The anonymous recipient of the honourable mention nevertheless
determined to call upon his judges, make their acquaintance, and let
them know who he was.
I went first to Hauch, who resided at that time at Frederiksberg
Castle, in light and lofty rooms. Hauch appeared exaggeratedly
obliging, the old man of seventy and over paying me, young man as I
was, one compliment after the other. The treatise was "extraordinarily
good," they had been very sorry not to give me the prize; but I was not
to bear them any ill-will for that; they had acted as their consciences
dictated. In eighteen months I should be ready to take my Magister
examination; the old poet thought he might venture to prophesy that I
should do well. He was surprised at his visitor's youth, could hardly
understand how at my age I could have read and thought so much, and
gave me advice as to the continuation of my studies.
Sibbern was as cordial as Hauch had been polite and cautious. It was
very funny that, whereas Hauch remarked that he himself had wished to
give me the prize with an _although_ in the criticism, but that Sibbern
had been against it, Sibbern declared exactly the reverse; in spite of
all its faults he had wanted to award the medal, but Hauch had
expressed himself adverse. Apparently they had misunderstood one
another; but in any case the result was just, so there was nothing to
complain of.
Sibbern went into the details of the treatise, and was stricter than
Hauch. He regretted that the main section of the argument was
deficient; the premises were too prolix. He advised a more historic,
less philosophical study of Literature and Art. He was pleased to hear
of the intimate terms I was on with Bröchner, whereas Hauch would have
preferred my being associated with Rasmus Nielsen, whom he jestingly
designated "a regular brown-bread nature." When the treatise was given
back to me, I found it full of apt and instructive marginal notes from
Sibbern's hand.
Little as I had gained by my unsuccessful attempt to win this prize,
and unequivocally as my conversation with the practical Sibbern had
proved to me that a post as master in my mother tongue at a
Grammar-school was all that the Magister degree in Aesthetics was
likely to bring me, whereas from my childhood I had made up my mind
that I would never be a master in a school, this conversation
nevertheless ripened my determination to give up my law studies, but of
course only when by successfully competing for the prize the next year
I had satisfactorily proved my still questionable ability.