The following work being the genuine expression of the thoughts and
feelings excited by this country in the mind of a foreigner whose
station, education, and intelligence seem to promise no common degree of
aptitude for the difficult task of appreciating England, it has been
thought worth while to give it to the English public. The Translator is
perfectly aware that the author has been led, or has fallen, into some
errors both of fact and inference. These he has not thought it expedient
to correct. Every candid traveller will pronounce such errors
inevitable; for from what class in any country is perfectly accurate and
impartial information to be obtained? And in a country so divided by
party and sectarian hostilities and prejudices as England, how must this
difficulty be increased! The book is therefore given unaltered; except
that some few omissions have been made of facts and anecdotes, either
familiar to us, though new to Germans, or trivial in themselves.
Opinions have been retained throughout, without the least attempt at
change or colouring. That on some important subjects they are not those
of the mass of Englishmen, will, it is presumed, astonish no reflecting
man. They bear strong marks of that _individuality_ which characterizes
modes of thinking in Germany, where men are no more accustomed to claim
the right of thinking for others, than to renounce that of thinking for
themselves. This characteristic of the German mind stands in strong
contrast to the sectarian division of opinion in England. The sentiments
of the author are therefore to be regarded simply as his own, and not as
a sample of those of any sect or class in Germany: still less are they
proposed for adoption or imitation here. The opinion he pronounces on
French and German philosophy is, for example by no means in accordance
with the popular sentiment of his country.
The Letters, as will be seen from the Preface, were published as the
work of a deceased person. They have excited great attention in
Germany; and rumour has ascribed them to Prince Pückler Muskau, a
subject of Prussia, who is known to have travelled in England and
Ireland about the period at which these Letters were written. He has
even been mentioned as the author in the Berlin newspapers. As, however,
he has not thought fit to accept the authorship, we have no right to fix
it upon him; though the public voice of Germany has perhaps sufficiently
established his claim to it. At all events, the Letters contain
allusions to his rank, which fully justify us in ascribing them to _a
German Prince_. They likewise furnish internal evidence of his being a
man not only accustomed to the society of his equals, but conversant
with the world under various aspects, and with literature and art: of
fertile imagination; of unfettered and intrepid understanding; and
accustomed to consider every subject in a large, tolerant, and original
manner.
The author of the '_Briefe eines Verstorbenen_,' be he who he may, has
had the honour and happiness of drawing forth a critique from the pen of
Göthe. None but those incapable of estimating the unapproachable
literary merits of that illustrious man, will be surprised that the
Translator should be desirous of giving the authority of so potential a
voice to the book which it has been his difficult task to render into
English.
The following extracts from Göthe's article in the _Berliner Jahrbuch_
will do more to recommend the work than all that could be added here:--
"The writer appears a perfect and experienced man of the world,
endowed with talents, and with a quick apprehension; formed by a
varied social existence, by travel and extensive connections;
likewise a thorough, liberal-minded German, versed in literature
and art.
* * * "He is also a good companion even in not the best company,
and yet without ever losing his own dignity. * * *
"Descriptions of natural scenery form the chief part of the
Letters; but of these materials he avails himself with admirable
skill. England, Wales, and especially Ireland, are drawn in a
masterly manner. We can hardly believe but that he wrote the
description with the object immediately before his eyes. As he
carefully committed to paper the events of every day at its close,
the impressions are most distinct and lively. His vivacity and
quick sense of enjoyment enable him to depict the most monotonous
scenery with perfect individual variety. It is only from his
pictorial talent that the ruined abbeys and castles, the bare rocks
and scarcely pervious moors of Ireland, become remarkable or
endurable:--poverty and careless gaiety, opulence and absurdity,
would repel us at every step. The hunting parties, the drinking
bouts, which succeed each other in an unbroken series, are
tolerable because he can tolerate them. We feel, as with a beloved
travelling companion, that we cannot bear to leave him, even where
the surrounding circumstances are least inviting; for he has the
art of amusing and exhilarating himself and us. Before it sets, the
sun once more breaks through the parted clouds, and gives to our
astonished view an unexpected world of light and shadow, colour and
contrast.
"His remarks on natural scenery, which he views with the eye of an
artist, and his successive and yet cursive description of his
route, are truly admirable.
"After leading us as patient companions of his pilgrimage, he
introduces us into distinguished society. He visits the famous
O'Connell in his remote and scarcely accessible residence, and
works out the picture which we had formed to ourselves from
previous descriptions of this wonderful man. He next attends
popular meetings, and hears speeches from O'Connell, Shiel, and
other remarkable persons. He takes the interest of a man of
humanity and sense in the great question which agitates Ireland;
but has too clear an insight into all the complicated
considerations it involves to be carried away by exaggerated hopes.
* * *
"The great charm, however, which attaches us to his side, consists
in the moral manifestations of his nature which run through the
book: his clear understanding and simple natural manners render him
highly interesting. We are agreeably affected by the sight of a
right-minded and kind-hearted man, who describes with charming
frankness the conflict between will and accomplishment.
"We represent him to ourselves as of dignified and prepossessing
exterior. He knows how instantly to place himself on an equality
with high and low, and to be welcome to all. That he excites the
attention of women is natural enough,--he attracts and is
attracted; but his experience of the world enables him to terminate
any little _affaires du coeur_ without violence or indecorum.
"The journey was undertaken very recently, and brings us the latest
intelligence from the countries which he viewed with an acute,
clear, and comprehensive eye.
"He gradually affords us a clue to his own character. We see before
us a finely constituted being, endowed with great capacity; born to
great external advantages and felicities; but in whom a lively
spirit of enterprise is not united to constancy and perseverance;
whence he experiences frequent failure and disappointment. But this
very defect gives him that peculiar genial aimlessness, which to
the reader is the charm of his travels. * * *
"His descriptions are equally good in the various regions for which
talents of such different kinds are required. The wildest and the
loveliest scenes of nature; buildings, and works of art; incidents
of every kind; individual character and social groups,--all are
treated with the same clear perception, the same easy unaffected
grace. * * *
"The peculiarities of English manners and habits are drawn vividly
and distinctly, and without exaggeration. We acquire a lively idea
of that wonderful combination, that luxuriant growth,--of that
insular life which is based in boundless wealth and civil freedom,
in universal monotony and manifold diversity; formal and
capricious, active and torpid, energetic and dull, comfortable and
tedious, the envy and the derision of the world.
"Like other unprejudiced travellers of modern times, our author is
not very much enchanted with the English form of existence: his
cordial and sincere admiration are often accompanied by unsparing
censure. * * *
"He is by no means inclined to favour the faults and weaknesses of
the English; and in these cases he has the greatest and best among
them--those whose reputation is universal--on his side."--GÖTHE.