THE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY.
(1815-1848.)
When the volunteers of 1813 went to the field, their hope was, at some
time, to live as citizens, with their friends, in the liberated
Fatherland, enjoying the freedom, peace, and happiness, which they had
won. But it is sometimes easier to die for freedom than to live for it.
A few years after victory had been achieved, and Napoleon was prisoner
in his distant rocky island, Schliermacher said in the pulpit to his
parishioners: "It was an error when we hoped to rest in comfort after
the peace. A time is now come, when guiltless and good men are
persecuted, not only for what they do, but also for the views and
projects which are attributed to them. But the brave Christian should
not be faint-hearted, but in spite of danger and persecution remain
true to truth and virtue." And police spies copied these words, and did
not forget to add to their report that such and such persons had been
in the church, or that four bearded students had knelt down at the
altar after the communion, and had prayed fervently.
The intrepid Arndt was watched and removed. Jahn was put into prison,
and many of the leaders of the patriotic movement of 1813 were
persecuted as dangerous men; police officers disturbed the peace of
their homes, and their papers were seized. A special commission
outrageously violated the forms of law, acting with mean hate,
arbitrarily, tyrannically, and perfidiously, like a Spanish
Inquisition.
It is a sorrowful page in German history. Independent characters
withdrew, deeply disgusted with the narrow-minded rule which now began
in most of the States of Germany; common mediocrity again took the
helm. Prussia's foreign policy was dictated from Vienna and St.
Petersburgh, and before long its political influence on the history of
Europe was again less than it had been under the Elector Frederic
William. When the people rose in war against a foreign enemy, they
little thought what the result would be when the independence of
Germany was secured. They themselves brought to the struggle unbounded
devotion, and supposed a similar feeling in all who had to shape the
future, in their princes, and even in the allied powers. To no one
scarcely was it clear how the new Germany was to be arranged. Any
clear-sighted person could perceive, in the first year of the war, that
a remodelling of Germany, which would make a great development of the
power of the nation possible, was not to be hoped for. For it was not
the people, nor the patriotic army of Bluecher that were to decide, but
the dynasties and cabinets of Europe, according to the position of
affairs,--Austria, the new States of the Rhineland, the English,
Hanover, France, Sweden, and above all Russia, each endeavouring to
guard their own interests. The antagonism between Prussia and Austria
had already broken out in the negotiations; the Prussians had by an
immense effort obtained an honourable position in Europe, but neither
in the opinion of nations nor of cabinets were they considered entitled
to the leadership. There was hardly a person not Prussian who ever
thought of excluding Austria from a new confederation; even Prussia
itself did not think of it.
We know, therefore, that the "German question" was even then hopeless,
and we do not regret that the old Empire under its Emperor was not
restored.
But easily as we can now understand how invincible were the
difficulties, to contemporaries the feeling of disappointment was
bitter, and an unprejudiced estimate of their position difficult. Among
the patriots of 1813, a small minority were then full of enthusiastic
sentimentality; they contrasted their poetical ideas of the old
splendour of the German Empire with the bad reality; these
_Deutschthumler_--Teuto-maniacs--as they were called after 1815, had
been without influence in the great movement Jahn's great beard was
seldom admired, and the worthy Karl Mueller found no favour when he
began to banish all foreign words from military language. Now after the
peace these enthusiasts, for the most part not Prussians, collected
together in small communities at the German universities. They sorrowed
and hoped, expressed violent indignation, and gave zealous advice; they
were agreed together that something great must happen, and they were
ready to stake life and property upon it; only, what was to be done was
not clear. Between varying moods and wavering projects they came to no
conclusion. Politically considered this movement was not dangerous,
till the odious persecution of the governments goaded them into hatred
and opposition, and throwing a gloom over the minds of some, led to
fanatical resolves.
It was not the fault of the Prussian government that the hopes of the
nation for a new German State were disappointed. But it had incurred
another debt. The King had promised to give his people a constitution.
If ever a nation had acquired a right to a participation in the
government, it was the Prussian; for it had raised the State from the
deepest depression. If the greatest State in Germany had, by legal
forms, obtained the possibility of a political development of its
power, every sensible Prussian would have been contented. The press and
a parliament would gradually have given the loyal nation a feeling of
prosperity and safe progress, opposing parties would have contended
publicly, and those who demanded more for Germany than could at present
be attained, would have been restrained by Prussia. The character of
the Germans was now freed from the weakness which had pervaded it
through a whole generation. The State also could no longer do without
the participation of the people, if it was not to fall back into the
old state of feebleness, which only a few years before had brought it
to the verge of ruin. Now, when life was impressed with new ideas, when
in hundreds of thousands a passionate interest in the State had sprung
up, the safest support for the throne itself was a constitution. For
the Prussians were no longer a nation without opinions or will, whose
destiny an individual could dispose of by his will.
But the King, however honest he might be, who wished to continue to
govern in the old way through pliant officials, was in danger from this
new condition of the world of becoming the tool of a noxious faction,
or the victim of foreign influence. He required a strong counterpoise
against the preponderating power of Russia, and diplomatic
entanglements with Austria. This he could only find in the strength of
an attached people, who in union with him would deliberate on the
policy and support of his State.
King Frederic William III. never felt the incongruous position in which
he had placed himself, in respect to the necessities of the time, for
his image was closely bound up with the grandest reminiscences of the
people; and the private virtues of his life made him, during a long
reign, an object of reverence to the rising generation. But his
successor was to suffer fearfully from the circumstance that he
himself, his officials, and his people had grown up under a crippled
system of State.
But that the Prussians of 1813 should so quietly have borne their
disappointed hopes, that--whilst already in the States of the Rhenish
Confederation parties were in vehement struggle--the "great State" lay
so lifeless, is to be attributed to other reasons besides loyalty to
the Hohenzollerns. The nation was exhausted to the uttermost by the war
and what had preceded it, and wearied to death. Scarcely had it
strength to cultivate its land. Years passed over before the live stock
could be fully replaced. Cities and village communities, landed
proprietors and peasants were all deeply in debt. The price of landed
properties sank lower than they had been before 1806. It often happened
that noble estates remained without masters for many years, when the
last proprietor had wasted the live stock, and that auctions were often
unattended by solvent bidders. Commerce and industry had been destroyed
by the Continental blockade, for the old outlets for linen, cloth, and
iron, the great branches of Prussian trade, were lost--foreigners had
appropriated them. And capital also was wanting. Intercourse, also,
with the Sclavonian eastern districts, a vital question to the old
provinces, was gradually almost annihilated by the new Russian
commercial system. But a still greater hindrance arose from the waste
of men through the war. The whole youth of the country had been under
arms, a large portion had fallen on the battle-fields, and the
survivors had been torn away from their citizen life. Many remained in
the army: full a third part of the Prussian officers who commanded the
army in the following thirty years consisted of volunteer rifles of
1813. He who returned to his former vocation found himself reduced in
circumstances, and his relatives helpless and impoverished. He was at
last glad to become an unpretending official, and thus to obtain a
livelihood for himself and his family in the exhausted country. The
bloody work of three campaigns, and the habits of soldierly obedience
had not diminished his vigour, but the genial warmth, which enables
youth to look victoriously upon life, had passed away. He began now a
struggle for a respectable home, probably with patience and devotion to
duty, but in the narrow sphere into which he now entered, he could not
but look back to the mighty past which he had gone through. Thus had
the manly energy of the generation been spent. The youths also that
grew up in their families had no longer the advantage of being
influenced by great impressions, enthusiasm, and devotion.
These misfortunes fell heaviest on the old provinces. The new
acquisition demanded for many years great official power and much
government care before it could be moulded into the Prussian
commonwealth.
It is manifest that a free press and a constitution were the best means
of healing these weaknesses more rapidly, and of bringing a feeling of
convalescence and coherence among the people; for warmth and enthusiasm
are as necessary to the life of a nation as the light of heaven is to
plants and dew to the clouds. The further its development advances, the
greater becomes its need of exalted ideas, and of having intellectual
interests in common. When the Reformation first roused the people to an
intellectual struggle, it was as if a miracle had been worked upon
them; their character became stronger, their morality purer, all the
processes of the mind, all human energy had become stronger; and when
the awakened need of a common aim was not satisfied in the State life
of the German Empire, the people became inert and worse. Again, after a
long and sorrowful time, a great Prince had given to at least a part of
the Germans new enthusiasm and an ideal aim. The warm interest in the
fate of their State, which ennobled Frederic's time, and the liberation
of the mind from the tutelage of the State and the Church, had been a
second great progress; and again had this progress required an
answering extension of general interests and a strengthening of
political action. But in the spiritless and powerless rule of the next
generation the popular energies again decayed. The fall of Prussia was
the consequence. Now, for the third time, a great portion of the
Germans had made a new progress, the nation had given its property and
its blood for its State, and it had become a passionate necessity to
care for the Fatherland, and to take a share in its fate; and as this
longing again met with no satisfaction, the people sank back for a time
into weakness. The distractions of the year 1848 were the result.
In almost every domain of ideal life the malady became apparent, even
in philosophy.
Extensive was the domain embraced by German philosophy; new branches of
knowledge had sprung up with surprising rapidity; there was scarce a
bygone people in the most distant regions of the earth whose history,
life, arts, and language were not investigated; above all, the past of
Germany. With hearty warmth was every expression of our popular mind,
of which there remained a trace, laid hold of. A wonderful richness of
life of the olden time was discovered and understood in all its
specialities. Round the German inquirer arose from the earth the
spirits of nations which had once lived; he learnt to comprehend what
was peculiar to each, what was common to all--the action of the human
mind on the highest phenomena of the globe. Equally did the knowledge
of objective nature increase. The history of the creation of the earth,
the organism of everything created, the countless objects invisible to
the naked eye, and the countless things which arise from the
combination of simple substances, became known; and again, beyond the
boundaries of this earth, the life of the solar system, the cosmical
unit, of which the solar world is an infinitesimal speck.
But the endless abundance of new knowledge which was infused by science
into the life of the highly educated was dangerous to the character in
one respect. The German learnt to understand the almost endless
varieties of character of foreign nations; the most dissimilar kinds of
culture became clear to him. Impartially, and with lively interest, did
he enter into the policy of Tiberius, and the enthusiasm of Loyola, the
gradual development of slavery in North America, and the pedantries and
dreams of Robespierre. He was, therefore, in danger, in his considerate
judgment, of forgetting the moral basis of his own life. He who would
identify himself with so many foreign minds, needs not only the
capacity to grasp the minds of others, but still more the power to keep
himself free from the influence exercised over him by foreign
conditions of life. He who would without prejudice estimate the
relative value of a foreign point of view, must first know how to
maintain firmly the moral foundation of his own life. This can only be
effected by making his own will subservient to the duty of co-operating
with his contemporaries, by joining in free associations, by a free
press, and by continuous participation in the greatest political
conceptions of his time. It was because the Prussians, whose capital at
this time was the centre of German philosophy, were deprived of this
regulator, that the cultivated minds of this period acquired a peculiar
weakness of character, which will appear strange to the next
generation.
This weakness of will was indeed no new failing of the educated German.
It was the two hundred years' malady of a people which had no
participation in the State, and, from its natural disposition, was not
carried away by the impulse of passion, but composedly deliberates on
action, and is seldom prevented by vehement excitement from forming a
moderate judgment. But in the first part of our century their old
weakness became particularly striking amidst these rich treasures of
knowledge. Oftener than formerly did the originality of a foreign form
of life produce an overpowerful influence on them. Instead of
withstanding some mighty influence, it might be that of Metternich,
Byron, or Eugene Sue, popery, socialism, or Polish patriotism, being
foreign, they yielded to its prestige, their own judgment being
vacillating and uncertain. Though it was easy for the best amongst them
to talk cleverly upon the most dissimilar subjects, it was difficult
for them to act consistently.
This malady seized almost all the intellectual portion of the people.
The salons became _blase_, authors sensational, statesmen without fixed
purpose, and officials without energy: these were all different forms
of the same disease. It was everywhere destructive, nowhere more than
in Prussia; it gave to this State a specially helpless, nay, even hoary
aspect, that was in striking contrast to the respectable capacity which
was not lost in the smaller circles of the people.
But healing came, by degrees, and again in a circuitous way, sometimes
bounding forwards, and then retrograding; but, on the whole, since
1830, in continual progress.
For, at the same time in which the July revolution again excited,
throughout a wide circle of life, an interest in the State, a new
development of German popular strength began in other spheres,
especially through the industrious labours of countless individuals, in
the workshop and the counter. The Zollverein--the greatest creation of
Frederic William III.--threw down a portion of the barriers which had
divided separate German States; the railroads and the steam-boats
became the metallic conductors of technical culture from one end of the
country to the other. With the development of German manufacturing
activity came new social dangers, and new remedies had to be supplied
by the spontaneous activity of the people. Bit by bit was the narrow
system of government and of characterless officials destroyed; the
nation acquired a feeling of active growth; everywhere there was a
youthful interest in life; everywhere energetic activity in
individuals. A free intelligence developed itself in independent men,
as well as in the official order, together with other forms of culture
and other needs of the people. The labour of the inferior classes
became more valuable; to raise their views and increase their welfare
was no longer a problem for quiet philanthropists, but a necessity for
all, a condition of prosperity even for those highest in position.
Whilst it was complained that the chasm between employers and the
employed became greater, and the domination of capital more oppressive,
great efforts were in fact being made by the zeal of literary men, the
philanthropy of the cultivated, and by the monied classes for their own
advantage, to increase the knowledge of the people and improve their
morals. A comprehensive popular literature began to work, commercial
and agricultural schools were established, and men of different spheres
of interests organised themselves into associations. By example and by
teaching it was endeavoured to raise the independence of the weaker,
and the great principle of association was proclaimed. In the place of
the former isolation, men of similar views worked together in every
domain of earthly activity. It was a grand labour to which the nation
now devoted itself, and it was followed by the greatest and most rapid
change which the Germans have ever effected.
Both the sound egotism of this work and the practical benevolence of
those who interested themselves in the welfare of the labouring
classes, assisted, after the year 1830, in curing the educated of their
irresolution and feebleness of character. The south of Germany now
exercised a wholesome influence on the north. Long had the countries of
the old Empire lived quietly to themselves, receiving more than giving;
they had sent to the north some great poets and men of learning, but
considered them as their special property; they had endeavoured to
protect their native peculiarities against north German influence, and
they were unwillingly, by Napoleon and the Vienna and Paris treaties,
apportioned among the greater princely houses of their country; and now
they supplied what was wanting to the north. The constitutional
struggles of their little States formed a school for a number of
political leaders, warm patriots, and energetic, warm-hearted men,
sometimes with narrow-minded views, but zealous, unwearied, fresh, and
hopeful. The Suabian poets were the first artist minds of Germany which
were strengthened by participation in the politics of their homes, and
the philosophy of southern Germany maintained a patriotic tendency in
contradistinction to the cosmopolitanism of the north. The people were
saved from becoming _blase_, and from subtle formalism and sophistry,
by warmth of heart, vigorous resolution, a solid understanding, which
was little accessible to over-great refinements, and a pleasant
good-humour. In the time from 1830 to 1848 the southern Germans were in
the foreground of German life.
This hearty participation in the life of the people found expression in
the art of the southern Germans. The morbid spirit which prevailed in
the society of the educated, drove the fine arts into the lower circles
of the people. The popular painters endeavoured to represent the
figures and occupations of lower life with humour and spirit; the poets
endeavoured to embellish, with a genial interest, the character and
condition of the countryman: their village tales, and the interest
which they excited in the reading world are always considered as a
symptom of how great was the longing in the educated for quiet comfort
and a well-regulated activity.
A village tale shall be here given, descriptive of the condition of the
people at this period; for the life of the southern German, which is
related, is in many respects characteristic of the fate and inward
changes in the best spirits of the time which has just passed. The
movement which, after the revolution of 1830, vibrated all over Europe,
had excited in him also a lively interest in the national development
of the Fatherland. The debates of the Chambers of his small country
were his first auxiliaries. The struggles which took place there did
not remain without fruit; they relieved agriculture and the peasant
from the burdens which had hitherto oppressed them; they introduced
municipal institutions and public and verbal proceedings, even a law
against the censorship of the press. But the German Diet interposed,
the law of the press was put an end to, and the complaints of the
landed proprietors against the exemption laws found favour with it; and
the Frankfort outrage of the 3rd of April, 1833, produced a re-action.
Then the author left his official position in a fiscal chamber and
devoted his energies to the press. When he was deprived of even this
share in the political destiny of his country, by the malicious
chicanery of a lawless police, he settled for a few years in
Switzerland. All his life it had been a pleasure for him to teach. As a
student, as candidate for the service of the State, he had given
instruction to young men; he was therefore not unprepared for the
office of teacher; which he entered upon in that foreign country. He
relates as follows:--
"On Easter Monday, 1838, in the church at Grenchen, in the canton of
Solothurn, the Roman Catholic community appointed a Protestant and a
German as teacher in the newly-erected district school. The community
had chosen him, and the government had confirmed the choice; I was the
teacher.
"It was a raw spring morning. The monotonous grey of the clouds covered
the sides and summit of the Jura, large snow-flakes fell in thick
drifts, and enveloped the procession that was moving towards the
church. The words addressed by Father Zweili, superior of the
Franciscans, and president of the education council, to those
assembled, would have been suitable to any clergyman. He expressed to
me that I need have no hesitation in speaking to the scholars on
religion; 'it is only necessary for you to abstain from touching on the
few points on which we differ.'
"The Franciscans were learned, industrious men, they lived as
instructors of philosophy, and were therefore in open feud with the
Jesuits. The government found in them, powerful supporters and
co-operators in their exertions for the education of the people; in
this respect everything had to be done, for the patrician rulers who
had been overthrown in 1830 had done nothing. In the first place, they
established preparatory schools, and training colleges for masters, and
provided for the supervision and conduct of school life. The
difficulties that had to be overcome were not trifling, but it was all
accomplished in the course of four years. In the beginning of 1837,
each parish had its school, each school its master and dotation, and
each child suitable instruction; the law punished parents for not
insisting on the regular attendance of their children at school. As
soon as the preparatory schools were arranged, district schools were
added; here there was no compulsion; they were established by the
community, and the attendance of scholars who had left the preparatory
schools, and had the necessary preliminary knowledge, was voluntary;
the State assisted the institution by grants, and maintained a
superintendence. Grenchen was one of the first communities which
determined on providing means for a district school; the government
gave an annual contribution of 800 Swiss franks, about 305 thalers. The
merit of this decision of the community is due above all to the
physician, Dr. Girard, my dear friend. He could make only a small
number of his fellow-citizens understand the utility of the
undertaking, for they had not had the advantage of the instruction
afforded to the present generation, but they trusted the man who had so
often showed his unselfish desire to do good. But the desire of this
people, who are by nature so energetic, to be in advance of other
communities prevailed, and when it became a question whether Grenchen
or Selzach should maintain the new school, the thing was decided; the
institution was to be at that place, whatever it might be. I had great
pleasure in teaching, and the situation secured me a residence which I
cared more for than maintenance which might be obtained by other work.
"The village in which I was now to teach was the largest community in
the canton, with more than 2000 inhabitants, and 400 citizens entitled
to vote, and it was situated among the outlying hills of the Jura.
Towards the south, rich meadows and well cultivated fields, slope down
to the Aar, which hastens with rapid course through the valley to the
Rhine. On the other side of the Aar the ground rises gently up to hilly
Emmenthal, and behind it rises the chain of the Alps. The Urner and
Swiss mountains in the east, the Rigi standing alone in foremost
grandeur; in the centre the Eiger, Moench, and Jungfrau, up to the Savoy
Alps, among which Mont Blanc rises its head majestically. Towards the
west the lakes of Viel, Neufchatel, and Meurten spread their shining
mirrors. It would be difficult to find anywhere a country so lovely,
and at the same time grand, as here presents itself to the eyes.
"The houses of the village are detached and scattered about in groups
for some height up the mountain, almost every one is surrounded by a
garden and meadow, and shaded by fruit-trees; a clear rivulet glides
with many windings through the village. Unwillingly do the thatched
roofs give way to the prescribed tiles. The farming of the inhabitants
comprises fields, meadows, and woods, the herding of cattle, and on the
most valuable properties, mountain pastures, and the making of butter
and cheese. The vine also is cultivated. The Grencheners do not deny
that in common years their wine is sour, they sneer at it in songs and
jests, but yet they drink it, and find it wholesome. They are a
powerful race, of Allemanni origin, the men are mostly slender but
strong, and some of them uncommonly tall. Among the women and maidens
there is frequently that Madonna-like beauty which is often to be found
in Catholic districts. They are cheerful and gifted with humour,
perseveringly industrious, and skilful in adapting themselves to every
position and helping themselves. It is not the custom with them to
close the doors; it is mentioned as an unprecedented circumstance, that
three years ago a watch was stolen in the village. But the locality is
not favourable for thieves; woe to him who allows himself to be caught,
he would not come unscathed into the hands of justice.
"The Grencheners had the repute of untamed lawlessness, which
manifested itself in litigation and a strong inclination to take the
law into their own hands; the knife was frequently used, and blood was
shed. If the result was not mortal all who were concerned in it were
summoned, in order to keep the magistrates away. The injurer and the
injured negotiated, through mediators, as to a suitable
indemnification, and with the conclusion of the treaty the enmity
terminated. Money was not in my time the standard by which men were
valued, but their labour. I value a citizen there, who, having by an
unsuccessful enterprise lost his property, has worked as a street
servant. His fellow-citizens esteem him as much as before, and praise
him because he performs his service right well. For lads who did not
like the labours of peace, foreign service offered them a beaten way,
which was not objected to by the community, because it freed them from
many disturbing elements; however, it brought back many wild fellows
not amended.
"In the year 1790, when the French invaded Switzerland, the cantons
were very disunited; they carried on their struggle against the enemy
singly; the Bernese fought well at Neuenegg and the Vierwaldstaettersee,
but one after another were subdued by superior power. The Grencheners
were bold enough to defend their village against the French invaders;
they went out, some of them armed with halberds and old weapons,
against the enemy, and joined in hand-to-hand combat. The name of
_Jungfer Schuerer_ still lives, in the mouths of the inhabitants, and
they still show the place where she lost her life in the struggle. The
French officer, her opponent, was brought wounded to the hospital at
Solothurn, and is said to have there lamented penitently that he was
obliged to kill a maiden; but he had only the choice of doing this or
falling under her blows.
"The bath lies in a small secluded valley, separated from the village,
a building with a large front, betwixt ponds and pleasure-grounds with
shady groups of trees. Behind it is the spring, a clear iron water. In
summer the bath is visited by guests from Switzerland--Alsacians and
others--who accidentally discover the place and take a fancy to it. In
this century the small valley of marsh and sedge was still the
possession of the community. The father of Girard obtained the land for
a moderate price; built his huts upon it, drained the ground, enclosed
the spring, and arranged the baths--at first in very modest style,
extending the grounds as means increased. Father and mother both
exerted themselves, sons and daughters grew up to assist; one son
studied at German universities, and became a physician. The institution
has to thank him for its rapid prosperity.
"This was the place where I was presented in the church as
schoolmaster, not without the opposition of some pious parties.
"All the powers of resistance were roused to the utmost by the
ultramontane party; publicly by the press, privately by every
possible means. A heretic to be the only teacher in a Roman Catholic
school--that was unheard of! The government, the common council, and I
myself, were overwhelmed with abuse; the ecclesiastics in Grenchen were
severely blamed for having allowed a wolf to break into the fold, and
it was set before them as a duty (not only by the newspapers) to use
their utmost efforts to stifle the devil's brood in the germ.
"The pastor of the place was a stately, fine man,--a favourite of the
ladies, which gave him influence. But he was not fond of controversy;
he loved repose and playing on the violin, and would therefore rather
not have taken a part. As far as his influence went he hindered the
boys from going to school, and never set his foot in it, so that no
religious instruction was given, and the hours appointed for it were
filled up with instruction on other subjects. Personally I was on a
tolerably good footing with him. It would have given him pleasure if I
would have allowed him to baptise my little daughter, who was born two
months before at the Grenchen baths, and he would have taken the
opportunity of making a quiet effort to convert me, by giving me a book
to read, pretending to be written by a Protestant, for the
glorification of the Roman Catholic church. Still less than the pastor
could his chaplain be used as a battering-ram against the school. He
had become a theologian at Wuerzburg, and knew that Leipzig was a nest
of books. He was a good husbandman and rearers of bees, and had about
the same amount of education as the people; they, however, did not
remain stationary. He did not always succeed in preserving his clerical
dignity and avoiding blame from the authorities. He had never felt it
necessary to extend his theological knowledge beyond what was
absolutely necessary, and I was sometimes astonished at the chaos in
his memory; as when, for example, he related how St. Louis had defended
Rome against the Huns. If the conversation fell upon books he never
ceased to praise a narrative of a mission to Otaheite, and I soon
discovered that this volume was very nearly his whole library. In spite
of all this he was a good man, and it will not injure him now if I
relate why I loved him. We were speaking one day of eternal happiness
and the reverse. I told him how impossible I considered it, that the
good God could be so cruel as to burn me eternally in hell. It is the
Lord's fault, not mine, that I was baptised a Calvinist, and had thus
been instructed and confirmed. Our teacher had told us that we were to
love our fellow-creatures, and do good to them; and I endeavoured,
according to the best of my ability, to follow this teaching, and yet I
was to be eternally condemned! This gave the chaplain pain, and he
found a theological answer: 'I hope God will deal with you as with one
of the heathen, of whom it is written, that they will be judged
according to their works.' He was not dangerous to the school.
"If the clerical leaders had been more energetic, the supporters they
could have called forth, from out of the population, to oppose the
school were not to be despised. Besides the women, who for the most
part were attached to the pastor, there were men whom the new rule had
deprived of official position in the community. Respectability and
family connections still gave them importance, and they were led by
their old masters to persuade the more energetic youths that the new
constitution would not give them freedom enough; but, on the contrary,
more burdens, and that they had no reason to be contented with a
condition of things which the new leaders would turn exclusively to
their own advantage. These opponents were dangerous. From one of them I
was in the habit of getting milk for my household; the children fell
sick, and became feverish. Then we learnt that the milk of a sick cow
had been given us, and that the seller boasted of it.
"As the party which had just been vanquished in the field of politics
could not openly make head against the common council and the majority
of the citizens; they endeavoured to influence the parents, and were
pleased when, in the beginning, there were only a dozen scholars--a
small number for a great parish, surrounded by other villages, to whose
sons the district school was open. There was only one means of saving
the school from dissolution, and that was, its success. But a
circumstance occurred to help us, before it could be ascertained that
useful knowledge might be acquired here.
"Grenchen lies on the frontier towards the canton of Berne, about half
an hour's distance from the Berne village of Lengnau. The Calvanistic
common council of Lengnau inquired of their Roman Catholic Solothurner
neighbours whether, and under what conditions, boys from their place
would be allowed to attend the district school. The answer was, that
their sons would be welcome; the instruction would be given
gratuitously, and that the people of Lengnau would only have to take
care that the scholars should be quiet and orderly. Hence there was an
increase of eight or ten boys from Lengnau; in order to preserve quiet,
one of them had been appointed by the mayor as monitor, and was made
answerable for their discipline; they marched in military order two and
two, and returned home in the same way, and there never was the
slightest quarrel between them and the Grencheners. This example worked
upon the neighbouring places of the canton; scholars came from Staad,
Bettlach, and Selzach, and, later, even from the French Jura. One of
them merits special mention. He was a large strong man, two and thirty
years of age (a year older than I), from the parish of Ely, in Friburg,
a distance of two hours behind the Weissenstein, situated in a wild
lonely country of the Bernese Jura mountains, which he had quitted, in
order to work on the new high road between Solothurn and Grenchen. When
he heard of the district school, he altered his determination; he hired
himself as a servant to a peasant for board and lodging, resigning
salary for the privilege of being able to attend the school. His desire
for knowledge and his iron industry helped him to surmount all
difficulties; he afterwards attended the seminary of education at
Buenchenbuchsee (Berne); then returned to his home, where he became
mayor and teacher; in short, all-in-all. Only one thing Xaver Rais did
not become, that was, father of a family; for he always continued his
studies, and, as he confided to me afterwards, preferred buying books
to a wife. The Grencheners reckon him, up to the present day, as one of
them; and even now, when I go to the place, a message is sent to him;
then he puts on his satchel, lays hold of his staff, and goes over the
mountain with long strides.
"The influx of scholars from the neighbourhood did not fail to have an
effect on the opponents in the place; many boys succeeded in overcoming
the resistance of their parents, and had the satisfaction of entering
the institution, which soon numbered between thirty and forty scholars.
In order to regulate the instruction according to the requirements, I
was obliged to alter the prescribed plan. I did it on my own
responsibility, and when at the close of the first year, I reported
this to the government, what I had done was approved, and a wish
expressed that the same course might be pursued in the other district
schools. In the summer I kept school only from six to ten o'clock in
the morning, in order that the boys might be employed in house and
field labour. Besides this, the great work of the hay and corn harvest
was in the holidays. The objects of study I limited in number, but went
more deeply into them; I honestly lamented that the pastor gave no
religious instruction, for the boys came from the preparatory school
very much neglected in this important branch; they had only been
impressed with two points, the indispensableness of the Ecclesiastical
order, and the value of relics; of biblical history they were almost
entirely ignorant. If the pastor did not teach religion, neither did I
teach politics, but left the Fatherland State system to the school of
life. On the other hand, the German and French languages, together with
practice in composition, history, and geography, arithmetic and
geometry, were carried on with great zeal, and it gave me pleasure to
observe how forward boys of natural capacity might be brought in a
short time, when all bombast was abolished, things represented simply,
and each individual suitably assisted in his intellectual work.
"It was my good fortune to have a tolerable number of clever scholars,
and for these I always endeavoured to do more than was prescribed. I
gave them, therefore, at particular hours, instruction in Latin; and I
made use of this to enlarge their views, and to guide and excite their
love of learning. They formed a nucleus which gave the school a firm
position. To them I owe the absence of anxiety about the discipline of
the school, for their earnest orderly characters had an effect on all.
During the three years of my office as teacher, I never had recourse to
punishment; if a boy was idle or untruthful, I used, after admonishing
him to amend, to add the notification, that the other scholars would
bear no bad lads amongst them. It certainly sometimes happened that at
the end of the lesson, in which I had been obliged to give such a
warning, certain sounds which did not mean approbation, would reach my
ears; but I forbore inquiring as to the cause. On account of the
number of scholars, the institution was removed to another place; the
school-room was on the first story immediately over our sitting-room,
and my wife often remarked with astonishment, that though thirty
peasant boys were assembled above, she never heard the least noise; and
that our little children were not disturbed in their morning sleep.
"Before a year had passed, it was discovered in the village that the
school was useful; the boys, especially those of the 'guard,' as they
called my _elite_, were in great request, to read and write German and
French letters, which were necessary for the traffic in the products of
the country; also to examine and draw up accounts, and the like. I
willingly overlooked it when here or there one was an hour late, in
consequence of having performed these neighbourly acts, for this was of
advantage both to them and the school. The people saw us undertaking
the measurement of fields, and trigonometrically determining heights
and distances with instruments made by ourselves. But the strongest
impression was produced, when a boy fifteen years of age begged for
permission to speak before the assembled community for his father. The
father, a worthy man, well deserving of the community, had, by
misfortune, become bankrupt. Ruin impended, if the largest creditor did
not act with consideration, and this creditor was the community itself.
The son appeared before the assembly, and begged for an abatement of
the debt. He described the services, the misfortunes, and the state of
mind of his father; his anxieties about his family, and forlorn future;
and the advantage it would bring to the community itself, if it
preserved to the family its supporter, and to itself a useful citizen.
He spoke with an impressiveness, a warmth and depth of feeling, which
caused tears to roll down the beards of the most austere men. I can
certify that many will say this: and at last the remission of the debt
was passed without a dissenting voice. The boy has now long been a
professor of Natural Science and Doctor of Philosophy. His speech did
even more for the place than the act of another scholar, who knocked
out the brains of a mad dog with his wood axe. This they thought was no
art, for that every one could do; but the young orator! 'This is the
way they learn to speak in the school.' From that time the institution
was firmly established. But I still wanted something more.
"In vain had I begged the government to give an examination. They had
answered that they were acquainted with the progress of the school, and
accorded me their confidence. The second year I urgently repeated my
request, and represented that it would be of use to the school if the
State took notice of it. The examination was granted, and there
appeared at it the magistrate of the district Munzinger, many members
of the council of government, the prior Zweili, different teachers, and
men of distinction from Solothurn. All went off well; the boys felt
themselves raised and encouraged by the signs of satisfaction of the
highest State officials. After the business was over, the members of
the common council and other gentry, with the officials and friends of
the school, assembled at a repast. When the strangers had left, the
inhabitants remained long assembled together; even former opponents had
joined; very willingly would the chaplain have made his appearance if
he had not been afraid of the pastor, and so would the pastor himself
if he had been sure that his superiors would not hear of it. The
glasses continued to pass round till late in the night, and I was not
in a position to let them go by me, so much the less that in the eyes
of these men, he who could not drink with them was considered as a
weakling, and looked upon as incapable of showing any capacity. From
the day of the examination, I could consider the school as having taken
root in the community. The time had passed away when my friends and
acquaintance at Solothurn had declared to me that they would not be
surprised to hear an account of my being killed by the wild
Grencheners.
"I had indeed never been fearful of so unceremonious a proceeding from
the adherents of the 'Black party,' but it was not till now that I was
cheered by a feeling of security. Many small but significant traits
showed me that the people no longer considered me and mine as
strangers, and an approximation was here accomplished which was perhaps
the first for some generations. Before the opening of the institution,
it had been a question of procuring benches and other requisites, and
it was then remarked that these articles should not be supplied by
foreign joiners. A long time afterwards one of these came to me--there
were two brothers--to beg of me to lay a memorial before the
government, stating that they wished to remain at Grenchen, and obtain
the rights of citizens. By a new decree, the mayors were ordered to
examine the papers of settlers, and to send to their own homes all
whose papers were not according to rule. These had no papers, and were
therefore in danger of losing their domicile. On my inquiring how long
they had lived in the place, the man answered, that he and his brother
had been born there, also their father and mother; their grand-parents
had wandered there as young people, and, indeed, not from a foreign
country, or from another canton, but from a Solothurn village, only
four hours from Grenchen, where, however, they would no longer know
anything about them. The community had dealt well with them, giving
them an equal share with the citizens in the communal property, but
they denied them the rights of citizens. The government then signified
to the community, that they had neglected to demand from their sires
the papers, and that the grandchildren must not suffer from it. They
became citizens, but still remained foreign joiners.
"After a year was passed, fortune was favourable to me. The neighbours'
children chose mine as playfellows, and the wives sought intercourse
with mine, whilst many of the men persuaded me to join a union which
was engaged in objects of general utility; it soon attained a great
development, and introduced much improvement into the administration
and economy of the property of the community. I learnt to esteem many
excellent country people; many have passed away in the vigour of
manhood. Her Vogt, justice of the peace, a genuine Allemanni, with a
long thin face and dark hair, adapted by his understanding and
acuteness to be the champion of the rising enlightenment, was killed
not long ago by the fall of a tree which he was felling with an axe.
The common councillor, Schmied Girard, met with an accident in the
flower of manhood, on the occasion of a bonfire, which was lighted on
the Warinfluh, high up on the edge of a rocky precipice, in order to
show the Bernese neighbours sympathy in the celebration of the festival
in honour of their constitution. He pushed a great log with his foot
into the fire, slipped, and fell backwards over the rock into the
abyss. He was an uncompromising opponent of the rotten system in the
State, and had not feared to make known his sympathy for David Strauss,
whose call to Zurich in 1839 had brought about the noted Zurich row,
and to express his conviction that there could be no improvement till
the community could choose their own pastor, and it should only be for
five years. No wonder then that the ultramontane party spoke of his
death in their papers as by the finger of God, for the edification of
the good, and as a warning to the godless. The Grencheners answered the
fleeting curse of the pious press by an enduring inscription on stone.
In the village, by the side of the high road, in a place that every
traveller who goes along the road must remark, there is a simple
memorial stone. The inscription says that it is dedicated to the memory
of the common councillor Girard, who was loved and esteemed by his
fellow citizens, who laboured and met his death in the cause of
liberty, justice, and enlightenment. He was a good neighbour to me, and
a powerful support: my wife gazed at him with astonishment when he took
her Italian iron out of the fire with his bare hand, and placed it in
the iron stand.
"An _esprit de corps_ in a good sense soon arose among the scholars;
they felt themselves a distinguished corporate body. I made expeditions
with them; amongst others, to Neuenberg, where the curiosities of the
town, especially the rich collection of natural history, were shown to
them with praiseworthy willingness. Another time we accepted the
friendly invitation of a teacher at Solothurn to see a series of
physical experiments. To the capital of the country the boys would not
go on foot, but drove, as proud Grencheners, in a carriage decked with
foliage, drawn by stately horses. In the lecture-room their demeanour
was quiet, and they showed attention and intelligence, and they could
see there much that, from want of proper appliances, I could only
describe to them. The school was the focus of their life, the place
where they collected on all great occasions. When one night the
alarm-bell sounded, announcing a fire in the neighbouring village of
Bettlach, they all came unsummoned to me; we put ourselves in order,
and hastened with rapid steps to the spot where the fire was; we formed
a rank to the nearest brook, and received our share in the praise and
parting thanks of the pastor, for, when the fixe was extinguished, the
clergyman delivered a speech of thanks to the neighbours who had come
to help. I became the confidant of the cleverer ones in many features
of their inward development. The boy who had come forward as advocate
for his father was, on his first entrance into the school, so uncurbed
in his overflowing strength, and so untamed by any culture, that,
instead of taking his place in the usual way, he always vaulted over
tables and benches; the wild creature scarcely kept within his clothes.
But very soon all this was changed; Sepp became quiet and serious, and
his whole strength exerted itself in reflection and learning. I
expressed to him my pleasure at the change, and he told me that one
night he had not been able to sleep, and the thought had come into his
head, 'Thou hast hitherto not been a man, but an animal; now, through
the means of the school, thou canst become a man, and must do so.' From
that night he felt himself changed. Another--now an able forest-manager
and geometrician--had surprised me by an almost sudden transition from
slow to quick comprehension and rapid progress. He gave me afterwards
this explanation: 'All at once light broke upon me. You had set us an
equation; I racked my brains with it, but could not find out a
solution. I was in the stable milking the cows: I had taken the paper
with me, laid it beside me on a log, and was looking at it every
moment. Then it passed like lightning through my brain: "thus must thou
do it!" I left the cow and pail, took my paper, ran into the room, and
solved the equation. Since that all my learning has gone on better.'
"The year 1839 had come to an end, and the winter term--the most
tedious time of the school--had begun with an increased number of
scholars. One Sunday some old scholars came to me, and suggested that
the Grencheners had at one period occasionally performed a play. This
old custom had long fallen into disuse; there had been nothing to see
except at the carnival, 'the Doctor of Padua,' Punchinello, and the old
buffoon sports, which had been brought home by mercenaries from the
Italian wars, and established in the villages; but they wished to have
again a great play, and begged me to help them. I desired to have time
to think, and made inquiries of the old people, particularly of old
Hans Fik, who, at least forty years before had co-operated as a youth,
and, as he acknowledged to me with shame, had acted the part of the
'Mother of God.' From him I learnt that the last dramatic performance
had been the 'St. Genevieve.' He doubted whether this younger
generation could accomplish anything similar, for such a splendid
paraphernalia, with many horses, such tremendous jumps clear over the
horses, could no longer be seen in the present day. The _role_ of the
count had been particularly fatiguing; one man had not sufficed for it;
they had, therefore, had three counts, who, by turns, exercised their
gymnastic art. Upon my asking whether there had not been speaking also,
and whether he could not remember some passage which he could recite
before me, the old man began to declaim, one tone and a half above his
natural voice, singing and scanning with a monotonous abrupt rhythm and
cadence. Undoubtedly this mode of delivery was a tradition from ancient
times, and the speaking in these representations was an accessory only,
while the jumping, wrestling, and gymnastics were the main point. From
the productions of modern art which were at my command, I chose a
native tragedy, 'Hans Waldmann Buergermeister von Zuerich,' by
Wurstemberger of Berne. The hero, a leader in the Burgundian war,
exerted himself to destroy the rule of the nobles in his native city,
and to introduce reforms in accordance with the spirit of the age. Many
of these innovations were displeasing to the citizens. The 'man of the
people' became unpopular, a conspiracy of nobles upset him, and he was
executed. The piece was not deficient in the necessary action; single
combats, popular insurrection, fighting, and prison scenes gave spice
to the dish; and longer dialogues were struck out. When my time for
consideration had passed, the scholars made their appearance with
military punctuality, and undertook with acclamation to perform the
piece I had chosen.
"The young men set actively to work, and showed that innate disposition
to self-government which had been developed by education and
practice. Those who took part in it--the elder and fifth-class
scholars--assembled at the national school, formed a union, and
constituted it by the election of a president, a treasurer, and a
secretary. They immediately proceeded to the distribution of parts.
This took place as follows:--The president inquired of those assembled,
'Who will act the part of Hans Waldmann?' Three or four candidates
rise, each brings forward his claims--height, a powerful voice, or
school education; then they retire, and the discussion begins. Each
candidate has his adherents and opponents. The discussion is closed,
and a nearly unanimous majority allots the principal _role_ to the
teacher, Tschui. Thus it went on with all the parts in succession, and
the remainder of the general body agreed together as to their
distribution as soldiers, peasants, and peasant women from Lake Zurich.
The final vote put an end to all contention; there was not the least
murmuring against the decision of the majority. I had been present at
the meeting without saying a word; for, willing as the boys always were
to listen to my advice--nay, even to look to my countenance for the
expression of a wish,--yet it would have been annoying to them if I had
obtruded myself upon them on the occasion of this performance. The
distribution of parts gave perfect satisfaction; if I had undertaken
it, it could not have turned out better,--probably not so well.
Immediately after, a number of the elder lads, between twenty and
thirty years of age, asked me to allow them to assist by acting the
part of soldiers; they represented that there were some wild fellows
among the actors, and there might be some ill-conducted lads among the
spectators who would behave mischievously, and it would be well if they
were at hand to keep order. Their desire was willingly complied with,
and the appearance of these stout youths may have contributed to make
their service unnecessary.
"After the parts had been written out and learnt by heart, the
rehearsals began, and continued during the whole winter. Most of the
actors could only be brought to a certain point of proficiency, and
there they remained; but some, especially the actor of the first part,
richly repaid the trouble taken with him, and won, both at the
performance and afterwards, the highest praise. But what delighted me
most was to observe the moral effect of this dramatic industry of the
young people on the life of the village. The common councillors
related, with joyful surprise--what had been unheard of in the memory
of man--that this winter there had been no fighting, nor the least
ill-behaviour. The lads no longer sat in the taverns, drinking; they
practised their parts at home, neighbours and acquaintances listening
to them. Although women were excluded from the stage, the young ladies
and peasant women being represented by the boys; yet the women and
maidens were called upon to co-operate in other ways.
"For many things were to be procured for the theatre--decorations,
costumes, and orchestra. The newly-built wing of the bath-house was
chosen for the theatre; this wing contained the dining-room and the
adjoining dancing-room; the first, a long room, the other somewhat
smaller and a square; there was an opening in the wall from one room to
the other, in the form of an arch. The dancing-room was to be the
stage, and before the arch hung a curtain: the dining-room was for the
spectators. A platform and benches gave more than a thousand seats, and
a gallery attached to the wall opposite to the curtain served as boxes.
The plan of the stage arrangements was devised by a genuine artist, the
painter Disteli, of Solothurn, known by his pictures of Swiss battles;
the union took charge of the execution of it. It begged the common
council to signify what trees might be cut to supply the necessary
timber; crowds went out; the trees fell under the strokes of the axe;
the lads harnessed themselves to them, putting on the tinkling-bells of
the sledge-horses, and exultingly dragged the stems down the steep
hill-path to the saw-mill. Then came the carpenters of the village,
assisted by a sufficient number of men; in a short time the theatre
was ready. The decorations were much aided by the misfortune of a
play-manager, who, with his company, had for a long time been giving
representations in a neighbouring city, but then had been obliged, by
the pressure, not of the public, but of creditors, to go away, leaving
behind him the whole of his theatrical properties. The scenery,
therefore, was in the custody of the city, and the theatrical union
succeeded in hiring, for a moderate sum, what was necessary--a room, a
street, a wood, and even a dark prison. The costumes were designed by
the painter Disteli; he coloured not only the particular dresses
faithfully, according to the attire of the time and place, but
contrived how it might be most cheaply carried out, by using the
articles of dress that were at hand,--the aprons, bodices, shawls, and
cloaks of the women. Whilst the village tailor worked, with an
additional journeyman, incessantly at the costumes which required a
higher degree of dexterity, the maidens occupied themselves for weeks
with the smart dresses of the noble ladies, and the simple, picturesque
attire of the women of the people; and many heroes owed to the taste
and skill of a sister or a future bride the plumed cap and mantle which
made him an object of admiration. If the dress, even less than the
wearers, left little to desire, so did the equipment of the soldiers
give a peculiar excellence to this performance; for the union addressed
a petition to the government of the Canton, to allow them the use of
the equipments and arms from the Burgundian war that were in the
armoury at Solothurn, of helmets, armour, armlets, greaves, swords,
spears, and halberds; and safe securities were offered for the careful
return of them, with compensation for any damage. The government not
only granted the request, but their most intelligent members helped
both by word and deed, and delighted the troops with an old culverin
and the coal-black equipments of the Burgundian gunners of the end of
the fifteenth century.
"When February was so far advanced that the days of performance could
be settled,--it was to be on at least three following Sundays, in order
to repay in some measure the great preparations,--I pointed out to the
president of the union, after a general rehearsal, that it would be
well to have some playbills printed. 'Playbills!' said the president,
'there can be no harm in that, the people will then know who they have
before them.' It so happened that the actors had thought of having a
strip of paper attached to the head-dress of each, on which the public
could read in large characters the name of the person. This mistake
induced me to add upon the bills, to the usual contents, a short
summary of the scenes in each act. The union sent their messengers, and
I doubt whether there were any town or village within five leagues
where the bills were not carried. What conduced to all this zeal in the
preparations, was not only the pleasure of showing themselves before so
many men, but also the calculation, that only a numerous attendance
would bring up the entrance money to balance the expenditure, and give
a chance of an overplus, which would be at the disposal of the union.
"Again the actors came and begged to have a procession, 'such as there
used to be formerly, in which we ride, the soldiers march, and women
and others drive in smart carriages.' Those, therefore, who assisted in
the village, were to assemble and move in regular procession to the
baths, distant about a quarter of an hour. But the youths who had gone
through numerous rehearsals, in order to attain the heights of the art,
wished now to have a rehearsal of their procession, and to put on their
equipments and beautiful dresses; I left it to them to do as they
pleased. I learnt too late that to this innocent pleasure was added
also a plan of revenge. It had come to the ears of the union, that the
clergy of the place were not favourable to what the worldly authorities
were so well disposed. The pastor had made a report at Solothurn,
against the godless intention of performing a worldly piece on a
Sunday, and the Bishop and Chapter pressed the government to prevent
such misconduct. This made the young men very indignant. One Sunday
afternoon, when the church bells sounded for the catechisings, the
dissonance of a drum mingled with their solemn sound. It was the
parochial servant, who had become old as a drummer in foreign service;
he was a master of his instrument, and on this occasion was not in the
service of the council, but of the actors for the rehearsal of the
procession. The great strength with which the veteran played in the
closest vicinity to the church, and the pleased twinkle of his eye,
betrayed that he had lost at Rome and Naples all respect for
ecclesiastics, and had particular pleasure in vexing the priests. He
had before this avowed to me that he did not believe all Calvinists
would burn in hell; he had told his pastor at confession that he had
always been good friends with his Bernese comrades, and that he felt
assured the good God would not cast away such brave fellows into the
jaws of the devil; when in consequence of this, the pastor had refused
him absolution, he had gone away saying: 'Good Mr. Pastor, henceforth I
throw all my sins on your back.' So he marched round the house of God,
overpowering the voice of the preacher, and causing the young people to
run out of the church to see the procession. The clergy had good reason
to complain, as people had been disturbed in their devotions. Soon
there appeared an order from the government for the affair to be
investigated; there was some difficulty in bringing it to a
satisfactory conclusion, but the union promised never again to disturb
the worship of God, and the ecclesiastics dropped their opposition to
the performance.
"At last the great day for the first performance came. It was Sunday,
the 15th of March, 1840. At mid-day the village was all astir; about
two o'clock the procession was arranged, and began its march along the
old high road which led from the village to the baths. The ground was
still covered with snow, but the sun shone bright. First came a
carriage with a brass band from Fulder, which was travelling in western
Switzerland; this band played a solemn march. Then the knights with
mounted retainers, two and two, in brilliant Burgundian armour, as many
as forty horse; then again carriages adorned with fir-branches and
ribbons, occupied by the wives and daughters of the nobles and people,
and with insurgent peasants, the infantry with their gun brought up the
rear. It was not a bad picture of the old time, the weapons shone in
the sunshine, and the figures rose, sharply defined, from the dazzling
snow.
"The performance began about three o'clock, and lasted four hours. The
success exceeded all expectation; the house was filled, and the
applause loud. I experienced painful moments behind the scenes, as for
instance when the fighting heroes, in spite of all admonitions, would
strike at each other with their long sharp swords, so that the sparks
flew, and I was obliged to be contented that only a few drops of blood
flowed from a slight wound in the hand. The play was followed by a
supper to all who had cooperated, and the gentry of the village, and
lastly a dance. The knights danced in their armour till midnight,
having put it on about mid-day. I concluded, therefore, that this race
had not degenerated in bodily strength from their forefathers, who
fought at Murten and Granson.
"The two following representations went off as fortunately as the
first. The population streamed in from far and near, also travellers
from Basle, Zuerich, and other cities. Since that one-and-twenty years
have passed; in the new school buildings there is a theatre, in which
the scholars perform small pieces; but the worthy men still look back
with pride to the great performances of their youth.
"One consequence of this play was, that the master became a part of the
joyous recollections of the Swiss villages. The house which the
community had hired for the institution, and the dwelling of the
master, a provisional locality, stood with its front to the old
high road; behind lay the little garden, at the back of which was a
meadow belonging to the house which pastured two goats, and on which
fruit-trees were planted. My abode was on the ground-floor; on the
first storey, to which there was a narrow steep staircase, was the
school-room and a reception-room. In summer acquaintances from the
neighbourhood came frequently, and relations from home visited us,
delighting in the country and in the well-disposed people. The
holiday-time was gladly made use of for expeditions among the
mountains. The close intercourse with the men of the village was also
beneficial to the school, of which the wants were amply supplied.
Without any application, the common councillor let me know, that the
allowed quantity of wood appeared to him too small; but I need not mind
that, as I had only to state how much I wanted, and I should have
enough given me. The scholars were eager to show attentions to my
little ones, and to render voluntary services for our little household
and farm. They took care of the garden, mowed the grass, and made the
hay; I received from them the earliest strawberries and cherries, and
when the rivulet was fished, the most beautiful trout. Since the
examination, their zeal for learning had increased. The German and
French compositions of the clever ones were very creditable; they
solved equations of the second degree with facility, could explain the
workmanship of a watch, a mill, and a steam-engine, and also the laws
of their working; besides this, they could read Cornelius Nepos and
Caesar. Instruction in the history of their Fatherland was throughout
Switzerland carefully attended to, but only the brilliant parts of it.
Every child knew about the battles of Morgarten, Sempach, and Murten;
but the submissiveness of their rulers, the French pensions and
decorations were generally passed over in silence. It appeared to me
more judicious not to give the light without the shadows.
"I did not consider my duty towards those scholars whose inclination to
learn was just aroused as ending with the certificate of dismissal. I
wished to carry them on farther, up to the Canton school at Solothurn,
which, besides a literary, had a technical class. With this object, it
was necessary to provide for their maintenance, for they were,
generally speaking, the sons of poor parents; those who were conscious
that they would one day possess fields, meadows, and cattle, seldom
felt the impulse to acquire more than the necessary knowledge. Before
the close of the second year's course, two scholars showed themselves
fit for the Canton school. I went to Solothurn, and spoke to the
Landammann Munzinger and to the Councillor of the Board of Education,
Dr. F. Both were worthy men, who provided for the boys in a great
measure out of their own income. Soon I brought them a second, then a
third couple. For these also, the necessary maintenance was found,
especially as all who had entered had shown themselves worthy. But Dr.
F. remarked to me, that he did not see the possibility of providing
maintenance for any more, and as the parish was wealthy, they could do
it themselves. I replied that this, without doubt, would be the case,
as soon as the use of the school and of the further education of clever
youths was demonstrated to the citizens by examples. Till then the
government must provide that such witnesses should be forthcoming. A
somewhat cold and dry answer sent the blood to my head: 'If you do not
do all that is possible to promote the knowledge and education of the
people, you may descend from your seats and let the patricians resume
them, for they understand how to govern better than you!' 'Then I must
find maintenance for the next scholars that are to be advanced to the
higher school;' I advised them to apply to the Capuchins at Solothurn,
as these are bound by their rules to give lodging and board to poor
students. They had no occasion to repent of it.
"They were a jolly set in the monastery; the civil war in Spain had
divided them into two parties, Carlists and Christinos, who mutually
wrote satirical verses against each other. The severest satirist, a
young Neuer, was the leader among the Christino writers, against whose
satirical verses the leader of the Carlists could not make head; he was
an old man of family, who long had guarded the holy chair, and only
lately exchanged the papal uniform for the cowl. This domestic dispute
was, however, kept strictly within the cloister walls, for outside of
them the Fathers were good brothers, and everywhere popular. They lived
among the people, shared in their pleasures, and comforted the unhappy;
they knew every family, and more especially frequented those houses
where the women made the best coffee. The favourite saying of the
Carlist chief was, 'There is nothing beyond good coffee and making the
soul happy.' Every spring two Fathers came to Grenchen, and the young
men collected behind them as behind the rat-catcher from Hameln; the
first cried out, 'Ho, ho! go and pick up snails!' This call drew all
the boys from the houses into the wood. The rich booty gave a delicious
dish to the monastery. The young collectors were repaid with holy
pictures.
"The news that I had sent two boys to the Capuchins, soon reached the
Landammann Munzinger, and at my next visit he asked me, 'Whether I did
not know that they instilled principles into the boys, which were
different from ours?'--'That I know well,' I answered, 'but I know
still more; first, that scholars must live if they would learn; then
that boys who have been two years with me, are so perverted, that no
Capuchin can do them any good,'--'Then I am content,' said Herr
Munzinger.
"I cannot part from this excellent man without consecrating a few words
to his memory. He was a tradesman, and had a public shop at Solothurn.
He had a philosophical education, was musical, and a man of genuine
benevolence. Unselfish, of agreeable appearance and manners, he was
inexorable when it was a question of the public weal; he was an
opponent of the rule of the old patricians who made use of their power
at home and their diplomatic service for their own advantage, and had
no feeling for the interests of the people. In the year 1830, Munzinger
was at the head of the movement, and the line he took at the popular
meeting at Balsthal, on the 5th December, decided the fall of the
Patrician government in the Canton of Solothurn. In the construction of
the new constitution and laws, in the organisation of the
administration, and in his co-operation in their labours for the
exemption of the land from burdens, for the establishment of schools,
for the formation of roads, for the advancement of agriculture, and the
administration of justice, he showed himself wonderfully gifted as a
statesman. Though the State only consisted of a few square miles, with
some sixty thousand inhabitants, yet the difficulties of constituting
it were not less than in a larger State. The old rulers and their
adherents, supported by the clergy, made use of the free press, the
right of assembly, and their rich ecclesiastical and worldly means, to
irritate the people against the new order of things. There was no want
of handles to lay hold of, as arrangements for good objects require
means, and thus some burdens must be imposed. Thus, for example, the
community was bound by a law to erect schools, and further, to endow
them with land; where there was no communal property, land had to be
bought. Many villages opposed this, but their resistance was forcibly
overcome. Later, the chief magistrates thanked the Landammann for
having put force upon them for their good. In a different way did the
government maintain itself against refractory ecclesiastics. No
compulsion was put on them, but care was taken that the peace of
families should not be disturbed by their insubordination. The
government chose as Chapter-Provost a liberal-thinking ecclesiastic;
Rome refused to confirm him; the situation remained unoccupied, and the
income went to the school-fund. The clergy refused to solemnise mixed
marriages, or to baptise the children; thus such couples had to seek
for marriage and baptism elsewhere; but the officials of the district
took care that they were entered in the registers. How well Munzinger
understood republican freedom may be learnt from an example. The parish
of Grenchen possessed extensive woodlands, the property of which was
divided between them and the State. The parish had the right to supply
themselves with wood, the remainder of the produce went to the State, a
condition of things which was evidently not favourable to the
cultivation of timber. The government proposed, therefore, that the
wood should be divided in proportion to the rights of both sides, and
to ascertain this more precisely, sent a commission to Grenchen. The
peasants, accustomed from ancient times to be over-reached by the
government, were suspicious of being defrauded, and drove the
commissioners out of the village. Next morning the landjaeger of
Solothurn took the most considerable of the country people into
custody, and carried them to prison at Solothurn. This had not passed
without some heart-breaking scenes; women had been alarmed, the
children cried, and the whole village was filled with lamentation and
anger.
"From the feeling excited by these circumstances, I went soon after to
the Landammann, and lamented the harshness of the proceeding. The men
should have been summoned, none of them would have failed to appear,
they were not such as would have evaded it. 'Yes,' said Munzinger, 'I,
alas, was not here.'--'I thought so,' replied I, 'the affair in that
case would have been managed differently.'--'Undoubtedly,' exclaimed
the Landammann, colouring, 'I should have sent out the military and
occupied the village, the seizure would still have taken place.' I
could not conceal my astonishment at this outburst of anger. 'Yes,'
continued Munzinger, 'you, with your monarchical notions, can be
cautious and indulgent; there are always gendarmes and soldiers enough
at hand to step in if necessary. We have not these means; the people
have a great degree of freedom, but we cannot allow that in one single
case even a hair's-breadth should be over-stepped.' A true and manly
word.
"The Landammann had the welfare of the Confederation as much at heart
as that of the Canton, and as the people at home submitted to his
discipline because they recognised that it was for their good, so also
his guidance was followed in the affairs of the Confederation. In the
Sonderbund war, Solothurn, although Catholic, was on the side of the
Diet; its artillery distinguished itself in action, and left many
valiant men on the field of battle. Munzinger joined in forming the new
constitution; he was elected to the Diet, and by this into the
Executive Council. Switzerland honoured one of their best citizens in
choosing him as President of the Bund, and he dedicated to his
Fatherland, from which he was too early torn away, all his powers up to
the last hours of his life.
"The year 1840 introduced into Switzerland and Germany the alarm of
French invasion; General Aymar had marched from Lyons, and the forces
of the Confederacy met him on their frontier. The Solothurn Battalion,
Disteli, which was marching through Grenchen, was refreshed by the
inhabitants with food and drink, and animated by the cry 'Thrash them
soundly,' 'Fear nothing!' The storm was allayed, as Louis Napoleon
withdrew of his own accord from Switzerland to save them from war with
France. The clouds of war over Germany disappeared also, but they left
behind a lasting uneasiness in the mind of the people, which was the
beginning of a succession of years of political excitement. At this
period I was recalled to Germany by the persuasions of friends and
feelings of duty, but it cost me a long inward struggle.
"Our departure was to take place at Christmas; it was very painful for
us to take leave. I shortened as much as possible my separation from
the scholars. I gave to each of them a book, said farewell, and
hastened from them. A young man who had not been at the school, but had
acted as a soldier in 'Hans Waldmann,' inquired from what coachman at
Solothurn I should hire my carriage. I told him the man. The following
day he returned to me, and informed me that he had engaged himself as
servant to this liveryman, and had asked low wages that he might be
allowed to drive us to Germany, for he wished to take care that we were
as well attended to as in Grenchen.
"It was a cold, dark winter morning when we drove from the inn in which
we had passed the last night. Great was our surprise, when, at that
early hour and in the bitter cold, we saw the whole population, men,
women, and children, thronging before the house and along the high
road. They wished once more to press our hands, they said farewell, and
many other things; 'It is wrong of you to leave us,' 'You must come
back again,' 'You shall have the freedom of the city.' They raised
their children up aloft, 'Look at him yet again, look at him yet once
more!' The whip cracked, and the carriage drove away."
Here we end the narrative of the former schoolmaster of Grenchen.
More than twenty years have passed since the German teacher departed
from the Swiss village. He had been a strong and moderate leader in the
political struggles of Germany, he had clearly seen where the greatest
danger threatened, and his name was often mentioned with warm
veneration, or with bitter hatred. When years of weak reaction came, he
went to the north of Germany, and again lived in the active performance
of his duties as a citizen. Then the faithful companion of his life
fell sick, and the physicians advised a long residence in pure mountain
air; they determined to go to the village around which hovered so many
delightful reminiscences of past times.
The village had changed its aspect; people no longer travelled by the
high-roads but on the railway to Grenchen, manufactures had been
introduced, watch-making and inlaid work, and the manufacture of
cement, and other branches are increasingly developed. But the
travellers found the old feeling, not only among the old men, but also
through tradition among the younger ones. On the Sunday after their
arrival, a long procession moved in the evening from the village to the
baths. Foremost were the military bands of two battalions, which were
formed of Grencheners under the direction of the new district-master,
then the bearers of coloured lanterns, which were a large portion of
the population. The multitude arranged themselves before the balcony
of the house in which "Hans Waldmann" had been performed. Great
chafing-dishes threw a red light over the ponds, jutting fountains and
the pleasure grounds of the baths, whilst rockets ascended and lighted
up at intervals the dark background, the mountains of the Jura. The
guests had to place themselves on the balcony. The music ceased, and a
former scholar, now a physician in Grenchen, stepped from out of the
ranks. He commenced his greeting by calling to mind, that on the
day of their arrival, there had been a great eclipse of the sun;
two-and-twenty years before, their guests had entered among them at a
period of intellectual darkness, they had helped to make light
victorious; he concluded with the assurance that Grenchen would always
consider the two strangers as belonging to them. When later the people
of the village joyfully thronged round the friends, the parents pointed
to a race of young giants that had meanwhile grown up amongst them,
saying, "See these are the little ones who used to play with your
children, and could not then go to your school." The German had by his
side his eldest scholar, Xaver Reis, who had again come to him, over
the mountain.
The district school has now three masters and ample funds. The new
school-house rises on a height in front of the church, and is a
conspicuous object to the surrounding country. The school has trained
its own advocates and supporters.
The Master who gives this narrative is Karl Mathy, the State councillor
of Baden, in the year 1848 a member of the Imperial ministry, one of
the best and strongest champions of the Prussian party.
These pictures began with a description of peasant life at an earlier
period, it concludes with a true village story of the latest bygone
times. It is a Swiss village of German race, to which the reader has
been introduced. Many of its circumstances, the worth and energy of the
inhabitants, and their self-government, recall to us a lively
recollection of a German time which is removed from us by many
centuries. Betwixt the Alps and the Jura also did misrule long retard
the culture of the country people, but its pressure was harmless in
comparison with the fate of the German nation: its bondage, and the
Thirty Years' War.
It was one of the objects of these pages to represent the elevation of
the German popular mind, from the devastation of that war, and from the
tyrannical rule of the privileged classes. Deliverance has come to the
Germans, but they have not recovered their old strength in every sphere
of life. But we have a right to hope; for we live in the midst of manly
efforts to remove the old wall of partition that still exists between
the people and the educated, and to extend, not only to the peasant,
but also to the prince, and to the man of family, the blessing of a
liberal education.
CONCLUSION.
Amidst the noise and confusion of the year 1848, the German people
began a struggle for a new political constitution of the Fatherland. We
must look upon the Frankfort parliament as a characteristic phase of
our life, not as the result, but as the beginning of a noble struggle,
as a grand dialectic process in which the needs of the nation, and the
longing for a political idea, passed on to will and decision. What in
1815 had been only the unimportant fancy of individuals, had become a
formalised demand of the people, around which the minds of men have
been tossed in ascending and descending waves.
Since the year 1840 the longing for political life has obtained
expression in Prussia. There has arisen family discord between the
Hohenzollern and their people, apparently insignificant, but from it
has sprung the constitutional life of Prussia, the beginning of a new
formation of the State, a progress for prince and people. Again it
becomes manifest that it is not always great times and great characters
which produce the most important progress.
But how does it happen that the favourites of their people, the Royal
race on which the hopes and future of Germany depend--that the
Hohenzollerns regard so hesitatingly and distrustfully the new position
which the constitution of their State and the Union party of Germany
offers to them? No royal race has gained their State so completely by
the sword as they have. Their ancestors have grandly nurtured the
people; their ancestors have created the State; their greatness, and
their renown in war originated in the time of the fulness of royal
power. Thus they naturally feel as a loss what we consider as a gain
and an elevation.
The whole political contest of the present day, the struggle against
privileges, the constitutional question, and the German question, are
all in reality only Prussian questions; and the great difficulty of
their solution lies in the position which the Royal house of Prussia
have taken up in regard to them. Whenever the Hohenzollerns shall enter
warmly and willingly into the needs of the time, their State will
attain to its long wanted strength and soundness. From this they will
obtain almost without trouble, as if it came of itself, the conduct of
German interests, the first lead in German life. This is known to
friends and enemies.
We faithfully remember how much we owe to them, and we know well that
the final foundation of our connection with them is indestructible,
even though they may be angry because we are too bold in our demands,
or we may grumble because they are too dilatory in granting them. For
there is an old and hearty friendship betwixt them and the spirit of
the German nation, and it is a manly friendship which may well bear
some rubs. But the German citizen feels with pride, that he values the
honour and greatness of their position, and the honour and happiness of
the Fatherland, no less than themselves.
The German citizen is in the fortunate position of regarding the old
dynasties with warm sympathy. They have grown up with his fondest
reminiscences, a large number of them have become good and trustworthy,
fellow-workers in the State and in science, and promote the education
of the people. He will be indulgent when he sees individuals among them
still prejudiced in their judgment by feeble adherence to the old
traditions of their order; he will smile when they turn a longing look
on the times that are gone, when their privileges were numerous and
undisputed; and he will perhaps investigate, with more acuteness and
learning than themselves, wherever, in the past of their race, real
capacity and common sense has appeared. But he will be the inexorable
opponent of all those political and social privileges by which they lay
claim to a separate position among the people, not because he envies
these things, or wishes to put himself in their place, but because he
sees with regret that their impartiality of judgment, and sometimes
their firmness of character are diminished by it, and because, through
some of these obsolete traditions, like their court privileges, our
Princes are in danger of falling into the narrowmindedness of German
Junkers.
In the two centuries from 1648 to 1848, the wonderful restoration of
the German nation was accomplished. After an unexampled destruction,
its character rose again in faith, science, and political enthusiasm.
It is now engaged in energetic endeavours to form for itself the
highest of earthly possessions,--a State.
It is a great pleasure to live in such a time. A hearty warmth, and a
feeling of youthful vigour fill hundreds of thousands. It has become a
pleasure to be a German; and before long it may be considered by
foreign nations also to be a high honour.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: At the time of Frederic II. it varied in amount; a large
property had to supply a whole horse (there were half and quarter horse
imposts), or pay 18 to 24 thalers; in the Electorate it amounted to the
high sum of 40 thalers.]
[Footnote 2: The strength of the militia under Frederic I. was,
according to Fassmann, i. p. 720, up to 60,000.]
[Footnote 3: The system of allotting to each regiment its recruiting
district.]
[Footnote 4: Fassmann, "Life of Frederic William I.;" and Von Loen,
"The Soldier Depicted."]
[Footnote 5: V. Loen, "Der Soldat," p. 312.]
[Footnote 6: G. V. Griesheim, "Die Taktik," p. 75; v. Liebenrothe,
"Fragmente," p. 29.]
[Footnote 7: Small smoking society, consisting of the King and his
intimates.--_Tr_.]
[Footnote 8: It was not the bad combination of colours, the blue and
yellow velvet housings, that incensed the dying king--those were the
colours of his body-guard--but he wished to see those of the Dessauer
on him--blue, red, and white.]
[Footnote 9: Lafontaine's "Life of Gruber," p. 126.]
[Footnote 10: "The Poor Man in Tockenburg," published by Fussli.
Zurich: 1789 and 1792. Afterwards by G. Buelow, Leipzig, 1852.]
[Footnote 11: Elector Frederic William inherited 1451 square miles,
with, perhaps, 700,000 inhabitants, most of it in Ordensland,[A]
Prussia, which was less devastated by the war.
Square Miles. Inhabitants.
In the year 1688, the Elector left 2034, with about 1,800,000.
" 1713, King Frederic I. 2090, " 1,700,000.
" 1740, King Frederic Wm. I. 2201, " 2,240,000.
" 1786, King Frederic II. 3490, " 6,000,000.
" 1805, King Frederic II. 6563, " 9,800,000.
(Before the exchange of Hanover.)
" 1807, remain 2877, " 5,000,000.
" 1817, were 5015, " 10,600,000.
" 1830, were 13,000,000 inhabitants; but in 1861, 18,000,000.
[A] Ordensland, the country that once belonged to the Teutonic
Knights.]
[Footnote 12: "Journal de Seckendorf," 2nd Jan., 1738.]
[Footnote 13: [Oe]uvres, t. xvii., nr. 140, p. 213.]
[Footnote 14: _Ib._, t. xviii., nr. 10.]
[Footnote 15: Portions of his historical works appear under special
titles with many introductions. "The Memoirs of the House of
Brandenburg" (begun 1746), the greatest part of it unimportant and
compiled; "History of My Time" (written 1746-75), his masterpiece; then
the great history of "The Seven Years' War" (ended 1764); finally,
"Memoirs after the Hubertsburger Peace" (written 1775-79). They form,
in spite of inequalities, a connected whole.]
[Footnote 16: V. Templehoff, "Siebenjaehriger Krieg," i. p. 282.]
[Footnote 17: Sulzer to Gleim: "Briefe der Schweizer von Koerte," p.
354.]
[Footnote 18: He had in 1759, a year before he wrote the foregoing
words to the Marquis d'Argen, published through this friend, his
treatise, "Reflections sur les Talons militaires et sur le Caractere de
Charles XII. Roi de Suede," one of the most remarkable works of the
King. His view of the faults of Charles XII. was sharpened by the
personal experience which he had himself made in the lost battles of
the last year, and, whilst he judges respect fully the unfortunate
conqueror, he at the same time claims for himself higher credit for his
own moderate policy. The work is, therefore, not only a very
characteristic record of his wise moderation, but also a memorial of
quiet self-enfranchisement and of great inward progress.]
[Footnote 19: [Oe]uvres, xxvii. 1, nr. 328, from 17 Sept.]
[Footnote 20: In the year 1740, 1,100,000; in 1756, 1,300,000; in 1763,
the number had sunk to 1,150,000; in 1779, there were 1,500,000; it was
supposed then that the country could maintain 2,300,000 more. It
numbers now 3,000,000.]
[Footnote 21: New Prussia, "Provinzial Blaetter," Jahrg. vi., 1854, nr.
4, p. 259.]
[Footnote 22: V. Held, "Gepriesenes Preussen," p. 41; Roscius,
Westpreussen, p. 21.]
[Footnote 23: When, in 1815, the present province of Posen was returned
to Prussia, the wolves there also were the plague of the country.
According to a statement in the Posen "Provinzial Blaetter," in the
district of Posen, from 1st Sept. 1815, to the end of February, 1816,
forty-one wolves were slain; and still in the year 1819, in the
district of Wongrowitz, sixteen children and three grown-up persons
were devoured by wolves.]
[Footnote 24: From manuscript records of the year 1790.]
[Footnote 25: The complaints are very frequent. Compare v. Liebenrothe
Fragm. p. 59.]
[Footnote 26: Much, that is interesting concerning the social condition
of the North of Germany after 1790 is to be found in "Der
Schreibtisch," by Caroline de la Motte Fouque, pp. 46.]
[Footnote 27: Kant's works, xi. 2, p. 80. The man in question was one
of doubtful reputation.]
[Footnote 28: The drinkers were Klopstock and his friends.]
[Footnote 29: The travellers were Fritz Jacopi and his brother.]
[Footnote 30: The new guest was Wieland; the hosts, Sophie Laroche and
her husband; and the narrator, Fritz Jacopi.]
[Footnote 31: Leuckhardt relates this in his "Lebensbeschreibung," and
there is no ground to doubt what is imparted by this disorderly man.]
[Footnote 32: "Reise von Mainz nach Coeln im Jahre, 1794," p. 222;
"Briefe eines reisenden Franzosen, 1784," ii., p. 258. Both books are
only to be read with caution.]
[Footnote 33: Slang terms of the period, ridiculing their keen
appetites and grotesque uniforms.--_Tr_.]
[Footnote 34: "Schilderung der jetzigen Reichsarmee," 1796-8. This
interesting description is often quoted, but it is not quite
trustworthy. The author is that Lauckhart, a disorderly theologian, who
made the Rhine campaign as a musketeer in the regiment Thadden. His
autobiography is as instructive as it is repulsive.]
[Footnote 35: That this description is not too strong, we have
sufficient warrant in the many accounts of that time. In "Reise von
Mainz nach Coeln im Fruehjahr," 1794; "Lafonteine Leben," p. 154. The
description also which Lauckhart gives of the emigrants in his
autobiography may be examined. These French doings excited disgust and
horror even in him.]
[Footnote 36: Officials, analogous to the Prefet.]
[Footnote 37: Von Held's writings were, "Das Schwarzebuch"--now very
rare--"Die Preussischen Jacobiner," and the "Gepriesene Preussen," the
most notorious. They and their refutations give us the impression that
the author, as is frequent in such cases, had written many things
correctly, others inaccurately, but on the whole honestly; but he was
not to be depended on as a judge of his opponents. Varnhagen knew him,
and wrote his life.]
[Footnote 38: "Gruendliche Widerlegung des gepriesenen Preussens,"
1804.]
[Footnote 39: "Buchholz, Gemaelde des gesellschaftlichen Zustandes in
Preussen," i.]
[Footnote 40: The narrator is Adelbert von Chamisso. His letter of 22nd
Nov., 1806, is one of the most valuable relics of that true-hearted
man. The concluding words deserve well to be remembered by Germans.
"Oh, my friends, I must atone by a free confession for the secret
injustice that I have done this brave, warlike people. Officers and
soldiers, in the harmony of a high enthusiasm, cherished only one
thought: it was, under the pressure of external and internal enemies,
to maintain their old fame, and not a recruit, not a drummer-boy would
have fallen away. Indeed, we were a firm, faithful, good, stout
soldiery. Oh, if we had but had men to lead us."]
[Footnote 41: The following is taken from an autobiography which he
left in manuscript for his children. The editor has to thank the family
of the deceased for it.]
[Footnote 42: In the old Prussian Rhine country stones were beginning
to be used for the _chaussees_.]
[Footnote 43: The three officers were, Lieutenants von Bluecher, von
Lepel, and von Treskow; the three Prebendaries, von Korff, von
Boesclager, at Eggermuhlen, and von Merode.]
[Footnote 44: Ministerial decrees setting aside the course of justice.]
[Footnote 45: Vinke had succeeded Stein as First President.]
[Footnote 46: Alliance of students in Germany.]
[Footnote 47: In the number of 247,000 soldiers the volunteers are not
included, because they in general consisted of those who were not
native Prussians. Beitzke's calculation, which we here take because it
is lowest, undoubtedly includes the Landwehr, and the squadrons which,
in the course of the campaign, were formed on the other side of the
Elbe; there are, therefore, about 20,000 men to be abstracted from his
amount. But as his reckoning only comprehends, the strength of the army
in the field, which up to the battle of Leipzig was almost entirely
gathered from the old Prussian territory, his figures may be considered
rather too low than too high. In 1815, the proportion of soldiers to
population was still more striking. East Prussia contributed then seven
per cent, of its inhabitants, each seventh man was sent to the war;
there remained scarcely any but children and old people in the country,
very few from 18 to 40.
The amount of the population is reckoned according to the last official
census of 1810. Prussia, after the peace of Tilsit, had been obliged to
cede New Silesia to Poland, and thus since 1806 had lost more than
300,000 men. No increase, therefore, of the population can be assumed
up to the spring of 1813. The chief fortresses, also, were in the hands
of the French, and their inhabitants should be deducted from any
calculation of the efforts of the people. According to the proportion
of 1813, Berlin as at present, could bring into the field an army of
from 23,000 to 25,000 men; Leipzig, four battalions; and the Dukedom of
Coburg-Gotha seven battalions, amounting to 1000 men.]
[Footnote 48: Schlosser, "Erlebnisse inns Sachsischen Landpredigers,"
from 1806 to 1815, p. 66. The foreign nations, Portuguese and Italians,
were more moderate.]
[Footnote 49: Schlosser, "Erlebnisse," p. 129.]
[Footnote 50: It may be allowable to introduce here some extracts from
the receipts which Heun brought forward in the newspapers. What was
placed at the head of them was accidental, especially as his lists only
enumerate a very small number of the donations, none of those from East
Prussia are mentioned. We must begin with the first patriotic gift,
which was announced publicly in 1813. About New Year's Day, long before
the volunteer rifles were equipped, the Roman Catholic community at
Marienburg, in West Prussia, placed all the plate of their church that
could be dispensed with at the disposal of the State (it was about 100
marks), begging, as they could not give away church property, for the
interest of the value of the silver in the future. But the first money
contribution noted down by Heun, was from a master tailor, Hans
Hofmann, at Breslau, 100 thalers. The first who gave horses were the
peasants Johann Hinz, in Deutsch-Borgh, Bailiwick of Saarmuend, and
Meyer, at Elsholz, of the same Bailiwick; the last had only two horses.
The first who gave oats, 100 scheffel, was one Axleben. The first who
sent their golden wedding-rings, expressing the hope that much gold
might be collected if all would do the same, were the lottery-collector
Rollin and his wife, at Stettin. The first officials who resigned a
part of their salary were Professor Hermbstaedt, at Berlin, 250 thalers;
Professor Gravenhorst, at Breslau, the half of his salary, and
Professor David Schultz, 100 thalers. The first who gave a portion of
his fortune was an unnamed official; of 4000 thalers he gave 1000. The
first who sent his plate was Count Sandretzky, at Manze, in Silesia,
value 1700 thalers, besides three beautiful horses; a servant of the
chancery, four silver spoons; anonymous, 2000 thalers; an old soldier,
his only gold piece, value forty thalers; anonymous, three gold
snuff-boxes, with diamonds, value 5300 thalers; an old woman, from a
little town, a pair of woollen stockings.]
[Footnote 51: 10,000 volunteer riflemen, and about the half of the
irregulars, amounting to 2500 men, were equipped in the old provinces,
together with 1500 horses. Putting the cost of each foot-rifleman at 60
thalers, and that of a horseman at 230 thalers,--the price of horses
was high,--the amount is 1,150,000 thalers, which is certainly too low.
And the pay and extras, given by private persons to individual
riflemen, are not reckoned.]
[Footnote 52: The Editor is indebted for much of this to a record of
the worth Oberregierungsrath Hackel.]
[Footnote 53: From Family Reminiscences.]
[Footnote 54: Record of the Appellations-gerichtsrath Tepler, who
himself, as a boy, went to the field with the Landsturm against the
French at Magdeburg.]
[Footnote 55: She lives in Berlin, and is now mother of a large
family.]
[Footnote 56: From the diary of the pastor, Frieke, at Bunzlau.]
[Footnote 57: Scene from the fight at Goldberg, on the 23rd August,
from the account of an eye-witness.]
[Footnote 58: Thus, on the 22nd of May, at Bunzlau, during the retreat
after the battle of Bautzen, the prisoners, red Hussars, lay in the
suburb near the Galgenteich.]
[Footnote 59: Vossische Zeitung, No. 45, from the 15th April.]
[Footnote 60: Now a practising doctor at Halle. The account is from the
mouth of the worthy man.]
THE END.
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.