the resolution of the troops. A congress is at this moment obviously
impossible, nor can it be attempted until the Frankfort parliament
has ran its course--a consummation which some people think is not
only devoutly to be desired, but very near at hand. Things have now
gone so far, that it is difficult to see how any kind of order can
be restored, without the disastrous alternative of commotion and
civil war. There are again symptoms of republican gatherings in the
north, which Prussia cannot this time overlook, without sacrificing
the fragments of her honour. At Vienna, the insurrection has been
successful. The emperor has, a second time, quitted Schönbrunn, and
has openly announced that, when he next returns to his capital, it
will be at the head of an avenging army. There is nothing improbable
in this announcement. The Austrian army is less liable to the
impairing influence already noticed than that of any other German
state; and though there never was a time when its services were so
urgently required at so many menacing points as at the present, there
may yet be strength enough left to crush the insurgent capital. Of
course, in such an event, all men may be prepared to hear from the
liberals the same howl of horror which issued from their sympathising
throats, when the populace of Naples manfully and boldly espoused
the cause of their legitimate sovereign. Sicilian cannibalism can be
pardoned, but Neapolitan loyalty, never!
It is a vain dream to associate German unity with the existing
system of principalities. Whether Von Gagern is really in earnest,
in attempting to labour towards this end, or whether he is merely
keeping up the appearance of such a union, for the purpose of
paving the way to a more sweeping measure of democracy, may be the
subject of legitimate doubt. If the former be the case, he has
committed a grave error, in allowing the Diet to be annihilated.
Though difficult, it was by no means impossible to have adjusted the
separate constitutions of the German states upon a liberal basis,
and to have devolved upon the chambers the right of nominating the
members of the imperial diet. Such a system might have secured as
much unity of purpose as was requisite for general administration,
without resorting to the dangerous experiment of a parliament elected
by universal suffrage. But nothing of this sort was attempted. On the
contrary, the Diet fell without a struggle: its old functions had
ceased when Prussia deserted it for the carrying out an independent
policy of her own; and no one attempted to resuscitate it by the
infusion of novel blood.
Notwithstanding such charm as might be derived from the society
of Messrs Zitz, Simon, and Co., and the fund of information which
professor Klingemann was ever ready to pour into my ear, I soon
became tired of Frankfort, and betook myself to the watering-places.
This was a good year for calculating what proportion of the company
usually located during the summer months at Wiesbaden, Homburg, and
Baden, sought those places for the benefit of the Hygeian springs, in
contradistinction to those whose main attraction was the Casino. The
number of the former class, I should say, was comparatively small.
Although one cannot feel much sympathy for such nests of gambling,
maintained, to the discredit of the smaller German princes, for
the sake of the revenue obtained from the Israelitish proprietors
of the banks, it was yet painful to observe the dull appearance
of the towns. There was hardly any remnant of that gaiety and
sprightliness, which used to characterise these haunts of fashion
and dissipation--none of the equipages which were wont to roll along
the environs, with ducal coronets on their blazon. The bazaars were
deserted: the _tables-d'hôte_ miserably attended. If thirty people
assembled in one of the great saloons, which formerly used to be
occupied by two hundred, the countenance of the host relaxed, and
lie evidently caught at the circumstance, as a gleam of returning
prosperity. There were still one or two desperate gamblers to be seen
at the roulette and rouge-et-noir tables, staking their gold with
as much eagerness and stern determination as ever; but, in general,
there seemed to prevail such a serious scarcity of bullion, that
those who possessed any were chary of hazarding their florins. The
brass bands still played as of yore, but their music sounded dull and
melancholy. Few subscribed to raffles, and the balls were miserable
failures.
The state of the small capitals is still worse. Darmstadt, never
a lively town, is literally shut up. You may wander through the
streets of Carlsruhe, as in the solitudes of Balbec, wondering what
on earth can have become of the whole population, and not be able
to solve the problem, unless, indeed, you should happen to hear the
clattering of the hoofs of the Baden cavalry awakening the dormant
echoes of the street. Then, with a shrill whoop of "Hier kommt die
Badische cavallerie!" man, woman, and child,--chambermaid and waiter,
rush to the windows to admire the exciting spectacle of their native
heroes, mounted upon animals not very much larger than ponies, and,
the moment the procession has passed, relapse into the same state of
somnolency as before. The palaces do not seem to be occupied, and the
voice of the syrens on the boards of the theatres is mute.
Perfectly disgusted with the change, which was too conspicuous
everywhere, I bent my way towards Switzerland; and there, amidst the
mountains, snows, cascades and glaciers of the Oberland, strove to
banish from my mind all thoughts of revolution and its concomitant
ruin. But Switzerland has suffered, in its way, almost as much as
Germany. Although the central point of Europe to which the steps
of the tourists tend, it furnishes ample proof of the general
consternation and misery in its lonely roads and empty hotels. There
are no English travelling abroad this year. Sometimes you encounter
an American party who have crossed the Atlantic, curious to see how
the old countries are getting on in their novel craze for republican
institutions, but the staple of the travelling commodity consists of
Italian refugees from Lombardy. These men also seem to have adopted
a kind of mediæval garb, more graceful than that of the Germans, and
are, to outward appearance, no despicable specimens of humanity.
They vapour and bluster, largely about their exertions for Italian
independence, though I never could meet with one who had actually
struck a blow in its behalf. They were furious at Charles Albert,
whom they characterised as a "traditore sceleratissimo," and vaunted
that, but for him and his Piedmontese troops, they would long ago
have freed their country from the grasp of the Austrians. I was not
altogether able to comprehend by what process of ratiocination these
illustrious exiles arrived at this result. It would appear odd if
they could not accomplish, with the aid of allies, the very same task
for which they asserted their notorious unassisted competency. This
is a political riddle of such a nature, that I shall not attempt to
solve it.
It is, however, comfortable to remark, that Swiss industry, in
many of its branches, still continues undiminished. The squat and
unwholesome hunter, who for years has infested the Rosenthal,
still pursues his prey, in the shape of the unwary traveller, with
perpetual impudence and importunity. Out of his clutches you cannot
get, until you have purchased, at triple its artificial value, the
wooden effigy of a chamois, a horn whistle, or the image of an Alpine
cow; and even after you have made your escape, crossed the bridge,
and are in full retreat up the valley, you hear him clamouring
behind you with offers of a staff to sell. From every cottage-door
rush forth hordes of uncompromising children; nay, they surprise
you in the very wastes, far from any human dwelling, and their only
cry is "_Batzen!_" Approach a waterfall, and you are immediately
surrounded by a plump of those juvenile Cossacks, seizing hold of
your skirts, thrusting their hands upwards in your face, and denying
you one moment's leisure to survey the scene. Their yelp for pence is
heard above the sullen roaring of the cataract. In vain you take to
flight--they cleave to you like a swarm of midges. You leap brook,
scale bank, and scour across the meadow towards the road, but you
fare no better than the Baron of Cranstoun in his race with the
Goblin Page; and at last are compelled to ransom yourself by parting
with the whole of the change in your possession.
If I can judge from the present temper of the Swiss, they are not
likely to return a very complacent answer to the charge made against
them by the central power at Frankfort, of having harboured Struve
and his gang. The German troubles have kept back so many visitors
from their country, that the Swiss are not inclined to be particular
as to the political opinions of any one who may favour them with a
sojourn; and in the present state of matters it is rather difficult
to determine who are rebels or the reverse. Bitterly at this moment
is Switzerland execrating a revolution which has entailed upon her
consequences almost equivalent to the total failure of a harvest.
After spending a fortnight among the mountains, I retraced my steps
to Frankfort. There I discovered that, in the interim, some little
change had taken place in the aspect of political affairs. Prussia
had at length taken heart of grace, and had remonstrated against
the arbitrary refusal of the armistice with Denmark, which she had
been expressly empowered, by the authority of the Reichsverweser,
to conclude. This tardy recognition of the laws of honour had,
of course, given enormous umbrage to the Frankforters, who now
considered themselves as the supreme arbiters of peace or war in
Europe; the more so, because they were not called upon to pay a
single farthing of the necessary expenses. They appeared to think
that, _jure divino_, they were entitled to the gratuitous services of
the Prussian and Hanoverian armies; and, with that sublime disregard
of cost which we are all apt to feel when negotiating with our
neighbours' money, they were furious at any interruption of the war
unworthily commenced against their small but spirited antagonist.
Such, at least, was the feeling among the burghers, in which they
were powerfully encouraged by the co-operation of the women. It is a
singular fact that, in times of revolution, the fair sex is always
inclined to push matters to greater extremity than the other, for
what reason it is literally impossible to say. I had the pleasure of
spending an evening at a social reunion in Frankfort, and can aver
that the sentiments which emanated from the ladies would have done no
discredit to Demoiselle Theroigne de Mericourt in the midst of the
Reign of Terror.
But other motives than those of mere abstract democracy had some
influence with the members of the parliament. Many of them who,
in the first instance, had voted for the peremptory infraction of
the armistice, were fully aware that they could not afford as yet
to affront Prussia, or to give her an open pretext for resiling
from the movement party. Such a step would have been tantamount to
annihilation, and therefore they were disposed to succumb. Others,
I verily believe, thought seriously upon their five florins a-day.
Hitherto Prussia had been the only state which had granted a monetary
contingent, and to refuse compliance with her wishes would inevitably
involve a sacrifice of the goose that furnished the supply of
metallic eggs. Therefore, after a long and rather furious debate,
the assembly retracted their former decision, and consented to a
cessation of hostilities.
A parliament, chosen upon the basis of universal suffrage, is only
safe when its opinions coincide with those of the mob. In the
present instance they were directly counter to the sweet will of the
populace, and of course the decision was received with every symptom
of turbulence.
"Professor," said I to my learned friend, on the evening after this
memorable debate, "you have given one sensible vote to-day, and I
hope you will never repent of it. But, if you will take my advice,
you will do well to absent yourself from the parliament to-morrow.
There are certain symptoms going on in the streets which I do not
altogether like, for they put me forcibly in mind of what I saw in
Paris this last spring; and, unless a German mob differs essentially
from a French one, we shall smell gunpowder to-morrow. I should be
sorry to, see my ancient preceptor fragmentally distributed as an
offering to the goddess of discord."
"Don't speak of it, August Reignold, my dear boy!" said the Professor
in manifest terror. "I wouldn't mind much being hauled up to a
lamp-post, for I am heavy enough to break any in Frankfort down; but
the bare notion of dismemberment fills my soul with fear. Well says
the poet, _varium et mutabile_; and he might safely have applied it
to the people. Will you believe that I, whose whole soul is engrossed
with the thoughts of unity and the public weal, was actually hissed
and hooted at as a traitor, when I emerged to-day from the assembly?"
"It is the penalty you must pay for your political greatness,"
I replied. "But, if I were you, I should back out of the thing
altogether. Cobbling constitutions is rather dangerous work in such
times as these; and it strikes me that your valuable health may be
somewhat impaired by your exertions."
"Heaven knows," said the Professor devoutly, "that I would willingly
die for my country--that is, in my bed. But I do begin to perceive
that I am overworking this frail tenement of clay. Once let this
crisis be past, and I shall return to the university, resume my
philosophic labours, and finish my inchoate treatise upon the
'Natural History of Axioms.'"
"You will do wisely, Professor, and humanity will owe you a debt:
only don't employ that fellow Blum as your publisher. _Apropos_, what
is Simon, of Treves saying to this state of matters?"
"Simon of Treves," replied my learned friend, "is little better than
an arrogant coxcomb. He had the inconceivable audacity to laugh in
my face, when I proposed, on the ground of common ancestry, to open
negotiations with the Thracians, and to ask me if it would not be
desirable to include the whole of the Peloponnesus."
"He must indeed be a blockhead! Well, Professor, keep quiet for the
evening, and don't show yourself in the streets. I am going to take
a little stroll of observation before bed, and to-morrow morning we
shall hold a committee of personal safety."
On ordinary occasions, the streets of Frankfort are utterly deserted
by ten o'clock. This night, however, the case was different. Groups
of ill-looking, ruffianly fellows, were collected at the corners of
the streets; and more than once, beneath the blouse, I could detect
the glitter of a furtive weapon. There were lights and bustle in the
club-houses, and every thing betokened the approach of a popular
emeute.
"You will do well," said I to the Swiss porter of the _Russischer
Hof_ on re-entering, "to warn any strangers in your house to keep
within doors to-morrow. Unless I am strangely mistaken, we shall have
a repetition of the scenes in Paris to-morrow. In the mean time, I
shall trouble you for my key."
I rose next morning at six, and looked out of my window, half
expecting to see a barricade; but for once I was disappointed--the
Germans are a much slower set than the French. At nine, however,
there were reasonable symptoms of commotion, and I could hear the
hoarse roar of a mob in the distance whilst I was occupied in shaving.
Presently up came a waiter.
"The Herr Professor desires me to say that, if you have no objection,
he would be glad to breakfast in your room." My apartments were on
the third story.
"Show him up," said I; and my friend entered as pale as death.
"O August Reignold, this is a horrible business!"
"Pshaw!" said I, "how can you expect unity without a row?"
"But they tell me that the mob are already breaking into the
assembly--into the free, inviolable, sacred parliament of Germany!"
"Is that all? They might, in my humble opinion, be doing a great deal
worse."
"And they are beginning to put up barricades."
"That's serious," said I; "however, one comfort is, that they expect
somebody to attack them. Take your coffee, Professor, and let us
await events with fortitude. You are tolerably safe here."
The Professor groaned, for his spirit was sorely troubled. I really
felt for the poor man, who was now beginning, for the first time,
to taste the bitter fruits of revolution. They were as ashes in his
academical mouth.
There was a balcony before my window, from which I could survey the
whole of the Zeil, or principal street of Frankfort. The people were
swarming below as busy as a disturbed nest of ants. A huge gang of
fellows, with pickaxes, took up their post immediately in front of
the hotel, and began to demolish the pavement with a tolerable show
of alacrity.
"Here is the work of unity begun in earnest!" I exclaimed. "Where
is your armed burgher guard now, Professor? This is a glorious
development of your national theories! Quite right, gentlemen; upset
that carriage--roll out those barrels. In five minutes you will have
erected as pretty a fortalice as would have crowned the sconce of
Drumsnab, if Dugald Dalgetty had had his will. The arrangement also
of stationing sharpshooters at the neighbouring windows is judicious.
Have a care, Professor! If any of these patriots should chance to
recognise a recusant member, you may possibly have the worst of it.
For the sake of shelter, and to prevent accidents, I shall even put
my portmanteau in front of us; for damaged linen is better than an
ounce of lead in the thorax."
In a very short time the barricade, was completed, but as yet no
assailants had appeared. This circumstance seemed to astonish even
the insurgents, who held a consultation, and then, with tolerable
philosophy, proceeded to light their pipes. They were not altogether
composed of the lower orders; some of them seemed to belong to the
middle-classes, and were the active directors of the defence. We
could not, of course, tell what was going on in other parts of the
town, for all communication was barred. Better for us it was so, for
about this time Prince Lichnowsky, and Major von Auerswaldt were
murdered.
A considerable period of time elapsed, and yet there was no
appearance of the soldiery. I had almost begun to think that the
insurrection might pass away without bloodshed, when a mounted
aide-de-camp rode up and conferred with the leaders on the barricade.
From his gestures it was evident that he was urging them to disperse,
but this they peremptorily refused. Shortly afterwards a body of
Austrian soldiers charged up the street at double-quick time, and the
firing began in earnest.
"I am a doomed man!" cried the Professor, and he leaped convulsively
on my bed. "As sure as Archimedes was killed in his closet, I shall
be dragged out to the street and massacred!"
"No fear of that," said I. "Body of Bacon, man! do you think that
those fellows have nothing else to do than to hunt out philosophers?
That's sharp work though! The windows are strongly manned, and I fear
the military will suffer."
The loud explosion of a cannon shook the hotel, and a grateful sound
it was, for I knew that, if artillery were employed, the cause of
order was secure. It produced, however, a contrary effect on the
Professor, who thought he was listening to his death-knell. On a
sudden there was a trampling on the stairs.
"They are coming for me!" groaned the Professor. "_Ora pro nobis!_
I shall never read a lecture more!" And sure enough the door was
flung open, and five or six Prussian soldiers, bearing their muskets,
entered. Klingemann dropped down in a swoon.
"You must excuse ceremony, gentlemen," said the corporal; "we have
orders to dislodge the rioters." And forthwith the whole party
stepped out on the balcony, and commenced a regular fusillade.
Presently one of them dropped his weapon, and staggered into the
room; he had received a bad wound in the shoulder. Immediately
afterwards a bullet went plump into my portmanteau.
"Oh confound it!" cried I; "if they are beginning to attack property,
it is full time to be on the alert. With your leave, friend, I shall
borrow your musket."
Next morning I took a final farewell of the Professor. The good
man was much agitated, for, besides his bodily terror, he had been
suffering from the effects of a violent purgative attack.
"I have thought seriously over what you said, my dear boy, and I
begin to perceive that I have been acting very much like a fool.
I shall pack up my chattels this evening, wash my hands of public
affairs, and return to lay my old bones in peace beside those of my
predecessors in the university."
"You can't do better, Professor; and if, in your prelections, you
would omit all notice of Harmodius and Aristogiton, and say as little
as possible about the Lacedæmonian code, it might tend to promote the
welfare of your students, both in this world and in the next."
"Of that, my dear August Reignold, I am now thoroughly convinced. But
you must admit that the abstract idea of unity--"
"Is utter fudge! You see the result of it already in the blood which
is thickening in the streets. Adieu, Professor! Put your cockade in
the fire, and offer my warmest congratulations to your friend Mr
Simon of Treves."
Two days afterwards I experienced a genuine spasm of satisfaction
while setting my foot on Dutch ground at Arnheim. The change from
a democratic to a conservative country was so exhilarating, that I
nearly slew myself by drinking confusion to democracy in bumpers of
veritable Schiedam.
SATIRES AND CARICATURES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.[1]