[1] The words or sentences in single inverted commas are those which
occur in the original in any language other than German.--TRANS.
[2] The North Germans are distinguished for energy, activity, acuteness,
and high mental culture; the South Germans for easy good-nature,
simplicity, contented animal enjoyment, and greater obsequiousness. In
Vienna they call every gentleman Euer Gnaden, 'Your Grace,' and he is of
course Gnadig, when he is kind or civil. But perhaps the author here
alludes rather to a certain ceremonious stiffness of the burghers of
Frankfurt, proud people who give their superiors their due, as they
expect it of their inferiors.--(_Reichsstadtisches Wesen_). What is
clear is, that he means that the inhabitants of the South are not so
superior to antiquated distinctions as those of the North. The Prussians
have been called the French of the North.--TRANS.
[3] Sir Walter Scott's official declaration, that all the works here
alluded to were by him alone, was not then made public.--EDIT.
[4] I have striven to preserve the colouring, as well as the substance
of Göthe's conversation. To those who have any conception of his merits,
it cannot but be interesting to see, as nearly as possible, the very
words which fell from lips so inspired and so venerable--TRANS.
[5] I cannot help almost suspecting that my departed friend has here put
his own opinions into the mouth of Göthe.--EDIT.
[6] I do not think that the exalted old man will be offended at the
publication of this conversation. Every word--even the most
insignificant--which has fallen from _his mouth_, is a precious gift to
many. And even should my departed friend in any respect have
misunderstood him, or have reported him inaccurately, nothing has been
here retained, which, in my opinion, can be called an
indiscretion.--EDIT.
[7] German miles.--TRANSL.
[8] A gulden is twenty-pence.--TRANSL.
[9] I remember to have read of a Greek monastery in Wallachia, the four
towers of which appeared as if they would every moment fall in; yet this
optical deception was produced only by the inclination of the windows,
and of the friezes which run round the towers.
[10] Here follows the well-known story of Mrs. Montague's May-day
entertainment of the chimney-sweeps, and the incident to which it is
usually said to have owed its rise.
After this comes an account of the mad attempt of Mr. Montague, the
ci-devant sweep, together with a Mr. Barnett, to descend the falls of
Schaffhausen in a boat, where both were of course lost. All this, being
both familiar to us, and inaccurately told, has been omitted. The
cicerone, who professed to have been a servant of this Mr. Montague, had
probably heard the incident related of Mr. Sedley Burdett and Lord
Frederick Montague. It only proves how necessary was the author's
disclaimer of responsibility.--TRANSL.
[11] English physicians expect a guinea at every visit.--EDITOR.
[12] Let me take this opportunity of advising those of my Berlin friends
who mean to run horses, to have them trained by well-recommended English
grooms; for it is far from being the fact, that every English groom
without exception understands the business, as I have satisfactorily
convinced myself. They think they have trained a horse, when by
blood-letting, medicine and exercise, they have reduced him to a
skeleton, and taken away all his strength, which real training increases
tenfold. Both the well and ill trained are equally thin; but in the
latter it is the leanness of debility and exhaustion; in the former, the
removal of all unnecessary flesh and fat, and the highest power and
developement of the muscles.--EDITOR.
[13] The art of carving, which is too much neglected in Germany, forms
part of a good English education.
[14] When leaving the presence of the King, ladies are compelled to go
out backwards (as one of them assured me.) It is against the laws of
etiquette,--the observance of which is, particularly, so extremely
rigorous in England,--to turn their backs upon Majesty. This has been
reduced to a regular military evolution, sometimes very embarrassing to
a new recruit. The ladies take close order with their backs to the door,
towards which they retreat in a diagonal line. As soon as the
fugel-woman reaches it, she faces to the right about, passes through,
and the others follow her. Lady C---- commands.
[15] Probably _Berliners_. This accords with what has been said in the
note p. 5, as to the North German acute and satirical character, as
contrasted with Southern _bonhommie_.--TRANSL.
[16] A very useful piece of furniture to introduce at Court.--EDITOR.
[17] _Idee des Wildes_:--The double sense of the word _wild_ in
German,--which when used substantively, exactly corresponds to our
_game_ (feræ naturæ,) though adjectively it is the same as the English
adjective,--makes it impossible to render this.--TRANS.
[18] The reader will see that there is great confusion in this account
of the state and tenure of landed property in England, which, indeed, it
is extremely difficult to make a foreigner understand. It cannot be too
often repeated, that no attempt is made to correct the author's
impressions or statements. To do so, is not to translate but to forge.
The mistakes and misrepresentations are numerous,--almost as numerous as
those in English works on Germany, which is saying a good deal.--TRANSL.
[19] Some letters which contain only personal anecdotes are here
suppressed. I remark this only to account to my fair readers,--who must
have been delighted at the punctuality with which the departed author
devoted the close of every day to his absent friend,--for a silence of
twenty days.--EDITOR.
[20] I must remark, that ever since Prussia was promised a Charter,
(_Charte_,) my departed friend, to be more accurate, made an
orthographical distinction, spelling charts, _Carte_, and playing cards,
_Karte_.--He hopes this caution will not be thrown away.--EDITOR.
[21] _Rechnung._--Account, reckoning, bill. The reader, if he happen to
know the fact, may apply the right word.--TRANSL.
[22] The author's feelings towards Englishmen are evidently so bitter,
that his testimony must be received with great allowance. On the other
hand, it will be confessed by all who are not blinded by intense
self-complacency and insular conceit, that it is extremely rare to find
a foreigner of any country, who has encountered English people either
abroad or at home, without having his most honest allowable self-love
wounded in a hundred ways.--TRANSL.
[23] Let me here remark, that those who judge of England only by their
visit to it in 1814, form extremely erroneous notions. That was a moment
of enthusiasm, a boundless joy of the whole nation at its deliverance
from its most dreaded enemy, which rendered it peculiarly kind and
amiable towards those who had contributed to its destruction.
[24] English-German readers will probably find the original of these
lines without difficulty.--TRANSL.
[25] The traditional personage whom we call the Wandering Jew, the
Germans call _der ewige Jude_, the eternal or everlasting Jew.--TRANSL.
[26] It is true that our charming Sontag, the queen of song, has lately
done nearly the same thing, having contracted a left-handed marriage
with Count R----. EDITOR.
[27] As the biography of Punch seems becoming rather diffuse, and is
tolerably well known here (though not so well as might be imagined),
this is omitted.--TRANSL.
[28] My deceased friend executed a singular idea, and left a relic which
his survivors preserve with melancholy pleasure. He had filled several
large folio volumes with drawings, prints, autographs, and even small
pamphlets; not as is commonly the case with 'scrap-books,' all sorts of
things 'pèle mèle;'--he inserted only those things which he had himself
seen and witnessed, in the same order in which he had seen them. Every
sketch or engraving was accompanied by a note, the sum of which notes
gives a consecutive sketch of his whole career in this world; a perfect
_atlas of his life_, as he often called it.--EDIT.
[29] It is a very characteristic trait of the gay careless character of
this amiable old man, that he let a number of large boxes, containing
his effects, stand at Dresden from the time he quitted it. At length he
was induced to intrust some one with the charge of overlooking the
contents. This person, who knew his very narrow circumstances, was not a
little surprised at finding the presents made to him as English
ambassador, set with jewels of considerable value, still in their
packing cases.
[30] How may this be effected? Only when a man brings himself to
acknowledge that religion is entirely and solely an affair of the heart
and feelings; to which the head can be profitable only by standing as
watchman of the sanctuary, and guarding it with the sword of reason from
its two hereditary foes, superstition and intolerance. If he cannot be
satisfied with this, if he will insist upon understanding what our
nature forbids us to understand, he must fall into one of two
difficulties; either he must take refuge in a so-called positive
religion, or in a system of speculative philosophy. Both are
unsatisfactory, as soon as he seeks to find more in them than an
interesting sport of the fancy or of the intellect. While the profound
innate sentiment of God, of Love, and of the Good, in every healthy
state of the mind, stands with a steady irrefragable security, as clear
to the lowest capacity, as to the highest, not merely as a belief, but
as the true essence of his being,--his proper individual self. And this,
without either reason or understanding being brought into immediate
activity;--though both, when reflection is called in, must entirely
confirm the sentiment.--EDITOR.
[31] It is very problematical which is the worst in the eyes of the
pious,--to have no religion at all, or one different from their own.
Louis XIV., who was unquestionably a champion of religion, decided for
the latter opinion. The Duke of Orleans proposed to him an ambassador to
Spain, whom he accepted, but the next day recalled, because he had heard
he was a Jansenist. "By no means, Your Majesty," said the Duke; "for, as
far as I know, he does not even believe in a God." "May I depend upon
that?" asked the king gravely. "Certainly," replied the Duke, smiling.
"Well, then, let him take the post, in God's name."
[32] Bourienne's Memoirs have unfortunately furnished us with fewer
materials for forming a judgment on Napoleon's real character than was
expected. Bourienne paints Napoleon as Bourienne, and if the dwarf had
run around the feet of the giant for a century, he could never have
looked in his eyes. In one thing, however, which was quite 'à sa
portée,' he was right; namely, that the grand enemy by which Napoleon
was overthrown, was the commercial class, so impoliticly driven to
extremity; a class now-a-days far more powerful than church or army, and
which will yield only to the still stronger power of public opinion, if
ever they should come into collision.--EDITOR.
[33] This is no exaggeration, as those who have had any opportunity of
observing the strong personal attachment of the Prussian people to their
present King can attest.--TRANS.
[34] By 'romantic' the author apparently means the style of the domestic
architecture of Elizabeth's and the succeeding reigns, which affected
nothing like the air of places of defence--TRANSL.
[35] I know not whether the reader will admit this apology.--EDITOR.
[36] It would have been but an act of justice had the author added, that
_under these very circumstances_, not only the head of the family, but
those who bear his illustrious name, and are destined to inherit his
honours, are singularly free from the _morgue_ and arrogance with which
he justly charges the English aristocracy--TRANSL.
[37] There are so many pictures of Henry and Elizabeth in England, that
you must forgive my frequent mention of them. There are shades of
difference in all.
[38] The description is abridged. It is feared the English reader has
already been sated with parks and houses.--TRANSL.
[39] Literally, 'Little rooms to let;' I think we call the game,
'Seats,'--TRANSL.
[40] German for 'Cock-a-doodle-doo.'--TRANSL.
[41] Cases moreover do occur, in which the conscience is, so to speak,
right and wrong at the same time. An act may be necessary, which is
unquestionably, viewed on one side, culpable, but which is chosen as the
lesser of two evils; in which case no reasonable moralist will contend
that it is unpardonable. In telling a compulsory lie, for instance, we
must ever make a considerable sacrifice of our moral dignity, though by
refusing to tell it, we might be guilty of the basest treachery to
parents or friends.--EDITOR.
[42] I must explain this exclamation. When Napoleon, after the defeat at
Aspern, put off in a frail boat with a few followers for the Island of
Lobau, General Tchernicheff, then a very young man, was by his side. He
relates, that the Emperor sate profoundly absorbed in thought, spoke to
nobody, and only now and then broke into the half-suppressed
exclamation, 'O monde, O monde!' He might, perhaps, silently add, 'tu
m'échappes'--as a few years more verified.--EDITOR.
[43] And is still.--EDITOR.
[44] It is natural enough that it should be difficult for the English,
who trouble themselves so little about anything non-English, to
distinguish the respective ranks of German, Russian, and French princes,
and that they therefore place them sometimes too high, sometimes too
low. In England and France, there are properly no Princes but those of
the blood royal. If Englishmen or Frenchmen bear such titles, they are
foreign ones, and were given to the younger sons of noble families; for
instance, the Prince de Polignac, as second son, bears the Roman title
of Prince; the eldest, is Duke de Polignac.
With the exception of a man of very exalted merit, there are no Princes
in Germany who are not of old family and high rank, with the appurtenant
rights and privileges; therefore Princes have in that country the first
rank immediately after the reigning houses. In Russia, on the other
hand, the title of Prince is as good as nothing, since the service alone
gives rank, privilege or importance; and in Italy, the title is not
worth much more. The English mix all this up together, and seldom know
what sort of tone to take with a foreigner, or what place to assign to
him.
[45] My departed friend was possessed with a sort of fixed idea that a
new Church was at hand. What a pity that he did not live to witness what
is now forming! I have just read the following consolatory announcement
in the _Allgemeine Zeitung_:--
"To the Unknown.
"In these pages, hard words have, as I hear, been applied to me and to
the new Church. Strike, my friends, but hear. Only one word, to warn you
of the sin. Again I say, it draws near, raising up the veil more and
more,--a glory which the tongue of man cannot express, and the spirit of
man can only faintly imagine. If we can scarcely conceive that _all_
will become new, how can we so suddenly conceive a new _All_? But to
fall violently on the vanguard, and to insult the banner, before we know
the hosts which are approaching, and the mighty men who lead them, is
not advisable. Beloved brethren, how were it with you, if, with scoffing
still on your lips, you recognized Him? He comes in an hour when ye
think not."--EDITOR.
[46] In this case it were, indeed, desirable that our laws should be
brought nearer to the comprehension of the people; that instead of a
hundred different provincial and local laws, we had _one_ code for the
whole monarchy; so that an act should not be legal in one village, which
ten miles off is illegal; in short, that the P----Jurists should at
length become workers in bronze, and not tinkers.--EDITOR.
[47] 'Art living, dearest, or dead?'
[48] _Jahrzehende_, _Jahrhunderte_, _Jahrtausende_, from _Jahre_.
Corresponding to these convenient forms, we have only _centuries_. It is
to be remarked, too, that each has its adjectival and adverbial form.
The poverty of the English, and still more of the French language makes
it impossible to translate adequately into them from the
German.--TRANSL.
[49] The account of the intermediate days has been suppressed.--EDITOR.
[50] A note explanatory of this word is omitted, as unnecessary in
England.--TRANS.
[51] This is quite contrary to what the author has himself remarked on
the picture of Seneca, and contrary I think to the fact.--TRANSL.
[52] As there are quarter, half, three-quarter, and whole blood horses
in England, just so, and into even more subtle distinctions, is the
fashionable world divided.
[53] The reader may be curious to see this fine passage in its spirited
translation. I have not been able to prevail on myself to attempt to
translate it back into other English than that of the speaker.--TRANS.
"Nicht um Plätze zu erlangen, nicht um Reichthümer zu erwerben ja nicht
einmal um den Catholiken unsres Landes ihr natürliches und menschliches
Recht wiedergegeben zu sehen, eine Wohlthat, um die ich seit 25 Jahren
Gott und die Nation vergebens anrufe, nicht für alles dieses habe ich
mich dem neuen Ministerium angeschlossen, nein, sondern nur, weil, wohin
ich mein Auge wende, nach Europa's civilisirten Staaten, oder nach
Amerika's ungeheurem Continent, nach dem Orient oder Occident, ich
überall die Morgenröthe der _Freiheit_ tagen sehe,--ja, ihr allein habe
ich mich angeschlossen, indem ich dem Manne folge, der ihr Vorfechter zu
seyn, eben so würdig als willig ist!"
[54] This, we find, was only a figure of speech.--EDIT.
[55] This declaration of the Duke has frequently been alluded to since,
even in the Lower House. The following, which I heard from the amiable
lady to whom it was addressed, is less known.--In the month of November
of this year, (1830,) the Premier was conversing with Princess C---- and
the Duchess of D----, on various characteristics of the French and
English nations, and their respective advantages. "Ce qui est beau en
Angleterre," said the Duke with evident self-complacency, "c'est que ni
le rang, ni les richesses, ni la faveur ne sauraient élever un Anglois
aux premières places. Le génie seul les obtient et les conserve chez
nous." The ladies cast down their eyes; and in a week from that time the
Duke of Wellington was out of office.--EDITOR.
[56] How little did my departed friend suspect that this badly organized
head was destined to bring such evils upon the world! Good will indeed
arise out of that, as out of all evil; but _we_ shall hardly reap the
fruits.--EDITOR.
[57] Daughter of the lady to whom these letters are addressed, by her
former husband, Count Pappenheim--TRANSL.
[58] _Eine alte Freiheit._--At the great Councils of the Church, the
political meetings, such as coronations and the like, and other
assemblages in the middle ages, a part of the city or encampment where
they were held, was appropriated to the persons of forbidden professions
who resorted thither; such as jugglers, gamblers, light women, &c. This
part was called the _Freiheit_ or Free Quarter.--TRANSL.
[59] _Mid dem todten Mann_, I believe is Englished as above--TRANSL.
[60] I thought of omitting this part, which certainly belongs too much
to confidential correspondence to interest the generality of readers.
But as it really paints the departed author with uncommon fidelity, and
he often refers to it in subsequent letters, I hope I shall be forgiven
for retaining it.--EDITOR.
[61] A word difficult to translate. Foresight (_Vorsichtssinn_) does not
express it adequately; it is rather the power of calling to mind in a
moment everything that can possibly result from an action; and thus,
almost involuntarily, of painting it from every point of view, which
often cripples the energy.
[62] The individual in question is Dr. Herschel, of whose head Mr.
Deville possesses two casts corresponding to the description above. Mr.
Deville bears testimony to the accuracy in the main of the above report,
though the language is, he says, considerably more ornate than that
which he is likely to have used.--TRANSL.
[63] It is a matter of history that even the true old German knights had
contracted the bad habit of occasionally interlarding their discourse
with French phrases.--EDITOR.
[64] _Fässer._ _Fass_, a butt, barrel, tun, tub, &c.--_Grosse Quart._ I
do not know whether these measures correspond to the English words, or
whether I have used the appropriate technical expressions--TRANSL.
[65] Literally, _Das Kind mit dem Bade verschutten_--"To throw out the
child with the bath;" a common German proverb.--TRANSL.
[66] Misspelt in the original.--TRANSL.
[67] Here follows a short passage which I have not been able, on a
hurried search, to find.--TRANSL.
[68] I do not know the exact equivalent of these titles. _Hofdamen_,
literally is Court-ladies.--TRANSL.
[69] _Nadelholz_: a generic word including all trees with leaves like a
needle,--pine, fir, larch, &c.--TRANSL.
[70] The minute description of the arrangements of the light-house is
omitted, as most English readers are acquainted with them.--TRANSL.
[71]
A boy born in the month of October
Will be a critic, and a right surly one.--TRANSL.
[72] Judging from the results, he must have seen cause to alter his
opinion.--EDITOR.
[73] I make no attempt to translate this, because the mere words would
convey no idea to English readers; and I have no inclination to write,
nor probably they to read, a commentary.--TRANSL.
[74] The Germans do not say _original sin_, but _hereditary sin_
(_Erbsünde_).--_Erbadel_ (hereditary nobility) being formed exactly in
the same manner, there is a sort of _jeu de mots_, which the words in
use here will not represent.--TRANSL.
[75] For the curious in Austrian philosophy and philology, I subjoin the
original of the above, which loses, unhappily, its zest in plain
English, as it would in good German.--TRANSL.
"Nix is halt dümmer," sagte er, "als sich um de Zukunft gräme! Schaun's,
als i hierher kam, war's grade Sommer, und die Season schon vorbei. Nu
hatt' en Andrer sich gegrämt, grad in so schlechter Zeit herkommen zu
seyn; aber i dacht, 's wird sich schon hinziehen, und richtig, 's hat
sich bis zum November hingezogen! Unterdessen hat mich der Esterhazy ufs
Land genemmen, wo i mich gar herrlich amüsirt hab, und nu is noch a
Monat schlecht, dann wird's wieder full, die Bälle und die Routs gehn
an, und i kann's nie mehr besser wünschen! Wär' i nu nich a rechter Narr
gewesen, mi zu gräme ohne Noth? hab i ni recht? Man muss in der Welt
grad wie ne H---- leben und nimmer zuviel an die Zukunft denken."
[76] '_Ihren Kindern den heiligen Christ bescheerte._' The presents
which it is the universal custom in Germany to make to children on a
Christmas eve, are given in the name of the infant;--the
_Christkindchen_ so dear to all German children.--TRANSL.
[77] _Befreiungskrieg._ The war against Napoleon is commonly known by
that name in Germany.--TRANSL.
[78] A _parforce jagd_ is, in one word, _a hunt_; for _jagd_, like
_chasse_, includes shooting and other field-sports; but, as will be
seen, I could not leave out the _parforce_ without destroying the
sentence.--TRANSL.
[79] This refers to the ancient fable of _Reinecke Fuchs_.--TRANSL.
[80] The Germans say, "_Sand in die Augen streuen_," to scatter _sand_
(not dust) in the eyes. Here, as in so many other cases, difference of
idiom destroys a 'jeu de mots.'--TRANSL.
[81] Adelaide, Princess Carolath, born Countess von Pappenheim; daughter
of the Noble Lady to whom these letters are addressed, by the Bavarian
General-of-division Count von Pappenheim, and mentioned in a former part
of the work under the name of Emily.--TRANSL.
[82] A learned antiquarian once told me that the old painters generally
painted on a ground of chalk, and used preparations for fixing their
colours, whence they are so permanent, fresh, and brilliant. Strange
that people don't give themselves the trouble to try this experiment!
[83] The verses alluded to are these:
"Oh what were Love made for, if 'tis not the same
Through joy and through torment, through glory and shame?
I know not, I ask not, if guilt's in that heart;
I but know that I love thee--whatever thou art."
[84] The translation seems to be inferior to the others by the Author
and hardly worth copying.--
[85] "_Uns in ihrer Nationalität hineinzudenken_," (to think ourselves
forth into their nationality);--a compound word which may give some
faint idea of the advantages a writer in the German language must ever
possess over his translator.--TRANSL.
[86] Of German money, of course, is meant.--TRANSL.
[87] Owing to the adoption of the French word _pigeon_, instead of the
English word _dove_, this sentence loses its point. I did not however
venture to astonish my readers by translating _Tauben-club_, Dove-club,
though that would have done more justice to the author's meaning. In
Norfolk and Suffolk, where some very pure English is still preserved
among the 'vulgar,' _dove_, or as they call it _dow_, is still the
common appellative of the whole genus,--as in the cognate
language.--TRANSL.
[88] The peculiar Alpine cry at the end of the Tyrol songs, which is
heard to an immense distance, is called the _Jodle_.--TRANSL.
[89] It is very extraordinary that English writers should constantly
torture themselves to discover the causes of the enormous poor-rates,
and of the more and more artificial and threatening state of the working
classes, when there exists so obvious a discouragement to the outlay of
capital and industry on land, (some of which with us would be called
good, but here is esteemed not worth cultivation,) as tithes:--a man
does not care to devote his capital and his sweat to a priest.--EDITOR.
[90] _Hauslichkeit._ We have not the word--unhappily.--TRANSL.
[91] The curious in such matters may find some amusement in the inquiry,
whether or not there exists in England one drop of _stiftfähiges
blut_--of that sort, namely, common throughout Germany, which can prove
its seventy-two quarterings.--TRANSL.
[92] Certainly the motto of the Paris Society, 'Aide-toi, le ciel
t'aidera,' has never been carried so far 'in praxi.'--EDITOR.
[93] It is one of the greatest beauties of English landscape, that
during the whole winter almost every house is adorned with the luxuriant
blossoms and garlands of the monthly rose.
[94] Count Brühl is inspector of Theatres at Berlin, and in virtue of
that office exercises _surveillance_ over the costumes, on the
correctness of which he piques himself.--TRANSL.
[95] Where the contrary is not specified, the reader will understand
English miles, four and a half of which go to a German mile.--EDITOR.
[96] _Inexpressibles_ is the name which this article of dress has
received in England, where "in good society" a woman sometimes leaves
her husband and children and runs off with her lover, but is always too
decorous to be able to endure the sound of the word _breeches_.--EDITOR.
[97] A mountain spirit. See Musaus's Popular Tales.--TRANSL.
[98] By S----, the author apparently means Berlin.--TRANSL.
[99] In every nation the post ought to be extra-post. Many people indeed
regret that the greater part of the State-machine is not driven by it.
This might give it a jog, and put an end to the halt which it has made
for half a century.--EDITOR.
[100] The English reader must be told, what to him will sound strangely
enough, that "Wohlgeboren" is a higher title than
"Edelgeboren."--TRANSLATOR.
[101] I am acquainted with other qualities of this 'artiste,' which
would do honour to many of the 'industriel' noblemen of our time. For
instance, he sends in his bill only once in five years, and is the most
magnanimous of creditors. 'Avis aux lecteurs.'
[102] N. B. When the nobility is fitly constituted; that is to say, when
it is a true national nobility, such as England in part possesses, or
such as Gravell well describes in his "Regent."--EDITOR.
[103] My departed friend doubtless means to apply this to a certain
class of functionaries, who, for good reasons, love nothing so well as
mediocrity; for if I guess the scene aright, no where is merit more
nobly honoured in the highest places. Of this the whole nation recently
saw a most gratifying example in the affectionate respect paid to a
revered statesman, whose merits are as exalted as his station. If there
is a man who doubts of the former, it can be no other than
himself.--EDITOR.
[104] If I were not certain that my friend wrote this passage in the
year 1827, I should take it to be a reminiscence of President Jackson's
first speech. The President proposes that all the public officers of the
United States (with very few exceptions) be changed every fifth year.
"Eheu jam satis!" What would our _Regiérungs Räthe_ (Government
counsellors) say to such a scheme? Entire general commissions broken up,
in the fullest sense of the word, at a blow! For who knows whether, at
the end of five years, they would be thought worth the money they cost,
and renewed at all?--EDITOR.
[105] Privy counsellors who have any functions, are distinguished from
those who have none, by the addition to their title of _wirklicher_
(real, actual).--TRANSL.
[106] The intention of this law was noble and liberal, though it cut the
knot rather roughly. But how has it been executed? A book might be
written, _ought_ to be written, on this subject. The execution of this
business is precisely in the style of a certain Herr von Wanze, who, in
the disguise of a farmer, taught the opulent peasant Pharao at
Kirmesse.{*}
{*} village festival.--_Transl._
"You put down your money," said he, "and I deal the cards right and
left. What falls to the left I win; what falls to the right you
lose."--EDITOR.
[107] It is but fair, however, to say that the exceptions to this
description are many. When for instance Göthe does not disdain to send
forth "a man of forty" among the minors; when Tieck takes pity upon us,
and gives us a _real genuine "Novelle"_; L. Shefer moves our heart and
spirit by his wild lightnings; Kruse makes a criminal trial graceful and
attractive; or some Therese, Friederike, &c. discloses the otherwise
impenetrable mysteries of the female heart (not to mention the varied
merits of our other best tale-writers);--it is evident that there are
workmen who could supply excellent and perfect wares it the whole
manufacture were not spoiled by the established machinery.--EDITOR.
[108] It is but fair, however, to say that the exceptions to this
description are many. When for instance Göthe does not disdain to send
forth "a man of forty" among the minors; when Tieck takes pity upon us,
and gives us a _real genuine "Novelle"_; L. Shefer moves our heart and
spirit by his wild lightnings; Kruse makes a criminal trial graceful and
attractive; or some Therese, Friederike, &c. discloses the otherwise
impenetrable mysteries of the female heart (not to mention the varied
merits of our other best tale-writers);--it is evident that there are
workmen who could supply excellent and perfect wares it the whole
manufacture were not spoiled by the established machinery.--EDITOR.
[109] It is only in English that the word _artist_ is absurdly
restricted to painters, sculptors, and engravers. An artist is, in the
German sense, a man who cultivates the fine arts,--poetry, painting,
music, &c.--TRANSL.
[110] This pendulum may be used by acute servants as a sort of thermo-
or hygro-meter of the patience of their respective masters and
mistresses.--EDITOR.
[111] The inhabitants themselves cannot perfectly decide which
termination is the right.{*}
{*} This is a joke which will be understood only by those who are
acquainted with the peculiarities of the Berlin dialect. The
inhabitants continually confound verbs which govern the dative
_mir_ (to me,) with those which require the accusative _mich_ (me);
for which they are much laughed at by the rest of Germany. The
first syllable of course alludes to the sandy plain in which Berlin
stands.--_Transl._
[112] N.B. Not to forget to ask our learned Professor Blindemann what he
thinks of this interpretation.
[113] Among others, to the Commissioners of the Elbe Navigation, who
have just made such a noble end of their labours, and have all received
Orders for the same. I wonder whether Providence also will bestow an
Order on me?
[114] To add a word in earnest: I would ask, who does not honour the
humane motives which gave rise to the Bible and Missionary societies?
But are these, even were they not subject, as unfortunately too often
happens, to the most scandalous abuses, the right means to the end? The
result in almost every case teaches us the direct contrary. It ought to
be considered that God sent Christianity as the _second_ covenant; the
_first_ was based entirely upon _earthly_ interests and _despotic
power_.
If I did not fear to appear to treat the matter too lightly, I should
almost be inclined to say that we ought to begin by converting savages
into Jews, before we attempt to make them Christians. This would also
harmonize in a peculiar way with that powerful lever, commercial
interest. Men would be civilized much more quickly by the business of
buying and selling, than by Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians.
This might also serve as an index or guide; and the conformity of such a
course with the laws of nature would be proved by repeated experience,
wherever the same process were to be gone through. To try to make men
Christians who are in so low a state of civilization as the almost
merely animal inhabitants of parts of Africa, appears to me nearly as
unreasonable as to send teachers of the European languages to the apes.
To this stage of human culture two things are applicable, self-interest,
and force beneficently employed: and in this point of view, even
conversions by the sword are not so injudicious and absurd as those by
Bible Societies; always provided, that they are accomplished without
unnecessary cruelty, and undertaken from truly benevolent motives.{*}
{*} It cannot be denied that the most efficient attempts at
conversion, and those which left the most permanent consequences,
were those of Charlemagne, and of the Spaniards in South America.
It was only a pity that the Spaniards forced their own idolatry
upon men who were, in fact, better Christians than themselves.
(It is assumed, be it observed, that we have a vocation and a right to
endeavour to raise people to our state of civilization without any will
of theirs; but this we shall not discuss here.)
The other method, namely, to work upon savages by their own present and
obvious interest, can be accomplished only by trade, and appears to be
the most just and mild of all; but it must also be accompanied by a
certain degree of compulsion and constraint, to produce any rapid and
permanent results. The worst effect of the attempts to hasten on the
universality of Christianity is doubtless this; that as soon as the
savage comes in collision with Christians, they must perceive that the
latter,--whether governments, corporations, or individuals--while they
preach benevolence, do in fact, in almost every case, act hostilely both
to each other and to them. Their simple understandings, which are not
rectified by higher culture, can in no way reconcile this contradiction.
And as they, like children, take in little of a new faith but the
mythos, it is not much to be wondered at if the liberals or
free-thinkers among them exclaim, "Fable for fable, murder for murder,
slave-dealing for slave-dealing, where is the difference?" Had the
Christian powers _really_ abolished the slave-trade, and destroyed the
nest of robbers which, to the shame of Europe, still exist on the coast
of Africa; had England, instead of sending one solitary traveller after
another (men who made themselves ridiculous and contemptible by
displaying their Anglo-Christian arrogance without the means of
supporting it,) to be assassinated by the natives, or to die of the
climate,--sent into the interior an expedition fitted to command
respect, and seasoned by previous residence on the coast;--had this
expedition been so constituted as, by its dignity and by beneficent
compulsion, to give a more humane character to trade; and had it sought
to remove all obstacles to this object, even were it sometimes by force
of arms;--it is indubitable that a great part of Africa would at this
moment be infinitely more civilized than it will be by centuries of
missions and Bible importations. Some may ask, 'A quoi bon tout cela?'
others, what right have we to meddle in other people's affairs? The
answer to these questions would lead us too far. For my own part, I
confess I so far agree with the Jesuits, that I acknowledge that a noble
end,--that is, a project calculated for the greatest possible advantage
of others, and united with the power of carrying it into
effect,--sanctifies all appropriate means which are, in the same sense,
noble, so far at least as open force is concerned; for deceit,
treachery, and dishonesty can never lead to good.--EDIT.
[115] In German all substantives begin with a capital letter.--TRANSL.
[116] A fictitious name, which might be Englished, Mr. Cant.--TRANSL.
[117] It is a great mistake to think that this is a subject only for
ridicule or for rational indignation. The alliance of the so-called
SAINTS, is not without danger to all men of large and liberal opinions.
There is a fermentation of Jesuitical masses, who avail themselves of
the form of Protestantism, because Catholicism will no longer answer
their purpose. They are guided by the same principles to which the
Jesuits owed their power, governed by the same 'esprit de corps,'
constituted according to a like regular organization; instead of the
'aquetta,' indeed, they use, and with signal success, the ten times more
formidable poison of calumny, which, like other instruments of darkness,
is so easily employed by a secret association.--Germany has much more to
dread from such _saints_, than from the dreams of freedom, promulgated
by a set of enthusiastic young students on the Wartburg.--EDIT.
[118] _Wappenvögel_ (armorial-birds,) an expression which appears
affected in English, though the passage is unintelligible without
it.--TRANSL.
[119] A warning to all makers of puns and _jeu de mots_ to know their
tools. Our author probably is still in blissful ignorance of the _i_
which spoils his joke.--TRANS.
[120] "To come out," as applied to young girls in England, means to go
into the world. Parents sometimes let them wait for this happiness till
they are twenty, or even older. Till then, they learn the world only
from novels; in later life they consequently often act upon them, where
the principles of domestic virtue (for there is such a thing now and
then in England) have not been deeply and firmly laid.--EDITOR.
[121] Nothing can be more ridiculous than the declamation of German
writers concerning the poverty which reigns in England; where, according
to them, there are only a few enormously rich, and crowds of extremely
indigent. It is precisely the extraordinary number of people of
competent fortune, and the ease with which the poorest can earn, not
only what is strictly necessary, but even some luxuries, if he chooses
to work vigorously, which make England independent and happy. One must
not indeed repeat after the Opposition newspapers.
[122] Probably presented by Macpherson himself.--EDITOR.
[123] The common people in England put the knife as well as the fork to
their mouths. The higher classes, on the contrary, regard this as the
true sin against the Holy Ghost, and cross themselves internally when
they see a foreign Ambassador now and then eat so;--it is an affront to
the whole nation.
[124] In a more loose and general sense, every man of respectable
appearance is called a gentleman.
[125] This has nothing to do with morality, only with '_scandale_.'
[126] So the Irish delight to call him, proud of his '_landsmannschaft_
(countrymanship).
[127] This is no exaggeration. I have heard such things here, proved by
legal evidence, and seen such misery as never were witnessed in the
times of villanage in Germany, and are hardly to be paralleled in
countries where slavery now prevails.--EDITOR.
[128] I have often had occasion to remark, that the love of music in
England is a mere affair of fashion. There is no nation in Europe which
plays music better or understands it worse.
[129] "_Böhmische Dörfer._" The _jeu de mots_ is inevitably
lost.--TRANSL.
[130] An excellent dish! the receipt, _vivâ voce_.
[131] Eligible to certain chapters and ecclesiastical orders, to which
none could be admitted who could not prove their seventy-two
quarterings.--TRANSL.
[132] The maître d'hotel who lately published Memoirs of Napoleon,
vindicates the Emperor from this reproach with indignation. His memoirs
are certainly most flattering to that great man, for they prove 'qu'il
est resté héros même pour son valet de chambre.'--EDIT.
[133] _Poetry and Truth_,--the title of Göthe's auto-biographical work.
[134] "I purpose to take a long sleep."
[135] All the Catholic children in Ireland are carefully instructed, and
can at least read; while the Protestant are often utterly ignorant. The
morals of the Catholic priesthood in Ireland are every where exemplary,
as were those of the Reformers in France. The oppressed Church is every
where the most virtuous; the causes of which are easily found.--EDITOR.
[136] The wish of my departed friend is already in part fulfilled, and
the future is big with yet greater changes.--EDITOR.
[137] The translation of the title of the book is of a piece with all
the rest. _Leiden_ does not mean _sorrows_, but _sufferings_.--TRANS.
[138] 'Sportsman'--'sport'--are as untranslatable as 'Gentleman.' It is
by no means a mere hunter or shooter; but a man who follows all
amusements of that and the cognate kinds, with ardour and address.
Boxing, horse-racing, duck-shooting, fox-hunting, cock-fighting, are all
'sport.'--EDITOR.
[139] Nothing important or solemn can go on in England without a dinner;
be it religious, political, literary, or of what kind it may.--ED.
[140] These disabilities have, as is universally known, been since
removed.--EDITOR.
[141] A piece of the true cross was kept here, and gave its name to the
monastery. Every separate building, was, for this reason, ornamented
with a lofty cross of stone, of which only one is preserved.--EDITOR.
[142] A Moor, who was a very enlightened man for his country, and
resided a long time in England, said to Captain L----, "I should not
like to serve so powerless a monarch as the King of England. How
different a feeling it gives one to be the servant of a sovereign who is
the image of God's omnipotence on earth, at whose nod a thousand heads
must fly like chaff before the wind!"--'Il ne faut donc pas disputer des
goûts.'
[143] 'Your Grace' is the title of Protestant archbishops in England,
and is given by all well-bred people, by courtesy, also to the Catholic
archbishops, although the English law does not recognise their rank.
[144] These, as my departed friend often declared, were remarkably well
prepared in Ireland. They consist of poultry boiled dry, with Cayenne
pepper, or served with a most burning and pungent sauce.--EDITOR,
(addressed to gourmands.)
[145]
The sky is changed!--and such a change! Oh night,
And storm, and darkness, ye are wondrous strong,
Yet lovely in your strength, as is the light
Of a dark eye in woman! Far along,
From peak to peak, the rattling crags among
Leaps the live thunder! Not from one lone cloud,
But every mountain now hath found a tongue,
And Jura answers, through her misty shroud,
Back to the joyous Alps, who call to her aloud!
And this is in the night:--Most glorious night!
Thou wert not sent for slumber! let me be
A sharer in thy fierce and far delight,--
A portion of the tempest and of thee!
How the lit lake shines, a phosphoric sea,
And the big rain comes dancing to the earth!
And now again 'tis black,--and now, the glee
Of the loud hills shakes with its mountain-mirth,
As if they did rejoice o'er a young earthquake's birth.
[146] Much has lately been done towards improving, I might say
humanizing, the music in the churches in Prussia; and the influence of
this improvement on the congregations have been universally found to be
very beneficial.--EDITOR.
[147] Nothing can be a more astonishing proof of the difficulty of
comparing the moral and intellectual character of two countries than
this remark. Every Englishman accustomed to the cultivated society of
his own country, must be struck by the extraordinary inferiority of
German female education, in proportion to the high superiority of that
of men. The solution is probably this:--The Author was chiefly confined
to fashionable society here, and mixed little with the more instructed
classes. In Germany, it is precisely the women of the middling classes
who are so lamentably deficient in education,--a defect, of course,
there as every where attributable to those who govern their destiny, and
who profess sentiments even more unworthy than those here attributed to
Englishmen. The motive ascribed to the latter is surely more strong and
more noble than the desire of possessing a thorough cook or a contented
drudge.--TRANS.
[148] We ought perhaps to apologize for suffering this and other similar
passages to be printed. But whoever has read thus far, must interest
himself in some degree for or against the Author: and in either case
these unrestrained judgments upon himself cannot be wholly unwelcome to
the reader who likes what is characteristic. Those who like only facts,
may easily pass them over.--EDITOR.
[149] This is seldom to be met with in fashionable society, from the
tyrannical demands of English education, which have a very wide
influence in the three kingdoms. You observe, therefore, that I often
confound English and Irish under one common name; I ought more properly
to call them British.
[150] Even religion and morality do not reach all the intricate
circumstances and cases which occur in human society:--witness that
conventional honour which is frequently at war with both, and whose laws
are yet obeyed by the best and wisest of men.
[151] Nach ihrer Decke strecken.
[152] The German name for the system of gymnastics introduced by the
celebrated Dr. Jahn, and mixed up, by the young men who cultivated them,
with the political opinions designated by the governments as
'_Demagogic_.'--TRANS.
[153] The Prussian Landwehr system also forms perfect soldiers, horse or
foot, in two years.--EDITOR.
[154] It is perhaps hardly worth remarking, that at the time in which
eternal hell-fire was the most sincerely and generally believed in,
morality was at the very lowest ebb, and the number of great crimes a
thousandfold what it now is.--EDITOR.
[155] Our _Eilkutschen_ will never approach the English stage-coaches
till the post is entirely free, and till there is an equal competition
of travellers: neither is to be expected.--EDITOR.
[156] Few persons will agree with this position of the Author. If it be
true, how doubly discreditable to English translators is the comparison
of their performances with such translations as Voss's Homer,
Schleiermacher's Plato, Schlegel's Shakspeare and Calderon, &c. For any
approach to these wonderful transfusions, where are we to look? At the
abortive attempts at presenting to England any idea of Göthe?--TRANS.
[157] 'Popish mummery' is the name given by English Protestants to the
Catholic worship;--their own fully answers to the same
description.--EDITOR.
[158] The decorated well-replenished table well set out in every family
on Christmas eve.--TRANS.
[159] The description in detail is omitted, as familiar to the English
reader.--TRANS.
[160] The letters alluded to belong to the first part, which
see.--EDITOR.--(See Preface.)
[161] _Ländlich, sittlich,_--a German proverb, to which I do not
recollect any corresponding English one.--TRANSL.
[162] Thus should we ever regard, represent, and treat death. It is only
a perverted view of Christianity (perhaps the Jewish groundwork of it),
which has made death so gloomy, and with a coarse animal feeling, as
unpoetical as it is disgusting, chosen skeletons and marks of
decomposition as its emblems.--EDITOR.
[163] As Napoleon said of his own head: "Carrée, autant de base que de
hauteur."--EDITOR.
[164] A countryman of August Wilhelm Schlegel ought to take shame to
himself for the omission of the illustrious name of Flaxman, whose
genius was cast in a mould far more purely, severely and elegantly
_Greek_, than that of any modern sculptor whatever.--TRANS.
* * * * *
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
over fastidiuot=> over fastidious {pg xiv}
over fastidiuot=> over fastidiuos {pg xiv}
neices=> nieces {pg xv}
surgcial instrument=> surgical instrument {pg xv}