+than in the open countries. The organisation began almost everywhere,
+and was carried through in many places. Beacons were erected, alarm
+poles rose high from Berlin to the Elbe, and towards Silesia resinous
+pines, on which empty tar-barrels were nailed, surrounded with tarred
+straw; near them a watch was posted, and they more than once did good
+service. All kinds of weapons were searched out, fowling-pieces and
+pistols, which had been cleverly foreseen in the ordinance when it
+directed that, "For ammunition, in case of a deficiency in balls, every
+kind of common shot may be used, and the possessors of fire-arms must
+have a constant provision of powder and lead." He who had no musket,
+furnished himself for the levy as the Landwehr did at first, with
+pikes; they were exercised in companies--the butchers, brewers, and
+farmers formed squadrons. The first rank of infantry were pikemen; the
+second and third, if possible, musketeers. In this also, the
+intellectual leaders of the people showed a good example; they knew
+well that it was necessary, but it was no easy matter for them,
+especially if they were no longer young. At Berlin, Savigny and
+Eichhorn were of the Landwehr committee; in the levy none was more
+zealous than Fichte; his pike, and that of his son, leant against the
+wall in the front hall, and it was a pleasure to see the zealous man
+brandishing his sword on the drill-ground, and placing himself in a
+posture of attack. They wished to make him an officer, but he declined
+with these words: "Here I am, only fit to be a common man." He,
+Buttmann, Ruehs, and Schleiermacher drilled in the same company; but
+Buttmann, the great Greek scholar, could not quite distinguish between
+right and left; he declared that was most difficult. Ruehs was in the
+same condition, and it constantly happened that the two learned men, in
+their evolutions, either turned their backs, or looked each other in
+the face puzzled. Once, when it was a question of an encounter with the
+enemy, and how a valiant man ought to conduct himself in that case,
+Buttmann listened, leaning sadly on his spear, and said at last: "It is
+very well for you to talk, you are of a courageous nature."[53]
+
+If this _Landsturm_ was to be mobilised for the maintenance of the
+security of the circle, or for service in the rear of the enemy, or in
+the neighbourhood of fortresses still held by them, the alarm bell was
+rung, and the town became in a state of stormy excitement. Anxiously
+did the women pack up food and drink, bandages and lint, in the
+knapsack, for according to the regulations no one was to forget the
+knapsack, bread-bag, and field-flask; it was his duty to carry with him
+provisions for three days; not unfrequently did the female inhabitants
+feel like the wife of a cutler in Burg, who stated to the commanding
+officer that her husband must remain behind, for he was the only cutler
+in the place, or like the wife of a watchmaker, who had compelled her
+husband to conceal himself. He was, however, traced by other women
+whose husbands had gone, was taken by them to the churchyard, placed on
+a grave, and punished in a maternal way with the palm of the hand.
+
+Any one who was a child at that time, will remember the enthusiasm with
+which the boys also armed. The elder ones assembled together in
+companies, and armed themselves with pikes; the smaller ones, too, had
+good cudgels. A poor boy who was working in a manufactory was asked why
+he carried no weapon, "I have all my pockets full of stones," was his
+answer; he carried them about with him against the French.[54] And no
+regulation of the _Landsturm_ ordinance was so zealously obeyed by the
+rising generation, as the provision that every _Landsturmer_ should, if
+possible, carry a shrill-sounding pipe with him, in order to recognise
+others in the dark, and come to an understanding. By the greatest
+industry the boys learnt to produce shrill tones from every kind of
+signal pipe, and there is reason to believe that the present use of the
+pipe in street rows was first adopted by our youths from hatred to the
+French. Seldom were the _Landsturm_ employed in military service in
+1813; they were more often employed in clearing the districts of
+marauding rabble, and as watchers, or in the messenger service; their
+only serious military service against the enemy was performed at that
+Bueren, which under Frederic II. had driven back its flying sons to the
+King's army. There, after the peace, all the men wore the military
+medal. Up to the present day the people retain the memory of this
+feature of the great war; it has been more enduring than many others of
+more importance. Still do old people boast that though not in the
+field, yet at home they had borne arms for the Fatherland; it also is
+fitting that their sons should remember it. The time may come when in
+another form, and with stricter discipline, the general armament of the
+people will be an important part of German military power.
+
+But whilst here the dangerous game was not carried on in its terrible
+reality, yet all eyes and ears were incessantly directed to the
+distance. The war had begun in earnest. Those who were left behind were
+in continual anxiety concerning the fate of those they loved, and of
+Fatherland. No day passed without some report, no post came without the
+announcement of some important event; life seemed to fly amidst the
+longing and the expectation with which they looked forth beyond their
+city walls. Every little success filled them with transport; it was
+announced at the door of the town hall, in the church, and in the
+theatre, wherever men were collected together. On the 5th April was the
+conflict, at Zehdenick, the first undoubted victory of the Prussians;
+far and wide through the provinces did people hasten to the church
+towers to endeavour to descry the first intelligence; and when the
+thunder of cannon had ceased, and the joyful news ran through the
+country, there was no bounds to the general exultation; everything that
+was praiseworthy was proudly extolled, above all the valiant artillery
+that with guns and powder waggons had chased the enemy through the
+burning market-place of Leitzkau, amidst the flames that were gathering
+around them; also the black Hussars, with their death's-heads, valiant
+Lithuanians, who had ridden over the smart red Hussars from Paris at
+the first onset. And when the proprietor of the market-place afterwards
+made a collection through the newspapers for his poor people who had
+been burnt out, and excused himself for begging at such a time for aid
+to private misfortune, the country people were not forgotten who had
+first suffered from the war.
+
+Louder became the din of war, more furious did the conflict of masses
+rage; the exultation of victory and fearful anxiety alternated in the
+hearts of those remaining at home. After the battle of Grossgoerschen,
+it was proclaimed that assistance was needed for the wounded. Then
+there began everywhere among the people collections of linen and lint;
+unweariedly did not only children but grown-up people draw out the
+threads of old linen, the women cut bandages, and the teachers in
+schools cut the rags which the little girls and boys at their request
+brought with them from their homes, into shape, and whilst they taught
+the children, these with burning tears collected the pieces into great
+heaps. Making lint was the evening work of families; it might be of
+some use to the soldiers.
+
+In the neighbourhood of the allied armies and in the chief cities,
+hospitals were erected, and everywhere the women assisted--court
+ladies, and authoresses like Rachel Levin. In one great hospital at
+Berlin there was Frau Fichte and Frau Reimer, the superintendents of
+the female nurses. The hospital, owing to the retreating French, had
+become a pest-house, bad nervous fevers were prevalent, and the strange
+fancies of the invalids made it a terrible abode. The wife of Fichte
+shuddered at these horrors, but he endeavoured to sustain her in his
+noble way. When she was overtaken with nervous fever, he nursed the
+invalid, caught the infection, and died. Reil also, the great physician
+and scholar, died there in the midst of his philanthropic efforts. Frau
+Reimer was preserved; her house had been, before the war, the resort of
+the Prussian patriots, now her husband had become one of the Landwehr
+under Putlitz; her anxieties about him and his business and her little
+children, neither damped her spirit nor engrossed her time; from
+morning to evening, spring and summer, she was actively occupied; never
+weary, she divided her time betwixt her family and her care of the
+sick, and her life appeared to herself indestructible.[55] To her
+husband, friends and contemporaries, this zeal seemed natural, and a
+matter of course. In a similar way did German women do their duty
+everywhere with the greatest self-denial and devotedness, and with
+quiet enduring energy.
+
+The fearful battle of Bautzen took place; the armistice followed. The
+Prussians were full of uneasiness. Streams of blood had flowed, their
+army was driven back, the Emperor appeared invincible by earthly
+weapons. For some weeks the most intelligent looked gloomily at the
+future, but the people still maintained a right feeling of self-respect
+and elevated resolution. Trust in their own energy, and the goodness of
+their cause, and above all trust in God, were the source of this frame
+of mind. Every one saw that the strength of Prussia in this campaign
+was incomparably greater than in the last unfortunate war. Only a
+little more strength seemed to be necessary to overthrow the tyrant; if
+they could only make a little more exertion, he might be hurled back.
+The voluntary contributions continued, late in the autumn receipts were
+given for them. The equipment of the Landwehr was ended, the artisan
+had everywhere worked for his King and Fatherland.
+
+The war again raged, blow and counterblow, flux and reflux; the armies
+pressed on; now one saw from Thurm the hosts of the enemy, now the
+approach of friends. The cities and provinces of the west learnt from
+Berlin and Breslau the fate of the war. Ah, its terrible features are
+not strange to Germans; up to the time of our fathers, the hearts of
+almost every generation of citizens have been shaken by them.
+
+There are hollow, short reverberations in the air; it is the thunder of
+distant cannon. Listening crowds stand in the market-place, and at the
+gates; little is said, only half words in a subdued tone, as if the
+speaker feared to speak too loud. From the parapet of the towers, and
+the gables of the houses which look towards the field of battle, the
+eyes of the citizens strain anxiously to see into the distance. On the
+verge of the horizon there is a white cloud in the sunlight,
+occasionally a bright flash is perceptible and a dark shadow. But on
+the by-ways which lead from the nearest villages to the high road, dark
+crowds are moving. They are country people flying into the wood or to
+the mountains. Each carries on his shoulders what he has been able to
+scrape together, but few have been able to carry off their property,
+for carts and horses have for some weeks past been taken from them by
+the soldiers; lads and men drive their herds nervously, the women
+loudly wailing, carry their little ones. Again there is a rolling in
+the air, sharper and more distinct. A horseman races through the city
+gate at wild speed, then another. Our troops are retreating, the crowds
+of citizens separate, the people run in terrified anguish into their
+houses, and then again into the street; even in the city they prepare
+for flight. Loud are the cries and lamentations. He who still possessed
+a team of horses, dragged them to the pole, the clothmaker threw his
+bales, and the merchant his most valuable chests on the waggons, and
+over these their children and those of their neighbours. Waggons and
+crowds of flying men thronged to the distant gate. If there is a swampy
+marsh almost impassable, or a thick wood in the neighbourhood, they fly
+thither. Inaccessible hiding-places, still remembered from the time of
+the Swedes, are again sought out. Great troops collect there, closely
+packed; the citizens and countrymen conceal themselves with their
+cattle and horses for many days; sometimes still longer. After the
+battle of Bautzen the parishioners of Tillendorf near Bunzlau abode
+more than a week in the nearest wood, their faithful pastor Senftleben
+accompanied them, and kept order in that wild spot, he even baptised a
+child.[56]
+
+But he who remains in the town with his property, or in the performance
+of his duty, is eager to conceal his family and goods. Long has the
+case been taken into consideration, and hiding-places ingeniously
+devised. If the city has more especially roused the fury of the enemy,
+it is threatened with fire, plunder, and the expulsion of the citizens.
+In such a case the people carry their money firmly sewed in their
+clothes.
+
+One anxious hour passes in feverish hope. The first announcers of the
+retreat clatter through the streets, damaged guns escorted by Cossacks.
+Slowly they return, the number of their men incomplete, and blackened
+by powder, more than one tottering wounded. The infantry follow, and
+waggons overcrowded with wounded and dying men. The rear-guard take up
+their post at the gate and the corners of the streets, awaiting the
+enemy. Young lads run from the houses and carry to the soldiers what
+they have called for, a drink or a bit of bread; they hold the
+knapsacks for the wounded, or help them quickly to bandages.
+
+There are clouds of dust on the high road. The first cavalry of the
+enemy approach the gate, cautiously looking out, the Carabiniers on the
+right flank. A shot falls from the rear-guard, the Chasseur also fires
+his carbine, turns his horse, and retires. Immediately the enemy's
+vanguard press on in quick trot, and the Prussian Tirailleurs withdraw
+from one position to another firing. Finally the last has abandoned the
+line of houses. Once more they collect outside the gate, in order to
+detain the enemy's cavalry, who have again formed into rank.
+
+The streets are empty and shut. Even the boys who have accompanied the
+Prussian Tirailleurs have disappeared; the curtains of the windows are
+let down, and the doors closed; but behind curtain and door are anxious
+faces looking at the approaching enemy. Suddenly a cry bursts forth
+from a thousand rough voices--_vive l'Empereur!_ and, like a flood, the
+French infantry rush into the town. Immediately they knock against the
+doors with the butt ends of their muskets, and if they are not opened
+quick enough they are broken in. Now follow desperate disputes between
+the defenceless citizen and the irritated enemy--exorbitant demands,
+threats, and frequently ill-usage and peril of death--everywhere
+clamour, lamentation, and violence. Cupboards and desks are broken
+open, and everything, both valuable and valueless, plundered, spoiled,
+or destroyed, especially in those houses whose inmates have fled; for
+the property of an uninhabited house, according to the custom of war,
+falls to the share of the soldier. The city authorities are dragged to
+the townhall, and difficult negotiations begin concerning the
+quartering of the troops, the delivery of provisions and forage, and
+impossible contributions.
+
+If the enemy's General cannot be satisfied with gifts, or if the town
+is to be punished, the inhabitants of most consideration are collected,
+forcibly detained, threatened, and, perhaps at last, carried off as
+hostages. If a larger corps is encamped round the city, one battalion
+bivouacs in the market-place. The French are rapidly accommodated. They
+have fetched straw from the suburbs, they have robbed provisions on the
+road, and cut up the doors and furniture for fire-wood. Disagreeably
+sounds the crash of the axe on the beams and woodwork of the houses.
+Brightly blaze up the camp fires, and loud laughter, with French songs,
+sound about the flames.
+
+When the enemy withdraws in the morning, after having remained one
+night through which the citizens have held anxious watch, they gaze
+with astonishment on the rapid devastation of their city, and on the
+sudden change in the country outside the gates. The boundless ocean of
+corn, which yesterday waved round their city walls, is vanished, rooted
+up, crushed and trampled by man and horse. The wooden fences of the
+gardens are broken, summer arbours and houses are torn away, and
+fruit-trees cut down. The fire-wood lies in heaps round the smouldering
+watch-fires, and the citizen may find there the planks of his waggon
+and the doors of his barn. He can scarcely recognise the place where
+his own garden was, for the site of it is covered with camp straw,
+confused rubbish, and the blood and entrails of slaughtered beasts. In
+the distance, where the houses of the nearest village project above the
+foliage of the trees, he perceives no longer the outline of the roofs,
+only the walls are standing, like a heap of ruins.
+
+It was bitter to pass through such an hour, and many lost all heart.
+Even for people of property it was now difficult to support their
+families. All the provisions of the city and neighbourhood were
+consumed or destroyed, and no countryman brought even the necessaries
+of life to the market, it was needful therefore to send far into the
+country for the means to appease hunger. But from a rapid succession of
+great events men had become colder, more sturdy and hardier in
+themselves. The strong participation which every individual had taken
+in the fate of the State made them indifferent to their own hardships.
+After every danger, it was felt to be a comfort that the last thing,
+life, was saved. And there was hope.
+
+Before long the devastating billow surged back. Again roared the
+thunder of guns, and the drums rattled. Our troops are advancing; wild
+struggle rages round the city. The Prussian battalions press forward
+through the streets into the market-place against the enemy, who still
+hold the western suburb. It is the young Landwehr who this day receive
+their baptism of blood. The balls whistle through the streets; they
+strike the tiles and plaster of the houses; the citizens have again
+concealed their wives and children in cellars and out-of-the-way
+places. The battalions halt in the market-place. The ammunition waggons
+are opened. The first companies press forward to the same gate through
+which, a few days before, the enemy had rushed into the city. The
+struggle rages fiercely. In the assault the enemy are thrown back; but
+fresh masses establish themselves in the houses of the suburb, and
+contend for the entrances to the streets. Mutilated and severely
+wounded men are carried back and laid down in the market-place, and
+more than once the combatants have to be relieved. When the
+inexperienced soldiers see their comrades borne back from the fight,
+their faces blackened with powder, and covered with sweat and blood,
+their courage sinks within them; but the officers, who are also for the
+first time in close combat, spring forward, and "Forward, children! the
+Fatherland calls!" sounds through the ranks. At one time the enemy
+succeeded in storming the upper gate, but scarcely have they forced
+their way into the first street leading to the market, when a company
+of Landwehr throw themselves upon them with loud hurrahs, and drive
+them out of the gate.[57]
+
+The thunder roars; the fiery hail pierces through doors and windows;
+the dead lie on the pavement and thresholds of the houses. Then any
+citizen who has a manly heart can no longer bear the close air of his
+hiding place. He presses close behind his fighting countrymen near to
+the struggle. He raises the wounded from the pavement, and carries them
+on his back either to his house or the hospital. Again the boys are not
+among the last; they fetch water, and call at the houses for some drink
+for the wounded whom they support; they climb up the ammunition waggons
+and hand down the cartridges, proud of their work they are unconcerned
+about the whistling bullets. Even the women rush out of the houses,
+with bread in their aprons and full flasks in their hands; they may
+thus do something to help the Fatherland.
+
+The fight is over; the enemy driven back. In the warm sunshine a
+sorrowful procession moves through the city--the imprisoned enemy
+escorted by Cossacks. Hardheartedly do the troopers drive the weary
+crowd; they are allowed only a short rest in the open place of the
+suburb; the prisoners lie exhausted, weary and half fainting, in the
+dust of the high road. It is the second day on which they have had
+neither food nor drink; not once have their guards allowed them a drink
+from brook or ditch; they have ill-treated the weary men with blows and
+thrusts of their lances. These now, with outstretched hands, pour forth
+entreaties in their own language to the citizens, who stand round with
+curiosity and sympathy. They are, for the most part, young Frenchmen
+who are here lamenting, poor boys, with pale and haggard faces. The
+citizens hasten to them with food and drink; ample piles of bread are
+brought; but the Russians are hungry themselves; they roughly push back
+the approaching people, and tear their gifts from them. Then the women
+put baskets and flasks into the hands of their children. A courageous
+lad springs forward; the little troop of maidens and young boys trip
+amongst the prisoners, who are lying on the ground; even the youngest
+totter bravely from man to man, and distribute their gifts smilingly,
+unconcerned about their bearded guards,[58] for the Cossack does no
+injury to children. The German is not unkind to his enemy.
+
+When anyone carries a wounded countryman to his house, how faithfully
+and carefully he nurses him. The family treat him as they would their
+own son or brother who is far away in the king's army. The best room
+and a soft bed is prepared for him, and the mistress of the house
+attends him herself with bandages and all necessary care.
+
+The whole people feel like a great family. The difference of classes,
+the variety of avocations, no longer divide; joy and sorrow are felt in
+common, and goods and gains are willingly shared. The prince's daughter
+stands in union with the wife of the artisan, and both zealously
+co-operate together; and the land junker who, only a few months before,
+considered every citizen as an intruder in his places of resort, now
+rides daily from his property to the city in order to smoke his war
+pipe with his new friends, the alderman or manufacturer, and to chat
+with them over the news; or, what was still more interesting to them,
+over the regiment in which their sons were fighting together. Men
+became more frank, firmer and better in this time; the morose pedantry
+of officials, the pride of the nobleman, and even the suspicious
+egotism of the peasant, were blown away from most, like dust from
+good metal; selfishness was despised by everyone; old injustice and
+long-nourished rancour were forgotten, and the hidden good in man came
+to light. According as every one bestirred himself for his Fatherland,
+he was afterwards judged. With surprise did people, both in town and
+country, see new characters suddenly rise into consideration among
+them; many small citizens who had hitherto been little esteemed, became
+advisers, and the delight and pride of the whole city. But he who
+showed himself weak seldom succeeded in regaining the confidence of his
+fellow citizens; the stain clung to him during the life of that
+generation. And this free and grand conception of life, this hearty
+social tone, and the unconstrained intercourse of different classes
+lasted for years after the war. There are some still living who can
+speak of it.
+
+When after the armistice, the glorious time of victories came,
+Grossbeeren, Hagelsberg, Dennewitz, and the Katzbach; when particular
+Prussian Generals rose higher in the eyes of the people, and millions
+felt pleasure and pride in their army and its leaders; when at last the
+battle of nations was fought, and the great aim attained--the overthrow
+and flight of the hated Emperor, and the delivery of the country from
+his armies--then was the highest rapture that could be felt in this
+world enjoyed with calm intensity. The people hastened to the churches
+and listened reverentially to the thanksgivings of the ecclesiastics,
+and in the evening they illuminated their streets.
+
+This kind of festivity was nothing new. Wherever, in the last years,
+the enemy's troops entered in the evening into a city, they had called
+out for lights; wherever there was a French garrison, the citizens had
+to illuminate for every victory which was announced by the hated ally
+of their King. Now this was done voluntarily; everyone had experience
+in it, and the simple preparation was in every house. Four candles in a
+window were then thought something considerable; even the poorest
+spared a few kreutzers for two, and if he had no candlestick, employed,
+according to old custom, the useful potato; the more enterprising
+ventured upon a transparency, and a poor mother hung out, together with
+the candles, two letters which her son had written from the field.
+These festivities were then simple and unpretending; now we do the same
+kind of thing far more splendidly.
+
+The great rising began in the eastern provinces of the Prussian State;
+how it showed itself among the people there we have endeavoured to
+portray. But the same strong current flowed in the country on the other
+side of the Elbe, not only in the old Prussian districts, but with
+equal vigour on the coasts of the North Sea, in Mecklenburg, Hanover,
+Brunswick, Thuringia, and Hesse, almost in every district up to the
+Maine. It comprehended the districts which, in the eighteenth century,
+had attained a greater military capacity; in the provinces of the old
+Empire it was only partial. The new States which arose there under
+French influence, discovered later, and in an indirect way, the
+necessity of a closer connection with the larger portion of the nation.
+For Austria, this war was an act of political prudence.
+
+Still two years followed of high strained exertion and bloody battles;
+again did the rising youth of the country, who in the first year had
+been wanting in age and strength, throng with enthusiasm into the ranks
+of the army. It was another war, and another victory had to be
+achieved, it was, however, no longer a struggle for the existence of
+Prussia and Germany, but for the ruin and life of the foreign Emperor.
+
+The year 1813 had freed Germany from the dominion of a foreign people.
+Again did the Prussian eagle float over the other side of the Rhine, on
+the old gates of Cleve. It had made a bloody end to an insupportable
+bondage. It had united most of the German races in brotherly ties by a
+new circle of moral interests. It had produced for the first time in
+German history an immense political result by a powerful development of
+popular strength. It had entirely altered the position of the nation to
+their Princes; for, above the interests of dynasties, and the quarrels
+of rulers, it had given existence to a stronger power which they all
+feared, honoured, and must win, in order to maintain themselves. It had
+given a greater aim to the life of every individual, a participation in
+the whole, political feeling, the highest of earthly interests, a
+Fatherland, a State for which he learnt to die and by degrees to live.
+
+The Prussians did the greater part of the work of this year, which will
+never be forgotten by the rest of Germany.
+
+It would not be becoming in us, the sons of the generation of 1813, to
+disparage the glorious struggle of our fathers, because they have left
+us something to do.
+
+Almost all who passed through that great time of struggle and
+self-sacrifice consider the memory of it the greatest possession of
+their later life, and it encircled the heads of many with a bright
+glory. And thousands felt what the warm-hearted Arndt expressed,
+"We can now die at any moment, as we have seen in Germany what
+is alone worth living for, that men, from a feeling of the eternal,
+and imperishable, have been able to offer, with the most joyful
+self-devotion, all their temporalities and their lives as if they were
+nothing."
+
+But in the churches of the country a simple tablet was put up as a
+memorial to later generations, on which was the iron cross of the Great
+Time, and the names of those who had fallen.
+
+As in these pages it has been attempted to portray, in the words of men
+who have passed away, a picture of the time in which they lived, so
+here we will give a record from the year 1813.
+
+
+"Our son George was struck by a ball, at the age of two-and-twenty, on
+the 2nd of April, at the ever-memorable engagement at Lueneburg. As a
+volunteer rifleman in the light battalion of the first Pommeranian
+regiment, he fought, according to the testimony of his brave leader,
+Herr Major von Borcke, by his side, with courage and determination, and
+thus, died for his Fatherland, German freedom, national honour, and our
+beloved King. To lose him so early is hard; but it is comforting to
+feel that we also have been able to give a son for this great and holy
+object. We feel deeply the necessity of such a sacrifice.
+
+                         "The Regierungsrath and Ober-Commissarius
+                                  Haese and his Wife."[59]
+
+"Berlin, 9th April, 1813."
+
+
+That portion of the people also who were not in the habit of expressing
+their feelings in writing felt the same. When the Luetzower Gutike,[60]
+in the Summer of 1813, was on his march from Berlin to Perleberg, he
+found at Kletzke the landlady in mourning; she was waiting silently
+upon him, and at last said suddenly, pointing with her hand to the
+ground, "I have one there,--but Peter's wife has two." She felt that
+her neighbour had superior claims to sympathy.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+                       THE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY.
+                              (1815-1848.)
+
+
+When the volunteers of 1813 went to the field, their hope was, at some
+time, to live as citizens, with their friends, in the liberated
+Fatherland, enjoying the freedom, peace, and happiness, which they had
+won. But it is sometimes easier to die for freedom than to live for it.
+
+A few years after victory had been achieved, and Napoleon was prisoner
+in his distant rocky island, Schliermacher said in the pulpit to his
+parishioners: "It was an error when we hoped to rest in comfort after
+the peace. A time is now come, when guiltless and good men are
+persecuted, not only for what they do, but also for the views and
+projects which are attributed to them. But the brave Christian should
+not be faint-hearted, but in spite of danger and persecution remain
+true to truth and virtue." And police spies copied these words, and did
+not forget to add to their report that such and such persons had been
+in the church, or that four bearded students had knelt down at the
+altar after the communion, and had prayed fervently.
+
+The intrepid Arndt was watched and removed. Jahn was put into prison,
+and many of the leaders of the patriotic movement of 1813 were
+persecuted as dangerous men; police officers disturbed the peace of
+their homes, and their papers were seized. A special commission
+outrageously violated the forms of law, acting with mean hate,
+arbitrarily, tyrannically, and perfidiously, like a Spanish
+Inquisition.
+
+It is a sorrowful page in German history. Independent characters
+withdrew, deeply disgusted with the narrow-minded rule which now began
+in most of the States of Germany; common mediocrity again took the
+helm. Prussia's foreign policy was dictated from Vienna and St.
+Petersburgh, and before long its political influence on the history of
+Europe was again less than it had been under the Elector Frederic
+William. When the people rose in war against a foreign enemy, they
+little thought what the result would be when the independence of
+Germany was secured. They themselves brought to the struggle unbounded
+devotion, and supposed a similar feeling in all who had to shape the
+future, in their princes, and even in the allied powers. To no one
+scarcely was it clear how the new Germany was to be arranged. Any
+clear-sighted person could perceive, in the first year of the war, that
+a remodelling of Germany, which would make a great development of the
+power of the nation possible, was not to be hoped for. For it was not
+the people, nor the patriotic army of Bluecher that were to decide, but
+the dynasties and cabinets of Europe, according to the position of
+affairs,--Austria, the new States of the Rhineland, the English,
+Hanover, France, Sweden, and above all Russia, each endeavouring to
+guard their own interests. The antagonism between Prussia and Austria
+had already broken out in the negotiations; the Prussians had by an
+immense effort obtained an honourable position in Europe, but neither
+in the opinion of nations nor of cabinets were they considered entitled
+to the leadership. There was hardly a person not Prussian who ever
+thought of excluding Austria from a new confederation; even Prussia
+itself did not think of it.
+
+We know, therefore, that the "German question" was even then hopeless,
+and we do not regret that the old Empire under its Emperor was not
+restored.
+
+But easily as we can now understand how invincible were the
+difficulties, to contemporaries the feeling of disappointment was
+bitter, and an unprejudiced estimate of their position difficult. Among
+the patriots of 1813, a small minority were then full of enthusiastic
+sentimentality; they contrasted their poetical ideas of the old
+splendour of the German Empire with the bad reality; these
+_Deutschthumler_--Teuto-maniacs--as they were called after 1815, had
+been without influence in the great movement Jahn's great beard was
+seldom admired, and the worthy Karl Mueller found no favour when he
+began to banish all foreign words from military language. Now after the
+peace these enthusiasts, for the most part not Prussians, collected
+together in small communities at the German universities. They sorrowed
+and hoped, expressed violent indignation, and gave zealous advice; they
+were agreed together that something great must happen, and they were
+ready to stake life and property upon it; only, what was to be done was
+not clear. Between varying moods and wavering projects they came to no
+conclusion. Politically considered this movement was not dangerous,
+till the odious persecution of the governments goaded them into hatred
+and opposition, and throwing a gloom over the minds of some, led to
+fanatical resolves.
+
+It was not the fault of the Prussian government that the hopes of the
+nation for a new German State were disappointed. But it had incurred
+another debt. The King had promised to give his people a constitution.
+If ever a nation had acquired a right to a participation in the
+government, it was the Prussian; for it had raised the State from the
+deepest depression. If the greatest State in Germany had, by legal
+forms, obtained the possibility of a political development of its
+power, every sensible Prussian would have been contented. The press and
+a parliament would gradually have given the loyal nation a feeling of
+prosperity and safe progress, opposing parties would have contended
+publicly, and those who demanded more for Germany than could at present
+be attained, would have been restrained by Prussia. The character of
+the Germans was now freed from the weakness which had pervaded it
+through a whole generation. The State also could no longer do without
+the participation of the people, if it was not to fall back into the
+old state of feebleness, which only a few years before had brought it
+to the verge of ruin. Now, when life was impressed with new ideas, when
+in hundreds of thousands a passionate interest in the State had sprung
+up, the safest support for the throne itself was a constitution. For
+the Prussians were no longer a nation without opinions or will, whose
+destiny an individual could dispose of by his will.
+
+But the King, however honest he might be, who wished to continue to
+govern in the old way through pliant officials, was in danger from this
+new condition of the world of becoming the tool of a noxious faction,
+or the victim of foreign influence. He required a strong counterpoise
+against the preponderating power of Russia, and diplomatic
+entanglements with Austria. This he could only find in the strength of
+an attached people, who in union with him would deliberate on the
+policy and support of his State.
+
+King Frederic William III. never felt the incongruous position in which
+he had placed himself, in respect to the necessities of the time, for
+his image was closely bound up with the grandest reminiscences of the
+people; and the private virtues of his life made him, during a long
+reign, an object of reverence to the rising generation. But his
+successor was to suffer fearfully from the circumstance that he
+himself, his officials, and his people had grown up under a crippled
+system of State.
+
+But that the Prussians of 1813 should so quietly have borne their
+disappointed hopes, that--whilst already in the States of the Rhenish
+Confederation parties were in vehement struggle--the "great State" lay
+so lifeless, is to be attributed to other reasons besides loyalty to
+the Hohenzollerns. The nation was exhausted to the uttermost by the war
+and what had preceded it, and wearied to death. Scarcely had it
+strength to cultivate its land. Years passed over before the live stock
+could be fully replaced. Cities and village communities, landed
+proprietors and peasants were all deeply in debt. The price of landed
+properties sank lower than they had been before 1806. It often happened
+that noble estates remained without masters for many years, when the
+last proprietor had wasted the live stock, and that auctions were often
+unattended by solvent bidders. Commerce and industry had been destroyed
+by the Continental blockade, for the old outlets for linen, cloth, and
+iron, the great branches of Prussian trade, were lost--foreigners had
+appropriated them. And capital also was wanting. Intercourse, also,
+with the Sclavonian eastern districts, a vital question to the old
+provinces, was gradually almost annihilated by the new Russian
+commercial system. But a still greater hindrance arose from the waste
+of men through the war. The whole youth of the country had been under
+arms, a large portion had fallen on the battle-fields, and the
+survivors had been torn away from their citizen life. Many remained in
+the army: full a third part of the Prussian officers who commanded the
+army in the following thirty years consisted of volunteer rifles of
+1813. He who returned to his former vocation found himself reduced in
+circumstances, and his relatives helpless and impoverished. He was at
+last glad to become an unpretending official, and thus to obtain a
+livelihood for himself and his family in the exhausted country. The
+bloody work of three campaigns, and the habits of soldierly obedience
+had not diminished his vigour, but the genial warmth, which enables
+youth to look victoriously upon life, had passed away. He began now a
+struggle for a respectable home, probably with patience and devotion to
+duty, but in the narrow sphere into which he now entered, he could not
+but look back to the mighty past which he had gone through. Thus had
+the manly energy of the generation been spent. The youths also that
+grew up in their families had no longer the advantage of being
+influenced by great impressions, enthusiasm, and devotion.
+
+These misfortunes fell heaviest on the old provinces. The new
+acquisition demanded for many years great official power and much
+government care before it could be moulded into the Prussian
+commonwealth.
+
+It is manifest that a free press and a constitution were the best means
+of healing these weaknesses more rapidly, and of bringing a feeling of
+convalescence and coherence among the people; for warmth and enthusiasm
+are as necessary to the life of a nation as the light of heaven is to
+plants and dew to the clouds. The further its development advances, the
+greater becomes its need of exalted ideas, and of having intellectual
+interests in common. When the Reformation first roused the people to an
+intellectual struggle, it was as if a miracle had been worked upon
+them; their character became stronger, their morality purer, all the
+processes of the mind, all human energy had become stronger; and when
+the awakened need of a common aim was not satisfied in the State life
+of the German Empire, the people became inert and worse. Again, after a
+long and sorrowful time, a great Prince had given to at least a part of
+the Germans new enthusiasm and an ideal aim. The warm interest in the
+fate of their State, which ennobled Frederic's time, and the liberation
+of the mind from the tutelage of the State and the Church, had been a
+second great progress; and again had this progress required an
+answering extension of general interests and a strengthening of
+political action. But in the spiritless and powerless rule of the next
+generation the popular energies again decayed. The fall of Prussia was
+the consequence. Now, for the third time, a great portion of the
+Germans had made a new progress, the nation had given its property and
+its blood for its State, and it had become a passionate necessity to
+care for the Fatherland, and to take a share in its fate; and as this
+longing again met with no satisfaction, the people sank back for a time
+into weakness. The distractions of the year 1848 were the result.
+
+In almost every domain of ideal life the malady became apparent, even
+in philosophy.
+
+Extensive was the domain embraced by German philosophy; new branches of
+knowledge had sprung up with surprising rapidity; there was scarce a
+bygone people in the most distant regions of the earth whose history,
+life, arts, and language were not investigated; above all, the past of
+Germany. With hearty warmth was every expression of our popular mind,
+of which there remained a trace, laid hold of. A wonderful richness of
+life of the olden time was discovered and understood in all its
+specialities. Round the German inquirer arose from the earth the
+spirits of nations which had once lived; he learnt to comprehend what
+was peculiar to each, what was common to all--the action of the human
+mind on the highest phenomena of the globe. Equally did the knowledge
+of objective nature increase. The history of the creation of the earth,
+the organism of everything created, the countless objects invisible to
+the naked eye, and the countless things which arise from the
+combination of simple substances, became known; and again, beyond the
+boundaries of this earth, the life of the solar system, the cosmical
+unit, of which the solar world is an infinitesimal speck.
+
+But the endless abundance of new knowledge which was infused by science
+into the life of the highly educated was dangerous to the character in
+one respect. The German learnt to understand the almost endless
+varieties of character of foreign nations; the most dissimilar kinds of
+culture became clear to him. Impartially, and with lively interest, did
+he enter into the policy of Tiberius, and the enthusiasm of Loyola, the
+gradual development of slavery in North America, and the pedantries and
+dreams of Robespierre. He was, therefore, in danger, in his considerate
+judgment, of forgetting the moral basis of his own life. He who would
+identify himself with so many foreign minds, needs not only the
+capacity to grasp the minds of others, but still more the power to keep
+himself free from the influence exercised over him by foreign
+conditions of life. He who would without prejudice estimate the
+relative value of a foreign point of view, must first know how to
+maintain firmly the moral foundation of his own life. This can only be
+effected by making his own will subservient to the duty of co-operating
+with his contemporaries, by joining in free associations, by a free
+press, and by continuous participation in the greatest political
+conceptions of his time. It was because the Prussians, whose capital at
+this time was the centre of German philosophy, were deprived of this
+regulator, that the cultivated minds of this period acquired a peculiar
+weakness of character, which will appear strange to the next
+generation.
+
+This weakness of will was indeed no new failing of the educated German.
+It was the two hundred years' malady of a people which had no
+participation in the State, and, from its natural disposition, was not
+carried away by the impulse of passion, but composedly deliberates on
+action, and is seldom prevented by vehement excitement from forming a
+moderate judgment. But in the first part of our century their old
+weakness became particularly striking amidst these rich treasures of
+knowledge. Oftener than formerly did the originality of a foreign form
+of life produce an overpowerful influence on them. Instead of
+withstanding some mighty influence, it might be that of Metternich,
+Byron, or Eugene Sue, popery, socialism, or Polish patriotism, being
+foreign, they yielded to its prestige, their own judgment being
+vacillating and uncertain. Though it was easy for the best amongst them
+to talk cleverly upon the most dissimilar subjects, it was difficult
+for them to act consistently.
+
+This malady seized almost all the intellectual portion of the people.
+The salons became _blase_, authors sensational, statesmen without fixed
+purpose, and officials without energy: these were all different forms
+of the same disease. It was everywhere destructive, nowhere more than
+in Prussia; it gave to this State a specially helpless, nay, even hoary
+aspect, that was in striking contrast to the respectable capacity which
+was not lost in the smaller circles of the people.
+
+But healing came, by degrees, and again in a circuitous way, sometimes
+bounding forwards, and then retrograding; but, on the whole, since
+1830, in continual progress.
+
+For, at the same time in which the July revolution again excited,
+throughout a wide circle of life, an interest in the State, a new
+development of German popular strength began in other spheres,
+especially through the industrious labours of countless individuals, in
+the workshop and the counter. The Zollverein--the greatest creation of
+Frederic William III.--threw down a portion of the barriers which had
+divided separate German States; the railroads and the steam-boats
+became the metallic conductors of technical culture from one end of the
+country to the other. With the development of German manufacturing
+activity came new social dangers, and new remedies had to be supplied
+by the spontaneous activity of the people. Bit by bit was the narrow
+system of government and of characterless officials destroyed; the
+nation acquired a feeling of active growth; everywhere there was a
+youthful interest in life; everywhere energetic activity in
+individuals. A free intelligence developed itself in independent men,
+as well as in the official order, together with other forms of culture
+and other needs of the people. The labour of the inferior classes
+became more valuable; to raise their views and increase their welfare
+was no longer a problem for quiet philanthropists, but a necessity for
+all, a condition of prosperity even for those highest in position.
+Whilst it was complained that the chasm between employers and the
+employed became greater, and the domination of capital more oppressive,
+great efforts were in fact being made by the zeal of literary men, the
+philanthropy of the cultivated, and by the monied classes for their own
+advantage, to increase the knowledge of the people and improve their
+morals. A comprehensive popular literature began to work, commercial
+and agricultural schools were established, and men of different spheres
+of interests organised themselves into associations. By example and by
+teaching it was endeavoured to raise the independence of the weaker,
+and the great principle of association was proclaimed. In the place of
+the former isolation, men of similar views worked together in every
+domain of earthly activity. It was a grand labour to which the nation
+now devoted itself, and it was followed by the greatest and most rapid
+change which the Germans have ever effected.
+
+Both the sound egotism of this work and the practical benevolence of
+those who interested themselves in the welfare of the labouring
+classes, assisted, after the year 1830, in curing the educated of their
+irresolution and feebleness of character. The south of Germany now
+exercised a wholesome influence on the north. Long had the countries of
+the old Empire lived quietly to themselves, receiving more than giving;
+they had sent to the north some great poets and men of learning, but
+considered them as their special property; they had endeavoured to
+protect their native peculiarities against north German influence, and
+they were unwillingly, by Napoleon and the Vienna and Paris treaties,
+apportioned among the greater princely houses of their country; and now
+they supplied what was wanting to the north. The constitutional
+struggles of their little States formed a school for a number of
+political leaders, warm patriots, and energetic, warm-hearted men,
+sometimes with narrow-minded views, but zealous, unwearied, fresh, and
+hopeful. The Suabian poets were the first artist minds of Germany which
+were strengthened by participation in the politics of their homes, and
+the philosophy of southern Germany maintained a patriotic tendency in
+contradistinction to the cosmopolitanism of the north. The people were
+saved from becoming _blase_, and from subtle formalism and sophistry,
+by warmth of heart, vigorous resolution, a solid understanding, which
+was little accessible to over-great refinements, and a pleasant
+good-humour. In the time from 1830 to 1848 the southern Germans were in
+the foreground of German life.
+
+This hearty participation in the life of the people found expression in
+the art of the southern Germans. The morbid spirit which prevailed in
+the society of the educated, drove the fine arts into the lower circles
+of the people. The popular painters endeavoured to represent the
+figures and occupations of lower life with humour and spirit; the poets
+endeavoured to embellish, with a genial interest, the character and
+condition of the countryman: their village tales, and the interest
+which they excited in the reading world are always considered as a
+symptom of how great was the longing in the educated for quiet comfort
+and a well-regulated activity.
+
+A village tale shall be here given, descriptive of the condition of the
+people at this period; for the life of the southern German, which is
+related, is in many respects characteristic of the fate and inward
+changes in the best spirits of the time which has just passed. The
+movement which, after the revolution of 1830, vibrated all over Europe,
+had excited in him also a lively interest in the national development
+of the Fatherland. The debates of the Chambers of his small country
+were his first auxiliaries. The struggles which took place there did
+not remain without fruit; they relieved agriculture and the peasant
+from the burdens which had hitherto oppressed them; they introduced
+municipal institutions and public and verbal proceedings, even a law
+against the censorship of the press. But the German Diet interposed,
+the law of the press was put an end to, and the complaints of the
+landed proprietors against the exemption laws found favour with it; and
+the Frankfort outrage of the 3rd of April, 1833, produced a re-action.
+Then the author left his official position in a fiscal chamber and
+devoted his energies to the press. When he was deprived of even this
+share in the political destiny of his country, by the malicious
+chicanery of a lawless police, he settled for a few years in
+Switzerland. All his life it had been a pleasure for him to teach. As a
+student, as candidate for the service of the State, he had given
+instruction to young men; he was therefore not unprepared for the
+office of teacher; which he entered upon in that foreign country. He
+relates as follows:--
+
+"On Easter Monday, 1838, in the church at Grenchen, in the canton of
+Solothurn, the Roman Catholic community appointed a Protestant and a
+German as teacher in the newly-erected district school. The community
+had chosen him, and the government had confirmed the choice; I was the
+teacher.
+
+"It was a raw spring morning. The monotonous grey of the clouds covered
+the sides and summit of the Jura, large snow-flakes fell in thick
+drifts, and enveloped the procession that was moving towards the
+church. The words addressed by Father Zweili, superior of the
+Franciscans, and president of the education council, to those
+assembled, would have been suitable to any clergyman. He expressed to
+me that I need have no hesitation in speaking to the scholars on
+religion; 'it is only necessary for you to abstain from touching on the
+few points on which we differ.'
+
+"The Franciscans were learned, industrious men, they lived as
+instructors of philosophy, and were therefore in open feud with the
+Jesuits. The government found in them, powerful supporters and
+co-operators in their exertions for the education of the people; in
+this respect everything had to be done, for the patrician rulers who
+had been overthrown in 1830 had done nothing. In the first place, they
+established preparatory schools, and training colleges for masters, and
+provided for the supervision and conduct of school life. The
+difficulties that had to be overcome were not trifling, but it was all
+accomplished in the course of four years. In the beginning of 1837,
+each parish had its school, each school its master and dotation, and
+each child suitable instruction; the law punished parents for not
+insisting on the regular attendance of their children at school. As
+soon as the preparatory schools were arranged, district schools were
+added; here there was no compulsion; they were established by the
+community, and the attendance of scholars who had left the preparatory
+schools, and had the necessary preliminary knowledge, was voluntary;
+the State assisted the institution by grants, and maintained a
+superintendence. Grenchen was one of the first communities which
+determined on providing means for a district school; the government
+gave an annual contribution of 800 Swiss franks, about 305 thalers. The
+merit of this decision of the community is due above all to the
+physician, Dr. Girard, my dear friend. He could make only a small
+number of his fellow-citizens understand the utility of the
+undertaking, for they had not had the advantage of the instruction
+afforded to the present generation, but they trusted the man who had so
+often showed his unselfish desire to do good. But the desire of this
+people, who are by nature so energetic, to be in advance of other
+communities prevailed, and when it became a question whether Grenchen
+or Selzach should maintain the new school, the thing was decided; the
+institution was to be at that place, whatever it might be. I had great
+pleasure in teaching, and the situation secured me a residence which I
+cared more for than maintenance which might be obtained by other work.
+
+"The village in which I was now to teach was the largest community in
+the canton, with more than 2000 inhabitants, and 400 citizens entitled
+to vote, and it was situated among the outlying hills of the Jura.
+Towards the south, rich meadows and well cultivated fields, slope down
+to the Aar, which hastens with rapid course through the valley to the
+Rhine. On the other side of the Aar the ground rises gently up to hilly
+Emmenthal, and behind it rises the chain of the Alps. The Urner and
+Swiss mountains in the east, the Rigi standing alone in foremost
+grandeur; in the centre the Eiger, Moench, and Jungfrau, up to the Savoy
+Alps, among which Mont Blanc rises its head majestically. Towards the
+west the lakes of Viel, Neufchatel, and Meurten spread their shining
+mirrors. It would be difficult to find anywhere a country so lovely,
+and at the same time grand, as here presents itself to the eyes.
+
+"The houses of the village are detached and scattered about in groups
+for some height up the mountain, almost every one is surrounded by a
+garden and meadow, and shaded by fruit-trees; a clear rivulet glides
+with many windings through the village. Unwillingly do the thatched
+roofs give way to the prescribed tiles. The farming of the inhabitants
+comprises fields, meadows, and woods, the herding of cattle, and on the
+most valuable properties, mountain pastures, and the making of butter
+and cheese. The vine also is cultivated. The Grencheners do not deny
+that in common years their wine is sour, they sneer at it in songs and
+jests, but yet they drink it, and find it wholesome. They are a
+powerful race, of Allemanni origin, the men are mostly slender but
+strong, and some of them uncommonly tall. Among the women and maidens
+there is frequently that Madonna-like beauty which is often to be found
+in Catholic districts. They are cheerful and gifted with humour,
+perseveringly industrious, and skilful in adapting themselves to every
+position and helping themselves. It is not the custom with them to
+close the doors; it is mentioned as an unprecedented circumstance, that
+three years ago a watch was stolen in the village. But the locality is
+not favourable for thieves; woe to him who allows himself to be caught,
+he would not come unscathed into the hands of justice.
+
+"The Grencheners had the repute of untamed lawlessness, which
+manifested itself in litigation and a strong inclination to take the
+law into their own hands; the knife was frequently used, and blood was
+shed. If the result was not mortal all who were concerned in it were
+summoned, in order to keep the magistrates away. The injurer and the
+injured negotiated, through mediators, as to a suitable
+indemnification, and with the conclusion of the treaty the enmity
+terminated. Money was not in my time the standard by which men were
+valued, but their labour. I value a citizen there, who, having by an
+unsuccessful enterprise lost his property, has worked as a street
+servant. His fellow-citizens esteem him as much as before, and praise
+him because he performs his service right well. For lads who did not
+like the labours of peace, foreign service offered them a beaten way,
+which was not objected to by the community, because it freed them from
+many disturbing elements; however, it brought back many wild fellows
+not amended.
+
+"In the year 1790, when the French invaded Switzerland, the cantons
+were very disunited; they carried on their struggle against the enemy
+singly; the Bernese fought well at Neuenegg and the Vierwaldstaettersee,
+but one after another were subdued by superior power. The Grencheners
+were bold enough to defend their village against the French invaders;
+they went out, some of them armed with halberds and old weapons,
+against the enemy, and joined in hand-to-hand combat. The name of
+_Jungfer Schuerer_ still lives, in the mouths of the inhabitants, and
+they still show the place where she lost her life in the struggle. The
+French officer, her opponent, was brought wounded to the hospital at
+Solothurn, and is said to have there lamented penitently that he was
+obliged to kill a maiden; but he had only the choice of doing this or
+falling under her blows.
+
+"The bath lies in a small secluded valley, separated from the village,
+a building with a large front, betwixt ponds and pleasure-grounds with
+shady groups of trees. Behind it is the spring, a clear iron water. In
+summer the bath is visited by guests from Switzerland--Alsacians and
+others--who accidentally discover the place and take a fancy to it. In
+this century the small valley of marsh and sedge was still the
+possession of the community. The father of Girard obtained the land for
+a moderate price; built his huts upon it, drained the ground, enclosed
+the spring, and arranged the baths--at first in very modest style,
+extending the grounds as means increased. Father and mother both
+exerted themselves, sons and daughters grew up to assist; one son
+studied at German universities, and became a physician. The institution
+has to thank him for its rapid prosperity.
+
+"This was the place where I was presented in the church as
+schoolmaster, not without the opposition of some pious parties.
+
+"All the powers of resistance were roused to the utmost by the
+ultramontane party; publicly by the press, privately by every
+possible means. A heretic to be the only teacher in a Roman Catholic
+school--that was unheard of! The government, the common council, and I
+myself, were overwhelmed with abuse; the ecclesiastics in Grenchen were
+severely blamed for having allowed a wolf to break into the fold, and
+it was set before them as a duty (not only by the newspapers) to use
+their utmost efforts to stifle the devil's brood in the germ.
+
+"The pastor of the place was a stately, fine man,--a favourite of the
+ladies, which gave him influence. But he was not fond of controversy;
+he loved repose and playing on the violin, and would therefore rather
+not have taken a part. As far as his influence went he hindered the
+boys from going to school, and never set his foot in it, so that no
+religious instruction was given, and the hours appointed for it were
+filled up with instruction on other subjects. Personally I was on a
+tolerably good footing with him. It would have given him pleasure if I
+would have allowed him to baptise my little daughter, who was born two
+months before at the Grenchen baths, and he would have taken the
+opportunity of making a quiet effort to convert me, by giving me a book
+to read, pretending to be written by a Protestant, for the
+glorification of the Roman Catholic church. Still less than the pastor
+could his chaplain be used as a battering-ram against the school. He
+had become a theologian at Wuerzburg, and knew that Leipzig was a nest
+of books. He was a good husbandman and rearers of bees, and had about
+the same amount of education as the people; they, however, did not
+remain stationary. He did not always succeed in preserving his clerical
+dignity and avoiding blame from the authorities. He had never felt it
+necessary to extend his theological knowledge beyond what was
+absolutely necessary, and I was sometimes astonished at the chaos in
+his memory; as when, for example, he related how St. Louis had defended
+Rome against the Huns. If the conversation fell upon books he never
+ceased to praise a narrative of a mission to Otaheite, and I soon
+discovered that this volume was very nearly his whole library. In spite
+of all this he was a good man, and it will not injure him now if I
+relate why I loved him. We were speaking one day of eternal happiness
+and the reverse. I told him how impossible I considered it, that the
+good God could be so cruel as to burn me eternally in hell. It is the
+Lord's fault, not mine, that I was baptised a Calvinist, and had thus
+been instructed and confirmed. Our teacher had told us that we were to
+love our fellow-creatures, and do good to them; and I endeavoured,
+according to the best of my ability, to follow this teaching, and yet I
+was to be eternally condemned! This gave the chaplain pain, and he
+found a theological answer: 'I hope God will deal with you as with one
+of the heathen, of whom it is written, that they will be judged
+according to their works.' He was not dangerous to the school.
+
+"If the clerical leaders had been more energetic, the supporters they
+could have called forth, from out of the population, to oppose the
+school were not to be despised. Besides the women, who for the most
+part were attached to the pastor, there were men whom the new rule had
+deprived of official position in the community. Respectability and
+family connections still gave them importance, and they were led by
+their old masters to persuade the more energetic youths that the new
+constitution would not give them freedom enough; but, on the contrary,
+more burdens, and that they had no reason to be contented with a
+condition of things which the new leaders would turn exclusively to
+their own advantage. These opponents were dangerous. From one of them I
+was in the habit of getting milk for my household; the children fell
+sick, and became feverish. Then we learnt that the milk of a sick cow
+had been given us, and that the seller boasted of it.
+
+"As the party which had just been vanquished in the field of politics
+could not openly make head against the common council and the majority
+of the citizens; they endeavoured to influence the parents, and were
+pleased when, in the beginning, there were only a dozen scholars--a
+small number for a great parish, surrounded by other villages, to whose
+sons the district school was open. There was only one means of saving
+the school from dissolution, and that was, its success. But a
+circumstance occurred to help us, before it could be ascertained that
+useful knowledge might be acquired here.
+
+"Grenchen lies on the frontier towards the canton of Berne, about half
+an hour's distance from the Berne village of Lengnau. The Calvanistic
+common council of Lengnau inquired of their Roman Catholic Solothurner
+neighbours whether, and under what conditions, boys from their place
+would be allowed to attend the district school. The answer was, that
+their sons would be welcome; the instruction would be given
+gratuitously, and that the people of Lengnau would only have to take
+care that the scholars should be quiet and orderly. Hence there was an
+increase of eight or ten boys from Lengnau; in order to preserve quiet,
+one of them had been appointed by the mayor as monitor, and was made
+answerable for their discipline; they marched in military order two and
+two, and returned home in the same way, and there never was the
+slightest quarrel between them and the Grencheners. This example worked
+upon the neighbouring places of the canton; scholars came from Staad,
+Bettlach, and Selzach, and, later, even from the French Jura. One of
+them merits special mention. He was a large strong man, two and thirty
+years of age (a year older than I), from the parish of Ely, in Friburg,
+a distance of two hours behind the Weissenstein, situated in a wild
+lonely country of the Bernese Jura mountains, which he had quitted, in
+order to work on the new high road between Solothurn and Grenchen. When
+he heard of the district school, he altered his determination; he hired
+himself as a servant to a peasant for board and lodging, resigning
+salary for the privilege of being able to attend the school. His desire
+for knowledge and his iron industry helped him to surmount all
+difficulties; he afterwards attended the seminary of education at
+Buenchenbuchsee (Berne); then returned to his home, where he became
+mayor and teacher; in short, all-in-all. Only one thing Xaver Rais did
+not become, that was, father of a family; for he always continued his
+studies, and, as he confided to me afterwards, preferred buying books
+to a wife. The Grencheners reckon him, up to the present day, as one of
+them; and even now, when I go to the place, a message is sent to him;
+then he puts on his satchel, lays hold of his staff, and goes over the
+mountain with long strides.
+
+"The influx of scholars from the neighbourhood did not fail to have an
+effect on the opponents in the place; many boys succeeded in overcoming
+the resistance of their parents, and had the satisfaction of entering
+the institution, which soon numbered between thirty and forty scholars.
+In order to regulate the instruction according to the requirements, I
+was obliged to alter the prescribed plan. I did it on my own
+responsibility, and when at the close of the first year, I reported
+this to the government, what I had done was approved, and a wish
+expressed that the same course might be pursued in the other district
+schools. In the summer I kept school only from six to ten o'clock in
+the morning, in order that the boys might be employed in house and
+field labour. Besides this, the great work of the hay and corn harvest
+was in the holidays. The objects of study I limited in number, but went
+more deeply into them; I honestly lamented that the pastor gave no
+religious instruction, for the boys came from the preparatory school
+very much neglected in this important branch; they had only been
+impressed with two points, the indispensableness of the Ecclesiastical
+order, and the value of relics; of biblical history they were almost
+entirely ignorant. If the pastor did not teach religion, neither did I
+teach politics, but left the Fatherland State system to the school of
+life. On the other hand, the German and French languages, together with
+practice in composition, history, and geography, arithmetic and
+geometry, were carried on with great zeal, and it gave me pleasure to
+observe how forward boys of natural capacity might be brought in a
+short time, when all bombast was abolished, things represented simply,
+and each individual suitably assisted in his intellectual work.
+
+"It was my good fortune to have a tolerable number of clever scholars,
+and for these I always endeavoured to do more than was prescribed. I
+gave them, therefore, at particular hours, instruction in Latin; and I
+made use of this to enlarge their views, and to guide and excite their
+love of learning. They formed a nucleus which gave the school a firm
+position. To them I owe the absence of anxiety about the discipline of
+the school, for their earnest orderly characters had an effect on all.
+During the three years of my office as teacher, I never had recourse to
+punishment; if a boy was idle or untruthful, I used, after admonishing
+him to amend, to add the notification, that the other scholars would
+bear no bad lads amongst them. It certainly sometimes happened that at
+the end of the lesson, in which I had been obliged to give such a
+warning, certain sounds which did not mean approbation, would reach my
+ears; but I forbore inquiring as to the cause. On account of the
+number of scholars, the institution was removed to another place; the
+school-room was on the first story immediately over our sitting-room,
+and my wife often remarked with astonishment, that though thirty
+peasant boys were assembled above, she never heard the least noise; and
+that our little children were not disturbed in their morning sleep.
+
+"Before a year had passed, it was discovered in the village that the
+school was useful; the boys, especially those of the 'guard,' as they
+called my _elite_, were in great request, to read and write German and
+French letters, which were necessary for the traffic in the products of
+the country; also to examine and draw up accounts, and the like. I
+willingly overlooked it when here or there one was an hour late, in
+consequence of having performed these neighbourly acts, for this was of
+advantage both to them and the school. The people saw us undertaking
+the measurement of fields, and trigonometrically determining heights
+and distances with instruments made by ourselves. But the strongest
+impression was produced, when a boy fifteen years of age begged for
+permission to speak before the assembled community for his father. The
+father, a worthy man, well deserving of the community, had, by
+misfortune, become bankrupt. Ruin impended, if the largest creditor did
+not act with consideration, and this creditor was the community itself.
+The son appeared before the assembly, and begged for an abatement of
+the debt. He described the services, the misfortunes, and the state of
+mind of his father; his anxieties about his family, and forlorn future;
+and the advantage it would bring to the community itself, if it
+preserved to the family its supporter, and to itself a useful citizen.
+He spoke with an impressiveness, a warmth and depth of feeling, which
+caused tears to roll down the beards of the most austere men. I can
+certify that many will say this: and at last the remission of the debt
+was passed without a dissenting voice. The boy has now long been a
+professor of Natural Science and Doctor of Philosophy. His speech did
+even more for the place than the act of another scholar, who knocked
+out the brains of a mad dog with his wood axe. This they thought was no
+art, for that every one could do; but the young orator! 'This is the
+way they learn to speak in the school.' From that time the institution
+was firmly established. But I still wanted something more.
+
+"In vain had I begged the government to give an examination. They had
+answered that they were acquainted with the progress of the school, and
+accorded me their confidence. The second year I urgently repeated my
+request, and represented that it would be of use to the school if the
+State took notice of it. The examination was granted, and there
+appeared at it the magistrate of the district Munzinger, many members
+of the council of government, the prior Zweili, different teachers, and
+men of distinction from Solothurn. All went off well; the boys felt
+themselves raised and encouraged by the signs of satisfaction of the
+highest State officials. After the business was over, the members of
+the common council and other gentry, with the officials and friends of
+the school, assembled at a repast. When the strangers had left, the
+inhabitants remained long assembled together; even former opponents had
+joined; very willingly would the chaplain have made his appearance if
+he had not been afraid of the pastor, and so would the pastor himself
+if he had been sure that his superiors would not hear of it. The
+glasses continued to pass round till late in the night, and I was not
+in a position to let them go by me, so much the less that in the eyes
+of these men, he who could not drink with them was considered as a
+weakling, and looked upon as incapable of showing any capacity. From
+the day of the examination, I could consider the school as having taken
+root in the community. The time had passed away when my friends and
+acquaintance at Solothurn had declared to me that they would not be
+surprised to hear an account of my being killed by the wild
+Grencheners.
+
+"I had indeed never been fearful of so unceremonious a proceeding from
+the adherents of the 'Black party,' but it was not till now that I was
+cheered by a feeling of security. Many small but significant traits
+showed me that the people no longer considered me and mine as
+strangers, and an approximation was here accomplished which was perhaps
+the first for some generations. Before the opening of the institution,
+it had been a question of procuring benches and other requisites, and
+it was then remarked that these articles should not be supplied by
+foreign joiners. A long time afterwards one of these came to me--there
+were two brothers--to beg of me to lay a memorial before the
+government, stating that they wished to remain at Grenchen, and obtain
+the rights of citizens. By a new decree, the mayors were ordered to
+examine the papers of settlers, and to send to their own homes all
+whose papers were not according to rule. These had no papers, and were
+therefore in danger of losing their domicile. On my inquiring how long
+they had lived in the place, the man answered, that he and his brother
+had been born there, also their father and mother; their grand-parents
+had wandered there as young people, and, indeed, not from a foreign
+country, or from another canton, but from a Solothurn village, only
+four hours from Grenchen, where, however, they would no longer know
+anything about them. The community had dealt well with them, giving
+them an equal share with the citizens in the communal property, but
+they denied them the rights of citizens. The government then signified
+to the community, that they had neglected to demand from their sires
+the papers, and that the grandchildren must not suffer from it. They
+became citizens, but still remained foreign joiners.
+
+"After a year was passed, fortune was favourable to me. The neighbours'
+children chose mine as playfellows, and the wives sought intercourse
+with mine, whilst many of the men persuaded me to join a union which
+was engaged in objects of general utility; it soon attained a great
+development, and introduced much improvement into the administration
+and economy of the property of the community. I learnt to esteem many
+excellent country people; many have passed away in the vigour of
+manhood. Her Vogt, justice of the peace, a genuine Allemanni, with a
+long thin face and dark hair, adapted by his understanding and
+acuteness to be the champion of the rising enlightenment, was killed
+not long ago by the fall of a tree which he was felling with an axe.
+The common councillor, Schmied Girard, met with an accident in the
+flower of manhood, on the occasion of a bonfire, which was lighted on
+the Warinfluh, high up on the edge of a rocky precipice, in order to
+show the Bernese neighbours sympathy in the celebration of the festival
+in honour of their constitution. He pushed a great log with his foot
+into the fire, slipped, and fell backwards over the rock into the
+abyss. He was an uncompromising opponent of the rotten system in the
+State, and had not feared to make known his sympathy for David Strauss,
+whose call to Zurich in 1839 had brought about the noted Zurich row,
+and to express his conviction that there could be no improvement till
+the community could choose their own pastor, and it should only be for
+five years. No wonder then that the ultramontane party spoke of his
+death in their papers as by the finger of God, for the edification of
+the good, and as a warning to the godless. The Grencheners answered the
+fleeting curse of the pious press by an enduring inscription on stone.
+In the village, by the side of the high road, in a place that every
+traveller who goes along the road must remark, there is a simple
+memorial stone. The inscription says that it is dedicated to the memory
+of the common councillor Girard, who was loved and esteemed by his
+fellow citizens, who laboured and met his death in the cause of
+liberty, justice, and enlightenment. He was a good neighbour to me, and
+a powerful support: my wife gazed at him with astonishment when he took
+her Italian iron out of the fire with his bare hand, and placed it in
+the iron stand.
+
+"An _esprit de corps_ in a good sense soon arose among the scholars;
+they felt themselves a distinguished corporate body. I made expeditions
+with them; amongst others, to Neuenberg, where the curiosities of the
+town, especially the rich collection of natural history, were shown to
+them with praiseworthy willingness. Another time we accepted the
+friendly invitation of a teacher at Solothurn to see a series of
+physical experiments. To the capital of the country the boys would not
+go on foot, but drove, as proud Grencheners, in a carriage decked with
+foliage, drawn by stately horses. In the lecture-room their demeanour
+was quiet, and they showed attention and intelligence, and they could
+see there much that, from want of proper appliances, I could only
+describe to them. The school was the focus of their life, the place
+where they collected on all great occasions. When one night the
+alarm-bell sounded, announcing a fire in the neighbouring village of
+Bettlach, they all came unsummoned to me; we put ourselves in order,
+and hastened with rapid steps to the spot where the fire was; we formed
+a rank to the nearest brook, and received our share in the praise and
+parting thanks of the pastor, for, when the fixe was extinguished, the
+clergyman delivered a speech of thanks to the neighbours who had come
+to help. I became the confidant of the cleverer ones in many features
+of their inward development. The boy who had come forward as advocate
+for his father was, on his first entrance into the school, so uncurbed
+in his overflowing strength, and so untamed by any culture, that,
+instead of taking his place in the usual way, he always vaulted over
+tables and benches; the wild creature scarcely kept within his clothes.
+But very soon all this was changed; Sepp became quiet and serious, and
+his whole strength exerted itself in reflection and learning. I
+expressed to him my pleasure at the change, and he told me that one
+night he had not been able to sleep, and the thought had come into his
+head, 'Thou hast hitherto not been a man, but an animal; now, through
+the means of the school, thou canst become a man, and must do so.' From
+that night he felt himself changed. Another--now an able forest-manager
+and geometrician--had surprised me by an almost sudden transition from
+slow to quick comprehension and rapid progress. He gave me afterwards
+this explanation: 'All at once light broke upon me. You had set us an
+equation; I racked my brains with it, but could not find out a
+solution. I was in the stable milking the cows: I had taken the paper
+with me, laid it beside me on a log, and was looking at it every
+moment. Then it passed like lightning through my brain: "thus must thou
+do it!" I left the cow and pail, took my paper, ran into the room, and
+solved the equation. Since that all my learning has gone on better.'
+
+"The year 1839 had come to an end, and the winter term--the most
+tedious time of the school--had begun with an increased number of
+scholars. One Sunday some old scholars came to me, and suggested that
+the Grencheners had at one period occasionally performed a play. This
+old custom had long fallen into disuse; there had been nothing to see
+except at the carnival, 'the Doctor of Padua,' Punchinello, and the old
+buffoon sports, which had been brought home by mercenaries from the
+Italian wars, and established in the villages; but they wished to have
+again a great play, and begged me to help them. I desired to have time
+to think, and made inquiries of the old people, particularly of old
+Hans Fik, who, at least forty years before had co-operated as a youth,
+and, as he acknowledged to me with shame, had acted the part of the
+'Mother of God.' From him I learnt that the last dramatic performance
+had been the 'St. Genevieve.' He doubted whether this younger
+generation could accomplish anything similar, for such a splendid
+paraphernalia, with many horses, such tremendous jumps clear over the
+horses, could no longer be seen in the present day. The _role_ of the
+count had been particularly fatiguing; one man had not sufficed for it;
+they had, therefore, had three counts, who, by turns, exercised their
+gymnastic art. Upon my asking whether there had not been speaking also,
+and whether he could not remember some passage which he could recite
+before me, the old man began to declaim, one tone and a half above his
+natural voice, singing and scanning with a monotonous abrupt rhythm and
+cadence. Undoubtedly this mode of delivery was a tradition from ancient
+times, and the speaking in these representations was an accessory only,
+while the jumping, wrestling, and gymnastics were the main point. From
+the productions of modern art which were at my command, I chose a
+native tragedy, 'Hans Waldmann Buergermeister von Zuerich,' by
+Wurstemberger of Berne. The hero, a leader in the Burgundian war,
+exerted himself to destroy the rule of the nobles in his native city,
+and to introduce reforms in accordance with the spirit of the age. Many
+of these innovations were displeasing to the citizens. The 'man of the
+people' became unpopular, a conspiracy of nobles upset him, and he was
+executed. The piece was not deficient in the necessary action; single
+combats, popular insurrection, fighting, and prison scenes gave spice
+to the dish; and longer dialogues were struck out. When my time for
+consideration had passed, the scholars made their appearance with
+military punctuality, and undertook with acclamation to perform the
+piece I had chosen.
+
+"The young men set actively to work, and showed that innate disposition
+to self-government which had been developed by education and
+practice. Those who took part in it--the elder and fifth-class
+scholars--assembled at the national school, formed a union, and
+constituted it by the election of a president, a treasurer, and a
+secretary. They immediately proceeded to the distribution of parts.
+This took place as follows:--The president inquired of those assembled,
+'Who will act the part of Hans Waldmann?' Three or four candidates
+rise, each brings forward his claims--height, a powerful voice, or
+school education; then they retire, and the discussion begins. Each
+candidate has his adherents and opponents. The discussion is closed,
+and a nearly unanimous majority allots the principal _role_ to the
+teacher, Tschui. Thus it went on with all the parts in succession, and
+the remainder of the general body agreed together as to their
+distribution as soldiers, peasants, and peasant women from Lake Zurich.
+The final vote put an end to all contention; there was not the least
+murmuring against the decision of the majority. I had been present at
+the meeting without saying a word; for, willing as the boys always were
+to listen to my advice--nay, even to look to my countenance for the
+expression of a wish,--yet it would have been annoying to them if I had
+obtruded myself upon them on the occasion of this performance. The
+distribution of parts gave perfect satisfaction; if I had undertaken
+it, it could not have turned out better,--probably not so well.
+Immediately after, a number of the elder lads, between twenty and
+thirty years of age, asked me to allow them to assist by acting the
+part of soldiers; they represented that there were some wild fellows
+among the actors, and there might be some ill-conducted lads among the
+spectators who would behave mischievously, and it would be well if they
+were at hand to keep order. Their desire was willingly complied with,
+and the appearance of these stout youths may have contributed to make
+their service unnecessary.
+
+"After the parts had been written out and learnt by heart, the
+rehearsals began, and continued during the whole winter. Most of the
+actors could only be brought to a certain point of proficiency, and
+there they remained; but some, especially the actor of the first part,
+richly repaid the trouble taken with him, and won, both at the
+performance and afterwards, the highest praise. But what delighted me
+most was to observe the moral effect of this dramatic industry of the
+young people on the life of the village. The common councillors
+related, with joyful surprise--what had been unheard of in the memory
+of man--that this winter there had been no fighting, nor the least
+ill-behaviour. The lads no longer sat in the taverns, drinking; they
+practised their parts at home, neighbours and acquaintances listening
+to them. Although women were excluded from the stage, the young ladies
+and peasant women being represented by the boys; yet the women and
+maidens were called upon to co-operate in other ways.
+
+"For many things were to be procured for the theatre--decorations,
+costumes, and orchestra. The newly-built wing of the bath-house was
+chosen for the theatre; this wing contained the dining-room and the
+adjoining dancing-room; the first, a long room, the other somewhat
+smaller and a square; there was an opening in the wall from one room to
+the other, in the form of an arch. The dancing-room was to be the
+stage, and before the arch hung a curtain: the dining-room was for the
+spectators. A platform and benches gave more than a thousand seats, and
+a gallery attached to the wall opposite to the curtain served as boxes.
+The plan of the stage arrangements was devised by a genuine artist, the
+painter Disteli, of Solothurn, known by his pictures of Swiss battles;
+the union took charge of the execution of it. It begged the common
+council to signify what trees might be cut to supply the necessary
+timber; crowds went out; the trees fell under the strokes of the axe;
+the lads harnessed themselves to them, putting on the tinkling-bells of
+the sledge-horses, and exultingly dragged the stems down the steep
+hill-path to the saw-mill. Then came the carpenters of the village,
+assisted by a sufficient number of men; in a short time the theatre
+was ready. The decorations were much aided by the misfortune of a
+play-manager, who, with his company, had for a long time been giving
+representations in a neighbouring city, but then had been obliged, by
+the pressure, not of the public, but of creditors, to go away, leaving
+behind him the whole of his theatrical properties. The scenery,
+therefore, was in the custody of the city, and the theatrical union
+succeeded in hiring, for a moderate sum, what was necessary--a room, a
+street, a wood, and even a dark prison. The costumes were designed by
+the painter Disteli; he coloured not only the particular dresses
+faithfully, according to the attire of the time and place, but
+contrived how it might be most cheaply carried out, by using the
+articles of dress that were at hand,--the aprons, bodices, shawls, and
+cloaks of the women. Whilst the village tailor worked, with an
+additional journeyman, incessantly at the costumes which required a
+higher degree of dexterity, the maidens occupied themselves for weeks
+with the smart dresses of the noble ladies, and the simple, picturesque
+attire of the women of the people; and many heroes owed to the taste
+and skill of a sister or a future bride the plumed cap and mantle which
+made him an object of admiration. If the dress, even less than the
+wearers, left little to desire, so did the equipment of the soldiers
+give a peculiar excellence to this performance; for the union addressed
+a petition to the government of the Canton, to allow them the use of
+the equipments and arms from the Burgundian war that were in the
+armoury at Solothurn, of helmets, armour, armlets, greaves, swords,
+spears, and halberds; and safe securities were offered for the careful
+return of them, with compensation for any damage. The government not
+only granted the request, but their most intelligent members helped
+both by word and deed, and delighted the troops with an old culverin
+and the coal-black equipments of the Burgundian gunners of the end of
+the fifteenth century.
+
+"When February was so far advanced that the days of performance could
+be settled,--it was to be on at least three following Sundays, in order
+to repay in some measure the great preparations,--I pointed out to the
+president of the union, after a general rehearsal, that it would be
+well to have some playbills printed. 'Playbills!' said the president,
+'there can be no harm in that, the people will then know who they have
+before them.' It so happened that the actors had thought of having a
+strip of paper attached to the head-dress of each, on which the public
+could read in large characters the name of the person. This mistake
+induced me to add upon the bills, to the usual contents, a short
+summary of the scenes in each act. The union sent their messengers, and
+I doubt whether there were any town or village within five leagues
+where the bills were not carried. What conduced to all this zeal in the
+preparations, was not only the pleasure of showing themselves before so
+many men, but also the calculation, that only a numerous attendance
+would bring up the entrance money to balance the expenditure, and give
+a chance of an overplus, which would be at the disposal of the union.
+
+"Again the actors came and begged to have a procession, 'such as there
+used to be formerly, in which we ride, the soldiers march, and women
+and others drive in smart carriages.' Those, therefore, who assisted in
+the village, were to assemble and move in regular procession to the
+baths, distant about a quarter of an hour. But the youths who had gone
+through numerous rehearsals, in order to attain the heights of the art,
+wished now to have a rehearsal of their procession, and to put on their
+equipments and beautiful dresses; I left it to them to do as they
+pleased. I learnt too late that to this innocent pleasure was added
+also a plan of revenge. It had come to the ears of the union, that the
+clergy of the place were not favourable to what the worldly authorities
+were so well disposed. The pastor had made a report at Solothurn,
+against the godless intention of performing a worldly piece on a
+Sunday, and the Bishop and Chapter pressed the government to prevent
+such misconduct. This made the young men very indignant. One Sunday
+afternoon, when the church bells sounded for the catechisings, the
+dissonance of a drum mingled with their solemn sound. It was the
+parochial servant, who had become old as a drummer in foreign service;
+he was a master of his instrument, and on this occasion was not in the
+service of the council, but of the actors for the rehearsal of the
+procession. The great strength with which the veteran played in the
+closest vicinity to the church, and the pleased twinkle of his eye,
+betrayed that he had lost at Rome and Naples all respect for
+ecclesiastics, and had particular pleasure in vexing the priests. He
+had before this avowed to me that he did not believe all Calvinists
+would burn in hell; he had told his pastor at confession that he had
+always been good friends with his Bernese comrades, and that he felt
+assured the good God would not cast away such brave fellows into the
+jaws of the devil; when in consequence of this, the pastor had refused
+him absolution, he had gone away saying: 'Good Mr. Pastor, henceforth I
+throw all my sins on your back.' So he marched round the house of God,
+overpowering the voice of the preacher, and causing the young people to
+run out of the church to see the procession. The clergy had good reason
+to complain, as people had been disturbed in their devotions. Soon
+there appeared an order from the government for the affair to be
+investigated; there was some difficulty in bringing it to a
+satisfactory conclusion, but the union promised never again to disturb
+the worship of God, and the ecclesiastics dropped their opposition to
+the performance.
+
+"At last the great day for the first performance came. It was Sunday,
+the 15th of March, 1840. At mid-day the village was all astir; about
+two o'clock the procession was arranged, and began its march along the
+old high road which led from the village to the baths. The ground was
+still covered with snow, but the sun shone bright. First came a
+carriage with a brass band from Fulder, which was travelling in western
+Switzerland; this band played a solemn march. Then the knights with
+mounted retainers, two and two, in brilliant Burgundian armour, as many
+as forty horse; then again carriages adorned with fir-branches and
+ribbons, occupied by the wives and daughters of the nobles and people,
+and with insurgent peasants, the infantry with their gun brought up the
+rear. It was not a bad picture of the old time, the weapons shone in
+the sunshine, and the figures rose, sharply defined, from the dazzling
+snow.
+
+"The performance began about three o'clock, and lasted four hours. The
+success exceeded all expectation; the house was filled, and the
+applause loud. I experienced painful moments behind the scenes, as for
+instance when the fighting heroes, in spite of all admonitions, would
+strike at each other with their long sharp swords, so that the sparks
+flew, and I was obliged to be contented that only a few drops of blood
+flowed from a slight wound in the hand. The play was followed by a
+supper to all who had cooperated, and the gentry of the village, and
+lastly a dance. The knights danced in their armour till midnight,
+having put it on about mid-day. I concluded, therefore, that this race
+had not degenerated in bodily strength from their forefathers, who
+fought at Murten and Granson.
+
+"The two following representations went off as fortunately as the
+first. The population streamed in from far and near, also travellers
+from Basle, Zuerich, and other cities. Since that one-and-twenty years
+have passed; in the new school buildings there is a theatre, in which
+the scholars perform small pieces; but the worthy men still look back
+with pride to the great performances of their youth.
+
+"One consequence of this play was, that the master became a part of the
+joyous recollections of the Swiss villages. The house which the
+community had hired for the institution, and the dwelling of the
+master, a provisional locality, stood with its front to the old
+high road; behind lay the little garden, at the back of which was a
+meadow belonging to the house which pastured two goats, and on which
+fruit-trees were planted. My abode was on the ground-floor; on the
+first storey, to which there was a narrow steep staircase, was the
+school-room and a reception-room. In summer acquaintances from the
+neighbourhood came frequently, and relations from home visited us,
+delighting in the country and in the well-disposed people. The
+holiday-time was gladly made use of for expeditions among the
+mountains. The close intercourse with the men of the village was also
+beneficial to the school, of which the wants were amply supplied.
+Without any application, the common councillor let me know, that the
+allowed quantity of wood appeared to him too small; but I need not mind
+that, as I had only to state how much I wanted, and I should have
+enough given me. The scholars were eager to show attentions to my
+little ones, and to render voluntary services for our little household
+and farm. They took care of the garden, mowed the grass, and made the
+hay; I received from them the earliest strawberries and cherries, and
+when the rivulet was fished, the most beautiful trout. Since the
+examination, their zeal for learning had increased. The German and
+French compositions of the clever ones were very creditable; they
+solved equations of the second degree with facility, could explain the
+workmanship of a watch, a mill, and a steam-engine, and also the laws
+of their working; besides this, they could read Cornelius Nepos and
+Caesar. Instruction in the history of their Fatherland was throughout
+Switzerland carefully attended to, but only the brilliant parts of it.
+Every child knew about the battles of Morgarten, Sempach, and Murten;
+but the submissiveness of their rulers, the French pensions and
+decorations were generally passed over in silence. It appeared to me
+more judicious not to give the light without the shadows.
+
+"I did not consider my duty towards those scholars whose inclination to
+learn was just aroused as ending with the certificate of dismissal. I
+wished to carry them on farther, up to the Canton school at Solothurn,
+which, besides a literary, had a technical class. With this object, it
+was necessary to provide for their maintenance, for they were,
+generally speaking, the sons of poor parents; those who were conscious
+that they would one day possess fields, meadows, and cattle, seldom
+felt the impulse to acquire more than the necessary knowledge. Before
+the close of the second year's course, two scholars showed themselves
+fit for the Canton school. I went to Solothurn, and spoke to the
+Landammann Munzinger and to the Councillor of the Board of Education,
+Dr. F. Both were worthy men, who provided for the boys in a great
+measure out of their own income. Soon I brought them a second, then a
+third couple. For these also, the necessary maintenance was found,
+especially as all who had entered had shown themselves worthy. But Dr.
+F. remarked to me, that he did not see the possibility of providing
+maintenance for any more, and as the parish was wealthy, they could do
+it themselves. I replied that this, without doubt, would be the case,
+as soon as the use of the school and of the further education of clever
+youths was demonstrated to the citizens by examples. Till then the
+government must provide that such witnesses should be forthcoming. A
+somewhat cold and dry answer sent the blood to my head: 'If you do not
+do all that is possible to promote the knowledge and education of the
+people, you may descend from your seats and let the patricians resume
+them, for they understand how to govern better than you!' 'Then I must
+find maintenance for the next scholars that are to be advanced to the
+higher school;' I advised them to apply to the Capuchins at Solothurn,
+as these are bound by their rules to give lodging and board to poor
+students. They had no occasion to repent of it.
+
+"They were a jolly set in the monastery; the civil war in Spain had
+divided them into two parties, Carlists and Christinos, who mutually
+wrote satirical verses against each other. The severest satirist, a
+young Neuer, was the leader among the Christino writers, against whose
+satirical verses the leader of the Carlists could not make head; he was
+an old man of family, who long had guarded the holy chair, and only
+lately exchanged the papal uniform for the cowl. This domestic dispute
+was, however, kept strictly within the cloister walls, for outside of
+them the Fathers were good brothers, and everywhere popular. They lived
+among the people, shared in their pleasures, and comforted the unhappy;
+they knew every family, and more especially frequented those houses
+where the women made the best coffee. The favourite saying of the
+Carlist chief was, 'There is nothing beyond good coffee and making the
+soul happy.' Every spring two Fathers came to Grenchen, and the young
+men collected behind them as behind the rat-catcher from Hameln; the
+first cried out, 'Ho, ho! go and pick up snails!' This call drew all
+the boys from the houses into the wood. The rich booty gave a delicious
+dish to the monastery. The young collectors were repaid with holy
+pictures.
+
+"The news that I had sent two boys to the Capuchins, soon reached the
+Landammann Munzinger, and at my next visit he asked me, 'Whether I did
+not know that they instilled principles into the boys, which were
+different from ours?'--'That I know well,' I answered, 'but I know
+still more; first, that scholars must live if they would learn; then
+that boys who have been two years with me, are so perverted, that no
+Capuchin can do them any good,'--'Then I am content,' said Herr
+Munzinger.
+
+"I cannot part from this excellent man without consecrating a few words
+to his memory. He was a tradesman, and had a public shop at Solothurn.
+He had a philosophical education, was musical, and a man of genuine
+benevolence. Unselfish, of agreeable appearance and manners, he was
+inexorable when it was a question of the public weal; he was an
+opponent of the rule of the old patricians who made use of their power
+at home and their diplomatic service for their own advantage, and had
+no feeling for the interests of the people. In the year 1830, Munzinger
+was at the head of the movement, and the line he took at the popular
+meeting at Balsthal, on the 5th December, decided the fall of the
+Patrician government in the Canton of Solothurn. In the construction of
+the new constitution and laws, in the organisation of the
+administration, and in his co-operation in their labours for the
+exemption of the land from burdens, for the establishment of schools,
+for the formation of roads, for the advancement of agriculture, and the
+administration of justice, he showed himself wonderfully gifted as a
+statesman. Though the State only consisted of a few square miles, with
+some sixty thousand inhabitants, yet the difficulties of constituting
+it were not less than in a larger State. The old rulers and their
+adherents, supported by the clergy, made use of the free press, the
+right of assembly, and their rich ecclesiastical and worldly means, to
+irritate the people against the new order of things. There was no want
+of handles to lay hold of, as arrangements for good objects require
+means, and thus some burdens must be imposed. Thus, for example, the
+community was bound by a law to erect schools, and further, to endow
+them with land; where there was no communal property, land had to be
+bought. Many villages opposed this, but their resistance was forcibly
+overcome. Later, the chief magistrates thanked the Landammann for
+having put force upon them for their good. In a different way did the
+government maintain itself against refractory ecclesiastics. No
+compulsion was put on them, but care was taken that the peace of
+families should not be disturbed by their insubordination. The
+government chose as Chapter-Provost a liberal-thinking ecclesiastic;
+Rome refused to confirm him; the situation remained unoccupied, and the
+income went to the school-fund. The clergy refused to solemnise mixed
+marriages, or to baptise the children; thus such couples had to seek
+for marriage and baptism elsewhere; but the officials of the district
+took care that they were entered in the registers. How well Munzinger
+understood republican freedom may be learnt from an example. The parish
+of Grenchen possessed extensive woodlands, the property of which was
+divided between them and the State. The parish had the right to supply
+themselves with wood, the remainder of the produce went to the State, a
+condition of things which was evidently not favourable to the
+cultivation of timber. The government proposed, therefore, that the
+wood should be divided in proportion to the rights of both sides, and
+to ascertain this more precisely, sent a commission to Grenchen. The
+peasants, accustomed from ancient times to be over-reached by the
+government, were suspicious of being defrauded, and drove the
+commissioners out of the village. Next morning the landjaeger of
+Solothurn took the most considerable of the country people into
+custody, and carried them to prison at Solothurn. This had not passed
+without some heart-breaking scenes; women had been alarmed, the
+children cried, and the whole village was filled with lamentation and
+anger.
+
+"From the feeling excited by these circumstances, I went soon after to
+the Landammann, and lamented the harshness of the proceeding. The men
+should have been summoned, none of them would have failed to appear,
+they were not such as would have evaded it. 'Yes,' said Munzinger, 'I,
+alas, was not here.'--'I thought so,' replied I, 'the affair in that
+case would have been managed differently.'--'Undoubtedly,' exclaimed
+the Landammann, colouring, 'I should have sent out the military and
+occupied the village, the seizure would still have taken place.' I
+could not conceal my astonishment at this outburst of anger. 'Yes,'
+continued Munzinger, 'you, with your monarchical notions, can be
+cautious and indulgent; there are always gendarmes and soldiers enough
+at hand to step in if necessary. We have not these means; the people
+have a great degree of freedom, but we cannot allow that in one single
+case even a hair's-breadth should be over-stepped.' A true and manly
+word.
+
+"The Landammann had the welfare of the Confederation as much at heart
+as that of the Canton, and as the people at home submitted to his
+discipline because they recognised that it was for their good, so also
+his guidance was followed in the affairs of the Confederation. In the
+Sonderbund war, Solothurn, although Catholic, was on the side of the
+Diet; its artillery distinguished itself in action, and left many
+valiant men on the field of battle. Munzinger joined in forming the new
+constitution; he was elected to the Diet, and by this into the
+Executive Council. Switzerland honoured one of their best citizens in
+choosing him as President of the Bund, and he dedicated to his
+Fatherland, from which he was too early torn away, all his powers up to
+the last hours of his life.
+
+"The year 1840 introduced into Switzerland and Germany the alarm of
+French invasion; General Aymar had marched from Lyons, and the forces
+of the Confederacy met him on their frontier. The Solothurn Battalion,
+Disteli, which was marching through Grenchen, was refreshed by the
+inhabitants with food and drink, and animated by the cry 'Thrash them
+soundly,' 'Fear nothing!' The storm was allayed, as Louis Napoleon
+withdrew of his own accord from Switzerland to save them from war with
+France. The clouds of war over Germany disappeared also, but they left
+behind a lasting uneasiness in the mind of the people, which was the
+beginning of a succession of years of political excitement. At this
+period I was recalled to Germany by the persuasions of friends and
+feelings of duty, but it cost me a long inward struggle.
+
+"Our departure was to take place at Christmas; it was very painful for
+us to take leave. I shortened as much as possible my separation from
+the scholars. I gave to each of them a book, said farewell, and
+hastened from them. A young man who had not been at the school, but had
+acted as a soldier in 'Hans Waldmann,' inquired from what coachman at
+Solothurn I should hire my carriage. I told him the man. The following
+day he returned to me, and informed me that he had engaged himself as
+servant to this liveryman, and had asked low wages that he might be
+allowed to drive us to Germany, for he wished to take care that we were
+as well attended to as in Grenchen.
+
+"It was a cold, dark winter morning when we drove from the inn in which
+we had passed the last night. Great was our surprise, when, at that
+early hour and in the bitter cold, we saw the whole population, men,
+women, and children, thronging before the house and along the high
+road. They wished once more to press our hands, they said farewell, and
+many other things; 'It is wrong of you to leave us,' 'You must come
+back again,' 'You shall have the freedom of the city.' They raised
+their children up aloft, 'Look at him yet again, look at him yet once
+more!' The whip cracked, and the carriage drove away."
+
+Here we end the narrative of the former schoolmaster of Grenchen.
+
+More than twenty years have passed since the German teacher departed
+from the Swiss village. He had been a strong and moderate leader in the
+political struggles of Germany, he had clearly seen where the greatest
+danger threatened, and his name was often mentioned with warm
+veneration, or with bitter hatred. When years of weak reaction came, he
+went to the north of Germany, and again lived in the active performance
+of his duties as a citizen. Then the faithful companion of his life
+fell sick, and the physicians advised a long residence in pure mountain
+air; they determined to go to the village around which hovered so many
+delightful reminiscences of past times.
+
+The village had changed its aspect; people no longer travelled by the
+high-roads but on the railway to Grenchen, manufactures had been
+introduced, watch-making and inlaid work, and the manufacture of
+cement, and other branches are increasingly developed. But the
+travellers found the old feeling, not only among the old men, but also
+through tradition among the younger ones. On the Sunday after their
+arrival, a long procession moved in the evening from the village to the
+baths. Foremost were the military bands of two battalions, which were
+formed of Grencheners under the direction of the new district-master,
+then the bearers of coloured lanterns, which were a large portion of
+the population. The multitude arranged themselves before the balcony
+of the house in which "Hans Waldmann" had been performed. Great
+chafing-dishes threw a red light over the ponds, jutting fountains and
+the pleasure grounds of the baths, whilst rockets ascended and lighted
+up at intervals the dark background, the mountains of the Jura. The
+guests had to place themselves on the balcony. The music ceased, and a
+former scholar, now a physician in Grenchen, stepped from out of the
+ranks. He commenced his greeting by calling to mind, that on the
+day of their arrival, there had been a great eclipse of the sun;
+two-and-twenty years before, their guests had entered among them at a
+period of intellectual darkness, they had helped to make light
+victorious; he concluded with the assurance that Grenchen would always
+consider the two strangers as belonging to them. When later the people
+of the village joyfully thronged round the friends, the parents pointed
+to a race of young giants that had meanwhile grown up amongst them,
+saying, "See these are the little ones who used to play with your
+children, and could not then go to your school." The German had by his
+side his eldest scholar, Xaver Reis, who had again come to him, over
+the mountain.
+
+The district school has now three masters and ample funds. The new
+school-house rises on a height in front of the church, and is a
+conspicuous object to the surrounding country. The school has trained
+its own advocates and supporters.
+
+The Master who gives this narrative is Karl Mathy, the State councillor
+of Baden, in the year 1848 a member of the Imperial ministry, one of
+the best and strongest champions of the Prussian party.
+
+These pictures began with a description of peasant life at an earlier
+period, it concludes with a true village story of the latest bygone
+times. It is a Swiss village of German race, to which the reader has
+been introduced. Many of its circumstances, the worth and energy of the
+inhabitants, and their self-government, recall to us a lively
+recollection of a German time which is removed from us by many
+centuries. Betwixt the Alps and the Jura also did misrule long retard
+the culture of the country people, but its pressure was harmless in
+comparison with the fate of the German nation: its bondage, and the
+Thirty Years' War.
+
+It was one of the objects of these pages to represent the elevation of
+the German popular mind, from the devastation of that war, and from the
+tyrannical rule of the privileged classes. Deliverance has come to the
+Germans, but they have not recovered their old strength in every sphere
+of life. But we have a right to hope; for we live in the midst of manly
+efforts to remove the old wall of partition that still exists between
+the people and the educated, and to extend, not only to the peasant,
+but also to the prince, and to the man of family, the blessing of a
+liberal education.
+
+
+
+
+                              CONCLUSION.
+
+
+Amidst the noise and confusion of the year 1848, the German people
+began a struggle for a new political constitution of the Fatherland. We
+must look upon the Frankfort parliament as a characteristic phase of
+our life, not as the result, but as the beginning of a noble struggle,
+as a grand dialectic process in which the needs of the nation, and the
+longing for a political idea, passed on to will and decision. What in
+1815 had been only the unimportant fancy of individuals, had become a
+formalised demand of the people, around which the minds of men have
+been tossed in ascending and descending waves.
+
+Since the year 1840 the longing for political life has obtained
+expression in Prussia. There has arisen family discord between the
+Hohenzollern and their people, apparently insignificant, but from it
+has sprung the constitutional life of Prussia, the beginning of a new
+formation of the State, a progress for prince and people. Again it
+becomes manifest that it is not always great times and great characters
+which produce the most important progress.
+
+But how does it happen that the favourites of their people, the Royal
+race on which the hopes and future of Germany depend--that the
+Hohenzollerns regard so hesitatingly and distrustfully the new position
+which the constitution of their State and the Union party of Germany
+offers to them? No royal race has gained their State so completely by
+the sword as they have. Their ancestors have grandly nurtured the
+people; their ancestors have created the State; their greatness, and
+their renown in war originated in the time of the fulness of royal
+power. Thus they naturally feel as a loss what we consider as a gain
+and an elevation.
+
+The whole political contest of the present day, the struggle against
+privileges, the constitutional question, and the German question, are
+all in reality only Prussian questions; and the great difficulty of
+their solution lies in the position which the Royal house of Prussia
+have taken up in regard to them. Whenever the Hohenzollerns shall enter
+warmly and willingly into the needs of the time, their State will
+attain to its long wanted strength and soundness. From this they will
+obtain almost without trouble, as if it came of itself, the conduct of
+German interests, the first lead in German life. This is known to
+friends and enemies.
+
+We faithfully remember how much we owe to them, and we know well that
+the final foundation of our connection with them is indestructible,
+even though they may be angry because we are too bold in our demands,
+or we may grumble because they are too dilatory in granting them. For
+there is an old and hearty friendship betwixt them and the spirit of
+the German nation, and it is a manly friendship which may well bear
+some rubs. But the German citizen feels with pride, that he values the
+honour and greatness of their position, and the honour and happiness of
+the Fatherland, no less than themselves.
+
+The German citizen is in the fortunate position of regarding the old
+dynasties with warm sympathy. They have grown up with his fondest
+reminiscences, a large number of them have become good and trustworthy,
+fellow-workers in the State and in science, and promote the education
+of the people. He will be indulgent when he sees individuals among them
+still prejudiced in their judgment by feeble adherence to the old
+traditions of their order; he will smile when they turn a longing look
+on the times that are gone, when their privileges were numerous and
+undisputed; and he will perhaps investigate, with more acuteness and
+learning than themselves, wherever, in the past of their race, real
+capacity and common sense has appeared. But he will be the inexorable
+opponent of all those political and social privileges by which they lay
+claim to a separate position among the people, not because he envies
+these things, or wishes to put himself in their place, but because he
+sees with regret that their impartiality of judgment, and sometimes
+their firmness of character are diminished by it, and because, through
+some of these obsolete traditions, like their court privileges, our
+Princes are in danger of falling into the narrowmindedness of German
+Junkers.
+
+In the two centuries from 1648 to 1848, the wonderful restoration of
+the German nation was accomplished. After an unexampled destruction,
+its character rose again in faith, science, and political enthusiasm.
+It is now engaged in energetic endeavours to form for itself the
+highest of earthly possessions,--a State.
+
+It is a great pleasure to live in such a time. A hearty warmth, and a
+feeling of youthful vigour fill hundreds of thousands. It has become a
+pleasure to be a German; and before long it may be considered by
+foreign nations also to be a high honour.
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: At the time of Frederic II. it varied in amount; a large
+property had to supply a whole horse (there were half and quarter horse
+imposts), or pay 18 to 24 thalers; in the Electorate it amounted to the
+high sum of 40 thalers.]
+
+[Footnote 2: The strength of the militia under Frederic I. was,
+according to Fassmann, i. p. 720, up to 60,000.]
+
+[Footnote 3: The system of allotting to each regiment its recruiting
+district.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Fassmann, "Life of Frederic William I.;" and Von Loen,
+"The Soldier Depicted."]
+
+[Footnote 5: V. Loen, "Der Soldat," p. 312.]
+
+[Footnote 6: G. V. Griesheim, "Die Taktik," p. 75; v. Liebenrothe,
+"Fragmente," p. 29.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Small smoking society, consisting of the King and his
+intimates.--_Tr_.]
+
+[Footnote 8: It was not the bad combination of colours, the blue and
+yellow velvet housings, that incensed the dying king--those were the
+colours of his body-guard--but he wished to see those of the Dessauer
+on him--blue, red, and white.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Lafontaine's "Life of Gruber," p. 126.]
+
+[Footnote 10: "The Poor Man in Tockenburg," published by Fussli.
+Zurich: 1789 and 1792. Afterwards by G. Buelow, Leipzig, 1852.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Elector Frederic William inherited 1451 square miles,
+with, perhaps, 700,000 inhabitants, most of it in Ordensland,[A]
+Prussia, which was less devastated by the war.
+
+                                        Square Miles.       Inhabitants.
+
+  In the year 1688, the Elector left      2034, with about    1,800,000.
+      "       1713, King Frederic I.      2090,     "         1,700,000.
+      "       1740, King Frederic Wm. I.  2201,     "         2,240,000.
+      "       1786, King Frederic II.     3490,     "         6,000,000.
+      "       1805, King Frederic II.     6563,     "         9,800,000.
+                    (Before the exchange of Hanover.)
+      "       1807, remain                2877,     "         5,000,000.
+      "       1817, were                  5015,     "        10,600,000.
+      "       1830, were 13,000,000 inhabitants; but in 1861, 18,000,000.
+
+[A] Ordensland, the country that once belonged to the Teutonic
+Knights.]
+
+[Footnote 12: "Journal de Seckendorf," 2nd Jan., 1738.]
+
+[Footnote 13: [Oe]uvres, t. xvii., nr. 140, p. 213.]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Ib._, t. xviii., nr. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Portions of his historical works appear under special
+titles with many introductions. "The Memoirs of the House of
+Brandenburg" (begun 1746), the greatest part of it unimportant and
+compiled; "History of My Time" (written 1746-75), his masterpiece; then
+the great history of "The Seven Years' War" (ended 1764); finally,
+"Memoirs after the Hubertsburger Peace" (written 1775-79). They form,
+in spite of inequalities, a connected whole.]
+
+[Footnote 16: V. Templehoff, "Siebenjaehriger Krieg," i. p. 282.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Sulzer to Gleim: "Briefe der Schweizer von Koerte," p.
+354.]
+
+[Footnote 18: He had in 1759, a year before he wrote the foregoing
+words to the Marquis d'Argen, published through this friend, his
+treatise, "Reflections sur les Talons militaires et sur le Caractere de
+Charles XII. Roi de Suede," one of the most remarkable works of the
+King. His view of the faults of Charles XII. was sharpened by the
+personal experience which he had himself made in the lost battles of
+the last year, and, whilst he judges respect fully the unfortunate
+conqueror, he at the same time claims for himself higher credit for his
+own moderate policy. The work is, therefore, not only a very
+characteristic record of his wise moderation, but also a memorial of
+quiet self-enfranchisement and of great inward progress.]
+
+[Footnote 19: [Oe]uvres, xxvii. 1, nr. 328, from 17 Sept.]
+
+[Footnote 20: In the year 1740, 1,100,000; in 1756, 1,300,000; in 1763,
+the number had sunk to 1,150,000; in 1779, there were 1,500,000; it was
+supposed then that the country could maintain 2,300,000 more. It
+numbers now 3,000,000.]
+
+[Footnote 21: New Prussia, "Provinzial Blaetter," Jahrg. vi., 1854, nr.
+4, p. 259.]
+
+[Footnote 22: V. Held, "Gepriesenes Preussen," p. 41; Roscius,
+Westpreussen, p. 21.]
+
+[Footnote 23: When, in 1815, the present province of Posen was returned
+to Prussia, the wolves there also were the plague of the country.
+According to a statement in the Posen "Provinzial Blaetter," in the
+district of Posen, from 1st Sept. 1815, to the end of February, 1816,
+forty-one wolves were slain; and still in the year 1819, in the
+district of Wongrowitz, sixteen children and three grown-up persons
+were devoured by wolves.]
+
+[Footnote 24: From manuscript records of the year 1790.]
+
+[Footnote 25: The complaints are very frequent. Compare v. Liebenrothe
+Fragm. p. 59.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Much, that is interesting concerning the social condition
+of the North of Germany after 1790 is to be found in "Der
+Schreibtisch," by Caroline de la Motte Fouque, pp. 46.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Kant's works, xi. 2, p. 80. The man in question was one
+of doubtful reputation.]
+
+[Footnote 28: The drinkers were Klopstock and his friends.]
+
+[Footnote 29: The travellers were Fritz Jacopi and his brother.]
+
+[Footnote 30: The new guest was Wieland; the hosts, Sophie Laroche and
+her husband; and the narrator, Fritz Jacopi.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Leuckhardt relates this in his "Lebensbeschreibung," and
+there is no ground to doubt what is imparted by this disorderly man.]
+
+[Footnote 32: "Reise von Mainz nach Coeln im Jahre, 1794," p. 222;
+"Briefe eines reisenden Franzosen, 1784," ii., p. 258. Both books are
+only to be read with caution.]
+
+[Footnote 33: Slang terms of the period, ridiculing their keen
+appetites and grotesque uniforms.--_Tr_.]
+
+[Footnote 34: "Schilderung der jetzigen Reichsarmee," 1796-8. This
+interesting description is often quoted, but it is not quite
+trustworthy. The author is that Lauckhart, a disorderly theologian, who
+made the Rhine campaign as a musketeer in the regiment Thadden. His
+autobiography is as instructive as it is repulsive.]
+
+[Footnote 35: That this description is not too strong, we have
+sufficient warrant in the many accounts of that time. In "Reise von
+Mainz nach Coeln im Fruehjahr," 1794; "Lafonteine Leben," p. 154. The
+description also which Lauckhart gives of the emigrants in his
+autobiography may be examined. These French doings excited disgust and
+horror even in him.]
+
+[Footnote 36: Officials, analogous to the Prefet.]
+
+[Footnote 37: Von Held's writings were, "Das Schwarzebuch"--now very
+rare--"Die Preussischen Jacobiner," and the "Gepriesene Preussen," the
+most notorious. They and their refutations give us the impression that
+the author, as is frequent in such cases, had written many things
+correctly, others inaccurately, but on the whole honestly; but he was
+not to be depended on as a judge of his opponents. Varnhagen knew him,
+and wrote his life.]
+
+[Footnote 38: "Gruendliche Widerlegung des gepriesenen Preussens,"
+1804.]
+
+[Footnote 39: "Buchholz, Gemaelde des gesellschaftlichen Zustandes in
+Preussen," i.]
+
+[Footnote 40: The narrator is Adelbert von Chamisso. His letter of 22nd
+Nov., 1806, is one of the most valuable relics of that true-hearted
+man. The concluding words deserve well to be remembered by Germans.
+"Oh, my friends, I must atone by a free confession for the secret
+injustice that I have done this brave, warlike people. Officers and
+soldiers, in the harmony of a high enthusiasm, cherished only one
+thought: it was, under the pressure of external and internal enemies,
+to maintain their old fame, and not a recruit, not a drummer-boy would
+have fallen away. Indeed, we were a firm, faithful, good, stout
+soldiery. Oh, if we had but had men to lead us."]
+
+[Footnote 41: The following is taken from an autobiography which he
+left in manuscript for his children. The editor has to thank the family
+of the deceased for it.]
+
+[Footnote 42: In the old Prussian Rhine country stones were beginning
+to be used for the _chaussees_.]
+
+[Footnote 43: The three officers were, Lieutenants von Bluecher, von
+Lepel, and von Treskow; the three Prebendaries, von Korff, von
+Boesclager, at Eggermuhlen, and von Merode.]
+
+[Footnote 44: Ministerial decrees setting aside the course of justice.]
+
+[Footnote 45: Vinke had succeeded Stein as First President.]
+
+[Footnote 46: Alliance of students in Germany.]
+
+[Footnote 47: In the number of 247,000 soldiers the volunteers are not
+included, because they in general consisted of those who were not
+native Prussians. Beitzke's calculation, which we here take because it
+is lowest, undoubtedly includes the Landwehr, and the squadrons which,
+in the course of the campaign, were formed on the other side of the
+Elbe; there are, therefore, about 20,000 men to be abstracted from his
+amount. But as his reckoning only comprehends, the strength of the army
+in the field, which up to the battle of Leipzig was almost entirely
+gathered from the old Prussian territory, his figures may be considered
+rather too low than too high. In 1815, the proportion of soldiers to
+population was still more striking. East Prussia contributed then seven
+per cent, of its inhabitants, each seventh man was sent to the war;
+there remained scarcely any but children and old people in the country,
+very few from 18 to 40.
+
+The amount of the population is reckoned according to the last official
+census of 1810. Prussia, after the peace of Tilsit, had been obliged to
+cede New Silesia to Poland, and thus since 1806 had lost more than
+300,000 men. No increase, therefore, of the population can be assumed
+up to the spring of 1813. The chief fortresses, also, were in the hands
+of the French, and their inhabitants should be deducted from any
+calculation of the efforts of the people. According to the proportion
+of 1813, Berlin as at present, could bring into the field an army of
+from 23,000 to 25,000 men; Leipzig, four battalions; and the Dukedom of
+Coburg-Gotha seven battalions, amounting to 1000 men.]
+
+[Footnote 48: Schlosser, "Erlebnisse inns Sachsischen Landpredigers,"
+from 1806 to 1815, p. 66. The foreign nations, Portuguese and Italians,
+were more moderate.]
+
+[Footnote 49: Schlosser, "Erlebnisse," p. 129.]
+
+[Footnote 50: It may be allowable to introduce here some extracts from
+the receipts which Heun brought forward in the newspapers. What was
+placed at the head of them was accidental, especially as his lists only
+enumerate a very small number of the donations, none of those from East
+Prussia are mentioned. We must begin with the first patriotic gift,
+which was announced publicly in 1813. About New Year's Day, long before
+the volunteer rifles were equipped, the Roman Catholic community at
+Marienburg, in West Prussia, placed all the plate of their church that
+could be dispensed with at the disposal of the State (it was about 100
+marks), begging, as they could not give away church property, for the
+interest of the value of the silver in the future. But the first money
+contribution noted down by Heun, was from a master tailor, Hans
+Hofmann, at Breslau, 100 thalers. The first who gave horses were the
+peasants Johann Hinz, in Deutsch-Borgh, Bailiwick of Saarmuend, and
+Meyer, at Elsholz, of the same Bailiwick; the last had only two horses.
+The first who gave oats, 100 scheffel, was one Axleben. The first who
+sent their golden wedding-rings, expressing the hope that much gold
+might be collected if all would do the same, were the lottery-collector
+Rollin and his wife, at Stettin. The first officials who resigned a
+part of their salary were Professor Hermbstaedt, at Berlin, 250 thalers;
+Professor Gravenhorst, at Breslau, the half of his salary, and
+Professor David Schultz, 100 thalers. The first who gave a portion of
+his fortune was an unnamed official; of 4000 thalers he gave 1000. The
+first who sent his plate was Count Sandretzky, at Manze, in Silesia,
+value 1700 thalers, besides three beautiful horses; a servant of the
+chancery, four silver spoons; anonymous, 2000 thalers; an old soldier,
+his only gold piece, value forty thalers; anonymous, three gold
+snuff-boxes, with diamonds, value 5300 thalers; an old woman, from a
+little town, a pair of woollen stockings.]
+
+[Footnote 51: 10,000 volunteer riflemen, and about the half of the
+irregulars, amounting to 2500 men, were equipped in the old provinces,
+together with 1500 horses. Putting the cost of each foot-rifleman at 60
+thalers, and that of a horseman at 230 thalers,--the price of horses
+was high,--the amount is 1,150,000 thalers, which is certainly too low.
+And the pay and extras, given by private persons to individual
+riflemen, are not reckoned.]
+
+[Footnote 52: The Editor is indebted for much of this to a record of
+the worth Oberregierungsrath Hackel.]
+
+[Footnote 53: From Family Reminiscences.]
+
+[Footnote 54: Record of the Appellations-gerichtsrath Tepler, who
+himself, as a boy, went to the field with the Landsturm against the
+French at Magdeburg.]
+
+[Footnote 55: She lives in Berlin, and is now mother of a large
+family.]
+
+[Footnote 56: From the diary of the pastor, Frieke, at Bunzlau.]
+
+[Footnote 57: Scene from the fight at Goldberg, on the 23rd August,
+from the account of an eye-witness.]
+
+[Footnote 58: Thus, on the 22nd of May, at Bunzlau, during the retreat
+after the battle of Bautzen, the prisoners, red Hussars, lay in the
+suburb near the Galgenteich.]
+
+[Footnote 59: Vossische Zeitung, No. 45, from the 15th April.]
+
+[Footnote 60: Now a practising doctor at Halle. The account is from the
+mouth of the worthy man.]
+
+
+
+                                THE END.
+
+
+
+               BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth
+and XIXth Centuries, Vol. II., by Gustav Freytag
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