regarded it as uncertain and deceptive was very great; and several who
had a liking for Lavater felt a desire to try him, and, if possible,
to play him a trick. He had ordered of a painter in Frankfort, who
was not without talent, the profiles of several well known persons.
Lavater's agent ventured upon the jest of sending Bahrdt's portrait
as mine, which soon brought back a merry but thundering epistle, full
of all kinds of expletives and asseverations that this was not my
picture,--together with everything that on such an occasion Lavater
would naturally have to say in confirmation of the doctrine of
Physiognomy. My true likeness, which was sent afterwards, he allowed to
pass more readily, but even here the opposition into which he fell both
with painters and with individuals showed itself at once. The former
could never work for him faithfully and sufficiently; the latter,
whatever excellences they might have, came always too far short of the
idea which he entertained of humanity and of men to prevent his being
somewhat repelled by the special characteristics which constitute the
personality of the individual.
The conception of Humanity which had been formed in himself and in his
own humanity, was so completely akin to the living image of Christ
which he cherished within him, that it was impossible for him to
understand how a man could live and breathe without at the same time
being a Christian. My own relation to the Christian religion lay merely
in my sense and feeling, and I had not the slightest notion of that
physical affinity to which Lavater inclined. I was, therefore, vexed by
the importunity, with which a man so full of mind and heart, attacked
me, as well as Mendelssohn and others, maintaining that every one must
either become a Christian with him, a Christian of his sort, or else
that one must bring him over to one's own way of thinking, and convince
him of precisely that in which one had found peace. This demand, so
directly opposed to that liberal spirit of the world, to which I was
more and more tending, did not have the best effect upon me. All
unsuccessful attempts at conversion leave him who has been selected for
a proselyte stubborn and obdurate, and this was especially the case
with me when Lavater at last came out with the hard dilemma--"Either
Christian or Atheist!" Upon this I declared that if he would not leave
me my own Christianity as I had hitherto cherished it, I could readily
decide for Atheism, particularly as I saw that nobody knew precisely
what either meant.
This correspondence, vehement as it was, did not disturb the good
terms we were on. Lavater had an incredible patience, pertinacity, and
endurance; he was confident in his theory, and, with his determined
plan to propagate his convictions in the world, he was willing by
waiting and mildness to effect what he could not accomplish by force.
In short, he belonged to the few fortunate men whose outward vocation
perfectly harmonizes with the inner one, and whose earliest culture
coinciding in all points with their subsequent pursuits, gives a
natural development to their faculties. Born with the most delicate
moral susceptibilities, he had chosen for himself the clerical
profession. He received the necessary instruction, and displayed
various talents, but without inclining to that degree of culture
which is called learned. He also, though born so long before, had,
like ourselves, been caught by the spirit of Freedom and Nature which
belonged to the time, and which whispered flatteringly in every ear,
"You have materials and solid power enough within yourself, without
much outward aid; all depends upon your developing them properly." The
obligation of a clergyman to work upon men morally, in the ordinary
sense, and religiously in the higher sense, fully coincided with his
mental tendencies. His marked impulse, even as a youth, was to impart
to others, and to excite in them, his own just and pious sentiments,
and his favorite occupation was the observation of himself and of
his fellow-men. The former was facilitated, if not forced upon him,
by an internal sensitiveness; the latter by a keen glance, which
could quickly read the outward expression. Still, he was not born for
contemplation; properly speaking, the gift of conveying his ideas
to others was not his. He felt himself rather, with all his powers,
impelled to activity, to action; and I have never known any one who
was more unceasingly active than Lavater. But because our inward
moral nature is incorporated in outward conditions, whether we belong
to a family, a class, a guild, a city, or a state, he was obliged,
in his desire to influence others, to come into contact with all
these external things, and to set them in motion. Hence arose many
a collision, many an entanglement, especially as the commonwealth
of which he was by birth a member enjoyed, under the most precise
and accurately-defined limits, an admirable hereditary freedom. The
republican from his boyhood is accustomed himself to think and to
converse on public affairs. In the first bloom of his life the youth
sees the period approaching when, as a member of a free corporation, he
will have a vote to give or to withhold. If he wishes to form a just
and independent judgment, he must, before all things, convince himself
of the worth of his fellow citizens; he must learn to know them; he
must inquire into their sentiments and their capacities; and thus, in
aiming to read others, he becomes intimate with his own bosom.
[Side-note: Lavater.]
Under such circumstances Lavater was early trained, and this business
of life seems to have occupied him more than the study of languages and
the analytic criticism, which is not only allied to that study, but is
its foundation as well as its aim. In later years, when his attainments
and his views had reached a boundless comprehensiveness, he frequently
said, both in jest and in seriousness, that he was not a learned man.
It is precisely to this want of deep and solid learning, that we must
ascribe the fact that he adhered to the letter of the Bible, and even
to the translation, and found in it nourishment, and assistance enough
for all that he sought and designed.
Very soon, however, this circle of action in a corporation or guild,
with its slow movement, became too narrow for the quick nature of
its occupant. For a youth to be upright is not difficult, and a pure
conscience revolts at the wrong of which it is still innocent. The
oppressions of a bailiff (_Landvogt_) lay plain before the eyes of the
citizens, but it was by no means easy to bring them to justice. Lavater
having associated a friend with himself, anonymously threatened the
guilty bailiff. The matter became notorious, and an investigation was
rendered necessary. The criminal was punished, but the prompters of
this act of justice were blamed if not abused. In a well ordered state
even the right must not be brought about in a wrong way.
On a tour which Lavater now made through Germany, he came into contact
with educated and right-thinking men; but that served only to confirm
his previous thoughts and convictions, and on his return home he worked
from his own resources with greater freedom than ever. A noble and good
man, he was conscious within himself of a lofty conception of humanity,
and whatever in experience contradicts such a conception,--all
the undeniable defects which remove every one from perfection, he
reconciled by his idea of the Divinity which in the midst of ages came
down into human nature in order completely to restore its earlier image.
So much by way of preface on the tendencies of this eminent man; and
now before all things, for a bright picture of our meeting and personal
intercourse. Our correspondence had not long been carried on, when he
announced to me and to others, that in a voyage up the Rhine which he
was about to undertake, he would soon visit Frankfort. Immediately
there arose a great excitement in our world; all were curious to see
so remarkable a person; many hoped to profit by him in the way of
moral and religious culture; the sceptics prepared to distinguish
themselves by grave objections; the conceited felt sure of entangling
and confounding him by arguments in which they had strengthened
themselves,--in short, there was everything, there was all the favor
and disfavor, which awaits a distinguished man who intends to meddle
with this motley world.
Our first meeting was hearty; we embraced each other in the most
friendly way, and I found him just like what I had seen in many
portraits of him. I saw living and active before me, an individual
quite unique, and distinguished in a way that no one had seen before or
will see again. Lavater, on the contrary, at the first moment, betrayed
by some peculiar exclamations, that I was not what he had expected.
Hereupon, I assured him, with the realism which had been born in me,
and which I had cultivated, that as it had pleased God and nature
to make me in that fashion we must rest content with it. The most
important of the points on which in our letters we had been far from
agreeing, became at once subjects of conversation, but we had not time
to discuss them thoroughly, and something occurred to me that I had
never before experienced.
The rest of us whenever we wish to speak of affairs of the soul and
of the heart, were wont to withdraw from the crowd, and even from all
society, because in the many modes of thinking, and the different
degrees of culture among men, it is difficult to be on an understanding
even with a few. But Lavater was of a wholly different turn; he liked
to extend his influence as far as possible, and was not at ease except
in a crowd, for the instruction and entertainment of which he possessed
an especial talent, based on his great skill in physiognomy. He had
a wonderful facility of discriminating persons and minds, by which
he quickly understood the mental state of all around him. Whenever
therefore this judgment of men was met by a sincere confession, a
true-hearted inquiry, he was able, from the abundance of his internal
and external experience, to satisfy every one with an appropriate
answer. The deep tenderness of his look, the marked sweetness of his
lips, and even the honest Swiss dialect which was heard through his
High German, with many other things that distinguished him, immediately
placed all whom he addressed quite at their ease. Even the slight stoop
in his carriage, together with his rather hollow chest, contributed not
a little to balance in the eyes of the remainder of the company the
weight of his commanding presence. Towards presumption and arrogance he
knew how to demean himself with calmness and address, for while seeming
to yield he would suddenly bring forward, like a diamond-shield, some
grand view, of which his narrow-minded opponent would never have
thought, and at the same time he would so agreeably moderate the light
which flowed from it, that such men felt themselves instructed and
convinced,--so long at least as they were in his presence. Perhaps
with many the impression continued to operate long afterwards, for
even conceited men are also kindly; it is only necessary by gentle
influences to soften the hard shell which encloses the fruitful kernel.
What caused him the greatest pain was the presence of persons whose
outward ugliness must irrevocably stamp them decided enemies of his
theory as to the significance of forms. They commonly employed a
considerable amount of common sense and other gifts and talents, in
vehement hostility and paltry doubts, to weaken a doctrine which
appeared offensive to their self-love; for it was not easy to find any
one so magnanimous as Socrates, who interpreted his faun-like exterior
in favour of an acquired morality. To Lavater the hardness, the
obduracy of such antagonists was horrible, and his opposition was not
free from passion; just as the smelting fire must attack the resisting
ore as something troublesome and hostile.
In such a case a confidential conversation, such as might appeal
to our own cases and experience, was not to be thought of; however
I was much instructed by observing the manner in which he treated
men,--instructed, I say, not improved by it, for my position was wholly
different from his. He that works morally loses none of his efforts,
for there comes from them much more fruit than the parable of the Sower
too modestly represents. But he whose labours are artistic, fails
utterly in every work that is not recognised as a work of art. From
this it may be judged how impatient my dear sympathizing readers were
accustomed to make me, and for what reasons I had such a great dislike
to come to an understanding with them. I now felt but too vividly
the difference between the effectiveness of my labors and those of
Lavater. His prevailed, while he was present, mine, when I was absent.
Every one who at a distance was dissatisfied with him became his friend
when they met, and every one who, judging by my work, considered me
amiable, found himself greatly deceived when he came in contract with a
man of coldness and reserve.
Merck, who had just come over from Darmstadt, played the part of
Mephistopheles, especially ridiculing the importunities of the women.
As some of these were closely examining the apartments which had
been set apart for the prophet, and, above all, his bed-chamber, the
wag said that "the pious souls wished to see where they had laid the
Lord." Nevertheless he, as well as the others, was forced to let
himself be exorcised. Lips, who accompanied Lavater, drew his profile
as completely and successfully as he did those of other men, both
important and unimportant, who were to be heaped together in the great
work on Physiognomy.
For myself, Lavater's society was highly influential and instructive,
for his pressing incitements to action set my calm, artistic,
contemplative nature into motion, not indeed to any advantage at the
moment, because the circumstances did but increase the distraction
which had already laid hold of me. Still, so many things were talked
about between us, as to give rise to the most earnest desire on my part
to prolong the discussion. Accordingly I determined to accompany him if
he went to Ems, so that, shut up in the carriage and separated from the
world, we might freely go over those subjects which lay nearest to both
our hearts.
Meanwhile the conversations between Lavater and Fraülein Yon
Klettenberg were to me exceedingly interesting and profitable. Here two
decided Christians stood in contrast to each other, and it was quite
plain how the same belief may take a different shape according to the
sentiments of different persons. In those tolerant times it was often
enough repeated that every man had his own religion and his own mode
of worship. Although I did not maintain this exactly, I could, in the
present case, perceive that men and women need a different Saviour.
Fraülein Von Klettenberg looked towards hers as to a lover to whom one
yields oneself without reserve, concentrating all joy and hope on him
alone, and without doubt or hesitation confiding to him the destiny
of life. Lavater, on the other hand, treated his as a friend, to be
imitated lovingly and without envy, whose merits he recognised and
valued highly, and whom, for that very reason, he strove to copy and
even to equal. What a difference between these two tendencies, which
in general exhibit the spiritual necessities of the two sexes! Hence
we may perhaps explain the fact that men of more delicate feeling have
so often turned to the Mother of God as a paragon of female beauty
and virtue, and like Sannazaro, have dedicated to her their lives and
talents, occasionally condescending to play with the Divine Infant.
How my two friends stood to each other, and how they felt towards each
other, I gathered not only from conversations at which I was present,
but also from revelations which both made to me in private. I could
not agree entirely with either; for my Christ had also taken a form
of his own, in accordance with my views. Because they would not allow
mine to pass at all, I teased them with all sorts of paradoxes and
exaggerations, and, when they got impatient, left them with a jest.
[Side-note: Faith and Knowledge.]
The contest between knowledge and faith was not yet the order of the
day, but the two words and the ideas connected with them occasionally
came forward, and the true haters of the world maintained that one was
as little to be relied on as the other. Accordingly I took pleasure
in declaring in favour of both, though without being able to gain the
assent of my friends. In Faith, I said, everything depends on the
fact of believing; what is believed is perfectly indifferent. Faith
is a profound sense of security for the present and future, and this
assurance springs from confidence in an immense, all-powerful, and
inscrutable Being. The firmness of this confidence is the one grand
point; but what we think of this Being depends on our other faculties,
or even on circumstances, and is wholly indifferent. Faith is a holy
vessel into which every one stands ready to pour his feelings, his
understanding, his imagination as perfectly as he can. With Knowledge
it is directly the opposite. There the point is not whether we know,
but what we know, how much we know, and how well we know it. Hence it
comes that men may dispute about knowledge because it can be corrected,
widened, and contracted. Knowledge begins with the particular, is
endless and formless, can never be all comprehended, or at least but
dreamily, and thus remains exactly the opposite of Faith.
Half truths of this kind, and the errors which arise from them may,
when poetically exhibited, be exciting and entertaining, but in life
they disturb and confuse conversation. For that reason I was glad to
leave Lavater alone with all those who wished to be edified by him and
through him, a deprivation for which I found myself fully compensated
by the journey we made together to Ems. Beautiful summer weather
attended us, and Lavater was gay and most amiable. For though of a
religious and moral turn, he was by no means narrow-minded, and was
not unmoved when by the events of life those around him were excited
to cheerfulness and gaiety. He was sympathizing, spirited, witty, and
liked the same qualities in others, provided that they were kept within
the bounds which his delicate sense of propriety prescribed. If any
one ventured further he used to clap him on the shoulder, and by a
hearty "_Bisch guet!_" would call the rash man back to good manners.
This journey afforded me instruction and inspiration of many kinds,
which, however, contributed to a knowledge of his character rather than
to the government and culture of my own. At Ems I saw him once again,
surrounded by society of every sort, and I went back to Frankfort,
because my little affairs were in such a state that I could scarcely
absent myself from them at all.
[Side-note: Basedow.]
But I was not destined to be restored so speedily to repose. BASEDOW
now came in to attract me, and touch me on another side. A more decided
contrast could not be found than that between these two men. A single
glance at Basedow showed the difference. Lavater's features displayed
themselves with openness to the observer, but those of Basedow were
crowded together and as it were drawn inward. Lavater's eye, beneath a
very wide eyelid, was clear and expressive of piety; Basedow's was deep
in his head, small, black, sharp, gleaming from under bristly brows,
while on the contrary, Lavater's frontal bone was edged with two arches
of the softest brown hair. Basedow's strong, rough voice, quick, sharp
expressions, a kind of sarcastic laugh, a rapid change of subjects in
conversation, with other peculiarities, were all the opposite of the
qualities and manners by which Lavater had spoiled us. Basedow was also
much sought after in Frankfort, and his great talents were admired,
but he was not the man either to edify souls or to lead them. His sole
office was to give a better cultivation to the wide field he had
marked out for himself, so that Humanity might afterwards take up its
dwelling in it with greater ease and accordance with nature; but to
this end he hastened even too directly.
I could not altogether acquiesce in his plans, or even get a clear
understanding of his views. I was of course pleased with his desire
of making all instruction living and natural; his wish, too, that the
ancient languages should be practised on present objects, appeared to
me laudable, and I gladly acknowledged all that in his project, tended
to the promotion of activity and a fresher view of the world. But I
was displeased that the illustrations of his elementary work, were
even more distracting than its subjects, whereas in the actual world,
possible things alone stand together, and for that reason, in spite of
all variety and apparent confusion, the world has still a regularity in
all its parts. Basedow's elementary work, on the contrary, sunders it
completely, inasmuch as things which in the world never are combined,
are here put together on account of the association of ideas; and
consequently, the book is without even those palpable methodical
advantages which we must acknowledge in the similar work of Amos
Comenius.
But the conduct of Basedow was much more strange and difficult to
comprehend than his doctrine. The purpose of his journey was, by
personal influence, to interest the public in his philanthropic
enterprise, and, indeed, to open not only hearts but purses. He had the
power of speaking grandly and convincingly of his scheme, and every
one willingly conceded what he asserted. But in a most inexplicable
way he pained the feelings of the very men whose assistance he wished
to gain; nay, he outraged them unnecessarily, through his inability
to keep back his opinions and fancies on religious subjects. In this
respect, too, Basedow appeared the very opposite of Lavater. While
the latter received the Bible literally, and with its whole contents,
as being word for word in force, and applicable even at the present
day, the former had the most unquiet itching to renovate everything,
and to remodel both the doctrines and the ceremonies of the church
in conformity with some odd notions of his own. Most imprudently he
showed no mercy to those conceptions which come not immediately from
the Bible, but from its interpretation;--all those expressions,
technical philosophical terms, or sensible figures, with which Councils
and Fathers of the church had sought to explain the inexpressible, or
to confute heretics. In a harsh and unwarrantable way, and before all
alike, he declared himself the sworn enemy of the Trinity, and would
never desist from arguing against this universally admitted mystery.
I, too, had to suffer a good deal from this kind of entertainment in
private conversation, and was compelled again and again to listen
to his tirades about the _Hypostasis_ and _Ousia_, as well as the
_Prosopon._ To meet them all I had recourse to the weapons of paradox,
and soaring even above the flight of his opinions, ventured to oppose
his rash assertions with something rasher of my own. This gave a new
excitement to my mind, and as Basedow was much more extensively read,
and had more skill in the fencing tricks of disputation than a follower
of nature like myself, I had always to exert myself the more, the more
important were the points which were discussed between us.