/ K. DP. K43 l^rtESlDENT WlltTE LIBRAE'. CORNELL UiNIVERSin'. The date shows when this volume was taken 1 DATE DUE i ~""iiii " ''"^ Nttiii^ ._ ku uif^iniTftli m^':.\i * ■■ap!;,ssa«> Mm'hi '""l^Sfl- ■ ■n^mmm. ■' GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S.A. Cornell University Library DD 65.F89 1863 v.1-2 Pictures of German life in the XVIIIth a 3:3 1924 028 297 889 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028297889 PICTUEES OF GEEMAN LIFE IN THS EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES. SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE In the XVIII"' AND XIX*!" Centuries. BY GUSTAV FREYTAG. CranSIatelf from ti&e Ortamal 6g MRS. MALCOLM. COPYRIOHT EDITION.— IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 1863. ^^^^f-^-^^ LONDON : BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS 1^^) CONTENTS. SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTUKIES. PAGE. Inthoduction. — The nation and the individual— Aim of the book — Peculiarities in the development of the Gennan people since the Thirty Years' War 1 CHAPTEB, I. Life or the German Peasant (1240-1790). — The duration of modern nations — German agriculture in the time of the Eomans, the Carlo- vingians, and the Hohenstauffen — Description of the peasants by Neidhart von Eeuenthal — Nabeative of totjng Helmbkecht, BY "Weenhee the Gaedbnbk — The fifteenth century — ^The Peasant "War— Eberlin von Giinzburg — Condition of the peasants after the war ; their service and burdens ; their different condition according to districts, and deterioration by oppression — First signs of improve- ment— Desoeiption OF THE GeEMAN PEASANT BY ChEISTIAN Gaeve— Insurrection of the peasantry in 1790, and their present j position 9 CHAPTER II. The Life of the Lowbe Nobility (1500-1800). — The country nobles in the sixteenth century — The court nobles— The detrimental effects of the Great "War — Description of a wealthy nobleman from 1650-1700 — Patents of nobility — Description of the life of the newly-ennobled merchants from 1650-1700 — The country nobles and Krippenreiters from 1650-1700— Descbietion of the same FEOM "The Nobleman," by Paul "Wincklee— Better condition after 1700 — Privileges of the nobles — Introduction of a new cul- ture— Gellert — Union of the nobles with the citizens 78 CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. PAGE The German Citizen and his Shooting Festivals (1300-1800).— Gradual deyelopinent of the citizen class— Decline after tlie Thirty Ye,ars' War — The prize shooting as an example of their former wealth and importance — May feasts of the old citizens — Prize shooting hefore 1400— Preparations for the festival— The Pritsch- meistei; and procession — Prizes and fortune's urn — Hospitality, and conclusion of the festival — Zurich and Strashourg — Differences of the festivals according to districts— Their decline— Desobiption OF the Bbeslau "EOnigsohiessens" op 1738, by Kundmann ... 134 CHAPTER IV. The Stai-e Policy and the Individual (1600-1700). — The dis- solution of the German Empire — The Prince's parties — The despotic official administration — ^The statesmen after the war— The insecurity of the subject ; its influence on the character — Chaeaoteeistics OF THE State system in a flying sheet of 1678 — ^Tendencies up to 1740 187 CHAPTER V. The "Stillen im Lande," oe Pietists (1600-1700).— Tendencies of Protestantism till 1618 — Consequences of the -war— The older Pietism — Spener — Hatred of worldly pleasures- The women— Self- contemplation and social intercourse — Good effects on morals — The revival — Characters of Petersen and his wife — Naeeative of Johanna Eleonoea Petebsen — Nakeativf of De. Johann Wilhelm Petbesen — Fate of this couple, and their revelations — The later Pietism and its aberrations — Opposition — Lamenta- tions OF THE student, Eenst Johann Semlbe — Progress of the people through Pietism 211 CONTENTS. Vll CHAPTER VI. PAGE The Dawnins of Light (1750). — Changes in the human mind from the invention of printing — Mathematical discipline and natin-al science — Law — Philosophy and its position with respect to theology — The leaders — Change of literature by Wolf and his disciples- Description of a German city about 1750, its police and artisans — The gentry — Merchants and their commerce — Ecclesiastics, teachers, and schools — Post and travelling — Dress and manners- Sentimentality, tears, and self-contemplation — Marriage a business matter — "Women and house duties ■ — Naeeative of Johann Salomo Sbmlbe — Lkttee. feom a bkide to hee beidugeoom in TItE TEAE 1750 268 PICTUEES OF GEEMAN LIFE. INTEODUCTIOK The Man and the Nation ! The course of life of a nation consists in the ceaseless working of the individual on the collective people, and the people on the individual. The greater the vigour, diversity, and originality with which individuals develop their human power, the more capable they are of conducing to the benefit of the whole body ; and the more powerful the influence which the life of the nation exercises on the individual, the more secure is the basis for the free development of the man. The productive power of man expresses itself in endless direc- tions, but the perfection of all powers is the political development of the individual, and of the nation through the State. The mind, the spirit, and the character are influenced and directed by the political life of the State, and the share which the individual has in the State is to him the highest source of honour and manly happiness. If in the time of our fathers and grandfathers the German contemplated his own position among other men, he might well question whether his life was poor or rich, whether hope or sorrow predominated ; for his earthly position was in every way peculiar. Whilst he felt with pleasure that he was in the enjoyment of a free and refined Z PICTUEES OF QEEMAJf LIFE. cultivation, he was daily oppressed by the harsh despotism, or the weak insignificance of his State, in which he lived as a stranger without the protection of the law ; he looked with pride on Ihe gigantic workings of German science, but he perceived, with bitter sorrow, that millions of his countrymen were separated by a deep chasm from the highest results of scientific labour. He found himself amidst the working of a popular energy, which ventured with heroic courage on the boldest conclusions in the realm of mind ; and, on the other hand, saw around him nan-ow- hearted obstinacy, where simple and close results ought to have been the aim. He felt with thousands an eager desire for an object of life which would exalt and animate him, and again he found himself surrounded and shackled by narrow-mindedness and by provincial and local exclu- siveness. Whoever should thus feel, may well inquire whether we Germans are old or young, whether it is des- . tined by fate that the German nature should only find expression in the individual virtuosoship of art and science, or whether an harmonious development of the nation in its practical and ideal tendencies, in labour and enjoyment. State, church, science, art, and industry, lies before us in the future : whether we shall ever again, as members of a great State, play the part of masters in Europe, which old records inform us our ancestors, in remote ages, won by their swords and the energy of their natures. There is still a time in our memory when hope was so faint, that one may be excused for giving a doubtful answer to such questions. After the War of Freedom, the decay of the old method of culture became the characteristic of the time ; but we now approach, with youthful vigour, new ideas and an energetic will, to a new and higher climax. In the characters of that past time we find, only too frequently, isolation, hopeless- INTEODTTCTION. S ness, and deficiency in political morality ; in tlie new time we have a sharper vision, a higher interest for the nation as a whole, and a power of viewing things in a practical light which makes us feel the need of close union between - aU of like mind. The realism, which is called, either in praise or blame, the stamp of the present time, is in art," science, and faith, as in the State, nothing but the firsti step in the cultivation of the rising generation, which en-f deavours to spiritualise the details of present life in a' directions, in order to give a new tendency to the spirit. But, though it may be no longer necessary to cheer the soul with hope, yet it is a pleasing task to demonstrate the point to which we have attained in comparison with the past, and in comparison with other civilised nations ; why we were obliged to remain behind in many things which our neighbours possess in abundance, and why we have made other acquisitions in advance of them. It is in- structive for us to make such inquiries, and the answer that we shall find may be instnictive to other nations. No individual can give a satisfactory solution to each single question ; even the strongest mind can but imper- fectly comprehend the great life of his nation : the clearest eye and the most ingenuous judgment is contracted in comparison with the great unity of the people. But, how- ever imperfect may be the portrait given by individuals of the life of their nation, yet each contemporai-y will discover some main features of the picture lying in his own soul, more especially he who stands in the same grade of culti- vation with the delineator. This kind of delineation of the period of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, was the object of the former series of pictures of the past life of Germany ; the follow- ing will be a sketch of some of the phases of development of German character during the last century up to the B 2 4 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. present day. Again shall the narratives of those who are gone, as well as the living, portray the times in which they figure ; but the nearer we approach the present, the less do the recoBls of individuals give an impression of the nature of the general community. First, because from the greater proximity we are able more accurately to distin- guish the individual from the community, and also, because the diversity of character and the difference of culture become ever greater the further the German mind ad- vances in profound investigation ; therefore these examples will probably lose for the reader some of the charm afforded by those of former centuries. And in addition to this, the records of these latter times are far more known and realised by our popular writers. Lastly, the political his- tory, as well as the development of the German mind, since the time of Frederick the Great, has, through copious works, become the property of the nation. It is not there- fore intended here to enter upon a representation of the scientific mind, or of the political condition of the nation ; but only to represent those phases of the spirit and social circumstances, which more especially define the character of a people. By these the continuity and many pecu- liarities of our present cultivation will be illustrated. The new time began in Germany, after the invention of printing, by a struggle in which Germans broke the fetters of the Papal Church of the Middle Ages, and passed from submissive belief in authority, to an energetic, independent search after truth. But they did not at the same time succeed in building up a compact monarchy out of the unsymmetrical feudalism of the Middle Ages. The Im- perial House of Hapsburg became the zealous opponent of the national development. Owing to this opposition arose the power of separate territorial princes, and the political weakness of Germany became the more percep- INTRODUCTION. O tible, the more the rising vigour of the nation demanded an answering development of political energy. From this the German character suffered much. Ecclesiastical dis- putes were for a long period the only national interest ; there was but too great a deficiency in Germans of that pride and pleasure in a fatherland, and of that whole circle of moral feelings, to which political independence gives hfe, even in the most obscure individual. After the Reformation it became the fate of the German nation to develope its character under conditions which were materially different from those of the other civilised people of Europe. In France, the Protestant party was struck down with bloody zeal by the crown under the despotic government of Louis XIV. ; and the Eevolu- tion was the growth of this victory. In England, the Protestant party gained the dominion under the Tudors ; the struggle against the Stuarts and the completion of the English constitution was the result. In Germany, the opposition of parties was not followed either by victory or conciliation ; the result was the Thirty Years' War, and the political paralysis of Germany, from which it is only now beginning to recover. This Thirty Years' "War, the worst desolation of a popu- lous nation since the national exodus, is the second period of German history which gave a peculiar tendency to the character of the people. The war shattered into ruins the popular strength, but it also certainly removed the dangers which threatened German cultivation, by the al- liance of the Imperial House with the Roman Hierarchy. It also separated the Imperial State, politically, from the rest of Germany ; what was lost to France in the west by the Hapsburgers, was gradually regained to Germany in the east by another Royal House. The great destruction caused by the war, changed the State life of Germany to a 6 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. hoUo-w form ; it threw the Germans almost two centuries back, in comparison with their EngUsh kinsmen, in wealth, population, and political condition. It must again be re- peated that it destroyed at least two thirds, probably three fourths of the population, and a still greater portion of their goods and cattle, and deteriorated the morals, arts, education, and energies of the survivors. Out of these remains of German life, the modern character of Germans was slowly and feebly developed — individual life under despotic government. It is this period, in which our popular strength was slowly raised from the deepest degradation, which will be here portrayed by the narratives of contemporaries. Again a great time, but a period of German development of which the last and highest results have not yet become history. The way in which the people raised themselves from this abyss is peculiar to the Germans. Mai-vellous as was the destruction, so also was the revival. More than one nation has been overpowered by outward enemies or cast down under political oppression, each of which has had to undergo special trials which have given them from time to time a hopeless aspect, but through the whole course of history a renovation has been effected, so that the strengthening of the State has gone hand-in-hand with intellectual progi'ess. When the Greeks during the Per- sian war felt their own political worth, their science and art blossomed almost simultaneously ; when Augustus had given a new support and constitution to the declining Roman republic, there began forthwith a new Imperial culture in enjoyment-seeking Rome : the intellectual life from Horace and Virgil to Tacitus, followed the destiny of the State ; the increased expansive power of the Empire ever gave a wider stretch and stronger independence to indi- vidual minds. And again in England, — when the war of the INTRODUCTION. Red and White Roses was ended, when the people peace- fully danced round the maypole, and a brilliant court life enforced courtly manners upon the wild Barons, when daring merchants and adventurers waylaid the Spanish galleons, and conveyed the spices of India up the Thames, — then the popular energies found expression in the greatest poetic soul of modern nations. Even in France the splendid despotism of Louis XIV., after the wars of the Hugue- nots and the Fronde, gave suddenly to the tranquillised country a brilliant courtly bloom of art and literature. It was quite otherwise in Germany. Whilst everywhere else the State might be compared to the body whose abun- dant energy calls forth the creative development of the nation, in Germany, since the Thirty Years' War, owing to the awakening popular energy, a new national civilisation has gradually arisen in a shattered, decaying government, under corrupting and humiliating political influences of every kind, — first dependent upon strangers ; then indepen- dent and free ; finally, a shining pattern for other people, producing blossoms of poetry, and blossoms of science of the greatest beauty, of the highest nobility, and the greatest inward freedom : it was developed by individuals who were deficient in just that discipline of the mind and character, which is only given to them when they are members of a great State. The German culture of the eighteenth century was indeed the wonderful creation of a soul with out a body. It is still more remarkable that this new national culti- vation helped, in an indirect way, to turn the Germansi into political men. From it the enthusiasm and struggle for an endangered German State, passions, parties, and at last political institutions were developed. Never did lite- rature play such a part or solve such great problems, as the German, from 1750 to the present day. For it is 8 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. thoroughly unlike the modem endeavours of other nations, who from patriotism, that is to say, from the need of poli- tical progress, mature an objective literature. In these cases art and poetry serve, from the beginning, as hand- maids to politics ; they are perhaps artificially fostered, and the artistic and scientific worth is probably less than the patriotic aim. In Germany, science, literature, and art only existed for their own sake : the highest creative power and the warmest interests of the educated classes were engrossed with them alone ; they were always German and patriotic, in opposition to the overpowering French taste ; but, with the exception of a few outbreaks of poli- tical anger or popular enthusiasm, they had no other aim than to serve truth and beauty. Nay, the greatest poets and scholars considered the political condition under which they lived, as a common reality out of which ai-t alone could elevate mankind. As therefore in Germany art and science desired nothing but honourable exertion within their own sphere, their pure flames refined the sensitive disposition of Germans till it was hardened for a great political struggle. Before giving pictures of the German character during the last two centuries, we will endeavour to portray the peculiarities which are developed in the family relations of the different classes of ancient Germany, both the peasantry, the nobility, and the citizens. But the aim of the book is to show how, by means of the Hohenzollem State, Germans changed gi-adually from private to public men ; how dramatic power and interest entered into lyrical individual life ; how the Burgher class was strength- ened by increasing education, and the nobility and peas- antry submitted to its influence ; finally, how it cast aside the specialities of classes, and began to form characters according to its own needs and points of view. CHAPTER I. THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. (1240-1790.) In seven hundred years the independent life of the Greeks terminated ; about a thousand embraces the growth, dominion, and decline of the Roman power ; but the German Empire had lasted fifteen hundred years from the fight in the Teutoburg Forest,* before it began to emerge from its epic time. So entirely different was the duration of the life of the ancient world to that of the modern ; so slow and artificial are our transformations. How rich were the blossoms which Greek life had matured in the five centuries from Homer to Aristotle ! How powerful were the changes which the Roman State had undergone, from the rise of the free peasantry on the hills of the Tiber to the subjection of the Italian husbandmen under German landlords ! But the Germans worked for fifteen centuries with an intellectual inheritance from the Romans and the East, and are now only in the beginning of a development which we consider as peculiar to the German mind, in contradistinction to the Roman, of the new time, to the ancient. It is indeed no longer an isolated people which has to emerge from barbarism by its own creations ; it is a family of nations more painstaking and more enduring, which has risen, at long and laborious intervals, from the ruins of the Roman Empire, and from * In this battle (a.d. 9) Armin defeated the Eomans, and freed Germany. 10 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [C^' I- the intellectual treasures of antiquity : one nation reci- procally acting on the other, under the law of the same faith. The Eomans from free peasants had become farmers, and they were ruined be cause they could_,not, overcome the sqcial_evil of slavery. The German warriors also, in the time of Tacitus, took little pleasure in cultivating their own fields, and were glad to make use of dependents. It was only shortly before the year 1500,, that the German cities arrived at the conviction that the labour of free- men is the foundation of prosperity, opulence, and civi- lisation. But in the country, even after the Thirty Years' War, the mass of the labourers — more than half of the whole German nation — were in a state of servitude, which in many provinces differed little from slavery. It is only in the time of our fathers that the peasant has become an independent man, a free citizen of the State : so slowly has the groundwork of German civilisation and of the modern State been developed. All earthly progress does not take the straight course which men expect when improvement begins ; thus the position of the German husbandman in 1700 was worse in many respects than a hundred years before ; nay, even in our time it is not comparatively so good as it was 600 years earlier, in the time of the Hohenstaufen. The German peasant for centuries lost much that was valuable in order to attain a higher condition ; his freedom and elevation to citizenship in our State was effected in an apparently indirect way. At the time of the Carlo- vingians more than half the peasants were free and armed, and the pith of the popular strength ; at the time of Frederick the Great, almost all the country people were under strict bondage, — the beasts of burden of the new State, weak and languishing, without political object or 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAJi PEASANT. 11 interest in the State. Somewhat of the old weakness still cHngs to them. We shall therefore first take a short review of an earlier period, comparing it with the peasant Hfe of the last two centuries. What the Eomans mention of the condition of the Gei-man agricultural districts, is only sufficient to give us a glimpse of ancient peasant life. According to their accounts, the Germans were long considered to be a wild warrior race, who lived in transition from a wandering life to an uncertaia settlement, and it was seldom inquired how it was possible that such hordes should for centuries carry on a victorious resistance to the disciplined armies of the greatest power on earth. When Gheruskers, Chattens, Bructerers, Batavers, and other people of less geographical note, occasioned teiiror, not only to single legions, but to large Roman armies, not once, but in con- tinual wars for more than one generation, — when a Marko- mannen chief disciplined 70,000 infantry and 4000 cavalry after the fashion of legions ; when a Roman, after a century of devastating wars between the Rhine and the Elbe, puts before us with great emphasis the powerful masses of the Germans, — ^we may conclude tha* single tribes which, with their allies, could sometimes bring into the field more than 100,000 warriors, must have counted a population of hundreds of thousands. And we equally approach to a second conclusion, that such a multitude in a narrowly limited space, surrounded by warlike neigh- bours, could only exist by means of a simple, perhaps, but regular and extensive cultivation of field products. That the agriculture of the Gei-mans should appear meagre to the Romans, after the garden cultivation of Italy and Gaul, is comprehensible ; nevertheless they found com, millet, wheat, and barley; but the common corn of the 12 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch- I- country was oats, the meal of which they despised, and rye, which Pliny calls an unpalatable growth of the Alpine country, productive of colic. But in the year 301, the com which made the German black bread, was introduced as the third article of commerce in the com bourse of Greece and Asia Minor. And from barley the Gei-man brewed his home drink, beer ; he also brewed from wheat. Now we know that in the time of the Romans, most of the German races lived in a condition similar to that m which it appears from records they lived shortly after their great exodus, in the early centuries of the Christian era : sometimes on single farms, but generally in enclosed villages, with boundaries marked out by posts. They had a peculiar method of laying out new village districts, and the Romans found it difficult to understand the mode of farming customary to the country. Probably the dwellers in the marshes near the North Sea had, as Pliny writes, made the first simple dykes against the encroachments of the water ; already were their dwellings built on small hillocks, which, in high tides, raised them above the water, and their sheep pastured in the summer on the grass af the new alluvial soil ;* but further from the coast the peasant dwelt in his blockhouse, or within m.ud walls, which he then loved to whitewash. Herds of swine lay in the shadows -of the woods,"f" horses and cattle grazed * J. Arends, in "EastFrieslandandJeTer" (vol. ii. p. 190), has collected traces of ancient culture on the excavated ground. The coast of the North Sea, from Borkum to Schleswig, stretched, in the time of the gomans, prohahly farther to the north; the encroachment of the sea had ak-eady begun at the time that Pliny wrote, and since that it has taken more than it has given. The Dollart and the Zuyderzee (1164) were formed by several great iuundations after the Crusades, and the Jahde in the fifteenth century. + The smoked meats of Germany were named as an article of trafSc imder Diocletian. 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 13 on the village meadows, and long-wooUed sheep on the dry declivities of the hills. Large flocks of geese furnished down for soft pillows ; the women wove linen on a simple loom, and dyed it with native plants, the madder and the blue woad ; and made coats and mantles of skins, which had already borders of finer fur introduced from foreign parts. Well-trod commercial roads crossed the territory frotif^he Rhine to the Vistula in every direction. The foreign trader, who brought articles of luxury and the gold coins of Rome in his wagon to the house of the countryman, exchanged them with him for the highly-prized feathers of the goose, smoked hams, and sausages, the horns of the ure ox and antlers of the stag, fm- skins, and even articles of toilet, such as the blonde hair of slaves, and a fine pomade to colour the hair. He bought German carrots, which had been ordered as a delicacy by his Emperor Tiberius ; he beheld with astonishment in the garden of his German host, gigantic radishes, and related to his country-people that a German had shown him honeycombs eight feet long. The warlike householder, it is true, held his weapons in higher esteem than his plough, not because agriculture was unimportant or despised, but because in the free classes there was already an aristocratic development. For, although the warrior did not employ himself in any field labour, he insisted upon his household cultivating his ground, and his bondmen had to pay a tribute in corn and cattle. The bondman dwelt with his wife and child near his master in special huts, which were erected on the land that was allotted to him for cultivation. Freemen were not only associated in communities, but several races were joined in one confederacy, being by the old consti- tution knit together by rehgious memories and public worship. The boundaries of the province were marked 14 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. I. out, like those of the village, by casts of the holy hammer, and consecrated by processions of divine cars. Notwith- standing the numerous feuds of individual tribes, there were many pointe of union which served to reconcile and keep them together, — blood relationship and marriage alliances, similitude in customs and privileges, and, above all, the feeling of the same origin, the same language, and those pious rites which keep alive the memory of ancient communion. Although the German of Tacitus appears to us as a fierce warrior, who, clothed in skins, watched with spear and wooden shield over the abatis which guarded his village against the assaults of enemies; yet this same German is shown, by the results of new researches, to have been a householder and landlord. He looked with satisfaction on the great brewer's copper which had been wrought by his neighbour, the skilful smith ; or he stood in coloured linen smock-frock before the laden harvest wagon, on which his boy was throwing the last sheaf of rye, and his daughter placing the harvest wreath with pious ejaculations. The German is incomprehensible to us, when, accord- ing to the Eoman, he worshipped Mercury as the highest god ; but we can realise the figure of the Asengott Woden, when we see the connection, of the wild hunter of our traditions and the sleeping Emperor of Kyffhauser, with Gennan antiquity. Now, we know how lovingly and actively the gods and spirits hovered round the hearths, farms, fields, rivers, and woods of our forefathers. From this tendency also the old Chatte or Hermundure has been transformed into a Hessian or Thuringian house- holder, who in the twilight looks wistfully up to his roof- tree, on which the little household spirit loves to sit, and who, when the storm rages, carefully covers the window- openings, in order that a spectral horse's head from the 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 15 train of the wild god who rides on the blast may not look into his haU. Even from the productions of the Germans in that century that were most full of heart and soul, their songs, which no careful hand transcribed on parchment, we may draw some conclusions. Their oldest kind of poetiy is not entirely unknown to us, — ^the native epic verse, with its alliterations — and in some of the popular songs and pro- verbs which have been preserved, we still find the ancient love of contests of wit and of enigmas, with which a trouba- dour delighted his hearers by the hearth of the Saxon chief After _thg_ great Ti3.f,innaj _gyndiis^ _Kliiten_j:fiCQnis_l!figin slow]yJ;o_agpear_in.-Ge33B««y. They came, together with that irresistible power which changed so much of the whole spirit of the German people, — with Christianity. However energetically religion turned the mind into new paths, and however fearful was the destruction occasioned by popular tumults at that period of immigration, the changes in the Germans arising from both sources were not sufficient to shatter everything ancient into ruins. We are too apt to consider the national exodus as a chaotic process of destruction. It is true that it drove from their homes many of the most powerful German nationalities that were located in and beyond East Germany, and the depopulated domiciles were filled with the Sclavonians who followed. The Bavarians migrated from Bohemia to the Danube ; the Suevi, Allemanni, and Burgundians, southwards to their present localities. The names of old nationalities have disappeared, and new ones have spread themselves far across the Ehine. But nearly half the Germany which was known to the Romans — the wide ter- ritory from the North Sea to the Thuringian woods and the Rhone, from the Saal to near the Rhine — retains, on the 16 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. 1. whole, its old inhabitants ; for the Thuringians, the Chat- tens, and indeed most of the races of Lower Saxony, only came in partial swarms ; they probably greatly diminished in marching tBrough foreign lands, and by emigrations of their kinsmen ; they were also, as for example the Thuringians, frequently intermingled with foreign hordes, who settled among them. But the nucleus of the old inha- bitants remained through all fluctuations, and maintained their own old home traditions, peculiarities of speech, customs, and laws. About the year 600 the oldest law books and records in the new Franconia, afford us the richest insight into the life of the German countryman. Each had a right to a holding, generally of 30 morgans, on the common land, the morgan being decided according to the nature of the soil. On each holding there was a yard fenced round, closed by a gate, within which was the dwelling-house with stables and barn, and by the side of it a garden ; and in the south- west of Germany frequently a vineyard. These homesteads formed villages divided by lanes ; it was only in part of Lower Saxony that the inhabitants of the marsh and hilly country lived in separate farms, in the midst of theu- holdiags. But amongst most Germans the holding is not a connected tract of land. The collective arable land of the village was divided into three portions — winter, summer, and fallow fields ; each of these fields, according to soil and situation, again into small parcels ; and in each of these parcels in every field each holder had his share. Thus the arable land of every holding consisted of a number of square acres which, lying dispersed through the three principal divisions of the village district, gave, as far as possible, an equal measure of land in each. Besides this a share of the pastures, meadows, and wood of the commu- nity belonged" to the holding; for round the arable land 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 17 lay the meadow land of the community, and its woods, ia which were the treasured acorns. Already the boun- daries were carefully marked, and on the boundary hUls boys received blows on their cheeks and had their ears pulled, and already was it called an old custom to set up a smaU bundle of straw as a warning on a forbidden footway. Already we find the property not unfrequently divided, where the vassals dwell in the house and farm, the grades of their vassalage and their burdens being various. The households of freemen also contained bondservants, who differed little from Roman slaves ; only in the service of God could they be equal with the free ; they shared in aU the holy usages of the Church ; they could become priests and perform marriages with the permission of their masters, but the master had a right over their life. Among the farms of freemen and vassals might be found the farm of a larger landed proprietor, who had a manor house with a hall, and a great number of huts for domestics and labourers. For as yet, artisans, wheel- wrights, potters, armourers, and goldsmiths were most of them bondmen ; as the number of markets and cities were small, their influence in the country was stiU unim- portant. All kinds of grain were cultivated in the fields, which are now used in our succession of crops, and in the gardens, almost aU. the vegetables of our markets, also gherkins, pumpkins, and melons ; the laws were vigilant for the protection of the orchards. The clergy brought from Italy costly grafts, and peaches and apricots were to be found in the gardens of the wealthy. Already the old Bavarian house began to appear, formed of beams, with galleries outside, and its flat projecting roof ; and it may be assumed also, that the old Saxon house with its heathen horses' heads on the gable ends, its thatched roof over the porch, its hearth, sleeping cells, and cattle stalls, spread 18 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch- I- widely over the country, and tKat the Thuringians, even then, as in a century later, lived in the unfloored hall, m the background of which a raised dais — the most distin- guished part of the house — separated from the hall the women's apartments and the sleeping-rooms. DweUings were seldom without a bathhouse ; for their winter work the women descended into their underground chamber, which had already astonished the Romans, where stood the loom ; the places for the mistresses and servants were separated. In the court-yard fluttered numerous poultry, amongst them swans and even cranes, which, up to the Thirty Years' War, were treasured as masters of the German poultry yard. The greatest pleasure of the countryman was the training of his horse, and the steeds which were used in war were of great value. They pastured with their feet hobbled ; any one was severely punished who stole them from their pasture ; the impositions of horse dealers also were well known, and the laws endeavoured to afford protection against them. AU the South Germans fas- tened beUs round the necks of their cattle, and the Fran- conians round the swine in the woods. Every means of ascertaining the relative number of bond and freemen in the time of Charles V. is deficient, even in that part of the country which had for a long time been won over to Christianity ; yet we see distinctly that the whole strength of the nation lay in the masses of free yeomen. But even in his time, larger landed pro- prietors, tyrannical officials, and the not less domineering Church, eagerly endeavoured to diminish the number of the free by obtruding upon them their protection, and thus placing them under a gentle servitude. The position of the free peasant must have been frequently insupport- able ; the burdens laid upon him by the monarchy were very great, sijcb as the tithes, the military service, and the 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 19 supply of horses and vehicles for the journeys of the king and his oflficials. There was no law to protect him against the powerful, and he was especially tormented by robber hordes and the violence of his neighbours. There- fore he found safety by giving up his freedom, surrendering his house and farm into the hands of a powerful noble, and receiving it back agaiu from him. Then he delivered to his new master as a symbol of his service, a fowl from his farm yard, and a portion of the produce of his field or of his labour as a yearly tax. In return for this, his new master undertook to defend him, and to perform his mili- tary service for him by means of his own followers. Thus began the diminution of the national strength of Germany, the oppression of the peasants, the deterioration of the iafantry, and the origin of the feudal lords, and of their vassal-followers, from which arose in the next century the higher and lower German nobility. Every internal war, every invasion of foreign enemies, — of Nor- mans, of Hungarians, or of Sclaves, — drove numerous free- men into servitude, and without ceasiug did the Church work to recommend itself or its saints as feudal lords to repentant sinners.* Yet about the year 1000, under the great Saxon em- perors, the free peasant had still some consciousness of strength. The bondman, indeed, was still under severe oppression ; he was slightly esteemed, and obliged to give outward proof of the difference between himself and the freeman, by bad dress a;nd short hair. The free peasant then wore the long hnen or cloth dress of a similar cut to the Emperor himself ; with his sword by his side he went * Thus, for example, in the monastery of Alpirspach, in the Black Forest, from which Amhrosius Blanrer escaped in 1522, a certain holy Pelagius and John the Baptist had hoth their vassal^, who rejoiced in ■peculiar privileges. 2 20 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Cli- I. to the assembly under the tree, or to the judgment stone of his village. And if he descended from four free ances- tors, and possessed three free hides, he was, according to Saxon laK higher in rank than some of the noble courtiers who had serf blood in their veins, and whoever injured him had to make atonement as to one of princely blood. It was then he began to cultivate his fields more carefully ; it appears to have been about this time that the practice arose of ploughing a second time before sowing the summer seed, In the neighbourhood of rich clpisters, fine garden-culture progressed, vineyards were carefully cultivated, and in the low countries of the Ehine, in Holland ' and JFlanders, there was a husbandly of moor and marsh grounds, which in the next century was carried by numerous colonists of these races, into the Elbe country, and far into the east. The peasant in the time of Otto the Great, had beome a good Christian, but the old customs of the heathen faith still surrounded him in his house and fields, his phantasy filled nature, beasts, and plants with warm hfe. Whatever flew or bounded over his fields, whether hare, wolf, fox, or raven, were to him famihar forms, to whose character and " fate he gave a human turn, and of whom with cheerful spirit he used to sing in heroic terms, or tell beautiful tales. In his house were numerous trained birds ; and those were valued the highest which could comport themselves most like men. The starling repeated in a comic way the paternoster; the jackdaw welcomed him on his return hoine ; and he rejoiced in the dance of the trained bear. He loved his cattle with all his heart, he honoured his horses, oxen, cows, and dogs with the names of the ancient gods, to whom he still continued to attach ideas of dignity and sanctity. This craving for familiar intercourse with all that surrounded him was the peculiar characteristic of 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 21 the German peasant in the olden time. This great love of beasts, tame birds, dogs and horses continued long, as late as Luther's time, a few years before the great peasant war. A true-hearted peasant having in the fullneSs of his joy kissed his decorated foal upon the neck, a lurking monk who happened to see it, cited him before the ecclesiastical court, and inflicted a heavy fine upon him, because it was unseemly. On this account Karsthans clenched his fists at the priests.* In the eleventh century, the countryman stUl sang by his hearth the stirring heroic songs, the sub- ject-matter of which is in part older than the great exodus, — those of Siegfried and the Virgin of Battle Brunhild, of the treachery of the Burgundian King, Gun- thar ; of the struggle of the strong Walthar with Hagen, and of the downfall of the Nibelungen. Though his lan- guage was clumsy in writing, it flowed from his lips solemn and sonorous, with full terminations and rich in alternations of the vowels. Still had the solemnly spoken word in prayer, in forms of law, and in invocations, a mys- terious power of magic effect : not only is the meaning of the speech, but also its sound full of significance. A wise saw was the source of great good fortune to him who possessed it ; it could be bought and sold, and the buyer could return it again if it was useless to him. About the beginning of the twelfth century there was a change in the life and position of the peasant. The dis- quiets and passions of the Crusades reached him also by degrees. To the serf, who lived in an insecure possession of his hut, from which the landed proprietor could eject him and his children, it was very attractive to obtain, by a sign affixed to his shoulder by the hand of a priest, freedom * Dialogue of " New Karsthans.'/ This is the fictitious name assumed by Ulrieh von Hutten, the author of a political squib at that period. 22 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. LCli- I- for himself, exemption from rent and other burdens, and the protection of the Church for his famUy left at home. From this the Lord of the Manor was himself in danger of losing his hitshandmen, and becoming a beggar by the de- parture of his serfs ; in order therefore to avert this danger bondmen had often the inheritance of their possessions given to them, and greater personal freedom, thus the posi- tion of serfs became more favourable. Besides this, the distinction between the old freemen and bondmen, both in the agricultural districts and the cities, was obliterated by the new societies of citizens and officials. In the cities bond and free-men were under the same law ; in the palaces of princes, freemen claimed the same privileges which were originally for the advantage of the vassal retinue of terri- torial lords, and both bond and free-men bore, as serving men, the knightly shield. We can obtain an insight into the spirit of the country- people of this period, and many details of their life. Siuce the middle of the twelfth century, the manuscripts of the Hohenstaufen time have handed down to us many in- valuable fefitures of the life of the lower orders. We dis- cover, with astonishment, from these sources, that the countryman of that time formed a portion of the national strength, very different from what he did some centuries later. The thriving peasant lived on his farm ■; the young people gambolled about, blythesome and fond of enjoyment, on the village gi-een and in the lanes ; the countryman passed through life iu the calm consciousness of strength, the preserver of old customs, in contradistinction to the nobleman, with his new-fangled modes, who adorned him- self with foreign discourse and language, and with great pretentions set up distinguished court usages in opposition to country manners. Great was the pleasure of the country people in the awakeniag of nature : impatiently did the 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 23 maidens await the breaking forth of the first catkins on the willow and hazel ; they look for the leaves that burst from the buds, and search the ground for the first flowers. The earliest summer game is with the ball, in the village streets or on the tender grass of the green,— it is thrown by old and young, men and women. Whoever has a coloured feather ball to throw sends it with a greeting to her he loves. The agile movements, the powerful throw, the short cheer to friends and opponents, are the pleasures both of players and spectators. When sunny May comes, then the maidens get their holiday attire from the press, and twine wreaths for their own hair and that of their friends. Thus they go, crowned with garlands and adorned with ribbons, the hand-glass as an ornament by their sides, with their play- fellows to the green ; full a hundred maidens and women are there assembled for the dance. Thither also hasten the men, smart also is their dress, the waistcoat trimmed with coloured buttons, perhaps even with bells, which for a long time had been the most choice attire of persons of distinction ; there is no want of silk, nor in winter of fur trimmings. The belt is well inlaid with shining metal, the coat of mail is quilted in the dress, and the point of the sword, in walking, clinks against the heel. The proud youths are defiant, take great pleasure in fight, and are jealous of their own importance. Vehement is the energy displayed in the great dances, they are venturesome in their springs, jubilant in their joy ; everywhere there is the poetry of enjoyment of the senses. The chorus of bystanders sing loudly to the dance, and the maidens join softly in the melody. Still greater becomes our astonish- ment when we examine closer the rhythm and words of these old national dances, there is a grace not only in the language but in its social relation, which reminds us much more of the ancient world than of the feelings of our 24 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. I. country people. Introductory strophes, which extol in countless variations the advent of spring, are followed by others which have little coherence, and are, as it were, im- provised, like 1*.e schnader hupfien, which is still retained in Upper Germany among the papular dances. The sub- ject is often a dispute between mother and daughter, the daughter dressing herself for the festivity, the mother wish- ing to keep her back from the dance ; or it is the praise of a beautiful maiden,, or droU enumerations of dancing couples ; often the text conveys attacks upon opposite parties amongst the dancers, who are depicted and turned into ridicule. Parties are easily formed amongst the dancers, the oppoxkents are challenged in caustic verses ; the gloiy of the young lad is not to put up with any slight, and to be the most vigorous dancer, cheeriest singer, and the best fighter. The dances are followed by feasting, with loud and boisterous merriment. The winter brings new plea- sures; the mem amuse themselves with dicey and with sledging on the ice, and the people assemble in a large room for the dance. Then stools and tables are carried out ; the music consists of two violins ; the conductor begins the melody, and the head dancer leads off. The rondes and other dances are various in character ; more antique and popular is the measure and text of the chain dance in the old national style of two parrallel rows ; the winter dances are more artistic and modish. For in the song dances, which we may consider as the beautifi.ed copy of the old rhythm and text, the courtly law of triplets in the strophes is everywhere followed ; one perceives in them the imitation of Romanesque knightly customs. Among the differeint kinds of dances may be mentioned the Sclave Reidawac. The noble dances and drinks with the peasants in these village diversions, though with the pride of more refined manneis ; but however much he may be inclined to 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 25 ridicule those axound him, he fears them, not only their fists and weapons, but also the strokes of their tongues. The long-haired and curly peasant offers the goblet to the Junker, and snatches it back as he attempts to grasp it, places it then according to court custom before drinking, on his head, and dances through the room, then the knight rejoices if the goblet falls from the lout's head and is spilt over him ; but the knight has no scruple in making use of contemptuous oaths, when the indignant village youths call him to account for having shown too much attention to their wives and sweethearts. Such is the aspect of village life given us in the songs of Neidhart von Reuenthal, the most witty and humorous songster of the thirteenth century. All his poetry dwells on the joys and sufferings of the peasantry, and the greater part of his life was spent amongst them. He has the complete self-dependence of a refined and cultivated man, but in spite of that, he had not always the advantage over the country people. A peasant youth, Engelhard, occasioned him the greatest sorrow of his life. It appears that he had made his love Friderun,, a peasant girl, un- faithful to him ; the thorn remained ia the heart of the knight as long as he lived ; but afterwards, also, in his courtship of the village maidens, the nobleman had much tg fear from the wooing of the young peasants, and was frequently tormented by bitter jealousy. This connection of the knight, Neidhart, and the pea- santry was no exception in the beginning of the thirteenth century ; for though in the period that immediately fol- lowed, the pride of the nobles, with respect to the <;itizen and peasant, quickly hardened into an exclusive class feehng, yet in 1300, when knightly dignity was in great request, and pride in noble quarterings had risen high, at least in Swabia, Bavaria, and Upper Austria, still the knight mar- 26 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. I. ried the daughter of the rich peasant, and gave him his daughter in marriage ; and the rich peasant's son hecame vassal and knight, with one knightly shield* Even in the sixteenth century this state of things continued in some provinces— for example, in the Isle of Eugen. After the Eeformation also, the wealthy peasants put themselves on an equality with the nobles. They lived, as a nobleman of that time relates, aiTogantly and contentiously, and these lamentable marriages were not unfrequent. Some score of years after Neidhart, in the same districts of Germany, the ideahsm of knighthood, its courtly manners and refined form, were lost ; a large portion of the nobles had become robbers and highwaymen. The ceaseless and sorrowful complaints of the better sort of the nobility testify how bad were the doings of the greater part. In com- parison with such fellows, in spite of their privileges, the peasant might well regard his own life with pride. It was stni with a sense of wealth and power that he entered on the beginning of a hard period. At this time a travelling singer, Wernher, the Gardener, gave a portraiture of the life of the peasantry, particularly rich in characteristic features — a picture of the times of the highest value, and a poem of gi-eat beauty. Unfortunately only an abstract of the contents can be given here ; but even in extracts, his narrative gives a surprising insight into the hfe of the country people in 1240. The poem, " Helmbrecht," is edited by Moriz Haupt, according to the manuscripts iu volume iv. of the Zeit periodical on German antiquity. " The old farmer, Helmbrecht — iu Bavaria, not far from the Austrian frontier — ^had a son. The blonde locks of the * Seifried Heltling, viii., in Mom Haupt, periodical for German An- tiquity, Vol. iv., p. 164. The Austrian kuight laments the intrusion of the peasant into his order as an abuse. He wrote, according to Karajan the eighth of his little hooks about 1298. 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 27 young Helmbreclit hung upon his shoulder ; he confined them in a beautiful silk cap, embroidered with doves, par- rots, and many figures. This cap had been embroidered by a nun who had run away from her cell on account of an amour, as happens to so many. From her, Helmbrecht's sister, Gotelind, learned to embroider and sew ; the maiden and her mother deserved weU of the nun, for they gave her a cow, much cheese, and eggs. The mother and sister attired the boy in fine Hnen, a doublet of mail and a sword, with a pouch and mantle, and a beautiful surcpat of blue cloth, adorned with gold, silver, and crystal buttons, which shone bright when he went to the dances ; the seams were trimmed with bells, and whenever he bounded about in the dance, they tinkled in the ears of the women. " When the proud youth was thus attired he said to his father, ' Now I wiU go to court ; I pray you, dear father, give me somewhat to help thereto.' The father answered, ' I could easily buy you a swift steed that would leap hedge and ditch ; but, dear son, desist from your journey to court. Its usages are difficult for him who has not been accustomed to it from his youth. Take the plough and cultivate the farm with me, thus will you live and die in honour. See how I live — true, honourable and upright. I give my tenths every year, and have never experienced hatred or envy throughout my life. Farmer Ruprecht will give you his daughter in marriage, and with her many sheep and pigs, and ten cows. At court 'you will have a hard life, and be deprived of all affection; there you will be the scorn of the real courtiers, — in vain wUl you endeavour to be like them ; and, on the other hand, you will iacur the hatred of the peasants, who will delight in revenging on you what they have lost by the noble robbers.' But the son replied, ' Silence, dear father. Never shall your sacks graze my shoulders ; never will I load your waggon with 28 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Oh. I. dung; that would ill suit my beautiful coat and embroidered cap ; and I will not be encumbered with a wife. Shall I drag on three years with a foal or an ox, when I may every day have my bboty ? I will help myself to strangers' cattle and drag the peasants by their hair through the hedges. Hasten, father, I will not remain with you any longer.' Then the father bought a steed, and said, ' Alas, how this is thrown away ! ' But the youth shook his head, looked at himself and exclaimed, ' I could bite through a stone so wild is my courage ; I could even eat iron. I will gallop over the fields, without care for my life, in defiance of all the world.' On parting from him his father said, ' I can- not keep you — I give you up ; but once more I warn you, beautiful youth, take care of your cap with the silken birds, and guard your long locks. You go amongst those whom men curse, and who live upon the wrongs of the people. I dreamt I saw you groping about on a staff, with your eyes out ; and again I dreamt I saw you standing on a tree, your feet fuU a fathom and a half from the grass. A raven and a crow sat on a branch over your head, your curly hair was entangled ; on the right hand the raven combed it, and on the left the crow parted it. I repent me that I have reared you.' But the son exclaimed, ' Never will I give up my will as long as I Uve. God protect you, father, mother and children.' " So he trotted off and rode up to a castle, whose lord lived by fighting, and was glad to retain any who would serve him as a trooper. There the lad became one of the retainers, and soon was the most nimble of robbers. No plunder was too small for him, and none too great ; he took horses and cattle, he took mantles and coats, what others left he crammed into his sack. The first year everything went according to his wishes ; his little vessel sailed with favourable winds. Then he began to think of home ; he got 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 29 leave of absence from the coTirt, and rode to his father's house. All flocked together — ^man and maid-servant did not say, 'Welcome, Helmbrecht;' they were advised not to do so. But they said, ' Young gentleman, God give you welcome ! ' He answered, ' Kindeken, ik yunsch iich ein gud leven'* (Children, I wish you a good life). His sister ran and embraced him ; then he spoke to her, 'Gra- tia, vestra ! ' The old people followed, and oft embraced him ; then he called to his father, 'Dieu vous salut ! ' and tci his mother he spoke in Bohemian, 'Bobraybra ! ' The father and mother looked at one another, and the latter said to her husband, 'Goodman, are we not out of our senses ? it is not our chUd ; it is a Bohemian or a Wend.' The father exclaimed, ' It is a foreigner ; he is not my son whom I commended to God, however like he may appear to him.' And his sister Gotelind said, 'He is not your son, he spoke Latin to me ; he must truly be a priest.' And the servant, ' From what I have seen of him he must belong to Saxony or Brabant ; he said ik and Kindeken ; he must, undoubtedly, be a Saxon.' "Then the master of the house spoke in homely phrase,* 'Are you my son Helmbrecht? Show your respect for your mother and me by speaking a word of German, and I myself will rub down your horse — I, and not my servant.' 'Ei wat segget ihr Oebureken ? mm parit,f ininen klaren Lif soil kei/n bwreumxmin nimTner angripen' (What are you boors saying? my steed and my fine body shall be touched by no boors). Then the master of the house, quite horrified, replied, 'Are you Helmbrecht, my son? Ill that case I will this very night boil one hen and roast • The quaint way in which the old language is here mixed with foreign dialects cannot he rendered. + Our word pferd (horse), then the Roman elegant word for the German horse. 30 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. I. another ; but if you are a stranger — a Bohemian or a "Wend — you may go to the winds. If you are of Saxony or Brabant, you must take your repast with you ; from me you will receive nothing, though the night should last a whole year. For a Junker, such as you, I have no meal or wine ; you must seek that from the nobles.' " Now it had waxed late, and there was no host in the neighbourhood who would have received the youth, so, having weighed the matter, he said, ' Truly I am your son, I am Helmbrecht ; once I was your son and servant' The father answered ' You are not him.' ' But I am so.' 'Tell me the four names of my oxen.' Then the son mentioned the four names, ' Auer, Ra/me, Erke, Sonne. I have often flourished my switch over them ; they are the best oxen in the world ; will you recognise me now? Let the door be opened to me.' The father cried out, 'Gate and door, chamber and cupboard, shall all be opened to you now.' "Thus the son was well received, and had a soft bed prepared for him by his sister and mother, and the latter • called out to her daughter, ' Run, fetch a bolster and a soft cushion.' That was put under his arm and laid near the warm stove, and he waited in comfort tiU the meal was prepared. It was a supper for a lord ; finely minced vegetables with good meat, a fat goose as large as a bustard, roasted on the spit, roasted and boiled fowls. Ajid the father said, ' If I had wine it should be drunk to-day ; but drink, dear son, of the best spring that ever flowed out of the earth.' " The young Helmbrecht then unpacked his presents for his father, a whetstone, a scythe, and an axe, the best peasant-treasures in the world ; for 'his mother a fur cloak, which he had stolen from a priest; to his sister Gotelind, a silk sash and gold lace, which would have 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 31 better suited a lady of distinction, — he had- taken it from a pedlar. Then he said, ' I must sleep, I have ridden far, and rest is needful for me to night.' He slept till late the next day in the bed over which his sister Gotelind had spread a newly washed shirt, for a sheet was unknown there. " So the son abode with his father. "After a time the father inquired of his son what were the court customs where he had been living. ' I also,' he said, ' went once when I was a boy, with cheese and eggs to court. The knights were then very different from now, courteous, and with good manners ; they occupied them- selves with knightly games, they danced and sang with the ladies ; when the musician came with his fiddle, the ladies stood up, the knights advanced to them, took them elegantly by the hand, and danced featly ; when that was over, one of them read out of a book about one Ernst :* aU was carried on then with cheerful familiarity. Some shot at a mark with bow and arrows, others went out hunting and deer shooting ; the worst of them would now be the best. For now those are esteemed who are liars and eaves-droppers, and truth and honour axe changed for falsehood ; the old tournaments are no longer the custom, others are ia vogue instead of them. Formerly one heard them call out in the knightly games " Hurrah, knight, be joyful ! " There now only resounds through the air, " Hunt knight, hunt ; stab, strike, and mutilate this one, cut off this man's foot for me, and the hands of that one, and hang the other for me, or catch this rich man who wid pay us a hundred pounds." I think, there- fore, things were better formerly than now. Eelate to me, my son, more of the new manners.' " ' That I wiU. Drinking is now the court fashion. * Duke Ernst of Swabia, a celebrated poem of the middle ages. PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [<^'li- I- Gentlemen exclaim " Drink, drink ; if you drink this, I will drink that." They no longer sit with the ladies, but at their wine. .Believe me, the old mode of Hfe which is lived by such* as you, is now abjured both by man and woman. Excommunication and outlawry are now held in derision.' " ' Son,' said the father, ' have nothing to do with court usages, they are bitter and sour. I had much rather be a peasant than a poor courtling, who must always ride for his living, and take care that his enemies do not catch, mutilate, and hang him.' " ' Father,' said the young man, ' I thank you, but it is more than a week that I have drank no wine ; since then I have taken in my girdle by three holes. I must capture some cattle before my buckle will return to its former place. A rich man has done me a great injury. I saw him once riding over the standing crops of my godfather the knight ; he shall pay dear for it. I shall trot off his cattle, sheep, and swine, because he has trampled over the fields of my dear godfather. I know another rich man who has also grievously injured me ; he eat bread with his tartlets ; by my life I will revenge that. I know yet another rich man who has occasioned me more annoy- ance than almost any other ; I will not forgive it him, even if a bishop should intercede for him, for once when he was sitting at table he most improperly dropped his girdle. If I can seize what is called his, it shall help me to a Christmas dress. There is yet another simple fool who was unseemly enough to blow the froth of his beer into a goblet. If I do not revenge that, I will never gird sword to my side, nor be worthy of a wife. You shall soon hear of Helmbrecht.' " The father answered ' Alack ! Tell me who are the companions who taught you to rob a rich man if he 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAJST PEASANT. 33 eats pastry and bread together.' Then the son named his ten companions; 'Lammerschling (lamb devourer), Schluckdenwidder (ram swallower), Hollensack (hell sack), Euttelshrein (shake press), Kiihfrass (cow destroyer), Knickekelch (goblet jerker), Wolfsgaumen (-wolf's jaw), Wolfsriissel (wolf's snout), and Wolfsdarm (wolf's gut)* — the last name was given by the noble Duchess of Nonarra Narreia — these are my schoolmasters.' " The father said, ' And how do they name you ? ' " I am called Schhngdengau. I am not the delight of the peasants ; their children are obliged to eat porridge made with water ; what the peasants have is mine ; I gouge the eyes of one, I hack the back of another, I tie this one down on an ant-hill, and another I hang by his legs to a willow.' " The father broke forth. ' Son, however violent those may be whom you have named and extoUed, yet I hope, if there is a righteous God, the day will come when the hangman may seize them, and throw them off from his ladder.' " ' Father, I have often defended your geese and fowls, your cattle and fodder, from my associates, I will do it no more. You speak too much against the honour of my excellent companions. I had wished to make your daughter Gotelind the wife of my friend Lammerschhng ; she would have led a pleasant life with him ; but that is over now, you have spoken too coarsely against us.' He took his sister Gotelind aside, and said to her secretly 'When my companion, Lammerschling, first asked me about you, 1 said to him ; you will get on well with her ; * These names could hardly have heen invented hy Helmhrecht, to characterise the rohbers ; it is probable, from what follows, that the like wUd nicknames were humorously given by the nobles themselves, and used as party names. VOL. I. D 34 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. I. if you take her do not fear that you will hang long upon the tree, she will take you down with her own hands and carry you to the grave on the cross-road, and she will fumigate youi» bones with frankincense and myiTh for a whole year. And if you have the good fortune to be only blinded, she will lead you by the hand along the highways and roads through all countries ; if your foot is cut off, she will carry your crutches every morning to your bed ; and if you lose your hand, she will cut your bread and meat as long as you live. Then said LammerschUng to me, " I have three sacks, heavy as lead, full of fine linen, dresses, kirtles, and costly jewels, with scarlet cloth and furs. I have concealed them in a neighbouring cave, arid will give them to her for a dowry." All this, Gotelind, you have lost, owing to your father ; now give yoiu* hand to . a peasant, with whom you may dig turnips, and at night lie on the heart of an ignoble boor. Go to your father, for mine he is not ; I am sure that a courtier has been my father, from him I have my high spirit.' "The foolish sister answered, 'Dear brother Schling- dengau, persuade your companion to marry me, I will leave father, mother, and relations.' The parents were unaware of the conversation held secretly by the brother and sister. The brother said, ' I will send a messenger to you, whom you are to foUow ; hold yourself in readiness. God protect you, I go from hence ; the host here is as little to me as I to him. Mother, God bless you.' So he went on his old way, and told his companion his sister's wish. He kissed his hands for joy, and made obeisance to the wind that blew from Gotelind. " Many widows and orphans were robbed of their pro- perty when the hero Lammerschling and his wife Gotelind sat at their marriage feast. Young men actively conveyed in waggons and on horses stolen food and drink to the 12iO-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GEE1LA.N PEASANT. 35 hoiise of Lammerschliiig's father. When Gotelind came, the bridegroom met her, and received her with, 'Welcome, dame Gotelind.' ' God reward you, Herr Lammerschling.' So they gave each other a friendly greeting. And an old man, wise of speech, rose, and placing both in the circle, asked three times of the man and the maiden, ' WUl you take each other in marriage, yea or nay ? ' So they were united. All sang the bridal song, and the bridegroom trod on the foot of the bride.* Then was the marriage feast prepared. It was wonderful how the food disap- peared before the youths, as if a wind blew it from the table ; they eat incessantly of everything that was brought from the kitchen by the servants, and there remained nothing but bare bones for the dogs. It is said that any one who eats so immoderately approaches his end.-}" Gote- lind began to shudder and to exclaim, 'Woe to us ! Some misfortune approaches ; my heart is so heavy 1 Woe is me that I have abandoned my father and mother ; who- ever desires too much, wiU gain little ; this gireediness leads to the abyss of heU..' "They had sat awhile after their meal, and the musicians had received their gifts from the bride and bridegroom, when a magistrate appeared with five men. The struggle was short ; the magistrate with his five, was victorious over the ten ; for a real thief, however bold he may be, and willing to confront a whole army, is defenceless against the hangman. The robbers slipped into the stove * The old German wedding custom. In the thirteentli century the Church had seldom any concern in the nuptials of country people and courtlings. It was only in the fourteenth century it began to be con- sidered unrefined not to have the blessing of a priest. When our junkers declaim against civil marriages they forget that it was the fashion of their forefathers. + An ancient popular superstition. It was similar with the wooers in the "Odyssey" before their end T)2 36 PICTURES OF GEKMiuN LIFE. [Cli. I. and under the benches, arid he who would not have fled before four, was now by the hangman's servant alone dragged out by the hair. Gotelind lost her bridal dress, and was found behind a hedge terrified, stripped, and de- graded. The skins of the cattle which the thieves had stolen were bound round their necks, as the perquisite of the magistrate. The bridegroom, in honour of the day carried only two, the others more. The magistrate could sooner have been bribed to spare a wild wolf than these robbers. Nine were hung by the hangman ; the life of the tenth was allowed to the hangman as his right, and this tenth was Schhngdengau Helmbrecht ; the hangman re- venged the father, by putting out his eyes, and the mother, by cutting off a hand and a foot. Thus the blind Helmbrecht was led with the help of a staff, by a servant, home to his father's house. " Hear how his father greeted him : ' Dieu salue, mon- sieur Blindman, go from hence, monsieur Blindman ; if you delay, I wUl have you driven away by my servant ; away with you from the door ! ' " ' Sir, I am your child.' " ' Is the boy become blind, who called himself Schling- dengau ? Now do you not fear the threats of the hangman or aU the magistrates in the world ! Heigh ! how you ' ate iron ' when you rode off on the steed for which I gave my cattle. Begone, and never return again ! ' " Again the blind man spoke. ' If you will not recognise me as your child, at least allow a miserable man to crawl into your house, as you do the poor sick ; the country people hate me ; I cannot save myself if you are ungra- cious to me.' " The heart of the host was shaken, for the blind man who stood before him was his own flesh and blood — ^his son • yet he exclaimed with a scornful laugh, 'You went out 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAIf PEASANT. 37 daringly into the world ; you have caused many a heart to sigh, and robbed many a peasant of his possessions. Think of my dream. Servant, close the door and draw the bolt ; I wiU betake me to my rest. As long as I live, I had rather take in a stranger whom my eyes never be- held, than share my loaf with you.' Thus saying, he struck the servant of the blind man. ' I would do so to your master, if I were not ashamed to strike a blind man ; take him, whom the sun hates, from before me ! ' Thus did the father exclaim, but the mother put a loaf in his hand as to a child. So the blind man went away, the peasants hooting and scoffing at him. " For a whole year he endured great hardships. Early one morning when he was going through the forest to beg bread, some peasants who were gathering wood saw him, and one of them from whom he had taken a cow called to the others to help him. All of them had been injured by him, he had broken into the hut of one and stripped it ; he had dishonoured the daughter of another ; and a fourth, trembling like a reed with passion, said, ' I wiU. wring his neck ; he thrust my sleeping child into a sack, and when it awoke and cried, he tossed it out into the snow, so that it died.' Thus they all turned against Helmbrecht. ' Now take care of your hood.' The embroidery which the hangman had left untouched was now torn, and scat- tered on the road with his hair. They allowed the miser- able wretch to make his confession, and one of them broke a fragment from the ground and gave it to the worthless man as gate money for hell fire. Then they hung him to a tree. " If there be still any children living with their father and mother who feel disposed to be jovial knights, let them take warning fi-om the fate of Helmbrecht." Thus ends the story of young Helmbrecht, who was 38 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. I. desirous of becoming a knight. And such on the whole we may consider was the condition and disposition of the free peasantry at the beginning of the long period of decline, which loosened the connection of the German Empire, founded the power of the great princely houses, made the burgher communities of fortified cities rich and powerful, and which was also the beginning of that wild time of self-help and free fraternization of cities, as of nobles. But the details of the changes which the German peasant underwent from 1250 to 1500, can no longer be accurately discerned by us. The wild deeds of violence and oppression of the robber-nobles, drove the helpless into the cities, and the enterprising into foreign countries. There were always opportunities of fighting under the sign of the cross against Sclavonians, Wends, and Poles, and on the east of the Elbe, broad countries were opened for the weapons and the plough of the German countryman. There was agitation also in the minds of men. The new despotism of the Roman papacy and of the fanatical Mendicant friars, drove the Katharers on the Rhine, and the Stedingers in Lower Saxony, to apostacy from the church. Where the free peasants were thickly located and favoured by the nature of their country, they rose in arms against the oppression of feudal lords. In the valleys of Switzerland and in the marsh lands on the German ocean, the associated country people gained victories over the . mailed knights, which still belong to the glorious reminis- cences of the people. But in the interior of Germany, the peasantry under the increasing oppression of the nobles and a degenerate church, became weaker, more incapable, and coarser ; ever more powerfully did the barons lord it over them. Even the resident free peasant of Lower Saxony was cast down from the place of honour, which he once maintained above the knightly serving man. The 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERJIiN PEASANT. 39 consciousness of a higher civilisation and more refined manners caused the citizen also to despise the countryman, — his love of eating, his rough simplicity, and his crafty shrewdness were treated with endless derision. And yet the countryman in the fifteenth century still retained much of his good old habits and somewhat of his old energy. He stUl continued to extol his own calling in | his songs, and was inchned to view with ridicule the unstable life of others. In a weU-known popular song, three sisters married — one a nobleman, another a musician, and the third a peasant. Both brothers-in-law came with their wives to pay a visit at the peasant's farm. " There the gay musician played, the hungry nobleman danced, and the peasant sat and laughed." At the end of the fifteenth centuiy a dancing scene in a Hessian village is described in a city poem, the same customs as in the time of Neidhart, only wilder and coarser. The proud labourers come from different villages, armed with hal- berds and pikes, to dance under the Linden tree ; the parties are divided by distinctive marks, willow and birch twigs and hop leaves on the shoulder and on the cap. From one village the whole four-and-twenty labourers are clothed in red plush, with yellow waistcoat and breeches. A gaily- attired maiden, a favourite dancer, wiU only dance with one party, sharp words foUow, and weapons are drawn, the citizen, being a clerk, is persecuted with such forcible, pungent words, that he is obliged to withdraw himself by ignominious flight from the wild company.* The life of the countryman within the village gates was stiU rich in festivals and poetical usages, his privileges — so * TMs song is to te foimd in Kommann's " Fran Ven eris Berg," 1614 p. 305. Similar songs in Uhlaud. 40 PICTUEES OF GBEMAN LIFE. [C^i- I- far as they were not interfered with by deeds of violence- were valuable, and interwoven with his life ; and all his occupations were established by customs and etiquette, by ceremonies and dramatic co-operation with his village association. But the oppression under which he lived became insup- portable. After the end of the fifteenth century he began to make a powerful resistance to his masters. It is probable that the great agitation in the European money-market contributed to the excitement of the coun- tryman. The sinking of the value of metal since the discovery of America, was considered by producers at first as a lasting rise in the price of com. To the peasant eveiy sheffel of com, and his labour also, became of higher value ; and, in the same measure, both were of higher importance to the landed proprietor. It was natural, therefore, that the peasant should take a proportionate view, of his freedom, and here and there think of relief from his burdens, whilst it became the interest of the landed proprietor to maintain his servitude — nay, even to increase it. Yet, one need not ascribe the great move- ment to such reasons. The pride of victory of the Swiss who had prostrated the Knights of Burgundy, the self-dependence of the new Landsknechts, and, above all, the religious movement, and the social turn which it took in South Germany, made a deep impression on the mind of the peasant. For the first time his condition was viewed by the educated with sympathy. The countryman was almost suddenly introduced into the literature as a judge and associate. His grievances against the priesthood, and also against the landed proprietors, were ever brought for- ward in popular language with great skilL A few years before, he had played the standing rSle of a clown in the shrove-tide games of the Nurembergers, but now even Hans 1240-1790^ THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 41 Sachs* wrote dialogues full of hearty sympathy -with his condition, and the portraiture of the simple, intelligent, and industrious peasant, caUed Karsthans,"|" was repeatedly assumed, in order to show the sound judgment and wit of the people against the priests. But, dangerous as the great peasant insurrection ap- peared for many weeks, and manifold as were the charac- ters and passions which blazed forth in it, the peasants themselves were little more than an undulating mass ; the greater part of their demagogues and leaders belonged to another class ; on the whole, it appears to us that the intelligence and capacity of the leaders, whether peasants or others, was but small, and equally smaU the warlike capacity of the masses. Therefore here where the peasant for the first time is powerfully influenced by the literary men of the period, more pleasure is experienced in the contemplation of the minds that roused up his soul. It was the case here, as it always is in popular insurrections, that the masses were first excited by those who were more influential and far-sighted, nobler and more refined ; then they lost the mastery, which was seized by vaiu, coarse demagogues, like Andreas Karlstadt and Thomas Miinzer But the way in which, in this case, the more rational- lost their control is specially characteristic of that time. Next to Luther, no individual before the war exercised so powerful an influence on the dispositions of the country people of Southern Germany, as a barefooted Franciscan, who came among the people at TJlm from the cloisters of the Franciscan monastery, Johann Eberlin von Giinzburg. He had many of the qualities of a great agitator, and was one of the most amiable among those that figure in the * The great poet for the people, a native of Nuremberg. + Means Hoejaek, which was adopted by Ulrich von Hutten as a cha- racteristic title of a political sq^uib in defence of the peasantry. — Trans. 4:2 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. I. early period of the Reformation. More than any other, he took up the social side of the movement. In the year ] 621, he published, anonymously, in the national form of a small popul^' flying sheet, his ideal of a new state and a new social life. The old claims which were subsequently drawn up by a preacher, in twelve articles, for the pea- santry, are to be found, with many others, collectively in the fifteen " BundesgeTtossen."* The eloquence of Eberhn irresistibly influenced the listening multitudes ; a flow of language, a poetical strain, a genial warmth, and at the same time a vein of good humour and of dramatic power, made him a favourite wherever he appeared. To that was added a harmless self-complacency, and just suf- ficient enjoyment of the present moment, as was neces- sary to make his success valuable and the persecutions of his opponents bearable. And yet he was only a dexterous demagogue. When he left his order from honourable convictions, with a heart passionately excited by the cor- ruption of the church and the distress of the people, he could hardly pass, even according to the standard of the time, for an educated man ; it was only by degrees that he became clear on certain social questions ; then he con- scientiously endeavoured to recal his former assertions ; with whatever complacency he may speak of himself, there is always a holy earnestness in him concerning the truth. He had, withal, a quiet, aristocratic bias ; he was the child of a citizen ; his connections were people of consideration, and even of noble origin ; coarse violence was contrary to his nature, in which a strong common sense was incessantly at work to control the ebullition of his feelings. He clung with great devotion to all his predecessors who had * Quaint title of a series of pamphlets denouncing aTjuaes in Church and State, puhlished about 1521, — Trans. 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAJST PEASANT. 43 advanced Ms education, especially to the Wittemberg reformers. After he had restlessly roamed about the South of Germany for many years, he went to Wittemberg ; there Melancthon powerfully influenced the fiery southern German ; he became quieter, more moderate, and better instructed. But later he belonged — ^like his monastic companion, Heinrich von Kettenbach — to the preachers who collected round Hutten and Sickengen. This per- sonal union, which lasted up to Sickengen's catastrophe, kept the national movement in a direction which could not last. For a short time it appeared as if the religious and social movement of South Germany, even if not led, could be made use of, by the noble landed proprietors ; it was an error into which both the knights and their better friends fell ; neither Hutten nor Sickengen had suffi- cient strength or insight to win the country people really to them. This came to hght when Sickengen was over- powered by the neighbouring princes. The peasants became the most zealous assistants of the princes in per- secuting the junkers of the Sickengen party and burning their castles ; this warfare may, indeed, be considered as the prelude to the present war. It had unshackled the country people in the neighbouring provinces, and accus- tomed them to the pulling down of castles. A dialogue of the year 1524 has been preserved to us, in which the fury of the country people against the nobles already breaks forth.* * A colloquy between a fox and wolf, in tie " Staigerwaldt," 1524, p. 6. ' Under the similitude of a wolf and fox two fugitive junkers of the Siok- ingen party discourse together. The plundering of the nobles having been strongly spoken of, the wolf says : "By this voracity, we have made enemies of many citizens and peasants, who have lately bound themselves to take away all oar lives, if they can catch us." Fox: " Who are these citizens and peasants?" "Wolf: "Those who live in Upper Swabia, Augsburg, Ulm, Kempten, Bibrach, Memmingen, and by the Neokar, and the Kurembergers and Bavarians on the frontier." 44 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LTFE. [Ch. I. From that period the decided demagogues gained the ear of the peasants, and the moderate amongst the popular leaders lost their supremacy. Eberlin had once more, at Erfurt, an opportunity of showing, as a mediator, the power of his eloquence over the revolted peasant hosts ; under its influence the assembled populace fell on their knees, pious and penitent ; but the weakness of his advice made this last endeavour fniitless. He died the following year, and with him passed away most of the poetry of the Reformation. Cruelly was the revolt against the terrified princes punished, and the smaller tyrants were the most eager to bring the conquered again under their yoke. Yet in South Germany and Thuringia there was a real improve- ment in the condition of the countiy people ; for it hap- pened at a period in which a learned class of jurists spread over the country, and the working of Eoman law ia Germany became everywhere perceptible. The point of view taken by the jurists of the Roman school, of the relations between the landed proprietors and their vUleins, was indeed not always favourable to the latter ; for the lawyers were in- cliued to fix every kind of subjection upon the peasants from the deficiency iu his right of property ia his holding ; but they were equally ready to recognise his personal free- dom. Thus, in the first half of the sixteenth century, the old serfdom which stiU. existed in a very harsh form in many provinces was mitigated, and villeinage substituted. Besides this, a more patriarchal feeling began to prevail among the higher German Sovereigns, and in the new ordinances which they projected in conjunction with their clergy, the welfare of the peasantry was taken into con- sideration. This was the case above all with the Wettiner princes in Franconia, Thuringia, and Meissen ; and, lastly, with Elector August. The authority, also, of the Saxon 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 45 chancery, which had been established in Germany since the fifteenth century, contribtited essentially to this, by making the Saxon laws a pattern for the rest of Germany. But some ten years before the Thirty Years' War, an advance in the pretensions of the nobles became apparent, at least in the provinces beyond the Elbe ; for example, in Pommerania and Silesia. Under weak rulers the courtly influence of the nobility increased, the constant money embarrassments of the princes raised the independence of the States, which granted the taxes ; and Ijhe peasants had no representatives in the States, except in the Tyrol, East Friesland, the old Bailiwick of Swabia, and a few small territories. The landed proprietors indemnified themselves for the concessions made to the princes by double exactions on the peasantry. Serfdom was formally re-established in Pommerania in 1617. It was just at this period of reaction that the Thirty Years' War broke out. It devastated alike the houses of the nobles and the huts of the peasants. It brought destruction on man and beast, and corrupted those that- were left.* After the great war — in the period which will be here portrayed — a struggle began on the part of the landed pro- prietors and the newly established Government against the wild practices of the war time. The countryman had learned to prefer the rusty gun to handling the plough. He had become accustomed to perform court sei-vice, and his mind was not rendered more docile by disbanded sol- diers having settled themselves on the ruins of the old ■village huts. The peasant lads and servants bore them- selves like knights, wearing jack-boots, caps faced with * FuU details of tlie sufferings of the country people during the war win be found in the second volume of "The Pictures of German Life." 46 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. ' [Ch. I. marten's fur, hats with double bands, and coats of fine cloth ; they carried rifles and long-handled axes when they came together in the cities, or assembled on Sundays. At one time perhaps these had been useful against robbers and wild beasts ; but it had become fax more dangerous to the nobles and their bailiffs, and still more insupportable to their villeins, — it was always rigorously forbidden.* The settlement of disbanded soldiers, who brought their prize money into the village, was welcome ; but whoever had once worn a soldier's dress revolted agaiast the heavy burdens of the bondsman. It was, therefore, established that whoever had served under a banner became free from personal servitude ; only those who had been camp-followers continued as bondsmen. The inhabitants of the different States had been interspersed during the war ; subjects had wilfully changed their dwellings, and established themselves on other territories, with or without the permission of the new lords of the manor. This was insupportable, and a right was given to the landed proprietor to fetch them back ; and if the new lord of the manor thought it his interest to protect them, and refused to give them up, force might be used to recover them. Thus the noblemen rode with their attendants iuto a district to catch such of their viUeins as had escaped without pass-tickets.f The oppo- sition of the people must have been violent, for the ordi- nances even in the provinces, where villeinage was most strict — as, for example, in Silesia — ^were obUged to re- cognise that the viUeins were free people, and not slaves. But this remained a theoretical proposition, and was seldom attended to in the following century. The depopulation of the country, and the deficiency in servants and labourers. * " Imperial Privileges and Sanctions for Silesia," vols, i., p. 166 ; iii., 759. t lb., vol. i., pp. 150-59. 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 47 was very injurious to the landowner. All the villagers were forbidden to let rooms to single men or women ; all such lodgers were to be taken before the magistracy, and put into prison in case they should refuse domestic service, even if they maintained themselves by any other occupa- tion — such as labouring for the peasant for daily hire, or canning on business with money or com.* Through a whole generation we find, in the ordinances of the terri- torial lords, bitter complaints against the malicious and wilful menials who would not yield to their hard conditions, nor be content with the pay assigned by law. It was for- bidden to individual proprietors to give more than the tax estabhshed by the provincial States. Nevertheless, the conditions of service shortly after the war are sometimes better than they were a hundred years later; in 1652 menials in Silesia had meat twice in the week ; but in our century there are provinces where they get it only three times in the year.-f- The daily pay also was higher imme- . diately after the war than in the following century. Thus was an iron yoke again bound slowly round the necks of the undisciplined country people, closer and harder than before the war. During the war small villages, and still more the single farms, which had been so favorable to the independence of the peasants, had vanished from the face of the earth ; in the Palatinate, for example, and on the hills of Franconia, they had been numerous, and even in the present day their names cling to the soil. The village huts concentrated themselves in the neighbourhood of the manor house, and control over the weak community was easier when under the eye of the lord or his bailiff. What was the course of their life in the time of our fathers will be distinctly seen when one examines more closely the * "Imperial Privileges and Sanctions for Silesia,'' vol. i., p. 125. + lb., vol. i., p. 138. 48 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. I. nature of their service. A cursory glance at it will appear to the youth of the present generation like a peep into a strange and fearful world. The conditions under which the German country people suffered were undoubtedly various. Special customs existed, not only in the pro- vinces, but in almost every community. If the names by which the different services and imposts were designated were arranged they would form an unpleasant vocabulaiy.* But, notwithstanding the difference in the names and extent of these burdens, there was an unanimity through- out the whole of Europe on the main points, which is, perhaps, more difficult to explain than the deviations. The tenths were the oldest tax upon the countryman — the tenth sheaf, the tenth portion of slaughtered beasts, and even a tenth of wine, vegetables and fruit. It was probably older in Western Germany than Christianity, but the early church of the middle ages cunningly claimed it on the authority of scripture. It did not, however, succeed in retaining it only for itself; it was obliged to share it with the rulers, and often with the noble landed pro- prietors. At last it was paid by the agricultural peasant, either as a tax to the ruler or to his landlord, and besides as the priest's tithe to his church. However low his harvest yield might be valued, the tenth sheaf was far more than the tenth share of his clear produce. But the countryman had, in the first place, to render service to the landed proprietor, both with his hands and with his team ; in the greatest part of Germany, in the middle ages, three days a week,— thus he gave half of the working time of his Ufe. Whoever was bound to keep beasts of burden on his property was obliged to perform * Seven hundred and fifty of these have been reckoned by C. H. von Lang, in his " Historical Development of German Taxation," 1793. 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GEKIIAN PEASANT. 49 soccage, in the working hours, with the agricultural imple- ments and tools till sunset ; the poorer people had to do the same with hand labour — nay, accoi'ding to the obligations of their tenure, with two, four, or more hands, and even the days were appointed by the landlords : they were well off if during such labour they received food. These obligations of ancient times were, in many cases, increased after the war by the encroachments of the masters — chiefly in Eastern Germany. These soccage days were arbitrarily divided into half or even quarter days, and thereby the hindrance to the countr3rman and the disorder to his own farm were considerably increased. The number of the days was also increased. Such was the case even in the century which we, with just feelings of pride, call the humane. In the year 1790, just when Goethe's " Torquato Tasso " made its first appearance in the refined court of Saxony, the peasants of Meissen rose against the landowners, because they had so immoderately increased the service that their villeins seldom had a day free for their own work.* Again in 1799, when Schiller's " Wallenstein " was exciting the enthusiasm of the warlike nobiUty of Berlin, Frederick William III. was obliged to issue a cabinet order, enjoining on his nobility not to lay claim to the soccage of the peasants more than three days in the week, and to treat their people with equity. The second burden on the villeins was the tax on change of property by death or transfer ; the heriot and fine on alienation. The best horse and the best ox were once the price which the heir of a property had to pay to the land- owner for his fief This tax was long ago changed into money. But though in the sixteenth century, even in * F. von Liebenroth : "Fragments from my Diary," 1791, p. 159. The writer was a Saxon officer, a sensible and loyal man. VOL. I. E 50 PICTURES OF GERMAJS^ LIFE. [Ch. I- countries where the peasant was heavily oppressed, the provincial ordinances allowed that peasant's property might be bought and sold, and that the lord of the peasant who sold could take no deduction upon it,* yet in the same province in 1617, before the Thirty Years' War, it was established that landlords might compel their villeins against their will to sell their property, and that in case no purchaser should be found they themselves might buy it at two-thirds of the tax. It was under Frederick the Great that the inheritance and rights of property of villeins were first secured to them in most of the provinces of the kingdom of Prussia. This ordinance helped to put an end to a burden on the country people which threatened to depopulate the country. For in the former century, after the landowners had resolved to increase the revenue of their estates, they found it advantageous to rid themselves of some of their villeins, whose holdings they attached to their own property. The poor people, thus driven from their homes, fell into misery; and the burdens became quite unbearable to the remaining villeins, for they were expected by the landed proprietor to cultivate those former holdings, whose possessors had hitherto by their labour assisted in the cultivation of the whole estate. This system of ejection had become particularly bad in the east of Germany. When Frederick II. conquered Silesia there were many thousand farms without occu- piers ; the huts lay in ruins, and the fields were in the hands of the landed proprietors. AU the separate home- steads-had to be reformed and reoccupied, furnished with cattle and implements, and given up to the farmer as his own heritable property. In Riigen this grievance * District regulations for the Principalities ol Oppeln and Eatiborof the year 15S1. 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GEEMAN PEASANT. 51 occasioned a rising of the peasantry, in the youth of Ernst Moritz Arndt ; soldiers were sent thither, and the rioters were put in prison ; the peasants endeavoured to revenge themselves for this by laying in wait for and slaying individual noblemen. In the same way in Electoral Saxony as late as 1790 this grievance occasioned a revolt. The children also of villeins were subject to compulsory service. If they were capable of work they were brought before the authorities, and, if these demanded it, had to serve some time, frequently three years, on the farm. To serve in other places it was necessary to have a permit, which must be bought. Even those who had already sei-ved elsewhere had once a year — frequently about Christmas — to present themselves to the lord of the manor for choice. If the child of a villein entered into a trade or any other occupation, a sum had to be paid to the authorities for a letter of permission. It was considered a mitigation of the old remains of feudalism, when it was decided that the daughters of peasants might marry on to other properties without indemnifying their lord. But then the new lord had to greet the other in a friendly letter in acknowledgment of this emancipation.* The price which the villein had to give for the emancipation of himself and his family varied extremely, according to the period and the district. Under Frederick II. it was reduced in Silesia to one ducat per head. But this was an 'unusually favourable rate for the villein. In Riigen, at a stiU later date, the emancipation was left to the valuation of the proprietor ; it could even be refused : a fine-looking youth had there to pay full a hundred and fifty, and a pretty girl fifty or sixty, thalers. * Tlie provincial ordinances for the Principalities of Oppeln and Eatibor, year 1561. B 2 52 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. I. But the peasant was employed in other ways by the landed proprietor. He was bound to aid, with his hands and teaiiis, in the cultivation of the estate ; he was also bound to act as»messenger. Whoever wished to go to the town had first to ask the baihff and lord of the manor whether they had any orders. No householder could, except in special cases, remain a night out of the village without the previous sanction of the magistrate of the place. He was obliged to furnish a night watch of two men for the nobleman's mansion. He had, when a child of the lord of the manor was to be married, to bring a contribution of com, small cattle, honey, wax, and linen to the castle ; finally, he had almost eveiywhere to carry to his lord his rent-hens and eggs, the old symbol of his- dependence for house and farm. But what was still more repugnant to the German pea- sant than many greater burdens, was the landlord's right of chase over his fields. The fearful tyranny with which the right of chase was practised by the German princes in the middle ages, was renewed after the Thirty Years' War. The peasant was forbidden to carry a gun, and poach,ers were shot down. Where the cultivated ground bordered on the larger woods, or where the lord of the manor held the supreme right of chase, a secret and often bloody war was carried on for centuries betwixt the foresters and poachers. As long as wolves continued to prowl about the villages, the irritated peasant dug holes round the margin of the wood which he covered with branches, and the bottom of them was studded with pointed stakes. He called them wolf-pits, but they were well known to the law as game-traps, and were forbidden under severe penal- ties. He ventured to let such portions of ground as were most exposed to be injured by game, to soldiers or cities, but that also was forbidden him ; he endeavoured to 12401790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 53 • defend his fields by hedges, and his hedges were broken down. In the Erzgebirge of Saxony the peasants, in the fonner centuiy, had watched by their ripening corn ; then huts -were built on the fields, fires were lighted in the night, the watchers called out and beat the drum, and their dogs barked ; but the game at last became accus- tomed to these alarms, and feared neither peasant nor dog. In Electoral Saxony, at the end of a former century, under a mild government, where a moderate tax might be paid as indemnity for damage to game, it was forbidden to erect fences for fields above a certain height, or to employ pointed stakes, that the game might not be injured, nor prevented seeking its support on the fields, till at last fourteen communities in the Hohnstein bailiwick in a state of exasperation combined for a general hunt, and frightened the game over the frontier. The logs which the sheep dogs wore round their necks were not sufficient to hinder them from hurting the hares, so they were held by cords on the fields. But the countrymen were bound, when the lord of the manor went to the chase, to go behind the nets and, as beaters, to swing the rattles. The coursing, moreover, spoilt his fields, as the riders with their grey- hounds uprooted and trampled on the seed. To these burdens, which were common to all, were added numerous local restrictions, of which only some of the more widely diffused will be here mentioned. The number of cattle that villeins were permitted to keep was frequently prescribed to them according to the extent of their holdings. A portion of the pasture land upon his holding before seed time, and of the produce after the harvest, belonged to the landowner. This right, to which pretensions had been already made in the middle ages, became a severe plague in the last century, when the noblemen began increasing their flocks of sheep. For 54 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Cb- I- they made demands on the peasants' fields generally, when fodder for cattle was failing : how, then, could the peasants maintain their own animals ? As early as 1"617 it was held as a maxim in Silesia, that peasants must not keep sheep unless they possessed an old authorisation for it. The keeping of goats was altogether forbidden in many places. This old prohibition is one of the reasons why the poor in wide districts of Eastern Germany are deprived of these useful animals. Elector August of Saxony in 1560 denounced in his ordinances the pigeons of the peasants, and since that time they have been prohibited in other provincial ordinances. Other tyi-annies were devised by the love of game. Shortly after the war it was held to be the duty of peasants to offer everything saleable, in the first instance, to the lord of the manor, — dung, wool, honey, and even eggs and poultry : if the authorities would not take his goods, he was bound to expose them for a fixed period in the nearest town ; it was only then that the sale became free. But it was truly monstrous, when the authorities compelled their subjects to buy goods from the manorial property which they did not need. These barbarisms were quite common, at least in the East of Germany, after 1650, especially in Moravia, Bohemia, and Silesia. When the great proprietors drew their ponds and could not sell the fish, the villeins were obliged to take them, in proportion to their means, at a fixed rate. The same was the case with butter, cheese, com, and cattle. This was the cause of so many of the country people in Bohemia becoming small traders, as they had to convey these goods into neighbouring coun- tries, often to their own gi-eat loss.* In vain did the * Von Hohberg: "Country Life of the NoUes," 1687. See the Intro- duction. 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GEEMAN PEASANT. 55 magistrates in Silesia in 1716 endeavour to check this abuse.* We will only mention here the worst tyranny of alL The nobleman had seigneurial rights : he decreed through the justices, who were dependent on him, the punishments of police offences : fines, imprisonment, and corporal punish- ment. He was also in the habit of using the stick to the villeins when they were at work. Undoubtedly there was already in the sixteenth century, in the provincial ordi- nances, a humane provision, which prohibited the nobles from striking their villeins ; but in the two following centuries this prohibition was little attended to. When Frederick the Great re-organized Silesia, he gave the peasants the right of making complaint to the government against severe bodily punishment ! And this was con- sidered a progress ! But other burdens also weighed Lipon the life of the. peasant. For, beside the landowner, the temtorial ruler also demanded his impost or contribution, a land-tax or poll-tax ; he could impress the son of the peasant under his banner, and demand waggons and gear for relays in time of war. And again, above the territorial ruler, was the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, which claimed in those parts of Germany where the constitution of the circles was still in force, a quota for their exchequers. The peasants, however, were not everywhere under the curse of bondage. In the old domain of the Ripuarian Franks, the provinces on the other side of the Rhine from Cleves to the Moselle, and the Grafschaft of Mark, Essen, Warden, and Berg, had already in the middle ages freed themselves from bondage : those who had not property as landowners were freemen with leases for life. In the rest- * Imperial Privfl. andSanct., vol. ir., p. 1213, 56 PICTUEES OF GEEMAJJ LIFE. [Ch. I- of Germany, freedom had taken refuge in the southern and northern frontiers, on the coasts of the North Sea and among the Alps. East Friesland, the marsh lands on the coasts 'of the Weser and the Elbe up to Ditmar- schen, — those almost unconquerable settlements of sturdy- peasant communities, — have remained free from the most ancient times. In the south, the Tyrol and the neigh- bouring Alps, at least the. greatest portion of them, were occupied by free country-people ; in Upper Austria also the free peasantry were numerous ; and in Steiermark the tenths, which was the chief tax paid to the landed proprietors, was less oppressive than soccage was else- where. Wherever the arable land was scarce, and the mountain pastures afforded sustenance to the inhabi- tants, the legal condition of the lower orders was better. On the other hand, in the countries of old Saxony from the time of the Carlovingians, with the exception of a few free peasant holdings, a severe state of bondage had been deve- loped. The Brunswickers, t"he dwellers on the Church lands of Bremen and Verden, were in the most favourable condition, those of Hildesheim and the Grafschaft of Hoya in the worst. In the bishopric of Miinster the soccage service of villeins was generally changed into a moderate money payment ; the only thing that pressed heavily on them was the compulsory leading, and the necessity of buy- ing exemption from their burdens. On the other hand, the right of the landed proprietor over the inheritance of villeins existed to the greatest extent. As late as the year 1800 the country-people, who — exceptionally — desired to save money, endeavoured to preserve their property to their heirs, by fictitious transactions with the citizens ; con- sequently more than a fourth portion of the Miinster land remained uncultivated. A similar condition, in a some- what mUder form, existed in the bishopric of Osnabruck. 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAiT PEASAJ>fT. 57 Among the races of the interior, Hessians, Thuringians, Bavarians, Suabians, and Allemanni, the number of free peasants was continually decreasing during the whole of the middle ages : it was only in Upper Bavaria that they still formed a powerful part of the population. In Thuringia also the number of freemen was not inconsiderable. There the rule of the princes over the serf peasantry was lenient. Far worse, except in a large part of Holstein, was the condition of all the countries east of the Elbe, — in fact wherever Germans colonized Sclave countries, that is almost half present Germany ; but worst of all was the life of the villeins in Bohemia and Moravia, in Pomerania and Mecklenberg : in the last province viUeinage is not yet abolished. It was in these countries that villeinage be- came more oppressive after the Thirty Years' War ; only the free peasants, and the " Erb-und Gerichtsscholtiseien, as they were still called in memory of the circumstances of the old Germanization, formed themselves into a pauper aristocracy. In the last century it might easily be perceived, from the agriculture and the prosperity of the villagers, whether they were freemen or serfs ; and even now we may sometimes still discover, from the intelligence and personal appearance of the present race, what was the condition of their fathers. The peasants on the Lower Rhine, the West- phalian inhabitants of the marshes, the East Frieslanders, the Upper Austrians and Upper Bavarians, attained a cer- tain degree of prosperity soon after the war ; on the other hand, the remaining Bavarians, about the year 1700, com- plained that the third portion of their fields lay waste, and we learn of Bohemia in 1730 that the fourth part of the ground which had been under culture before the Thirty Years' War was overgrown with wood. The value of land there was lower by -one half than in the other provinces. 58 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [C^- ^■ Undoubtedly those freemen were to be envied who felt the advantage of their better position, but only a small portion were so fortunate. Generally, even in the eighteenth century, freemen with little or no land of their own, preferred being received as villeins on some great landed property. When Frederick I. of Prussia, shortly after IVOO, wished to free the serfs in Pomerania, they refused it, because they considered the new duties imposed upon them more severe than what they had hitherto borne. And in fact the free peasants were scarcely less burdened with new service than those who had been the villeins of the old time. It is difficult to judge impartially of the human condi- tion which developed itself under this oppression. For such a life looks very different in daily intercourse, to what it does in the statute-book. Much that appears insupport- able to us was made bearable by ancient custom. Un- doubtedly the kind-hearted benevolence of the nobles, of old families who had gi-own up with their country-people through many generations, mitigated the severity of servi- tude, and a cordial connexion existed between master and serfs. Still more frequently the brutal selfishness of the masters was softened and kept within bounds by that prudence which now influences the American slaveholders. The landed proprietor and his family passed their lives among the peasants, and if he endeavoured to instil fear, he also had cause for fear. Easily on a stormy night might the flames be kindled among his wooden farm buildings, and no province was without its dismal stories of harsh landlords or bailiffs who had been slain by unknown hands in field or wood. However much we may admit the good- ness or prudence of masters, the position of the peasants still remains the darkest feature of the past time. For we find everywhere in the scanty records of the seventeenth ] 240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 59 and eighteenth centuries an unhealthy antaigonism of classes. And it was the larger portion of the German people which was ruined by this oppression* Men even of uncommon strength and intelligence seldom succeeded in extricating themselves from the pro- scribed boundaries by which their life was fenced in. Ever greater became the chasm which separated them from the smaller portion of the nation, who, by their perukes, bagwigs, and pigtails, showed from afar that they belonged to a privileged class. Up to the end of the seventeenth century these poHshed classes seldom entertained a friendly feeling towards the peasant ; on all sides were to be heard complaints of his obduracy, dishonesty, and coarseness. At no period was the suffering portion of the people so harshly judged as in that, in which a spiritless orthodoxy embittered the souls of those who had to preach the gospel of love. None were more eager than the theolo- gians in complaining of , the worthlessness of the country people, among whom they had to live ; they always heard hell-hounds howling round the huts of the villeins ; their whole conception of hfe was, indeed, dark, pedantic, and joyless. A well-known little book, from the native district of Christopher von Grimmelshausen, is especially charac- teristic. This book, entitled "Des Bauerstands Laster- prob " — the exposure of the vices of the peasant class f — never ceased to point out from the deeds of the villagers, that the lives of the peasantry, from the village justice to the goose-herd, were worthless and godless ; that they were *_Oiie may nearly estimate the proportion of the peasants to the col- lective population of Germany, about 1750, at from 65 to 70 per cent. ; of these four-Bfths were viUeins, thus more than half the people. t "The Exposure of the Vices, Morals, and Evils of the thick-skinned, coarse-grained, and wicked Peasantry," hy Veroandro, of Truth Castle, 1684. The author appears to have heen the same clergyman who added verses to the later editions of the BvmpUciasimvs, and pointed the moral. 60 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Cli- I- in the habit of representing themselves as poor and miserable, and of complaining on all occasions ; that they were rude and overbearing to those whom they did not fear ; that they considered none as their friends, and un- gratefully deceived their benefactors. This book is much more cruel than " The Lexicon of Deceit," by the hypo- chondriacal Coburger Hbnn, which some centuries later analysed the impositions of aU classes, — and amongst others, those of the peasants, — alphabetically, morosely, , and with apt references. To such defects, which are peculiar to the oppressed, others must, indeed, be added, the consequences of the long war and its demoralization. In the rooms of the village inns, about 1700, neither candlesticks nor snuffers were to be seen, for everything had been pilfered by the wayfarers ; even the prayer-book had been stolen from the host ; a small looking-glass was a thing not to be thought of, though 500 years earlier the village maiden, when she adorned herself for the dance, took her little hand-glass with her as an ornament ; and if a householder lodged carriers, he was obliged to conceal all portable goods, and to lock up all barns and hay-lofts. It was even dangerous sometimes for a traveller to set foot in an inn. The desolate room was filled, not only with tobacco- smoke, but also with the fumes of powder ; for it was a holiday amusement of the country people to play with powder, and to molest unlucky strangers by throwing squibs or small rockets before their feet or on their perukes ; this was accompanied by railery and abuse.* We are frequently disposed to observe with astonishment, in these and similar complaints of contemporaries, how the * "The Happy and Unliappy Peasantry," p. 178. Frankfort, s. a. About 1700. 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 61 German nature maintained, amidst the deepest degi-ada- tion, a vital energy which, more than a hundred years after, made the beginning of a better condition possible ; and we may sometimes doubt whether to admire the patience, or to lament the weakness, which so long endured such misery ; for, in spite of all that party zeal has ever said in excuse of these servile relations, they were an end- less source of immorality both to the masters, their officials, and to the people themselves. The sensuality of landed proprietors, and the self-interest of magistrates and stewards, were exposed to daily temptation at a period when a feeling of duty was weak in all classes. More than once did the sluggish provincial governments exert themselves to prevent baihffs from compelling the peasant to feed cattle, sow linseed, and spin for them ; and foresters were in ill repute who carried on traffic with the peasants, and winked at their proceedings when the stems of the lordly wood were feUed.* What was the feeling of the country people against the landed proprietors, may be con- cluded from the wicked proverb which became current about 1700, and fell from the mouth of the rich Mansfeld peasant — " The young sparrows and young nobles should have their heads broken betimes.''-^ Slowly did the dawn of a new day come to the German peasant. If we would seek from whence arose the first rays of the new light, we shall find them, together with the renovation of the people, in the studies of the learned, who proclaimed the science, which was the most strange and most incomprehensible to the country -people, then called philosophy. After the teaching of Leibnitz and Wolff had found scholars in a larger circle of the learned, there was a sudden change in the views held, about the peasant and / * " Lasterprob," p. 82. t " The Happy and Unhappy Peasant Class,'' p. 155. 62 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. l^^- ^■ his state. Everywhere began a more human conception of earthly things, the struggle against the orthodox errors. We find, again, in the scholars and proclaimers of the new philosophy, sftmewhat of the zeal of an apostle to teach, to improve, and to free. Soon after 1700 a hearty interest in the life of the peasant appears again in the small literature. The soundness of his calling, the utility and blessings of his labour, were extolled, and his good qualities carefully sought out ; his old songs, in which a manly self-conscious- ness finds graceful expression, and which had once been polished by the single-minded theologians of the sixteenth century, were again spread in cheap publications. In these the poor countryman modestly boasts that agricul- ture was founded by Adam ; he rejoices in " his falconry " ; the larks in the field, the swallows in the straw of his roof, and the cocks in the farm-yard ; and amidst his hard labour again seeks comfort in the " heavenly husbandman, Jesus."* On the other hand, there was even help in the severity of a despotic State. The oppressed peasant gave, through his sons, to the ruler the greater part of his soldiers, and, through his taxes, the means of keeping up the new State. By degrees it was discovered that such material ought to be taken care o£ About 1700 this may every- where be perceived in the provincial laws. The Imperial Court, also, was influenced in its way by this awakening philanthropy. In 1704 it even gave a grand privilege to the shepherds, wherein it declared them and their lads honourable, and graciously advised the Gennan nation to give up the prejudice against this useful class of men, and no longer to exclude their children from being artisans, on * "Kurtze bescreibtmg, der Acter-Leuthe und Ehrenlob," p. 33. Hof 1701. 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 63 account of magic and plying the knacker's trade. A few- years afterwards it gave armorial bearings ; it also granted them the rights of a corporate body, with seal, chest, and banner, on which a pious picture was painted.* More stringent was the interference of the HohenzoUems, who were themselves, during four generations, the princely colonists of Eastern Germany. Frederick II. made the most fundamental reforms in the conquered provinces ; many examples are cited of the blessings resulting from them. When he took possession of Silesia, the village huts were block-houses, formed . from the stems of trees, and roofed with straw or shingles, without brick chimneys ; the baking ovens, joined on to the houses, exposed them to the danger of fires ; the husbandry was in a pitiful plight ; great commons and pastures, covered with mole-hOIs and thistles, small weak horses, and lean cows ; and the landed proprietors were for the' most part harsh despots, against whom the clumsy Imperial and magisterial admiaistration could scarcely enforce any law. The King carried on three severe wars in Silesia, during which his own soldiers, the Austrians, and the Russians, consumed and ravaged the province. Yet, only a few years after the Seven Years' War, 250 new villages and 2000 new cottages were erected, and frequently stone houses and tiled roofs were to be seen. All the wooden chimneys and all the clay ovens had been pulled down by the conqueror, and the people were compelled to build anew ; horses were brought from Prussia, and the sheep shorn once in the year ; peat cutters from Westphalia, and silkworm-breeders from France, were introduced into the country. Oaks and mulberries were planted, and premiums were given for the laying out of vineyards. At his command the new potato * " Imperial Piiyil. and Sanct.," vols, u., p. 584 ; v., 1511. 64 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [d- I- was introduced ; at the beginning of the Seven Yeai's' War, by the celebrated patent of the Minister of Justice, von Carmer, commons and general pastures were abolished, and divided Smong separate holders. With far-sighted forethought, a state of things was introduced which has only recently been carried out. The inheritance of pro- perty, also, was secured by law to the viUeins. The peasant obtained the right of complaint to the royal government, and this right became for him a quick and vigorous law, for, however much the King favoured the nobility when it was serviceable to the State, yet he was constantly occupied, together with his officials, in elevating the mass of tax-payers. The most insignificant might present his petition, and the whole people knew, from numerous examples, that the King read them. Many of this great Prince's attempts at civilization did not succeed ; but on all sides the pressure of a system was felt which so assiduously raised the strength of the people, in order to utilise them to the utmost in the State. Nowhere is the work of this mighty ruler so thankfully acknowledged by contemporaries as by the peasantry of the conquered province. When, on his numerous journeys through Silesia, the country-people thronged round his carriage with respectful awe, every look, every fleeting word that he addressed to a village magistrate was treasured as a dear remembrance, handed down carefully from generation to generation, and still lives in all hearts. Ever greater became the sympathy of the literary classes. It is true that poetry and art did not yet find in the life of the peasant, material which could foster ' a creative spirit. When Goethe wrote "Hermann and Dorothea," it was a new discovery for the nation that the petty citizen was worthy of artistic notice ; it was long, however, before any one ventured lower among the 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASAifT. 65 people ; but the honourable philanthropists, the popular promulgators of enlightenment in the burgher classes, preached and wrote with hearty zeal upon the singular, uncouth, and yet numerous fellow-creature, the peasant, whose character frequently only appeared to consist of an aggregate of unamiable qualities, but who, nevertheless, was undeniably the indispensable foundation of the other classes of human society. One of the most influential writings of this kind was by Christian Garve, "Upon the Character of the Peasants, Breslau, 1786," taken from lectures given shortly before the outbreak of the French revolution. The author was a clear-sighted, upright man, who was anxious for the public weal, and was listened to with respect throughout the whole of Germany, whenever he spoke upon social questions. His little book has a thoroughly philanthropic tendency ; the life of the peasant was accurately known by him as it was by many others who were then occupied with the improvement of the country people. The propo- sitions which he makes for the elevation of the class are sensible, but unsatisfactory; as indeed are almost all theories with respect to social evils. Yet, when we scan the contents of this well-meaning book, we are seized with alarm ; not at what he relates concerning the oppression of the peasant, but at the way in. which he himself seems necessitated to speak of two-thirds of the German people. They are strangers to him and his contemporaries : it is ■ something new and attractive to their philanthropy to realize the condition of these peculiar men. There is an especial charm to a conscientious and feeling mind in ascer- taining clearly, what is the exact nature and cause of the stupidity, coarseness, and evil qualities of the country peo- ple. The author even compares their position with that of the Jews ; he discusses their condition of mind much in 66 PICTUEES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ci- I. 1 the same way that our ptilanthropists do those of gaol prisoners ; he sincerely wishes that the light of humanity may fall on their huts ; he compares their sloth and indo- lence with th« energetic working power which, as was even then known, the colonists developed in the ancient woods of the new world. He gives this well-meaning explana- tion of the contrast, that in our old and as it were already becoming antiquated state, the many work for the one, and a multitude of the industrious go without remunera- tion, therefore zeal and desire are extinguished in a great portion of them. Almost all that he says is true and right, but this calm kindliness, with which enlightened men of the period of Immanuel Kant and the poetic court of Weimar regai-ded the people, was unaccompanied by the slightest suspicion, that the pith of the German national strength must be sought in this despised and ruined class ; that the condition of things under which he himself, the author, hved, was hoUow, barbarous, and insecure ; that the governments of his time possessed no guarantee of stability, and that a political state — ^the great source of every manly feehng, and of the noble consciousness of independence — ^was impossible, even for the educated, so long as the peasant lived as a beast of burden ; and little did he think that aU these convictions would be forced upon the very next generation, after bitter sufferings in a hard school, by the conquest of an external enemy. His work, therefore, deserves weU to be remembered by the present generation. The following pages depict not only the condition of the peasantry, but the literary class. Garve speaks as follows : — "One circumstance has great influence on the cha- racter of the peasantry : they hang much together. They live far more sociably one with another than do the common burghers in the cities. They see each other every day at 1240-1790.] THE I.IFE OF THE GERMiN PEASANT. 67 their farm work ; in the summer in the fields, in the winter in the barns and spinning-rooms. They associate like soldiers, and thus get an esprit de corps; many- results arise from this : first, they become 'polished after their fashion, and more acute through this association. They are more fit for intercourse with their equals; and they have better notions than the common artisan of many of the relations of social life ; that is to say, of all those which occur in their class and in their own mode of Ufe. This constant intercourse, this continual companion- ship, is with them, as with soldiers, what lightens their condition. It is a happy thing to have much and constant companionship with others, if they are your equals ; it gives rise to an intimate acquaintance and a reciprocal confidence, at least in outward appearance, without which no inter- course can be agreeable. The noble enjoys this advan- tage ; he associates for the most part only with his equals, being separated by his pride from those below him, and he and his equals live much together, as leisure and wealth enable him to do so. The peasant enjoys similar advan- tages from opposite reasons. His insignificance is so great that it prevents his having the wish, still more the oppor- tunity, of associating with those above him ; he hardly ever sees anything but peasants, and his servitude and his work bring him frequently ia companionship with these his equals. " But this very circumstance causes the peasants to act in a body ; thus the inconveniences of a democratic con- stitution are introduced, so that a single unquiet head from their own body exercises great power over them, and often influences the whole community. It is, moreover, the reason why persons of another class have so little influ- ence over them, and can only sway them by authority and compulsion. They seldom see or hear the judgments, p 2 68 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. l^^- ^^ conceptions, and examples of the higher orders, and only for a brief space. " I have long studied the special signification of the ■word tuekisch, which I have never heard so frequently as when the talk has been of peasants. It denotes, without doubt, a mixture of childish character, of simplicity, and weakness, with spite and cunning. "Every one, without doubt, remembers having seen faces of peasant boys, in which one or both eyes leer out, as if by stealth, from under the half-closed eyelids, with the mouth open and drawn into a jeering yet somewhat vacant laugh, wi'th the head bent down, as if they would conceal themselves ; in a word, faces which depict a mix- ture of fear, shamefacedness, and simplicity, with derision and aversion. Such boys, when one speaks to or requires anything of them, stand dumb and motionless as a log ; they answer no questions put to them by the passers- by, and their muscles seem stiff and immovable. But as soon as the stranger is a little way off, they run to their comrades, and burst out laughing. " The low condition of the peasant, his servitude, and his poverty produce in him a certain fear of the higher orders ; his rearing and mode of life make him on the one hand unyielding and insolent, and on the other, in many respects, simple and ignorant ; the frequent antagonism of his own will and advantage, to the wiU and the commands bf those above him, implants in his mind the germs of ani- mosity. Thus, if the failings of his class are not counter- acted by his personal qualities, he becomes such as the boy described, especially in his demeanour to his superiors. It is these superiors and lords of the peasants who are to blame for his tuckischen character. He wiU. use dis- simulation in place of open resistance ; he will be humble and yielding, nay, even appear.devoted in their presence ; 1240-1790,] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASAJSTT. 69 but when he thinks he can act secretly, he will do every- thing agaiast their wiU and interest. He will think of tricks and intrigues, which, nevertheless, are not so finely woven but that they may be easily seen through. " One may discover two main differences, both in the fate and the character of the peasantry. He who is en- tirely under subjection, who sighs under the yoke of a complete slavery, will, under usual circumstances, submit to everything with apathy, without attempting the least resistance, and even without a wish to lighten his own lot ; he wiU throw himself at the feet of any one who will tread on him. But if he is roused from this torpor by special circumstances, by agitators, by a cunning and bold leader, then he will become like a raging tiger, and will lose at once, with the humility of the slave, all the feelings of humanity. "The half-serf who has property, and enjoys the pro- tection of the laws, but under more or less burdensome conditions, is bound to the glebe, and at the same time to the service of the proprietor, to whose jxu'isdiction he is amenable ; this peasant does not usually bear his burdens without wincing. There is no fear that he wiU endeavour to throw them off his neck by open violence as a rebel ; but he will carry on a continual secret war with his master. To diminish his profit, and to increase his own, is a wish that he has always at heart, and an object which covertly, and as often as is practicable, he endeavours to pursue. He practises crafty and small thefts on the property of his mastei', and does not consider them so disgraceful as if he did the same by his equal. He is not the entirely humble slave, nor yet the dreaded enemy of his master, but he is not an obedient dependent, from free will and a- good heart ; he is that which probably has been intended to be expressed in some sort by the word tuckisch. 70 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Cli- I- " One may add, as an ingredient or as a consequence of the 'tuckischen' nature, a certain amount of stubborn- ness which distinguishes the peasant when his mind is agitated, or -^hen a prejudice is once rooted in hinx His soul in this case appeals to become stiff, like his body and his limbs. He is then deaf to all representations, however obvious they may be, or however capable he might be, in an impartial state of mind, of seeing their justice. The law- yers employed in the lawsuits of peasants will sometimes have known such individuals, in whom it is doubtful whe- ther the obstinacy with which they cling to an obviously absurd idea, arises from their blindness or from deter- mined malice. Sometimes whole communities become thus addle-headed. They then resemble certain crazy people, who, as it is expressed, have a fixed idea, that is, a conception which their mind takes up incessantly or returns to on the slightest occasion, and which, however false it may be, can neither be removed by the evidence of the senses nor by the representations of reason, because it is not really in the mind, but hsis its foundation in the tenor of their organization." Thus speaks Christian Garve. His final counsel was : "Better village schools." Some among the landed pro- prietors acted with a similar philanthropic feeling. We would gladly say that their number was great; but the frequent complaints to the contrary, and the zeal with which benevolent commentators bring forward individual examples— like one Eochow, of Rekahn, who established village schools at his own cost— justify the conclusion that such benevolence would have been less striking had it been more frequent. In fact it required individuals to be very prudent in showing their good feeling for the peasants in deeds, as it was often observed that they gave their service far more willingly to strict nobles than to 12i0-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 71 citizen proprietors ; and that when these, with a warmer feeling for the peasant, wished to show him kindness, their goodwill sometimes met with a bad return. Thus a citizen proprietor, taking possession of his property, gave each of his peasants a present in money, and showed consideration for them in many ways ; the not unnatural consequence was, that they renounced aU service to him, and broke out into open resistance. Whilst the German philanthropists were anxiously think- ing and writing for the countryman, a storm was already brewing on the other side of the Rhine which in a few years was to destroy in Germany also, the servitude of the peasants, together with the old form of government. About 1790 the peasants began to occupy themselves eagerly with politics.. The schoolmaster read and ex- plained the newspapers to them ; the hearers sat motion- less, amidst thick tobacco smoke, all ears. In Electoral Saxony some already made use of the new circulating library in the neighbouring city.* In the Palatinate, and in the Upper Rhine, the country people becaxae disturbed, and refused service. In the same year, in the richest part of Electoral Saxony, in the Lommatzscher district, and on the property of the Graf von Schonburg, a peasant revolt once more broke out. Once more did the insurgents seize the weapon of the slave, the wooden club with iron hoops. The peasants, by a deputation, renounced aU villein service to the landholders ; they sent to the neighbouring commu- nities ; from village to village hastened the secret messen- gers; the magistrates, in the service of noblemen, were expelled or beaten with sticks ; the quiet parishes were threatened with fire and sword ; in eveiy village saddled horses were standing to send information to the neighboiors * }?. von Liebenroth, p. 146. 72 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. I. of the march of the military. There were the same secret conspiracy, the same outbreak, spreading with the speed of lightning, the same union of measureless hate, with a natural feeUng of theii*rights, as in the peasant war of the sixteenth century. Reciprocal agreements were laid before the landed proprietors, which most of them subscribed amicably ; and severe nobles were threatened with the worst. Their demands quickly increased ; soon they required, not only exemption from tenths and soccage service, but also the reimbursement of fines that had been paid. The peasants collected in troops of more than a thousand men ; they threatened the town of Meissen, and attacked smaU detachments. But they never withstood larger divisions of military. The most daring bands threw their caps and clubs away, as soon as the cavahy were ordered to charge through them. One of the chief leaders, a stubborn, daring old man of seventy years of age, while still in chains, com- plained of the faintheartedness of his bands. The move- ment was suppressed without much bloodshed. It was characteristic of the time, that the landowners, from fear, did everything in their power to briag about a mutual forgiveness and forgetfulness, and that the condemned, during their penal labour, were separated from other criminals and treated with leniency; they were also excused the prison dress. From records of that period it may clearly be seen how general was the feeling among the higher magistrates, that the position of the peasant did not come up to the requirements of the times. Two years later, also, the German peasants in the Pala- tinate and in the Electorate of Maiuz danced round the red cap on the tree of freedom. Incessantly did French influence overspread Germany. The State of the Great Frederick was shattered ; Germany became French up to the Elbe. In the new French possessions, villeinage and 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. "/S servitude were abolished, with." a haste and recklessness which was intended to win the people to the new domi- nion. The Princes of the Rhine Confederation followed this example, with greater consideration for those whom they patronised ; but still under the strong influence of French ideas. In Prussia the Governments and people saw, with alarm, how insecure was the constitution of a State which employed so much the bodies and working powers of the peasants, and took so little account of their souls. In the year 1807 the great change in the relations of the country people began in Prussia ; the definition of the rights of the landowners and peasants has lasted there, with many fluctuations and interruptions, for half a century, and has not; yet arrived at a full conclusion. At this period the position of the countryman throughout Germany has so improved, that no other progress of civiliza- tion can be compared to it. The villein of the landowner has — ^with the exception of Mecklenburg, where the con- dition of the middle ages still exists — ^become the free citizen of his State ; the law protects and punishes him and the landowner alike ; he sends representatives, not of his class only, but of the nation, in union with the other classes of voters, to the capital ; he has legally ceased everywhere to be a separate order in the State — in many provinces he has laid aside, with his present dress, his old frowardness ; he begins to dress himself a la mode, and — sometimes in a clumsy, unpleasing form — to take bis share in the inven- tions and enjoyments of modem civilization. But, however great these changes may be, they are not yet great enough generally, in Germany, to give the countryman that position which, as a member of the State, a citizen, and an agricul- turist, he must attain, if the hfe of the people is to give an impression in all respects of perfect soundness and power. His interest in, and comprehension of, that highest 74 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. l^^- I- earthly concern of man-^the State — ^is much too little developed ; his craving for instruction and cultivation, consi- dered on the whole, is too small ; and in the larger portion of the Fatherknd his soul is still encumbered by some of the qualities which are nurtured by long oppression, hard egotism, distrust of men differently moulded, litigiousness, awkwai-dness, and a deficient understanding of his rights and position as a citizen. The minds which have shaken off the old spell are still in the form of transition which gives them a specially unfinished and unpleasing aspect. The agiiculture of the German peasantiy may still be considered as not having, on the whole, reached that point which is necessary for an energetic development of our national strength ; nevertheless, we have reason to rejoice in having made great progress in this direction. Intellect is eveiywhere incessantly occupied in introducing to the simple countryman new discoveries — machines, seeds, and a new* method of cultivation. In some favoured districts the agriculture of the small farmer can scarcely be dis- tinguished from the weU-studied system of the larger model farms. Nor has the German peasant, in the times of the deepest depression, like the oppressed Slavonian, ever lost the instinct of self-acquisition. For the very qualities which are his characteristics, enduring systematic industiy and strict parsimony, are the groundwork of the highest earthly prosperity. There still subsists, however, in wide districts, the old thraldom of the three-course sys- tem with lights of common, and all the pressure which this system entails on individuals. Even well-tested improve- ments are therefore difficult to the countryman ; because, with all his perseverance, he is yet wanting in enterprising activity, and because the great scantiness of his youthful instruction and technical education makes it difficult for him to comprehend anything new. Thus the development 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 75 of the German peasant to greater inward freedom and capacity is steady, but slow. The noble landed proprietor also, from entirely different reasons, frequently neglects to raise the culture of the soil by energy, technical know- ledge, and the utmost exertion of his power ; and, in like manner, we find in other branches of production — ^in manu- factures, trade, commerce, and political life — a corresponding slowness of progress. It places us still at a disadvantage in comparison with the better-situated countries of Europe. For the position of Germany among the States of Europe is such, that all other progress depends on the development of its own agriculture, that is, on the degree of intelligence and productive power which is perceptible in this primeval manly occupation. We have no command of the sea ; we have no colonies, and no subjected countries, to which we can export the produce of our industry. If this circumstance is perhaps a surety for our stability, on the other hand it raises the vital importance which the Geirman countryman and the system of his agriculture exercise on the other classes of the German people. If therefore it is allowable to compare two very different phases of human development, one may well say that the peasant of 1861 has not yet gained, com- paratively with the other classes of the people, the inde- pendence and the conscious power which existed six centuries ago in the provinces of Keithart von Eeuenthal and Farmer Helmbrecht. And whoever would teach us from the life of the past, how it has happened that the strength of the nation has passed from the rural districts into cities, and that the nobleman has raised himself so much above his neighbour the peasant, must beware of asserting, that this depression of the country-people is the natural consequence of the establishment of a higher culture and more artistic forms of life by the side of 76 PICTUEES OF GER5IAN LIFE. [Cli. I. the simple agriculture of the lower class. He who follows his plough will seldom be a member of a company which extend their speculations to the distant comers of the earth ; he will* not read Homer in the original, he wiM hardly read the work of a German philosopher upon logic, and the easy intercourse of a modern salon will scarcely be enlivened by his wit. But the results of the collective culture, of that which the learned find, which the artist forms, which manufacturers create, must, at a period when the nation is vigorous and sound, when , accessible to the simple countryman of sound judgment, be comprehended and valued by him. Is it necessary that our neighbour the countryman should so seldom read a good book, and stiU less often buy one ? Is it necessary that he should, as a rule, take in no other newspaper than the smaU sheet of his own district ? Is it necessary that it should be unknown to him, and unfortunately sometimes also to his school- master, bow an angle is determined, a parallelogram measured, and an ellipse drawn? Whoever would now place a poem of Goethe's in the hand of a peasant woman, would probably do a useless thing, and raise a dignified smile in a " well-educated spectator." Must all that we possess of most beautiful be incomprehensible to half our nation? Six hundred years ago, the poem of Farmer Helmbrecht was understood in the village parlour, and the charm of his sonorous verse, the poetry and the warm eloquence of his language, were appreciated; and the rhythm and measure of those old songs that accompanied the dances of the thirteenth century are just as elegant and artistic as the finest verses now in the poems of the greatest modern poets. There was a time when the German peasant had the same lively susceptibiUty for noble poetry -which we now assume as the privilege of the 1240-1790.] THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN PEASANT. 77 highly educated. Is it necessary that the peasant of the present day should be deficient in it? The Bohemian village musician still plays -with heartfelt delight the harmonious tones produced by the genius of Haydn and Mozart ; is it necessary that few other musical sounds should be permitted to the German peasant than the stale measures of spiritless dances ? AH this is not neces- sary ; something of the same barbarism benumbs our life which we perceive with astonishment in the time of Christian Garve. What, however, we consider at first as one of the still remaining weaknesses of the peasants, is also the charac- teristic we8,kness of our whole culture, which has become too artificial, because it has bloomed in comparatively small and isolated circles of society, without the regula- tion and ever-increasiag invigoration which the collective popular mind would have afforded it by cordial reciprocity and warm sympathy. The peasant's having for so many centuries been a stranger to social culture has, in the first place, made him weak, and also made the culture of the other classes ,too unstable, over-refined, and some- times unmanly and impracticable. 78 CHAPTER II. THE LIFE OF THE LOWEE NOBILITY. (1500-1800.) The lot of the German peasant and of the German noble are closely bound together ; the sufferings of the one become the disease of the other : the one has been lowered by servitude ; the capacity, cultivation, and worth of the other to the State have been impaired by the privileges of a favoured position. Now both appear to be convalescent. The lower German noble, before the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, was experiencing an important transi- tion ; he was about to forget the traditions of the middle ages, and on the point of gaining a new importance at court. The predatory Junkers of the saddle had become quarrelsome, drink-loving landed proprietors. At the end of the sixteenth century it was stiU difficult for the sons of the old robber associates to keep the peace. Whilst they were fighting with the pen, and intriguing at the Kammergericht,* they were frequently tempted to take forcible revenge ; not only the turbulent knights of the Empire in Franconia, Suabia, and on the Ehine but also the vassals of the powerful princes of the Empire who were under the strong law of the land. Even where they were in the exercise of their rights, they preferred doing it by violence, from pride in their own power. Thus * Supreme Court of the Empire. 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 79 George Behr, of Diivelsdorf, in Pomerania, shortly before tte storm of the Thirty Years' War broke upon his province, hired an armed band in order to obtain club law in a private quarrel ; he also claimed supreme jurisdiction on his property, in 1628 he caused a former secretary of his family who had forged the seal of his master and drawn a false bond, to be hung on a gallows without any further ado, and at his leisure gave a laconic account of it to his duke.* Much of the old roistering remained in the daily life of) the country noblemen ; they were still prone, as once in' the middle ages, to excite quarrels in the inns and under the village lindens. The young wore embroidered clothes with concealed weapons, an iron ring in the hat, and low morions ; besides this, very long rapiers and stilettoes, and in the eastern frontier countries, also Hungarian axes. Thus they went in crowds to the popular festivals and marriages, especially when these took place in the house- holds of the hated citizens. There they began quarrels with the populace and invited guests ; they behaved with offensive petulance, and sometimes committed grievous outrages ; they burst open the doors of the houses, broke into the women's rooms when they had gone to rest, and into the cellars of the householders. It was not always easy to obtain justice against the offenders, but in some provinces the complaints were so loud and general that, as for example in the Imperial hereditary lands, numerous ordinances appeared enforcing the duty of giving informa- tion of such villanies. Those most complained of were the rovers who settled here and there in the country. They were, in the worst cases, compelled to serve at their own * J. T. Bohlen ; " Georg von Belir ; A picture of Pomeranian Life," p. 2i, 1859. 80 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ci. H. cost against the hereditary enemy,* so difficult is it to eradicate old evil habits. The quarrels also of the country nobles among themselves were endless. In vain were they denounced by the ordinances of the rulers, in vain did they declare that it was not necessary for the person challenged to come forward.-f- The language of the Junker was rich in strong expressions, and custom, had stamped some of these as unpardonable offences. At this period, after the termination of tournaments, armorial bearings and ances- tors became of great importance ; marriages with ladies not of noble birth became less frequent ; they were eager to blazon coats of arms and genealogies, and endeavoured to show a pure descent through many generations of ancestors, in which there was frequently gi-eat difficulty, not only from the want of church books and records, but from other causes. Whoever endeavoured, therefore, to force a quarrel with another, found fault with his pedigree, his knightly position, name^ and armorial bearings, and questioned his four descents. Such an offence could only be appeased by blood. To diminish these brawls, shortly before the Thirty Years' War, courts of honour were here and there introduced. The ruler of the country or feudal lord was president ; the assessors, noblemen of distinction, formed the court of honour. The parties chose three ' companions, through whom letters of challenge and apolo- gies were transmitted ; and in order to make these subtle formalities easy to those who had little practice in writing, a form was accurately prescribed for such letters of summons. Whilst thus the poorer nobles of the country struggled at home against the new regime, the more enterprising * Imp. Pxiv. andSanct., 1577, 1602, 1617, vols, i., 93, 100; iii.,1108. t Even in tlie years 1602 and 1617 ; lb., vol. iii., 1107. 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 81 were led hj the old German love of travelling into foreign parts. The noble youths willingly followed the drum, and even before 1618 it was a frequent complaint that the Junkers of the nobility had everywhere promotion in the army, whilst it was difficult for a man of worth and capa- city, from the people, to rise from the ranks. Even before 1618 the heirs of rich families of pretension, travelled to France, there to leam the language and the art of war, and to cultivate their minds. Not only in Paris, but in other great cities of France, they congregated in such numbers, as do now the idle Russians and English ; they only too often endeavoured to resemble the French in immorality and duels, and were even then notorious as awkward imitators of foreign customs. Even before 1618 most of the western German courts were so devoted to French manners, that French was considered the elegant language for conversation and writing. Thus it was in the court of Frederick the Palatine, the winter king of Bohemia. The cleverest of the nobility, however, sought for fine manners, pleasures, and office in the courts of the numerous German princes. After the abdication of Charles V. a jovial life prevailed not only at the Imperial court, but also in those of the greater princes of the Empire, above aU in Electoral Saxony, Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and the Palati- nate. Besides great hunting parties and drinking bouts, there were also great court festivals ; masquerades, knightly exercises, and prize-shooting had become the fashion, especially at coronations, marriages, christenings, and visits of ceremony. The old tournaments were sham fights, fine scenic representations, in which the costume and the dramatic show were of more importance than the passage of arms itself. As early as 1570 they were arranged according to the Spanish custom, when the new fashion 82 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Oh. II. of running at the ring was introduced. Great stages, mtli mythological and allegorical figures, were drawn in proces- sion on these occasions. The contending parties appeared in wonderful attire ; they strove together for prizes, as challengers and knight-errants — tnanuten adoren and avantureros — or married men against bachelors, man against man and troop against troop, not only on horse but on foot. But the weapons were blunt, the spears so prepared that they must break at the weakest shock, and the number of thrusts and passes which one could make against another was accurately prescribed. The whole was announced to the spectators by a cartel-^a written invitation or challenge : it was printed and posted up, and explained to the public. Some of these specimens of the composition of educated people of the court have been preserved to us ; for example, a cartel of 1570, when the Emperor Maximilian II. had assembled a large circle of nobles around him, in which a necromancer, Zirfeo, announced that he knew of three worthy heroes enchanted in a mountain, — King Arthur and his companions, Sigestab the Strong, and Ameylot the Happy, — whom he would disenchant, and arouse to a struggle against adventurers. At the festival itself a great wooden structure was pre- sented to view, which represented a rock with an infernal opening, ravens flew out of it, devils danced busily roimd its summit, and scattered fire about them ; at last the magician himself appeared, made his incantations, the hiU opened, the knights sprang up into daylight in ancient armour, and awaited the foreign combatants, who in equally strange costume encountered them. Even before 1600, gala days, including pastoral fetes, were announced with a flourish by similar cartels, sometimes in verse, as, after the great war, were the common village weddings and fairs. These were especially welcome to the authorities and nobles, 1.600-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 83 because in them etiquette was suspended, and many opportunities given for free pleasantry and confidential familiarity. In some courts, as at that of the Anhaltiners, the Landgrave of Hesse, and the Duke Philip of Pomerania, the nobles had opportunities of turning their attention to education, and the acquisition of knowledge ; at these courts they began already to take pleasure in the posses- sion of objects of art. The Emperor Eudolph collected the pictures of Albert Diirer, and the princes and some of the wealthy nobles around them collected rare coins, weapons, drinking-cups, and the works of the goldsmiths of Nurem- berg and the cabinet makers of Augsburg. The patricians of the great Imperial cities, superior in education to the court nobility, as political agents and managers of the Imperial princes, were the purveyors of these novelties of art to the German courts and their cavaliers. It was not an unheard-of thing to find a courtier who avoided long drinking bouts, and knew how to value a conversation upon the course of the world ; nay, could even compose a Latin distich, and leave to his heirs a collection of books ; and it was even considered honourable among the better sort to concern themselves about their households, and to increase, as far as possible, the revenues of their property. On the whole, the importance of the nobility at court had increased even before the war, as well as the oppres- sion which they exercised over their dependent country- people ; yet, in an equal degree — nay, indeed, beyond them — the free strength of the nation irresistibly deve- loped itself The new culture of the Eeformation period, introduced by burgher theologians and professors, brought into contempt the coarseness of the country Junkers. The business affairs of the princes and their territories, the places in the Kammergericht, the Spruch CoUegien, a 2 84 PICTtTRES OF GERMAN LIFE, [Ch. II. or (consultative legal boards) of the Universities ; indeed almost the whole administration of justice and govern- ment ceased to be in the hands of the nobles ; the greatest opulence and comfort were introduced into the cities by- trade and commerce. Thus, up to the year 1618, the nation was in a fair way to overcome the egotistical Junker- dom of the Middle Ages, and of putting down pretensions which had become incompatible with the new life. It was one of the ruinous consequences of the great war, that all this was changed. It broke the strength of the burgher class, and the weakness of the nobility was fos- tered, under the protection which was secured to it in most of the provinces by the new miUtary discipline of the princes and, above aU, of the Imperial court, to the pre- judice of the masses. As the income of the landed pro- prietor was diminished, he drew his chief advantage from the labour of the working peasant. The :families of the country nobility being decimated, the Imperial court was very ready to procure a new nobility for money. In the course of the war the captain or colonel had wiUingly bought with his booty a letter of nobility and some devastated property. After the peace, these nobles by patent became a hateful extension of the order. A childish offensive tuft-hunting, a worship of rank, serviUty and a greed for titles and outward distinctions, were now general in the cities. The commercial cities on the North Sea were those that suffered least, and those countries most which were immediately dependent on the Imperial court. It was customary then in Vienna to accost as noblemen all those who appeared to have a right to social pretensions. Among the mass of privileged persons who now con- sidered themselves as a peculiar ruling class, in contradis- tinction toH;he people, there was undoubtedly the greatest 1600-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 85 difference in culture and capacity ; but no injustice is done to many honourable, and some distinguished men, when the fact is brought forward, that the period from 1650 to 1750, in which the nobility ruled, and were of most importance, was the worst in the whole of the long history of Germany. Undoubtedly, in the time of weakness since 1648, a most comfortable life was led by the wealthy scion of an old family, who possessed large property, and was pro- tected by old alliances with influential persons aiid rulers. His sons gained profitable court appointments, or high military places ; and his daughters, who were well dowered, increased the circle of his influential "friends." The landed proprietor himself had served in the army, had travelled to France or Holland, and brought with him from thence a number of curiosities ; arms and painted articles from the Eastern nations, a hoUow ostrich-egg, polished shells, artistically carved cherry-stones, and painted pottery, or marble limbs that had been dug up in Italy. He had, perhaps, somewhere favoured a learned man with his acquaintance, and received from time to time a ponderous legal treatise, or a volume of poems, with a respectful letter. He might have visited in his travels the courts of Anhalt or "Weimar, and been created, by letters patent, a poet or author ; he was member of the Frucht- hri/figende Gesellschaft* (the Fruit -Producing Society), had a beautiful medal attached to a silk ribbon, on which his herb, sage or, mint — or, if he had been sarcastic at court — a radish, was represented ; he bore the surname of " Scarifier," and comforted himself with the motto — "Sharp and Nutritious ;"■]- and he sometimes wrote letters on the * A well-known literary society. — Tr. + Dietrich Ton Eraclit, the Brandenburg colonel, was called in this society ."the Biter ;" his herh was the horseradish. 86 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. improvement of the German mother tongue, unfortunately with many French phrases. For his own information he, with other cavaliers of education, took in, at considerable cost, a written newspaper, which a well-instructed man in the capital secretly sent to good customers ; for it was revolting to him to read the common, superficial scribbling of the printed newspapers. He spoke some French, perhaps also Italian ; and if he had been at a Univer- sity, which did not frequently happen, he might be able to recite a Latin lucubration. In this case he was pro- bably commissary of the ruler of the country, a dignitary of his province ; then he had business journeys, and occa- sionally negotiations, and he managed, to the best of his power, what was intrusted to him, with the help of his secretaries. He was courteous, even to those who were beneath him, and was on good terms with the citizens. He looked down upon the people with confident self-com- placency ; he was, in fact, high bred, and knew right well that his nobility did not rest on many titles, nor on the knightly ensigns on his escutcheon ; and he smiled at the Lions, Bears, Turks'-heads, and Wild men, which were painted on the coats of arms, and bestowed by the heralds' office at Vienna. He regarded with contempt the French nobility, among whom, through Paris meix;hants and Italian adventurers, too much foreign blood had been intermingled ; on the Hungarians, who complacently allowed their nobility to be confeixed for a bow and a chancery fee by the Palatiue ; on the Danes, whose noble- men had a monopoly of the cattle trade ; and on the Italians, who made unceasing mesalliances. The fine- gentleman airs, also, of the greater part of his German equals annoyed him : for even at the meeting of his States he had frequent contentions for precedence, espe- cially with the prince's councillors, who were not -of the 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 87 nobility, but wished to assert the privileges of their rank. If there were citizens and noble councillors in the same board, to these in the sittings, a higher position and seni- ority in office, gave the priority ; but at banquets and all representations, according to Imperial decision, the noble- man, as he well knew, had the precedence. It was his usual complaint, that the nobles themselves assumed their titles, armorial bearings, and dignities, or sought them in foreign countries ; also that, whoever had received the diploma of count or baron from the Imperial chancery, expected to be called Reichsgrdfiiche or Reichsfreiherrliche Gnaden, literally Countly or Baronial Grace, and speaks of himself in the royal plural.* The worthy gentleman still retained some of the traditions of knighthood ; a valiant officer was treated by him with respect, and he valued arms and horses much. The best adornment of the waUs of his well-built house, besides the great family pictures, were beautiful weapons, pistols, couteawc-de-diasse, and every kind of hunting implement. By the side of the flower- garden, kitchen-garden, and orchard, lay a riding-ground, where were to be found apparatus for riding at the ring, or for breaking light Wooden lances at the faqwm, or qtiimtvn, a wooden figure. His horses had still Italian or French names, — Furioso, Bellarina, &c., for as yet the English blood had not been introduced; they had been bred from Neapolitan and Hungarian horses. Turkish nags, as now the pony, were much sought after ; thorough- bred horses bore a comparatively higher price than now, for the long war tad shamefully lowered the breed of horses throughout Europe. His dog-kennel was well fur- nished, for, besides bulldogs, he required hounds, pointers, and terriers; to these influential companions of his life • This complaint may be found in " Imp. Samct.," 9th Feb., 1684, 88 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ct. II. he also gave high sounding names — Favour, Rumour, &a It is true, the chase of the higher game was the right of his sovereign; but the hateful custom of baiting the game had beeli long ago introduced into the country from France. Thus he rode eagerly with his hounds after hares and foxes, or, by invitation, he accompanied * some great lord deer-hunting, and received visits from some friendly court official, who had the command of some falcons, which were flown at crows. In October he was not ashamed of going after larks, and inspecting the sprynges. He began the day decorously, and ended it with pleasure ; he regularly took an aperient, was bled, and went to church ; he held every week his magisterial or justice days. After the morning greetings with his family, on leisure days he had his horses exercised ; in the harvest week he rode to the fields, and looked after the reapers and the inspector. A great portion of his time was passed in visits which he received or made in the neighbourhood. At his repast, which took place soon after twelve, game played the principal part ; if he had guests, seven or eight dishes were served generally at the same time. If conversation took a high flight, politics were cautiously touched upon, matters of faith very tm- willingly ; many fine sentences and maxims were stiU in vogue with people of the world ; it was considered refined to quote wiiters of antiquity or elegant French authors without pedantry ; the peculiarities of foreign nations, and also the curiosities of natural history, as known from reading and observation, were gladly., discussed. It was considered good taste to inquire the opinions of indivi- duals by turns. Such conversation, even among cavaliers • For moat of these details from the manuscript diary of an Anstiiari Baron Ton Teuffel, in 1672 and the following years, the Editor has to thank the kindness of Graf "Wolf Baudissiu. 1600-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 89 of the highest quality, would appear to us more formal and pedantic than what we should meet with now in the ■ society of poor schoolmasters ; but even from this con- versation, of which some accidental specimens remain to us, we may discover, in spite of a narrow point of view and numerous prejudices, the striving of the time for enlightenment and understanding of the world. Usually, indeed, the conversation runs on family stories, compli- ments, doubtful anecdotes, and coarse jokes. There was much deep drinking, and only the most refined withdrew from drinking bouts. Sometimes a social meeting with ladies was arranged in another place, at an hotel or inn ; then each lady pro- vided some dishes, the gentlemen wine and music. If there was a bath in the neighbourhood, a journey to it was seldom neglected. Shooting matches were arranged, with appointed prizes, "the first was, then, an ox or a ram ;" the gentlemen shot either together or with the populace. The dress, also, of the landed proprietor was splendid ; his rank might be recognised from afar, for the old ordinances respecting dress were still maintained, and a va,lue was placed upon their wardrobe, both by men and women, which we can now scarcely comprehend. Before the war no insignificant portion of the property was vested in velvet and gold embroidery, in rings and jewels ; the greater portion of this was lost, but pleasure in such pos- sessions remained, and the jewels of the daughter long continued an essential part of her dowry. Numerous were the members of the household, amongst whom there were frequently some original characters. Perhaps, besides the tutor, there might be an old soldier of the great war, addicted to drinking, who knew how to relate many stories about Torstenson, or Jean de Werth ; he taught the nobleman's son to fence, and " to play with 90 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. the Banner."* There seldom failed to be a poor relation of the family, who ruled over the kennel by the title of " Master of the Chase ;" the preserver of mysterious hunting custo&s, he knew how to charm the gun, and had greater acquaintance with the infernal night-hunter than the pastor of the place thought right ; he was con. sidered as ^ trusty piece of old household furniture, and would assuredly have sacrificed his Hfe without hesitation for his cousin ; but he did not scruple to procure more wood for the peasant, with whom he drank at the inn, than was right ; and if the old Junker had his couteau-de- chasse ornamented with silver, the origin of which was doubtful, the landed proprietor was obHged to wink at it.^f^ Thus passed the life of a wealthy landowner between 1650 and 1700. It was perhaps not quite so worthy as it might have been, but it may have transmitted to the next generation family feeling and kindliness of heart. Yet it must be observed that it was only a very small minority of the German nobility who were in so favoured a position in the seventeenth century. Those who wished to make their fortunes in foreign lands far from their families, were threatened with other dangers, from which only the most energetic could escape. The wars in Hungary and Poland, the shameful struggle against France, and a long residence in Paris, were not calculated to preserve good morals. The vices of the East, and of the corrupt court of France were brought by them into Germany. The old love of quarreUing was not im- proved by the new cavalier cartel, the profligate inter- course with peasant women and noble ladies of easy virtue, . * Cojffpare this with the Silesiaa Eobinson, Oct. 8, 1723, vol. i., p. 10, The first part of this Bobinsonade is a vivid sketch |from the diary of a fiilesian noble, which appears to be lost. f. P. Winckler, "The Uobleman," p. ,610. 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWEK NOBILITY. 91 became -worse by the nightly orgies of fashionable cava- liers, at which they represented festive processions with mythological characters, and draped themselves as Diyads, and their ladies as Venuses and nymphs.* The old Lansknecht game of dice was not worse than the new game of hazard, which became prevalent at the baths and courts, and which foreign adventurers now added to those of the country. But there are two more classes of nobles of that period who appear to us still more strange and grotesque, both numerous, and both in strong contrast to one another. They were designated as city nobles and country nobles, and expressed their mutual antipathy by the use of the ignominious terms Pfeffersdche and Kri'ppenreiter.'f Vain and restless citizens strove to exalt themselves by acquiring the Emperor's patent of nobility. These patents had of old been a favourite source of income to needy German emperors. Wenzel and Sigismund had unspar- ingly ennobled traders and persons of equivocal character : in short, every one who was ready to pay a certain amount of florins. On the other hand, in 1416, at the CouncU of Constance, the princes and nobles of the Ehine, Saxony, Suabia, and Bavaria, had set up their backs, made a revi- sion of their own circle, and cashiered the intruders. But the Emperor's patents did not cease on that account, Charles V. himself, who sometimes looked down on the German lords with ga.lling irony, and willingly gave to his chancellor and secretaries the chance of perquisites, * "We are averse to quoting the erotic books wliich corrupted German readers ; we sMl only mention a short and scarce tale, wherein some such, orgies are described after the Dutch original : "The Perverted, but at the same time Converted, Soldier Adrian Wurmfeld von Orsoy," by Crispinus Bonifacius von Diisseldorp, p. 4. 1675. 4to. + PfeffersiicTce, Pepper-saci, and Krippemreiter, a poor covmtiy Squire> who rides about living on the bounty of the gently. — Tr. 92 PICTUBES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Cli. H- had the sad repute " of audaciously raising, for a few ducats, every salt-boUer to the order of nobility." Still more business-like were these proceedings under Ferdi- nand II. and hia* successor. For after the Thirty Years' War, not only the living, but the bones in the graves of their ancestors were ennobled, nay, the dead ancestors were even declared worthy of being admitted into noble foundations and to tournaments. At last, after 1648, this traflSc of the Imperial court was carried on to such an extent that the princes and states at the breaking up of the Imperial Diet of 1654, and a hundred years later at the election of Charles VII., protested against the detriment which accrued to their own rights of sovereignty and revenues from such a privilege. The newly ennobled in the cities* were therefore not to be exempt from the bur- dens of citizens, and the possessor of a property by villein tenure was not to be invested with the privileges attached to a noble estate. In vain did the Imperial court threaten those with punishment who would not concede the pur- chased privileges to its patents of nobility. Those also who were declared fit for tournaments and noble benefices, were not on that account received into any knightly order, or noble endowment, nor in any old noble provincial unions. The noble benefices generally did not take patents of nobility, as proofs of noble extraction ; it was only the members of old noble families possessing no such patents who were admissible into these endowments. It was only exceptionally that these corporations gave way to a high recommendation. Even the court offices, those of chamberlain, groom of the bed-chamber, equerry, hunting and other noble pages, were privileges of the old nobility. The patents of nobility never forgot to celebrate the virtues and the services rendered both to the prince and commonwealth by the newly ennobled and his ances- 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 93 tors ; but, as a zealous defender of the old nobility com- plains, it was too well-known that, in general, it was only for the " Macherlohn " (pay, for the making) that nobUity was given. In the larger cities, which were not the residence of princes, the position of the nobility was very different. In Hamburg, Liibeck, and Bremen, the nobles had no politi- cal weight ; on the other hand, at Niiremberg, Frankfort-on- the-Maine, Augsburg, and Ulm, the old race of nobility lived in proud isolation from the rest of the citizens. Worst of all were the Niirembergers, who considered it even degrading to carry on commerce. Of two noble societies of Frankfort-on-the-Maine,one, the house of Alten- Limpurg, required of every member who presented himself for admission, eight ancestors, and that he should keep out of trade ; the other society, of the house of Frauenstein, consisted mostly of newly-ennobled merchants " of distinc- tion." In Augsburg, the old patricians were more in- dulgent to merchants : he who had married the child of a patrician family, could be received into the noble society. The" remaining commercial cities of note, Prague and Breslau, were most amply supplied with newly ennobled merchants. There was bitter complaint that, under the Emperor Leopold, even a chimney-sweeper, whose trade was then in particularly low esteem, could for a little money procure nobUity, and that frequently tradesmen, with patents of nobility in their pockets, might be found packing up herrings for their customers in old paper. After the Thirty Years' War, officers also sought for patents of nobility, and they were often granted to them for their services, as also to the higher officials and mem- bers of the city administration in the larger cities. It was through families who had taken part in the literary and poetical culture of the time, that patents 94< PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [di. H- of nobility in this and the following century entered into our literary class. Many poets of the Silesian school, nay, Leibnitz, Wolf, and HaUer, were placed among the privi- leged of their *ime by patents of nobility, which they themselves or their fathers had acquired. Wholesale traders were never esteemed in Germany, nor held in that consideration by the privileged classes of the people, which the great interest they frequently repre- sented deserved. They had of old been mistrusted and disliked ; this originated, perhaps, in the time when the astute Romans exchanged, among the simple children of Tuisko, the foreign silver coin, for the early products of the country. The feudal system of the Middle Ages required this disregard of wealth, and not less so Christianity, which commanded men to despise the riches of this world, and granted to the wealthy so little prospect of the Kingdom of Heaven. Since the time of the Hohenstaufen, after the nobles were constituted as a privileged order, the antago- nism between the rich money-makers of the city and the needy warriors of the country, was more and more strongly developed. In the Hanse Towns of the north undoubtedly the warlike merchant obtained dominion and respect by his armed vessels, even in distant countries. But the rich and highly cultivated gentlemen of Niiremberg and Augs- burg, were scarcely less distasteful to the people than to the princes and nobles who dwelt in predatory habits on the frontiers of their domain ; it was not the Fuggers alone who were accused by the Reformers of usury and un-German feeling. After the Thirty Years' War, this en- mity bore new fruit, and one can easily believe that the great merchants gave no little occasion to keep alive such antipathy. No human occupation requires such free com- petition and such unfettered intercourse as trade. But the whole tendency of the olden time was to fence in from 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 95 the outer world, and to protect individuals by privileges ; such a tendency of the time could not fail to make the merchant hard and reckless ; his endeavours to obtain a monopoly, and to evade senseless laws with respect to the interest of money, gave the people, frequently with jus- tice, the feeling that the gains of the merchant were pro- duced by the pressure they exercised on the consumer. This feeling became particularly vigorous after the Thirty Years' War. Whilst in Holland and in England the mo- dem middle classes were pre-eminently strengthened by widely extended commerce, German commerce — except in the larger sea-port towns — was prevented from attain- ^. ing a sound development by the subdivision of territory^ the arbitrary dues, the varying standard of money, and, not least, by the poverty of the people ; on the other hand, there was constant temptation to every kind of usurious traffic. The diversity of German coinage, and the un- scrupulousness of the rulers, favoured an endless kipperei : to buy up good coin at an advantage, to clip gold of full weight, and to bring light money into circulation, became the most profitable occupation. As now, multifarious stockjobbing, so then, illegal traffic in coined metal, was to a great extent the plague of commercial towns. It was not to be exterminated. If sometimes the scandal became too great, then indeed the governments tried a blundering interference : but their courts were hoodwinked. Thus, in Frankfort-on-the-Maine, the clipping of ducats was carried on to such an extent, that a special commission was sent from Vienna to the free Imperial city ; Jews had been the colporteurs of Christian commercial houses, among which many great firms, whose names are still in existence, were the great culprits. The only result was that the Imperial commissaries pocketed the larger portion of the illicit 96 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. Sucli wealth, acquired rapidly, and contrary to law, had, as now, aU the characteristics of an unstable acquisition : it seldom] lasted to the third generation. It turned the culprits into spendthrifts and pleasure-seekers ; their ar- rogance and deficiency of culture, and their ostentation, became especially offensive to their own fellow-citizens. It was more particularly such individuals who bought patents of nobility ; and it was assuredly no accident that, of the numerous noble families of this kind, many in pro- portion have become extinct. One of the newly ennobled of such a circle kept his real name in the firm, but among his fellow-citizens he adhered jealously to the privileges of his new order. He liked to have his coat of arms carved in stone and richly gilt on the outside of his large house, but the stone did not gua- rantee long duration to its possessor. It was striking, for example, to obsei-ve in Breslau, how quickly the houses on the great crescent, which then belonged almost exclusively to the new patent nobles, changed their possessors. In the interior of the house ostentatious luxury was displayed, which in this period of misery was doubly gratiag to the people. The rooms were decorated with costly carpets, with Venetian mirrors of immense size, with silk hang- ings and tapestry, which on festive occasions were fixed on the walls or on a special framework, and afterwards re- moved. The women sewed diamond buckles on their shoes, and it was a subject of complaint that they would wear no lace that was not brought from Venice or Paris, and did not cost at least twenty thalers the ell ; nay, it was reported of them that their night utensils were of silver. Great was the number of their lackeys ; their car- riages were richly gilt, the coachmen drove from a high box four horses, which were then harnessed abreast ; but when the splendid equipage rattled through the streets. 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 97 the people called out deridingly, "That the pot always tasted of the first soup." The rich man could well keep fine horses, as he at the same time traded in them ; and the workmen in the business, the porter, carpenter, and apprentice, were put into the costume of lackeys, but the page who went behind the lady was generally a child from the poor school. In such houses there was also the most luxurious living. The invited guest was received with a formality that was then characteristic of the highly educated ; the host met him on the staircase, and to one of the highest distinction went even to the house door ; verbose were the comphments on receiving precedence or the higher place at table, and yet the greatest value was attached to not humbling themselves too much. As soon as they were seated at table, the buffet was opened, in which was a mass of costly plate. The dishes were large and the viands in keeping, but out of all proportion to the number of guests ; the most expensive things were procured, with a refinement that still astonishes us ; gTeat pies, filled with various game, black game, pike liver, and Italian salad. The pheasants and partridges were caponed and fed, a brace cost as much as a ducat ; it was thought horrible that these spendthrifts gave a gulden for a fresh herring, and from eight to ten thalers for a hundred oysters. To these were added the costly wines of the seventeenth century, Tokay, Canary, Marzenin, Frontignac, Muscat, and finally wine of Lebanon ; at dessert there was no longer marchpane, but candied citron, the fashionable delicacy. The ladies sat adorned and silent. It was com- plained that their principal anxiety in the choice of a husband was, that their intended should be of rank, that they might foUow near to the corpse at funerals, and have a high place at weddings. On such occasions they went little short of boxing each other's ears for precedence. So 98 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. far -was the eagerness for rank carried, that he considered himself materially better whose new patent of nobility- dated ten years earlier than that of another ; and these city nobles •considered fresh creations in nowise their equals. Whoever had been lately ennobled was only called "Wohledel" (just ennobled), but he who had for some time been in possession of his patent,. was called, "Hoch- and-edelgeborne Gestrengigkeit" (high and noble-bom wor- ship). Every effort was made to obtain a title in addition to their city dignity. The military dignities also of the city were often occu- pied by the greenhorns of such families ; a poor wight who had never been on a battle-field, -with a staff thickly set with silver, with armed jager behind him, might be seen passing daily from city gate to city gate, in order to parade before the people, and to receive the salute of the guard. Only one thing was required of him, he must know how to handle his sword, for duels were part of the existence of the nobleman. It was desirable for him to have been at least once called out by cartel. He then rode -with his second to the nearest village ; behind a hedge he pulled off his riding-boots, put on light fencing shoes, fastened his long curly hair under his cap,* took off his upper gar- ments, and had to choose one of the rapiers which were presented to him. They fought in rounds, by cut and thrust, and a well-settled duel never failed to be followed by a reconciliatory drinking bout. They Uked to boast of such heroic deeds. Such were the " Pfeffersdcke,'' who were called also by the country nobles, " HeHngsnasen" (flatnoses). This country nobility was of quite another stamp. They were more numerous two centuries ago than at * The Student's cap used in sham fights. 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 99 present. Besides the family seat, they possessed village- houses, and small farms. Sometimes a family had in- creased so much, that in the neighbourhood of an old estate, many villages were occupied by relatives ; and still more frequently did branches of different families dwell indiscriminately in a village, in every grade of authority. Even in our century there have been middle-sized villages, enclosing ten, twelve, and more gentlemen's seats. In such districts, each little despot exercised dominion over a few miserable villagers, and had a seigneur ial right -to a por- tion of the village district ; but the poorest had no real property, and sometimes only rented their dwellings. Thus it was in almost all the provinces of Germany, more especially east of the Elbe, in the colonised Sclavonian countries ; also in Franconia, Thuringia, and Swabia. Many of the Junkers only differed from the other country people in their pretensions, and their contempt for field labour. Even before the war, most of them had been im- poverished, and when peace came at last, they were in stiU worse phght. War and pestilence had made havoc among them, and the survivors had not become better. The more powerful had tried their luck as soldiers and partisans, differing little sometimes from highway robbers. During the wai- they had laid out their booty in the pur- chase of some small estate, on which they dwelt, restless and discontented. These fortunate individuals received frequent visits from old comrades, and then ventured to make raids from their property on their own account, which seldom ended without bloodshed. After the war they ceased plundering; but the lawlessness, the craving for excitement, the restless roving, and the inclination for wild revelry and quarrels remained in the next generation. They united themselves into a large company, which, in spite of endless brawls, continued to hold together, like Tl 2 100 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ci- H- entangled water-plants on a marsh. This family con- nection became a ceaseless plague to the better disposed, and a misfortune for the whole class ; and more than any other evil retarded, during the following century, the cul- ture, civilisation, and prosperity of the landed nobility. The sons of these poor landowners learnt to ride, dance, and fence, and perhaps the first rudiments of Latin from a poor candidate ; then, if the father had connections, they served as pages at some small court, or to a distin- guished nobleman. There they learnt, to a certain extent, good manners ; and, more certainly, the weaknesses and vices of the higher orders. If they remained some years in noble service they were, according to old usage, declared capable of bearing arms, and released as Junkers with a gracious box on the ear. Then they returned to the parental estate, or the parents sold what they could spare to procure them an outfit befitting a gentleman, and sent them as aspirants for subaltern places in the Imperial army. Few of them prospered in the inglorious wars of that period ; most returned home, after some campaigns, corrupted and poor both in honour and booty, to share with their sisters the paternal inheritance. Soon they differed little from the relations who had remained at home. These landowners dwelt in buildings of clay and wood, roofed with straw or shingles, — a sufficient number of casual descriptions and drawings have been preserved to us ; across the roof lay the great fire-ladders ; the front and back doors of the hall were provided with crossbars for closing them at night. On the ground-floor was the large sitting-room ; near it the spacious' kitchen, which was a warm abode for the servants ; next the sitting-room there was a walled vault, with iron gratings to the window, and if possible with iron doors, as a protection against thieves and fire, — whatever valuables a landowner pos- 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 101 sessed were kept there, and if a sum of money was depo- sited there, a special watchman was placed before the house. Above this vault, in the upper floor, was the bedroom of the master of the house ; there was the marriage-bed, and there also was a concealed safe, either in the waU or floor, wherein some plate and the jewellery of the women were kept. The children, the tutor, and the housekeeper slept in small closets, which could not be warmed, divided by trellis-work. Sometimes a wooden galleiy was attached to the upper floor, the " little pleasure walk ;" there the linen was dried, the farmyard inspected, and the work of the women done. The house was under the special care of some old trooper, or poor cousin, who slept within as watcher. WUd dogs roamed about the farmyard and round the house during the night ; these were specially intended to guard against beggars and vagrants. But all these measures of precaution could not entirely hinder the in- roads of armed bands. Even a good-sized estate was an unsatisfactory possession. Most of the landowners were deeply in debt ; ruinous lawsuits, which had begun during the war, were pending over hearth and hUl. The farm was carried on wretchedly under the superintendence of a poor relation or untrustworthy bailiff ; the farm-buildings were bad and falling into ruins, and there was no money, and frequently no good wood wherewith to renew them. For the woods had suffered much from the war ; where there was an opportunity of sale, the foreign commanders had caused lai-ge forests to be felled and sold. In the neighbourhood of fortified places the stems were employed for fortifications, which then required large quantities of wood ; and after the peace much was felled for the neces- sary erection of villages and suburbs. The farm also bore little produce. Not only teams, but hands, were wanting f6r the tillage ; and the average price of corn, after the 102 PICTURES OF GERMiN LIFE. [Ch. II. war, was so low that the product hardly paid for the car- riage, and in consequence they kept few horses. New capital was difficult to acquire ; money was dear, and mort- gages on the*properties of nobles were not considered an advantageous investment. They, undoubtedly, gave a certain amount of security ; but the interest was too often irregularly payed, and the capital could not easily be recovered. The acquisition of mortgaged goods, also, by the creditor, was possible only in certain cases, and by tedious proceedings ; it was sometimes even dangerous, for the friends and neighbours of the debtor would threaten the new possessor with their hatred. In the eastern fron- tier countries the dissatisfied creditors endeavoured to in- demnify themselves by selling their bonds to Polish nobles. These procured the money by making reprisals on travellers from the district of the debtor, and taking the sum from the first comers. This had, indeed, happened before the great war ; and repeated prohibitions show how much com- merce suffered from those deeds of violence.* By such evils even a sensible landed proprietor was soon easily thrown into a desperate position. A bad harvest, or a mortality among the cattle, would probably ruin him. But the chief evil was that a great number had not sense enough to occupy themselves perseveringly with their farm- ing, and to limit their expenses within the certain income of the property. Thus few were prosperous. Most of them passed their lives amidst embarrassments, lawsuits, and endless debts ; even those who had entered on the posses- sion of their property with better hopes, became at last, like the greater number of those of their own class, mem- bers of the great association which the people nicknamed " Krippenreiter." * In 1603 this -was already denounced from Vienna ; the ahuse hecame very bad during the war. — Kais. Privil. und Sanct., vol. i., p. II7. lSOO-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 103 These impoverished gentlemen rode in bands from farm to farm ; they invaded the neighbourhood like troublesome parasites whenever a feast was celebrated, whenever they scented the provisions in the kitchen and cellar. Woe to the new acquaintance whom they picked up at the houses of others ; they immediately volunteered to accompany him home for a day or week. Where they had once quartered themselves it was very difficult to get rid of them. Not select in their intercourse, they drank and brawled with the peasants at the tavern ; when drunk, they, would do a citizen, with a fuU purse, the honour of receiving him into their brotherhood. Then kneeling amid broken glasses and flasks, the brotherhood was sealed, eternal fidelity sworn, and generally, he, was denounced as the worst scoundrel, who did not preserve unbroken friendship. Such brotherhood did not, however, prevent a great fight the very next hour. But, common as they made themselves on these occasions, they never forgot that they were " wild noblemen of ancient family." Citizens, and those who had patents of nobility from the Emperor might, indeed, be- come brothers. This kind of familiarity was after the way of the world, but he could not obtain the acknowledgment of family association conveyed by the terms " uncle " and " cousin ;" and even if allied to them by marriage, he was not admitted to their relationship unless he were of noble race. Their children went about in tatters ; their wives sometimes collected provisions from relations, and they themselves trotted over the stubble on shaggy horses, in old greatcoats, with a bit of carved wood instead of a second pistol in the old holster. Their usual place of rest was at the vUlage tavern, or, if they came to a town, in the worst inn. Their language was coarse, full of stable expressions and oaths. They had adopted many of the usages of the rogues, both in language and habits ; they smelt of "finckel- 104 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. jochen " (a bad kind of spirit) more than was agreeable to others. They were, indeed, ragamuffins; and, with all their pugnacity, without real courage. They were consi- dered the pelt of the country, and those who had anything to lose compared them to bluebottle-flies ; more than once sharp decrees * were issued against them by the dif- ferent rulers, and even from the Imperial court, but they were, notwithstanding, haughty and thoroughly aristocratic- minded fellows. Their genealogy, their escutcheons, and their family connection were to them the highest things upon earth. Unbounded was the hate and contempt with which they regarded the rich citizens ; they were always ready to begin a quarrel with the newly ennobled, if they did not give them their full titles, or presumed to bear a coat of arms similar to their own. The following account will make us better acquainted with these fellows, and their mode of intercourse. It carries us to the right bank of the Oder in Silesia, a comer of Germany where " Krvppenreiterei" was particularly bad. There, according to an old popular jest, the devil burst the sack when he endeavoured to carry off in the air a number of " Krippenreiters," and thus emptied out the whole rubbish on this district. The following description is taken from the narrative entitled " The Nobleman," written a few years before his death, by Paul Winckler, a Silesian, political agent and councillor at Breslau of the great Elector ; he died 1686. The narrative was first published after his death in two editions, and finally at Niiremberg, 1697-8. There is no great skill or invention in it, but it is the more useful here on that account. Winckler was a well-educated man of the world, and an eminent jurist, and his numerous * Kaia. Privil. und Sanct., vol. iv., p. 1125. 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 105 travels and alliances, and accurate knowledge of the con- dition of the German landed proprietors, made him par- ticularly capable of forming a sound judgment. He possessed also qualities which are not rarely found in a Silesian ; he knew how to accommodate himself easily to the world, was a cheerful companion, impartial in judg- ment, and a lively narrator. His being a member of the " Fruchibringende" or literary society, probably con- tributed to keep alive his interest in German literature, and encouraged him to modest attempts at authorship. But he was too sensible a man not to regard with con- tempt the purist pedantry with which the associates of his society endeavoured to raise the German poetry. " They sit behind the kitchen of Parnassus, and satisfy themselves with the odour of the roast." He was about fifty when he wrote his narrative, confined to his room by the gout. His object was to point out by a portraiture, what a right sort of nobleman ought to be ; for it had been his fate, throughout his whole Ufe, to live in business relations and personal intercourse with the nobles of different provinces. His wife was a descendant of the poet Von Logau, and he himself was nephew of Andreas Gryphius. His own experience undoubtedly gave him a peculiarly sharp eye for the absurdities of the privileged classes, but he was the true son of his time, and preserved at heart a deep respect for genuine nobility. His narra- tive, therefore, is not by any means a satire, though it has indeed been called so, and the deUneations here imparted give a peculiar impression of being accurate portraits. That which has been a hindrance to modern narrators who have a moral tendency, has indeed been the case with him. He has clearly depicted what the nobles ought not to be ; but his good characters faU in sharp outline and colouring, nay, they become tedious, because he brings forward their 106 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Cli. H- education and principles in lengthy conversations. His narratives may be compared with the tale Simplicissimus, but in creative power, fancy, and fulness of detail the Silesian is infcomparably inferior. Grimmelshausen, how- ever, though possessing greater poetic talent, has an incli- nation for the strange and fantastic, which reminds one of the style of the romance writers, and leaves an impression that what is there represented is not a thoroughly true picture of the time. From this defect the Silesian is entirely free ; he narrates, in a lively and frank style, what he has himself seen, not much, nothing particular, but plainly and precisely. The events of the narrative are very simple. The Dutch then held in German society about the same posi- tion in the German courts that was accorded to English- men not long ago, the impoi-tance of their nation being almost equal to a letter of nobility. A rich yoimg Dutch- man comes to Breslau, becomes witness of a duel between one of the new nobles and a country Junker, hears from his landlord a description of country life, visits the house of an extravagant " Pfeffersaclc" is invited by a young Herr von K., an acquaintance of former times, to a country seat, gains thereby much knowledge of the " Krippen- reiters " from personal observation, hears, an account of an adventure of a Silesian with an English officer, and passes the rest of the time of his country visit, in grave but very prosy conversation (in which the author introduces much of his own views and learning), upon the education of the soldier, upon the nobles by birth and those risen from trade, upon the state of politics, and upon the cul- ture of the ancients in comparison with that of the pre- sent day, &c. On his return to Breslau, the Dutchman learns that the rich merchant who had before invited him to dinner, had become bankrupt and secretly absconded ; 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 107 his life is then related, and the hero leaves Breslau. Thus the whole long narrative contains only five descriptions which would he interesting : two of them will be given. Some coarse expressions are softened ; they are a little shortened, and the language, only where it appears indis- pensable, modernised. First the landlord relates how he studied as the son of a tailor, then married a wealthy " Kretschmerin" (or landlady), and after her death, from an unfortunate striving to become great, bought a patent of nobility in order to settle in the country. He then continues thus : — " A not very trusty friend advised me to settle in a part of the country where certainly the noble estate was at a low price, but of which the income also was small ; another friend, it is true, advised me against this, and pointed out to me what vexations and crosses I should be exposed to from the ' Krippenreiters ; ' but this did not disturb me, as I knew I was a match for them with the sword, so I dismissed the useful warning from my mind. In short, I bought an estate for 6000 thalers, but soon discovered that I had exposed myself to the lightning, in avoiding the thunder, and that my good friend with his prophecy ■ had shot very near the mark. For when I had scarcely half settled myself, a certain Junker, Vogelbach, with a couple of his associates, were the first to victimise me, as they call it. He lived about half a mile off; not that he had any property of his own, for he only rented a peasant's farm worth about 100 Imperial thalers, and spent his Hfe, like others of the same sort, in ' Krippen- reiterei.' How he maintained his wife and child I know not, but only that I frequently saw his wife with a cart and two ragged children on the estate of opulent nobles, collecting corn, bread, cheese, butter, and the like. They generally came once a month to beg all such articles of me. 108 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. This Vogelbach was, as has been mentioned, the first who, with two of his associates, came to have a 'housewarm- ing.' The fii'st and second time they behaved them- selves with lome degree of discretion, wherefore I put before them what was best in the house. But this, in their opinion, was abundantly balanced by the honour of the noble brotherhood into which they had admitted me, and at last they could no longer refrain from their shabby tricks. 'It would become you, brother Kretschmer,' he began one day that he had filled himself with beer and brandy up to the eyes. But I made him remember these words by an unexpected box on the ear in such a sort that the good fellow was tumbled over into the middle of the room with his stool. My groom, a robust man who had been a soldier, and whom I had taken chiefly as a guar- dian spirit for the like cases of need, when he saw this, seized the other Junker W. by the collar, so tliat he could not stir. ' What,' said he, ' you villain, is it not enough for you to come here so constantly, to fiU. your hungry body and to fatten your meagre carcass ? Do you choose to give my master this Deo gratias ? The devil take me if one of you stir ; I will so trim his Junker jacket, that there shall be a blue fringe on his bare back for six • weeks.' 'We have nothing to do with these quarrels,' answered the two ; ' if brother Vogelbach has begun one, he will know how to carry it out like a true cavalier.' The latter had meanwhile picked himself up, and was about to seize his sword. 'Keep your miserable blood- drawer in its scabbard,' I said, ' or I will assuredly stick the broken leg of this stool into you if you are not satis- fied yet.' Thereupon he held his tongue, and went away with a black eye, accompanied by his noble companions. They mounted their horses and rode out of the gate. But as soon as they considered themselves safe, then they 1600-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 109 began to rail ; they nicknamed me a hundred times a trade-fallen ostler. One of them tried to fire his pistol, but could not succeed ; doubtless because there was neither cock nor trigger to the lock. At last they perceived that I was coming after them with half-a-dozen peasants ; so they hastened off, and sent me, about a fortnight after- wards, aU three at the same time, a challenge, in the belief that I should never have the courage to meet them sword in hand in the open field ; but they found themselves much mistaken. " Being fearful, however, that the whole swarm of sur- rounding Krippenreiters would fall upon me, and unite in giving me a good drubbing, I took with me two troopers who were then in the country, and in the first pass gave V. such a good cut over the shoulder, that his sword fell from his hand, which he could no longer use. W. therefore lost at once all courage, so that on my second fight he was fain to make peace. No one conducted himself better than Michael von S., whom I had before considered the most faint-hearted. He fought well enough, tiU at last this threefold duel ended thus : the two companions were reconciled to me, but Vogelbach stipulated, to have two . more passes on horseback as soon as his arm should be healed, which, nevertheless, he has not carried out up to the present day. " Thus I obtained rest from the brawls of ' Knppenrei- ters,' though there was no diminution of their visits ; nevertheless, I soon experienced a much gTeater and more costly annoyance. My vendor had not only cheated me a good deal in the sale itself, but had concealed from me also an important redeemable interest ; besides which, he had not given up all that was set down in the inventory. So I was obhged to bring a complaint against him before the government, and to employ an advocate. It was long 110 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ci- H- before I could get a fixed hold on my opponent, who be- thought himself of one subterfuge after another, and it also appeared to me that the government had no great wish to help me. My advocate, who knew well what was needful, advised me to gain the Lord Chancellor. I easily saw what his aim was, and to begin with, sent the latter a wild boar together with two kegs of butter for his kitchen; which so far raised the wheel of justice out of the quag- mire, the/' an order was sent to my opponent to produce his answer within a fixed period. With this I had at first to be content; but I soon became aware that before the expiration of the period the game and the butter had been consumed. I heard of no citation, and no counter-statement. Therefore I doubled my deposit, and as the Chancelloress reminded me that her lord had Hked the taste of the butter, and had not fancied any other since, I had again to send, as before, a couple of kegs, together with a malter of oats and a beautiful roebuck. After that a new order soon came, but my opponent was so long in making his appearance, that another malter of corn was at least necessary. This in- deed obtained me a hearing in the court, but only advanced the matter so far that the complaint was read to the de- fendant, and he was ordered to plead within a double Saxon term. But as meanwhile all my presents were more to the taste of my Lord Chancellor than what he bought, I was obliged to send him now one thing now another. He knew that I had a couple of beautiful rifled guns with me, which he got out of me in the following way. He came unexpectedly to see me, and made it appear that he was obliged to ask me as a friend for a night's lodgings. I was to esteem this an especial honour, and had to entertain him as I best could. Meanwhile he looked at my weapons, praised the rifles, and said that he had a particular lildng for such things ; that I might either 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. Ill let tim buy them or order him a similar pair. I soon saw what his aim was, and was obliged to swallow the bitter pill, and it was not only this pair of rifles that I was obliged to give, but also, some months after, a beautiful little silver clock that he saw accidentally hanging against the wall ; all in hopes of his giving a just decision. ' That is a fine groschen by which one can gain a thaler,' said my advocate ; ' a full purse seldom meets with a bad decision ; the purse of a suitor should be fastened by a cobweb, just as with a lover. And as with a golden lance the strongest man can be lifted out of his saddle, so all will go well if a gentleman can once make up his mind to give.' In short, silver-gilt flagons, four marks in weight, went one after the other, and yet at last I found an ass where I had looked for a crown. The following was the conclusion ; that a commission should be immediately appointed, to endeavour to adjust the affair amicably be- tween us, and thus to relieve from henceforth the highly praiseworthy government from this long and troublesome lawsuit. How much this went to my heart it is easy to guess : I cursed the hour when I had thought of country life, and adjusted my differences with my opponent before the commission had even been appointed. Instead of 1600 thalers, which I had a right to demand, I took 500, which was scarcely enough to pay the costs. At the same time he acknowledged to me candidly that he had spent no less than 300 thalers in similar bribery. So it would have been far better if we had come to an agreement in the beginning. " Meanwhile I burdened myself with a household cross, that cut me to the soul far more than this lawsuit. Soon after the purchase of the property I had married into one of the old noble families of the neighbourhood, which suited me as well as the ice dance did the ass. In the 112 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch- H- beginning I was little disposed to do so ; it was my wish to obtain the daughter of some good citizen with a few thousand thalers, and thereby to improve my housekeeping. But the false friend who over-persuaded me to the pur- chase, advised me to marry no one that was not of the old nobility, and also in the neighbourhood. ' In the first place,' said he, ' it is very uncertain whether the gentle- man will meet with a rich party in Breslau, although he has got ennobled. But further, such city ladies as these have so little knowledge of coimtiy housekeeping that they do not even know a cow or an ox, nor what cheese or curds are. But the gentleman's household requires a mistress who has been brought up to it from her youth ; such a marriage also is the only means of forming his children ia time into country nobles.' With this view he proposed a lady of the neighbourhood, and offered himself to be the wooer. ' She is pretty, a good housekeeper, has some for- tune, and is of old family ; it will be impossible for the gentleman to find all that together in the city.' When I asked him what was the extent of her means, he boasted that it was 2000 thalers. I certainly doubted this, even then, as it was so large a marriage dower for the country, that any baron would have snapped at it ; yet I let myself be persuaded at last, as the lady was not Hi-educated, and my new nobility had driven aU sound sense out of my brain. I soon found that the above pretended 2000 thalers sank to 400 ; even these were pending in a doubtful lawsuit, which would scarcely leave as much as would amount to the costs incurred, or as would pay for nuptials suitable to my position. Nevertheless, in the be- ginning I loved her on account of her good looks, and every- thing was knocked out of my head. As she had brought with her, however, no jewels, clothes, or other female orna- ments, I inquired once of my lady mother-in-law where 1500-18p0.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 113 the chains, rings, and two taffeta di'esses were, in which I had found my love dressed when I wooed her. But she answered me with a jeering smile, that if I had got her only in her shift I ought to be content, and feel thankful that such a noble family had demeaned itself so far as to give me their child, and they would still have trouble enough to wipe off this disgrace among their friends, who would decidedly not have consented to this marriage. But as concerned the dresses and ornaments, I must know that they had other daughters to think of and provide for. It was, besides, the custom in the country to procure a dress and ornaments which might do for two or three daughters ; when one of them was smartly attired, it was the duty of the others to attend to the housekeeping, or if guests arrived, to feign illness, and content them- selves with bed, till it was their turn. Therefore I must be satisfied, and if I would not let my wife appear so as to be a disgrace to me, I should, out of my own means, provide her with dress and ornaments befitting a noble lady. Thus all my ready money went, especially as the wedding had cost me much, for almost the whole province, with their wives, children, servants, and horses, fastened themselves upon me for a fortnight, and I could not rid myself of them so long as anything was to be found in the kitchen and cellar. Also what I procured for my wife was never rich and costly enough to please her and her mother ; they always found some deficiency, and wished to have everything more perfect. "Nevertheless, I controlled myself, and would have minded no expense, if I had only gained the smallest thanks for it ; but what most pained me, was to feel that neither my wife nor any of her friends held me in the shghtest consideration. Moreover my dear mother-in-law was a thoroughly malicious, proud, false woman, and as> 114 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. according to the rpot of the tree, so are the leaves, her daughter followed in her footsteps. And as on this account I could no longer be fond of her, my groom often met -with more friendly looks than I did. I had no reason to complain of her relatives [not visiting me, for they did so oftener than I liked, and they did their best to consume aU that they found. They thought that the devil would take them if they called me brother- in-law or uncle ; the brotherhood must be considered all ' allegorical, and my mother-in-law took care, that the word 'son' should not escape her lips, especially if strangers were present. Never were they so comfortably together as when I was absent at Breslau or elsewhere ; then they had the best opportunity to make themselves jolly at my expense, and they did so with some wine of which I kept three or four bottles in my cellaret for myself and my wife,, and I found it quite empty when I returned home. Yet even that might have passed, if they had only not taken from me the com from the ground, nay, even the qows and calves without my know- ledge, and conveyed them away secretly for their noble relatives. But he who receives four thalers, and has to spend six, has no reason to care for a purse. So that I could easily calculate that in a short time I should become as good a Krippenreiter as my neighbours. " But it pleased God to deliver me from this danger by the death of my beloved, who died in childbirth. Even under these circumstances I had to undergo a severe storm from my vexatious noble mother-in-law. She filled heaven and earth with her lamentations over the decease of her daughter, and wished to persuade all the world that the good woman had died of grief, that she had not married suitably to her position, and that it had been her (the mother-in-law's) fault. I bore with her folly for a 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 115 time, in hopes that the game would some day come to an end ; but at last she broke out still further, and desired to have the ornaments and dresses I had bought for her daughter, and whatever else she had in her keeping, for another daughter. I threw at her feet some rags she had brought with her, and caused the corpse to be placed in a respectable coffin in the family vault, without inviting the mother-in-law or any other relations. I then determined to sell the property at the first good opportunity and betake myself again to the city. " Sitting one evening thoughtfully at the window, looking at the servant doing his work, I accidentally observed that some one was at the gate defending himself with naked sword against the assault of the dog. I called out to the servant to hold back the dog, whereupon I was accosted by a well-dressed man with many compliments. ' My lord uncle,' he said, ' will not take it amiss if, according to knightly fashion, I do myself the honour of calling on you for a night's lodging in order to have the honour of making your acquaintance.' 'Not in the least,' I replied, 'if the noble gentleman will please to be satisfied.' I invited him in, and as the cavaUer was so free with his cousinship, I could easUy perceive that he was not of the neighbourhood. He soon let me know that he was a free knight of the Empire, from Alsace, and had been so ruined by the French, that he preferred turning his back upon his burnt pro- perty to submitting to their sway ; now he was going to the Imperial court to seek military service. I could perceive the emptiness of this braggadocio from his knowing none of the noble families with whom I had made acquaint- ance in a former residence in Alsace. Therefore I dealt cautiously with the fellow, and the good lord and brother of the Imperial nobility was obliged to be satisfied with a straw mattress and pillow for his head. When I rose the I 2 116 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [^^ ^^■ next morning, I found neither Junker nor bedclothes, and missed, besides, my sword and pistols, which I had left m the sitting-room. I forthwith ordered my servants to mount and pifrsue him with clubs, and if they found the rascal, to knock him down and then let him escape, but bring back my things ; for I was convinced that the man was a pickpocket, and that I should gain no advantage by his capture, but an expensive penal process, and have at last to pay for his hanging. The servants found him with his booty in the nearest wood, and executed my orders thoroughly. They brought my things back, but these cost me dear in the end ; for, scarcely four days after, my place was burnt over my head in the night, without doubt by this rascal, so that I could hardly save the dweUiag- house, but was obliged to look on at the destruction of the barns and stables, which with com and cattle were burnt to the ground. " This misfortune disgusted me so with countiy life, that I only buUt a couple of stalls for the remaining cattle, and shortly afterwards sold for 4000 thalers the property for which I had given 6000. After that I betook myself to the city." Such is the narrative of the countiy householder to the young Dutchman, A few days after, the stranger had an opportunity himself of observing the life of an impoverished Silesian country noble. A young Herr von K., an educated and travelled cavalier, invited him to the property of his parents, and asked him to take a ride with him from thence . to a neighbouring property where a christening was to be celebrated. The Herr von K. begged our hero to consent to allow himself to be introduced as a major in . the Dutch service, " For I know," he said, " that otherwise these noble peasants will have no scruple in giving you the last place, and will show you no consideration, in spite of 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 117 your superior education, and although, without impove- rishing yourself, you might easily huy the whole of their property put together." What the Dutchman then ob- served he relates as follows : — "The entertainment was of such a nature that there was no danger of the table breaking down under the weight of the dishes : a good dish of small fish with onion sauce, calf's head and trimmings, the whole interior of a pig in as many various dishes as there were parts, a couple of geese, and two hares ; besides this, such rough watery beer, that one was soon obliged to have recourse to not much better brandy. In spite of this the society, which consisted of some twenty persons, was right meiTy, and the ladies more lively than the affected mercantile ladies of the city nobnity. When the table was removed, a portion of the cavaliers danced about merrily to a couple of fiddles, and the room was filled with the fumes of tobacco. Then Frau von K. began, ' I have taken a fancy for this foreign cavaher, and have hopes that my son, who is also an officer, will be as much loved and esteemed in other places.' Frau Use von der B. answered, ' I, dear and honoured sister, am quite of another opinion. I could never exercise such tyranny on those belonging to me as to thrust them among these fierce soldiers, for I hear that they sometimes fare badly enough — have no warm beds for many nights, and besides, have no one to make them a mug of warm beer or bring them a glass of brandy. If I should hear that my son had been devoured by a long-necked Tartaa-, such as I have lately seen painted at KJretschem, I should be choked with grief Therefore, I have thought it better to main- tain my Junker Hans Christoph as well as I can on our little property at home. I must acknowledge that he has already cost me more than enough ; for when I fitted him out as became a noble, my two best cows went, and I have 118 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. not been able to replace the loss. But what does that matter ; I see with pleasure that he knows how to behave himself like a nobleman. Only see, dear honoured sister, does he not 'dance nimbly, and hasn't he got a capital knack of whirling round with the ladies ; he does not refuse to drink a glass of beer or brandy with any one ; tobacco is his only pleasure in life ; in all societies he makes himself so agreeable, that he sometimes does not come home for three weeks, possibly with a black eye. From that I can quite believe that he lays about him, and defends himself valiantly like a cavalier. Such also shall my Junker Martin Andres become.' The Junker who was standing by her, laid his head on the lap of his dear mother. ' The wild lad knows already that he is a Junker, therefore he does not desire to learn, but prefers riding in the fields with the young horsemen ; he has akeady got into his head that he must wear a sword. This is a new anxiety to me, for I well know that in the end it will cost me a horse, and without special help from God, I shall have to part with a couple more cows. I must, however, buy him an alphabet, for his father always wished him to become a thorough scholar, as he himself was. Yes, if it cost nothing, and it were not necessary to buy so many expensive books for the learned lad, it would deUght me. My eyes run with tears when I think how beautifully his honoured father said grace after meals, and did it as well as the pastor ; also how he once recited before the prince, for a whole half hour, something, I know not what, in pure Latin. One thing pleases me much in my Martin Andres, that he has such a subtle, reflecting head. He himself suggested to me to help him sometimes to gain money, by allowing him to keep the redemption money for the stray cattle impounded on my fields. He is so intent upon this that he lurks the whole day in the com to catch 1600-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 119 a couple of pigs or the like, whereby he has already gained as much as half a thaler. But, nevertheless, if I only knew for certain that my Junker Hans Christoph would prosper in this war business, hke your noble sons, honoured sister, I would not let another year pass without endeavouring to persuade him to go. If he would but become for certaia an officer or a baron, and obtain a rich wife. She, how- ever, to suit me, must be of true, real, noble blood, for otherwise, I swear she should never be permitted to appear before me, even though she were up to her ears ia gold. And who knows, dear honoured sister ? I have all my Hfe long heard that in other countries the nobility are not so good as with us, and that in Holland, from whence this officer comes, the women are driven to the market naked as God has created them, just like the cows. For my deceased honoured mother's sister, the -dear Frau Grete von T. lived to see her son devil-ridden, and he brought home just such a wild woman. This so grieved her that she did not live much longer, and she could not be per- suaded to see this wild woman more than once. But to return to my son. Junker Hans Christoph, if it should so happen that he were not sent among the Tartars, nor obliged to be a sentinel, I would try to persuade my old maid, who altogether reared and waited upon him, to accompany him for a year, and look after him, to wash his shirts and keep his head clean, and I would provide for her by sowing a half peck of flax seed on her account.^ " The Frau von K. would, probably have given a good answer to this nonsense, if she had not been led off to dance by Herr von K. Thus she left the old lady alone, with whom the Junker Vogelbach, who was present, and had a tobacco-pipe of a finger's length ia his mouth, held this discourse: — 'How are you'r— how fares it with you, ,my honoured and dear cousin ? I observe that you rejoice 120 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. to see Junker Hans Chiistoph enjoy himself. My word for it, he is an honest lad ; I could have wished that he had heen with me some days ago, when I had a tussle with a ' Pep(J)ersack ' of Breslau ; he would have seen with wonder how I belaboured the feUow ; he had to beg for life, and afterwards to give a stately banquet in the best style to me and my seconds, at which we so enjoyed ourselves, that the good wine flowed like a river.' To this the old lady Von der B. replied : ' It is truly to your honour that, for the sake of a drinking bout, you make yourself so common with the citizens ; and, above all, you. Junker Martin Heinrich, who are always hankering after wine, if only you can catch a glass, you drink in brotherhood with all sorts of people, be they citizens or nobles. Yes, you, indeed, as I have heard, call these Peppersacks uncle or cousin. If I could be sure of this, I swear that all my Ufe long I wiU never caU you cousin. Tell me, what is that scar you have on your forehead? Without doubt you have got it in another quarrel with them. That would do well enough if you would only not mix with the citizens.' '" Do you take me for a fool,' said Junker Vogelbach, ' that I should call these feUows uncle or cousin, though the Emperor should have given them ever so grand a patent ? Brother is well enough, so long as they give good wine ; but we say, henceforth we will let the knaves alone.' "Meanwhile the guests made themselves merry with tobacco, drinking, and varied converse, during which the Dutchman remarked, that, of the two tolerably well edu- cated daughters of the host, one only was to be seen at a time at the dance, and each was dressed from head to foot the same as the other; from which he concluded that these good maidens were obliged to content themselves with one and the same dress, and that whilst one danced in the room, 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWEK NOBILITY. 121 the other, who had retii-ed, had to wait patiently without till her turn came again. ' Axe not those dear children 1 ' said their mother, who had seated herself with the other ladies, to Frau von der B. ; 'they do all in so noble and suitable a style, it does my heart good to see how every- thing becomes them. If the Peppersacks in the city were to hang ever so much finery about them, the citizen would stiU peep out.' ' You say rightly,' said the other ; ' my heart leaps within me when I see these city people swagger about in such fine dresses and ornaments, in their gilded carriages. Think I to myself, be as ostenta- tious as you will, were you every day, even to drink pearls instead of your best wine, you are stUl citizens, wiU remain citizens, and can never become equal to us.' "Amidst such woman's prattle, laughing, shouting, dancing, and jumping, the night wore away, and as Von K. could well anticipate, that this entertainment would be concluded with the usual brawls and quarrels, he gave our Dutchman a wink, and retired with him to the house of a peasant of his acquaintance, where they passed the night on straw. The groom of the Herr von K. awoke them the foUoAving morning, saying, if they desired to witness a three-fold fight, in which Vogelbach would be the most distinguished combatant, they must rise quickly and betake themselves to a spot near the village, on the Polish frontier. Neither of them having any desire to do so. Von K., who felt ashamed that his countrymen were such ragamuffins, made a sign to his groom to be silent ; they then mounted, and rode away conversing together pleasantly." Here we conclude the narrative of Paul Winckler, About the year 1700, the habits of the country nobles became more civilised,- their life more comfortable, and the bands of Krvppenreiters became rarer. StiU, how- 122 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. ever, individuals were sometimes tempted to defy the ■weak laws of the country, and repeatedly did the govern- ments exert themselves against the cunning and violence by which unlaiwful possession vras taken of the property of the deceased. Still did the greater part of the country nobles suffer from the burden of mortgages ; frequent were the complaints about the rashness with which they were given and sold; and, as it is usually the custom to cheat in drawing up such mortgage-deeds, they far exceeded the value of the estate. Under these circumstances, there were everywhere legal auctions, where they were not pre- vented by feudal tenure or family regulations ; only too frequently were the wax lights again seen burning, which, according to old custom, were burnt on the morning of an auction, and the duration of their flame marked the time during which the bidding of those who were desirous to purchase would be accepted.* In most of the districts of Germany the acquisition of a nobleman's estate depended on the Ritterrecht, or laws and usages prevalent among the nobility in that district. Undoubtedly this custom was not in accordance with common law, but almost everywhere the noble proprietors of the district formed a powerful corporation, which excluded those who were not noble from the fuU enjoy- ment of seigneurial rights of Standschaft, and from their assemblies. Even where those who were not noble were capable of holding a fief, they were so only under limita- tions. Sometimes the citizens of certain privileged cities had the right of acquiring the properties of noblemen, but this expired as soon as they ceased to belong to the favoured city. An exception, also, was sometimes made in favour of the city councillors forming part of the government of * Kajs, Privil. imd Sanct., vol. i., p. 377, year 1712. 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OP THE LOWEE NOBILITY. 123 the eountry, and members of the universities. But the general rule was that those not noble, could only occupy a property as a mortgage, not with seigneurial rights as a possession. Even those who had been ennobled were not free to acquire a nobleman's estate as a possession; it required the consent of the rulers of the country or of the noble States. In the Imperial hereditary provinces this right could only be obtained by those noblemen who were raised to some rank of the higher nobihty ; and even then this right had to be purchased in each individual case, and from the sovereign ruler, and secured by a diploma. The Emperor endeavoured to obtain money even from the old families by obliging them to renew this right by the purchase of a general diploma for all their members. But the Imperial Court imposed other limitations, dividing, up to the most modem times, the last escutcheon of its nobility into Edle, nobles, Herren, gentlemen, and Bitter, knights. Whoever was transferred from the order of citizens to that of nobles or knights, could not be buried with mourning horses and escutcheons if he con- tinued his vocation as a citizen. And so far did Imperial administration reach, that even in 1716 a noble lady was forbidden to marry a Lutheran ecclesiastic, because that would be unbecoming a noble.* But the approach of a new time may be clearly per- ceived, soon after 1700, in the life of the noble, as well as that of the peasant. It consisted in a better tone of feeling, both as head of a household and as a landed proprietor. A new literature started up suddenly, large and copious compilations, in which were introduced systematically the duties and secrets of agriculture, husbandry, and house- • Kaia. Privil. und Sanet., vol. iii., pp. 989 and 1021. 124 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. keeping; also of domestic and gentlemanlike education and training ; they are respectable folios, handsomely- bound and adorned with copper-plates, and it was con- sidered meritorious to educate yourself from them. In 1682, von Hochberg had already dedicated his " Country Life of the Noble" to the landed proprietors of Upper Austria. Soon after, the Count Palatine, Franz Phihpp, under the name of Florinus, wrote a similar work, " To the Prudent Householder versed in the Law." Already, in Holstein, and soon after in Mecklenburg, the system of double rotation was introduced on the properties of the nobility. At the same time there was in most of the wealthy old famihes an increasing interest in art and science ; it was thought becoming to have some historical and legal knowledge, to be acquainted with family tradi- tions, and well versed in the aids to history, numismatics, and heraldry. The wives of the country nobles were bene- fitted by the deeper earnestness of the new pietism, and also, after 1700, from the sensible, sober character of the new culture. They were so often told that it was praise- worthy for a lady of rank to concern herself about her household affairs, and to bring up her children as Christian gentlemen in the fear of God, that one may weU believe that these views entered into their daily life. About 1750, a travelled nobleman describes with pleasure what the daily work of the housewife ought to be. Indeed, a nobleman, in the middle of the last century, who lived peaceably on his property, and was tolerably wealthy, had a right to consider himself as one of the most fortunate representatives of his time. He lived uprightly, concerned himself about the great world no more than was necessary, lived in familiar family intercourse with the whole nobility of the neighbourhood, was only occasionally tipsy, reared his foals, sold his wool, and disputed with his pastor ; by 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 125 moderate strictness he got on tolerably well with his viUeins, and had but rarely a suspicion how detrimental even to himself was the servitude of his labourers. If an old family was in danger of becoming impoverished, they ■were advised by the aforementioned zealous and well- meaning coadjutor of the noble, to marry with a rich heiress of the respectable citizen class, in case of necessity the family of the lady might be ennobled, and provided with ancestors on both father's and mother's side ; the business, it is true, caused a small blot on their escutcheons, but it would be foUy to regard that much. But. the old families were saved from sinking again into the people by numerous lucrative privileges. Very large was the number of benefices and prebends, and of sinecures in the cathedral church, in the orders of Malta and St. John, and in the monasteries of the nobles and other ecclesiastical endowments ; and there was hardly an old family that had not some connection with them. Very general was the feeling among the nobUity, that the Roman Catholic nobles were better off, because they could more easily provide for their sons and daughters ; whilst the Protestant princes had seized most of the foun- dations. "With pride, therefore, did the so-called knights of the Empire in Franconia, Swabia, and on the Rhine, look down upon the landed nobility ; the Imperial capitu- lation not only assured them privileges, dignity, and great- ness, but they were also closely united with the ecclesias- tical princes and the foundations in their territories, and their families lived, with almost heritable right, to nume- rous ecclesiastical benefices. But, unfortunately, this sup- port had not the effect of ensuring lasting prosperity to their famihes ; nay, it was a chief cause of many becoming impoverished and corrupted in their isolation. But still more fatal to the lower nobility was a privilege 126 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. 11. to wliich, even in the present day, they cling fast as a valuable advantage, and the lowering effect of which is not confined to them, — ^their right of admittance at court. The principle that* any of the old nobility must have free access at court, and that it was not befitting a prince to have social intercourse in any other circle, acquired great impor- tance after the year 1700. At this period the German courts gradually developed the tendencies which they have maintained up to the present day. The Imperial Court, and that of Louis XIV., were the pattern ; but, at the same time, old home usages were continued at particular courts. Ever greater became the number of court appointments ; needy princes even sold them for money.* The lord steward was over the whole court. There was a marshal, called "HofTnarschall," who had charge of the royal house- hold ; on occasions of ceremony he marched in front, with his gold staff and keys, and at the festive table he stepped behind the chair of his gracious sovereign as soon as the confectionery was served. The lord high-chamberlaia really superintended the wardrobe of his royal master ; sometimes with the advice of the royal lady, his wife, and distributed the cast-off clothes, not only to the valet, but to poor cavaliers.-f His office also was important, for the costumes at most of the courts were numerous and various ; it was only at the Pruesian Court, and those connected with it, that the simple military coat of home-made cloth was the usual dress. Elsewhere, not only the gala dresses, but also the special costumes and fancy dresses for the high festivals, were subjects for great consideration, and it was no trifle for the chamberlain to ascertain accurately how the ward- robe at the different entertainments should be fittingly arranged; as when, for example, at the Turkish garden * J. B. TonBokr, "Ceremoniel "Wissenschaft," p. 229. t J. B. von Bohr, Hid., p. 33. 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 127 near Dresden tlie whole court appeared as Mussulmen, or when an extraordinary coronation dress was to be invented, as for the Elector Friedrich August of Saxony at the coro- nation at Cracow* Even the stable became noble ; it was under the master of the horse, as the hunt was under the grandmaster of the chase. As ceremonial had become the peculiar science of court, it was represented at most of the great courts by a grandmaster of the ceremonies. None watched more jealously than the princes themselves the marks of honour which they were to give and receive at visits; if on a visit sufficient respect was not shown to them, they rode away in. anger, and threatened reprisals. Endless, therefore, were the complaints and grievances laid before the Emperor and Aulic Council ; and yet this jealous watch over externals was not the result of self-respect, for in deahng with the powerful they were but too deficient in this. Regulations concerniag precedence were always being renewed; almost every new ruler had pleasure in thus showing his supremacy, but, in spite of all ordinances, the disputes about rank, offices, and titles were endless — worse than the men, were the ladies. In 1750, at one of the * For when the splendid prince had arrived at the ohject of his wishes hy countless bribery to the Polish grandees, and after he had proved his new Catholicism to his party — ^less through the enforced testimony of the Pope than by the expenditure of some thalers and a half measure of brandy to each noble elector — ^then, at his eventful coronation on the 5th of September, 1697, the inventive powers of the chamberlain were strained to the uttermost, for the costume was to be antique, at the same time Polish and also fashionable amd suitable to a cavalier. Therefore the king wore on his well-powdered head a Polish cap with a heron's plume ; on his body a strong golden breastplate, over his short French breeches a short Eoman tunic, on his feet sandals, over all a blue ermine cloak ; the whole dress covered with splendid precious stones. He became faint at the coronation, and it was doubtful whether it was owing to the uncom- fortable costume or to shame. The Poles ate on this day three roast oxen, while at the Emperor's coronation at Frankfort only one was customary. — Compare Fbrster, "Hbfe undCabinette Europas," vol. iii., p. 51. 128 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch- H- royal courts, all the ladies of the nobility left their places in church because the daughter of one of the newly ennobled officials — a "wirklichen Gehevmeratk" — sought for a place in their choir. This wide sphere of trifling interests gave great impor- tance to the nobility, calculating from the Imperial Court at Vienna down to the household of the baron of the Empire, who always maintained one or more poor Junkers in his circle ; together with the collateral and lateral branches of the greater families, it might be estimated that there were some- where about 5 or 600 court households in Germany, be- sides 1500 households of " Knights of the Empire ;" so that, undoubtedly, there were more than 5000 court offices and employments. The enormous number of these court places was not advantageous to the manly character of the noble. To be able to endure with smiles the humours and rough- ness of an unbridled sovereign, to be complaisant as the pliant servant of the despot's licentious desires, and of the mistresses' establishment, was not the worst effect. He was in imminent danger of becoming so base that the coarseness of the poor Krippenreiter appeared compara- tively virtuous. It was a period when the 'noble mother gave her daughter with pleasure into the arms of the pro- fligate prince ; and when the courtier gave up his wife to him for money. And it was not only done by poor nobles, but also by the offshoots of royal houses. The nobles in some German provinces took the opportunity of practising similar complaisance, even in our century, towards Napo- leon's princes and marshals. But the worst was that the great mass of the court nobility drew also the families of landed proprietors, who were related to them, to theii- residences. Sensible men were never weary of complain- ing that the country nobles no longer dwelt on their pro- perties to the great damage of their coffers and morals ; 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 129 but thronged to the neighbourhood of the princes to ruin themselves, their wives and daughters in the pestilential atmosphere of the court. But these were fruitless warn- ings in the greater part of Germany till the middle of the eighteenth century. Those who had more manly ambition filled civil or military offices. There was a peculiar aspect, also, about these nobles that bore office. If the son of an old family studied law, he easily gained by his family connection the situation of councillor ; and rose from thence, if clever and well informed, to the highest offices, even to be de facto a ruler of states, or political agent and ambassador at foreign courts. Besides divers rogues who were drawn forth in these bad times, there were also some men of education, worth, and capacity, among the German nobility of this class, who already in the time of Leibnitz formed the real aristocracy of the order. It became gradually customary for nobles to occupy the highest official posi- tions and the posts of ambassadors, after they had become an established court institution ; also the appointments of officers in the army. Whilst the Imperial armies, to which the young nobles from the greater part of Germany were attracted, retained, even after the reforms of Prince Eugene, somewhat of the aspect of the old Landsknecht army under the Hohenzollems ; the new organization of the Prussian army formed the ground-work of an excellent education for the officers. The Elector Frederic William had perceived that the wild country nobles of his devastated realm could be best turned to account in the army which he created amid the roar of cannon in the Thirty Years' War. He restrained their love of brawls by military discipline ; regulated their rude sense of honour by esprit de corps and military laws ; and gave them the feeling of being in a privileged position, by raising none but nobles to the rank of officers. Thus 130 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ci- H. was effected one of the most remarkable changes in the civilization of the eighteenth century, especially when King Frederic William I. and Frederic II. had so emphatically declared that* every prince of the HohenzoUem house must be both soldier and officer, wear the same coat, be under the same subordination and the same law of honour as the most insignificant Junker from the country. Thus it happened that the descendants of many families that had lived as drones in the Commonwealth became closely bound up with the fondest recollections of the people. But this political privilege of the nobility became, it is true, even in the State of the Hohenzollems, a source of new danger to the families of the nobility, and, which was still more important, to the State itself We shall have occasion to speak of this later. Thus the nobility, about 1750, were at their highest point — everywhere the ruling class. Thousands of their sons did homage, in both the great and small courts; scarcely a less number established themselves in the stalls of ecclesiastical endowments, occupied prebends and carried Imperial " panisbriefa" * in their pockets. The softest seats in the senate, the foremost places in the State car- riages of diplomats, were taken by them ; almost the whole of the State- domains were in their hands. But it was just at this period that a great change took place in the minds of the German people ; a new culture arose, and new views of the value of the things of this world spread themselves, quietly, gradually, imperceptibly, no one knew how or from whence. The German sentences received a new cadence ; German verses became less majestic, and soon even simple- This new seeking after simplicity spread still further. * Letters of recommendation entitling the holder to sustenance in some ecclesiastical foundation. — Tr. 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 131 Certain bold enthusiasts ventured to despise powder, and perukes; this was contrary to all etiquette, but new ideas and new feelings came into circulation. Beautiful tender hearts, and the dignity of man were spoken of Soon, also, distinguished personages among the nobility caught the infection, even Sovereigns ; the Duchess of Weimar went with a certain Wieland in a carrier's cart ; two Reichsgrafen von Stolborg were not disinclined to bend the knee to one Klopstock, and embraced by moon- light the citizen students. i Among the bel-esprits of the citizens who now gained an influence, none was more adapted to reconcile the nc - bles to the new times than Gellert. He was not genial : he knew well what was due to every one, and he gav3 every one his proper place ; he had a refined, modest dis- position, but was rather a pessimist ; he was very re- spectable, and had a mild and benevolent demeanour towards both ladies and gentlemen. Great was the influ- ence that he exercised over the country nobles of Upper Saxony, Thuringia, and Lower Germany. The culture of the new time soon got a footing in these families. The ladies especially opened their' hearts to the new feeling for literature, and many of them became proud of being patronesses of the beautiful art of poetry, whilst the gen- tlemen stiU looked distrustfully on the new state of things. As in Germany, poetry had the wonderful effect of bringing the nobUity into unprecedented union with the citizen class, so at the same time in Austria, music had for a time a similar effect. But there were greater results than the mere poetical emotions with which Kalb, Stein, and the loveable Leng- felds received the German poets. Science now began to speak more earnestly and more powerfully. What she com- mended or condemned became, as if by magic, among hun- K 2 132 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. II. dreds of thousands, the law of life or the object of aversion. Not many years after 1750, in a wide circle of highly cul- tivated minds, which included the most vigorous of the burgher class, together with the noblest spirits among the nobility, the privileges which gave the nobles a position among the people, were considered as obsolete ; and the State ordinances which preserved them were regarded with coldness and contempt. Again there came a stem period ; the noble generals of the Prussian army could not maintain the State edifice of the old HohenzoUems ; they were the first to give up the State of Frederick the Great, and pusillanimously to sur- render the Prussian fortresses to a foreign enemy. One of the necessary conditions for the preservation and restora- tion of Prussia and Germany was, that the nobility must renounce their valued privileges in civil offices, and officers' appointments. Since the rising of the people in 1813, the life and pros- perity of the State has mainly rested on the power and progress of culture in the Gennan citizen. The citizens are no longer, as in the middle ages, a class confronting the other classes ; they form the nation. Whoever would place himself in opposition to it by egotistical pretensions, begins a hopeless struggle. All the privileges by which the nobility up to the present day have sought to main- tain a separate position among the people, have become a misfortune and fatality to themselves. Many of the best among them have long comprehended this ; they are in every domain of intellectual and material interests, in art, science, and State, the representatives of the new life of the nation. Even the country noble, who within the boun- dary of his village district holds faithfully and lovingly to the recollections of the olden time, has in some degree made friends with the new time, and in some sort yielded 1500-1800.] THE LIFE OF THE LOWER NOBILITY. 133 unwillingly to its demands. But among the weaker of them there remains even now somewhat of the hearty dis- position of the old mounted rovers. The modem Junker is an unfavourable caricature of the nobility ; if one ob- serves closely, he is only a pretentions continuation of the old Krippenreiter. Under uniforms and decorations are concealed the same hatred of the culture of the times, the same prejudices, the same arrogance, the same grotesque respect for decaying privileges, and the same rough egotism with regard to the commonwealth. Not a few of thes^^ court and country nobles still consider the State like the full store-room of a neighbour, as their ancestors did two centuries ago ; against these rise the hatred and contempt of the people. CHAPTER III. THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIYALS. (1300-1800.) It is on'the simple truth, that every man is only valuable to his nation and State in proportion to his work, that the power and pride of citizenship rests ; that is to say, in so far as he contributes to the welfare of others. But eighteen hundred years were necessary to establish this principle, and to make it perceptible to Germans, and still does the struggle continue to realize it, to introduce into the cities free competition instead of the corporate privileges of guilds, and into the State the right of personal character against the rights of birth. And yet it is only since this truth has penetrated into society, morals and legislature, that a sure, and as far as man can judge, indestructible foundation has been formed for the vitality of the nation. So slow has been the progress here of modern development. It was from the capacity and the pride of the working citizen that the conviction arose in the German mind of the value of work. It first made the serf a free labourer of the commonalty ; then it created a wealthy citizen class which spread itself firmly between the other classes ; then it helped to add science to the mechanical labour and art of the citizen, and thus made him the representative of intellect, the guardian of civilisation, and the centre of the national strength. By this he ceased to be one of a class, and formed the essential element of the nation. Nothing is more instructive than to observe the way in 300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 135 which the power of the German citizen became effective. However great was the industry, and however much de- veloped the technical skill of handicraft under the Roman supremacy, the collective industrial activity lay under the ban of disregard. In the cities indeed at the beginning of the great migration, the remains of a sumptuous hfe still continued amidst marble columns and the vaulted halls of costly baths ; and the guilds of the old handi- crafts, with their chapels and exchanges were not only the casual forerunners of the later guilds of the middle ages, but perhaps their real progenitors, from whom the Ger- mans acquired numerous handicraft implements and tech- nical dexterities ; nay, even many noble customs. But a great portion of the handicraft of antiquity was not the work of freemen : at least where anything of the nature of manufactures paid well, slave labour increased. Never- theless, many freed men entered the old guilds ; having been furnished by their masters with a small capital, they bought themselves into a Roman corporation : but it must be observed, that not only was such handicraft held to a cer- tain degree in contempt by the full citizens up to the latest time, but the artizans, according to Roman tradition, were allowed little share in the government of the city ; they had, together with undeniable local patriotism, a deficiency of the political culture, the self-respect, and the capacity of self-defence of free-bom citizens. Even among the ancient Germans, who came with the great migration, manual labour was not considered the most honourable occupation of the warrior ; the poor alone used to cultivate the fields or to forge weapons at the smithy ; long did the feeling remain, that there was less honour in earning money than in taking the property of others, in the shape of imposts or booty. Under such a condition of insecurity and violence did the cities arise. 136 , PICTUEES OF GEKMAJJ LIFE. [Ch. III. They were surrounded by strong walls, and shut out from the country, as once were the cities of old Latium ; they were the refuge of oppressed country people, not only from the incursions of enemies, but also from the numerous small tyrants of the open country. For centuries they were governed by privileged free-bom citizens, merchants, and speculators, similar to the Eoman Empire ; but under the patricians, the guilds were strengthened in the course of long and often bloody struggles within the walls ; they acquired a share in the government, with essentially equal rights and equal duties. As a free man capable of bearing arms, the German citizen found that he could obtain riches, consideration, and affluence by means 'of his handi- craft and his art. At the end of the middle ages, it became clear that the intellectual life of Germany had taken root in the cities. Undoubtedly handicraft was under different conditions to what it is now. Whilst the common produce of indi- vidual mechanical labour was accurately defined in respect to material, form, and price, and the creative energy of individuals was entirely restrained by the traditions of their city and guild, a creative tendency appeared in all that required more delicate handling. The painter still rubbed his colours himself, and melted the varnish, but he also carved in wood, and engraved copper-plates. Albert Durer still sold in the market stalls picture sheets with woodcuts, for which perhaps he himself made the letter- press. Whilst the arrangements of houses and churches frequently remained fixed, even in respect to size, in all fundamental points, the countless and often too fiorid details of the arabesques in the stonework showed the inward satisfaction with which the builder, when permitted the free exercise of his own fancy, followed the impulse to give expression to his own mind. The goldsmith was 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AJSTD HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 137 also designer and modeller ; he took pleasure in making every article of value a work of art, into which he threw his whole soul. But it was just this union of restrictive tradition and free invention which was so beneficial to the handicraft of the cities, developing everywhere greater wealth, higher morality and culture. Throughout the whole coimtry the cities became Hke the knots of a net of free societies, to which the gentry of the rural districts, far behindhand in civilisation, were in constant hostility. Long did an active hatred continue betwixt the money- getting citizen and the predatory landed proprietor ; and on both sides there was bitter animosity. It is true that the noble order of Landowners were held in greater con- sideration ; they were sustained by the pride of noble blood and of military skill, and by a multitude of prero- gatives and privileges ; but in fact the money-making citizen had already acquired the best rights, for so com- pletely did he engross the whole culture and wealth of his time, that without him the country would have relapsed into barbarism. Thus he became the aid of the Refonnation, and the victim of the Thirty Years' "War. But even after the devastation of that period, he, the weak and impoverished artizan of the city, felt himself a privileged man, whose prosperity depended on the superior rights he possessed. He endeavoured carefully to guard against strangers the privileges of his guild, of his patrician chamber, and of his community ; he was only helpless in his relations with his sovereign. He was still an order in the new state, from which other orders were excluded. His work had lost much of its excellence, and this weakness has lasted up to the present day. Not only were trade and commerce impeded, but the technical skill of most of the artizans became less. "Wood carviags and painted glass had almost 138 PICTURKS OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. M- perished, the arts of stone and wood carving were at the lowest ebb, and the houses were built small, tasteless, and bare. Printing and paper, which the small printing presses had deteriorated already before the war, continue poor even in our century. Equally so were the arts of the metal workers, goldsmiths, and armourers. The works of the cabinet-maker alone maintained their excellence through the rococco time, though even the chef d'oeuvres of the celebrated Meister von Neuwied could not compare with the artistic chests of the Augsburgers about 1600 ; the art of weaving also, especially damask, came into fashion soon after 1650, but not in the cities preeminently. The new trades which attained to great importance, like that of peruke-maker, were of doubtful value to the national industry. Equally great was the change which took place after the Thirty Years' War in the social life of the citizens, in their intercourse with each other and with strangers. In a former volume it was shown to what an extent indivi- duals withdrew into their families. It is worth the trouble of examining more nearly what they lost by this. First, that feeling of self-dependence which the most diffident man acquires by frequent intercourse with strangers, the capability . of co-operating with others in a larger sphere, of representing a conviction, acting in a manly way, and not submitting to any affront or unjust treatment, but at the same time yielding up pride and pretensions to the common weal ; added to this the skill to organise them- selves in new positions and more extended society, and to accommodate themselves to these altered circumstances. Such a tone of mind, the groundwork of all man's political capacity, was to be found in abundance at an eai-lier period. The power of the Empire and of the princes having become very weak, the aptitude of individuals to act in masses 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 139 was strongly developed, but after the war the laws of the newly-formed states pressed with such an iron hand, that all the art and practice of self-government was lost. This change shall be here shown, in a single phase of citizen life — the great prize shooting festivals. They are more especially adapted to give a picture in detail of the stately and splendid public life of the German citizen in olden times, and to show that we are only now beginning — though certainly with higher aims — again to attain to what our ancestors had already found. It has been a German custom, older than Christianity, to celebrate the awakening life of nature in May. This has always been a martial feast, in which the fundamental idea of the old heathen faith, the victory of the awakening divinities of nature over the demons of winter, was drama^ tically represented. In the rising cities it was the warlike youth of the freeborn citizens who lead the May sports, and in the Hohenstaufen time these sports assumed the form of fashionable knightly festivals. Thus in the year 1279, at Magdeburg, on the borders of the Rhine, where Saxon blood had formed one of the strongest fortresses of German life against the Sclavonian, the Whitsuntide feast was celebrated quite in knightly style. Tlie young mounted yeomen ar- ranged a great tournament in! then- Elbe island "the Marsh," under their Maigraf, Bruno von Stbvenbecke ; the arrange- ments were all written down, and the merchants of Goslar, Hildesheim, Braunschweig, Halberstadt, and Quedlinburg invited. They came splendidly-equipped, and courteously broke a lance with two young comrades of Magdeburg in front of the city, and then rode festively through the gates to the island on which many tents were pitched. The prize settled by the Magdeburgers for this May tilt was, like the figure on their coat-of-arms, a maiden.* An old * She certainly was not a girl of loose character, as Hullmann in the 140 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. merchant fi'om Goslar won the beautiful Sophie ; he took her with him and married her, giving her so good a dowry as to enable her to live ever afterwards honourably. A century later, in May 1387, the Magdeburgers cele- brated a great festival on the " Marsh," and again they contended for a maiden ; but the combat was no longer in the style of a tournament, such as their bishop held at the same time on the other side of the city, but it was in a great archery court. To this archeiy meeting they again invited the friendly, cities of Bninswick, Halberstadt, Quedlinburg, Aschersleben, Blackenberg, Kalbe, Salza, and Halle. A citizen of Aschersleben won the maiden. During this century there was a great change in the life and constitution of the German cities ; the patrician youth with their knightly customs were no longer the represen- tatives of the power of the burgher class, the commonalty of the city already began to feel themselves masters, and their weapon, the cross-bow, gained the prizes. Soon after 1300, the societies of Archers arose in the German cities, with their regulations, archery houses, and yearly shooting festivals ; as a brotherhood they erected an altar or built a chapel, and obtained from the Pope's Legate absolution for all who attended the mass^ which they established on the day of their patron saint, the holy St. Sebastian. These guilds were favoured by the city magistrates, who helped to arrange the great prize shoot- ings of their city. But however much the citizen bow superseded the knightly lance at the feasts of arms of the cities, some of the terms of knightly language 'con- tinued long in use. The prizes were still in the sixteenth " Stadtewesen, " vol, ii., assumes; on the contrary, she passed in the sports as the symbol of a city which was supposed to be under the pro- tection of the Holy Virgin, and, till the time of Tilly, boasted of never . having been taken. It is possible that the maiden may have been a serf, but this is not certain. 1300-lSOO.] .THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 141 century called "ventures;" still longer did the term " tilt- ing" denote the contention between individual marks- men who had shot into an equal number of circles, and a " course " signified a certain number of shots. After the time of that archery court of the Magdebur- gers, mutual shooting festivals are mentioned by the chronicles of other cities. They were quite common, at least in southern Germany, about 1400 ; for example, Munich sent its archers almost every second year to con- tend in the neighbouring cities, and the "customs" of the public shootings were already at that period firmly established. Thenceforward they spread over the whole of Germany, increasing in magnitude and splendour. They, as well as the German burgher-class, were at their highest acme about 1500 ; in the century of the Keforma- tion they became more extensive and costly, and more diversified in customs and characteristics, but shortly before the Thirty Years' War they showed many symp- toms of decline. The increasing power of the princes, and the commencement of modern court splendour, were mixed up with the old customs — ^the festivals became very costly, and a refined love of pleasure began to appear. Prize-meetings were not only established in the cities, they were held sometimes by the princes and wealthy nobles, as early as the fifteenth century, and still more frequently when in the century of the Reformation armour and lances declined in importance. The great landed proprietors of the neighbourhood, or the princes of the country, were received as honoured guests at these meet- ings of the cities. StiU the archers were for the most part citizens, and the occasional princes and nobles were placed under their banners. At an early period even free peasants were allowed to enter the lists, but this became rare in Germany after the Peasant War, though they con- 142 PICTURES OF GEKMAJ^' LIFE. [Ch. III. tinued to do so in Switzerland, where a powerful peasantry have never ceased to exist. The equal right of all, with- out distinction of ranks, both as to prizes and penalties, is a citizen characteHstic, and by far the greatest number of associations, as well as the most important, came from the cities. During so long a period many of their usages altered, and others were developed in different provinces, but yet the unity of their proceedings from the Oder to the Rhine, from the Alps to the Vistula, is very striking. They represent during this whole period a brilliant phase of German life, the noble hospitality exercised by martial city communities towards other friendly cities. The self- respect of the citizen found in them its most powerful expression. Many characteristic qualities of our fore- fathers are more especially perceptible in them ; pride in their own city, a lively and sensitive feeling of honor even with respect to friends, satisfaction in appearing in processions, whether on serious occasions or in sport, and in representing with dignity, and above all, pleasure in showing, on public occasions, among many thousands, their manliness, worth, and charity in word and deed. If a prize shooting was determined upon in a city, messengers bore the proclamation of the council, and fre- quently also of the archery association, to their good neighbours far in the country. The number of cities invited was sometimes very great. In 1601, 156 cities were invited to one shooting festival, held at Halle, and archers came from fifty, though the weather was bad and the prizes not high. At Strasburg seventy places were represented in 1576, in 1573 there were 187 cross-bow men sent from thirty-nine places to Zwickau, amongst them were three Swabian peasants from Goppingen, all of whom, to the great vexation of the proud citizens, won prizes. 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 143 At the cross-bow shooting at Katisbon, in 1586, thirty- five towns were represented by 210 cross-bow men. At the costly prize-shooting in 1614, at Dresden, twenty-one of the invited cities sent representatives, but eleven did not. But the hospitality was not limited to those alone who were invited : at an earlier period special prizes were assigned to those who came from greater distances ; thus the Augsburgers, in 1508, rejoiced that a German marksman came even from Paris, and another time a marksman, who came from Striegau, in Silesia, obtained a golden ring, the prize for strangers. Sometimes it was expressly denoted in the invitation that every qualified man was welcome, or the places invited were requested to spread the notice among the nobles and archers of their neighbourhood. When the feasts became very costly, the uninvited guests were, though allowed to shoot, not entitled to a share in the chief prizes which had been assigned by the giver of the feast. That such limitations were, however, not usual is shown by the grief of the two Arnstadters, who, at the cross-bow shooting at Coburg in 1 614,* were excluded by the Duke Johann Casimir from his principal prizes ; they wished to return home, and were with difficulty persuaded to remain. In the programme all the conditions of the prize- shooting were accurately enumerated ; with fire-arms the weight of the ball, and with the cross-bow the length of the bolt was accurately defined ; for the latter the size was generally established by a parchment ring, the distance from the stand to the target was given in feet, and the length of the usual foot was expressed by black lines in the programme. Sometimes they measured by * "Wolfgang Ferber, Prietzschenmeister — jest maker — " Griindliche Besohreibung eines furnelimen fiirstlichen Aimbrustschiessens zu Coburg, " 1614. 144 PICTURES OF GEBMiN LIFE. [Ct. HI. paces, in that case two of the stranger competitors, a neighbour from the nearest city, and one from the most distant, stepped the distance and settled it together. The numbef of shots also allowed to each was affixed on the butt and target. At the smaller meetings in ancient times, they were about twelve, fifteen, or sixteen ; later, at the great meetings, they rose to thirty, forty, or even more shots. With fire-arms the shooter sometimes fired three shots in succession from his place, but with the cross-bow only one, and they shot in divisions, quarters, and standards, sometimes arrayed under banners according to the towns. At the grand cross-bow shooting at Ratisbon, In 1586, a pattern meeting of moderate size, the Protestant and Catholic places were carefully divided. Then each of the three, four or five standards had to shoot in a definite time ; when all the standards had shot once, it was called one shot, or one course, the best shot of each standard of each course was called the bull's eye. The most ancient weapon was the cross-bow, with steel bow and bolt, which was stretched by a pulley ; it began to supplant the hand bow and arrow shortly before 1400, but the latter was still used in the army for some time, for example, in the Burgundian War, nay, it was some- times used in the sixteenth century, at the shooting games.* The cross-bow, after 1400, became shorter and more handy, and at the end of the prize-shooting festivals, a smaller one was used with a trigger for amusement. The cross-bow was drawn in braces, or secured in a net- work, so that no accident might arise if it sprung ; the bolt with an iron point and a feather shaft was provided for the popinjay, with filed iron teeth, which, in hitting, split the joints of the wood ; the pointed or, later, the * On a Franconian gem of the sixteenth century an archer and a cross- bow are portrayed. — Bechsteiu Museum, II., figure 4. 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 145 blunt bolt served for target practice ; the archer shot with- out a rest. The cross-bow, up to the Thirty Years' War, was considered by the prize-shooters as the most distin- guished weapon, and continued so, even long after it had been supplanted by fire-arms in war and in the chase ; it was more especially retained by the aristocratic party, the princes and patricians. If a prize-shooting with cross- bow and fire-arms was announced, the competition between the cross-bow and the arbalat was at the beginning, the fire-arms at the conclusion with inferior prizes ; much of the fun of the festival was attached to the cross-bow shooting. But at the beginning of the sixteenth century, at all the prize shootings, the use of fire-arms had in- creased at least twofold. About the year 1400, fire-arms began to be heard at the prize-shooting festivals. At Ausgburg, in 1429, hand-guns and muskets were used, and guns with small lead balls. In 1446 the first prize shooting with arquebuses and muskets was held ; afterwards the hand-gun in its various forms always prevailed. The practical Swiss were among the first to give the preference to fire-arms. As early as 1472, at the great prize shooting at Zurich, only guns were announced ; after that, at important festivals, both weapons had prizes assigned to them, but at smaller ones frequently only fire-arms. The gun of the prize-shooter, up to 1 600, was the smooth hand-gun for one ounce balls, with a straight or crooked stock, — all grooves were forbidden* The shooter fired without a rest ; the gun when fired was not to rest upon the shoulder ; it was not to be supported by any strap * For example, in the circular of the Meiningens, 1579, " crooked or straight rifled barrels are forhidden." Quarrels must have arisen some- times concerning this at the public shooting meetings, for in 1663 Elector August of Saxony decided that rifled barrels should only be allowed, if all the shooters agreed to it. VOL. I. L 146 PICTURES OF GEEMAK LIFE. [Ch. III. in the sleeve or round the neck ; it was only to be loaded with one ball ; the gun was only to have a smaU round sight at the end. After 1600 rifled weapons, for the first time, received prizes*at special meetings. At Basle, in 1605, a prize shooting for arquebuses was announced, the distance 570 feet, the target two and a half feet round the nail ; and for muskets with crooked or straight grooves and balls of one ounce — distance, 805 feet ; target, thr^e and a half feet. It must be mentioned, by the way, that some- times at great shooting festivals heavy guns were also used, such as arquebuses, falconets and serpents, as in Stras- burg 1590, at Breslau in 1609, and frequently at Leipsic, where these exercises were preferred ; however splendidly these festivals, after the pattern of the old prize shootings, were appointed, they had more especially a practical aim, and were not generally attended by strangers. Different as the weapons so was the mark. The bird on the pole was very ancient. But when guests began to appear in numbers the bird was inconvenient. The dura- tion of the shooting could not be reckoned upon ; a violent wind easily diverted the course of the bolts. At last the pole fell altogether, or the bird broke off, before it was shot into splinters ; the falling splinters also gave occasion to much quan-elling and discontent. The consequence was, that in the greater part of Gei-many, the more convenient shooting butt very soon supplanted the bird at all large cross-bow meetings ; this was the case in Switzerland and Suabia. On the other hand, the Thuringians, Meisseners and Silesians, long adhered to the bird. In Breslau the popinjay shooting was practised in great perfection ; there, after 1491, a heavy bird of silver, richly gilded, with gold chains and golden shield, and the city arms on the breast, was carried before the king of the shooters. But at the prize shooting of the Silesians many birds were set up of 1300-1800. THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 147 different colours and with prizes of different value. Thus in Breslau, in 1518, they set up three birds — red, green, and black ; each person who knocked off one of the forty joints of the birds gained a silver spoon ; but, besides this, there was also cross-bow shooting at a mark, a small square target. In the yeai- 1560 there were again three at Bres- lau; and at the grand shooting at Lowenberg, in 1615, there were five birds. The fallen splinters which had not brought special prizes were weighed, and only those of half an ounce were of value. But the butt targets, also for cross-bows and fire-arms, were various. For the cross-bow a small circular plate, sometimes plated, and the outer circle paiated with a garland, was fixed on the dark shooting butt, and after each course exchanged for a new one ; for the fire-arms there was almost always a hanging target, and in 1518 at Breslau a shield — that is to say, a painted wooden table. The distance from the shooting stand to the mark for the cross-bows was 340, and later 300 feet ; for the fire-arms from 650 to 750 feet. These are wide distances for weapons so imperfect in comparison with our times. On special occasions, when any young princes attended the festival, nearer marks were prepared for them — a half distance, — and other prizes. At such shooting feasts the whole of the adjoining Com-t took part. The preparations in the city began some months before the feast. The lodgings were prepared for the guests ; the safety of the city was provided for ; the goldsmiths worked in silver the prize cups and vases, and struck also medals and show specimens ; the tailors stitched incessantly at new festival dresses for halberdiers, pages of honour, and motley personages ; the shield painters drew arms, garlands, and ciphers, on more than a hundred standards. On the shooting ground tlie lists were marked ; wooden boards L 2 148 PICTUEES OF GEEMAN LIFR [Ch. HI- brightly coloured, and adorned with representations of fir-trees, garlands, and colonnades ; the interior of the shoot- ing-house was newly painted, and later carpeted ; shooting- stands and pa-^lions erected for the shooters, and clerks booths ; outside the lists there were kitchens, bowling- grounds and booths ; also a spring for the water-drinkers, which, in case of need, was newly dug. Especial care was taken, at these cross-bow meetings, of the small target where the buU's-eye was. As these cross-bow meetings were in all respects arranged ia the most finished style, and were a pattern for other similar shooting-meetings, we will describe many of their usages. The target place was a large wooden building, that represented the front of a house with doors and many stories, or looked like a triumphal arch, or a temple with cupola towers, or some- times like the high wooden altar of the sixteenth century, all beautifully painted with the colours of the city or country, ornamented with coats of arms and figures. At Strasburg, in 1576, there stood great sculptures, a giifiin and a lion keeping watch on each side ; beneath, in the middle of the building, was the butt, either covered with some dark colour or canvas. It could be turned round by mechanism, in order that after each course the bolts might be drawn out without danger, and the butt provided with a new circular plate, for the next shooting meeting of the society. Sometimes the whole heavy building which rose above it was movable, and tumed'to face the rows of seats for the different divisions of shooters. Beside the butt itself, there were in the building sometimes small project- ing guard-houses, or little turrets, for the markers, from which they could watch the target without being hit. At the top of the building there was a complicated clock, with the ciphers from one to four on the dial-plate, and over it a belL On the highest point stood generally a movable 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 149 carved figure, often Fortune on a ball (for example, in 1576, at Strasburg; 1586, at Batisbon; in 1614, at Dresden), which after a bad shot turned her back on the shooter ; or as at Coburg, in 1614, a mannikin on a tower, who after a good shot waved a banner, or for a bad shot mockingly bit his thumb. When these preparations of the honest citizens ap- proached their completion, it became necessary for the council to search out some of those minor officials of the festivities whose occupation is not what can be called very noble, but was quite indispensable, the Pritsdhmeister* For a great festival, four, five, or more of these fellows were desirable ; but they were not to be found in every city. If they were not at the place, they were sent for to Nuremberg and Augsburg, or wherever else in the country they happened to be wandering. It was a very ancient vocation that they followed. At the same time that the fantastic city tournaments of the young patrician were transformed into the useful shooting exercises of the mar- tial citizen, this tomfoolery had changed into a peaceful civic occupation, which retains something of the duties of the old herald, and not less of the old festive jesting of the roving fool. They were criers, improvisatori, police-officers, and buffi)ons of the prize shooters ; they understood accu- rately the convenance, manners, and every ceremonial of the shooting-ground ; gave good counsel to hesitating regulators of the festival ; delivered the poetical festival speeches ; punished light transgressions against the rules of the shoot- ing-ground with the fool's baton ; and even helped at the festive banquet, when necessary, by a rough joke, or even by serving. They had come from far, and knew how to deal with proud princes and strict councillors. When it * Pritschmeister, a species of Merry Andrew— master of the ceremonies . and provost marshal. — Tr. 150 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. was not festival time, they earned on a modest trade that did not require much perseverance. But sieve-making or the wool trade did not please them in the long run : at least they describe themselves, in the numerous verses they have left behind them, as poor devils,* who eagerly looked, out for the rumour of some great festival at Court, and went many days' journey, speculating whether perhaps they might have an opportunity to exercise their office at some prize shooting. If they did not succeed in that, there still remained to them the pleasure, during the festival, of waiting upon old patrons among the shooters, and, by dint of toadying, of obtaining wherewith to fill their hungry stomachs ; finally, they had the old consola- tion of poets, to describe in verses the occupation they had no longer the pleasure of joining in, and collecting remu- neration for these verses. It is true that their descriptions of friendly and distinguished prize shootings are almost always in very bad rhyme ; but they are very valuable to us, because they introduce us to the smallest details of those festivals. The office, too, of pritschmeiste7' is worthy of observation. It is only in accordance with German nature to make the fool the police-officer of the festival. The blow of his baton strikes the lord as well as the peasant boy, and his irony lashes the arrogant prince's son, and brings the colour into the cheeks of the most impudent. The sensitive pride of the Junker, — every offence to which, from a yeoman of the guard, would have been resented as a deadly affront, — unresistingly suffered the pritschTneister, in the exercise of his office, to sei^ze and drag him to the place of punishment. • The favourite preamble of their poem. They wander poor and fiiU of cares into the free expanse of nature ; then comes joyful news of a shooting meeting. It was undoubtedly traditional, and it was a fitting and refined beginning, which one learned &om the other. 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AKD HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 151 But even the jests of the pritschmeister are deserving of observation, for they are lasting ; an endless variety of tricks and pleasantries, a definite hereditary art of being merry, typical forms of foolery many hundred years old ; and they were carried on with a certain earnestness, — ^nay, even pedantry. Undoubtedly these stale tricks had their inresistible effect only when men were disposed to be in a merry humour, but their antiquity makes them to us like woodcuts, in the angular hues of which there lies a certain charm. When, for example, at the end of the shooting, the unfortunate shooter, who had won the last prize, received this prize, — a sow with six young ones, — from the pritschmeister, who wished him happiness, and calcu- lated at length the increase of the porcine family in his house from year to year, and that he would after three years become master of 2401 head, the hearers of the joke were not the less amused because they had heard the same reckoning made ever since their childhood on similar occasions ; for it acts like a melody, that exercises its greatest magic on the hearer when it has become familiar to him. The pritschmeister knew well that it was his duty to be a fool. It is true, there were some proud fellows among them who were ashamed of their cap ; but they were derided by their own companions. Thus in 1573, the pritschmeister of Zwickau was serious and haughty ; but he suffered for it under the contemptuous shrugging of the shoulders of his colleague, Benedict Edelbeck, who had wan- dered from Bohemia to the prize shooting, and knew better what became a pritschmeister. They bore also certain tokens of the fool, — the cap, and a striking variegated dress, in the colours of the city, which they kept as a festival present. At particularly distinguished shooting feasts they were very grandly attired ; for example, at Coburg in 1614, there were five of them who wore the colours of the royal house, 152 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. — a yellow silk waistcoat, black hosen, yellow English stockings, long black and yellow knee ribands, beautiful Cordova shoes with silk ribands, a Spanish velvet hat with yellow feathers, a kasseke with loose sleeves, red, yellow, and black embroidery before and behind, with coats of arms ; besides aU this, the large club, and round the knee a string of bells, which rattled loud. Their batons, often preposterously large, of leather or of split clacking wood, and sometimes gilded, had much to do on the shooting-ground. With them they cleared the lists of the thronging people, and punished those who trans- gressed the rules. Anyone who ran between the shooter and his mark after the clock was set, anyone who dis- turbed the shooters at their stand, who misbehaved from drunkenness or insolence, or who injured the weapons of strangers from wantonness or spite, fell under their juris- diction without respect of rank ; and this jurisdiction was exercised in a remarkable way. Far on one side of the shooting-ground was erected a conspicuous scaffold, on which were two coloured benches. This building was called, according to an old bitter jest, " the gallows ; " and later, the " pritschmeister's pulpit ;" to it the culprit was led with many grotesque ceremonies, there laid upon the bench, and belaboured with the baton in a way which was neatly expressed in the old technical language by this sen- tence, " His head was cut off at the tail." At the same time the pritschTneister delivered a discourse, which did not make his position more agreeable. One may conceive how attractive this practice of the law was to all who did not partake of it. The custom was carried on through the whole of GeiTuany, most moderately by the serious Swiss, and decorously and impartially in the cities. At a later period, when great princes arranged shooting festivals, traces of royal humour are to be found, which enjoined the 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 153 performance of this scene on minor personages for insigni- ficant misdemeanours. Thus, after the prize shooting in 1614, Elector Johann Georg diverted himself by having not only some scullions, but even one of his bears cudgelled ; the bear had to be chained to the bench. The pritsphmeister obeyed his Electoral Grace, but in his iaward heart he felt that such things were not ia his office. As assistants to the pritschmeister, some of the most idle boys of the city were chosen, and they also were put in fool's attire. Among this insolent brood the most zealous guardians of the law were to be found ; they easily leamt some of the tricks of their master, and they carried goose wings, wooden clappers, and short pipes. They fell hke a pack of hounds on any peasant child that ran across the shooting-ground, and greeted such as had shot ill with grimaces and monkey gestures. At Coburg they went in procession in a great band, dressed in black Hnen with white seams and patches, following a tall dark man, who wore a similar dress, and trousers after the old Lands- knecht fashion. He was the head shoemaker, Martin Pauker, a gloomy, haggard fellow, who never spoke a word, but during the whole shooting was incessantly assuming grotesque disguises. In the procession he trailed along an enormous linen banner, the doubtful badge of honour for those who had shot worst of all ; but on the returii home he bore the great kettle drum, which he allowed to be beat upon his back j on the shooting-ground he appeared as a wild man, enveloped in straw and brushwood ; then as a monk or nun ; but soon he came in a splendid dress, riding on an ass, and at last waddled about in bearskin ; he was always disguising himself, always drank and dismal, but he had his own quiet enjoyment in the whole affair.* * "Wolffgang Ferber. " Griindliche beschreibung eines Aimbmst" Schiessens zu Coburg." 1614. 154 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. If fritschmeisters were engaged by the givers of the feast, and the city was in repute for doing its duty, possessed good friends, and had announced grand prizes, there was sure to be a great concourse. The invited cities had the festival announced to their citizens by affixing public notices, or by proclamations. It was with them an affair of honour to be represented by good marksmen, and these frequently received money for their journey out of the city coffers, in return for which, when they went home, they handed over the silk banners they had won to the council or shooting society. These deputies were generally men of distinction ; but besides these there were other citizens who went to the meeting at their own cost. Thus at Coburg in 1614, besides the four shooters who were sent by the city of Schweinfurt, one Hans Schiissler, a small, insignificant man, had come on his own account. His fellow-citizens looked askance at him and excluded him from their society, but he hit the bull's-eye at the first shot : then he jumped for joy, and exclaimed, " I was not good enough for my country people to bring me with them ; now, God willing, I will do better stiU." He made the most bull's-eye shots, and won a beautiful goblet. A day or two before the festivities, the strangers who came to shoot arrived from all parts. The council had to provide them with cheap quarters, and it was enjoined on the citizens that they were to abstain from annoying them. Many of the strangers met with a hospitable reception from some of the cities. If royal persons were invited, their arrival was announced by a courier ; they were received by the council, lodged, and provided with the usual gift of honour, — wine, beer, and fish. Sometimes a preliminary shooting trial took place with the guests who had arrived before the first day of the festival ; on such an occasion at Ratisbon in 1586, a beautiful large goat, 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 155 covered with red Lund cloth, together with a beautiful ban- ner, was presented by the council to the best shot. In Suabia and Bavaria a goat thus attired was often given at these smaller shooting trials. On the morning of the festival the pritschmeister, with the city band, went through the streets, calling the strangers to the meeting at the shooting-ground. The givers of the festival marched in solemn procession, the pritschmeister in front ; behind, the markers, equally in new dresses and the colours of the city, their marking rods in their hands; then the trumpeters and fifers; next the dignitaries and marksmen of the city, followed by a train of young boys of the city, all dressed alike in festal attire, sons of families of distinction, who bore the small target banners ; after them perhaps, led by a pritschmeister or some other jovial personage, the boys with the contumelious banners, the derisive distinction of the bad shots. Then came other boys, who bore coloured chests, in which were the bolts and the principal prizes of the shooting. The large and small goblets were either brought out during the pro- cession, or placed in a special pavilion on the shooting- ground, under the care of the city police. On the shooting-ground the drum was again beat, and the marksmen called together by the pritschmeister. The deputy of the city then delivered a solemn address of greeting, in which he called to mind the old friendship of the invited cities, and expressed his best wishes for the festival. The pritschmeisters went again with music round the shooting-ground, and one of them proclaimed aloud once more the programme of the invitation, and admonished the marksmen to collect together by cities, and choose their " siebeners " or " neuners.'' These were magistrates of the shooting-ground, the higher judges of shooting law ; they were chosen out of the most distin- 156 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. gtiished men of the town, some by the givers of the feast, others by the shooters according to their districts. If the larger cities, Nuremberg, Augsburg, or Magdeburg, were among the gulsts at the beating of the drum, it was de- cided by them which should be chosen as representatives of the strangers. The free Imperial cities were more particu- larly designated for this, equally so any royal personages present, who often even undertook the wearisome task of " neuner." These were treated with particular distinction at the entertainment. Among them were the secretaries, frequently three, who noted down in special tents the announcements of the shooting. Every marksman had to show beforehand his bolts and bullets, cross-bow and gun ; each bolt was examined, whether its iron point could pass through the opening of the parchment ring, for the thicker bolts made a larger opening in the target, and the measure- ment being taken from the edge of the hole to the centre point, the difference of thickness in one bolt would be pre- judicial to the others. If the bolt was proof-worthy, the name of the possessor was written on the shaft, and only bolts so inscribed could be used. Every shooter had, besides, to make his money deposit before he was allowed to shoot. These preparations occupied many hours, often the greater part of the first day. The tioie was frequently filled up by a collation, given by the city council to the strangers who shot : in the earlier and more moderate period it consisted of wine, good beer, and simple food, fruit, cakes, butter and cheese. When the marksmen were inscribed and had made their deposits, they were divided into "quarters" or banners, — ^three, five, and more banners ; frequently each " quarter " had its special stand. Now at last began the great shooting in " courses," or " shots with the cross-bow," so that the " quarter " shot one after the other, each shooter one shot. 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 157 Opposite to the place of the target, in a special wooden building, were the stands of the shooters. But their method of shooting appears striking to us. Before the beginning of the course,' a pritsehmeisUr went over the shooting- ground with fifes and drums, and called the marksmen by divisions to their stands. They pressed forward to it in haste, and sat in rows, according to regulation, by lot, each ia the stand to which his name was affixed. As long as the division was shooting, no one left his stand, and none of the neighbours must disturb them by word or move- ment. Thus they sat, cross-bow in hand ; then the pritsch- meister called out, "Marker, set the clock going." At the signal the hand was set in motion, each "quarter" being signified by the striking of the clock. During this time each marksman was to shoot ; he shot sitting, at least such was the custom in the interior of Germany after the middle of the sixteenth century, but they were not allowed to support either themselves or their cross- bows. When the hand had finished its circuit round the clock, the bell sounded, a steel mirror was lowered by a hempen cord, and covered the dial-plate, and a grating either rose from the earth, or descended from the wooden building in front of the butt, in order to guard it from the elager shooters. Then began the labours of the neuner, secretaries and markers. If the butt was movable, it was turned round. Behind it stood a table for the secretaries, the inscribed bolts were drawn out, the bull's-eye shot and those in the circles were transcribed, the farthest shot also was noted down. But the marker filled up the holes made by the bolts, blackened the injured places in the butt, and put on a new plate. In this way the collective divisions of marksmen having fired one shot, the bolts were borne in solemn procession with the pritschmeister, fifes and drums, to the shooting-house : there the less successful bolts were lo8 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. placed ill the box of their owner, but those which had been distinguished shots were laid in an ornamental wooden Attrape ; in Zwickau, in 1573, it was a large white swan, the city arms. *The bolt of the bull's-eye had a place of honour, and the most distant had also a distinguished place. After this first course the distribution of prizes began. They endeavoured to give marks of distinction in every direction, and to provide as many marksmen as possible with prizes ; but our ancestors did not object to humiliate by bitter jests those who had performed ill. Prizes were awarded to those who hit the bull's-eye, also to those who had shot oftenest near it, and if his remaining shots were not near enough for him to gain a chief prize, he had a special present. But the great prizes were for the marks- men who, at the end of the shooting, scored the greatest number of shots in the circles. All who could not obtain a prize within the prescribed number of shots, had the right, before the end of the meeting, to contend among themselves for smaller prizes. All the prizes of the festival, were settled by the givers of the feast, and they were reckoned in the programme collectively with their worth in silver. Every shooter at the beginning of the festival before his name was inscribed, had to make a deposit of money ; this deposit was not insignificant, and became higher in proportion to the pretensions of the festival. Whilst at a former period two gulden had been deposited, it rose to six and eight Imperial gulden in the last fifty years of the prize shootings; indeed they deposited as much as twelve Imperial thalers at the cross-bow shooting given by the elector Johann Georg at Dresden in 1614, which, according to the value of silver and corn, would answer to about thirty thalers of our money. But undoubtedly aU prize shootings were not so aristocratic. A portion often of the deposits at these festivals was voluntary. The obligatory 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 159 deposits were turned into secondary prizes, and these -were distributed in small sums among as many of the shooters as possible. With the voluntary deposits, small articles of plate were frequently bought for an after-shooting. Some- times also the giver of the feast spent something for this ; in that case these^ deposits of the shooters were employed as small money prizes for the after-shooting. With all the prizes at the great shooting feasts large and small banners were presented, with the colours of the town or country, and the arms or garlands, painted on them, and often also the value of the prize. To bear away such a banner was a great honour. The strangers took them proudly to their homes, and delivered them to the councU of their city, or to their shooting brotherhood, who had paid the costs of their journey. Very modest at first were the prizes of the victors : they were long designated as " ventures: " a romantic charm still attached to the foreign word, which originated iq the jargon of the old tournaments. A fine ram was the first prize at Munich about 1400, and at Kelheim in 1404. Soon afterwards an ox, a horse, or a bull, and the animals often covered with a valuable cloth : thus, in 1433, at Nuremberg, a horse covered with a red cloth was the best. The secondaiy prizes were small goblets, silver vases, girdles, cross-bows, swords, or a prize which has always been a special object of preference with the inferior shooters, and everywhere, up to modem times, has clung to shooting societies — material for a beautiful pair of small- clothes. He who came from the greatest distance to the shooting, received, at Augsburg, in 1425, a golden ring. But at the same place, in 1440, the first prize was already a sum of money, forty gulden ; and the horses and cattle were the last. They rose rapidly in value at Augsburg in 1470 ; 101 gulden was the best, and about 1500 this sum became usual ; in 1504, at Zurich, 110 gulden was the chief prize. 160 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. 90 the second, and so in succession down to one g;ulden, all doubled for cross-bows and guns, and, which is not* rare at the Swiss shooting meetings, all in money. The prizes continued' to rise in value ; at Leipzig, in 1550, for the cross-bow 300 gulden ; at the great shooting meeting at Strasburg, in 1576, the first prize for rifle and gun was 210 Imperial gulden; at Basle, in 1603, for muskets (with rifled barrels), a goblet worth 300 gulden. This sum, according to the value of silver and com, answers to 666 thalers of our money. The chief prizes then, were money or plate, goblets and vases of all forms and sizes, of that elegance and taste which distinguished the work of the goldsmith in the sixteenth century. The deposits also were frequently paid in special coins and medals, which were coined for the festival, large and small, and also gUt, — often klippen* Sometimes a bull's-eye shot was rewarded by a klippe, which was hung to the victorious banner. At the costly cross-bow meeting at Dresden, for each bull's-eye shot was given on the banner a gilt medal, weighing five Imperial thalers — almost exactly a quarter of a pound of our customs weight. Smaller towns also coined medals and Jdippen; they continue as choice rarities in our collec- tions of coins, and show the greatest diversity of emblems and devices, of size, form, and value. Small silver pieces were coined for children and the poor, and distributed in remembrance of the festivals. But besides these good prizes, there were also tanta- lising prizes. The last shot who could make any pretence to a prize was honoured with a doubtful distraction, — he received, according 'to old custom, as has been already mentioned, amidst many derisive congratulations * A square coin. 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN iND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 161 from the pritschTneisters the smallest money prize, and an animal of the pig tribe, great or small, sow or sucking-pig, according to the humour of the giver of the feast ; besides that, a good prize banner, but with satirical figures on it At the Coburg shooting, in the year 1614, it is reported that this banner was particularly and beautifully embroi- dered, but one may assume that its emblems did not occasion any great pleasure to the possessor. The banners and presents to the worst shots were a caricature of the prizes for the bull's-eye ; and he who had made the worst shot of all was obliged, at least at the last period of the prize-shootings, to carry at the end of the festival, sur- rounded by the fools, a gigantic coarse banner of sack- cloth. When the bolts of the bull's-eye shots and of the most distant shots were placed after the first course in their attrape, the pritschmeister went up to his pulpit ; he then called forth with a loud voice the best shooter of the first course, and greeted him with a short extempore speech in doggerel rhyme, wherein he extolled his deserts and his prizes ; he then announced to him that, as a memento of the shooting, he will receive a beautiful silk banner, to which was appended a sUver Iclippe; besides this, a tin plate with a fried trout on it, a roll of bread, and a glass of wine, together with an orange. Skilful musicians, trumpeters or pipers, went before, and conducted him to his seat. Thus did the fortunate marksman march amidst music ; the ofiicials of the city delivered to him the banner and the coins, with the jovial plate of honour. Afterwards the pritschmeister distributed to the other cu'cle shots, and finally he called to the unfortunate who had made the widest shot ; he did not advance willingly ; the pritscli- meister bowed h mself before him and said, " Look to it, you fine shot, that you learn your art better. I have here some lads who will teach you how to hit. You need pay 162 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. them no money. Franz Floh, take' the brush and sprinkle him with holy water ; it is very possible that he is bewitched. Come, Hans Hahn, and ring your wooden bells about his ears ! Yet I dbserve that you are a good Christian ; you wish to leave something to others ; therefore, dear tanta- lisers, take him under your protection; the man has deserved well of others ; pipe a beautiful dance before him, and bite your thumbs at him, but be decorous, and do it behind his back. Bring him his gift of honour. First, a banner of the kind of satin in which peasants bring their oats to the city. The Jclippe which hangs on it is unfor- tunately only of tin ; besides, there is a plate of wood, and on it a fine whey cheese ; instead of the orange an apple, and in an earthen bowl a drink of light beer." Thus did the pritschmeister deride him, and at last presented him with a fool's cap and cock's feathers. Meanwhile the pritschmeister' s boys yelled, rattled, and piped around the marksman, cut summersaults, and followed him with their grimaces up to his stand, whilst a bagpipe-player preceded him, and forced from his bags their most disso- nant tones. It was afterwards seriously maintained by the marksmen that in this buffoonery those with the highest pretensions did not come off better than the rest. But to the person concerned it was very painful. He seldom succeeded in concealing beforehand the widest bolt, which always excited general displeasure. To princes who were present some consideration was shown : at least, the words of the pritsch'tneister to them, which are printed, sound very mild. If the sovereign himself had made the widest shot, one of his suite took it upon himself, as at Zwickau in 1573. Thus was the festival carried on, round after round, each succeeded by the rewards. These interludes took not a little time ; thus it happened that not more than 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 163 seven or eight courses of stots took place in a day, still less at the great meetings. At the end of the festival, in most of the dictricts in Germany, the shooting was interrupted by a pleasing custom which shall here be described as it took place, in the second half of the sixteenth century, in the cities of Suabia, Franconia, Thuringia, and Meissen. Many of the most distinguished maidens of the city went in procession, festively clad, accompanied by councillors, city pipers, and yeomen of the guard, to the shooting-ground. One of them carried, in an ornamental box, a costly garland — some- times of silver and gold, with pearls and precious stones — another bore a beautiful banner. Their procession stopped on the ground ; then the shooters of a friendly city were summoned, a herald of the city delivered an address, the maidens handed over to them, as a gift of honour from their city, the garland and banner, and invited them to a dance of honour. The invited thanked them in choice language in the name of their city ; one of them placed the garland on his head, and they led the maidens in a stately dance over the shooting-ground. Such a garland imposed upon the city which received it the agreeable duty of giving the next prize-shooting. It was carefully kept, and mentioned in the programme of the garlanded city as the principal ground of the prize- shooting, in order that the garland might not wither. Afterwards, when the princes participated eagerly in the shooting, they also received garlands ; if the prince was the giver of the feast, he bestowed the garland on one of the princesses. This old custom bound together the cities of a district in one great festive brotherhood. The dances on the open shooting-ground ceased about the year 1600. But these great citizen festivals offered other opportu- M 2 164 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. nities of display of strength and art. When they were in their full vigour in the fifteenth century, there were public games arranged for the marksmen, and prizes appointed for the conquerors. In these games ancient traditions were maintained. They were prize contentions similar to that in the Niebelung, of Siegfried against Brunhild, hurl- ing the stone, leaping, and running. They Were in the programme in the prize-shooting of 1456 ; the Zuricher, Hans Waldmann, carried off the prize for leaping, who, later as Burgomaster, lost his proud head on the block. At the cross-bow shooting at Augsburg in 1470, a golden ring was prepared for him who could hurl furthest a stone of forty-five pounds weight, at an easy run, with three throws, according to the laws of the game ; a knight, WUhelm Zaunried, won the prize. Thus also at Zurich, in 1472, there were three prizes for hurhng stones of fifteen, thirty, and fifty pounds. Christoph, Duke of Bavaria, won the golden ring at Augsburg in 1470, for leaping. The task was three springs on one leg with a run, afterwards a jump with both feet, then again three springs on the other leg, and a second jump. In Zurich, in 1472, leaps of three different kinds were prescribed : from the spot with both feet, in the run with both feet, and in a run three springs on one foot. All this was done with great earnestness, and was actually notified to the guests in the programme of the council. In prize races in 1470, at Augsburg, the course measured 350 paces ; Duke Chris- toph, of Bavaria, won the gold ring also for running. At Zurich, in 1472, the length of the course was 600 paces. At Breslau, in 1518, the prizes for running were articles of the favourite pewter. Besides the- men, sometimes horses ran : as at the rifle-shooting at Augsburg, in 1446, fourteen horses appeared in the lists ; the prize was a piece of scarlet cloth; the conqueror was a horse of Duke 1300-1800.1 THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 165 Albrecht's, which he had sent from Munich for the races* At the races at the same .place, in 1470, a horse of Duke Wolfgang's, of Bavaria, won a prize of forty-five gulden. WrestUng, and even dancing, obtained prizes, as in 1508 again, at Augsburg. And at the same place a whimsical prize was won by the person who could amuse the people with the greatest hes. To these national popular amusements were added others not less old, but from the traditions of foreign life. The descendants of the Eoman gladiators, whose rough stmggles had once caused great scandal to strict Chris- tians, led a despised Ufe as roving fighters^f through the whole of the Middle Ages. In the fifteenth century they had taken refuge behind the city gates and in the guard- rooms of the royal court, in various mercenary service, as fencing-masters, soldiers, police, valets, and messengers. Out of the secret brotherhoods which were formed by these strolling fighters had arisen associations which were openly tolerated ; they were arranged in two societies, as Marxhruder (the fraternity of St. Mark), and Federfechter (champions of the feather), which cherished a violent antipathy to each other. The Federfechter displayed a winged griffin on their armorial shield ; they boasted of having received privileges from a Duke of Mecklenburg, and found later a mild patron in the Elector of Saxony. At the lists, when they raised their swords, they called out, " Soar aloft, feather ; mark what we do ; write with ink which looks like blood."J: The Marxbriiders, on the other hand, had for their armorial bearings a lion, and cheered * "Welser-Gasser, " Chronika von Augspurg," p. 182. t Compare vol. ii. of "Pictures of German Life," chap. "Eogues and Adventurers." $ Benedict Edlbeck, pritschmeister : "OrdentKche 'besclirei'buiig dea grossen Schiessen in Zwickau, " 1574, p. 82. 166 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. themselves by the defiant rhyme, " Thou noble lion, ele- vate thy curly hair ; thou perceivest the griffin ; him shalt thou hew down and tear his feathers." They were privi- leged by King ifaximilian in 1487. These masters of the long sword were under a captain, and their meetings were held at the harvest fair of Frankfort-on-the-Maine. Thither resorted any one who wished to receive the free- dom of their company ; he had to fence with four masters, then in public meeting to accept a challenge from any one who chose to fight with him. If he stood the trial, he was struck with the sword of ceremony crosswise over the loins ; he then took the oath of fellowship, and laid two golden guldens on the sword ; then he received the secret sign of recognition of the brotherhood, and the right to instruct others in his art, and to hold fencing schools, that is to say, to arrange public fights. For a long time these public fights were a pleasure to princes and citizens ; after the battle of Miihlberg, they enlivened the impri- soned Elector of Saxony during the great Imperial Diet at Augsburg. It was considered by the people an especial privilege for Frankfort, that it was the only town in which one could become a prize-fighter.* The fighters made their way into the prize-shootings — already at Augsburg in 1508 — especially when princes took a pajrt in the civic pleasures. The procession, and many of the usages of the fighters, remind one strongly of the Roman gladia- torial games, though the combats seldom came to so * Even the valiant Quad von Kinkelbacli counts this as one of the wonders of Frankfoi-t : "Teutscher Nation Herlichbuit," 1609, p. 171. Compare it with Christoff Eosener : " EhrenTittel dor Ritterlichen Freyen Kunst der Fechter," 1589, p. 4. The Federfechter gave their freedom to their scholars at princes' courts ; also, for example, at Dresden, 1614, at the great Schaufechter which followed the prize-shooting, where a Fechter was stabbed by a rapier. — "Wolifgang Ferber's ' ' Relation ciues furnehmen Stahlsohiessens zu Dresden," 1614. 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 167 bloody an end. The princes and cities hired whole bands of fighters, who attended at the prize-shootings and other great festivals. Thus at Stuttgardt, in 1560, the fighters strove in pairs on the shooting-ground; the royal ladies also drove out to see this combat ; the first victor received a beautiful waistcoat of taffety ; every other prize consisted of two thalers. At a cross-bow meeting at Zwickau, 1573, the Margrave of Anspach introduced a fighting band of forty men, against whom the Elector August of Saxony arranged his Federfechters. They contended for two days, in pairs, with the long sword, the wooden sword, the long spear, and the short lance, bareheaded, according to old custom, and some made many passes without conquering the other. There was much bravado in these combats, but they gave rise to great jealousy, violent blows, and bad wounds. The society of fencers outlived the prize-shootiiigs and the great war. They lost the old expressions for their art, but substituted French words, and maintained their posi- tion in the larger cities in spite of the foreign fencing- masters. In Nuremberg their public combats were for- bidden shortly before 1700 ; but parties long ran high among the people for the two factions : there was no boy in the city who did not contend for the Marxbriider or Federfechter, who frequently gave their performances in private houses. The last great fencing match took place, in 1741, at Breslau, in the churchyard of Magdalena. On the day when the young King of Prussia, with care- less mien and dishevelled hair, and his small parade sword, came to receive the homage of the conquered Silesia on the throne of the Emperor Matthias, when the dawn of a new time broke over Germany, the old fencers, like shadowy figures of a distant time, performed once more their antics over the graves of a past genera- tion, and then passed away. 168 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. Ill- Other popular amusements intruded themselves into the prize-shootings; the pleasures became more noisy, more abundant, and excited ; and whoever takes a view of the shootiug-fround at the end of the sixteenth century. • will see, from the proceedings of spectators, that times had altered. Formerly the marksmen, among them princes and nobles, had taken part in the public gymnastics ; the Wittelsbacher had hopped on one leg among the citizens of the imperial town, and had hurled the heavy stone. At the end of the sixteenth century the nobles looked on, so also did the already genteel citizen-marksmen; but the peasant lads came in their Sunday attire, with their lasses, and performed their country dance for the amusement of others. There was great pleasure in seeing the peasant maidens compete in running for a camisol or a stomacher ; high springs, fluttering dresses, and sometimes a tumble in their haste, excited especial satisfaction, and their village demeanour contributed to increase the enjoyment of others. It was more particularly the princes who took pleasure in all this; there seldom failed to be grotesque processions and dances of the country people, when a prince made the programme of the festival. The pert waggery of the pritschTneister to the country people excited a laughter on the .shooting-ground which would be offensive to us. The dancers, in couples, garlanded with the red berries of the mountain ash, or with carrots, advanced on the ground ; men threw themselves on unsaddled horses, and galloped past a goose which was hung above them, and the joke was, that they slid off their nags, and the like. The amusement of the childi-en, also, was provided for. There was a jesting fool, who, armed with a shield and short leather club, challenged any one to assaU him with a lance. If the challenge was accepted, the fool knew so well how to parry the lance, throw his opponent on his 13001800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 169 back, and belabour him Tvith his club, that the laugh was always on his side. Beside him stood (as at Ratisbon, in 1586) a wild man, who threw balls into his open mouth, nine balls for a kreuzer. A little mannikin was set on a pony : they threw at him with a ball, and whoever hit oftenest won something. Spirited boys climbed up a smooth pole to fetch a cock out of the basket which was hung at the top. The shooting-ground was fenced in by banders or ropes, but alongside it stood the tents and booths, where gold- smiths laid out their goblets, vases, spoons, and chains. The pewter-booths were great favourites, before which they gambled for household utensils, throwing dice in the brente, which was painted red and white, similar to our backgammon board ; anxious faces thronged round the gambling-booths ; vagrants and vagabonds staked more on the game than their last stolen penny ; but they were not unobserved, for the city police in their festal attire paced gravely along these booths to see that no offence was com- mitted to disturb the peace of the shooting-ground. Special attention was paid by the giver of the feast to the bowling-ground, which was then not so frequently found in town or country, as now. There were often two, indeed three, prepared for the festival ; here, also, there were prizes affixed. Thus, at Breslau, 1518, an ox and pewter utensils were bowled for, on two grounds. In Silesia, Saxony, and Thuringia, they were favourite additions to the festival. But of all that made the festival agreeable to the people, and attained to the greatest development, was an enter- tainment of a most doubtful character, — the fortune's urn, the modest ancestor of the state and other lotteries. As early as 1467 it made its appearance at the cross-bow meeting at Munich. In 1470, at the great prize-shooting 170 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch- HI. at Augsburg, it was a well-known part of the programme ; the prizes were goblets, materials for dress, velvet girdles, and weapons ; there were twenty-two prizes, and more than 76,000 tickets, at eight pfennigs each ; a cook won the best prize, which was an agreeable evidence to the people that it had been carried on honourably. By means of the rifle-shooting at Zurich, in 1472, the urn was intro- duced into Switzerland ; the tickets there cost one shilling each. The drawing was much the same as now. There was scaffolding erected in the public place, before the council-house, and thereon a booth, in which the prizes were placed ; beside it, the secretaries and the urns. There were two urns, into one of which the names of those were thrown who had drawn a ticket, in the other were the prizes and blanks ; a boy of sixteen, who was placed between the urns, drew from both at the same time. First, the name was called out, then the prize or blank. The first ticket and the last in the urn with the names, won something ; at Zurich, a ram ; those who took many tickets got them cheaper. In 1504, at Ziirich, the prizes were already in money ; but in Germany the pleasant custom stiU continued at the prize-shootings for another century, of playing for artistic objects of value ; the love of gambling was great, the women especially thronged round the urn; and, if one may judge from the lists of prizes that have been preserved, the inferior clergy of the old church amused themselves with fortune's urn. Seldom, in the sixteenth century, did the urn fail to appear at the greater prize-shootings ; it was an important concern, and the chroniclers recorded assiduously the prizes and fortunate winners. Thus, only to mention one year, there were, in Central Germany alone, in 1540, two urns of fortune ; for there were prize-shootings at Frankenhausen and Hof ; at the latter the drawing lasted five days ; in both cities the 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 171 last prize from the um was the jocose prize — a sow, which had been introduced from the shooting-ground into the um of fortune. In 1575, at Strasburg, the um of fortune was very considerable ; there were 275 prizes — ^the first, value 115 gulden ; the sale of the tickets was so rapid that they were obliged to increase the number and the prizes in equal proportion. Count Palatine Casimir, an entei-prising prince, had bought 1100 tickets, but did not gain much. The Zuricher guests also, with their pot of porridge, took some thousand tickets — in the name of the fortunate ship and of their native city — which, together, cost 101 gulden ; for this they won silver to about half the amount. The drawing lasted fourteen days, and the throng of people about the um was so troublesome that at last they were obliged to use force to secure the um. From these beginnings arose the lottery in Italy and Holland, in the sixteenth centuiy ; first, they played for wares, but soon for money, and it was used as a source of income by individuals, and then by communities. The first money lottery at Hamburg was established in 1615. Such was the course of the great feasts of arms of our ancestors. For weeks did the multitude buzz about the shooting-ground and booths, and ia the streets of the hos- pitable city. When the society of marksmen had finished the prescribed number of shots, all those to whom an equal number of circle shots had been scored had to shoot for their prize at a special target, and he who made the worst shot had the smallest prize. In the same way all shot for the knightly prize who had carried away no prize from the great shooting. The chief and tbe knightly prizes were solemnly delivered with the banner ; the money prizes were in coloured silk purses, which hung to the banner ; prizes and banners were arranged beforehand in long rows for show, for in the olden days they knew well 172 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. how to make a grand display of such distinctions. Then followed generally an after shooting for the voluntary- deposits of the shooters, more simple and unrestrained, and sometimes at other distances. Last, on the shooting- ground, came the great farewell oration of thanks from the giver of the feast, expressing once more to the guests the pleasure it had given to the city. Finally, there was the ' great march from the shooting-ground to the city. This was an important ceremony. All the splendour of the fes- tival was again displayed in the long procession. Trumpets and pipes were blown, the big drum and the kettle-drums thundered, the pritschmeisters clattered with their bats ; the dignitaries of the festival, councillors, and neuners, marched in front with their long silk scarfs ; behind them the fortunate winners of the great prizes, each with his prize borne before him, and accompanied by two men of distinction. The other shooters followed under the banner of their " quarter," and proudly did each carry his prize banner ; but the mocking banners also were sometimes to be seen in the procession, and humbly were they car- ried by their bearers ; behind them came the young tom- fools. Our ancestors were right when they moved with a feeling of elation in such processions. The dress was already rich in colour ; men of even moderate income endeavoured to wear rich materials, silk and velvet, on such occasions. All were accustomed to show themselves before others, and knew well how to maintain a stately pace. With a feather on the cap or hat, the weapon by the side, and one aiin supported on the hip under the mantle, they strode along in march time, placing their feet wide apart, as is the custom now, thus moving the body in an easy way, now towards the right, now the left. Thus they went to the last evening entertainment; 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 173 those who were departing had often the escort of their friends, for protection and honour, far into the country. There is something very attractive to our feelings in this hospitality given to the shooters. Not only were they frequently provided with drink on the shooting-ground during the shooting-hours, and refreshed by a coUation, but they were at least once, and generally oftener, enter- tained in the city, sometimes daily, by the councillors ; besides this, there were evening dances, in which the daughters of the most distinguished families partook. These hospitalities to the guests, in the fifteenth century, though very hearty, were also very simple ; but at a later period they became sometimes profuse, and when such a festival lasted a fortnight, or, as at Strasburg, as much as five weeks, they must have been very expensive to the givers of the feast ; more than once did critical chroniclers com- plain of the immoderate demands on their city coffers. Loud reproaches were made even at Strasburg, and it was reported of the Lowenbergers, after their bird-shooting in 1615, that the city had exerted itself far beyond its powers ; for all had been very costly and splendid. In the fifteenth century, they knew better how to calculate. The ^eat cross-bow shooting at Augsburg, in 1470, cost the city more than 2200 gulden, a high sum according to the then value of corn ; and yet the influx of strangers was so great that the Augsburgers afterwards said they had suffered no loss. But, indeed, the entertainment of the 466 stranger guests was very simple. The number of marksmen at the earlier cross-bow shootiDgs was not large. At Augsburg, in 1425, there were only 130 ; in 1434, 300 ; and in 1470, 466. After fire-arms had been introduced, at the great country meetings, the number of marksmen was double. Thus, in 1485, at St. Gallen, there were collected 208 cross-bows 174 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. and 445 guns ; and in 1508, at Augsburg, there were 544 cross-bows and 919 guns. According to the old arrange- ments of the shooting, this large number of men protracted the festival to a- great length ; consequently, in the sik- teenth century, we find efforts sometimes made to limit the number of invitations, but to increase the deposits of the shooters ; and it appears that a festival, with from 200 to 300 shooting-guests, was considered most agreeable ; in that case it lasted a week ; the individual became of more importance, and the body of men was easier to guide. Even with a moderate number of marksmen, the concourse of strangers was incomparably greater than it would be now. Each marksman was accompanied by a lad, who waited upon him with cross-bow or gun ; if princes or nobles were invited, they arrived with a large retinue of junkers, servants, halberdiers, and horses ; a large rabble of beggars and rogues also flocked together, and the watchmen of the city had to guard against theft, robbery, and fire. It was not always easy for the givers of the feast to keep order between the inhabitants and the strangers, for, together with a natural heartiness and wish to adapt them- selves to their guests, there was in many haughty minds a very sensitive pride of home and self-confidence, which inclined them, more than would be the case now, to turn into ridicule the unusual dress, manners, and language of strangers. Betwixt certain districts there always floated, like small thunder-clouds, certain old satirical sayings and ironical stories. Swiss and Suabians, Thuringians and Franconians, Hessians and Rhinelanders, reported laugh- able things of each other. But a word spoken when drinking, or a mocking reminder, might disturb the peace of the festival, or excite parties to sudden anger; and words of conciliation and redoubled friendliness were not 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 175 always successful. Thus the " Seehasen " * and the " Kiih- Tnelker " had a severe quarrel at the cross-bow shooting at Constance in 1458. A man from Constance, who was play- ing at dice with one from Lucerne, called the Bernese coin plappart, which he had won, a cow-plappart ; the Lucerner fired up, blows and uproar followed. The Lucerne marks- men remained to the end of the festival ; but they com- plained loudly that the laws of hospitahty were broken, and their honour wounded. After their return home the people of Lucerne and XJnterwalden raised the war-banner and fell on the territory of Constance, the inhabitants of which had to pay 5000 gulden as an expiation. Yet, in general, it was provided that such disturbances should be reconciled on the spot, or satisfaction given to the guests. Strictly were the shooting regulations administered by the chosen judges, and zealously did hosts and guests endeavour to enhance the feeling of duty in those belonging to them. Among the numerous specimens of city hospitality of that time the most pleasing is the kindly connection which existed for more than 100 years betwixt Zurich and Stras- burg, frequently interrupted by many passionate ebulUtions, but always renewed. In 1456, six years after the Swiss had established the first great shooting-feast at Sursee, in the countiy of Lucerne, some young Swiss, in the early da-mi of morning, conveyed a large pot of hot miUet por- ridge, in a vessel, from Zurich to Strasburg ; they arrived in the evening ; threw the famed Zurich roUs among the people, and delivered the still warm millet porridge to the council of the friendly city, as a token of how quickly their Swiss friends would come to their aid if they ever needed it in earnest ; they danced the same night with the Strasburg maidens. After that, the excitement and sufferings of the * Derisive terms applied to certain localities. — Tr. 176 PICTURES OF GEEIHAN LIFE. [Cli. III. Reformation knit new spiritual ties betwixt Zurich and the great imperial city. Bucer and the Swiss reformers, the literati and artists of both cities, had been in close alliance ; though differences of confession had for a short time pro- duced alienation. The Strasburgers had often experienced the hospitality of the Swiss. Now when, 150 years after the first journey of the porridge-pot, the city of Strasbourg had again announced a brilliant prize-shooting for cross- bow and gun, and a strong detachment from Zurich had celebrated with them the first fortnight of the cross-bow shooting, then a number of young Zurichers, under the lead of some geMlemen of the council, determined to repeat the old voyage. Again, like their ancestors, they placed the great metal pot, weighing 120 pounds, filled with hot porridge, in the ship, and voyaged in the early dawn of morning, all dressed alike in rose and black, from the Limmat into the Aar, from the Aar into the Rhine, with trumpeters and drummers. The places by which the ship flew, in the sunny mid-day, gi-eeted the jolly fellows with acclamations ; in the evening they reached Strasburg, haying been long before announced from the towers. The citizens thronged to meet them ; delegates from the council gi-eeted them ; they carried the pot on shore and delivered it to the councillors ; they scattered amongst the children of Strasbourg 300 strings of Zurich rolls, and again were the manly words spoken : " Quickly as we have come to-day in sport' we will come to help in earnest." And at the abundant supper the old homely dish, still warm, was enjoyed with pleasure. The Strasburger Fischart has described with iiearty satisfaction the journey of the por- ridge-pot, and we find in his verses the warmth which then animated both hosts and guests. The course of the voyage of the porridge-pot, and even the sums which the Swiss deposited in the urn of fortune — " In the name of 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 177 the fortunate ship and of the parent town " — were paid by the city of Zurich. In return they received the small silver utensils which were won in the urn by the Zurichers. The collective costs of the journey which Zurich then paid for its marksmen amounted to 1500 gulden. It is of great interest to consider these brotherly festivals of the city communities, according to districts. In the middle of the sixteenth century, a journey from Nurem- burg to Augsburg was neither so easy nor free from danger, as now from Leipsig to Zurich. The birds of prey of the country gladly flew from their castellated eyries into the woods which surrounded, in wide circles, the hospitable city ; more than once was the fortunate marksman waylaid and robbed, by noble horsemen, of the beautiful purse with the guldens he had won, and his banner broken. Even to greater companies the road was insecure, and the travel- ling toilsome ; the inns at small places were frequently very bad, without meat or drink. It is easily understood that at the largest prize-shooting, to which every unexcep- tional man was welcome, persons from a distance only took a part when accident had brought them into the neigh- bourhood. Therefore it is matter of surprise that the district to which cities sent their invitations was so large. The Wittenburghers were welcome guests at Katisbon and the men of Stuttgart at Meissen. Sometimes accident or the friendship of distinguished citizens, knit these bonds of hospitality betwixt far-distant cities ; then the invita- tions went forty, fifty, or one hundred miles. But, on the whole, we may divide these hospitable cities into gi-oups. The Swiss, Suabians, and Bavarians were in close union. Augsburg, more than Nuremberg, was long the centre and pattern of these gi-oups. To it belonged the Ehine as far as Strasbourg: The gi-eatest and most splendid prize- shootings were for two centuries celebrated in this part of 178 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. Germany. In Bavaria, about 1400, all the more powerful places were in firm intercommunion. There, the city whose marksmen, at one shooting, had won the first prize, was bound at the next shooting festival to produce the same first prize. Thus Kehlheim, which had won the ram at Munich, invited the Munichers, in 1404, to. contend for it again.* But smaller festivals also comprehended a wide circle. At Ratisbon, for example, the Bavarians and Sua- bians shot with the larger cities of Thuringia and Meissen ; also with Lindau, Salzburg, and some places in Bohemia. The Tyrolese and Salzburghers collected more especially at small shooting meetings of their districts ; so also the Franconians north of the Maine. A lasting union of middle-sized and smaller places existed there. This Fran- conian union comprehended in the sixteenth century, toge- ther with Wiirzburg and Schweinfurt, forty-one cities and forty-two villages with free peasants, particularly from the bishopric of Wiirzburg and the royal county of Henne- berg. The chief prize was a neck chain — " The Jewel of the Country" — which the victor wore round his neck for a year, and which imposed upon the victorious place the duty of giving the next shooting meeting. If the commu- nity of the union who had to give the feast was small and poor, the meeting was badly attended. Thus at Neustadt, on Saale, in 1568, only delegates from eighteen cities and three villages appeared. The small participation of the village communities, at this period, is a proof that their strength was diminished in comparison with the former period. Another group comprehended the possessions of the House of Saxony ; the Thuringians and many Fran- conians and Meisseners who sent the garland to one another. * Invitation circular of the KeMheimers in " Bairische Annalen." 13001800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 179 These also zealously maintained the cross-bow at their prize-shootings ; the popinjay was seldom erected, except at smaller meetings, where it was long upheld. At these festivals the Franconians, up to and beyond Nuremberg, were regular guests ; some of the Suabians and more of the German Bohemians. But, on the frontiers of this group, at Halle, another association began, the centre of which was Magdeburg ; here the popinjay was more frequent. Thus at the great prize-shooting at Halle, in 1601, the expression " shooting court " appears, and many special usages. This circle embraced the Harz cities up to Brunswick, and the Altmark, and reaches further to the east and north, for the people of Halle sent their invitations as far as Berlin, Brandenburg, and even Griefswald. Again, the cities of the great province of Silesia were in close union, with Breslau for their centre point ; there the popinjay shoot- ing attained to its highest development, and the festivals were very frequent. Competition was not unfrequent between two cities ; thus, in 1504, between Liegnitz and Neisse, when the Breslauers said, in answer to the invita- tion of Neisse, that they had already accepted the invitation of Liegnitz, and therefore could not go. The chief places of meeting of the cities of middle Rhine were Cologne and Aix-la-ChapeUe ; but the great prize-shootings of this country, which flourished at the end of the fifteenth cen- tury, were embittered by religious discord. It is remark- able that in the countries of Lower Saxony, on the North Sea and Baltic, where the old Hanse towns had founded such noble city unions^ the prize-shootings were less frequent and distinguished. The most zealous supporters of them were the Swiss, Suabians, Thuringians, Meisseners, and Silesians. With the Swiss these great festivals attained the character of exercises of arms; they were practical and serious ; the waggish humour and the tricks of the N 2 180 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [C't. HI. pritschmeister flourished in Middle Geimany.* It is not accidental that in the whole of the Protestant portion of the German empire, the power and comfort of the citizen have been most*nobly developed. If these particulars give only a very imperfect picture of the splendour, the opulence, and the independence which were developed in these festivals by the German cities in ancient times, yet they will succeed in making the reader feel, that though we have gained much in comparison with those times, we have also lost something. Only very lately it would have appeared hazardous to the greatest city com- munities to arrange festivals which, according to our rate of money, would cost perhaps more than fifty thousand thalers ; not to do honour to the visit of some sovereign, but for the pleasure of German fellow-citizens, and which would last three or even five weeks, and commit many hundreds, or even thousands of guests during this period to the friendly hospitahty, partly of individuals and partly of the city community. It is true that time has become more valuable to us, life is enjoyed more rapidly, and we compress into days what would have employed our ances- tors for weeks. It is true that modem men seek recreation in summer in ways which were almost unknown three centuries ago. They isolate themselves from the bustle and hard daily labour of the world among mountain woods and alpine valleys ; whilst our ancestors, on the contrary, sought pleasure and refreshment in large societies of men, and left the narrow boundaries of their walls, — ^the guild room and the council haU, — for those great re-unions in which * The Swiss also were subject to the pritschmeister. In the woodcut on the title-page of the curious poem "Aussreden der Schutzen von Hans Heinrich Groh, Zurich, 1602," there is delineated a rifle shooting, in which the pritschmeister, in complete fool's dress, is castigating two Shooters in the way above described. 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 181 they could gain honour and prizes by their own exertions. But it must not be forgotton that it was just in those last two centuries in which the great civic festivals became impossible, that many general interests were de- veloped in German citizen life, which, however unsatis- factory they may be, form an immeasurable step in advance of the olden time. There is also a fundamental difference in culture which distinguishes us from our ancestors ; but this difference does not rest on the neces- sary progress of a later race. We feel that the old brotherhood of cities and districts had something noble in it, in which our life is very deficient. The joyful self- assertion of man in social intercourse with others, the facility with which common usages unite together hun- dreds and indeed thousands, and, above all, the imposing vigour with which cities asserted their position, all this has been too long wanting to us. If it was seldom granted to our forefathers to feel, on the great occasions of life, the unity of German interests in Church and State, and through a common action and great triumph to ennoble the life of every individual, yet they knew at least how to open, by their fellowship, a domain in which expression was given to the German nature, to human relations and to commu- nity of spirit. It is only within a few years that it has become a necessity to Germans to expand their Kfe in this direction. It was no mere accident that made German men of science, in their wandering meetings, the first to give significant expression to some of the noblest interests of the nation by national association. They were followed by the singers and others, then the gymnasts, finally the shooters. We are now, after more than two centuries of preparation, again treading in the same path in which our ancestors so grandly trod, but with a freer and nobler 182 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch- Hi- feeling. It has been a long-denied pleasure for us thus to be able to vaunt ourselves. But we should at the same time be mindful, and it is the object of these pages to remind us, that the citizen-class of Germany has striven, for more than two centuries since the Thirty Years' War, to become again as powerful and manly in this respect as their ancestors were. But even of that time of weakness, the century that followed the great war, a picture shall be given. But it must be short. The hospitable prize-shootings of the cities had ceased ; here and there a ruler gave a family festival, or, as a special act of grace, a large country shooting meet- ing, at which prizes were awarded, and their subjects allowed to participate. In the cities the old shooting asso- ciations still existed, though in many cases robbed of their prize cups, chains, and jewels; even the cautious Leipzigers had not preserved the silver statue of their holy Sebastian. Many old customs were maintained in their desolate shooting houses; the cross-bow, at the popinjay and target, had dragged on a miserable existence ; it lasts in a few cities as a curiosity up to the present day ; the rifled weapon became naturalised ; in larger communities the new Impe- rial nobility favoured shooting guilds and their old "Konigs- schiessen,"* and these festivals acquired a stiff pretentious character of pedantic state action. This great change in the city festival, — the only meagre feast of arms which remained to the German citizen in the eighteenth century, — is apparent in a description of the Breslau shooting in the year ] 738. It is found where one would hardly look for it, in the laborious work of the physician Johann Christian Kundmann, entitled "Beruhmte Schlesier in Miintzen," 1738, i., p. 128, and is given as follows, literally, with few omissions : — • Called Konigsschiessen, as a king was elected for the occasion. — Tr. 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 183 " At this time the following solemnities were observed at the ' Konigsschiessen.' On Whitsunday the king of the preceding year went with the elders, the Zwinger brotherhood, also with some invited friends, in some twenty carriages, out to the Zwinger.* By the side of the car- riage went the secretaries as servants, two outriders, the markers, and the king's own servant ; they were received with kettle-drums and trumpets. After that, the per- quisites of the king were read aloud to the shooters in the room, and those who wished to shoot for the kingdom were to sign their names with their own hand. Then appeared two gentlemen, commissaries of the worshipful and illustrious council, who are usually the two youngest councillors of the nobility ; they wore Spanish mantles, trimmed with lace or fringe, and placed themselves oppo- site to the king in the room, — who stayed there in his kingly attire, bearing the great golden bird. The coun- cillors state that they, as commissioners, have to be present at this shooting. After this the king goes to the shooting ground, accompanied by the commissioners, the elders, and shooters. "As, according to old usages, a popinjay was to be the mark, a large carved bird with outspread wings was set up, instead of a target, and at this there were six courses, that is, each shooter fired six times. A small silver bird, or a large klippe, was attached to the king as a badge of honour, instead of the large gilt bird, which was too heavy and incommodious to carry. He kept the badge till one of the others had made the winning shot with a bullet. The king shoots always first, amidst the sounding of kettle-drums and trumpets. After these shots the new king is presented to the commissaries, by * An open space round tie town, — Tr. 184 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Cli. III. the zwinger-orator, — usually an advocate, with a well com- posed speech, — and the usual presents are presented to the king. The first gentleman of the council answers with a similar speech. 'After that they go to the zwinger repast, and when they rise from table the king is accompanied with kettle-drums and trumpets home. Or the king and the brotherhood march with music and wine round the city, and do honour thereby to their patrons and good friends. The Wednesday after, the king gives his usual silver shooting, at which there are six prizes of silver, that consist of cups and spoons. After the completion of this, the king gives his first entertainment. " The Saturday following, early in the morning, about eight o'clock, the king is conducted, with his retinue, in his costly attire, before the illustrious and worshipful council in the council room, where the zwinger-orator again delivers an oration, and begs for the king aU the immunities ; the president answers with a similar speech, confirms him in his kingdom, conveys to him the regal dues, and concludes with congratulations. Then the day for the king's benefit is solicited, generally some Monday a few weeks later. This is a pleasure shooting of twelve courses. He who makes the best shot, and he who with gun and dice (the equally bad shots cast lots by dice), fails most, must both place themselves in front of the shooting- house. To the first a large orange will be delivered on a pewter plate, together with a glass of wine and a garland of roses, and some verses will be recited in his praise, when the kettle-drums and trumpets will sound. But he who has failed gets a whey cheese in a wreath of nettles on a wooden plate, together with a glass of beer, upon which the bagpipes and a small fiddle are played ; the verses are generally very pungent, and the zwinger poets are fre- quently wont to recite truths in jest to their dear fi-iends. 1300-1800.] THE CITIZEN AND HIS SHOOTING FESTIVALS. 185 Besides this, for each shot on the outer circle of the target in all the courses, a citron is given, and in Kke manner to every one who hits, a citron, an orange, or a curd cheese which are painted on the target, together with other pic- tures characteristic of the time. Then they go to another meal, when the zwinger-orator and the first deputy of the council deliver speeches, and distribute the banners and prizes to the best shots and the victors in the twelve courses, with the sounding of kettle-drums and trumpets. Then the king gives a costly repast, which often lasts nearly tiU daybreak. Over the king hangs the great king's bird : he himself sits in a large arm chair. From thence the king is accompanied to the patrons and then home, and this solemnity generally finishes with some merriment. Finally, the king gives, the following day, a sausage shooting, and appoints a prize of silver and gold ; this is again concluded by an entertainment, followed by dice playing for pewter.'' Here ends the account of Kundmann. Of how little importance was such a " Konigsschiessen" of the seven- teenth century may be gathered from the description. The popular festival of the olden time had become a pre- tentious solemnity. To do everything in a genteel way was the gi-eat desire ; only the wealthy could become kings ; to drive in carriages, to be accompanied by servants, to give costly meals and expensive prizes, were the main objects ; the shooting was a minor point : and it was very significant that the king was no longer expected to speak publicly before his feUow-citizens ; he represented in dumb show ; the advocate spoke for the citizen at the festival also. Lastly, it may be perceived that the remnants of some of the old jovial customs had still been retained ; they stand out in contrast to the prudery and suscepti- bility of the time ; the improvisation of the pritschmeister 186 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. III. had ceased, and even the ironical verses on bad shots had to be prepared ; gradually the reminiscences of a more vigorous time were laid aside as obsolete and absurd. It was not, however, the wretchedness of the people alone, — ^the bitter fruit of the war, — that destroyed the great brotherly feasts of the citizen, nor yet the ruling tendency to haughty exclusiveness against all who held a modest position in life, but equally injurious was the peculiar stamp impressed upon even the best and most highly cultivated, after that period of humiliation. It is time now to observe the great change in the Ger- man popular mind, which turned the martial citizen, who knew how to use powder and shot and to direct a gun, into the shy, timid gentleman, who hastened his steps when he heard near him the thump of the butt end of a musket, and feared lest his son should grow too tall, and come into the horrible position of having to shoulder a weapon in rank and file. This change was effected by the new polity of the princes. CHAPTER IV. STATE POLICY AND THE INDIVIDUAL. (1600-1700.) The last stage of the process of dissolution which the holy Roman empire passed through occupies the hundred and fifty years from Oxenstern to Napoleon. The mortal disease began in 1520, when Charles V., the Burgundian Hapsburger, was crowned Emperor of Germany ; the death struggle itself did not begin till the election of Ferdi- nand II., the Jesuit protector, in 1620. The peal of bells that celebrated the Westphalian peace was a death-kneU ; what followed was the last slow destruction of an expiring organism. But it was also the beginning of a new organic formation. The rise of the Prussian state coincides pre- cisely with the end of the Thirty Years' War. Whether joy or sorrow ought to predominate in the con- sideration of such a period depends not only on the politi- cal point of view, but on the culture and character of those who form a judgment on it. To those who love to depict with poetic warmth the glories of a German empire, such as perhaps might have been, the advent and character of a time so poor in great men and in national pride can only be repugnant ; whoever is in the unfortunate position of considering the interests of the Hapsburgers or those of the Order of Jesus as essentially German, will form an imaginary picture of the past, which will be as far removed from the reality, as the relique worship of the ancient church is from the free man's worship of God. But whoever inves- 188 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. IV. tigates temperately and sensibly the connection of events, should be careful, in wi-iting the history of this period, not to forget, in the hatefulness of appearances, to do justice to what was legititnate in the reality, and equally so, not for the sake of what is good, to throw a veil over that which is odious. It is not purely accidental that it is only easy to one who is both a Protestant and a Prussian, to regard with conscious pride and a cheerful heart the his- torical development of the last two centuries. Immediately after the peace of Miinster and Osnabruck, two views of German politics confronted one another, the one which, in spite of the diminution of the Hapsburg influence and the decision of the Westphalian peace, stUI maintained the old traditions of Imperial supremacy, and the other that of the great territorial princes who sought to secure full freedom of action and independence for themselves, and who had, in fact, become sovereigns. The history of these opposing principles comprehends, in the main, the history of the political development of our father- land up to the present day. StiU do the two parties remain, but the aims and the means of agitation of both are changed, for above them has arisen a new formation, a thii-d party. After 1648 it was the Imperial party who strongly proclaimed the unity of Germany ; the political supremacy was claimed for the House of Hapsburg, and that was desired which is almost precisely what is at pre- sent termed the diplomatic and military lead. Then weak public opinion, in which there was still a lively recollec- tion of the old connection with the Empire, was for the most part, even among the Protestants, on its side, and the Imperial politicians endeavoured to enlist supporters through the press. If a few literary men, who stood up for German nationality in opposition to foreign influences, murmured at the weakness of the fatherland, the con- 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AND THE INDIVIDUAL. 189 elusion always presented itself to them, that the Emperor was pre-eminently entitled to revive the old supremacy of the Empire. At that time the strength of this party lay in the fact, that the only German state power of any mag- nitude was that of the House of Hapsburg, but their weak- ness consisted in this, that the policy of the Emperor was not in the main German, and that the bigotry and in- trigues of the Vienna court did not inspire either the princes with fear, or the estates with confidgnce. On the other hand, the opposition party of princely politicians, looking to their own advantage, with very little consideration for the Empire, sought the isolation of individual states, the weakening of the connection of the Empire, the policy of the free hand and temporary alliances of the courts among themselves, instead of submitting to the power of the Diet ; and their mutual union at the Diet, and in aU diplomatic negotiations, tended to counteract the influence and policy of the Emperor. In the midst of this struggle betwixt two adverse principles, a new state arose in Ger- many, the princes of which, allying themselves sometimes with one party, sometimes with the other, endeavoured to make use of both, and collected round them a nation, which at the end of the eighteenth century appeared capable of a more vigorous development of German strength than the inheritance of the Hapsburgers. And so completely has the situation of Germany changed, that now the Imperial party acts with most of the German princes against the party of the new State. The old oppo- nents have united in a struggle against the new party, both in the difficult position of having to uphold what is unsatisfactory, both under the fatal necessity of working against a long-cherished desire of the nation. It was a desperate political situation which placed the centre of gravity of German power in the hands of 190 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. IV. individual German princes, and gave them the almost unlimited disposal of the property and lives of their subjects. The poHtical weakness of Germany, the despotic sway and coiTuption of the rulers, the servility of the subjects, the immorality of the courts, and the dishonesty of officials, was the sad result, and has often been suffi- ciently pourtrayed. But with this time begins also the modern State life of Germany. The progress of a nation is not always" understood and valued by contemporaries, the necessary changes are not always effected by great men ; sometimes the good genius of a nation requires the bad, the insignificant, and the shortsighted, as instruments in a powerful reconstruction. Not in the French revolu- tion alone has a new life proceeded from evil deeds : in Germany also, iron necessity, despotism, and contempt for old rights, have produced much that we now consider as the necessary groundwork of well-regulated State life. The school of diplomats and statesmen who had been trained during the war in Germany, defended the interests of the German sovereigns up to the time of the French revolution. The endless peace negotiations brought to- gether in Germany the most distinguished politicians of Europe. Pupils of Richelieu, able Netherlanders, country- men of Macchiavelli, and the proud followers of Gustavus Adolphus. The struggle of antagonisms gave to a large number of talented Germans superabundant opportunities of forming themselves ; for around the representatives of the great powers were more than a hundred political agents, writing and haranguing. From the passionate • struggle which was brought to a conclusion at Miinster and Osnabruck amid the constraint of ceremonials and with an appearance of cold tranquillity, from the chaotic confusion of numberless contending interests, and from the mountains of acts, controversial writings, replications. 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AND THE INDIVIDUAL. 191 and projects of treaty, a generation of politicians was, after the peace, spread over the country, hard men, with stubborn will and indomitable perseverance, with gigantic power of work and acute judgment, learned jurists and versatile men of the world, with great knowledge of human nature, but at the same time sceptical despisers of aU ideal feeUngs, unscrupulous in the choice of means, dextrous in making use of the weak point of an opponent, experienced in demanding and giving honour, and well inclined not to forget their own advantage. They became the leaders of politics at the courts and in the Imperial cities, quiet leaders or dextrous tools of their lords — in fact, the real rulers of Gennany. They were the creators of the diplo- macy and bureaucracy of Germany. Their method of negotiating may appear to us very prolix and pettifogging, but it is just in our time, when a superficial dilettanteism is to be complained of in diplomacy and State govern- ment, that the legal culture and sagacious dexterity of the old school should be looked back upon with respect. It was not the fault of these men that they were obliged to spend their lives in a hundred little quarrels, and that only few of them found themselves in the happy position of promoting a great and wise policy. But it will always be to their honour, that under unfavourable circumstances they more than once preserved the esteem and respect of the external enemies of Gennany, for German diplomacy, where they no longer felt it for the power of German armies. They regulated also the internal concerns of the devas- tated provinces of the new " State." According to their model was formed the official class, also the colleges of judges and administrators ; often, it is tnie, more awkward and pedantic, but just as tenacious of rank, and not un- . frequently as corruptible, as the chancellors and privy 192 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ct. IV. councillors on whom they depended. The new politicians carried on also important negotiations with the provincial Diets, and had no easy task to render them pliant or harmless. Eve* since the end of the fifteenth century there existed, in almost all the larger territories of Ger- many, State representatives of the country, who voted the taxes, attachiug conditions to such votes, and also giving their opinion on the application of the taxes ; in the sixteenth century they had attained to increased im- portance, as they superintended a provincial bank, which assisted the Government in raising money. At the end of the great war, these provincial banks became the last and most important help, for they had strained their credit to the uttermost to provide a war contribution to rid the country of foreign armies. Thus after the peace they were most influential corporations, and the existence of the great portion of creditless sovereigns depended, in fact, upon them. Unfortunately the provincial States were iU fitted to be the true representatives of the country ; they consisted for the most part of prelates, lords, and knights, aU of them representatives of the nobility, who were, as regarded their own persons and property, exempt from taxes : under them were the deputies of the desolated and deeply involved cities. Thus they were not only inclined to lay the burden of these money grants upon the mass of the people, but it also became possible for the Government, through the preponderance of the aristocratic element, to exercise every kind of personal influence. Whilst the ruler drew the nobles of his province to his court, in order to divert himself in fitting society, his chief officials knew how to take advantage of their craving for rank and titles, and through offices, dignities, and gifts, and lastly by threats of royal displeasure, to break the resist- ance of iadividuals. Thus in the eighteenth century the 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AOT) THE INDIVIDUAL. 193 States in most of the principalities sank into insignificance, in some they were entirely abolished. Still some continued to exist, and did not everywhere lose their iafluence and importance. The sums, however, which they were able to grant did not by any means suffice for the new state — to maintain a costly court, numerous officials and soldiers. Regular imposts had to be devised which would be independent of their grants. The indirect taxes quickly increased to a threatening extent. The necessaries of life — bread, meat, salt, wine, beer — and many other things, were taxed to the consumers, at the end -of the seventeenth century. The custom and excise officials were stationed at the city gates, and custom-houses were placed at the frontiers, for the mercha;ndise which passed in and out. Cxjmmercial inter- course was made use of through stamped paper, even the pleasures of the subject were made available for the state ; for example (ia 170S in the Imperial hereditary lands), not only public but private dances were taxed, and also, in 1714, tobacco. At last the poor comedians were likewise obliged to pay a gulden for each representation, and even the quack and eye doctors paid at each yearly market a few kreuzers, and heavy claims were made on the Jews. It was long before either people or officials could accustom themselves to the pressure of the new imposts ; the tariff and the mode of levying it were always being altered, and frequently the governments saw with dissatisfaction their expectations disappointed. On the impoverished people the pressure of the new taxes fell very severely ; loud and incessant were the complaints in the popular literature. Meanwhile the subject worked with the plough and the hammer ; he sat at the writing-desk, and saw around and over him everywhere the wheels of the gi-eat state machine ; he heard its clickiag and creaking, and was hindered 194 , PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. IV. tormented, and endangered by its every movement. He lived under it as a stranger, timid and suspicious. In about six hundred great and small courts, he saw daily the splendid households of his rulers, and the gold-embroidered dresses of the court people ; the lace of the lacqueys and the tufts of the footmen were to him objects of the highest importance, his usual topic of discourse. When the ruling lord kept a grand table, the citizens had sometimes the privilege of seeing the court dine. When the court, forming a sledge party, or a so-called wvrihschaft* drove through the streets in disguise, the subjects might look on. In winter they might even themselves take a share in a great masquerade, but a barrier was erected which separated the people from the sports of the court. Once the prince had contended with the citizens, shooting at the same target, and was only treated in the jokes of the pritschmeister with somewhat greater consideration. Now the court were entirely separated from the people ; and if a courtier con- descended to notice a citizen, it was generally no advantage to the purse or family peace of the privileged one. Thus the poor citizen acquired an abject feeling. To obtain an office or title which would give him somewhat of this courtly power, became the object of his ambition, and the same even with the artisan. In the five or six hundred court establishments the desire for titles spread from the nobles and officials down to the lowest class of the people. Shortly before 1700 began the monstrous custom of giving court titles to the artisans, and with these an order of pre- cedence. The court shoemaker tried by petitioning and bribery to obtain the right of nailing the coat of arms of his sovereign over his door ; and the court tailor and court gar- dener quarrelled bitterly which should go before the other, * A court entertaiument, representing life in an inn. — Tf. 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AND THE INBIVIDUAL. 195 for the tailor, according to the letter of the rule of precedence, went as a matter of course before the gardener, but the latter had obtained the right of bearing a sword* Wealth was the only thing besides rank that gave a privileged position. Whoever calls ours a money-seeking time, should remember how great was the influence of money in former times, and how eagerly it was sought by the poor. The rich man could, it was thought, effect everything. He could be made a nobleman, provided with a title, or by his presents put his rulers under an obligation to him. These presents, were in general received wiUingly. Greedily did the chancellor, the judge, or the councillor accept them, and even the most sensitive rarely with- stood a delicately offered gift. The protection, however, obtained by the citizen ia the new state was stiU very deficient ; it was difficult for him to obtain justice against people of distinction and influence. Lawsuits in most of the German territories were endless. A difficult case of inheritance, or a bankruptcy business, would go on to the second and third generation. Government, with the best will, could not always punish even violent injury to property from burglary or robbery. It is instructive to investigate the proceedings against the bold robber bands ; even when they succeeded in catching the deUnquent, the stolen goods could seldom be restored to the owners. The neighbour- ing governments sometimes delivered up, on requisition and petition, the criminal who had found an asylum in their country, but such deliveries were generally preceded by special influence, and frequently by presents of money ; but the confiscated possessions of the criminal were in many cases retained, and disappeared in the hands of thei officials. When in 1733, at Coburg, a gold and silver * VonEohr, " Ceremoniel-Wissenscliaft," p. 261. 2 196 PICTUEES OF GEBMAiT LIFE. [Ch. IV. Hjianufactory was robbed, and strong suspicion fell on a wealthy Jewish trader, the proceedings were often stopped and interfered with, in consequence of the relations the Jew had with the court ; and even after he was known to be in intimate connection with a band of robbers and murderers, the proceedings against his assistants could not be pursued further, because the magistrates of the place in Hesse where the robbers dwelt, helped their flight ; and the further ramifications of the band, which spread to Bavaria and Silesia, could not be traced on account of the unwUlingness of the tribunals. And yet this trial was carried on with great energy, and the person who had been robbed had made distant journeys and offered large sums. Everywhere the multiplicity of rulers, and the dismember- ment of territories, were productive of weakness. The Margravate of Brandenburg and a portion of Lower Saxony formed almost the only great connected unity, except the Imperial possessions. In the rest of Germany lay inter- spersed many thousands of large and small domains, free cities, and parcels of land appertaining to the nobility. But even a modest pride in their own province could not be cultivated in individuals. For each of the countless frontiers occasioned far more isolation than in the olden time. Even in the larger cities, excepting in the cities on the Northern Ocean, municipal spirit had disappeared. Besides his own interests, the German had little to occupy him but the tittle-tattle of the day concerning family events and any remarkable news. It may be seen from many examples how trifling, pedantic, and malicious was the talk of the city for three generations, and how morbidly sensitive, on the other hand, men had become. Anonymous lampoons in prose and verse, an old invention, .became ever more numerous, coarse, and malicious; they stirred up not only families, but the whole community of citizens ; 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AND THE INDIVIBUAL, 197 they became dangerous for the propagators, if they ever ventured to attack any influential person or royal interests. Yet they increased everjrwhere; no government was in a position to prevent them ; for an artful publisher easily found opportunity to print and distribute them on the other side of the frontier. Under such circumstances some qualities were developed in the German character which have not yet quite dis- appeared. A craving for rank and title, servility to those who, whether as officials, or as persons of rank, lived in a higher position, fear of publicity, and above all a striking inclination to form a morose, mean, and scornful judgment of the character and life of others. This gloomy, hopeless, discontented, and ironical dispo- sition showed itself everywhere, after the Thirty Years' War, by individuals giving vent to their thoughts about the state within whose jurisdiction they hved. It is true that the Germans continued after the great war to take an interest in politics : newspapers of all kinds increased gradually, and bore the news to every house; confidential reports from the seats of government and great commercial cities were circulated ; the half-yearly reports of fairs com- prised an abstract of the occurrences of many months ; and numberless flying sheets, representing party interests, appeared upon every weighty event, both internal and external. The execution of the king, in England, was generally condemned by German readers as a frightful crime, and the sympathies of the whole nation were long with the Stuarts ; but shortly before WilKam of Orange put to sea against James II. it was read and beheved that James had ventured to substitute a false child as heir to the throne. No one, however, excited public opinion so strongly against himself as Louis XIV. If ever a man waa hated by the whole of Germany, he was. It is remarkable. 198 PICTXJTIES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Cli. IV. that whilst the manners of his court and the fashions of his capital -were everywhere imitated by the upper classes, and even the people could not escape from their influence, his politics were from the first rightly estimated by them. Countless were the flying sheets which were scattered about from all sides against him. He was the disturber of the peace, the great enemy, and in the lampoons also the proud fool. After the Palatinate was laid in ashes, the people called their dogs Melac and Teras ; after the taking of Strasburg, a deeper ciy of woe passed through the land. Finally, when in the great War of Succession the German armies long kept the upper hand, a feeling of self-respect was excited, which appeared in the small literature of the day. Had there been a German prince who could have awakened an energetic patriotism in the weak people, this hatred would have helped him. But a powerful outburst of patriotic feeling was hindered by the political condition of the country ; in Cologne and Bavaria, French printing- presses were at work, and German pens wrote against their own countrymen. One cannot, therefore, say that the Germans were defi- cient altogether in political feeling in the centmy from 1640 to 1740, for it burst forth everywhere ; even in works of imagination, in novels, and also in the drama, political conversation found a place, as did sesthetic talk in Goethe's time. But it was unfortunate that this feeling vented itself on the poUtical quarrels of other countries, and that the transactions in Germany itself, excited less interest than the daily occurrences of the Parisian court, or the abdication of the Queen of Sweden. The indifferent public still continued to occupy itself as earnestly about Comets, witches, appearances of the devil, a quarrel amongst ecclesiastics, disputes between councillors and citizens of some Imperial city, or the conversion of some small prince 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AND THE INDIVIDUAL. 199 by the Jesuits, as about the battle of Fehrbellln. The preparations of the Turks and the "war in Hungary were, perhaps, spoken of with a shake of the head ; but to pay money for it, or render assistance, was, seldom thought of ; even after the siege of Vienna by the Turks, in 1683, Count Stahremberg was scarcely as interesting to the great German public as the spy Kolschitzky, who had brought the account from the city to the Imperial main army ; his figure was engraved in copper in Turkish dress, and sold in the market. It is true he shared this glory with every dis- tinguished thief and murderer who had ever been executed anywhere, to the great diversion of the public. Sometimes, indeed, the attention of the Germans was fixed with deeper interest on one man, the Elector of Brandenburg. In Southern Germany, also, he was spoken of respectfully ; he was a powerful-minded prince, but, unfortunately, his means were small. This was the general opinion ; but, as upon his character, so, likewise, upon other vital questions, did the German people give their opinion with as much tranquillity as if it were a question of the Muscovite Czar, or of the distant Japan, concerning which Jesuit accounts had been narrated centuries before. And this was not the result of the trammels of the press, though it certainly was much fettered ; for, in spite of all the recklessness with which the ruling powers sought to revenge themselves on its unruly spirit, the multiplicity of states, and the mutual hatred of neighbouring governments, made it diffi- cult to crush an unbridled press. It was other causes which made the people so indifferent to their own interests. Neither was it deficiency in judgment. If the number- less political discourses of that time are clumsy and diffuse in composition, without any sufficient knowledge of facts and persons, yet they deserve credit for much sound sense 200 , PICTURES OF GKRMAN LIFE. [Ch. IV. and freqiiently a surprising comprehension of the condition of Germany. The Germans, even before 1700, were not deficient in political discernment ; nay, before the Thirty Years' War, mu«h progress was apparent. But it was their peculiar characteristic that, with this comprehension • of their dangerous situation, of the helplessness of the Empire, and of its miserable, dislocated state, the people calmly and quietly recognised it with a shake of the head ; even their literary teachers were rarely roused to manly indignation, still less to determined will, nor even to form fruitless projects. Thus, the nation in the seventeenth century might be compared to a hopeless invalid, who, free from the excitement of fever, soberly, calmly, and sensibly contemplates his own condition. We know, indeed, that it is our own centuiy which has cured this morbid state of the German people ; but we also perceive the cause of the singular, cold, and gloomy objectiveness which became so peculiar to our niation, and of which traces are yet to be discovered in many individuals. It is the disease of a rightly-giTted, genial nature, whose voh- tion has been crushed by the horrors of war and the struggles of fate, and whose warm heart has been benumbed. A clear, circumspect, just spirit remains to the German ; noble political enthusiasm is lost to him. He no longer finds pleasure and honour in being the citizen of a great State ; he has no nation that he loves, no State that he honours ; he is an individual among indi- viduals ; he has well-wishers and detractors, good friends and bad enemies, scarcely any fellow-citizens as yet, scarcely yet any countrymen. As characteristic of such a frame of mind, a flying-sheet will here be given, ^hich, in the allegorical style of the seventeenth century, makes bitter observations on the new State policy, Even during the great war, Bogislaw 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AND THE INDIVIDUAL. 201 Philipp Chemnitz, one of tHe most zealous and talented adherents of the Swedish party, made a prodigious sensa- tion by a book, in -which he complains of the Imperial house as the principal cause of the misery of Germany, and finds the only salvation of the country in the inde- pendence and complete power of the German princes. From the title of the book,* " Staatsraison," this expression became the usual term for denoting the new system of government which, after the peace, began to prevail in the German territories. Since that, this Staatsraison was through half a century condemned in numerous moral treatises from the popular press ; it was represented as double and triple headed, and in books, pictures, and sati- rical verses, always accused of being arbitrary, hard, and hypocritical. To this effect are the contents of the fol- lowing work, which is here given with some abbreviations and alterations which are indispensable for its easier com- prehensiont : — " As the ratio status is now not only honoured in the world, but held to be an irrevocable law, so are truth and honesty, on the other hand, no longer valued. When a situation in the service of the state is vacant, there is, indeed, no want of candidates ; but out of nine the prince finds scarcely three that will suit him. Therefore, they must be examiaed. And if, in the examination, any one. * '' JDeratione statiis in Jmperio nostra Somano-GerTuanico, ISiO." The expression is not invented ty Chemnitz, it had heen introduced before him in diplomatic jargon hy the Italians — ^their ragione di Dominio, or di Staio (in Latin, ratio status; in French, raison d'eslat; in German, StaatsMugJieit) denotes the method of dealing in the finesses of politics, a system of unwritten maxims of government in which only practical states- men were versed. t The title runs thus : " Idolum Prmcipium, that is, the rulers' idol, which they worship in these days and call Ratio Statm, described in a not fabulous fable, after the manner of history." 202 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. IV. in answer to the question, what should be the first and most distinguished virtue of a prince's councillor, should say : * The men of the olden time teach that a prince should be none other than a servant for the general welfare ; therefore, it is his duty to rule according to law and jus- tice, for God and nature have implanted in the heart of every one a true balance for weighing the gold; do to others as you would they should do unto you ; ' then the prince would give him a courteous dismissal. "Such a candidate had not long ago got through an examination at a certain court, by shrewd and cautious answers ; he was nominated councillor, and as the prince was kindly disposed towards him, he gave him in maniage the daughter of his vice-chancellor. After the new coun- cillor had taken the oath of fidelity and secresy, the vice- chancellor got the keys of the state apartments, and took his son-in-law in to initiate him iato state secrets. " In the first room hung many state mantles of all colours, on the outside beautifully trimmed, but badly lined inside, a portion of them having wolf or fox skins in addition to the bad lining. The son-in-law expressed surprise at this, but the chancellor answered : ' These are state mantles, which must be used when one has to pro- pose anything suspicious to subjects, in order to persuade them that black is white ; then must one disguise the matter in the mantle of state necessity, in order to induce the subjects to submit to contributions, rates, and other taxes. Therefore, the first mantle, embroidered in gold, is called the welfare of the subject ; the second, with , fringe, the advancement of the commonwealth ; the third, which is red, the maintenance of divine service : it is used when one desires to drive any one, whom one cannot other- •Wise catch, from house and home, or give him a bloody back, under pretence of false teaching. The fourth is, called zeal 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AND THE INDIVIDTIAL. 203 for the faith ; the fifth, the freedom of fatherland ; the sixth, the maintenance of privileges.' Last of all, there hung one very old and much -worn, like an old banner or horse cover, concerning which the son-in-law laughed, wondering much ; but the father-in-law said — ' The daily and too great misuse of this has worn the hair off, but it is called good intentions, and is oftener so^ight after at the courts of the gi-eat than daily bread. For, if one lays insupportable burdens on subjects, and reduces them to skin and bone with soccage service, and if one cuts the bread from their mouths, it is said to be done with the best intentions ; if one begins an unnecessary war, and plunges the country and its inhabitants in a sea of blood under fire and sword, it is done with the best intentions. Who could know that it would turn out so iU ? If one sends innocent people to prison or to the rack, or drives them into utter misery, and their innocence comes to light, stiU it must have been with good intentions. If one passes an unjust judgment from hatred, envy, favour, bribery, or friendship, it is only done with a good inten- tion. It comes at last to such a point, that one shall make use of the help o^ the devil with the best inten- tions. If one or other of these mantles are too short to disguise the roguery, one may cloak it with two, three, or more.' This room appeared very strange to the new coun- cillor ; he, nevertheless, followed his noble father-in-law into another ; there they found all sorts of masks, so ingeniously formed both in colour ^and features that they might be the natural faces of men. ' When the mantles,' said the chancellor, 'do not suffice to the attainment of the above-mentioned object, one must make a change ; for if one appears too often in one or the other mantle successively before the States, or subjects, or before neigh- bouring potentates, they at last learn to understand it, 204) PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. IV. and -say : " It is the old story ; we know what he wants, he wishes to obtain money ; but how can we always get it? One might at least be informed to what these repeated taxes are applied." The masks serve to meet this discon- tent. One is called the oath ; another, calumny ; a third, deceit ; these delude people, be they good or bad, and effect more than all the arguments of logic. But, above all, the oath is the masterpiece of court logic ; for an honourable man always thinks that another is like-minded with himself; he holds more to an oath and good faith than to all temporal goods ; but if a man is a knave, he must still give credence to an oath, otherwise he puts him- self under suspicion that he neither values oaths nor duty. If both the others fail, calumny must be resorted to, to relieve subjects from the burden of some thousand gulden according to their means. " In the third chamber were hanging, in ,all directions, razors and brass basins ; the shelves vrere covered with cupping-glasses and sponges. There were many vessels containing strong alkalies, tourniquets, and pincers, and shears lay on the tables and window-seats. The young councillor crossed himself; what could they have to do at court with this surgical apparatus, as even many artisans hesitate to admit bath-keepers, shepherds, miUers, and trumpeters into their guilds ? ' It is not so ill imagined,' said the old man ; ' this is the least deceptive handiwork of the state policy, and is more profitable than pen and ink. It is so necessary, that no prince, without this handi- work, can long maintain with dignity his state and his reputation ; and its use is so general, that even the country nobles practise it in a masterly way on their peasants ; hence the maxim comes, that " If a nobleman draws too much blood from the peasants' veins, he himself is ruined." Of what use to the prince are his land and 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AND THE INDIVIDUAL. 205 people, if he cannot shear their wool for the rents that are due, and draw contributions with cupping-glasses, and cleanse disobedient leaders by the alkali of shai-p punish- ment? Nay, the potentates shave, pinch, and cup one another, also, whenever they can. Thus did the generals in the last war draw, now from the Imperial cities, now from the benefices, much of their best blood ; and the Holy Eoman Empire has been as severely pinched by foreign crowns as if it had been done by born bath-servants, only they have made the lie too hot. Many have held the basin to the foreigners, and things have gone so far, that insignificant cavaliers have ventured to shear other princes. But what the princes do not do ia person is performed by their councillors, treasurers, and other officials, who allow them- selves to be used as the sponge, and where they have attached themselves to an office, a city, or a village, and have sucked up so much moisture that they well-nigh burst asunder, then comes the prince, and gives them such a squeeze of the hand, that they are obliged to dis- gorge all that they have absorbed, and become as empty as cast-off serpent skins.' " Silently did the young councillor listen, and entered the fourth chamber. There lay many cases of state spectacles of different kinds. ' Some, when they are put on, make a thing ten times larger than it is, so that a midge appears like an elephant — a thread like a rope — and a farthing like a rose-noble ; they serve to blind the eyes of subjects. If the prince presents them with a couple of timber-trees, remits somewhat of their contiibution, or gives them the liberty to appear before him in velvet and silk, they prize this as highly as if he had given them many thousand ducats. These spectacles so injure the eyes of the unfor- tunate courtiers, that the least favour, such as the prince laying his hand upon their shoulder, or even looking upon 206 PICTURES OF GEEMAK LIFE. [Ct. IV. them, is valued more highly than if they had received from him a rent of 500 gulden. Nay, the prince has, through his most august understandiag, discovered a special profit- able use of thesS spectacles. If he finds the States unwil- ling to give him contributions, he gets up a cry that the enemy is at hand ; that we need thus much and more of provisions, money, and men to meet the barbarous enemy, otherwise all would fall into his jaws. By these exagge- rations the people are rendered willing, and give as much as they possibly can. But so soon as the fish is caught, then it is found that God has roused up great princes, who, for the sake of peace, have mediated, and the contributions are used for other purposes. Another kind of spectacles have, on the contrary, the property of making a mountain appear not greater than a hazel-nut or bean; they are fixed on the cities and frontier lands, right in the face of which the princes have built castles and fortresses ; in order to persuade them that these are only pleasure and garden houses, custom-houses and hunting-boxes. The third kind of spectacles, through which the white appears black, and the black snow white, will always be used when one wishes anything bad to have a glittering appearance ; they serve also for those who are induced to marry — under the suppo- sition that they are virtuous ladies — the females who wait upon the royal household, make their beds, and curl their hair.' " After this the chancellor reached down a box of brown powder, and desired his son-in-law to guess what it was. ' It is eye-powder or dust,' said the old man, ' which rulers sprinkle in the eyes of their subjects. It is one of the prin- cipal tricks to keep the populace quiet ; for when there arise among them turbulent spirits, who open the eyes of subjects by certain political doctrines, and lead them to inquire into the secrets of government, to read the hearts 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AND THE INDIVIDUAL. 207 of princes, bring together their grievances, and attach themselves to lynx-eyed agitators, then insurrection and war are at the door.' After this a vessel of court-peas was produced. The old man stated that this was one of the most noxious expedients employed at court, not i^ideed used by the rulers, but by their false courtiers. 'How so ? ' said the son. ' I regret that I must explain it to you,' answered the father, ' for I fear, if I teach it you too well, you may sometime try the art upon myself; where gain is to be made one puts even a father's nose out of joiat. The peas are strewed in the council-room and chancery, on the stairs, here and there, in the hope of tripping up those whom you cannot otherwise get rid of, especially if they are conscientious, and think they can make their way by good intentions. " 'As most of the potentates know little themselves of these political tricks, unless Machiavellian councillors make them acquainted with them, who can blame the councillors if they make use of their secret to enrich and elevate themselves ? Then follows the state policy of private persons, for where God builds a church the devil will have a chapel also ; thus I have, by the side of my sovereign's principality, made myself a small one, and as I am now becoming old I will reveal to you, my son-in-law, these tricks, that you may be able to follow in my steps. But to the point. I have never soiled myself with peasants and their dung-carts, but preferred gi-eat assemblages. Imperial, electoral, and priaces' diets ; for the larger the pond, the better it is to fish in. Yet have I so far acted with moderation that I have never intermeddled too far nor tied myself to one party alone ; but have always rC' mained a free man. Like the sleek fox, I adapted myself to every one's humour and business, and turned to the best account my jests. I led the various parties by the nose, so 208 PICTURES OP GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. IV. that they always had recourse to me, followed and trusted me ; and, moreover, allowed themselves to be fooled. Thus I did from the beginning. When my prince discovered these qualities in me, he made me his councillor and then chancellor. Now the nobles must bring with them whole cartloads of wine, whole waggons full of corn, and the like gifts, if they would obtain a favourable decision in chancery, or wish to procure a bill of feoffment or decree of court. All the citizens and peasants, too, must make presents, or their causes lie in a heap undecided. But especially the following trick brought me good luck : When a rich man, having committed an evil deed, has been ill spoken of by the prince, &c., then I gave him to understand how great was the anger of the prince against him, and that it might cost him his life if he did not employ me in the business. If he agreed, I concealed his guilt ; or, at least, helped him out of it. But if he did not, I would institute a suit against him, and he was exposed to danger and death. If he en- deavoured to succeed, through the means of attorneys, in spite of me, I would make use of all my cunning to prevail against and ruin him. When the fox's skin did not answer, I assumed .that of the Hon ; what I could not acquire by wiles and cunning, I usurped de facto, and discovered how I could obtain by violence. If any one complained of the old chancellor, and wished to bring a suit against him at court, I offered to submit myself to a judicial action, for the councillors, as colleagues, were on my side. I displaced in village and field the boundary stone, made other ditches and frontier lines, squeezed out of my neighbours some hundred morgens of arable land, meadows, and woods. In like manner I laid hands on the property of rich widows, orphans, and wards; bought rents and perpe- tual leases, and lent out money which, in three years, was doubled. It would be tedious to relate the gains I 1600-1700.] STATE POLICY AND THE INDIVIDUAL. 209 made by assignments, bills of exchange, wine, com, and salt traffic' " All this the son-in-law listened to with great attention, and said, 'Noble father, you have well administered for your family, and brought it into prosperity ; but the ques- tion is whether your descendants will prosper so as to inherit it in the third or fourth generation ; for " ill-gotten gains seldom prosper." ' " ' That signifies as little to me as a midge on the wall. Let any one say what he will, I, on the other hand, have what I will. He who would gain something must venture something, and not mind what people say. I have revealed and confided to you more than to my own wife and children. Now come home with me to supper.' " Such is the purport of the sad irony of the flying sheet, which is peculiarly appropriate here, as it evidently gives expression to the common sentiments of the time. At the conclusion of it one particular intrigue of a small German court is more alluded to than related. Even after 1700, this cold, bitter way of speaking of the political condition of Germany continued generally ; for the " aufkldrungs " literature, which sprang up at this period, altered the style more than the spirit. Indeed, from the end of the War of Succession till 1740, during the, longest period of peace which Germany had experienced for a century, a diminution of political interest is discern- ible in the small literature. It is always the extraordinary destinies of individuals which more specially interest the public — ^the prophecies of a Pietist, the trial of a woman for child murder, the execution of an alchymist, and such like. When on Christmas night, 1715, two poor peasants were suffocated by coal vapours in a vineyard-hut at Jena, . whilst they, together with a student and a torn copy of Faust's book of necromancy, were endeavouring to raise 210 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. IV. a great treasure, this misfortune gave rise to full a dozen flying sheets — clerical, medical, and philosophical — which fiercely contended as to whether the claw of the devil or the coals had been the cause of death. All the battles that had been fought, from that of Hochstadt to Malplaquet, had not made a greater sensation. Even in the " Dialogues from the Kingdom of the Dead," — a clumsy imitation of Lucian, in which opinions were given of the public charac- ters of the day, — it is evident that it is more particularly the anecdotes and the private scandal which attracted the people. Once more an interest was powerfully excited by the expulsion of the Protestant Salzburger ; but in the year 1740 a great political character impressed itself on the soul of Germany, and announced by the thunder of his cannon the beginning of a new time. But it was not the " State system " alone which loosened the connection of the burgher class, and turned the German into an isolated individual : the powers which usually con- firm and strengthen the united life of individuals, faith and science, worked to the same effect. CHAPTER V. " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OE PIETISTS. (1600-1700.) The contrast between the epic time of the Middle Ages, and the new period which has abeady been often called the lyrical, is very perceptible in every sphere of human life, and not least in the realm of faith. The Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages had con- secrated the life of every individual by a multitude of pious usages, and shut it up in an aristocratic spiritual state, in which the spirit of the individual was fast bound in rigid captivity, with httle spontaneous action. The Reforma- tion destroyed in the greater part of Germany these fetters of the popular mind ; it set freedom of decision and mental activity in opposition to the outward constraint and splen- did mechanism of the old Church. But Protestantism gave a system of doctrine, as well as freedom and depth, to the German mind. In the great soul of Luther, both these tendencies of the new faith were in equilibrium ; the more passionately he struggled for his explanation of holy writ and the dogmas of his school, the stronger and more original was the mental process through which, after his own way, he sought his God in free prayer. It is, never- theless, clear that the great progress which accrued to the human race from his teaching, could not fail to result in forming two opposite tendencies in Protestantism. The two poles of every religion, knowledge and the emotions of the soul, the intellectual boundaries of religious know- p2 212 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. ledge and the fervid resignation of self to the Divine, •must prevail in the soul with varying power, according to the wants of the individual and the cultivation of the period ; now one, now the other will preponderate, and the time might amve when both tendencies would come into strife and opposition. At first Protestantism waged war against the old Church, and against the parties that arose within itself, — a necessary consequence of greater freedom and independence of judgment. It is difficult to judge how far this liberal tendency of Protestanism would have led the nation, if adversity had not come upon them. The great war, however, gave rise to a peculiar apathy even in the best. Each party engaged bore a token of their faith upon their banners, each brought endless misfortune upon the people, and in all, it was apparent how little baptism and the Lord's Supper availed to make the professors of any confession good men. When the flames of war were dying away, men were much inclined to attribute a great portion of their own misery and that of the country to the strife of the contending persuasions. It naturally followed that the colder child- ren of the world attached little value to any religion, and turned from it with a shrug of the shoulder when the old ecclesiastical disputes, which even during the war had never been entirely silenced, began to rage with loud bluster in the pulpit and the market-place. In many districts the mass of the people had been compelled, by dragonades and the most extreme methods of coercion, to change their persuasion three and four times, and the for- mulas of belief were not more valued by them, from their having learnt them by rote. Thus waste and empty had become the inward life of the Church, which, together with the coarseness and vices introduced among men by the long war, gave to the ten years after it an aspect so pecu- 1600-1700.] "DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 213 liarly hopeless. There was little to love, very little to honour upon earth. Yet it was just at this period, when each individual felt himself in constant fear of death, that a kind Providence often interposed to save them from destruction. Sudden and fearful were the dangers, and equally sudden and wonderful the rescue. That the strength of man was as nothing in this terrible game of overwhelming events, was deeply imprinted on the soul of every one. When the mother with her children hid herself trembling in the high com whilst a troop of horsemen were passing by, and in that moment of danger murmured a prayer with blanched lips, she naturally ascribed her preservation to the special protection of a merciful God. If the harassed citizen, in his hiding-place in the woods, folded his hands and prayed fervently that the Croats wlfo were plundering the town might not find his concealed treasure, and afterwards, upon raking up the cinders of his burnt house, found his silver pieces untouched, he could not help believing that a special Providence had blinded the greedy eyes of the enemy. When tenible strokes of fate overtake individuals in rapid a succession, a belief in omens, forebodings, and superna- tural warnings is inevitably fostered. Whilst the super- > stition of the multitude fixes itself on the northern lights and falling stars, on ghosts and the cry of the screech- owl, more polished minds seek to discover the will of the Lord from dreams and heavenly revelations. The lono- war had, it is true, hardened the hearts of men against the miseries of others ; it had also deprived them of all equability of mind ; and the vacant gaze into a desolated world, and cold indifference, were in most only interrupted by fits of sudden weakness, which perhaps were produced by insignificant causes, and a reckless sinner was suddenly plunged into sorrow and contrition. Life was undoubtedly 214 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. poor in love and elevation, but the necessity of loving and honouring which lies so deep in the German nature, after the peace, sought painfully for something high and steadfast, in order to give an aim and an interest to his poor wavering hfe. Thus the mind clung to the holy concep- tions of faith, which it again with quiet reverence endea- voured to realise heartily, affectionately, and confidingly. From such longings in the hearts of the people, a new life was developed in the Christian Church. It was not only among the followers of Luther, but equally in the Calvinistic persuasion, and almost as much in the Roman Catholic Church ; it was also not only in Germany and the countries which then partook of German cultivation, Den- mark, Sweden, Eastern Sclavonia, and Hungary, but almost at the same time in England, and even earlier in France and Holland, where religious schism and political faction have rent asunder the souls of men in bitter con- troversy for centuries. Nay, even among the Jesuits we may find the working of this same craving after a new ideal in a cheerless life. In the history of the Christian Church, this Pietism — as the new tendency has been called by its opponents since 1674 — has been a transitory im- pulse, which blossomed and withered in little more than a centuiy. The effect it has exercised on the culture, morals, and spirit of the German people may still be per- ceived. In some respects it has been an acquisition to the nation, and a short account of it shall now be given. As this Pietism was no new doctrine proclaimed by some great reformer, but only a tendency of the spirit which burst forth among many thousands at the same time, the greater number of its professors remained firm at first in the dogmas of their church. In fact, in the beginning it only expressed wide-spread convictions, to which the best natures had already, before the Thirty 1600-1700.] "DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 215 Years' War, given utterance ; that the points of union of r religious parties, and not the deviations of doctrinal I opinions, were the main objects of faith ; that personal j communion with God was independent of dogmas ; that it availed little to hear sermons and take the sacrament, to confess that one was a great sinner and relied on the merits of Christ only and not on our own works, nor to refrain from great sins and to say a few lifeless prayers at appointed hours. And yet this was the usual Chris- tianity of both ecclesiastics and laity :• a dead faith, a mere outward form of godliness, the letter without the spirit. Little did the baptism of children signify without conver- sion on arriving at maturity, little also did communion- ship with the church avail, by which the laity only re- ceived passively the gifts of salvation: each individual ought to establish the priesthood of the Lamb in his own heart. Such was the feeling of thousands. Of the many in Germany that followed this tendency of the heart, none exercised for many years so great an influence as Jacob Spener, between 1635, and 1 |7Q5. Born in Alsace, where / for more than a century the doctrines of Luther and of the Swiss reformers flourished conjointly and contended to- gether, where the learning of the Netherlands and even the pious books of England were harboured, his pious heart early imbibed a steadfast faith through the earnest teach- ing of schools, and under the protection accorded to him by ladies of distinction in difiicult times. Even as a boy he had been severe upon himself, and when he had once ventured to a dance he felt obliged to leave it from qualms of conscience. He had been a tutor at a prince's court, and also studied at Basle. At Geneva he saw with astonish- ment how Jean de Labadie, by his sermons on repentance, had emptied the wine-houses, caused gamblers to give back their gains, and stamped upon the hearts of the children 216 PICTTJEES OF GEBMAif LIFK [Ch. V. of Calvin the doctrines of inward sanctification and of follow- ing after Christ with entire self-renunciation. From thence Spener went to Frankfort-on-the-Maine as pastor, and by his labours ^here produced a rich harvest of blessing, which assumed ever-increasing proportions, and soon pro- cured him followers throughout Germany. Happily mar- ried, in prosperous circumstances, peace-loving and pru- dent, with calm equanimity and tender feelings, a loving, modest nature, he was specially adapted to become the counsellor and confidant of oppressed heai-ts. Over women especially this refined, kind-hearted, dignified man had great influence. He established meetings of pious Christians in a private dwelling ; they were the far-famed Collegia pietatis, in which the books of the holy Scrip- tures were explained and commented upon by the men, whilst the women listened silently in a space set apart for them. When later he had to deliver these discourses in the church, they lost, for the zealous, the attractive power which in the calm exclusiveness of the select society they had exercised ; parties arose, and a portion of his scholars separated from the church. He himself, after twenty years of active exertion, was called from Frankfort to Dresden, and from thence soon after to Berlin. Spener himself was disinclined to sectarianism, the mysticism of Amdt, and still more of Jacob Bohme, was repulsive to him, and he disapproved when some of his friends abandoned the church ; he struggled incessantly against the enemies who wished to drive him out of it, and during the last half of his life maintained a quiet struggle against his own followers, who publicly showed their disrespect to the dogmas of the church. He was decidedly no enthusiast ; that the Christian religion was one of love, that in one's own life one was to imitate that of Christ, and value little the transitory pleasures of the 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LAOT)E," OR PIETISTS. 217 world, that, after his example, one was to show love to one's fellow-creatures : this was always the noble keystone of his teaching. And yet there was something in his nature, with- out his wishing it, which was favourable to the isolation and seclusion in which, in the following century, the religious life of the Pietists wore away. The stress which he laid upon private devotion, and the sohtary striving of the soul after God, and, above all, the critical distrust with which he regarded worldly life, could not fail to bring his fol- lowers soon into opposition with it. The insignificance and shallowness of many pretenders to sanctity who clung yearningly to him, made it inevitable that a similar mode j of feeling and of judging life would shortly become mere j mannerism, which would show itself in language, demea- | nour, and dress. God was still the loving Father who was to be stormed by the power of prayer, and might be moved to listen. But this generation had learnt resignation, and a gentle whisper to God took the place of the urgent prayer in which Luther had " brought the matter home to his Lord God." The inscrutable ways of Providence had been imprinted by fearful lessons on the soul, and the progress of science gave such presage of the grandeur of the world's system, that the weakness and insignificance of man had to be more loudly proclaimed. The sinner had become more in awe of his God, the naive ingenuousness of the Reformation was lost. The craving for marvels had therefore increased— increased in this generation— and zealously did they endeavour in indirect ways to fathom the will of the Lord. Dreams were interpreted, prognostics discerned; every beautiful feeUng of the soul, every sudden discovery made by the combinations of the mind, were considered as direct inspirations from God. It was an old popular beUef, that accidental words which were impressed on the mind from 218 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. outward sources were to be considered as significant, and this belief had now become a system. As the Jutlander Steno — the Eoman Catholic Bishop of Hanover, and acquaintance 5f Leibnitz — suddenly became a fanatic, because a lady had spoken out of the window some indif- ferent words, which he in passing by conceived to be a command from Heaven, so did accidental words sway the minds of the Pietists. It was a favourite custom in cases of doubt to open suddenly upon some verse in the -Bible or hymn book, and from the tenor of the words to decide these doubts — ^the sentence on which the right-hand thumb was set was the significant one — a custom which to this day remains among the people, and the opponents of which, as early as 1700, called deridingly " thumbing." If any one had a call from the external world, the system was to refuse the first time, but, if repeated, then it was the call of the Lord. It may easily be conceived that the believing soul might, even in the first refusal, unconsciously follow a quiet inclination of the heart which had secretly said yes or no. That in a period of unbridled passions, the reaction against the common lawlessness should overstep modera- tion is natural. After the war, a crazy luxury in dress had begun ; the women loved to make a shameless display of their charms, the dances were frivoloiis, the drinking carousals coarse, and the plays and novels often only a collection of impurities. Thus it was natural that those who were indignant at all this should choose to wear high dresses, simple in style and dark in colour, and that the women should withdraw from dances and other amuse- ments ; the drinking wine was in bad repute, the play not visited, and dances esteemed a dangerous frivolity. Biit zeal went still further. Mere cheerful society also appeared doubtful to them — men should always show that they valued 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 219 little the transitory pleasures of the "world ; even the most harmless, offered by nature to men's outward senses, its smiling blossoms and the singing of birds, were only to be admired with caution, and it was considered inadmis- sible, at least on Sunday, to pluck flowers or to put them in the hair or bosom. That praiseworthy works of art should not find favour with the holders of such opinions was natural. Painting and profane music were as little esteemed as the works of the poets by whom the anxieties of earthly love are portrayed. The world was not to be put on an equality with the Eedeemer. Those who fol- low not the ways of " piety," live in conformity with the world. He who thus withdraws himself from the greater por- tion of his fellow-men, may daily say to himself that he lives with his God in humility and resignation, but he will seldom preserve himself from spiritual pride. It was natural that the " Stillen im lande," as they early called themselves, should consider their life the best and most excellent, but it was equally natural that a secret conceit and self-sufficiency of character should be fostered by it. They had so often withstood the temptations of the world, so often made great and small sacrifices ; and as they had the illumination of God's grace, they were his elect. Their faith taught them to practise Christian duties in a spirit of benevolence to man, to do good to others, like the Samaritan to the traveller, in the wilderness of life. But it was also natural that their sympathy and benevo- lence to others should be chiefly engrossed by those who had the same religious tendencies. Thus their mutual union became, from many circumstances, peculiarly firm and remarkable. It was not, in the first instance, parti- cularly learned ecclesiastics who were Pietists ; on the contrary, the greater portion of the clergy in 1700 stood [ 220 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [CK Y. firm to the orthodox point of view in opposition to them. But they lived more by the Gospel than the law ; they sought carefully to avoid the appearance of exercising, as preachers, dominion over the consciences of the commu- nity. This captivated the laity — the strong minds and warm hearts of all classes, scholars, officials, not a few belonging to the higher nobility, and^^ove all, women. For the first time since the ancient days oTGermany — with the exception of a short period of chivalrous devo- tion to the female sex — were German women elevated above the mere circle of family apd household duties ; for the first time did they take an active share as members of a great society in the highest interests of humankind. Gladly was it acknowledged by the theologians of the Pietists, that there were more women than men in their congregations, and how assiduously and zealously they performed all the devotional exercises, like the women who remained by the cross when the Apostles had fled. Their inward life, their struggle with the world, their striving after the love of Christ and light from above, were watched with hearty sympathy by all in their intimacy, and they found trusty advisers and loving friends among refined and honourable men. The new conception of faith which laid less stress on book-learning than on a pure heart, acted on them like a charm. The calm, the seclusion, and the aristocratic tendency of the system, attracted them powerfully; even their greater softness, the energy of their impulsive feelings, and their excitable, nervous nature, made them more especially subjects for eiiiotions, enthusiasm, and the wonderful workings of the Godhead. Already had the gifted Anna Maria von Schur- mann, at Utrecht — the most learned of all maidens, and long the admiration of travellers — ^been separated from the church through Jean de Labadie ; and the pious and 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 221 amiable lady had, in 1670, in her holy zeal, withdrawn aU her works, though they contained nothing unchristian. Like her, many other women endeavoured to be the re- presentatives o£ their priesthood to the people ; many of these pious theologians could boast of strong-minded women, who prayed with and comforted them, ever strengthening them amid the difficulties of faith, and partaking of their light. Thus it came to pass that women of aU classes became the most zealous partisans of the Pietists. There was scarcely a noble or rich family which did not count among its ladies one that was pious, nor who, though they might at first be angered, were not gradually influenced by their intrinsic worth and moral exhortations. To such noble ladies there was a great charm in being able to protect persons of talent in their community. They became zealous patronesses, unwearied proselytisers, and trustworthy confidants, and helpers in the distresses of others. But whilst they laboured for the interests of their faith, their own life was subject to many influences. They came into contact with men of different classes, they were accustomed to correspond with those who were absent, and they learnt to give vent to the secrets of the heart, and to the tender feelings of their souls. Although this was often done in the canting expressions of the community, yet it produced in many a deepening of the inner life. There was, indeed, something new added to the spirit of the people. The habit of reflecting on their own condition, of judging themselves under strong inward emotions, was quite new to the German mind. It is very touching to observe the child-like pleasure with which these pious people watched the processes of their mental activity, and the emotions of their hearts. "iMuch was strange and sur- prising to them which we, from greater practice in the 222 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. observation of our own inward life and that of others, only find common. Every train of conceptions which rapidly formed themselves into an image, a thought, or an idea, every eudden flash of feeling, the mainspring of which they could not discover, appeared to them wonder- ful. The language of the Bible, which, after long groping, they began to understand, was unfolded to them. Their visions, which, owing to their assiduous application to the Scriptures, assumed frequently the form of Bible figures, were carefully, after their awakening, brought into rational coherence, and, unconscious of the additions of their ima- gination, were polished into a small poem. Then- lyrical tendencies gave a new form to their diaries, which hitherto had been only a register of casual occurrences ; the con- fidential pages became now clumsy attempts to express in grand words, impassioned feelings, and were filled with observations on their own hearts. When a Pietist, shortly after 1700, writes : " There were so many deep thoughts in my heart, that I could not give expression to them," or, " I had a strong feeling about these thoughts," this sounds to us like the utterance of a later time, in the style of Bettine Amim, who undoubtedly was, in many respects, an echo of the excited women who once prayed, under the guidance of Spener, on the banks of the Maine. This same facility of self-contemplation found its way into poetry, and later into novels. Together with Pietism .there began also in Germany a new style of social intercourse. Seldom was a quiet life the lot of the heads of the pious communities ; they were transplanted, driven away, and moved about hither and thither. The disciples, therefore, who sought for instruc- tion, comfort, and enlightenment, were often obliged to travel into distant countries. Everywhere they found souls in unison, patrons and acquaintances, and often a 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LAJSTDE,'' OR PIETISTS. 223 good reception and protection from strangers. Those who did not travel themselves, loved to write to kindred spirits concerning their dispositions, temptations, and enlighten- ment. Such letters were carried about, copied, and sent far and wide. Thus arose a quiet communion of pious souls throughout Germany, a new human tie, which first broke through the prejudices of classes, made women important members of a spiritual society, and established a social intercourse, the highest interest of which was the inward life of the individual. And this social tendency of the pious, determined the form and method of inter- course of the finer minds for a hundred years later than the time of Spener ; indeed, the social relations between our great poets and German princesses and ladies of rank, was only rendered possible because the " Stillen im lomde " had lived at courts in a similar way. The whole system was the same : the visits of travellers, the letters, and the quiet community of refined souls. The sentimentality of the Werther period was only the stepdaughter of the emotional mania of the old Pietism. The beneficial influence, also, exercised by the Pietist^ on the manners and morals of the people should not be under-rated, although much of this influence was undoubt-- edly lost by their proneness to separate from the multi- tude. But, wherever the labours of Spener, as shepherd of souls, had found imitators, especially where Pietism had been recognised by the church of the State, the practical Christianity of the new teaching was perceptible. "Like Spener, his followers felt the importance of religious in- struction for the young, and gladly availed themselves of the opportunities when the youthful souls of the parish and the parents opened themselves to them, to counsel them on the more important occuirences of the day, and give a practical turn to their teaching. It was they who, 224 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. I with warm hearts, first, after the devastating war, provided ' schools for thepeople ; and to them must BS attributed the first regular supervision of the poor in the large cities. It is known that the German orphan-houses were estab- l lished, through them ; the example of Franke, in Halle, was followed in many other cities — these great institu- tions were looked upon as a wonder by contemporaries. Throughout all ages these foundations of our pious ances- tors ought to be regarded with special interest by our nation ; for they_are__the ftret^ und^takings for the public k welfare which have been formed by the volunIafy~contri- I butions of individuals from thewKole of Germany. For the first time did the people become conscious how great may be the results of many with small means working together. It is not surprising that this experience seemed then to the people like a fabulous tale, when one considers i that in the ten years before and after 1700, the " Stillen " imust have collected in the countries where the German tongue is spoken, far more than a million of thalers for orphan-houses and other similar benevolent institutions • this was, undoubtedly, not from private sources alone, but in that poor and depopulated country such sums are sig- nificant. Thus did Pietism prepare men for rapid progress in many directions, and its best offering to its votaries, a more elevated sense of duty, and a greater depth of feel- ing, passed from the " Stillen im lands " into the souls of many thousands of the children of the world • it con- tributed scarcely less than science to the beginning of that period of enlightenment, by mitigating the wild and rough practices which everywhere prevailed in the second half of the seventeenth century, and by giving to the family life of Germans, at least in th'fe cities, greater simphcity, order and morality. The families from whom our gi-eatest 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LAIUBE," OR PIETISTS. 2^5 scholars and poets have sprung, the parental houses of Goethe and Schiller, show the influence which the Pietism of the last generation exercised on their forefathers. That many of the Pietists might lose themselves in extravagancies and dangerous by-ways, is easily compre- hensible. It was natural that with those who, after iaward struggles and long strivings, had obtained strength for a godly life, the deliveiy of man from sin should become the main point ; and as they were yearning, above all, for the direct working of God on their own life, it followed that they ascribed this awakening to the special grace of God ; that they sought earnestly in prayer for the moment when this special illumination and sanctification should take pl^ce by a manifestation of the divinity ; and that when, after severe tension of the soul, they reached a state of exaltation, they considered this as the begiuning of a new life to which the grace of God was assured. Luther, also, had striven for this illumination ; he also had experienced the transports of exaltation, inward peace, repose, certainty, and a feeling of superiority to the world ; but it had been with him, as with the strong-minded among his contempo- raries, an ever-enduring struggle, a frequently-repeated victory, a powerful mental process which appeared some- times, indeed, wonderful to himself, but in which with his sound, strong nature, there was nothing morbid, and of which the special form, the struggles with the devil, were the natural consequences of the naive, simple-hearted popular faith, which had changed the old household spirits and hobgoblins of our heathen ancestors into Christian angels and the devil. The Pietists, on the other hand^ lived va. a time when the life both of nature and man was more rationally viewed as to cause and effect, when a mul- titude of scientific conceptions were popular, when a prac- VOL. I. Q , 226 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V, tical worldly mind prevailed which made itself few illu- sions, and when the hearts of men were seldom elevated by enthusiasm and great ideas. Already we begin to trace the beginnings of rationalism. In such a time this rege- neration, this moment of awakening, was not a frame of mind easily produced — not a condition in which, with a sound mental constitution, one could place oneself without a certain degree of violence. It was necessary to wait for it — to prepare oneself strenuously, and constrain body and soul to it, by a self-contemplation, in which there was something unsound ; one must watch anxiously one's own soul, to discover when the moment of awakening was nigh. And this moment of awakening itself was to be entirely different from eveiy other frame pf mind. In order to arrive at the conviction of its presence, that was not suffi- cient for them, which, after severe struggles, had given a happiness to the great reformers that rested on their countenances like a reflection of the Godhead ; the peace and serenity which come after the victorious end of a struggle betwixt duty and inclination. This outpouring of grace with the Pietists was frequently accompanied by ecstasies, visions, and similar pathological phenomena, which at no period have been wanting, but which were then sought after as the highest moments of human life and recounted with admiration. It will shortly be shown that this was the rock on which Pietism strack. "With such tendencies, even the reading of the Scriptures was fraught with special danger. When they explained the holy Scriptures, beiag under the conviction that God favoured them with a direct influence, they were in the unfortunate position of considering every accidental inci- dent that presented itself to them in any part, as an unerring manifestation. H'ow, the yearning of a weak age for a better condition, and the inclination of the pious 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 227 for special illumination, rendered the prophetic books of -the Old and New Testament particularly attractive. Thus it came to pass that the Pietists drew from them a multitude of revelations and prophecies. It is of no importance at what results they arrived ; hut this engross- ing attention to the dark passages of the prophets, and especially the Revelation of St. John, did not contribute to render their judgment clearer, nor their scientific cul- ture more solid : for in their time the key to the better understanding these records had not been found. More- over, the knowledge of languages even among scholars was generally unsatisfactory, although,' after the example of Schurmann, there was already here and there a pious maiden who began to learn Hebrew. It was not long before all worldly knowledge appeared, to most of them, useless and detrimental. Thus, Pietism was threatened with great dangers imme- diately after its rise ; but the life of the early Pietists, who from Frankfort spread themselves all over Germany, was more simple and harmless than the later proceedings at Halle, under the separatists of the eighteenth century. Two autobiographies of pious individuals of Spener's school have been preserved to us, which throw light on other phases of German life. It is a husband and wife who have bequeathed them to us, — ^kind-hearted people, with warm feelings, some learning and no particular powers of mind, — ^the theologian, Johann Wilhelm Petersen, and his wife, Johanna Eleanor, bom von Merlau. After they were united in marriage, they led together a spiritual life, in perfect unanimity, and, like a pair of birds, flitted through the temptations and troubles of this earthly vaUey. Heavenly consolation and manifestation came to them alike. The world considered them as enthusiasts, but fhey were held in honour to the close of their life by the Q 2 228 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. Y. best among the Pietists, undoubtedly because of tbe good- ness of their hearts, which were not choked up with spi- ritual pride. The husband was industrious and faithfiil to his duties, a man with poetical feeling and some philo- sophical culture ; but he needed another to lean on, and was evidently much influenced by his more decided wife, whose worldly position, as being noble, gave her consideration even among the pious. It was soon after his marriage that a restless excitement, and sometimes an immoderate zeal, became visible in him. His wife, who was some years older than himself, had attained to a rigid piety, whilst struggling against the worldly life of the small prince's court, where she had lived. One may conclude from her biography, that she was not free from ambition and love of power, with a slight touch of asperity. Her long, quiet struggle had made her over-zealous, and she and the pious Frau Bauer von Eyseneck, with whom she lived later at • Frankfort, both belonged to the enthusiastic members of the community, who were inclined to conventicles, and caused great sorrow on that account to their pastor, Spener. It may therefore be assumed that it was chiefly the influ- ence of the wife that drove her husband on in the course which at last removed him from his office, and gave him the repute of being an enthusiast and millennarian. But the hatred of the orthodox party has done injustice to both ; they were honest even when predicting marvels. We will first give the youthful years of the wife, then some characteristic traits from the life of the husband, related in their own words. Johanna Eleonora Petersen^ by birth von Merlau, was born at Merlau the 25th of April, 1644. She narrates as follows* : — * ■" Lebena Besolireibiag Jokmnis Petersen,"' 1717 ; 2nd edit. 1719 8. •' Leben Frauen Jokanma Eleonora Petersen," 1718' ; 2nd: edift. 1719 8. 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OB PIETISTS. 229 " The fear of the Lord has guarded me, and HIb good- ness and truth have led me. " I have felt the quieting of his good Spirit from child- hood, but have resisted it from ignorance. My high position iu the world has been a great hindrance to his working ; because I loved the world equally with Him, till I came to a right understanding, and till the saving Word wrought powerfully in me to conviction. For when I was about four years old it came to pass that my dear parents, who had lived at Frankfort on account of the troubles of war, returned into the country, as peace was established. They brought many things into the country, and my now deceased mother Hved with me and both my sisters on a property at Hettersheim, called PhUipseck, where she believed herself to be out of harm's way. Then came the servants and told her that a troop of horsemen were coming, where- upon every one quickly put away what belonged to them and left ; my now deceased mother, with three little chil- dren, alone, of whom the eldest was seven and I four years old, and the third at the breast. Then did my deceased mother take the youngest in her arms, and both of us by the hand, and went without a maid-servant to Frankfort, which was distant a long half-league. But it was summer, the com was standing in the fields, and one could hear the noise of the soldiers, who were marching about a pistol's shot from us. Then did my deceased mother become much alarmed, and bade us pray. But when we came to the outermost gate of the city, where we were in security, my deceased mother sat herself down with us, and exhorted us to thank the Most High God who had protected us. Then said my eldest sister, who was three years older than I, ' Why should we pray now ? now they cannot come to us.' Then was I grieved to the heart at this speech, that she would not thank God, or thought that it was no longer 230 PICTaRES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. necessary, I rebuked her for this, having fervent love for the Lord, whom I thanked jnth my whole heart. — Item, as I was persuaded that the midwife had brought the children nrom heaven, I had a great desire to talk to her ; I charged her to greet heartily^the Lord Jesus, and desired to learn from her whether the dear Saviour loved me. These were the first childish emotions that I can distinctly remember. "When I was nine years old we became motherless orphans, and matters went ill with us ; for our father dwelt at a farm five miles from our property, and brought the widow of a school-master into the house to take care of us. She had her own children to help on, and spent upon them what should have been ours, leaving us in want, so that we often gladly took what others would not have. It happened too through her artifices that she left us alone in the house in the evening. Then came certain people, dressed in white shirts, and their faces rubbed with honey and sprinkled with flour ; they went about the house with lights, broke open chests and coifers, and took from out of them what they wished. This gave us such a fright that we huddled together behind the stove, and perspired with fear. This went on till the whole house was emptied. As our father was very severe with us, we had not the heart to complain, but were only glad when he left us ; so we bore with this annoyance till von Praunheim, who is now married to my sister, visited us, — he was then very young. To him we complained of our distress, and he undertook to remain concealed in the house tiU evening, to see whether the spirits would come again. When they did come, and one went straight to the cupboard to break it open, then he sprang out, and found that they were people from the country town — sons of a wheelwright, who were intimate with the widow who had charge of us. But, as he was 1600-1700.] "DIE STILXEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 231 alone, they rushed away and -would not allow that it was them; but the spirits did not return, and we recovered much that they had left on the floor of the kitchen. " This widow was discharged by my deceased father, and it was proposed to him to take a captain's wife, who was in repute for her housekeeping and cleverness in other ways ; then my deceased father thought he had provided well for us. But she was an unchristian woman, and did not forget her soldier tricks. For once, when she saw some strange turkeys on the road, she had them driven to the house ; seized the best, and drove the others away. To cook this stolen roast she wished to have some dry wood, and in order to obtain this sent me to a square tower, five stories high. There had been a pigeon-house under the roof, where loose dry boards were lying, some of which I was to fetch. When I had thrown down some, and was trying to tear away one that was still firm, I was thrown back and fell down two stories on to a flight of steps, and had I turned myself round I should have fallen two stories more. I lay there about half an hour in a swoon, and when I came to myself did not, at once, know how I came there ; I stood up and felt that I was very faint. I went down the stair- case, and laid myself on a bed that stood in a room in this same tower, on which my deceased father used to sleep when he was at home. There I slept some hours, and when I got up was quite fresh and sound. But during the whole of this time there were no inquiries made after me ; and when I said that I had fallen I was only scolded for not having been more prudent. I sat apart, for I would not eat of the stolen roast ; it appeared to me truly dis- graceful, and yet I had not courage to say so. " When I was in my eleventh year my deceased sister,' who was three years older than me, was sent to the pastor to be instructed for her confirmation. Then a strong desire 232 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. came over me to go witli her, but my deceased father would not allow me, as I was only ten years old. I per- sisted, however, till my father gave his consent, if his reve- rence the pastor should consider me fit for it. This latter had me brought to him, questioning me not only as to the words, but also concerning the sense of what I read. But God gave me such grace in answering that his reverence the pastor was well content, and admitted me. " Some time afterwards my sister went to Stuttgart, and I had to take upon me the housekeeping, and to render an account of everything, which was very difficult for me ; because my ' deceased father, whenever he came home, treated me with great severity, and called me to account for aU that was broken, or in any way not to his mind, and I was often severely punished when I was innocent. " Owing to this, such servile fear took possession of me, that I shuddered whenever I heard a voice that resembled that of my father. Concerning this I breathed forth many sighs to my God ; but, when he was away again, I became in good spirits, and sang and danced ia gladness of heart. I had at the same time a thorough aversion to everything that was unseemly or childish, and would not have any- thing to do with the games of marriages and christenings, and the like, of other girls, for I was ashamed of them. "When twelve years old I was taken to court to the Countess von Solms-Eodelheim. She was about to be confined, and was sometimes not right in her mind ; when I went, however, she was tolerably well. But soon after, she was confined and had two children, a young gentleman and a lady, and became worse from day to day, so that she often took me for her dog, which was a little lion-dog, called me by his name, and beat me like him. It hap- pened frequently that we drove in the water, for in the winter time the meadows between Frankfort and Eodelf 16001700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE/' OE PIETISTS, 233 heim were quite overflowed with water, so that it entered the carriages; then the 'carriages were driven "empty, but we went in a boat and got in again when we came to the end of the water. When we thus drove she often pushed me into the water ; I was to swim as her little dog, but the Most High preserved me. Once I discovered that she had taken a knife with a sheath out of her cupboard, and put it in her pocket. I mentioned it to the maid- servant, who was rather elderly, but she would not listen to me ; and thought the countess had no knife, and it was childishness in me. There was a door from the bedroom of the countess into our room, and another into that of the count. Now when night came I would not lie down for thinking of the knife ; but the maid was angry with me, and threatened to teU the count how childishly I behaved ; but I would only lie down on the bed with my clothes on. In the night, hearing a great disturbance, I woke up every one and rose from bed. Then the count was heard run- ning out of the room ; and forth came the countess, with a night-light and the bare knife in her hand. When she saw us all awake, she became terrified and let the knife faU ; then I sprang towards her as if I wished to reach her the knife, but I ran with it out of the door and down the stairs in the dark. When I was on the stairs I heard the count call oat, 'Where is my wife V — ^to whom I answered that I had got the knife ; but I was so frightened that I would not trust myself to turn back again, but went into a hall, which is called the giant hall and is very gloomy, and there I remained. But the maid, who was a serf of the countess's mother, from Bohemia, went off and did not return. So I was left some weeks alone with the countess, and had to dress and undress her, which was very hard upon me. " But my deceased father happened to hear from others that I was in such danger, and took me away. After this 234 IPICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. "V. I -went at about fifteen years old to the Duchess of Holstein, born Landgravine of Hesse, who had married Duke Philipp Ludwig, of the Suderburg family. The duke had by a »first marriage a daughter, who had just married the Count von Zinzendorf; president of the Impe- rial chai^ber. I was taken as maid of honour to this royal bride ; her woman of the bedchamber was a von SteinUng, who was thirty years of age. Immediately after my arrival, the journey to Lintz, where the marriage was to take place, was begun. We went by the Danube, and very jovial it was ; the drums and trumpets sounded beautiful on the water, and everywhere throughout the journey we were splendidly received ; the preparations having been made by those who had been sent to fetch the bride. It Was very jojrful to me after my former terror, and I had no anxieties except the thought that my soul might suffer, because I was going to a popish place. Whenever we came to a resting-place, I looked out for a chamber where there was no one else, fell on my knees and prayed that God would prevent everything that might be injurious to my salvation. The chamber-maid of the bride remarked how I retired apart, and slipt after me once to see what I did alone, for she still looked upon me as very childish, because I was small. When, however, she found me praying on my knees, she went quietly back without my knowing that she had seen me. But once, when the royal bride inquired whether I ever prayed, the woman of the bedchamber answered that they need have no anxiety about me. Now when we came to Lintz, the marriage took place at the Imperial castle, and everything went off grandly. The following day the royal bride went to the chapel of the castle, and there a blessing was pro- nounced upon her, and a goblet full of wine was given ; this was called the Johannis blessing, and of this she and 1600-1700.] "DIE STILLEN IM LANDE/' OR PIETISTS. 235 the count were to partake. Now, after the marriage was celebrated, when every one was to settle down in their proper places, there arose a dispute among the authorities concerning me. The Count von Zinzendorf said that he would only admit the lady of the bedchamber (as the noble maidens were then called) to his table ; that the others must have their meals with the ' hoffmeisterin.' This the duke would not consent to, as he said that she was only from the burgher class, whereas I was of an old family, and not inferior to the others, and he could not per- mit that such a distinction should be made between us, especially as I was his wife's goddaughter. " As this, however, was of no avail, it was determined that I should return with the duchess, and when the rea- son was explained to me, it appeared to me quite won- derful, for it was my wish to have my meals along with the ' hoffmeisterin,' rather than at the prince's table. But I did not know that God had so ordained it in his mercy, and that my poor prayers had been so graciously listened to ; for after the course of some years the princess and all the persons who had accompanied her, fell away to the Popish religion. But at the time I was much troubled to be obliged to return ; I thought they might imagine I had not comported myself right, and I also feared to be brought again under the severe discipline of my father. " But the Duke of Holstein had obtained Wiesenburg from Saxony, which was about ten miles from Leipzig and one from Zwickau, and dwelt there, so it pleased the duchess to keep me with her. I practised myself in all kinds of accompHshments, so that I was much liked ; in dancing, too, I excelled others, so that these vanities were dear and pleasing to me ; I had also a real liking for splendid dress and the like trifles, because it became me well, and I was much commended by every one. Never did any one 236 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. tell me that it was not right, but, on the contrary, praised me for these Vanities, and considered me godly because I liked to read and pray, and went to church and was often able to give a good account of all the main points of the sermon ; I even knew what had been preached upon the same text the -preceding year. I was looked upon as a godly maiden both by spiritual and worldly persons, yet I pui-sued my course with worldly thoughts, and was not really a tme follower of Christ. " Then it was ordained by God's mercy that the son of a lieutenant-colonel, of the family of Brettwitz, feU in love with me ; and when, through the medium of his father, he asked me in marriage of my royal master and mistress, and of my deceased father, they aU replied yes ; but that he must first serve a year as a comet, and then have his father's company, who was lieutenant-colonel under the Elector of Saxony. Now when he went forth to the war, I heard from others that he did not lead a godly, but a worldly life ; then I was secretly troubled and threw myself on my face before God, and prayed that either his spirit or our engagement might be changed. But I did not know that the Most High had brought this to pass, that I might be preserved from other noble marriages, for I was then still very young, and had many opportunities of marrying, all of which I escaped through this betrothal, though on his side he had thought of many others, and engaged himself here and there in that foreign country. This lasted several years, during which I experienced much secret sorrow, which threw a damp over the plea^ sures of the world. In the course of these years, Brettwitz was always changing his mind, fixing his thoughts upon others, and when nothing came of it, he turned again to me, and wrote about constancy, all which I committed to the Most High, and sought to unite myself closer to God. 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 237 Hence mucli refreshment from the Holy Scriptures was imparted to me, sometimes in sleep through holy dreams, in which I powerfully spoke out the words of Scripture, and thereupon awoke, so that my companion, who had a godly heart, was often sore troubled that she could not expe- rience the like. I always comforted her by saying that she should regard me as a child that required to be enticed by her father, but that she was so confirmed in faith she would have no need of such enticement. And this came from my heart, for I saw well that my joyous spirit drew me to the world, but my God drew me again to Him by his love. " At last he who had been so changeable came home and visited our Court. But my spiritual condition did not please him, because he thought so much Bible reading would not befit a soldier's wife : he would have been glad if I would have renounced him, as his father knew of a rich marriage for him in Dresden, if he could with decency free himself from me ; but he did not like to be called faithless, so he would fain have thrown the blame upon me. I remained quiet, however, and did not mind him, but trusted to my Heavenly Father, who would order all aright. Now there was one, named von Fresen, who would fain have warned me, thinking I did not observe that the said Brettwitz was not acting uprightly ; so he wrote me a letter, for he had no opportunity of speaking to me, as I was always with my duchess in her room. This' letter fell into the hands of the said Brettwitz, who thought to find therein great evidence upon which to accuse me, either of having an affection for another, or of courting others. His father, who was then present, also thought that it would be a good opportunity, and that they might with a good grace enter upon the rich marriage ; so he went to the duke and showed him the letter as proof 238 PICTURES OF GERAIAN LIFE. ' [Ch. V. that others were -wooing me, and therefore his son neither could nor would entertain any further hopes of me, but would seek happiness elsewhere. It vexed the duke much to hear such things of me, who had hitherto, to their great astonishment, repelled all advances. It grieved me much that my royal master and mistress should thus think of me. But when I went to my room weeping, the words came into my mind, ' What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter ; ' from these I derived consolation. When on the following day the letter was read correctly, it appeared that in it the writer complained that he had never been able to gain an opportunity of speaking with me, and declaring his honourable love, and that I kept myself in reserve for a person who was false, rejecting the love of others. Thus it became known that I was innocent, and the Brettwitzes could not get out of it in that way. The duke and duchess then asked me what my wishes were, as it must now be decided. Then I begged that Brettwitz might not be driven to marry me, Thereupon the said von Brettwitz sent two cavaliers to me in order to learn how I was minded towards him, and whether he was still to wait some time for his happiness. But I gave him liberty, as far as I was concerned, to seek his happiness where he liked ; for I felt no longer bound to retain my affection for one so faithless, who, if possible, would have made me out guilty of want of fidelty. There^ upon he paid me the false compliment of saying that he regretted the misunderstanding : and it was then settled that he was to make no further pretensions to me. The rich marriage, however, did not take place, and later he became paralytic. " Thus I was relieved from this burden, and I had become so strong in spirit that I did not entertain any fm-ther thoughts of marriage. I always felt that amongst the 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LAJSTDE," OE PIETISTS. 239 nobjlity there were many evil habits which were quite contrary to Christianity — first, because they had more opportunities of drinkiag ; and secondly, that for every thoughtless word they must endanger body and soul, if they would not be disgraced. I reflected deeply on this, that they should dare to imagine themselves Christians, and yet Hve quite contrary to the doctrines of Christ ; and that it never occuiTed to them once to abstain from such proceedings. This took away from me all disposition to marry ; for although I knew some fine natures that had a horror of all these vices, yet I thought that one's descen- dants would be exposed to the same dangers. Still I felt I ought not to take a husband from another class, as my deceased father thought much of his ancient family. " But God continued to impart more grace to me ; and I became acquainted in Frankfort with a truly godly man. For when my noble master and mistress were travelling to the baths at Emser, a stranger was on board the vessel in which we went. By God's special providence he seated himself next me, and we fell into a spiritual discourse which lasted some hours, so that the four miles from Frankfort to Mayence, where he disembarked, appeared to me only a quarter of an hour. "We talked without ceasing, and it seemed just as if he read my heart. Then I gave vent to all, concerning which I had hitherto lived in doubt. Indeed I found in this friend what I had des- paired of ever finding in any man ia the world. Long had I looked around me to discover whether there might be any true doers of the Word, and it had been a stumbling-block to me that I could find none. But when I perceived in this man such great penetration, that he could see into the very recesses of my heart, also such humility, gentleness, holy love, and earnestness to teach the way of truth, then I was truly comforted and much 240 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. strengthened* Then was my heart filled with godly con- victions, and I felt an ever-increasing distaste to the world : and I said to myself, ' Shall I defraud my spiritual nature for the sake of aontemptible transitory pleasures ? No ; I will by God's help prevail, let it cost what it may.' I wrote thereupon to the friend who had imparted to me so many godly gifts, that I loved him as a father, and that I purposed to loosen myself from aU worldly ties. He was, moreover, fearful that I should not have strength enough to bear aU that I should meet with. But the parable of the five foolish virgins and other similar salutary passages of Holy Writ were ever in my heart, and they impelled me to give up the pleasures of the world ; yet I felt a fear of my master and mistress which I could not conquer. Then I frequently danced with tears in my eyes, and knew not how to help myself 'Ah,' thought I frequently, 'if I were but the daughter of a herdsman, I should not be blamed for living in the simplicity of Christ's , teaching. No one would mind me.' But when I became conscious that no position could excuse me, I determiued that nothing should be a hindrance to me either in life or death. I therefore went to my duchess, and begged for my dis- missal. This was refused ; but, as she wished to know what had moved me to this, I told her openly, that the life I was obliged to lead at court was against my con- science. Then did my dear duchess try to divert my mind from this, looked upon it as a fit of melancholy, and said, ' You always live like a virtuous maiden, and read and pray assiduously; you see also that others who are good Christians do the like things; they are not for- bidden if the heart is not set upon them.' But I pointed out to her the example of Christ and his word ; • The stranger was Spener. 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OE PIETISTS. 241 I did not judge other men, but could not be content to follow their example. As now my dear duchess saw that she could not change my mind, she promised to excuse me everything that I felt to be contrary to my conscience, only she would have me remain with her and perform my duties in all other respects as before. But I represented that she would be deprived of much service by this, especially when strangers came, when it might easily happen that the other maiden should fall sick, then she would be without attendance, because I would not be present at appointed gaieties, and that would give occa- sion for ridicule. She would not, however, be deterred from her object, but promised me faithfully that I should be relieved from all attendance at mere amusements. Then she mentioned it to the duke, who contended with me sharply, and said it was the suggestion of the devil, that I, who was a young lady, beloved by high and low, should expose myself to so much contempt, that I should be considered a fool ; besides, what would my relatives say 1 Now, when all this persuasion was of no avail, they sent several clergymen to me, who tried to persuade me that I did not rightly understand the words of Scripture. But I put it to their consciences which of these two ways was safest : to follow after the footsteps of Christ in all simplicity, or, while enjoying worldly pleasures, merely to talk of it and treat it with respect, yet doing otherwise. Then they said that the first would certainly be the best ; but who could so live ? — ^we were all sinful men. Then I repUed, ' It is commanded me to choose the better way, and as to the power of doing it, I left that to my God.' Then they left me in peace. " They now tried to move me in another way, by ridicule. For at the royal table they often looked at one another, and then at me, laughing amongst themselves ; they often 242 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. "V. said also that it was not becoming a woman of the bed- chamber to read the Bible so much, she would become too clever. But I let them jeer. When this had gone on almost a year* during which I was treated with contempt by even the most insignificant at the court, excepting some pious souls, whilst I thought little of suffering for Christ's sake, there was a sudden change. The gi-eat and glorious God brought such fear into all hearts, the highest as well as the lowest, that they did not venture to say or do anything wrong in my presence ; although they did not fear the court preachers, yet before me they were quiet, and the otherwise wild young people controlled themselves when they saw me coming. Then did tears come into my eyes, whilst I thought within myself, ' Oh, wonderful God, with what power have I been enabled to bring it to pass, that both great and small fear to do wrong in my presence ! ' This thought did not puff up my heart, but led me to humility ; I poured out my soul before God, as I had experienced his power, and saw that He could turn the hearts of princes like the waters of a rivulet. In this condition of things I continued yet three years at court, and I can truly say that I experienced much kindness, not alone from my dear master and mistress, but from every one ; but by God's grace I did not accept many favours from the great, nor employ them upon temporal things. " Having then for three years lived at court in all simpli- city, and rejected aU transitory pleasures, whereby the body, and not the spirit, is recreated, it came to pass that my deceased father required me to keep his house, as my step- mother had died in childbed, and the child was still alive, and so I was called from court. It was, however, very diffi- cult for me to obtain my dismissal, as my dear duchess loved me as if I were her child, and lamented my departure with many tears ; she even sent after me to beg I might 1600-1700.] " DIE, STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 243 return, and did not desist tUl I promised that if I ever returned to court I should consider nayself bound to them before all others. But when I came home I found that the child had meanwhile died, and my father had deter- mined to become high steward of the Princess von Philippseck. Thus I was free to settle myself with a noble and godly widow, Baurin' von Eyseneck — her maiden name was Hinsbergen — whose manner of life was known to every one in Frankfort, and whose end was blessed. , With her I was six years, and we loved one another as though of one heart and soul. " About this period, being in danger of shipwreck, the Lord so mightily strengthened me, that I was joyful while others trembled and desponded. It happened that I was on the passage-boat from Frankfort to Hanau going to visit my sister ; there were divers people on board, among them some soldiers, who were carrying on very coarse and improper jokes with poor women. I was sorrowful that these people were so entirely unmindful of their souls, and, leaning against the side of the vessel, endeavoui'ed to sleep that I might not hear such talk. In my sleep I dreamt of the sentence in Psalm xiv., ' The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men.' Upon this I awoke, and in waking it appeared to me as if a great storm of wind turned the ship round ; then was I terrified and thought within myself, 'Art thou really awake ? What is thy state of mind ? ' Not a quarter of an hour after- wards there came a mighty whirlwind which took hold of the ship. We were in very great danger, so that aU cried out with anguish, and called upon the name of Jesus for help — He whom they had so often before named carelessly in their frivolous jesting. Then did God open my mouth, to make them feel how good it is to walk in the fear of the Lord, and that He is a refuge in the time of trouble. K 2 244 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. When now the Most High mercifully laid the unexpected storm, one of the women was so impudent as to say jest- ingly, that our ship would have been overwhelmed by the waves, 'bift, as there is a saint on board, we have been saved ; ' so saying she laughed loud, whereupon I became much excited, and said, 'You impudent woman, think you that the hand of the Lord could not reach us V And scarcely had I closed my mouth, when the former wind rose again, a leak appeared in the boat, and all gave up hope of life ; but I felt an unusual joy, and .thought, * Shall I now see my Jesus ? What wiU now remain in the water ? Nothing but the mortal — ^that which has so often hindered me. That which has been life in me wiU never die,' &c., &c. The ship was already filling with water ; all the caulking and pumping was of no avaU ; the storm also held on, so that it was impossible to turn to the land, either on the right or left hand, and we thought that the ship would sink ; but all at once the 'wind was lulled, and the ship reached the shore. Then did all spring out of the ship, and the wild soldiers who had been moved by my words, looked after me with great care, so that I came well to land, and thanked God that I had been able to speak to their hearts. " When I had been about a year with the widow Baurin, my dear master and mistress heard that my father no longer needed me, so my dear mistress wrote, herself, to me to return and resume my service ; she would send the carriage for me and give me double salary, and I was to be called mistress of the robes ; but I excused myself by saying that I must take charge of my father's property, and therefore be often present there. But when I had passed six years with dear Frau Baurin, it was ordained by the Most High God that my dear husband, who had seen me some years before at Frankfort, began to think 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDB,'' OE PIETISTS. 245 of marrying me ; lie gave at Liiteck a commission to a certain person to speak to me concerning it, who did it, but after some time had passed, for want of an opportu- nity. But when I fii'st heard it, I could not think of marrying, and after offering up my prayers to God, I sat down and wrote to this effect, and suggested to him another very excellent person. But my dear husband would not be deterred, and wrote to my dear friend, also to sundry distinguished ecclesiastics, and to my deceased father. This letter I at first retained, till my conscience constrained me to deliever it to my father, as it had no other aim than to serve to the glory of God. Then I wrote and sent him the letter, and at the same time remained as calm as if it were nothiag concerning myself All the contents of the letter to my father were unknown to me, and I did not think that my deceased father would give his consent. But when his answer came — wherein he wrote that he had many reasons for not wishing me so far from him in his old age, and had never yet made up his mind to allow his child to marry below her station, yet he could not withstand the wiU of God, — it went to my heart, and I thought it must be of God, because my father's heart had been touched beyond all expectation. He left the matter to my disposal, which I did not, however, agree to, but submitted it entirely to his will. My brother-ia- law, von Dorfield, high steward at the court of Hanau, was much against it, but my deceased father answered him in a most Christian spirit,* that it was not good for us, of the evangelical faith, to esteem the clergy so little, as the Papists held their priests so high ; further, that his daughter was not suited to a worldly man ; that she would not marry inconsiderately out of her class, as was known * The father now held a situation at a pious court ; the princess, whose attendant he was, was an active promoter of the match. 246 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. to every one. But God tad called me to this vocation. They were therefore obliged to be quiet, and my father gave his consent. " Thereupon my dear husband came to Frankfort, and we were married on the 7th September, 1680, by D. Spener, in the presence of her Highness the Princess von Philipp- seck, my father, and some noble persons of distinction; there were about thirty, and everything went off in such a quiet and Christian manner, that every one was pleased. But the demon of calumny could not refrain from his maHce ; it vexed his tools that the marriage was not accompanied by eating and drinking and wild doings, after the manner of the world. Then they invented this lie, that the Holy Spirit had appeared in the chamber in which we were married, in a form of fire, and that we had interpreted the Revelation of St. John. Such lies were also reported to the Rev. Dr. Heiler, who had been himself at our wedding. But when he contradicted them, and stated that he had been present, that nothing had passed but what was truly Christian, they were ashamed of their lies." Thus far the wife. The narration of the husband forms a supplement to hers. But first we will give his account of his youth, and of his experiences as shepherd of souls. Dr. Johann Wilhelm Petersen begins thus : — " I was bom in the renowned city of Osnabriick, on the 1st of June, 1649, after the conclusion of the peace of Westphalia, where my father, George Petersen, had been sent from Lubeck on business concerning the peace. When I grew older, my parents sent me to the Latin school at Lubeck. They never had to force me to study, for I paid attention to all my lessons, and concealed candles, in order that I might thus study whilst others slept. I then also copied divers small books, as I could 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LJUSTDE," OE PIETISTS. 247 not obtain printed copies. But I more especially applied myself to prayer, as I had seen my mother do, after I had heard from her that one could obtain everything from God through prayer, on which account I always, before I began my studies, called upon God to bless them. And once, when I was in want of money to buy a certain book, I went to St. Mary's Church, placed myself on the long stools before the altar, and prayed to God to grant me wherewith to buy the desired book. Now when I had knelt down and finished my prayer, behold there lay a heap of money on the bench before which I had knelt ; this strengthened me much. But when, in consequence, I wished to make a custom of it, and again sought to obtain money by prayer, through the wise guidance of God I found nothing, for He only hears us when in chUd- Hke simplicity we appear before Him without any after-thought. But yet once, when about to be pu- nished, I turned to God in prayer, and punishment was averted. " Now when I came to the thn-d class, I had been very diligent ; therefore the Herr Conrector put the others to shame by my example, and said that I had surpassed them all and gained the crown, and, as he expressed himself, would throw sand into their eyes. This vexed the scholars much, and excited their envy; they painted a crown in my book, and strewed it thick with sand, with this inscrip- tion : ' This is Petersen's crown, and the sand he would cast in our eyes.' At last I was afraid to repeat my lesson too readily, though I had learnt it thoroughly, lest I should be beaten by the other scholars. When I was removed into the first class, I found there excellent preceptors. At this period I put many verses in print, especially on the death of my dearly beloved mother. I also delivered two orations on the restoration of peace at Lubeck ; and the 248 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. Choice of Hercules. In 1669 I went to the University of Giessen. " When I had become master of arts at Giessen, I was much loved by'the professors, and also was, as far as lay in my power, on terms of friendship with every one. Then was Dr. Spener, of Frankfort, strongly recommended to me ; therefore I resolved to go to Frankfort to visit him, in order to see whether the reality came up to the praise. I found him far superior to what I had heard ; his was quite a different life and character to what I had seen in general I had indeed, after my fashion, feared God and loved the Holy Scriptures ; but by the light of my merely worldly learning these were very obscure to me, so that when I presided at a disputation I feared many passages of Scrip- ture which were brought against me by others. Now I became aware how important it was to understand rightly the spiritual meaning of the Holy Scriptures, and that the learning was not worth much which could be obtained by mere human industry. " There came at that time to Frankfort, for the purpose of enjoying the friendship and intercourse with the Rev. Dr. Spener, a noble lady, who had formerly been maid of honour at a court ; and as I desired much to have, if only for once, some talk with her, I begged the reverend doctor to give me her address in a note. This he did, and I went to her, and presented her with my last disputation, under the impression that it would not be disagreeable to her, as she had learnt Hebrew and had much acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures. But she told me that I had therein glorified ' the god Petersen,' and that, for a true knowledge of God in Christ, far more was required than such worldly learning, which produced generally a boastful spirit, and whereby one could hardly attain to the godly simplicity of heavenly things. This speech sank deep into my heart. 16001700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OE PIETISTS. 249 and I was at once convinced of the truth of it. After that I began to -write a little book, wherein I noted down what I heard from pious people concerning the way to true god- liness ; and I began to practise what I had thus learnt, for without this effectual working all else would be fruitless. "Now when I had been strengthened in this course, I went back to Giessen, where the change in me was soon perceived ; and they began to ridicule me on account of my ' piety.' But I cared little for it." (Petersen afterwards returned to his home, at Lubeck, and became there professor of poetry, but met with great enmity from the Jesuits. In 1677 he became preacher at Hanover ; and was called from thence, in 1678, to Cutin, as the court preacher to the Duke of Holstein.) "But I had not been long court preacher at Cutin, when it happened that 500 thalers were stolen out of the room of one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber. In order to recover his money he went to a hereditary black- smith,* at the village of Zemikaw, that he might ' knock out the thief's eye ;' and in order that the smith might do it better he let him know, through an ei7ispd7iner,-[ that the bishop desired it, which was not the case. When the smith is to perform a work of this kind he must prepare a nail three successive Sundays, and on the last Sunday strike this nail into a head made for the purpose ; where- upon the thief, as they say, wiU lose his eye. He must, also, at midnight rise up naked, and go backwards to a hut which he has newly built in an open field, and go up to a large new bellows ; take it and blow out the fire with * A special virtue was ascribed ty the superstitious not only to inherited metal but to inherited knowledge, particularly of smiths, shepherds, and executioners. + Mounted mercenaries who had no groom boy. The einspaimer per- formed in peace the service of gensdarmes. 250 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Cli- V. it. ; upon this two large hell-hounds will appear. This performance having taken place in the night of the first Sunday, the villagers of Zemikaw came to me to com- plain, as the -vAole village had no rest for this terrible howling, which they had heard in the smithy, and said I ought to make it known to the duke, that he might stop this wicked work. I told them that these were important things which they had related to me ; and asked, seriously, whether the affair was really such as they represented it. They answered that the whole village could bear witness of it, and that the einspcmner had empowered the smith to do it. Thereupon I went to the bishop * (with whom, as it so happened, the gentleman of the bedchamber then was), and I told him I wished to say something to him privately. When I had related all to him he was horrified, sought for further information concerning the matter, and learnt that the einspdnner had enjoined the smith to do this in the bishop's name ; then he inquired of me what was to be done. I replied that, as his name had been mis- used for these public wicked proceedings, it was necessary that the hut, which had been built in honour of the devil, should be destroyed in the name of God ; this was approved of Thereupon I proceeded to do it ; the boys from the school, noble pages, and many noblemen accompanied me to destroy the work of the devil. The smith had already run away, but his wife came and begged that she might be allowed to keep the new bellows and the iron utensils. But I said she ought to be ashamed of herself to desire to keep among her things what the devil had handled ; where- upon she desisted from her petition. But the noble pages * The Duke of Holstein is Bishop of Luheok. The court preacher called him, according to the case, his duke or bishop. This double position of the weak prince, and his conduct, denote the helpless condition of the Protestant Church. 1600-1700.] "DIE STILLEN IM LiNDE," OR PIETISTS. 251 set fire to and burnt the hut and bellows, and cast the iron work into deep water. Now there came some merchants, travelling from Hamburgh, who looked on and listened to my discourse. It was just during the period of Christmas, so I took the passage, ' Behold a house of God among men,' and explained it shortly, but said in direct application: 'Behold a house of the devil among the Zernikawers. This is the place where formerly the idol of the Holsteiners, Zernebog, was worshipped, who wishes agaiu to install himself; but has been driven away by the injunction of the bishop.' At the catechising, also, at which the duke, with his court, were in the habit of attending, I made an impressive speech, saying that the thief must be among the court; also that there were conjectures afloat as to who it was, and that if the thief would bring" me this money, I called God to witness, I would not betray him. So the thief, at night, would have laid down the stolen money in the churchyard near my house, but could not because the gentleman of the bedchamber had placed his people there to catch the thief Thus he himself prevented the restoration. The bishop was very angry with the gen- tleman of the bedchamber, who was obliged to leave the court. But he uttered menaces against me, because I had disgraced him in my sermon, having said that his name, which the smith must have mentioned ia his proceedings, would be known by the devils in hell, and that he should take care not to get there himself But I did not care for his threats, but trusted myself to my God and my ofl&ce. " The courtiers, however, leagued themselves against me ; they sided almost all with the court mareschal, a Mecklen- burger. But the mareschal sought out all kinds of occa- sions against the duchess and her maid of honom-, Naundorf, and made the duke imagine that the duchess followed the advice of Naundorf in everythiag, and thereby the 252 PICTUEES OF GEEMAlf LIFE. [Ch. XI. When after the armistice, the glorious time of victories came, Grossbeeren, Hagelsberg, Dennewitz, and the Katz- bach ; 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 over- throw 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 inten- sity. 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 custoin, 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 festivi- ties 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 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 253 equal vigour on the coasts of the North Sea, in Mecklen- burg, 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 iuterests 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 main- tain 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, 254 PICTURES OF GBRMLAJSr LIFE. [Oh. V. had been so near the duellists and had known the affair, yet had not stirred a foot in it. This pleased my lord much, and he thereupon caused a severe edict to be published against duelling. " Up to this period I remained unmarried, and should have continued so if my dear father had not exhorted me to marry. A patrician lady had already been suggested to me at Lubeck, who met me in her smartest attire, and whom my father would have been glad for me to marry ; but she was too fine for me, and I said that she would hardly suit a clergyman. If I was to marry, no one would suit me better than Frdulein von Merlan, who would not be a hindrance to me in my office ; but I was shy about paying my addresses to her, lest she should think I had on this account sought her acquaintance at Frankfort. But some one who was going to Frankfort undertook to tell her my wishes ; my love, however, would not give an answer to him who wooed her for me ; but she wrote to me, that, though she had no engagement, still she was not at liberty to answer yes ; and she proposed to me another young docterin in Frankfort, who was more highly gifted, and would suit me well ; but I answered, either she or none, and wrote immediately to Herr Doctor Spener, that he might persuade her to consent. I wrote also to her noble father, who knew me, as I had once been at the Philippseck court, where he was high steward, and preached before his duke. He answered me, that though he had never had an idea of giving his daughter to one who was not of noble family, yet, he did not know how it happened, he was so troubled in mind when he wished to refuse his consent, that he thought it must be the will of God that he should entx-ust his daughter to the Superin- tendent Petersen ; therefore, he sent herewith his fatherly yes. This letter was sent me by my love, Johanna, and 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 255 Doctor Spener congratulated me. Who could be more joyful than I when I found that my prayer had been heard? for I had knelt in prayer to my God, that he might interpose to prevent the marriage if it were not his will, but if it were, that he would so trouble the father's mind that he could not withstand it. When, therefore, I read in the father's letter that he had been thus troubled, I perceived that this was what God had intended from all eternity. Then did I travel joyfully by Hamburg to Frankfort, where the bans were published, and I was afterwards married by Herr Doctor Spener. " In 1685, the holy Eevelation which God made through his angel in certain visions to the Apostle and Evan- gelist John was disclosed in a wonderful way to me and my love. Formerly I had always feared to read such a book, because it was generally considered that it was a sealed book, which no one could understand. But on a certain day I was powerfully moved, and led by my God to read this book, and on the same day and at the same hour, without my knowing it, my love felt the same impulse, and 'began to read the book, equally not knowing that I had felt a like impulse. Now, when I had gone to my study to note down something that I had discovered, from the accordance of the prophet Daniel with the thir- teenth chapter of the Book of Revelation — ^what the beast and the little horn were — behold, my love came there and told me how she had seriously undertaken to read the holy book, and what she had found therein, and this har- monised with mine, which I showed her, as I had written it down, and the ink was not dry. Then were we mutually amazed, and agreed we would confer together at the end of a month, and observe what we had further found ; but we could not withhold it, when we discovered anything singular and of undoubted truth ; and it so hap- 256 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. pened tliat what she and I found was always precisely the same. We rejoiced much thereat, and thanked God in all simplicity that He had so invigorated us both by his enlightening spirit, as to be able to know the future fate of the church, and to bear witness thereof For a long time we kept it to ourselves, till we made acquaintance with the Fraulein Kosamunda Juliana von der Asseburg, who, in her testimony, had bornfe witness to the same, yet not from searching the Holy Scriptures, but by extraordi- nary grace vouchsafed her from above. Herewith I must also note what happened to my love when she was eighteen, which I here set down in her own words : — ' I dreamt that the numerals 1685 were written in golden ciphers on the heaven ; on my right I saw a man who pointed to the numbers and said to me, " See at that time will great things happen, and somewhat shall be revealed unto you." Now, it was in this year, 1685, that the great persecution took place in France, and in the same year was the blessed millennial kingdom of the Apocalypse revealed to me and my dear husband, at the same hour ; and, without one knowing of the other, did both our treatises so coincide, that we were ourselves amazed at it. We were therefore, by divine guidance, convinced of the truth of what we had discovered in Holy Scripture con- cerning the kingdom of our King. And later we imparted to others in all simplicity our discovery, not caring when learned and unlearned alike gainsaid it.' " Here we end the narrative of Petersen. They passed the first years of their marriage in peace. He had once accidentally placed his thumb on the passage — " Sarah shall bear a son ;" the year following he was made happy by Johanna Eleonora bringing a son into the world, who was, indeed, small at his birth, but who shortly afterwards raised his head in a wonderful way out of his little bed 1600-1700,] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OE PIETISTS. 257 and gave other delightful signs that he would become something remarkable and pleasing in the sight of the Lord. He did actually become, later, a Koyal Eussian Councillor, and was able to protect his dear parents when the millennial kingdom made their life fuU of cares ; for, alas ! it was not granted to them to keep the great light which had been kindled at the same time in both, under a bushel. It would have been better for their earthly com- fort had they done so. What the worthy couple learned from the Eevelation, combined with numerous passages from the Bible — in reading which they were assisted by earnest prayer, fol- lowed by divine inspiration — ^was remarkable. The Mil- lennium was not already come, but was approaching. It was to begin, at no very distant time, by the return of Christ on earth ; when this should take place, a portion of the dead would rise ; in great periods of thousands of years, the whole human race, living and dead, were to attain salvation ; the Calvinists and Lutherans were to be united, and all Jews and heathen converted ; then all even the worst sinners would be redeemed from hell ; and, last of all, the devil himself brought out of his miserable condition, and, through repentance and penance, changed again into an angel ; but this last would only be at the end of 50,000 years : from that time there would be end- less bliss, love and joy. They were inclined to think that the beginning of this glorious time would be from 1739 to 1740. In the year 1688, Petersen accepted the appointment of Superintendent at Luneburg. They considered it as a special providence that he had been called there, because once, in passing through on a journey, he had preached a beautiful sermon which had given much satisfaction ; but in Luneburg he found many orthodox opponents who 258 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. vexed and irritated him, and some mocked him on account of the opinions which he held concerning the millennial kingdom. They were, besides, injured by the intimacy with the Fraulein Eosamunda von der Asseburg, whose violent excitement and nervous exaltation had created a great sensation. The tender and innocent character of the maiden captivated both the Petersons ; they sup- ported the divine nature of her revelations, and defended her in the press, especially as the dear maiden revealed exactly the same concerning the already-mentioned return of the Lamb of God which had been disclosed to them. The private devotions which they held with the sick maiden gave great offence to the worldly-minded, and they were maliciously calumniated. When Petersen once was in great danger of drowning on the Elbe, he thought him- self like the prophet Jonas, who was cast by the Lord into the body of a whale because he would not proclaim the secret of the Lord's word ; and in this hour of danger he vowed that henceforth he would no longer conceal- from the world his great secret. And he honestly kept his word. The millennial kingdom, and the return of the Lamb, were brought forward incessantly in his sermons. His hearers were amazed, his opponents denounced him, and he was removed from his office in 1692. They both bore this misfortune with love and trust in God. From that time they passed their life in travelling about and writing books, in visits to those who were like-minded, and in constant disputes with the orthodox. They became to the multitude like persons of evil repute, to whom calumny and ill-natured gossip seemed to cling ; they were obliged usually to keep their names secret on their journeys ; but never were they wanting in warm patrons and friends. In the castles of princes, in the houses of the nobles, among the city authorities, and in the rooms of 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LAlfDE," OE PIETISTS. 259 artisans, they found admirers. More than all others was Kniphausen, the President of the Supreme Court of Jus- tice, their protector. The year Petersen was dismissed, he obtained for them a pension from the court of Berlin, and granted them a house at Magdeburg ; other patrons also sent them money, and gave them recommendations, so that they were in a position to buy a small property at Magdeburg. They were, nevertheless, annoyed by the peasants and the clergymen of the place, and by denun- ciations in Berhn ; but the Queen herself maintained intercourse with the proclaimer of a revelation so full of hope, and rejoiced that he promised salvation finally to the wicked. Thus he remained safe, though, indeed, the harmless proclaimer of a coming kingdom of glory was in danger of being deceived by wolves in sheep's clothing for among the pious people travelling about there were many deceivers. Once there came a troop of mendicant students, who maintained that they were Pietists, and demanded donations ; then an adventurer desired instruc- tion, having heard that every one who allowed himself to be converted would receive ten thalers. At last there came a false officer, who, in the absence of the husband, under the pretence of being a follower of the Lamb, insinuated himself into the confidence of the Frau Doctorin, who, probably from an iadelible recollection of her noble birth, was disposed to bear special goodwill to the distinguished behever ; but the husband returned home, just in time to prevent the foreign deceiver persuading his guileless wife to give him a letter of recommendation. On a journey to Nuremberg, they were received into the Pegnitzer Blumen order — ^he as Petrophilus, she as Phoebe. Such success comforted them amid the flood of flying sheets that surged up against them. The true-hearted Petersen complained that every one rose up in controversy against him, to prove s 2 260 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. themselves orthodox, and be made doctors of theology ; and when even the pious stumbled at his doctrine of the seven trumpets, or if they reproached him, that he had once, when the opportunity offered, reappeared in the cha- racter of the old professor of poetry, and had celebrated the coronation of Frederick I. of Prussia and other worldly events in Latin verses which flowed from him like water, he bore it with resignation. The last years of their life they dwelt in the pious district of Zerbst at Thymem, where they had obtained a property, as their former pro- perty at Nieder-Dodeleben had been too unquiet for them, and the peasants had become too hostile. In 1718, Petersen succeeded, by victorious disputations, in restoring to the Evangelical communion the Duke Moritz Wilhelm von Sachsen-Zeitz. They died at a great age — she in 1724, he in 1727. After Spener had been removed to Berlin, the Univer- sity of Halle became the intellectual centre of Pietism ; it was there that the impassioned Franke, with his com- panions Breithaupt and Anton, led the theological party. Henceforth the youth were systematically trained in the faith of the Pietists ; immense was the concourse of stu- dents ; only Luther had collected a greater number at Wit- temberg. At Halle the dangers of the new tendency were evident : the colleges became mere schools for the propa- gation of their views ; industrious, patient labour^ in the paths of human science speared almost superfluous ; not only the controversial points of the orthodox, but all the dogmas of the Church were treated by many with indiffer- ence and contempt. The mind was overstrained by intense prayer and spiritual exercises. Instead of unruly lads who sharpened their backswords on a stone, and drank immense glasses of beer, "fioricos or Jiausticos," in one draught, pale fellows crept through the streets of the city in a state 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 261 of inward abstraction, with vehement movements of the hands, and loud outcries. All the believers rejoiced over this wonderful manifestation of divine grace ; but their opponents complained of the increasing melancholy, and of distractions of the spirit, and of nefarious proceedings of the worst kind. Vain were the warnings of the moderate Spener. From Halle, Pietism spread to the other Universities. Wittemherg and Rostock withstood it long, and were for many years the last bulwarks of orthodoxy. Even at the courts this faith gained influence : it forced its way among the governments, and after 1700 filled the country churches of most of the German territories. And its dominion was not confined to Germany : an active intercourse with the pious of Denmark and Sweden, and the Sclavonian East, contributed to maintain the inward communion of these countries with the spiritual life of Germany, which lasted till the end of the centmy. Even the orthodox opponents were, without knowing it, transformed by this Pietism ; the old scholastic disputes were silenced, and they endeavoured to defend their own point of view with greater dignity and learning. Meanwhile the defects in the faith of the Pietists became greater, the deterioration more striking. Since the pro- cess of spiritual regeneration had become the secret act of a man's life, after which the whole soul morbidly strained, all the bliss of salvation depended on his admittance into the community of the pious. He who by a special act of God's grace was brought into the condition of regenera- tion, lived in a state of grace ; his soul was guarded from aU sin by the Lord ; he breathed a purer and more heavenly atmosphere, secure of the mercy of the Lamb, already redeemed from sin here. But it was difficult for the more cultivated minds to go through this spiritual process : it 262 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. did not prosper with all conscientious men, as it did with the jurist Johann Jacob Moser. Touching are the accounts de- livered to us of the strivings of individuals, of the anguish and self-torture which fruitlessly ground down body and soul. Among the weaker we find every kind of self- delusion and hypocrisy. Very soon it became doubtful whether the regenerate was _an enthusiast or a deceiver : occasionally he was both at the same time. After Pietism had won "Ehe favour of persons of distinc- tion and the governing powers, it became a remunerative concern, a fashionable thing, an assistance to very worldly objects. Generally those who received the holiest reve- lations were tender, weak natures, whom one could not suppose capable of the strenuous work which is necessary for worldly service ; they lived at the cost of their patrons. The artisans were received into the society of the upper classes in order to assure their spiritual progress, and who- ever desired protection, hastened as penitents to attend the meetings for edification, of some great lord, which they preferred holding in special chambers prepared for the purpose, rather than in the chapels of their castles. Sighs, groans, wringing the hands, and talk about illumination, became now here and now there a lucrative speculation. In the regenerate clergy, who held the souls of weak nobles and gentry in their hands, might be found all the faults peculiar to ambitious favourites, pride and mean selfishness. Soon also the morality of many came into iU repute, and when, after the decease of a devout lord, a society of ambitious Pietists were expelled, u feeling of malicious pleasure was generally excited. Thus an opposition to Pietism arose on all sides, equally among the orthodox, the worldly, and the learned, and finally I in the sound common sense of the people. How the judg- ment of the thoughtful against it was expressed in the first 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OE PIETISTS. 263 half of the eighteenth century shall here be shown by a short example. The worthy Semler, of whom more details will be given later, relates among his youthful reminiscences the sorrow- ful fate of his brother Ernst Johann, who returned in a distracted state to his parental home, from the regenerate circle of Magister Brumhardt and of Professor Buddeus at the University of Jena. The passage gives such a good insight into the period of decaying Pietism, that it shall be given here with a few abbreviations. " My brother was so habitually upright that he even mis- trusted his own feelings. Easy though it was to many of the brotherhood to declare the day and the hour of their being sealed to redemption, which warranted their living in a state of pure, spiritual, heavenly joyfulness, and raised them to the rank of God's children, yet little could my brother forgive himself this spiritual falsehood ; he could not coin- cide in what was so lightly and so repeatedly spoken of by others. He therefore fell into immoderate grief over the greatness of his sins, which were alone his hindrance ; he not only prayed, but he moaned half the night before the Lord, but there was no change in his feelings. He seldom eat meat, no white or wheaten bread ; he considered him- self quite unworthy even of existence. Every night, when I had gone to sleep, he stole secretly out of bed, crept into the small adjoining library, knelt or lay down on the floor, and gradually lost, in his passionate emotions, all caution as to speaking softly and gently. His moaning and lamenting awoke me. I sought him out, and small confidence as I had in myself to produce any great effect — being as yet little advanced in conversion, — yet I repeated to him at intervals such beautiful lines and verses, both Greek and Hebrew, that he often embraced me and sighed, saying, 'Ah, if this would but begin in me.' I answered sometimes 264 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. hastily, that this was perversion instead of conversion, and how impossible it was for that way to be right and true, wherein one acted contrary to the intentions of God, and made one's-self Into an utterly useless, helpless creature. ' Yes,' he said, ' that is what I am, and cannot sufficiently acknowledge it' I talked with my mother, who wept over her son, who might now have been our mainstay, if he had not been spoilt by these false ideas. My father disapproved of all this still more strongly, and expatiated at such length from dogmatic and polemical divinity, that I could well see in what account he held these new spiritual insti- tutions. Meanwhile he was obliged to be on his guard, for the whole Court were in favour of this party ; many were undoubtedly very well-meaning Christians, but there were also undeniably many idlers and adventurers, who entered these institutions, and found their good, comfort- able life very easy. All the evidence of their life in the flesh — which evidence was not rare nor imperceptible — was of no avail ; who could succeed here ? Occasionally there was a convert who lived in shame with his maid- servant ; it was not investigated, it was a calumny, and in case of necessity they placed him elsewhere, if his peasants were too Lutheran. By degrees my brother insinuated that my father also had not yet entered the narrow way, and that he could not be helped to it. They roamed about the woods day and night, so that moonlight devotion, which many now again recommend, is nothing new. They sang the new hymns together ; the Duke often indeed gave the conveyances for these meetings, together with refreshments ; nay, he often himself was the coachman, when he wished publicly to do honour to some old shoe- makers' wives who had much faith, for the Saviour's sake. I am so far from wishing to exaggerate the state of. things, that indeed I have not said all. The period for the 1600-1700] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 265 animal pilgiimage came, for this custom had been re- tained from the old times and institutions of the monks. In many places the grace of the Saviour was supposed to dwell abundantly, almost visibly, and thither did the bro- thers and sisters make their pilgrimages, in reality con- trary to the principle laid down by Christ, that neither Jerusalem nor Samaria was the special abiding-place of His spirit. Many of them brought their provisions with them. My brother assuredly did not travel to Ebersdorf without money, but^ brought nothing back, for he had bought this or that little book to give to the brothers as a memento. This enthusiasm had its real views, that aspired to great ends, although directly afterwards they were moderated, because the Philadelphian reckoning did not coincide with them. During these my brother's pious journeys, my mother died, for the remembrance of whom I daily bless my God. My brother found her in her coffin when he returned ; he felt all the grief of a son, threw himself upon her, and lay there long, crying aloud, ' Ah, if I, useless creature, had but died in my mother's stead ! ' Now we obtained an entrance to his heart ; this journey on foot had much weakened his hypochondria ; the exhortations of the brotherhood called forth some ideas which he could not himself realize ; he was to a certain extent calmed, or began to believe himself so. We repre- sented to him that he must make his gifts sei-viceable to his fellow-men, however small they might be. He first took a situation as preceptor in a small orphan-house, and afterwards with Herr von Dieskau, who dwelt in a castle of that name, in the most beautiful country that one could select for oneself One portion of this old castle stands upon the city wall ; under the wall there is a small footpath with a hedge planted as a protection against slipping, but just under this fragment of rock flows the Saale, sometimes very 266 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. V. full and broad, but always deep enough to allow tbe pas- sage of rafts and boats ; from the castle the eye falls upon a half circle of wood and hills. Here my brother might perhaps Have found rest and refreshment, but he did not live much longer." Here we close Semler's narrative. He himself became infected later by the prevailing spiritual tendency, and he strove, whilst stiU a youth, after regeneration, but the powerful tone of his mind enabled him to recover. The state of the times also helped to bring this about. !The year 1740 was fatal to Pietism. The new King of Prussia was as averse to the Pietists, as his father had been favourable to them. Almost at the same time they ceased to prevail in the Saxon courts. The time of enlightenment now began ; the nation pursued another path ; the " Stillen im lands " only existed as an isolated community. The I association of brothers, of Count Zinzendorf, for a longer period developed a praiseworthy missionary activity in foreign countries, but they ceased to influence the stream of German life, which now began to flow on with a deeper and more powerful current. Pietisin had drawn together large numbers of indivi- duals ; it had raised them from the narrowness of mere family life, it had increased in the soul the longing after a deeper spiritual aim, it had introduced new forms of inter- course ; here and there the strong distinctions of classes had been broken through, and it had called forth greater ' earnestness and more outward propriety in the whole nation, but it had not strengthened national union. He who gave himself up to it with zeal, was in great danger of withdrawing himself, with those who were hke-minded, from the great stream of Hfe, and of looking down from his solitude, like the shipwrecked man from his island, on the great waste of waters around him, . 1600-1700.] " DIE STILLEN IM LANDE," OR PIETISTS. 267 The new scientific development also produced, at first, only individual men of learning ; then a free culture ; after that a nation, which dared to stnaggle and to die, and finally to live, for its independence. I CHAPTEE VI. THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. (1750.) From the German cities, on the boundaries betwixt guild labour and free invention, did the art of printing come into the world — the greatest acquisition of the human race, after that of the alphabet. The mind of man could now be conveyed, bound up in wood and leather, upon a thousand roads at the same time, all over the earth ; the powers of man in church and state, in science and handicraft, were unfolded, not only more powerfully, more variously, and more richly, but in a totally different manner from the quiet plodding of the past. A change was produced in nations in one century which formerly would have taken a thousand years. Every individual was bound together in one great intellectual unity with his contemporaries, and every nation with other civilized nations. For the first time a regular connection in the intellectual development of the human race was secured. The mind of the individual will continue to live upon earth perhaps many thousand years after he has ceased to breathe ; but the soul of each individual nation gains a capacity of renovating itself which will, we hope, remove its decease, according to the old laws of nature, to an incalculable distance. The black art had not been invented many years when a spring-tide arose in the soul. From the study of the Latin writers, the humanitarians proclaimed, with trans- 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 269 port, how much there had been of the beautiful and the grand in the ancient world. Eagerly did they maintain the treasure of noble feelings, which had fallen on their souls from the distant past, against the coarse or corrupt life that they beheld around them. With the holy book in their hands, pious ecclesiastics contended for the words of Scripture, against the despotism of Rome and the false traditions of the Church. By thousands of books written by themselves, they raised the consciences of the people, for the greatest spiritual struggle that had ever taken place since the Star of Bethlehem had appeared to the human race ; and again through thousands of books, after the first victory, they consecrated anew for their people all earthly relations, the duties and rights of men, of the family, and of the governing powers, as the first educators and teachers of the great multitude. But it was not the pleasure derived from the ancient poets and statues, nor the mighty struggle which was car- ried on concerning the teaching of the Church, nor the theologians and the philologists of the sixteenth century, that were the greatest blessings bestowed by the new art • it is not they alone that have given richness to thought, and security to judgment, and made love and hatred greater. This was brought about in yet another way — through the medium of types and woodcuts ; slowly, imper- ceptibly, to contemporaries, but to us wonderfully. Men learnt gradually a different mode of seeing, obseiw- ing, and judging. Sharp as was the mental activity of individuals in the middle ages, the impressions which were conveyed to their minds from the outer world were too easily distorted by the activity of their imagination, which united dreams, forebodings, and immature combinations with the object. Now the distinct black upon white was always at work, to give a durable, unvarying report of 270 PICTURES OF GERMAJf LIFE, [Ch. VI. what had been already beheld and experienced by others. Every one could verify his own conceptions by that of others, and the judgment of others by his own., Thus arose new, sober, and clear conceptions of the world ; thus grew the interest and the necessity of observation. Repre- sentations of animals and plants were collected ; the fonns and species distinguished ; cities, rivers, and mountains were noted down, and a representation of the country carved in wood ; the powers of nature were investigated — the attraction of magnets, the elasticity of the air, and the refraction of light ; and new instruments were invented which sharpened and enlarged the powers of the senses. New worlds were rapidly disclosed to the eyes of man, and whilst he prognosticated a way through the mysterious twilight of the ocean, he also discovered a certain path through the immense space of ether. Amidst the abundance of new impressions the mind sought cautiously for a firm support. A pleasure in mea- suring and reckoning, in the strict demonstrations of algebra and geometry, and their absolute certainty, deve- loped itself with striking rapidity and universality. The discipline and rigorous rules of mathematics attracted inquiring minds with irresistible power. Whilst the people were never weary of admiring the wonderful artistic struc- ture of the Nuremberg watches, and whilst they continued to paint their dials according to the old books, Coper- nicus discovered the motions of our solar system ; Galileo observed the satellites of Jupiter ; and Kepler, shortly before the Thirty Years' War, ascertained the great laws of the revolutions and course of the planets. Mathematical discipline became, during two centuries, the groundwork of intellectual progress. Through it chemistry, that study of natui'e which rests on weighing and measuring and on the separation and cohesion of the 1750.]' THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 271 individual particles of matter, was placed next to astro- nomy. Men strove to resolve compounds into their com- ponent parts, and by the combination of unities to produce new formations. Nothing so strongly betokens the domi- nation of this tendency as the dream of the great Leibnitz, that he might represent the spirit of language — that is, the collective intellect of man — in mathematical formulas, and so create a new method by which the intellectual processes of the mind of one individual or people, might pass direct to another, without the iuterposition of diiferent langiiages. Meanwhile, historical information, and the knowledge of ancient languages, had made progress in a similar way. Everywhere we find men industriously calculating, measur- ing, collecting particulars, and compiling vast materials. Historical records, diplomas, and old anecdotes were pub- lished in great collections. The words and the laws of construction of ancient languages, were accurately observed and collected together in increasing numbers, in grammars and dictionaries. Many treatises were written upon the details of the private life of the ancients — on their hats and shoes, their litters, bells, and ink-bottles. But it is not isolated information, however great its compass may be, which can content men. Knowledge must first help him to render his own life on earth secure and prosperous ; it must enable him to fix his duties and rights, and acquire the great problem of his life : his relation to the Eternal must be approached by its aid. All that man knows must have reference to himself and his God. The civil war in France, the struggle for freedom in Batavia, the thirty years' misery of Germany, and the revolt of the English against the Stuarts, had produced, in the minds of both politicians and private individuals, a 272 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. multitude of new conceptions upon the mutual relations of the State, and the position held in it by the individual man. How various have been the lawgivers who have dominated over the lives of. individuals — the Jewish priests, the com- munity of apostles, the Jurist schools of ancient Kome, the Longobard kings and the ambitious popes ; and, again, together with laws which had originated in past ages and nations, there were the reminiscences from Gemian anti- quity — ^legal decisions, ordinances, codes of law, regulations and privileges. According to their decisions a man pre- served or lost his house and farm, wife and child, and his property, either inherited or acquired. And just after the gi-eat war, the despotic will of the ruler, and the tyrannical power of a heartless system, had exalted itself above all law. Amid such a chaos of laws, and the suppression of rights by the power of the State, the minds of men sought a firm support. And as the Pietists demanded of the Church a worthier conception of human rights and duties, the Jurists also began, after the great war, to place the natural law of men in opposition to the injustice of despotic States, and to vindicate the reasonable law of States against intriguing politicians. Together with mathematical disci- pline and natural philosophy, the science of law became the laboratory in which minds were reared to ideal require- ments. From them sprang a new philosophy. After the Thirty Years' War there began, in the great civilized nations, a systematic exposition of those convic- tions which Science, from its then standing-point, was able to give concerning God, the creation and the government of the world. The French Descartes, the English Locke, the Dutch Spinoza, and the German Leibnitz, Thomasius and Wolf, were the great exponents of this philosophy. They all, with the exception of the free-thinker Spinoza, sought to keep their system, concerning the divine rule in 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 273 nature and in tlie soul of man, in unison with the doctriaes of Christian theology. After Descartes had put forth his propositions, nothing appeared fair or true to the inquiring spirit of man but what could be proved by unanswerable demonstration, — all beUef in authority passed away ; science assumed a new dominion. The divines, also, once her severe rulers, — even Luther had placed the words of Holy Scripture above the human reason, — now found that natural theology was the ally of revelation. Young theologians eagerly sought in this philosophy new supports to their faith. The neces- sity and wisdom of a Creator were demonstrated from the movements of the stars, the volcanic fires, or the convolu- tions of a snail's shell. On the other hand, there was no lack of men who denied the creating power of a personal God and the immortaUty of the soul. But against such isolated deists and atheists, most of the philosophers, and the Christian piety of the great mass of the people, rose in arms. The,gi-eat German philosophers who, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, were the leaders of this move- ment, carried a holy fervour into the various circles of German life. Leibnitz, the great creative intellect of his time, a wonderful mixture of elastic pliancy and firm tran- quillity, of sovereign certainty and tolerant geniality, worked, by his countless monographs and endless letters, especially on the leaders of the nation and on foreigners, on princes, statesmen, and scholars, opening a path on all sides, and hastening forward to disclose the widest pros- pects. Besides him, Thomasius, spiritual, emotional, com- bative, and greedy of approbation, excited even the indifferent and insignificant, by his noisy activity, to take a part in the struggle. As the first German journalist, he contended through the press, both jestingly and in VOL. I. f. 274 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. U^'^- "^I- earnest — ^now In alliance with the Pietists against intolerant orthodoxy, now as opponent of fanatical revivals, for tole- ration and pure morality against every kind of supersti- tion and fanatidism. Lastly, the younger Christian Wolf, the great professor ; he was a methodical, clear, and sober teacher, who, during long years of useful activity, drew up a system and founded a school. A period such as this, in which the great discoveries of individuals inspired their numerous disciples with enthu- siasm, is a happy period for millions who perhaps have no immediate share in the new acquisition. Somewhat of apostolical consecration seems to rest upon the first efforts of a school. What has been progi-essively formed in the soul of a teacher, painfully amidst inward struggles, works on young souls as something great, firm, and elevating. With enthusiasm and Pietism is united the impulse to work out by self-exertion the new acquisition. Rapid is the spread of theorems among the people ; they work not only on the individual sciences, but on aU the tendencies of the practical mind, on lawgiving, statesmanship, household regulations, and family training ; in the studio and work- shop of the artist, and handicraftsman. This new scientific light was first kindled in 1700. Academies, learned periodicals, and prizes were established. The leaders adjusted the German language to the exigen- cies of science, and thus placed it victoriously on an equality with Latin ; and this glorious deed was the first step towards bringing the mass of the nation into a new relation with the learned. Thus a new life forced its way, about 1720, with iiTesist- ible power into the houses, writing-rooms, and workshops of the citizens. Every sphere of human activity was searchingly investigated. Agriculture, commerce, and the technicalities of trade were made accessible by hand-books 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 275 of instruction, whicli are still in. the present day the ground- work of our technological literature. Books were written on raw materials, and the method of working them ; on minerals, colours, and machines ; in many places popular periodicals appeared, which endeavoured to make the new discoveries of science available to the artizan and manu- facturer. Even into the hut of the poor peasant did some rays of bright light penetrate ; for him, also, arose a small philanthropic literature. The moral working of every earthly vocation was also exhibited ; much that was ele- vating was said concerning the worth and importance of operatives and of officials ; the inward connection of the material and spiritual interests of the nation were pro- claimed ; incessantly was the necessity pointed out of abandoning the beaten track of old customs, of taking interest in the progress of foreign countries, and of learning their character and requirements. Men wrote upon dress and manners in a new stjde, with humour, irony, and reproof, but always with the wish of remoulding and improving. The spiritual failings of the various classes and professions, the weakness of women, and the roughness and dishonesty of men were incessantly criticised and chastised, undoubtedly in an uncouth style, and sometimes with pedantry and narrow-mindedness, but in an earnest and upright spirit. The whole private life of Germany was thrown into a state of restless excitement ; new ideas struggled every- where with old prejudices ; everywhere the citizen beheld around and within him a change which it was difficult to withstand. The period was still poor in great phenomena, but everywhere in smaller events an impulsive power was perceptible. Only a few years later, the new enlighten- ment was to bear blossoms of gladness to the whole world. Still is philosophy and popular culture of the people 276 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. dependent on mathematics and natural science ; but since Johann Matthias Gesner, the knowledge of antiquity, the second pole of aU scientific culture, has begun to bear upon the historical development of the popular mind. A few- years after 1750, Winkelmapn travelled to Italy. And how did the citizens live, from whose homes the greater part of our thinkers and discoverers, our scholars and poets have gone forth, who were to carry out the new culture further and bolder, more freely and more beau- tifully? Let us examine a moderate-sized city about 1750. The old brick walls are still standing, with towers, not only over the gates, but here and there upon the waUs. A tem- porary wooden roof is placed on many, the strongest have prisons in them, others that were decayed, having been riddled with shot, are pulled down. The city walls also are repaired ; projecting angles and bastions still lie in ruins ; blooming elder and garden flowers are planted behind, and trail over the stones ; the city moat lies for the most part dry, the cows' of some of the citizens pas- ture within it, or the clothmakers have their frames set up with rows of small iron hooks, and quietly spread their cloths over them. The usual colour since the Pietists, is pepper and salt, as it was then called ; the old favourite blue of the Germans is also seen, though no longer made from German woad, but from foreign indigo. The narrow openings in the doors have still wooden planks, often two behind one another, and they are closed at night by the city watchmen, Avho stand at their post, but have often to be awakened by knocking and ringing, when anyone desires admission. On the inner side of the city wall, fragments of wooden galleries are still to be seen, on which once the archers and arquebuziers stood ; but the passage along the waU is no longer free through its whole length, 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 277 there are already many poor cottages and shops built on it. In the interior of the city, the houses are unadorned, and not so numerous as in former centuries ; there are still some waste spaces between, but most have been bought by people of rank and turned into gardens. Perhaps there is already a coffee garden, laid out after the pattern of the famed one of Leipzig ; it contains some rows of trees and benches, and in the coffee-room, near the bar, are arranged the clay pipes of the habitues ; but the maple head and the costly meerschaum are just coming into fashion. In the neighbourhood of the chief market-place, the houses are more stately, the old arcades are not preserved ; these covered passages, which existed once throughout the greater part of Germany, led through the basement story to the market-places, protecting the foot passengers from rain, and acted as a communication from the house to the street. The old pillars and vaults are attached to the massive edifice of the council-house by coarse rough-cast cement and intermediate walls ; in the dim poorly lighted rooms of the interior, hang cobwebs, gray piles of records raise their heads amidst layers of dust ; in the council- room, in a raised space, the railing of which separates the councillors from the citizens, are stiff-cushioned chairs, covered with green cloth, and fastened with brass nails ; everything is unadorned, even the whitewash neglected, and everything poor and tasteless, for in the new State money is deficient, and no pleasure is felt in adorning pubUc edifices, which are considered by the citizens as a necessary evil. Most of the houses in the market-place have pointed gables ; they look out on the street, and betwixt the houses broad rushing gutters pour their water on the bad pavement, which is made of rough stones^ Among the houses stands an occasional church or aban- 278 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFJE. [Ch. VI. doned monastic buildings, with buttresses and pointed arches. The people look with indifference on these re- mains of the past, bound up with which there is scarcely any fond remembrance, for they have lost all appreciation' of ancient a.rt ; owing to this, the edifices of the ancient times are everywhere ruined, as the castle of Marienburg was by Frederic of Prussia. The magistrates have care- fully turned the empty space into a parsonage-house or schoolroom, knocked out the windows, and made a plaster ceiling ; and the boys look from their Latin gi-ammar with admiration on the stone rosettes and delicate work of the chisel, — remains of a time when such inutiUties were still erected ; and in the crumbling cloisters where once trod monks with earnest step, they now spin their humming tops ; for the " Circitor susurrans," or "Monk," is still the favourite game of this period, which gentlemen of rank also, in a smaller form, sometimes carry in their pockets. There is already much order in the city : the streets are swept, the dung-heaps, which fifty years before, even in towns of some calibre, lay in front of the doors — the ancient cleanliness having disappeared in the war — are again removed by an ordinance, which the councillors of the sovereign have sent to the superior officials, and these to the senate. The stock of cattle in the streets is also much diminished ; the pigs and cattle, which not long before 1700 enjoyed themselves amidst the children at play, in the dirt of the street, are strictly kept in farmyards and out-houses, for the government does not like that the cities should keep cattle within the walls, for it has intro- duced the octroi, and a disbanded non-commissioned officer paces backwards and forwards near the gate, with his cane in his hand, in order to examine the carts and baskets of the country people. Thus the rearing of cattle is carried on in 1750. THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 279 the needy suburbs and farms : it is only in the small country towns that citizens employ agriculture as a means of support. There is a police also now, that exercises a strict vigilance over beggaxs and vagabonds, and the passport is indispen- sable for ordinary travellers. Constables are visible in the streets, and watch the public-houses. At night a fire watchman is posted near the council-house, and the warders of the towers by means of flags and large speak- ing trumpets, give danger signals. The engine-house is also kept in good order ; clumsy fire-barrels stand beside the council-house under open sheds, and above them hang the iron-cased fire-ladders. The night watch are tolerably watchful and discreet ; after the great war they here and there sang offensive verses, when they called out the hours, but now the pious parson has insisted upon both words and melody being spiritual. The artisan continues to work in the old way, each one adheres steadily to his guild ; the painters also are incor- porated, and execute as a masterpiece a crucifixion with the usual number of prescribed figures. In the Roman Catholic districts they live by very moderate performances of the pictures of the saints ; in the Protestant, they paint shields and targets, and the coats of arms of the sovereigns, which are to be seen in numbers on pubHc buildings and over the doors of artisans. Most of the artisans adhere strictly to their old customs, and especially to their guUd rights. Any one who enters the guild not according to artisan law, is treated as a bungler, and persecuted with a hatred, the intention of whidi is to exclude him from their society. Serious business is still transacted in front of the open shops ; apprentices are taken^ fellows receive the freedom, quaiTels are accommodated, and the formula " By your kind permission," which introduces every speech, sounds unceasingly at all the meetings of the masters and 280 PIOTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. the fellows ; but the old colloquies and sayings of the middle ages are only half understood, rough jests have been introduced, and the better class already begin not to attach much value to the guild ; indeed there are those who con- sider the old constitution of the guild as a burden, because it stubbornly resists their endeavours to enlarge their manufacturing activity ; such was the case with the cloth- makers and iron-workers. And the jovial annual feasts which were once the joy and pride of almost every artisan have nearly ceased. The processions in masks, and the old peculiar dances, are incompatible with the culture of a time in which the individual fears nothing so much as to lose his dignity, in which it is preached from the pulpit, that noisy, worldly amusements are sinful, and the learned men of the city find no adequate reason for such disturb- ance in the streets. The gentry of the city are separated from the citizens by dress and titles. As much as the nobles look down upon them, so do they upon the citizens, and these again upon the peasants. A. merchant has already a place among the gentry, especially if he occupies some city office or has wealth. In the families also of merchants of distinction, as the first wholesale houses are denominated, and in those of traders of consideration, as the possessors of large retail shops are called, a pleasing change may be observed in the mode of life. The coarse luxury of a former genera- tion is restrained, better training at home and greater rectitude in business are everywhere perceptible. It is already a subject of boast that the members of old solid commercial houses are not those who sue for patents of nobility ; nay, such vain new nobles are despised by the high commercial class.* And the unprejudiced cavalier is * J. M. von Loen- "Der Adel," 1732, pp. 133-4. 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 281 brought to confess, that in fact there is no difference between the wife of the landed proprietor, who goes with dignity into the cow-house to overlook the skimming of the cream, and the wife of a merchant of distinction at Frankfort, who during the fair sits in the warehouse ; " she is well and handsomely dressed, she gives orders to her people like a princess, she knows how to behave to people of rank, commoners, and those of the lower classes, each according to their class and position ; she reads and under- stands many languages, she judges sensibly, and knows how to live, and bring up her children well." Other cir- cumstances, besides the intellectual energy of the time, contributed to elevate the German merchant. The influx of the expelled Huguenots had not in some respects been favourable to our German character, yet the influence that they exercised on German commerce must be highly esti- mated. About 1760 their famihes dwelt in almost all the larger commercial cities ; they formed there a small aristo- cratic community, lived in social seclusion, and maintained carefully their relations with their connections in France, who, up to the present day, form an aristocracy of French wholesale traders, serious and strict, and rather of the old- fashioned aristocratic school. It was among the German Huguenots that the puritanical character of the Genevan and Flemish Separatists. found many adherents, their staid demeanour had exercised an influence on other great houses both in Frankfort and along the Rhine. But German commerce had now acquired new vigour, and healthy labour raised the tone of its character. The impoverished country again took an honoui-able share in the commerce of the world. Already did the Germans export their iron and steel wares from Mark, Solingen and Suhl, cloth from aU the provinces, fine cloth also of Por- tuguese and Spanish wool from Aix-la-Chapellej damask 282 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. from Westphalia, linen and lawn from Silesia ; to England, Spain, Portugal, and the colonies, whose products in return had a great market in Germany ; while the whole of the east of Europe,* up to the frontiers of Turkey and the steppes of Asia, were supplied by German merchants. The poverty of the people, that is to say, the low rate of wages, made the outlay of many manufactures hght and remunerative. In Hamburg and the cities of the Rhine, from Frankfort to Aix-la-Chapelle, the wholesale trade throve, and equally so in the frontier lands towards Poland, though in a ruder form, as it was one of barter. Goods and travellers were still conveyed down the Danube in rough wooden boats, which were built for a single voyage, and taken to pieces at the end of it, and sold as planks. And at Breslau the bearded traders from Warsaw and Novogorod sold the carts and horses of the steppes, on which they had brought their wares in long caravans to barter them for the costly products of western civili- sation. Already do the Silesian merchants begin to complain that the caravans come less often, and foreigners are dissatisfied on account of the new Prussian red-tapism and custom- house regulations of a strict government. At the same time travelling traders, with their sample cases of knife- blades, and needles, began to find their way from Lennep and Bartscheid to the Seine and the Thames, and the younger sons of great manufacturers met together with Hamburghers in London, Lisbon, Cadiz, and Oporto, and there, as bold and expert speculators, founded numerous firms. As early as 1750, cosmopolitanism had developed itseK in the families of gi'eat merchants, who looked down with contempt on the limited connections of home. And something of the enterprising and confident character of these men has been communicated to their business friends 1760.] THE DAWNING OP LIGHT. 283 in the interior. A manly, firm, and independent spirit is to be found about this time pervading all classes. But most of the gentry in every city belonged to the literary classes — ^theologians, jurists, and medical men. They represented probably every shade of the culture of the time, and the strongest contrasts of opinion were to be found in every great city. Now, the clergy were either orthodox or Pietist. The first, generally pleasant in social intercourse ; not unfrequently hon vivants, able to stand a good bottle of wine, and tolerant of the worldly jokes of their acquaintances. They had lost a good deal of their old pugnacity and inquisitorial character ; they conde- scended sometimes to quote a passage from Horace, occu- pied themselves with the history of their parish church and school, and already began to regard "with secret goodwill the dangerous Wolf, because he was so striking a contrast to their opponents, the Pietists. Where Pietist clergy resided they were probably in better relations with other confessions, and were especially reverenced by the women, Jews, and poor of the city. Their faith, also, had become milder ; they were, for the most part, worthy men — ^pure in morals, faithful shepherds of souls, with a tender, lovable character. Their preaching was very pathetic and flowery ; they liked to warn people against cold subtleties, and recommended what they called a juicy, racy style, but which their opponents found fault with as affected tauto- logy. Their endeavours to isolate their parishioners from the bustle of the world was even now regarded with distnist by a great majority of the citizens ; and in the taverns it was usual to say, mockingly, that the pious sat groaniug over leather aprons, shoemakers' lasts, and tailors' geese^ and were on the watch for regeneration. The teachers of the city schools were stiU learned theo- logians, and^ for the most part, poor candidates; the 284 PICTURES OF GERMAK LIFE. [Ch. VI. Rector, perhaps, had been appointed from the great school of the Halle Orphan Asylum. They were an interesting class, accustomed to self-denial, frequently afflicted with weakly bodies, iSae result of the hard, necessitous life through which they have had to work upwards. There were original characters among them ; many were queer and perverse, and the majority had no comprehensive knowledge. But in very many of them was hid, perhaps, under strange forms, somewhat of the freedom, greatness, and candour of the ancient world ; they had been, since the Reformation, the natural opponents of all pious zelots, even those that came from the great orphan asylum, from the training of the two Frankes and of Joachim Lange were generally more moderate than was satisfactory to the Pietist pastors. The leaves of their Cornelius Nepos were from constant use frightfully black ; their lot was to rise slowly from the sixth or fifth form to the dignity of con- rectors, with a small increase in their scanty salary. The greatest pleasure of their life was to find sometimes a scholar of capacity, in whom they could plant, besides the refinements of Latin syntax and prosody, some of their favourite ideas — a heathenish view of the greatness of man, influences on which the scholar, perhaps, in his manhood, looked back with a smile. But in this thankless and little esteemed occupation they laboured incessantly to form in the Germans a feeling for the beauty of antiquity, and a capacity for comprehending other races of men. And the unceasing influence exercised by thousands of them on the living generation was increased when Gesner naturalised the Greek language in the schools, and established an en- tirely new foundation for the instruction of scholars, which was spread by the teachers with enthusiasm ; the spirit of antiquity, a thorough comprehensionof the writers, not the merely grammatical construction, became the main object. 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. . 285 The school of every important town was a Latin one. If it attained to so high a point as to prepare the upper classes for the University, the boys who were to become artisans left when they got to the fourth form. This an-angement contributed to insure a certain amount of education to the citizen, which is now sometimes wanting. It was certainly in itself no great gain for the guild master to have some knowledge of Mavor, and of Cupid and Venus's doves, which were brought forward in all the poems of the learned, and embelHshed even the almanacks and gingerbread ; but, together with these conceptions from antiquity, his miad imbibed also the seed of the new ideas of the time. It is owing to this kind of school culture that enlightenment of mind has so rapidly spread among intelligent citizens. Strict was the school discipline; the usual words of encouragement which the poor scholars then wrote in one another's albums were — " Patience ! joyfully onward !" But strictness was necessary, for in the under classes grown-up youths sat beside the children, and the bad tricks of two generations were in constant conflict. Through a great part of Germany there existed a custom which has been retained up to the present day, that the boys who were on the foundation must, under the lead of a teacher, sing as choristers. If they did not walk in funeral proces- sions behind the cross, in their blue mantles, it was a grievous neglect, which much disturbed the discipline of the school, and as early as 1750 was complained of as an irregularity. The followers of Wolf were to be found everjrwhere among the gentry, as the scholars of the new " enlighten- ment," the watchmen of toleration, and the friends of scientific progress. • In the course of this year they were in anxious discussion on some old controversial points, for 286 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. the Leipziger, Crusius, had just published his " Introduction to the Rational Contemplation of Natural Occurrences ;" and, Tvith this work, and a cosmos of the year 1749, in their hands, they were once more taking into consideration whether they were to assume that space was a plenum or a vacuum, and whether the final cause of movement was to be sought in the active force of elastic bodies. Indignantly did these men of progress regard the theological faculty at Rostock, who had, just at this period, compelled a young Herr Kosegarten to make a recantation, because he had dared to maintain that the human nature of the Redeemer on earth had only been to a certain degree supported by his Divine nature ; that he had learnt like others, and had not in all things a perfect foreknowledge. On the other hand, they accorded a benignant smile to the physico-theological contemplations of those who proved the possibility of the resurrection, in spite of the continual change of matter — or, to use the language of the time, in spite of the change of particles of the body— or took pains to show wisdom and foresight in the white fur of the hare in Livonia. They could also prize German poetry and eloquence. HeiT Professor Gottsched and his wife were then at Leipzig. Like others, they had their weaknesses; but there was a noble nature in them, decorum of character, dignity, and knowledge. They also belonged to this school, and they wished, through the medium of German poetry, to introduce greater refinement and better taste into the country. They met with much enmity, but their perio- dical, the " Neuen Biichersaal," could scarcely be dispensed with by those that followed the course of the helles lettres. Beside this elder generation, a younger one was already springing up in the cities, who no longer considered the fine arts merely as agreeable ornaments, but looked to their influence for noble feelings and a freer morality, at :750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 287 ■wHcli the literary party disapprovingly shook their heads. And thus these disciples — it was only a small number — conducted themselves for two years with an excitement which led them into great exaggerations ; they carried hooks in their pockets, they gave them to the women of their acquaintance, they declaimed loudly, and pressed one another's hands. It was the first dawn of a new life which was hailed with so much joy. In the monthly journal, the "Bremer Beitrage," appeared the first cantos of the " Messiah," by Herr Klopstock ; the perplexity which, in the beginning, was excited by its ancient metre, was now followed, in a small circle, by unreserved admiration. In the preceding year another poem, " The Spring," by an un- known writer, had been published ; no one knew who had written it, but it was supposed to be the same agreeable poet who, under the armorial bearings of Breitkopf, had contributed, together with Kastner, Gellert, and Mylius, to the monthly journal " Belustigungen des Verstandes und Witzes" ("Diversions of Wit and Intellect"). And just at this time, also, the beginning of another heroic poem, " Noah," by another unknown writer, had been published by Weidmann ; it was supposed to be by a Swiss, because the name Sipha appeared in it, which had formerly been used by Bodmer. All these poems were in Eoman metre, and this new style caused an excitement of mind such as had never before been known. There appeared to be a regular rebellion among the bels-esprits; and there was shortly to be a still greater uproar. The cities were still deficient in such theatrical repre- sentations as could satisfy a thoughtful mind. But any one who then travelling in northern Germany had met the Schonemannsche troop, would still remember a young man of disadvantageous figure, with a short neck, of the name of Eckhof, who afterwards became the most refined 288 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. and finished actor of Germany. And just within these weeks a new book had come from the Leipzig fair, "Beitrage zur Historie und Aufnahme des Theaters" ("Contributions to the History and Eise of the Theatre"), which had been written by two young literati of Leipzig, of whom one was called Leasing. In the same batch of books was " Pamela," by Eichardson, who, the year before, had written " Clarissa." But what was then read in the houses of the citizens was of quite another quahty. As yet there were no cir- culating libraries ; only the small second-hand booksellers sometimes lent books to trustworthy acquaintance. But there sprang up a voluminous literature of novels, which were eagerly bought by unassuming readers. They were narratives, slight and carelessly put together, in which strange events were related. These adventures were represented in the seventeenth century in various ways : either in dull imitations of the old chivalrous and pastoral novels, with a phantastic back- ground, and without the advantage of detailed descrip- tion ; or a coarse copy of real life, without beauty, often common and vulgar. There was then a concurrence of a decaying style and of the beginning of a new one. After 1700, the realistic tendency became the ruling one. From the Amadis novels, arose loose court and tourist adven- tures. " Simplicissimus " was followed by a great number of war romances, Eobinsonades, and stories of adventurers ; the gi-eater part of them are very carelessly composed, and German gossip or newspaper information of extra- ordinary occurrences abroad, partly diaries, are worked in. " Fassmann's Dialogues from the Kingdom of the Dead," are collected in a similar way from flying-sheets and story-books, which that disorderly character, who then resided in Franconia, had gathered together from the 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 289 pastor of the place. Those who wt-ote thus were thoroughly despised by literary men, but they exercised a very great influence — one difficult to estimate — on the mind of the people. They were two separate spheres that revolved together. And this contrast between the reading of the people and that of the educated class, exists but too much, even in the present day. Among the gentry of the town, however, there were in 1750 still other literati No town of any importance failed to possess a patriotic man, who examined old chronicles, church documents, and records from the council archives, and could give valuable contributions towards a history of the place and district. As yet little was known of the monuments of antiquity ; but they, as well as old inscriptions and the false idols of our primeval ancestors, were copied as curiosities. Still greater was the interest excited by physical science. It continues the most popular branch of knowledge in the smaller cities. Not inconsiderable is the number of respectable periodicals which give information concerning the new discoveries of science. We also revert to them with respect ; the representations and style are sometimes admirable ; as, for example, in '' Kastner's Hamburg Magazine;" and they are' unweariedly occupied in pre- senting the scientific discoveries of commerce, trade, and agriculture to every circle of practical interests. Their rational influence, however, did not entirely displace all that was untenable. The old inclination for alchemy was not conquered. StiU. did men, sensible and upright men, continue this kind of work ; earnestly was the great secret sought for, and ever did something interpose to hinder final success. This work was carried on secretly, but well did the city know that the councillor or the secretary still used his chemical apparatus to make gold. But a plea- 290 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. sure in chemical processes, distillations in retorts, and cold solvents was prevalent among many ; powerful tinctures were distributed to acquaintances, and housewifes loved to distil various arlSficial waters ; in advertisement sheets, medicaments were recommended, pills for the gout, pow- ders for the scrofula, &c., charlatanry was comparatively greater than now, and lies, equally barefaced. A zeal for scientific collections became general ; boys also began to pin butterflies and beetles, and to examine dendrites and minerals in their father's microscope ; and the more wealthy rejoiced over "Rosel's Insect Recreations," and the first number of " Frischen's Representations of Birds." The well educated, even in the humblest places, prided themselves on collecting a library. Twice a year, at Easter and Michaelmas, the lover of books made his regular purchases ; then the bookseller brought from the Leipzig Fair the " novelties " which he had either bought with money or exchanged for other works published by himself. These new books he laid in his shop for inspec- tion, as a trader now does his drapery. This was an important time for literary amateurs ; the shops were the focus of literary intercourse ; the chief customers seated themselves there, gave their opinions, chose and rejected books, and received the lists of new works of the great firms, — as, for example, that of Breitkopf, — and obtained information of other novelties from the literary world, such as, that in Gottingen a new scientific society had been founded ; that Herr Klopstock had received a pen- sion of 400 thalers from the King of Denmark, vnthout any duties attached to it ; and that Herr von Voltaii-e had been appointed chamberlain at Berlin. About this period many other desirable purchases made their way through the country in the bales of books. There were many opportunities also of acquiring old as 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 291 well as new books. An interest had already been excited in the old editions of the classics. Besides those of Aldus, those of Elzivir were sought after with especial curiosity. But the second-hand book trade was as yet inconsiderable, except in Halle and Leipzig ; it was not easy, unless by accident or at some auction, for individuals to acquire books which, in the last century, had been collected by the patricians of the Imperial cities whose families had gradually died out, or perhaps from monastic libraries, the books of which had been sold in an underhand way by unscrupulous monks. An ecclesiastic in the neighbour- hood of Grafenthal in Franconia sold, for twenty-five gulden, which were to be paid by instalments, many ells of folios and quartos beautifully bound ; the ells of the larger- sized books were somewhat dearer than those of the smaller ones ; many works were of course incomplete, because, the measurement being precise, the ell was shoi-ter than the number of volumes. There was no choice allowed. It was generally the backs that were measured. This bar- barism, however, was an exception. Those authors who wrote books, if in high repute, obtained from the booksellers an amount of compensation far from insignificant. Their position, in this respect, had much improved since the beginning of the century. As the predilection for theological and legal treatises still continued, they were sometimes more highly paid than they would be now. He, nevertheless, who did not stand, as university teacher, on the vantage-ground of science, gained but a small income. When the Right Rev. Herr Lesser, in 1737, made an agi-eement with his pubKsher for the publica- tion of "the Chronicle of Nordhausen," he was "satisfied" to take as payment for each sheet of that conscientious work, the sum of sixteen gute grosohen, which he was to receive in the shape of books, but at the same time to promise XT a 292 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. that, in case the contents of his work should involve the publisher in any troubles with the authorities, he would indemnify him. In the latter part of the morning the apothecary's shop became a pleasant rendezvous for the city gentry. There, poUtiSs and city news were discussed along with small glasses of eau de vie ; and from the ceiling and upper cor- nice, the old frippery attire of exploded quacks and worm doctors, also skeletons of sharks, stuffed apes, and other horrors, looked down goggle-eyed upon the eager disputes of the society. Besides the city gossip, politics had already become a favourite subject of discourse, which was carried on no longer with the calm of mere wise maxims, but with heartfelt interest. Whether King or Empress, whether Saxony or Prussia, were principally discussed, it could be discovered to which party each individual present be- longed. A few years later, these kind of disputes became so vehement that they destroyed family life and the peace of households. Meanwhile the imaginations of ^he lesser citizens, the servants and children, were filled withr other ideas, for the old superstition wove its web round their life. There was scarcely an old house that had not its haunted room ; ghosts showed themselves on the graves and within the church doors ; even the engine-house was haunted before a fire broke out ; still was the mysterious wail of lament heard, a variation of the belief in the wild army which had entered into the souls of the people through the great war ; still were old cats considered as witches; and apparitions, presentiments, and significant dreams were discussed with anxious faith. Ever yet was the search after concealed treasures an affair of import- ance ; no city was without a credible story of a treasure tro-ve which had taken place in the neighbourhood, or had been frustrated by untimely words. But the prudent 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 293 father of a family already tries earnestly to enlighten his children and servants on such points. The enlightened man does not deny unqualifiedly the possibility of a mys- terious connexion with the other world, but he regards every siagle case with distrust ; he admits that behiad the ruined altar of the old church and in the ruin^ of the neighbouring castle something curious may be concealed, and that it might well repay a person to dig for it ; but he holds in sovereign contempt the flames and the black dog, and he recounts with special pleasure numerous instances where this faith of the " olden time" had been misused by deceivers. Seldom do the months pass without bringing a periodical containing weU-written treatises, in which the mountain sprite is entirely put out of the question, fiery meteors are explained, and thunderbolts are considered as petrifactions. In no city are excited people wanting who are tormented by apparitions ; the clergy still continue to pray for these poor people ; but not only physicians and literary laymen, but also clever citizens, maintain that such kinds of devils are expeUed by medicine and fasting, and not by prayer, as they are ouly produced by the morbid fancies of hypochondria. Among the daily events is the interesting anival and departure of the mail-coach. About this time all the promenaders like to move into the vicinity of the post- office. The usual land-post is a very slow, clumsy means of conveyance ; its snail pace was notorious even fifty years later. Of made roads there are as yet none in Germany ; soon after the Seven Years' War the first chaussees were foi-med, — still very bad. Whoever wishes to travel com- fortably takes the extra post; for greater economy, care is taken that all the places shall be occupied, and in the local papers which have existed for some little time in most of the larger cities, a travelling companion is some- 294 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. times advertised for. For long journeys, private carriages are bought, which are sold again at the end of the journey. The badness of the roads gives the postmaster the right to put four horses t5 a light carriage, and it is a privilege to the traveller if the Government will give him a licence to take only two horses extra post. He who is not sufficiently wealthy for this, looks out for a return carriage, and these opportunities are announced several days beforehand. If there is much intercourse between two places, besides the ordinary post and the more speedy mail, a licensed stage- coach goes on specified days. These more especially faci- litate the personal intercourse of the lower orders. In 1750 there was one from Dresden to Berlin every fort- night ; to Altenburg, Chemnitz, Freiberg, and Zwickau, once a week ; to Bautzen and Gorlitz, the number of pas- sengers was not sufficiently certain for the coachman to be able to go on a specified day ; the green and the red pas- sage-boats went between Dresden and Meissen, each once a week. Even with the best drivers, travelling was very slow. Five German miles a day, at the rate of a mile in two hours, seems to have been the usual rate of travelKng. A distance of twenty miles could not be accomplished by a carriage under three days, and generally four were necessary. When, in the July of the year which is here described, Klopstock travelled with Gleim, in a light carriage drawn by four horses, from Halberstadt to Magde- burg, six miles in six hours, the rapidity appeared to him so extraordinary that he compared it with the races at the Olympic games. But when the country roads were very bad, which was always the case in the rainy season of the spring and autumn, a journey was avoided unless it was inevitable, as it was considered as a risk not to be encoun- tered without grievous adventures. In the year 1764, it was still thought remarkable by the Hanoverians, that 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 295 their ambassador had succeeded in reaching Frankfort-a- M., for the coronation of the Emperor, in spite of the bad roads, -mthout any other damage than a broken axle. Thus we find that a journey at this period is an under- taking to be well considered, which can hardly be carried through without long preparation; the arrival of travelling strangers in a city is the event of the day, and the curious multitude collect round the can-iage during its detention. It is only in the larger commercial towns that the hotels are fashionably arranged ; Leipzig is in great re- pute in this respect. People were glad to be accommodated at the house of an acquaintance, ever taking into consi- deration the expenditure ; for he who travels must make accurate calculations. A person of any pretensions avoids a journey on foot, on account of the bad roads, dirty inns, and rough encounters. Well-dressed pedestrians in search of the picturesque are, as yet, unheard of. The traveller was not only accompanied by the lively sympathy of his friends, he was also employed in their business, as then among acquaintances there was more mutual accommodation than now. He was amply supplied with clothes, letters of recommendation, cold meat, and pru- dent precepts ; but he was also burdened with commissions, purchases of every kind, and delicate business ; also with the collecting of debts, the engaging of tutors, nay, even with reconnoitring and mediating in affairs of the heart. If he travelled to some great fair, he must take care of cer- tain special coffers and chests to satisfy the wishes of his acquaintances. This kind of reciprocal service was abso- lutely needful, for the conveyance of money and packages by the post was still very dear and not always very| sure. Betwixt neighbouring cities therefore a regular messenger service was established, as for example in Thuringia, where i^ continues to the present day. These messengers 296 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. TI. — frequently women — carried letters and errands on fixed days, alike through snow and under a scorching sun ; they had charge of all kinds of purchases, and, as trustworthy persons, enjoyed the confidence of the magistrates, who entrusted them with ofiicial letters and public papers, and when they arrived at their destination had an appointed place, where letters and return parcels for their native home were delivered to them. If the intercourse between two places was very active, a goods conveyance, with compart- ments with drawers in it, of which sometimes two associated families had the key, was sent backwards and foi-wards. Scanty and spare was the housekeeping of the citizens ; few of them were sufficiently wealthy to be able to invest their household arrangements and their life with any polish ; and the rich were always in danger of falling into unseemly luxury, such as corrupted the courts and the families of the nobility. Those who had a comfortable competency lived very simply, only showing their wealth by their hospitaUty and the adornment of their house and table on festive occasions. Therefore feasts were ungenial state affairs, for which the whole household was deranged. JN^othing distinguishes the man of the world more than the easy style of his society. Strict were the regulations in the citizen's household : everything was precisely defined, even on the smallest points, as to what one was to render to or receive from another. The interchange of good wishes and compliments, that is to say, the courtesies of conver- sation, and even the trinkgeld, all had their accurately prescribed form and amount. Through these innumerable little regulations, social intercourse acquired a stiff for- mality which strongly contrasts with the freedom from constraint of the pi-esent day. It was still customary to be bled and take medicine on appointed days, to pay your bills and make visits at stated intervals. Equally fixed 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 297 were the enjoyments of the year : the cake which was suit- able to every day, the roast goose, and, if possible, the sledge-drives. Fixed was the arrangement of the house : the massive furniture which had been bought by the bridal couple on their first setthng down, the stuffed chair which had perhaps been bought at an auction by the husband as a student, the folding-table for writing, and the cupboards, had been the companions of many generations. But underneath this network of old customs freer views began to germinate : already did the troublesome question arise— wherefore ? even with respect to the most trifling usages. Everywhere might individuals be found who set themselves with philosophic independence against these customs, which appeared to them not to be founded on reason ; in many more did there work a deep impulse to freedom, self-dependence, and a new purport of life, which they held apart from the multitude and from society, which had the efiect of giving them an appearance of originality. The interiors of the houses were still undecorated ; the ground-floor, with its polished boards, had no other orna- ment than the bright colour of the wood, which was pre- served by incessant washing, which made the dweUing at least once a week damp and uncomfortable. The stairs and entrance-hall were still frequently strewn with white sand. But they liked to have their rooms nicely fitted up ; the furniture, among which the commode was a new invention, was carefully worked and beautifully inlaid. Painting was still uncommon on the walls ; but the dis- tempered plaster walls were in little esteem : papers were preferred. The wealthy liked to have the stamped leather, which gave the room a particularly comfortable aspect ; leather was also much liked as covers for furniture. Copper and tin utensUs were still the pride of the house- wife. They were used on " state " occasions : this new 298 PICTURES OF GEEMAif LIFE. [Ch. VI. and significant word had penetrated into the kitchen. At Nuremberg, for example, there were in wealthy famiUes state kitchens, which used to be opened to small societies for moiliing collations, at which cold meats were served. In such kitchens pewter and copper glittered all around like bright mirrors ; even the wood for burning, which lay there piled up in great heaps, was covered with bright tin, all only for show and amusement, as now the kitchen of a httle girl. But porcelain had already begun to be placed alongside the pewter ; in refined Saxony, more especially, the wealthy housewife seldom failed to have a table set out with china cups, jugs, and little ornamental figures. And the fashionable pet of the ladies, the pug, might by a wayward movement produce a crash which endangered the peace of the house. Just at that time this curious animal stood at the height of his repute ; it had come into the world no one knew from whence, and it passed away from it again equally unperceived. But the heart of the housewife was attached to her weaving as well as her pewter and porcelain. The linen damask was very beautifully prepared, with artistic patterns which we stiU admire ; to possess such damask table-covers was a most particular pleasure, and great value was also set upon fine body-Unen ; the ruffled shirt which GeUert received as a present from Lucius was not forgotten in the description of his audience. The dress worn in public was still regarded by serious men as a matter of station ; the Pietists had accustomed the citizen to wear dark or sober colours ; but fine textures, buttons, unpretending embroidery and linen, demonstrated not less than perukes and swords the high-bred man. This was the dress to be worn in public, and must espe- cially be put on when going out ; and as it was inconve- nient and — at least the perukes — difficult to put on and 1760.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 299 to powder without the help of others, a contrast was pro- duced by this between home and society which proscribed social intercourse at certain hours in the day, and made it formal and elaborate. At home a dressing-gown was worn, in which literary men received visits, and the " best " dress was carefully spared. Many things which appear to us as common necessaries were still quite unknown, and the absence of many comforts was not felt. In the year 1745 an Austrian non-commissioned officer begged of an impri- soned officer, from whom he had taken a watch, to wind it up for him ; he had never had one in his hands. The worthy Semler had become a professor before he obtained by the aid of a bookseller his first silver watch ; and he complained, about 1780, that then every master of arts, nay, eveiy student thought he must have a watch ; now, in every family of similar station, the third-form boy has a silver, and the student a gold watch. Besides the landed nobility, only the highest state officials and the richest merchants kept their own carriage and horses, and this more rarely than fifty years before. But literary men were then often advised by physicians not to fear the dangers of riding ; schools were estabhshed, and riding-horses let out for hire. It did not indeed happen to every one as to the invahd Gellert, to have as a present for the second time, after the death of his renowned Dapple, a horse from the Elector's stables, with velvet saddle and housings embroidered in gold, which the dear professor, much moved after his manner, accepted, though with the greatest distrust as to the good temper of the horse, and was never weary of speaking of it to his acquaintance, whilst his groom showed the prodigy for money to the Leipzigers. As the dress of that day made people very sensitive to damp, sedan-chairs came into fashion ; they were as frequently used as now the di'oschky ; 300 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. the bearers were known by a kind of livery, had their appointed stations, and were to be found wherever the nobility and the public appeared in numbers : at great dances, on Sundl,y at the church doors, and at the theatres. Strict was the discipline of the house. In the morning, even in those families that were not Pietists, short prayers were read with the children and servants, a verse was sung, a prayer or exhortation followed, and then a hjrmn. They rose and retired to bed early. The intercourse at home was formal : extreme respect, with ceremonious forms, was required of both children and servants ; and husbands and wives among the gentry still continued generally to speak to each other in the third person plural. All who appertained to the family, whether friends or distant acquaintance, in their simple and often needy life, were invested with great importance. Still were advance- ment, interest, and favours sought for and expected, through the friends of the family. To protect and become a partisan .was a duty ; therefore it was considered great good fortune to have noble and influential acquaintances; and in order to secure this it was necessary to be mindful of congratulations on birthdays and verses at family festi- vals. Under such protection people sought their fortunes in the world. Devotion to the great was immense : it was still correct to kiss the hand of a patron. When Count Schwerin, on the 11th of August, 1741, received the oath of allegiance for his sovereign in the royal salon at Breslau, the Pro- testant church inspector. Burg, on shaking hands with him, wished to kiss his hand. The Breslauers were not astonished at this obsequiousness, but only that a field-marshal should have embraced and kissed a citizen theologian. Sponsorship was, among the citizens, the foundation of a still nearer relation ; the godfather was bound to provide for the advancement of his godchild ; and this parental 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 301 relation lasted to the end of his life. If he was wealthy, the parents gladly allowed him a decisive voice as to the future of their child, but it was also expected that he should show his goodwill by his last testament. This life of citizens in humble circumstances developed certain peculiarities of character and education. First a softness of nature which, about 1750, was called tender and sentimental. The foundation of this remarkable soft- ness was implanted in the soul by the great war and its political results, and Pietism had strikingly developed it. Almost every one had the habit of exciting and stirring up themselves and others. In the last centuiy, family prayer had been heartless and formal ; now, the edifying contemplations and moral reflections of the father of a family gave occasion for dramatic scenes within it. Ex- temporary prayers especially, accustomed the members of a family to express openly what was reaUy in their hearts. Vows and promises, solemn exhortations and pathetic reconciliations betwixt husbands and wives, parents and children, sentimental scenes, were as much sought after and enjoyed as they are now avoided. Even in schools the easy excitability of that generation frequently came to light. When a worthy teacher was in trouble, he caused the scholars to sing verses which harmonised with his frame of mind, and it was agreeable to him to feel that the boys understood him and showed their sympathy in their devotions. In the same way the preacher in the pulpit loved to make his congregation the confidants of his own struggles and convictions ; his sorrows and joys, repentance and inward peace, were listened to with respect and consecrated by prayer. The generation of 1750 had more especially a craving for excitement and exaltation of feeling. A feeling, an action, or a man was easily reckoned great ; grand epithets 302 PICTURES OF GEEMiN- LIFE. [Ch. VI. were heaped upon friends ; and, again, your own sorrows and the misfortunes of others were enjoyed with a certain gloomy satisfaction. Tears flowed readily both over your own sufferings Itnd those of others ; and also from joy, gratitude, devotion, or admiration ; but it was not through foreign literature, not by Gellert, nor by the literary worshippers of Klopstock, that this sentimentality was implanted : it lay deep in the national character. When, in 1749, the young Doctor Semler took leave of the University of Halle, he was very sorrowful, for he had secretly adored the daughter of his dear teacher. Professor Baumgarten, notwithstanding he had at his home, Saalfeld, another love of his youthful days ; this sorrow affected him so powerfully, that with difficulty he took his Doctor's degree. He, however, succeeded, and after having done so, he delivered, before his model Baum- garten — who was in the chair as president — an extempore Latin gratulatory oration, so impassioned, that not only he himself, but also most of his hearers, wept. Again, at home he sat down and wept over his fate, and his true- hearted comrade wept with him almost the whole after- noon. That he should shed tears at his departure was natural, but he still wept when in the course of his long journey he amved at Merseburg ; and when, on reaching home, he gave the laudatory letter of Baumgarten to his father, the latter wept also for joy. In this case the emotion was justifiable, and tears flowed from the heart ; but it could not fail to happen that the habit of self-consciousness, and of watching each inward emotion, degenerated into acting a part, and admi- ration of noble affections, into affectation. This soon showed itself in the German language. The higher emotions still found no adequate expression. The language of books still dominated, and' aU the nobler 1750,] THE DAWKING OF LIGHT. 303 feelings of men had to adapt themselves to its forms and periods. Just at that time however this language had gained a certain degree of aptitude in expressing clearly and simply the calm, methodic work of the reflecting mind; but when passionate feelings sought expression in words, they were still restrained within the threadbare forms of the ancient rhetoric, and nestled in the dry leaves of old phrases. The Pietists had to invent a phraseology of their own for their peculiar feelings, and these expressions soon degenerated into mannerism. It was the same case with those new turns of expression by which highly-gifted indi- viduals sought to enrich the language of the heart. If a poet spoke of feeling the soft tremor of a friendly kiss, hundi-eds imitated him, delighted with the high-flown expression. Thus, also, tears of sorrow and of gratitude, and the sweets of friendship, became stereotyped phrases, which at last had little meaning in them. And this poverty of language became general Almost everywhere, when we expect the simple expression of an inward feeling, we find a display of reflections which is as repulsive in letters and speeches, as in poems. This speciality of the old time becomes insupportable to us, and we readily accuse it of hypocrisy, callousness, and hoUow- ness. But our ancestors have a sufficient excuse. They could not do othei-wise. Still did there remain in their souls somewhat of the epic constraint of the middle ages, the yearning for an outpouring of greater passion, for enthusiasm, and for the melody of feeling : it becomes almost morbid ; everywhere there is an aspiration after a higher self-development ; everywhere a seeking and a longing ; but still do their feelings lack power, and their increased knowledge the corresponding free culture of the character ; and so do the poets, who have always been the leaders of the people. Even in the amiable character that 304 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. figures in the dawn of a higher life, in Ewald von Kleist, the lyrical strivings are very remarkable. Already are his descriptions rich in beautiful details, and an abundance of poetical conceptions group themselves spontaneously around the leading idea of his poem, which almost always rests on an honourable and deep-seated feeling; but, amid all his poetical imagery, he could not give utterance to an elevated poetical frame of mind, and still less cause the full harmony of a beautiful feeling to echo in the listener's heart. For his tones were not yet powerful enough, nor were those of his older contemporaries who, so painfully sought after all that was beautiful and noble in the soul, and so often boasted to have found it. But the self-contemplation of the educated did not extend to the inward life alone : they were equally watchful of their outward appearance, and of the impression which they made on others. In this respect they appear to us ridiculously refined. The tight dress and powder, the fact of being unusually smart, put men in a state of agitation and formal cheerfulness which easily became affectation. The stereotyped forms of social intercourse, and the rheto- rical compliments, were so artificial, that society became like a play, and the Germans of 1750 actors who made themselves laughable if they did not act cleverly. When any one approached a patron, he had to take care that his pace was not too quick, nor too bold, nor too shy — that his voice was properly subdued, and that he held his hat in his left ai-m, so that it formed a proper angle ; he had to prepare himself beforehand, that his address of saluta- tion might not be too long and too commonplace, and just respectful enough to awaken goodwill ; he had to pay much attention to the intonation of his voice, so that what had been well considered before might have the effect of being natural. If any one wished to kiss the hand of a 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 305 lady or gentleman of distinction, he took pains even in this act to express a feeling suitable to the occasion; ■whether, as a sign of confidential respect, he pressed it against his eyes and brow, as well as to his mouth, how long he kept the hand, and how slowly he released it, all this was very important, and, if possible, well considered be- forehand ; any mistake committed, occasioned afterwards probably great trouble to the guilty party. He who had to exhibit himself before a larger assembly, took into serious consideration the position and demeanour by which he could produce an effect. However troubled was the young Semler when he stood before the professor's chair for his doctor's degree, yet he did not forget " to take a peculiar but not offensive attitude," in which he answered his opponents so rapidly, that he scarce waited for the end of their speech ; nor did he forget to tell, how indifferent the " tender emotions of his heart " had made him to every possible objection of his antagonist. The women had also to study well, not only the motions of their fans, but their smiles and the casting-down of their eyes ; it was required that they should do it unaffectedly, with grace and tact. Undoubtedly this pressure of convenance was fre- quently, with the Germans, broken through by character- istic rectitude and firmness. But the stedfast enduring power of will, which we honour as man's highest quality, was then very rare in Germany. It was to be gained by experience and necessity, by the labour and practice of ai'duous duty ; then it broke forth with surprising energy. But this quality was deficient in some manly character- istics. The pressure of a despotic state had continued for a century ; it had made the citizen shy, dull, and faint- hearted. This frame of mind had been promoted by Pietism. A continual contemplation of their own unwor- 306 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. thiness diminished in more finely organized minds the capacity of enjoying themselves heartily, or of giving frank expression to their own nature. The severe training and immoderate exertions of memory of literary men, and their many night watches in . close rooms amid the fumes of tobacco, only too often implanted disease. We may gather from many examples how frequently consumption and hy- pochondria destroyed the life of young scholars. And we find generally among the citizen families of that time, sen- timental, irritable, sensitive natures, helpless and feckless in respect of all that was unusual to them. But that was not the worst. Not only the will, but the certainty of their convictions and the feeliag of duty were easily extin- guished by external influences. Of that quiet self-respect which we look for in a good and highly educated man, little is as yet to be seen. Money and outward honour still exercise too great a power even over the most upright. Gellert, who was a pattern to his contemporaries of tender feeliag and unselfishness, when a professor at Leipzig, was joyfully surprised that a foreign nobleman from Silesia, ■prhom he did not personally know, but with whom he had once exchanged a few letters, offered his mother a yearly pension of twelve ducats. In his answer the assurance of tears of gratitude did not fail. He never felt a scruple in accepting sums of money from persons unknown to him. And one may venture to maiatain that in 1750, through- out the whole of Germany, there was scarcely a man, even among the best, who would have refused an anonymous present. When Frederick William the First called upon the professors of his University at Frankfort, to engage in a public disputation with his reader, Morgenstein, who stood on the lecturer's platform in a grotesque attire, with a fox's brush by his side, no one dared to gainsay the 1760.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 307 tyrannical "whim, except Johann Jacob Moser, who con- sidered himself in the relation of a stranger to the Bran- denburgers, and preserved the proud consciousness of being in high consideration in the Imperial Court. And even he was so excited by the occurrence, that he fell dan- gerously in. Where there exists such a deficiency of self- respect in men engaged in the struggle of hfe, their vanity grows exuberantly. It so clouded the minds of most men of that period, that but few leave an agreeable impression behind them ; and it was no wonder that only the strongest were free from it. Men were sentimental and sensitive ; it was a matter of decorum to pay compli- ments ; respect for truth was less than now, and the necessity for politeness greater. He who exercised an influence on others by his intellectual labours, or by his own powers had won consideration in his sphere, was accustomed to receive much praise and honour, and missed it if withdrawn. He who had no rank or title, had acquired no office in the State, and did not enjoy the privileges of a superior position, was recklessly crushed and oppressed. Not merit, but the approbation of influential persons was of value ; not learning alone availed with pub- lishers and readers : a position at the University, and a great circle of auditors who bought and spread the works of the teacher, were necessary. Insecure was every earthly position ; everywhere strong and arbitrary power prevailed. Even the greatest reputations trusted far more to the support of personal admirers, than to the sound dig- nity of merit. Thus every individual expression of praise and blame obtained an importance which we can now hardly comprehend. Every one was therefore careful to oblige others, in order to be approved of by strangers. German life was still deficient in an enlightened daily press, and many individuals were entirely without the X 2 308 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. discipline and restraint which is produced by a powerful public opinion. Nothing is so difficult as to form a correct judgment of the morality in'families of a far-distant period. For it is not sufficient to estimate the sum of striking errors, which in itself is very difficult ; it is equally necessaiy to under- stand the individual injustice in particular cases which is often impossible. Among the citizens, the intercourse of both sexes was almost entirely confined to the family circles : larger societies were rare. In the houses of inti- mates, the habits of the young people were lively and unrestrained ; the friends of the sisters and the comrades of the brothers became part of the family. The custom still continued of making confidences in jest which would now be considered objectionable. Embracing and kissing were not restricted to games of forfeits. Such a custom, however harmlessly and innocently carried on by the young people, was calculated to give rise to feelings of levity which we should view with regret, and it frequently gave birth to a certain bold freedom in the intercourse between the young men and maidens. Tender' liaisons were quickly formed in families between the unmarried members ; no one thought them wrong, and they were as speedily dissolved. These transient liaisons, full of senti- ment, seldom increased to a deeper passion, nay, in general, the poetry of youth was extinguished by them. They seldom led, either, to betrothal or mamage ; for mar- riage at that period, about 17-50, was still as much an affair of business as of the heart. And the endless blessing of love and faithfulness, which just then began to dawn upon them, rested generally on other grounds than on the glow of a pure passion, or a deep-seated communion of feeling preceding the betrothal. The behaviour of the parties interested in the conclu- 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 309 sion of a marriage strikes us as remarkable. If tlie man had the prospect of an employment which would enable him to keep a family, his acquaintances, men and women, exerted themselves to devise, propose, and negotiate a marriage for him. Match-making was then a duty which no one could easily escape. Grave scholars, distinguished officials, rulers and princesses of the country, assiduously transacted the like disinterested business. A marriageable man in a respectable position had to endure much from the admonitions, the mischievous hints, and numerous projects of his acquaintances. When GeHert first ex- changed a few letters with Demoiselle Caroline Lucius, — whom he had never seen, — he asked her, in the first long letter with which he had favoured her, whether she would marry an acquaintance of his, the Precentor at St. Thomas's school. When Herr von Ebner, chancellor of the University of Altorf, spoke for the first time to the young Professor Semler, he made him the kind offer of providing a rich wife for him. The young Professor Piitter, who was at Vienna in his travels, had the offer of a wealthy merchant's daughter as a good partie, from a count, who was his neighbour at table, but entirely a stranger to him. This proposal, however, was declined. But, equally cool as the offers, were the decisions of the parties interested. Men and women decided upon marry- ing each other often after a passing view, or after they had exchanged a few words, never having had any affec- tionate intercourse. On both sides a good recommenda- tion was the main point. The foHowiug is an example of a similar betrothal, which appeared to the parties interested, as especially vehement and impassioned. The assessor of the Supreme Court of Judicature, von Summermann, became acquainted at the Schwalbach baths, in 1754, with a Fraulein von Bachelld, an amiable 310 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. lady of the court of a disagreeable Langravine ; he saw her frequently at country parties, to which both were invited by a married acquaintance. Some weeks later he revealed his wish to marry the Fraulein, to an acquaintance at Wetzlar, after he had cautiously collected information concerning the character of the young lady. The confidant, — it was Putter — visited the innocent court lady : " After some short common-place conversation, I said that I had to make a proposal to her, to which I must beg for an answer. She replied shortly, 'What kind of proposal?' I equally shortly and frankly asked, ' Whether she could make up her mind to marry the Herr von Summermann V 'Ah, you joke !' was her answer. I said, 'No, I do not, I am quite in earnest ; here I have already a ring and yet another present (a silk purse with a hundred carhnes), by which I can verify my proposal' ' Now, if you are in earnest, and bring the proposal from Herr von Summer- mann, I do not hesitate a moment.' Thus she took the ring, but refused to accept the hundred carHnes, and em- powered me to convey her assent." The further course also of this very exciting business was extraordinary and dramatic. The happy lover had settled that his wooer should obtain for him more certain information. Now, it is true that a written line in this scribbling age might have been possible, but it appears that written infoi-mation was considered too prolix, and it was undoubtedly then difficult to give it in one line without titles and congratulations ; so it was determined that, as in " Tristan and Isolde," the result of an undertaking was telegraphed by a black or a white seal, so here by the transmission of a certain volume of a valuable legal work of the state chancery, it was to be signified that the proposal was accepted ; another volume of the same work would have intimated the contrary. And the difference of the new conscientious period from 1760.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 311 the old one of Queen Isolde consisted only in this, that no false signal would be given. But though in this union the heart to a certain degree asserted its rights, it was less often the case with men of education and capacity. Professor Achenwall, a distin- guished law teacher at Gottingen, made an offer to a daughter of Johann Jacob Moser without ever having seen her, and she in like manner accepted ; after her death he married a Demoiselle Jager, of Gotha, to whom he pro- posed after he had seen her accidentally on a journey, passing some days in the house of an acquaintance. Thus it was generally the position and the household which was the object of women, as it stiU is in many circles of the people. The quiet dreams of the candidates for matri- mony were frequently exactly as portrayed by the sober- minded Putter: "The meals at the restaurant did not answer to their wishes ; to eat alone was not to their mind ; feUow-boarders were not to be reckoned upon ; the house- hold cares concerning the wash, beer, and sugar were disa- greeable occupations ; and in the evening, when tired after work, to pay visits to others when one did not know whether it was opportune, or to await the visits of others who were themselves in the same dilemma, — all these were circum- stances of consideration, experience, and observation, which seemed to prove that one could not be happy continually in one's present position." Undoubtedly also the import- ance of this step was not aU underrated : quiet dehbera- tion lasted long, and a secret wavering between eUgible parties was frequent. Therefore in general the matter was left to a benevolent Providence ; and an accidental meeting, or the pressing recommendation of a certain person, was stni always considered as a sign from above. Those who so thought, were then the spiritual leaders of the people, the scholars and followers of Leibnitz, 312 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. TI. Thomasius, and Wolf, — estimable, good, and perhaps very learned men ; and also the maidens and wives of the best families. It was certainly an ancient German custom to subordinate the individual, in this most important concern of life, to the judgment and interests of the family; un- doubtedly marriage was considered more especially the great business of life which was to be arranged with strict adherence to duty, and not according to the delusive ideas of the fancy. But these sober, sensible views were begin- ning in 1750 to give way to the higher requirements of the individual. Already were men inclined to indulge themselves with a richer mental life and gi'eater inde- pendence. When Caroline Lucius modestly but firmly declined the offered hand of the Precentor of Thomas's Church, Gellert felt a little ashamed that he had judged his correspondent by the ordinary criterion, and in his letters afterwards a sincere respect may be observed. But, however frequently the wooing was deficient in the magic of the most beautiful of earthly passions, the mar- riages, as . far as we can judge, were not on that account the less happy. That one must suit oneself in life is a very popular rule of wisdom. The man who proposed to share a respectable position and a certain income with the object of his choice, offered her much, according to the views of that time ; she was to show her gratitude by un- ceasing faithful service, and to lighten his arduous, laborious life — nay, already had a more exalted feeling taken root in the souls of women, which we may well call the poetry of home. The amount of knowledge acquired by a German woman was on the whole small. If people of rank could not spell, this may be explained by the fluctuations in education between French and German, — by a mongrel culture which spoilt the style even of men, not only of Fre- deric II. and other rulers, but also of the highest officials. 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 313 like the Imperial ambassador who wrote to Gellert, and begged him to send back his letter with corrections, that he might thereby learn the secret of good writing. But even the German trained daughter of a well-educated citizen family was generally deficient both in style and cor- rectness of writing. Many women, indeed, leamt French, and in Protestant Germany Italian was more frequently studied than at present ; even the students of Halle, under the guidance of their teacher, caused Italian treatises to be printed. In other respects education appears to have done little for women ; even instruction in music, beyond the practice of Ught airs on the hai-psichord, was rare. But so much the more was the practice of house duties inculcated. To look after the welfare and comfort of those around them, of parents and brothers, and afterwards of husbands and children, was the task of the grown-up daughters. That this should be the object of their life was unceasingly impressed upon them ; it was understood according to every one's own views. And this care was no longer limited, as in the sixteenth century, to giving orders in the kitchen, the preparation of electuaries, and the arrangements of the linen : women were, during the last century, brought imperceptibly into a worthier position with respect to their husbands — they had become their friends and confidants. Although with perhaps scanty knowledge, many of them could boast of firm minds, clear judgment, and depth of feeling ; concerning some of these, information has accidentally remained to us. We find it, also, in the wives of simple artisans. If the men, under the infiuence of the State and of Pietism, became more timid and less independent, the women of the same period were manifestly more elevated. We will draw a com- parison with the past. Let us remember Kate Bora, who begged of the laborious Luther to suffer her to be near 314 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. him. She sits there for hours silent, holds his pen for him, and gazes with her large eyes on the mysterious head of her husband ; and, anxiously gathering together in her own mind aU her poor knowledge, suddenly breaks out with the question, which, transposing it into the position of 1750, would run thus : "Is the Elector of Brandenburg brother to the King of Prussia ? " and when Luther laugh- ingly replies, " He is the same man," his feeling, notwith- standing all his afifection, is — " poor simplicity." * ' On the other hand, in 1723, Elizabeth Gesner, sits oppo- site her husband in the sitting-room of the Com-ectorat at Weimar ; he is working at his " Chrestomathie des Cicero," and writes with one hand while he rocks the cradle with the other. Meanwhile Elizabeth industriously mends the clothes of her children, and playfully disputes with the little ones, who object to the patches, till at last the mother proposes to them to cut out the new pieces as sun, moon, and stars, and to sew them on in this beautiful form. The bright light which then shone from the heart of the housewife through the poorly furnished room, and the cheerful smile that played on the countenance of the husband, may be discovered from his account. When she died, after a long and happy union, the grey-headed scholar said : " One of us must remain alone, and I had rather be the forlorn one myself than that she should be so." He followed her a few months later. Agaia, soon after * He related the story later with glee ; his wife, from living with him, had become quite different. But Kate's question, whether the German. Commander-in-Chief was brother of the Prussian Duke, appeared so extra- ordinary to Luther, because just then, 1525, all details concerning Albreeht of Prussia were discussed in the circle of the Wittenbergers ; and she, the most closely united to Luther, knew nothing of him. Katherine had then already lived in the families of friends at Wittenberg two years, so that it was not entirely the fault of the convent that she sat so quiet and helpless in the house of her husband. 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 315 1750, we find Frau Professorin Semlerin at Halle, sitting with her industrious husband, some feminihe work in her hand ; both rejoice that they are together, that he uses his study only as a receptacle for his books, and that she con- siders all society as a separation from her husband. He has so accustomed himself to work in her presence, that neither the play and laughter, nor even the loud noise, of his children disturb him ; he has an unbounded respect for the discretion and judgment of his wife. She rules with unlimited sway in her household ; if the excitable man is disquieted by any adverse occurrence, she knows how to smooth it down quickly, in her gentle way. She is his true friend and his best counsellor, even in his rela- tions with the University ; his firm support, always full of love and patience, yet she has learnt little, and her letters abound in errors of writing. There will be further notice of her. Similar women, simple, deep-feeling, pious, clear-headed, firm and decided, sometimes also with extraordinary vigour and cheerfulness, were at this period so frequent that we may truly reckon them as characteristic of the time. They are the ancestresses and mothers, to whose worth the literaiy men, poets, and artists who have sprung up in the follow- ing generations may attribute a portion of their success. It was not able men, but good housewives, — not the poetry of passion, but the home life of the family, — to which we owe our training during the first half of the last century. And if we, the grandchildren and gi-eat-grandchildren of those who lived when Goethe and Schiller grew up, smile at the constraint of the feelings which appears in the wooings and betrothals of 1750 ; at the want of genuine tenderness, in spite of the general yearning for tender and pathetic feelings ; and at the incapacity to give full expres- sion in language and demeanour to the most exquisite of 316 PICTURES OF GEEMAi^' LIFE. [Ch. VI. passions, we must remember, that just then the nation stood at the portals of a new time which was to change this poverty into wealth. The reign of Pietism had intro- duced a mild s^timentality into the nation ; the philo- sophy of mathematics had spread over language and life a calm brightness, and the following fifty years of intense political activity and powerful productiveness in every realm of science were to bring the nation a richer develop- ment of the mental life. After this took place, the Ger- man was so far fortified by the good spirit of his home, that, even after the most horrible devastation and destruc- tion, his soul was strengthened, through the interests of private life, for greater tasks and more manly labours. After Spener, Wolf, and Goethe came the volunteers of 1813. But here we will verify what has been said of the con- dition, character, and wooing of Germans about the year 1750 by the record of a contemporary. He who speaks has already been mentioned several times in the preceding pages ; he is one of whom science will ever preserve a kindly remembrance. Johann Salomo Semler, Professor of Theology at Halle, who lived from 1725 to 1791, was one of the first who broke loose from the orthodox faith of the Pro- testant Church ; and, following their own investigations, ventured, with the help of the scientific culture of the period, to form a judgment on the origin and changes of the church dogmas. His youth was passed in struggle with Pietism, but at the same time, under its dominion, his warm heart clung, as long as it continued to beat, like Luther and the Pietists, to the child-like relation to his God and Father ; but, as a scholar, this same man who, in respect to the daily occuiTonces of life, was so often yielding, uncertain, and dependent on those around him, became bold, decided, and sometimes radical. With him began the criticism of 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 317 holy traditions ; he was the first who ventured to handle systematically the historical development and changes of Christianity, and exhibited theology as an historical pro- cess, and as a momentum in the gradual development of the human mind, not logically, and with very deficient understanding of ancient times, but yet according to the laws of science. He veiled from himself the opposition between his faith and his researches in science, by making a rigid distinction, like the Pietists, betwixt religion and theology — ^betwixt the eternal cravings of human nature, which were satisfied by the old revered forms of revealed faith, and the eternal impulse of the mind to understand every earthly phenomenon. He has been called the Father of Rationalism ; in truth he was only an enHghtened Pietist, one of those who seem called to prepare, by the union of opposite conceptions, a new life. He was bom in Saalfeld, the son of an ecclesiastic, a scholar at Halle of the learned Baumgarten ; then for a year the rMacteur of the news- paper at Coburg, and for a year professor of history and poetry at the Nuremberg University of Altorf. He was called back by Baumgarten to Halle, where he, for nearly forty years, combated the old Pietists victoriously, and died one of the most worthy heads of the great University. The following is the account which he himself gives of his love and wooing ; it cannot be given here without some small alteration in the language, for Semler has — what is characteristic of him- — ^httle in his style of the broad, sure method of his philosophical contemporaries, but much of the indistinct mode of speech of the Pietists. He does not use figurative language nor primitive phrases, but he loves, like them, a certain mysterious circumlocution and remote allusions, that sometimes make the meaning almost incom- prehensible and require slow reading. Yet it is necessary to remember one thing, that the following narrative may SI 8 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch, VI. not disappoint expectation : he who here narrates was in fact a man of worth and refined feeling, who rightly- enjoyed the full esteem and veneration of those who lived with him. * Semler has gone through the separation from the family of Baumgarten, has returned as Master of Arts from HaUe to his father's house at Saalfeld, and has there renewed his acquaintance with a young lady friend. He relates thus : — " My residence in Saalfeld did not last long, but was not quite satisfactory to me. I saw, it is true, that worthy friend very often, and we enjoyed ourselves toge- ther as much as with our virtuous gravity we could ; but there was nothing in it of the rapture or of the great joy which our new contemporaries* describe as superhuman in so many novels, or, still more, paint poetically and repre- sent quite sentimentally. It was truly as if we antici- pated that this rare harmony of two souls and characters was something too elevated for such a union to fall to our lot. This improbability seemed to me to arise from her situation ; to her, from miae, from very different grounds. My prospects were remote, as I could not attain the great happiness of becoming ' Conrector,' to which position even, she was prepared to lower herself I saw also that I must shortly incur some debts which I could not mention to so estimable a person. Thus I found myself unavoidably dependent, as it were, on any chance pro- spect. But her parents were rather old, and her brothers and sisters entirely unprovided for : how could she think of pledging herself to me on an uncertainty, and, by making it known, render herself inaccessible to more * Dr. Joiann Salomo Semler's "Lebensbescliiiebung," drawn up by himself, 2ud part, appeared in 1781. The here-mentioned lady friend is not named ; she appears to have been noble, or of the higher official class. 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 319 fortunate admirers ? Meanwhile, with tender sadness, we promised each other everything we could, and were con- vinced of our mutual integrity, but also determined not to place each other in a difficult position. "My father had written to an old friend at Coburg, Kammerrath, Fick, and begged of him to make some friendly efforts for getting me a situation. This he did honourably and with the best intentions." — (Semler tra- velled to Coburg, obtained there the title of professor, but without salaiy ; became editor of the " Coburg State and Literary Gazette," and lodged with the widow of Doctor Dobnerin, a cheerful, lively woman, who was glad to con- verse with him, and put many theological and historical questions to him. It was a quiet, respectable household : one daughter, the Demoiselle Dobnerin, was still at home, about whom the professor, who had much work and little income, concerned himself little. Thus he lived for a year ; then he learnt from an acquaintance that a pro- fessor was wanted at the University of Altorf, which he could easUy obtain, but he must present himself there. This information excited him much ; he was powerfully attracted towards the University ; he had seen no possi- bility of it ; now a prospect was open to him, but he had no money for the journey — ^nay, he was in debt to his landlady for rent and board ; he long pined away in silence.) "The doctor's widow, my landlady, remarked that for some days I had not conversed with the cheerfulness that had before pleased her so well, because it gave her the opportunity of introducing her usual complaints and old tales; I was no longer of use to her in this, and, still worse, was always withdrawing from them. So she asked me what was the reason ? I was so surprised, that I con- fessed I had a proposal to be professor at Altorf; it required 320 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. "VI. a quick decision, and I must take it into serious considera- tion. This infoi-mation, that I might soon leave, appeared to excite both mother and daughter, and I now began to be sharper in my observations than I had been formerly. Hitherto I had thought nothing about the daughter, who took care of everything in the house, and seldom remained after we had finished our meals, and only treated her according to the laws of civility ; and I did not con- sider it a part of this civility, either to kiss her hand, or to indulge in small talk. The mother, with all her gay vivacity, had kept her daughter very strictly, as she was not quite pleased with the free mode of life which already began to prevail among her sex at Coburg. She main- tained the old principles, in which she had herself been brought up in Saalfeld ; she had few visitors at her house, as indeed she had not much time for it, so orderly was the manner in which the household was managed. It is true it was called avarice and parsimony, but for a city such housekeeping is very necessary ; and those who so willingly spend their money, that they must bon-ow, should at least not judge ill of the indispensable benefactors from whom they borrow. I knew the daily tranquil enjoyment that pervaded this home, and I found therein assuredly far more happiness than in many others where there were splendour and bustle. "Now I called to mind that some persons in Coburg had already warned me against this acquaintance, which I nevertheless found so uniformly blameless. I watched more narrowly, and it appeared to me as if I was regarded favourably ; only when I came to draw my conclusions, whether I should endeavour to help myself by means of this quiet and virtuous daughter, my heart fell within me. What reason had I to entertain any hopes, as I had for nearly a whole year been guilty of marked inattention ? 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 321 She had already refused a professor, and I knew other proofs of her acting with independent and not over hasty deliberation, where many others, from an inclination to vanity, would have decided hastily. It was the less pro- bable that she would, accept me, as I had no outward advantages to offer. I nevertheless showed greater atten- tion, both to mother and daughter, than I had done hitherto, but still undecided in my mind. " At this time I wrote to my sister at Saalfeld ; the contents of this letter were sad enough ; it was to this effect, that on account of some small debts, merely caused by the difficulty of raising money, I should be obliged to renounce altogether the dear friend of that place, who nevertheless, I honoured profoundly. I was not in a posi- tion to follow the bent of my affections. " If I was to attempt to borrow m.oney in Saalfeld, my father would certainly prevent it, as I had clearly remarked, that he had always endeavoured to dissuade me from my plans, and admonished me not to run counter to Providence by over haste. I passed many sorrowful hoiu-s before I received an answer from Saalfeld, and stiU more when I did receive it, and found that this separation was finally settled. Very serious reflections upon many similar cases tranquilUsed me by degrees, although my high esteem for that worthy young person was unalterable. " But so much the more I felt my very insignificant position ; and, thus truly humiliated, I reproached myself continually. I asked myself whether I was to call upon this dutiful and virtuous daughter to give so much money for me, of which she certainly had as little thought as her mother ; for it was undoubtedly not with this view that she had shown me so many courtesies. She had long considered me as having a decided inclination for some one ; she often reminded me in a friendly way about Halle, 322 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. TI. and how I had often praised openly and with such great feeling the incomparable Dr. Baumgarten ; and just because I had shown so much diffidence and lively feeling with regard to Halle, she had thought favourably of me, and had assumed that I had a settled engagement there. How was I now all at once to convince her that it was otherwise, without giving an open field for divers detrimental thoughts and observations on myself? I alone know how entirely depressed was my spirit at this time ; how I spent my days and nights restless and dejected, till at last I learnt to bow myself to the universal law of God's government. '' I more than once perplexed myself again with strong doubts whether I was important enough for Divine Provi- dence to occupy Himself with me, and whether all my anxieties were not the consequences of my faults and my inconsiderate conduct ; in short, I could no longer continue in this depressing condition, as I had no time to lose in complaints. I must announce myself at .Nuremberg so many days before Petri Pauli. Now I wrote two letters, one to the mother, and inclosed in it another to the daughter, wherein I revealed my views, but at the same time distinctly showed my present position, and appealed to their own knowledge and judgment of my principles, and confided myself to them. It was impossible for me by word of mouth to express so carefully and clearly all the necessary details. " This letter I took with me when I went to supper, and placed it in the mother's prayer-book, which always lay by her place, so that the letter must, without fail, come into her hands this same evening. I did not otherwise allow anything to be perceived, but went away somewhat earlier than I had hitherto done, that there might be more time left for the discovery, and for their deliberation. " In the letter I begged of the mother, if she found what 1750.] THE DAVraiNG OF LIGHT. 323 I proposed was decidedly objectionable, that she would not lay the letters before her daughter, but would send them both back to me, and then would kindly ascribe my too great confidence to her indulgence. In proportion as my life had been hitherto solitary, the deeper was the impression made in my soul by my anxious and uncertain wishes ; my spirit now began to raise itself more earnestly to God in a deep and entire submission, that I might more and more be weaned fi-om the trivial occurrences of life and their results, by looking to eternity. I found %a increase of tranquillity, and a contented submission to all the dispen- sations of Providence, which I had long so vainly endea- voured to create in myself " Three days passed, during which we met as inmates of the same house, as though nothing had passed between us which required an answer, and I was persuaded that it was a kind way of sparing my feelings, that my proposal was to be buried in silence, as they wished to relieve me from an unpleasant explanation. As usual, I was always too desponding. The following Sunday — it was the 15th of June, 1751 — as I was leaving the table after dinner, the Frau Doctorin asked me to drink a cup of coffee with her that afternoon. Still she kept her countenance so completely, that I could not promise myself much advan- tage from this invitation. The next two hours I spent promenading in the open air, in a very composed state of mind, recalling many vanished ideas and wishes, and in much sorrow at the prospect of my shortly impending jour- ney, which must now take me far from Saalfeld and Halle.* Thus I did not return very soon, and went straight to her room. I immediately discovered such an expression of natural, earnest, and approving friendship in the counte- • He sought for composure ty thinking of hoth the demoiselles, in Halle and Saalfeld. T 2 324 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. nance of the motlier, who came forward to meet me, that I could no longer doubt the success of my proposal, and my feelings also became equally visible when I began to speak. The feelings of all three were similar and showed them- selves perceptibly in our eyes, a kiad of joyful solemnity ensued, and we all three returned thanks to God. The mother laid before me the two letters, and asked, 'Do you confess that you have written these ? ' ' Oh, yes,' I said, and kissed her hand. She kissed me warmly, and assured me of her most hearty approbation. "The daughter very soon after lost her heretofore shyness, and raised her eyes pleasantly, because she knew it did not displease her mother, and she had now a right to make herself pleasant. We had neither of us had any romantic training, otherwise she would not have waited for this till I had spoken and had obtained the mother's consent. Thus this affair, which was so diflficult and so important for me, took a smooth course, without the intervention of any other person, or the employment of those arts or intrigues with which brides are entrapped by many. " It is not necessary for me to tell the holy and humble thankfulness of my soul to God, nor how much I endea- voured to preserve my inward peace and tranquillity, in spite of the gossip that followed upon this my resolution. " I immediately investigated the character of my bride ; she had an agreeable aspect, although the smallpox, which she had passed through after she was grown up, had materially injured her complexion. Her education had been can-ied on partly under the eyes of a grandmother and an excellent aunt, partly by the mother, who kept a tutor for her and her brother. After the death of the father, the mother and daughter had lived in gi-eat retirement. But she had only the more cultivated all those qualifications which are most advantageous to her 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 325 sex ; her judgment was so good, that her mother generally preferred it to her own in household arrangements. The style of her letters was good, the handwriting pretty and even, and there were very few faults of orthography. In this she excelled all her many relations. Accounts she understood far better than her mother, and had, when scarcely fifteen years of age, during a long absence of her mother, so accurately reckoned up the details of an income of 1800 gulden, that there was nothing missing. She had for some years kept her own accounts ia respect of a property which she had inherited from an uncle at Coburg, amounting to a thousand gulden or more. She had learned to dance, and held herself well( but was not particulaily fond of it ; her head-dresses she made herself, and many of her clothes, and always in good taste. This pleasure in the work of her own hands was considered by others of her own age, who had no such pleasure in it, as the result of great parsimony, which it certainly was not, as I shaU presently show. "We now associated more freely, and during the few remaining days of my stay, often walked together, espe- cially in the great garden on the Lossau. There we sat, sometimes under the trees overlooking the city. She was so frank with me, that she said to me of her own accord, ' Now you must exert yourself, and take some control over me, to wean me from the faults which long solitude has engendered in me. I may, by my devotion perhaps, and by my pure good heart, recommend myself to you ; but, as we must mix with many people and become a portion of the so-called great world, you must help me, that I may not then appear to disadvantage, till I can myself judge rightly with respect to externals. For you are supe- rior to me in understanding and in the refinements of lan- guage and social intercourse.' This honesty brought tears 326 PICTUBES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. into my eyes. She wept with me, asking whether I now repented, and whether I had not long known these defects of hers ? " In answer to this, I said, ' I have more cause to be uneasy than you, lest you should repent of having given your hand and heart to a Professor, whom you will soon find deficient in aU external means, although very laborious. And now I will lay before you all my anxieties, entirely without reserve. You know it is true that my father can give me nothing ; but you do not know that I cannot at present pay you for board and lodging, and that I must incur many small debts, that we may leave Co burg in suitable style.' " She looked at me tenderly, and said : ' If you have really no other cause for uneasiness, I am truly very happy to say that I can help to place you m a better position. Think, therefore, only of making me more worthy of you, that I may not injure you in society. I am mistress of my own fortune, in the management of which I have hitherto sometimes asked advice of Dr. Berger, as my guardian. He esteems you too highly, for him to put the least obstacle in the way of my serving you when I wish to do so.' " Thus this worthy person has always evinced an unselfish, honourable manner of thinking, and relieved me from aU shame and uneasiness about my position. "Now I began to think about my journey, that I might not arrive too late at Nuremberg. "At Nuremberg there were still very many features of great antiquity, which made much impression on me. Birk- mann, preacher at the church of St. Giles, had kindly offered that I should take up my quarters with him. I was received by him very lovingly, and he gave me a room up-stairs, in which were his books ; a neighbourhood which was very useful to mej as I was able in the evening to 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 827 search out some accounts of Nuremberg, that everythiBg might not be so entirely strange to me. As soon as I possibly could I presented myself before the gentlemen of the council, in the great haU of the Council-house, at the hour when they'entered the hall from their separate rooms. The great impression made on me by this grand building, and the unusual circumstances in which I was placed, had a good effect upon me, so that I with modesty and emotion spoke out freely, which, together with my pressing recom- mendations, obtained me the gracious approbation of these venerable persons. Herr von Ebner, whose own learning and noble manner of thinking filled every one with respect, desired me afterwards to be told that he expected me in the afternoon at his house. I sought to recover the com- posure of my mind, that I might be distracted as little as possible by so many unexpected events, and turn this visit the more to my advantage. As this gentleman was almost blind I was deprived of much assistance, for by an unaffected modest attitude, which I always liked, I had elsewhere frequently procured myself a hearing, even from those who hitherto had been prepossessed against me. After I had stood some minutes, and had expressed my feelings of gratitude in the best sentences I could utter, avoiding equally bombast and common-place, he said : ' Herr Professor, your voice and speech please me so much that I regret not being able to see you distinctly. Seat yourself near me ; I must speak to you on various things. The great man whom we have lost. Professor Schwarz, has especially and confidentially recommended you to me ; but there is truly no want of competitors for the place which he has vacated.' Now he came to my 'iniscel- laneas lectioTies.,' parts of which had been read to him, and asked so many particulars that the conversation resem- bled an examination. At last he said to me, with evident 328 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VI. pleasure, ' You are just the man ; if I say it you will be chosen. I heartily wish you happiness for yourself and Altorf.' Then he caused Trident wine to be brought, and the servant was not to allow the glass to stand empty. Now he was so gracious, that when I rose he said, ' If I can provide you with a rich wife, teU me so straightfor- wardly.' I kissed his hand reverently, pressed it with my forehead, and said ab once, with great feeling, 'I thank j'^ou.' ' I shall be all the better pleased,' he said, ' if you have no disquiet in your outward life.' He desired me, when I returned again from Altorf, to ask for him ; mean- while he took me into his garden, and wished to talk on other matters with me, which afterwards took place. I must say that such noble affability, and active regard, as were shown by the gentlemen of Nuremberg to their men of learning, I have seldom met with elsewhere. "The preacher Birkmann travelled with me to Altorf. On the way I thought it right to give the excellent man to understand that Herr von Ebner had wished to make a good marriage for me ; but I had found it ■ necessary already at Coburg to discharge this duty, and free myself from the anxiety, so that all other well-meant • arrange- ments were useless. Meanwhile I revolved many new thoughts in my mind. " I arrived safely at Coburg, and brought the vocation with me. On the 26th August, 1751, the amiable Dob- nerin was manied to me in the sacristy." — Thus far we give the account of the husband, who, in the further course of his autobiography, takes every oppor- tunity of expressing his love and admiration for the wife of his choice, and composed a special eulogy on her after death. Unfortunately no letter has been preserved from the Frau Professorin, whose style was so much praised by the Professor. But a love-letter will be given of the year 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 829 1750, from one of her circle of Coburg acquaintance * which one may presume gives pretty accurately the style of the Demoiselle Dobnerin ; the same customary forms and artificial tenderness under which the warm feelings of a human heart are only occasionally perceptible. This letter, from a betrothed to her intended in Coburg, runs thus : — "Chosen one of my heart! As I do not doubt that the holy Christmas season wiU have brought with it to my loved child all its best and most desired blessings, so do I hope that the good God wiU mercifully hea;r my fer- vent prayers, and pour upon him in rich measure so much health, bliss, and all pleasures, that I may continually have cause to praise Him. I also send my congratulations on the approaching new year, and will express my sincere heartfelt wishes in these few words : ' Most Highest, hear my prayer ! for the sake of my dearest child take the half of my life and add it to his years, so wiU my temporal welfare which germinates through his goodness soon deve- lope the ripe fruit of bliss, in spite of the foaming of envy and malevolence.' "My love has given me very great pleasure by his agreeable letter, as I have seen that he, whose frequent occupations might easily cause me to be forgotten, has not been hindered from thinking most kindly of me, 'therefore I return my beloved my most bounden thanks. He was pleased in his dear letter to mention that the ring is ready, but it is not stated what I am to pay for it, I therefore expect in the next a few lines concerning this, and also touching the honourable brother-in-law. " If my beloved desures that I should know or look after * The letter is given, because its purport is almost identical with one written by the beautiful Ursula Freherin to her bridegroom in 1598, in vol. i. of " Pictures of German Life," p. 233. For the letter here pub- lished the Editor has to thank BaronErnst von Stockmar. 330 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Cli. VI. aught else, may it please him to speak out freely : his orders shall at all times be commands to me. To the most highly-esteemed Frau Mamma and the Frau Schwester I send my dutiful' congratulations on this new year, and request of them further their gracious favour. My papa and mamma send equally their compliments, and wish my beloved to enjoy in undisturbed contentment all blessings and prosperity. We expect with great desire a kind answer, and my papa is the more desirous to receive one, as he himself dictated mamma's letter. I am anxious to learn what resolution his honour' has come to touching this matter. I beg leave, my heart, to send with this a bad specimen of my workmanship for a waistcoat, humbly requesting his honour not to regard the smallness of its value, but rather the goodwill with which it is given, for I assure him there are not as many stitches in it, as there are good wishes accompanying it. In conclusion, I remain, with constant esteem, " My beloved one's " Most a£fectionate "C. C. K " A. Monsieur, Monsieur ... at Coburg." So cautious, formal, and florid were the love-letters of a true-hearted frank maiden, hke the dear wife of Professor Semler. But he himself, Johann Salomo Semler, — the father of modern theology, long the highly-honoured head of the University, who, in his scientific views, was a bolder, rasher man than his older contemporaries, — how should we judge him, if measured by the standard of our time ? Because he has no money for his journey, and some debts in Coburg, he determines to marry ; he informs his love in Saalfeld of his situation, and woos the daughter of his 1750.] THE DAWNING OF LIGHT. 331 wealthy landlady, to whom hitherto he had appeared indif- ferent. The like of this in our time, speaking mildly, would be called — ^pitiful. And yet when the aged Professor gave his narrative to the pubUc, he plainly assumed that his conduct would not appear dishonourable in the eyes of his contemporaries. There is no reason to doubt that the friends of his youth thought exactly the same, perhaps somewhat less conscientiously. When he was young, what rights had the heart of a poor scholar agaiost a cold, tyrannical world ? Little as yet. What was the aim and object of his hfe ? To learn and labour from early mom till dead of night, in order to iastU his painfuUy gained knowledge into other souls, to spread by writings and teaching, aU. that was important and new that he searched out, descried, or conceived. Therein lay his highest duty and honour, the object and pride of his earthly days ; to this must his private life be adapted and accommodated. Thus it was not only the few, that felt a burning ambition, it was a general feeling, as with Semler, in many hundreds who starved, bowed themselves before the powerful and changed their faith, in order to be able to live for science. There is nothing noble ia this, but it is nevertheless a seeking after something nobler ; it is the old German yearning for something to be devoted to, which is immea- surably more estimable than devotion to self. Let manly power be united with such a tone of mind, together with the feeling of being a ruler upon earth, and something will arise which all following ages will call great and good. END OF VOL. I. LONDON : BRADBURY A^-D EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEPRIARS. PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES. SECOND SERIES. VOL. II. PICTURES OF GEKMAN LIFE In the XV hi** and XIX* Centdries. BY GUSTAV FREYTAG. SCran^tclt from tge ©rtfltnal 6s MRS. MALCOLM. COPYRIGHT EDITION.— IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL II. LONDON . CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 1863. LONDON : BPADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIAES, CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. PAGK Away from the Gaeeison (1700). — The army, and the constitution ^ of the State — ^The country mUitia and their history — The soldiery of the Sovereign — Change of organisation after the war — The beginning of compxdsory levies about 1700 — Gradual introduction of conscrip- tion — Recruiting and its illegalities — Desertions — Trafficking with armies — The Prussian army under Frederic "William I. — The regiment of guards at Potsdam— Prussian officers — Ulrich Bracker — Naekative of a Pktjssian dbseeter 1 CHAPTER VIII. The State of Frbdeeio the Geeat (1700).— The kingdom of the HohenzoUems, 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 — Eesidence in Kheinsberg- — His character when he became King— Striking contrast between his poetic warmth and his inexorable severity — Inward change in the course of the first SHesian war — Loss of the friends of his youth — The literary period till 1756 — His poetry, historical writings, and literary ver- satility — Seven years of iron labour — His method of carrying on war, and heroic struggle — Admiration of Germans and foreigners — His sufferings and endurance — Extracts feom Feedeeio's Lettees FROM 1757-1762 — Principles of his government — Improvement of Silesia — Difference betwixt the Prussian and Austrian government — Feeling of duty in the Pnissian officials — Acquisition of "West Prussia — Miserahle condition in 1772 — Agriculture of Frederic — His last years . 48 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. PAGE Of the Ybaks of Tttition op the German Citizen (1790). — Influence of Frederic on German art, philosopliy, and historical writing — Poetry flourishes — The aspect of a city in 1790 — The coffee gardens and the theatres — Travelling and love of the pic- turesque—Different sources of morals and activity amongst the nobles, citizens, and peasants — Characteristics of the life of the country nohles — 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 Ebnst Feedeeio Hattfj'... 109 CHAPTER X. The Period of Euin (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 — Naeeative of the Yeaes 1806-1807, BY Cheistoph "WiLHELM Hbineioh Sethe— His life 160 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 Eussiain 1812, and return in 1813 — The Cossacks — The people rise — General enthusiasm — The volunteer Jagers and patriotic gifts — The Landwehr and the Landsturm — The first combat — Im- pression of the war on the citizens — The enemy in the city — The course of the war — The celebration of victory ;, 204 CONTENTS. Vll CHAPTEK XII. PAGE Illness and Eecovebt (1815-1848). — The time of reaction — Hope- lessness 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 — Dbsoeiption op a Village School by Kael Mathy 256 Conclusion. — The HohenzoUems and the German citizens 303 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. CHAPTEE VII. AWAY FKOM THE GAEEISON. (1700.) A SHOT from the alarm-gun ! Timidly does the citizen examine the dark comers 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 wiU let the fugitivfe 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 pecuharities 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 con- stitution and character of the state. The Franconian land- wehr of Charles the Great, who advanced on foot from their 2 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. Maifeld to Saxony, the aniiy of the noble cuirassiers who rode under the Emperor Barbarossa into the plains of Lombardy, the Swjiss 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 consti- tution, 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 gi-eater portion of the powerful peasantry had sunk into bondsmen, and the strong landwehr had become a general levy, of little war- like 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 forti- fications. In the same way the knights of the Hohen- staufen 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 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GAERISON. 3 property of nobles.* 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 irre- concilable 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 i-ulers 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 * 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 ; iu the Electorate it amounted to the high sum of 40 thalers. B 2 4 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. 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 hap- pened. Already, towards the end of the sixteenth century, when the Landsknechte had become too costly and demo- ralised, 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 com- panies 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 regi- ments were appointed for field service, or the gaps in the enlisted troops were filled up by serviceable men. But on X700.] AWAY FROM THE GARRISON. 5 the wliole 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 tax- payers, as well as for the cultivation of the now waste gi'ound, were indispensable. The old imperfect constitu- tion of this civic army was, therefore, maintained. The only difference made in the miUtia 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 feU iato 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 Fehr- belliner, 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 stiU much esteemed in Prussia, and those who were enrolled in it 6 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. Were exempt from all other military servjce.* It is true this was cancelled by Frederic William I., but in the Seven Years' Wai*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, tUl an altered state of civilisation made a new organisation of the national militia possible. Even now is this new constitution not fuUy 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 * The strength of the militia under Frederic I. was, according to Fass- mann, i. p. 720,upto 60,000. 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GARRISON. 7 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 8 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. was from thenceforth in his own name ; he appointed the Colonel and the officers, who could no longer buy their commissions. Thpn 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 MontecucuU, and later of Prince Eugene, Austria also, shortly before 1700, acquired a better disciplined standing araiy. 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 gra- dually. 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 col- lected round the banners. Even before the great war of succession the deficiency of men began to be felt ; volun- tary 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 served 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. 1700.]] AWAY FEOM THE GARRISON. 9 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 com- pelled 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 im- practicable ; 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 com- panies 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 10 PICTURES OF GEKMAN LIFE. '[Ch. VII. wei-e 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 wiU of Frederic "William I. accustomed his people gradually to submit to this compulsion. After 1720 regis- ters were made of children subject to militaiy service, and in 1733 the "canton"* 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. * The system of allotting to each regiment its recruiting district. 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GARRISON. 11 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 gi-eater pretensions, together with higher culture and morals, the despotism of the rulers gradually effected another great poUtical 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 peopla 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 fiUed 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 Sove- reigns 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 dis- quieted by the immorahty attending it, as they were by the insecurity, costliness, and unceasing disputes which it 12 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ck VII. involved, as well as by the reclamations of foreign govern- ments. The recruiting officers were themselves often bad and untrustworthy men, whose proceedings and disburse- ments 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 colo- nies 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 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GAEEISON. 13 danger occasioned to the grandfathers by the recruiting system. It was then a gi-eat misfortune for the sons of the clergy or officials to grow taU, 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 coun- tries. The recruit was bound by the reception of the money ; and the well-known manoeuvre 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 ban- ners, and compelled to take the oath by barbarous punish- ments. Every other means of seduction was used besides drinking ; gambling, prostitutes, lying, and eveiy kind of deceit. Individuals considered desirable subjects were for days watched by spies. It was required of recruiting ser- geants, who were paid for this purpose, to be especially expert iii the art of outwitting. Advancement and pre- sents of money depended on their knowing how to catch many men. Frequently they avoided, even where enlist- ing 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, faint- heartedness under violence, and heart-rending grief over > 14 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. a ruined life. It was not always the worst men who were hunted to death by running the gauntlet for repeated desertions, or flowed on account of insolent disobedience, till they lay senseless on the ground. Whoever could over- come 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 Switzer- land, were favourable districts for catching recruits ; for there wei'e 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 charac- ter ; they were considered in the soldier world, coarse, but harmless ; only took those that willingly yielded them- 1700.] AWAY FJROM THE GAREISON. 15 selves, 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-k-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 Ked Ox ; " but the rest- less Prussian recruiting officers were always changing ; they were at this time the most distinguished and most splendid. A kind of diplomatic intercourse was main- . tained between the different parties ; they were, it is true, jealous of one another, and endeavoured mutually to in- tercept 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 16 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. 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 wash- ing and other work ; the children roamed about wildly without instruction. The city schools were almost every- where closed to them ; they were despised by the citizens like gipsies. Even in wealthy Lower Saxony at the begin- 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GARRISON. 17 ning 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 per- severing could seldom pass. Under the hard pressure of service, under rough officers and among still rougher com- rades, ran the course of his life ; the first years in cease- less 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 him- self The citizens regarded him with distrust and aver- sion ; 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 imme- diately 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 pro- fligate 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 it the 18 PICTURES OF GEBMAN LIFE. [Cli. VII. crime was great, lie 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 Gei-many a disgrace. Various were the attempts made to evade it by mutila- tion, 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 sur- rounding 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 Prassia 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 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GAEEISON. 19 every soldier lie met on the road to inquire after his papers. It was a iterrible 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 Eussian Gre- nadiers. 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 bum 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 punish- ment, 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 expedi- tion 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 IL 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 grfiat. After unfortunate campaigns, great c 2 20 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. armies were in danger of entire dissolution. Many who ran away from one army, went in speculation to anotlier, like the mercenaijes 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. Some- times 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 sup- plied 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 1700.] AWAY FEOM THE GAERISON. 21 sounded from the Rhine to the Vistula ; the remembrance of it still lives ; stiU. does this misdeed hang like a curse upon one of the ruling families who then, to the most criminal extent, bartered away the Uves 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 there- fore 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 22 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. 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 captaiu and lieutenant bore in their hands the partisan, which had already been a little diminished, and was called spontoon ; the subordiuate officers still can-ied 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 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GAERISON. 23 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 astonish- ment and disapprobation, for the trumpeters and kettle drummers of the holy Koman 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 exer- cised, loaded, and fired, it was with a precision similar to witchcraft ;* 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 ia 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 Grena- dier regiment. There were three battalions of 800 men, besides 600 to 800 reserves. Whoever among the Grena- • Fassmann, "Life of Frederic William I.;" and Von Loea, "The Soldier Depicted." 24 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. diers 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 stu- dents at the high school, they occupied themselves with books, drawing and music, or worked in their houses.* 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 re- served for Prussia. But anyone who staid in the country- did well not to express this too openly. For the Grena- diers 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 ac- quainted 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 ' * V. Loen, "Der Soldat," p. 312. 1700.] . AWAY FROM THE GARRISON. 2-5 good reason feared by the people. Wherever in any part of Europe a tall man was to be found, the King traced him outj and secured him either by bounty or force for his guard. There was the giant Muller, who had shown him- self in Paris and London for money — two groschen a per- son — he was the fourth or fifth in the line ; still taller was Jonas, a smith's journeyman from Norway ; then the Prus- sian HohmanUj whose head King Augustus of Poland, — though a man of fine stature — could not reach with his outstretched hand ; finally later there was James Kirck- land, 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 HohenzoUems, the Dessauers, and Brunswickers. In 1806, Duke Ferdi- nand of Brunswick, who was mortally wounded at A\ier- stadt, carried on a systematic dealing in men for his regi- ment 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 some- what of this predilection. At the end of the last century, an able Saxon officer lamented that the first and tallest 26 PICTURES OF GEEMAU LIFE. • [Ch. VII. regiment in the Saxon army could not measure with the smallest of the Prussians.* 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, straighforward character of his officers, which was sometimes a mask. It was a favourite fancy to consider himsdf 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 Jiirgass 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 arai ; for this the King filled his knap- sack 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 him- self He therefore lamented in the "Tahak's Collegivmi,"f • G. V. Grieslieim, "Die Taktik," p. 75 ; v. Liebenrothe, "Fragmeute," p. 29. t Small smoking society, consisting of the King and his intimates. —T?-. 1700.] AWAY FEOM THE GARRISON. 27 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 Hol- land." 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.* 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 EmU, 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 WiUiam, 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 * It was not the bad com'biiiation 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. 28 PICTURES OF GEEMAJJ LIFE. [Ch. YII. 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.* 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 intelli- gent 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 Kinsr and his Princes ; for as yet there were no epaulets or distinc- tions in the embroidery,^ — ^only the regiments were denoted * Lafontaine's "Life of Gruter," p. 126. 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GAEEISON. 29 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 contempo- raries 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 aU the faults of a privileged order were strikingly perceptible in them. Besides their coarseness, love of drinking and gluttony, the rage for duelUng, the old passion of the German army, was not eradicated, although the same HohenzoUern, 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 disanned, 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 recon- cihation followed a banquet. Frequent and unpunished so PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. 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 deve- loped itself in ttie Prussian army, had no high moral authority; it was a very imperfect substitute for manly virtue, for it pardoned great vices and privileged mean- nesses. 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 exclu- sive, to the idea of a State. It was first in the army of the Hohenzdllerns 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 aimy with which Frederic II. won his battles, which made the Prus- sian 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 indi- vidual might be proud, and to struggle and to die for which would bring the highest honour and the highest fame to eveiy 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 1700.] AWAY FKOM THE GARRISON. 31 tormented soldier.?, who were constrained by blows to discharge their guns for their Sovereign's State. But before speaking of the advantages of the govern- ment 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 insigni- ficant individual is delineated. The narrator is the Swiss Ulrich Bracker, the man of Toggenburg, whose autobiography has been often printed,* and it is one of the most instructive accounts that we pos- sess 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 sub- sequent 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 Bracker 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. * " The Poor Man in Tockenburg," published by Fussli. Zurich : 1789 and 1792. Afterwards by G. Biilow, Leipzig, 1852. 32 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. and advised the honest, simple Bracker 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 Schaff hausen ; 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 iato 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 con- cerning 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 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GARRISON. 33 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 hke. I could not well understand their language. I replied shortly : ' I come from Switzerland, and am lacquey to his Excellency Herr Lieutenant Mai-koni ; the sergeants have shown me here ; but I should like to know whether my master is arrived at Berhn, 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 teU me otherwise.' ' But 'I teU 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 wiU 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 34- PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. 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 1 ' 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 ammuni- tion 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 comer. 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 1700.] AWAY FEOM THE GARRISON. 35 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 wiU turn into silver. And as to your manage, 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 morniaar 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, oU, emeiy, and soap, and a hundred other things.' I : ' And that is all to be paid for out of six groschen 1 ' 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 D 2 36 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. 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 hnen. In quarters I prac- tised 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 earned 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 militaiy — as I think indeed is the case in all great cities — people from all the four quarters of the world, of aU 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, Sharer, Bachmann, and Gastli, who were all in the same regiment with me — Itzenplitz — both were in the company called Liideritz. At first I had to learn to march under a crabbed corporal, with a crooked nose, by name Mengke ; this feUow I hated hke 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 manoeuvred with his people on the same ground, so he exchanged me for another, and took me into his platoon. This was a heartfelt pleasure 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GARRISON. 37 to me. Now I learned in an hour more than in ten days with the other. " Sharer was as poor as I ; but he got an augmentation of two gi'oschen 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-vaches. 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 unsuc- cessful 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 ; 38 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. their clothes were torn off from their hacked backs, and the punishment was repeated till the coagiilated blood hung over their tijousers. Then Sharer 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 bar- barous 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 ia 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 com- mand of officers who stood before us with furious counte- nances 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. 1700.] AWAY FEOM THE GARRISON. 39 " At last came the great epoch, when it was said ' A lions, to the field ! ' Now came the route — tears flowed in abun- dance 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 con- trary, secretly shouted for joy, and exclaimed, '- At last, God be praised ; our release wUl 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, aU 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 Kopeniker gate, and marched for four hours to the little town of Kopenik, 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 40 PICTUEES OF GEHMAlf LIKE. [Ch. VII. straw ; there we lay all in rows against the walls. Truly a curious household ! In every house there was an officer, to keep good disciplijie, but they were often the worst. " ' Hitherto has the Lord helped ! ' These words were the first text of our Chaplain at Pima. 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 follow- ing talk : ' What shall we have to-day 1 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 Pima, 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 wh^ 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 pas- sage. 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 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GARRISON. 41 were the circumstances which occasioned the surrender of this gi-eat 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, era 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 ememy 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 batte- ries was so great that the balls whizzed through our regi- ment, 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 42 PICTUEES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. air ; most drank up tlieir little provision to the last drop, for they said, ' To-day we want courage, to-morrow we may need no dramsj ' Now we advanced quite under the guns, where we changed places with the first division. Potz Hi/m'mel! 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 cavaky, 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 clo.sing 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 car- ried 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 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GAKEISON. 43 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, stiU 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 mus- ketry ; 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, tUl my musket was nearly red-hot, and I was obliged to carry it by the strap ; mean- while I do not believe that I hit a living soul, it all went in the air. The Pandours posted themselves again on the plaia 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 44 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. 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 hun- dred 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 stand- ing 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, Prassians, 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. 1700.] AWAY FROM THE GAKEISON. 45 " 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 miirderous 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 vaUey. On the other side some Imperial sol- diers 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 Low- ositz) ; here there was a ferry over the water, but only one boat for the passage. And there was a piteous shrieking and waihng 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 46 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. VII. 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 under- stood 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 detach- ment 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 gi-oan- ing and moaning. How fortunate did these poor fellows esteem us who had escaped a similar fate, and how thank- ful 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. 1700.] AWAT FROM THE GARRISON. 47 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 Bracker. He arrived happily at home, but no one recognised the moustachioed soldier in his unifonn. 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 adven- tures he had passed through. A strange, uneasy element now pervaded his character— irritable restlessness, covet- ousness, 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 strugghng against the Hapsburgers and Bourbons ? The heritage of the HohenzoUerns 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 demo- lished, 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,* and in all the fortresses of his famUy domains, ■^ Elector Frederic "William inherited 1451 square miles, with, perhaps, 700,000 inhabitants, most of it in Ordensland,* Prussia, which was less devastated by the war. Square Miles. Inhabitants. In the year 1688, the Elector left 2034, with about ... 1,300,000. ,, 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. ♦ Ordensland, the country that onoo belonged to the Teutonic Knights. 1700.] THE STATE OF FEEDERIC THE GREAT. 49 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 stiU only a smaU 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 Fi-ederic II., a century later, assumed the domi- nions 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, imme- diately 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 Square Miles. Inhabitants. In the year 1805, King Frederic II. ... 5563, witli about ... 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. VOL. II. E 50 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Cli. VIII. 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 HohenzoUems and their people in the conquered Sclavonian territory. It appears that there were gi'eater 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 bnly 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 preponde- rating power of France, the suspicious friendship of Hol- land, 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 1700.] THE STATE OF FREDERIC THE GREAT. 51 became manifest that thei'e, in a comer of tlie 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 Ger- many 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 uncom- monly shai-p 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 Stafe 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 king- dom ; 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 e2 52 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VIII. been no trainers of the people like the old HohenzoUems. As great landed proprietors on the desolated country they brought abqp.t 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 Prassian State. Of the four princes who have governed it, since the German War up to the day when the grey-headed Abbot closed his weaiy eyes in the monastery of Sans Souci, each one, with his virtues and failings, has acted as a necessary supplement to his prede- cessor. The Elector Frederic William, the greatest states- man 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 wonder- ful tyrant, with a soft heart but rough and violent, who wished to compel love and confidence, with a keen under- standing, 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 1700.] THE STATE OF FREDERIC THE GREAT. 53 much inclination to intrigue, neither cautious nor taciturn. Both had the best intentions, and exerted themselves honour- ably 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 after- wards 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 fuiy in the King ! Owing to this the son became, in his early years, an object of irrita- 54 PICTURES OF OEEMXN LIFE. [Ch. VIII. tion 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 rdles of the French comedy together. But even for these harm^ less 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 diflScult, the distrust of the King greater, and the wounded self-respect of the son was always breaking out in defiance. Thus he gi-ew 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. Th'e 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 gi-eat. 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 1700.] THE STATE OF FKEDEBIC THE GREAT. 55 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 Kiistrin, 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 perceiv^ed that nothing remained to him but submission, patience, and quiet endurance. But bitter corroding mis- fortune 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 astiiteness 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 straggle 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 concilia- tory, and when he had become a great man and a wise 56 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. VIII. prince, he still retained some traces of narrow-minded curining from this time of servitude. The lion had at times not been afehamed 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 Mecklen- burg 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 exche- quer 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 extra- ordinary. 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 through- out the country — should be locked up and preserved, that 1700.] THE STATE OF FREDERIC THE GREAT. 57 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, threatei together with Robespierre and the reign of terror, letters on the aesthetic training of men ; with the battles of Lodi and Arcole, " WUhelm 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 fi-iendship — the ten great years of German poetry, on which the German will look back in distant centuries with emotion and sentimental tender- ness — are the same years in which a loud cry of woe was heard through the aii' ; in which the demons of destruction 172 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Oh. X. 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 ia 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, whUst the Komans 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 faithfuUy preserved ; his fol- lowers 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 king- dom ; a few years after, Prussia might be reckoned as one of th« 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 mUes of the Upper Rhine district of Cleves were exchanged for 222 square miles of German territory ; parts of Thuringia, in- cludiag Erfurt, half Munster, also Hildesheim and Pader- bom ; 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 1800,] THE PERIOD OF RTJIN. 173 eagles hovered over the counti-ies from Old Saxony up to the North Sea ; also over the main tenitory of Old Fran- conia 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 diink in the Danube. In the east it extended itself far into the valley of the Yistula and to the Bug ; and its officials governed in the capital of departed Poland. This rapid increase, even in peaceful times, might nat have been without disadvajitage, 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. Organi- sation 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 wiU 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 enor- mous increase of Russia; the east frontier of Prussia gained miHtary security. If it was hard for the Poles, it was necessary for the Germans. The desolate condi- tion of the half-wild provinces required a proportionate exertion, if they were to be made useful, that is to say, df they were to be transformed into a Gennan Empire. It 174 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. X. was not a time for quiet colonisation ; but even of this there was not a little. But another circumstance was ominous. All these ex- tensions 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 Ger- many showed the remarkable phenomena of Prussia being enlarged under contiaued 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 appear- ance 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 prihces and of&'cials — ^public opinion, which incessantly, honestly, and bravely accompanied the doings of ,i-ulers, 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 modera- tion, 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 inde- pendence, and guard himself from preponderating influ- 1800.] THE PERIOD OF KUIN. 175 ence, 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 com- munities 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-opera- tion 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 ia 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 176 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. X. 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 mis- take ; 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 Piince of Prussia, whom Frederic II. angrily removed from the com- mand 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 ofiices became greater, useless intermediate authorities were in- troduced, 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 commo- tion for days. Frederic II. had received every petition, and generally disposed of them himself, and thus, un- doubtedly, 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 indivi- duals should be made public, they were only too frequently thrown on one side, and the poor people exclaimed that 1800.] THE PERIOD OF EUIN. 177 there was no longer any help against the encroachments of the Landrathe,* 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 luxmious, 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 failiag ; the " Direc- tors " 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 exer- tion, 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 * Officials, analogous to the Prefet. 178 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. X. 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 complain- ant was the chief custom-house officer. Von Held ; he accused Count Hoym, Chancellor Goldbeck, General Rii- chel, 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 com- menced 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 imprison- ment the iixitated and embittered man attacked the King himself : * he accused him of too great economy — ^which we consider the first virtue of a King of Prussia ; of hard- ness — 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 * Von Held's -Hritings were, "Das Schwarzebuch " — ^now very rare — "Die Preussisclien Jaoobiner," 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, hut on the whole honestly ; but he was not to he depended on as a judge of his opponents. Varnhagen knew him, and wrote his life. 1800.] THE PERIOD OF RUIN. 179 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 ELing 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 Wil- liam I. had, in his " TabakscoUegium," 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 s6om 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 N 2 180 PICTURES OF GERMiN LIFE. [Ch. X. was confiscation ? The forbidden writings were still read, and tlie 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* 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 hap- pen if the people were roused to pohtical excitement ? The monarchy, in this inferior position, would be entirely ruined, however good might be the intentions of the Hohenzollems. 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 per- versity 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 feeUng 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, • "GriiudUche Widerlegung des gepriesenen Preussens," 1804. 1800.] THE PEEIOD OF EUIN. 181 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 ofl&cials. 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 protect- ing 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 Konigsberg, in the West to Halle and Gottingen. Their families formed an almost hereditary aristocracy of officials. United with them as feUow-studehts 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 ofificials, who, after the prostra- tion of Prussia, were active in the renovation of the State, Stein, Schon, 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. 182 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. X. 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 diffi- cult times their consciousness of being Prussians ; each of them imparted to those about him something of the tena- cious 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-con- trol, 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 ef the powerful talents of the official class which were developed at this time in the territories of South Germany, will per- ceive 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, somethiag 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 culti- vated 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. 1800.] THE PERIOD OF RUIN. 183 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 occa- sionally, 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 ac- knowledged ; 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 manoeuvres 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 nobihty ; only a few not noble were in the Fusilier Battalions of Infantry and some among the Hussars. Under FredeHc II., during the deficiency of men in the Seven Years' War, young volun- teers of citizen origin were made officers. Then they were, at least in their pay, and frequently in the regi- mental lists, represented as noble ; but after the peace, however gi-eat their capacity, they were almost always kept out of the privileged battalions. This did not im- 184 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Cli. X. prove under the later Kings. Only in the Artillery, in 1806, were the greater number of ofiScers conunoners, 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 shatter- ing 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.* It was natural that aU 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 pri- vileged regiments an unbridled insolence. It is a common complaint of contemporaries, that in the streets and societies of Berlin peopje were not secure from the insults of the gens d'armes, who were the dite 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 deficiences, there was still in the Prus- sian 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 charac- teristic traits have been preserved to us, which give us a * " Buoliholz, gomalde des gesellschaftlichen Zustandes in Preussen," i. 1800.] THE PERIOD OF RUIN. 185 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 m. 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 fcng ; " and on the angry Austrian reproach- ing him with having said the same, the aggressor repUed : " 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-ljjie 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 canying 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 186 PICTURES OF GERMjUT LIFE. [Ch- X. •were as indignant as himself; but in vain. They were deceived, and the fortress, in spite of their resistance, deUvered 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 weap9ns 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.* But those who were the leaders, but not men, who were they ? Experienced Generals from the school of the great King, mea 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 ; after- wards they had kept a sharp look-out, that others might * The narrator is Adelbert von Chamisso. His letter of 22nd Nov., 1806, is one of the most valuahle 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 har- mony 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 dnimmer-boy would have fallen a-^ay. Indeed, we were a firm, faithful, good, stout soldiery. Oh, if we had but had men to lead us." 1800.] THE PEEIOD OF EUIJf. 187 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 whe- ther Eiichel 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 hfe to give enthusiasm and warmth ? They themselves had been the delight, the society of the HohenzoUerns — 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, 188 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. X. 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 diffi- culty '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, bom 1767, deceased 1855. " WirkUcher 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 govern- ment ; his mother was a Grolmann. The boy grew up in the enjoyment of wealth in his father's town ; at six- teen years of age his father sent him to the university of Duisburg, and then to Halle and Gottingen ; 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 olung 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 1800.] THE PERIOD OF RTJIN. 189 in Prussia. Sethe was " Geheimer Rath," happily married, with his whole h6art 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 re- ports, 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, tiU the Peace of Amiens took away the last vestige of Prussian possession. Then Sethe severed himself fro,m his home, and estab- lished himself in the Prussian administration of .the newly-acquired portion of Miinster. He shall now relate himself what he experienced.* ''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 domi- nion of a foreign people. "On 3rd October, 1803, we left. We went from Cleve to Miinster in three days ; the journey from Emmerick was extremely difficult and tedious ; it was over corduroy roads, with loose stones thrown on them.-f- "In the beginning of our life at Miinster we also encountered many annoyances. From the number of officials who had removed there, and the numerous mili- tary, our accommodation was very restricted. Then we arrived there towards winter, and provisions were very deficient ; in Miinster there was no regular market, and the women from Cleve were in despair, because they * The following is taken from an autobiography which lie left in manu- script for his children. The editor has to thank the family of the deceased for it. t In the old Prussian Rhine country stones were beginning to he used for the choMssdes, 190 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. X. could get nothing. This, however, came right, and after- wards 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 Miinster 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 Miinster 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 Miinster military, the greater number of the officers were dismissed with pen- sions, 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 gene- rally considered as unjust ; and the more so as among the Miinster officers there was much culture and scien- tific knowledge, and the general run of Prussian officers could not stand comparison with them. " The introduction of conscription increased the discon- tent ; but still more general indignation was excited by the ill-treatment which the enlisted sons of citizens and 1800.] THE PERIOD OF RUIN. 191 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 gTeater number of the Prussian officers, and their con- sequent behaviour, was not calculated to excite a favourable feeling in a new country tdwards the new government. Bliicher, indeed, who was commandant of Miinster, 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 sen- sible, 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. Bliicher 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 in-ational order, which gave every sen- tinel power over the lives of the citizens, who, by touchino- 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.* * The three officers were, "Lieutenants von Blucher, von Iiepel, and von Treskow ; the three Prehendaries, von Korff, von Bosclager, at E^ger- muhlen, and von Merode. 192 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. X. There existed at Miinster a so-called noble ladies' club, ■which admitted both men and ladies. Immediately after the first possession of the place, from political motives, Generals Bliicher and Wobeser, the President Von Stein, and other Prussian officers were admitted, also Bliicher'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 Bliicher gave vent to his feelings concerning this to one of the young prebendaries, and some words ensued between them. The following day Franz Bliicher 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, 1800.] THE PEEIOD OF RUIN, 193 that he had laughed at the altercation between Lieutenant von Bliicher and the other prebendary, and therefore he, the challenger, felt himself injured in. the person of his friend Bliicher. 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 intro- duced, together with the quartermaster of the regiment, Ribbentrop. The prebendaries were acquitted by the court of justice before which the case was brought, aud 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 conimission of inquiry was appointed, they were invited, through a livery servant, to a great evening party at General Bliicher's without his knowledge. They were aU startled, suspected some mis- take, and were doubtful about going. But as they were all three invit«d through a servant of the General's, they decided there could be no mistake, and also their rela- tions and friends, who thought this invitation was a step towards the accommodation of the affair, advised them to go. General Bliicher, who had never thought of inviting them, was naturally very irate at seeing the three preben- daries enter. Being much prejudiced against them by VOL. II. 194 PIGTtTEES OF GERMAK LIFK [Cli. X. his son Franz, who had then much influence over his father, and perhaps irritated hy invidious remarks from the originator of the intrigue, upon their boldness in appear- ing, 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 morti- fication. 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 ' * in the suit of the firm of Herren von der Reck, against the Herren von Landes- berg and Von Boselager. By a ' Cabinet order ' of the 5th September, 1805, obtained by Von der Reck, the suit between the two parties pending in the Imperial AuUc Council was declared to be legally decided, and a commission of execution was appointed to eject the Herren von Landesberg and Von Boselager from their property, and to place the Herren von der Reck in posses- sion of it. " This unfortunate business, in a country which had as yet no Prussian feeling, revolted aU 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 re- curring irritation. Some of the new -things that were introduced piecemeal were peculiarly disagreeable to the * Ministerial decrees setting aside the course of justice. 1800.] THE PERIOD OF RUIN. 195 people of Miinster, 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 Miinster 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 inter- course, I took pains to judge justly. " But the year 1806 came, and one sorrow followed upon another. First the three Khine 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 Miinster. " New clouds rose darkly over us. Letters from Berlin breathed war against Napoleon, Bliicher left us, and we expected the' French occupation of Miinster. It is true that General Lecoq had entered it with a small coi-ps, but 2 196 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. X. 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 hopefiiHy 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* ordered it to be pub- lished. Never was there such exultation ; every one has- tened 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 plea- sure. 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 Liibeck, when the fortresses of Hamehi, Magdeburg, Stettin and Gastrin had, with unexampled cowardice, been surrendered with- out a blow to the enemy, and the whole Prussian State came under their power, then our courage sank, we knew that we were lost. * Yinke had succeeded Stein as First President. 1800.] THE PEEIOD OF EUIN. 197 " 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 Miinster, 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 lan- guage of those about him, showed that he already con- sidered himself as possessor of the country. He estab- lished 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 Miinster 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 Boselager. 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 Eeck. 198 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. X. " 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 govern- ments, and appointed Generals and General-Intendants to preside. The Principalities of Mlinster and Lingen, and the counties of Mark and Tecklenburg, together with the Domain of Dortmund, formed the first of these govern- ments. General Loison came to Miinster. " 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 gi-ief which gnawed in our bosoms and the d.eep mourning in which we were sunk, were increased by the annoyance of witnessing the joyful exultation of the people of Miinster 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 Miinster nobles who thus distinguished themselves, and behaved in a most undignified way. I will relate some instances of it. 1800.} THE PERIOD OF RUIN, 199' " In order in the speediest way to remove tlie hated Prussian colours, which were painted on the turnpikes, bridges, and public buildings, and to replace them by the old Miinster 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 ia 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 refe- rendaries of the government, and of the war and royal domain departments, continued to wear their official uniforms. These remiaiscences 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 contin- uance 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 Eath von Forkenbeck and I still wore it at the council in the year 1808, when we were called to Diisseldorf " This otherwise proud Miinster 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 Miinster, 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 200 PICTURES OF GERMAJJ LIFE. [Ch. X. castle, under which General Loison received the oatL It was with great astonishment that we beheld these pre- parations, but our surprise was still greater when we saw General Loison' accompanied by the hereditary and court officials of the former Bishop of Miinster ; 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 Miinster 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 occassions 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 giiard of honour established for General Loison, who equipped themselves. They furnished the daily guard at the castle, and accom- panied 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 Miinster 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, 1800.] THE PERIOD OF ET7IN. 201 " Nevertlieless, 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 com- plaisance in him which they expected. All this courtly empressement became so repugnant to Loison, that he him- self 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 Miinster, 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 goverment of Miinster. 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 pre- cedes 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 202 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. X. 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, oui 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. Miinster and the county of Mark were attached to the new grand-dukedom of Berg ; Sethe himself became pro- curator-general of the Court of Appeals at Diisseldorf. 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 organi- sation 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 dignified earnestness and 1800.] THE PERIOD OF EUIN. 203 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 pre- cediag chapter two portraitures from, the circle of German citizens have been placed in juxtaposition. They repre- sent 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 XL RISE OF THE NATIOK (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 Ufe, 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 last- ing 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 construc- tive power a few years after he had laid his head to rest. But that which, during his great conflict with the hier- archy, 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 hfe. 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 oflScials and soldiers 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 205 zeal and faithfulness to duty, and in millions of his sub- jects 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 Hfe 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 resist- ance. It now became evident how great was the mate- rial 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 ship- wreck of its State ; it had always received its impulse from the government. In the chaotic confusion that now fol- lowed, there seemed no hope of rescue ; the weak cursed the bad government, the superficial viewed maliciously the prostration of the uninteUectual and privileged orders, and the weakest followed the star of the conqueror. Men of warm feeling secluded themselves Kke'Steffens, who wrote a sorrowful ode on the faU of the Fatherland ; but cooler heads investigated sullenly the defects of the old system, and with bitterness condemned aUke 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 206 PICTURES OF GEBMAN LIFE. [Ch. XT. 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 esta- blished, 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 mea 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 scorn- fully 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 gi-eat cities the troops of hungry souls that traverse the streets can scarcely be 1807-1815.1 EISE OF THE NATION. 207 controlled. The more wealthy also restrict their wants to the smallest possible compass ; they begin a voluntary discipline in their own life, denying themselves smaU enjoyments to which they are accustomed. Instead of coffee, they drink roasted acorns, and eat black and rye bread ; large societies bind themseflves 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 BerUn, 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 Prassian beaurocracy is at the head of affairs, a new organisation of the people began. Serfdom was abolished, landed property made free, and self-government estabhshed in the cities. The exclusive- ness 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 poKtical society formed itself; "tugendbund,"* * Alliance of students In Germany. 208 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. education unions, scientific societies, and officers' clubs, all had the same object — to free their Fatherland, and to educate the peciple 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 gi-eat 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, Jus- tice Griiner, 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, Dbmberg, 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. Un- weariedly do the friends of the Fatherland exercise them- selves 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 ; Napo- leon prepares himself for war against Eussia. 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, 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 209 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 Eussia, there to fight against Napoleon. And again hope diminishes in Prussia, free- dom 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 aU is the hatred in Prussia, in every vocation of Hfe, in every house it calls to the struggle. Everything that is pure and good in Germany — language, poetiy, philosophy, and morals — work silently against Napoleon. Everything that is bad, corrupt, and wicked, aU 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 4ihe 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 VOL. u. p .210 PIGTtTKES OF GEEMliN- LIFE. [Ch. XL Prussia as it is, with its eighteen millions of inhabitants, would give the enormous amoimt of -950,000 soldiers for an army in thejfield* 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 hne of march of the great armies even the commonest necessaries of life were * In tlie number of 247,000 soldiers the volunteers aire 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, there- fore, 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 popirlation 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-Grotha seven battalions, amounting to 1000 men. ,1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 211 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 son-ow 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 modem 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 seK- 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 m.adness. 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, con- fidence in a good cause, and, above aU, 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 p2 212 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFK [Ch. XI. and its royal house. In the course of a hundred and fifty years the Hohenzollems, by uniting unconnected provinces as one State, h%d formed their subjects rato a nation. A great prince, and the costly victories, and brilliant success of the house, had excited a feeling of love ia the new nation for their princes. Now the government of a HohenzoUem 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 Hohen- zoUems for the greatness and prosperity which they had procured for it. This faithfal 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 hke 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 ; fi-om 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 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 213 was excited by a single great moment ; but, ia general, a tranquillity rested on the nation wbich one may well call epic. The feeling of millions burst forth simultaneously ; not abounding in words, without any imposing appearance, stiU 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 BerUn there was a French military governor, who watched e-^jery 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 occu- pied 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 214 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Cli. XI. 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, how- ever, 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 pro- cession 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 mihtary spectacle still filled the fancy with its splendour and its terrors. 180M815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 215' 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 mainte- nance at Glogau, a not very large town, four hundred thalers daily. The Duke of Abrantes had for a month seventy- five thalers daily ; the ofiicers obliged the wife of a poor viUage 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 when- ever 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.* But those who now returned came in a more pitiable * ScHosser, " Erlelmiase inns Sachsischen Landpredigers, " from 1806 to 1815, p. 66. The foreign nations, Portuguese and Italians, were mora moderate. 216 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. 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 aU. 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 mihtary 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 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 217 as soon as twiliglit and tlie iron winter fog were spread over the houses. Demoniacal was the effect of these noise- less apparitions of horrible figures, terrible the sufferings they brought with them ; the people asserted that waiinth 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 iuto it, and in vain did the compas- sionate 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 occuri'ed 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.* 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 vuTilent fevers annihilated the last strength of the unfor- tunates. Countless were the corpses carried out, and the citizens had to be careful that the infection did not pene- trate 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 * ScWosser, "Erlel)iiisse,"p. 129, 218 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. XL swords, knights without horses, fugitives without shoes, find nowhere rest and repose. God has struck man, horse, and carriage," an^ 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 Kussian Wittgen- stein, 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 stiU French Generals ; but the same day Herr von Tschemischef, 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 greait simplicity of 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 219 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 I7th February, they appeared in the neigh- bourhood of Berlin ; after that, they were expected daily ia 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 220 PICTUEES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. which they aimed. Astonishment soon changed to a feel- ing of intimacy ; they quickly won the heart of the people. They were particularly friendly to the young, raised the childi-en 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 civiUsed 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 feeliug 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 feel- ing 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 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 221 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 dehght, especially what the faithful Amdt 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 battahons 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 lai-ger 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 222 PICTUEES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. 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 mai-ched, singing ener- getically, to the chief cities, Konigsberg, 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 teU 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 Konigsberg, Berlin, and Breslau. The TJniversitjT- 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 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 223 all the students from Halle, Jena, and Gottingen, 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 admi- nistration 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 tbe 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 Groben, chamberlain of Prince WiUiam, 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 224 PICTURES OP GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. people. Multitudes of them gave to the State all that they possessed — ^their sound limbs. Whilst the Prijssians 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 then- 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-sacri- ficing 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 fiUed the Albrech-strasse, heard their acclama- tions, and perceived the general satisfaction, tears rolled over his cheeks, and Schamhorst asked him whether he at last believed ia the zeal of his people. Every day the throng increased. Fathers presented their sons armed ; among the first the Geheime Kriegs- rath Eichmann equipped two sons, and the former Secretary of Hangwitz, Biirder, three. The provincial Syndic Eisner at Eatisbon 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 salaiy of 1450 thalers, and entered the service as a trooper. One Eoth- kirch offered himself and two men fully equipped as 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 225 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, " Fuvrnus 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 Mockem. 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; onie landed proprietor, K., had given 808 ounces. Ever greater and more mime- rous 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 VOL.' II. Q 226 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. 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 pro- prietors com, 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 riifle, as he had promised, among some boon companions, and preferred going himself to the field. Young women sent their bridal attu-e, 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. What- ever the poor could raise was sent, and the greatest self- sacrifice was amongst the lowest.* * It may be allowable to introduce here some extracts from the receipts which Heun brought forward in th* 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 ■ men- tioned. 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 aU the plate of theu- church that could be dispensed with at the disposal of the State (it was about 100 marks), begging, as they could not give away chui'ch property, for the interest of the value of the silver in the future. But the first money contribution noted down 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 227 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 volun- tarily 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 equip- ment of the volunteer riflemen alone, and what was col- lected 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.* And how impoverished were the lower orders ! by Hetm, was from a master tailor, Hans Hofmann, atBreslau, lOOthalers. The first who gave horses were the peasants Johann Hiuz, in Deutsch- Borgh, Bailiwick of Saarmiind, and Meyer, at Elsholz, of the same Bailiwick ; the last had only two horses. The first who gave oats, 100 scheifel, was one Axleben. The first who sent their golden wedding-rings, expressing the hope that mnch gold might be collected if all would do the same, were the lottery-collector EoUin and his wife, at Stettin. The first ofiicials who resigned a part of their salary were Professor Hermbstadt, at BerUa, 250 thalers ; Professor Gravenhorst, at Breslau, the half of hi^ salary, and Professor David Schultz, 100 thalers. The fii-st 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 snufi'-boxes, with diamonds, value 5300 thalers ; an old woman, from a little town, a pair of woollen stockings. * 10,000 volunteer riflemen, and about the half of the irregulars, amounting to 2500 men, were equipped in the old provinces, together with 1600 horses. Putting the cost of each foot-rifleman at 60 thalers, and that of a horseman at 230v thalers,— the price of horses was high, — Q 2 228 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. Near together on the Schmiedebriicke, at Breslau, were the two recruiting places for the volunteer rifles and the Liitzow 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 Liitzowers. Both troops were equipped entirely by the patriotic gifts of individuals. The contributions for the volunteer rifles were collected by Heun. Betwixt the Ijiitzowers and ri&emen there was a friendly and manly emulation ; the contrast of their dispositions dis- played 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, oaiitious, and vigorous ; and enthusiastic feehng with loftier aspira- tions. The first disposition was mostly the characteristic of the Prussians, the last of the patriotic youths who hastened thither from foreign parts. Yery 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 Prussiap, army, but gave an elevation to the character of the nobles which was new in the history of the war. The irregulars under liiitzow, on the other hand, experienced the rude fatq tha,t overtakes the inspira- tions of the highest enthusiasm. The poetic feeUng of the educated class attached itself chiefly to them ; they in- cluded a great part of the German students, of vehement 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, 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 229 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, youth- ful characters that figured in that struggle, he was one of the purest and most genial in his poetry, life and death : it was Theodore Korner. 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 com- rades who had been strangers to them, and met them accidentally. The only wish ©f the new comer was to find his equipments. If he had two coats, as a Liitzower he had one quickly aiTanged 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 ven- tured, 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. 230 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. 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 feeUng they industriously, honour- ably, and conscientiously performed their duty, exercising themselves unweariedly in the nlovement and use of their weapons in their rooms. They sung among their com- rades 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 iO-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 war 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. 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 231 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 aU 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 com- panions 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 con- queror. He had long nourished an uncertain hope, per- haps 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 stiU 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 weU restrained; the volunteers soon learnt military obedience, and to value the knowledge of service of those 232 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. above them ; and the oflScer 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 am- biguous relation in which a Cossack had placed himself with respect to a certain goose was to be considered ctil/pa lata or dolus. On the whole, this intermixture answered excellently. But far more important than the action of the volun- teers, 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 occa- sioned 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 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 233 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 18lS had little of the militaiy aspect which it 'obtained by service and later organisation.* The men consisted of such as had not been drawn into the sei^^ice 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 s6\id masses of the war consisted of common soldiers, mostly country people ; the leaders, of country nobles,' ofiicials, old ofiicers on half-pay, and whoever else wias selected as ti'ustwotthy by his district, also of young volunteers: a very motley material for field service^ many of the ofiicers asTveU as •soldiers without any experience ill war. The equipments also were in the beginning very imperfect ; they were mostly provided by the circled. The 'coatee, long trowserg of gtey 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 * The Editor is indebted for much of this to a record of the worth. Oberregierungsrath Hackel. 234 PICTURES OF GEEMAJSr LIFE. [Ch. XI. 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 vahantly 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 declai-ed, that the time duiing 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 vaUant 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 cowai'dice 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 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 235 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 most distant districts, bore their part in the work, often undergoing the greatest labours and siifferings, 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 land- rath 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 stDl filled the hospitals of tha city, the Baschkirs bivouacked with their felt caps in the mar- ket-place ; the inhabitants quarrelled with the foreigners 236 PICTURES OF GERMAJf LIFE. [Ch. XI. 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 highfest 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 lev^e 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 miti- 1807-1815.] BISE OF THE NATION. 237 gated. The edict exercised a great moral effect ; it was a shai-p 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 ita Draconic paragraphs. But it was, im- mediately after its appearance, severely blamed by impar- tial judges, because it demanded what was irnpossible, and it had no great, practical effect The Prussians had always been a warlike people, but in 1813 they had not the mili- tary capacity which they have. now. Besides the standing army, there were, before the introduction of the universal obligation, of service,, only the peaceful qitis^ens without any practice in arms or .movement of masses, or at the utmost, the old ^hooting guUda 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- vaUant service- in arms. Thus it was no wonder that this, fearful law brought ta 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 occupa- tions, was quite, to the reader's mind, especially those who were not grown up ; but donbts were excited by the sen- tence 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 238 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. 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 him- self — what is cowardice ? And when the law further for- bade anyone ia 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-baiTels were nailed, surrounded with tarred straw j near them a watch was posted, and they more than once did good sei-vice. 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 posses- sors 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 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 239 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- gi-ound, and placiag himself ia 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, Riihs, 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. Kiihs was ia 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 Ustened, leaning sadly on his spear, and said at last : " It is very well for you to talk, you are of a courageous nature." * If this LandsturTTh was to be mobilised for the main- tenance 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 Hnt, 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 * From family Eeminisoences. 240 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. 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 husband® 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 manufactoiy was asked why he carried no weapon, "I have all my pockets fuU of stones," was his answer ; he carried them about with him against the French.* And no regulation of the LandstuTTn ordinance was so zealously obeyed by the rising generation, as the provision that every Land- sturmer should^ if possible, carry a shrill-sounding pipe with him, in order to recognise others in the dark, and come to an understailding. 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 ijiilitary 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 Biiren,. which under Frederic II. had driven back its flying sons to the King's * Eeoord of the AppeUatious-gerichtsratli Tepler, who himself, as a boy, went to the field with the Lendsturm against the French at Mag- deburg. 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. ' 241 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 wUl be an important part of German military power. But whUst 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, VOL. II, E 242 ' PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. valiant Lithuanians, who had ridden over the smart red Hussars from Paris at the first onset. And when the pro- prietor 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 Grossgorschen, it was pro- claimed 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 Hnen, 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 nui-ses. 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 hon-ors, but he endeavovired to sustain her in his noble way. When she was overtaken with nervous fever, he nursed the invalid, caught the infection, and died. Keil also^ the 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 243 great physician and scholar, died there in the midst of his philanthropic effoi-ts. Frau Ileiiiaer 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 PutUtz ; her anxieties about him and his busiaess 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 famUy and her care of the sick, and her life appeared to herself indestructible* 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 Prassia in this cam- paign was incomparably greater than in the last unfor- tunate 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 * She lives in Berlin, and is now mother of a large family; £ 2 244 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. Landwehr was ended, the artisan had eveiywhere 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 featiires 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 ait-'; 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 per- ceptible 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 mountaias. 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 distiact. 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 ; 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 245 even in the city ihej 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 neigh- bourhood, 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.* 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 cajry 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 * From the diary of the pastor, Frieke, at Bunzlau, 246 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. follow, and waggons ov&rcrowded witli wounded and dying men. The rear-guard take np their post at 1;he 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 di-ink 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 cavahy of the enemy approach the gate, cautiously looking out, the Cai-abiniers 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 van- guard 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 disap- peared ; 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 I'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 qmck enough they are broken in. Now follow desperate dis- putes between the defenceless citizen and the uTitated .enemy — exorbitan|t demands, threats, and frequently ill- usage and peril of death — everywhere clamour, lamenta- tion, and violence. Cupboards and desks are broken open, and everything, both valuable and valueless, plundered, spoiled, or destroyed, especially in those houses whose in- 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 247 mates 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 town- hall, and diflScult negotiations begin concerning the quar- tering 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 accommo- dated. 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 th^ 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. 248 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. 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 par- ticipation which every individual had taken in the fate of the State made them indifierent 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 biUow 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 battaUons 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, 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 249 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 com- batants 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 Land- wehr throw themselves upon them with loud hun-ahs, and drive them out of the gate.* The thunder roars ; the fiery haU 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 coun- trymen 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. * Scene from the fight at Goldberg , oa the 23rd August, from the aooount of an eye-witness. 250 PICrCTEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. 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 (frive 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 sjnnpathy. 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,* 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 CE^refuUy 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 * Thus, on the 22nd of May, at Bunzlau, during the retreat after the liattle of Bautzen, the prisoners, red Hussars, lay in the suhurb near the Galgenteioh. 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 251 soft bed is prepared for Tiim, and the mistress of the house attends him herself with bandages and all necessary care. The whole people feel like a great family. The diffe- rence 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 fromi 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 considera- tion 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. 252 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ck XI. When after the armistice, the glorious time of victories came, Grossbeereu, Hagelsberg, Dennewitz, and the Katz- bach ; 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 over- throw and flight of the hated Emperoi-, and the delivery of the country from his armies — then was the highest rapture that could be felt in this world enjoyed with calm inten- sity. 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 festivi- ties 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 1807-1816.] EISE OF THE NATION. 253 equal vigour on the coasts of the North Sea, in Mecklen- burg, 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 iu 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 Ehine, 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 maia- tain 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, 254 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. a State for which he learnt to die and by degrees to live. The Prussians did the gi-eater 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 aU 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 Amdt expressed, " We can now die at any moment, as we have seen iu 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 faUen. As ia 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 Uved, 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 Liineburg. 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 1807-1815.] RISE OF THE NATION. 255 freedom, national honour, and our beloved Eong. 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 Eegienmgsratli and Ober-Commissarius Hase and his 'Wife." * " 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 Liitzower Gutike,-f- ia the Summer of 1813, was on his march from Berlin to Perleberg, he found at Kletzke the landlady in mourning ; she was waitiag silently upon him, and at last said suddenly, poiating with her hand to the gi-ound, " I have one there, — ^but Peter's wife has two." She felt that her neighbour had superior claims to sympathy. * Vossische Zeitung, No. 45, from the 15th April. + Now a practising doctor at Halle. The account is from the mouth of the worthy man. CHAPTER XII. THE ILLNESS AND RECOVEEY. (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, Schlier- macher 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 pohce 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. Jdhn 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 theh" homes, 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVEEY. 257 and their papers were seized. A special commission out- rageously 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. Peteraburgh, 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 un- bounded 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 deve- lopment of the power of the nation possible, was not to be hoped for. For it was not the people, nor the patriotic army of Blucher 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 258 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. hardly a person not Prussian who ever thought of exclu- ding Austria from a new confederation ; even Prussia itself did not think of it. We know, therefore, that the " Geiiaan 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 disappoint- ment was bitter, and an unprejudiced estimate of their posi- tion difficult. Among the patriots of 1813, a small minority were then full of enthusiastic sentimentahty ; they con- trasted their poetical ideas of the old splendour of the German Empire with the bad reahty ; these Beutsch- thumler — 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 Miiller found no favour when he began to banish all foreign words from mihtary 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 vsTrying moods and waver- ing projects they came to no conclusion. Politically con- sidered this movement was not dangerous, tiU 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 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVEET. 259 King had promised to give his people a coustitution. 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 parHament 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 hfe 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 counter- poise 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. s 2 260 PICTURES OF GEEMAJSr LIFE. [Ch. XII. King Frederic William III. never felt the incongruous position in which he had placed himself, in respect to the necessities of th© 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 HohenzoUems. The nation was exhausted to the utter- most 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 fuUy replaced. Cities and village communities, landed pro- prietors 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. 1815-1818.] THE ILLNESS A^D EECOVERT. 261 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 follow- ing thu-ty years consisted of volunteer rifles of 1813. He who returned to his former vocation found himself reduced in circumstances, and his relatives helpless and impo- verished. 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 offi- ' cial 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 wannth 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 deve- lopment advances, the greater becomes its need of exalted 262 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. ideas, and of having intellectual interests in common. When the Reformation first roused the people to an intel- lectual 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 soiTowful time, a great Prince had given to at least a part of the Germans new enthu- siasm 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 gene- ration 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 philo- sophy ; 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 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVERT. 263 past of Germany. With hearty warmth was every ex- pression 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 spe- cialities. 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 know- ledge 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 con- siderate 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 rela- 264 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. tive value of a foreign point of view, must first know how to maintain firmly the moral foundation of his own Hfe. This can only be effected by making his own wiU subser- vient to the duty of co-operating with his contemporaries, by joining in free associations, by a free press, and by con- tinuous 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 faihng 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 treasm-es of knowledge. Offcener than formerly did the originahty 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 uncer- tain. 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 blas^, authors sensational, statesmen without fixed purpose, and officials without energy : these were all different forms of the same disease. It was 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVERT. 265 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 degi-ees, and again in a circuitous way, sometimes bounding forwards, and then retro^ading ; 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 hfe, 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 work- shop and the counter. The Zollverein- — ihe 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 govern- ment 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 266 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. 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 \he 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 agri- cultural 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 eveiy 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 Ger- mans 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 them- selves, receiving more than giving ; they had sent to the north some great poets and men of learning, but consi- dered them as their special property ; they had endea- voured 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 constitu- tional struggles of their little States formed a school for a 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY. 267 number of political leaders, warm patriots, and energetic, warm-hearted men, sometimes with nan-ow-minded views, but zealous, unwearied, fresh, and hopeful. The Suabian poets were the first aitist 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 cosmopoli- tanism of the north. The people were saved from be- comiQg hlas^, and from subtle formalism and sophistry, by warmth of heart, vigorous resolution, a solid understanding, which was Httle 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 spu-it which prevailed in the society of the educated, drove the fine arts into the lower circles of the people. The popular paiaters endeavoured to represent the figures and occupations of lower Hfe with humour and spirit ; the poets endeavoured to embellish, with a genial interest, the character and condition of the countrjrman: 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 com- fort 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 268 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. national development of the Fatherland. The debates of the Chambers of his small countiy were his first auxilia- ries. The struggles which took place there did not re- main 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 censor- ship 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 *he exemption laws found favour with it ; and the Frankfort outrage of the 3rd of April, 1833, produced a re-action. Then the autbor 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 bad given instruction to young men ; he was therefore not unprepared for the office of teacher, which he entered upon in that foreign countiy. He relates as follows : — " On Easter Monday, 1838, in the church at Grench«n, in the canton of Solothum, the Roman Catholic commu- nity 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 diifts, and enveloped the procession that was moving towards the church. The words addressed by Father Zweili, superior of the Francis- 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY. 269 cans, and president of tlie 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, indltstrious 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 exer- tions for the education o£ the people ; in this respect everything had to be done, for the patrician rulers who had been overthrown in 1830 had don© nothing. In the first place, they established preparatoiy schools, and train- ing 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 18S7, 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 estaUished by the community, and the: attendance of scholars who had left the preparatory schools, and had the necessaxy preliminary knowledge, was voluntary ; the State assisted the insti- tution by grants, and maintained a superintendence. Grenchen was one of the first communities which deter- mined 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. 270 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. 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 com- munities prevailed, and when it became a question whe- ther 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 lar- gest 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 Timer and Swiss mountains in the east, the Rigi standing alone in foremost gi-andeur ; in the centre the Eiger, Monch, 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 gi-and, 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 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY. 271 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-hke 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 un- precedented circumstance, that three years ago a watch was stolen in the village. But the locality is not favour- able 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 inclina- tion 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 272 PICTURES OF GEBMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. 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 feUow-citizens esteem him as much as before, and praise him because he performs his service right weD. 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 wdd fellows not amended. " In the year 1790, when the French invaded Switzer- land, the cantons were very disunited \ they carried on their struggle against the enemy singly ; the Bernese fought well at Neuenegg and the Vierwaldstattersee, but one after another were subdued by superior power. The Grencheners were bold enough to defend their vUlage 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 Schurer 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 Solothum, 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 1815-1848.] THE ILLJfESS AND RECOVERY. 273 and sedge was still tjie possession of the community. The father, of Girard obtained the , land for a moderate price ; biailt his hyts upon it, drained the ground, enclosed the spring, and arranged the baths — at first in very modest style, extending the grounds as means increased. iFather 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, pri- vately by eveiy possible means. A heretic to be the only teacher in a Eoman 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 fpr it were filled up with instruction on other subjects. Personally I was on a tolerably good footing with him. It wcHild have given him pleasure if I would have allowed him to baptise my Jittle daughter, who was bom two 274 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. 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 WTitten by a Protestant, for the glorification of the Eoman Catholic church. Still less than the pastor could his chaplain be used as a battering-ram against the school. He had be- come a theologian at Wiirzburg, 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 edu- cation 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 memoiy ; 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 happi- ness and the reverse. I told him how impossible I consi- dered it, that the good God could be so cruel as to bum 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 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY. 275 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, fi'om 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. Respect- ability 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 smaU 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 vil- lage of Lengnau. The Calvanistic common council of T 2 276 PICTURES OF GERMAN iLIFE. [Ch. XII. Lengnau inquired of their Eoman Catholic Solothumer neighbours whether, and under what conditions, boys from their place would be allowed to attend the district s(5hool. 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 dis- cipline ; 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 iGrencheners. This example worked upon the neighbouring places of the canton ; scholars came from Staad, Bettlach, and Sekach, and, later, even from the Erench 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 Hy, 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 Solothum 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 sur- mount all difficulties ; he afterwards attended the seminary of education at Biinchenbuchsee (Berne) ; then returned to his home, where he became mayor and teacher; in short, all-in-all. Only one thing Xaver Eais did not become, that was, father of. a family ; for he always continued his studies, and, as he confided to me afterwards, preferred 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVERT. 277 buying books to a wife. The Grencbeners reckon bim, up to tbe present day, as one of them ; and even now, wben I go to tbe place, a message is sent to bim ; then be puts on bis satcbel, lays bold of bis staff,, and goes over tbe moun- tain^ Witb long strides. " Tbe influx of scbolars from the neighbourhood did not fail to have an effect on the opponents in tbe place ; many boys succeeded in overcoming tbe resistaDce of their parents, and bad the satisfaction of entering tbe institution, which soon numbered between thirty and forty scbolars. 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 tbe first year, I reported this to tbe government, what I had done was approved, and a wish expressed that the same course might be pursued in tbe other district schools. In tbe summer I kept school only from six to ten o'clock in tbe morning, in order that tbe boys might be employed in bouse and field labour. Besides this, the great work of the bay and com harvest was in tbe holidays. The objects of study I limited in number, but went more deeply into them ; I honesliy lamented that tbe pastor gave no religious in- struction, 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 tbe Ecclesiastical order, and the value of rebcs ; of bib- lical history they were almost entii^ly ignorant. If tbe pastor did not teach religion^ neither did I teach politics, but lefb the Fatherland State system to tbe school of life; On tbe other handy the German and French lauguageSj together with pra/etice in composition^ history, and geograf phy, aiitbmetic and geometry, were carried on with great zeal, and it gave me pleasure to observe bow forward boys 278 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE." [Ch- XII. of natural capacity miglit be brought in a short time, when all bombast was abolished, things represented simply, and each indi-^-idual guitably 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 par- ticular 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 aU.. During the three years of my ofiice as teacher, I never had recourse to pun- ishment ; if a boy was idle or untruthful, I used, after ad- monishing 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, cer- tain 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 vil- lage that the school was useful ; the boys, especially those of the ' guard,' as they called my ^ite, were in great re- quest, to read and write German and French letters, which were necessary for the traffic in the products of the coun- try ; also to examine and draw up accounts, and the like. 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVEET. 279 I willingly overlooked it when here or there one was an hour late, in consequence of having performed these neigh- bourly 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 wor- thy man, well deserving of the community, had, by mis- fortune, become bankrupt. Euin 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 sup- porter, and to itself a useful citizen. He spoke with an impressiveness, a warmth and depth of feehng, 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 exa- mination. They had answered that they were acquainted 280 PlCPUIlES 6^ GEimM LIFE. [Cli. xil. ■vfitH the progress of ths sOhool, and accorded me their confidence. The second y6at I urgently repeated my r-equest, and represented that it -wiould' be of use to the school if the State took notice of it. The examination ■v^as granted, and there appeared at it the magistrate of the district Munzingei', many menihers of the council of government, the prior ZWeili, different teachers, ahd men of distinction frOm Solbthurn; All went off well; the boys felt themselves raifeed' and encouriaged by' the signs of satisfaction of the highest State officials. After the busi- ness 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 reinained' long assembled together ; even former opponents had joined ; very willingly would the chaplain have made his appearanoe if he had not been afraid Of the pastor, and sO would the pastor himself if h^e had' been sure that his superior would nOtEear 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 mten, he who could not drink with them Wa^ considered as a weakliag; and looked upon as incapable Of showing atiy Capacity. FrOm the day of the examination, I could consider the schoOl as having taken root in the community. The time had passed a'Way when my friends and acquaintance at Solothurn had dtetlared 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 pirOceeding from the adherents of the ' Black party,' but it was not till now that I was cheeted by a feeliilg of secu- rity. Many small bilt significant traits showed me that thte people no longer considered me and mine as stran^rs, 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AMD EECOVEET. 281 and an approximation wai here accomplished which waS perhaps the first for some generations. Before the opeti- ing 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 jolliers. A long' time afterwards one of these came to me — ^there were two brother^ — to beg of me to lay a memo- rial 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 tb their own homes all whose papers were not according to rule. These had no papers, and were therefore in danger of losing their domi- cile. On my inquiring how long they had Uved 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 can- ton, 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 sigiiified to the community, that they had neglected to demand from their sires the papers, and that the grandchildi?en must not suiEfer from it. They became citizens, but still remained fot-eign jolliers. " After a year was passed, fortune was favourable to nae. The neighbours' childi'en chose mine as plaj^fellows, and the wives sought intercourse with mine, whilst many of the men persuadbd me to join a union whitih was engaged in objects of general utility ;, it soon attained a great deve- 282 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. lopment, and introduced much improvement into the administration and economy of the property of the com- munity. 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 under- standing 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 neighboui's sym- pathy 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 Gren- cheners 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 memo- rial 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 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVEET. 283 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 astonish- ment 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 corpo- rate 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 atten- tion 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 tinsum- moned 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 fire 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 fea- tures 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, 284 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Chj XII. 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 gerious, 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 comprehen- sion 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 hke 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 Gijen- cheners 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 thte old buffoon sportS) which had been brought home by mei'cenaries from the Italian 18151848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVEET. 285 wars, and established in the villages ; but they wished to have again a great play, and begged me to help them. I desired to haveitime 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 paraphemaha, with many horses, such tremendous jumps clear over the horses, could no longer be seen in the present day. The r4le 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, wrestUpg, and gymnastics were the main point. From the productions of modem art which were at my command, I chose a native tragedy, 'Hans Waldmaim Burgermeister von Ziifich,' 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 conspiiiacy . of nobles upset him, and he was executed. The piece was 286 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. 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. Whfen my time for consideration had passed, the scholars made their appearance with military punctuality, and under- took 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 Wald- mann 1 ' Three or four candidates rise, each brings for- ward his claims — ^height, a powerful voice, or school education ; then they retire, and the discussion begins. Each candidate has his adherents and opponents. The discassion is closed, and a nearly unanimous majority allots the principal rdle 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 dis- tribution of parts gave perfect satisfaction ; if I had under- 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVERT. 287 taken it, it could not have turned out better, — ^probably not so weL Immediately after, a number of tbe 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. "Aftei^ 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 poiut of proficiency, and there they remaiaed ; 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 288 PICTURES OF -GEEMiN LIFE. [Ch. XII. wing contained the dining-room and the adjoining dancing- room ; the -first, a ilong room, ithe other somewhat smaller and a .square ; there was an opening in the wall from one room to the ^her, in the fprm of an arch. The dancing- room was to he the stage, and before the arch hung a c^ir- tain : 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 DisteU, of Solothum, 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 feU under the strokes of the axe ; ithe lads harnessed themselves to them, piitting on the tinkljng-bells of the sledge-horses, and exultingly , dragged the stems down the steep hill- path to the saw-miU. 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 obhged, by the pressure, not of the public, but of creditors, to go away, leaviflig 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 sujn, what was necessary — a room, a street, a wood, aod 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 bow it might, be most cheaply carried out, by using the articles of dress that were at hand, — the 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVEET. 289 aprons, bodices, shawls, and cloaks of the women. Whilst the viUage tailor worked, with an additional journeyman, iacessantly 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 skiU 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 Solothum, 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 centuiy. " When February was so far advanced that the days of perfoimance 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 weU to have some playbills printed. ' Play- bills ! ' 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 290 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch- XII. 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 con- duced 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 expen- diture, 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 equip- ments 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 Solo- thurn, against the godless intention of perfoiToing 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 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AKD RECOVERY. 291 a drammer 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 Eome 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 bum in heU ; 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 nan 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 govern- ment 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 villfeige 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 V 2 292 PICTURES OF GEEMAN LIFE. [Ct. XII. 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 rosej sharply defined, from the dazzling snow. " The performance began about three o'clock, and lasted four hours. The success exceeded all e;speetation ; 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 co-operated, and the gentry of the village, and lastly a danoe. The knights danced in their annoUr till mid-- night, 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 Grangon. " The two following representations went off as fortun- ately as the first. The population streamed in from far and near, also travellers from Basle, Zurich, 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 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY. 293 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 pro- visional 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 smaU ; 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 exami- nation, 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 Csesar. Instruction in the history of their I'atherland 294 PICTUEES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. was throughout Switzerland carefully attended to, but only the brilliant parts of it. Eveiy 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 leaxn was just aroused as ending with the certificate of dismissal I wished to carry them on further, up to the Canton school at Solothum, which, be- sides a literary, had a technical class. With this object, it was necessary to provide for theii' 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 them- selves 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 fur- ther education of clever youths was demonstrated to the citizens by examples. Till then the government must provide that such witnesses should be forthcoming. A 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND RECOVEET. 295 somewhat cold and dry answer sent the blood to my head : ' If you do not do all that is possible to promote the know- ledge 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 Solothum, 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 joUy 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 Christine 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 espe- cially frequented those houses wher6 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 dehcious dish to the monastery. The young collectors were repaid with holy pictures. 296 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XIT. " 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 V — ' 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 peiTerted, that no Capuchin can do them any good.' — ' Then I am content,' said Herr Munzinger. " I cannot part from this excellent man without conse- crating a few words to his memory. He was a tradesman, and had a public shop at Solothurn. He had a philoso- phical education, was musical, and a man of genuine benevolence. Unselfish, of agreeable appearance and man- ners, 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 adminis- tration, 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 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY. 297 free press, the right of assembly, and their rich ecclesiasti- cal and worldly means, to initate 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 ex- ample, 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 tillages opposed this, but their resistance was forcibly over- come. Later,, the chief magistratesthauked the Landam- mann for having put force upon them for their good. In a different way did the government maintain itself against refractory ecclesiastics. No compulsion Vas 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 un- occupied, and the income went to the sCh'ool-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 Grenohen 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 pro- duce 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 Gren- chen. The peasants, accustomed from ancient times to be 298 PICTURES OF GEBMIAN LIFE. [C!h. XII. over-readied by the government, were suspicious of being defrauded, and drove the commissioners out of the village. Next morning the landjager of Solothurn took the most considerable of the country people into custody, and carried them to prison at Solothurn. This had not passed with- out 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 Munzdnger, ' I, alas, was not here.' — ' I thought so,' re- plied I, ' the affair in that case would have been managed differently.' — ' Undoubtedly,' exclaimed the Landammann, colouring, ' I should have sent out the military and occu- pied 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 mon- archical 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 recog- nised that it was for their good, so also his guidance was followed in the affairs of the Confederation. In the Son- derbund war, Solothurn, although Catholic, was on the side of the Diet ; its artillery distinguished itself in action. 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND EECOVEKY. 299 and left many valiant men on the field of battle. Mun- zinger 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 Ger- many 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 re- freshed 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 excite- ment. 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 ea«h 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 shauld 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 300 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. 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 thsit early hour and in the bitter cold, we saw the whole population, men, women, and children, thronging before the hoiise and along the high road. They T^rished 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 t-eacher 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 hiis name was often mentioned with warm veneration, or with bitter hatred-. When years of weak re-action 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 moun- tain 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 Gren- chen, manufactures had been introduced, watch-raakino' and inlaid work, and the manufacture of cement, and other branches are increasingly developed. But the tra- 1815-1848.] THE ILLNESS AND KECOVEBT. 301 vellers found the old feeliAg, not only among the old men, but also through tradition among the yotinger 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 ynd^.the direction of the new district- master, then the bearers of coloured, lanterns, which were a large portion of the popufetipn. 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 fountaiijs and the pleasure grounds of the baths, whilst rockets g^cended and lighted up at intervals the dark background,, the mounts.ias of the Jura. , The guests had to place them- selves on the balcony. The musio, ceased, and a, former scholar, n,ow a physician in Gren,chen, stepped from out of the ranks. He commenced his greeting by calling to min,d, that on the day of their ^arrival, there, had been a great eclipse of the sun ; two-and-twenty years before, their guests had aatered among them at a period of intel- lectual darkness, they h9,d helped to make light victorious ; he concluded with the assurance that Grenchen would always consider the two strangers as belonging to them. When lq,ter 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 ao-'e 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 302 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XII. the church, and is a conspicuous object to the surrounding country. The sbhool 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 d€scription of peasant Hfe 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 devasta- tion of that war, and from the tyrannical rule of the privi- leged 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 waU 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. CONCLUSIOK. Amidst the noise and confusion of the year 1848, the German people began a struggle for a new political con- stitution of the Fatherland. We must look upon the Frankfort parhament 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 HohenzoUem and their people, appa- rently insignificant, but from it has sprung the constitu- tional Hfe 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 304 PICTURES QV GERMAK LIFE. Gennany depend— that the Hoheuzollems regard so hesi- tatingly and distrustfully the new position which the constitution of, their State and the Union party of Germany offers to them 1 No royal race has gained their State so completely by the sword as they have. Their ancestors have grandly nurtured th,e people ; their ances- tors have created the State ; their greatness, and their renown in war originated ia the time of the fulness of royal power. Thus they naturally feel as a loss what we consider as a gaiu 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 rpality only Prussian ques- tions ; and the great difficulty of their solutiqn lies in the position which the Royal house of Prussia have taken up in regard to them, "Whenevei: the Hohenzollerns shall enter warmly and willingly iato 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 con- nection with them is indestructible, even though they may be angry because we are too bold in our demands, or we may gi'umble 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 CONCLUSION. 305 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 them- selves. The German citizen is in the fortunate position of regarding the old dynasties with wann sympathy. They have grown up with his fondest reminiscences, a large number of them have become good and trustworthy, fellowworkers 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 then- 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 impar- tiality 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 narrowminded- ness of German Junkers. In the two centuries from 1648 to 1848, the wonder- ful restoration of the German nation was accomphshed. After an unexampled destruction, its character rose again VOL. II. ■"• 306 PICTUEES OF GEEMAJS LIFK in faith, science, and political enthusiasm. It is now engaged in energetic endeavours to form for itself the highest of earthlj possessions, — a State. It is a great pleasure to live in such a time. A hearty- warmth, and a feeling of youthful vigour fiU 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. THE END. ERADBURT AND ETAKS, TRIKTERS, WHITEPRIAKS. 1807-1815.] EISE OF THE NATION. 253 equal vigour on the coasts of the North Sea, in Mecklen- burg, 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 mihtary 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 main- tain themselves. It had given a greater aim to the life of every individual, a participation in the whole, political feeliig, the highest of earthly interests, a Fatherland, 252 PICTURES OF GERMAN LIFE. [Ch. XI. When after the armistice, the glorious time of victories came, Grossbeeren, Hagelsberg, Dennewitz, and the Katz- bach ; 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 over- throw and flight of the hated Emperor, and the delivery of the country frora his armies — then was the highest rapture that could be felt in this world enjoyed with calm inten- sity. 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 festivi- ties 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