love and sympathy, has little to oppose to scorn and ill-will. Though I
managed pretty well to keep off the assaults of my companions, I was by
no means equal to them in sarcasm and abuse; because he who merely
defends himself in such cases is always a loser. Attacks of this sort
consequently, when they went so far as to excite anger, were repelled
with physical force, or at least excited strange reflections in me which
could not be without results. Among other advantages which my ill-
wishers saw with envy, was the pleasure I took in the relations that
accrued to the family from my grandfather's position of
/Schultheiss/; since, as he was the first of his class, this had no
small effect on those belonging to him. Once when, after the holding of
the Piper's Court, I appeared to pride myself on having seen my
grandfather in the midst of the council, one step higher than the rest,
enthroned, as it were, under the portrait of the emperor, one of the
boys said to me in derision, that, like the peacock contemplating his
feet, I should cast my eyes back to my paternal grandfather, who had
been keeper of the Willow Inn, and would never have aspired to thrones
and coronets. I replied, that I was in no wise ashamed of that, as it
was the glory and honor of our native city that all its citizens might
consider each other equal, and every one derive profit and honor from
his exertions in his own way. I was sorry only that the good man had
been so long dead; for I had often yearned to know him in person, had
many times gazed upon his likeness, nay, had visited his tomb, and had
at least derived pleasure from the inscription on the simple monument of
that past existence to which I was indebted for my own. Another ill-
wisher, who was the most malicious of all, took the first aside, and
whispered something in his ear; while they still looked at me
scornfully. My gall already began to rise, and I challenged them to
speak out. "What is more, then, if you will have it," continued the
first, "this one thinks you might go looking about a long time before
you could find your grandfather." I now threatened them more vehemently
if they did not more clearly explain themselves. Thereupon they brought
forward an old story, which they pretended to have overheard from their
parents, that my father was the son of some eminent man, while that good
citizen had shown himself willing to take outwardly the paternal office.
They had the impudence to produce all sorts of arguments: as, for
example, that our property came exclusively from our grandmother; that
the other collateral relations who lived in Friedburg and other places
were alike destitute of property; and other reasons of the sort, which
could merely derive their weight from malice. I listened to them more
composedly than they expected, for they stood ready to fly the very
moment that I should make a gesture as if I would seize their hair. But
I replied quite calmly, and in substance, "that even this was no great
injury to me. Life was such a boon, that one might be quite indifferent
as to whom one had to thank for it; since at least it must be derived
from God, before whom we all were equals." As they could make nothing of
it, they let the matter drop for this time: we went on playing together
as before, which among children is an approved mode of reconciliation.
Still, these spiteful words inoculated me with a sort of moral disease,
which crept on in secret. It would not have displeased me at all to have
been the grandson of any person of consideration, even if it had not
been in the most lawful way. My acuteness followed up the scent, my
imagination was excited, and my sagacity put in requisition. I began to
investigate the allegation, and invented or found for it new grounds of
probability. I had heard little said of my grandfather, except that his
likeness, together with my grandmother's, had hung in a parlor of the
old house; both of which, after the building of the new one, had been
kept in an upper chamber. My grandmother must have been a very handsome
woman, and of the same age as her husband. I remembered also to have
seen in her room the miniature of a handsome gentleman in uniform, with
star and order, which after her death, and during the confusion of
house-building, had disappeared, with many other small pieces of
furniture. These and many other things I put together in my childish
head, and exercised that modern poetical talent which contrives to
obtain the sympathies of the whole cultivated world by a marvellous
combination of the important events of human life.
But as I did not venture to trust such an affair to any one, or even to
ask the most remote questions concerning it, I was not wanting in a
secret diligence, in order to get, if possible, somewhat nearer to the
matter. I had heard it explicitly maintained, that sons often bore a
decided resemblance to their fathers or grandfathers. Many of our
friends, especially Councillor Schneider, a friend of the family, were
connected by business with all the princes and noblemen of the
neighborhood, of whom, including both the ruling and the younger
branches, not a few had estates on the Rhine and Main, and in the
intermediate country, and who at times honored their faithful agents
with their portraits.
These, which I had often seen on the walls from my infancy, I now
regarded with redoubled attention; seeking whether I could not detect
some resemblance to my father or even to myself, which too often
happened to lead me to any degree of certainty. For now it was the eyes
of this, now the nose of that, which seemed to indicate some
relationship. Thus these marks led me delusively backward and forward:
and though in the end I was compelled to regard the reproach as a
completely empty tale, the impression remained; and I could not from
time to time refrain from privately calling up and testing all the
noblemen whose images had remained very distinct in my imagination. So
true is it that whatever inwardly confirms man in his self-conceit, or
flatters his secret vanity, is so highly desirable to him, that he does
not ask further, whether in other respects it may turn to his honor or
disgrace.
But, instead of mingling here serious and even reproachful reflections,
I rather turn my look away from those beautiful times; for who is able
to speak worthily of the fulness of childhood? We cannot behold the
little creatures which flit about before us otherwise than with delight,
nay, with admiration; for they generally promise more than they perform:
and it seems that Nature, among the other roguish tricks that she plays
us, here also especially designs to make sport of us. The first organs
she bestows upon children coming into the world, are adapted to the
nearest immediate condition of the creature, which, unassuming and
artless, makes use of them in the readiest way for its present purposes.
The child, considered in and for himself, with his equals, and in
relations suited to his powers, seems so intelligent and rational, and
at the same time so easy, cheerful, and clever, that one can hardly wish
it further cultivation. If children grew up according to early
indications, we should have nothing but geniuses; but growth is not
merely development: the various organic systems which constitute one man
spring one from another, follow each other, change into each other,
supplant each other, and even consume each other; so that after a time
scarcely a trace is to be found of many aptitudes and manifestations of
ability. Even when the talents of the man have on the whole a decided
direction, it will be hard for the greatest and most experienced
connoisseur to declare them beforehand with confidence; although
afterwards it is easy to remark what has pointed to a future.
By no means, therefore, is it my design wholly to comprise the stories
of my childhood in these first books; but I will rather afterwards
resume and continue many a thread which ran through the early years
unnoticed. Here, however, I must remark what an increasing influence the
incidents of the war gradually exercised upon our sentiments and mode of
life.
The peaceful citizen stands in a wonderful relation to the great events
of the world. They already excite and disquiet him from a distance; and,
even if they do not touch him, he can scarcely refrain from an opinion
and a sympathy. Soon he takes a side, as his character or external
circumstances may determine. But when such grand fatalities, such
important changes, draw nearer to him, then with many outward
inconveniences remains that inward discomfort, which doubles and
sharpens the evil, and destroys the good which is still possible. Then
he has really to suffer from friends and foes, often more from the
former than from the latter; and he knows not how to secure and preserve
either his interests or his inclinations.
The year 1757, which still passed in perfectly civic tranquillity, kept
us, nevertheless, in great uneasiness of mind. Perhaps no other was more
fruitful of events than this. Conquests, achievements, misfortunes,
restorations, followed one upon another, swallowed up and seemed to
destroy each other; yet the image of Frederick, his name and glory, soon
hovered again above all. The enthusiasm of his worshippers grew always
stronger and more animated; the hatred of his enemies more bitter; and
the diversity of opinion, which separated even families, contributed not
a little to isolate citizens, already sundered in many ways and on other
grounds. For in a city like Frankfort, where three religions divide the
inhabitants into three unequal masses; where only a few men, even of the
ruling faith, can attain to political power,--there must be many wealthy
and educated persons who are thrown back upon themselves, and, by means
of studies and tastes, form for themselves an individual and secluded
existence. It will be necessary for us to speak of such men, now and
hereafter, if we are to bring before us the peculiarities of a Frankfort
citizen of that time.
My father, immediately after his return from his travels, had in his own
way formed the design, that, to prepare himself for the service of the
city, he would undertake one of the subordinate offices, and discharge
its duties without emolument, if it wore conferred upon him without
balloting. In the consciousness of his good intentions, and according to
his way of thinking and the conception he had of himself, he believed
that he deserved such a distinction, which, indeed, was not conformable
to law or precedent. Consequently, when his suit was rejected, he fell
into ill humor and disgust, vowed that he would never accept of any
place, and, in order to render it impossible, procured the title of
Imperial Councillor, which the /Schultheiss/ and elder
/Schöffen/ bear as a special honor. He had thus made himself an
equal of the highest, and could not begin again at the bottom. The same
impulse induced him also to woo the eldest daughter of the
/Schultheiss/, so that he was excluded from the council on this
side also. He was now of that number of recluses who never form
themselves into a society. They are as much isolated in respect to each
other as they are in regard to the whole, and the more so as in this
seclusion the character becomes more and more uncouth. My father, in his
travels and in the world which he had seen, might have formed some
conception of a more elegant and liberal mode of life than was, perhaps,
common among his fellow-citizens. In this respect, however, he was not
entirely without predecessors and associates.
The name of Uffenbach is well known. At that time, there was a Schöff
von Uffenbach, who was generally respected. He had been in Italy; had
applied himself particularly to music; sang an agreeable tenor; and,
having brought home a fine collection of pieces, concerts and oratorios
were performed at his house. Now, as he sang in these himself, and held
musicians in great favor, it was not thought altogether suitable to his
dignity; and his invited guests, as well as the other people of the
country, allowed themselves many a jocose remark on the matter.
I remember, too, a Baron von Hakel, a rich nobleman, who, being married,
but childless, occupied a charming house in the Antonius Street, fitted
up with all the appurtenances of a dignified position in life. He also
possessed good pictures, engravings, antiques, and much else which
generally accumulates with collectors and lovers of art. From time to
time he asked the more noted personages to dinner, and was beneficent in
a careful way of his own; since he clothed the poor in his own house,
but kept back their old rags, and gave them a weekly charity, on
condition that they should present themselves every time clean and neat
in the clothes bestowed on them. I can recall him but indistinctly, as a
genial, well-made man; but more clearly his auction, which I attended
from beginning to end, and, partly by command of my father, partly from
my own impulse, purchased many things that are still to be found in my
collections.
At an earlier date than this,--so early that I scarcely set eyes upon
him,--John Michael von Loen gained considerable repute in the literary
world as well as at Frankfort. Not a native of Frankfort, he settled
there, and married a sister of my grandmother Textor, whose maiden name
was Lindheim. Familiar with the court and political world, and rejoicing
in a renewed title of nobility, he had acquired reputation by daring to
take part in the various excitements which arose in Church and State. He
wrote "The Count of Rivera," a didactic romance, the subject of which is
made apparent by the second title, "or, The Honest Man at Court." This
work was well received, because it insisted on morality, even in courts,
where prudence only is generally at home; and thus his labor brought him
applause and respect. A second work, for that very reason, would be
accompanied by more danger. He wrote "The Only True Religion," a book
designed to advance tolerance, especially between Lutherans and
Calvinists. But here he got in a controversy with the theologians: one
Dr. Benner of Giessen, in particular, wrote against him. Von Loen
rejoined; the contest grew violent and personal, and the unpleasantness
which arose from it caused him to accept the office of president at
Lingen, which Frederick II. offered him; supposing that he was an
enlightened, unprejudiced man, and not averse to the new views that more
extensively obtained in France. His former countrymen, whom he had left
in some displeasure, averred that he was not contented there, nay, could
not be so, as a place like Lingen was not to be compared with Frankfort.
My father also doubted whether the president would be happy, and
asserted that the good uncle would have done better not to connect
himself with the king, as it was generally hazardous to get too near
him, extraordinary sovereign as he undoubtedly was; for it had been seen
how disgracefully the famous Voltaire had been arrested in Frankfort, at
the requisition of the Prussian Resident Freitag, though he had formerly
stood so high in favor, and had been regarded as the king's teacher in
French poetry. There was, on such occasions, no want of reflections and
examples to warn one against courts and princes' service, of which a
native Frankforter could scarcely form a conception.
An excellent man, Dr. Orth, I will only mention by name; because here I
have not so much to erect a monument to the deserving citizens of
Frankfort, but rather refer to them only in as far as their renown or
personal character had some influence upon me in my earliest years. Dr.
Orth was a wealthy man, and was also of that number who never took part
in the government, although perfectly qualified to do so by his
knowledge and penetration. The antiquities of Germany, and more
especially of Frankfort, have been much indebted to him: he published
remarks on the so-called "Reformation of Frankfort," a work in which the
statutes of the state are collected. The historical portions of this
book I diligently read in my youth.
Von Ochsenstein, the eldest of the three brothers whom I have mentioned
above as our neighbors, had not been remarkable during his lifetime, in
consequence of his recluse habits, but became the more remarkable after
his death, by leaving behind him a direction that common workingmen
should carry him to the grave, early in the morning, in perfect silence,
and without an attendant or follower. This was done; and the affair
caused great excitement in the city, where they were accustomed to the
most pompous funerals. All who discharged the customary offices on such
occasions rose against the innovation. But the stout patrician found
imitators in all classes; and, though such ceremonies were derisively
called ox-burials,[Footnote: A pun upon the name of Ochsenstein.--
Trans.] they came into fashion, to the advantage of many of the more
poorly provided families; while funeral parades were less and less in
vogue. I bring forward this circumstance, because it presents one of the
earlier symptoms of that tendency to humility and equality, which, in
the second half of the last century, was manifested in so many ways,
from above downward, and broke out in such unlooked-for effects.
Nor was there any lack of antiquarian amateurs. There were cabinets of
pictures, collections of engravings; while the curiosities of our own
country especially were zealously sought and hoarded. The older decrees
and mandates of the imperial city, of which no collection had been
prepared, were carefully searched for in print and manuscript, arranged
in the order of time, and preserved with reverence, as a treasure of
native laws and customs. The portraits of Frankforters, which existed in
great number, were also brought together, and formed a special
department of the cabinets.
Such men my father appears generally to have taken as his models. He was
wanting in none of the qualities that pertain to an upright and
respectable citizen. Thus, after he had built his house, he put his
property of every sort into order. An excellent collection of maps by
Schenck and other geographers at that time eminent, the aforesaid
decrees and mandates, the portraits, a chest of ancient weapons, a case
of remarkable Venetian glasses, cups and goblets, natural curiosities,
works in ivory, bronzes, and a hundred other things, were separated and
displayed; and I did not fail, whenever an auction occurred, to get some
commission for the increase of his possessions.
I must still speak of one important family, of which I had heard strange
things since my earliest years, and of some of whose members I myself
lived to see a great deal that was wonderful,--I mean the Senkenbergs.
The father, of whom I have little to say, was an opulent man. He had
three sons, who, even in their youth, uniformly distinguished themselves
as oddities. Such things are not well received in a limited city, where
no one is suffered to render himself conspicuous, either for good or
evil. Nicknames and odd stories, long kept in memory, are generally the
fruit of such singularity. The father lived at the corner of Hare Street
(/Hasengasse/), which took its name from a sign on the house, that
represented one hare at least, if not three hares. They consequently
called these three brothers only the three Hares, which nickname they
could not shake off for a long while. But as great endowments often
announce themselves in youth in the form of singularity and awkwardness,
so was it also in this case. The eldest of the brothers was the
/Reichshofrath/ (Imperial Councillor) von Senkenberg, afterwards so
celebrated. The second was admitted into the magistracy, and displayed
eminent abilities, which, however, he subsequently abused in a
pettifogging and even infamous way, if not to the injury of his native
city, certainty to that of his colleagues. The third brother, a
physician and man of great integrity, but who practised little, and that
only in high families, preserved even in his old age a somewhat
whimsical exterior. He was always very neatly dressed, and was never
seen in the street otherwise than in shoes and stockings, with a well-
powdered, curled wig, and his hat under his arm. He walked on rapidly,
but with a singular sort of stagger; so that he was sometimes on one and
sometimes on the other side of the way, and formed a complete zigzag as
he went. The wags said that he made this irregular step to get out of
the way of the departed souls, who might follow him in a straight line,
and that he imitated those who are afraid of a crocodile. But all these
jests and many merry sayings were transformed at last into respect for
him, when he devoted his handsome dwelling-house in Eschenheimer Street,
with court, garden, and all other appurtenances, to a medical
establishment, where, in addition to a hospital designed exclusively for
the citizens of Frankfort, a botanic garden, an anatomical theatre, a
chemical laboratory, a considerable library, and a house for the
director, were instituted in a way of which no university need have been
ashamed.
Another eminent man, whose efficiency in the neighborhood and whose
writings, rather than his presence, had a very important influence upon
me, was Charles Frederick von Moser, who was perpetually referred to in
our district for his activity in business. He also had a character
essentially moral, which, as the vices of human nature frequently gave
him trouble, inclined him to the so-called pious. Thus, what Von Loen
had tried to do in respect to court-life, he would have done for
business-life; introducing into it a more conscientious mode of
proceeding. The great number of small German courts gave rise to a
multitude of princes and servants, the former of whom desired
unconditional obedience; while the latter, for the most part, would work
or serve only according to their own convictions. Thus arose an endless
conflict, and rapid changes and explosions; because the effects of an
unrestricted course of proceeding become much sooner noticeable and
injurious on a small scale than on a large one. Many families were in
debt, and Imperial Commissions of Debts were appointed; others found
themselves sooner or later on the same road: while the officers either
reaped an unconscionable profit, or conscientiously made themselves
disagreeable and odious. Moser wished to act as a statesman and man of
business; and here his hereditary talent, cultivated to a profession,
gave him a decided advantage: but he at the same time wished to act as a
man and a citizen, and surrender as little as possible of his moral
dignity. His "Prince and Servant," his "Daniel in the Lions' Den," his
"Relics," paint throughout his own condition, in which he felt himself,
not indeed tortured, but always cramped. They all indicate impatience in
a condition, to the bearings of which one cannot reconcile one's self,
yet from which one cannot get free. With this mode of thinking and
feeling, he was, indeed, often compelled to seek other employments,
which, on account of his great cleverness, were never wanting. I
remember him as a pleasing, active, and, at the same time, gentle man.
The name of Klopstock had already produced a great effect upon us, even
at a distance. In the outset, people wondered how so excellent a man
could be so strangely named; but they soon got accustomed to this, and
thought no more of the meaning of the syllables. In my father's library
I had hitherto found only the earlier poets, especially those who in his
day had gradually appeared and acquired fame. All these had written in
rhyme, and my father held rhyme as indispensable in poetical works.
Canitz, Hagedorn, Drollinger, Gellert Creuz, Haller, stood in a row, in
handsome calf bindings: to these were added Neukirch's "Telemachus,"
Koppen's "Jerusalem Delivered," and other translations. I had from my
childhood diligently perused the whole of these works, and committed
portions of them to memory, whence I was often called upon to amuse the
company. A vexatious era on the other hand opened upon my father, when,
through Klopstock's "Messiah," verses, which seemed to him no verses,
became an object of public admiration.[Footnote: The Messiah is written
in hexameter verse.--Trans.] He had taken good care not to buy this
book; but the friend of the family, Councillor Schneider, smuggled it
in, and slipped it into the hands of my mother and her children.
On this man of business, who read but little, "The Messiah," as soon as
it appeared, made a powerful impression. Those pious feelings, so
naturally expressed, and yet so beautifully elevated; that pleasant
diction, even if considered merely as harmonious prose,--had so won the
otherwise dry man of business, that he regarded the first ten cantos, of
which alone we are properly speaking, as the finest book of devotion,
and once every year in Passion Week, when he managed to escape from
business, read it quietly through by himself, and thus refreshed himself
for the entire year. In the beginning he thought to communicate his
emotions to his old friend; but he was much shocked when forced to
perceive an incurable dislike cherished against a book of such valuable
substance, merely because of what appeared to him an indifferent
external form. It may readily be supposed that their conversation often
reverted to this topic; but both parties diverged more and more widely
from each other, there were violent scenes: and the compliant man was at
last pleased to be silent on his favorite work, that he might not lose,
at the same time, a friend of his youth, and a good Sunday meal.