HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Ex Libris ISAAC FOOT HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION A GENERAL SURVEY BY ERNST RICHARD, PD.D. 01 LECTURER ON THE HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SECOND REVISED EDITION Wefoj gorft THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1913 AU right* reserved COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1911. Reprinted March, 1913. J. 8. Cashing Co. Berwick A Smith Oo. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. TO THE GERMANISTIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION OF SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO PROMOTE THE KNOWLEDGE AND STUDY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION IN AMERICA PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION IT gives me pleasure to have an opportunity here to express my appreciation of the kindness with which the first edition of this book, published only a year ago, has been received by the press here as well as in Great Britain and Germany. The reviews were both encour- aging and helpful and did justice to the intentions of the author. Before this, no book on the History of German Civili- zation was published in English. And yet there was a pressing need for it, in view of the faulty information as to German character and German institutions found everywhere in the United States and in Great Britain, especially in the daily press. My book tries to supply this need. It traces sources and currents of historical development from which alone the German man and the German people of to-day can be understood. In this it was less my endeavor to tell nice little stories than to show the relations which explain the present by the past, the products of civilization and culture by their time. In the limited space offered by the pages of a single volume there was, of course, only an oppor- tunity for rambles and vistas into the wide field whose scientific investigation has just begun. Though I may not bring anything new to one familiar with German history, I still believe to have thrown new light on some old conceptions and to have contributed in a modest way to a better knowledge of the German national soul. iii iv PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION But the book is not without a message for the Ger- man reader. It is hoped that it will help to rid the Germanic nations of the habit to look for their intellec- tual ancestors in the Orient and on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. We should remember that the evolution of our family of nations is flowing down the ages in a continuous current of five thousand years. It receives, indeed, in its floods the products of foreign civilizations, but rids itself again of everything not assimilable to the Germanic nature. Just the present time seems to be a period of renewed purification, and it becomes more and more clear that the essentials of the modern world are fundamentally Germanic. That does not mean that we have not assimilated most valu- able contributions from the outside. But the German man as well as his Anglo-Saxon cousin ought to learn at last to look at the world's history with his own eyes and not through the Roman spectacles once forced upon him by his monastic and humanist schoolmasters. This might at the same time strengthen their con- sciousness of the fact that both their peoples have been brought up in the same nursery. Especially the numerous descendants of German stock born in English-speaking countries ought to get from this book a better understanding of their own forefathers. A careful observation of chronology hi historical nar- rative cuts off the different threads of evolution in such a manner as to prevent frequently the recognition of their significance. I have tried to enter the lines of different tendencies in such places where they add de- cisive features to the total picture. I have not tried to write a book for scholars. I have dispensed, therefore, with bibliographic and other PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION v scholarly paraphernalia. It is meant, indeed, for the reader who likes to do his own thinking. The catalogue of any good library will furnish a bibliography, if desired ; the authors mentioned in the text of this book may serve as guides in selecting. In this edition some errors have been corrected. Cer- tain developments during the last year seemed impor- tant enough to change a few statements. E. R. DEUTBCHES HAUS, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, JANUARY 15, 1913. TABLE OF CONTENTS BOOK THE FIRST GERMANIC ANCESTRY WANDERINGS CHAPTER PA'iE I. MEANING AND SCOPE OF HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION AND ITS RELATIONS TO NATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY . 3 II. THE SCANDINAVIAN THEORY OF INDO-EUROPEAN OKI- GINS .j,. r ^-.. .,",. 10 III. GERMANIC ORIGINS 27 IV. THE GERMANS IN THEIR FIRST CONTACT WITH GR.ECO- ROMAN CIVILIZATION 34 I. Their Country and Mode of Life. V. THE GERMANS IN THEIR FIRST CONTACT WITH GR.ECO- ROMAN CIVILIZATION ,....,. . . . 50 II. Civil Organization. Individual and Society. VI. THE GERMANS IN THEIR FIRST CONTACT WITH GRACO- ROMAN CIVILIZATION 60 III. Law, Poetry, Art, Religion. VII. THE MIGRATIONS 72 I. The Kimbric Invasion of Italy and Ariovistus' Fight with Caesar. VIII. CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY 85 IX. THE MIGRATIONS 91 II. The New Grouping of the States. The German of this Period. Roman Civilization and the Germans. BOOK THE SECOND THE CREATION OF THE FATHERLAND, 600-1400 X. THE STATE OF THE FRANKS 99 XI. THE ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION . . 104 Awakening Sense of Nationality. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAO XII. THE FEUDAL SYSTEM IN GERMANY . . .111 XIII. THE MONASTERIES 125 Education and Literature in the Earlier Middle Ages. XIV. EMPEROR AND POPE 133 XV. CHIVALRY. THE CRUSADES 141 XVI. THE CONQUEST OF THE GERMAN SOIL BY GERMAN LABOR 155 XVII. THE COLONIZATION OF THE EAST .... 170 XVIII. THE FOUNDING OF THE CITIES ; CASTLES, BUR- GHERS, PEASANTS 175 XIX. MINING AND MONEY 180 XX. SOME OF THE GREATER EMPERORS .... 183 BOOK THE THIRD RISE AND FALL OF THE GERMAN NATION, 1400- 1650 XXI. THE RISE OF THE CITIES 191 I. Commerce. Craft. Arts. XXII. THE RISE OF THE CITIES 206 II. The Change of Economic Basis and its Con- sequences. Legal and Political Develop- ment of the Cities. XXIII. THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE .... 214 About the Year 1500. XXIV. RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 235 The Age of Luther. XXV. HUMANISM AND RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY . . 258 Education after Luther. From the Journal of Thomas Platter. XXVI. CHANGE IN GENERAL CONDITIONS .... 272 Beginning of Decay. XXVII. POPULAR RISINGS. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 278 XXVIII. SUMMARY OF THE DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES IN GERMAN LIFE 284 XXIX. OF THE GREAT WAR 299 TABLE OF CONTENTS IX BOOK THE FOURTH REGENERATION CHAPTER PAGE XXX. SURVIVALS OF CULTURE 309 Development of German Music. XXXI. THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLU- ENCE 318 XXXII. BEGINNING OF MODERN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY 342 Discoveries and Inventions. XXXIII. ACADEMIC LIBERTY 356 A Short but Important Chapter. XXXIV. THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT . . . 359 I. General State of German Society. Pietism. Rationalism. XXXV. THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT . . . 376 II. The King. XXXVI. THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT . . . 393 III. Strengthening of National Feeling. Im- provements. Imitators. XXXVII. GERMAN IDEALISM 398 I. Reaction against Rationalism. Gellert. Klopstock. Storm and Stress. Lessiug. Winckelmann. Herder. XXXVIII. GERMAN IDEALISM . 408 II. Kant. XXXIX. GERMAN IDEALISM 415 III. Its Culmination. Schiller and Goethe. The German Religion. BOOK THE FIFTH THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. THE NEW EMPIRE XL. GERMANY ABOUT 1800 425 XLI. ROMANTICISM. DOMINANT THEORIES OF LIFE . 436 XLII. DOWNFALL AND RISE. LIBERALISM. POLITICAL REACTION WITHIN, WEAKNESS WITHOUT . 442 TABLE OF CONTENTS XLIII. XLIV. XLV. XL VI. XL VII. INDEX THE GROWTH TILL 1847 . 1848 TO 1870 THE REIGN OF NON-POLITICAL CENTURY . THE REIGN OF OF LIBERALISM AND NATIONALISM THE FIRST EMPEROR CURRENTS DURING THE NINETEENTH 459 470 484 493 509 533 BOOK THE FIRST GERMANIC ANCESTRY WANDERINGS CHAPTER I MEANING AND SCOPE OF HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION AND ITS RELATIONS TO NATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY WE live in a time when the intercourse between the most widely separated nations of the globe has be- come more swift and more active than it was, not many years ago, between different parts of the same country; a time when the settlement of differences of opinion between governments by peaceful methods instead of the brutalities of war has descended from the Utopian realm of idealistic dreamers to the stage of actual politics ; and when a federation of the civilized world has entered the realm of possibility. Now that the principle of violence, which has so long been re- moved from the reciprocal relations of individuals, is beginning to be removed likewise from the intercourse of nations, it is more than ever important that the peoples marching abreast in the great army of civilization should not only know but also understand each other. Although that old prejudice, inherited from the He- brews, Greeks, and Romans, who used to look upon all foreigners as inferior beings, has not entirely dis- appeared, we find, nevertheless, an ever increasing number of people who recognize the fact that their neighbors have some merits, that our modern Western civilization is not a national one, and that every nation has contributed and is contributing her share to the progress of all. It is in the service of these tendencies 3 4 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. that the present sketches from the History of German Culture and Civilization are placed before the American public. The term History of Civilization (German Kultur- geschichte) is by no means settled or uniform. The Germans make a very clear distinction between Civili- zation and Culture. Under the former term they in- clude the external relations of men to each other and to nature as expressed in the organization of society and in material progress. Culture, on the other hand, refers to the development of the inner, the higher forces of man as expressed in philosophy, science, art, and religion. But this sharp distinction is not always ad- hered to even in German, and in this book we. shall con- sider the History of Civilization as the science which has for its object the investigation of the entire material, intellectual, and spiritual life of mankind in all fields in which it manifests itself. Not a few historians of the old school deny to this comparatively new science even its right to existence, and the public at large usually connects with it the idea of a description of customs and habits of times gone by, a collection, so to speak, of curiosities and anecdotes. But one of the greatest philologists de- clares it to be the "queen" of all sciences, and, indeed, the most advanced school of historians does not rec- ognize any kind of history, except as a part of the history of civilization. In other words, what most of us in our school days learned as Universal History, to wit, the history of wars and of the growth of states, has interest only in so far as it has had an influence on the evolution of civilization, or, rather, as it is a symptom of a stage of development. This interpretation of history, the first introduction I MEANING AND SCOPE 5 of the principle of evolution into the science of human affairs, we owe principally to Herder, who was to some extent anticipated by Vico. It is one of the most im- portant achievements of the German intellect, and as such is a part of our subject. And it is clear that with- out a knowledge of the history of civilization of man-- kind, of which the knowledge of nature, hitherto gained, forms a part, there is no possibility of an intelligent, scientific view of the world and our position hi it, of what the Germans call eine wissenschaftliche Weltan- schauung. Thus the aims of our science seem to be clearly enough stated, but it must not be imagined for a moment that the task, indicated by this definition, has been brought to any point near achievement ; the very formulation of the problem is indeed hardly older than our young century. But there is still another aspect of the History of Civilization. It may be considered as the first and most important work imposed on the twentieth cen- tury to restore unity to the human soul, the activities of which, since the days of Alexandrine scholarship, have been more and more scattered, to get at last the results from all the specialization which has performed such excellent service in the search for truth. There is no doubt that, if we have not gone too far in specializa- tion, we have, at least, been given to it too exclusively ; we have almost lost the sense of the integrity of the human mind. Let us hope that we stand at the begin- ning of a new era when the human soul will again bethink itself of its unity and indivisibility. Perhaps we stand before another Renaissance, not a renaissance of Greek antiquity, the distinctive character of which is intellect- ual unity, but a renaissance of the human mind itself, 6 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. which will bring unity to the manysidedness which makes our civilization superior to the ancient. It will be seen what an important part history, in its modern conception as the history of civilization, is destined to play in the future ; indeed, a no less am- bitious aim is placed before the historical investigator than the establishment of the laws of social evolution. The present author's aim, however, is less high. It is not the general laws of human psychology which he will try to expound ; his purpose is rather to tell the simple story of the development of the German people. But what has been said of the history of civilization in general will make it clear that a moderately accurate treatment of the chosen subject, even at this early stage of the new science, must give a better insight into the German national character in its fundamental traits which the Germans have in common with their relatives among other nations, especially the Anglo- Saxons, who in their island have preserved many a treasure brought from the common fatherland, which has been lost by those who stayed behind, than could be gained from an enumeration and description of the qualities of the contemporary German. History thus conceived will, in a much truer sense than the old stories of wars and state intrigues, be indispensable to the understanding of literature and art. Who, for instance, can get a true insight into the old- est monument of Germanic literature, continental and Anglo-Saxon, that does not know the true relation between the chief, the " alderman," and his sworn follower, the thegn, which very word indicates a tie that binds a child to his father ? How different a light falls on many poems, if we remember that with our ancestors rape was not something unusual or criminal, i MEANING AND SCOPE 7 but, at the period of their entrance upon the stage of history, was, so to speak, a legal form of marriage? How much does the character of Kriemhild gain in tragic pathos, if we see in her conflict not a simple contest between the love for her husband and her alle- giance to family ties in the modern sense of the words, but realize, instead, that it was the conflict between the dying social system of the matriarchate, the mother's right, where the brother and the mother's brother took precedence over husband and father, and the new rule of the father, as the true head of the family ; when, in short, we see in Kriemhild the representative of a new era rebelling against ancient and sacred custom? Here is a new and interesting task placed before Ger- manistic students, to search for those subtle and little explored roots which strike from our literature and art deep into long-passed epochs of civilization. The farther back we go, the more are we hampered by a scarcity of information, the more must we resort to the imagination. And even the little that has been done can be used only with great discrimination. As this kind of history tries to reach the innermost soul of the people, the subjective feelings of the writer will only too easily overcloud his scientific judgment. Facts are interpreted, conclusions are drawn, to suit his patriotic and ethical views. Some most conscientious scholars fall into the opposite fault : for fear of being considered partial to their own nation, they become unjust and even more harsh in their judgments than its avowed enemies. How far these dangers have been avoided in the present book, I must leave others to decide. Of course, space has not sufficed to point out that traits claimed to be German may be found like- wise among other nations; here we must limit our- 8 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. selves to proving them to be German. However partial to his subject the writer may appear, it has not been his purpose to exalt the Germans at the expense of sister nations. The responsibility for all compari- sons is left to the reader. The best known description of ancient German con- ditions, that of Tacitus, must be read with great caution in spite of his wonderful power and historical skill, for his purpose was not to tell the truth for its own sake, but to give an object lesson to his Roman compatriots, to show them the error of their ways. Although more brief, Csesar is a much more reliable and unpreju- diced witness, writing his report a century and a half before Tacitus, and making his observations with the cold eye of the general who weighs his chances against an unknown enemy. We are very fortunate in having our ancestors enter history at a stage of civilization when they were not able to write about themselves, but were under the observation of highly civilized people. We are thus afforded for the first time an opportunity to study, in the clear light of authentic and trained observation, the growth of a nation from a rather primitive stage to the height of civilization. But what, from our modern point of view, we call a primitive stage was, neverthe- less, the result of countless ages of progressive develop- ment, of thousands of years of physical and psychical change and struggle, in view of which the experience of the sixty generations of which we have an account must appear infinitesimal. The desire to know more as to the origin of our ancestors is but natural to the human mind, which in- stinctively searches for the first cause of everything. The question concerning the first beginnings of the i MEANING AND SCOPE 9 Germanic family, concerning the true character of the German before he was at all influenced by Mediter- ranean civilization, gains a special interest at the pres- ent time, when, in consequence of the strengthening of national feeling subsequent to 1871, the cry is raised with ever increasing frequency that German civiliza- tion should discard all foreign influence, return to its own national sources, and develop a new, purely native German culture. The advocates of this movement would like, if they could, to start from the very begin- ning, when the natural development of the Germans was not yet disturbed, or rather interrupted, by contact with Grseco-Roman civilization and with Christianity. The comparative study of languages and the applica- tion of its methods to the study of mythology, law, and other spheres of human interest taught us, not a hun- dred years ago, the fact that by their language the Germans belong to that Indo-European family of na- tions, of which the ancient inhabitants of India and the Persians, on the one hand, the Greek, the old Italic and modern Romance nations, the Kelts, the Slavs, the Lithuanians, and the Germanic peoples, on the other, are members. The question as to the origin of these nations becomes of special interest to us, since there are strong evidences that the home claimed for the ancestral seat of the Germanic nations is identical with that of the whole Indo-European family. CHAPTER II 1 THE SCANDINAVIAN THEORY OF INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS FOR a long time comparative philology seemed to be the only science which interested itself in the problem of the relationship and origin of the nations that spoke the so-called Indo-European, Indo-Germanic, or Aryan languages.' The field of the young science was so rich in unexploited treasures that it was some time before investigators began to question the correctness of its first conclusions, and to discover that linguistic evi- dence did not afford sufficient foundation for anthro- pological or ethnological theories, and that language alone could not tell us the history of the civilization of a period from which no written tradition, no monu- ments of stone or metal, have been preserved. The fine diagrams that adorn our school and college text-books, intended to represent the pedigree of the Indo-Europeans, cannot be made to agree with the results of science, no matter what arrangements of " branches" are tried. Joh. Schmidt offered his in- genious "Wellentheorie," which was greatly admired by his colleagues, but which failed to carry with it universal conviction. Compromises have been made, other theories have been advanced, and what was once 1 This chapter was first published in the " Boas Anniversary Volume." 10 CHAP, ii THEORY OF INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS 11 accepted almost as an axiom has been so discredited that to-day hardly any philologist dares talk of one ancestral nation as having spoken the original language from which all the Indo-European languages have been derived, and of which they may have formed, at a remote time, only slightly varying dialects. It must be said, to the credit of the philologists and of their science, that this revision of first assumptions is not due to outside criticism, but that, by patiently follow- ing their own methods, they have found the fallacy of the hypotheses of the founders of the science, and, with almost suicidal intellectual honesty, they have given up long-cherished theories. Surely a science which, by applying its own methods, has been able to discover the error of its most respected results cannot be de'clared bankrupt, as has eagerly been affirmed to be the case by some outside critics. The strengthening of national feeling in the second half of the nineteenth century has given to the question of the origin and the relationship of civilized nations an extraordinary prominence in the interest of wider circles ; and the problem has been taken out of the cool atmos- phere of scientific investigation into the heat of public controversy, of national pride and international an- tagonism, and, last but not least, of the rivalry of specialists. It has been said that the whole problem in itself is worthless, that even a satisfactory solution is of no value, and that the search for it is only the craving of national, or, rather, racial vanity. But the search for our origins has a deeper motive than national vanity : it is a very important element of religious feeling. The man who tries to prove his descent from what he believes to be the superior race takes the superior mind of this 12 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. race to be the emanation or manifestation of the spirit of the universe. It is a more spiritual modification of the biblical conception of the chosen people ; from this authority he derives his mission as the leader of the nations to a better, a higher life. If this be vanity, it is at least a kind of vanity nobody need be ashamed of. Of course, this emotional aspect of the question can- not find the approval of objective science, but it is at the bottom of what is called the " anthropological con- ception of history," which for the present seems to be in the ascendency. To push aside these tendencies by characterizing them as "dilettanteism" will not be sufficient, for its representatives do not find their follow- ing with the half-educated only. They are not to be defeated by pointing out an insufficiency of facts from the scientific point of view, since they claim that " emo- tional intuition," that " immediate knowledge," to be an equal factor with reason and experience in the structure of science. Even a scientist of established renown cannot entirely avoid being influenced by this modern tendency, not only when he leaves the pale of his specialty, but sometimes even in judging of facts in his own scientific field of investigation. The influence of his racial predilection, unconscious as it is, does not work in one direction only ; for sometimes the scholar, whenever his conclusions seem to be favorable to his own nation and race, is filled to such a degree with a fear of appearing partial to his own relations, that, from over-conscientiousness, he refuses to give them what is right. While we find these tendencies, perhaps, at work mostly among German authors, still the prophet of the new school is a Frenchman, Count Gobineau ; and the race question was first brought to public attention ii THEORY OF INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS 13 shortly after the Franco-German war, by another Frenchman, de Quatrefages, who, with all his authority as one of the foremost anthropologists, "promulgated the theory that the dominant people in Germany were not Teutons at all, but were directly descended from the Finns." This general interest may be the reason why, in spite of the apparent inability of finding a satisfactory solu- tion, the ignorohimiLS of many investigators has not been accepted, and renewed efforts have been made to reconcile the results of the different sciences. I speak of different sciences, for the question of Indo-European origin has long ceased to be a monopoly of comparative philology. The philologists themselves, recognizing the inadequacy of their science to cope with the prob- lem, began to consult anthropology, and, more recently, archaeology. This seems to increase the confusion. No matter how competent an authority a representa- tive of any one of these sciences is in his own specialty, he is a layman as to the other two studies ; and even if he has made himself sufficiently familiar with the facts of the other sciences, he is looked upon with sus- picion by those of the "other shop." It is indeed sad to see some of the authorities ridicule and belittle the efforts of an author belonging to another science, and berate his ignorance, while the critic himself betrays at least an equal lack of familiarity with the commonest facts of the other's specialty. In a late review, for instance, I find a great anthropologist sitting in judg- ment on a book dealing with the present question. He is probably quite correct in his anthropological objec- tions ; but the assertiveness of his style leaves a bad taste in the mouth when we find that he himself is so innocent of the linguistic aspect of the question that he 14 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. still believes Sanskrit to be the language nearest to the primitive Indo-European mother-tongue. If it is really impossible for any single man to gain sufficient control of the facts of the three sciences, would it not be advisable to abandon all animosity and fierce rivalry, and rather let a number of unprejudiced anthropologists, archaeologists, and philologists join in an investigation as to whether the results of the different sciences cannot be harmonized ? The difficulty of getting a clear view of the subject from a short presentation of the recent development of the theory of Indo-European origins, as it appears in German publications, has made it seem to me necessary to give so much space to general considerations. The race theories have now for some years commanded a great deal of interest outside of scholarly circles in Germany, especially under the impulse of such books as Houston Stewart Chamberlain's "Die Grundlagen des XX. Jahrhunderts." The conclusive w r ork for the last century has been done by 0. Schrader, who, in his two standard works, gives a comprehensive view of the history of the problem, and his reasons for placing the origin of the parent language in the lowlands of the Volga River. The more extensive studies of our problem published in Germany in this century are inclined to agree that southern Scandinavia, Jutland, and the country south of the western Baltic Sea form the locality where the people who first spoke an Indo-European language developed their racial peculiarities, or, at least, were living before they branched out to spread over Europe and Asia. We may call this the Scandinavian theory in a wider sense, leaving the question open whether we shall ever be able to confine the supposed Urheimat to ii THEORY OF INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS 15 the boundaries circumscribed by the purest represen- tatives of the " Indo-European type" in southern Sweden. The first important publication of the century was that of Mathseus Much. It was followed by an extended article by Gustaf Kossinna. The last contri- bution is by Hermann Hirt. Since Hirt's book repre- sents the latest phase of the problem, I think it best to make his argument the centre of this survey\ To begin with the name "Indo-Europeans." I prefer to use this term, as it has the widest scope. The use of the term " Aryans" for the whole group is unde- sirable, in spite of all tradition and the part the name plays in anti-Semitic controversies, since this term is restricted to the Indo-Iranian group. The term "Indo- Germanic" owes its origin to the opinion that the Indian Aryans and the Germanic nations formed the extreme ends of the line of nations, and not to the national vanity of the Germans, as Ripley insinuates. But it seems to hurt the sensibilities of some non-Ger- manic nations, so it may be just as well to agree on " Indo-European." At all events, philology has taught us that to call the whole family, or its ancestors, Aryans, is decidedly wrong; and certain anthropologists, who deny the existence of a racial unity altogether, should not insist on using it, as it will give rise to misunder- standings. Of course, the search for the cradle of the Indo-Euro- pean family of nations presupposes the belief in the existence of an Indo-European race or type anthro- pologically distinct. Nobody will contend that there is an anthropological relationship of the nations speak- ing the Indo-European languages to-day; but it is equally certain that these languages have a common origin, and that there must have been a nation who 16 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. spoke that original language with some dialectical variations, and who must have brought it to those parts of the globe where its branches are used in his- torical times. Indeed, for most branches, this immi- gration is within the reach of historical evidence, or, at least, of very sound prehistoric reasoning. These immigrants were of a long-headed, blond, and tall type, traits which are found in then* greatest purity to-day in southern Scandinavia, Jutland, and northern Ger- many. What Ripley concedes to be the fact for Europe that the traits which he calls Teutonic "have become distinctive of a dominant race all over Europe" -holds good as well for the representatives of the Indo-European language family in Asia. More- over, anthropological evidence, supported by legendary tradition, mythology, and literature, which repre- sent gods and heroes as blond and tall, permit the conclusion that there has been a conquest by a race with such characteristics. In speaking of Indo-Euro- peans in this chapter, we mean, therefore, not the nations who speak one of the related languages of that family, but the immigrants or conquerors who spread this language over Europe and parts of Asia. Since philology has discarded the view that Sanskrit represents the most archaic form of language, that is, was most closely related to the original Indo-Euro- pean language, the defenders of the Asiatic origin of the Indo-Europeans have lost their strongest point ; and, of all the arguments brought forth in favor of this view, only one is thought by recent writers worthy of consideration. This is the influence, pointed out by Joh. Schmidt, of the Babylonian duodecimal, or rather sexagesimal, system of numbers, on the decimal system of the Indo-European languages. "But," says Hirt, n THEORY OF INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS 17 "the Babylonian culture is so old, and its influence is so extensive, that any current starting from there may have reached Europe. Indeed, we must say, that this civilization is so momentous, that a residence of the Indo-Europeans in the mountainous regions of the Mesopotamian frontier would lead us to expect much more decisive influences than those comparatively meagre ones in the numeral system." It would take too much space to show that the assump- tion of a northern origin would make the grouping of the single branches, and the wanderings to be assumed, fit into the whole of known historical facts and lin- guistic conditions to a much higher degree than would any other theory. Discussing Ratzel's theory that " a single migration never has led to a lasting expansion of habitation," Hirt finds that a separated racial branch will preserve its nationality under especially favorable conditions, such as are offered, for instance, by moun- tainous regions. He points out that we find the southern Indo-Europeans exclusively in mountainous regions, whither they were forced to retire from the fertile plains on account of the lack of supplementary migrations from the parent stock. Here, after genera- tions, over-population forced them to descend again into the plains. Besides, there were climatic reasons to recommend the higher regions to the northern set- tlers, their cooler climate giving them a better chance of acclimatization, while perhaps the smaller number of primitive inhabitants facilitated the adoption of the language of the new-comers. Accordingly, Hirt finds the original home of Indo- Europeans in the territory where they form the greatest continuous mass ; that is, the region comprised to-day by northern France, Germany, and western Russia. 18 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. At a certain time the western wing of Indo-Europeans, speaking the western languages, might have lived west of a line from Konigsberg to the Crimea, since the equation for the name of the beech-tree (Ger. Buche, Lat. jagus, Celt. Bacenis silva, Greek, ^77709) places them within a region where the beech-tree is indigenous, the name being transferred in Greece to the oak. East of this line, which would make the Vistula River the boundary, we find the East Indo-European wing, to which the Letto-Lithuanians (Baits), the Slavs, and the Indo-Iranians belong. The relationship of the languages makes this original grouping highly probable. If we assume that the ethnical expansion will spread equally in all directions, the centre of expansion must naturally be the seat of the parent tribe, which, in our case, will be the region on both banks of the Vistula. Hirt, accordingly, is inclined to find it very probable that here the home of the Indo-Europeans is to be found. But if he takes the Vistula to form a dividing- line sufficiently strong to explain the differentiation of the centum and satem languages, he can only refer to a secondary stage of Indo-European development. It is true that the wanderings of all Indo-Europeans would find easy explanation from this centre, near which we find located the Letto-Lithuanians, who, according to the present stage of linguistic research, have preserved the most archaic form of Indo-European language. If we would, with Schrader and others, place the original home in the steppes of southern Russia, the migrations of the Germans and Kelts would offer almost insurmountable difficulties to an agreement with historical and philological facts. The results of linguistic science make it certain that the country in which the Indo-Europeans originated ii THEORY OF INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS 19 must have been densely wooded. The animals and plants of the northern forests were familiar to them. The Russian plain has been bare of forests, probably from the earliest times, since the squirrel, which is not found in the forests of the Crimea, has not been able to cross it. The sea was not unknown to the Indo- Europeans, and it was a sea in which the eel was living, - a fish which is found in the Baltic and North seas, but not in the Black Sea and its tributaries. A very important argument for the lowlands of the Volga is based on the assumption that the parent Indo- European nation was nomadic; there would be no room for nomads in any other part of Europe. But Hirt offers a convincing mass of evidence that they were not hunters, nor fishermen, nor nomads, but had reached the agricultural stage of economical development before they separated. Agriculture does not need so much room, yet more arable land can easily be had by clear- ing ; but, in general, the peasant will protect the forest, which furnishes material for tools and fire. Another fact that speaks against the nomadic life has already been pointed out by V. Hehn, who shows that the horse, although known to the Indo-Europeans, was not used for riding or driving. The investigations of Kossinna and Much introduce archaeological arguments into the problem. They both come, although by different ways, to about the same conclusions. They confine the territory in question to the lands surrounding the western part of the Baltic Sea, including Jutland, so that the original home of the Indo-Europeans and the Germanic nations would be identical. Neither Much nor Kossinna thinks his results conclusive. But what Kossinna says, especially of the spreading of certain northern types of pottery 20 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. (the spheric amphora, the Bernburg type), agrees very well with the conclusions of the linguists as to the grouping and migrations of the branches. The period in which the most important separations took part is, in accordance with the results of comparative phi- lology, the later neolithic age and the time of transition into the bronze age. He assumes an early separation of the eastern group, which, during the stone age, took its abode for a tune in southern Russia, where the Slavs and the Asiatic branches developed. The ar- chaeological conditions warrant the assumption of two currents of migration southwards along the valleys of the Elbe and the Oder. A remarkable part is played by the curious stone settings which, under the names of " Walls of Troy," "Babylons," "Cromlechs," "Menhir, "Wallburgen," et al., are spread over northern Europe and correspond to similar constructions, especially to the labyrinthic, concentric buildings, in Mediterranean and Asiatic countries. The best known is Stonehenge ; but a most interesting illustration is offered by a stone setting near the city of Wisby, on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, which looks exactly like the original of the representation of the Cretan labyrinth on the old coins of Knossos. These stone settings are arranged to represent the course of the sun. But, whether we find them on the islands or hi countries north and south of the Mediterranean Sea or on the shores of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, the sun's course as indi- cated by the stones could never have been taken from observations made in the Mediterranean countries, but they correspond to the northern latitudes, and do not admit of any other conclusion than that of a northern origin for the builders. n THEORY OF INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS 21 We have seen that the physical type, which we may well call the Indo-European, is found almost pure in southern Scandinavia, Denmark, and northern Ger- many. There is no reason why the results of philology and archaeology should not warrant us in connect- ing the people of this type with the Indo-European language. They have occupied this territory, as an- thropologists concede, at least as far back as the earliest period for which the beginning of the branching-off may be assumed, and the archaeological finds show that no break in their culture-development has occurred, no matter how strongly southern influences have been at work; while immigration of another anthropological type is undoubted, still the new-comers have been con- fined to a very narrow strip at the shores of the sea, and have not produced any considerable changes. There may be anthropological reasons for ridiculing the efforts to combine the results of anthropology with those of philology and archaeology, but so far it is hard for a non-anthropologist to see them. Ripley, for one, fails to make true his promise to show that "all attempts to correlate linguistic data with those derived from the study of physical characteristics are not only illogical and unscientific, but they are at the same time impos- sible and absurd." He may possess sufficient data to warrant this rather strongly worded statement, but they ought to be given in such a way that a person of average intelligence and education, trained in scientific thinking, though not particularly in anthropology, might see them. The question how these people reached these localities is not of importance for our problem. But to suppose that man, at the end of the glacial period, may have followed the reindeer, does not seem again in the modest opinion of the layman ready to learn better 22 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. so absurd, either, as he certainly would have preferred to follow his usual mode of life, rather than become accustomed to a new environment. And against the contention that the reindeer did not live in connection with man in the part of Europe in question, there are other authorities that tell us of finds of tools made of reindeer-horn, and of bones of men and reindeer found in the same tombs. The geographical conditions favored the undisturbed development of the blond, tall, long-headed northerners in an environment adapted to the breeding of a sturdy, intelligent race. The unpenetrable forests and swampy river-valleys prevented immigration from the conti- nental side. Though there was easier access by sea, no large masses could arrive by that way in primitive times. But what kept off the outsider was not suffi- cient to hold back the surplus when over-population set in. Again and again a part of the population left the crowded country, wandering along the river-valleys and the lowlands to east and west. We see this process still going on in historic times. The Germanic tribes, without exception, have their tradition that points to the north, to Scandinavia, as their home. We have no right to belittle the value of this testimony. Historical criticism has not shaken it. The length of time must not necessarily have extinguished all memory of a past that is relatively not so very distant. It is said that lately a caldron has been found in Mecklenburg that had been buried for two thousand years in a place which popular tradition had always designated as a spot where a treasure was hidden. Less time may have elapsed between the first written reports of the Goths, the Langobards, etc., and the epoch when their ancestors left their seats on the Baltic Sea. ii THEORY OF INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS 23 We have seen that Hirt came to the conclusion that the home of the Indo-Europeans would be found in a rather vast territory, with the mouth of the Vistula as a centre of radiation, and that the archaic language of the Lithuanians points to their country as the probable region of origin. While he is very positive in excluding Asia and southern Russia, he is not very explicit in stating his reasons against the valley of the middle Danube. Still, even Hirt feels attracted to the Scan- dinavian theory. He himself points out that the fact that Lithuanian is the most archaic, the least changed, of Indo-European languages, affords no conclusive proof that the Lithuanians must live nearest to the place of origin. It may be supposed that the Lithuanians immigrated into sparsely settled districts, and that therefore their language was not influenced by foreign elements. "We do not need, therefore," he says, "to look for the original home of the Indo-Germans just in Lith- uania. If, however, we look for it hi the ancient Germanic territory, the fact should not be overlooked, that the Germanic languages underwent marked changes at a rather early period ; and this is the only reason which keeps me from identifying most decisively the original home of the Indo-Germans with that of the Germanic nations." Hirt refers, of course, to the change of accent and to the so-called Lautverschiebung, which gives to the Germanic languages their distinctive character. He does not find any other explanation for such decided changes in language than the influence of foreign ethni- cal elements, a strong admixture of people of a foreign language. If there were another race living in the eastern Baltic province, circumscribed sufficiently above, 24 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. before the immigration of the ancestors of the present inhabitants, it must have been at a period much earlier than the epoch in which the Indo-European origins must be placed. The immigration of the Alpine type, traces of which are found along the shores of the North Sea, may, indeed, have had some influence. Though it appears to have been rather too limited to explain such strong effects, this invasion seems to have occurred about the tune of the change from stone to bronze implements, and of the introduction of cremation for burial, which means a great revolution in religious ideas, indeed, a combination of events which may have convulsed the psychic life of the people. This may have had some influence on language. However, the investigations of Wundt permit us to assume other influences on the change of language than that of mixture with other nations and races. Natural environment and cultural development play, according to his view, an equally important part. As to the change of accent and the permutation of consonants of the Germanic languages, he points out that both processes extended over an exceedingly long period, and still continued after the division of the nations, hi the Old High German period, for instance. He compares the first, the common Germanic Lautver- schiebung, with the second, the High German, which took place in the light of historic times. He cannot find that any mixture of race will account for these phenomena. "The processes in both," he says, "are too much alike, two identical in general tendencies, even in comparison with the analogous phenomena in other branches of the Indo-Germanic family of lan- guages. Furthermore, especially does the second per- mutation show only too plainly its spontaneous origin ii THEORY OF INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS 25 in its historical expansion. Therefore, although lan- guage-mixtures may have had their influence on other sides of phonetic development on vocalism, modu- lation, accent, rhythm, those changes of the con- sonants will probably have proceeded from inner conditions, originating hi the language community itself." The acceptance of this theory will remove the stum- bling-block which prevented the great linguist from accepting the Scandinavian theory of Indo-European origins. I have purposely omitted the argument based on the construction of an Indo-Germanic psychical type. It is here that the fancies of the " anthropological his- torians," like Woltmann, make one extremely cautious. Conceded that there be such a type, it may find its explanation in the northern origin, but it could hardly be used as an argument to establish it. The conclusions reached at the present stage of the problem, then, appear to be these, that serious difficulties are in the way of the localization of the Indo- European parent tribe, or nation, or group, either in Asia, or in any part of Europe ouside of the Baltic plain, Jutland, and Scandinavia; that philological and archaeological considerations let it appear highly probable that the people whose ancestors occupied the western Baltic shores and their Hinterland for a period reaching farther back than the formation of the Indo- European languages, and who have preserved the physical type that history and tradition point out as the original Indo-European, are the descendants of the stock from which the carriers of the Indo-European languages branched off to be physically absorbed by other races, while their languages survived; and that 26 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, n it is almost certain that southern Scandinavia, Jutland, and the lands between the lower Elbe and Oder con- tain the cradle of the Indo-European family of lan- guages. We can accept for this hypothesis the concluding words of Hirt: "In accepting the northern origin of the Indo-Germans, we find the best analogies as to their expansion. Then* migrations are, in their chief traits and in principle, not different from those of the Celts, the Germanic nations, and the Slavs. "Without having the support of historical testimony, we may be allowed to distinguish between two forms of expansion, the gradual extension at the boundaries and the expansion by conquering expeditions. In the fourth century B.C. the Indo-Germanic language had undoubtedly spread over the whole of northern Europe, from central and eastern France to central Russia; while advanced columns had reached, and in part Indo- germanized, the three southern peninsulas. At all events, the expansion is not uninterrupted. Separated from the great stock, the Asiatic branch is located in Iran and India." This great gap between the Asiatic and the European members of the Indo-European family may perhaps find an explanation in the movements of the so-called "Alpine" race, which, starting from Asia, has crossed the paths of Indo-European wanderings. CHAPTER III GERMANIC ORIGINS WHETHER or not the controversy regarding the cradle of the Indo-European family will ever leave the realm of hypothesis is, of course, hard to tell. But, whether or not we accept the Scandinavian theory, as explained in the previous chapter, there can be no doubt that the ancestors of the Germanic peoples lived apart from all the other Indo-Europeans hi the regions described, and, if not one united nation, they were yet a sharply de- fined, compact entity with distinct boundaries. The fact that there are some words in the Germanic lan- guages found only hi the Finnish points to a region where the Finns were the only neighbors of the Germans. This condition is met with on the Scandinavian penin- sula, where the Germans were surrounded on three sides by water, and on the fourth, their only land boun- dary, by the Finns, who have occupied the neck con- necting the peninsula with the continent from tune immemorial. This hypothesis, of course, needs the support of other facts, which, indeed, are not lacking. The archaBologists, as we have seen, argue from the findings in tombs that the people who lived in southern Scandinavia a thousand or even three thousand years before the Christian era were ethnologically of exactly the same type as the people living there to-day, and that what is found of the handiwork of these ancient people likewise shows the beginning of what developed 27 28 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. later into a typical Germanic style. Furthermore, the weight of evidence, while not affording conclusive proof, makes it very probable that the Scandinavian penin- sula was for a long time the home of our ancestors, who there developed their own characteristic civiliza- tion and racial peculiarities. The genealogical legends of almost all German tribes mention the North, the "Island of Scadia," more or less definitely as their original home. Thus we may accept it as a fact that in prehistoric times the Germanic tribes occupied the southern part of Scandinavia and the adjacent islands, the Danish peninsula and the neighboring shores of the North and the Baltic seas. Here they were found by the first representative of Mediterranean civilization to men- tion them, one Pytheas of Marseilles, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, who reports of the amber fisheries on the west coast of Jutland. But long before that tune they must have come in contact with Mediter- ranean peoples. Three commercial roads, from the Black Sea, from upper Italy, and from the mouth of the Rhone, respectively, led to the shores of the northern seas, where was to be found the much-coveted amber. The tombs of Mykene and Crete, which antedate the poems of Homer, contain ornaments of amber, and northern sepulchres have revealed specimens of Egyp- tian art of equal age. We learn from the archseological finds that the Germans passed through different stages of the stone age, and we distinguish a number of epochs in the bronze age. The grains of different cereals have been found, and bear witness to the practice of agriculture, as is verified by the rude rock carvings of men ploughing. The industrial arts had advanced considerably. The in GERMANIC ORIGINS 29 stone implements of the neolithic age already show a wonderful workmanship, that neatness proper only to the craftsman who loves his work for its own sake. Later the working of metal was brought to a high degree of perfection ; nowhere have such beautiful bronzes been found, and the art of making arms and metal ornaments stood in high esteem until far into the times of docu- mentary history. All their art has a character pecul- iar to itself, which has been the very lite of German art throughout history; the lines, angles, curves, often arranged in a manner not found in the products of other people, the beginnings of an ornamentation which continued and was perfected in historic times. Perhaps the most curious objects found are musical instruments in the shape of horns which may be com- pared to trombones. They are S-shaped, from four to six feet long, made of bronze, and some of them are beautifully decorated in the style which we may safely call Germanic. Modern Danish scholars have named them "hirer," from " mdhr," the Old Norse word for alphorn. The so-called Kiwik Monument, near Malby on the island of Schonen, a relief cut in the rock esti- mated to date from about the year 1000 B.C., shows two men playing these instruments while in attendance at a sacrifice. These "hirer" have always been found in parrs, one in perfect tune with the other. They com- prise the diatonic scale and major triad, altogether twenty-two notes, and indicate a relatively high stand- ard of musical skill, "a music of a warlike, solemn, sustained, powerful, and noble character, not noisy nor brutally piercing." These instruments were of such character as with absolute necessity to evolve in time polyphonic music. I cannot help finding some significance in these early witnesses of Germanic musical 30 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. art, which seem to show that the very roots of modern music, which sprang up in the Middle Ages, go back to the earliest origins of our race. The National Museum at- Copenhagen possesses no less than twenty-three of these ancient "hirer," of which fourteen are perfect. Up to 1910, concerts were given with great success on these instruments, some of which have the venerable age of 3000 years. A report lying before me says some of the pieces played were especially composed for the "hirer, " and that the latter were distinguished by their compass and softness of tone. These interesting facts, which we owe to archaeology, may be supplemented by the results of philological research. Of literature we can hardly speak at a time when writing was an unknown art ; for even if the runes are, as some bold writers claim, of Germanic origin and rather the source than the outcome of Mediterranean alphabets, there is no evidence that in early times they were used for other than ceremonial and oracular pur- poses, or as dedicatory inscriptions on some weapon, ornament, or monument. Almost all inscriptions are of a post-Roman period. Still comparative science teaches us that the Germans had some kind of songs. They show that unity of poetry, music, and dance, of symbol, melody, and rhythm which we find among all primitive peoples. They were a part of their cult, and accompanied all their religious acts. Even the songs that were sung when they marched into battle and when they returned as conquerors had this character, for war, with the Germans, was an act of eminently religious significance. All these songs were of an epic character, and even their erotic poems must not be supposed to have contained a lyrical expression of emotion. A German scholar tells us that for the period in GERMANIC ORIGINS 31 about the year 3000 B.C., besides this choric poetry of religious hymns, of songs of war and victory, marriage and mourning, they had some kind of riddles, referring to the mysteries of their cult, as well as spells and proverbs, all in poetical form. Their epic songs ex- plained to the uninitiated the meaning of the ritual ceremonies and sacrifices, and consisted of verses and interpolated prose sentences. Many of the proverbs so familiar to the German to-day, and not a few riddles, bear marks of an origin dating from long before the dawn of history. One of the oldest and most frequently quoted is: "Sat a bird featherless on a tree leafless - came a maiden mouthless caught it footless ate it armless." In addition to the rhythm necessitated by the dancing step, poetic diction was bound by the alliteration, i.e., the putting of words beginning with the same sounds (e.g., kith and kin) in the places accen- tuated by the rhythm. This alliteration leads us to a quality of the Germanic languages which, more than any archaeological dis- coveries, or any number of conclusions of comparative science, reveals the keynote of the Germanic character. While many qualities of our forefathers, pointed to with pride and satisfaction by their descendants, are common to a great many peoples in a corresponding stage of civilization, there is one peculiarity common to the Germanic languages which is as significant as it is exceptional. It is this : While all other Indo-European languages allow a wide liberty in placing the accent, and make external considerations, such as the quantity of the syllables and euphony, of deciding influence, the Germanic tribes show a remarkable and intentional transition to an internal principle of accentuation, a tendency to revert towards the beginning of the word. 32 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. As a result, of all related peoples the Germanic alone puts the accent on the root syllable of the word, that is, on that part that gives it its meaning. There is hardly an ethnological fact extant which gives so much food for thought as this. What led these people to give up a habit which must have been so old that it had become instinctive, and to evolve out of their own minds a principle which indicates a power of discrimination far hi advance of anything we are used to attribute to the lower stages of civilization ? Circumstances of which we are not now aware must have compelled them to dis- tinguish the inner essence of things from their external form, and must have taught them to appreciate the former as of higher, indeed, as of sole importance. It is this accentuation of the real substance of things, the ever powerful desire to discover this real substance, and the ever present impulse to give expression to this inner reality which has become the controlling trait of the Germanic soul. Hence the conviction, gained by count- less unfruitful efforts, that reason alone will never get at the true foundation of things ; hence the thorough- ness of German science; hence a great many of the qualities that explain Germanic successes and Germanic failures; hence, perhaps, a certain stubbornness and obstinacy, the unwillingness to give up a conviction once formed ; hence the tendency to mysticism ; hence that continuous struggle which marks the history of German art, the struggle to give to the contents powerful and adequate expression, and to satisfy at the same time the requirements of aesthetic beauty and elegance, a struggle in which the victory is always on the side of truth, though it be homely, over beauty of form whenever it appears deceitful ; hence the part played by music in German life as the only expression of those imponder- in GERMANIC ORIGINS 33 able vibrations of the soul for which language seems to have no words; hence the faith of the German in his mission among the nations as a bringer of truth, as the recognizer of the real value of things as against the hol- low shell of beautiful form, as the doer of right deeds for their own sake and not for any reward beyond the natural outcome of the deed itself. Although traces of a similar evolution have been found in a few dialects of other branches, they did not last. In a few Slav languages it is due to Germanic influence. This is not the only revelation of Germanic character which the language will so generously grant for the mere asking, but this one trait is so overpowering, as it flashes upon us from the first dawn of history, that I shall not run the risk of detracting from its impressive- ness at present by observations for which many an opportunity may be offered in the pursuit of our subject. CHAPTER IV THE GERMANS IN THEIR FIRST CONTACT WITH GR^ECO- ROMAN CIVILIZATION 328 B.c.-m. 400 A.D. I Their Country and Mode of Life WHILE the descriptions in the last chapter were mostly based upon hypothesis, however strongly sup- ported by archaeological and other evidence, we now enter upon the stage of documentary history. We find our Germanic ancestors, partly at least, occupying the same country as their present descendants, and we find them for the first time in direct contact with, and soon under the influence of, Mediterranean civilization, as it had taken final shape in the universal empire of the Romans. There are many Germans at present who seem to doubt whether this influence has been altogether a blessing; they appear to think that much better results might have been reached, if the Germanic peoples had been allowed to develop their own civilization, according to their character, as manifested in the first expressions of their mental life. However this may be, one thing is certain, that, until, far into mediaeval times Roman influence was very slight, either because German individuality was too strong, or because Ger- 34 CHAP, iv THEIR COUNTRY AND MODE OF LIFE 35 man intelligence was not strong enough to assimilate a civilization so far above them. At the time when the first information concerning the Germans was brought to the ancient world by Pytheas of Massilia, toward the end of the fourth century B.C., we find the Germanic tribes in Scandi- navia and on the Danish peninsula. Westward of the base of the peninsula they did not extend very far; how far they reached toward the east we are not able to say. We know only that on the south and west they were surrounded by Kelts, and we must imagine the tune between the fourth century and the beginning of the Christian era as a period of continuous expansion of the Germanic tribes at the expense of the Kelts. At the time of Caesar, who is the next to give fairly reliable reports, we find the Germans already advanced to the banks of the Rhine. By that tune the Keltic states had been conquered and destroyed, leaving their traces in the names of localities and rivers, and in relics of then- civilization, which we must suppose to have been somewhat above that of the Germans. Indeed, so long were these border wars waged between Kelts and Germans that the name of the most powerful tribe among the Kelts, "Volcae," gave rise to the word " Welsh" in its various dialectical forms, which, wher- ever it occurs in a Germanic language, has primarily the meaning of " alien." In the meantime, the Germans had become somewhat differentiated ; the dialects, which had probably orig- inated when they lived closer together, had become more distinct, and, at the time of which we speak, the three divisions by which scholars distinguish the Ger- manic nations to the present day were already in exist- ence. The Eastern Germans, who appear to have 36 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. been the most gifted, lived on the banks of the Oder and Vistula ; the best known of their tribes were the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, the Burgundians, and the Vandals, who play such an important role in the final dissolution of the Roman Empire and in the formation of the new Romance nations. The Northern Germans, who remained longest in a more primitive state of civilization, and whose languages, especially that of Iceland, best preserved their old Germanic character, then occupied the southern part of Scandinavia, the adjacent islands, and Jutland. Iceland was settled from Norway at a much later period. The Western Germanic tribes, of whom the present Germans, the Dutch, the Flemings, and the English are the descendants, and to whom we Americans belong by language, and, as yet, by culture, occupied the base of Jutland, and the oblong between the Elbe, the North Sea, the Rhine, and the Mam River. It goes without saying that these different tribes were not all in the same stage of development. There are indications that the unsettled period of the wanderings caused a retrogression from the conditions of civiliza- tion attained in the ancestral home. While we follow then' development during the first centuries, as it is shown by the successive accounts of ancient authors, we shall try rather to give a complete and rounded descrip- tion of their common civilization than to point out all tribal and chronological differences. Naturally we have most information concerning those who came in direct contact with the Romans, who more or less inter- mingled with them. These, later on, in appearance and character, seem almost a different race from their brothers in the North, who appear to have preserved the iv THEIR COUNTRY AND MODE OF LIFE 37 racial peculiarities to a much greater extent. We may say in general, as Victor Hehn has pointed out, that the Catholic population of Germany at present occupies those parts that in heathen times had been most exposed to Roman influence. The character of the country inhabited by these peo- ple was vastly different from that of the present day. It was indeed so dismal that we can understand how Tacitus concluded that the Germans must be autoch- thonous, since no people by their own free choice would have selected such a country for their abode. Impene- trable primeval forests alternated with impassable swamps; a long and hard winter, when the sun was able to penetrate the fog only a few hours at best, made the inhabitants almost forget the short summer. Even toward the south the climate was not much more propitious, as the increased elevation of the country prevented the milder conditions which lower latitudes might have brought about. The influence which this climate must have had on the inhabitants can easily be imagined. Even in those ancient times, however, we know the German loved the soil which he had con- quered in hard fight with the powers of nature, to raise his scant grains, or to maintain space for his cattle to roam in. Even to have a place to build his hut and dry his nets out of the reach of the spring tides, which tore wide stretches from the northern coasts, he was obliged to heap up mounds in the midst of marshes. To the Roman observer, the people who inhabited this country seemed remarkably alike in appearance ; yet we must not put too much stress on this fact, and should remember how, to our own eyes, there seems to be very little individuality at first sight among the members of a foreign race, say the Chinese or Japanese. 38 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. The purity of the race may have been already greatly impaired by intermixture, especially with the Kelts, since the description of the physical appearance of the latter tallies almost exactly with that of the Germans. Even less literally must be taken the Roman observa- tion as to the gigantic size of the Germans ; at the present time the southern races are of smaller stature than the northern, and fear in all ages is apt to beget exaggera- tion. Some bodies of exceptionally large size, as is the case to-day, have been found in tombs ; but on the average there does not appear to be any considerable difference as compared with the present type of Scan- dinavians or Germans. As to later times, it can be stated that the sword-hilts and the armor of the mediaeval knights would to-day fit only very small men. All accounts agree that the Germans were a fair people, with reddish-blond hair and powerful, well- knit figures. They belonged to the long-skulled, the dolichocephalic, race. They must have been decidedly good-looking; on this all authors agree, and it is confirmed by the plastic representations of Germanic warriors and prisoners which have been preserved on Roman monuments. Ausonius, the Roman poet, has left us the description of a fourth-century German girl, Bissula, who would appear attractive to a young man of our times: "Bissula, born and brought up on the Rhine, the wintry river, German her features, golden her hair, her eyes of blue color ; Bissula, inimitable in wax or by the brush of the painter ; adorned by nature with charms which defy all artificial tricks. Well may other maidens use powder or rouge, her face does not owe its rosiness to the deftness of her fingers. Painter, mix the whiteness of the lilies with the purple of the roses : iv THEIR COUNTRY AND MODE OF LIFE 39 thus you will get the proper colors for Bissula's por- trait." The Germans themselves seem to have been vain enough of their personal appearance. They used artificial dyes to preserve the color of their hair, and carried on their belts, in addition to a sword, a leather case for comb and bottle of hair-oil, probably in the form of liquid butter. Men and women were clothed almost alike. They wore a tight-fitting under garment, and, especially in winter, an outer garment of coarse wool or skins, often adorned with fine furs. The monuments show that both men and women wore leather breeches ; a fully dressed body found in the marshes of Schleswig has the hose attached to the breeches. Indeed, the same costume is worn to-day in the Highlands of Bavaria, by farm laborers of both sexes. For the protection of the feet shoes made of one piece of leather were fastened with a string around the ankles. This "Bundschuh," which was to become of special significance as an emblem in the Peasants' Wars of later times, goes back to the primitive times of Scandinavian ancestry. The neck and part of the chest were bare. The women also some- times wore linen garments. Both men and women liked to wear ornaments, rings, brooches, clasps, and the like. There was also in use a cloak called "chozzo" (Engl. coat), or "kamitzo" (Germ. Hemd), consisting of an oblong or oval piece of cloth fastened at the shoulder with a thorn or metal pin. This was often the only garment worn by the men when they lounged about the house, and for its comfort has been compared to the "Schlafrock" (dressing-gown) of the German scholar. With men, of course, weapons were an essential part of the apparel. 40 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Even after the use of metal weapons was known, we find remnants of a cruder period reaching far into the Middle Ages. In the time of the Romans we must suppose that the majority of the Germans were armed with wooden spears, the points of which were hardened by charring. How long the use of stone arms lasted may be seen by the fact that in the battle of Hastings many of the English still used stone axes and knives. The characteristic weapon of the Germans was the framea, a short javelin, fit both for throwing and for hand-to-hand fighting. It is said that they could be thrown a distance of one hundred and fifty paces. The long lance, sometimes eighteen feet in length, was not frequent. Some tribes used, for hurling, a hatchet of peculiar shape, called the francisca, with which the name of the Franks has been connected. In addition we find that a sling was used which could throw to a distance of 400 paces, also bows and arrows which carried 250 paces. The arrow played an important part as a symbol. Thrown across the border of a tribe, or the fence of a farm, it indicated a challenge or declaration of war ; or, when sent from house to house, it summoned the freemen to arms against an invader. Only later do we find the short sword, about one to one and one- half feet in length, originally made of stone, and called sahs, from which the Saxons derived their name. The long sword, swerd, or heru, gave their names to the Swerdiones and the Cherusks. The only defensive weapon was the shield, a frame of wicker work covered with leather, or of boards made from the linden-tree. With some tribes these were of immense size, sometimes as high as six feet ; according to the tribe to which the warrior belonged, they were oblong or oval and painted in different colors, perhaps already in those times bear- iv THEIR COUNTRY AND MODE OF LIFE 41 ing emblems in the manner of the coat-of-arms of later nobility. The shield was the most important part of the man's armament ; its loss in battle brought ever- lasting disgrace, and many a man chose suicide rather than return to his people without this sign of manhood. The shield was given to the boy when he was received into citizenship, and was not to leave him during his lifetime. On their shields they swam across the rapid rivers of their country, and on them they slid with the rapidity of an avalanche down the icy sides of the Alps into the sunny fields of Italy. They were not given to wearing armor; on the contrary, they went into battle the upper part of their bodies perfectly naked, their arms and heads bare. Sometimes we find them wearing the skins of wild beasts, apparently more to frighten their enemies than to protect themselves. The houses of the Germans were of the most simple kind. Poles were driven perpendicularly into the ground, and the spaces between filled in with wicker work. There was at first only one window, called the windouge, "wind-eye, "and placed above the door to give the smoke a chance to escape. Some monuments show houses of cylindrical form. The dwellings were in part, as in prehistoric times, dugouts covered by a roof. They consisted of one room only, part of which was sometimes elevated for the use of the family, as the domestic animals usually shared the same roof. They were acquainted with the use of tables and stools, and had benches running along the walls ; but they had no dishes, the food being placed directly upon the table. The chiefs probably had larger halls, but we must not imagine for the earlier times banquet halls of the splen- dor of Heorot, the hart's hall, described in " Beowulf." In these halls each guest had his own table, and at the 42 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. banquet the wife of the host went about filling the drink- ing-horns and cups with mead or beer. Their houses were not huddled close together as in a modern village, but even those of one community were scattered. In those parts of the country where Keltic tradition survived, the single farm, surrounded by un- cultivated tracts, was the rule. The laying out of the village varied with different tribes ; in some the farm- houses were arranged in a cluster, hi others in rows, and sometimes without any system at all. All the fields of the community were cultivated in common, the shares of each member being scattered so that every one should have the same advantages and disadvantages of soil and sun. Outside of the house cavities, such as are still found in some parts of Germany, dug hi the ground and covered with leaves and dung, served as store-rooms and as work-rooms for the women hi winter. Pasture grounds and woods called the allmende, or commons, were the common property of the com- munity, a usage which has in some instances come down to our own tunes. The great allmende of Schwyz, Switzerland, for example, comprises an area of about 400 square miles. The crops included barley, millet and spelt, or German wheat, a kind of coarse beans, and especially oats, a "grain not cultivated by the Romans. These grains were ground into flour for bread and porridge. From prehistoric times also beer was extensively brewed, and hi some regions was considered the drink of the nobles. It must not be compared, however, to the beer and ale of later times, since hops were introduced into Germany only after the great migrations. The cattle were small and unsightly, but hardy and iv THEIR COUNTRY AND MODE OF LIFE 43 rich in milk. Sour milk formed an important part of the diet of the people. Caesar's statement that they knew how to make cheese is an error ; butter they used only in liquid form. It seems that cattle were kept for dairy purposes only, and that their meat was not eaten. Sheep were kept for their wool. Hogs were common, and were allowed to find their fill in the oak forests. We read of fowls, such as chickens, geese, and ducks, but we are not certain whether the last were domesticated. The use of the horse for riding and carting was by no means unknown, but it was mostly kept for its meat ; horse- flesh, next to pork, was the principal animal food, espe- cially at ritual and sacrificial feasts. For this reason, the Christian Church made inexorable war upon the habit of eating horse-flesh, until it succeeded in abolish- ing the practice entirely. The wild native horse of northern Europe continued a favorite object of the chase even as late as the sixteenth century. Of much more importance than to-day were bees, wild and domesticated ; honey took the place of sugar, and was also used in the manufacture of mead, the stimulating drink of the poorer people. A beehive, found in the forest, and properly marked by the finder, became a piece of personal property, a practice still surviving in some parts of New England. The domestic work, which included of course all handicrafts of the time, was performed by the women and slaves ; they not only cooked, sewed, and spun, but also wove the cloth and dyed it purple with the juice of huckleberries, or green and yellow with broom. The garments worn on solemn occasions they ornamented with embroidery, which shows distinctly the movement and interlacings characteristic of Germanic art. The 44 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. beating of flax and the pulling of wool was also part of their work ; in short, the whole preparation of garments and the material for them. We read that the sheep were not shorn, but the wool pulled out, a custom which was not so cruel as it sounds, since this operation took place when the wool was falling of its own accord. To the slaves was left all the work in the field. Aside from war and the chase, the freeman had very little to do, save one occupation, requiring particular skill, strength, and inventive genius, that of the smith. Indeed, the manufacture of arms and the ornaments they liked so well was almost the only craft considered worthy of a freeman. We have seen that the finds from prehistoric times show considerable progress in this art ; its invention was attributed to dwarfs and giants, that is, to divine beings ; this, in fact, is the only creative work practised in the imaginary world of Ger- manic mythology. Besides metal work, the construc- tion of houses, and of the two- and four-wheeled wagons, drawn mostly by oxen, fell also to the men. The mines in operation at these times were probably inherited from the Kelts, and were worked by the en- slaved descendants of that race. Salt was indispens- able, and salt works play an important part in early German history. Victor Hehn has shown that all the names of places ending in hall, including Halle, indicate the existence of salt works in Keltic times. Several wars have been waged between neighboring tribes solely for the possession of such salt works. The salt was obtained by pouring the brine over glowing charcoal. Hence we read of the impurity and black appearance of the salt, which really consisted of brine- soaked ashes. A great many words relating to the sea, to sailing and iv THEIR COUNTRY AND MODE OF LIFE 45 fishing, are common to all Germanic languages, and indi- cate great familiarity with maritime affairs, such as was bound to follow from the character of the country. In their southward wanderings many of the Germanic tribes removed farther and farther from the ocean, but navigable rivers prevented them from forgetting entirely the craft of the sailor and fisherman ; and to-day life on the ocean exercises an ever renewed fascination upon the inland-born German. The first form of their boat was the hollowed-out tree, the Eiribaum, several of which have been found in a well-preserved state, and are on exhibition in various museums. Large ships, similar to the well-known Viking ship of a later period, of a type adapted to the stormy seas of the North, were in use as early as prehistoric times. There was much leisure left to the Germanic freeman ; some of it he may have spent in training in the use of weapons the young boys, who grew up " naked and squalid, with the sons of the slaves and among the cattle" ; a man known for his skill in this kind of work might have been employed to train the sons of ethelings. Hunting, that excellent form of training for primitive warfare, was, of course, a favorite pastime ; throughout the ages a love of outdoor life, and especially of the forest, has been characteristic of the German. Even before the migrations we hear of hunting with the falcon, which was later to form such an essential feature in the picture of chivalric life. But for days, no doubt, the free German would lounge on the bear-skins in front of his hearth fire, doing nothing but sleep and "think," thus, perhaps, acquir- ing the habit of philosophizing attributed to modern Germans. This lazy habit is one of the queer contrasts in the old Germanic character; the same man would 46 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. in a moment be aroused to the greatest energy and persistence when war or some other cause which he deemed worthy of his interest stirred him up from his rest. We can, it is true, observe the same trait among many savage tribes ; but it must not be forgotten that the long and violent winters must have confined the German of those times to his hut for weeks. Here we find the source of his intense individualism. He was compelled to fall back on himself, and, if there was an active mind within him, and his language shows that there was, the habit of introspection, the devel- opment of his inner and emotional life, as well as an intimate family life, must have followed as natural consequences. This dreamy meditativeness sometimes takes the character of a less commendable brooding, and gives the mind an unpractical eccentricity, as can, curiously enough, be observed in the difference between the eccentric German, das Original, who wants to be left alone in his peculiarities, and the Anglo-Saxon crank, who wants the whole world to join in his eccen- tricities. The change of seasons, as well as the constant atten- tion required by his natural surroundings, may likewise have been a source of the deep love of nature inborn in the German, especially of his ineradicable love of the forest. Emotion seems the controlling element of his soul. His inner life, in connection with his love of nature, gives rise to that quality which the Germans call Gemut. This self-concentration and emotional idealism very often lead to serious ethical conflicts, under which the Germanic soul suffers apparently more than others. It is the tragic essence of all German poetry ; and it is not without reason that in the begin- ning of Eschenbach's "Parzival" we read of the zwivel, iv THEIR COUNTRY AND MODE OF LIFE 47 or doubt. If it be true that the German inclines more to suicide than others, this inner conflict may furnish an explanation. His very seclusion must, on the other hand, have aroused in him a curiosity to see the world beyond the narrow limits surrounding him, especially after travellers from abroad had told him of sunnier climes, where nature responded more readily to the efforts of man. Hence his joy in travelling, his Wanderlust, one of the strongest German impulses, but not strong enough to overcome what has even been called by the French la maladie allemande, the German ailment, his home- sickness, of which history offers many striking examples. To mention only one, let us remember that the French found themselves compelled to enact a law placing the death penalty on the blowing of the alphorn within the hearing of one of their Swiss regiments, because there were too many desertions every time this occurred. Very early did this love for travelling drive the Germans all over the world, so that Marco Polo, when he came to China, found even there already a German globe- trotter. Apart from hunting, the freeman found his principal pleasure in the halls of his chief, drinking beer and listening to the recitation of the great deeds of the heroes of his tribe, or of adventures in far-away lands. These narrations were sung in the early times not by professional singers, but by some neighbor who had heroic feats of his own to relate, or felt the gift and the inclination to sing of others. The songs were inter- rupted by wordy wars between the guests ; making fun of one's neighbors is an old Germanic trait, which has not disappeared with time. Often such feasts ended in drunken quarrels ; frequently a game of dice 48 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. was played with such passion that a man would not stop until he had lost all his property, including his most precious possession, his liberty. This passion for gambling seems to have been a common vice of the Indo-European nations, while drinking was, on the whole, rather more peculiarly Germanic. The virtue of hospitality was practised to the highest degree ; a visitor, with his tales of adventure in strange lands and of recent happenings nearer home, brought a welcome variety into the monotony of life. He re- mained with his host so long as there was anything left in the house to eat and drink, and then both guest and host sought the hospitality of a neighbor's house. They did not leave, however, before the guest had selected from among his host's possessions whatever he thought most desirable as a present. It seems that this hospitality was not confined to the individual, but that whole wandering tribes were received in the most generous manner, and kept for entire seasons in the countries through which they passed. Almost as welcome as the traveller was the salesman. The Roman merchant early found his way into the forests and marshes of Germany, bringing the much- coveted weapons of bronze and iron, and the silver ornaments, which were preferred to those of gold. The more the times advanced, and the more the sons of Germany became acquainted with Roman civilization in its own home, the more were its products in demand among then- countrymen in the interior of Germany. All commerce was by barter. Roman coins they coveted as ornaments or to be laid away in their treas- ure boxes, together with their swords, chains, rings, and other precious articles. Cattle formed the measure of barter in most parts of Germany, and, like the Latin iv THEIR COUNTRY AND MODE OF LIFE 49 pecunia, the English word fee, Gothic faihs, Old Saxon and Old High German fihu, preserve traces of the cus- tom. In spite of the differences in spelling, these words are identical with the German Vieh, meaning " cattle." The articles of export which the Germans had to offer were cattle, smoked meats, fish, skins, furs, geese feathers (a pound of which in the Roman market brought the equivalent of one dollar), oil for dyeing hair the German shade fashionable with the Roman ladies, the hair itself, and above all amber,, which they called glaesum, the Germanic word glass. The routes of the trader were so many connecting links with civilization. Three roads over which the amber trade has been carried on since time immemorial have al- ready been mentioned : the first up the Vistula and down the Dnieper to the Black Sea ; the second up the Oder, across the Danube, over the Alps to the banks of the Po and the markets of the Etruscans, which may account for certain similarities between Etruscan and German art ; and the third up the Elbe to the Rhine, up the Rhine to the Rhone, and down that river to the Mediterranean Sea. The valley of the Mosel, however, was the great highway by which Roman civilization entered Germany. CHAPTER V THE GERMANS IN THEIR FIRST CONTACT WITH GR^2CC~ ROMAN CIVILIZATION II Civil Organization. Individual and Society IN the civil organization of the ancient Germans, it is interesting to observe the struggle between the cen- trifugal and centripetal forces which are at the bottom of all social organization, as of all systems of the uni- verse. At the time of which we speak, the German had no conception of the state, as we understand the word ; he had not yet begun to feel that it was some- thing objective, something outside of himself. With- out being really conscious of the natural organism, of w T hich he was himself a part, he gave up some personal rights, or rather some of his personal desires, only just so far as seemed absolutely necessary for his self- preservation. Thus, while on the one hand we find a strong feeling of personality, it seems that the individual had as yet no perfect sense of differentiation from the rest of his family or clan. There appears to have been no moral conscience outside of the community itself, which coincided at first with the old group of related families, called in German Sippe, Anglo-Saxon syb. A number of clans, which w r ord I use to translate Sippe, sometimes larger, sometimes smaller, formed the old German state, as we should call it ; the land, 50 CHAP, v CIVIL ORGANIZATION 51 or country, folk, or people, as they termed it. Imper- meable forests, swamps, or high mountains, and, where these were lacking, broad stretches of land, left waste or laid waste on purpose, formed the boundaries between which the peoples led their independent lives. The only purpose of the state seems to have been pro- tection or safety, Friede, Anglo-Saxon frith (with which the words free and friend are connected), now meaning " peace." We find, indeed, in olden times certain larger federations for the purposes of cult ; tradition kept alive a consciousness of closer relationship between larger groups, which found expression in myths relating to the common descent of all the peoples belonging to one group from a single hero or god. But beyond a general unconscious feeling that Germans were distinct from other peoples, there was no conception of nation- ality, and each people led its own life within its boun- daries. All the land within the boundaries was common property. It was divided among the clans into dis- tricts, which in turn were divided into common pasture and forest, and into fields for cultivation. Each family had, besides the ground on which its isolated house stood, its share of the cultivated fields in scattered lots, as described above. The English word lot reminds us that the distribution was made by drawing "lots." A clan comprised perhaps fifty or one hundred fami- lies ; the term hundred sometimes meant the number of families belonging to a common mark, and sometimes the number of warriors sent by a clan to fight side by side in the common army. The different lots of the fields and the homestead together formed the hide, or hufa. The cultivation of the fields was a matter of common concern. 52 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. There were frequent alterations both within the mark and within the larger boundaries ; and before the German migration had reached the Rhine and the Danube, where the Roman Empire set a limit to its further expansion, peoples often changed their country, leav- ing their old settlements waste and empty. After that limit was reached, we find the tribes settled in fixed territories, and only then do we witness the slow begin- ning of personal ownership of land. This organization of the community, in which every peasant was partner in all the land and every citizen was a peasant, was common to all Germanic peoples, and traces of it are found not only in all the Germanic countries of Europe, but also in many American settle- ments, especially in New England and the Middle Atlantic States. I cannot better describe the signifi- cance of this organization, which must not be under- valued, than by the following passage from Karl Lamprecht : "To-day we find the last traces of the Mark Com- munity and of the Hundreds in the common administra- tion of old frontier forests and remote fields. Much more numerous are the mark communities of the clans, which comprised several villages each and were pre- served with their common possessions of forest, water, and pasture, sometimes even of cultivated fields. Before the foundation of the present political com- munity, these local communities flourished everywhere under Germanic laws. It is an evolution of almost incredible power of resistance, in view of all the destruc- tive tendencies of later times; an evolution in which the necks of the German peasants have become stiffened and their minds rigid ; but their lives remained honest, their faithfulness golden, while they stuck to the advan- v CIVIL ORGANIZATION 53 tages of their Germanic ways in spite of humanism and Roman law, until the emancipation of the peasant and the duty of universal military service introduced them into modern life. Outside of the realms of the most distinct, the most universal, and the most vivid emo- tions of human personality, not even the most solid institution would have made such a duration of primi- tive beginnings possible. "But this is the wonderful greatness in these associa- tions, that they were not founded on any phenomena of primitive or of any specific culture, but that they were anchored in the Germanic man, in Germanic being itself. " The Germanic community from prehistoric times down to the present has not been a community of land- lords, or capitalists, or of classes of a certain education, - it has been a community of men, of the nation as such, of men in so far as their hearts were broad and their minds were great, as their heads were clear and their arms were strong for attack and defence, in as far as their good name had proved itself immune against calumny. If nothing outlasts the change of time, this type of the Germanic man will last as the eternal foun- dation of a both original and richer organization of our public life." And what the great German historian says about his own countrymen is just as true of the farmer of Holland, of Scandinavia, and of both Old and New England. In speaking of the mark, it must be remembered that it was not an artificial political subdivision of the state, as our counties are, but it represented the common property of the clan, or the hundreds, who had occu- pied the territory necessary for the support of their families, when they came first into the region. With 54 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the smaller tribes, there was no further subdivision, although the larger may have already known the greater unit of the Gau, Latin pagus, English shire, which plays a very important part in later times. The growth of the Germanic state, as it takes place in the open light of history, is a direct refutation of the social contract theory; it is the natural expansion of the family. The population was divided into two classes : the freemen and the slaves, or serfs. (The name slaves is identical with that of the Slav race, but came into use only at a later period.) The slaves were either pris- oners of war and their children, or else, though not often, acquired by purchase. The tribesman who had lost his liberty in gambling was not kept among his former companions, but was sold to foreign traders as soon as possible. The slave was as much a piece of personal property as a horse or an article of furniture. Cruel treatment, however, was not in keeping with Germanic character, although it might sometimes happen that the master, in quick wrath, would kill the object of his anger. In the case of the marriage of a freeman or a freewoman to a slave, the children were unfree. The work assigned to the slaves was the heavier labor in the house and in the fields. In the early times, when the property was not large, there was not work enough, nor even room, for a large number of slaves, and they formed an important article of export. Caesar tells us that Germanic leaders distinguished themselves in the Italic slave rebellions long before his time. We hear only very little of slaves receiving their freedom, and the freedman had a very indefinite posi- tion, not much above that of the slave. Tacitus, v CIVIL ORGANIZATION 55 however, makes the interesting remark that with those tribes which had kings the freedmen sometimes rose to positions above freemen and noblemen, a state of affairs which foreshadows the times of knights and courtiers. The freemen in assembly represented the state; whatever there was of government was executed by them in common ; they were truly a sovereign people. Montesquieu and Blackstone declare these assemblies, called thing, mahal, moot, to be the foundation of the British constitution. The place of meeting was a sacred grove under the shade of old trees, and George Washington, drawing his sword under the old elm on Cambridge Common, may well remind us of the ancient Germanic Herzog, elected by the moot to lead his people in war. The place itself commanded peace, and the keeping of order was in the hands of a priest, one of the ethelings, who opened the meeting with the words: "Ich gebiete Lust und verbiete Unlust." (I command good will and forbid ill will.) But his office was more that of a sergeant-at- arms than that of chairman. The moot decided ques- tions of offensive warfare and treaties of peace and alliance ; a war of defence needed no discussion, an arrow passed from hand to hand was enough. The adventurous enterprises of ambitious ethelings, who often asked for volunteers to accompany them on what we should call a filibustering expedition or a plunder- ing raid of bandits, were apparently to a certain extent also under the control of the moot. The moot elected the king or duke (Herzog), who was to be the general in time of war, but who had to give up his office when peace was restored. It was the moot which received the youth into citizenship, sometimes when he was quite young in years ; the ability to handle arms, 56 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. proved by the killing of an enemy, admitted him to manhood, according to a Gothic maxim, found in Cas- siodorus: "Et qui valet hostem confodere ab omni se iam debet vitio vindicare." (He who is strong enough to pierce his enemy ought to be able to resist every vice.) The legislative tasks of the moot cannot have been very many in the simple life of earlier times ; the little regulation that was necessary being provided for by traditional law, handed down in rigid and symbolic form from father to son. Still new conditions some- times demanded new measures ; Caesar mentions a law of the Suevi forbidding the importation of wine. The moot was at the same time the court of justice, all the freemen forming the jury, another original Ger- manic root of a modern democratic institution. The moot was not only competent in all cases referring to public peace and order ; it was also the regular tribunal for certain great crimes which demanded death, not as capital punishment, but as a propitiatory sacrifice to the gods. This public sacrifice took among some tribes the most horrible forms. We have seen the freemen in the moot representing the sovereignty of the nation in all its functions, exer- cising all legislative, judicial, and executive power. As far as political rights are concerned, the freemen were the only class of citizens ; kings, where they existed, seem to have had only the powers of an occa- sional executive officer; but on this point our knowl- edge is limited. Not much more is known about the nobility, the ethelings. There was such a class, who, by the respect shown to them, not by any legal authority, exercised a great influence. They prepared the business brought before the moot, and out of their number was selected the general in times of war. Whether they v CIVIL ORGANIZATION 57 were the descendants of prehistoric royal dynasties, or whether their families were distinguished by having furnished leaders repeatedly successful in war, and hence wealthy, we do not know. It is, however, not im- probable that they date back to a time of a more dif- ferentiated civilization, destroyed by the social up- heaval incident to the migrations. A peculiar institution, traces of which are found also among the Kelts, is the voluntary allegiance of young warriors to a distinguished etheling, who in return gave them food, clothes, and shelter, as well as rewards for deeds of valor and faithfulness in the shape of weapons, rings, and other valuables. The chief was called the elder, alderman, senior, his followers thegans or thanes, in their entirety gasindi or trustio. A great retinue was an object of rivalry between the ethelings. The relation between senior and thane may best be characterized in the words of Tacitus, who says: "In peace the retinue brings honor, in war protection. It is disgraceful for the chief to be outdone in bravery by the thanes, disgraceful for the retinue not to equal the bravery of the chief. But it brings reproach and lifelong infamy to survive the chief after he has fallen in battle." It is easy to see what an instrument of power such a retinue must have given to an ambitious nobleman ; but it is remarkable, we do not hear of a usurpation of government by such help. This old thaneship, moreover, gives the first evidence of that faithfulness and loyalty which form a national ideal of the Germans to-day. Die deutsche Treue, of which we hear again and again in German songs and poems, is a quality which in these olden times is to be under- stood as voluntary submission of personality by those naturally proudest of all people to a superior authority ; 58 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. they gave up to this authority not only all family ties, but even individual judgment of right and wrong. It was a faithfulness that lasted as long as the chief kept his side of the contract or remained faithful to the ideal. No natural tie was ever stronger than this allegiance. The Roman emperors already recognized this virtue, and formed their body-guards of German warriors. How strong a motive it forms already in the " Nibelungenlied " ! Awe-inspiring was the effect in all Germany when Rudolf of Schwaben, Gregory's rival emperor against Henry IV, had his hand cut off and was slain in battle: "This is the hand with which I swore fidelity to my lord, King Henry. Your advice placed me on the royal throne; now see wiiither you have led me." These words, with which he is said to have reproached the bishops of the papal party, are inscribed around his picture in the chronicles; the hand itself is preserved in the Merseburg cathedral. We are reminded of the old relation between the liege- lord and his thanes by the late Emperor William I and his paladins, especially Bismarck. That Bismarck himself cherished this conception is shown by the words he chose for his epitaph. Field-Marshal Benedek, the leader of the Austrian army against Prussia in 1866, suffered, in order to keep his pledge to his emperor, a life of bitter, unmerited disgrace, from which one word of his would have freed him. The last English poem before the Norman-French invasion is but one great glorification of this Germanic virtue, of the fidelity of the Alderman Byrhtnoth and his followers. This feeling helps to explain the strength of the monarchy in Germany and in England, which is based not on servility, no matter how far this vice may have spread in Germany, but on the "love of the free man," CIVIL ORGANIZATION 59 as the Prussian national hymn calls it. And may we not ask whether that party loyalty which demands blind obedience to the political boss, and which makes faithlessness to the organization a crime, even when the organization is wrong, may not have its roots in this oldest form of fealty, Keltic and Germanic? Indeed, the association demands the same faithful allegiance as the chosen lord. The voluntarily assumed obliga- tion is liable to be stronger than the duty imposed by the accident of natural bonds. CHAPTER VI THE GERMANS IN THEIR FIRST CONTACT WITH GR-ECO- ROMAN CIVILIZATION III Law, Poetry, Art, Religion IN discussing the comitatus, or retinue, we have touched upon conditions which form, so to speak, a transition from public to private affairs. Although we cannot speak consistently of private law in the modern sense of the word, ancient custom had the force of a rigid, though only orally delivered statute, clad in symbolic and solemn language. It indicates throughout a high sense of justice and respect for the rights of the individual. It shows the German mind at its best. With the English, Roman law has never been powerful enough to make much headway against the Germanic traditions, which have steadily and con- sistently grown out of the principles laid down in these ancient customs ; neither have the latter, although for a time threatened with extirpation by the foreign law, lost their influence entirely in Germany, and they are asserting themselves anew in the laws of the new Empire ; while even with the Romance nations, especially in France, they have held their own to a considerable degree. The most important civil contract is that of mar- riage, the German word for which, Ehe, in its old form 60 CHAP, vi LAW, POETRY, ART, RELIGION 61 ewa, had the original meaning of custom or law. We can draw the conclusion from its survival in popular customs as well as in certain legal provisions that there was a time when rape was a common form of mar- riage. Later it took the form of purchase, the bride- groom paying to the family of his future wife a certain amount to free her from their guardianship. It is this transferring of the muni which forms the legal essence of matrimony. As late as the fourteenth century we find in the " Limburg Chronicle" the expression "to buy a wife" in the sense of "to marry." The price paid by the bridegroom might be explained as a com- pensation for the work his future wife used to perform in her parental home. The father was the head of the family and the house- hold. His power was called the munt, guardianship, and extended over all members of the household and all property. This independence of authority was in constant conflict with that of the greater group the clan. For a long time the munt carried power of life and death over both wife and children and over the serfs. But for a long time also the friends of the wife kept a certain control over her, which has been ex- plained as a survival of the old mothers' right, the existence of which, however, is denied by many authori- ties. This may explain in part the position of the German woman as compared with that of the Roman or Greek matron. At the time of Csesar and Tacitus monogamy was the rule^polygamy, however, occurring in exceptional cases. The women were held in great reverence, but, as will always be the case among healthy-minded people, they were not therefore ab- solved from hard work. Chastity was their first virtue, and a failure in this respect was rare ; adultery on the 62 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. part of the wife gave the husband the right to whip her, naked, tied to her paramour, through the village, and afterward to kill her. Toward men the laws were more lenient. They reverenced in the woman some mysterious power, attributing to her the gifts of divi- nation and healing; on many occasions we hear of priestesses; virgins of noble birth were preferred as hostages to youths, as making the treaties more bind- ing. That in the woman motherhood was principally honored is shown by the fact that the penalty for the killing of a woman who looked forward to the birth of a child was higher than for a freeman, in some cases four times as high. "A new monogamy," says Lamprecht, "was intro- duced by them into this (the Roman) world of shallow conventionalism, a monogamy of strong masculine pre- rogatives, but at the same tune of reverential masculine submission, a monogamy according to the different gifts of the masculine and feminine nature. It was not a case of personal merit, it was the product of a particular stage of development which just then en- joyed the equal benefit of patriarchal and matriarchal principles. But this monogamy, entering into the settled conditions of a highly developed civilization, first violently, later unobtrusively, although with far reaching effects, became, under the influence of Chris- tianity, albeit with many changes, an established insti- tution and the foundation of modern married life : out of its existence the forms of mediaeval and modern love have been developed; on this soil the ideal of modern family life has grown up, and its fruit is the ever youthful energy of the present, in spite of a past of fifteen hundred years of rising cultural develop- ment." vi LAW, POETRY, ART, RELIGION 63 As to the Christian element, to which reference is here made, it is a question whether it was not due to Germanic influences that the Church conceded a more dignified position to women than she was inclined to do at first. As late as 585 a Church Council of Gallic bishops at Macon discussed the question as to whether women were human beings or belonged to the animal world, and as such, having no immortal souls, were ex- cluded from the benefits of salvation. The ancient view of a wife as salable property, on the other hand, has persisted down to the most recent times; in 1839 a man in Manchester, England, making use of his legal right, brought his wife, with a halter about her neck, to the market for sale; a similar case was reported from Halifax about the same time. Criminal law in our sense of the word was unknown. As a general principle it may be stated that he who broke the peace had no more peace himself, that he was outlawed. It was secrecy that was most abhorred in all misdeeds. A man might rob, but he must do so openly. Death sentences were pronounced by the moot only for crimes which were so unspeakably bad as to ruin all divine institutions and jeopardize the existence of the state. Neidingswerke these were called, cowardice in battle worst of all, and unnatural crimes, faithlessness, and secrecy in a deed of violence. Offences in which a person was hurt in body or property were no affair of the state, but of the clan. Bodily injury, even death, was still settled by means of the blood feud, which, although the injury was an affair of the whole clan, was still not the same as that popu- larly known as the vendetta. The murderer himself was not the object of vengeance, but the most promi- nent member of the clan. He had to be killed before 64 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the victim of the first crime was buried, the killing had to be done in the open, outside of the peace of the home, and the dead body had to be marked by some sign. Often the weapon with which the deed was done was laid across the chest to show that the murder was one of retribution. But what still more deprived the blood feud of a part of its barbaric wildness was the possibility of bloodless expiation. The injured clan might accept a compensation for the injury, paid by the whole clan to which the offender belonged. The amount of the compensation, called weregild, was fixed in olden times in each case by the court (the moot) ; later a regular tariff was established which is preserved in the oldest written laws. This gives valu- able testimony concerning the scale of personal values in the social life of the tune. The choice between feud and weregild lay entirely with the injured clan. If they chose the latter, the matter came before the moot. In case the truth of the accusation was denied, the court did not proceed to take evidence as to the commission of the deed, but as to the trustworthiness of the oppos- ing parties. Such was the weight of personality hi those early times that he whose oath seemed to be most reliable and who could bring the best and most influential freemen to vouch for him was considered to be in the right. These friends were called "oath- helpers," and later, when the social differentiation became more marked, their number was fixed by law according to the social rank of the testifying party. The oath was not so much the invocation of the Deity as a witness to the truth, as in the Christian concep- tion, as it was the giving of a bond or a pledge for one's truthfulness, which was forfeited in case of per- jury. vi LAW, POETRY, ART, RELIGION 65 The validity of an oath, however, and the justice of a sentence might both be challenged (Eidesschelte, UrteilsscheUe) , and in this case a duel decided who was in the right. It is erroneous to compare this duel (the Norse holmgang, as in the North the duel was usually fought on an island, holmr] with the mediaeval ordeal. The invocation of a just and omniscient God was a Christian idea, foreign to Germanic mythology. To understand the underlying thought we must remem- ber that Gothic maxim quoted above, which says: "He who is strong enough to pierce his enemy ought to be able to resist every vice." The braver man is also the better man, therefore the victor must be in the right. A similar view underlies the modern duel, with the difference that the bravery shown by the mere acceptance of the duel proves the insulted man to be worthy of the respect of his fellows. This right of challenge, by the way, was good English law, though obsolete, as late as 1817, when it was invoked by one Thornton, who had been sentenced to death by the King's Bench. If a man did not pay his weregild, he was outlawed (peaceless). His house was destroyed, his fields were taken away, and he himself was left to die. But time was usually given him to escape to the woods, where he became a " wood-runner," and everybody had a right to kill him at sight. If in self-defence he inflicted injury on anybody, his guilt was increased; he was like a beast of the forest, and like the wolf he was called ware, the wrangler. At any time, however, by declaring himself willing to pay the weregild, or if the clan paid it for him, he might take his old place in the community. Laws, as has been said, were not written, but were 66 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. preserved by tradition delivered from mouth to mouth. Their symbolical language, supplemented by actual symbols, however, was of a character which did not admit of the slightest deviation from the original form. Indeed, although they did not become fixed in writing until the fifth century and in Latin, their monumental style makes their reconstruction easy in spite of the foreign idiom. Since any mistake in the wording of this unwritten law, any misappliance of symbols or the most insignificant aberration from old custom, made the act invalid, its transmitters underwent for centuries a training in habits of exactness amounting almost to pedantry. As an illustration of the solemnity of this symbolic language of the law, I give here the text of the old Frisian law of the Three Needs, which states the con- ditions under which the inheritance of a fatherless child might be alienated, and at the same time shows us a touching picture of misery. Nobody can tell how often it was handed from generation to generation before it was at last written down in the ninth century: "The first need is when the child is taken prisoner and carried away in fetters, northwards over the sea or southwards beyond the mountains; the mother may then part with the child's inheritance, and thus set her child free and save his life. The second need is when years of dearth come and famine reigns in the land, and the child is dying of hunger ; then the mother may alienate his inheritance and buy him therewith corn and cattle that his life may be spared ; for hunger is the sharpest of swords. The third need is, if the child is naked and houseless and the cloudy night and ice-cold weather peep through the hedges, and all men hurry to their hearths and homes, and the wild beasts vi LAW, POETRY, ART, RELIGION 67 take refuge in the hollow trees and rocky caves; the innocent child cries and laments its nakedness and wails because it has no shelter and because its father who would protect it against the cold winter and gnawing hunger is lying in the dark depths of the earth, in the oak coffin fastened down with four nails, and hidden away; then the mother may alienate and sell the child's inheritance." (Mrs. C. Connypeare's translation.) This wonderful instrument of expression, which they knew so well how to wield, their scholars tried to ex- change later for a foreign language which "they never learnt," as a modern writer says, "more than to stam- mer." From this language we may conclude that the poetic songs of which Tacitus tells were of a high standard ; however, as there are no written documents, little more can be said regarding their poetry than was said regarding that of their prehistoric ancestors. There is a lack of any independent form of art, the artistic sense finding expression in ornamentation only, in pottery, the ends of wooden beams, stands, metal utensils, etc. Their ornamentation developed along lines already indicated ; it shows movement and those peculiar entwinings with a frequent application of in- definite animal forms, especially heads. A new tech- nical accomplishment appears in metal work, filigrane, and the so-called niello, and Tauschierarbeit, iron inlaid with tracery of silver wire. Some kind of crude enamel had been known already to the prehistoric Germans of the North. As to their religion not much can be said either, in spite of the fancies of patriotic enthusiasts from Klop- stock to Richard Wagner and Johannes Scherr, who have transferred to a time that lies one thousand years 68 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. earlier the figures of Norse mythology, themselves more the products of poetic invention than deities who ever had a real cult or were the recipients of prayers or sacrifices. Some have even out of their own genius produced new divinities, like Klopstock's Teut, who, without any historical authority whatever, has been construed as the mythical sire of all Germanic nations. There was a belief in Fate, wurdh, wyrd, called by the Saxons metod, Old English meotod, the measuring, order-giving; Fate was personified later, probably under Roman influence, by three sisters, the Norns, who at a still later period received each a name. In- dicative of the religious depth which some Germans are fond of attributing to their national character is a passage in Tacitus, where we read that "they call by the names of Gods that secret something (secretum illud) which they see only through their reverence. They conclude from the vastness of the sky that they cannot force the Gods between walls nor represent them by the likeness of a human face." The oldest conceptions are, indeed, rooted deepest in the human mind, and last longest, so that at the present day we may still find traces of ancient beliefs in popular customs. Such traces exist even in the streets of the modern, sober city of New York. When the boys, on Hallowe'en, strike their elders with flour- filled stockings, they find milder judgment not only on the ground of youthful buoyancy, but also because their act recalls the ancestral custom of strewing flour as a sacrifice to the spirits of the dead, whose sighs are heard in the moaning of the wind. And the turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Day not only commemorates the pious gratitude of the Puritans, but repeats the grateful offering of the sacred fowl by our ancestors two thou- vi LAW, POETRY, ART, RELIGION 69 sand years ago, when they thanked Nerthus or Freya for the gifts of the harvest. The spirits of the dead were believed by the ancient Germans to remain for a certain time, but not forever, in the trees and springs of the forest near the scenes of their former life. Here, then, is another reason for the veneration of the forest, which has taken a stronger hold of the Germans than of most other peoples. The secrecy of the shade beneath the trees, the awe-inspir- ing silence, which is rather emphasized than disturbed by the soft rustling of the leaves in the breeze, appeal strongly to the mystical side of their character. Only the Slavs possess the feeling in a like degree, so that we need not look merely for economic reasons to explain the fact that Russia and Germany have the highest percentage of woodlands in Europe. They believed, too, in the spirits of dreams and night- mares (Alps), while out of the great mass of lower spirits of nature there had risen dwarfs and giants, and minor goddesses, like the Idisi, versed in the art of magic healing. Of a belief in the Valkyries we find no certain proof in the tradition of the earlier centuries of our era, although later legends seem to know them. We hear, however, of heroic women who in men's armor took part in battles, and these may have given rise to the later belief in the warrior goddesses. Of the gods the oldest to be revered seems to have been Tyr, or Ziu, corresponding to Zeus, or Jupiter, the god of the heavens ; out of his attributes Donar, or Thor, was personified, the powerful god of lightning and thunder, followed by Wotan, who seems to have represented the new culture influences. These three follow one another as supreme gods with the ascendency of different tribes ; they were all eminently war gods. 70 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Wotan seems to have remained unknown in southern Germany, as the name of Mittwoch (midweek) instead of Wotan's day (Wednesday) would indicate that they had no equivalent for the Mercury of the Romans, with whom Wotan was identified, just as Thor was identified with Jupiter or with Hercules, and Ziu with Mars. The week as a time unit was taken over from the Romans, and their names of the days were ger- manized. Of goddesses we find only one with a definite char- acter, Mother Earth, called now Nerthus or Hertha ( ?) , now Freya or Frigg; she is always the wife of the Supreme God. A great many other names have come down without conveying any meaning to us. The name of Easter, the preservation of which in Christian times rather contradicts the supposition of a pagan divinity, has led to the opinion that there was a goddess of the spring, Austro or Ostara. Colored eggs like our Easter eggs have been found in the grave of an Alemanic child of the third century. The cult of the gods comprised prayers and sacrifices of animals and of human beings, prisoners of war, criminals, and purchased slaves. The future was prophesied from the neighing of horses, and the blood or the entrails of the slaughtered victims. Divination was also practised by means of runes, which were scratched (writan!} on twigs, especially of the beech tree, whence the German word for letter, Buchstabe. These were thrown upon a white cloth, three were picked up, and words beginning with the letters marked thereon combined in alliterative verses gave the prophecy. There was no special caste of priests ; with many tribes priestesses and prophetesses stood in high esteem. vi LAW, POETRY, ART, RELIGION 71 German mythology, on the whole, seems to have been less developed than that of Homeric times, which are often cited as a similar stage of civilization. The fact, however, mentioned by Tacitus, that they had no images of their gods, which is confirmed by the de- velopment of their art, permits the conclusion that at a very early stage they had outgrown fetichism and animism. A modern writer attributes to the long survival of animistic religious conceptions the high development of Greek sculpture. It was very long, indeed, before German artists began to produce pre- sentable pictures of human beings, while their other artistic productions showed considerable skill. CHAPTER VII THE MIGRATIONS 113 B.C.-600 A.D. The Kimbric Invasion of Italy and Ariovistus' Fight with Ccesar First Active Interference of Germans in History ; Germans and Kelts; Germans and Romans BEFORE Christianity had replaced the religion sketched in the last chapter, there occurred the great migrations of the Germanic race, which are generally dated from the arrival of the Huns in Europe in 375. But the new impulse which this event gave to the movement of the Eastern Germanic nations is only arbitrarily chosen as an epoch. The migrations of the Germanic peoples were in progress when the race first appeared above the horizon of history, and in a cer- tain sense they have not ended to-day. However, migration here does not mean an expansion or an emigration of some parts of the nation ; in many cases whole nations left their countries, and, with their wives and children, their aged and infirm, their cattle and movable possessions, including in some cases their huts, looked for another place large and fertile enough to support them. The real cause in most cases was probably the increase of population, which became too 72 CHAP, vii THE MIGRATIONS 73 large to be fed within the old boundaries under their primitive forms of agriculture. This reason is given in Layamon's " Brut " for the exodus of the Angles and Saxons, as well as hi Schiller's " Wilhehn Tell," for that of the Alemans, a significant coincidence. We have already heard of the aggressive expansion of the Germans at the expense of the Kelts, a contest lasting until the times of Caesar. After that we have a continuous overflowing of Germans into Roman ter- ritory, coming as a rule not as conquerors or raiders, but as immigrants. Peaceably they ask for land to settle on, and take up arms only when then* repeated demands are refused. By about the second century B.C. the first Germanic tribe has already reached the frontiers of the Mediterranean world. These are the Bastarni, the advance guard of the East-Germanic branch; they settle about that time in the district along the lower Danube to the Black Sea as the rulers of Slav and scattered Keltic tribes. They are followed by the Goths, side by side with whom we find them fighting during the second and third century A.D. Soon after this their name disappears from history. The next Germanic people to break from the myste- rious forests of the North were the Kimbers, who started from the North Sea with kith and kin to look for a new dwelling place. Perhaps they left their abodes on account of one of those terrible floods of which we hear again and again in historical times; one in the four- teenth century carried away 20,000 people. They were the first of their race to break through the Hercynian forest, which to the Romans seemed impenetrable, and to open a way to the south. They reached the Adriatic Sea, but failed to conquer the Volcse and the Boii, the 74 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. most powerful of the eastern Kelts, and in spite of a victory (their first) over a Roman army, they turned towards the west, ascending the valley of the Danube. On their way to Gaul, they first met the Helvetians, in whose country they delayed four years. When they continued their western march, they were joined by several Keltic tribes, among them the Teutons. After this the Kimbers and the Teutons always appear to- gether in old historic accounts, and, probably on account of the similar sound of the word deutsch, it has come about that the Germanic peoples are often called Teutons to the present day, an error which has led to all kinds of etymological fancies. The enlarged horde entered Gaul, and, marking their way by plunder and ravage, at last came to the Roman province, reaching Narbonne, through which ran the highway to Italy. Here they were met by the Roman consul Silanus, who had hurried his army by forced marches to the defence of the province. A delegation of the invaders asked him for land to settle on. The response of the Roman was a sudden attack, which had, however, an unfortu- nate ending for him. The Roman camp was taken by the enemy. But the Kimbers did not follow up their victory. Another embassy was sent, this time directly to the Roman senate. Again in vain ; the senate either had no vacant territory large enough, or was afraid to receive this warlike people within the boundaries of the Republic. Several other Roman armies were anni- hilated; Tacitus mentions five. Probably convinced that they would not be able to gain a permanent foot- ing in any southern territory against the will of the Romans, they asked again and again for land, but always with the same unsatisfactory result. Their greatest victory was gained in the battle of Arausio, vii THE MIGRATIONS 75 Orange, on the left bank of the Rhone, over the double army of a Roman consul and proconsul, where, accord- ing to the accounts of the conquered, 80,000 soldiers and 50,000 camp followers were slain ; only ten men reached the capital. Their reports spread among its inhabitants that terror of the Kimbers, the terror Cimbricus } which for centuries continued to make them nervous. Italy lay open to the barbarians, but, either from an innate respect for supposed greatness, which is a trait not unfamiliar among the Germans of later times (making them forget their self-assertion to the great advantage of their enemies), or from barbarian shortsightedness and ignorance of their superior strength, they lost another two years and a hah . Turning towards the west, they crossed the Pyrenees ; but in spite of all their victories in the open country, they tried in vain to capture the fortified cities of the Kelts, and neither in Gaul nor in Spain could they do more than devastate the country. Thus the Romans gamed tune to recover and to gather round their best general, Marius, one of the most efficient armies they ever put in the field. When at last the barbarians resolved to break into Italy, in two immense columns, Marius was able to beat them, principally on account of the extraordinary carelessness and tactical and strategical ignorance of his enemies. His first great victory was gained at Aix en Provence, where the Teutons and other Keltic allies were anni- hilated. The Kimbers, who had descended into the Po valley across the Brenner Pass, sent another embassy before the last battle, asking for land where they them- selves and their Keltic allies might take up a peaceful residence. Marius sneered at their request, telling them their brethren were provided for. As a proof, he had the chiefs of the Teutons brought in chains before their 76 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. allies. After the return of the ambassadors, Boiorix, King of the Kimbers, rode to the Roman camp to arrange a place and date for the battle, as if for a duel. Marius selected the thirtieth day of July, 101 B.C., as the day, and the plain of Vercella3, the so-called Raudian Fields, as the place of battle. This selection suited both generals, the Roman because he could display his cavalry, the German because he could unfold his entire army. Of course the numbers given by Roman writers, of 200,000 Germans against 52,000 Romans, are greatly exaggerated. The military details of this, as of other battles, we may leave to the description of the specialist. It is of interest, however, to notice that, besides the tactical superiority of the Romans, the vic- tory is attributed to a small invention of Marius, who had the javelins of his soldiers fashioned in such a manner as to make them stick tightly in the huge shields of the Germans and greatly encumber them. The defeat of the Germans was final; the mass of their warriors were killed, and 60,000 prisoners fell into the hands of the victors. Thus the first German invasion of Italy ended in the complete destruction of the people who, fourteen years before, had left their homes on the coast of the North Sea. During their wanderings they had, of course, adopted many a cus- tom of the more civilized Kelts. Nor must we forget that a large contingent of Keltic tribes had joined them ; even the name of the Kimbric king who commanded at Vercellse, Boiorix, sounds more Keltic than German. We find, however, many a trait which a later tune shows to be distinctly Germanic, and we must not suppose that there was any considerable difference between these semi-nude barbarians, who, with their wives and flaxen-haired children, and with their small, shaggy viz THE MIGRATIONS 77 cattle, dragged along in endless procession, and those who remained behind, north of the Hercynian forest. The armored cavalry, at least, resplendent in knightly breastplate, of which we read in Roman accounts of the last battle, had certainly not been theirs when they left their homes. The mass of the warriors, however, much more hardened to cold than heat, exposed their bodies, gigantic to Roman eyes, to the snow and ice of the Alpine winters, with no other protection than their immense wooden shields. Using these as sleds, they slid down the icy precipices ; with them the men, shoulder to shoulder, stemmed the rushing floods of the mountain torrents, until the women and children with the baggage trains and cattle had safely crossed below. Already we meet the bulwark of wagons, die Wagenburg, where those who were unfit to fight awaited the outcome of the battle, and whence the women with songs and shouting encouraged the men in combat, and in high disgust drove back with clubs and axes those who attempted to flee. After the battle was lost, the women, according to the Roman historian Florus, tried to protect their virtue by request- ing Marius to allow them to enter the service of the Vestal Virgins. When this was refused, they first strangled their children or threw them under the hoofs of the horses and the wheels of wagons, and then either slew each other or hanged themselves on trees or to carriage poles with cords twisted together out of their own hair. Most of the warriors preferred death to slavery, committing suicide by hanging, or by tying themselves to the horns of bulls and using then* final energies in exciting the mad beasts to drag them to death. For a long time their fierce, warlike appearance, their truculent glance, which no Roman could bear, and 78 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. their unrestrained violence were the objects of a some- what uncomfortable admiration on the part of the Romans, reviving continually in their minds the recol- lection of the terror Cimbricus. But still more were they astonished when these barbarians, in curious con- trast to their own habits, gave evidence on certain occa- sions of a remarkable lack of avarice. After the victory at Orange, they destroyed and threw into the Rhone the rich booty of the Roman camp, including even armor and weapons, which would have been exceedingly useful to them. Their prisoners were sacrificed by white-robed priestesses, their blood caught in huge caldrons, and from its appearance the future was fore- told. We know that it was Germanic custom, before important battles, to offer their enemy and his posses- sions to the war god. Such sacrifice is related of the battle in the Teutoburg Forest, where Varus was defeated by Arminius. A treasure dedicated to the gods has been found in a bog in Schleswig, battered to pieces, not by the turmoil of battle, as its condition shows, but intentionally. The dates of Roman coins found with the treasure prove the existence of the custom in the second century A.D. In reality, battle itself was a ritual act for the German ; he offered him- self and his enemy as a huge sacrifice to the war god Ziu. The furor Teutonicus of later times was a counter- part to the terror Cimbricus; again and again we read of the fierceness of Germanic fighting. The joy of battle is undoubtedly inborn in the Germanic character, and, although Germans are always ready for a peaceful settlement, as we see from their laws regarding the blood feud and from many instances in their history, they are never displeased, if their antagonist chooses war ; then they fight for their right with redoubled fury. But vii THE MIGRATIONS 79 in their joy of fighting, in their resolute bravery that knows no fear, they are often unable to see the advan- tage of watching for an opportune moment. The Keltic Boii, as we have seen, successfully with- stood the attack of the Kimbers ; but only twenty-five years later they succumbed to other Germans, and we find the country to which they left then- name, Bohemia, i.e., home of the Boii, in possession of the greatest German tribe, the Suevians, under the leadership of Ariovistus. The Boii found a new abode south of the Danube, whence they were expelled later on; their name is only partially concealed in Bavaria, i.e., Boiovaria. The Suevians were followed by other tribes pushing south, so that in the second century after Christ we find the eastern banks of the Elbe relinquished by the Germans. Less pretentious than they, the Slavs settled on the deserted farms, enjoying the fruits of the labors of their predecessors apparently without even the trouble of an armed contest. The people along the lower Elbe had found no rest since the East-Germanic nations had emigrated. But their migratory instinct took a new direction, turning towards the sea. The Germans appear along the shores of Gaul and Britain, now as pirates, now as settlers, precursors of the Vikings, until an epoch in this movement is reached by the founding of the German kingdoms in Great Britain. We see that the southern expedition of the Kimbers was only an episode in these efforts of expansion. It was at the time of Caesar that the Germans first succeeded in acquiring permanent settlements on the western banks of the Rhine. Ca3sar appears inclined to think, and strong evidence supports this view, that 80 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the Belgae, the tribes who occupied the northern third of Gaul, were strongly intermixed with Germans, those settled hi the angle formed by the Rhine and the ocean being called by that name. Shortly be- fore the great Roman reached Gaul, the last tribe of the Kelts, the Menapians, were driven across the lower Rhine, and the Germans occupied their territory. It seems the Menapians did not wait for a battle, but retired voluntarily across the river as their line of defence. The Germans simply made themselves at home upon their deserted farms. We are reminded of this half-peaceful conquest of Keltic lands by the isolated granges, not organized into villages, which \ve find in some parts of Germany, especially in West- phalia, the old country of the Menapians. Caesar himself was encountered in Gaul by Ariovis- tus, the first distinct German personality we meet in history. This great king of the Suevians had left Bohemia, proceeded down the valley of the river Main, and had crossed the Rhine in 72 B.C. He had entered Gaul at the invitation of the Sequani, a Keltic nation, whose memory is preserved in the name of the river Seine. But after helping the Sequani to defeat their enemies, he did not think of returning to Germany, but took for his people first one third, and later demanded another third, of the country of his allies. So powerful was his position that the Roman Senate took the first step in securing his good-will by sending him presents and offering him the friendship of the Roman people. But, when the Gauls asked the newly appointed Roman proconsul, Caesar, for assistance against him, this ambitious general and statesman gladly seized an opportunity which promised to further his plans. Al- though Ariovistus was perhaps Caesar's equal as far as vii THE MIGRATIONS 81 natural ingeniousness is concerned, and far superior to the Kimbers in his cool judgment and calculation, Roman strategy succeeded in annihilating his army. Nevertheless matters had been turning rather against Csesar, and the outcome might have been different, had not a young general of the Roman reserves entered into the battle without orders, and thereby saved the day. Ariovistus escaped with a few of his friends across the Rhine; his two wives and one daughter were killed, and another daughter was made prisoner by the Romans. Twice after this Csesar was compelled to drive German tribes back to the right bank of the Rhine; twice he himself crossed the Rhine, not for purposes of conquest, but in order to inspire his enemies with an idea of his strength, and, though without lasting success, to deter them from further invasions. The ethelings of the Usipii and Tencteri, who during a truce came to his camp, were made prisoners by treachery, and the Roman legions easily defeated then* leaderless people. He may have thus given his enemies then: first lesson in Roman faithlessness. Those tribes of the Suevi who had already finally settled in Alsace he left in their seats. The Ubii, who were continually attacked by Suevian tribes, he transferred to the left bank of the Rhine, where they lived as the faithful allies of the Romans and as a guard against their own countrymen in the region about Koln. Soon we find Germans as auxiliaries in the Roman army. Ten years after the defeat of Ariovistus, German soldiers decided the battle of Pharsalus in favor of Csesar, while compatriots of theirs were fight- ing on the side of Pompey. This fact was a source of great pride to mediseval German writers, who point 82 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. out that the Roman Empire was thus founded by German prowess, and therein find another claim for the title of the German kings to the crown of the Roman emperors. One year later, in Egypt, we find German outposts in the army of Labienus exchanging jokes and gibes with their countrymen on the other side. Thus we see in these beginnings, which have there- fore been treated with some detail, not only a number of traits of character which have accompanied the Ger- mans through period after period of their history, but also a picture of the entire space of five hundred years of war between Germans and Romans, of expansion by land and sea, of the semi-peaceful Germanization of the Roman army, of the transfer of whole peoples into Roman territory, of advances on the part of the Romans into Germany without lasting success, in spite of forti- fied places and frontier intrenchments. The edifice of the Roman Empire, for centuries sustained almost alone by those German soldiers and their generals, becomes more and more rotten, until at last Odowakar makes an end of it all, and takes the title of King of Italy, leaving the rest of the Empire to its fate. Before this the Visigoths under Alaric had for a time held Greece and Italy, Athens and Rome, in their power; they founded their own empire in southern Gaul, extending it in time into Spain. The Vandals had crossed over from Spain to northern Africa, where they founded their powerful empire, and only thirty years after Alaric made a raid on Rome. The expression "Van- dalism," coined by French clerics at the end of the eighteenth century, has unjustly caused them to be represented as the worst type of savages. A contem- poraneous author, the Roman-Gallic presbyter Sal- vianus, judges differently ; he writes about 450 A.D. : vii THE MIGRATIONS 83 " Whose wickedness is as great as ours (i.e., the Romans') ? There is none of that kind found among the Vandals, none among the Goths. One thing is certain, the Vandals have been very moderate. Who can help but admire the tribes of the Vandals, who, although enter- ing the richest cities, concerned themselves with the pleasures of the corrupt only in so far as they scorned their moral corruption, and adapted only their good qualities? Among the Goths there are no unchaste people but Romans, and among the Vandals not even Romans ; not that they alone are chaste, but, to relate something new, incredible, and almost unheard of, they have made even the Romans chaste." We see that those very Vandals were the ones to accept Mediter- ranean culture most quickly and most completely, and therefore were the first of the conquering Germanic nations to perish in the newly acquired luxury. Soon the same fate reached the Ostrogoths, the lords of Italy, who were the last protectors of ancient art and litera- ture, and who by wise agricultural improvements restored the exhausted and devastated soil of Italy to renewed fertility. Soon the Langobards succeeded them in the rule of Italy. These, however, no less than the Burgundians of the Rhone valley, and the Visigoths in Gaul and Spain, disappeared in the course of time in the irresistible process of assimilation with the much more numerous mixture of peoples that formed the Roman population. With them they form a new family of nations, whose languages are based on the vulgar Latin of the common people of the Roman provinces, but whose customs and character show plainly visible fea- tures of the Germanic race ; the pure and vigorous blood of the German gave new life to a population that was apparently doomed to perish by its own inner rotten- 84 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, vn ness. It is useless to complain, from a Germanic point of view, of the vanishing of these highly gifted peoples ; they have left their indestructible imprint on the culture of the Latin nations. They have given them those traits which form the connecting link between the Romance and the German population of Europe, and perhaps have more influence in creating the undeniable community of interest in our European-American civi- lization than is apparent on the surface. CHAPTER VIII CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY OF all the important results brought about by the great migrations and the contact with the Roman world, the acceptance of Christianity by the Germans takes easily the first rank. But it was not the Christianity of the earliest tunes which was presented to the con- verts ; it was not the Church of Christ and his imme- diate followers, the persecuted religion of love and of the lowly, which they embraced. The clergy, after Christianity had become the state religion under the house of Constantine, on the contrary, had developed into a powerful political organization. Outside of the Church there was no prospect of advancement ; whoever wanted to be somebody had to be a Christian. No wonder that these so-called conversions, brought about by selfish motives, did not cause any change of heart. The whole of the Christian religion of that time consisted in external form; the leaders of the Church used their position as an instrument of political power, and, just as they might use their influence with the emperor for some personal advantage, so the great mass of Christians believed they could win the good-will of the Almighty, especially by the patronage of the saints. This conception prevented all deeper penetration into religion, all attempts to master its eternal truths, all attempts to live according to its high ethical ideals. Political reasons, which had caused the acceptance of 85 86 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Christianity by the Roman emperors, were instrumental in bringing about the first conversion on any large scale among the Germans. Very early we find single converts, and in some parts of Germany even small communities, founded by Christian soldiers in the Ro- man army ; but the Visigoths, who under the Emperor Valens were allowed to settle in the lands south of the Danube, were the first to embrace the new creed in large numbers. Following the example of the Court at Byzantium, the Goths professed Arianism, and their example was followed by all the East-Germanic nations, a circumstance which later in Italy, Gaul, and Spain, where the Roman faith prevailed, proved a great ob- stacle in the bringing about of friendly relations with the conquered population. The orthodox faith of Rome, held by the old inhabitants of Gaul, was accepted by the Franks, whose king found it to his advantage to be baptized, not only because he had vowed to become converted in case the Lord gave him the victory over the Alemans, but for important reasons of state. He had long been prepared for the step by his Catholic wife, as it is the way of women to work energetically for the Church. Thus the way was laid for Roman Ca- tholicism to become the religious creed of later Germany; and the dependence upon Rome was greatly strength- ened when the Anglo-Saxon Winfred received from the Pope the mission of bringing the Cross to the heathen Germans on the right bank of the Rhine. Conditions were everywhere the same, in England, on the Danube, on the Rhine, and, much later, in Scandinavia; no compulsion was used, as in the cruel methods employed by Charles the Great to Christianize the Saxons ; the masses turned to the god who proved himself the stronger. If the god of the Christians would vin CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY 87 give them victory in battle, or if the gods of the heathen failed to punish the profanation of their sacred trees by the Christian priests, or, as is related in the Life of St. Vedastes, if the beer disappeared from the mugs of the heathen Franks before they could bring them to their lips, while their Christian companions were allowed to enjoy their potations, such incidents brought about more conversions than any preachings of the missionaries. There is one point I find generally overlooked in the consideration of these early conversions. When we think to-day of the gods of pagan worship, whether they are clad in the splendor of Greek mythology or the poor garb of savage fetichism, we think of them as the products of the imagination with no real existence. But in that age they were very real beings not only for the newly converted pagan, but also for the priests who converted him; throughout the Bible we do not find the existence of the pagan gods denied; they are simply characterized as false gods. They were looked upon as demons of an inferior kind, who were continually striving to regain power, and therefore had continually to be fought against; not as allegories of the bad tendencies in man, but as very powerful external forces, fighting for mastery. At first the German gods were not even degraded to the places of satanic spirits. In the churches we find the same priests worshipping Christ and sacrificing to Wotan and Thor. Slowly, under the influence of German priests, the Christian saints took the places of the heathen gods. The sign of the cross, baptism, and other Christian rites were readily accepted as so many new spells. On the whole, the Christianity of the period, with its saints, was only another form of polytheism, one great system of superstition, believed in by high and low, by 88 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. layman and priest. They all believed in the foretelling of the future by the flight of birds and by the position of the stars ; they all believed in the healing powers of the cross, the relics, and the holy water. Priests and bishops gained and held their influence over the people probably not so much as the representatives of a higher civilization or a more spiritual religion, but as the wielders of magical power. Not until much later did the spiritualizing influences of religion become evident, and to some parts of the people they have never reached at all ; in the words of a Protestant clergyman, who has published his experience as a village pastor: "The German peasant has never been converted at all to Christianity." Indeed, the crucified teacher of suffer- ing and humility made small sympathetic appeal to the Germans, to whom assertion of one's self is the essence of life to an extent which was probably far beyond the imagination of the Oriental founders of Christianity; a self-assertion in which is to be sought the psychological foundation of the separation of Ger- manic Christianity from Rome. In a sixth-century hymn in honor of St. Medardus, Chilperic, the Meroving, prays for " power and personal assertion," and deprecates the " false humility which takes the food from the one who eats and the sweetness from the brave." Even more characteristic is the way in which Christianity is Germanized in the "Heliand,"the oldest continental German epic preserved in its entirety. It was composed by a monk of Werden about 822, and is full of the true Germanic spirit, in strong contrast to the Gospels of Otfrid, written not many years later. Christ is conceived as the senior and the disciples as his trustio, his thanes. With delight the author dwells on passages like that where Peter, "the swift warrior," vm CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY 89 cuts off Malchus' ear ; "Then became enraged the swift sword-thane Peter ; his wrath welled up, he could not speak, so deeply it grieved him that they wanted to bind the Lord. Fiercely he went, the bold thane, to stand in front of his liege-lord. Not wavering was his heart, nor shy his bosom. At once he drew the sword from his side and smote the foremost of his foes with full force, so that Malchus was reddened with the sword's edge on the right side, his ear hewn off, his cheek gashed, blood leaped forth welling from the wound. And the people drew back, fearing the sword bite" (Kuno Francke's translation). We look in vain, on the other hand, for the verse that teaches us to offer the left cheek when the right has been smitten. If we look at the whole question with the judgment distance gives, we must confess that Christianity in its original form could never have been made acceptable to this young and vigorous nation. It was a religion of consolation, of salvation, welcomed as a relief by decadent antiquity, by a world which was spiritually at discord with itself, an age which had emptied the cup of life to the dregs and had nothing left to hope for. No such state of mind with the Germans ! Ascending, brimful of life, all faculties eager to manifest themselves in energetic action, confident of their strength, feeling that all the blessings of the earth were awaiting them, having just burst forth from the foggy, stormy forests and wilds of the North, they saw their future symbolized in the smiling, blue skies of Greece and Italy. Who could ever have made palatable to them, or even have made them understand, the doctrine of the renuncia- tion of life, of the sinfulness of the pleasures of the strong, of the hollowness of earthly splendor? Thus the shallow Christianity of the time was much 90 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, vin more acceptable to the Germans than the true teachings of Christ, to which they were led in time by a deepening of their own religious sentiment. But even now there seems sometimes to come out of the depth of the Ger- manic soul a cry as of men whose childhood has been curtailed by too severe restraint. In spite of the incompatibility of its fundamental teachings, Christianity possesses some traits sympa- thetic to the German character. The idea of the infi- nite must have appealed to their mystical inclinations ; their sense of personal worth must have been satisfied to learn that the Lord of the Universe took an interest in each individual that the hairs on his head were numbered. Christ and the Christian saints, further- more, permitted much more intimately personal rela- tionship than the indefinite nature divinities of the German's imperfectly developed paganism. "They were people of flesh and blood, and their teaching ap- peared in that typical garb of legendary tradition, just adapted to his state of development." The entirely new conception of sin, the discipline of the Church, enforced by temporal punishment, - all this made for self-improvement. As time pro- gressed, the Church gained its strongest friends, of course, among the oppressed ; love for one's neighbor and charity were not only preached, but practised. Of special importance was the dignity the Church gave to labor, of which we will have to speak in a later chapter. These elements have slowly and almost insensibly, but ubiquitously and incessantly, done their work among the masses, and have brought about the inner and moral change of the people, of which, in spite of examples to the contrary, striking because exceptional, the present time has a right to feel proud. CHAPTER IX THE MIGRATIONS II The New Grouping of the States. The German of this Period. Roman Civilization and the Germans THE important change from the innumerable small tribes or peoples, described by Caesar and Tacitus, to larger tribal unities, due probably to the necessity of combining against a superior foe, took several cen- turies, and is not traceable in all its details. In the sixth century, besides the German empires in Italy, Spain, Great Britain, and Gaul, we find on German soil : the Franks, who had conquered Gaul, but still kept their original homes on the banks of the Rhine; the Alemans, who were the successors and descendants of the Suevs; the Bavarians on the Danube; the Thurings, the Saxons, and the Frisians. We find most of them under kings or dukes, but the laws, first written down by the Franks primarily for the information of the central government, indicate that in general the democratic institutions of earlier times were not greatly changed. The tribal duchies, though they threatened to disappear under the centralizing influence of the stronger Frankish kings, gained new importance, and have remained of decisive influence on the political divisions of Germany down to the present day. Their 91 92 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. influence appears too in the tribal differences, especially in those of dialects, so distinctly characteristic of modern Germany. Saxons, Angles, and Jutes from the neck of the Danish peninsula and the lower Elbe had founded new kingdoms in England, where, until the Norman conquest, they developed Germanic institutions in general on the same lines, only somewhat more slowly than then* relatives on the Continent. The tribes on German soil were soon to take the leading part in European politics, a position which they maintained for nearly a thousand years. Reviewing their progress from their first appearance on the stage of history, it is rather astonishing to see how soon they adapted themselves to Roman condi- tions, how soon we find Germans in the highest and most responsible positions of the Roman state, and yet, hi spite of all this, how superficial and gradual was the influence of Roman civilization. As early as the second generation after the Germans had become neighbors of the Empire, we find their ethelings Roman citizens and knights. Apt disciples of the Romans, they used the strategy and the tricks learned from them for the destruction of their teachers on German soil. So early do we meet among them with the same faithlessness, deception, and treachery as among their Italic foes, that we must question ourselves as to whether the straightforwardness, openness, and truthfulness which their legal conceptions show as principal traits of Germanic character were valid only between fellow-tribesmen, and whether the famous German loyalty referred only to the voluntary oath of the thane to his liege-lord. In the Roman army, Germans were found by no means in the private ranks ix THE MIGRATIONS 93 only. More and more frequently they occupied high and important positions, and under Constantine and his followers Germans were finally at the head of the military and civil administrations. Against their own nature, so to speak, they learned the foreign art of siege warfare, which was intrusted by Emperor Julian to Dagalaif, the chief of his body-guard. The attack on fortified places had been the weakest point in Ger- man warfare, as they had no cities themselves, hating the life in them and comparing it to that of snakes and creeping worms in caves and crevices. Soon the Germanic generals became the actual rulers. Arbo- gast, the Frank, as early as 372 so domineered over the Emperor Valentinian that when threatened with dis- missal Arbogast turned upon the emperor with the words, " What you have not given me you cannot take from me." Valentinian paid with his life for this attempt at rebellion. Matters went on in the same way until Odowakar put an end to the comedy one hundred years later. What brilliant personages we meet on the German side ! from Ariovistus, Arminius, and Claudius Civilis down to ^Etius, the conqueror of Attila, Alaric the Visigoth, Genseric the Vandal, Theodoric the Great, the last three statesmen of a grand stamp, who unfortunately lacked successors of equal grandeur to complete their work. The Franks were more fortunate in then* royal family, the Merovings. After then- kingdom was united, they had a succession of five brilliant, tenacious rulers, who were able to build up and secure then- realm so that the foundations laid by them are still visible. All this justifies the conclusion that the people we are dealing with brought with them eminent intellectual and moral qualities with which to begin their historical 94 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. career. Aside from the Germanic laws, however, which retained their character throughout all migrations and changes, there is no direct testimony to their mental development except their language. Yet we have not, as one might think, a literature in that language, for nothing has escaped the fanaticism of bigotry. Only the wealth of the language itself leads to the conclusion that those songs, to which the Romans bear witness, cannot have been of mean poetical worth. The nature of the German language itself affords infallible proof that the Germans possessed peculiar psychic qualities, one of which was pointed out in a former chapter, that sufficiently explains the ease with which they were able to find their place and their profit in an environment of foreign culture. It shows that they possessed, as a Frenchman puts it, the "power to follow things and ideas through all their details without doing violence to either " ; exactly the gift which must have been of the greatest help under the conditions. Indeed, the German language must be recognized as one of the greatest cultural forces which have contrib- uted to make the German. This language, of which Schiller says that it expresses everything, the deepest and the most transitory, the spirit and the soul, that it is full of meaning, has been described most beautifully in the simple words of Houston Stewart Chamberlain : "The German language is infinitely deep: it feeds us with good ideas, which flow to us without effort as a mother's milk feeds the child." As we are approaching the point where begins the formation of a German nation with an independent development, it has seemed appropriate to take another glance at these fundamental traits of character which are perhaps the most important, and with which a ix THE MIGRATIONS 95 patriotic and romantic posterity likes to endow its ancestors. To get a picture of the life of the migration period, let us look at the personality of one of the great warrior kings who destroyed the ancient world, the Visigoth king, Theodoric II, who fell on the Catalaunian fields against Attila, the Hun. The description is taken from a contemporary author: " Theodoric has a powerful figure of middle height, a broad chest, strong limbs, large hands and small feet, curly hair, bushy eyebrows, remarkably large eyes and eyelids, a beaked nose, thin lips ; he is lively, merry, passionate, exuberant of vigor and health of body and mind. Before daylight he goes to chapel, and then holds court till eight o'clock. At eight o'clock he leaves his throne in order either to count his treasure or to see his horses. While hunting he thinks it below his dignity to carry his bow himself or have it ready-drawn ; a boy follows him carrying it. If any game comes in sight, he asks a companion what animal he should hit, draws his bow, and never misses. At twelve o'clock he dines, plainly, but on Saturdays with great splendor ; he drinks little, and, instead of sleeping after dinner, he plays backgammon or throws dice. He loves play passionately, and com- mands those about him to be merry, ridding themselves of all backwardness before the king, for what he seems to fear is to be feared by his subjects. When he wins he is of extraordinarily fine humor, then is the time to ask a favor of him, and," says the good bishop who wrote this report, "many a time I lost my game and thus gained my point. At three o'clock the affairs of state are taken up again. The suitors not attended to in the morning are present, but likewise the servants to drive them away and keep order. This is continued 96 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, ix until supper-time or until important matters are brought up by the palace officials, who must stay about him until bed-time. At supper there are jokes and gibes ; biting, cruel, or offending jokes, as were customary at the feasts of the Roman emperors, are not allowed. As far as music is concerned, water organs, players on the flute, the lyre, the cymbal, and the harp are not admitted. He enjoys only the ancient music of his people, whose soothing tunes both soothe the soul and please the ear." BOOK THE SECOND THE CREATION OF THE FATHERLAND 600-1400 THE STATE OF THE FKANKS OF all the Germanic tribes who took a prominent part in the destruction of the Roman Empire and founded German realms upon its ruins, only one, the Franks, succeeded in creating on the continent of Europe a lasting organization. Then* success was due, in part, to their uninterrupted local connection with their native German soil, and in part to the almost complete separation of the Romance and the German element under their rule, but in large measure to the talented successors of the founders of the Empire. These Meroving kings do not usually receive overkind treatment at the hands of history ; we are encouraged to work ourselves up to a high pitch of moral indig- nation over a series of unheard-of atrocities, and of scandalous stories concerning the royal women. But the stories, after all, are not worse than those told of the imperial court of "highly civilized" Rome; in an age which followed the continuous bloodshed of over five hundred years, outrages were everywhere common enough to mitigate, not the horror of the deeds them- selves, but the moral guilt, at least, of the doers. St. Gregory, Bishop of Tours, who might pass as a rather good man to-day, tells such stories, more or less legen- dary, in great detail, without feeling at all called upon to show moral disapproval. On the contrary, when the Church is benefited he detects the friendly ruling of Divine Providence. To give only one instance : 99 100 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Gregory tells us that Chloderic, the son of Sigibert, king of the Rhenish Franks, was instigated by Chlodowech (Clovis) to kill his father and to usurp his throne. After the deed Chloderic receives an embassy from Chlodowech and exhibits to them his treasure, prepar- ing to show his gratitude for their master's good advice by sending him a present. While he is opening a box filled with gold coin, the ambassadors ask him to push in his arm to give them an idea of how deep the gold is, and as he bends over they cleave his skull with the francisca. And Chlodowech, who had planned the whole thing, hastens to Cologne and is raised on the shield, i.e., made king. Next he packs off another cousin of his, King Chararich, and his son into a monastery, where they are rendered unfit for the throne by the loss of then 1 long blond curls, the pride of kings. When Chararich's son lets his curls grow again, both father and son are beheaded. Again, King Rachnachar of Cambrai, and Richar, his brother, this same Chlodowech treacherously loads with chains, and before he beheads them, taunts Rachnachar for dishonoring the Meroving family by allowing himself to be enchained, and Richar for not having sufficiently assisted his brother. A great many more of his cousins, kings of the smaller Frankish states, are killed by him directly or through others. Sometimes it happens that his accomplices complain that the gold ornaments they have received as a reward for their treacheries are of gilded lead ; Chlodowech sneeringly asks them how they could expect honest treatment after having themselves broken faith with their masters. Finally, to an assembly of his people, he complains of his lonely condition, and, it is said, the distant relative who did actually come forward, either out of pity or hope of x THE STATE OF THE FRANKS 101 advancement, was killed like the rest. The pious bishop, after relating all this treachery, parricide, and cruelty on the part of Chlodowech, ends by saying : "But God threw down his enemies before him, day after day, and increased his empire, because he walked before him with a righteous heart and did what was pleasing in his eyes." This was by no means hypoc- risy on the part of Gregory, but the natural point of view of those savage times. It is easy for us to under- stand, however, that the Franks of all Germans had the worst reputation for trickery and falsehood. But a touch of relief is not wholly lacking. It is told of Queen Brunhild, whose cruel feud with Fredegund is dwelt upon with sensational explicitness by disgusted moralists, that she spent not a little money to buy and free captive enemies. Chilperich, a king who was not afraid of blood, wrote Latin hymns, from one of which we have already had occasion to quote in this book; he wrote theological treatises, independent enough to be pronounced heretical ; and he added four letters to the Roman alphabet for the rendition of certain sounds in the Frankish language. The tomb of Childerich, the father of Chlodowech, which was discovered in Tournai on the Scheldt, indicates a rather advanced state of civilization. The golden bees, which adorned his royal cloak, were adopted by Napoleon the First, and became a Bonapartist emblem. All the Meroving kings were able to write, an accomplishment of which the earlier mediaeval emperors could not boast. The Merovings, like all German conquerors, allowed their subjects to be judged each according to the laws of his own tribe, the Roman inhabitants of Gaul by the Roman law. The old German laws were some- what modified by the new conditions. Roman law 102 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. influenced the conception of the royal power. The functions of the moot, which in the expanded state could not possibly meet regularly, were transferred, generally speaking, to the king. But this new au- thority the king found difficult to control to the exclu- sion of the great landholders and officials. The new administrative unit was the Gau, English shire, which was divided into hundreds. The king's representative in the larger districts was the count, Graf, Old English gerefa, from which word, combined with shire, the word sheriff, is derived; the leader of the hundreds was the hunno. In the court they were assisted by the rachimburgi, corresponding to the modern German Schoeffen, as distinct from jurymen. The Schoeffen represented the ancient community, now too difficult to assemble. But in spite of some external developments, the principles of the ancient laws were not changed. The Merovings were the founders of the first national monarchy. Under their reign the foundations were firmly laid on which were based the legal and constitu- tional growths of the Middle Ages. But the nobility gradually deprived royalty of its powers, and the representatives of the aristocracy at the royal court, the maiores domus, ministers of the palace, became more and more influential. When after several changes this office had come into the undisturbed possession of the Karlings or Arnulfings, Pippin of Heristal suc- ceeded in uniting in his hands the office of maior domus at all the Meroving courts in the Frankish empire. After this the Merovings were kings only in name. Karl Martel, the son of Pippin, drove back the Moors, who had crossed the Pyrenees, defeating them in two battles, and thus probably saving the young Christian- x THE STATE OF THE FRANKS 103 German civilization from total destruction. His son Pippin found it to his advantage to listen to the prayers of the Roman bishop for help against the Langobards. With this began that fatal connection between the papacy and the Frankish, later the German, mon- archy, which during the whole period of the Middle Ages had a decisive influence on the development of Germany, and to-day continues to affect its inner policy. Pippin made use of the authority of the Roman bishop to send the last Meroving into a monas- tery and to have himself elected king of the Franks; he was raised on the shield according to ancient custom and shown to his people, but afterwards he was anointed by the bishop, the first king by the Grace of God of the German world. As brilliant as the beginnings of the Merovings was the start of the Karling dynasty. Greater than any of them, Charles the Great followed his three ances- tors. He found the Frankish empire externally united, but the power of the nobility had already become strong enough again to be felt. Karl's empire extended from the Pyrenees to the Rhine, and beyond the Rhine the Thuringians and the Bavarians were subject to him; on the left bank of the Rhine, extending to the other side, the Alamans, hi the North the Frisians, were members of his empire. The Burgundians were already Romanized. How Karl with a strong hand as- serted his authority in all parts of his realm, how he secured and strengthened the conditions he found, how in a most cruel war of thirty-two years he brought the Saxons, the last independent tribe, under his rule, how he subdued the Langobards and crowned himself with their iron crown, and how in his expedition to Spain in the song at least Count Roland fell in Roncevaux, all this is too well known to need repetition. CHAPTER XI THE ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION Awakening Sense of Nationality THE most far-reaching event of the reign of Karl was the revival, in name at least, of the Roman Empire, when the imperial crown was unexpectedly and pre- maturely placed on the German king's head by Pope Leo III. Karl had certainly conceived the plan of reestablishing the Western Empire, but it was no part of his plan to receive his dignity from the Pope's hands. The significance of this simple and perhaps unintentional action was not apparent at first ; its con- sequences were reaped by the popes only after a long period of patient waiting. The question might be asked why Karl, instead of reviving the phantom of the Roman Empire, did not proceed to found a new Germanic empire in name as he did in fact ; but it must be recalled that Daniel had prophesied four king- doms. This number had already been made up by the Roman Empire ; in the childlike faith of the times there was no room for a fifth. With the Roman crown, however, there descended as a heritage to the German kings the ideal of universal monarchy, which for its fulfilment demanded the possession of Italy. The first Merovings had already conceived similar plans, but, like Karl, had turned their eyes mainly towards Byzan- tium. After the act of Leo, however, Rome became 104 CHAP, xi ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION 105 the centre, though, no doubt, the restitution of the old Roman Empire to its full extent was the real aim of the most ambitious of German kings, and for some there is strong evidence that only death kept them from an attempt to conquer Constantinople. This imperial ideal created a unity of culture for the nations of western Europe during the Middle Ages. The community of the elements of civilization is an advantage we must not underestimate. The greatest benefit, however, accrued to the Roman Catholic Church, which grew under the protection of this im- perial monarchy until it was strong enough to with- draw from German tutelage, to assert its universal power independently, and to begin an avenging war of Romanism against the northern barbarians. But when in the first half of the eleventh century, shortly before the victory of the popes, the idea of a universal European monarchy had lost ground, the "Holy Roman Empire of the German nation," consisting of Germany, Burgundy, and Lombardy, continued, as is justly pointed out, to afford a guarantee of peace as a solid empire of central Europe. "Too loosely con- nected to indulge in a policy of conquest, far too powerful to invite unwarranted attacks, its existence, down to the time of its decay in the sixteenth century, proved a blessing for the development of Europe." But what about Germany? There is nothing more sterile than to speculate as to what might have been the consequence, if history had run in different channels. All we can do is to state that the German kings, in pursuit of the Italian policy, lost then* power at home, and during mediaeval times brought Germany very near to ruin and dissolution, dissolution indeed during the Interregnum in the thirteenth and again at the 106 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. beginning of the nineteenth century. Who will say that the absence of a strong central power has been detrimental to German culture ? Of the ancient civili- zation of Italy not a great deal was imbibed by the Germans during their Roman expeditions. Most Italians looked upon them as foreign oppressors, and few of the Germans returned to Germany; for cen- turies the flower of German manhood found an in- glorious end not so much on the field of battle as by epidemics or by the_dagger and poison of the assassin. Hence the imperial policy, spite of all its splendor, was not slow in losing its popularity in Germany. Germans learned at a very early period what it was to be only a cat's paw for the Pope. Thietmar of Merseburg, who lived in the first decades of the eleventh century, says of Italy: "The ah- and the inhabitants of that country somehow do not agree with our nature. Much trickery and deception are found in the land of Rome and in Lombardy. All who come there are received with little love ; everything that is needed by the stranger here must be dearly paid for, and this always at the risk of fraud. Many die of poison. The German warriors are always glad to see their native fields, which seem to smile so serenely upon them." When Otto III revealed his plan of imperial renovation, there was serious talk of giving him the choice between the dignities of Roman Emperor and of German king. At a later period the prospect that Pope Gregory IX might transfer the imperial crown from Frederick II to a monarch of different nationality was welcomed as a blessing for Germany. When this Italian policy of the kings had given the German vassals an opportunity to gain strength, they refused again and again to sacrifice their welfare to the external xi ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION 107 splendor of the imperial power, which in consequence had to succumb to the Italian policy of the popes. In Germany in the meantime there had developed a vigorous national spirit. The successes of the Ger- mans during the Migrations and their conquest of the Roman world could not but produce a proud sense of the superiority of the dominant race. This is expressed in their laws, where the weregild, the compensation, for killing a Roman was only one-half or one-third that for killing a German. In Alaric national pride had already gained sufficient strength to make it hateful to him to live among strangers as a Roman confederate or to render service to them instead of concentrating the strength of the nation on the founding of realms of their own. He at least had understood the kinship of all Germanic nations, although his own people had left their old seats in Germany long before, and had led a separate existence for centuries. For when he forced Rome to surrender he insisted on the liberation not only of all the Gothic, but of all the Germanic, slaves in the city, which act set forty thousand Ger- mans free. This difference between the Germans and Romans was continually emphasized by their inherited law and by their hostility to Roman influences, es- pecially on the part of the clergy. The deliberate pro- tection and furtherance given to Germanic institutions look very much like conscious opposition to the new civilization ; we hesitate to attribute this refusal to a lack of intelligence, a state of mind too weak to recog- nize the advantages of the higher culture. It is justly pointed out that in the material foundations of exist- ence, which would appear to offer the nearest field for Romanization, the national element easily asserts itself either openly or slightly disguised. The attempts at a 108 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. classical renaissance by Karl and Otto the Great were without lasting influence, and until late in the thirteenth century we find the proper names exclusively German, the best witness for the living ideals of a people. When the Karling dynasty came to an end, the German princes immediately looked about for a new head of the nation, and found him among the Saxons, which tribe had belonged to them politically for hardly more than a century. Even the Langobards, though having lost their Germanic language, still felt themselves one with their racial associates, although they did not yet have a common name. The Bishop Liutbrand, who in 968 was sent as an ambassador to the Byzantine emperor, the glorious Nikephorus Phokas, to ask him to give his daughter in marriage to the son of the German emperor, bears witness to this. Contemptu- ously the CaBsar said : " You are not Romans, but only Langobards!" To this the German proudly retorted that Romulus had founded his city from the scum of humanity and called them Romans. "This," he con- tinued, "is the noble pedigree of the so-called masters of the world; we, however, we Langobards, Saxons, Franks, Lothringians, Bavarians, and Burgundians, despise them so deeply that we know of no better way to insult an enemy than to call him a Roman. Coward- ice and meanness, avarice, sumptuousness, lying and deceit, in short, all vices are comprised in this one word." A few words may not be out of place as regards the name of the Germans. The word Germani was never used by the Germans themselves to denote their nation, and the use of its German equivalent, die Germanen, has been introduced by scholars in modern times to denote all the people of Germanic family xi ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION 109 which were comprised under that name by Roman authors. The word is probably of Keltic origin, and may mean the shouters or screamers, although there are serious doubts as to this interpretation. The fact that the English language has taken over the Latin word Germans in its narrow meaning makes it somewhat difficult to differentiate between the nation and the greater Germanic family. In spite of its erroneous application, designating a Keltic tribe, " Teutonic " might be conveniently used to distinguish between the nation and the family, if English authors would only agree upon its definite use. As it is, I have preferred to avoid it altogether, and where it was of importance took advantage of the two adjectives "German" and " Germanic," which make the proper distinction. The Germans' name for themselves, deutsch, is an appellation which the English limited to those Ger- mans who lived nearest to them, that is, the Hollanders, who have been separated from Germany since 1648. This word was originally an adjective, thiudisk, and referred to the language designating the language of the people (thiudd) as distinguished from the Latin of the clergy; so that thiudisk, deutsch, means originally popular or vernacular. In its Latinized form, theodisca, it is found first in 786, in a bishop's report to the Pope Hadrian regarding an Anglo-Saxon synod. Two years later the annals of the monastery of Lorsch speak of the theodisca lingua. During the ninth and tenth centuries we find the form teutisca, and, probably in- fluenced by the similarity of the sound in the name of the Keltic allies of the Kimbers, there first appears in the chancellery of Otto the Great, about 960, the adjective teutonicus, but still applied to the language only. A hundred years later it was applied not to 110 HISTORY OP GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xi the language, but to the country ; in 1079 we read for the first time the phrase teutonica patria, das deutsche Vaterland, and in the Kaiser chronik, about 1150, we hear of diutschi man and diutschi liuti, meaning Ger- man man and German people. CHAPTER XII THE FEUDAL SYSTEM IN GERMANY PARALLEL to the expansion of the East Frankish kingdom into the Roman Empire of the German Nation, of which we spoke in the last chapter, there took place the development of the feudal system. Montesquieu and others try to trace its origin directly to that peculiar institution of the comitatus, the gasindi, or voluntary retinue, which played such an important part in the social position and adventures of the German etheling. In support they quote Taci- tus : "The thanes ask of the liberality of their chiefs the warlike horse and the bloody and victorious spear ; for food and supplies, rich but not luxurious, take the place of wages." While the antrustiones of the Frankish kings may very well be compared to these early thanes and the relation of liege-lord and vassal to that of the alderman (senior, French, seigneur) and his trustio, direct derivation of one from the other, while possible, is not absolutely necessary, as the same conditions have produced "feudal systems" elsewhere. The word feudal is commonly derived from the medieval Latin feodum or feudum, which has nothing to do with feuds, however frequent they were in the times of feudal law, but consists of the old word fee (from fihu, cattle, which, as we know, took the place of money), and the suffix -od, which means property; feodum therefore means property in fee, ill 112 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. that is, in loan, or as a reward, while allodium means land which is all, i.e., absolute property with no con- dition attached to it. When our law calls such allodial property a property in fee simple, we have a relic of the feudal system, which claimed that all land theo- retically belonged to the king. This theory was realized hi practice much further in England under William the Conqueror and his successors than in Germany, although Charles the Great took the oath of fealty, after the Frankish fashion, of every freeman hi his empire. To follow up the thread of development from the earliest times, let us recall the primitive organization of the clan as the common holder of land. Everybody was obliged to fight the wars of his tribe, and to take part in the deliberations of the moot, especially when it acted as a court of justice. The migrations had brought about, especially where we have to do with purely German, or, as we might as well say, Germanic communities, hardly any other change than the gradual breaking up of the clan, as strangers were adopted into it and relatives emigrated, and its replacement by the mere local community of the Markgenossenschaft, the mark community. In this the families held their hides (mansi, Huferi) in common with the other villagers, and enjoyed the use of the allmende, the common pasture and woods, just as in olden tunes. Gradually private property increased, especially by the cultivation of forest and swamp lands ; hereditary rights, at first limited by the rights of relatives of a rather remote degree, were more and more confined to direct de- scendants, until the right of free disposal of property was more or less recognized. Soon we find large holdings of land in the hands of xii THE FEUDAL SYSTEM IN GERMANY 113 the great, who were not, however, the descendants of the old nobility, which, at least among the Franks, with whom we are most concerned, had perished in the continuous strifes of conquest. In the interior of Germany, to be sure, especially among the Saxons, the old nobility had attained great power, but, as the final results of then 1 development were the same as in the west, we can leave these and other varying details out of consideration. In the Roman parts of Gaul the most powerful of the conquerors took pos- session of the large estates. Also the Church held wide stretches of land in undisturbed possession. In the purely German part the inequality of landed property was especially increased by the rights attend- ing the clearing of land; the thrifty man, the man with a large family, and with numerous serfs, had an immense advantage under the old Germanic law, by which the work of cultivation gave the right of pos- session, a principle which is the foundation of our American Homestead Law. As in primitive times, the freeman was obliged to perform military service and to attend court, although the legislative power and part of the judicial function had fallen to the king. At first the large estates were compact enough to be managed by the proprietor in person from his manor house; the work was done by serfs, as of old, and many of the latter had their own parcel of land to till. On the Roman estates the new proprietors found a graduated system of unfree tenants. The smaller freeholder, seeing from the example of his more experienced neighbors the results of advanced agricultural industry, and stimulated by the exhorta- tions of the Christian priests, had learned the value of work; he tilled the soil, slowly developing into the 114 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. peasant of the well-known type, but for a long time not losing his warlike character; he fulfilled, too, his civil obligations in the assembly of the hundreds, per- haps of the shire or Gau, later in the smaller districts of the "tens." We have seen that the king exercised his rights and attended to the administration through his represen- tatives, the counts. He required, of course, a great many officials for these purposes, as well as for those of the central government and the royal court. The necessity of compensating these officials under an agrarian system is the true origin of feudalism, since compensation in kind was the only possible method in a period which did not know the use of money. It is true, the Germans had become acquainted with the money of the Romans, they even adopted it, and Chlodowech had already introduced the gold standard of coinage, but as there was no commerce worth men- tioning, the fundamental condition for the use of money was lacking. The conquerors did not really know what to do with it, except to put it in their treasure boxes. As for the rest, business intercourse was based on barter, and where money was used, it took the place of the original barter value. Even the strongest Frankish rulers had not succeeded, in spite of repeated efforts, in imposing taxes on the German section of their sub- jects. In consequence of the general lowering of the standard of social life, the old dictum that the con- querors accept the higher civilization of the conquered was reversed, and with the Romance population also the economical system based on money was replaced by one based on natural produce. The revenues of the king were derived from the " King's Land," i.e., all the lands that were not distributed and not settled, xii THE FEUDAL SYSTEM IN GERMANY 115 as well as from his share in new conquests, and from the so-called regalia, regal prerogatives, which, however, for the most part became remunerative only after they had slipped from the king's control. The king's regalia were principally the right of coinage and the right of levying tolls and customs, comprising a right of supervision of those in existence and the power to grant new privileges or to abolish old ones. Others were : sums received from Jews and foreigners for protection; the principal share of the tributes of con- quered peoples; the appointment to vacant prebends; the right of higher chase and fishing; sole authority to grant permission to erect fortifications; the mining rights. The king also received frequent financial sup- port from the princes, and especially the higher clergy, mostly in exchange for valuable privileges. Some of these prerogatives, however, were created later; and for a long time we hear of those voluntary donations which in primitive times under the name of bede formed the reward of the kings or dukes. The share of all fines and weregilds, which he had a right to claim as supreme judge, went mostly to his counts. At first the king was almost entirely confined to the income from his royal domains, which he received in the shape of agricultural products. The condition of the roads, as far as there were any, made transporta- tion very difficult, and by water it was extremely slow. Thus in order to enjoy the full benefit of his estates he was obliged to change continually from one centre of production to another. This explains the large number of royal palaces (Pfalzeri) in different parts of the empire. This kind of revenue enabled him to reward his im- mediate followers, the court officials, but it afforded 116 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. only a very inconvenient method of paying his ad- ministrative officers, especially his counts and other officers, in various parts of the empire. Therefore, in place of our modern salaries, he assigned them certain parts of his domain, the fruits of which were to be theirs. The counts naturally received such estates as were situated within their administrative districts, and either because they sometimes held several dis- tricts under their control, or for other reasons, their lands were frequently not contiguous. Karl Martel was obliged to provide for his nobles, who were unable to stand the strain of the continued warfare and the increased cost of equipment, with horse and armor. The crown lands not being suffi- cient, he had taken church property, a step which lost him the good-will of the clergy, including the chroni- clers. These donations, according to Germanic ideas, established a personal relation between the donor and the receiver, which imposed upon the latter the duty of faithfulness. The benefices which Karl Martel took from the Church had been of this character, and it became customary to give them only as a loan for mili- tary service ; but even where a certain rent was paid, these beneficia were always distinguished from the precaria, the old Roman form of land tenancy. But no matter what the original form was, none of these lands were given as free property, but as a loan returnable to the king when the conditions under which they had been given should come to an end or the term of the office with which they were committed should expire. From this comes the German word Lehnswesen (liter- ally loan system) for the feudal system. An oath of fealty was connected with the surrender of the fief and was accompanied by symbolical actions. The relation xii THE FEUDAL SYSTEM IN GERMANY 117 between the senior and his vassal was that of mutual obligation. The liege-lord was expected to protect and help his vassal, while the vassal was pledged to service, obedience, and faithfulness. This conception of vassal- age also underlay the service of the lord and of woman in chivalry. Of course, the tendency of the holders of the fiefs was to keep a tenacious grip on them, to make them, if possible, hereditary, and not seldom did they succeed. Since the office was connected with the estate, it natu- rally became hereditary likewise. As soon as the repre- sentation of the king became an hereditary office, the functions of sovereignty came to appear not as trans- ferred by royal authority, but as proceeding from a natural right. The vassals began to feel like sovereigns on a smaller scale, and organized their own adminis- trations and had their own followers just as the king had his. The name vassal, is probably of Keltic origin ; the Germans use the names Lehnsmann and Lehnsherr. "Vassal," which originally signified the personal attend- ants of the king, was later applied to all who held a fief, whether as ministerials or for military services. Another influence helped to make the position of the vassal still more independent. The Christian religion of the time was, as we know, not a religion of inner sanctification or of an elevation of character, but was superficial in its conception. For laymen and clergy the human soul was, so to speak, the object of a con- tinuous and violent combat between good and evil powers, without any ethical participation of the will. The important point was therefore to increase the inter- est of the good spirits in a personality in order that God, on their mediation, might put forth all his power to defeat the devil and thus win the soul for heaven. 118 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. But nobody was more apt to influence God in this sense than the saints, who by their merits had accu- mulated such a wealth of divine grace that they had more than they needed for their own salvation, and thereby had earned the right to have their prayers granted. The saints, therefore, were approached not with prayers only, but also with personal sacrifices, with donations to the Church. When the king did this, in order to make his present a truly royal one, he resigned some of his prerogatives over the territories donated and exempted them from the jurisdiction of his officers. The proprietor, i.e., the Church, became the judiciary patron of the district, a privilege which was extended in time to all the property of the Church. No royal official was allowed to exercise his authority in her territory. This privilege, called immunity, did not remain confined to the Church ; the great vassals thought it but fair that it should be extended to them, and, to a greater or less extent, they soon obtained it. To anticipate the gradual waning of the sovereign power, due to the king's own action, I may add here that later, when no King's Land was left to give away, and the actual power of the king over his vassals had practically disappeared, the royal prerogatives, the regalia, were one by one given away simply to secure the good-will of the vassals for the election of the king or other political purposes, or to secure financial assistance, especially from the Church and the cities. The example of the king was followed by his vassals, who gave away parts of their vast possessions as fiefs to their trusted followers, while the latter apportioned them in their turn, until in time a whole system of subordinated vassals, in seven grades, had developed. The increase of large landholdings had made living xn THE FEUDAL SYSTEM IN GERMANY 119 conditions unfavorable for the freeman who owned only one or a few hides ; the frequency of wars and the greater cost of equipment, especially when the horse became indispensable in warfare, made the duty of military service an unbearable burden. Likewise the duty of court attendance called the peasant away from his work, with consequent loss to him in the manage- ment of his farm. If he failed in a contest with the law, the fines imposed were altogether too high in proportion to his means. The count, who as military leader of his district had the right to call the freemen to arms, did his best to make the life of the small freeholder as miserable as possible, by frequent requisitions for service in the army and in court, under penalty of heavy fines. The working of the estates from the lord's manor had, in time, become impossible, and the serfs had changed gradually into tenants, who in return for personal service at the manor and the payment of a small share of their products, cultivated their lands for their own benefit. They still remained unfree, however, and were the property of their master, " attached to the soil." Out of their number the lord took his personal attend- ants, his ministerials, who frequently attained high honors, and from whom in time a new nobility developed. Such unfree men, or leudes, if successful, had thus a more comfortable life, more influence, and a higher social rank than a small freeman. The extension of the lands and their scattered location had necessitated the estab- lishment of plural administrative centres, where the products representing the rental could be conveniently delivered, and where supervision could be made more effectual. A steward, German Meier, was appointed, and his farm (the Meierhof) was usually located in the centre of the district. Such law as the lord had estab- 120 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. lished under the " immunity" was administered by the steward, important cases being reserved for the lord of the manor, just as a very few cases had still been kept under the king's jurisdiction. The common manage- ment of the large holdings made possible a much more intensive application of improved agricultural methods, and the lord's villains had consequently a great advan- tage over the small freeman. As holder of a number of hides the lord, of course, had a right to the use of the commons, upon which he had already greatly en- croached by clearings, and soon the freeman's old rights were regarded rather as a charge on the overlord's estates than a fundamental title. There were thus many reasons why the small free- holder should envy the villain who lived in the im- munities, who had no burdens of military and court service, and who seemed more prosperous and more respected, with greater prospects of improving his condition; this was even more the case when his manorial lord was the Church, a bishop or abbot, who treated their tenants so well that the saying, " There is good living under the crozier" (Unterm Krummstdb ist gut leberi), gained the strength of a proverb. The result was that the freemen began to give up their liberty, surrendered their property to the manorial lord, and received it back as a fief or benefice. The Church especially received many vassals in this manner, as it offered in turn, besides the advantages just mentioned, the powerful patronage of the saints, a ticket of admis- sion to heaven, as it were. The act of giving up property and recommending one's self to the protection of the lord or of the Church was called commendation, a term taken from Roman law (German Hulde). This, of course, had its outward symbolic expression, xii THE FEUDAL SYSTEM IN GERMANY 121 the giver laying both hands in those of his future liege- lord. Then he received his property back as a benefice, symbolized by a tuft of grass or a handful of soil. Later in the times of chivalry, when the military character of the vassalage became more emphasized, the vassal received a flag or a shield and spear, or, if he belonged to the clergy, a ring and crozier. At first the freeborn did not lose their liberty, but, as the different kinds of serfs and other unfree tenants were assimilated, they received the former into their ranks, forming at last the new peasant class of the Grundholden, which we may trans- late with "y eomen " or " villains." This change in the character of the freeholders, who, we must remember, had been the preservers of legal tradition, was of great importance in the development of peasant rights, securing continuity between the old and the new peasantry. Although unfree, their relations to their lord, or more directly to his steward, yet became legally settled, and a great deal of the old popular law was preserved in these Hofrechte or manorial statutes, which were expressed in symbolical language, as of old. In tune, however, the legal practice of these courts came to be written down in collections of then- decisions, called Weistumer, perhaps best translated by rules from precedent, which, like similar collections of munici- pal decisions, contain many pure traditions of German justice. (A comparison to the origin of the English Com- mon Law is obvious.) Under these conditions was formed the new peasantry, the old institution of serf- dom remaining for centuries a legal fiction, which was to be revived again under more unfavorable economical conditions. It may be stated here that, however dependent the serfs (die Horigen) became in time, and how much 122 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. they were destined to suffer in years to come from tyrannical lords, the institution of slavery disappeared very early in mediaeval times. The need of a working proletariat for gross production had become very much less pressing than in the ancient world, for, in spite of all complaints regarding the retrogression of civilization following the invasion of the northern barbarians, the new order of things included an extensive increase of technical appliances, such as chainworks, watermills, etc., of which, although invented in Roman times, the economical importance had not been recognized. These had now come into general use, and liberated a great amount of human labor of that very kind which had been performed by the slaves of antiquity. In tune the feudal system embraced almost all the land, although in some parts of Germany the sturdy freemen maintained their liberty and their old consti- tution, especially in the border regions of the Alps and of Friesland, and on the isolated farms in Westphalia, Alsace, Suabia, the Mosel country, and the Wetterau. The rest of the country was in the hands of vassals. But the principle that every man must be the vassal of somebody did not become so absolute a rule in Germany as elsewhere. The fact that the great vassals held their offices by appointment was forgotten, and their connec- tion with the king became purely ethical ; they were bound to him by their oath of fealty. The pyramid of vassalage left finally as the immediate vassals of the king (as the vorderest empfaher, Fiirsten) only sixteen grandees besides the high ecclesiastical dignitaries. The old tribal dukes took a prominent place. While the king was forced to lead a roving life among his various estates and to make frequent visits to Italy, his vassals stayed in immediate contact with their dependencies; xii THE FEUDAL SYSTEM IN GERMANY 123 as the king's control waned, their power increased. For a time it looked even as if the country might be divided into a northern and a southern empire. On the other hand, the lower vassals obtained a comparatively high degree of independence. The head of the pyramid was the king ; the Emperor, indeed, claimed theoretically to be the highest liege- lord over the kings of Europe, although this claim was strongly disputed by the Pope. Practically the Em- peror's rights were acknowledged only where he ruled as king, although it appeared under some strong and ambitious emperors as if the ideal of the universal empire might still be realized. The conflicting claims of the spiritual and temporal rulers led to a long and embittered contest, which we shall have to consider later. The king under the feudal system really ruled only through his vassals. The only way for him to increase his power was to enfeoff the members of his own family, especially his heir, with fiefs which had become vacant by the extinction of a family, by forfeiture, or by a breach of fealty. Strong rulers used these oppor- tunities to break the overwhelming strength of the tribal duchies by dividing them. The kingdom never was theoretically hereditary in Germany, but most emperors succeeded in having their sons elected as successors having homage sworn to them during their lifetime. The vassals were the leaders of their mili- tary contingents when the army was called out for war, each contingent being composed of those of the lower vassals. The organization, though based on the tenure of land, was in reality military ; the feudal lord paid the expenses of equipment ; each of the seven grades of vassalage was called Heerschild. It was the fact that the freeman had to accept his equipment of 124 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xn armor and horse from the liege-lord or else withdraw from military service altogether, which lost him the privileges of freedom. In considering the main features of the German feudal system as I have tried to describe them, it must not be thought that they were in reality so simple or that historical investigations agree on all points. There were variations and complications, and it took centuries for all the typical features to develop, including as the final step the hereditary right of the vassal to his fief and the obligation of the liege-lord to enfeoff another vassal immediately after the fief had become vacant. Just as the territories of the feudal lords were not continuous, but were intermixed in a most confusing manner, so were the legal competencies of the different ruling powers ; and often the common man was at a loss, between the royal, the ecclesiastical, and the different feudal authorities, which master to obey. If we add to this the right of private war, das Fehderecht, which entitled anybody to settle by force of arms all real or supposed injuries inflicted outside of his own judicial circle, we can understand that at tunes conditions came very close to anarchy. But on the whole we must see in the feudal system the transitions from the commu- nistic economy of primitive times to the private property of to-day. Alongside of the feudal system, which in Germany never became identical with the legal or constitutional system of the state, and did not include all landed property, a new classification of the freemen had devel- oped, which divided them into three classes, as well as subdivisions of the unfree. There were transitions and crossings between the different classes, nor was the distinction from the feudal grades always very sharp. CHAPTER XIII THE MONASTEKIES Education and Literature in the Earlier Middle Ages IN those early restless times the protection of the Church and the peace of the monasteries, although not entirely removed from mundane troubles, offered a refuge to many. Monks had been the first missionaries to the German ; in the midst of the heathen popula- tion they had built their settlements. The first to arrive were Columba and his companions, who had come from Ireland to introduce their stricter rule of monastic life into the somewhat worldly monasteries of Prankish Gaul. Columba, indeed, gave only rather incidental attention to the conversion of the heathen, as he crossed the country of the Alamans on his way to Italy. His disciple Gallus remained behind and founded the monastery which, under the name of St. Gallen, was destined to become for a long tune the most famous seat of German learning. Much more effi- cient was the work of St. Boniface, the "apostle of the Germans," and the English missionaries who followed him. His remains are buried in the cathedral of Fulda, where he had founded his most important monastery on a site which at that time must have been regarded as an outpost of civilization. The tomb at Fulda is to-day perhaps the most sacred spot for Catholic Germany. The bishops meet there for important deliberations 125 126 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. and the spirit of the English monk who bound Germany to the Roman pontifex appears still powerful ; many a manly resolution to break this bond, which was felt as a heavy chain, has in the end proved futile. The monasteries rapidly increased and in a com- paratively short time numbered over a hundred. They received immense tracts of land from their founders. There was, however, sometimes a distinctly economical side to this liberality; as soon as it was seen that the monks were great cultivators, large tracts of wild lands were granted to them, often in exchange for smaller areas which they had cultivated with the plough. We have already spoken of other causes for the rapid increase of their landed property ; in this period of agrarian economy, too, the monks as the holders of an unusual amount of cash money were able to buy lands on their own account. As the cathedral schools never gained any lasting influence, in spite of a few apparent exceptions, the bishops were mostly educated in the monastery schools and were usually themselves monks. Thus everything combined to increase the power of monachism, to extend its influence in all directions, among the masses as well as in the highest places. The monks were the protectors of the poor ; hundreds of beggars were fed and clothed in the gateways of the monasteries, the inmates of which were the physicians and the nurses of the sick, and in many other respects showed, even in an age of worldliness and decay, that Christian charity was for them not a matter of words and sermons only. For this reason their preaching of the gospel of pity had a great effect and the public showed a readiness to help the poor and needy by dona- tions and active assistance, an assistance involving personal effort and work, even disagreeable work fre- xin THE MONASTERIES 127 quently, which perhaps has never been equalled. Whether this breeding of beggars in the name of God, this fostering of dependence on others, was an advan- tage to the healthy development of the nation may appear doubtful to the modern thinker but some- how it seems in keeping with that tune. It was a part of the taming of the German spirit, a part of the lesson in self-control, which was needed to make it fit for the higher culture still to come. It was this active side of Christian devotion and the honorable position of labor which was the principal and most important lesson taught by the monks. This, in connection with the vigorous health of the youthful Germanic race, pre- vented an undue asceticism, which under the guise of a needed monastic reform swept over Europe from time to tune, and among the Romance nations, especially in Italy, approached its Oriental model. Germany did in truth have some examples of this loathsome form of religious insanity, of women who were so pious that they allowed themselves literally to be devoured by vermin and who, if one of their little tormentors fell off, put it back on their bodies with their own hands in the belief that this would please God. But as a rule in Germany the ascetic tendencies worked themselves out in hard, menial labor and a desire for solitude. The male hermit usually withdrew into the forest, the old friend of the Germans, and there, in immediate contact with nature, sought and often found the mystic unity with God. When the ascendency of asceticism had changed the attitude of the Church towards labor as being a means to worldly, i.e., sinful, ends, fortunately the education of the people had endured long enough to become effective ; especially in the cities new centres of industrious activity had arisen. 128 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. It was a curious age, an age of contrasts, of powerful and unusual emotions perhaps the disturbed surface was only the reflex of the revolution within. For in this period, the centuries about the year 1000, took place the real conversion of the Germans to Chris- tianity. The new religion was now strong enough to be conceived in its true character, not as a disguised paganism, although how much of the latter has uncon- sciously survived does not need to be pointed out. In those times the Christian spirit showed itself in humility and exaggerated modesty. Tears were shed on every occasion and public self-abasement was common. No bishop was elected without first refusing to accept the dignity and actually fleeing to hide his unworthmess, until at last, under an almost hysterical stream of tears, he allowed himself to be invested with the emblems of his office. It would have been disgrace- ful had the Emperor not wept profusely at his corona- tion. It is claimed that from this period date most of those forms of present social intercourse which are characterized by a show of modesty, and this may be partly true. Not only in the resistance to the ascetic habits of their Romance brethren did the German monks show their national character, but also hi other matters. They would not submit to that centralization of the so-called Reform monasteries of France and Italy which made them such powerful instruments of the Church in the fight for the rule of the world, which was fought under the disguise of the Christian spirit against worldliness, of heaven against earth, of death against life. A healthy German of the present day shivers when he reads that life was so hateful to the pious people of that tune that they could not endure even the appearance xiii THE MONASTERIES 129 of health and used to bleed themselves in order to look sickly, which for them meant " spiritual !" There will be occasion to return to this subject in a later chapter. Reference has already been made to the monastery schools. They were in the main preparatory schools for the clergy or for the religious orders ; it was cus- tomary for pious parents to offer one or more of their children to God. These pueri oblati, who were surrendered to the cloister at a very tender age, were educated in the so-called seven liberal arts and had to learn to read and write Latin before they learned to do so in their mother tongue, if, indeed, for the period following the ninth century at least, they were al- lowed to learn the latter at all, which is very doubtful. A similar training was given to the sons of noble patrons of the monastery, who were not intended for a clerical career. The education of the common people was not within the scope of monastic ambition, nor were the efforts which were made by Charles the Great very serious or lasting. The education of the daughters of noble families seems to have been intrusted to numerous convents, the principal purpose of which was apparently to offer a home to women of the nobility who remained unmarried or wished to spend their widowhood in seclu- sion. We read a great deal about the scholarship of the monks and nuns, and are taught that we owe them an immense debt of gratitude for the preservation of classical literature. There undoubtedly were a great many monks of scholarly achievements, like Hrabanus Maurus of Mainz, and Fulda, who was honored with the title of prceceptor Germanice, teacher of Germany, or Walafrid Strabo of Reichenau, or a great number of monks of St. Gallen, and, to mention, at least one nun, 130 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Hrosvith of Gandersheim, who deserve a place of honor even from a modern point of view, but must it not be said in justice that they were exceptions? that the interest in really scholarly work was not lasting and that it was confined to a few monasteries only ? Where it was not superseded by sensual barbarism, it took a one-sided theological turn of little originality, often confined to senseless copying. A hostile attitude towards classical literature was the rule, which was the same spirit that caused Bishop Theophilus to destroy the invaluable library at Alexandria, a deed with which a pious fraud has burdened the Mohammedans. Under the influence of Otto the Great and his wife, the Greek princess Theophano, there was another renaissance of classicism of even less importance than that inaugurated by Charles the Great. Scon hos- tility to pagan writers, ignorance, and indifference again held sway. Whatever was preserved was done so against the will of the Church authorities, and what- ever was done by individual monks was done against the spirit of their order. Does a ward owe thanks to a guardian who on his coming of age turns over to him only a small remainder of his fortune? Should he praise him because he did not squander all ? But this is exactly the position of monasticism in relation to classical antiquity. Its most important part, the litera- ture of the Greeks, which in Constantinople and the Eastern Empire was accessible throughout the greater part of the Middle Ages, was entirely neglected, al- though attention had been called to it during the Crusades and the reigns of those emperors who were more closely connected with the Greek imperial family. The valuable manuscripts were destroyed by the monks, not, as we are taught to believe, by the barbarians of xiii THE MONASTERIES 131 the Great Migrations, who, on the contrary, showed the greatest respect for the relics of antiquity. The monks even scraped off the writing from the parch- ments in order to use the sheets for their insipid copy- ing. In that famous nursery of intellectual life, the monastery of St. Gallen, where, by the way, in the height of mediaeval times neither the abbot nor any of the monks were able to write, Poggio, the great Italian humanist, found a most valuable unique manu- script used as a padding for a wine barrel. That does not quite agree with the praises of the mediaeval monasteries as the homes and preservers of classical education. It is not their merit that the products of the Greek and Latin genius did not disappear entirely from the face of the earth, just as they succeeded in destroying the heroic songs of the Germans. More than ever, the German of to-day misses those testi- monies of the true character of his ancestors, the begin- nings of his national literature. As long as the priests were not certain of their new converts, they were com- pelled to use the language of the latter as a means of making the heathen understand their message. Thus at the beginning of Germanic literature we have the translation of the Bible by Ulfilas the Goth, although we must not forget that Ulfilas was not of Gothic descent, but came from a race which for centuries had enjoyed the highest intellectual culture. He found, however, a language almost ready for his use, a lan- guage which shows a wealth and beauty, a pliability which makes us imagine what a pleasure it must have been to listen to the songs recited by the shop in the halls of the great, when, in distinction to the gospel translation, subject-matter and language were the outcome of the same national spirit. 132 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xin When, five centuries after Ulfilas, the spirit of intol- erance had gained supremacy, the national language was contemptuously called the language of the mob. Whatever there was of secular poetry was ruthlessly destroyed, so that only scant fragments escaped. Literature became Latinized, but this language did not lend itself willingly to the German mind, and with a few exceptions, soon degenerated, as it is correctly said, into a mere stammering. The poetry consisted princi- pally of hymns in endless repetition of the same thought. Here and there other subjects were treated, usually with a moral point in view, as the plays of Hrosvith of Gandersheim. Like an oasis in a desert is the " Wal- thariliet " by Ekkehard, which, though written in Latin, is a German poem. Little as can be found to praise on the literary side of the monks' life, it would be unjust to forget their services to history. Their annals and chronicles are val- uable, not only as our principal source of knowledge for that period, but in many cases for then- literary merit. When the monks discovered that they could not succeed in stamping out the German language and the spirit it stood for, most of them were German at heart themselves, when in spite of their efforts the people preferred to listen to the vagrants' German songs than to their Latin hymns, they abandoned their degenerated Latin, almost unfit for a vehicle of thought, and returned to the vernacular; but they never suc- ceeded in outrivalling secular literature. Although the monasteries failed in this one respect, they well filled their place as a factor of advancing civilization, especially in those fields where the scholas- tic and ascetic spirit could not subdue the energy of the vigorous life of the Germans, such as agriculture and the beginnings of industry and art. CHAPTER XIV EMPEROR AND POPE IN the last chapter it was pointed out that the change in the German soul from paganism to true Christian piety took place in a period of great unrest ; the inner revolution was accompanied by outer convulsions and disturbances. One of the disturbing elements was the spirit of asceticism, which, while having naturally an immediate influence on the shaping of the general aspects of life, was one of the causes of two important movements, to wit, the Crusades and the great conflict between the Pope and the Emperor. I say one of the causes, for how much more complex must be the factors which govern the life of the national soul than those which decide individual actions ; how shallow a depth have we reached so far in the investigation of either ! At what a disadvantage are we in trying to express our observations in language, being obliged to enumerate individually and successively what in reality is simul- taneous and combined action, energized by mutual influences ! As we speak of the combat between priest and king there comes to our mind the tradition of its most dra- matic moment, that Christmas of 1076 when the king of the Germans, accompanied by his faithful wife and clad in the rough garb of the penitent, braved the frosts and storms of the Alpine winter, and after a month's travel, reached the castle gate of Canossa, which was to 133 134 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. be opened to him only after he had stood barefoot hi snow and ice for three days, while in his soul raged storms it must have taken a superhuman effort to con- trol. It was just 700 years before the battle of Trenton, that Christmas, a rather long time for American memories, but a very real thing for the Germans, who, as children, have listened with throbbing pulses to Heine's thrilling poem, who have found that the pledge of their greatest statesman, "To Canossa we shall not go," was nothing but an empty boast, and who see their fatherland day by day torn hi two by the same old fight. At about the same time that protection was given by the Frankish ministers of the palace, especially by Pippin, the first Karling king, to the Roman bishops in the possession of the land which by forgery had been claimed as the dominion of St. Peter, Boniface placed the newly converted Germans under the supreme rule of the bishops of Rome. The clergy of ancient Gaul, however, whose Christianity was a great deal older and more far-seeing than that of the kings with whom it was only skin deep, prevented the full consequences of Boniface's act from taking effect. It was probably the opposition of the western Frankish Church which caused Boniface to resign his Archiepiscopal See at Mainz and, in his old age, to return to his missionary work, which ended in his death as a martyr among the Frisians. The Frankish kings, while considering themselves the protectors of the Church, by no means concluded from this that they were to be the servants of the clergy; on the contrary, they acted as the highest lords of the Church, not alone in worldly matters, but also in ques- tions of doctrine. Charles the Great was recognized as the judge before whom the accused Pope Leo III xiv EMPEROR AND POPE 135 the same one who afterwards placed the imperial crown on his head had to plead and by whom he was acquitted. Otto I made the Romans swear never to elect a Pope without the consent of the king of the Ger- mans. Numerous are the evidences which prove that every strong Emperor claimed and held the highest power over the Church and was considered the lieg- lord of the secular possessions of the Pope ; even Greg- ory VII, with whom originated the modern Catholic conception of the papacy, asked Henry IV for confir- mation of his appointment, which was quite contrary to his later claims. If the king had such power over the Pope, it is clear that his rule over the national clergy was undisputed. Still, whenever the character of the king was less strong, and when he showed himself especially accessible to the spiritual influences of the Church, the clergy made immediate use of his weakness to increase their power. Thus, in reality we must consider three parties hi the struggle between the secular and ecclesiastical power; besides the Pope and the Emperor there were the bishops and the clergy. The submission of the Pope to the Emperor was due to the weak hold he had on the clergy and the protection he needed against political foes, not only foreign conquerors, like the Lombards, Saracens, and Normans, but also against the inhabitants of Rome. Furthermore, the more religion in its true sense took hold of the people, the less did the authority of the popes find recognition, since then- moral standing had sunk as low, lower, perhaps, than when the visit of the German monk Luther helped to bring about the Reformation. Again and again the serious religious conceptions of the Germans and the strong hand of their kings had saved the Church from the moral depravity of its rulers and 136 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. had placed on the Papal See men worthy of the office. While in reality the clergy allowed the Pope to inter- fere with them very little, they found it to their advan- tage in establishing their power over the laymen to claim that only the Pope had jurisdiction over them and that complaints must be brought before him. The Pope was far away, and the whole mode of procedure was such as to make a suit practically impossible ; in most cases sixty or even eighty witnesses were required, all of whom had to have wives and children. These claims were based on the so-called pseudo-Isidorian decretals, one of the boldest forgeries ever perpetrated and perhaps the most far-reaching in its consequences. The causes which increased the worldly possessions of the Church have repeatedly been pointed out in these pages; the clergy had become indispensable to the kings, as they had the monopoly of education and all higher government officials had to be selected from their number. Besides, they were naturally more dependent on the Emperor because their fiefs were not hereditary, and therefore they formed a much more reliable support than the secular vassals; they were taxable under certain conditions and always available for royal service ; all diplomacy was in then 1 hands. When in the fight which ensued they took the part of the Pope, it was because they thought that a success of his claims would make them independent of the king, while past experience led them to believe that the Pope's power could not make itself felt very strongly. When Emperor Henry V succeeded in getting the signature of Pope Paschalis II to a treaty intended to bring about the separation of ecclesiastical and secular interests, a solution which would have best served the xiv EMPEROR AND POPE 137 ideal purposes of each, the clergy, fearing to lose their rich worldly possessions, which they owed to the Emperor, in a special synod anathemized the treaty; and this tune the Pope found it to his advantage to place himself under the authority of the synod. It was the ability or inability of the popes to bring the German clergy to their side which decided their victory or defeat. The more the Germans learned to look upon the priests as something more than mere sorcerers, the more the awakening of the religious sense and of true piety taught them to distinguish between the spiritual and material world, the higher became the dignity and the greater grew the power of the clergy over the minds of the people. But this same religious awakening brought with it the demand that the life of the priests be worthy of their high office. It was but natural for the newly discovered spiritual life to become unduly emphasized, which led to an excessive contempt of everything worldly. Thus arose a continuous antithesis of the soul as the seat of purity and the body as the vessel of sin, which brought about the denial of life and health with asceticism as their avowed enemy. It has been shown that this mediaeval asceticism had its origin and found its greatest development in Romance monasteries, and that this monastic reform had a tendency to cen- tralization ; the monks tried with success to place them- selves outside of the jurisdiction of the bishops and directly under the authority of the Roman See, which, of course, as long as the popes were of the character described, meant perfect independence. The reform movement originated in the French monastery of Cluny in the tenth century, and although the Germans did not go to the same extremes as then- French brethren, yet this influence met with their own deeper conception 138 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. of religion. This reform movement found its strongest and most efficient protector in Emperor Henry III. He ended the shameful conditions at the papal court, and, by the appointment of Bishop Bruno of Toul as Pope, he gained, for monastic reform, possession of the highest power in the Church. Henry, who had upheld his imperial authority in spite of his genuine and deep piety, died when his son, Henry IV, was only six years old, and immediately the monastic party began its intrigues. Monastic rules were made binding on all priests; celibacy, the introduction of which had been previously attempted, but which hitherto had affected the bishops only, was now enforced upon all the clergy with the support of the lay world. The reasons, publicly given, were not very complimentary to the women. The true reason, however, why the Church forbade marriage to the priests was in order that no particle of the energy and interests of the servants of the Church should be diverted to outside matters. Three years after the death of Henry III the same year in which began the influence of Hildebrand, later Pope Gregory VII in Rome it was decided that the Pope should be elected by the clergy of the city of Rome, seven cardinal bishops and twenty cardinal priests. This made the government of the universal Church dependent on a local body, as it is practically to-day, notwithstanding a few modifications of the institution. With the accession of Gregory VII began the open fight between Romanism and the Germans, and not with the Germans alone, but with all secular powers. This endless antagonism has a character of its own which will claim our repeated attention, not only because this book deals with Germans, but also because xiv EMPEROR AND POPE 139 of the position gained by the German clergy under the feudal system, and because in the German character the assertion of individuality is in continuous conflict with Christian piety and humility. For this reason it has seemed advisable to treat the origin of the struggle with more detail than has been our rule with political matters. The point on which centred the attack of the Church against the secular powers was a weak one. It was simony, or the habit of selling ecclesiastical offices for money, which, in consequence of the holding of temporal powers and possessions by the clergy, had become a common practice, indulged in both by the king and his dukes, by the Pope and his bishops. The first period of conflict had for its object the investiture by the king of the clerical dignitaries with the symbols of ecclesias- tical power, ring and crozier. One must remember what an important part symbolism played in the life of the time in order to understand the significance of this contention. The victory which the popes gained hi getting from the emperors the concession that the bishops and abbots should receive their fiefs not under the symbol of ring and staff, but by the handing over of a sceptre, meant the acknowledgment of the rule of the Pope. What the popes really wanted is shown by the claim of Gregory : "The whole world is a fief of the Papal See, and all the princes are only vassals of the pope ;" he demanded feudal tribute from every house- hold, but succeeded in getting it only where very weak princes were in power. This claim has never been given up, and England has seen at least one of her kings submit to it. Its most famous expression, often quoted to-day, is contained in the bull Unam sanctam, addressed to all Christians by Boniface VIII, a Pope who before 140 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xiv witnesses declared the divine law to be a human inven- tion to keep the great mass of the people in fear by the horrors of eternal punishment : " There are two swords, the spiritual and the secular ; not only the former, but also the latter, is under the control of the pope. It is true the secular sword is held by the kings, but only at the nod and suffering of the popes. The secular power is subject to the spiritual, the latter instructs and judges the former, but the pope has no judge above him. We declare it as an article of faith that every human creature is subject to the pope and whoever believes differently cannot be saved." This claim, which forms a part of the Canon Law, the law of the Church to-day, must be kept in mind in reading of the bitter conflicts wherever Church and state are not separate and wherever the Church tries to gain political power. Wherever a nation takes up a fight against Rome, it is not a fight against religion, but a fight for political liberty. The entering of this claim into politics is of the greatest importance in understanding German history and German culture, for here politics are inter- mingled with the deepest interests of the heart. CHAPTER XV CHIVALRY. THE CRUSADES THE rapid increase of papal power induced the Pope to make use of the intense religious feeling of the times by calling all Christians to arms for the conquest of the Holy Sepulchre. Pilgrimages to the shrines of the saints and the holy places where they had shown their power by working miracles, especially those of healing the sick, had become a popular form of asceticism, of satisfying that self-accusing spirit of sinfulness in the sight of which the very instinct of life w r as a cause for penitence. As these pilgrims did not have the use of parlor cars and sumptuous state-rooms, their travels, even if not as was usual, on foot, entailed real hardships. The holy places that had witnessed the life and suffer- ings of the Saviour had been the goal of pilgrims from Europe for some time ; and the persecutions of the pilgrims, which had increased after the Turks became masters of Jerusalem, made such pilgrimages more meritorious. As the Turks encroached more and more on the territories of the Eastern Emperor in Constan- tinople, he asked help of the Pope, who gladly embraced this opportunity of showing himself lord of the Christian world. We shall see that the Crusades indicate the high- water mark of papal authority, and at the same time mark the beginning of its decline. The Church herself, by placing in the service of the holy cause the physical 141 142 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. virtues and the very instincts she had constantly warred against as vicious, strengthened the very spirit of worldliness over which she had just gained a fancied victory. In proper connection there will be occasion to point out the influence of the Crusades on European civilization and the German attitude towards them. The immediate effects of the march through Germany of the unorganized, undisciplined hordes, which formed the vanguard of the first Crusade, were disgusting to the inhabitants of that country. They brought in their wake disturbances of all kinds, and roused to activity the worst elements of the population. A savage perse- cution of the Jews was the first new fashion introduced by these instruments of higher civilization, as the Cru- sades are usually described. But on the whole they helped to success the reaction of the instincts of life against the world-despising powers of asceticism. They coincided with other factors working towards the same end, of which the transition from an agrarian to a financial system is the most important. Indeed, among the causes which were responsible for the Crusades, although not so prominent on the surface, commercial considerations play a very important part. This strengthening of the worldly spirit found its finest expression in the development of Chivalry. The origin of Chivalry dates back to the change in warfare necessitated by the invasions of an enemy who fought on horseback, who suddenly appeared, accom- plished his work of plunder and destruction, and disap- peared on his fleet horses before an army could be marched out to meet him. The Saracens in France at the time of Charles the Hammer had caused the trans- formation of the army, making the cavalry its principal, almost exclusive, body. The same cause led to the xv CHIVALRY. THE CRUSADES 143 same result in Germany a hundred years later, only here, instead of Saracens, the enemy were Mongolians, who for a long time periodically appeared on their small horses, devastating the country and extending their raids even to the left banks of the Rhine. Al- though in reality the strength of the German people was greater than that of the Mongols, still there was no chance to display it. This was recognized by Henry I, the first Saxon king of Germany, who felt keenly the disgrace of being tributary to these wild hordes. He set about creating a mounted army which should equal the enemy in swiftness. As in France, the foot-soldier lost his importance and the horse formed the backbone of the army. So important was this feature that only the freeman who was able to keep a horse and to furnish the corresponding equipment was considered to perform fully his military duty. The influence this had in in- creasing the power of the great landholders, and in the development of feudalism, has been seen in a former chapter. Knighthood originally meant nothing else but this service on horseback, and was developed, as mentioned before, without regard to the old distinction between free and unfree. Many a villain in the employ of his master rose to knighthood or even higher. The English word knight recalls these conditions, as its original meaning, preserved in the German Knecht, is serf or servant ; the German Hitter, as well as its French equivalent, being taken from the knight's military calling as a horseman, chevalier, cavalier. Only in a later period of the Middle Ages did it become a law that only the descendants of three generations of free- born nobles were admissible to knighthood. Thus this occupation became a social order, an estate. This indicates another change in social distinctions, as 144 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the place of the Grundholden and Grundherren, tenants and landlords, who had grown to be the foundation of society since the days of the Merovings, was taken by the clergy, the princes, the knights, the peasants, and alongside of these, the burghers. At the same time the idea of equality in birth within the different estates, Ebenbiirtigkeit, not altogether strange to primitive Germanic conditions, became an established principle .. of the greatest influence, and not without power to-day. We have seen that circumstances had caused the development of chivalry in France long before there was a cause for it in Germany; the influence of the old provincial Roman culture, the contact with the highly civilized Arabs, who, with a mental versatility far above their Romance and Germanic contemporaries, had rapidly developed a superior culture of their own, the serenity of the southern climate, all these factors com- bined to foster the growth of the new order in the south of France. Here were conceived and developed those finer external forms in which chivalry moved and which are comprised under the Middle High German word hovescheit. They found their highest aesthetic expres- sion in the poetry and the romances of knighthood (hofische Dichtung). The English word courtesy comes down from these tunes, like its French original courtoisie, which really means the custom of the court ; the German expression is only a literal transla- tion of the same word. Although foreign influences were at work to some extent before the Crusades, it was principally the per- sonal intercourse of the French and German knights during that time which gave finish to the institution hi Germany, which up to this time had in the main grown along its own lines. At first the awkwardness of the xv CHIVALRY. THE CRUSADES 145 German knights exposed them to not a little ridicule on the part of their brethren of the Cross, but it was not long before German knighthood held its own, and afterwards there is no end to the complaints of their overbearing ways, their superbia, towards other nations. The temptation to delay amid the splendor of the ro- mantic side of chivalry is great, but on the one hand it would take more time than is in keeping with its impor- tance for the general development of our subject, and on the other, it may be assumed that it is familiar to the reader through Walter Scott. The significance of Chivalry, however, is to be found in this : For the first time there appears an exclusive class culture which sharply distinguishes its participants from the other classes, a culture grown upon national soil, but become international under French influence ; for the first time we observe the interchange of cultural influences between the nations of western Europe, which so sharply distinguishes our civilization from that of the Mediterranean coast, which cannot be characterized as a mutual fecundation, but as a transmission some- times rather superficial of a dying civilization to its successor. The region where this exchange between France and Germany took place earliest and most rapidly was in the country along the Rhine and in Flanders, where the French and the German, not separated by any natural boundaries, lived side by side on the plain. Chivalry is further important in that for the first time we meet again an ideal of life outside of the Church ; for the first time we see a higher secular culture. Thus the Crusades prevented the realization of the aims of the Church in the long conflict between Emperor and Pope just at the moment when they appeared to have 146 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. been attained. Both the acquaintance with Greek Catholics, and the intercourse with Mohammedans, which was very active during the periods of truce, showed the Crusaders that manly virtue was by no means wanting outside the folds of the Roman Church, and that dogmatic differences in creeds were not at all so important as had been taught. The different culture of their opponents could not fail to impress the Chris- tians, and continued its influence after they had returned to their homes. Furthermore the unfortunate ending of the Crusades, the dissolute behavior of the rabble, who formed a considerable part of the army of the Cross, caused some doubts as to the infallibility of the Church ; -a contemporary German bishop, indeed, in his account of the second Crusade inquires whether the conquest of the Holy Sepulchre was really in accord with the will of God, and whether the Almighty, if he really cared, might not have accomplished it without the sacrifice of so many human lives. Especially in Germany the conflict between the Pope and Emperor, between the spiritual and secular power, although the former had gained the upper hand for the time, had caused many people to think independently, and thus the Church had lost considerably in prestige and devotion. Even among the clergy there was a strong national party. In spite of German religiosity and mysticism, of all the enthusiasm aroused by Bernhard of Clairvaux, the Crusades were not very popular in Germany, and a great German army, which followed the Cross for religious reasons, was brought together only in the second Crusade under immediate inspiration of the eloquent Bernhard. There was not nearly the same enthusiasm in the army of Barbarossa, and many vassals refused outright to take the Cross with their contingent. xv CHIVALRY. THE CRUSADES 147 This tendency towards worldly interests, which, after the consciousness of heathenism had died out, began to conceive life as something more than a mere transition to purgatory, hell, or heaven, was not at all confined to the knights, but had taken hold everywhere, espe- cially in the cities. Besides, there were certain matters in which the Church in many parts of Germany had never been allowed to interfere. As late as the fifteenth century a priest who had come uninvited to bless a marriage performed according to ancient German law was sent home with ridicule by the peasants, who told him that "matrimony existed before parsons." The temporal side of the ideal of knighthood found its highest embodiment in the conception of honor as the essence of all manly, that is, of course, especially warlike, virtues. And this idea was not conceived in an exter- nal sense only, but as a moral standard, as self-respect. "Now bethink you of your knightly honor and of your- self, who you are," Tristan is told in Gottfrid of Strass- burg's poem. Many are the passages in Wolfram von Eschenbach and Walter von der Vogelweide which show the loftiest conception of honor. In view of the pride of the warrior the Christian ideal of humility cannot have had a very lasting influence, though certainly in the first enthusiasm of the Crusades, under the sway of asceticism, the simple heart of many a knight opened itself to this mood, so dangerous to manly dignity and love of liberty. Likewise the knightly duty of the pro- tection of the weak, the widows, and the orphans was practised with less sentimentality, but also with less regard for future rewards, than had been the custom of the Church. Besides a higher secular culture and the beginnings of a morality founded on individual character, Chivalry, 148 ^HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. in making the service of women the centre of its social existence, for the first time introduces woman into social life. By making the married woman and the woman of a higher class the object of his wooing, the knight chose a goal which was very difficult to reach, and therefore, from the conqueror's point of view, not only worthier of ambition, but also of veneration. For this very reason woman, just admitted into society on an equal footing, was raised to the exalted position of an unapproach- able mistress, whose mere glance was a blessing, whose lips by a few kind words gave compensation for the long years of service of her pining knight. This artificial, conventional side of the " service of the ladies," as well as its captivating politeness, had been implanted in Chivalry by the French influence. The etiquette actually observed in the life in the castles lets us see how much fiction there was in this exaltation of woman. In Germany, however, this cult of woman, Frauen- dienst or Minnedienst, did not confine itself to the con- ventional adoration of the wife of another, but assumed a deeper character; we find knights who are not ashamed to praise their own wives in their Minnelieder, and Walter von der Vogelweide gives poetic expression to the pure love of a true German heart. But even before the total decay of Chivalry, the service of the ladies had already ceased, and the knight had directed his desires towards village beauties and those of other circles where his prayers would find more willing ears. It is often said that Chivalry was an artificial prod- uct without lasting effect. It is true that during and immediately after its decay the ideals it stood for seemed to have left very few traces. At first the people, especially in the cities, showed a conscious opposition to this artificial super-refinement, which xv CHIVALRY. THE CRUSADES 149 from the beginning had been mimicked by the peasants. A coarse rudeness, which frequently took the form of obscenity, spread even among the middle class, until at last the Grobianus, the fellow who made it a point to be rude, was introduced, and unfortunately survives. On the other hand, the wealthy classes of the cities longest upheld knightly customs in all their external splendor. On the whole, when we consider that the qualities which we comprise under the word chivalrousness, Ritterlichkeit, have entered into the composition of every respectable German to-day, that the conception of honor plays such an important part in German life, that the veneration of the gentler sex has freed itself from that artificial conventionality, and that the rela- tion of the man to the girl he woos has taken the nobler form of which Master Walter sings, the German has every reason to think gratefully of the age that produced these ideals. And where to-day the ancient castles, though only a few ruined walls, bring a mysterious greeting from those bygone times, there the people weave around them a veil of legends, in which a curious mixture of the romantic life of the knight and his fierce- ness survives in an ever-flowing current. Renouncing the service of the ladies, the knightly orders gave an ascetic tendency to chivalrous ideals. We shall see how at least one of them, the Order of the German Knights, usually called Teutonic Order, did not confine itself to fighting, but became a powerful civiliz- ing agent. These knightly orders left traces in modern life in the shape of crosses, stars, etc., which form a cheap means for European and other governments, monarchical and republican, to reward faithful sub- jects or party followers and to win the good- will of the ambitious. This successful exploitation of human 150 HISTORY OF_ GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. fondness for external honors owes its origin to Emperor Sigismund in the fifteenth century. Even before the introduction of gunpowder had made the protection afforded by armor ineffective, the arms of the knight had become so heavy that they had to be carried by armor-bearers until the beginning of the battle and then so encumbered the knight as speedily to exhaust him. The defeats suffered in several great battles, by the armies of the Habsburgs and of the Bur- gundians at the hands of Swiss peasants showed the helplessness of the knights against sturdy infantry, and put an end to the use of the knights as the back- bone of the army. Then* place was taken by hired mercenaries, who had already been introduced to some extent ; the Swiss were most in demand, and after the victories just mentioned they became instructors in the new art of warfare in all European countries. On the economic side the decay of chivalry was chiefly due to the gradual change from an agrarian to a finan- cial system, the consequence of the growth of commerce in the cities. Many knights had given up all their property during the Crusades to pay for then* equip- ment. This period of economic transition coincided with and was indeed one of the immediate causes of the decay of the empire, which reached its climax in the so-called Interregnum in the thirteenth century. In a period of general insecurity and weakened legal author- ity, the reasons for which have been given in former chapters, the right of private war, Fehderecht, became confirmed as a social institution. The settlement of legal disputes, however, had long ceased to be the only cause for petty warfare ; the mere love of quarrel or lust for plunder led the impoverished knight to wage war on his neighbor, neglecting the challenge prescribed by law xv CHIVALRY. THE CRUSADES 151 or sending it only with the first assault upon the enemy's castle. Soon challenges were sent to the cities, simply as a pretext to harass their caravans of merchandise. At last they came down to common highway robbery. Knights without fiefs rivalled in violence the small holders of castles. The great vassals, who in the meantime had obtained almost complete independence and, by their wise policy, had successfully overcome the economic crisis, could not look with equanimity on this disorder ; often they took the field against the robber knights as allies of the cities and tried to get possession of as many castles as possible, to be occupied by their own retinue. Grad- ually, however, many of the smaller vassals became officials, who held their fief, not as an hereditary usufruct, but for a time only, and as soon as possible this was replaced by a compensation in cash money, a salary. Thus the territorial lords had distributed their officials over their whole territory. The latter resided in their castles, which were centres of administration; they were also, of course, the military leaders of their districts and helped with greater ease to subject all independent elements to the central power. Thus the feudal state crumbled together with the imperial power ; the great vassal had become the ruler of his territory, der Landesherr ; to a great extent the smaller vassal had changed into an administrative official, and the knights had become a court nobility, as the last stage of the old German comitatus, the most faithful servants of their princes. Emperor Charles IV showed a clear understanding of this development by creating nobility by patent, the official end of Chivalry. We shall not part from Chivalry without giving at least one glance at the literature of this period, which 152 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. owes a great debt to knighthood, a period not only of high attainments in poetry, but of a great advance of the German language, and we may say that the period of Chivalry made the German language again respect- able in its own country. We know that there was a long period when all literature in Germany was in the hands of the clergy, who tried their best to replace the language of the people by a very poor variety of Latin. But the Germans had their own poetry in spite of this. It was in the hands of a class of vagrants or wandering musicians, called Spielleute, the successors, in part, of the Roman mimi and gladiatores, who had appeared among the Germans of earlier times as Kdmpen. When the highly respected court singer of migration times, the skop, had disappeared, the Spielmann fell heir to his subjects. Travel acquainted him with new subjects here and there, he saw with his own eyes the more advanced culture of the Romance nations and, perhaps, the ancient civilization of Constantinople. A great many of the vagrants were clerics who had left their profession, not always for honorable reasons, or students who never completed their studies. Among them were preserved, not only the old traditions in opposition to ecclesiastical tendencies, but here was also prepared that secular culture which found its highest development in the tune of Chivalry. These wandering singers first brought French manners to Germany, and many of them made Latin poems; they gradually found admission and welcome at the courts of the nobles and may be compared to the literary Bohemians of to-day. In time their poetry rose to a higher grade, and soon they became the teachers of the knights. This is the only way in which we can explain the origin of the great national epics, the Nibelungenlied xv CHIVALRY. THE CRUSADES 153 and Kudrun, in which the ancient heroic sagas suddenly reappear far from the place of their original formation, but still preserving all their characteristic features. Especially a truly national lyric poetry is developed, which, free from foreign influences, long leads an inde- pendent life. We find many single stanzas of a remark- able fullness and purity of feeling, like the well-known : Thou art mine I am thine Of this thou shouldst be certain. Locked art thou Within my heart, Lost is the key, Thou must ever therein be. Or the little dance song : Come, my comrade, come to me, Eagerly I wait for thee ! Eagerly I wait for thee, Come, my comrade, come to me. Mouth, so sweet, of rosy wealth, Come and give me back my health. Come and give me back my health, Mouth, so sweet, of rosy wealth. The great field to be covered in this survey makes it impossible to show more than beginnings and open up new vistas. Thus there can be pointed out only the first advance of secular poetry, which, combining with the chivalric, the Hofische, the sources of which have already been pointed out, at last ends with the two great poets Walter von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach. And these flowers are no foreign growth on German soil. "If we compare the wealth of the interests of the heart," says one of the greatest German historians, 154 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xv "which find expression during the great time of med- iaeval lyrics with the scantiness of Provengal and French poetry, which is almost exclusively erotic, we shall from the start avoid the mistake of assuming that the German lyrics of this tune, as far as their contents are concerned, are derived from a foreign model or are even throughout dependent. With the exception of the conventional ideal of love, which in the development of its social forms was partly influenced by France, the derivations are essentially confined to the form and to the conventional expression of the poems. And likewise here the foreign influence has really only a purifying effect on a native development, as, perhaps, classical art led to the simplification of many forms of German ornament in the era of the Karlings." Similar is the relation of Wolfram von Eschenbach to his foreign models. In him we find the first great individuality of the world's literature since the days of classical antiquity. With the decay of Chivalry, of the minnesongs, and the higher epic, the stream of poetry is again lost in the broad mass of the people from among whom it had risen. Hence, in tune, it comes to light again as the Volkslied, the people's song, an evidence that whatever is accom- plished on the heights of culture will gradually impart its life to all parts of the nation, and that the apparent infecundity and shallowness which often follow a time of rich culture development mean simply that the culture is permeating through all strata of the people to become part of the intellectual composition of the whole nation. As to the arts and music, which owe their highest development to other influences, it seems preferable to treat them in connection with a later period. CHAPTER XVI THE CONQUEST OF THE GERMAN SOIL BY GERMAN LABOR No matter what our opinion regarding the Middle Ages may be, whether we regret that the German emperors found their principal interests outside of Germany, whether we despise the mediaeval times as a period of absolute intellectual darkness, or regard them as the lost paradise of Romanticism, or whether we speculate as to what might have been accomplished, if things had been done differently, there was one task in the service of culture which they performed to its full extent and with exceptional thoroughness. This was the opening up of the native German soil for cultiva- tion, the clearing of the primeval forests, the draining of the marshes and swamps, and the reconquest of old Germanic lands for German settlement. When we first hear of the vast expanse of lands in the East as far as the Vistula, they are populated by Goths and related tribes ; these Germanic peoples are the oldest known masters and cultivators of this territory, and here are found their bones and their bronze swords in prehistoric tombs. In the first centuries of our era we find them leaving their settlements on the banks of the Vistula as do other Germanic tribes on all sides. Why? Who can tell? Some historians conclude from modern analogy that the higher cultivated Germans gave up their lands when the more barbaric, more easily satis- fied Slavs began to reside among them. It seems 155 156 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. rather bold to transfer to these remote times the condi- tion of the modern working-man of the cities, where the foreigner with a lower standard of living cuts down the wages. Whatever the true causes of the emigration may have been, there are no traces of violent expulsion. The Germanic tribes give up their country to the Slavs as far as the Elbe and the Saale, and having extended their migrations all over Europe, even to Africa, they perish. The Slavs occupied the vacated lands noiselessly. Neither foreign nor German legends have preserved any evidence of this process, which, therefore, cannot have been the advance of a warlike, conquering race. We do not hear of any fighting ; whatever Germans remained were probably absorbed by the Slavs. Of the latter, nothing is heard for a long time ; only in the sixth cen- tury we get reports of their advance. During the sixth and seventh centuries they took advantage of the continuous quarrels between the Saxons and the Thuringians and extended their raids across the Saale River. In their settlements they did not follow the example of the Germans, but employed a more primitive kind of agriculture. Their higher civilized German neighbors looked down upon them as the Romans had looked with contempt upon the Germans. As we read of the disgust of the Romans at the odor of the Germans, so the German Sturmi feels his nose offended by the Slavs whom he meets bathing in the river Fulda ; we are reminded of this when we read that the Japanese can hardly endure the odor of the white race. The Slav people, those who appear under the collective name of the Wends, as well as the Poles and Czechs of that time, did not care much for agriculture and turned to the different crafts ; the followers of one handicraft xvi CONQUEST OF GERMAN SOIL 157 occupied a village by the hundreds and swarmed out of it to peddle their products or to look for work as wan- dering craftsmen. It seems in some respects they were more skilful than the Germans. Their fields were small, close to their little villages, occupying the space that had already been cleared and cultivated. Thus they liked to benefit by the efforts of their prede- cessors, but they did not think of increasing the area of cultivated lands either by clearing off forests or by draining swamps. Probably they did not feel the need of it and their implements were not fit to cope with the heavy, root-filled soil of forests ; they had no plough and the art of draining marshes was unknown to them. They grew the common kinds of grain, and had brought along one new kind, hitherto unknown in Europe, rye, which slowly spread among the Germans, with whom it is so common to-day that corn means rye, just as in America it stands for maize. For a long time the Slavs were left in undisturbed possession of their new lands, the Germans being satis- fied to prevent their advance. The centuries of con- tinuous wars against the Romans and the fierce struggles during the great migrations had not allowed the normal increase of population. Both on the old German soil and in the former Roman possessions in the south and west there was plenty of free land. At first nobody took up more land than he could cultivate himself. Acquaintance with the more advanced methods of the Romans, however, and the instructive example given by the monasteries, as well as economic changes, had helped to introduce a more intensive mode of agriculture. We have seen how the old German free- man, who deemed all occupation save war beneath his dignity, had turned into an active farmer. When times 158 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. of relative peace had set in, the great work began of transforming the country, which with its swamps and unpenetrable forests had hitherto been so dismal that Tacitus could not understand how any people of their own free will could have chosen to live there. The settled districts were scattered like islands in the wilder- ness and were literally islands of artificial origin in the marshlands. Gradually, however, the small tribes of warriors changed and united into a nation of peasants, whose king, though the emperor of a universal mon- archy, was to them only the most powerful landholder. Even the Church considered the management of her landed property and the effectiveness of her agricultural methods of greater importance than the dogmatic and political quibbles of the neighboring French hierarchy. The clearing of the forests was the principal work. At first this was done only according to the needs of the community ; the younger sons of the family especially, about to set up then- own households, secured in this way as much land as they needed for themselves. Later the great landholders entered upon this work system- atically, appropriating large tracts of the king's land, often without leave, or claiming their share of the allmende of the shire. Apparently wild lands were looked upon as common property, and many a grant was encroached upon by the axe of the cultivator. The greatest work was performed by the monasteries, which, almost without exception, were established in uncultivated districts, so that by following up the time and place of their foundation we get the history of the conquest of the forest by human industry. It is as "industrious men" - homines laboriosi that the Ger- mans of this period are described by their contempo- raries. They are the descendants of the men who xvi CONQUEST OF GERMAN SOIL 159 only a few generations before were spending their days lounging on bearskins, aroused only by the prospects of a fight, a hunt, a feast, or a game of dice, whose only serious business had been to attend their tribes' assem- bly once a month. Wherever in Germany to-day there are places with names ending in -roda, -roth, -rath, -reut, -ruthi, -harr, -schlag, -schlatt, -schwend, -schwand, -brenn, -brand, -hagen, -stocken, -oetz, -hart, -pasch, there is evidence of this culture work performed about the year 1000, and not later than 1300. One may likewise be sure to find in the neighborhood of almost all these places some old monastery, perhaps in rums. This work of clearing, which was the real work of conquest in the colonization of lands occupied by the Slavs later on, was the greatest work of culture per- formed by the monks, not that they were the only workers, but they were the leaders and teachers. We willingly let them lose the glories of classical scholar- ship and forgive them the negligence with which they treated musty old manuscripts for the grand work they did in the fields. As important as their work of clearing was the system on which their farms were organized, the model for the agricultural development of all Germany. The mon- asteries, of course, differed in the size of their property, in the number of monks, which as a rule was as high as one hundred, sometimes two hundred, and in the mass of villains and serfs, the latter mostly Slav prisoners of war. The rule generally observed in German monas- teries during the earlier times was that of St. Benedict, which required seven hours of bodily labor daily from every monk. But soon this could be maintained only in smaller establishments. The greater ones required as extensive and systematic an organization as the 160 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. management of any farm of a manorial lord, with numerous dependent laborers. The monks, however, remained the skilful and expert supervisors of the whole ; as in any great administration, different depart- ments were allotted to those most fitted to be in charge. They were superior in many respects to the secular landlords and had the advantage of the traditions of antiquity, revived from time to time by the reading of ancient writers. A great many reforms were intro- duced by visiting brethren from abroad and by the travels, often in distant countries, of the resident monks themselves. A great monastery of the early Middle Ages was the centre of many different industrial activities. Besides the church, the living houses, and the farm buildings proper we find watermills, wine-cellars and presses, baking houses, shops for craftsmen, like smiths, tanners, saddlers, etc., and even buildings for the manufacture of glass. The production of salt was a regular industry. The monks worked mines, built bridges and large aque- ducts ; they were great architects, hi fact, the only archi- tects of earlier times. As a period of agrarian civilization it is a tune in which health, vigor, and freshness prevail. This first step upward still kept the Germans in close touch with nature. The connection of nature with human life in mutual penetration is characteristic of the peasant, though he is limited in his activity and social outlook. The cultivation of the land is the centre of his emotions and intellect, as it forms the background of his customs. Field and pasture, with preponderance of the former, are for some tune united in the same farm. But the herdsman is looked down upon by the ploughman. The former becomes in time unehrlich, outclassed, dishon- xvi CONQUEST OF GERMAN SOIL 161 orable. Before the ministerial nobility separate them- selves from the peasant we have rather a uniform type of life everywhere, a great simplicity in all respects. But in consequence of the development of the great estates and especially under the influence of the mon- asteries the methods of husbandry changed greatly. The greater intensity of agriculture and the improve- ments in cattle breeding brought about a general prosperity by which not only the landlords were benefited ; rent in kind, payment in produce, has a natural limit, so that the peasant also could not fail to derive advantage from the improved husbandry. The raising of grain had become the most important feature of farming. Oats are still the prevailing variety, being used for porridge, bread, malt, and feed for live stock. Rye is also used for baking bread, while wheat gains ground and is even preferred for the finer kind of pastry introduced from the West, and used on the manorial table. Barley begins gradually to take the place of oats in the brewing of beer. Millet, the old Indo-European grain, continues to be cultivated; on the manorial farm, beans, peas, and other vege- tables, especially cabbage, are carefully and success- fully raised ; hemp and some dyeing plants, especially woad, were common ; flax was frequent in the western parts of the country. The word garden begins to be used in connection with vegetables. We find cabbage gardens, turnip gardens, and hop gardens. Hops are used first by the monasteries in the beginning of the ninth century as a preservative for beer, and thereby make the latter an article of commerce. The culture of the grape-vine was much more extended than it is to-day. It was, so to speak, the herald of certain advances in civilization. It was introduced by 162 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the Romans ; whether by Emperor Probus, as is com- monly said, is not quite certain, but it did not cross the Rhine or even reach it before the sixth century. ' ' With the grape-vine," says Hehn, "there came the stonewall which enclosed the vineyard, the paved street (via strata) which passed it and connected the stone villas, the markets (mercatus), the monasteries, the cathedrals, and, later on, the cities." The monks gave special attention to the vineyards and tried to improve the taste of the wine by adding aromatic herbs. They spread its cultivation over the eastern part of Germany; in Karling times we find vineyards in Westphalia, later hi Hesse, Thuringia, and Saxony, spreading with the advancing colonization into Bradenburg, Holstein, Mecklenburg, even Prussia and Silesia. It has since disappeared from all these territories. Fruit raising was not popular except hi the Rhine valley. Grafting was a common practice. In the orchards, tree gardens, as the German word is, we find several varieties of apples. The orchards were often connected with vege- table gardens and soon became a regular place of recrea- tion, the ornamental garden, Ziergarten, where in summer almost the whole life of the family, including meal time, was spent. Here again the monasteries take the lead, bringing from the south the rose, the lily, and other flowers, also medicinal herbs. To the prod- ucts of the orchard they add the apricot and the pear ; they are the first to raise lettuce and other plants for salads; they introduce the eating of mushrooms and other fungi, and teach an unproved method of making butter. Cattle breeding lost continually in importance and was left to the larger landholders, who were also almost the only horse breeders. Horses were many and a great xvi CONQUEST OF GERMAN SOIL 163 number were needed for the knights and also for travel- ling, as the roads were almost impassable for wagons. Horses were also used for carrying burdens, but not very often for carting, which was done by oxen. The practice of eating horseflesh died out under the ban of the Church, and beef was eaten in its place. Besides this and mutton, pork held its old place as the staple food. Sheep raising was very frequent. The skins were worn as cloaks and the wool was used to considerable extent. A great variety of fowl were kept, among them a bird which we should meet with astonishment in a a farm-yard to-day, but which at that time shared honors with the peacock, namely the crane. Bees had become even more important than in primitive times, not only on account of the honey, which was used as before in place of sugar and in the brewing of mead, but for the wax, the demand for which had grown extraordinarily to supply the many candles used in the churches, while in the household, if at all, tallow candles were used. The manufacture of cheese was also very extensive. Lakes, rivers, and brooks still abounded in fish, which were caught with the hook and net ; the great number of fast-days made them a very important article of food, and hatcheries in ponds, especially connected with the monasteries, are mentioned at a very early period. As important as the clearing of the woods, with which we started on this short survey of mediaeval husbandry, was the draining of the swamps and the protection of the lands against floods from sea and river. Irish monks are said to have taken the lead in both, although the Romans had already dammed up their highway 164 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. along the banks of the Rhine. Mention has already been made of the settlements in the marshes on arti- ficial elevations, Warden, described in the first historical records and still to be seen in many places. In the low countries, in the delta of the Rhine and the Scheldt, the work of draining and of building the dikes was done most efficiently. It was a kind of work which, in its constant fight against the elements, must have helped greatly hi raising the intellectual standard of these regions, and must be taken into consideration along with the advantage of ancient Roman cultural influences and the neighborhood of the French in order to understand the leading part played by the inhabitants of this district hi the advance of German civilization. The area of swampy grounds in Germany, however, was so extensive that its conquest for cultivation took a long tune and is not yet completed. The defence against the inroads of the sea called for an equal persistency. Floods continued to destroy the works of man. In the tenth century the region of Dortrecht was still a swampy forest of brushwood and was called Holtland, woodland, the older form of the name Holland. Much as was accomplished during the period we are dealing with, i.e., before 1300, the work of draining the marshes and swamps, of regulating the watercourses, of protecting the shores of the ocean and the banks, is still going on, supported by the state and with unproved modern methods. To-day, however, as of old the community, die Deichgenossenschaft, of those who built the dikes, and whose property is pro- tected by them, look out for their preservation, which, of course, requires eternal vigilance, constant readiness for active exposure to danger, and stubborn courage. Bismarck, in his younger years, once held the position xvi CONQUEST OF GERMAN SOIL 165 of Deichhauptmann, Captain of the Dikes, an office to which the young nobleman attended with all the conscientiousness it required, a conscientiousness which distinguished him in all the responsibilities of his long life. One-half of the kingdom of Holland, as is well known, is only held by an unrelenting war with the ocean. The deep gulfs and bays of the northern coast, among them the Zuider Zee, the Dollart, and the Gulf of the Jahde, have been eaten out of the continent in historic times; many islands have disappeared, larger ones and parts of the old coastlands have been separated into smaller islets, which we see gradually vanishing in our own times. The separation of Great Britain from the continent took place not so many centuries before the beginning of our era and opened a road from the south for the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea, making the corner of it, adjacent to Germany, the meeting-place of southwestern and northwestern tidal waves. In the first centuries after Christ, the Zuider Zee was still an inland sea, called by the Germans the Middle Sea, and having only a small outlet. In the period from 515 to 1282 one hundred ravaging floods were counted ; and in 1395 the last trace of the broad neck of land which separated the ocean from the Zuider Zee was torn away, creating an open gulf. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries its waters made further inroads, taking away the land which separated four lakes from each other, and creating another gulf, called the Harlem Sea (Harlemer Meer). This was pumped out by the Dutch between 1840 and 1853, one of the greatest triumphs of nineteenth-century engineering enterprise. The great island of Borkum was torn into four islands in 1170 or 1362 ; two of them were buried in the North Sea in 1675 and 1743. In the Rhine delta the so-called 166 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Hollandsch Diep owes its origin to a spring flood of November 18, 1421, which engulfed seventy-two vil- lages. One of the worst and most dismally famous floods occurred on All Saints Day, 1570. It is said that on the morning of the day on which the heavy north- west storm started, the warden, Hans Petersen, had stuck his spade into the newly completed dike which connected the North Strand with the Frisian coast, exclaiming: "Trotz dir, du blanker Hans, mein ist das Land! " (I dare you, bright Hans, mine is this land!), using the nickname (blanker Hans) which the Frisians in genuine Germanic fashion had given to their daily foe, the ocean. Twenty-four hours later the dike had disappeared, and no less than 40,000 lives, it is said, were lost. I shall not go on enumerating the changing fortunes of this war, which was, with nearly the same fierceness, waged on the shores of the Baltic Sea. On the whole the victory was on the side of man, but these conditions must be kept in mind in judging the char- acter of the people who inhabit those regions, and in reading about Stavoren, or Vineta, or other sunken cities. A German in Norderney or Helgoland, probably looks on the sea of which this tale has been told with peculiar emotions, and it is not by chance that the romantic grandeur of the ocean was introduced into literature first by a German poet, in the Nordseelieder of Heinrich Heine. His relations to Hamburg are well known ; his native city of Diisseldorf is situated on the alluvial plain of the Rhine, where the child may have seen the dikes with his own eyes and have heard of the heroic deeds of Johanna Sebus, which, when the poet was only nine years old, filled all Germany with admi- ration and inspired Goethe to write his beautiful ballad. Likewise the last act of the second part of Goethe's xvi CONQUEST OF GERMAN SOIL 167 " Faust " gains new light with the thought of the work that has been going on in Germany for centuries. As changeable as the coasts of the sea were the beds of the rivers, in which the water seems to have dimin- ished, at least during the summer, probably in conse- quence of the draining of the swamps and lakes which formed natural regulating reservoirs. A greater num- ber of rivers were navigable, and others were so for a greater length of their course, during the Middle Ages than they are at present. To the element of erosion, which is common to all rivers, we must add in the case of the larger rivers this one peculiarity, to wit, that with the exception of the Danube they all run from south to north, so that the lower parts of their courses are still covered with ice when the upper parts begin to swell from the spring freshets caused by the melting of the snow and ice. For a long time the danger of floods was avoided by keeping away from the banks of the rivers and placing the settlements on the slopes, until in time the fertile soil at the bottom of the valley was occupied. We need not enter upon a new description of floods and the changes worked thereby. As one example may be mentioned the town of Alt-Breisach on the Rhine. Originally built on solid rock, it was situated on an island, but while still under Roman rule the left arm of the river was filled out, so that the town was situated on the left bank. During the tenth century we find it on an island once more, while in the beginning of the thirteenth century it had been for some time on the right bank, the branch on that side being filled with silt. Again during the same century it becomes an island, until in 1296 it becomes permanently connected with the right bank, and is efficiently protected by dams. These changes of the river courses have naturally 168 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. brought about many curious boundary problems where this unstable element has been chosen as the dividing line. While this work of conquering and securing the soil for cultivation was going on in all parts of Germany, the great mass of the population was intently bound up in its own business, the importance of which we can well understand from what has been said. Thus occu- pied with themselves, the different tribes had an oppor- tunity to develop their own peculiarities. When slowly the primitive houses were replaced by more spacious buildings, each tribe developed its own style of archi- tecture, which still enables us to distinguish among the five different types of peasant house the tribe to which the original settlers belonged. Gradually, however, the prevalent type of a region absorbed the others, so that now the north of East-Albingian Germany shows the Saxon, the south the Frankish, type. Best known outside of Germany is the Alpine type, represented by the Swiss cottage so often reproduced in pictures and toys. It is in the development of these types of farm- houses, which were transferred to the cities, and of castles, that the German artistic mind has created an entirely original architecture. Different tribal types can also be distinguished in the plans of the villages and the distribution of land. If we consider this work, accomplished by the German on his own soil, if we compare the Germany described by Tacitus with the country that supports sixty-five million inhabitants to-day, we feel the weight of Schiller's momentous words in " Tell " : "This soil has been created by ourselves, By the hard labor of our hands : we've changed The giant forest, that was erst the haunt xvi CONQUEST OF GERMAN SOIL 169 Of savage bears, into a home for man. We've killed the dragon's brood, that wont To rise, distent with venom, from the swamps ; Rent the thick misty canopy that hung Its dreary vapors on the dreary waste ; Blasted the solid rock ; o'er the abyss Thrown the firm bridge for the wayfaring man." (Th. Martin's transit CHAPTER XVII THE COLONIZATION OF THE EAST MUCH as this energetic work in extending the pro- ductive lands and the unproved methods of agriculture had increased the resources of the country, the time came when the boundaries became too narrow for the ever-increasing population, and the conquest of the East, i.e., of the old Germanic country east of the Elbe, began. This was not a conquest by warriors only, ruling over a subdued nation of working slaves, nor a conquest led by the head of the nation, but one accomplished more by the plough than by the sword. In many instances the Slav inhabitants were not destroyed, nor forcibly driven away, and even to-day in the immediate neigh- borhood of the capital of the German Empire, in the Spreewald near Berlin, there is a district in which the language of the Wends is still spoken, where for a thou- sand years the Slavs have lived among their German neighbors, peacefully and without friction, a phenome- non which invites thoughtful comparison with the con- ditions of Prussian Poland. These instances of humane treatment may be offset, of course, by others of cruel warfare. There was plenty of land waiting for the plough ; wood- lands were to be cleared and swamps to be drained. Mostly the task of colonization was intrusted to locatores, contractors, who undertook to procure a sufficient number of settlers, and in turn received a con- 170 CHAP, xvn THE COLONIZATION OF THE EAST 171 siderable portion of the land and the position of head of the new community under the rule of the prince or count. But often his services were dispensed with. A short notice from a contemporaneous chronicle will give a typical example of the procedure. This says of certain settlements of 1143 : "Adolf of Holstein began to rebuild the fortress of Seegeberg, and surrounded it with a wall ; but since the lands on which the Slavs had resided were devastated, he sent messengers to Flanders, Holland, Utrecht, Westfalia, and Frisia, and invited those who suffered from want of arable land to come with their families to settle in the fertile country which was rich in fish, meat, and woods. On this invita- tion an innumerable mass of the different tribes started and came to the Count Adolf to Wagria to settle in the country. The count rebuilt the fortress of Rone, and founded a city there and a mark. The Slavs who lived in the villages of the neighborhood moved away. Then the Saxons came and lived there." The monas- tic orders which took the principal part in this work of eastern colonization were the Cistercians and the Premonstratensians. Although the first advances in this movement were naturally made by those nearest to the frontiers, all the German tribes took part in the work of more or less peaceful colonization. Only in its beginnings was the expansion of the Germans in the frontier districts, the Marken, under special royal officers, the Markgrafen, as a defensive measure against the Slavs, and the inva- sions of the Mongolians. Thus the Markgrafen of the Eastmark, on the Danube, and of the Northmark, on the lower Elbe, were the pioneers in this work. But its principal part was accomplished later, after the emperors, especially Otto III, had begun to neglect the 172 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. German interests. Indeed, Otto under the influence of St. Adalbert, a Czech, strengthened the Slavs by a most un-German policy, so that not only the Poles, but also the Magyars, owe him their national existence. Later, when the extreme East was conquered by the Teutonic order, sent there by the Pope at the call of the Poles, on a crusade against the Prussian heathen, we hear again of bloody and stubborn warfare. But here, likewise, the actual, peaceful conquest for German civilization and Christianity soon took the place of bloodshed. Still the settlement by the warlike knights has not been with- out lasting influence on the great landholders, who more than anywhere else in Germany lorded it over their villains, and who, more than all other German aristo- crats, have preserved the character of the feudal lord in its modern unpleasant sense. In the northern part of Germany east of the Elbe the largest landed estates are still to be found, and their owners have a strong influence on the shaping of German, especially Prussian, policy, placing their agrarian and class interests in the foreground. Wherever swampy soil had to be cultivated or allu- vial lands had to be protected against floods, Flemings and Hollanders were induced by favorable offers to settle, and founded communities under their own laws. But not only did German nobles, bishops, and cities transplant Germans from the western districts, but as they progressed, far-seeing Slav and Hungarian rulers began to see that it would take German peasants to make their countries really valuable, and that German culture was needed to uplift their subjects. German colonists went into Poland and Bohemia at the invita- tion of the kings; Franks from the Mosel settled in Transylvania, where under the mistaken name of xvn THE COLONIZATION OF THE EAST 173 Saxons they now defend their nationality and their language and their German culture, to which they have clung with wonderful tenacity. By the end of the thirteenth century, this immense work had been accomplished ; from the Vistula to the Scheldt in the north, from the Rhone to the Drave, south of the Danube, from the Alps to the North and Baltic seas, the wilderness had been changed into fertile lands and rich pastures, occupied by the descendants of those Germans who at one time were confined to the small oblong between the Elbe and the Rhine, between the Main and the North Sea. Thousands and thousands crossed the boundaries in the course of the centuries, and perished righting with or against the Roman army ; millions, lost to the German race, helped to build up the Romance nations. Those who remained on their native soil learned the great lesson that not by war, but by peaceful, persistent industry, are the greatest conquests accomplished. Once in the history of our Western civilization has a similar work been successfully achieved; the cultivation of the great Mississippi valley by the common effort of all Germanic nations, in which the descendants of those mediaeval pioneers had no small share. In considering the achievements of the mediaeval Germans it seems fortunate that, under wise leadership or from natural instinct, they preferred the open field to the schoolroom, the plough to the pen. Whether they might have combined the two is hard to tell, but this much is certain, "that those thousand years of living on their own soil, of intimate contact with nature, of preserving and developing their ancient customs, hav- ing the centre of their existence in their families, whence it is diverted only too easily in city life, have saved to 174 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xvn the German people their youthful vigor, which has helped them through the unspeakable misery of their political conditions, let them overcome the horrors of the Thirty Years' War, and, in spite of a long history, assures them of their position as a nation of youthful strength among the world powers." Though in the finer externals of life, on the artistic-aesthetic side they may have been surpassed by nations who submitted more readily to Roman and Romance influences, this is not too high a price for the preservation of health and personality. It is even a question whether we may not agree with the modern writer who claims that modern science should reverence as its intellectual ancestors, instead of the so-called humanists, those unscholarly observers of nature, the collectors and describers of herbs, who by the practice of their eyes found out the natural relationships of plants long before the scholars began to construct their scientific systems. CHAPTER XVIII THE FOUNDING OF THE CITIES) CASTLES, BURGHERS, PEASANTS THE improvement and extension of husbandry and the work of colonization had a direct influence on the founding of the cities. Production soon exceeded the needs of the peasant and his landlord. This caused the demand for markets where the products could be ex- changed. On the other hand, the necessity for being continually prepared, at least during a long period, for the invasion of enemies called the castles into existence. Out of the markets and their assemblies of many people, seeking the protection of the king's and bishop's resi- dences, and of the castles, the cities resulted as a natural growth. We have had occasion to point out the aversion of the early German from life in cities. Even the conquered cities of the Romans were for a long tune left to decay. Perhaps nothing better shows how lightly they esteemed the customs and the civilization of the great empire they had destroyed. As late as the tenth century, at the end of the Karling period, not more than twenty-seven cities could be counted in Germany, and most of these were Roman foundations ; among them Koln was the most important for a long time. Legally no cities were known before the eleventh century. The colonization period gave a great impulse to the increase of the cities. As we know, the occupation of 175 176 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the deserted German settlements had gone on in a quiet, peaceful way. But after the fourth century Asia began to send out Mongolian tribes, such as the Avarians, the Huns, and the Magyars or Hungarians, who hi the end stirred the peaceable, quiet, slow-moving Slavs out of their indolence and forced the sword into then* hands. They became warriors of some account, at last, under the leadership of one Samo of Koln, a Frankish trader, who united a number of Slavic tribes and gamed a victory over the Avarians to whom they had hitherto been forced to pay a tribute. Out of gratitude he was made king. Once aroused from their quiet, the Slavs soon took the offensive against the German frontier districts. But when the Hungarians, the third large Mongolian tribe that had broken forth from the wilds of inner Asia, settled on the lower Danube, the border wars of the Germans and Slavs were interrupted by the regular Magyar invasions already mentioned. The Germans were so little able to cope with these rough riders and their unusual mode of fight- ing that they were compelled to pledge themselves to pay a tribute. This was paid to gain tune for the evolution of a new military art suitable to the new condi- tions. Besides the formation of a strong cavalry, with which we have become familiar in a former chapter, King Henry I, in pursuance of this policy, began the construction of strong castles everywhere in the frontier districts. In the immediate neighborhood were settled the men who had to provide for the needs of the garri- son and who were obliged to hurry inside of the walls of the castle at the first call for defence. It did not take long before other people found it to their advantage to reside under the protection of these fortified places (Burgen) ; and so the inhabitants of the cities were after xvin THE FOUNDING OF THE CITIES 177 them called Burger, burghers. The old ethelings already had their burg, Gothic baurgs, the only word Ulfilas could find to translate the word city or town in the Bible. The name Burger, while still used in distinc- tion from peasant and nobleman, has extended its meaning to comprise all citizens of the state, thus show- ing us where modern civil rights have their origin. With the rise of Chivalry and the increased power of the vassals, the erection of castles in the interior on spots that offered commanding positions, or on natural or artificial islands where surrounding water provided protection, became more and more frequent, hi spite of the fact that this meant an encroachment on the royal prerogative. At last the west of Germany had one castle for every German square mile. At first places of defence in the times of the Fehderecht, the right of pri- vate war, they became later the means of keeping the surrounding country hi subjection. Having once begun, the building of cities kept step with the expanding cultivation of the soil. The kings' and bishops' palaces, castles, monasteries, and old Roman cities did not remain the only places that in- vited the builders of cities. As the markets had from the beginning formed the nuclei of the cities, so com- mercial considerations decided more and more the choice of their location. They were built in the centre of rich and productive territory, on places favorable for traffic, on a large navigable river or on the shores of the ocean, with a safe harbor or places convenient for land- ing, near a ford or along the great highways, which, originally an extension of Roman beginnings, now trav- ersed the country, though not in a large number, from east to west and from south to north, connecting the river valleys; places where two or three highways 178 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. crossed each other were especially preferred, and mines and salt works also afforded an inducement for loca- tion. As the burghers took their part in the German- ization of the East, so we find that the period of cultivation and colonization by the peasant is also the period of the foundation of the cities ; both are finished about the same time, and there are not many cities in Germany which were founded later than the four- teenth century. Both the colonial movement and the foundation of the cities were of the greatest advantage for the social and economical condition of the peasant. Wherever there was oppression or poverty, the new eastern coun- try, or the cities with their broader right, offered a better chance, and in order to keep the ploughman on his land the landlord had to concede humane treatment. In earlier times personal service at the manor or court, or in the wars, gave the peasant a frequently coveted opportunity to rise sometimes to the highest ranks. During the thirteenth century most peasants held their lands in hereditary lease, as we should say, and this period, taken all together, afforded the German peasant the best times he has ever seen. But after all the peasant was not free, and soon economical conditions caused nobility and landholders to get as much money out of him as possible. At the same time the cities were closed against rural immigration and the monopoly of the municipal craft-guilds led to laws forbidding the practice of any craft or trade outside. Thus the Ger- man peasant began to sink into desolate serfdom at the same time when his brethren in England, in Switzer- land, and on the coasts of the North Sea secured or regained their freedom. It is often said that slavery was the original state of xvni THE FOUNDING OF THE CITIES 179 the common people. As far as the Germanic nations are concerned, this is a mistake. On the contrary, freedom had been the birthright of every German from the time he appears in history. A number of causes, economical and others, led to the loss of the rights which he has not all reconquered, even to-day. CHAPTER XIX MINING AND MONEY As a part of the exploitation of the soil, we may consider mining, which, we have seen, forms a part of German economy included in the ownership of land taken over from the Kelts of pre-Germanic tunes, and changed later into a royal prerogative. We are told that the Romans worked mines in the Black Forest and in the Vosges Mountains. The oldest mines were the salt mines. The rise of the old German mining industry may be dated from the tenth century, when silver was found for the first time in the Harz Mountains near the city of Goslar. Mining in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) began about 1175, near Frei- berg. The first mining fief was given in 1125. In 1150 we read of boring works near Goslar. The miners formed the first trade associations. They preserved many of their old traditions and only lately have begun to break loose from mediaeval bonds. The Germans became the providers of metal for all Europe, and thereby, in a later period, made their great bankers the leaders in the commercial world. Their technical knowledge was greatly perfected, and as they experienced special difficulties in the mines around Freiberg, this city, now the home of a famous mining academy, became the centre of the greatest progress. It was here where, at a much later date, Abraham G. Werner, the teacher of Alexander von Humboldt, established 180 CHAP, xix MINING AND MONEY 181 geology as an independent science, teaching the law of stratification. German miners were sought the world over to teach their art, which, after an interruption caused by the general decay of German life, to be treated of later, has reconquered its old leading place in scien- tific mining, so that there is hardly any country to-day in which its first beginnings cannot be traced back to Germany. The production of gold and silver naturally had a great influence on the development of finance, espe- cially as the discovery and production of the greater supply came at the same tune as the general commercial and industrial rise of the cities. The use of money had, in spite of all limitations, never entirely disappeared even at the height of the agrarian period, when barter was the means of exchange. A gold standard had been established by Chlodowech, who ordained that seventy- two shillings (solidi) should be coined out of one pound of gold. Later this number was increased to eighty- four. Pippin introduced the silver standard. At the time of Charles the Great, twenty shillings were coined out of one pound of silver. This is the English practice to-day, surviving from that time. The word "sterling " is also a relic of mediaeval commerce, being an abbre- viation of Easterling (Osterling}, referring to the home of the Hansa. Still more directly does the word "dollar" point to German mining, its stem-word 'Taler' being abbreviated from Joachimstaler, the name of the mine that furnished the silver from which it was first coined. This, however, belongs to a later period. When the cities had become the principal centres of national life, we find that the south of Ger- many maintained the gold standard, while in the north the silver standard ruled supreme. 182 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xix With the increase of prosperity and capitalism, the trade in silver bullion helped to take the money trade out of the hands of the Jews ; and later we find that the richest commercial houses, like the Fuggers, Hoch- stetters, and others, prefer banking to trade in mer- chandise. The general lack of money and the feoffing of the regal prerogatives showed its baneful influence on the coinage, as well as in other respects. Every city, every small territorial lord, had an individual coinage, and as tunes grew worse the money deteriorated more and more, especially when the coining began to be farmed out. In the seventeenth century came the so-called Kipper and Wipper, who made the deteriora- tion of money then 1 business ; cheap metals were taken, even lead, and good coins were melted to make bad ones out of them, or the good ones were exported to exchange them for bad money. Of course an niter- national standard was necessary for the trade ; and the "guilder" of Florence was generally adopted, whence the name "florin." The florins of Koln and Regensburg set the standard in Germany for a long time. CHAPTER XX SOME OF THE GREATER EMPERORS ALTHOUGH the interests of the emperors were prin- cipally centred in Italy and the splendors of the imperial crown, they still had their influence on Ger- many. Indeed, every one of them who ruled over the rising nation, from Henry I to Frederick II, affords the example of a good ruler, industriously and conscien- tiously performing the duties of his office as he saw them. While some of them saw their duty right at home, the trouble with the most ambitious and most powerful personalities among them was that they felt themselves more in the service of the idea of the uni- versal empire and took more interest hi securing their hold on Italy than was good for their German affairs. We must not forget, moreover, that the conception of the royal dignity was not the same as in modern times. It was considered as a personal property, and the priv- ileges of the office could be disposed of at the will of the monarch. All the emperors left then- impression, more or less, on the development of German history, but some personalities stand forth prominently above the rest, and survive more vividly in the memory of posterity than others. Thus one of the greatest, Henry VI, is not appreciated as much as he deserves, probably on account of his early death. The real founder of the national German state was Henry I, the first Saxon king of Germany, who suc- 183 184 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. ceeded in bringing the tribal duchies into a federal unity. Although Charles the Great was a more brill- iant figure, he does not belong to Germany alone, and, thorough German as he was, the German part of his realm was small as compared with the West-Frankish territory, yet his conception of the Roman crown lifted him, the " universal" sovereign, above all nationality. Still the glory of his name has for a long time furnished an ideal for his German successors, who worshipped at his shrine, and more than one had his tomb opened to gain inspiration from his relics. In many ways comparable to Karl was Otto I, who renewed the imperial dignity, but made it distinctly an adjunct to the German kingdom. Under him the power of the emperors was firmly established, and was reasserted with varying energy by his successors until Henry IV. This king, whose father had deposed and enthroned popes, as he saw fit, furnished the world at Canossa with the spectacle of the greatest humilia- tion to which any German ruler ever submitted. The scene at Canossa, of which mention has already been made, is one of those events of such lasting influence on the soul of the nation as to make them living forces in its development for centuries ; the word " Canossa" is one of deep significance for the living generation of Germans. Henry IV, no matter what his faults were, lives in the hearts of the people, and has gone down in German tradition as a man who suffered great wrongs. Of late he is recognized as one of the most powerful personalities that ever sat on the German throne. The favorites of the romanticists are the emperors from the House of Hohenstaufen, whose last descend- ant, at the age of fifteen years, met such a tragical death through papal treachery. The greatest splendor, xx SOME OF THE GREATER EMPERORS 185 however, surrounds Frederick I, Barbarossa, the Red- beard. Six times he crossed the Alps. His conflict with the Pope, on whose side we find France and the Italian cities, ended with Frederick's victory. His greatest vassal, Henry the Lion, the Guelph, who had failed- his liege-lord in the hour of need, was humiliated. Since the days of the great Karl, who in fact was his model, no emperor had possessed such glory in the West and East. As an external manifestation of his achieve- ments, Barbarossa found in the knighting of his sons Frederick and Henry, the occasion for the grandest and most distinguished festival seen by the Middle Ages, the acme of German chivalry. Invitations had gone out a year before; and at Whitsuntide, 1184, there assembled on the plain near Mainz, on both banks of the Rhine, over seventy thousand people of knightly birth alone. The crowning of his romantic career was his crusade, which, in spite of his seventy years, he undertook after the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin. After having sent terror to the heart of the Mohammedan world by the conquest of Ikonium, he met his death in the river Saleph. Under Frederick I the German cities took a great step in advance towards independence from the territorial lords ; he fostered knighthood and tried to find support in a national clergy. Although more of an Italian than a German, Frederick II must not be omitted, being one of the most interesting personalities hi history. As a prote'ge' of the Pope, he owed his crown to the French victory in the battle of Bouvines in 1214. Frederick towered high above his contemporaries; he was the first of the great person- alities, of the " overmen" of the Renaissance, and in his ways of thinking was rather modern than medieval. As a German king he gave away the last prerogatives 186 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. of royalty, and completed the emasculation of the central power. After his reign the German Empire was hardly more than a name, a tradition, as it were. Although emperors were still elected, there followed a whole generation who would not acknowledge their existence. After this period, which history calls the Interregnum, we see an entirely different type of men on the German throne ; for every one of them the royal power meant in the first place an opportunity to in- crease his family possessions. With the name of Frederick II, the last true German emperor, was first connected in the popular mind the Kaisersage, the legend, rooted in ancient Indo-Euro- pean lore, which tells of the hero who is sleeping in the depths of a mountain, whence he will come forth at the proper time to lead his people to salvation. Later it was transferred to the legendary accounts of Charles the Great, until finally it was Frederick, the Redbeard, of whom the people said that he was sleeping in the Kyffhauser Mountain in Thuringia ; his long red beard had grown through the marble table ; every hundred years he woke up and sent a page to see whether the ravens were still hovering above the moun- tain. Whenever the boy said yes, the emperor had to go to sleep for another hundred years. More and more there were embodied into this tale all the memories of past German glory, all the woes of the torn national heart, all the longing of the people, down trodden, yet conscious of strength, for national unity, for a brighter future. He who knows German history of the last century, who has heard the Kyffhauser echo with the calls of the expectant nation, who has seen or read how the gray-haired founder of the New Germany was greeted again and again as the old Barbarossa, who had xx SOME OF THE GREATER EMPERORS 187 at last burst forth from his tomb in the mountain, knows that this myth has been as much of an active historical force as any real facts, as the memory of Canossa, indeed, as the mediaeval fiction of the Roman Empire itself. BOOK THE THIRD RISE AND FALL OF THE GERMAN NATION 1400-1650 CHAPTER XXI THE RISE OF THE CITIES I Commerce. Craft. Arts WE have already had occasion to notice the aversion of the Germans to city life, which led them even to abandon the old Roman cities to ruin and settle out- side of them. But when almost all the land had been brought under cultivation, and room for expansion became scarce; when more rational methods of hus- bandry had increased the products of the soil, and grow- ing wealth, the needs of the community, a change from the old habits was inevitable. The exchange of over- production favored the development of numerous markets, which were placed, as has been shown in a former chapter, under the protection of the castles or the palaces of kings and bishops, or in places which had a geographical situation favorable to the assembling of people or offered other advantages to commerce. Although commerce was the cause, if not always of the foundation, at least of the growth, of the cities throughout mediaeval and even into modern times, nevertheless agriculture formed a most important element in their life, and for a long time the population of the cities raised their own provisions. Commerce was originally not popular with the Germans, although a few tribes are mentioned as send- 191 192 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. ing out traders. In Frankish times trade was carried on by Italians, espefially Lombards, by Slavs, or, as was said at that time, Wends, and principally by Jews. The latter had already appeared in Germany in the Roman period, and had outlasted all the changes of troublous times. The Jewish community of Koln^ for instance, can point to an uninterrupted history begin- ning with the year 321, while the Jews of Worms claim to have settled there as early as any in Germany. The Jews enjoyed the special protection of the emper- ors, which shows that they were considered as strangers, and in return had to pay a special tax, which formed one of the royal resources. In time, however, the settlers who did not have sufficient land to get satisfactory results turned to commerce as a more profitable occu- pation; the travelling salesmen began to make their permanent homes at the market-places, until gradually residents took the place of transients, at least for the regular daily business. A lively inland commerce began to grow up along the ancient highways; and together with the German col- onization of the East, or rather in advance of it, the trader found his way into the country of the Slav. The islands of the Baltic Sea and Scandinavia became another lucrative field for his commercial enterprises ; and the East and North became commercially and industrially dependent on Germany for centuries to come, while in the far East the cities of the Teutonic Order joined in extending their commerce into the interior of Poland and Russia. Under the influence of these commercial relations the German settlements in the Baltic provinces of Russia were founded, of which the knightly order of the Brethren of the Sword (Schwertbriider) formed an advance guard. Here, how- xxi THE RISE OP THE CITIES 193 ever, the whole country did not become Germanized, as was the case of west of the Vistula, and the Germans comprised only the leading classes, say, one-tenth of the population. Oriental commerce, which received a new impulse from the Crusades, was in the control of the Italian cities. From Italy the routes of commerce lay not only across the Alps, but even more through France and by sea to the north. In this trade the cities of Flanders and the lower Rhine took a prominent part, especially KoJn, which, though situated relatively far inland, was for a long time during the Middle Ages one of the prin- cipal maritime ports of Germany. It is interesting tcTnbte that with the present expansion of German commerce, Koln again begins to send its ships across the English Channel and to other seaports in slowly but steadily increasing number. As early as the period of the Merovings, we read of trade relations between Koln and England ; in the time of Charles the Great the merchants of Koln had their own guild-hall and depot in London, where they enjoyed substantial privileges until the fifteenth century. In consequence of its ever-in- creasing trade Koln soon outranked Mainz, which from the Roman period had held the lead, and by the wealth of her citizens had won the surname "the golden." For centuries Koln remained the most powerful city of the Empire, and was considered the richest of Europe. After the Portuguese, in whose expeditions German merchant ships took part, had discovered the sea route to India (in which voyage the merchant and geographer Martin Behaimof Niirnberg participated) the merchants of the northwest and of the south of Germany did not allow themselves to be beaten without a spirited con- 194 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. test. The old houses changed their base of operation from Venice to Lisbon. A lively intercourse with Portuguese ports was soon started, for which Antwerp became the principal station. The important cities were : in the south, Regens- burg, Munich, Ulm, and Augsburg, Basel and Strassburg ; in Switzerland, Bern and Zurich ; in the east, Vienna, Prag, Breslau; in the north, Hamburg, Bremen, and, above all, Liibeck, the youngest and most powerful of the maritime cities; in the northwest, Brugge or Bruges, which preceded Antwerp as the greatest em- porium of Flanders, and Ghent, as well as Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), the ancient city of the emperors and favored by many privileges ; on the Rhine, Worms, the champion city of municipal liberties, and Speyer (Spyres), besides the great cities already mentioned. In the interior important commercial towns were : at the head of all, Erfurt, at one tune said to be the most populous city of Germany ; Magdeburg, whose charter became the model for many newer foundations in the East ; Halle with its old saltworks, Braunschweig, and Leipzig. Abroad, German merchants settled in all important commercial places in their own right as citizens of their own towns. Thus we find them in the old guild-hall, Stahlhof, in London. Frequently we see them as the real masters of the city, especially if it was of their own foundation, as hi many Scandinavian towns. Wisby, on the island of Gotland, was an old German merchant city, which had to cede its supremacy over the Baltic Sea to Liibeck; and in the midst of Slavic territory, in Novgorod, Warsaw, Kracow, and Lemberg, we find German merchants living under the charter of their native towns, a parallel to the extra- territorial rights of modern times. xxi THE RISE OF THE CITIES 195 This was, of course, not all the result of individual enterprise. The German inherited from his old ad- herence to the clan and the more recent Markgenossen- schaft the habit of uniting with others in the settlement of serious affairs. Furthermore, in the first stages of commerce the individual had not sufficient capital to undertake single-handed larger commercial enter- prises ; and the dangers of travel even at home gave an impulse to association. It seems that merchants used for this the already existing form of the guild, origi- nally a society for mutual assistance, feasting, and certain religious observances, usually under the patron- age of some saint, probably going back to heathen cult communities. Not only commerce, but all transpor- tation became an affair of the merchant guilds, and as soon as these acquired special privileges, all traders found themselves compelled to join. This system, however, was not perfected everywhere in all its parts, and at a comparatively early period we find indepen- dent trade companies. It was not long before the cities, more or less inde- pendent republics, were also brought together by common commercial and political interests. The best known of these federations is the powerful Hansa, which at its height was one of the greatest commercial powers of the world, and that at a time when the Empire, as represented by the Emperor, had lost all power. A much deeper and more lasting influence might have been exercised by the cities and their citizens, had not Ger- man pettiness and particularism prevented any univer- sal and permanent union. Envy and jealousy, traits of character already observed by Tacitus, have been great drawbacks to German success on more than one occasion. 196 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. The German cities were not content to be the inter- mediary between South and North, West and East, or to distribute foreign merchandise among their own markets; even during the first stages of commerce domestic goods had become an important article of trade; the handicrafts developed into industries, and soon domestic and intermediary trade was supple- mented by the export of manufactured home products ; a number of raw materials had, as we know, formed the basis of exchange since the oldest times. At first, as we have seen, it was the women, together with the serfs, male and female, who practised the primitive crafts. Everything in the line of utensils and clothing for use in the home was made on the spot. Sometimes wandering craftsmen of particular skill found employment ; and in time, just as in the monas- teries, a many-sided activity was developed on the great estates. On the estates of Charles the Great butter, cheese, salted and corned meats and sausages, wine, vinegar, mulberry wine, mustard, malt, beer, and mead were manufactured. The Emperor expressly prescribed the greatest cleanliness. He demanded likewise that in the separate buildings for the women raw materials for the clothing industries, as flax, wool, woad, scarlet, madder, wool-combs, carding thistles, soap, and the like, must always be kept in stock. Furthermore, it was ordained "that every overseer must have in his district good craftsmen, as ironsmiths, gold and silversmiths, shoemakers, turners, carpenters, shield-makers, fishers, falconers, soap-boilers, brewers who are able to prepare not only beer, but also apple and pear cider and other drinks, bakers who understand how to bake bread for our household, net-makers who know how to spin nets for hunting, fishing, and bird- xxi THE RISE OF THE CITIES 197 catching, and all kinds of other craftsmen." Lumber- yards, iron, lead, and other kinds of mines were com- prised under the management of the farm. These crafts received special attention in the mon- asteries, as the monks themselves often possessed great skill. Bishop Eugene of Noyes, who lived in the Meroving period, was famous for his art of making gold and silver ornaments, and later, Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim, accomplished in many arts, was espe- cially known for his artistic work in bronze. Colored glass, again, was made first in the monasteries ; and glass painting is said to have been invented by south German monks, but this is doubtful. After the Karling time the great landholders began to specialize; skilful vil- lains were placed as overseers over the shops, the prod- ucts of which they sold in the market for the benefit of the manorial lord. With the growth of cities specialization set in with greater vigor, craftsmen were in great demand, and we find them mentioned at an early period together with the trader and peasant. For the villain who under- stood some handicraft, removal to the city meant not only a chance of earning a better livelihood, but per- sonal liberty as well ; whoever had spent a year under the protection of a city could not be reclaimed by his former master. Stadtluft macht frei (city air makes free) became not a current saying only, but a legal principle. Under the influence of growing interna- tional commerce the cities outstripped the country districts in prosperity; on account of their political growth and of their relative security, compared with the open country where feuds and raids disturbed all healthy development, life in the cities became more and more active and broad. New inventions, improve- 198 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. ments, rediscoveries of a lost technique, and quick appropriation of foreign industries are so many wit- nesses. The associative instinct could not fail to cause the craftsmen to join together according to their different crafts in guilds ; in German the word for these is Zunft, although there is no reason why they might not be called Gilden, as well as the older merchant guilds. As with the merchant guilds, once a member one's whole life was regulated by the statutes of the guild, and no one outside of the organization was allowed to practise his craft. Competition was limited; an attempt, often successful, was .made to prevent the massing of capital in a single hand, and regulations were made hi regard to apprentices and journeymen. From the beginning the German craftsman showed great love for his calling, and pride in work well per- formed. He thought much of his professional honor, individually and collectively. The guild controlled the quality of the work and the purity of the raw material ; work might not be commenced on a new order before the last one had been finished. It was not long, however, before some capital was saved and goods were produced above the immediate need of customers. The institution of the journey- men's travels, too, which were compulsory and re- mained customary until long after the introduction of steamships and railroads, may have caused a quick exchange of all technical improvements, however carefully they were guarded as secrets of the craft. In this connection there may be mentioned innumer- able tools, fire-arms, brass, spinning-wheels, organs, mill works, copper- and wood-engraving, watches, gun- powder, diamond-cutting, which have all been either xxi THE RISE OF THE CITIES 199 invented in Germany or perfected so as to become really practical. Most important of all was the cheap process of mak- ing paper out of linen rags, which, invented in China, is first found in Europe among the Saracens in Sicily, and thence spreads abroad. The first German paper- mill was opened in Ravensburg in 1190. About 1320 we hear of paper-mills in Koln and Mainz. In the earlier Middle Ages there was no book trade what- ever ; very precious manuscripts were loaned sometimes for copying purposes, but were rarely sold. The new cheap paper, however, made the production of a great many copies possible ; wood and copper engravings were widely distributed ; and in time whole texts were cut in wood or copper plates page by page and printed. Thus book-selling became a regular trade. This was soon succeeded by the greatest invention of the German crafts, an invention which had been sought after in other countries and which placed Germany at one stroke at the head of intellectual culture ; I mean, of course, the art of printing, the great means for the democratization of intelligence. The contemporary public did not fail to recognize the importance of this invention. Before the fifteenth century was ended, twenty-five thousand books had been published, not counting reissues. Abbot Tritheim speaks of the " admirable art, unheard of up to this time, of printing books by single types, invented and thought out by a citizen of Mainz, one Johannes Gutenberg"; and a member of the next generation, Johannes Wymphel- ing, rector of the famous school at Schlettstadt, says : "There is no invention or fruit of our mind of which we Germans may be as proud as of the art of printing books, which has raised us to the position of the intel- 200 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. lectual purveyors of the teachings of Christianity as well as of all divine and secular science, and by this means has made us benefactors of all mankind. How different a life is seen now amongst all classes of the people; and who would not gratefully remember the first founders and promoters of this art, even if he has not, as has been the case of our teachers, known them personally and enjoyed their conversation? As formerly the apostles of Christianity went forth, so now the disciples of the sacred art go forth from Ger- many into all countries ; their printed books become heralds of the gospel, preachers of truth and science." Closely connected with the crafts in German)^ as elsewhere, we find the plastic arts. The artist is above all a craftsman, to the great advantage of the craft, which thus develops into industrial art. In tune, art is separated from handicraft, and, after freeing itself from its inferior position, becomes autonomous, indi- vidual art with ideals of its own, while the craft sinks back into mere usefulness, leaving for our admiration those old masterpieces as a relic of the lost unity of art and craft. At present we are witnessing a renais- sance of industrial art, not the natural organic unity of mediaeval tunes, but the product of a conscious appli- cation of art principles to the utensils of daily use. It has been pointed out in former chapters that the oldest products of Germanic art show a style of their own. Mathematical elements, at first lines, curves, zigzag lines, later on spiral lines, are entwined in the most varied ways. Animal motives had in prehistoric times been introduced into ornamentation by having the ends of the ribbons run out into the heads of ani- mals ; and gradually entire animal bodies were conven- tionalized in a confusing mass of lines. Toward the xxi THE RISE OF THE CITIES 201 end of Roman times we find such designs executed in silver inlay, hammered into the engraved grooves of an iron surface (Tauschierarbeii) . A new motive is the entwined ribbon ornament, reminding us of leather straps fastened at the crossing points by nails, the heads of which appear sometimes in the ornaments. This ribbon ornament finds its principal development in miniature painting on manuscripts, practised especially in the monasteries. Soon plant motives follow, and finally human figures. We can observe the same devel- opment of ornamentation in metal work, wood-carving, and stonework, the latter being modelled after wood ornaments. Where antique models are imitated, e.g,, in the capitals of columns, especially when the imi- tating is done from memory, domestic motives are frequently introduced instead of the unknown forms, and German plants are used as models, gradually standing out more freely and naturally. But all their work is characterized by that Germanic style which left its traces all over Europe wherever Germanic tribes settled during the migration period, and holds its own until the ninth century; in the Germanic North it finds its highest development still later. Throughout the centuries of changing style it re- appears from time to time ; to-day we see its revival in the modern styles of America, England, and Germany, the more remarkable since it seems, in its beginnings at least, unintentional. Scientific investigation along these lines is still in its infancy, but two principles may be accepted as dis- tinctly Germanic. The one is primarily of a technical nature, and consists in the complete separation of the ornament from the organism of the structure. Antique and later medieval art made the ornamentation an 202 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. element of the constructive parts ; Germanic art finishes its object, as demanded by its purpose, and then adds the ornamentation to its surface. This is the principle of woodwork ornamentation; but, at the same time, may we not find the ultimate reason for the return to a technique foreign to the new material in that racial desire to separate the essential from the ornamental, the purposeful from the decorative, element ? The other characteristic principle of Germanic art is one of composition; it puts eurythmy (gebundene Bewegung) in place of or alongside of symmetry, which plays such an important part in classical and related arts. It prefers repetition to reversion, and gives that impression of motion, of life, which is so character- istic of Germanic ornament. / ',' It may not be out of place to mention as one of the results of more recent research the discovery that the well-known horseshoe arch of Moorish architecture is not of Arabic but of Germanic origin, brought to Spain by the Visigoths. The better our acquaintance with the artistic products of those times, the more "we are surprised," to quote literally from Albrecht Haupt, to whom our subject owes very valuable contributions, " above all at the unexpected unity of this art, which, different throughout from all other contemporaneous art, influenced by it only in a small degree, proves that this enormous mass of Germanic peoples possessed one kind of taste, one way of adorning, of clothing, of arming themselves, of living, certainly also of build- ing, and using their homes." At all events it cannot be said that the development of art in Germany is due merely to the reception of Roman influences by a people without any artistic tradition of its own. The art which in our minds is mostly connected with xxi THE RISE OF THE CITIES 203 the mediaeval period is architecture. As the Germans were untrained in the science of constructing stone churches and royal palaces, architects and masons had to be called from Italy and France, though monks and clerics were often then 1 own architects. At first classi- cal models were imitated ; but soon a period of decay set in, and even vaulting became a lost art. In their poor imitations of the Roman models the Germans, though they lost a great many of the finer elements, showed a certain spirit of defiance, a sinister power, which cannot be sufficiently explained by a mere disa- bility to do more elegant work. While the Roman basilica may have given the fundamental form, features which cannot be explained by foreign influence became more and more apparent. There is something massive, sometimes even clumsy, about the buildings, but they are broadly and solidly settled on the ground with a plain austerity which seems to indicate a turning away from the outside world. The Mausoleum of Theodorich at Ravenna already shows a character of its own. In time a regaining of technical skill is noticeable ; from its broad and solid foundation the building comes to strive towards greater height, the decorative side is more emphasized, and in Saxon Germany we find the first types of the Romanesque style of architecture. At first the ceiling' is flat, made of wood, but after the rediscovery of vaulting the so-called Romanesque arch is applied. This style, in its adaptation truly German, spreads rapidly, leaving a great number of magnificent churches for the admiration of the modern traveller. In Germany the desire for still higher arching, vaster space, for a disburdening of the stone, so to speak, for a spiritualizing of matter, continued, and led to a transi- tion style in the Rhine regions. In France, near Paris, 204 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. where an easily shaped sandstone facilitated progress, this resulted in the style which, centuries later, the Italians dubbed Gothic, a word intended in this case to mean "barbarous," in which sense the expression was long used by the Romance nations. The new French style decided the development of architecture in Ger- many at the same time that French courtoisie, hove- scheit, was exercising its influence on German knight- hood. The German race-theorists like to point out that the cradle of this beautiful style of architecture is to be found in that part of France where the German invaders decided the character of the population in spite of their acceptance of the Romance language. It is a fact that at the time when the Gothic style was first originated German was still spoken in Paris, and the older church windows show German inscriptions. It is not without significance that beginnings similar to those of the Gothic style are found in the Germanic North, where wooden buildings show the same tenden- cies ; here the pointed arch seems to be technologically founded on shipbuilding, the roof being in fact an in- verted ship. It is a fact that the Gothic architecture follows the Normans in all their settlements. The Gothic churches of Germany are numerous and beautiful. In the meantime stone building had become a secu- lar craft, as was bound to be the case when people began to build cities. Princes and wealthy burghers took the place of ecclesiastical dignitaries in adorning their cities with magnificent cathedrals and minsters. Secular buildings, palaces, and public buildings, as well as the residences of rich merchants, also began to adopt the new style. As the principal monument of secular architecture in the Romanesque style may be mentioned xxi THE RISE OF THE CITIES 205 the imperial palace, Kaiserhaus, at Goslar; while the Marienburg, the palatial residence of the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order since the fourteenth century, is an example of the Gothic style. Painting and sculpture in the course of development showed more and more characterization, life, and movement. As early as at the end of the Romanesque period we find some master- pieces of sculpture, such as the Sibyl in the Bamberg cathedral. The Gothic style caused an arrest of devel- opment, or rather a retrogression towards a stilted, con- ventional treatment which had not quite disappeared from German sculpture at the end of the Middle Ages. In painting at first only the outlines of the subjects are given, and in typical rendition, as of an animal or bird without representing a definite species. Then we find a closer approach to reality in a still very conven- tional conception, until at last, at the time of the strengthening of the burgher element in the cities, a true naturalistic reproduction is reached. Thus the development of art represents simply one side of the transition from an unfree state to liberty, brought about by life in the cities. Perhaps the most striking difference of the Germanic from the Classical Art is the liberty allowed to the individual artist within the general lines of the style. To recognize this, one needs only compare, for instance, the rigid adherence of classical architecture to the few standard types of columns and the unlimited variety not only in the details where full play is given to a de- lightful, often humorous, expression of individuality, but also in the more important form deciding features of columns and pillars of Germanic structures. This liberty alone might tempt one to characterize all Occi- dental Mediaeval Art as essentially Germanic. CHAPTER XXII THE RISE OF THE CITIES II The Change of Economic Basis and its Consequences. Legal and Political Development of the Cities IN the economic system of the cities the agrarian basis was changed to a financial one, and the way thus pre- pared for modern times. In following up the economic process in all its psychological consequences, Lamprecht, in his "Deutsche Geschichte," has been exceedingly fortunate in showing the importance of this factor in human evolution. "The increase of commerce," he says, " leads to a hitherto unsuspected freedom of move- ment in the individual ; it causes a breaking away from the old, locally bound associations ; no longer local attachments, but differences of calling, leaving the local element out entirely, become the social ferment of national society ; soon the social consequences of this translocation become evident in mental life. Among these consequences is the release of the hitherto fet- tered aesthetic conception : poetry advances to drama and satire and with these to the beginnings of individu- alistic reproduction and criticism of the material world ; art gains more and more the power of realistic concep- tion and rendition; thought progresses to a truly scientific control of the external world and leaves medi- tation concerning the highest problems, the relations 206 CHAP, xxn THE RISE OF THE CITIES 207 of God, Universe, Man, of responsibility, to the con- science of the individual. Individualism is awake ; slowly, out of an ever deeper penetration of the world, and ever firmer control over it, the modern man is born." The causes governing this development in the German cities were found in the conditions of trade and industry described above. It first became evident in the field of law and politics. In the earlier times the " law of the market" was an imperial prerogrative. The attend- ants at the markets enjoyed certain immunities, such dispensations from certain legal limitations as common sense suggested. A bundle of straw was raised to show the duration of the market, and this was sometimes adorned with the emblems of the imperial authority, the shield and sword, which later gave rise to the erection of the statues which are all named after the hero Roland and arouse a curious interest at the present day. Some- times a banner was displayed, which is the origin of the market cross. These were the symbols of the Markt- frieden, i.e., the enforcement of the special legal con- ditions pertinent to the holding of the market. Like other regalia, the right of the market was transferred to the vassals, especially the bishops, and in later times the cities themselves. The territorial lord thus be- came the lord of the market. In administrative matters he was represented by a warden under different titles. When in its rapid development the " mark " became more and more identical with the old political unit of the hundreds or its subdivisions, and the city limits in- cluded both, the administrative bodies became united ; the guild obtained a share in the government, and aside from the representatives of the judicial lord we find the Schoffen, or lay assessors, and elected councillors. 208 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Since the political development of every city took place independently, though, whether imperial cities or under the lordship of a prince or bishop, more or less under- going the same stages, the results were not by any means uniform, and the "liberties" they enjoyed were of the greatest variety. The city government begins to take republican form, at first, to be sure, under higher juris- diction ; the king or the lord to whom the royal rights had been transferred took part hi the administration through his officers and ministerials, but less for the benefit of the cities than for the sake of increasing the revenues which accrued to him from the right of coinage, tolls, and customs, and the control of the market and the police. As was the rule under the feudal system, these offices became hereditary, and the families of the baronial officials associated and intermarried with those of the guilds ; and later they sided with the burghers when the systematic attempt began to abrogate all obligations towards the territorial lord. This abrogation or limi- tation of territorial rule was accomplished partly by long and violent combat, partly, after the increase of cap- italistic power, in a friendly way by the payment of certain sums of money. Other rights, especially in re- gard to trade monopolies, were obtained from the emperor directly or were acquired by treaties with neighboring lords. The city council took control both as territorial and municipal administrator and adopted a policy of far-reaching, paternal provision for the wel- fare of the citizens which found expression in the pet- tiest police regulations. The administration of justice was largely a municipal affair, so that the task of developing the legal foundation for the new economic conditions fell to the cities. The xxii THE RISE OF THE CITIES 209 Empire had manifested its impotence to put a stop to the general insecurity and legal confusion which had become a real scourge. Even the Sachsenspiegel, a cod- ification of Low German law by Eike von Repgow, who in an admirable manner tried to bring some system into the general chaos of the thirteenth century, could not as a private enterprise have very much practical success. The attempt of the cities to adapt ancient laws to the new conditions brought about a new con- trast between city and country, which helped to widen the breech between the two. Another consequence of the certain legal conditions was the rise of the famous Verne, a kind of mediaeval vigilance committee, based, however, on old constitutional authority. As to the financial side, the city council, which con- trolled the coinage and the commercial regalia, pos- sessed full power. Thus it was possible for the guild to secure a trade monopoly. Jews were excluded from commerce at an early period ; but as the latter developed to such an extent as to make great enterprises impossible without the use of credit, the money trade fell to the Jews as a matter of course, the taking of interest being strictly forbidden by the Church. It is true that, thanks to a very high rate of interest, they soon acquired ex- traordinary wealth, but by this very fact they aroused the envy of the masses. With the increase of the cler- ical power under the successors of Charles the Great they began to suffer somewhat from religious intoler- ance. During Holy Week especially the slaughter of the Jews (Judenschlachten) became frequent, and the existence of the Jews' tax paid to the emperor for pro- tection proves the need for such protection. Persecu- tions on a large scale, however, began only during the Crusades, when the rabble combined avarice with re- 210 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. ligious hate. From May to July, 1096, about twelve thousand Jews were slain in the Rhenish cities alone, not, however, by their fellow-citizens, but by the mass of undisciplined people of all nationalities, who, as the advance guard of the first Crusade, marched through Germany to Constantinople and as bearers of the cross took a great many liberties in the name of the religion of love. The natives under the leadership of their clergymen and bishops tried to hide and protect the Jews, but with little success. After that time the per- secutions increased in number, becoming especially cruel in times of public calamity, when superstition and fear overshadowed all reason. With the persecu- tion of the heretics toward the end of the Middle Ages Jew baiting became a regular institution. For the reigning lords, however, the Jews afforded an unfailing refuge from financial troubles ; this kind of robbery was called a compulsory loan. With the increasing dis- satisfaction of the penniless it soon became a favorite trick of so-called statesmanship to divert the displeasure of the masses by a skilfully managed persecution of the Jews. These abuses reached their height at the time of the Black Death, during the fourteenth century. Ritual murder is first heard of in the time of the Crusades. Of course, the progress of commerce would not allow the socialistic and communistic doctrines of Christianity to stand in its way forever. In time the city coun- cils regulate the position of the debtor. Soon after the firm establishment of private property in land, mort- gages at an official rate of interest were adopted and certain regulations of credit decided upon. Alone or in common with other cities the council took charge of the money trade, founded the first state banks, or xxii THE RISE OF THE CITIES 211 subsidized private banks already in existence. The necessity of a basis of exchange in view of the many kinds of coinage had been the beginning of banking. As increasing capital strengthened the initiative of the individual and broke the fetters of merchant and craft-guilds, without however destroying these insti- tutions, business soon emancipated itself from the guardianship of the council. In all these respects Germany followed the lead of Italy, where economic development was more advanced. The first banks had been opened in Venice in 1171. Many technical expressions in commercial bookkeeping and banking bear testimony to their Italian origin. The cities also succeeded in overcoming the German dislike for taxation, which increased with the power of the lords. The ground tax seems to be the oldest form. Indirect taxation took the shape of import duties and of excise on wine, beer, salt, fish, meat, etc. Slowly the council learned to organize a regular financial house- hold, which later was imitated by the territorial lords. The latter succeeded in the thirteenth century in changing the voluntary gift of the Bede to a compulsory tax, Notbede. But in the meantime the city government had under- gone a radical change. The merchant guilds had already acquired considerable power and had combined with the ministerials of the original lord of the city to form a patrician aristocracy by the time the industries came to found organizations of their own in the craft- guilds. It was in the interest of the ruling families, i.e., of the great mercantile houses, to allow them all the privileges conducive to the development of industry. But in time the increase of capital in the hands of the craftsman and the development of manufacturing on a 212 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. larger scale brought the craft-guilds into about the same position in relation to the patricians as the latter had held not long before as regards their territorial lords; and in course of nature the same development was bound to follow. The craft-guilds demanded participation in the government. The patricians had already begun to degenerate under the influence of quickly acquired riches. They tried to rival the knights in everything ; indeed, many knightly families who had settled in the cities were of then* number. Neither did the nobility fail to better their straightened economical conditions by matrimonial connections with rich patricians; and likewise the knights for similar reasons sometimes re- membered then* rustic origin and their peasant relatives, if the latter were blessed with a handsome property. When an increased class consciousness, a stronger em- phasis on the equality of birth, and the ever-widening breach between the city and country put an end to these personal relations, the burghers stiU kept up the chival- ric standard of life and even outranked the gradually declining nobility in intellectual culture and outward pomp. In their fight against the patrician families who were already partially diverted from the more serious pursuits of life, the craft-guilds had the advantage of a greater familiarity with arms, as they formed the body of the municipal militia. On them the city relied for defence. It was sometimes in peaceful agreement, but usually in very bloody civil wars, that the craft-guilds won their rights. The democratic reforms were first ac- complished in Speyer and Worms. In many cities the patrician families, die Geschlechter or die Ehrbarkeit, as they were called, were entirely expelled ; in others they were compelled to share the administration with their xxn THE RISE OF THE CITIES 213 adversaries, which frequently meant only an increase in the number of ruling families. In justice, however, it must be said that, on the whole, the cities which stood under aristocratic rule had the better adminis- trations. But the development of individualism overtook the reform before it had been accomplished. It was not as a member of his guild, but as an independent person- ality, that the citizen began to demand his rights ; while outside of the recognized associations the poor of the cities and the peasants were awakening to a conscious- ness of human rights. On the whole, this development, much as it may have been influenced by economic conditions, was in accord with Germanic character. In this, as has been shown already in the conception of the state of primitive times, " there is combined a strong feeling of personality of the individual who masterfully relies on himself with a readiness to unite with others in faithful association for the accomplishment of such tasks as overtax the strength of a single person. But for those tasks only ; after their performance he retires to his own resources." CHAPTER XXIII THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE About the Year 1500 IN tracing the different currents of German life in the early stages of its development we have not paid much attention to chronology. While we have not lost sight of the threads connecting all the different phases of life and have been able to discover, if not the origin, at least the antiquity, of some institutions and traits of modern Germany and its inhabitants, the epoch at which we have arrived, standing at the threshold of modern civilization, seems to invite us to take a survey of the results of German evolution since the time of the Migrations, when the nation began to live a life sepa- rate from that of its racial relatives and when its national life began to differentiate under the influ- ence of progressing culture. The time about the year 1500 is perhaps the time of the greatest vigor of the German nation; there is the exuberant vitality of healthy youth, which seems to be principally physical health, an excess of energy, which miist be worked off in action of some kind. There is not of necessity an inferiority on the side of intellectual and spiritual life, yet we get an impression of material- ism, of sensualism. It is a people full of animal spirits, prosperous, self-satisfied, passionate, impulsive, not over-refined, still with a latent strength of intellect which 214 CHAP, xxin THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE 215 does not shrink from difficult problems, and with a depth of feeling which manifests itself in many ways. The whole nation is unsettled, and signs of things to come are evident to the careful observer. The nation has outgrown its childhood and is ready to enter upon a maturer stage of life. In spite of the deep conflicts which agitate it, the national personality if so I may translate the German Volkstum, a coinage of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn seems to be remarkably uniform. The higher and lower nobility had almost given up the international culture of chivalry, which for a time had threatened to form an exclusive caste of a military aristocracy. The clergy had given up its aspiration to a Latin erudition and a loftier plan of life apart from the lay world ; the new education, of a more secular character, had not taken deep enough root to separate the world of thought of the learned from that of the plain people. The character of the time is decidedly democratic, and for once there is a certain social equi- librium which of course could not last long. Not that all the people were of the same opinion nor that there was an absence of wretched poverty, but on the whole the contrasts were not strong enough to disturb the general uniformity. Rich and poor, high and low, prince, commoner, and peasant, understood one an- other ; at the very period when the individual began to assert himself with greater decision and the old confed- erations showed the first signs of dissolution, the ele- ments that composed the inner side of life were the same. The theory of life of the mediaeval times had been centred in the universal Church, not in the individual, his convictions and conscience ; life worked more from without than from within ; unconditional submission and adoring devotion were demanded ; the soul was the 216 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. scene of the combat of good and evil spirits ; man had no power, no liberty. This view now became too narrow, man had outgrown all the narrowing conditions without being conscious of it ; the zwivel, the inner conflict, of which we hear so much in mediaeval poetry, was a symptom of the awakening reason. In more shallow characters this unrest encouraged a greater enjoyment of the material side of life. This was the tune of the Volkslied, the songs of the peo- ple, not merely of the lower classes, but of the whole na- tion; and therefore the Volkslied is the best and most faithful witness of German character and national life in the fifteenth century. It is a common practice in these Volkslieder for the author to tell us something about himself indeed, the whole song may be a narrative of his own heart-breaking or enjoyable experiences. Very often he describes his station in life, and we see that all classes take part in the production of the songs ; one author makes himself known as a nobleman, an- other as a beggar ; we find students, soldiers, hunters, a "rich peasant's son," a young cleric, and many other callings, sometimes even a girl confesses to having com- posed the song. Good living, Schlemmen, good eating and drinking, and love are the ideals portrayed in these songs. The joy of living, die Lebensfreude, is the key- note of all of them ; even when an unhappy love breaks the young heart, the appreciation of happiness is shown by the very longing for it. But it is essential that nature have a share in this joy. The German feels himself at one with nature and in sympathy with it in pleasures and sorrows. One short love song which shows a girl, herself unfortunate, feeling doubly wretched when she hears of the happiness of her companion, may serve as an illustration: xxm THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE 217 "I heard a sickle rustling, 'Twas rustling through the corn, I heard a fair maid wailing, Her love she had forlorn. Let rustle, dear, let rustle, What comes I do not mind ; In violets and sweet clover A sweetheart I did find.' "If in violets and sweet clover A sweetheart thou didst find, Then I must stand here lonely And sadness fills my mind.' " Thus the happiness of the Germans, to whom Luther, himself one of them, was about to preach, was not very idealistic. A merry drinking bout, a fine brown maiden or a beautiful lady, May, the " pleasure month" as the Germans call it, sunshine, the forest with its green trees and its animals, or the fields with their flowers, the song of the "dear" nightingale, or his own "Lied" and music on the lute, these were the objects of his desires as expressed in the Volkslied. But beneath this uniformly gay surface, strong personalities were dis- engaging themselves from the mass, the fermentation was at work which was to change the current of Western civilization. Both the feeling of personality and the joy in mere living for life's sake, as well as for material prosperity, found expression in all the different spheres of human interest, being, of course, most apparent in external conditions. The old Germanic mode of dress experienced few changes as long as the standard of life remained the same for all classes. The Meroving kings still rode through their country in an ox-cart. The apparel 218 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. of Charles the Great was the same as that of his Frankish courtiers, a little more magnificent, per- haps, on state occasions; for all classes of the peo- ple the description of Tacitus still held good, save that the dress of women was closed about the neck and lengthened in the sleeve and skirt. Only once or twice Charles the Great donned the splendor of Roman dress to please the Pope. The imperial robes in which we so often see him represented, as in the well-known ideal portrait by Albrecht Diirer, belong to a later period. But increasing wealth, contact with foreign fashions dur- ing the Crusades, and especially the influence of French Chivalry wrought a great change. Many-colored cos- tumes follow each other in continual variety, both among men and women. Headgear, unknown in Roman times, appeared first hi the shape of straw hats, but changed with the dress; shoes became pointed (Schnabelschuhe) , the points becoming finally so long that they hindered walking unless tied by a ribbon to the knees. The budding self-consciousness tries to attract attention by every means. The detachable sleeves of the upper garment are widened to that they drag on the ground. Party-colored garments become the fashion ; the coats are jagged ; as if the loud colors did not attract attention enough, bells are attached, first on belts, then on all possible and impossible places. Later this motley becomes the costume of fools, who still strut about in it in the modern Carnival. Personality becomes more and more conscious of itself, and after art had learned to reproduce the human body in a naturalistic way the so-called Burgundian fashion is adopted, in which the garments are tightly fitting and show the outlines of the body, even emphasiz- ing them ; men's and women's garments are both cut xxni THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE 219 lower about the neck and shortened. The moralists preach against this ; and, indeed, even our modern sen- sibilities are rather shocked by some features. The tightness became at last so excessive that it prevented free movements, and the sleeves were first slit open at the elbows, showing the silk lining ; more slits were made and used for decorative purposes in other parts of the dress. Up to that time the coat had been slipped over the head, but the inconvenience of putting on such tight garments in that way led to the use of buttons and buttonholes, which at the same tune made even fitting garments pos- sible. Our modern coats had their origin in these. The material was sometimes of the richest quality ; fur, feathers, precious metals, and gems were used for orna- mentation. There were many opportunities to display these fin- eries in public. Holidays were frequent. Private life in the family, as well as public and Church life, offered a continuous round of festivities hi which the old Ger- manic traits of hospitality and conviviality found lavish expression. Here the impoverished nobility could not rival the rich merchants of the cities, who regarded them as peasants while they were nicknamed by them " pepperbags. " The luxuriously furnished houses of the merchant patricians were decorated with wood- carvings and tapestries, stained-glass windows, and metal-wrought dishes, to which towards the end of the fifteenth century porcelain from China was added as a newly imported luxury. At their feasts a great variety of food and drink from all parts of the world was served. Baking had been greatly unproved ; cakes, tarts, and pretzels were still prepared at home, but fine confection- ery could be bought at the apothecary's. Spices, such as pepper, saffron, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cubebs, cin- 220 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. namon, and others, were extensively used, especially in preparing meats and gravies. These spices would probably be too sharp for present taste a fact which is often given to explain the heavy drinking of the times, as if a healthy thirst had been a foreign thing to Ger- mans before sharp spices were known to them ! All these delicate dishes were eaten without forks, although the first ones had been brought to Germany in the four- teenth century. As late as the sixteenth century we hear of preachers condemning their use as being against the will of the Lord, who would not have given us fingers, if he wanted us to use forks. All articles of consumption were keenly supervised by the city authorities as to purity and correct weight. Adulteration of wine is frequently mentioned and even caused legislation by the Reichstag, the Diet of the Em- pire. Of all festive occasions in family life weddings held first place. The luxury displayed in presents, hospitality, and dress, even by plainer people, was ex- cessive. The celebration lasted from three days to a fortnight. The blessing hi church often took place long after the wedding, the betrothal being really the binding act. In the great number of holidays we miss the greatest of German family days of present tunes, to wit, Christ- mas. The Christmas tree is not, as has been generally believed, a relic of old German heathenism, but is rather a modern institution, the first references to it dating from the seventeenth century. It finds an analogy hi Roman rather than in German antiquity. New Year and Twelfth Night were more observed than Christmas, but above all festivals stood the Carnival. The arrangement of public festivals was one of the duties of the city council, who attended to them very xxiii THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE 221 conscientiously. A city cook was one of the officials in many cities. Of course, the councillors saw that their own wine, beer, and food were of the best quality and gave the citizens an opportunity to partake of good things of guaranteed excellence by establishing in the base- ment of the city hall the Ratskeller, the council's cellar, of which some, especially the one in Bremen, have ac- quired literary fame. Large banqueting rooms and dancing halls were provided by the city governments ; the Gurzenich in Koln, perhaps the most splendid, has preserved its character to the present day. Intemperance in eating and drinking was the ruling vice of the time ; foreign travellers refer to it with dis- gusted horror, feelings the reader would share, if I should mention some particulars. Everything we see and hear of intemperance to-day is almost teetotalism as compared with the excesses of that period in Ger- many. Only once again was there a similar state of affairs, caused, curiously enough, by exactly opposite con- ditions ; whereas in the period we are speaking of the excesses were caused by overgreat prosperity ; it appears that at the time of deep misery following the Thirty Years' War despair caused equal recklessness in de- bauchery. In the country the jollification was closer to nature. Dancing in the open was frequently indulged in. As to-day, or rather much more so, the holiday of the patron saint, das Kirchweihfest or die Kirmes, was the greatest feasting time; it lasted for a week. Some- times several neighboring villages united in a common celebration. With all its disgusting features the rudeness of the times was mitigated by an all-pervading humor of a Philistine, and sometimes coarse and obscene, kind; 222 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the teasing of one's neighbors was a favorite pastime with Germans from the oldest tunes, nicknames were given to rival tribes, to the different classes of the popu- lation, and anecdotes told which have survived down to our own day. It happened as another consequence of the growing individualism that family names came into use at this time, and in these the people gave full sway to then* humorous disposition ; any German city directory will furnish plenty of examples which date back to this period. This humor can be observed likewise in the names of streets, places, pieces of apparel, dishes, drinks, arms, especially cannons, animals, plants, and all kinds of implements, including the gallows. It entered religious life and art, and is preserved in the sculptures of cathe- drals and city halls. Even the solemn practice of the law was not safe from this trait, and many ridiculous punishments bear witness to it. A great many of the rather drastic proverbs with which the German people like to adorn their speech come from those days. Any one familiar with German life will know that this not exactly refined, but generally kind-hearted and broad- minded, humor is still alive. Anger over some real or imagined injury will often find expression in coarse humor. This gives an outlet to all feelings of revenge and prevents that mean feeling of lasting spite which may nurse itself for a long time to take advantage of an unguarded moment to stab the enemy. Nowhere outside of Germany is there such a variety of names, taken from zoology or other realms, which can be applied to friend or enemy. However coarse they may sound translated into another language, they must be taken in a humorous sense, and are used almost invariably only where real animosity is excluded by personal xxni THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE 223 relations. Hateful swearing and cursing is not a common habit in Germany, although it would be ridiculous to deny its occurrence altogether; perhaps Germans make up by greater variety for their lack in intensity in this respect. As to the total impression made by German cities of the times, foreign travellers are unanimous in praising their imposing appearance. "If we wander through the most remarkable of these cities," says ^Eneas Sylvius, the humanist, later Pope Pius II, "the mag- nificence of the people and the beauty of the country will shine out brightly before our eyes. Where in Europe could be found a more splendid city than Koln?" In a similar way he expresses himself as to other cities. The burghers' homes appear to him "fit for princes." "To speak sincerely," he confesses, "no country in Europe has better and more friendly cities than Germany." It may be safe to assume that this account is somewhat exaggerated, in order to show that the complaints of the country's becoming impoverished by the money sent to the Pope were unfounded ; but similar statements are made by many contemporary writers of all nations. Still we must not forget that in spite of the magnificence of many public and some private buildings and the generally romantic impres- sion we get of mediaeval cities with their many towers and fortifications, the majority of houses were of wood, the streets almost all unpaved, the better ones having a road-bed of gravel ; pigs and cows were allowed to roam at large, as most cities still preserved their agrarian character ; street illumination at night was unknown ; glass windows were not at all common. Large fires that destroyed whole cities were frequent, though we find fire regulations at a comparatively early day. 224 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. A small squirt one could not very well call it an engine began to be used at fires in the fifteenth century. Of paved streets we hear first at Liibeck, 1310, and Nurnberg, 1368. The physical vigor of the times shows itself most plainly in the increase of the population. This had been hindered in previous centuries by the numerous epi- demics which raged with a violence hardly to be con- ceived by modern imaginations. But in the fifteenth century hygienic conditions had begun to improve, material conditions were favorable, and thus we find that families with twelve, fifteen, or even more children were not uncommon ; for the city of Erfurt a chronicle gives an average of eight to ten children per family. Children born out of wedlock were frequent ; they grew up in their father's house with their half-brothers and sisters, and for a long time no disgrace was attached to then* state. According to many writers the state of morals as regards relations between the sexes cannot have been high. In so far as this conclusion is drawn principally from the laws passed at the time, it is a ques- tion whether we have a right to say that certain abuses were frequent merely because severe punishments were set on them. This severity may just as well indicate that such were exceptional cases. From legislation proposed recently in Washington, a future historian might conclude with equal justification that the modern Americans were a nation of wife beaters. People were not so easily shocked in those days, and many things appeared to them but natural which we should find disgusting. After all, Albrecht von Eyb, in his treatise " Whether a Man Ought to Take a Wife or Not," printed in 1472, seems to express the common view of the Germans of his time when he says: "Marriage is a xxni THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE 225 useful, wholesome thing: by it many a conflict and war is quieted, relationship and good friendship formed, and the whole human race perpetuated. Matrimony is also a merry, pleasurable and sweet thing. What is merrier and sweeter than the names of father and mother and the children hanging on their parents' necks ? If married people have the right love and the right will for one another, their joy and sorrow are common to them and they enjoy the good things the more merrily and bear the adverse things the more easily." The position of women was not a very high one; her sphere was the home, and she is not often men- tioned; still we learn of some women of a rather exceptionally high education. In spite of all the joy in the material side of life, intellectual interests were not neglected. It is true the period is sterile hi literature of a higher class, didactic poetry, satire, and some plays furnishing the only works worth mentioning. The beginnings of the drama go far back, and passion plays and moralities form an important part in the public entertainments. But if production was not very high, still there must have been a taste for reading in all classes of the population ; otherwise the rapidity with which a few decades later the pamphlets of Luther and other writers of the Reformation period spread all over Germany cannot be explained. The rise of the cities and their commerce could not fail to break the monopoly of the clergy in education. Reading, writing, and, very soon, arithmetic became a necessity. And very early we find German schools of a secular character, but under the supervision of the Church. The first schools of this kind were called 226 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. writing schools (Schriefschoolen) . Many cities had also Latin schools. In the fifteenth century we find the first mention of girls' schools in Liibeck and Niirnberg. These schools were run in the manner of the craft- guilds. The principal or rector was appointed by the council for one year and he hired his own assistants. The rector's salary was forty florins a year at the most. His assistants were not of a very high standard ; former monks, clerics, students, and adventurers supplied the greatest part of them. Sometimes there arose a quarrel between the city council and the Church authorities as to the control of the school. The methods were, of course, purely mechanical. Books were still expensive, and therefore the subject-matter of instruction was usually copied. The rod and the switch were not spared. Teachers and scholars often left a city and took up their residence elsewhere; about the vagrant scholars there will be occasion to speak farther on. The first improvement in school management was brought about by The Brethren of Common Life, an organization which originated in the Netherlands. They were the first to open schools for the common people, real Volksschulen; they emphasized the neces- sity of an active Christian life. The best-known mem- ber of the community is the famous Thomas a Kempis, the author of the "Imitation of Christ." By them the first picture book for children was published: Der Seek Trost, "Consolation of the Soul," containing illustrations of the Ten Commandments. The most important advance in the educational world was the founding of the universities. The University of Prag was the first German university ; of its seven professors, six were Germans, the seventh, the professor of Roman Law, was an Italian ; it was founded in 1348. xxiii THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE 227 Before the close of the fourteenth century five more universities had been opened, while the fifteenth century brought ten more. At first the universities were under control of the Church, with a charter from the Pope. But in time the universities gave rise to an independent class of scholars. However much we may honor these institutions as the cradle of free German science, they also were one of the sources of that fatal separation of the German nation into the two classes of the learned and unlearned, die Gebildeten und Ungebildeten, which is the cause of much national unhappiness, as will be seen later. The universities owed their rapid growth perhaps principally to the need of learned jurists. The more complicated conditions of the new economical system, based on money instead of agricultural products, and the general progress of life had favored the introduction of Roman law into Germany. The lack of unity and the encroachment of the many different authorities on each other's competencies had made the old German laws wholly inefficient ; there had been great difficulty in developing them and adapting them to new condi- tions. The Roman law seemed best fitted to meet these. The Italian policy of the emperors had already led to its adoption for certain interpretations of imperial authority, in fact it was called simply the Emperor's law, das Kaiserrecht. The forms of law were found ready for use in the Code of Justinian. Beginning with the twelfth century, a continuous current of German youths find then' way to the new Italian uni- versities, especially Bologna and Padua. The German municipalities soon found it convenient to have the advice of a learned jurist, and it became the rule to have a secretary to the council who was a Doctor of Roman 228 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Law. This was the starting point for a steadily grow- ing increase of professionally trained officials; and the jurists gained control of all administrative work, which they have kept to this day, in spite of increasingly emphatic demands to break with this old custom. The introduction of Roman law into Germany seems, on the whole, to have been accomplished without much friction; its character was recognized only when it was too late. Most strange perhaps to the German mind was the conception of property as an object of personal and arbi- trary power, to the German it always carried rights and duties. There is a strong contrast between the famous non olet of the Roman Emperor and the conception of the Sachsenspiegel, which says: " Property without honor is no property, and a body without honor is dead ; but all honor proceeds from faithfulness." The ruling social powers, the capitalists in the cities and the great and small territorial lords, found the Roman law favor- able to then- interests. To the former it furnished the necessary foundation for their capitalistic tendencies, for which there was little support either in the German law or the canonical law of the Church, which found its social ideal in communism. The territorial lords found the Roman law to their advantage because it was free from the traditions of the German Markgenos- setischaft, which could thus lawfully be ignored. The people, however, were little aware at first of the deep contrasts in the new law, although they smarted under the legal disability of the poor in favor of the rich and powerful, a fact which helped to feed the dissatisfaction which had begun to take hold of the peasants and the proletariate of the cities. The demand for legally trained officials increased continually, and as it was a time when the desire for xxni THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE 229 improvement, for rising in social position, was remark- ably common to all classes, the new profession was not by any means confined to the sons of the wealthy. The students of the universities were recruited from all classes of the population; the academic degree of Doctor juris placed its holder in the first social rank and was as valuable as a patent of nobility. This condi- tion of affairs especially benefited the territorial lords, as the abundance of trained jurists made them inde- pendent of the nobility in the appointments to official positions, a great help towards the centralization of power against the rise of the Estates. The general rudeness showed itself also in the legal punishments. Under the influence of the canonical and Italian law, torture and evidence by witness as well as documentary proof had been introduced. The death penalty in different forms was frequent, and some of its most savage abominations were German inventions. The persecution of witches and heretics will be treated in another chapter. Perhaps the most incisive change of the new law was the prosecution of crime by the authorities instead of through the individual complaint of the injured party. The courts, however, still remained, as of old, to a large extent people's courts with a representation of the lay element. The reason why the Roman law was so much more readily accepted in Germany than in England and France must be found in part in the lack of a strong national central power which was able to bring about a natural adaptation of the old Germanic traditions. While the new law found no entrance whatever in many parts of Germany, its influence on the whole has been very great, although the vitality of the native law was persistent enough to find expression in the legislation 230 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. of the present German Empire. The laws of Switzer- land and England have kept themselves almost entirely free from any Roman influence. The power of the great vassals, the territorial lords, had greatly increased since the decay of Chivalry, which had steadily continued since the times of Rudolph von Habsburg, and the battle on the March Field, the last victory in history to be won by the knightly mode of warfare. They had learned very much from their enemies, the cities, and slowly began to take their place as the leading elements of national life. The great drawback, however, was that the new condition required money, not only for the running expenses of administration, but especially for the payment of mer- cenaries for the conduct of their frequent wars. Public loans were one expedient introduced at this time; but they had to be paid back and demanded annual interest. Thus taxation remained the principal means of income. The Estates exercised some constitutional control over the finances. Their origin as a power in territorial government is not very clear. The Estates were : the Nobility, the Cities, and, though not everywhere, the Clergy ; they formed a territorial Diet and their politi- cal power rose and fell in proportion to the financial needs of the princes. A beginning of these "Estates of the Realm" was also noticeable in England, but the early existence of Parliament and the emancipation of the peasants prevented the development of this insti- tution there. In German states the Stdndeverfas- sungen, the Estates, lasted into the nineteenth century, and in the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg are still in existence, although their abolition is now under dis- cussion. The endeavors of the territorial princes, large or small, to increase their power, to make them- xxm THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE 231 selves independent of the Estates, and to bring under their control the cities and the smaller noblemen within their territories, are, besides the religious issue, the principal feature of German internal politics for cen- turies to come. The imperial government had in the meantime not increased in power, although the uncertainty of condi- tions had shown the desirability of a strong central authority, and repeated efforts had been made to strengthen it, yet nobody wanted to sacrifice any of his prerogatives in favor of the national welfare. The greatest power was possessed by the Prince-Electors, four secular and three ecclesiastical, who had the right to elect the emperors and wrenched all kinds of privileges from them by means of promises exacted in return for their electoral votes (Wahlcapitulatiori). There was a bitter hostility between the different classes. The territorial lords in their endeavors to increase their power were in a state of constant quarrel- ling with the small nobility and the cities, which in turn were hostile to each other; the peasants resented the contempt and oppression of all the other classes. Fre- quent outbreaks gave evidence of these inimical feelings. The most hated class of all, always named together with the Jews in the accounts of the time, was the clergy, whose worldly habits and general unfitness for their calling aroused anger and contempt. The greatest oppression was found in the ecclesiastical territories. The Mendicant orders, however, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, had taken a strong hold of the people, whose language they talked and whose life they shared. There were, nevertheless, smaller divisions within the great classes. Each guild was in reality a separate and 232 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. most exclusive class of society. Every German in reality had a double personality, his own and that as a member of a class, and accordingly he had a double honor. The ties which formerly were those of blood were now replaced by the common interests of his class. This exclusive class feeling is one of the worst sides of the German character to-day. Even from olden times there were the outclassed, die Unehrlichen. It will not seem so strange to modern eyes, unjust as it may be, to see under this ban all stage-players, vagrants, and keepers of bathhouses, who also were barbers; but it is hard to understand why in many places shepherds, millers, and linen weavers should not have been deemed respectable. Was it a reminiscence of the Kelts and Slavs, the old slaves, captured in war? Or was the shepherd sus- pected of being the confederate of the sinister demons of nature, just as superstition makes him the master of secret arts to-day? Or was it because the miller and the weaver were easily tempted to appropriate some of the raw material intrusted to them to be worked up and returned? When the decay of the guilds set in, their selfishness affords an easy explanation. In order to diminish competition they found an ever greater number of callings which would bar the children of parents belonging to them from learning a trade. It was not until much later that the government began to intercede for the victims of this injustice. In the scientific life of the earlier Middle Ages the Germans had not taken a large part, Albrecht, Count of Bollstadt, called Albertus Magnus, being almost the only German scholar mentioned. Nevertheless, the Germans had an important share both in the develop- ment of the canonic law and of scholasticism. It was xxiii THE HEIGHT OF NATIONAL LIFE 233 Albertus Magnus who first clearly distinguished between theology and philosophy, a distinction taken up by his disciple Thomas Aquinas. And in the fifteenth cen- tury Germany contributed largely to many sciences, especially to mathematics. Many inventions of their genius have already been mentioned. As a curiosity, I may add that we have reports of wagons driven with- out horses from at least two German cities during the fifteenth century. In addition to the artistic products of the crafts mentioned in the last chapter, German culture of the time shows to the greatest advantage in pure art. The masterpieces of Holbein, who later went to England, and Diirer, unexcelled in drawing, are at the end of a long line of steady national development which did not attain its height, as is often erroneously believed, as an outgrowth of the Italian renaissance. Here art rises above mere imitation to ideal reproduction. The sense for color and light found only slow develop- ment, though in the Netherlands it was greatly en- hanced by the perfection of oil painting by the brothers ten Eyck. If any proof was needed for the originality of the German genius, we need but look at its achieve- ments in architecture, in which it far excels anything produced at so early a time on the classic soil of Italy. Germany is thus ready to enter upon the modern period as the equal in civilization of the other Western nations although not showing to advantage in exter- nal grace and beauty in which her Romance neighbors are still superior. The greatest achievement of the Romans, their law, has been introduced, to the dissatis- faction of the great mass of the people. There still exists a feeling that the foreign civilization, represented principally by the Roman Church, is not adapted to 234 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xxm Germanic character, and the eternal war of the German against the Roman is about to stir the Western world in a new explosion and to free the human mind from bondage. It may not be improper to conclude this chapter with the words of Luther, written in 1521, showing how the time of which he is the greatest personage impresses him : "If any one should read all the chronicles he will not find since the birth of Christ anything like these hun- dred years in every respect. Such building and plant- ing has never been so common in this world; neither has such delicious food and drink been so common as it is now. Thus clothing has become so precious that it may not come higher. Who, furthermore, has read of such merchants as are sailing now around the world and devouring all the world ? Thus all arts are rising and have risen : painting, engraving, embroidering, that there was not the like of it since the birth of Christ. Besides there are now such sharp, intelligent people as to leave nothing hidden, to such degree, it must be added, that a boy of twenty at present knows more than formerly twenty doctors have known." CHAPTER XXIV RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT The Age of Luther FOR the first time in our survey of the evolution of German civilization we meet with a great man who has risen out of the heart of his people and who seems to be the incarnation of the national spirit, although many traits may have become national because they were his. It is not only because Charles the Great and Otto the Great, hi short, the whole number of excellent rulers from the rise of the German Empire to the death of the Hohenstaufers, are so far removed in time that the effect of their life work seems less incisive, but also because they were not so essentially of the people, and their work was not so directly for and with the people as that of Martin Luther. He is the first great German whose greatness his modern countrymen feel directly and whom they know, not from the study of books alone, but by live traditions, one might almost say from personal experience. For us, to whom persons as well as conditions and events are of interest only in so far as they have left their imprint on the German soul, the question as to whether great men are the only historical agents, the true bearers of progress, is not essential ; yet as it will be necessary for any one discussing historical develop- ment to take a definite stand on this problem, I may state that in my opinion a great man is like a keystone 235 236 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. in human history, a product of his times, who by a fortunate disposition of nature is enabled to receive and give forth again the leading tendencies of the age, but as such is only one of the factors which decide the trend of human evolution. In so far as a great man has an idealizing influence on his nation it may not always be his true character as revealed by exact scientific research which is important for our consideration, but rather, perhaps, the ideal man as he appears in popular tradition, receiving credit for great deeds he never performed, and exercising an immense influence by virtues he may never have pos- sessed. The former, the real man, may explain many of the immediate consequences of his life in his time ; the latter, the ideal, however, exercises a lasting influ- ence on all posterity. Perhaps the Luther as described here may have more of the latter than of the former character. The sixteenth century is justly called the first century of modern times, the distinctive character of which is the deliverance of personality from the bondage of author- ity. In continuous evolution the Germanic mind had built up its own culture, which for the first time has made the individual the centre of interest ; it is there- fore not far out of the way to designate our modern civilization as essentially Germanic. After the art of printing had furnished the means for every one to participate in the progress of the human intellect, after Columbus had succeeded in the greatest scientific experiment ever witnessed, two Germans drew the consequences of this evolution of fifteen cen- turies and gave us the world : Luther and Coper- nicus, two men representing the greatest contrasts imaginable and revealing thus the depth of the German xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 237 soul. And curiously enough, the passionate man of action, ever impelled to outward manifestation, the man who seems to be at his best in the heat of combat, who cannot be kept in his safe retreat at the risk of his life, he is the one who reveals to us the innermost life, the tender world of emotions, who makes us rulers in our own hearts, while the quiet scholar, centred in himself, who rather shrinks from the contact of the world, and only with great pains can be persuaded to deliver his precious message, he it is who opens for us a prospect over the infinite universe. Yet it is not so curious, after all, if we will only remember that it is a trait of the German character to try to make the out- side world a part of the inner self, to look for the union of the power that lives in man and the power that rules and regulates the whole universe, that union on which, for the German, all science and research, all ideal endeavor and all moral action, are based, " since all truth can be a reflex only of the eternal, original truth." It is the German's way to listen to the voice of one's heart, to rely on oneself in religious and moral matters, not to abandon one's personality with resignation, but to assert it with all strength. Thus these two men stand on the threshold of modern times as venerable representatives of German ideals, and foreshadow, so to speak, the words of that greatest of German thinkers, Immanuel Kant, which may be read on his tomb in Konigsberg: "Two things fill my heart with ever new and increasing admiration and reverence, the more I think about them : the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me." But what the age needed was the man of action, a man who had a strong fist to strike and destroy, to make room in order that a new world might grow, and 238 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. such a man was not the refined and elegant humanist Copernicus, but the straightforward, energetic peas- ant's son, Martin Luther. A rupture of the Germanic world and the Roman Church was from the start foreshadowed in the char- acter of the former. Efforts like the "Heliand" to adapt the new faith to the nature of the people had not achieved lasting success. There are elements in Christianity absolutely antagonistic to the Germanic nature, to which the surrender of one's personality seems abhorrent. Of the German antagonism to Rome we find ever repeated proofs ; we need mention only the writings of Walther von der Vogelweide and Thoniasin von Zirklaere. Hence the statement already quoted of a German village pastor that "the German peasant has really never been converted to Christianity." Of course, such statements must not be taken too literally and may be made with just as much or just as little justification in regard to broad classes of other countries, but this much is certain that from the mo- ment the Germans began to apply their own thought to the Christian doctrine the conflict with the Roman clergy has never ceased. The reason for this is to be found in these three fundamental contrasts : Germanic individualism against Roman universalism ; the inner religious feel- ing which seeks to conceive the ruling power of the uni- verse directly, against the external mediation offered by the mediaeval Church ; and the claiming of the right of personal judgment as against a constituted authority. It is not necessary to point out that these contrasts are only different outgrowths of one and the same funda- mental character. The Roman Church, we must not forget, has been a political power from the start, the xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 239 successor of the universal empire of Rome, and, as Goethe says, "To break up the Roman Empire and to give a new order to the world is the first and princi- pal historical task of the Germans." The repeated refusal of the Germans to accept Roman civilization may have been unconscious, but it indicated that they knew what they did not want, which, as H. S. Chamber- lain justly says, is "the beginning of all practical wis- dom." I do not hesitate to characterize the Refor- mation, with the same author, as a political event, "the deliverance of the Germanic people from Rome it has restored the Germanic man to himself." After Christianity had become the official religion of the state every independent tendency in the inter- pretation of Christian doctrine was suppressed by the public authorities, and, eventually, what was the right faith yesterday might become the false faith of to-day ; when the Roman Emperor belonged to the Arian sect, the orthodox Roman Catholics were treated as here- tics. It was the Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great, who first exercised tolerance. As long as the newly con- verted Germans did not try to get a deeper insight into the teachings of Christianity, and as long as the state authority possessed sufficient power to assert its views, everything ran smoothly. As early as the sixth cen- tury the Visigoths began to find fault with the peni- tential doctrine that one might sin at will and always find forgiveness. Charles the Great, in the Iconoclast controversy, had put through against the Pope his views on the subject. But under a weak ruler like Charles the Bald, who opposed the doctrine, just begin- ning to spread, of the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the real flesh and blood of Christ, a certain Count Gottschalk was whipped almost to death; the 240 Anglo-Saxon Scotus Erigena was most cruelly perse- cuted and, when he had reached a refuge in his native country, assassinated. It is significant that with the beginning of a deeper, more spiritual conception of Christianity the perse- cution of heretics began. For deeper religious feeling Rome had very little appreciation. In order to facili- tate the discovery of heresies, auricular confession was introduced in 1215, and in view of the endeavors to spiritualize religion, the doctrine was put forth that for the expiation of sins a true repentance of the heart was not necessary, but that repentance from fear of hell would be sufficient. Gregory IX took the perse- cution of the heretics out of the hands of the bishops and introduced the Inquisition, which he intrusted to the Dominican monks. The Church, of course, might not shed blood, therefore the execution of its judgments was left to the secular powers. In Germany these attempts met with great opposition. The Hohen- staufers, it is true, consented, certainly not from reli- gious motives, to destroy the Frisian peasant sect of the Stedingers, but the first Grand Inquisitor for Ger- many, Konrad of Marburg, was slain after a very short duration of his atrocities. It was very gradually and almost unnoticeably that the Inquisition was brought back to Germany to play its gruesome part in the trials of the witches. In England its influence is even less marked; it found full admission only much later for a short period under Mary the Catholic, also called the Bloody. In anticipation it may be stated that intolerance and persecution were not abolished by Protestantism; in Protestant countries the trials of heretics lasted until the period of Rationalism in the eighteenth century. xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 241 While deep true religion was thus persecuted, there was the more need to bind the people to the Church by external means, and Satan, Hell, and Purgatory were used to frighten the masses and drive them to the Church with its means of grace. The belief in the devil was deeply implanted in the people's souls, as we see from Luther and his famous ink spot. The latter has long been shown in the room in the Wartburg, where Luther threw his ink-well at the devil, and the spot was carefully renewed from time to time to preserve its interest for the visitors. Superstition increased at a terrible rate, and besides heretics we see witches on the flaming pile. Pope Innocent III, who ruled about the year 1200, still ridiculed the belief in witches as childish. The first account of witches who had turned themselves into toads comes from Trier (Treves) in the fourth decade of the thirteenth century, a time in which there was no more need of combating paganism. From Toulouse in France the first cremation of a witch is reported in 1275. It was that of a sixty-year-old woman, accused of intimacy with the devil, an accusa- tion which runs like a red thread through this human aberration. Only in 1484 do trials of witches receive the sanction of the Pope Innocent VIII. Thus we can hardly call them an institution of the "dark ages." Nowhere did this superstition find more adherents and work more mischief than in Germany, where it was a curious development of that ancient belief of which Tacitus speaks, that there was something mysterious and divine in woman. Here, in 1489, by order of the Pope, Heinrich Institoris and Jacob Sprenger published that horrible book, that greatest monument of human cruelty and folly, the wickedest work of the world's literature, the Malleus Maleficarum, the " Witches' 242 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Hammer," which has also been considered an authority by the Protestants. It is true, however, that it was also in Germany that the first protest was raised against this abomination hi the sixteenth century by Weier, a physician, and later, in the seventeenth century, by the Jesuit Friedrich von Spee, while the most vigorous fight against it was waged by Thomasius. Unfortu- nately, however, the belief in witches has not disap- peared even yet, although its recognition by public law ceased at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Thus curiously enough the first steps leading to the emancipation of human reason are accompanied by the most horrible excesses of superstition, and the enormous number of human beings burnt at the stake makes us ap- preciate what debt of gratitude we owe to those two men who furnished us with weapons in the battle for reason. In spite of all persecutions of heretics and in spite of the superficial interpretation of Christianity on the part of its leaders, a purer conception of its doctrine had spread more and more extensive^, at first under the influence of mysticism. Germanic heathenism, lit- tle as we know about it, had already shown a certain tendency to mysticism, e.g., the belief just mentioned that there were some secret forces operative in women. The stronger emotional life of the woman's soul would make more probable the conception of certain things incomprehensible to reason. It was therefore not mere chance that it was precisely among women that the mystic side of religion found its strongest support. In the twelfth century the fame of St. Hildegard filled the whole Western world. She is surrounded by a numerous group of authoresses who describe the mystic experiences of their hearts. Of these Mech- thildis of Magdeburg deserves special mention, as she xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMIJNT 243 exercised a strong influence on Dante. How much this mystic conception of the relations between God and man and the world was .looked upon as peculiar to the German character, although it did not fail of strong representatives in other countries, we may infer from the fact that it was called directly the " Ger- man philosophy," philosophia teutonica. Indeed, in the works of its greatest representatives, Eckart, Suso, and Tauler, not only the leading ideas of the Refor- mation are to be found, but also a presentiment of those of more recent German thinkers. Here we find that inner conception of the divinity, the Ger- manic conception of religion, and that morality which is not influenced in its actions by fear of eternal punishment or hope of eternal reward, for which sal- vation does not mean salvation from the tortures of hell, but solely the transformation of the inner man. The mystics turned not only towards man's own inner life, but also towards God's work or self-manifestation in nature. Thus for the development of science mysti- cism is of great importance. One of its disciples was the great Cardinal Nikolaus Krebs of Kues, who lived in the fifteenth century. He has been justly called the first German philosopher and was a scholar and follower of Plato, a great opponent of scholasticism, and of Aristotle. He invented an instrument to meas- ure the depth of the sea, and he revealed the forgery of the so-called Isidorian decretals, on which the papal supremacy is based. He also showed the authority of the councils of the Church over the Pope and the equality and independence of the state. Another mystic was Paracelsus, the contemporary of Luther and Co- pernicus, who for the first time placed medicine on the basis of physiology and who in spite of all his bombast 244 HISTOR7 OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. has given many valuable hints to science ; Bacon made free use of his writing? ; and last but not least, he was one of the first to use ike German language in teaching in a German university. The influence of mysticism and of the Mendicant orders had brought the clergy nearer to the people. At last some parts of the Holy Service had been turned into German ; soon this was followed by German ser- mons, and as early as the thirteenth century we meet Berthold of Regensburg, one of the best popular preach- ers of all times. Under these impulses personality had found recognition in religious life also and was waiting for the magic word of deliverance. These religious movements hi the lay world and among the lower clergy were accompanied by continu- ous attempts to reform the Church. But in spite of all these efforts, in spite of all apparent strengthening of democratic principles in Church life, which mani- fested itself in the so-called conciliar movement aiming to assert the authority of the councils over the popes, in spite of all schisms, in spite of whole dynasties of evident scelerates who held the office of representatives of Christ, the polity of the popes was successful in maintaining their power. The money which every year found its way, from the pockets of the German clergy and laymen, to Rome, where it was squandered in luxury, reached an amount which was directly detri- mental to national wealth and caused people to think, who as a rule were not given to religious meditation. And the Pope was imitated in this money-making propensity by the bishops. A councilman of Niirnberg, one of the most educated men of his time, Willibald Pirkheimer, gives us the following description of epis- copal cities shortly before the Reformation : xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 245 "The Imperial cities used to be considerable in num- ber and power, but most of them have fallen by the force of the tyrants and bad government. Especially they have suffered by the pride and avarice of the bishops, this all-devouring flame. For after the former Emperors, according to the pernicious advice of the Princes, had entrusted to the Bishops then- prerogatives in the Im- perial cities, they did not hesitate to exploit these privi- leges with all their might. They instigated the people against the better classes and drove the latter out of the city; the foolish people were soon suppressed and the bishops were the masters; in this way had fallen old Trier, powerful Mainz, and rich Koln. Among the great number of Imperial cities hardly one could escape the cruel storm. Now the bishops hold these cities, but fleeced and oppressed to such a degree as to make the Turkish yoke light in comparison. Just so the tyrants proceed hi the cities which they have either suppressed by force or received as a pledge by the Emperor or on their prayers." To appreciate this statement one must remember that in the beginning of the sixteenth century one-third part of Germany was under ecclesiastical rule. But another point must not be forgotten. The in- fluence of the Catholic Church was not confined to the religious life of its members, but comprised all and every- thing. Hell and Satan as well as the confessional had been the means by which the minds of men had been completely subdued. If according to Church doctrine the Emperor possessed his authority by the grace of God, i.e., of the Church, the same held good logically for all his subjects ; every one held his social position, his calling, so to speak, as an office from God, and thus Rome claimed to be the actual and immediate master of 246 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. everybody. Therefore it is not alone the victorious battle against some articles of creed which gives such importance to the Reformation, but it was also the de- liverance of the non-religious life from ecclesiastical rule. Thus the Reformation was above all also a political movement, in a national sense, the liberation of Ger- many from Roman rule, a point which is incessantly emphasized by Luther. As he won national independence from Rome for Germany, so he did for every other nation, and in this same sense Luther has become the liberator of the Catholic nations also ; no matter how small this liberty may appear as compared with progressive Protestant countries, every citizen even of the most backward nation of our Western civilization is, in view of mediaeval conditions, a free man to-day. For himself and as a German, Martin Luther defended personal right and gained his victory not alone by his powerful character, but because he came at a time when, as I have tried to show, the fact that the German had risen to a consciousness of personality became manifest in all fields of human interest. The Reforma- tion does not mean, as is often claimed, the victory of reason over ignorance, it means only the beginning of the conflict, the declaration of war, so to speak. It is a movement in the field of will ; it does not give truth, but the right to search for truth, the right to exercise our faculties of thinking, feeling, willing, as self-ruling men. Even before Copernicus had shown that hi the vast expanse of the universe there was no room for Heaven and Hell, Luther had pointed out the spot where they were to be found in reality, that is, within our own selves ; there they are as real to-day as they ever have appeared in the visions of saints, and real xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 247 not for the Protestant only, but for the piously faithful Catholic as well, for the Jew, the infidel, and the mate- rialist, though many may protest against this statement. "Within your breast, the stars are of your fate," says Schiller, and this is the fundamental idea of the religion which the German genius has given to the world and which unites all men of noble thought, whatever creed, nation, or race may be theirs. And if the Ger- man poet says, "All men are free, though they were born in chains," he speaks of that inner, that personal liberty, of which, since the days of Luther, the German has held as his most sacred possession, of which he is proud, and which he guards most jealously whenever it appears endangered hi the smallest degree. While the Germans, therefore, may claim the credit of having given to the world the conception of the moral man of modern times, it appears they have given expression to some common Germanic tendenc}?- ; for it is a remark- able coincidence that it is only with the Germanic nations that the Reformation has been of lasting influ- ence, that the boundaries of Catholic Germany in general do not deviate very much from the Roman limes, which in heathen times separated free Germany from the Roman Empire and those provinces hi which the German and Latin elements freely rntermingled. In the present conscious endeavors to strengthen national feeling in Germany a movement which is distinguished by an eager study of the German char- acter, perhaps not always entirely free from chauvin- ism, but not by any means blind to its weak points amongst many a good word from the German poets we are met again and again by the Shakespearean line of poetry " This above all, to thine own self be true ! " 248 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. If the Germans cherish Shakespeare as one of their own classics, and if the German translators have been so successful hi expressing his thought, it is because the great poet is so truly Germanic. Powerful as is Luther's personality, with his faults and his virtues, the raciest and most German figure in history, still it may be said of him, perhaps more than of many others, that the greatest men are after all only the products of their surroundings. He of all men demonstrates the fact that he did not so much influence his time as he most emphatically embodied the influ- ences which were stirring up the soul of his nation. This is the only explanation that can be found for the powerful and rapid effect of his first public step, an effect surely not intended or even dreamt of by him. Just read those ninety-five theses about the indul- gences ! These demands were neither revolutionary nor were they new. Wy cliff e, Huss, and others have been much more radical. Still the German people felt instinctively and immediately : This is the man we have waited for. That his opponents took his procedure very seriously is less wonderful since he struck their most sensitive spot their purse. If we put aside religious considera- tions for a moment, we should see that his blow struck, not only at the income of the hierarchy, but also directly at capitalism, for the proceeds from the sale of indul- gences which the Dominican monk, Tetzel, pushed on behalf of Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz, had long before been pledged in pawn to the great mercantile house of Fugger, which financed the enterprise for a good com- mission. A representative of the Fuggers accompanied the preacher of the indulgences on his rounds and took charge of all the money paid in. Thus in the xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 249 progress of the movement we see the great capitalists, especially the Fuggers, arrayed on the side of Rome. The money owed them by the clergy and the imperial family amounted to many millions. To the House of Habsburg alone they had loaned seven million thalers, a sum equivalent to about fifty million dollars in modern money. It was simply a question of business interest for the creditor to prevent a weakening of the power and the solvency of his debtors. As the power of capital was concentrated in the south of Germany, we have here another reason for the actual geographical distribution of denominations. Not so very long ago, when the firm of the Roth- schilds was at its height, it was often said, in a rather joking way, that no war could be waged against their will : but this control over the political fate of Ger- many by the Fuggers was a bitter fact ; there seems to be no doubt that without the help of the great capitalists the Catholic Church would not have been reestablished in southern Germany. For the entire German nation was on the side of Luther. As early as the Diet of Worms, not four years after the posting of those theses on the church door at Wittenberg, the papal legate reported to his master that nine-tenths of the Germans were against Rome; and when, in the second half of the sixteenth century, the Jesuit Order began the reconquest of Germany in the so-called Counter-Reformation, almost all the inhabit- ants were Protestants. Even in the Habsburg domin- ions the Estates had succeeded in obtaining the recog- nition of the evangelic faith. In its very first beginnings the movement was ex- traordinarily strong. The theses on the indulgences were spread all over Germany within two weeks. All 250 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. classes of the population were stirred ; the papal legate, Aleander, could not show himself on the street without being jeered at; he even wrote the Pope that at the imperial court itself an excessively Lutheran door- keeper treated him to occasional pokes in the ribs. The Archduke Ferdinand announced to Charles V, in 1522, "The cause of Luther is rooted so deeply hi the whole Empire that not one in a thousand is free from it." The rulers were not deaf to public opinion; great regard was paid to the excitement of the people in the resolutions of the Reichstag in Niirnberg, in 1522 ; and the Reichstag, in session at the same place two years later, said expressly that in case of any effort to restrain the religious movement "much riot, diso- bedience, manslaughter, bloodshed, yea, a general ruin was to be feared." This was probably the reason why in spite of ban and proscription Luther escaped the fate of Huss, whose Czech movement had been, if possible, even more dangerous from a national point of view, than the German idea of Luther. Thus in the face of all disharmony and selfishness of the Protestant Princes, in spite of the victories of the armies of the Habsburgers, Protestantism kept its hold on the people. Notwithstanding the numerous important problems, which in this time of transition to modern times were urgently demanding consideration, religious questions formed the chief interest of all classes of population during the entire century. Peasants and craftsmen, commoners and noblemen, discussed questions regarding which not so very long ago no theologian would have risked an argument ; lay preachers rose everywhere. The different schools of Protestantism fought with each other as violently, or even more so, as they did against xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 251 Romanism, and with the same dogmatic rigidity, the same intolerance that was shown by the latter. Luther could not endure any opinion different from his own; without detriment to his importance as an intellectual liberator, it cannot be denied that he tried to put the mind into new chains, as soon as his faith left the realm of emotion and entered upon that of reason. It is sometimes said that instead of the Roman Pope he set up a paper Pope in the Bible. It is quite true that he apparently made the Bible a new infallible authority, instead of leaving man entirely to his own inner conviction; he had given every one, however, the right to interpret the word of God as it was revealed in the Bible after his own fashion, so that the Bible appeared to him not so much a dead authority, in which dogma had been laid down once and forever, as the living voice of God which spoke directly to every- body. And though Luther overlooked in this the fact that he really put a new infallible authority in place of the old one, still he did not, in contrast to Rome, demand a merely external submission, but a whole- hearted attempt to conceive the truth, of which he likewise in contrast to the Rome of his time was himself firmly convinced. His intolerance was the outgrowth of this conviction of the absolute truth of his faith. Besides, we must emphasize again that Luther was a German, and, as such, shared the German faults, among which obstinacy of opinion and a certain pedantry are prominent. While these shadows are often overlooked in the bright light which shines from the master, they seem to be the principal features of many of his followers as well as his opponents ; and thus we can easily understand how theological quibbling became the ruling passion of the time in Germany. In 252 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. fact, as far as a greater freedom of thought or an ad- vance towards a scientific view of the world were con- cerned, the appearance of Luther and the intellectual achievement of Copernicus did not prove at first to be of great benefit to their own nation. Luther liber- ated German feeling and will, while free reasoning found a home and development first with the French, the Dutch, and the English, and was not to attain its great triumphs in Germany until two centuries later. Luther could not fairly have been expected to draw the same conclusions from the theory of Copernicus which we do to-day. He saw very plainly that it could not be made to agree with the teachings of the Bible, and there- fore quite logically, from his point of view, he declared it to be wrong. He said of his great contemporary : "The fool wants to turn around the whole art of astronomy, but the Holy Scriptures tell us that Joshua made the sun stand still, and not the earth." Towards the end of the century the reformed Protestants began to persecute the followers of Copernicus. Rome, however, was so indifferent to the foundations of the Christian doctrine, that it did not recognize at all the dangerous character of the new theory. The monk of Wittenberg was giving the Pope so much trouble that the Canon of Frauenberg did not appear threatening. The Pope even accepted with thanks the dedication of the book which destroyed the foundation of the view of the world upheld by the Church. Only in the next century did the Jesuits recognize the true meaning of the book, and on the 5th of March, 1616, Pope Paul V declared the doctrine that the sun is the centre of the universe and does not move from east to west, but that the earth moves and is not the centre of the universe, to be wrong and heretical. This anathema has xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 253 never been retracted to the knowledge of the author, although in 1828 permission was given to read Coper- nicus' book. The influence Luther has had on German culture cannot be overvalued. In all fields of life he became the teacher and guide of his nation ; surrounded by thor- oughly educated and capable men, he began to decide the currents of the social, political, and ethical move- ments and tried to give them the right direction every- where for the best of the German people. His influ- ence, which was used, on the whole, without fear and regard for persons, gained for him a willing ear from princes and noblemen, from burghers and peasants. To show this in all details would lead us too far. While he was a professor in a university he was far from feeling himself above the common people as was the rule with the humanists of the time ; on the contrary, he never could come to an understanding with the greatest leaders of humanism, like Melanchthon. By his marriage he simply did himself what he had preached to others for a long time. He maintained that the family was the foundation of social life, and by marrying himself he removed the stain put on woman and the family by the law of celibacy, giving again this recognition to woman's position which the Germanic peoples claim with such pride and affection as peculiar to themselves from the beginning, and which their Romance neigh- bors do not seem to be able to appreciate. But no matter how much they may privately sneer at it, or publicly ridicule it, the Germans know that this private life, which spreads its light within the four walls of the home, is one of the deep roots of their national strength. As far as the Protestant countries are concerned, and especially Protestant Germany, this 254 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. abolition of celibacy and the emphasizing of the impor- tance and sacredness of the family life on the part of the clergymen has not only had a general ethical effect, but has strengthened the forces that make for higher culture in a way that is often overlooked. In the at- mosphere of the Protestant parsonage, with its high idealism, in spite of occasional bigotry, pedantry, and phariseeism, with its sense of duty based on self- respect, its intellectual refinements, its material unpre- tentiousness, in short, with that whole spiritual inheri- tance of Luther and his companions, the sons and daughters of the parsons grow up and their importance in the culture development of the nation can be easily appreciated, if we consider only superficially how many of its intellectual leaders have come from their ranks, or if we compare what percentage they furnish to the learned professions. These " pastors' children" in a Protestant population cannot be balanced by the Catholic clergy in spite of equal intellectual attain- ments and perhaps because undivided greater devotion to their office. It is not necessary to remind the readers of this book of our own American history, where similar observations can be made. While Luther recognized the importance of school education, he stood before his nation chiefly in the light of a model father and home educator. Aside from his own writings we learn a great deal of his home life from contemporary accounts and pictures. After the weary work of his calling he found rest in recreation among his children ; as he looked at them he would exclaim : "Oh ! what a great, rich, and magnificent blessing there is in the married state ; what joy is shown to man in matrimony by his descendants !" In his family circle he played like a child day by day, composed children's xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 255 songs and sang them with his family while he accom- panied them on the lute. He not only knew how to put himself on the mental level of a child, but also knew how to talk with children and thus proved his own words : " Christ, as he wanted to educate man, had to become a man. If we are to train children, we must ourselves become children with them." In 1530 he wrote to his little son Johnny (Hansicheri) : "I like to see you learn well and to pray diligently. Do this, my little son, and continue thus. When I come home, I will bring you something nice from the fair. I know a nice, cheerful garden, wherein many children are walking ; they wear green coats and pick up fine apples under the trees, and pears, cherries, egg plums and other plums, sing and jump and are merry; they also have fine little horses with golden reins and sil- ver saddles. Then I asked the man to whom the garden belongs whose children they were. He said, ' These are the children that like to pray, learn, and are pious. ' Then I said : ' My dear man, I have also a son, called Han- sichen Luther ; may he not come likewise into the gar- den, that he may eat such fine apples and pears, and ride on such fine little horses, and play with these little children?' ..." The letter continues in the same manner. The great man, to whom all Europe had listened, did not think it beneath him to descend to the level of his child, and found the time and leisure to do so when most momen- tous deliberations were going on which concerned the future of his life work. There is still another side to Luther's work which remains of the greatest importance to us to-day. In the eyes of many Germans it is perhaps the most precious of his gifts, bestowed particularly on his own 256 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. people and manifesting his thoroughly German nature ; this gift is the modern German language. Luther, of course, did not invent the language defined by phi- lology as "New High German," but he did, so to speak, discover it. To say that "in translating the Bible Luther used the language of the Electoral Saxon Chancellery and in consequence of the great popularity of this translation its diction became the foundation of the modern German written language," is far too narrow a statement, although it passes from one text- book to another. It is true Luther made use of this language because it had been widely adopted in his time, but how much of it did he reject ! how much did he add from other sources ! We know from his own words that he used to look at the common people's mouths hi order to study the truly national language. On the other hand he writes to Spalatin, his protector and a highly educated humanist: " Help me to set the words right, but so as not to supply expressions of court- iers and soldiers." Just because he was German to the core, the genius of the language was revealed to him ; or may we not rather say, the genius of the language was his own and only thus was he able to preserve all its advantages, not in a rigid form, but with a power of rejuvenation, ever strong and active. No wonder that praise for his contributions to the mother tongue has not been sparing, Out of many I quote two his- torians. Lamprecht calls Luther, "A man who, gifted with a natural interest in language, had control of the word as almost no German before or after him, who at the same time had a strong musical sense, and gave his ear not less to the rhythm of the language, than to its sounds." Of the Bible translation he says : "It has had an influence on the German mind almost unequalled. xxiv RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 257 It did not extend merely to its phonetics and etymol- ogy, but also to its rhythm and syntax; it also took hold of its wealth of words ; words like ' Eif er ' (zeal) and 'Ekel 7 (disgust), 'Halle' (hall) and 'Hugel' (hill), 'fiihlen' (to feel) and 'freien' (to woo), 'aberglaubisch' (superstitious) and 'albern' (stupid), bear the stamp of Luther ; and wherever two or three of the linguistic community of educated Germans meet to-day in the written or oral exchange of thought, there Luther is speaking as one of them, and the learned perceive in word and construction the ever present influence of his mind." The words of Ranke are not less emphatic in their praise : " A more powerful writer never has appeared in any nation of the world. Nor might another be named who would unite the most perfect perspicuity and popularity, and sound, true-hearted common sense with so much of genuine intelligence, enthusiasm, and genius. He has given to German literature the char- acter it has since preserved : that of research and deep meaning." No wonder that a man whose influence is felt so directly by the great men of his nation after centuries have passed, has impressed his personality so strongly upon his time that we may truly call it : the Age of Luther. CHAPTER XXV HUMANISM AND RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY Education after Luther. From the Journal of Thomas Platter TOGETHER with the Reformation, at which we have glanced, an important part in the transition from mediaeval to modern tunes is played by Humanism. It is wrong, however, to make the Reformation appear as a consequence of Humanism. While the Reforma- tion is an outgrowth of the national life of the German soul, Humanism was only an educational movement in Germany, confined in its workings almost entirely to the scholarly world. More than in the joyful atmosphere of Italy, German Humanism had its immediate source in the Netherlands. It was brought from Italy by the jurists, and its influence extended exclusively to the formal side, but still its great teachers and its greatest scholar had then- home in the Netherlands. It pro- ceeded from the circles of those Brethren of Common Life I have mentioned before. Hence its teachers spread all over Germany, founding famous schools and moulding what we now call secondary education into a form from which the modern world is endeavoring to break away. At that time, however, the study of classical literature led to the destruction of traditional authority, which, as we have seen, was the distinguish- ing feature of the new period brought about by the 258 xxv HUMANISM AND RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY 259 Reformation. It may be that Humanism might have in time brought about the emancipation of reason with- out the help of Luther. But of what benefit, I ask again, is it to speculate against the course of history? The emancipation due to Luther was not, at first, as we have seen, so much an emancipation of reason as of the will and heart. It grew from within, while Humanism would have effected it from without, by the strength of classical culture, not of the German mind ; further- more, it would not have reached the entire people, but only those who knew the classical languages. As it is, humanistic education, where it has gained control, has separated its possessors from the rest of the nation, has brought about that disastrous division of the Ger- man people into the educated and uneducated, into castes almost as strange to each other as is elsewhere the case only in countries where a small conquering caste rules over the great mass of a subdued people. In certain respects, however, the Humanists help to prepare the way for Luther and other reformers; Zwingli and Calvin may be said to have been directly under then 1 influence. The Humanists slowly brought about a change in the universities and higher schools. They abolished the old scholastic text-books with then* bad Latin, intro- duced better ones, and made teachers and scholars familiar with the good Latin and Greek authors. But, taken up by the dead world of the past, they had lost touch with the living present of their people, and very few of them joined Luther and his companions. Of these Ulrich von Hutten is the most interesting figure. By the inspiration of Luther's work he was brought back from a sterile admiration of antiquity to a love of his own country, and discarded Latin for German. 260 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. After the new spirit had taken a strong hold of all classes of the people and after an unsuccessful effort had been made to break away from the scholastic learning, the people began under the first impulse of the Refor- mation to turn against classical learning altogether. In the first years of the Reformation we notice so decided a revolt against learning that the universities became empty, as will be shown by figures in a later chapter ; but this was only temporary. As the Refor- mation placed Christian faith entirely in the Bible, the correct interpretation of the text became of the greatest importance, and therefore could not fail to lead to an increased study of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and to an application of philological methods as the only safe guide to the meaning of the Scriptures. A classical education was deemed indispensable for the clergymen of the new Church, but also important for the laymen, to whom the Bible was now given to study. The separation between clergy and lay world had fallen away, and higher studies seemed less a prerogative of the former. The whole tendency of the times had given a new impulse to scientific research, and we see special advances in mathematics and astronomy, the latter still unseparated from astrology, which, with alchemy, played a great part in those times. For the future of the German universities it is of importance that for their maintenance they had to accept the help of the civil authorities, and therefore were changed into public institutions under the control of the state. As the Bible in German was to be in the hands of every Christian, ability to read became a necessity, even if the leaders of the Reformation had not plainly understood the importance of schools for directing the thoughts of the young. Luther himself puts great xxv HUMANISM AND RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY 261 stress on the erection of higher and lower schools for boys and girls ; he demands distinctly the common school, with skilful teachers adapted to their work. In this school work, as well as in other respects, Luther's assistant was Philip Melanchthon, one of the greatest Humanists of his tune. Reuchlin and Erasmus, the other two leading German Humanists, did not join Luther when they saw the democratic as well as dogmatic character of the movement. In the course of the century the Protestant schools found a richer development. Besides the Protestant universities, among which Wit- tenberg had to give up its leading place to Jena, we find different classes of secondary schools. There were the old Latin schools of the cities, many of which greatly in- creased in scope and even included university instruc- tion, the so-called Furstenschulen (princes' schools), new ventures, some of which are famous to-day, and the academical Gymnasium. In a very short time the aim of these schools became the preparation for the university. But when Protestantism itself, after its first enthusiasm was spent, became petrified, these schools soon became nurseries of a dead knowledge, in spite of sound pedagogical theory and practice, developed by a number of excellent schoolmen from whom modern teachers might learn many a valuable lesson. As a product of the Reformation, however, the common schools, which appear first as Sunday schools and catechism schools, stand out most prom- inently. First founded by the cities and villages, their growth was fostered in many instances by the princes. As the century progressed the so-called Schulordnun- gen, regulations for the school management, made by the authorities, became more and more frequent, and form a very important source of pedagogical history. 262 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. In education, as in other things, the Reformation was not confined in its effects to the Protestants. The Jesuits especially made the founding of schools for the education of the better classes one of their principal instruments in the counter-Reformation. While they modified the methods considerably, and particularly placed discipline and character-building influences on a different foundation, they adopted on the whole the models of their opponents. The advantages claimed for the methods are well known, but the German critic objects to Jesuit schools, as being hostile to all purely human feelings, the affection for parent, home, and country ; to their unnatural fostering of ambition, their mutual spying system, religious intolerance, and to their destruction of independence of character. Common schools were promoted by several Catholic princes as well as cities. In spite of all efforts the Protestants and Humanists did not succeed in founding a sufficient number of schools, one of the reasons being a lack of trained teachers. Great must have been the mass of young people who wanted to acquire that wonderful knowledge that gave man such power and placed a poor peasant's son on the same footing with the son of a noble and made him one of the ruling class. Those who lived in small cities and vil- lages, no matter how eager they were for knowledge, were compelled, as they had been in the century before, to leave their homes, and thus the institution of the fahrende Schuler (vagrant scholars) lasted until the Thirty Years' War. The wanderings of these vagrants may be due in part to a very reason- able idea which has exercised a greater influence on modern university life in Germany than in any other country, and even forms one of its essential features xxv HUMANISM AND RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY 263 at present ; namely, that the teacher is more impor- tant than the school. This is seen so plainly in the frequent change of the student from one German university to another that it does not need special illustration. The short tenure of office of principals and rectors and frequent quarrels with the civil and Church authorities made frequent changes. Good teachers drew a great many scholars with them. Thus wandering became common ; the most studious would easily change their school in case they thought that the progress in a city was not satisfactory, or they heard of a famous teacher in another city. This unsettled condition was of course not at all beneficial to weak characters, and for many the jolly vagrant life with its ad ventures was preferred to the steady life of the student. The Vagrant Scholars became a regular nuisance ; they supported themselves by begging, often by stealing and swindling. The older ones, "Bacchanten," made the younger, the ABC " shooters," -" shoot" meaning in then* jargon to steal, beg and pilfer for their benefit. It was sup- posed, of course, that the older ones would impart ele- mentary instruction to the beginners an obligation which was rarely taken seriously. The "Bacchanten" led a very dissipated life and enjoyed a very bad repu- tation. They were up to all kinds of tricks to obtain money; very often they posed as magicians, treasure finders, exercisers, and the like, exploiting with great success the superstition of the peaasnts. In spite of all this, the people do not seem to have been so very hostile to the young men and on the whole seem to have looked upon their tricks, even when they them- selves were their victims, with a certain indulgent, though sometimes rather vexed, humor, just as the 264 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. German student life with its more harmless extrava- gance is regarded to-day. No picture of " those times would be perfect without taking account of these vagrants ; they were one of the factors in arousing the interest of the people in the educational and cultural tendencies of the period, and they are themselves witnesses to this interest, as their whole mode of living indicates that they came from the poorest classes. The popularity of famous teachers who attracted students from all parts of the country and all classes of the population may be realized from the fact that as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century, Sapidus, who kept a school in the small town of Schlet- stadt, had nine hundred scholars. At the time of Sturm, whose course of study became the model for modern classical education and for the Jesuit schools as well, the Gymnasium at Strassburg had four thousand scholars, of whom two hundred were noblemen, twenty- four counts and baronets, and three princes. In order to give an idea of this life, perhaps I cannot do better than translate a few passages from the de- scription of Thomas Platter, who wrote his autobiog- raphy in 1572, when he was himself seventy-two years old. This book is one of the most important sources for our knowledge of life in the tunes of the Reformation. He tells us that when nine years old he was placed under the care of a cleric who ill-treated him in a most cruel manner. Then he was intrusted to the guardian- ship of a vagrant student by the name of Paulus. On then* trip from his home in the Swiss canton of Wallis, he had to beg for himself and his "Bacchant." "On account of his simplicity and rustic language," he re- ceived many amis. For the first time in his life he saw a stove of the kind called Kachelofen covered with xxv HUMANISM AND RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY 265 tiles, still to be found in Germany ; at first he saw only two big tiles, and thought it was a calf. When he saw some geese, which likewise were new to him, the little fellow ran away frightened, and screamed as if he thought it was the devil. In Lucerne he saw for the first tune tiled roofs, and "was astonished at the red roofs." At last they came to Zurich, where Paulus decided to wait until he found company to wan- der to Meissen hi Saxony. We will let him narrate some of his experiences in his own words : "In the meantime I went begging, so that I supported Paulus almost entirely; for when I came into a tavern the people liked to hear me talk hi the dialect of Wallis, and gave to me will- ingly. After we had waited eight or nine weeks, we started for Meissen ; it was a long trip for me, who was not used to wandering so far ; besides, to get food on the road ! Well, we went, eight or nine ; three little Schiitzen (shooters) and other big Bacchants, as they are called in those places ; among these I was the small- est shooter and the youngest. When I could not walk any longer, my cousin Paulus went behind me with a rod or switch and hit my bare legs; for I wore no stockings and very bad shoes." His first adventure he narrates as follows : "While we were wandering and talking about all sorts of things, the Bacchants said to each other, it was custom in Meissen and in Silesia that the scholars might steal geese and other eatables, and nothing was done, if one escaped the man to whom the things stolen belonged. One day we were not far from a village ; there were a great many geese together and no herdsman with them ; for every village had its own goose-herd he was rather far away with the cow- herd. Then I asked my companions, the shooters : 'When shall we be at Meissen, so that I may kill geese ?' 266 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Said they: 'We are there now.' Then I took a stone, threw at one, and hit its leg. The other ones flew away, but the limping one could not get up. Then I took another stone, hit its head, so that it fell down. Then I ran near, caught the goose, and with it under my coat, I went the road to the village. Then the goose- herd came running after us, and shouted in the village : 'The boy has stolen a goose from me !' I and my fellow-shooters fled, and the goose's feet hung out from under my coat. The peasants came out with hatchets and followed after us. When I saw I could not escape with the goose, I dropped it. Outside of the village I jumped off the road into brushwood. But two of my companions ran along the road they were overtaken by the peasants. Then they fell on their knees, asked for mercy, they had done no harm ; and when the peasants saw they were not the ones who dropped the goose, they went back to the village. But when I saw them hurry after my companions, I was in great distress, and said to myself : ' Oh God, I think I did not bless myself to-day,' as I had been taught to bless myself every morn- ing." Of such adventures Thomas Platter gives a great many ; in selecting some short passages, I shall try to take such as throw an incidental light on general con- ditions, as public safety, hospitals, and others, besides such as have a particular bearing on the life of the scholars and schools. After relating an experience with murderers near Niirnberg, he continues : "About a mile from Naumburg, our big companions stayed behind again in a village : they wanted to eat together, and they sent us ahead. There were five of us ; then, in the open field, there came eight on horseback xxv HUMANISM AND RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY 267 with drawn cross-bows towards us; rode around us, asked money from us, and aimed their arrows at us. One of us who was rather big replies : ' We have no money ! ' Then our companion says again : ' We have not got any money and will not give you any money and we do not owe you anything.' Then the horseman drew his sword and struck so that it hissed close to his head. They rode off towards the woods, but we went towards Naumburg. "In Naumburg we stayed several weeks. We shooters went to sing in the city, those who could sing ; but I went begging; we went to no school. This the others would not allow, and threatened to drag us to school. The schoolmaster sent word to our bacchants they should come to school or he would fetch them. . . . Anthony (the leader of the bacchants) sent word back, he might come if he cared. . . . Then we little shooters carried stones on the roof. But Anthony and others guarded the door. Then the schoolmaster came with a whole procession of his shooters and bacchants. But we boys threw stones at them, so that they were com- pelled to withdraw. When we heard that we had been reported to the magistrate, we went to Halle in Saxony and went to the school at St. Ulrich's." Theynext go to Dresden, "but there was not one good school, and the lodgings were full of lice, so that we heard them rustle in the straw beneath us at night." "We started and marched towards Breslau, and had to suffer much hunger on the road ; so that some days we ate only raw onions and salt, some days roasted acorns, crab-apples, and pears ; many a night we had to sleep in the open, as we were nowhere admitted to the houses, no matter how politely we asked for shelter ; sometimes the dogs were set on us. 268 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. "But when we came towards Breslau in Silesia, everything was plentiful, arid so cheap that many poor scholars overate themselves and fell into great sickness. We first went to school in the cathedral of the Holy Cross. . . . The city of Breslau has seven parishes; each has a special school. No scholar was allowed to go to another one's parish to sing, or they would shout 'Ad idem ! Ad idem ! ' Then the scholars would run together and beat each other very badly. It is said, there were at one time in the city several thousand bacchants and shooters, who all supported themselves by alms. It is also said that some had been there twenty and thirty years and longer, who had their shooters to attend them. I have brought home to my bacchants five or six loads in one evening to the school where they stopped at the time. The people gave to me willingly because I was so small and a Swiss ; for they liked the Swiss very much. They felt a great pity for the Swiss because they had suffered greatly in the big battle at Milan just at that time ; as was generally said : 'Now the Swiss have lost their best pater noster.' For up to that tune they were thought to be invincible." (The battle referred to is commonly called the Battle of Marignano, 1515.) Here follows a little episode, which I should not like to omit, although it is of a more personal character, as it shows the loyalty of the boy in spite of all the hardships he had to suffer, one of the incidents that help to ex- plain why the Germans think faithfulness, Treue, one of their national virtues. "One day I came across two gentlemen or squires in the market-place ; I learnt later that one was a Ben- zenauer, the other a Fugger. They were promenading there. Of these I asked alms, as it was the custom of the xxv HUMANISM AND RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY 269 poor scholars. Said the Fugger to me: 'Whence do you hail?" And when he hears that I am a Swiss, he converses with Benzenauer, and says to me afterwards : 1 If you surely are a Swiss, I shall take you as a son and will confirm it before the city council here in Breslau ; but you must pledge yourself that you will be with me through life; to be present where I am.' Said I: 'I am commended to one from my own home, I will ask him about it.' But when I asked my cousin Paulus about it, he said, ' I have brought you from your home, will likewise surrender you again to your people. What they tell you then, you may do.' Therefore I refused Fugger. But as often as I came to his house, he did not let me go empty-handed. "Thus I stayed there for some time, and was taken sick three times in one winter, so that I had to be taken to the hospital. The scholars have a special hospital and a doctor of their own. Sixteen pennies are paid in the City Hall for one week ; for this one is well taken care of ; has good nursing and good beds, but big lice in them, as big as ripe hempseed, so that I much preferred to lie on the floor than in the beds, as others did like- wise. The scholars and bacchants at times, even the common people, are so full of lice that it is not credible. I could have, truly, taken out of my bosom three lice at once as often as required. I also went sometimes, especially in summer, to the Oder River, the water that flows by there, washed my shirt, hung it on a bush to dry, and in the meantime picked my coat of lice, made a ditch, threw in a pile of lice, covered it with earth, and placed a cross on it. "In winter the shooters lie on the floor in the schools ; the bacchants, however, in the little chambers^ of which there are several hundreds at St. Elizabeth's. But in 270 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the summer, when it was hot, we lay in the churchyard and collected the grass, which is spread in front of the houses in the better streets on Saturdays. Some col- lected a heap of this in the churchyard, and we lay in it as pigs in the litter. But when it rained, we ran into school ; and when there was a thunder-storm we sang all night responsoria and other sacred songs with the subcantor. " Sometimes in the summer we went into the beer- houses after supper to beg for beer. Then the intoxi- cated Parish peasants gave us a drink, so that I often got so drunk without knowing it, that I could not come back to school, though I was not farther away from school than a stone's throw. Summary : there was food enough, but not much study. In the school of St. Elizabeth's, nevertheless, there were at one time nine bachelors of arts reading in one room. There was 'Grseca lingua' (the Greek language) nowhere in the the country. Nor had anybody printed books ; how- ever, the prseceptor had a printed Terentius. What was read was to be dictated first, then distinguished, then construed, at last explained, so that bacchants had to carry home big volumes when they went away." While it might be more interesting to continue this original, contemporary account than to continue my own narrative, I am afraid I have given Thomas Platter's simple story of himself more space than can be excused by the sidelights he throws on the life of the common people in general. It ought to be pointed out, however, that in speaking of the vermin and uncleanliness, he speaks distinctly of the vagrant class, and only exceptionally of the poor hi general. But although bathhouses were frequent, general cleanliness was far from the stage to which we are accustomed. To repeat a modern author's xxv HUMANISM AND RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY 271 observation, in cleanliness four stages of develop- ment may be distinguished. First hardly any at- tention whatever is paid to it ; then we find cleanliness of the body promoted by more or less frequent bathing ; after this, clothing is changed and washed more fre- quently, while bathing becomes less customary, until at last both body and clothes are regularly kept clean, and alongside of the washtub the bathtub is found even in the quarters of the masses. In the second half of the sixteenth century the in- creasing interest in education brought about by the Reformation began to be noticeable everywhere. Still the condition of the common school especially was far from satisfactory. Schoolhouses were almost unknown, and the teachers badly trained and poorly paid. In spite of all declamations of Luther and the reformers, discipline was cruel; the switch was still solemnly handed to the teacher when he was installed in his office. Methods were utterly mechanical, although some of the text-books were based on reasonable principles. As we have seen, Humanism was not one of the direct causes of the Reformation, but was used by the latter as a welcome auxiliary to furnish means in the defence of truth. Only a few rather eccentric younger Human- ists dreamt of return to classical paganism, as was common with the learned Italians. As to the aBsthetical side of the Renaissance, the Italian influences entered Germany, not only through direct communication with Southern Germany, but in part by way of the Nether- lands, where after the change in the economical con- ditions of the interior, German culture was at its highest. CHAPTER XXVI CHANGE IN GENERAL CONDITIONS Beginning of Decay AFTER geographical discoveries had changed the routes of commerce, the importance of the Atlantic coast was greatly increased ; the great rise of the northern provinces of the Netherlands had freed Holland from the yoke of the Spanish Habsburgers, and the spirit of the Reformation, although introduced in the form of Calvinism, had taken hold of the leading classes ; humanistic education, and the training given by commercial enterprises that reached all parts of the globe, had widened their view sufficiently to admit of a truly religious movement. They refused to submit again to a narrow orthodoxy as German Protestantism, both Lutheran and Reformed, had done, probably because it had been forced, in order to resist the emperors with their Romish tendencies, to find its main support in the princes. In Holland the French thinkers found a refuge during the Huguenot persecutions ; and we may well say that at the time the young republic on the shores of the North Sea was the intellectual centre of Europe. Unhappily for both countries, this rise took place when the condition of the Empire favored separatism. The very period of material prosperity and highest intellectual life that gave us artists like Rubens and Rembrandt, who represent the highest achievements of German, in some respects of any, painting, formed 272 CHAP, xxvi CHANGE IN GENERAL CONDITIONS 273 out of a German dialect a literary language which, though still understood by their German countrymen at the tune, led to a gradual estrangement of culture. This had already been accomplished, when a hundred years later the political separation which had been hi preparation since the tunes of the Interregnum was officially acknowledged ; parts, indeed, of Flanders and Brabant had always been more French than German. The other republic, in southern Germany, though likewise emancipated politically, did not have the same favorable conditions for independent intellectual develop- ment as its sister in the north ; and German Switzerland, therefore, is still one in culture with the mother country, united to it through the language of Luther's Bible translation. The great influence of the Renaissance was not sufficient to destroy the national character of German art, especially where it met with a progressive develop- ment as in the Low Countries. Its application was mainly ornamental, and blending with northern architecture, it has given rise to many splendid build- ings. As the best known and finest specimen of German Renaissance we must mention the Heidelberg castle in its Ott-Heinrichsbau; or rather the beautiful ruins as they have stood since the days of Me" lac. The necessity of protecting them against total decay has brought forth only lately a controversy in. which the intellectual leaders of Germany were arrayed in violent protest against any effort of restoration that might take away anything from their original character. The greatest influence the Renaissance had was on industrial art, both in metal and woodwork; in the Netherlands this style has produced a number of won- derful masterpieces in textiles and laces. 274 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. The religious enthusiasm of the Reformation, fol- lowed by religious wars, and the rigid intolerance of the orthodoxy of all creeds, had proved serious draw- backs in the intellectual world, in spite of the impulses given by the movement itself and by Humanism. Of course, there was a decided progress in the sciences, as will be seen later. It must be repeated, however, that both the hu- manistic and natural sciences were not popular in char- acter. For some time, as we have seen, it had seemed as if Protestantism and Humanisim would join in a single movement ; but the dogmatic character assumed by the new churches did not appeal to the men of science, who saw no material advance over old condi- tions. Thus science gradually was removed from pop- ular life, from which it became estranged more and more by the use of the Latin language, which as in the monasteries of times gone by, though in a much more elegant and correct form, had again taken hold of the learned world, so much so that seventy per cent of the books printed in Germany were in Latin. But while this separated the learned from their own people, it connected them with the foreign world. Latin had become the international language of science ; a small compensation for the loss to national life of the intelli- gence of the scholars, who became more and more cosmopolitan in an unpatriotic sense. Thus this period rent the German nation asunder in different ways : there is a vertical division, so to speak, between Catholic and Protestant Germany, a division again made wider in modern times by the organization of Catholics as a political party, and a horizontal division separating the educated from the uneducated. This breach, although apparently widened by the social xxvi CHANGE IN GENERAL CONDITIONS 275 problems of to-day, seems to show signs of becoming bridged over under the influence of political equality and the general suffrage, as well as by conscious efforts of far-sighted patriots. There threatens, however, a new division of rich and poor. To this we must add the tribal and regional particularism which, together with the jealousy of the princes and the policy of the great powers, as well as the strong sense of personality peculiar to the national character, had so long prevented German political unity. We can thus understand why the inner life of the German Empire does not offer that harmonious appearance which we are tempted to expect behind the solid front offered to the outside world. We must not forget the cosmopolitan tendencies of scholars when we read of the unselfishness of German science, which found early recognition, indeed. We read in the preface to a new edition of a work by Bartho- lomseus Pitiscus, who died in 1613, the following ac- knowledgment by an Italian: "The trigonometrical tables were intended at that time exclusively for astron- omy and astronomy was not needed by the Germans for their navigation ; astrology, the only means to make true or pretended knowledge of the heavens pay, did not call for such subtle calculations. Love of science alone incited and maintained in the Germans so much devo- tion and so much industry." In reading this we in- voluntarily think of those words of Richard Wagner, quoted already : "To be German means to do a thing for its own sake." On the whole, we may say that, in spite of the social changes which followed the Peasants' War, and the com- mercial decay which began to overtake Germany with the replacing of the Mediterranean Sea by the Atlantic Ocean as the highway of the world's commerce, the con- 276 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. ditions of the fifteenth century, which we found to be the period of greatest national vigor, lasted to the mid- dle, almost the end, of the sixteenth. Jean Bodin, the French historian, who died in 1567, was still able to write of the Germans : "In humanity they are superior to the Asiatics ; in the art of warfare to the Romans, in philosophy to the Greeks, in grammar and arithmetic to the Egyptians and Phrenicians, in astrology to the Chaldseans, but in handicraft to all nations." The great South German mercantile firms, mentioned before, first of all the Fuggers, managed to keep off their down- fall more or less until the Thirty Years' War. Perhaps one of the surest indications of decay is the evidence of foreign influence in Germany. One of the effects of the religious differences which even led to wars must have been a weakening of the national sense, of the feeling of national solidarity, especially under an emperor who hardly could be called a German. It is said that Charles V spoke German only to his horse ; and when Ferdinand I became king, he could not speak German at all. Charles V placed the centre and mainstay of his power in Spain ; and the troops with which he fought against the German princes for the cause of his dynasty and of Rome were com- posed principally of Spaniards and other foreigners. Thus his adversaries naturally found their support in France. When a candidate for the German crown in opposition to Charles V, Francis I of France, offered a pension to the Prince Elector of Brandenburg, there was only one feature remarkable in its acceptance, he took money at the same time from the other side. For the financial support of German princes by French kings dates far back, and did not end until the downfall of Napoleon I. xxvi CHANGE IN GENERAL CONDITIONS 277 The increase in power of the territorial lords, the princes, led them to lay greater stress upon the magnifi- cence of their courts. For this the splendor and refinement of the Burgundian court became the model, as it had been for the French kings. Travel had be- come the fashion for the sons of the princes and the wealthy noblemen, for whom the galanthomme was the educational ideal, and this, together with the attendance at foreign universities, had done its share towards introducing foreign elements. In short, even in the sixteenth century we find the weakening of the German national life so far advanced as to offer no resistance to Italian, Spanish, and French influences, the beginning of that Fremdsucht, that weakness for the imitation of foreign ways, which, because it is unnatural, is so clumsy and awkward in the average German, and has at times menaced even his national existence. The separation of the educated from the common people became, of course, more emphasized by the acceptance of the foreign styles. For happily the styles did not penetrate deeply into the masses of the people, where a nation always must find the overflowing source of its regeneration; and, be it said to their honor, even in the better classes they took hold a great deal less of the women than of the men. CHAPTER XXVII POPULAR RISINGS. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT THE deep agitation of the popular soul which during the transition from the old times to the new, coinciding with the greatest vigor of the nation, brought forth the Reformation, found expression in many movements and in many changes, some of which cannot be passed over, although it is impossible here to give a complete account of all the currents as they reach the surface. One of these was the movement of those who had suffered under the economical development and made an effort to improve their social condition by force. Just as to-day the tendency towards great capitalistic enterprises, with an elimination of the economical mid- dle classes, causes great popular unrest, so the transi- tion from the agrarian to the financial basis produced dissatisfaction, misery, and popular convulsions, and it took centuries for conditions to become settled. Even then there were a great many complaints about monopolies and trusts, which went by the name of the great commercial companies ; corners in produce were frequent. The great merchants, as the Fuggers, the Welsers, and the Hochstetters of Augsburg, con- trolled prices to a great extent, even in the foreign mar- kets. The immense rise in the cost of the necessities of life was attributed to the great capitalist houses. There were three groups of socially dissatisfied people, who, however, did not unite, in spite of occasional 278 CHAP, xxvii POPULAR RISINGS 279 concerted action. Not one of them was created by the Reformation, but all three took new encouragement from Luther's appearance, and looked hopefully to him as an ally. These three parties were the smaller nobility (die Reichsritterscha/t), the peasants, and the proletariate in the cities. Luther, while not blind to just complaints, and demanding in very plain language fair treatment of the poor, was opposed to any diso- bedience or even sedition against the established civil authority, and some of his actions lay him open to the suspicion that he did not feel free to take a stand in opposition to the princes, who were his support against the Catholic Emperor. Thus his alliance with Ulrich von Hutten was a very frail one ; and the latter was looked upon with mistrust, since he stood with Franz von Sickingen at the head of a party who wanted to break the power of the princes and to place themselves entirely under the Emperor. The peasants, whose demands were comprised under the so-called Twelve Articles, seemed to ask nothing unreasonable from the point of view of scriptural teach- ing, and one cannot help concluding from this and other documents that they had intelligent leaders who knew very well what they were about. Their worst mistake was their belief that Luther was with them. In this they were not illogical, Luther was the one who re- fused to press his doctrines to their conclusion, and it speaks well for the intellectual standard of the people that Luther's ideas were independently developed. The peasants are no doubt justly accused of great atrocities, but their demands were just, and they were met by infamous treachery and cruelty challenging their own. Their defeat meant a serfdom worse than their condition had ever been before. 280 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. The movement in the cities found its centre in the Anabaptist sect, whose principal leader was Thomas Munzer. The German movement culminated in the gruesome orgies of religious insanity of the Kingdom of Zion in Miinster, too well known to be repeated here ; by their defeat and in consequence of their excesses, Roman Catholicism again gained a firm hold of West- phalia its greatest province beyond the old Roman territory. The reasonable part of the Anabaptist doc- trine did not perish; Menno Simon continued it through his followers in Holland, England, and North America. In spite of the noticeable symptoms of decay and ex- haustion, to which we return in our next chapter, the second half of the sixteenth century does not offer the spectacle of decreasing prosperity; we cannot, on the whole, even speak of stagnation. Hamburg knew how to hold her own, and retained a considerable part of her maritime commerce, a good foundation for future greatness, although the cities of the Hansa failed to grasp the changed situation at the right moment. The German crafts kept their good name all over the world. German woollens in particular remained very popular, their fibre preserving its excellent quality through the high development of domestic sheep-breed- ing. The greatest commercial centre was now Frank- fort-on-the-Main, through which passed the great over- land trade routes north of the Alps. The great firms of southern Germany were the principal bankers of the world. The relatively long period of peace, which followed the religious convention of Augsburg, 1555, the gradual disappearance of private warfare due to the growth of the power of the territorial princes, and the final sue- xxvn POPULAR RISINGS 281 cess of legal reform had allowed the Reformation to become effective in the social conditions of the country, and in spite of a great many drawbacks and great dif- ferences in the conditions of the single states, which may account for the difference of opinion between historians, the people on the whole must, towards the end of the century, have enjoyed a fairly comfort- able existence. Even the peasants were benefited by greater attention and protection on the part of some of the territorial governments after these had gained con- trol over the nobility. Even in the places where the noblemen had not yet learned to submit to the new state of affairs and made their few serfs work for them, they understood that it was to their own interest not to draw the reins too tight. In some respects and in a few instances princes and city governments had been influenced by the Reforma- tion in the most favorable manner. As individuals, it made them conscious of responsibility, which showed itself among other things in a better training of govern- ment officials and an acquirement of greater knowledge. Many improvements are due to the Estates, which made use of the financial straits of the princes to secure them. An unexpected increase of power was brought by the Reformation in the first place to the Protestant princes, to whom nearly all the privileges of the Papal and Episcopal authority were transferred, by the con- fiscation of Church property, although wise princes applied the greater part of this to the maintenance of churches, schools, and other institutions for public welfare. But this increase in material power was not the only gain in strength which the princes owed to the Reformation ; their authority was also greatly strengthened from the moral point of view. Luther 282 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. took a most decided stand, especially in later years, in favor of the " divinely appointed government." We have seen how he sided with the princes against the rebellious peasants, although he did not fail to appreci- ate the justice of the grievances. Again and again he demands strict and unquestioning obedience to the authorities in power, and the position taken by him has certainly proved a strong factor in firmly estab- lishing the monarchical principle in Germany to the present day; let alone the influence of the fact that the monarch was made by Luther the highest bishop, summus episcopus, of the Protestant Church in his state. The higher level of conscientiousness and training on the part of princes and their officials brought about better and more economical administration, and aug- mented the income from the resources of the state. Many a prince set out to increase the prosperity and thereby the taxable property in his territory by means of improvements which could not fail to benefit the peasants likewise; however, these cases were rather the exception. In this respect, also, Protestant influence was felt in Catholic territories. In order to keep some doubtful princes in the old Church, the Papal See had to surrender many ecclesiastical possessions and privi- leges. The Jesuits had now become the councillors in the government and the teachers of the Catholics in everj'thing. Their order, founded in 1540, soon had made its special ami to defeat the heretics, that is, Protestantism, and its stronghold was the Collegium Germanicum which ought to have been called anti- Germanicum in Rome. The Council of Trent had finally established the Catholic dogma in a rigid form; but at the same time a moral reform had taken place. No men like the Borgias have held the See of St. Peter xxvn POPULAR RISINGS 283 since the days of Luther, and no such terrible accusa- tions against the higher priesthood have been heard as before his day. Thus the counter-Reformation under the skilful management of the Jesuits made good prog- ress in the territories of the Catholic princes, es- pecially in the hereditary lands of the emperors, so that nearly one-half of the Germans were again con- sidered Catholics. Still, the Protestant princes had not been troubled, and began to think themselves safe under the guarantees of the Augsburg Convention. As we have seen, new economic interests began to develop, and the new art of government became more and more familiar. Legal unity had at last been made possible by the >so-called Carolina, Die peinliche Halsordnung, of Charles V, and the highest imperial court had gained more influence. Also in the realm of art, which had suffered under the religious excitement, new life was noticeable, as we have seen before. The Meistersinger, of whom Hans Sachs, the shoemaker and poet of Augs- burg, who as the best type of German burgher deserves more attention than he can find here, and the Carnival plays, Ithe great satirists, the beginnings of a national drama, gave hope of a new literature. Seventeen mill- ions of Germans were looking towards a happy and powerful growth under the new conditions, still think- ing themselves invincible in their unity, when the Em- peror himself, eager to usurp absolute power for himself and the Church of Rome, both inseparable by origin and tradition, lighted the torch of war in his own fatherland. The calamity brought about by this war has been so great that it cannot be understood unless there had been forces at work quite contrary to the hopeful aspect apparent to the superficial observer. CHAPTER XXVIII SUMMARY OF THE DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES IN GERMAN LIFE AFTER we have just seen the German nation in its fullest vigor, it is astonishing to observe it sinking al- most to complete annihilation in a comparatively short time ; and the question at once arises, how it was pos- sible for a nation apparently so powerful to offer so lit- tle resistance to the calamity of the Thirty Years' War. Although here and there some symptoms of weakness had become noticeable, as shown in previous parts of this narrative, yet the appearances described in the last chapters seemed to warrant the hope of a renewed healthy growth which might have survived, though arrested by a war. This war, however, was more than a cutting off of growth, a simple arresting of progress ; the downfall was so deep that at the risk of some repe- tition, and even apparent contradiction, it seems desirable to give a summary of the causes leading to the decay of Germany, which was made evident and complete by the Great War. It has been said that perhaps the very vigor referred to led to overexertion, of which a certain exhaustion in the vital forces of the nation was the consequence; a similar but less visible decline is declared by some writers to have taken place after the great work of eastern expansion. Nevertheless, national physiol- ogy, as has been justly said, is not a science, but a 284 CHAP, xxvni DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES 285 problem, and will hardly lend itself as yet to historical explanation. As symptoms of this physical exhaus- tion, the great increase in the death rate is mentioned ; it is furthermore pointed out that in the middle of the sixteenth century there appears to be a retro- gression of the Germanic type and a visible in- crease of the dark and round-headed type. On the psychical side the ready reception of foreign influences is remarkable, while the beginning of the caste-like separation of the classes seems to be more of a cause than of a symptom. Leaving aside these rather speculative assertions of the race-theorists, the historians stand on safer ground when they base their reasons principally on the politi- cal conditions of the Empire and the unpatriotic self- ishness of the territorial princes; on the convulsions caused by the Reformation, both in national and indi- vidual life, increased by the reception of the Roman law ; on the weakening of economic life by the changed routes of the world's commerce, the strengthening of the northern nations, and the development of capi- talism with its unwholesome consequences. We shall see that the princes took advantage of the very condi- tions that helped to ruin the nation. It has been pointed out that in contrast to the French and English kings the German emperors had not been able to hold their own against the higher nobility, either because their ambition for a universal empire and Italian politics withdrew their attention and energy from their northern kingdom, or because the German sense of independence and individuality and thirst for power and honor had been too strong. Since the days of the Interregnum, at all events, the emperors had been divested of almost all sovereign power, and were 286 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. compelled to make the increase of their family posses- sions the chief end of their policy. They had not, however, ceased to be the successors of the Roman emperors ; with the Pope they still morally represented the highest power on earth, and stood in the place of God ; they represented the entire nation ; but, as Bryce points out, since in the Reformation they took sides with the Roman Catholics, they became directly hos- tile to a great part of the nation, and were in reality degraded to partisan chiefs. The lack of central power, however, had long been an invitation to the neighboring monarchs to enrich themselves by taking one slice after another of the frontier possessions they coveted. Those fiefs which were not closely connected with Germany soon became sovereign or became vassals of France. With the battle of Bouvines had begun the great and everlasting struggle with France, and this first victory indicated clearly the side which would ultimately derive the greatest advantage. It is not our task to enumer- ate all the acquisitions of German territory by the French by fair means and foul. While single cases of corruption in high quarters had occurred before, we may repeat that from 1333, when Henry of Lower Bavaria accepted his bribe from the French king, to 1815, the history of the German princes is a continuous account of disgraceful, treacherous venality. Charles VII of France declared he did not fear the German princes ; he would beat them all ; he only feared the cities and the peasants. Charles VIII could dare openly to aspire to a universal empire. At the imperial elec- tions the princes took money from both parties ; the most infamous dickering, perhaps, was that which has already been mentioned at the accession of Charles V, whose rival for the imperial crown was Francis I. xxvin DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES 287 Francis' successor, Henry II, felt that his adherents in Germany were strong enough for him to call himself officially "protector of German liberties " without fear of resentment. In the East Poland had defeated the Teutonic Order, and had taken valuable parts of Prussia ; Russia under Ivan the Terrible took Livonia ; Sweden took Esthland. But while Brandenburg-Prussia found in the House of Hohenzollern strong rulers who put a stop to further inroads, France was allowed to continue her depredations in the West. At a later period the jeal- ousy of the Emperor repeatedly deprived the national policy and military prowess of Brandenburg of well- earned success. No wonder foreign monarchs acquired the habit of treating German princes and the German people with contempt, and could not readily rid them- selves of the habit when both the moral character and the power of Germany had been restored. In 1570 the Order of the Princes in the Reichstag urged the con- dition of affairs on the attention of the Prince-Electors, saying that " foreigners sneered more and more at Ger- man discord and impotence which allowed France to take the bishoprics (Metz, Toul, Verdun) and other imperial property ; Poland to take Prussia, and the Muscovites Livonia." The Electors replied that "this affair had to give way to other troubles." Thus Ger- many's position among the nations was given up by those who ought to have been the first to defend it. Although the literature of the time does not show a lack of national feeling, yet the Reformation had de- stro} r ed the ethical unity of the people ; Protestants and Catholics formed hostile camps, while Lutherans and Calvinists were no nearer to one another. A great confusion took hold of the people, who among so many 288 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. different doctrines did not know which to choose. These controversies were of a dogmatic, that is, more of a theological than religious, character, and failed to satisfy the demands of the heart. One of the consequences of the doctrine of " justifica- tion through faith alone" and the vanity of good deeds was a great falling off in charity, which increased the dissatisfaction of the poor to a high degree, and also had its share in the general economic depression. A number of epidemics increased the misery. We have spoken already of the disappointment of the poor and oppressed, especially the peasants, when they found that the relief they had expected from religious reform did not come. The mutual hatred of the religious parties found expression in continuous reviling; the language of Luther exhibits only too plainly that Grobianism, that intentional rudeness, which had been first affected by the rising burgesses in the cities in the antagonism to the over-refinement of the knights. It certainly reached its height at this time. It is curious to read in the present bitter struggle between the " classes and the masses" in Germany that certain Socialist agitators recommend to their followers to display as much rude- ness in manners and language as possible in their inter- course with the " bourgeois"; surely a regrettable reappearance of an old German trait. An illustration of how great the general intolerance was, and not with Germans only, is given by the opposition which met the corrected calendar of Pope Gregory XIII, promulgated in 1582. Plain and reasonable as it was, because it was proposed by the Pope, it was met by the Protestants with the greatest opposition ; in the Protestant parts of Germany, and in the Netherlands, it was not intro- xxvin DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES 289 duced until 1700, in Denmark in 1710, in England (and its American colonies) only in 1752. If we read of Luther's bodily encounters with the devil, we cannot wonder that this time of unrest was wild with superstition; that persecution of witches gained renewed vigor; belief in miracles, in magic art, in demoniacal powers, and the fear of ghosts were rampant, and increased the gene/al excitement. It is but natural that in these times the national German weakness, drunkenness, became more common than ever. It was during the Peasants' War that brandy became popular (first reported in Italy in the beginning of the fourteenth century, and probably of Arabic origin). On the other hand, to show one bright spot in the dreary picture, the accounts leave no doubt that sexual immorality had greatly decreased and family life improved. Beneficial as the Reformation has been to education, we have already seen that its first result was a general hostility towards schools, especially universities ; the clergy and the scholars, in the opinion of the people, had been the great deceivers who had led them to the Antichrist ; the new, i.e., the Roman law, which was taught in the universities, helped to increase this dis- trust. The number of students in Erfurt dropped from 311 in 1520 to 120 in 1521, and to 34 in 1524; in Ros- tock from about 300 to 15 in 1525. In the same year Heidelberg had more professors than students ; Vienna came down from 7000 to a few dozen, and the rest fared similarly. As another reason for the temporary decrease of university students, we find given the attraction of a business career for the brightest and most intelligent 290 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. young men which sounds quite modern. Another complaint is that the students showed more interest in theological disputes, outside agitation, and the distri- bution of pamphlets than in their studies. During the rest of the century there is no end to complaints of the wild life of the students. Another symptom of the general weakening of the interest in education will be found in the great falling off in the sale of books ; from the dignified trade of regular and wealthy booksellers it had fallen mostly into the hands of pedlers. But of all the signs of the national decay, the weaken- ing of the cities, with their population of merchants and craftsmen, who for more than two centuries had been the bearers of culture, is the most significant. It happened about the time when the discovery of the sea route to India and to America had entirely changed the routes of the international trade, that other nations had gained sufficient strength to make themselves commercially independent of the comparative monop- oly of the Hansa merchants. Holland was the first to become a dangerous rival, since the closing of the outlets of the Rhine, the Maas, and the Scheldt by ever- increasing tolls almost entirely destroyed the commerce of the Rhine cities. It is only by completing its great canal system that Germany can free the commerce of the Rhine valley from paying tribute to Holland. England deprived the Hansa of its old privileges, and soon complaints are heard; Germany is flooded with English woollens, causing a useless imperial decree against the English merchant-adventurers in 1597. It was not long before the Scandinavian countries followed, and soon the Baltic Sea ceased to be German and Dutch ; English and Danish ships took the place of those of the Hansa. A strong support by the Em- xxvni DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES 291 pire, as well as a broader policy of the cities themselves, might have saved some of their power, but the plan of Emperor Maximilian II to build a German imperial navy failed to find the approval of the Reichstag. We have seen that the great merchants of southern Germany, as well as the great trading companies, had amassed considerable capital, and even thus early we observe the bad consequences of capitalism of which we complain to-day, such as rings, corners, monopolies, artificial raising of prices, etc. As early as the begin- ning of the sixteenth century, we read in a report to the Reichstag in Niirnberg: "On account of the insuffer- able oppression which comes from the great companies, riots of the common people have occurred in some cities, and greater riots are to be expected unless a remedy be found." The following resolution was passed by the Austrian diet in 1518: "The great companies have brought under their control by themselves or their agents all goods which are indispensable to man, and are so powerful by the strength of their money that they cut off trade from the common merchant who is worth from one to ten thousand florins; they set the prices at their pleasure, and increase them at their will, by which they visibly grow less in number; but a few of them grow into a princely fortune to the great detriment of the country." Might I not have taken these quotations just as well from a modern news- paper? Monopolies were facilitated by the fact that only the financially strongest could afford to visit the dis- tant markets ; spice, for example, which formerly could be bought in Venice by any smaller merchant, could not be bought this side of Lisbon. Speculation was common. "Get rich quick" schemes were understood then, as well as now, and everybody who could afford some 292 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, cash invested in business enterprises with the great companies. The princes took a prominent part in this, and before long they had learned the advantage of monopolies, which were much easier for them to estab- lish by decree than for the merchants by the most skilful scheming. Great failures were the natural outcome of the instability of business. The small people lost all their savings. Famous was the failure of the Hochstetters in Augsburg in 1529, with liabilities to the amount of 800,000 florins; according to our present value of money, this failure amounted to $6,500,000. It is expressly stated that not only princes, counts, and other noblemen were losers, but also peasants, and male and female servants. Other famous failures were that of the firm of Roth, which had tried, unsuccessfully, a corner in pepper, and the two-million bankruptcy of the Loitzes in Stettin. A scarcity of money set in, and the old tricks of the deteri- oration of coin were used. Again the " Kipper" (who clipped the coins) and "Wipper" (who picked out the good corns for melting, and circulated the bad) came into prominence, and in some instances even a return to barter is reported. These conditions did not fail to influence industry, as the people had no means to buy. Indeed, the craft- guilds had outlived themselves. Their efforts to mo- nopolize the crafts began to fail more and more ; indi- viduals refused to submit to strict control as easily as in former times. The friendly relations between masters and journeymen had changed into antagonism; "shorter hours and higher wages" were the demands then, as now. There was no need of organizing, for the men were as closely organized in associations as their masters were in the craft-guilds. xxvni DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES 293 The peasants, who in many smaller towns were the principal customers, could afford to buy as little as the people in the cities. The Peasants' War had nearly ruined agriculture in some parts of Germany, and the increasing oppression of the peasants that followed left them in the greatest poverty. As if everything had joined to bring about the ruin of the nation in the sixteenth century, the mines began to give out ; the output became steadily smaller. The companies tried to make up their losses by making the miners pay for it. Company stores were opened, and the miners were forced to buy their supplies of them at exorbitant prices. Tout comme chez nous ! Even more than crafts, art, which at that time was connected with them, had to suffer. Let alone the ravages of the Protestant iconoclasts, the interest in theological questions left no room for any other. There was a general indifference and poverty of imagina- tion. The latter is seen in the scarcity of the Christian names of the period ; we find a few names over and over again, which finally led to the adoption of two Chris- tian names to make a distinction possible. Besides, there was an increase of rudeness, referred to already, which may have been increased by the introduction of torture into legal procedure. The decrease of chari- table works in general, the lack of the incentive afforded by the supposed value of the patronage of the saints, combined with all the other causes to prevent larger orders for monumental works of art or buildings. The spirit of the Reformation had in it more than one element hostile to art, and economic conditions began to be unfavorable for it. So suddenly came this crash that it cut deeply into the lives of the individual artists, as we see in the 294 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. biographies of Albrecht Diirer, of Hans Sachs, of Dill Riemenschneider. The younger Holbein tried for a time to make a scanty living as a house and sign- painter, and painted coats of arms at two florins apiece. Finally he emigrated to England to find new glory and wealth. The only ones that could afford to give larger orders were the princes and the few great merchants. But under the foreign influences which began to make themselves felt at that time, they favored the imported art of the Renaissance. The development of German national art, aside from the Netherlands, was cut short with the collapse that set an end to Diirer's and Hol- bein's work, so near the summit of ever-growing great- ness. The Renaissance in Germany never evoked that warmth of life which is essential in German art ; it showed best in the small art of the crafts, but for German art "the Renaissance was," as M. Rohse says, "not a revival, but suicide." It has been shown recently that the introduction of Roman law did not meet with such passionate resistance as has been generally believed. If this be true, it must have been because the people did not know what they were doing, which is quite natural. Those able to judge were the learned jurists, who were naturally admirers of this, logically the most perfect law in the world's history. In order to recognize the evil conse- quences of the Roman law, all that is necessary is to compare the development of legal institutions in Eng- land with those in Germany. However, contempo- raneous voices which object to the new law, and others which unconsciously show its pernicious effect, are not wanting. Says Wimpheling : "Who would not rejoice to see knights and burghers and peasants faithfully devoted to the old law, resisting manfully all who try xxvin DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES 295 to deprive them of these rights and customs by lying and fraud and all kinds of sophistical tricks, and who try to oppress and exploit them? It is a struggle which seizes the innermost life of the people, but which, I fear, will be decided in favor of the princely rulers and their tools, the jurists, in view of the powerlessness of the highest imperial power, which seems to be unable to exercise any influence to gain order or to control, and in view of the many quarrels waging in the Empire. The influence of the jurists is therefore the more pernicious, as they are themselves eager for money and gain, and excuse and promote this greed in the great merchants and other extortioners of the people. They are studious to make themselves useful to the tyrannical power of the princes, in giving them advice how to neglect the rights and liberties of the inhabitants and how to enrich themselves by ever new taxation. Far more powerful than in the courts of justice, they are in the councils of the princes, where they have been secretly at work for a long time, changing and confus- ing everything that has been instituted by the wisdom of our ancestors and existed rightfully. According to the damnable teaching of the new jurists, the prince is to be everything in the country, but the people nothing. The people have nothing to do but obey and pay taxes and perform services, and moreover to obey not only the prince, but also his officials, who begin to appear as the real masters of the state, and know how to shape affairs so that the princes rule as little as possible." It is not necessary to add anything to this contem- poraneous record in order to show the effect of the adoption of the Roman law, as Wimpheling feared it would be, on the position of the princes. This power 296 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. was still more increased by the Protestant Church organization, which made every prince the head of the Church in his state, and made the people of every state a church for itself. This religious authority was used to strengthen the political power, and the "pure unadul- terated teachings of the Bible" were used to fortify despotism. It has been justly said that in those times the child did not belong as closely to the parents as to the state. How the example of the Protestant princes influenced their Catholic brethren, wherever they found it to their advantage, has been shown above. The nobility was benefited by the new law nearly as much as the princes. Many noblemen, however, who had not been directly subdued by the princes found it to their advantage to enter their service, and soon began to hold the best offices. In their decadence the cities in the territories of a prince lost one liberty after the other, and it was only the advantages derived from commerce and industry that saved their citizens from the fate of the peasants. The increased sense of power, as well as foreign example, caused a great display of luxury in many of the princely courts, and brought with them increased expenses, which frequently exceeded the financial resources. Public loans had become common through the need, in the first place, of money to pay the mer- cenaries who had succeeded the chivalric army of feudalism; they became more so when the "standing army" became customary. Taxation, direct and in- direct, was raised to its utmost limit. The supersti- tion of the times made the alchemist a regular institu- tion of the princely household. The participation of the princes in business enterprises and the creation of trade monopolies have been mentioned in another xxvin DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES 297 connection. But all these means could not prevent a continuous increase of indebtedness, which is, perhaps, more than any other cause, responsible for the accept- ance of money from the enemies of the Fatherland. From the courts the foreign influence spread all over the country; while at first Italian and Spanish influ- ences prevailed, soon the French began more and more to gain ground. The discontent of the poorer classes in the cities had grown to a dangerous extent under the conditions described in these pages, but the fate of the peasants was a great deal worse. The jurist taught that the peasants held the position of the Roman coloni. It became a principle that anything was legal that could be supported by any passage in the Corpus Juris. "The very fact," taught E. Lothmann, "that one is a peasant is sufficient to prove his serfdom." The nobility everywhere added large farms to then* estates, and degraded their formerly wealthy owners to serfs, who in some instances were compelled to take the place of the horses in drawing ploughs and carts. The unfortunate ending of the Peasants' War made their fate more miserable than ever, and, indeed, en- tirely hopeless. Serfdom was legally recognized for the whole Empire in 1555. It is easily seen how wrong it is to call all this feudalism, when it is the outcome, not of the feudal system, but of the Roman law. The state of the peasants was, in many parts of Germany at the time, the same as that of the French peasant before the Great Revolution, and a description of his sufferings, espe- cially in regard to hunting and poaching, would be but a counterpart to this well-known chapter of history. Thus we find the lower classes of the people in a state of degradation; far above them we find the 298 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xxvin educated classes with a pedantic Latinistic learning of a theological or legal turn ; still higher, greatly raised in their social position by their increase in power, we find the nobility and the princes; their education under foreign influence, imitated by the better middle class, helped to remove them still farther from the great masses of the people. Not all these tendencies of decay may have appeared on the surface as plainly as this description necessarily had to represent them; they were at work none the less, and all hope of recovery, which might not have been unwarranted, was cut off when they found their climax in the calamity of the Great War. Within thirty years the cultural work of fifteen hundred centuries or more appears to be nearly wiped out. The foreigner might appropriate German territory without fear of punish- ment ; the Netherlands and Switzerland were irrep- arably lost, and the former were removed from the common civilization. The natural strength of the German people was destroyed ; instead of seventeen millions of proud and prosperous citizens, we find four millions of servile beggars. CHAPTER XXIX OF THE GKEAT WAR 1618-1648 LET the reader for a moment imagine the picture of a man who at the time of the Peace of Westphalia (1648) had reached the age of thirty to thirty-five years. Such a man and there were many like him may per- haps never have seen a well-cultivated field with the golden waves of ripening grain; never a town in the peaceful activity of its citizens ! When a child, he may have been torn from his crib or his miserable bundle of straw out into the unfriendly night, to flee through the dark and cold to a hiding-place in the wilder- ness of the forest. Mother and father, brother and sister, might have been tormented and slain before his eyes. Two or three times the rough soldiers may have broken into the house of his parents in order to plunder, to ravish, to commit infamous, unspeakable, unheard- of cruelties. It is a sad fact that deeds of terrible, brutal cruelty are not strange to our own days but imagine the most horrible deed of human brutality to be found in modern books or newspapers added to plague, conflagration, and famine, and repeated in a great many places, day after day, for thirty years, as long as there were any human beings left, so that not even the most remote, apparently peaceful corner was safe from being suddenly drawn into the midst of 299 300 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the turmoil of war and you will have an idea of that most execrable period of German history, called "the Thirty Years' War." It seems like mockery to talk of a history of German civilization during the Thirty Years' War, the Great War ; and he must be destitute of human feeling, indeed, who, in view of the possibility of the repetition of these infamous events, will not do all he can to make the civilized world regard the insti- gation of war as a crime a hundred times worse than any common murder. To-day, after two centuries and a half have passed away, German children in the north and south of the Fatherland, listen with eyes wide open and full of terror, to the stories, told by their grandmothers or mothers, of the Swedish times, of the Kroats and Pandures, as they in turn heard them from their mothers. The Seven Years' War and the Napoleonic Wars, Turenne and Melac, have left their traces, still unforgotten, but all this is overshadowed by those older memories, not delivered through books, but by word of mouth, from generation to generation ; so deep was the wound struck in the heart of the German people. Besides, those later great wars, after all the hardships, at least ended in a strengthening of national life, and German blood had not been shed in vain : the Thirty Years' War had no other result than incon- ceivable misery. There is not one modern historian bold enough to describe in print the whole extent of the wretchedness which stares at us from contemporary accounts, nor has it been completely ascertained by documents and statistics how many really perished at the time, and what were the material losses, which have not all been repaired even yet. In order not to be accused of xxix OF THE GREAT WAR 301 exaggeration, I shall give a few facts, which, horrible as they are, do not tell the worst. While in the beginning of the war greed, avarice, and brutality were not worse than might have been expected of the period, we soon find an ever wilder lust for blood and a mad desire to destroy. Those elabo- rate cruelties by which the people were at first tormented to force a confession of where money and valuables were hidden were increased when the soldier had learned to enjoy the sufferings of his victims, and became worse when, after food had become scarce, he had begun to be tormented by his own hunger, when so many men and cattle had been slain that tilling and sowing were im- possible in many places. In all probability the war would have continued longer, had not the feeding of the armies in the devastated country become an abso- lute impossibility. During the time when Germans were still fighting with each other, and Gustavus Adolphus was keeping his Swedes in the fear of God under strict discipline, we do still find occasional traces of human feeling, although the Imperial army from the start let loose its foreign mercenaries, especially Kroats and Spaniards, on the Protestant countries, and no mercy was shown to the " heretics" ; indeed, in the eyes of the Emperor the whole war was but a persecution of the heretics on a large scale. During the last ten years of the war, however, when the Protestant powers of Germany had withdrawn, and France had openly taken part in the war instead, there were really none but foreigners fighting on German soil, ravaging and kill- ing the defenceless. For the inhabitants there was no longer any difference between friendly and hostile armies. While the Swede plundered their hut one day, the Kroat tried to take their last piece of bread the 302 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. next, and they might be glad if a Spanish mercenary did not cut off their noses and ears on the third. Fre- quently the marauding soldiers followed each other on the same day. Three times a day many a German had to submit to the so-called Schwedentrunk, the Swedes' drink, of which the water cure of Philippine fame was only a weak and tame imitation. But finally there was nothing left to steal, even the few crumbs of grain which had been hidden in the graves within the skulls of the buried had been discovered and taken away by the soldiers. Cannibalism was not uncommon and is reported from Frankfort-on-the- Main and other cities. When at the siege of Nord- lingen the Imperialists had taken a tower, the burghers themselves set fire to it and burned it with everybody inside. The women took home the half-charred pieces from the bodies as food for then* famished children. It is even said that children were slaughtered outright to supply food for their elders. This is more than horrible, but how can one approach the shocking truth without giving at least a few facts ? this war is a case in which the most powerful imagination cannot equal the reality. Thorn-bushes, planted by the peas- ants during the war, grew into an impenetrable hedge where many of them could escape the eyes of the pass- ing bands for weeks. Adult men and women born after 1615 did not know any other conditions at all. At last the war ended from exhaustion. What was left? And what must have become of the character of the people, after it had gone through such experiences for a whole generation? The psychologist will find here the explanation of many a weakness in the German character which, present perhaps in the germ, was xxix OF THE GREAT WAR 303 fully developed at that time; many a good impulse had been changed to its opposite vice. The power of will was broken, the heart deadened, the interest for everything higher, everything ideal, extinguished. The generation that had grown up in constant fear for their lives, dodging behind trees and bushes, had nobody to teach them the courage and manliness which had been the glory of their ancestors. Instead, they pos- sessed the vices of the weak, servility, and a narrow view of things, qualities unhappily fostered by the next period and only gradually disappearing since the last century, a constant source of disgust and despair for liberty-loving patriots. Just imagine what would be the effect on our grandchildren if almost all people over thirty years of age should be killed and they be de- prived of all the influences of education and moral elevation they now enjoy ! At the end of the war the population of Germany had fallen off from seventeen to four millions, an extreme estimate which may or may not be correct. Flourishing cities and innumerable villages had disap- peared so completely from the face of the earth that at the end of the war the wilderness had already re- conquered the place whereon they stood. One Swedish general, Pfuel, alone boasted of having burned eight hundred villages in Bohemia. When peace came, Berlin had three hundred citizens left. Augsburg at the beginning of a siege had eighty thousand inhabitants ; after eight months the conquerors found ten thousand people at the point of death from disease and starva- tion. Similar accounts are given of all parts of Ger- many. The schools and workshops were empty, the churches destroyed. In the sixth year of the war Heidelberg had but two students. 304 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. It has been said already that the fields could not be cultivated for want of cattle and seed. It has been com- puted that the number of horses decreased eighty per cent, that of cattle seventy-five per cent. The statement has been made that at the end of the war not a single sheep was found in all Germany, and I have found no reports which discredit this. This means that the great production of wool and the textile industry, the most im- portant in Germany for centuries, had been completely stamped out. Spanish sheep, which have since been bred in Germany, produce a wool wholly dissimilar, and according to experts inferior in quality to the former. But enough ! It is true that Germany with the ap- parent inexhaustible vital energy of its people has recovered from these disasters, as is certified by over ninety million descendants of those survivors of the war, sixty-five millions of whom live in the German Empire. But many a forest is being cleared to-day, many a swamp drained that had been won for culture once before in mediaeval times. At every step we meet traces of the Great War in Germany to-day, and the German char- acter still bears its imprint. In this regard, also, how- ever, the Germans may hope for final recovery, since the new Empire has given them almost their ancient position among the nations of the world. It is not to be expected that four decades could restore to full vigor what has lain torpid for over two centuries. But if we look back to the Germans who celebrated the Peace Festival in 1650, they had waited for two years to be convinced that the war was really over, we may well wonder with Gustav Freytag, "how, after such losses and such corruption of the survivors, a German people has remained in existence, a people which was able after the conclusion of the peace to till the soil, xxix OF THE GREAT WAR 305 to pay taxes, and, after miserably dragging along for a hundred years, to bring forth new energy and en- thusiasm, and a new life in the arts and sciences." The deeper reason is, of course, to be found in the people's own vitality and in their love for their home. Externally, the connection with the former culture was accomplished principally by three classes of the population : the clergy, the princes, and the scholars. Of that vitality, however, and of the fact that manly virtue and trust in a national future had not entirely died out even at the close of the war, when in Minister and Osnabriick the foreign ambassadors seemed on the point of dividing Germany between them, we have evi- dence in the form of a remarkable pamphlet, published anonymously in 1647, one year before the conclusion of the peace. Its title is " Exhortation to the Ger- mans" ; a few sentences translated from it follow: "With a loud voice the French and Swedes boast of having subdued Germany, and the flags, torn away from us by our own hands, are shown in Paris and Stockholm. Thus, foolish servants of foreign fame, we destroy our own glory and virtue by our own blood. Kings who were used to obey the call of the Emperor, and were obliged to give an account of themselves before him, sit in court, more powerful than the Emperor, and have become our masters by our own discord. They call and we appear ; they speak and we listen to then* words, as if they were oracles ; they promise and we trust their assurances, as if they were divine ; they threaten and we tremble like serfs. . . . As with the kisses of Judas those pretended liberators approach us. ... From the Rhine, from the North and the Baltic seas, they look out from their watch-towers for every opportunity and conflict that might come up or is brought about by themselves ; and, 306 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xxix like the Romans in Greece, they are first friendly ad- visers, than arbiters, finally masters. Oh, Germany, awake, think what thou art ; arise from this deadly fight. The Empire can be regenerated by the Empire, Ger- many by Germany alone, and come forth by the sun of divine grace like the phenix out of the ashes of her own life. Not Catholics or non-Catholics, not Romish or Lutheran, must stand in our way; but as members of one body, of one state, as brethren, all Germans must embrace each other in love, and with all faculties and virtues strive heroically towards the great end. To protect the fatherland, to defend, to preserve it, this is the duty of each and all. But to limp on either side, to look towards Paris now, towards Stockholm now, to give away territories and to be willing to buy peace by God ! this never is nor has been German ! " We know that this patriotic appeal had no effect, indeed, could not have any ; the nation was too feeble. BOOK THE FOURTH REGENERATION CHAPTER XXX SURVIVALS OP CULTURE Development of German Music OF the three elements upon which we have said that the continuation of national life was dependent, the clergy, the scholars, and the princes, the first, the parsons of the village and city parishes, both Protestant and Catholic, had shared all the sufferings of the people throughout the whole war; they and their churches had, as a rule, to stand the first and the most tenacious attacks. The misery and persecutions which robbed the people of their self-reliance by rending all social ties and by destroying the very foundations of morality meant rather a strengthening of spirituality to the clergy, who had preserved the spark of true religion throughout the theological quibbles of the past century, and who still felt the fresh impulses of the Reformation ; they suf- fered for their faith and thus had an opportunity to prove to their parishioners that they were true dis- ciples of the Master who had called to Him all the wretched and oppressed. Hence we must admit that, truly as the principal blame for that great calamity rests on the intolerance of the churches, yet it is to the rep- resentatives of the Christian religion, to the lower clergy, that we owe the saving of the people from total moral wreck. As to the scholars, the exclusive nature of the new science enabled it quietly to continue its secluded life. 309 310 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. In the meantime, too, the other nations had remained the guardians of former achievements and the successful promoters of the sciences. From Kepler, the astronomer, whose principal works were published during the war, to Leibnitz, no great German name can be mentioned among the upholders of the intellectual life of the seventeenth century. Theologians and the mystics, such as Jacob Boehm, were widely read in the times of the war ; and even the book usually mentioned at the head of modern German literature, the German poetry of Martin Opitz, was pub- lished during the war. The first opera was presented in Germany in 1627 (in Hamburg). The part taken by the princes in the regeneration of German national strength, which with most of them, indeed, meant only the strength to pay taxes, will be spoken of farther on. There was one field, however, in which the German spirit, at the very time it was stirred to its utmost depths by these terrible events, produced some blossoms of great beauty; I refer to the German church songs which, under the influence of the Volkslied, had been brought to their perfection by Luther. It was during the Thirty Years' War that Paul Gerhard sang his finest songs, while at the same time on the banks of the Mosel the religious soul of Friedrich von Spee, the Jesuit, was finding expression in the most beautiful compositions, which were published somewhat later under the name of Trutznachtigall (Challenge to the Nightingale). Many a defiant warrior's song and Volks- lied were heard during the war, but everywhere the return of peace was celebrated in grateful hymns. It was in music that the German genius gave renewed evi- dence of vigor and individuality. xxx SURVIVALS OF CULTURE 311 The interest and importance attached to music in German life would make this narrative of German civ- ilization very incomplete without an account of this art ; here Germany has won her least contested laurels, and here her character manifests itself, perhaps, most directly. Leaving aside the lurer, which indicate the use of musical instruments by the ancestral Germanic people as far back as the year 1000 B.C., we get the first accounts of their musical inclinations from the Romans. The latter speak of their heroic songs and war-songs, but what we gather from them refers rather to the literary than to the musical side. Their battle songs must have sounded terrible enough; even their popular songs do not seem to have had a pleasing effect on the refined hearer. Julian Apostata compares them rot? tcpoy/jLols T(!)V /Spa^y ftwovrwv opvLQwv "to the croaking of the coarsely singing birds." Chlod- owech the Frank, writes to Theodoric the Great to send to him a "citharceda," which seems to show that the Ostrogoths in Italy were farther advanced than their cousins beyond the Alps. We may also refer to the report on Theodoric II, translated in a former chapter. Charles the Great took a personal interest in the fostering of the Gregorian chant, but Peter the Langobard, to whom he intrusted this task, complains in disgust : "The gigantic bodies of the Germans could not imitate the sweet tones because the barbarian wildness of their thirsty throats gives forth sounds that creak like a loaded truck rolling over a corduroy road." But in the first half of the ninth century we find as much- praised composers of hymns the Germans Theodulf and Hrabanus Maurus. At the same time a demand for singers came to Bavaria from Rome. Since the efforts 312 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. of Charles, the Germanic peoples had developed the secular song, das Lied, to which the church tunes gave rules and laws. "The Lied is the simplest form of melody, of harmonious motions and conception, in con- trast to the antique Gregorian melody, which gives ex- pression only to the graceful moving line of tones as such, in their upward and downward movement, to the intervals which it connects in a sliding way, according to their relation to one another, to their juxtaposition without regard to the fundamental tone. The German Lied, by introducing harmonious interpretation into melody, has given modern music its peculiar character and form." This makes apparent that fundamental principle of German art, the emphasizing of the im- portant substance, entwining and connecting the parts in continuous relation to the principal. Das Lied is the form of music peculiar to the Ger- man, it is the original form of German music. "It is," says Heinrich Adolph Koestlin, on whose writings the present discussion is based, "at all tunes the flower and the gem of German musical art, its landmark and pro- tecting genius and the test whether music has remained German or lost itself." As with the antique melody, so in the German V oiks- lied, text and melody are congruent; the rhythmic structure of the text and that of the tune are mutually dependent. To the stanza of the poem, the sound of the tune and the Lied as a piece of music are coordinate ; the parts of the melody correspond to the lines or the couplets of the stanza. But the law which controls and arranges the grouping of the parts of the melody as well as of the stanza, that is, the rhythmic composition of the stanza, is not the rhythm of the language, but the rhythm of the emotion which accompanies the Volks- xxx SURVIVALS OF CULTURE 313 lied, of which it is the artistic expression. The pop- ular melody, therefore, is, from the start, not a word- melody, a word-song, but a musically imbued motion, not melodiously differentiated speech, but a purely musical product. The fundamental form is that of rhythmically measured motion, of dance and march; its fundamental law is rhythm. We know already that the dancing song formed an interesting side of popular poetry. In this way, musical composition had risen to highly artistic achievements in the minnesongs. About the year 1000 A.D. we hear of polyphonic music in Scotland and England, and as the polyphonic music came from the North, it is perhaps not too bold to connect those ancient lurer, which of necessity must have led to polyphony, with this progress in the art of singing, which reached the Netherlands by way of Paris. After being developed in the Low Countries, it spread over Germany and Italy, where under its influ- ence the masterworks of Palestrina were composed. In Germany, however, after earlier attempts to have the people participate in the chanting at church had met with very scant success, the Reformation made the popular song an essential part of the divine service, as an act of the personal worship on the part of the con- gregation, and there it found its further development, under the form of the liturgical church song, first as "motetto." After the advent of the Italian music, especially of the opera, which had gained control in Germany at the same time with the foreign influences in all other fields of culture, German music continued to exist only in the Protestant church songs and the Volkslied. The former, however, brought maturity and strength to the musical life original with the German mind. Its representatives were those poorly paid 314 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. cantors and organists, most of whom were at the same time schoolmasters. Its home was the divine service of the Protestant congregation. Properly speak- ing, it was not in popular life, but in the sacred world of the gospel, that this music, under the influence of Luther, found protection and development. But this world had become and for a long time continued to be the only refuge for the poor down-trodden German people, where it sought and regained its better self and its strength. The new forms from Italy were appropriated in full recognition of their merits and were combined with the motetto, the chant in the higher choir, and the melodies of the congregation. Out of the recitative, the aria, and the arioso with the polyphonous choir and the hymn, expressing the emotions of the congregation, is evolved the cantata, which finds further development in the music of the Passion. Grown up in the atmosphere of German church music, matured under the strict disciplines of Italy which gave him symmetry and grace and full control of the language of tones, influenced by the biblical drama of Italy and the English anthem, Haendel at last found the form which allowed full expression to his grand and broad personality, the oratorio. Thus in Protestant church music the German genius for the first time powerfully unfolded its wings. Twelve years older than Opitz, the author of the Deutsche Poeterey, is Heinrich Schuetz, the great predecessor of greater fol- lowers. Before Klopstock and Lessing, Schiller and Goethe, were possible, Haendel created his Messiah, Bach his Passion of St. Mathew. The predecessor, by the way, of Johann Sebastian Bach was Johann Kiihnau, who was the first to compose and write treatises on xxx SURVIVALS OF CULTURE 315 "programme" music. While Bach represents pure Ger- man art, Haendel had learnt from the Italians ; while the former is firmly rooted in his native soil, the latter is cosmopolitan. They afford a beautiful example of that union between a national and an international per- sonality, so often met with in the history of German art and culture ; Luther and Hutten, Spener and Leibnitz, Klopstock and Lessing, side by side. But none of them in this parallel of Scherer's are international in the sense that they were less German. In this as hi other fields German idealism and individualism show their strength by gladly recognizing anything good and true in other nations, but assimilating really and permanently only what is congenial to the German character and can be combined with it. Thus early German music shows all its fundamental traits, and in music, as Koestlin points out, these traits find their purest expression. "In the first place we meet with a pronounced individualism, by the power of which music is for the German above all an expression of an active inner life, a language of the mind, a self-communication of the personality. In consequence he demands principally that music reveal to him an original personality of inborn peculiarity, an artistic character which presents itself in the musical composition hi all truthfulness and faithfulness towards himself, hi short, he demands truth and genuineness. As closely related to this, we must mention that high, often severe, idealism which lays principal stress on the spiritual, the poetical, the prophetic side of musical art, and, when the choice is given between the beautiful and the significant, in the end always chooses the latter ; rather tolerates faults of form than lack of substance and emptiness of thought ; rather will stand a certain musical secretiveness, than inane 'garrulity.' 316 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. "These are the great advantages of German music; for the German it is not only a play of fancy or a mani- festation of creative genius, but the expression of his inner experiences in the form of musical-artistic creation that is, self-representation. For him it is not only a means of sesthetical enjoyment, but ethical activity and growth ; ' it must, ' as Beethoven says, ' strike fire from a man's soul.' "Therefore, German music is not devoid of humor ; as the cheerful disposition, superior to fate, has become a component of the character as the vital manifestation and exercise of control of a heart at rest with itself, sure of its eternal source and final aim. Hence the im- portance of German music as a social, morally active, popular force, in the service of popular culture and popular education and in the adjustment of social con- trasts; a mediator between different classes and in- terests; the High Priestess of the people, as it were, who lends an ideal sanction to popular life and inspires it with ideal strength. Illustrations are the singing societies and church choirs, etc., from the Meistersinger or the Cantorey Gesellschaft (musical societies of Refor- mation tunes) to the modern Saengerfest. "Close beside the advantages are found, indeed, evi- dences of weakness and one-sidedness : individualism easily produces whimsicalness and pride in geniality, eccentricity and megalomania ; idealism easily becomes excessive spirituality which despises the laws of form ; the desire to be always significant leads easily to fustian, clumsy thoroughness and thorough clumsiness. But one quality is absolutely foreign to German musical art ; that is frivolousness : wherever it is heard or music is forced into its service, nobody has a right to talk about Ger- . man music, even though it flows from German source." xxx SURVIVALS OF CULTURE 317 This description by Koestlin characterizes all German music, and, we might as well say, all German art, especially in its most important fields, the Lied, sym- phony and dramatic music. But German music at- tained its greatest heights in the second half of the eighteenth century in Catholic Germany, which, other- wise, had taken so little part in German culture, as if the enslaved mind which in those parts strove so powerfully but unsuccessfully for emancipation found only in this art a chance to express itself. While Prot- estant Germany boasted of Lessing, Herder, Kant, Goethe, Schiller, there Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven began their reign in the realms of music. CHAPTER XXXI THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE IN comparing German life after the Thirty Years' War with that of the fifteenth century, the principal dif- ference which attracts our attention is the change in the leading forces of civilization. All the education, all the interest in national life, seemed to be confined to the courts of the princes, the territorial lords, who in the Peace of Westphalia had at last obtained full sovereign power, including the right of foreign alliance. That alliances directed against the Empire or the Emperor were expressly prohibited did not prevent any one who found it to his advantage and felt himself strong enough from antagonizing the Emperor. It would be wrong, nevertheless, to attribute the ascendency of absolutism as such to the disastrous war. The same tendency was found all over Europe long before, coming gradually after the decay of feu- dalism. In Germany the change in the economical system, the increase of taxation and other burdens, the strengthening of the territorial princes with their staff of paid officials and other causes, destroyed the last elements of autonomy, remnants of which had been left even to the unfree peasant, who within his manorial establishment had taken part in the jurisdiction over his fellow-serfs. The Roman law changed this; and also in the cities that were under territorial government, 318 CHAP, xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 319 the burgher no longer had a voice in the different func- tions of administration. The code of absolutism, both domestic and foreign, was the Principe of Machiavelli, the teacher of diplo- mats to the present day. Absolutism, introduced to the Occident by Emperor Frederick II, had found its full development in Spain through Cardinal Xime- nez, the powerful regent of Isabella the Catholic. Although Charles V dispensed with the services of this much-hated minister, he gladly maintained his system, and it broke his heart to find himself defeated in Ger- many just when he was ready to enjoy the fruits of his policy. History generally names as the principal representative of absolutism Louis XIV of France, characterized by the famous Uetat c'est mvi, a maxim which, however, he was not the first to proclaim. The principles of absolutism are set forth in a document which goes by the name of " Instruction of Louis XIV for the Dauphin " : " My first step was to make my will supreme; everything to be found in our wide states, all the money in public treasuries as well as in circulation belongs to us. You, the Dauphin, must be convinced that the kings, as good patriarchs, have the absolute disposal of all property, whether it belongs to clergymen or laymen. The life of their subjects belongs to the princes; they must try to preserve it as their (the princes') property. . . . We are the representatives of God. Nobody has a right to criticise our actions. Whoever is born as a subject must obey without ask- ing." These principles were sustained by the Sorbonne in 1709, when a decision was given that all possessions of the subjects were the property of the king, and in appropriating them he did nothing but take back what was his already. The introduction of these principles 320 HISTORY OP GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. into England was resisted in two successful revolutions at the cost of a royal life. The ascendency of absolutism had several causes, one or the other of which is placed in the foreground according to the point of view of the historian. The emphasis of personality, so characteristic of the Ren- aissance period, is without doubt one of the sources which must be taken into consideration, especially as it took hold of the leading classes. We may also point out that the decay of the imperial as well as papal power must of necessity have enhanced the position of the other sovereigns, and given them all the rights which Roman law conceded to the monarch. But these and other reasons alone could not have given the princes such absolute power, if the foundation of the feudal system had not been destroyed and thereby its continuation made impossible. Feudalism was based on the duty of military service ; it had de- veloped, as we have seen, out of the old conception of the freeman as the warrior. This duty had then been transferred to the vassals and had led to the institu- tion of chivalry. The increase in the weight of armor and the invention of gunpowder had ended the military value of knighthood ; in the meantime the people had become used to peaceful pursuits, and the place of the citizen-soldier had been taken by mercenaries. Soon the princes saw what obedient instruments of powe these armies of mercenaries a word etymologically equivalent to soldier could be in their hands, and this led to the adoption of the standing army. This institution had first been used to great advantage by the Turks in their wars with the Christians, and later by the French under Charles VII. For a long time the Swiss had furnished the bulk of hired soldiers, whose xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 321 place was taken in Germany by the Landsknechte, bodies of men whose name indicates then* national ori- gin. These troops or bands had then* own organiza- tion and laws, and form an interesting side of the many- colored life of the transition period. Such bodies of mercenaries hired out to anybody who was willing to pay them, and in times of peace were a constant element of disturbance. Many a time they waged their own small wars, or became common highwaymen. Later the forming of regiments and armies became, so to speak, a financial enterprise; a colonel received a cer- tain amount for which he furnished a regiment, and all the money for the maintenance and equipment of the soldiers went through his hands, and most of it stayed there, a system of financial management the disas- trous results of which are illustrated by the modern Russian army. The most famous example of such a military contractor is Wallenstein. These armies, as private enterprises, had, of course, great disadvantages, and contained, as Wallenstein's career showed, possi- bilities of great abuse of power on the part of ambitious leaders. After the Great War, the standing army be- came the rule, and was considered indispensable to princely splendor, no matter how small the principality was. Even if the monarch and his court did not in- dulge in any undue luxury, the maintenance of the "army" usually overburdened the treasury. It was the cause of a great increase in public loans, and so indirectly of a greater development of banking, and it was originally in order to make the army pay for itself that parts of it were hired out by some princes. The recruiting office played an important part in Ger^ many for a long time, representing, on the whole, the same system we have in the United States to-day. 322 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. As the freemen had forgotten the use of arms, and even the cities had abandoned the militia for an army of mercenaries, these standing armies became the protection of the princes and the means of securing their absolute power over an unarmed people. The kings of Spain and France had succeeded in subduing their great vassals, and in making them their principal officials, but the German Emperor, the legal heir to the absolute monarchy of the Roman Empire, was not able to benefit by the new conditions. The great vas- sals in Germany had become sovereigns themselves, and had their sovereignty acknowledged when Riche- lieu and Mazarin, two other cardinals worthy of their Spanish predecessor, finally established absolutism. As in many other things France furnished the model, only instead of one Louis XIV Germany had about four hundred imitators of the roi soleil, and four hun- dred courts in imitation of that at Versailles. It was the height of a movement that had begun long before. The Estates, which might have led to a representative government, lost their power, and only in a few princi- palities continued a shadow-like existence. The con- trol by the Empire was only a nominal one. The Emperor practically had no power left outside of his family possessions, although the title preserved some of its old dignity which secured to the bearer the precedence over all other potentates of Europe, while historical glamour was just strong enough to continue Germany as a geographical conception. The Reichstag, which the peace treaty had finally constituted, as composed of the three colleges of the princes, the nobility, and the cities, now became a permanent body in which the states were represented by delegates or envoys. They spent their time in xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 323 endless discussions of trifles. Later in Wetzlar there was an imperial court of justice, the Reichskammer- gericht, but its procedure was so cumbersome that a man's life was not long enough to see a suit through ; at its dissolution in the beginning of the nineteenth century there were 6000 cases pending. Besides, the Prince-Electors had secured exemption from appeal against the decisions. Thus the princes were under no restraint whatever, and the pettier his principality, the more the prince was convinced of his divine right of despotism. The subjects were his personal property, whom he might sell or give away at will. Americans do not need to seek an illustration for a later time. But long before the Revolution days and the Hessians Frederick William I of Prussia made a present of a number of cutlers from Solingen to Peter the Great. If no more money was to be forced out of the subjects, by taxes of every description, and no more loans could be raised, there were always French pensions to be had to pay for the extravagance of the German princes, who were only too willing to sacrifice national interests and their own honor to foreign politics. French bribes, however, were not confined to the princes only, as statesmen and influential scholars accepted money from the French government. The fact that some of these princes really desired the welfare of their people, and that later generations owe them a great deal, can hardly reconcile us to the brutal tyranny with thich they enforced their benevolent measures. No matter what was done by the monarch or his government, it was all justified by the "reason of state," die Staatsraison, as the Germans translated the French la raison d'etat, an expression which was made to cover a multitude of sins. 324 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. How far the slavish imitation of the French court was pushed can perhaps be seen best from the adoption of French immorality as a necessary court institution ; even in places where there was no inclination towards it, the appearance of frivolity had to be maintained. Thus the first King of Prussia, Frederick I, who was rather vain, felt obliged for the sake of " monarchical etiquette " to have a mistress. The part was given to a vulgar person who had been raised to the rank of a Countess of Wartenberg. Their tender relations were confined to an hour's walk in the park, or, if the weather was unfavorable, in the hall of the palace, in plain sight of the whole court and to the amusement of the highly intelligent Queen. The standing army, which had made the power of the princes more effective against the Estates and the cities, had everywhere a very easy task in Germany, as far as internal politics were concerned, after the Great War had broken what was left of the pride of the burgher and peasant. A submissive servility hope- lessly pervaded the masses, and even the best had lost all social and national feeling, all sense of being a part of a greater body. Every one stood for himself, and tried to advance his own interests as far as conditions would permit. If not compelled by the want of daily bread to leave the homestead, people made an attempt to rise in the existing system, which was hardly felt to be unjust. The luxurious life and the arrogance of the ruling classes were accepted as a matter of course, one might say, as a divine institution. The assertion that they were subjected to the same moral law as any burgher or peasant would have been received with the same abhorrence that good people show for anarchism to-day. xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 325 Thus those traits of character which had come to light under the cruel stress of the Thirty Years' War, fostered by the rule of despotism and the worst vices, took deeper root. To these belong that greed for social position, for titles and the smiles of the great ; servility towards those who hold a higher position as bearers of official dignity and titles, a fear of publicity, above all, a rather remarkable inclination to a peevish, petty, and sceptical attitude as regards the knowledge and ability of others. This comes to light again and again in the modern German, and is the result of some very meritorious elements in his character, such as his sense of duty, his discipline and loyalty. Somehow the Prussian system, which is based on these very virtues, fosters the corresponding vices, which combine very well with strenuousness (Schneidigkeit) and an exter- nal correctness of bearing which often lacks a solid character foundation. To be externally vollstandig korrekt and tadellos, that is, to act so that no rule of law and etiquette be neglected, is the aim of the Stre- ber (career-hunter), a type that seems to develop best in northern Germany, but it is not popular with southern Germans nor with the plain people in general, nor do foreign visitors take kindly to it. One may be a law-abiding citizen and at the same tune a mean rascal at heart. The exaltation of the position of the prince extended to his court and his government officials, as well as to the nobility, which had long since become a court nobility. The feudal system had disappeared, with the exception of a few external forms symbolizing cer- tain rights, having vanished chiefly through disuse, although in Prussia it was expressly abolished by an edict of King Frederick William I in 1717. Feudal- 326 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. ism, however, as the abuse of usurped privileges by persons of higher rank, found its highest develop- ment after its legal extinction. This became especially evident in a contemptuous attitude towards commoners and in the harsher treatment of the unfree peasant. The latter became more and more wretched and bereft of rights and legal protection. It was he on whom the principal burden of supporting the wild, luxurious life of the rulers eventually fell. At the same time he was not allowed to protect his fields by fences against damage done by game. Just as for beasts of prey, a premium was paid to the foresters for the killing of poachers who were often enough peasants trying to protect their crops. Thence the ineradicable hatred of the peasant for the nobility, which, after German fashion, found expression in such proverbs as : "Young sparrows and young noblemen must have their skulls crushed in time." The peasants themselves are char- acterized by even a well-meaning author in these words : "Peasants almost remind one of a codfish; they are best when they are beaten pretty soft and thoroughly walloped." The nobility stepped in between the monarch and his people. Every nobleman of old family had free entry to the court of his sovereign, but the prince was allowed to find his social intercourse only among the nobility. The more arrogant the nobles grew towards the people, the greater was their servility towards the prince ; they felt honored if permitted to perform the most despicable services and to lend themselves and their families to satisfy the most infamous passions of their masters. And the same abject servility was manifested by large classes of the population towards the nobility. Traces of these shameful qualities are to be found xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 327 today even outside of the Strebertum, described above, and are only too often disguised by the names of Ger- man fidelity, loyalty, and patriotism. It is still in many states very difficult for common people to gain admittance to the presence of their rulers, and those sov- ereigns who show democratic inclinations are frowned upon by their fellows. But absolutism was contemporary with important movements in the world of thought which brought about a complete change in conception of the art of govern- ment and the state. As the prince was the absolute lord of the state, and, as is shown by that notorious I'etat c'est moi, was in a way the embodiment of the same, so in theory the state had become all-powerful both for good and bad. The philosophy of Rational- ism, or, as the Germans call it, Enlightenment, Aufkld- rung, had discarded all historical conception of things, and attributed the ability to shape all social and eco- nomical conditions to the state, which almost seemed to have lost its abstract character and to have become a thing or a force for itself. This means that wherever princes did not give satisfaction, the blame was placed on the state, i.e., the government. Thus absolute monarchy forms the transition to the idea of the abso- lute state, which is predominant to-day and furnishes the foundation on which the Socialists want to build up their system. We shall consider later the practical results of this theory, which is introduced at this point simply to show that absolute monarchy is only a phase in the regular progress of human institutions, in spite of all its abuses as they appear to the modern observer. It is, therefore, not so much the institution of absolut- ism itself, which we must conceive as the product of foreign, especially of French, influence, as the peculiar 328 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. form it took after the war ; it may be that without the weakening of national life, which culminated in the Thirty Years' War, German development might have taken a course similar to that of the English. However, we know that foreign influences had gained ground in Germany as early as the sixteenth century. Even before that time Humanism had tried to bring about a change in the world of study, but at the begin- ning had no other effect than the substitution of classi- cal for scholastic authors and a sporadic introduction of Greek and Hebrew. Real scientific progress had been made in philological studies and in the mathemati- cal sciences. But all this new education was limited to scholars ; its language was Latin. There was a de- cided attempt to imitate the great scholars of other countries, but more in a desire to equal them than in direct dependence. Of much deeper effect was the wave of Spanish fashion which spread all over Europe in the sixteenth century, and reached Germany, both directly through Charles V and his court and by way of Italy; later by way of Paris. This influence became evident in the forms of social intercourse, in costume, especially in literature, and, as we have seen, in the conception of monarchy. Some parts of the dress were endowed by the common people with de- scriptive names, just as we speak of swallow-tail coats and stove-pipe hats to-day. As formerly the broad- tipped shoes had been called "duck's bills" or "bull's mouths," now the pointed stomachers were called "goose bellies," while the stiff horizontal collar encircling the throat was called "millstone" collar. The women re- ceived from Spain the enormous wire construction called the farthingale, the French name of which - cache-bdtard makes them a witness to the moral xxxx ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 329 standing of court life. The costume of Spanish women is well known from the portraits of Queen Elizabeth of England. In literature Spain gave birth .to the style called estilo culto, or Gongorism, which ruled in Italy under the name of Marinism, in France as stile precieux, in England as euphuism. In Germany it is known as Schwulst and produced the most grotesque exaggerations of models which were already stilted enough. In the time of the Schwulst originated the doll-like conception of the "lady," which for a long time ruled the social tone. France was the first to outgrow this style, and produced the great literature which gave her the intellectual leadership of Europe at the same time that her great statesmen, Richelieu, Mazarin, and Louis XIV, secured her political supremacy. In Germany that dissolution of all peaceful conditions, the Thirty Years' War, replaced the Spanish euphuism by a period of freer naturalism, which showed itself also in the mode of dress, but soon changed to the so- called a la mode period, which favored a fashion of military character, and was especially cultivated by the rich youth of the cities. This led to the French court fashion, the object of which was to give an im- pression of majestic and imposing splendor. For this purpose the men wore the well-known periwig with long, flowing curls, the lace necktie and lace cuffs and the rapier, the last more for decoration than for use. The women combed their hair over high shapes of wire, called in Germany the Turmfrisur (tower-coiffure), sometimes reaching such a height that an opening had to be provided for them in the tops of the sedan-chairs and carriages ; they used beauty-patches, or mouches, and powder, and wore long trains. All these tenden- cies found expression in literature and in the Baroque 330 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. style of art. But while one fashion in dress ceded place to another, the various currents of art and litera- ture and of intellectual development continued side by side, running parallel, combining and developing. The courts and the cities in connection with them were the leaders in the imitation of the French, which with them was mostly of a blind, uncritical character. A popular protest against the exaggerations of fashion was not wanting ; a more sober style was favored, which, with the men at least, was destined to g'ain con- trol in more democratic times ; under the leadership of the pietists, an inconspicuous gray color, called "pepper and salt," was adopted by the men of the mid- dle classes. Intelligent patriots, while detesting the exaggerations, still recognized in the acceptance of the foreign culture a good discipline for the barbarism caused by the war and the rudeness of German cus- toms, the " Grobianismus " of earlier times. As a pro- test against the unnatural fashion of the periwig, all the world, especially the military circles, adopted the pigtail or queue (der Zopf}, invented by Frederick William I of Prussia, the despotic but well-intentioned father of Frederick the Great. "With this fashion," says Scherer, "he created a German symbol of rigid, sober discipline which prefers the useful to the beauti- ful, and he made a step toward nature, for he led back from the false to the genuine." The reader will see that even the pigtail may serve as a rope by which a good German patriot may raise himself to a high pitch of national enthusiasm. The German people in general consider this royal invention as a symbol of philistinism, pedantry, backward bureaucracy, as the expression of all narrowness which has not yet disappeared from certain spheres of German life, and which is designated xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 331 as Zopf to-day. This fashion has likewise found its counterpart in a certain pedantic style in art which goes by the name of Zopfstil, and finds its English parallel in the Georgian era. The inventor of the pigtail, a name which we may classify with the humorous expressions for parts of apparel given before, has furnished an oft-quoted ex- ample of the manner in which the French influence had taken hold of the German language in his famous say- ing : "Ich stabiliere die souverainite wie einen rocher de bronce" (I establish sovereignty like a rock of bronze). I must leave it to the history of literature to enter into the detail of the purist movement, led by individ- uals or learned societies. But it may be of interest to learn the contemporary opinion of an intelligent man of national feeling about the foreign rule under which the German mind labored; the passage to be quoted rather extensively is written by the first German thinker to gain the respect of Europe after the lowest ebbing of national life. The great Leibnitz says in his pam- phlet entitled "Unpresuming Ideas in regard to the Prac- tice and Improvement of the German Language " : "It now appears that a medley has ignominiously gained ground with us, so that the preacher in his pul- pit, the attorney in his chancellery, the commoner in writing and speaking, spoils his German by miserable French. Whence it would almost seem, if this is con- tinued and nothing is done to stop it, that the German language may be lost in Germany, not less than the Anglo-Saxon in England. "In the century of the Reformation comparatively pure German was spoken, with the exception of a few Italian and, in part, Spanish words which had crept in by way of the Imperial court and the few foreign ser- 332 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. vants. But such, if done moderately, cannot be helped nor is it to be blamed very much, at times even it is to be praised, especially if new and good things come to us from abroad with their names. " However, when the Thirty Years' War had started and gained ground, Germany was swamped by foreign and domestic peoples as by a flood, and our language went to wreck and ruin, not less than our possessions ; and one sees the imperial documents filled with words of which our ancestors would have been ashamed indeed. "Since the Peace of Minister both French influence and language have gained too much ground with us. France has been 'set up, so to speak, as the model of all elegance; and our young people, who did not know their own country, and therefore admired everything French, have not only brought then- fatherland into contempt with foreigners, but also have despised it themselves, and out of inexperience they have acquired a disgust for the German language and customs which has stuck to them with growing years and sense. And because most of these young people have later obtained prominence and distinguished offices, these admirers of France have ruled many years over Germany, and have made her subject almost, if not quite, to French rule, at least to French fashion and language. " Nevertheless, in order to give justice its due, I will not deny that with this French influence many a good thing has come to us. The German seriousness of character has been tempered by cheerfulness ; manners have been somewhat modified towards elegance and politeness, also towards convenience ; and, as far as language itself is concerned, some good phrases have been transplanted like strange plants into our own tongue. Therefore, if we were to become a little more xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 333 German-minded, and take the glory of our nation and our language somewhat more to heart, than we have during some thirty years of this comparatively French period, we might turn bad into good and draw advan- tage even from our misfortune; and we might as well find again our innermost core of the old, honest German, as adorn it with the new external decoration, won, so to speak, from the French and others." This view of improving German language and literature by imitation of the French is likewise held by Thomasius and others, also by Gottsched, who was so unmercifully flayed by Lessing, but who in this regard, as in some others, undoubtedly has his merits. Through the example of the French as a nation which created its own literature in the vernacular, the reign of Latin was ended; as early as 1700 German prose books outrank the Latin, which in 1740 had dropped to twenty-six per cent of all publications, while in poetry German had gamed full control long before. There never has been a similar number of French books published in Germany, the highest rate ever reached being thirteen per cent, while the proportion as a rule was very small. Seen across the distance of many generations, the influence of French culture must, on the whole, be considered beneficial, in spite of all declamations of German chauvinists to the contrary. Germany might conceivably have overcome the consequences of the period of decay by her own strength, but it would have taken much longer. The French, besides, had some- thing to give. German thoroughness could only gain by adopting some of the French perspicuity and logical conciseness, while a certain bluntness and roughness in the German could stand a little French polish with- 334 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. out sacrificing genuineness and honesty. It was un- doubtedly true that the period of French discipline has been of great advantage to the progress of German civilization. To the contemporary, however, it easily might appear, in view of the exaggeration of the im- ported mode in Germany, of the great advance of the French in all fields, and of the weakness of the German national sense, that there was imminent danger of the destruction of the German personality under the new influence. Thus Germany may be thankful both to the men who saw the advantages Germans could derive from their more advanced neighbors, who for the time became the teachers of all Europe, and to those who by their warnings prevented this influence from perma- nently impairing the national personality. We know that another foreign influence, but this time of a related nation, helped to clear the German mind of all foreign ingredients, and placed it again on the straight road of developing its Germanic character. I refer to the period which made Shakespeare a German classic. But when we compare the language of court circles and its imitation by the other classes during the predomi- nance of French influence with the German of Luther and again of the German classics, we understand why modern Germans so jealously guard the purity of their language, and try to remove the last traces of the style of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries from official documents, where euphuism, Latinism, and Gallicism still survive with almost ineradicable tenacity. As the monarch was the wielder of all power, and as the weal and woe of his subjects depended on him to a degree hardly credible to the modern understanding, the example of the court necessarily took the lead, not only in external fashion and in administrative affairs, xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 335 but in all spheres of human interest. In Germany, moreover, court life came much closer to the people than in France, which could boast only of one royal court and one sovereign. Almost all the German princes, with a few exceptions, ruled over miniature countries, which were so small that the court lived almost con- tinually under the observation of the whole people. No matter how small the territory he controlled, every prince regarded himself as a sublime monarch by the grace of God, no less than the great king in Versailles. On the other hand, the court was more easily accessible to the people, and a man of skilful action might attract the attention of his sovereign to his merits. We see in this circumstance one of the most effective causes of the all-pervading ambition to become connected with the court in some way and manner. At all events, the cultural ideal set up by the courts necessarily exerted more influence on the people, the closer they came under their direct observation. To become a perfect courtier became the educational ideal of the German middle class. The number of noblemen who sought their existence in the service of the princes had, of course, greatly increased through the secularization of the possessions of the Church. No longer were alluring livings offered to the younger scions of noble families, who formerly held the positions of bishops and abbots. Court life was the road to the highest civil and military office. The splendor of the court itself was a great attraction to many who had no other ambition than to live in this refined atmosphere ; many travelled from court to court, and noblemen from abroad added their foreign culture. A number of great adventurers, some of whom have became famous, such as Cagliostro, St. 336 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Germain, and others, swelled the ranks of the courtiers as long as they found willing dupes. The number of courtiers increased in its turn the splendor of the court. To be a gallant homme was, indeed, the first con- dition of admittance to polite society. The perfect courtier had to have complete control of the French language; he must conduct himself according to the latest manners and fashions of the Court of Versailles in conversation, fencing, horseback riding, pistol shoot- ing, meat carving, and he was required to have some knowledge of dancing and music ; how to fold a napkin properly was one of the many smaller arts not to be neglected ; also a knowledge of fashionable games, as piquet and Thombre, dice, chess, and checkers. But in addition to these social accomplishments, the courtier had to be well prepared for the serious side of life, and be able to fill creditably any civil or military, especially any diplomatic, position to which he might be called. He had to study mathematics, physics, and technology, with a special view toward the art of fortification, political history and law, geography, statistics, genealogy, and heraldry. The two last were indispensable, as a breach of etiquette in failing to address people by their right title, or in questions of precedence, was one of the greatest crimes a courtier could commit. The more exclusive court society grew, the more it became an object of ambition to be admitted to it. Patents of nobility were the open sesames ; their sale began to form a fruitful source of revenue for the imperial and many smaller courts. The ideal of the court circles exercised a great influ- ence over the middle and even the lower classes. At times even the trades people tried to shine in the reflex of the bright sun of the court; the privilege of dis- xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 337 playing the coat of arms of the reigning house on the business signs, and the titles of court baker, court cobbler, and so forth, became objects of ambition and were often dearly paid for. If we scrutinize this educational ideal a little more closely, we find at the bottom of it a desire to rise in rank and power, which is perhaps even more intense than the modern desire for wealth to-day. The modern motto, "Nothing succeeds like success," with all it implies, had not been formulated, but its principles were at work nevertheless. The art of advancing one's self in life, the principal quality any young man must possess, was called Politik, policy hi its original mean- ing of "prudence and sagacity in the conduct of affairs ; wisdom and shrewdness in management," as a diction- ary defines it. To manage affairs so as to attract the attention and gain the favor of those higher in rank, of those who might be useful in furthering one's own interests, was the principal object of study, and books were written and published on this subject, exactly corresponding to a certain kind of modern literature, which proposes to teach people "how to be successful." Let us be careful that our modern worship of success, which means power and luxury through the possession of wealth, should not lead to the same consequences as it did in the Germany of that time, where success meant power and luxury through the possession of social rank. All other interests cannot be subordinated to success without a sacrifice of character ; and the period of which we treat is thus justly described by one of the latest historians: "The character of the time was lack of character." Court life has produced the same results everywhere, and if these became more con- spicuous in Germany than anywhere else, it is another 338 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. wretched consequence of the innumerable petty states which covered the whole country with courts as centres of corruption, as boils cover a plague-stricken man. We shall see that there were some noteworthy excep- tions and that fortunately some rulers used their abso- lute and despotic powers to lay the foundation on which a new Germany was built. The position of women had, of course, entirely changed, and they had not escaped the demoralizing influences of the war and of frivolous customs of the French. As early as the a la mode period they had come out of their retirement, and their part in society life increases as times progress. I shall not gossip about the courts of Germany, nor preach a sermon on the corruption of German women. Happily, these influences did not go very deep. A natural sensuality, which is not ashamed of itself, has always been a quality of the German of both sexes ; the frivolous, degener- ate ambiguousness, which under an elegant form hides all devices of seduction and shameless perversity, has never taken hold to any extent of German womanhood. Thus the tendencies of the tunes did not poison any but the higher classes of society. On the contrary, the women were the keepers of national traditions hi more than one respect. But even in the ruling class of society there were plenty of exceptions. We meet the type of the schol- arly woman which had not been entirely foreign to Germany during the Middle Ages, as the names Hros- with, Hildegard, Mechthildis, and other nuns tell us. As early as the eleventh century the daughter of Mannegold, a German scholar, was teaching in Paris. In the period of which we are speaking Lutheran orthodoxy found an intelligent and powerful opponent xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 339 in Anna Owena Hoyer of Holstein. The most cele- brated of the learned women was Anna Maria von Schurmann of Koln, who refused to marry the Dutch poet Caets, in order to devote herself to her studies. She knew fourteen languages, was very scholarly, held her own in defending Protestantism in heated disputa- tions with Jesuits ; she played beautifully on the lute, was an eminent artist in embroidery, painted, and engraved in copper, so that she well deserved her honorary name of "the Dutch Minerva." Copper engraving was a fashionable pastime of the period, as burning in wood was with us not so very long ago. Louise Henriette of Brandenburg, the wife of the first Prussian king, the friend and protectress of Leibnitz, was very intelligent and interested in all higher pursuits of men. She composed, as did many other princesses, religious hymns, of which one at least, "Jesus, meine Zuversicht," is popular to-day. But the kind of poetry written by the court poet von Besser, which, we are told, she read with approval and pleasure, shows how even good and pure women lacked, from our point of view, the right standard of decency. Sybilla Schwartz of Greifswald, who died at the age of seven- teen, left some poems which indicate that Germany suffered a great loss in the premature ending of her life. Princess Elizabeth of Baden-Durlach writes a plain simple language which stands in agreeable con- trast to the pompousness of her male contemporaries in literature. The most interesting figure of all is Elizabeth Charlotte d'0rle"ans, a German princess, liv- ing at the frivolous Court of Versailles, but preserving her virtue and keen observation in the midst of all the baseness and hypocrisy with which she was surrounded, and describing her experience in her correspondence in 340 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. a language as straightforward and forcible as that of Luther. There are a few examples of princes who were not so much entangled in the prejudices of their class as to be kept from marrying the girls they loved, though they came from the lower classes. Duke Rudolph August of Brunswick-Lueneburg married Rosine Menthe, whose father was a barber in Minden, and even tells her: "You shall not be my left-hand wife, but my right one." Prince Leopold von Dessau, der alte Dessauer, married Marie Louise Foehse, a druggist's daughter. Amongst the social pleasures that peculiar Ger- man institution, das Kaffeekraenzchen, called by dis- respectful persons Kaffeeklatsch, had taken deep root at the time. It is said to go back to the sixteenth century ; the lady whose turn it was to be the hostess was crowned with a little wreath (Kraenzcheri) . The first coffee-house was opened in Hamburg in 1680, when besides coffee, tea had found its way to Germany. These new beverages seem to have tended to diminish the drinking of stronger liquors. The coffee garden, which is the end of a family walk in summer, is still popular. Tobacco was adopted from the American savages hi the sixteenth century. It soon became popular, and was smoked or, as the expression then was, " drunk" also by ladies. Besides smoking, chewing and snuff- ing were indulged in, the latter especially by the fash- ionable ladies. Our present social manners date chiefly from that time ; on the whole, they indicate an improvement, especially in table manners. The three-pronged fork grew common ; its use had become the rule in Ver- sailles after 1650. The pointed knife, which had been xxxi ABSOLUTISM AND FRENCH INFLUENCE 341 used to -pick up the solid food, soon became rounded. Numerous other details, now thought indispensable, had their origin in those days. One other significant change may be mentioned. Politeness became so great that people did not dare to address their interlocutors directly by the second person of the personal pronoun. The third person took its place ; and to increase the importance, to show greater respect, the third person plural was used, the Sie used in German to-day. Thus we may find many external traces of the French influence in the refinement or rather over-refinement of manners, but, while with their originators it had a natural color and kept within measure, it was for the German, after all, only a varnish, unnatural and con- sequently misapplied, especially by clumsy exaggera- tion. However, it was not allowed to hide the under- lying personality to any considerable extent after the nation had recovered from the weakness caused by the times of decay and had grown vigorous enough to follow its own destiny. CHAPTER XXXII BEGINNING OF MODERN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY Discoveries and Inventions , IT has already been pointed out in these pages that the rise of absolutism coincided with the awakening of conscious reason hi the individual. This had been rescued from the bondage of authority, and the first consequence was, of course, an unlimited confidence in its own strength. Unconsciously the new power had been trained by the demands of actual life, of commerce and industry; combinations which led to expected results gave confidence in the power of reasoning also to those who had not gone through the scholastic discipline. The new discoveries had considerably widened the view of the world, and the fir^t great results of the awakening of reason are connected with the names of Copernicus and Kepler, after Magellan had given an objective proof of the correctness of the presumption on which Columbus had undertaken his great experiment. The natural interest in the mathematical sciences, which showed such magnificent and wonderful results, was increased when the Great War had shown the apparent uselessness of all humanistic knowledge to protect and support life, while geography, mathematics, and sciences, applied to technical arts, seemed to prom- ise practical results and furnish the means to over- 342 CHAP, xxxii MODERN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY 343 come the consequences of the great disaster. It was at first not the philosophy of rationalism which guided these efforts towards improvement, although the great thinkers in France, the Netherlands, and England had not remained unknown, but the unbounded confidence in an all-powerful reason, which could accomplish every- thing, if only correctly applied, that produced in Ger- many that utilitarianism, which in morals leads to the success-worship that destroys character and gives rise to a shallow, trivial view of life, the philosophy of Philistinism. Of everything it is asked, What is it good for? Nothing betrays this sad condition more than the German's changed attitude towards nature, which had still been his intimate friend at the time of Luther and his century. Now the Alps are called "a horrible and boresome mountain chain"; a land- scape is only beautiful when fertile and cultivated. The unnatural character of the dress and periwig in vogue has already been mentioned. Nature itself had to submit to the artificial taste of the period. This is shown by the new style of garden with its " green archi- tecture," as Claudius called it, cut in all possible and impossible shapes ; products of the shears as they are, we feel tempted to speak of them as tailor-made trees. But before the seventeenth century was ended, the first generation which had grown up after the war brought forth in Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz a great thinker who was not satisfied with the surface of things. He is the father of German philosophy, which may be traced from him in continuous development to its most beautiful product, German Idealism. This idealism is evident already in Leibnitz, and distinguishes him from Descartes and Spinoza, as well as from the Eng- lish thinkers, who, for the time, are represented by 344 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Bacon, Newton, and Locke. Leibnitz is, nevertheless, a typical representative of his time. He is said to have been the last man who mastered all human knowledge, which after him grew to such an extent as to make its acquisition by one individual impossible. He was an independent philosopher with practical ends in view. He wanted to solve the great problem of how the inde- pendent existence of the universe, in and with God, might be understood, not from a scholastic interest in a rational system, but from a desire to harmonize man and his environment; he united individualism and universalism, the two tendencies of the German mind. "For him the world is a system of spiritual individuals, comprised by God, the creative principle." From him dated the universality of German science, destined to conquer the world. A true son of German culture, he did not confine to his own nation his efforts to im- prove human progress. They comprised all the world, but while his cosmopolitanism due to the character of his period preponderated, he did not lack in national interest, as we have seen in a previous chapter. The reconciliation of philosophy and religion is one of his aims ; he took likewise a prominent part in the efforts to bring about a reunion both between the Lutherans and Calvinists and between Protestantism in general and Catholicism; efforts frequent at the tune on the part of true, honest lovers of humanity as well as of hypocritical schemers, for whom union meant absorp- tion by their own party. With him, of course, reason is the ruling force and its infallibility must have ar- ranged everything in the most perfect manner, although we may not have advanced far enough to recognize it. Thus, it is but natural that he gave the most sweeping expression of optimism, declaring our world to be the xxxii MODERN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY 345 best of all worlds possible. Leibnitz, then, is the man who, more than anybody else, reconquered for the Ger- mans a place in Western civilization. But hi spite of all his merits his character did not show any more man- liness than that of the rest of his contemporaries; he was, after all, in many respects an exalted type of philistinism. Leibnitz, with all his universality and far-reaching plans for the advancement of human conditions, had comparatively little influence on his tune, simply because he was too optimistic and far ahead of his contemporaries, as is best illustrated by the fact that many of his propositions are being realized or agitated in our days. In Holland, however, where the ad- vanced thinkers of France had found a refuge among a people sufficiently advanced intellectually to appre- ciate them with minds responsive to their own, where Descartes and Bayle 1 published their books, so influ- ential on modern thinking, where Spinoza was born and lived, the great Jew, who was the first to utter certain thoughts which form the pride of German idealism to-day, in Holland there originated a current which has influenced the practical state of human affairs more directly than the great philosophers whose importance is more on the side of individual thought development. Here the cool mind of the great humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam had set free a ration- alist movement ; here the advance of philosophy had produced a number of historically trained, critical minds, well fitted to examine the traditional truth; here political development had resisted even the intol- erant tendencies of Calvinism. And here Hugo Grotius, a member of the liberal Arminian church party, applied reason to the foundations of the law of his time, and thereby became the founder of the so-called Natural 34G HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Law, which was based on the nature of man, and not on a pretended divine authority. In his book " De iure belli et pacis" he became also the founder of Inter- national Law. That is why during the first Hague Conference hi 1899, the American delegate, Andrew D. White, placed a wreath on the tomb of Grotius in the Delft cathedral, hi the presence of the authorized representatives of the civilized world. By his truly Germanic sense for symbolism he arranged a solemn and imposing celebration which, in the eyes of future generations that are to enjoy the fruits of the creation of the International Tribunal, will form one of the most dramatic scenes in human history. The successor of Grotius, and the most efficient exponent and developer of his ideas, was the German Samuel Pufendorf, who, perhaps, more than anybody else, was instrumental in freeing German science from scholastic fetters. In his book " De iure naturae et gentium," he evolves the theory of Grotius. But he extends it and claims that not only natural right but also philosophy must be perfectly independent of revealed theology. In refuting an attack of Veltheim he says : "If Velthemius tells me that without scholas- ticism the Protestant theologians could not dispute with the Papists, I reply that it is indifferent to me in what kind of dirty rags they wrap up their knowledge. This certainly is no reason why natural law should use those same rags, since this science has not been invented to dispute with Papists, but to examine and investigate the actions of men and nations!" Elsewhere he says that it is better to know nothing than to know only scholasticism, which does not contribute anything to culture and treats science only in a barbarian, crafty, unproductive, and conceited way. Pufendorf is not so xxxn MODERN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY 347 universal a mind as Leibnitz, but perhaps of greater international influence. On closer examination of the natural law, which is based on reason instead of on the authority of divine revelation, as it is propounded by the German thinker, it is curious to meet with the ancient principles of Germanic law at every step. It is evident that in this case reason has used a German brain as an instrument. This tendency is of impor- tance to note at the present stage of our narrative. It had a powerful influence in establishing the doctrine that it is the duty of monarchs to provide for the happiness of their subjects in any manner possible, even by force, if necessary, since then* knowledge of the art of government gives them a greater insight and wis- dom. This new doctrine soon found adherents among the German rulers. Parallel with this there was another movement which, though religious in character, tended towards the establishment of practical institutions for public welfare. This was Pietism, which has its source in the very begin- nings of the Reformation in the early Lutheran period, when the deeper religion of mysticism was revived. Indeed, it had never entirely subsided, and found its greatest prophets among the Protestants in Jacob Boehm, the cobbler and philosopher of Chemnitz. In direct contrast to Luther it placed good works above faith. The head of Pietism, of which more later on, was Philip Jacob Spener. For Americans this move- ment is of special interest, since out of these circles have come the pioneers of German immigration in America. The man who is looked upon as the father of German immigration, Franz Daniel Pastorius, the leader of the Germans, who landed in Philadelphia on the sixth day of October, 1683, had felt the direct influ- 348 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. ence of Spener, with whom he had associated in Frank- fort. His deep religious feeling and his practical work for the welfare of his fellow-immigrants show him as a typical representative of Pietism at its best. He had not been in his new home for five years before the Germans in Pennsylvania raised the first public protest against slavery in America, in April, 1688, which was not taken up by the Quakers until thirty-six years later. Pastorius was the first to open a public evening school, where English was taught to the immigrants. All these tendencies promoted a utilitarian tendency in education, what we should call now a "practical" education, which, as has already been pointed out, was one of the requirements of a perfect courtier. In Ger- many these studies were called by a Latin name realia. They found their greatest pedagogical advocate in the Moravian Comenius, who holds his place of honor in German civilization, as in that of all the world. No room is given to philosophical speculations. Christian Weise, not a great man, but nevertheless a factor hi the intellectual development of Germany, says, "We do not learn because we want to appear scholarly, but hi order that we may become of some use hi common life." This side was, of course, especially emphasized in general education, which, however, did not fail to be influenced by the schools for the nobility, the Ritterakademien. These efforts of the utilitarians and the Pietists met the interests of the more intelligent representatives of absolutism. Germany, with its old civilization ap- parently destroyed after the war, seemed to be a most appropriate field for all these doctrines. Intelligent attempts at economic development for the alleviation of the general misery, for the military strength of the people, for the accumulation of national wealth, were xxxii MODERN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY 349 urgently needed. But even in the absence of all ideal consideration it could not fail to be evident to sovereigns of some intelligence and their councillors that no money could be forced out of an impoverished, totally ex- hausted population, and that only with a high state of national prosperity could a prince expect as high an in- come as he needed for the maintenance of his court, his army, and the extravagance of his living. Some examples of good government had been fur- nished by wise princes, even before the Great War, while the city governments were very slow in awakening to the new opportunities. But even before the end of the war they made some attempt to devise measures towards recovery, the most remarkable perhaps being a decree of the territorial Diet (Kreistag) of Niirnberg, which, in view of the almost complete depopulation, abol- ished the celibacy of the Catholic priests and recom- mended bigamy to laymen. The princes were the ones who represented progress for a long period after the war. It was not only the luxurious, pompous qualities of the French kings which were imitated by them, but they tried to learn from their enlightened statesmen, and Colbert became for many a teacher in administration. Austria and Bavaria were touched least by the new spirit. We read of plans and even beginnings of colonization in foreign continents, as that of the Great Prince Elector of Brandenburg ; Duke Ernst of Gotha even entered into communication with Abyssinia. The latter was one of the most noteworthy exceptions among the princes of his tune, and his eco- nomic measures proceeded really from a sense of duty towards his subjects. To him belongs the honor of giving the first effective compulsory education law, which is important enough to be quoted here: "All 350 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. children, boys and girls, both in villages and in cities, must be sent to school without delay after they are five years old, and the parson must keep a correct list of such children. Any parent who is so rude and careless as wil- fully and out of avarice to keep his children from school, and thereby from their best good, shall be fined, after having first been exhorted and warned by the parson, one groat (Groscheri) for the first offence, two groats the second time, three groats the third tune, and so on to six groats, without respect of persons." Of all the German states Brandenburg is distinguished by the wise provisions of its successive rulers, to such an extent that it must be counted as one of the great forces in the regeneration of the German people. Its rulers have since the day of the Great Elector Frederick William considered themselves as the first servants of the people, as the phrase, generally attributed to Frederick the Great, goes. They have almost without exception made the welfare of their people the principal aim of their lives. Not satisfied with giving an impulse to their ministers or taking credit for their work, they have, though not all men of the greatest brilliancy, set an example of complete devotion to hard, conscientious work, thus becoming models of that spirit of duty which makes the holder of an office surrender every private interest to the state, and which has had such beneficent influence on public and private life all over Germany. The Great Prince Elector himself had taken Holland as his model of a well-administered state. His efforts towards improving the conditions of commerce and in- dustry by better transportation and mail service, by building canals, by inviting intelligent foreigners to settle in his state, were very successful. Of the greatest advantage was the immigration of the exiled French xxxn MODERN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY 351 Huguenots, of whom fifteen thousand followed his call. These French exiles did especially good service in the industries. They form a very important element in the population, and their descendants, thoroughly Ger- manized for generations, have given to Prussia many of its best and most patriotic citizens, although it seems to be just a little bit of exaggeration on the part of French historians to tell us that all German civilization dated from this French immigration, and that without them the Germans would to-day still roam, clad in bear- skins, through their primeval forests. Intelligent care in all fields of national life, combined with a far-sighted provision for the needs of future gen- erations, peculiar to many rulers of the Hohenzollern dynasty, distinguished the Great Elector ; and the ad- ministration of his two successors, though they were inferior to him in many respects, must still be called a government for the people, if not by the people. As regards science the practical tendencies of the time gave a special prominence to the mathematical sciences, as has been shown before. For the princes scientific occupation was a matter of fashion, which with some became a hobby. Great collections were made, mostly from a feeling of curiosity, but sometimes for scientific reasons. Botanical gardens, menageries, and astronomical observatories were established ; many princes still maintained their laboratories in the hope of discovering the art of making gold, but science more and more replaced the belief in magic. The Germans, however, renewed their old glory, not so much by learned treatises as by practical discoveries and inventions. In these Niirnberg continued to hold the first place, which it had kept since the fourteenth century. There was, moreover, a general desire to acquire knowledge, which 352 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. showed all the enthusiasm of a newly acquired taste. It was the time when the expression, "Knowledge is power," with its partial truth, obtained the authority of an article of faith. To know everything was the ideal, which, for his age, Leibnitz had reached. As early as the sixteenth century, and earlier, Germany had made some valuable contributions to science, and a direct line leads from Peurbach and Regiomontanus, whose nau- tical instruments made the voyages of Columbus pos- sible, to Copernicus and Kepler, while Mercator in- vented the projection of maps, Buergi, decimal fractions, and logarithms, as well as the pendulum clock. In the period after the Thirty Years' War Guericke leads with his invention of the air-pump, demonstrated before the Reichstag in Regensburg in 1654, when the famous experiment was made with two hollow hemi- spheres, one yard in diameter, which could not be pulled apart by twenty-four horses. This event was represented in a picture forming the frontispiece to his Physics. Guericke was also the inventor of the electrical machine in 1663. Leibnitz was the first one to observe an electric spark in 1671 ; and two years later the power of observation had been improved enough to enable some one to see and report on the running of lightning along a metal rod. The fire en- gine had been improved in Niirnberg, last by Johann Hautsch. The latter had sold an automobile, moved by a clockwork, to the king of Sweden in 1649. It ran only 16 Km. an hour. A year later, in the same city, a tricycle was invented to be run by turning a crank attached to the front wheel. Some kind of phonograph, invented by one Gruendler of Niirnberg, is described in 1682. Also the first report of an experiment in pho- tography is dated before the end of the century. Leu- xxxii MODERN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY 353 wenhoek discovered the blood corpuscles: But in the middle of the seventeenth century anatomy had so little advanced that a dispute arose among the doctors of the Margrave at Heidelberg as to where the heart of their distinguished patient was located, and a common vulgar pig was killed and dissected in order to decide where this noble organ of His Highness might be found. Anatomical dissection had been strongly opposed by public opinion, even after legal permission had been assured. Quite a time elapsed before a female body was placed on the anatomical table in Germany. In 1697 R. J. Camerarius of Tubingen published his dis- covery of the fructifying function of the pollen and the sexuality of the plants. The use of gas in street illu- mination was proposed by Becker in 1686. Berlin blue was invented by Diesbach, 1704, while in 1710 the famous porcelain factory at Meissen was opened, the products of which are known in English-speaking countries as Dresden china. In the same year the wholesale production of spoons by stamping them out of the sheet metal was invented. Thimbles, first in- vented in Amsterdam in 1684, had been manufactured wholesale in Niirnberg for some years. In 1720 Bock in Leipzig produced the first hose for fire engines woven without seam. Fahrenheit of Danzig invented his thermometer in 1724. G. E. Stahl of Halle is con- sidered by many as the father of modern chemistry, which he established as a science by formulating its problem ; he distinguished sharply between pure and applied chemistry. In 1720 he published his famous phlogiston theory, which was a wrong hypothesis, in- deed, but for a long time gave the opportunity for many important and correct discoveries. The introduction of coffee, tea, and tobacco has been 2A 354 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. mentioned before. Potatoes were first planted in Germany in 1648. The first city to introduce street illumination in Germany was Hamburg in 1672, fol- lowed by Vienna in 1687 and by other large cities even more slowly. In 1700 the Protestant parts of Ger- many, Holland, Switzerland, and Denmark had been so far influenced by Rationalism as to see that correct time would not impair their chances for salvation, and they at last adopted the Gregorian calendar which had been introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, twenty- five years after Reinhold of Saalfeld had published the calculations on which it is founded. England and her colonies waited till 1752, while Scotland and Sweden followed in 1753. Its introduction into Russia has been discussed for some time, but there is reason to fear that, even if she does advance her dates thirteen days, she will not be up to the times. It is in line with these improvements to say a few words concerning postal service and journalism. It is hardly necessary to point out that correspondence of some kind, of a political or other character, had been going on throughout the Middle Ages; important documents had been forwarded by special messengers ; a lively exchange of letters on ecclesiastical and literary subjects took place between the monasteries, and the travelling monks were the carriers of these letters. The increase of commercial life brought about a regular messenger service by professional messengers between the different commercial centres and agents ; such was also instituted between the different courts and governments and between the universities. Private persons took advantage of these official messengers, who took along letters as a sort of favor. The first great advance was made when a regular service of xxxn MODERN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY 355 messengers on horseback with relays was instituted. This was first done in Italy and Spain. The first regular service in Germany was begun by Maxi- milian I, between his court, wherever it happened to be, and Milan. The family of Thurn and Taxis had run a kind of postal service in the Tyrol as early as 1460. In 1515 and 1516 contracts were made by which they received control of lines in Germany, France, and Spain. The house of Thurn and Taxis in time secured a mo- nopoly in many states, and rose to the rank of princes of the Empire ; their hold on the postal service ending only with the reorganization of Germany, in 1866. The service was greatly improved when a change at the relay stations was introduced for the messen- gers as well as for the horses. With the rise of the territorial princes many of the latter established then* own lines, so that Germany had a double system, the im- t perial and territorial mail. After about 1500 the public postal service was at the disposal of private persons and became a welcome source of revenue to the princes. Journalism is closely connected with the postal ser- vice. Occasional news pamphlets were published as early as about 1500 ; the first known being dated 1505, from Niirnberg. Princes, merchants, and others who had an interest in the quick reception of news had regu- lar correspondents. But the natural centre for the spreading of news was the postmasters, and they were the first to provide a news service of greater regularity. It was not until 1609, however, that the first regular journal appeared, a weekly, published by Johannes Carolus in Strassburg. Magazines in our sense of the word had been published as early as the sixteenth cen- tury, and soon began to play an important part every- where, as we know especially from English literature. CHAPTER XXXIII ACADEMIC LIBERTY A Short but Important Chapter IN spite of the parental absolutism in Prussia that only slowly has made its concessions to the modern spirit of self-government, it is this very state to which Germany is indebted, not only for her present unity, but also for that precious gift of liberty of instruction by which Germany outshines all other civilized coun- tries, a principle which had been proclaimed first by Spinoza, but which Prussia dared first to adopt. The eleventh day of July, 1711, is one of the great days in the upward movement of the human race. It was on this day when, in the University of Halle, founded not many years before, the Rector in a speech in honor of the first king of Prussia promulgated this Declaration of Independence of Science, the most important part of which I quote from Paulsen's " History of Scholarly In- struction." It will give us the meaning of the term as it has been understood ever since. The subject of the oration of Nicholas Hieronymus Gundling is the Liberty of the Frederician University (Halle). He calls it "the vestibule of liberty" (atrium libertatis). "What is the purpose of the university?" he asks, and his reply is : "To lead to wisdom, that is, to the faculty of distinguishing between true and false. But this is impossible when any bounds are set to in- 356 CHAP, xxxin ACADEMIC LIBERTY 35* vestigation." The question is then discussed whether any man has a right to compel another by threats of punishment to profess an opinion not his own. He answers in the negative. Such compulsion is condem- nable, by reasons of natural law and utility. There is nothing more useful than liberty of teaching and writing; by this the powers of the mind are called forth, all the sciences will flourish, arts, wealth, and population will grow, as has been shown by the example of the Netherlands. But it is said : liberty is good indeed, but not license. To this Gundling replies : "Has an attempt at improvement ever been made without experiencing the reproach of subjectivism, of anarchy? Have not the founders of the modern physics been thus accused by the friends of occult properties? But compulsion in these matters is evil everywhere. Teach, exhort, pray; if they hear, it is well ; if not, learn to bear it. Truth rises before us : let him who can ascend, let him who dares, seize her ; and we will applaud. (Veritas adhuc: qui potest ad- scendat, qui audet, rapiat et applaudemiis.) " In spite of all the attacks and occasional flagrant violations of this principle by reactionary influences, it has, from the time of its promulgation in Halle, been the protection and life-giving power of German science, which, after the dogmatism of Luther and his successors had deprived the Reformation of one of its greatest blessings, may really date from that tune the beginning of its modern success. That the words were true is proved by the testimony of J. H. Heumann, who writes in 1718, seven years after Gundling's speech, "The liberty and the wisdom of Halle has spread its light also to the other German people and everywhere the professors are already ashamed to believe many a 358 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CH. xxxni thing which appeared a sacred duty in the time of our fathers." Even the Prussian constitution, granted by a reac- tionary government after the failure of the liberal Revolution of 1848, contains the famous article 20: " Science and its teachings are free." But under the name of academical liberty, this principle includes more than mere liberty of science ; besides liberty of teaching on the part of the professor, it means liberty of learning and liberty of living within the common law for the student. The German people consider this academic liberty as one of their most valuable cultural attainments, and any attempt to curtail it even in its minor bearings arouses a protest of the liberal-minded all over Germany, not confined by any means to the academic students and graduates. CHAPTER XXXIV THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT I General State of German Society. Pietism. Rationalism WITH Frederick the Great, whose government began in 1740, we enter upon a period which seems contiguous to our own tune. People have the same interests and the same ideas as the modern Germans, the same emotions move their hearts, the same problems puzzle their brains. Books written in those days do not necessarily seem strange to us. The grandparents of those of us who are of middle age have known people who lived in those times, and from them our parents and we ourselves may have heard accounts which seem those of eye-witnesses. During the childhood of many living Germans coins of the time of Frederick the Great were common currency and offered a puzzle to them when they were accepted only at 80 per cent of their nominal value. It was, as we have seen, a time of philistinism, die Zopfzeit, the time of the queue, so familiar in the pictures of George Washington ; but the original queue, as invented by the father of Frederick the Great, was a much stiffer and longer appendage, almost as straight as a stick. The spirit of mediaeval times had almost completely disappeared from the surface. The country still 359 360 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. suffered from the consequences of the Thirty Years' War. In social and industrial conditions Germany was behind France perhaps fifty to seventy-five years, behind England twenty-five years more. The greatest difference between these and mediaeval times was that the people did not think alike any more. Formerly there was only one view of the world, and that was contained in the teaching of the Catholic Church, which was not opposed or questioned by any one. There were no controversies about the creation or the existence of God. There were different currents of thought within the Church, but that contrast of views which we observe now, that different way of thinking which prevents people of the same nationality from understanding one another, was impossible in the Middle Ages. In spite of changed views and advances in politics, however, there were plenty of mediaeval institutions and ideas still left in Germany. One modern idea had replaced the ideal of a universal empire, and controlled European politics since the Peace of Westphalia, and that was the European balance of power. The largest states of Europe did not want any of the smaller ones to grow up to become their rivals, and France, holding the supremacy of Europe at the time, watched jealously that none of the other great powers might gain an advantage in their mutual rivalry. This is very important to keep in mind. It explains all the political disturbances in the reign of Frederick, who wanted to raise Prussia to the rank of a Great Power, which was opposed by all the other powers. How well Frederick succeeded is a fact of political history ; his state, which was only the thir- teenth in Europe as far as its area was concerned, was left by him the fourth in military strength. This xxxiv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 361 European balance, ostensibly intended to preserve peace, has been a most fruitful source of war ever since its establishment. The German Empire, so-called, was still in existence, principally on paper, and in a few drowsy institutions. The German Emperor, as such, was absolutely power- less. The house of Habsburg, which secured the elec- tion of its scions with such regularity that the imperial dignity might as well have been hereditary, if it had not been for the bargaining about the votes, owed its power to the family possessions which are known to-day as the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy and which were of far more interest to them than the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. We have seen that the great vassals, who in France and England had been subdued and were simply subjects of the highest rank, had succeeded in Germany in becoming full-fledged sovereigns. Only externally did they do homage to the Emperor. Still theoretically even the kings of France, England, and Spain called themselves in court lan- guage the vassals of the " Roman" Emperor; but he would have been laughed at had he based any claims on this polite acknowledgment. The great German princes were represented in the Reichstag, which had become an assembly of ambas- sadors without any influence in the affairs of state ; most of their time was spent in disputes regarding their respective rank. For example, a long debate was caused by the question as to whether one particular delegate should have two feet of his chair on the rug under the table, or the whole chair. All together Germany consisted of over seventeen hundred independent " rulers," since being a direct vassal of the Emperor was only a nominal dependence. 362 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Over three hundred .of these were sovereigns of coun- tries, Lander as the Germans call them ; they were princes, dukes, grand dukes, or perhaps only "Counts," as well as the archbishops, bishops, and abbots, and the cities with their territories. Their states were of some size and worthy of attention. But there were fourteen hundred independent noblemen, knights who had small estates, perhaps a cottage or a stable with a cow or a pig in it. The Prince of Thurn and Taxis was a sovereign on the strength of his title only and the monopoly of the imperial mail service. One state, Hanover, since 1714 united in personal union with the crown of England, began to feel a breath of a freer, more modern air. The king of England in this way had become a prince of the German Empire, and English influence at once became very strong in Hanover. In 1737 the University of Gottingen was founded and soon became more advanced than that of Halle. Almost as much as Germany was behind France and England, the Catholic states in southern Germany, in general, were behind the Protestant North. Bavaria was called the " German Spain." Worst of all were the states under ecclesiastical rule. It has been esti- mated that in these, for each hundred inhabitants, there was an average of one priest and one beggar. Koln alone had over one thousand beggars. Religion was not the only dividing element between the Germans. Language was still far from being uniform. The Catholics opposed vigorously the lan- guage of Luther's translation of the Bible. As late as 1779 the Jesuit party raised a loud clamor against one Canon Braun, who had published some text-books in the " Lutheran language, " and he was taken to task xxxiv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 363 by his superior, the Bishop of Regensburg. Every- where the dialects kept a strong hold on the people, to whom even to-day the High German of the educated often seems affected. The strongest contrasts and estrangement existed between the different classes in Germany. There were the many courts with their courtiers who were all noblemen. Their class had become of the greatest influence and formed a fence, so to speak, around the sovereign and a barrier between the court and the rest of the people. In some of the smaller states when it was necessary at a court ball or other affair to invite some of the people who were not of the nobility, great care was taken in marking off with a rope the line which they must not cross, lest they should mingle with people of blue blood. There are persons alive to-day who have witnessed this spectacle. This notion of blue blood was not a mere pretence by any means; a great many people really believed that the noblemen had a different kind of blood than was flowing in the veins of a commoner or peasant. The idea was that these Estates were created by God and were a natural institution. A nobleman of that time would look down on a peasant as we would look down on an animal. The tune was near, however, when the conditions of the peasant were to be improved, not out of pity or a sense of justice ; reasons of state told the rulers that a starving peasant would not make a good soldier, nor could a poor commoner pay taxes. The only people who could lead a " complete life," as we should call it after Herbert Spencer, the German calls it sich ausleben, were the nobility. Indeed, the man who led the most complete life of all the Germans, Goethe, was not a nobleman by birth; 364 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. but he belonged to the ruling class of the free city of Frankfort-on-the-Main, and before he was raised to power and position as far as power and position went in the small Duchy of Weimar he was made a mem- ber of the nobility. But it was Goethe himself, in "Wilhelm Meister," who makes the statement at the head of this paragraph. Recognition for intelligence and education was not entirely lacking. When military service became, about this time, to a certain extent compulsory, in Prussia at least, the passing of an examination the so-called Genie-Examen would release a man from military duty. A good picture of the German middle class about the beginning of Frederick's reign and in the second half of the eighteenth century may be found in the poems "Der siebzigste Geburtstag," by Johann Hein- rich Voss, and " Hermann und Dorothea," by Goethe. A few cities held then* own as centres of intellectual life against the absorbing influences of the courts. Frankfort, which had held first place during the last century, was outrivalled by Leipzig, and the two were soon overtaken by Hamburg. The book trade was transferred from Frankfort to Leipzig, which only recently has found a rival in Berlin. The influence of Leipzig shows itself in the curious custom that books published in the last quarter of the year are usually dated from the following year, because the great Leip- ziger Messe, or annual fair, takes place in October, when the publishers and booksellers convene to settle up the business of the year. These fairs were of great importance before transportation had reached its present stage of advancement, and have survived espe- cially where trade with the Eastern countries is of xxxiv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 365 importance. But speaking of Leipzig as a great book emporium, we must take occasion to point out the im- mense influence the German publishers have had on the intellectual life of the nation, and to some extent are exercising in the present time. The German learned bookseller is very often a university graduate, in fact the successful ones are mostly so. No one can under- stand fully the development of German literature who does not know the influence of firms like the Cottas and others, and their connection with the best German writers. All who are familiar with the life of Heine know of his pleasant relations with his publisher Campe ; Gustav Freytag openly acknowledged that it was really his friend and publisher, Hirzel, who showed him the road to success. As far as the external life is concerned we have an- ticipated some of its progress hi the last chapter. Street illumination was still exceptional; the citizen who went out after dark had to carry his own lantern, and was arrested when found wandering about the city without it. The dress of the period is familiar from the pictures of Washington and of colonial times. In this respect, as in others, English influence in fashion began to show itself instead of French. The round hat and high boots of the English squire came into vogue. Gardens and parks were more natural, but still were not like those of later days. Their style was still artificial, more an imitation of nature than nature itself; but bushes and trees were no longer cut into figures of animals, crosses, or other geometrical shapes. But what were the views of life of the people of that time, what did they think of their position in the world, what were their ideas of God, how did they answer the 366 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. questions : Where do we come from ? Whither do we go ? How do things come to be as they are ? Of course the great mass of the people were faithful, even superstitious, adherents of the different churches, to which the more educated classes, although more liberal in their religious views, remained likewise attached. Pietism, in spite of its influence on the emotional life toward a not always wholesome senti- mentality, was of the greatest importance in the intel- lectual development of the people. It is in keeping with general tendencies that the Pietists made the schools a special object of care, and what we call " prac- tical education" was greatly enhanced by them. It is to Pietism that the German Realgymnasium, for- merly Realschule, owes its origin. Its best known pedagogue was Aug. Hermann Francke, whose school establishments in Halle have been famous ever since then* foundation. They furnish, by the way, the first instance of a German institution founded by national subscription. While the fertile germs contained in Pietism continued, the movement itself became a victim of ossification and of its own intolerance, the very vices which had caused its separation from Ortho- doxy. But is it not a common human experience that religious, political, or social movements are eager for liberty and are tolerant and progressive only so long as they are persecuted, showing the opposite of these qualities when they have conquered, and try ing to use the power of the state to persecute in their turn those that hold different views ? Pietism, however, must not be considered merely as a protest against orthodox dogmatism, but likewise as antagonistic to the shallow life of the courts and lead- ing social circles. It emphasizes the inner life as against xxxiv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 367 external pleasures ; a close intimacy of congenial souls, fostered by small assemblies (conventicles), originating from Spener's " Collegia pietatis," took the place of social entertainments and found expression in the letters of the time, which became confessions of inner experiences ; correspondence was entered upon even by people personally unknown to each other. In those days of utmost social exclusiveness Pietism was the first means of bringing together people of different rank, still with appropriate condescension on the part of the nobility and corresponding humility on the other side. This movement is confined neither to the Protestants nor to Germany; it shows its influence also in other countries, and the same tendencies are observed in Catholicism. Sometimes united in their reformatory tendencies, both equally hated by the Orthodox, although funda- mentally different, even contradictory, Pietism and Rationalism worked for a time side by side. Francke, Thomasius, and Wolf were teaching at the same time in Halle, the home of free search for truth, and there- . fore the refuge of all great men persecuted by the old parties. But while Pietism was in its decline, Ration- alism was in its ascendency; instead of the heart, reason formed the centre of interest, and Rationalism obtained the leadership in intellectual life for almost a century. The philosophical school called Rationalism, which had been developed in the Netherlands, England, and France, reached Germany considerably later. It is another phase of the emancipation of the individual which reached its first epoch in the Reformation. It is, as its name indicates, the expression of an unlimited confidence in reason. In Germany, instead of " Ration- 368 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. alism," an expression used for a certain theological school, the term " Enlightenment" (Aufkldrung) is commonly used. There is, however, a very important difference between German enlightenment and English and French Rationalism : while the latter led to Pan- theism or Atheism, the former remained faithful to the fundamental tenets of Christianity ; God, free will, and immortality were upheld, not even revelation was denied. The German criticism was directed against the intolerance of Orthodoxy, at superstition in all its forms, and the claims and prerogatives of the clergy. The Christian doctrines were interpreted in a ration- alistic spirit; but since reason was the only arbiter of truth, and no external authority was recognized, every independent thinker gave to Christianity his own inter- pretation. For the first time since the days of the Greeks human reason had become perfectly self-con- scious, felt its own power, and in the first joyful pride in itself overestimated its importance. The mere power of thought promised sufficient strength to construct the world out of itself, as well as to bring order and system into our personal and social life. Nothing was accepted that would not stand the test of reason. In many re- spects the workings of the new philosophy met with the utilitarian tendencies of the previous period which had also struck a responsive chord in Pietism. But, although Rationalism forgot that man does not only think and try to understand, but also has a heart to feel with, it meant an immense enrichment of life. It brought not only a greater insight into the nature of things, both in regard to the forces of nature and to the human soul itself, but this new knowledge, with the feeling of self-reliance it gave to man, naturally pro- duced a greater energy of will, a desire to exercise man's xxxiv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 369 power over nature, the forces of which he had learned to know, and to submit one's own passions to the con- trol of reason. Whereas Luther had shown that the judge of our actions was in our own souls, now the im- pulses of our heart were to be tested before the court of reason. We may justly call Rationalism the principal source of the exact sciences and of modern technical progress. The " natural law" as developed by Grotius, Pufendorf, and their school has already been men- tioned ; modern political and economical ideas owe their firm establishment to the same movement, so does the acknowledgment and realization of the right of independent individual activity in all fields of human interest. It ought not to be necessary to remind American readers of Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason," that the Declaration of Independence is an expression of this philosophy as well as the declaration of Human Rights; the French Revolution cannot be thought of without it. To return to Germany, Rationalism found there an unusual amount of prejudice, antiquated institutions, and other obstacles in its way. This may have been the reason why the German thinkers were compelled to proceed more slowly than their predecessors in other countries; they examined point by point, and devel- oped a careful analytic habit. As they were opposed to all authority, they naturally felt the weight of his- tory and tradition as an unbearable burden. It was not so much pride in their own times which led them to look down on the experiences of the past, as the aver- sion of the individual subjectivism to be hampered by any ties ; besides, reason appeared to be perfectly sufficient and even better adapted to explain all things 2a 370 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. existing. This view recommended itself the more to the thoughtful student, as only written tradition, which of necessity had approached the facts under the preju- dices of the author, was conceived as history. But the greatest source of antipathy against history was the tyranny exercised by existing customs and institutions based on historical rights. In time, however, under careful analysis it was seen that it was possible to separate superstition, prejudice, and error from rea- sonable, historical development ; the conception of history as a natural organic growth took hold of the German scholars before Rationalism had drawn its last radical conclusion, and forms another one of the reasons why German Enlightenment inclined rather towards reform than towards revolution. Being of a less radical character, the movement soon lost the aristocratic aspect it had in France and England, where its doctrines, regarded as dangerous for the masses, were guarded for an esoteric few. As the first great German representative of the move- ment, Christian Thomasius must be mentioned, a disciple of Pufendorf and of the French philosophers. His influence on German thought was so great that it has been called by a writer of his own century a second Reformation. He insists, as Pufendorf had done, on a complete separation of philosophy and theology. He founds law and morals on the nature of man, not on theology. The strong emphasis placed on practical morality, which distinguishes the whole period of Enlightenment, is not wanting in Thomasius's writings. He does not take his stand against the Christian faith, but against the narrow Orthodoxy of his time. Tolera- tion and liberty of conscience find in him an energetic and untiring advocate; he was one of the greatest xxxiv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 371 forces toward the abolishment of the persecution of witches and heretics, as well as of torture and corporal punishment of criminals. He has a special claim on the national gratitude of the Germans for his championship of the German language as the medium of instruction in the universities. His colleagues in the University of Leipzig were horrified when he " disgraced the honest black bulletin board" by his announcement in German of his lectures. But he stuck to his purpose. The Leipzig faculty, however, was not progressive enough to suffer a man of his advanced thought in their ranks. He had to leave, but was gladly welcomed in Halle. Thomasius also led in the effort, characteristic of the German Enlightenment, to popularize the new scientific achievements. He published a periodi- cal, Monthly Chat (Monatsgesprache), dealing with the new studies. He expected progress from "the liberty of all," in distinct contrast to his older contem- porary, Leibnitz, who addressed himself to the courts and learned societies. In spite of his advocacy of German, Thomasius was broad-minded enough to see the superiority of the French language and literature of the time. He recommended the study of French in the hope of introducing a greater elegance and perspicuity into German style, which lent itself with difficulty to the treatment of philosophical and scien- tific questions. That the German language in the proper hands, if not as elegant as French, might even then afford a means of simple and easy expression of human thought was shown by the greatest teacher of the Enlightenment, Christian Wolf, who, a follower of Leibnitz, system- atized and popularized the new science. His influ- ence both in Germany and abroad was immense. His 372 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. books were translated into all civilized languages, while he claimed that his Logics was read even by peasants. He was one of the greatest intellectual leaders of Europe and brought all the new knowledge, all the tendencies of his time, into an encyclopaedic system. Dry as is the reading he offers to the modern man, his books were eagerly perused by the public of his day; he taught the public at large to think philo- sophically and therefore did perhaps more to free the higher intellectual life from the fetters of theological dogmatism than any one else. There was not a great German in the world of thought in the second half of the eighteenth century who would not gratefully ac- knowledge him as his teacher. He had the gift of putting the new ideas into plain language, and, shallow as he may appear to us, he prepared the way for deeper thought. Reason, virtue, nature, the great ideals of the Enlightenment, were brought forth more prominently by him than ever before. Although he deduced the whole universe from reason, he claimed that philosophy must not attack the principal doctrines of the Church ; he evaded such intricate questions as life after death, and others ; in his works there was nothing unfathom- able or mystical ; everything was clear, simple, and intelligible to the average public. But it is not aston- ishing that a man who had the courage to teach that people might lead an honest, upright, and happy life without a faith in God met with the bitter hostility both of the Orthodox and the Pietists. The latter, who at the time were of great influence at the Court of Berlin, caused his dismissal from Halle by telling the king that the philosopher's books taught the soldiers that their military oath on the flag was not binding. This, of course, was decisive with a monarch like Frederick xxxiv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 373 William I, the father of Frederick the Great. In justice to the king it must be said that when, later on, he recognized his error, he tried to make amends and call Wolf back, but the latter declined. Most plainly visible and beneficent was the influence of Wolf on the German universities. The old scholastic methods, still surviving, could not withstand the new spirit and disappeared forever. Soon the opponents of the philosopher saw that scholasticism did not possess the inner strength to fight their enemy, and even Catholic theologians studied Wolf's philosophy to take from his own arsenals the weapons with which to combat him. Though Wolf may appear to the modern critic as the "genius of mediocrity," mankind in general, and especially German culture, owes him a debt of gratitude, as one of the prophets of the coming German idealism, as the emancipator of the modern university spirit. We may consider both Wolf and Thomasius as forerunners of modern democracy, show- ing the equality of human nature and the validity of the moral law both for the highest and the lowest on the social scale. If we find the last representatives of the period of Enlightenment commonplace and ridiculous, we must not forget that when first brought forth by Thomasius, Wolf, and their contemporaries their thoughts were radical and advanced, and it is an indi- cation of the remarkably rapid progress and strong influence of these thoughts on the people that in less than two generations they had become trite. The English influence was most evident in the moral side of the movement. This influence found its way principally through three different avenues : indirectly through French literature, more immediately by the way of Hamburg, where commercial relations fostered 374 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. a continuous touch with English life, and by way of Hanover, which was under the rule of the English king. The "Spectator" and "Tatler" found a great many imitations in Germany; they did not, however, come up to their English models, and showed a much stronger tendency towards Philistinism. The position of women was somewhat improved by the new philosophy; they were conceded to have "a good natural understanding," and more attention was given to their education. We have already seen that the women had allowed themselves to be influenced by French court customs considerably less than the men ; now we find them taking a great interest in the reform movement. The women of the middle class especially welcomed the new periodicals whose aim it was to write for everybody, in wholesome contrast to the lascivious court novels of the French period. But while the morality of family life improved greatly under the new influences, reason gained too much weight where feeling ought to have had the last word. There were no love marriages; there is no more prosaic business imagi- nable than the engagement and marriage of a couple of the German middle class in the Age of Enlighten- ment. This, however, did not prevent an unwhole- some or artificial exaggeration of the emotional side which had its source in Pietism and was destined to gain new strength by the influence of Jean Jacques Rousseau. All these tendencies were at work when, at the age of twenty-eight years, Frederick II, w r ho early in his reign was surnamed "the Great," became king of Prussia. He was undoubtedly the most brilliant personality of the Enlightenment, great enough to give his name to the epoch which by no less a person than Immanuel xxxiv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 375 Kant has been called the Age of Frederick the Great. For Germany Frederick is much more than one of her greatest men. He gave his nation a new life. He made the Germans feel again as one people. For the first time since the Thirty Years' War the Germans saw one of their nation successfully resist the foreigners. Within five years he was acknowledged as the greatest monarch of Europe. He inspired literature, not only as a great hero, but filled it with a national pride which was heretofore unknown, and which alone made the development of a truly national literature possible. But it was not only his own nation that rejoiced at the appearance of the hero ; all Europe hailed his victories with joy and mourned his defeats. At last a leader had appeared who did not bend his neck under the over- bearing supremacy of French absolutism. From the beginning he showed his anxiety for the welfare of his people, his genius made itself felt in all fields of life, and his own energy seemed to find its way into his officials and subjects, who under his predecessor had already gone through a good school of patience, persistence, discipline, and sense of duty. CHAPTER XXXV THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT II The King WE cannot speak about Frederick without first say- ing a few words regarding his father, Frederick Will- iam I. Of him we generally hear nothing good ; he is represented as a tyrant with almost insane ideas. But this view of him, due chiefly to Macaulay's description, which was dictated by antipathy, is not justified. He was a true son of his times, a Philistine of the purest water. If he tried to quench the genius of his son, he did so because he was unable to appreciate such a char- acter; he meant to be a good father, trying to do the best for his family. He had the highest conception of the responsibilities of his royal position, and honestly thought that the ideas which his son advanced, the qualities of character his son displayed, would lead to his ruin and to that of his people ; to avoid this he was even willing to have his own son executed to save his people from the fate that would overtake them if such a king ascended the throne. He was only too happy when a change of mind became apparent in Frederick. In his administrative measures he showed that he well knew what was best for his state and was not wholly adverse to modern ideas. He abolished serfdom on all the royal estates; he put an official end to the 376 CHAP, xxxv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 377 feudal system in his kingdom ; and if he did not put a stop to cabinet justice, he at least did not show any favoritism, but had all his subjects treated alike, so that we may say he established equality before the law. He introduced a just system of taxation and avoided the mistake made in other countries of farming out the taxes ; he had them collected by public officials in- stead ; and princes of the royal house were taxed like the rest of his subjects. This certainty of uniform justice for all, and the placing of taxation beyond the reach of private greed, removed from Prussia two of the greatest causes of dissatisfaction, which in France led to the Revolution. It was Frederick William I who established that mili- tary character which distinguishes the Prussian army and has made the German army what it is to-day ; he taught the Prussian soldier that it is a distinction to wear the uniform of the king, that it is his duty to give his life for his country. He implanted in the army and corps of officers that idea of honor which is founded on self-respect and devotion to duty. This type of Prussian officer with these qualities, due to Frederick William I and fostered and broadened by his son, has been masterfully drawn by Lessing in the character of Major von Tellheim, in "Minna von Barnhelm." In the year 1722 the king donned the uniform of his army and wore no other apparel thereafter, a thing no monarch had ever done before him. Thus he set an example for his subjects of respect for the army and its members, and so strengthened their self-respect, - a master stroke of psychological common sense. The spirit of honor and duty which had been cultivated in the military officer has not remained confined to the army, but has become the spirit which dominates all 378 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. public servants, not in Prussia only, but all over Ger- many. This could never have been accomplished, however, if the monarchs themselves had not given examples of these qualities. The Prussians have be- come accustomed to see their kings share their hard- ships in peace and war. No laborer was ever bound more firmly to his daily task than Frederick William to the arduous duties of his high office. This tradition, however, had come down to Frederick the Great, who called himself the first servant of his people, not from his father only, but from the Great Prince Elector of Brandenburg, who laid the first foun- dation of the greatness of Prussia. These rulers used their absolute power to do the best they could for their subjects and to force them in the right path, sometimes in a way that would not appeal very strongly to our modern sympathies. Frederick William I led a most economical life ; indeed, he had only one passion, that of obtaining enormously tall men for his guards. At one time he sent two hundred skilled craftsmen, cut- lers, from Solingen to Peter the Great to get in return about half that number of tall Russians for his crack regiment. He even went so far as to begin wars on smaller states to get such men. But this was the only extravagance he indulged in. He saved nine million thalers, which his son found in the treasury when he was preparing to execute his far-reaching plans. Thus in his plain, common-sense way the father had the field well tilled for his genial son. The latter had learned to appreciate his sterling qualities, to which he added the broad view of a philosopher and the brilliancy of a genius; he brought with him likewise the analytic, systematizing spirit of his rationalistic training. His whole reign was a training in discipline, xxxv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 379 not only for the officers and the army, but also for the civil officials and all his subjects ; and the strictest discipline of all he applied to himself. It has thus been ingrained into the Prussian character. Frederick's extraordinary success caused his example to be imi- tated by other monarchs and finally helped to abolish, at least in western Europe, that type of prince who sees in his exalted position only a means to satisfy his whims and passions. With the growth of Prussian influence this quality imparted itself to the other mem- bers of the German nationality. Organization and discipline belong together. In the Germans they are acquired habits. It was the lack of organization and discipline that caused the ruin of the old Empire; these very qualities have built up and form the strength of the new. The Germans have been taught by their very misfortune the necessity of discipline, which does not mean the cringing obedience of the slave, but the intelligent sacrifice by a free man of some of his privi- leges to fit himself into his place in the greater organi- zation for the purpose of accomplishing greater ends. Discipline is therefore the keynote of German educa- tion; in fact it is discipline which changes the school from an opportunity for instruction into an instrument of education. For this discipline in the service of organized society is based on self-discipline. When Frederick was called to the throne, he was completely under tte influence of Wolf. While his predecessor considered himself the father of his sub- jects, who had to provide for their welfare as a part of his Christian duty, Frederick approached the duties of his office as a philosopher. He has said himself: "It is the place of philosophers to be the teachers of the world, and the guides of princes. They must 380 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. think logically and it behooves us to act logically." It is interesting to compare with this what Emperor Joseph II, his admirer and less successful imitator, said of himself: " Since I have come to the throne and wear the foremost diadem of the world, I have made philosophy the lawgiver of my Empire." From the beginning of his reign Frederick's actions measured up to his convictions. On the third day after his accession he abolished torture in Prussia. Before the first year was over he had restored Christian Wolf to his chair in Halle. In the letter which recalled the philosopher the king said : " A man who loves and seeks the truth must be held in high esteem in all human society," a beautiful sentiment which loses all sus- picion of triviality when it is accompanied by appro- priate action. Still the king could not long be satis- fied in following a man like Wolf, who was more of an interpreter than an original thinker. Soon we find him as a student of Locke and Newton, Bayle and Voltaire. The latter especially was for him the prin- cipal prophet of the English views. It is not within the scope of this narrative to dwell on the personal re- lations of the king and the great Frenchman ; but Voltaire's name demands special mention, since his liberal views and progressive spirit exercised the greatest influence, not only on the king, but on German culture in general. The king himself was accessible to all influences of the new Rationalism to such a de- gree that he even embraced Freemasonry, which, having originated with English Deism, had found its way to Hamburg in 1733. In this secret order all the reformatory ideas of the period were focussed ; educa- tion, popular culture, toleration, and philanthropy were its avowed ideal. The order has enjoyed the xxxv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 381. sympathy, if not the actual membership, of the Prus- sian kings ever since. In harmony with all these tendencies was the greatest act of Frederick's reign : the establishment in his states of Liberty of Thought. It had been proclaimed again and again by the great thinkers, but more as a philo- sophical theorem than as a practical measure. Here, at last, was the philosopher who had the political power to make it a reality. It is not toleration, not a mere "suffering" of different creeds, as on the part of Joseph II of Austria later, but a recognition, as his now classi- cal phrasing runs, that it was the right of every man to seek eternal happiness after his own fashion (Jeder kann nach seiner Fagon selig werderi). He was the first, as Immanuel Kant expresses it, to allow every- body liberty to use his own reason in questions of con- science. It is a curious fact about religious liberty that very often those who clamor for it most, as long as they feel oppressed, are the first to call for coercive measures against those of different opinion as soon as they are in power themselves. But under Frederick the Great it was different. In Prussia everybody might worship according to his own belief or not wor- ship at all; he did not object to Mohammedans or atheists. He certainly cannot have been in sympathy with the Jesuits; but when the Jesuit order had been proscribed in all other European countries, and even the Pope had dissolved it in 1773, Frederick opened his states to them and gave them the right to teach in the schools. Although the attitude of the Prussian government changed soon after the death of Frederick, this wonderful lesson has not been lost on the greater part of German society. The educated and intel- lectual element, supported by a considerable percentage 382 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. of the people, maintain a continuous struggle for free- dom of thought and for the principle that everybody has a right "to use his own reason in questions of con- science," which is so firmly established in the German mind that no reactionary efforts ever will uproot it, unless that sacred fort of liberty, the German univer- sity, should be surrendered to obscurantism. Of all countries only modern France seems to enjoy legal and social conditions which guarantee liberty of conscience. Of more lasting influence and of equal importance in its own field was the advance Frederick made in the political constitution of the state. It is common to characterize the system of the great king as " en- lightened despotism," but this certainly was not the conception of the king himself. If despotism means that there is no law but the will of the monarch, as it is expressed in the famous Uetat c'est moi, then there is no difference between a common and an enlightened despot, but the rather casual fact that the latter finds pleasure in promoting the welfare of his subjects, fre- quently for very selfish reasons. Certainly a prince who calls himself the servant of his people and, what is much more decisive, acts accordingly throughout his life cannot be called a despot. But Frederick went an important step farther : he instituted, in place of the absolute will of the king, the reign of law; he es- tablished in Prussia what the Germans call the "Rechts- staat," the state based on law. Rationalism had not found it inconsistent with its general principles to jus- tify absolutism in terms of the absolute power of the state, whose given representative is the monarch. Frederick was not deceived by this opinion. He recog- nized that the state exists for the sake of its citizens. "One must be insane," he says, "to imagine that men xxxv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 383 should have said to one of their equals, 'We will raise you so that we may be your slaves; we will give you the power to guide our thought according to yours.' They rather said : ' We need you in order that you execute our laws, that you show us the way and defend us. But we understand that you will respect our lib- erties."' Here, then, we have the remarkable phenomenon in the time of absolutism of a monarch to whom occu- pation with philosophy and the sciences, instead of being merely an elegant, intellectual pastime, was a search for guiding principles of conduct; who volun- tarily pressed on to the practical consequences of his philosophy, and acknowledged the inalienable rights of his subjects before they had asked for them, even before they were aware of them. He despised the unlimited power of the absolute ruler, which at his time was worshipfully acknowledged all over the continent, and placed himself under the law of the land like the humblest of his subjects. No wonder that this man, w r ho during every day of his long life gave proof of his indefatigable faithfulness to duty, that is, to the wel- fare of his people, became the idol of his tune, and in spite of many peculiarities of character and apparent inconsistencies, implanted his memory so deeply in the hearts of his own people that four generations after his death he still is lovingly called "Old Fritz" (der alte Fritz), more like an intimate friend than one of the strictest, most exacting rulers that ever lived. It gives one a wonderful insight into the psychology of the masses at least in Germany to see how willingly they forgive their rulers hardship and severity when they see that they are as exacting toward them- selves and willing to carry their share, and more, of 384 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the common burden. It is well to remember this before one wonders why an intelligent, liberty-loving people like the Germans are still monarchists; and if we do not forget that the example of the king, as a rule, is followed by all the public officials, high and subordi- nate, as well as by private employees, we can under- stand somewhat more easily why bureaucracy and military superiors can take liberties with their subor- dinates, which, although often merely vexatious, some- times transgress the limits of human dignity. "The Rechtsstaat," the state under the law, easily finds a parallel in the constitutional state ; the innate right of the monarch conceded, it protects the indi- vidual in all his relations to society. The inalienable rights, the liberty of the individual, are legally guaran- teed, even against the power of state and the bearer of sovereignty; in the light of historical experience this sovereignty of the abstract state seems to afford to the individual in the minority more protection than the sovereignty of the people under the representa- tive form of government, which only too often de- generates into a despotism of the majority. The codification of the laws was undertaken with great care by competent jurists, but the "Codex Frie- dericianus" was published only after the king's death. The preamble of this code expresses the spirit of its originator as follows: "The welfare of the state and its inhabitants is the object of society and the limit of legislation ; laws must limit the liberty and the rights of the citizens only in the interests of general welfare." With these principles, which had been applied to a certain degree already by Frederick's father, firmly settled, the French Revolution found only a slight echo in the greater part of Germany. It was entirely xxxv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 385 consistent with his own legislation that, apart from the French alliance, Frederick the Great was the first monarch to acknowledge the new republic of the United States of America, and that Prussia was the first power to conclude a treaty with the young nation. It is likewise not astonishing that less brilliant suc- cessors of Frederick could not see how a constitution would add to the legal protection of their subjects. However, it was not equality of man, as we see it, which Frederick guaranteed. It is true the king as well as the peasant, the nobleman as well as the com- moner, had to obey the law, and were equally pro- tected by the law. But the law, in spite of the many new rights it conceded to all citizens of the state, still acknowledged the caste-like separation of the classes. The nobility retained its privileged position. It was considered a law of nature that the noblemen should assist the monarch in the administration of the state and as leaders of the army; the peasant should culti- vate the field and provide food ; the commoner should provide money through industry and commerce. The last was a very important function since Frederick, like most contemporary princes, believed in the "Mer- cantile System" of economics, inaugurated by Colbert, which found a guarantee for national welfare in a well- filled treasury, in heaping up as much gold and silver as possible, and in keeping the money in the country. His belief in this natural tripartite division of his sub- jects explains a great many of the king's actions, ap- parently inconsistent with his principle of liberty and justice. Other cases may be due to his desire to follow his better insight. In his foreign politics his ambition and longing for glory had at least as much influence as the welfare of his state. These considerations will ' 2c 386 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. help to judge his character, a task not within the scope of this work. For us his inability to rise above these survivals of a past time has a much more unfortunate significance. Since the Prussian state to-day, in spite of all modern changes, is still under the influence for good and for bad of the powerful personality and traditions of Frederick the Great, the nobility still holds a privileged position, both in the army and cer- tain branches of the civil service, although the law abolished all class distinctions long ago. The belief that noblemen were not born to earn their own living, but for the knightly craft of handling arms, has lowered the dignity of productive work for a long time to come ; their preference for all leading positions in the army has made it possible, not only socially but also econo- mically, to maintain their exclusiveness and has helped to keep the educated classes in general, who were the next to share the official positions, away from the rest of the people. The military officer, however, still holds the highest social rank (ist der erste Stand) ; and the youngest lieutenant, with more pretentions than education and brain, still has precedence over a famous professor who has performed everlasting ser- vices to mankind. Frederick himself and his succes- sors were prevented for some tune by this exalted posi- tion of the nobility from discontinuing, as they would have liked to do, the institution of serfdom on the estates of the nobles, since the liberation of the serfs would have deprived their masters of the greater part of their income, which class prejudice would not allow them to supply by honest work. On the royal es tates all serfs had already been liberated by Frederick's . father. Of course, their condition was greatly improved everywhere, since they were otherwise not debarred xxxv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 387 from the protection of the law. When some Silesian peasants who wanted to hand the king a petition tried to kneel down before him, he forbade it as unworthy of a human being. When, on the other hand, after some reverses in war patriotic peasants in one of his provinces formed a volunteer corps, observing that from a similar body on the enemy's side the king had suffered great damage, they were severely reprimanded and sent home in disgrace, since "they were born for the plow and not for the sword." Advanced as Frederick was in some respects, he still wore some of the fetters of tradition; even his religious broadness, so justly praised, had apparently one exception : it did not extend to the Jews. His objections to their increase, however, were not religious but economic. In the latter part of the Middle Ages, when the commerce of the cities began to flourish and the Christian merchants began to feel the business com- petition of the Jews, the latter had been entirely ex- pelled from a great many German cities. The cruel persecutions of the Jews became gradually less frequent ; one of the last took place in 1614. The Great Elector had admitted them to his dominions. About 1700 the condition of the Jews had greatly improved. We find them in great favor with the princes, with many of whom the financial Jew (der Geldj^de) becomes a standing institution. The first king of Prussia gave the Jewish rabbis the privilege of wearing a sword. However, they were far from free ; they still had to pay their body tax (Leibzoll) for special protection. Frederick the Great did not suppress them, but, as has been said, did not want them to increase in number. The most illustrious Jew under his reign was Moses Mendelssohn, well known as one of the popular philos- 388 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. ophers of the period of Enlightenment. He was the clerk of a merchant, and according to the state of things could not be a citizen in his own right, but was in a certain sense in bondage to his master. When he tried to get his freedom, the king refused. Then it was that the French philosopher, D'Alembert, President of the Royal Academy of Berlin, and a personal friend of Frederick, wrote that remarkable note which served its purpose: "A philosopher who is a bad Catholic writes to a philosopher who is a bad Protestant, on behalf of a philosopher who is a bad Jew." D'Alem- bert surely was a bad Catholic, and Frederick not a very good Protestant, but in one respect the clever note was mistaken : Mendelssohn was not a bad Jew. He remained faithful to his creed. While the detail of his work belongs to the history of literature, one thing Mendelssohn accomplished of great importance in the progress of German culture, he taught the Jews in Germany to become Germans. Up to that time German had been almost a foreign language to them. He taught them that they should take part in the life of the nation. His book, "Jerusalem," in which he tried to introduce his people to European culture, was published in 1782. Already, two years before that time, the first book leading to the final emancipation of the Jews had been brought out. This book, which marks an epoch in the history of human progress, bore the title, "On the Civil Improvement of the Jews" (Ueber die biirgerliche Verbesserung der Juderi). It was written by Dohm, who had made extensive investiga- tions at the instance of certain German princes. Political events, especially wars, find little attention in this book unless they have a direct bearing on na- tional development, of which the increase or decrease xxxv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 389 of territory in itself does not form necessarily an im- portant part. But the Seven Years' War, though its victories and defeats, marches and countermarches, conquests and losses, martial glory, bloodshed, and devastations do not vary materially from the experi- ences of other wars, was important, not only in its effect on the Germans and their contemporaries, but also because it showed what a well-disciplined army can do under good leadership. Prussia, which in popula- tion held the thirteenth place in Europe, not only held its own without an ally against all the great powers of Europe, but came out conqueror. This lesson has not been forgotten by the Germans of to-day, who, much more favorably situated than Frederick was, and hav- ing his example before them, trust in their strength to work out their own destiny, not scorning alliances with their rivals, but feeling confident that their own unity cannot be rent asunder by any outward foe. Another political event which is the source of one of the greatest problems of modern Germany, espe- cially Prussia, is the Partition of Poland. It is not our place to examine the justice of the act. Frederick had his choice : either to see the whole of Poland fall into the hands of Russia, thus increasing her power, with- out any equivalent to offset it, and more than that, to give up forever all hope of uniting its separated eastern and western provinces ; to place Prussia completely at the mercy of a powerful neighbor wedged in be- tween his possessions ; or, on the other hand, to partake in the injustice he could not prevent, by appropriating a share of the booty. The conditions in Poland cer- tainly invited interference ; persecutions of Germans and Protestants had been of frequent occurrence ; many cities founded by the German colonists had decayed 390 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. under the Polish rule, and the fields lay waste. Before the final conclusion of the first treaty Frederick had commissioned one hundred and eighty-seven teachers in his new possessions, and had begun to construct a canal which created a waterway from the Vistula to the Oder through one of the latter's tributaries, the Netze. There is no doubt that Prussian Poland has derived great economical and cultural advantages from her connection with the state of Frederick the Great. Still, the Poles have resisted all efforts at amalgamation, and to-day their sense of nationality seems to be stronger than ever; their increase in number and prosperity makes their presence in the German body politic a serious menace to healthy development. During the long years of peace Frederick could de- vote all his energies to healing the wounds of war, and to executing his plans for the welfare and elevation of his subjects. He perfected the organization of the army and of the civil service, paying attention to the smallest details ; the whole administration worked like a perfectly constructed machine of which his master spirit was the motive power. The king himself be- came more and more lonesome. His occupation with science and art formed his only recreation and made him forget the disappointments of his heart ; for he was not exempt from the emotional current which pervaded his time, in spite of all restraint of reason, Lessing also being subject to it. He still found his aesthetic sense satisfied with French classicism and had no eye for the rising culture of his own nation. Nevertheless he knew his own people well enough to feel assured that they would in time surpass others in the ideal pursuits of man, although he was not conscious that he himself had helped to start the wonderful flight of xxxv THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 391 German Idealism. While he seemed to have no per- sonal friend and his high officials felt uncomfortable in his presence, his people idolized him. Day after day when he returned from his round of duties he was received on the streets of Berlin with the ovations granted to a triumphant hero. But he who had ears to listen would discover in the joyful shouting an un- dertone of pity for his loneliness and of regret that he would not open his heart to receive their admiring affections. The great king had no successor worthy of him. The irony of fate placed on the throne after the greatest of the Hohenzollerns the weakest and meanest. Dur- ing the later years of Frederick's reign Berlin had al- ready acquired an unenviable reputation for immorality. The new king, Frederick William II, certainly fitted in such surroundings. As to the wonderful organiza- tion of the administrative body, it continued to function mechanically, but where the genius of the great king once had been the ruling spirit, now schematism and bureaucratism gained control. Absolute liberty of thought came to an end with the life of Frederick. The new king, like many liber- tines, opened his ear to bigoted councillors. But the spirit of public opinion had gained sufficient strength by that time to make the new minister, Wollner, with- draw the intolerant Religionsedikt after trying in vain to enforce it. Bureaucratism and schematism, the natural com- plements of the virtues of Frederick's statecraft, have, together with all the great creations of the unforgotten king, come down to our days only too eager to assume control when the genial spirit is lacking, as Prussia has experienced to her sorrow more than once; while 392 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xxxv the glory of his victorious army hides in its inheritance another sinister complement in the shape of militarism, all three useful servants when properly subdued, but enemies of progress, liberty, and highest culture whenever they gain supremacy. CHAPTER XXXVI THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT III Strengthening of National Feeling. Improvements. Imitators THE personality of Frederick the Great must have contributed not a little to make Rationalism the popu- lar philosophy with the progressive part of the nation ; and probably because, as I have pointed out, this Ger- man Enlightenment was distinguished from the same movement in England and France by its greater reli- giosity, it spread more than in the other countries among the people in general. The natural result was a gen- eral rise in the intellectual activities through the fre- quent discussion of the problems involved, so that Rationalism must be considered an important factor, in a certain sense, in raising popular education. We have seen that with the rise of Frederick the Great the Germans began once more to feel themselves a nation ; the first germs appear of that longing for unity, that craving which has been at the bottom of all great political movements in Germany from this time to 1870 ; and Frederick strengthened his small state of Prussia so that it was able, or rather he laid the founda- tion on which it was to become able later on, to be the instrument of bringing about this unity. This does not mean, however, that Frederick himself had any further 393 394 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. thought than his own glory and the welfare of his own state. It is during his reign, then, that we first find the beginning of political interest in the German people and that the first political writings appear in Germany written by German scholars. I mention only Justus Moeser and Schloezer, whose books may still be read with interest. The political ideal, the object of the state as it appeared to the German Rationalists, was the assurance of the greatest possible measure of happiness to every individual, protection against foreign enemies, quiet in the interior. Liberty meant for them freedom of property, freedom to choose one's own avocation and means of livelihood. The state whose power was as absolute as that of any despot might even use compul- sion to make its subject accept its own, i.e., the govern- ment's, conception of happiness. As the existing condi- tions were thought to be the result of reason and there was a total lack of historical sense, nobody thought of making a radical change. The idea of a representa- tive government was not dreamed of, the less so as the ruling dynasties with few exceptions were willing to do their duty and the Rechtsstaat was gradually replac- ing absolutism. On the whole, the ideal of the German middle class was a quiet life, so beautifully pictured in Goethe's " Hermann und Dorothea." But one thing is clear, everywhere the stagnation brought about by the Thirty Years' War, which lasted nearly one hundred years, had passed. Streets were improved and canals built. Out of the shop of the craftsmen industry was slowly developing. At first we see the development of the home industries, where many families are employed by one contractor. A famous example of this class is xxxvi THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 395 the great textile factory in Kalwe, which employed over six thousand people, not in one establishment, but in their own homes. There was progress on all sides, and great inventions and discoveries were made. Perhaps the greatest of them was the discovery by Markgraf that beets contained sugar which could be crystallized, although it was fifty years before the discovery bore practical results and the erection of the first beet sugar factory in Berlin started a new and important industry. In 1743 the first fire department in Germany was estab- lished in the city of Barmen. The first industrial school was opened in Braunschweig in 1745. Twenty years later the first commercial school was established in Hamburg. German science prepared to take the position it holds to-day, still following the lead of France and England. The field of chemistry was greatly enlarged. In medi- cine we hear of the first electric treatment of a paralytic stroke by Kratzenstein. The treatment of the insane was more humane. Zimmermann was the first to remove the secrecy and mystery surrounding the medical profession which had been such an encourage- ment to quacks. Albrecht von Haller laid the founda- tions of experimental physiology. The establishment of geology by Werner has already been mentioned in another connection. To continue this enumeration would take too much space. The rise of German science already began to find recognition abroad, for science is international. The English Parliament made a donation to the heirs of Tobias Meyer, who had discovered that the stars moved and published the first correct tables of the movements of the moon. The natural sciences began to take a systematic interest in technological questions. Scientific periodicals were 396 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. published, and found support in the educated middle classes, so that before the end of the century they numbered not less than twenty. The example of Frederick the Great influenced all other monarchs of Europe. They all commenced to take their duties more seriously and tried to imitate the great king with more or less success. The best known of his imitators and admirers was Joseph II, the son of Maria Theresa, Frederick's greatest enemy. Several reasons combined to prevent his efforts to introduce Frederician reforms into his Austrian crown-lands. While with Frederick the liberty of thought was merely a matter of conviction, a question of justice, Joseph II was not quite unselfish in giving out his "Toleration Edict" (Tolerationspatent) ; he had political ends in view. The great aim of his reign was the Germanization of the twelve different nationalities united under the Austrian crown ; he foresaw conditions as we observe them to-day, when at times there seems to be danger of a dissolution of the Habsburg Empire. But he was not a man of sufficient energy and persistency to accom- plish such a difficult task. Difficulties discouraged him. Thus he tried to break the power of the Roman Church in his territories. He closed about seven thou- sand monasteries and convents, and gave liberty to thirty thousand monks and nuns; but twenty-seven thousand remained in thirteen hundred convents. Thus, while he had offended the faithful Catholics, and especially the clergy, he did not push matters to such a point as to derive the advantages he wanted to secure by this policy. He stopped halfway ; so it was with almost everything. The tendencies of the times as they found expression xxxvi THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 397 in Pietism and Rationalism made themselves very distinctly felt, not only in the Protestant, but also in the Catholic Church. The Pope's position had already greatly lost in importance under the influence of French politics; it was the consequence of Rationalism that the Jesuits, the strongest support of the papal power, were expelled from every country except Prussia, and that their order was dissolved by the Pope himself. A new impetus was given to endeavors to reunite the Protestant and Catholic churches, a favorite idea of Leibnitz. The increased longing for liberty of thought matured another attempt to give a national character to the German Catholic Church. Indeed, that was all Luther had aimed at in the beginning of his career. The German archbishops were encouraged in this movement by the policy of Joseph II and came at last to an agreement, the so-called "Emser Punktation" hi 1786. The principal points (Punkte) settled hi this instrument were the following : The Pope was still to remain the highest supervisor of the Catholic Church, but his prerogatives, based on the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, were to be abolished : there should be no appeal to Rome over the head of the bishops; the religious orders were not to accept any rulings from foreign superiors ; a national council was to regulate the affairs of the German Church. But the dissent of the bishops and the wavering policy of Joseph II again caused these efforts to come to naught. CHAPTER XXXVII GERMAN IDEALISM Reaction against Rationalism. Gellert. Klopstock. Storm and Stress. Lessing. Winckelmann. Herder No matter how brilliantly the success of Rationalism at the time of Frederick the Great shone forth, it could not prevent a feeling of dissatisfaction. People could not forget that reason was not all, that there was a heart. We know how the culture of the heart had been fostered by Pietism; how the reaction against Rationalism brought renewed vigor to sentimentalism, which grew to such proportions as to take almost the character of an epidemic, at least to modern eyes. Tears were shed freely by everybody, for everything, on every occasion. If people took leave of each other for a couple of hours, they wept; if they met again, they wept ; if they saw a beautiful sunset, they wept ; when a young man saw his sweetheart, he wept, and, of course, she wept too ; in short, certain parts of the social world were swimming in tears, and this flood lasted into the second and third decades of the last century. In literature the books that brought tears to the eyes of the readers were those most in demand. The exchange of sentimental letters flourished more than ever in reading letters of that period one can- not avoid a suspicion of insincerity; in spite of all 398 CHAP, xxxvii GERMAN IDEALISM 399 emotional affectation the simplest private letter often looks as if written for publication. On the other hand, a greater approach to nature continued to be noticeable, along with an increase of English influence both on the mode of life and on literary taste. The number of German periodicals composed after English models amounted to about two hundred and fifty in the middle of the eighteenth century. The books of Young and Richardson were very popular. "The Vicar of Wakefield" was widely read, and the writings of Lawrence Sterne were in great demand. For the development of German thought the most important books were, perhaps, as we shall see later, Percy's "Relics of Ancient English Poetry," and Macpherson's "Ossian," at that time believed to be wholly genuine. The change to the English fashion in dress and the subdued colors favored by Pietism seem to have been the last great change in men's apparel. While formerly all great movements found their external expression in the fashion of dressing, it seems now that the whims of tailors and social leaders or the needs of manufacturers are the only arbiters in question of fashion in dress. The reaction against the absolute and undivided rule of reason did not, of course, make an end of Rational- ism all at once. It produced a combination of ration- alistic and sentimentalistic elements which has been characterized as "reasonable piety," connecting senti- mentality and a sympathetic heart with a practical way of thinking, having profit and happiness for its ends, advocating education without dogmatic influ- ences. It is a type we have seen most perfectly repre- sented in America by Benjamin Franklin. In Germany the great example of this new life was given by Gellert, 400 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. a man of the most amiable qualities. His writings, with the exception of a few fables and other selections in school readers, are not read to-day. To us he certainly does not appear inspiring, yet he was the ideal of his countrymen during his lifetime. They preferred him to the cold, intellectual greatness that has nothing to offer to the heart. Although Gellert does not hold a very high place in literary history, he is, on account of his personal popularity, of the greatest importance in the develop- ment of the German people. He represents more than a certain tendency in literature, he stands for a phi- losophy, a theory of life which, shallow, as it was in its utilitarian optimism, still meant a step forward towards German Idealism. His piety was not that of the ortho- dox, but he felt God in his own heart and saw Him in the surrounding life of man and nature. This concep- tion of religion as an inner experience was welcomed by a generation that had turned away from the dogma- tism of the churches, but did not find its religious crav- ings satisfied by a philosophy which created everything out of reason. Gellert was sought by high and low; he was the only German writer whose merits were recognized by Frederick the Great. His extensive correspondence with representatives of all classes, with old and young, with men and women, give an idea of how far his serene, virtuous theory of life had pene- trated the whole nation, and it shows at the same time how deep-rooted and general was the desire for educa- tion and improvement. Gellert was, in his way, as much adored as Frederick of Prussia. The saying was that "to believe in Gellert, religion, and virtue, is one and the same thing for our public." Although this plain, unpretentious commoner xxxvii GERMAN IDEALISM 401 commanded a remarkably respectful hearing on the part of the exclusive classes of nobility, and the aged were also eager to learn from his words, still his greatest admirers were found among the poor and the young. He was idolized especially by the women, in whose natural, original, incorrupted emotions he saw the strongest support for improvements. If these movements were really popular, not in the sense of a passing fashion, but of actually taking hold of the national soul, they had of necessity to manifest their force likewise in art, which in Germany took that partic- ular form which seems most adapted to express the innermost feeling of the soul, that is, music. Thus while Gluck and Haydn were putting an end to Italian influ- ences, and by their noble simplicity were preparing for the great classics, we find a new German Lied, akin to the Volkslied, sung within the house, in the family circle, to the accompaniment of the spinet or the piano. Love and friendship are its favorite objects. But the sentimental trend of the times found here immediate and untrammelled expression. "Adagios, soft as butter," says a German writer, "make the soul melt in emotion." There was another kind of protest against the suprem- acy of reason which is found in Germany not less than in the more advanced countries. It is that love for and belief in everything mysterious to which Free- masonry owes a part of its success, and which makes the period of flourishing Rationalism, in curious contra- diction, the harvest time of the representatives of all kinds of occult knowledge and of those great interna- tional swindlers of whom Count Cagliostro is the most famous type. With Gellert began that new conception which 29 402 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. teaches the individual that it does not exist alone, that it needs, response from other souls for its own healthy growth, when the personality feels the desire to express, to manifest itself in subjective action on other things or persons. It is from this period that the line of great German thinkers and authors took its start. In this series we first meet Klopstock, who is in close touch with all the different currents of his time, as already described; he helps to lay the foundations of the modern theory of life, at the basis of which is a new viewpoint, or rather sentiment, which has been called the " German Religion." For it may be said, with the proper limitations governing all general statements, that all German thinkers, or even all educated Germans, no matter what their religious adherence, whether they are Catholics, Protestants, or Jews, or even Free-thinkers or Atheists, have something common in their point of view, something which has grown out of the current just setting in, which in Germany is comprised under the name of "German Idealism." Klopstock is the first greater writer who again feels his nationality, the first to express real patriotism hi German poems. His poems show his religious culture, his heart, his love of nature. He is the first in modern literature to show historical sense, a sense for the fact that things have grown, that present conditions are the outcome of former development. He was followed by Wieland, who gave the German language to some extent that ease of motion and ele- gance which seem to be a monopoly of the French writers. He introduces his countrymen to the greatness of Shakespeare. At last appears Lessing, the emancipator of art from the rule of French Classicism. He shows that the xxxvn GERMAN IDEALISM 403 French have misunderstood the Greeks, whom they claim to follow, and tries to learn from the Greeks them- selves instead of their imitators. But he does not simply give up the dependence on the French to exchange it for a dependence on the Greeks ; he does not follow Aristotle to the letter, but he studies his theories with a critical mind. He points out the limits of the differ- ent arts, and destroys that prejudice of the rationalistic theory that it is possible for anybody to learn how to make a poem, a picture, or a statue, by following closely the rules laid down in books, that these arts are simply the result of a rational technology, the same as the work of any craftsman. In short, he opens the eyes of his countrymen to a new conception of art, shows them true art. It was the same idea which had revealed itself to his contemporary, Winckelmann, in his study of the original works of Greek sculpture. Not less impo'rtant is Lessing's leadership in other fields. He discovers and follows up the idea of a critical study of the development of history. He proclaimed the theory of true toleration, as Frederick had established it in his state. His " Nathan the Wise" is one of the great educational works of the world. In much more con- scious and definite manner than Luther he places morality on man's own judgment ; he teaches that our heart must tell us whether we do right or not. He draws, indeed, the ultimate conclusions of Rationalism, but in doing so, grows beyond it. For him, language, religion, morality, and state are inventions, not of reason, but of creative genius. With Lessing and his new views we have the beginning of the movement against the teleological theory of life, whicfe claims that every being and every one is made for a certain rational purpose outside of itself or himself. By all these dif- 404 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. ferent ideas Lessing foreshadows the greatest Germans, the greatest representatives of German Idealism, and Scherer, in his " History of German Literature," calls him "the first truly free man, artist, and thinker in Ger- many, full of spontaneous breadth and patriotic warmth, republican fearlessness and monarchical discipline." Of those who developed Lessing's idea Herder must be mentioned in first place. Lessing and Winckelmann have taught that art was not the product of technical regulations, but the spontaneous expressions of inner- most feelings. This common foundation of all art is em- phasized by Herder. He develops already the idea of the universal art we are used to connect with the name of Richard Wagner, who wanted to give us in the work of art of the future a union of all the different arts in one production. Herder, under the influence of Percy, calls attention to the popular songs, the Volkslieder. In his work Stimmen der Voelker (Voices of the Nations) he called them the outflow of the Volks- seele, a word coined by him, meaning "national soul." He dwells on the unity of the universe, on the conception that nature is one unit of which man forms only a part, ideas coming down from Spinoza and Lessing ; but the idea which stands forth most promi- nently in his theory of life is this, that the individual man is one with all humanity. Here is the source of his conception of history which was to lead to the idea of evolution. Much more than Lessing, or, before him, the Italian Vico, he succeeds in establishing the idea that history is an organic development ; and Immanuel Kant, the great German philosopher, makes the same idea the foundation of his theory of the universe. This idea of organic growth is one of the most fruitful ideas of modern times; it has been called "the" Ger- xxxvn GERMAN IDEALISM 405 man idea. The end of all historical development is the creation and manifestation of the complete man, the ideal towards which we all must strive, pure humanity, reine Menschlichkeit. The influence of Herder, not only in Germany, but also in Europe, was great and lasting. His disciples were not only the great scientists in Germany, as her great philologists led by F. A. Wolf, her great historians as Niebuhr and Eichhorn, the two Humboldts, the two Grimms, and numerous others ; but in England Burke, who in his turn influenced a later generation of Germans, Carlisle, Darwin, Coleridge, and others may be counted among his followers, while in France men like Benjamin Constant, Thierry, Guizot, De Tocqueville, Renan, and Taine belong to his school. His influence reaches down directly to our own days. In the meantime the heart claimed its rights more and more urgently, both against tradition and cold reason ; the will of the sovereign individual found itself hampered on all sides ; nature appeared to be fettered by human institutions ; the narrowness of the reality left no room for the expansion of the ideal. The result- ing unrest of this rebellious spirit found its expression in what is known as the "Storm and Stress Period" (Sturm und Drang). It is here that the change from individualism to subjectivism, as Lamprecht calls it, finds its first powerful expression, and its representatives were the young authors in Germany who found their teacher in the French Swiss, J. J. Rousseau. Rousseau was still strongly under the influence of Rationalism. For him the nation was only a conglomeration of individuals bound together by a silent contract for the purpose of protection and justice. He was the first to believe in the mass of the people. 406 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. In his opinion society was, to use his own expression, the added sum of the individuals who compose it ; for him the will of the majority was the rule of absolute reason, a theory still held by a great many people, especially in the United States. No freedom and equality can be found outside of the state absolutism, philosophically founded, which is the outcome of the monarchial absolutism of the preceding century. In regard to our subject, however, it is more impor- tant that Rousseau was most eloquent in preaching a return to nature. "He opened up the deep life of the soul and showed its value, advocating the rights of individual life. Thus he meets the tendencies just gaining strength in Germany." He condemns and ridicules the influence of human civilization. He claims that religion is nothing but the product of geography; that no truth decides the religion of a man, but the fact whether he is born in Rome or in Mecca ; that one does not believe in God at all, but in the man who tells him about God. Culture, he says, makes man untrue and false, estranged to one's own self. This produces and promotes outside appearances, hypocrisy and a deformation of the inner soul. It does not allow any strong will or feeling at all ; all good feelings of nature are toned down to the same social level. Man asks not how much an action pleases himself, but what other men will say about it. No man dares be himself; he must act like the others. That seems the rule of wisdom. "This is the custom, that is not the custom," is the final decision. The theory of Rousseau has come to renewed life in the present time, having found a new prophet in Tolstoi. But even if we are not willing to place the beast-like savage of reality above the civilized man, we must xxxvn GERMAN IDEALISM 407 concede that Rousseau's gospel of nature has had most beneficent consequences. He opened our eyes to the beauties of nature, especially to the beauties of a landscape. Before his time it did not occur to people that a high mountain range, with its grotesque shapes, its snowy peaks, its varying and fine outlines, might be a thing of beauty. We have a descriptive poem of the same period by Haller, entitled "The Alps," which says not a word of the grandeur and beauty of the Swiss mountains, but praises the innocence and idyllic life of the inhabitants of the quiet valley. Humanity had no eyes for the grandeur of nature before Rousseau. To the young people of the Storm and Stress period the doctrines of Rousseau came as a revelation. They gave clearness and system to their own obscure notions. All youths with an idealist turn in mind, all young talents, were inspired by him. He was the great prophet who gave the philosophical foundation to their claims of an excessive sovereignty of the individual. Men like Goethe and Schiller could not help being drawn into this movement. Goethe's "Goetz von Berlichingen " and "Werthers Leiden," Schiller's "Rauber," are genuine products of the Storm and Stress. Their great difference from most of the rest is that they are the works of genius, while those of others were not, and that for Goethe and Schiller they mark only a period of transition. CHAPTER XXXVIII GERMAN IDEALISM II Kant THE man who counteracted the influences of Rousseau was Immanuel Kant. It was he who quieted the rebellious spirit and, as Lessing had conquered Ration- alism, he conquered Rousseau by going farther. He also advocated a return to nature, but not to the nature of the savage ; his view of nature was more like the artistic view of the Greeks ; he conceived at the same time the external vastness of the worlds and the emo- tional depths of the heart. While Rousseau saw in humanity only a conglomeration of individuals, it was with Kant, as with Herder, an organic unity, a com- munity in which all individuals were held together by "the mind and the law of Duty." Kant denies with Rousseau that the value of man depends on his perfec- tion in a rationalistic sense, on his culture; but the element by which he must be measured is his good- will. This good-will is based on practical liberty. There is no virtue by compulsion. With Herder he sees in pure humanity, in der reinen Menschlichkeit, the aim of all history and culture. But what content does he give to the idea ? In trying to find the true nature of the human mind he brings forth those theories which mark a turning point in human progress, to which we 408 CHAP, xxxvin GERMAN IDEALISM 409 always must return when we find that the way by which we have searched for the highest and deepest truths leads in a wrong direction. He does not examine the ways by which we achieve knowledge, as the phi- losophers, lastly the great French and English thinkers, had done ; but he examines the possibilities of knowledge itself. He finds that no knowledge of the substance of things is possible. The categories, the grooves, so to speak, along which our thoughts run, which our own mind has created, and which have no existence out- side of our minds, place all human experience hi its systematic order; such categories are time, space, cause, and so forth. Thus we ourselves create, so to speak, our world. Truth is in fact the conception, the only conception, of the creative mind. We do not know whether the things we perceive are really as we perceive them. This may perhaps be made plainer to those who are not used to philosophizing by using an illustration. The science of physics tells us that what we call colors are simply the products of the vibrations of our nerves, that whether we see red, blue, or yellow depends on the number of vibrations which the light waves, sent out by any object, cause in our visual nerves. By making these vibrations slow or quick the impression on the eye will be changed ; we can cause color sensations by a more or less strong touch or pressure on the visual nerves; so, what we see as red, cannot be really red, but merely causes the sensation of red; we do not really know what color, if any, the object has from which the stimulating waves originate ; we cannot go behind our sensations ; they are in us and not in the object. What I have exemplified here in regard to a visible object Kant applied to the whole world. He 410 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. begins his criticism of all human knowledge by the statement that all scientific research must begin with- out a preconceived opinion. In rigid application of this principle he examines all contents of the human mind, lays bare innumerable errors, so that we really may say that he completely changed the world of human thought. His statement of the limits of knowledge opens the way for a reconciliation of science and creed. He refutes Rationalism by conceding that there is some- thing we cannot conquer by our human reason, some- thing we cannot know, that there are things we cannot investigate or penetrate. This includes, of course, also a refutation of Materialism. After having shown the limit of rational knowledge, he acknowledges the exist- ence of ideas transcending human reason. "Here are three ideas," he says, "of which we know directly that we cannot prove them, yet which we know by intuitive conviction : the soul, the world, and God." It is not our place to inquire whether those of his opponents are right who claim that in this manner he advocates the very knowledge the impossibility of which he had showed himself ; for us it is of importance that this conviction has more or less become a part of the German soul. It agrees with German Theism before and after him. "The French Deists by the application of the law of causality to the outside world (i.e., by reasoning and mechanical explanation) arrived at the last cause or Deity. The German Theists started from conscience or tried to prove the Deity out of the inner revelation of the moral law as it speaks in the bosom of men, and they invoked Cartesianism, as developed by Leibnitz, and continued and amplified by Wolf, which appealed to the innate idea of a Deity as the strongest proof of its existence." To this we may add Goethe's words : xxxvm GERMAN IDEALISM 411 "They do not understand that there can be anything in the mind which has not come into it from without." In line with all German thinkers since Luther, Kant places morality in man's own law. Self-determina- tion is the key to modern personality. The feeling of personal responsibility which creates the character is neither "a general disposition, born in us," nor "a bundle of habits," but it is the absolute unity of inner principles with the outer conduct of life. " Habit produces the mere appearance of what in truth is a man's free decision and his own mind. No outside authority can tell us what is right or wrong; we must find the moral law in ourselves." Our actions must be based on truth and justice. Kant does not tell us, "your actions must be good," but "you must be good." He rejects as unsafe the principle of Christian morality, as well as that of humanity, based on the brotherhood and equality of man, the utilitarian principle of Bacon and that of self-perfection advocated by Leibnitz ; he places instead the "Categorical Imperative," that stern, never-wavering law of duty, telling us to act so that the principle of our action may become the foundation of a universal law. He broadens the Golden Rule from a principle of mutual relation of man to man to a general law of the world; not, "Do unto others as you want others to do unto you, " but, "Act so, that if everybody else did the same it would be for the general good." It takes a decided stand against the worshippers of success : "The outside world goes its own course and contradicts morality, the more reason not to make- success the highest aim of the moral personality. Human conduct is not the measure of morality ; truth remains truth, right remains right, whatever position men take towards them : if, for instance, everybody told lies, would 412 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. telling the truth therefore be a mere whim ? If justice perish, it is of no value any more that men should live on earth." Thus Kant, the modern man, recognizes the limits of his knowledge in the realm of science. But he ac- knowledges, on the other hand, no other limitations of his work than that found in the nature of its means. Morally, he rests on the self-imposed laws of his moral- ity; in respect to religion he takes strength in the universal law, in God, as he recognizes Him, by means of space and time, in the world which man has created over again in himself; as to art, all things appeal to him hi aesthetic conception. While we make these di- visions for purposes of thought and expression, and speak of an intellectual, a moral, a religious, and an artistic or aesthetic side, they are all only one in man's consciousness. These theories of Kant as to the individual nature of man are those that have been and are of the greatest influence; imperceptibly they have penetrated all scientific and literary work and influence and this is of the most far-reaching importance all public and private life ; they found a responsive reception in a people who have a natural disposition to look for the substance of things, to do their work well for its own sake, who still have before their eyes or at least fresh in their memory the life of stern duty of a national hero and a great ruler ; and it is a fitting coincidence that the great philosopher of duty should have been living in the state where for two generations the sense of duty had become the foundation of public and private service from the king down to the common soldier and the farm hand. Not only through his scholar von Clausewitz, the authority on military science, is Kant to be credited with a share xxxvni GERMAN IDEALISM 413 in the successes of modern Germany ; not only through his influence on all scientific thought, it is his cate- gorical imperative which has made possible that won- derful discipline which distinguishes the German soldiers and the German laborer above all others, and which, in this respect, has completely changed the character of a nation which, as all writers of former times agree, was once the most undisciplined in Europe. This discipline, the voluntary submission of one's own in- dividual will to the promotion of a common purpose, is the secret of organization. Organization and edu- cation are the great resources of the German nation, by which alone they can offset the advantages possessed by their sister nations in the shape of a wider expanse of land, a more favorable location, and a greater wealth in natural products, in the great contest for a sufficient share in the world's goods, or, as the German's favorite phrase is, "for a place in the sunshine." That a universal and fearless thinker like Kant would not stop at the existing political conditions is self- evident. He is thoroughly democratic, and the excited joy he felt at the news of the outbreak of the French Revolution is the only instance known when he lost his equanimity. (How regular his life was may be in- ferred from the fact that some of his fellow-citizens in Konigsberg actually used to set their watches by the time he passed their houses going to the university every day.) He did not believe in state absolutism nor in the ab- solute right of the majority. For him the state was sim- ply an institution for the administration of j ustice. * ' No man must be the means for the ends of another, but must be an end in. himself all the time." He foretells the victory of democracy and representative govern- 414 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP, xxxvni ment, and prophesies the time when all wars will be ended by a federation of the civilized nations. While his influence in the political field was of no direct avail, although considered dangerous enough by the govern- ment of Frederick William II to warrant his perse- cution, it is worth mentioning that his essay on " Per- manent Peace" is one of the standard authorities of the modern Peace Movement, and that a World Fed- eration as he conceives it is one of its principal de- mands. Recent state treaties seem to indicate a kind of political development in the spirit of his prophecy. CHAPTER XXXIX GERMAN IDEALISM III Its Culmination. Schiller and Goethe. The German Religion THE teachings of the great man mentioned in the last chapters have brought us to the centre of German Idealism, sometimes called the German Re- naissance, in its latter phases New Humanism or Classicism, which wants to replace mere syllogizing by a desire for a thorough and spontaneous energizing of the whole human being. Instead of its mere useful- ness, the ideal of the Rationalists, we find a demand for the intrinsic value of the action itself ; in place of a practical, moralizing conduct of life, there is a longing for a universal, artistic formation of life. The world is considered not as a realm beyond us, but as the deepest truth within us ; by mastering this truth man conquers the discordant tendencies of his own life, and solves in the completeness of his whole being, in "pure humanity," the greatest of all problems. One and the same great life, one and the same fundamental law, comprises man and nature ; the uniting of the inner forces and impulses, the conscious, clear-sighted up- building of life, make life a work of art. "Man is the first freeman of creation, he stands upright, the balance of good and bad, of false and true, hangs within him, he can investigate, he must choose ! " But man is 415 416 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. bound, oppressed, torn asunder, so to speak, by his load of matter. Only the realm of beauty can give him free development and connect all manifold parts into one living unity. Only here is man able to be completely himself and to give meaning and value to his existence. Such an interpretation of an artistic culture, comprising all fields of the inner life, must sharply distinguish between the external necessities of life, with their usefulness, and the empire of beauty and noble refinement, world-wide understanding and creative reasoning; it must distinguish between mere civilization, which is simply "the order and restfulness of the external life," and the genuine culture of the mind. This distinction between civilization and culture, brought out first by the German Idealists, has not been without strong influences on the higher life of the nation. We may truthfully say that the views of the German Idealists, as they have here been outlined in their fundamental traits, are common to all the great leaders of Germany to the present day. The forming of a com- plete personality is the German ideal in all fields of life ; we find it preached in the religion of Schleiermacher, as well as in the pedagogy of Pestalozzi and F. A. Wolff ; for both the purpose of education is not the good of society, but the development and completion of the inner personality or equal or harmonious development of all the faculties of the individual. The organization of the external life, that is, government, is looked upon in a certain sense as an educational institution ; as Goethe expresses it, "to make government superfluous is the principal purpose of government." Indeed, legal compulsion destroys, according to Schiller, the moral beauty of an action. "The first condition for the moral beauty of action," he says, "is the freedom of the will, xxxix GERMAN IDEALISM 417 and this primary liberty is gone as soon as an attempt is made to enforce moral virtue by legal punishment. It is the most noble privilege of human nature to direct itself and to do the good for its own sake. No civil law must command by compulsion fidelity to a friend, magnanimity towards an enemy, gratitude towards father and mother ; for as soon as this is done free moral sentiment becomes a result of fear, the sentiment of a slave." " Everybody has his own ideal of manhood in himself; after we have learnt by zealous effort what this ideal is, by self-examination and in self-knowledge, we must trust in our own genius, not submit to and adapt ourselves to the shallow surroundings," in short, not become what the Germans call a Schablonenmensch, meaning "a man made by stencil" a warning very necessary for his countrymen, and not always heeded. The cultured society of Germany has been formed by following these ideals ; perhaps it has not always been productive or inspiring, but by reception and dis- tribution the whole class has helped toward the con- struction of a new society ; we find the same valuation of things, the same plane of judgment, the same tastes, common to all its members. But we must not forget that after all we have here only the ethical evolution of a fundamental trait of national character, the German emphasis on personality, which they have manifested since their first appearance in the light of history. Thus this conception of liberty, not as license, but as the spontaneous responsibility of the free man, has not been confined to the educated classes, but has become a part of the national conscience. This is why Germans oppose all legislation which tries to enforce morality, instead of allowing it to grow out of the free resolution of the people. To give one instance, I may mention the 2E 418 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. unflinching protest of the German Americans against the so-called temperance legislation and Sunday law in the United States, and, on the other hand, the strong and successful movement in Germany against the abuse of alcohol, which within a few years has reduced its con- sumption per capita by one-third to one-half, and in which restrictive legislation has not even been proposed. To return to the main subject, it is clear that a theory which places the individual so strongly in the centre of interest must cause a relative indifference to all ex- ternal life, an inclination to aristocratic exclusiveness resulting in danger to national development. It fos- ters a neglect of the difficulties and problems offered by society, and thereby a certain lack of firmness and cordiality towards outside influences, as, indeed, has become evident in some of the leaders of German thought. But the lasting good of German Idealism is that it has given its followers a wonderful inner strength and tenderness, a deepening of the life of the soul within itself ; their whole circle of existence is enlivened and ennobled. The innermost relations of man to him- self, to his associates, to nature and the world, are, in a certain sense, moulded like a work of plastic art. The refinement of its fundamental structure, its simplic- ity, and its grandeur makes German Idealism one of the best and most indestructible possessions of humanity. For the Germans themselves its value was soon put to an actual test. The greatest downfall Germany has experienced since the Thirty Years' War was marked by the battle of Jena, when Prussia was defeated and almost destroyed by Napoleon I. Indeed, its com- plete ruin seemed only a question of time. It was then that by the strength of those ideals, not only Prussia, but all Germany, was regenerated in an incredibly short xxxix GERMAN IDEALISM 419 time, which would have been impossible but for the inexhaustible treasure of culture and strength stored up by the German poets and thinkers in the invisible world. In showing the common tendency of Lessing, Herder, and Kant we have given the substance of German Idealism, which implies also the great contributions of Goethe and Schiller to the ^culture of their nation and the world in general. I, is the purpose of this book to follow, as far as external circumstances and the abilities of the author permit, the different threads in the de- velopment of German civilization ; the effects of different forces, one of which but only one are the great men, on the character and life of the nation are what inter- ests us, and therefore we :annot pay attention to critical distinctions which are of importance to the biographer and literary historian. We cannot dwell on the closer relationship of Goethe and Herder on the one hand, and of Schiller and Kant on the other; it is not our place here to point out the difference between Kant and the two great poets, nor to solve the old problem as to who is greater Goethe or Schiller. For the German people German Idealism is one force, and Goethe and Schiller are its greatfit exponents; they are the High Priests who have given to their countrymen access to the sacred depths of their own souls, who have called to life what is best in them. For both Reine Mensch- lichkeit Pure Humanity is the great ideal. Both agree that everything man undertakes must have its source in the union of all powers ; everything isolated is bad. To live one's life as an organic, harmo- nious whole, and to help others towards the same end, is the highest purpose of life. To acquire an insight into the unit and the reason of all phenomena of life and nature is the duty of every civilized man. 420 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. The enormous influence of the two great Germans on their nation could not have been accomplished by the excellence of their literary art alone, but for the fact that their own lives were works of art by themselves, in which they, consciously and deliberately, worked out their ideal of "a great and free personality which rises above small conventionalities and breathes the free open air of what is human in the broadest sense. ' ' For both the struggle was a hard one, though with Goethe it be- came evident only after the battle was ended, the victory gained, and the contending forces were reconciled hi a finished work of art. His fortunate external circum- stances allowed his interest to concentrate in an un- usual degree in the individual. He saw the greatest happiness in quiet resignation. "The highest blessing for the thinker," he says, "is to have investigated the investigable, to revere quietly the non-investigable." Schiller was less fortunate in the external circumstances of his life ; the constant pressure of troubles brought him into closer sympathy with the struggling masses of his people. Resignation was not his choice ; he found satisfaction only in the heat of actual conflict. It is to him that the great mass of the people, as far as they are accessible for deeper thought at all, look as their prophet ; he has given expression to their own feelings. His "Jungfrau von Orleans," his "Maria Stuart," his "Wilhelm Tell," his "Lied von der Glocke," his ballads, mean as much to the people, if not more, than Goethe's "Faust" or "Wilhelm Meister" mean to the chosen few ; and it does not look like a waning of Schiller's in- fluence when a prominent Protestant clergyman can take the text for his sermons through a whole year from Schiller, as J. Burggraf did in Bremen in 1904. The pastor assures us that he has high esteem for the Bible ; xxxix GERMAN IDEALISM 421 "but," he continues, "why should the life revelations of God speak to us only through the singer of Israel, and not just as deeply and truly through Germany's great poet? Why is only the religious thinker of the Epistle to the Romans to be a witness of Christ, and not one just as great and with like power over souls, the great disciple of Kant, who speaks to our nation out of 'Ideal and Life'?" ( " Das Ideal und das Leben" one of Schiller's great philosophical poems.) However, though German Idealism has the greatest hold on the German people through Schiller, it is the same ideal that fills the soul of all great Germans, be it Schiller or Goethe, Lessing or Herder, Mozart or Beethoven, Wagner or Bismarck, "the typical man, hi conflict between the sensual and the spiritual world, but driven by an inner impulse to overcome this con- flict ; ever erring, ever sinning, still master of his fate ; endowed by nature with the faculty of working out his individuality, but forced by this very instinct into organic relations with the social and national life; in short, man rising to his own greatness, striving for the harmonious consolidation of all his faculties." This, then, is what has been called "the German re- ligion-," the evolution of eighteen centuries from the reverence of the secretum illud, the mysterious "something" of Tacitus, best expressed perhaps by Goethe in its simple beauty: "There lives a longing in the purity of our soul to give ourselves out of our own free will, in gratitude, to something Higher, Pure, Unknown. We call it Piety." " In unseres Busens Reine wohnt ein Streben, Sich einem Hohern, Reinen, Unbekannten Aus Dankbarkeit freiwillig hinzugeben. Wir heissen's : Fromm sein." BOOK THE FIFTH THE NINETEENTH CENTURY THE NEW EMPIRE CHAPTER XL GERMANY ABOUT 1800 THE time about the year 1800 represents, perhaps, as far as true greatness is concerned, the greatest time in German history. Men like Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Kant, Klopstock, Wieland, Beethoven, the Hum- boldts, Johann Maria von Weber, were living ; Lessing, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, and the great Frederick had not departed very long, and were still alive in the mem- ory of the living, certainly a wonderful galaxy. Externally fashions approach the appearance of the present day. Gentlemen still wear knee-breeches and queues and powder; but under the influences mentioned in former chapters colors have now disappeared entirely from their dress. At home that peculiar German garment, the Schlafrock (dressing- gown), had begun to rule. Long trousers, of width changing with the fashions, wide coats, neckties, short vests, were worn. The modern dress-coat the swal- lowtail made its appearance. The dress of the ladies was still somewhat under the influence of the Rococo period; but the classical style, with its tunic, effected by the French Revolution, began to predominate, and the " Greek knot," so dear to many feminine hearts. Love began to assume its modern character, prin- cipally under the influence of fiction ; people, even among the higher classes, began to follow the dictates of their own hearts. In earlier centuries we saw men 425 426 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. in high positions marrying far below their rank, but they were exceptions; now such marriages become comparatively frequent. Women were greatly adored. It is the time of woman's reign, in a measure not attained since, and not to be found to-day, even in places where woman has all the woman's rights she wants. As for the aesthetic side, the German mind did not solve the problem of art it set for itself. We must remember that the essence of this problem throughout history is the struggle of giving adequate expression to contents and thought, of linking the idea with beauti- ful form in painting and sculpture, as Germans have so successfully done in music and poetry. While most nations place external beauty in the foreground, and are often satisfied with the simple representation of beauty for beauty's sake, the German demands more of a work of art ; he wants thought ; he wants an idea represented. Under the influence of the Renaissance, the Baroque and the Rococo art of a national type had almost been destroyed, and what was left gave way to the classicism of Lessing and Winckelmann. Where there is no national spirit there can be no national art. The fact that the Greek models as they were found had lost all trace of color caused color to be neglected; and not in sculpture only; outline became the principal tech- nical interest, even in painting. As representative of this tendency, Carstens is the best known master. Graff and Chlodowiecky painted portraits of merit. The latter is better known by his numerous and excel- lent copper engravings, which for themselves tell a great part of the history of his times. Graff marks a decided advance in the art of painting, neglecting XL GERMANY ABOUT 1800 427 detail, and concentrating his energy on a faithful ren- dering of the head, making the eye the central expres- sion of soul life. Amongst the landscape painters Otto Runge anticipated what is considered a modern development ; he makes light an artistic object for itself, not simply an attribute of illuminated objects; he brought color into the shades which were, up to his time, painted in gray or black only. He showed originality in ornamentation after a long period of imitation. In architecture Germany had one great master, Schinkel, to whose genius Berlin owes its most beauti- ful buildings. Amongst the sculptors Danneker holds first place, whose beautiful bust of Schiller is widely known, since from it are reproduced most of the popular pic- tures of the great poet. Although a Dane, the great sculptor Thorwaldsen owes his best inspiration to German Idealism and Classicism. In trying to reach the foundation of the new ideas, the new religious views, or the new theory of life which has come to abide with the leading representatives of German thought, we found it to consist in the convic- tion that there is something in man and the world out- side of him that cannot be fathomed; it is the very unity between man and nature which we feel, but which we cannot penetrate with our reason. In this view they felt related to the Greeks, whom they did not so much imitate as sympathize with, because they likewise strove after a close relation to nature. But there is this difference between the Greek and Germanic contemplation of nature, that the Greeks are satisfied with the things as they find them, while the Germanic mind goes further, and does not take things simply 428 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. as they are, but sees in them the result of past, the germ of future, developments. The ideal of life as established by the new leaders, to wit, pure humanity, necessarily causes great emphasis to be laid upon culture, in the German, i.e., in the high sense of the word. The artistic, poetic, and religious or spiritual side of life monopolized the interest to the exclusion of economic, social, or political questions. Having the harmonious development of all the mental faculties in view as an educational ideal, the experi- ment was made of continuing in the individual what was observed in history, to wit, organic development, but under the conscious guidance of harmonious beauty. That is what is meant when we say Goethe and Schiller made works of art out of their lives. This is not a mere phrase, but it is an expression used by them in the full sense of the words ; their lives as well as their works introduce us to the ideal man; they try to represent the human being in its perfection. It was German Idealism which finished the founda- tion on which German science was to rest. Every- thing had united to give rise to a great scientific life. It would, of course, be more than ridiculous to claim "love of truth" as a characteristic trait of German science ; there can be no science without it, for science means love of, search after, truth ; but it is easier for the German scholar to live up to this standard than per- haps to the scientist of any other nationality. There is nothing, no truth, or supposed truth, that cannot be openly proclaimed in the lecture-room of a German uni- versity, if it is only brought forth in an honest, scien- tific spirit. The scholar is not only free from govern- mental interference, "academic liberty" being protected by the constitution, but public opinion will respect XL GERMANY ABOUT 1800 429 and uphold him. Whenever reactionary governments tried to force police rule upon the German universities, the whole German nation stood up against them ; and there are very few exceptions where a German govern- ment succeeded in making a German professor suffer for his convictions. He is as independent and secure in his position as a judge of the United States Supreme Court. Thus there is no excuse whatever for a Ger- man professor to follow any other than the highest idealistic motives. To this indispensable idealism German science adds an extraordinarily methodical spirit, caused by a desire for thoroughness and a talent for organization. This organizing faculty has not been confined to academic circles ; the reader who has followed the different in- fluences will not be astonished to hear that it pervades all public and economic life. There is hardly a more perfect voluntary organization in the world to-day than the socialist labor party, or the Ultramontane party in Germany. Of course, science benefits also by that discipline and sense of duty which were strengthened by the practical administration of Frederick and by the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. We must likewise remember in this connection that old racial quality which lets the German find sufficient reward in the perfection of the work he does; "the work praises its master," and with modest pride everybody feels worthy of his praise because he has done his duty in his place, no matter how small a place it may be. A certain self- denial of the German investigator is another secret of the success of his science as a whole. As a student he learns from his teachers that a certain kind of research work may, indeed, look small and of no importance. But one day may bring forth the great man, the genius to de- 430 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. velop out of this material some great idea, some uni- versal law, and he would lose his time and energy over these small problems while his strength should be used to solve the greatest. But there is no problem so small as to be unworthy of investigation, so that, if left un- solved, it may not stand in the way of truth. The aver- age scholar, to whom nature has granted less of the divine spark, can still further the great work and perform tasks that must be done if the more favored ones shall make their great discoveries. But with the systematic, well- organized labors of so many well-trained workers the field of science is searched inch by inch, and not much that is worth finding can be overlooked. Only self- denying patience and persistence will secure full suc- cess for method and organization. The greatest results in the first rise of German science were obtained in philosophic and historical studies, and in the related subject of philology. They formed the foundation for the great respect the Germans have commanded in these fields, and which they are enjoy- ing to-day, with the exception perhaps of philosophy. From being a disciple of the other nations Germany now became a teacher of the whole civilized world. "Wolff, Niebuhr, Schleiermacher, and Wilhelm von Humboldt and allied with them Savigny created the science of the mind of the nineteenth century," says Harnack. " Historic-philosophical, at the same time critical-genial, this science has for its premises the harmonious development of all faculties dormant in man ; thus they wanted to discover the complete man in history and to understand it as a reciprocity between institution and individual. . . . The uni- versality of the scholar whose mind comprised all objective knowledge was not to be reached any more XL GERMANY ABOUT 1800 431 whoever tried it failed. But a new universality of the most intensive kind shone forth as a grand ideal ; in each worthy material, if conceived with all the faculties and received and considered as a part of the whole, a whole can originate subjectively; not knowledge, but culture, is the final aim of the scholar." The drawback of this movement was, as has been indicated, the lack of interest in the external relations of life. It was almost with contempt that some peo- ple looked down on political and social questions. In respect to some of the great Germans of this tune it has been said with some appearance of justice that they completely lost their own nationality. This was the time, too, not in Germany alone, of cos- mopolitan ideas ; but it was not everywhere the same cosmopolitanism. The greatest Germans were not cosmopolitans in the sense of Thomas Fame, but in the sense of Kant, who says that patriotism does not mean hatred of all other nations, but that it means love of one's own country above all others. He does not say that because we love all men all distinctions of national- ity are to cease. But, in spite of their assumed patriot- ism, the leaders of thought did not take any active interest in political life. Things were discussed in a general way ; questions of good government were talked about in an academic manner; the question of uni- versal suffrage and of a republican form of government were rarely touched. A constitution did not appear to be especially desirable. They saw that under the English constitution there had developed a government by a limited circle of aristocratic families, which did not seem to the Germans the ideal to strive for. Neither did the free cities of Germany, which were 432 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. and are republics, encourage a love of the republican form of government. Of course "pure humanity" could not sustain any national prejudice, or even conventionality. The theory was proclaimed that race distinctions were no true distinctions to the intellect, and that one must sacrifice, as much as necessary, individual life to the interests of humanity. Here is another reason why the French Revolution exerted so little influence upon the Germans. Indeed, hi the beginning, before the Reign of Terror began, edu- cated Germans followed events with interest and sym- pathy ; not a few went to Paris to fight for the cause of liberty; and some of them lost their heads, sadly enough, in the true sense of the word, by the machine of the good Doctor Guillotin. The Rhenish Germans were so enthusiastic about it that they even invited their French neighbors to cross the boundary and to show them what a real republic was like. They be- lieved, in their German simplicity, that the French peo- ple who had proclaimed justice and liberty for all would also respect the liberty of other nations. They soon became aware of their mistake. But there were other reasons to prevent the spread of revolutionary activity in Germany. One of these, already referred to, was the fact that some of the states had had a series of good rulers, who strove, after Fred- erick the Great's example, for the welfare of their peo- ple. The Rechtsstaat had been- established. Though the state in many instances might be compared to a prison, still the same regulations were valid for all, and the general welfare was the end in view. Besides, Germany was not centralized, as France was; there were about fourteen hundred independent rulers in XL GERMANY ABOUT 1800 433 Germany, three hundred of them sovereigns of states of some extent, in many cases ridiculously small. The beheading of only one monarch, as in France, would have availed little. But there are two reasons of a somewhat deeper character which prevented, with the exception of a few uprisings, the spread of the French Revolution through Germany. The Reformation had introduced in Germany a great many of the ideas which led to the Revolution in France, and the German Protestants felt themselves to possess the freedom of thought for which their neighbors were fighting. The other rea- son is the spread of a wonderful optimism, the con- sequence of the rationalist movement, as represented especially by Frederick the Great. For this we have a testimonial from the time shortly before the outbreak in France, which is as expressive as it could be. In 1856 St. Margaret's Church, in the city of Gotha, needed repairs; in the steeple the laborers found a document written in 1784 and placed there at the com- pletion of the church. It reads as follows : "Our days fill the happiest period of the Eighteenth Century. Emperors, Kings, Princes, descend from their proud height, despise splendor and magnificence, become fathers, friends, confidants of their people. Religion wears the priestly robe and steps forth in her godliness. Enlightenment proceeds with gigantic strides. Thousands of our brothers and sisters who were living in sacred inactivity are given back to the state. Religious hatred and compulsion of conscience are vanishing. Love of man and liberty of thought gain in power. Arts and sciences are flourishing, and our eyes penetrate deeply into the workshop of nature. Craftsmen approach perfection as well as artists. Use- 2F 434 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. ful knowledge spreads in all classes. Here you have a faithful description of our times." It is easily seen that people who look at their surroundings with such satisfaction will not favor a revolution. But the real influence of the Idealist movement is shown by the part it plays in the life of the nation. This truly national culture has united at least the mid- dle classes in Germany, the poorest members of which are hardly more than paupers according to American standards of income. Still, the large mass of the uneducated (the lower classes) remains separated from the rest. The great nucleus of this culture and society is formed by university men, who to the end of the nineteenth century decided its character. But besides the professors, the doctors, the judges, lawyers, and officials, all with juristic training, the preachers and teachers, it comprises the great merchants and manu- facturers, and their employees, if their education is up to the standard. Money alone would not open the gates of this society to them. A good education will admit the son of a lower social stratum ; and many a mechanic, even if he had to eat dry bread for a few days every week, would try to send at least one of his children to the higher schools to become "a studied man." With education, not money, the standard, the percen- tage belonging to the better classes has enlarged, and the gap between the classes and the masses has to a very slight degree been bridged. It has shown itself much more as a unifying force in another respect. Through the influence of the writers of German Idealism and the common classical ideal of education, long before 1870 German culture and science formed strong ties that bound all Germans together in times of political sepa- ration ; and to-day these ties make of the Germans of XL GERMANY ABOUT 1800 435 Austria and of Switzerland and the Baltic provinces of Russia, even of those who have become citizens of foreign countries, one nation with their brethren of the German Empire. Since the great times at the end of the eighteenth century German literature, especially the great German poets, has become essential to German life ; they form an integral part of German education ; the works of the poets and artists are not looked upon as incidental or as mere decorations. We have only one other example in history where the aesthetic genius of a nation has played such an important part in national life; in ancient Greece art, particularly the songs of Homer, took the same place in education and culture. For the educated German art does not belong to an unreal, fantastic world ; it is a means of discerning the ideal in the material world, "a manifestation of the Eternal in the accidental of matter." CHAPTER XLI ROMANTICISM. DOMINANT THEORIES OF LIFE WITHIN the ideological movement people were not all of the same mind ; and opposition made itself felt against the great admiration of the Greeks. At first the different currents were not actually hostile, but rather supplementary to each other. Only in a later time political and religious party feeling became so violent as to cause direct antagonism ; dissension and hatred took the place of that broad liberality of view which saw in the presence of adverse opinion only an- other aspect of its own principle, and not an irrecon- cilable difference. The public did not at all take to Schiller and Goethe with the enthusiasm we should assume from their later influence. The poet of the time was Jean Paul Richter, an author of some merit, but not of very great depth, not to mention Iffland and Kotzebue, whose shallow plays were popular. Richter's descriptions went into the minutest details; he fancied a certain symbolism which expressed itself through the sound of the words, and he was modern in so far as he was extremely sub- jective. He is one of the leadmg humorists in German literature, and he was the first to introduce into litera- ture the social milieu of the lower classes, of what the Germans call die kleinen Leute. He was the fore- runner of the political and social lyrics of a later period. But what appealed most to his public was his sugges- 436 CHAP. XLI ROMANTICISM. DOMINANT THEORIES 437 tiveness ; he did not exhaust his ideas, but always left something to think about. But the greatest opposition to Classicism came from that school which we know by the name of Roman- ticism. Romanticism is not merely a school of poets, but is a theory of life, a philosophy that has held sway for a time not only over Germany, but throughout our entire Western civilization. Like many new move- ments in which the younger elements take a leading part, it begins with another "Storm and Stress" period, though that name remained confined to the preclas- sical period mentioned before. There was present a strong under-current of rebellion on the part of the rising generation of authors against the crushing weight of the authority of Schiller, and considerably more against that of Goethe. The preponderance of the latter in the world of letters was so great that nobody else seemed to have a chance beside him. The inner reason for the new movement was again the strong contrast between the ideals that were upheld and the actual conditions of life. But while Schiller gave a positive solution, the Romanticists tried to free them- selves of the contradiction by irony. The teachings of the Romanticists did not lead to favorable results. They caused a certain frivolity and an inclination toward hypocrisy and untruth. They mixed up fiction and life. They constructed some kind of a fairy world, and were forever in pursuit of the "blue flower" die blaue Blume oi Romanticism, so that they seemed to lose all sense and measure for reality and truth. But the most harmful influence on the actual life of the nation was the fostering of reac- tionary tendencies. The Romanticists, not finding what they wanted, were more and more dissatisfied with 438 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. their own times, especially disappointed by the French revolution. Many of them let their predilections for medisevalism influence them to such an extent that they joined the Catholic Church more from aesthetic than religious motives and made the world, themselves included, believe that the Middle Ages had truly been the tune of ideal life. In trying to bring back mediaeval tunes they furnished a sort of philosophical foundation for the anti-liberal spirit which ruled Germany for so long, and which is in evidence to the present day. It was one of their leaders, Novalis, who promulgated that baneful doctrine of the natural alliance between throne and altar, the federation between monarchy and Church, which teaches that kings receive their power directly from divinity, whose instruments they are. This belief does not come down to us directly as a relic of the Middle Ages. It has no actual force in the times of the Enlightenment. But since Novalis and his followers the principles of Frederick the Great were forgotten; the Church and the monarchy again became allies, and a rebellion against the throne was regarded as a sin against God. This will explain the attitude of political liberals in Germany towards the Church, both Protestant and Catholic ; they learned to see in the clergy the natural allies and justly so of reactionary powers, while in America, the home of emigrants persecuted for their religion, we are rather inclined to connect the origin of our liberties with Church influences. The theory of organic historic development, fruitful as it has been, induced the Romanticists to place an emphasis on the past and the sacredness of historic institutions which has helped to prevent healthy devel- opment in a great many directions, and has made of xn ROMANTICISM. DOMINANT THEORIES 439 historism an impediment in the path of progress of the nineteenth century. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the movement has had its merits for Germany. It called attention to the greatness of German antiquity. The glory of mediaeval Germany was almost forgotten; the fact that there had been a wonderful German litera- ture centuries ago was as good as unknown. It is due to the Romantic school that it was rediscovered. Likewise hi art, especially in music, its influence has some merits. In looking for the imaginary romantic flower the Romanticists did not overlook actual nature; prin- cipally as disciples of Rousseau, they enhanced greatly the love for natural beauty, they made poetry more natural, and helped to make the study of nature more popular. As their third great merit, we must regard their successful efforts in arousing active patriotism, hi giving expression to the latent patriotism of the people. The patriotic poems and songs of the wars of liberation from the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte were mostly written under Romantic influence ; Koernerand Uhland, whose ballads are part of the German canon as well as those of Schiller, were Romanticists, as well as the whole so-called Suabian school of poets, though they are more healthy hi their general tone. The whole science of Germanistic philology is due to this influ- ence, and out of this again proceeded, besides the study of Indian philosophy and Sanscrit, comparative phi- lology, the modern science which revealed to us the culture treasures deposited in language. Romanticism, however, did not turn the mind toward the actual problems of life, any more than clas- sicism had done. The Ideal ruled supreme. The poor 440 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. economic conditions subsequent to the French period favored more than ever the turning away from life. The bel esprit, the man of literary spirit, we might call him the " literary snob," began to appear. The greatest recreation of the quiet citizen was the reading of periodicals, while a real passion was developed for the theatre. It was then that the cult of woman took its loftiest flight. Some of them gamed considerable influence over German literary life, and even dabbled in politics, a few were quite worthy of then 1 fame, although not always to the advantage of the object of their interest. We have, then, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, not only the great number of faithful Protes- tants and Catholics ; in the educated part of the nation, and radiating beyond, the nationalist as well as the classic-idealistic theories have their adherents, and they are joined by the Romanticists. All of these currents go down to the present time without having found a new and convincing solution for their problems. They have held the foremost place in the minds of all thinking people, sharing it only spasmodically with the political conditions of the nation, until the social ques- tion arose and laid claim to the interests and energy of the greatest intellects of the times. As manifold as those tendencies are the moral ideals of the people. The faithful Christians believe in the good, and try to lead a virtuous life because such is the command of God ; the rationalist ideal is a twofold one, it may be either purely utilitarian, teaching us to do what is useful to us, as Bacon proposes, or it may be the philanthropical ideal, of which Thomas Paine is the English representative ; while with Leibnitz it had taken the form of self-perfection. We find further- XLI ROMANTICISM. DOMINANT THEORIES 441 more, as essentially German, the ideal of self-determi- nation, which leaves the decision of what is good or bad to ourselves, which finds its highest formulation in Kant's categorical imperative. All these different currents, though not always on the surface in equal strength, run through the century, and are at work to-day. The fight is still going on between liberty and authority, between the ideal and the real. It is therefore not astonishing that people of different convictions looking for a safe guide join in the cry: "Return to Kant! Let us make a new start from the solid ground which he created for pure Reason." CHAPTER XLII DOWNFALL AND RISE. LIBERALISM. POLITICAL REACTION WITHIN. WEAKNESS WITHOUT WE have seen that with the death of Frederick the Great the first reactionary tendencies set in. Of all the Prussian kings his successor was the weak- est and meanest. In an incredibly short time he squandered the forty million thalers that Frederick saved during the years of peace, and thus set a de- moralizing example to the whole people. Morally much better was his successor, Frederick William III, but he lacked the energy and the power of mind to continue and vitalize the traditions of Frederick. Lacking the spirit of its creator, the Prussian state and military system became petrified; it became a system of heavy iron chains which, by its schematism, bound and suppressed the free initiative of the people as well as the officials. Besides, the great successes of Fred- erick the Great in war had given the army the opinion that it was invincible without the need of combined effort for improvement the greatest mistake an army can make. The result was the great crash when the Prussian army was defeated by Napoleon and the Prussian state crushed to ruins; now the eyes of the people were opened to the true condition of things. It is true that the period following the battle of Jena in 1806 is justly called the tune of Prussia's greatest downfall; but looking at its consequences, we may 442 CHAP. XLII DOWNFALL AND RISE 443 call it just as well the time of Prussia's rejuvenation. In spite of disastrous appearances there must have remained alive in this German people something that could not be destroyed, some life force that needed only to be rediscovered and aroused. Otherwise it would have been impossible that things changed for the better as fast as they did. It is not so astonishing that the power and greatness created by Frederick the Great should have withered within twenty years as it is that within six or seven years after the battle of Jena the na- tion should have completely recovered from the terrible misfortune that had befallen it. When the disaster had happened, people asked them- selves : " Why has this ruin come on us ?" They were not satisfied to blame their officers and statesmen, but they felt that there was some disease of the national body. The people took no pride in their nation because they had no voice in deciding their fate; besides, the mass of the people lacked personal independence. For a remedy German Idealism, just then at its height, offered itself ; the national leaders went to the teachings of Classicism for help. No less a person than Napo- leon himself confesses to the wisdom of this step ; he himself expressed his conviction that he owed his defeat to the " German Ideologists." The principle of Kant, who emphasized so strongly that every one was respon- sible for his own deeds, was one of the most effective means to raise the moral character of the people. Moreover, the Prussian statesmen were broad-minded enough to learn from the French Revolution ; and it has been said that they attempted to realize its principles from above, as the French people had tried to introduce them from below. The first step in this direction was the abolishment of hereditary serfdom ; the second was 444 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the emancipation of the Jews, who have become full citizens in most German states since 1812. But as the German is not inclined towards centraliza- tion, self-government was not immediately introduced into national affairs ; it was started in a smaller circle. It began with home rule ; the people were left to settle their own affairs in cities and towns. In the exercise of municipal self-government they received a good education for democracy, which resulted in the intro- duction of general suffrage, with the foundation of the North German Federation and the German Empire. Nearly as important as the establishment of home rule in the political field, and, at first, working just as unobtrusively, was another measure of the greatest consequence for economic development : compulsory membership in the guilds was abolished, giving every man the free choice of his calling and the right of competition; though this Gewerbefreiheit was to mani- fest its greatest influence in a later period. Following the teachings of scholars who saw in history an organic development that will not proceed by bounds and leaps, the Germans tried to introduce democratic insti- tutions by degrees. Another step was the improvement of the education of the middle classes. Seeing that they must have leaders, if they wanted to raise an efficient people, they turned for a brighter ideal in education to Greek antiquity, to classical education, consisting not in the teaching of grammar or in a cool admiration of the works of literature and art, but in a resuscitation of the entire Greek life. Like the Greeks, the Germans were to live as a free people, harmoniously developing all their faculties, following the paths of nature. The separate education of the nobility, which existed XLII DOWNFALL AND RISE 445 up to that time, was abolished. Before the beginning of the century the children of noblemen were not, as a rule, trained together with the children of the other people in the secondary schools, but there were special schools for the aristocracy, so-called Ritter-Akade- mien. These were now opened to the sons of all classes, and thus the gap between the nobility and the middle classes became less wide; their sons were taught to think alike, and consequently learned to understand each other better. In our days the sons of the Imperial family are not thought to degrade themselves by attend- ing the same school as the sons of then- subjects; the present Emperor was the first Prussian prince to study at the gymnasium and to pass his examination like any other student. Thus the upper classes became more compact ; but the greater gulf between the higher and lower social strata remained, and exists to-day ; it has become even more distinct by a new movement, aided by the organization of which I shall speak pres- ently. One of the most incisive measures dictated by the necessities of the tune, which has become a permanent institution among nearly all European nations, was the introduction of compulsory general military service, which called every Prussian under arms for three years, a system which no doubt has its great disadvantages, but which hi all these times has been a wonderful means of knitting the people together, and of training them hi the feeling of being a part of a greater organization, in short, a training in discipline and patriotism. Thus an institution, intended for national defence, has become a means of national education. In spite of the warlike spirit inherited from their ancestors only the force of an absolute national necessity, taught by long 446 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. periods of humiliation and misery, can have made the self-annihilation, as demanded by military discipline, palatable to the German ; and when the enthusiasm of the war against Napoleon was past, and when it became evident that the people had been robbed of the results of their sacrifices, of then- bravery, and of their victory, the discontent with the burden, which seemed principally a means by which the government held down the masses, became great, at tunes almost unbearable. This sentiment has now, however, almost entirely disappeared, since the wars that led to German unity have shown the advantage of the institution, and the Germans of to-day are inclined to attribute not only the unity and the greatness of the Empire, but also a great part of their political progress and increasing economic prosperity directly or indirectly to their army and to its training. There is no doubt, however, that militarism penetrates German life to an alarming degree, and the spirit of external subordination, transferred from the barracks into civil life, tends to be an impediment to true progress and independence of character. Besides, there are a great many other abuses concomitant to militarism. One of its great disadvantages for German national life is the strengthening of the class spirit, since the accentuation of the superiority of the officer to the private or the non-commissioned officer has entered social life as a new dividing line. A certain degree of education grants the privilege of doing active service for one year only. Those privileged in this manner return to civil life as officers of the reserve, a qualification which has become a new claim for social distinction, rendering the reconciliation of the classes more and more difficult. These officers of the reserve retard, too, the development of free political institutions, XLII DOWNFALL AND RISE 447 since any political affiliations at variance with the rul- ing powers appear to many of them almost a breach of military discipline. But no matter how just the criticisms against the un- democratic features of militarism as developed in Ger- many, the army composed of the youth of the nation has become such an integral part of the new fatherland, of which it has formed a constitutional element from its birth, that the present generation will not listen to any plans of abolishing or even curtailing it. General and compulsory military service is looked upon as a duty as much as the paying of taxes, even more so ; the cases of shirking this duty are not frequent; for the few who want to do so we find at least as many who complain when some physical defect debars them from the honor of serving their country. Even the socialists are proud, at bottom, of having served their time, and their leaders know very well that hi case of a national war they would lose all control over them if they tried to persuade them to leave their country hi tune of need. These are stubborn facts with which the advocates of disarmament will have to deal. In order to understand this attitude of the Germans towards their army it must be remembered that from the tune of the national downfall in the Thirty Years' War, Germany was treated without any respect whatever by the foreign governments ; in fact, for a tune it was not without justice called a French province. Twenty military invasions by the French in times of peace can be counted in a little over one century. But the people were perfectly indifferent ; their national spirit was weakened to such an extent that not even the most flagrant injustice could arouse their resentment. Fred- erick, however, and again the successes of the Wars of 448 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Liberation taught them that this condition of things was not an unavoidable one. They knew their strength and smarted under the contempt, the insults that had been inflicted upon their nation again and again by the great powers as long as the jealousy of the German princes prevented German unity and assertion of strength. Their study of history showed them not only the possibilities of better times, as Germany had known them in the past, but also brought home to them the continuous chain of foreign inroads on their national rights, of foreign violation of International Law, and even of solemn treaties. It will take a long time before the Germans will forget this experience of three hundred years ; a long period will be necessary in which the actual policy of the great powers will have to prove that they are sincere in their assertion of peaceful- ness and the admission of the equal rights of Germany in the concert of the nations and in the markets of the world. The lesson, that they will be sure of justice and respect only as long as they are strong enough to exact them, has been too long forced upon them by cruel realities to be forgotten for a promise of mutual trust held out to them, but not corroborated by any facts. On the other hand, the critics of the great standing army must not forget the difference between the army of mercenaries and a " nation in arms," as represented by the German army. Bismarck himself pointed out that with an army built up on the principle of general and compulsory service, a government must be exceed- ingly careful before entangling the country in any war. When every family in the land will be compelled to send a father, husband, son, or brother to the field of battle, people want to know whether the safety of the country is really at stake. And, indeed, the average XLII DOWNFALL AND RISE 449 German looks at the army only as a means of defence, as a guarantee of national safety and peace. The century since the establishment of this institution in Prussia does certainly not uphold the claim that a standing army is a temptation to wanton war, while it may have led, now and then, to an undue pressure of certain demands without sufficiently ascertaining their fairness. This, however, is made possible only by the fact that diplomacy still feels itself more representative of the government than of the people. It is a risky game they play. For there is no doubt that the great mass of the people is decidedly set against any war whatever, and if they find that militarism, maintained at such tremendous sacrifice as the safeguard of peace, does not accomplish its purpose, the present system of government will be seriously endangered. The con- viction is widely spread among the common people in Germany that the next war, even if righteous and victorious, will be the end of monarchy. Not only the social democrats, but also the middle-class parties, begin to protest against the ever-increasing burden of armaments, and views which a few years ago were ridiculed as Utopian dreams find now respectful atten- tion in the Reichstag and are discussed by the govern- ment. There were four millions and a quarter socialist votes cast at the election January, 1912 ; it will certainly be a severe test for the monarchical system when it has to confess its inability to avoid a war in spite of the heavy insurance premium paid by the people in the shape of the greatest military establishment the world has ever seen. But the greatest achievement at this time of rejuve- nation was the final and successful establishment of compulsory education in Prussia. Efforts in this direc- 2G 450 HISTORY^ OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. tion had been made by many German princes, but they had no general and lasting success. One of the influ- ences at work against a general popular education - strange enough at first sight, but noticeable wherever the question first becomes of public interest was the opposition on the part of the clergy. They claimed that it was against the divine order of things that the sons and daughters of the people should receive any educa- tion. But after the lesson taught by the great national disaster of 1806 all opposition became silent. With the establishment of the people's schools, Volksschulen, begins the work of that group of men whom I do not hesitate to place as high as any single class of men in the world ; to wit, of the German school- masters who, with wages hardly large enough to keep off starvation, have for generations upheld in the schools the spirit of progress and liberty, the ideals of German unity and patriotism, often persecuted by their superiors for what they did for their pupils. When we con- sider that only a few years ago it was officially stated that there were in Prussia one thousand teachers who had a salary of less than fifty dollars a year, and three thousand with less than one hundred and fifty dollars a year, we will not be sparing in our admiration for the unselfish greatness of these men. There has been a time when in German Normal Schools it was forbidden to read the works of Schiller and Goethe, because they were a danger to the Christian faith; the same reactionary spirit in the Prussian Depart- ment of Education makes it possible that in the same schools to-day the reading of Hauptmann, Sudermann, and other modern writers is forbidden. But in spite of official censure the teachers never ceased teaching their pupils, the sons and daughters of the common XLII DOWNFALL AND RISE 451 people, the beauties of the great poets, the high ideals of liberty and progress ; in short, the message of German Idealism. (A student in a Catholic normal school in Bavaria was disciplined for reading " Faust" while this book was in preparation.) But when the great reform was first introduced after Jena, the authorities were less narrow-minded and saw in the very things their successors persecuted the salvation of their country. The man to whom they turned for assistance was Pestalozzi, the great educator, who based his pedagogy not on text-books, but on the living child itself. The great aim of German Idealism, the harmonious development of the whole personality, was his ideal in education. The Prussian government engaged teachers who had learned methods from Pesta- lozzi himself and who had imbibed his ideas ; at the same time promising young men were sent to his institution to be trained by him. Prussia, by the way, was not the only country which in times of need sought help from the pedagogy of Pestalozzi, w T ho probably would not be able to pass examination to secure a teacher's position in an American city school to-day, and surely would re- ceive the poorest marking by his superintendent ; but nevertheless Switzerland in 1837, Austria after 1866, France after 1871, have rejuvenated their national life by adopting the " Pestalozzian " school. In these serious efforts of self-improvement the spirit of resentment against foreign oppression was still more inflamed by the patriotic songs, and a whole group of young poets gave greater vigor to their words by taking up arms for their country. These measures of the Prussian government, of which Stein, Hardenberg, Scharnhorst, and Wilhelm von Humboldt were the leading spirits, were supplemented by the patriotic en- 452 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. deavors of a great many others of the educated class. Three names deserve special mention in this connection : Friedrich Ludwig Jahn developed a special system of gymnastics, which he called by a new German word Turnen, to strengthen the German youths for the defence of their country and liberty, while at the same tune he aroused their patriotism in his writings, and preached to the Germans the gospel of their nationality. Ernst Moritz Arndt inspired his countrymen in poetry and prose to enthusiasm and self-sacrifice for liberty and fatherland. And the philosopher Fichte in the city of Berlin, directly under the eyes of the French con- querors, delivered his famous "Addresses to the Ger- man Nation." Now German Idealism, that seemed so far removed from the arena of actual politics, showed its power in arousing true patriotic enthusiasm. Es- pecially Schiller's "Jungfrau von Orleans" and "Wil- helm Tell" awakened and strengthened the feeling of national honor and love of country. Before the administrative reforms were enforced or had apparently time to become efficient, a wonderful change came over the people. In a few years the new spirit was strong enough to become an active force in the national development. In 1812, after Napoleon had been defeated in Russia, the people took up arms against the will of their king, who felt himself bound by his treaties. But the king was compelled to adopt the views of his subjects, and placed himself at the head of the army. An enthusiasm arose which is not al- together unheard of in history, I am glad to say, but nevertheless very rare. All classes rivalled in showing their patriotic spirit and their readiness to sacrifice everything for their country. Even the women gave up not only their jewels, receiving iron rings in place of XLII DOWNFALL AND RISE 453 the silver and gold wedding rings, but also their golden hair ; some in man's apparel enlisted in the army and died on the battlefield. For years after the war no silver was to be seen in the better households, and if by an oversight some piece of silver was left, its owner was ashamed to let it be known. How unjust it is to say that the German scholars kept aloof from the popu- lar movement, in spite of some famous instances like Hegel the philosopher, may be inferred from the little story which shows us three famous men, the philologist Buttmann, the philosopher Fichte, and the theologian Schleiermacher, on the training grounds, drilling as plain private soldiers, and it is said that it was not easy for their great minds to grasp the intri- cacies of elementary tactics, and that frequently they insisted upon placing their guns on the left shoulder when the command called for the right, and vice versa. This patriotic movement, however, at first took hold only of the north of Germany. The princes of the Rhenish Alliance, Rheinbund, found it to their ad- vantage to remain loyal to Napoleon, to whom they were considerably indebted, while many of their sub- jects left their homes to join the armies of the North. Only when the success of the allied armies against Napo- leon made the latter's downfall certain they remembered that they, too, were Germans. As to the people, they looked upon this war as a holy war; the army with its Christian spirit reminds one very much of the armies of Cromwell. There is a strong element of the so-called "Christian-Germanic" spirit in this movement which, especially in modern times, does not always escape a certain fanaticism. The clergy, principally the Protestant clergy, formed a vanguard of the people. 454 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. The influence of public education was so great, and the popular spirit displayed so wonderful, that the princes had seen fit to promise their people constitu- tions, but soon their promises were forgotten. A great disappointment filled all the patriots when the princes were unable to guard German interests in the Vienna Congress. Germany, which had done the hard- est and the decisive work in the defeat of Napoleon, was here robbed of the results of her victories. The moving spirit of that Congress was Talleyrand, the famous French statesman, who represented the very nation that had been defeated, but who, supported by the other great powers, prevented Germany from attaining that which all her patriots desired and expected. A united Germany with a prospect of national vigor was not what her neighbors wanted. They prevented the return of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany, the greater part of which had been taken by France in times of peace ; they prevented the rounding out of Prussian territory so that it would consist of one continuous stretch of land, and in spite of all military success Ger- many came out of this conflict, the burden of which had been hers, weaker than she had been before. The German Empire was given up by name in 1806, as it had perished in fact centuries ago. Of course there was a great and widespread feeling of dissatisfaction with the princes, but when the ex- citement of patriotic enthusiasm subsided with the war, the political energy aroused by it had not taken root firmly enough, and, on the other hand, the spirit of loyalty and discipline was too strong to allow the people to rise in rebellion as they ought to have done. Besides, it took some time before they realized that the delays actually meant a complete denial of the XLII DOWNFALL AND RISE 455 former promises. Though the Napoleonic policy had somewhat benefited inland commerce by the exclusion of British merchandise, the gains had been spent in the War of Liberation, and English competition brought an economical weakening of the continent in the first years after the Vienna Congress, and the resulting poverty helped to break the spirit of the people. But the conviction was settled that the time for pater- nal government was over. The ideas of Liberalism took hold of the people, especially of the middle classes. Up to this time there had been no political parties whatever in Germany; interest in politics had been almost en- tirely lacking. Now a liberal and a conservative party began to form. The liberal party recruited itself prin- cipally from the middle class with its ideals rooting in Rationalism and Classicism, believing in a constitutional but not a republican government. The great conflict between liberalism and absolutism began. Absolutism, burdened with the broken pledges of the princes, at first was victorious by the strength of military and police power. This treachery of the princes has been called by Richard Wagner the blackest ingratitude found in human history. The monarchs of Russia, Austria, Prussia, and France united in the Holy Alliance to protect their people against the tendencies of the French Revolution. The Czar and the Austrian Prime Minister, Count Metternich, were the champions of the reactionary spirit, and then* influence ruled all over Europe, but especially in Germany. The national ideals which led to the liberation of the fatherland now appeared dangerous. The greatest patriots of Ger- many, men like Ernst Moritz Arndt, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, and others, were persecuted. The period begins when many of the best minds of Germany were com- 456 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. pelled to seek abroad the liberty their fatherland with- held from them. Some of them returned under more favorable circumstances ; as, for instance, List, the national economist, who, having lived in the United States for some time, was destined to render the most valuable services to his people after his return under an amnesty. Others were lost forever to the land of their birth and devoted their talents to the country that offered them a hospitable welcome. Amongst the po- litical refugees of this long reactionary period Francis Lieber, an authority on International Law, was one of the first to make his home in America. He became pro- fessor in Columbia College and the University of Vir- ginia, and was called by Lincoln to frame the rules of military law during the Civil War. To mention more names would take too much of our space. The Vienna Congress left Germany as a very loose federation of states, whose organ was the Bundes- tag, the Council of the Federated Governments, which were represented by permanent delegates or ministers, a permanent body which was virtually a continuation of the old Reichstag, with its seat in Frankfort-on-the-Main. Most of its time was spent in considering the best means of suppressing the liberal tendencies in Germany. Rome, i.e., the Pope, emerged from the Vienna Con- gress greatly strengthened. It was the time when Romanticism was in the ascendency. The Church regained a great deal of influence, lost since the days of Louis XIV, partly because the monarchs saw in the Church one of their strongest supports against modern ideas. It was the so-called last Rationalist, dry, old Nicolai, whose sharp eyes had, years ago, recognized the danger of Jesuitism, as an outcome of Romanticism. XLII DOWNFALL AND RISE 457 The Jesuit order was reinstalled in 1814. In Germany the rule of the French had brought about a consolidation into a smaller number of states, so that there were only thirty-six instead of three hundred sovereigns ; the secu- lar rule of the Church was at an end everywhere, and the Bishops and other dignitaries who had been German princes were only priests of the Church of Rome, so that their interest was centred outside their own country. However, in the religious field likewise strong liberal currents asserted themselves, and meeting with the tendencies of Romanticism towards Christian Unity, a union of the two great sects of the Protestant Church, the Lutheran and Reformed, was accomplished in Prussia in 1817. A liberal movement in the Catholic Church, under the leadership of Bishop Wessenberg, came, as usual, to nothing. The average citizen lost all desire to take part in public life at all. Any open word was persecuted; any liberal who showed the ambition or the ability to be a leader was thrown into prison and treated in such a way that he forgot to raise his voice again for the rights of the people. Once more the common citizen withdrew within his four walls, and the greatest Philistinism became' prevalent. In dressing-gown (Schlafrock) and night-cap the German citizen of the time was most appropriately represented in the comic papers. Of course, the participation in serious public business being denied, sociability gained in importance ; that German quality of easy and cheerful intercourse without too much restraint by etiquette, the untrans- latable Gemutlichkeit, was strongly developed, or, ac- cording to some, even had its origin in those days. At the same time when there was so little chance to 458 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. XLII display any heroism a strong hero cult took hold of this people. Now Goethe and Schiller were most enthusias- tically admired ; but more than both they admired the man who had trodden their fatherland under his feet, Napoleon I, who showed that energy which they them- selves were so sadly lacking. There was hardly a house in some parts of Germany in which a picture of Napoleon could not be found. The principal means of entertainment are, as before, the periodicals, some of which were of great literary value. In the litera- ture of the time the Tragedy of Fate makes its appearance with Z. Werner's drama, "The Twenty- fourth of February." In the meantime the men who were destined to awaken Germany from her sleep were growing up. Ludwig Boerne and Heinrich Heine pub- lished their first writings. Taken all together, this was a time of transition. The reasons of this German patience, with existing conditions unbearable, as they appear, are not hard to find. In the first place, German Philistinism, of which a great share enters into the national character, did not like to be disturbed in its peaceful daily routine; and in the second place, it was the respect for every- thing that has historically grown which did not favor any violent, sudden changes, but expected all progress to come in the course of natural development ; this, of course, strengthened the position of estab- lished authority. But if we look deeper, we shall see, as a third cause, behind all this a firm convic- tion peculiar to the German that right, truth, and virtue are sure to be victorious in the end, and combined with this conviction a feeling of latent strength, which told him that he might as well abide his time. CHAPTER XLIII THE GROWTH OF LIBERALISM AND NATIONALISM TILL 1847 DURING the time of apparent political stagnation in Germany, of the supremacy of the reactionary tendencies to which the great majority of the citizens bowed their heads without open resistance, the only home for truly liberal and truly national ideas was to be found in the universities, which, in spite of all the efforts on the part of the government, succeeded on the whole in guarding that liberty of teaching that made them great. Here especially the idealistic youth could not forget the hopes with which they had left their studies to drive the for- eign tyrant out of their country and in which they were so cruelly disappointed on their return. It was an organization of students, Die deutsche Burschenschaft, founded after the Wars of the Liberation, which for many years was to form the centre of German Ideal- ism, as far as it was directed towards German liberty and unity. The founders of this society, young as they were, had matured to manhood, and won on the battlefield their right to have a voice in the council of their nation. With a solemn seriousness they con- ceived their patriotic duties and imparted their idealis- tic spirit to their younger followers. Throughout the conflict between absolutism and liberalism the uni- versities were the stronghold of the opposition and furnished the leaders of the people in the combat 459 460 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. for their rights. Against the members of this student organization the persecutions of the government were principally directed, and many a good German had to spend his youth and best manhood behind the prison bars of a German fortress or in exile for no other reason than that he wore the colors of the Burschenschaft, black, red, gold, supposed to be the colors of the old German Empire. In the eyes of the rulers the longing for national unity, spontaneous patriotism, was identical with democratic convictions, and in fact they were found mostly united, so that in suppressing all national feeling they thought to protect their own position. They wanted their sub- jects to love their fatherland according to their former conception, when every small state was considered to be the " fatherland" of its inhabitants, while the Napo- leonic Wars and German Idealism had matured the greater conception of all Germany as the fatherland of every German, no matter what his political allegiance might be; in short, the rulers wished their subjects to be good Prussians, Hessians, Austrian s, or whatever they were in the narrower sense, but they did not want them to be Germans. We have seen that outside of the universities this policy of suppression of the popu- lar will had been facilitated by the economic weakness, the actual poverty of the people. Again they with- drew from the public interests, and turned towards the ideal life, towards their own self, and applied the teachings of German Idealism to their own personali- ties. They underwent in this manner a sort of self- discipline, which gave them their inner, moral liberty, before they acquired the external liberties which a free constitution might give them. Of course, this quiet resignation could not last forever; a younger, more XLIII LIBERALISM AND NATIONALISM TILL 1847 461 energetic generation grew up, which was not satisfied to be treated as politically immature, and demanded the rights that were withheld from them. When this feeling of opposition had gained sufficiently in strength to become an important factor, about 1830, there entered a new current, or rather a new force, into the number of elements that compose the life of a nation, a force which, with the more advanced na- tions, had already outgrown its first stages of develop- ment, but which in Germany made itself felt for the first time at this period when the first signs of renewed vitality of the people were forthcoming. This new force was labor, labor in the modern sense of the word. This labor is very different from the work per- formed by man in former periods. Formerly every man was working for himself; he controlled his own work and the future of his work. The completion of the piece of work he had in hand was the aim of the worker. But about 1830 the industrial change, which, as has been said, had been completed in England long ago, became a fact in Germany, and labor began to be a force in itself ; it grew in power with increasing ve- locity ; it concentrated its power more and more until to-day man does not control labor, but labor controls man. It is the same result of industrial development everywhere. Now the great majority of the people are not able to choose their own work, the individual becomes a mere instrument of the general progress of industry ; he is simply one particle of the vast machinery of national labor, and, if appearances do not deceive, will in time be a particle, not of national labor, but of the world's labor. This new force came at the same time when the peo- ple seemed to be exhausted in their longing for an ideal, 462 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. and their investigations seemed to have reached the boundaries of the soul, as if they felt they could not go beyond Kant and Schiller and Goethe. The pendulum swung to the other side, and once more interest turned to the outside world. The relation of man to his sur- roundings became the centre of thought ; the increasing importance of industry made demands upon science, on which its technical progress was to depend; man demanded greater control over nature. Thus the rhythm of the soul and the throb of external life led alike to a rise of the natural sciences ; on the one hand they take the place of speculative philosophy, while on the other that wonderful alliance of science and industry which is the pride of modern Germany takes its start. And just at this moment there came the impulses set to work by the July Revolution in Paris which sent its waves of excitement all over Europe and found also in Germany a great number of people ready to welcome the ideals of democracy. But it was too short a time since they had turned from excessive introspection to be prepared for the vigorous tasks of practical life, and the Germans with their thirty-six states accustomed to the guardianship of their rulers and officials, dis- heartened and weakened by national misfortunes as well as by poverty, were not yet ripe for a revolution. Since political institutions gave no room for an open exchange of ideas, since there was no freedom of speech, and every journal or other publication was subject to a strict censorship, the spreading of the liberal ideas was not easy. In this way it came about that one of the most important means of expression for the German political aspirations towards liberty and unity was developed in time in the great national festivals; in later years ostensibly held as reunions for Singing, XLIII LIBERALISM AND NATIONALISM TILL 1847 463 Turning (Gymnastic), or Shooting Associations. Thus if we see the Germans all over the world making so much of their Turnfest, Sdngerfest, or Schiitzenfest, it is not simply a matter of social enjoyment; these festivals take on a higher significance from the mem- ories of the times when they were one of the means of knitting the Germans into one nation. They were the only occasion when they were united ; when, though coming from various small states, they felt as Germans, as brethren of one nationality. And this significance has not entirely disappeared to-day, as is seen by the enthusiasm aroused at these festivals when the people greet the strong delegations of Germans not belonging to the Empire, especially the Austrians and the German Americans. Under the influence of the newly awakened political interests an important festival of this sort was held at a place called Hambach in 1832 and has gone down in history under the name of Hambacher Volksfest. Here the friends of liberty and progress came together. There were processions and a great number of speeches, not only by Germans but also by others, especially by Frenchmen and Poles. The Germans showed that they well deserved their name of unpractical dreamers. In spite of their own wretched political situation they showed more interest in the liberty of Poland and in the progress of the republican cause in France than in their own country. In spite of the experience of the Rhenish enthusiasts of Revolution times, who had in- vited the French as friends of liberty and were treated by them as conquered enemies, and notwithstanding the avowed enmity, the insulting contempt even of the Poles for Germany, they welcomed them and flattered their vanity by treating them as beings of a superior 464 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. order. In the course of events not a few have shed their blood for them, as a great many idealists had gone to fight for the better causes of Greek liberty and the emancipation of the Spanish republics in America. Only one orator was heard at this German national festival protesting against the arrogance of the French, telling them that the German people were very much in sympathy with a French republic and with French liberal ideas in general, but that they would not agree to any annexation of German territory by their French friends. The consequence of this festival was a renewed ef- fort on the part of the reactionary governments to suppress the progressive tendencies which suddenly had given such signs of growing strength. New perse- cutions began; and even such Princes as were of a more liberal mind were compelled to join the others. Once more some of the greatest and best names of Germany are found on the lists of the inmates of prisons, of whom I mention only Fritz Reuter, the great Low German romancer, and some of the best left their fatherland forever. But at the same time when all ideal tendencies towards German unity were suppressed, the first prac- tical steps in the development which was to end in a united Germany were taken. They were united with the name of Friedrich List, who, as a political exile, had lived for some time in the United States. Together with others he succeeded in founding the German Cus- toms Union (Zollvereiri) of Prussia with several of the smaller states, accomplished in 1834. Here the national idea enters into practical union with the rise of industrialism. While it was the foremost purpose of the Customs Union to serve the industrial and com- XLIII LIBERALISM AND NATIONALISM TILL 1847 465 mercial progress of its members by abolishing the in- terstate duties imposed upon commerce, it formed, secondarily, the nucleus of a Germany without the dangerous dualism between Prussia and Austria, which, as is well known, has been one of the principal obstacles in the way of forming a united German nation. List likewise proposed the construction of a net of railroads for Germany, recognizing its value not only for the economic development of the country, but also as a unifying force, bringing the different parts of the coun- try into closer contact. For such far-sighted' plans, however, his time was not ripe. The first railroad in Germany was the short line between Niirnberg and Fiirth, opened in 1835. The new interest in the practical problems of the time extended also to literature; indeed, Boerne and Heine had been at work for some time to arouse by fearless criticism and satire the German Philistine from his inactivity. They were followed by that school of writers, called Dasjunge Deutschland (Young Germany), partly under Romantic influence, who placed themselves in the service of the national idea and spread the ideals of unity and liberty among the people. This, of course, made them an object of official persecution, the best means not only to confirm them in their reformatory zeal, but also to increase their popularity. In the universities the liberal spirit, as we have seen, kept alive, and Germany owes to her university men in the first half and the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury much more than a wonderful advancement of science. The greater part of the physicians, the jurists, the teachers, that graduated every year were apostles of nationalism, of liberty, of progress ; they went among the people and spread by word of mouth the ideas they 2H 466 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. were not allowed to print. The young science of Ger- manic philology became, so to speak, a political force pointing to the old Germanic laws as witnesses of old liberties and political rights. Political speeches were heard at scientific congresses, where they were least to be expected. Similar observations might be made at present in Russia where the universities have likewise become the strongholds of progressive ideas. The crit- ics of German political life of our days will frequently compare the sturdy manliness of the German professor of those older days with the attitude towards the gov- ernment held by some of their modern successors, who, in their smooth pliability, seem to be afraid of nothing more than to displease the powers that have the pre- ponderance in social life. And of the older generation none have shown more backbone and are more fre- quently referred to than the famous "Seven of Got- tingen," who in 1839 refused to swear allegiance to the king of Hanover under a new constitution which he had given, abolishing the older more liberal one, without consulting the representatives of the people. Their consequent dismissal and exile caused excitement all over Europe, especially since their names had a good sound in the world of science, counting among their number men like the brothers Grimm, Dahlmann, and Gervinus. A short time after this event a new king ascended the throne of Prussia in the person of Frederick William IV. His father, whose rule fell in the time of Napoleon and of the Wars of Liberation, had been unable to keep his promises because of pressure brought to bear upon him by Austria and Russia ; on the whole he was far from brilliant, though endowed with some common sense which prompted him to be fair. The new king XLIII LIBERALISM AND NATIONALISM TILL 1847 467 was of an impulsive, somewhat erratic character, vacil- lating between old and modern ideals, easily losing contact with actual life ; in short, he was a Romanticist. He saw in mediaeval conditions the salvation of human- ity; he was enthusiastic over Gothic art and all his- torical relics, and of course a strong adherent of the alliance of " Throne and Altar." He firmly believed that the monarchy and the Church were bound to sup- port each other; that if the people were not held in submission by the clergy, his reign would be in danger. He opened his ears willingly to the influences of the most backward representatives of the Church party. He gave the Catholic Church greater recognition and a stronger position than it had ever held before in Protestant Prussia, and conceded to it many points less of a religious than political character. He is held largely responsible for that intermixture of religion and politics which has assumed such great dimensions and has proved one of the worst drawbacks in German development. "What we are suffering in the German Empire to-day," says a modern German publicist, "the denominational separation of our people and the Ultra- montane immersion is, all things considered, principally the fault of this German king; because he proved to be weak, the Church and the sense of power of the Church have become so strong, and thus we are reaping to-day what he has sown." In the political field it seemed at first as if certain hopes of a more liberal policy, which he had aroused as crown prince, would be realized, but soon all friends of progress saw their mistake. But the current of liberal ideas had become too strong to be suppressed any longer. Certain events in external politics helped to give a new stimulus to national sentiment. In conse- 468 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. quence of European complications there arose the danger of a war with France in 1840. It became rumored, and not without reason, that Thiers, the Prime Minister of Louis Philippe, was planning an attack on German, especially Prussian, territory. This aroused all patriotic Germans, North and South. A popular song, Becker's "Rheinlied," was the response to the threatening rumor, and became a rallying cry of such unmistakable success that the French politicians, who had counted on the antagonism of the more liberal southern states against Prussia, and the dissatisfaction of the Catholic subject of Rhenish Prussia, an error which was made again in 1870, gave up their plans of conquest. Another incentive to a renewed outbreak of national feeling was given a few years later when Denmark, in violation of treaties, tried to make the duchy of Schleswig together with Holstein, ruled in personal union by the Danish king, a part of its polit- ical body, an annexation to which the inhabitants of Schleswig-Holstein offered armed resistance. Once more the patriotic protests of all Germany found ex- pression in a song, heard from the Alps to the North Sea, the "Schleswig-Holstein Lied." During the excite- ments of this movement the king of Prussia again seemed to be on the point of justifying the expectations of liberalism by calling together in Berlin the repre- sentatives of the eight provinces (the provincial estates). But although this assembly for the first time united the representatives of the whole state in one body, the king was not willing to concede to them such rights as to make them a truly parliamentary body. Still it was not without effect ; the possibilities of popular representation were demonstrated, the necessity of modern reforms was made more evident than ever XLIII LIBERALISM AND NATIONALISM TILL 1847 469 before, political parties of a more decided character began to form, and their leaders showed, qualities which might prove of the greatest advantage to the state and the universal welfare of the people. In poetry political lyrics now stood in the foreground ; Herwegh, Prutz, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Freiligrath, Meissner, Hartmann, did not fear the reproach of desecrating their Muse by placing her in the service of party poli- tics, in the consciousness that they were striving for the highest ideals. The tune since 1830 had been a time of political edu- cation, but, in spite of the greater influence of practical life, one of greater unity between thought and reality. Idealism was still the ruling power ; the Germans still deserved the name of a nation of "thinkers and poets," certainly a title of honor, but not a testimonial of ability to solve the problems of real life. CHAPTER XLIV 1848 TO 1870 IN the beginning of 1848 the spirit of liberalism, which under the short sighted policy of the reactionary govern- ments had also become the spirit of patriotism, had gained considerable strength and was ready to press openly its just demands for liberty and unity. Thus, when the February Revolution broke out in Paris, it found in Germany, not only inactive sympathizers, but very active imitators who thought that at last the time had come for popular government in Germany. In spite of liberal concessions numerous revolutions broke out, which were successful in some important cities. But the German Idealists did not know how to follow up the advantage and were satisfied when they had gained the election of a constitutional parliament, which met in St. Paul's Church, hi Frankfort. While the movement had decidedly a democratic character, it was not a revolution to destroy the monarchical form of government and replace it by a republic. There were a great many republicans among the leaders, and the revolutionists in Baden under Hecker and Struve were for the establishment of a republic, but it was, on the whole, more a violent outburst of dissatisfaction than a movement with a well-defined end in view. After all, the national element outweighed the political ; to form again one German nation was the aim of almost all, but how to accomplish it was a ground of 470 CHAP. XLIV 1848 TO 1870 471 dissension. The question had to be settled whether the united Germany should include both Austria and Prussia, or Prussia alone ; it was clear that neither of these great powers would submit to the supremacy of the other. A great many of the Idealists and Roman- ticists wanted the new Germany to be as nearly as pos- sible the same as the old ; the Austrian rulers had borne the crown of the Empire, and a Germany without Austria seemed only a mutilated trunk. But others saw the impossibility of uniting the two great powers. And if there was a question of one or the other, the fact spoke against Austria that only the smaller part of her interests lay in Germany, and that her German policy had often had to suffer from the greater weight of the non-German majority of her subjects. Besides, Prussia was wholly German ; it had been the backbone of German life since Frederick the Great ; it had taken the lead in the liberation from the yoke of Napoleon, and its splendid work after the battle of Jena had led to the regeneration of all Germany. Already in 1804 one German author at least had advocated that Prussia should break up the Roman Empire of the German nation and take the leadership of the German states without Austria. Thus there was the greatest dif- ference of opinion between the Lesser and the Greater Germans (Kleindeutsche und Grossdeutsche) , and this formed one of the reasons why the movement so auspiciously begun was to fail. The parliament of Frankfort has been called a par- liament of professors ; they passed most excellent laws, but had no power to execute and enforce them. They adopted a constitution which provided for general suffrage and embodied most liberal and democratic demands. After long deliberation the Lesser Germans 472 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. carried the day, and it was decided to offer the crown of the German Empire to Frederick William IV. But this Prince, by the grace of God, refused to accept it ; he did not want the Imperial Crown from the hands of the people, he did not want it as the result of a revolu- tion. His refusal put an end to the dream of German unity for the time being. A great disappointment took hold of all friends of liberty and all patriots. But men of keen political insight, of indomitable energy, of broad views, did not come forth to lead the popular forces to the desired goal. In despair one of the writers of the time exclaims: "If we had only one man in millions, one fist, one hard fist of iron!" He was unaware then that the fist of iron that was destined to weld Germany together was already feeling for its tools. Nor had men entirely disappeared from German life. Not only had the greatest of German statesmen entered upon the first stage of his career, but the creators of the new idealism, also, did not discontinue their work. We can imagine, however, that after the failure of the revolutionary forces the governments tried once more to return to the old regime. The courts had all the work they could do, the prisons were filled, and executions, only too often in defiance even' of the semblance of law and justice and of common loyalty to given promises, were frequent. A great many escaped and formed part of that great current of German intelli- gence and idealism which turned towards America, of which the most brilliant representative was Carl Schurz. They have left their indelible traces on Ameri- can civilization. Almost immediately, for example, their broadening influence was felt on the development of the slave question. There is no doubt that without the strengthening of the abolitionist cause, brought XLIV 1848 TO 1870 473 about by these German Idealists, the problem would not have found its solution as soon as it did, and many of the old revolutionists made use of their experiences in 1848 in the defence of the Union during the Civil War. The hopelessness left in the hearts of a great many progres- sive patriots after the failure of the revolutionary movement was made plain to the present writer by the words of a noble-minded woman who had herself taken an active part on the democratic side and closed a narrative of her experiences by saying: "In 1850, I was over twenty years of age and I said to myself: Any man who has been deserving of respect, who has been worth anything in Germany is either in prison, or shot, or in America, so if I ever want to find a suit- able husband I must go to America !" She had acted on this conviction and really married a " Forty-Eighter " who had fought on the barricades at Dresden. The quiet time that followed was a period of renewal rather than of resignation. It had become clear that the ideal must depend for realization not merely on logic, but on a strong will and practical means to con- quer the realities behind it. It was found that the German character was wanting principally on the side of will. The intellectual classes turned to the phi- losopher of will, to Arthur Schopenhauer, whose books, published a generation ago, had been neglected. Now they suddenly gained an extraordinary popularity, to the great satisfaction of their aged author. Their pessimism met the dissatisfaction of the defeated Idealists ; the influence of his philosophy became deep and lasting and is still active. But it did not take long this tune before the national spirit had sufficiently recovered to rise to new aspirations, to new and repeated efforts of self-assertion, which at last were destined to 474 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. end in victory. In spite of the failure of the '48 move- ment and the consequent reaction, enough has been wrought to make it possible to characterize distinctly certain views, persons, or measures as " vormdrzlich," i.e., of the time before March, 1848, when the Revolution broke out in Germany. Even the king of Prussia had condescended to give to his people a constitution with representative government, although the latter was and is based on a very illiberal suffrage. In 1859 an immense reawakening of German Idealism and of national spirit took place on the occasion of the Cen- tennial Celebration of the birth of Friedrich Schiller, which was observed with the greatest enthusiasm wher- ever in the world German was spoken. It was far more impressive and significant than the similar celebration held in 1905, and forms most decidedly one of the component elements of the new spirit which led to ultimate success. Of more definite character and immediate practical importance was the foundation of the German National Society which became the centre of liberal and national tendencies. At the same time the Romanticist king of Prussia had been compelled by a disease of the brain to hand over the reins of government to his brother William, who, after a short regency, followed him as king and was destined to become the first German emperor. He introduced liberal measures, appointed a liberal cabinet, and tried to conduct his administration in agreement with popular feeling. The general rejoicing, however, came to a sudden end at the breaking out of the important conflict which was to decide the future of Germany, and has weakened the cause of democracy for many years to come. Since the political judgment XLIV 1848 TO 1870 475 of a great part of the German people is standing to-day under the influence of this incident, it has lost its inci- dental character as an episode in the constitutional development, but has become of psychological moment. Having witnessed in his early youth the disastrous period of Jena, King William had not forgotten its lessons, and recognizing the necessity of reform, he proposed a reorganization of the Prussian army. " It would be a punishable offence of the worst order if we should parade with a cheap military establishment, which would not meet with expectations at the deci- sive moment," declared the governmental program. "Prussia's army must be powerful and respected in order to be able, when the time comes, to put a heavy political weight in the scales." But the plan met with the most violent opposition in the Diet. The majority not only objected to the heavy expenses, but was also displeased with certain features of the measure itself, and furthermore hesitated to tax the people in order to place at the disposal of the govern- ment an increased military power without any guarantee against its abuse. The Diet repeatedly refused to pass the bill. Several liberal cabinets resigned. At last the king himself, who felt the reorganization of the army to be indispensable to the interests of the state, thought of resigning, when he was persuaded to call Bismarck to the head of the cabinet. The latter was Prussian Minister in Paris when the call reached him. The king told him that he did not want to rule if he could not take the responsibility for his acts before God, be- fore his conscience, and before his people, but that this was impossible for him with the present majority of the Diet, and he could not find any ministers willing to take hold of the government against this majority ; 476 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. therefore he wanted to resign. Bismarck said he would undertake the risk of conducting the affairs of state without the consent of the majority of the Diet, and suc- ceeded in persuading the king to remain. Not with- out thinking of the fate of Charles I and Stafford, the two persisted in doing what in their judgment was best for their people against the will of the representatives of this people and in defiance of the Constitution. There is no doubt that if Bismarck had not undertaken this risk, King William would have resigned, and the reor- ganization of the army would not have been effected. Without this reorganization the successes of 1864, 1866, and 1870 would not have been possible, and the new Empire, the German nation, would not have come to life. These are the facts of history. No German will say to-day that it had been better if the king and his minister had respected the Constitution and let their country continue in its miserable and wretched condition. The comparatively little confidence which a great many Germans, especially of the ruling class, have in parliamentary rule is readily understood, when we remember that the German nation would not be in existence to-day if the Constitution had been adhered to. Few people will think further and recog- nize that this inadequacy of representative government in the face of a great national problem was due, and is due where it occurs to-day, to the fact that it is not really what it is pretended to be ; that the executive department of the government does not think it neces- sary to furnish the popular branch with the informa- tion indispensable to form a correct judgment of the needs of the state ; that from the facts in their pos- session the administrative officers can easily foresee events of which the representatives of the people can XLIV 1848 TO 1870 477 have no possible prescience and which, therefore, they cannot take into account in forming their decisions. For the mass of the people it was sufficient that events placed the king and Bismarck in the right, and the liberal Diet, who, through no fault of their own, could not judge the political situation, in the wrong. The Schleswig-Holstein question was decided by force of arms in favor of Germany in 1864. Two years later the reorganized Prussian army, in a short and decisive war, defeated Austria. The problem of the Greater or Lesser Germany was solved thereby, and it is hardly to be believed that this could have been accomplished without a war, since Austria never would have con- sented to German unity without herself being one of its most important factors. Thus German fought against German in this war, which apparently was unavoidable, but which was fought with more gallantry and strategic skill than enthusiasm. After the war was successfully ended, Bismarck and the king surprised the Liberals by a failure to reenforce absolutist tendencies, as had been feared, with some justification after the experiences since 1813. But triumphant victor as he was, Bismarck did not think it humiliating to admit before the Diet that he had been in the wrong and to ask for legal indemnification for his steps. He was indemnified by a large majority, but there was a small number of Liberals who still stuck to their principles and refused to pardon the violation of the Constitution. It was then that the fraction which took the part of the government adopted the name "National Liberal Party," which was to be of great importance in the constructive work of the new German Empire. But, as we now know, another enemy was to be 478 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. guarded against, besides Austria, if Prussia was to fulfil its mission of unifying Germany. Already after the successful ending of the Austrian War, the French Emperor, Napoleon III, had the impudence to ask the victor to agree to what he pleased to call an arrange- ment of boundaries ; in other words, he requested that Prussia should cede to him, on the old theory of Euro- pean equipoise, parts of the German territory on the left bank of the Rhine. This demand was ignored. Napoleon felt unsafe on his throne; he thought to strengthen his position by a brilliant foreign policy, even by a successful war ; he was supported, or rather instigated, in his plans by the Empress Eugenie. In vain he tried to pick a quarrel over the disposal of the Duchy of Luxemburg. Bismarck, who saw that war was unavoidable, had not been satisfied with founding the North German Federation in 1867, but had concluded secret alliances with the Southern German States, so that when at last the war broke out, Napoleon saw arrayed against him, under the leadership of Prussia, not only the smaller North German States, but a united Germany. The differences of 1866 were for- gotten; North and South arose with the same enthu- siasm against the common enemy. The day of national unity had come ; the people knew that this time their longing would at last be set at rest. Like their ancestors they offered themselves in this war as a sacrifice ; the old poetic treasures of the German soul were stirred up ; in the old Prussian king, once the most hated prince in Germany, they saw Barbarossa, who had been aroused from his deep slumber in the Kyffhauser ; the inflam- ing verses from Schiller's "Tell" and from his "Jung- frau von Orleans" were heard everywhere and were echoed in every heart. There was no boastful certainty XLIV 1848 TO 1870 479 of victory, but a serious purpose to do one's duty and not to shrink from any sacrifice in defending the father- land, and to bring, through victory, unity and integrity ; to satisfy the long and bitter craving to become a nation that might take its proper place amongst the peoples of the world and hold the position due to it by its untiring work in the service of the highest human ideals. We know that this time their expectations were not deceived ; that the alliance of the successful war became the permanent confederation known as the German Empire and that in the palace of Louis XIV, Germany's greatest and most cruel enemy, the king of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor. With hesi- tancy he had accepted the crown which seemed to overshadow the glory of his Prussian traditions; but he accepted it not in the spirit of the conqueror who might consider himself at that time the most powerful monarch of the Continent. He showed the young nation her line of development and gave expression to the conception of the Germans of this successful war and of their new Empire in his Proclamation of Accep- tance, January 18, 1871 : "We accept the Imperial dignity, hoping that the German people will be allowed the reward of its enthu- siastic and unselfish fight in a lasting peace and within the boundaries annihilated for centuries, against re- newed attacks of France. But God may grant to us and our successors to be always the increasers of the German Empire, not by conquest of war, but by the blessings and gifts of peace, in the field of national welfare, peace and morality." This is the policy set before and adhered to by the new German Empire in defiance of those who from ignorance or malicious purpose try to represent it as a 480 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. source of continuous danger for its neighbors and all the world, only waiting for an opportune moment to begin the most cruel war history has known. Already the North German Federation, founded by Bismarck immediately after the war of 1866, began the work of political construction which was to be con- tinued with the new Empire. By a constitutional convention a constitution was adopted which was, in its principal traits, based on that prepared by the Frankfort parliament in 1848. The Reichstag, the parliament, is composed of representa- tives of the people elected by universal suffrage; any German over twenty-five years of age, without distinc- tion of birth or property, has the right to vote. The reason Bismarck introduced this radical suffrage, al- though he was by no means a democrat himself, may be found in his conviction that the safety of German unity was with the people at large, with the masses ; they formed a reliable counterweight against the private ambitions and interests of the princes. He has ex- pressed great confidence in the sound sense of the Ger- man people : "Only let them sit in the saddle," he said, "they will be able to ride." The Germans have thanked him for his confidence by forgetting many phases of his internal policy, which seem to contradict that statement and were decidedly unpopular and undemocratic. He stands forth as the great man who unified Germany, and we may say that he has passed already to a state of legendary, mythical heroism. He appears to the Germans as the greatest type of their nationality since Luther, who represents the best and strongest features of German character. It will be hard to find in history a man whose memory has been honored as Bismarck's is honored by his nation to-day, XLIV 1848 TO 1870 481 out of a truly popular sentiment, in spite of disapproval in the highest places and an explainable hatred of old opponents. And here is a remarkable feature about the manner in which they do homage to him. There is a peculiar style of monument devoted to his memory, unlike the majority of modern monuments; it makes one think of the ways our Germanic ancestors might have chosen to honor their heroes. Those Bismarck towers, of which over three hundred are finished or in process of erection, seem to be hewn out of the live rock by Norsemen. At the time of the summer solstice, more than at the eve of his birthday, huge fires are lit on the top of the towers, while the Germans assemble by torchlight in a memorial service to their dead hero. Like the Germanic character, as the moderns like to depict it, the rock reflects the flickering flames, unmoved, defying any storm, despising external finery, represent- ing only what is really his strength, solidity, relia- bility. Thus the latest artistic statue of the "Iron Chancellor," the Bismarck monument in Hamburg, is not only a wonderful expression of this particular idea, as it had come to life in the great personality of the man, but may be taken as a typical representative of German national art, the embodiment of a powerful spirit, a revival of deepest racial instincts. The German Constitution was taken over by the new Empire with only slight changes, required by the cir- cumstances, from the North German Federation. The position of the Emperor is not that of sovereign. He is simply the president of the Confederated Govern- ments; the very title "German Emperor" has been chosen instead of Emperor of Germany, to avoid any suspicion of unfounded claims. He is Commander- in-Chief of the army and navy, but cannot declare war 2i 482 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. without the consent of the Confederated Governments, which are represented in the Bundesrat, " Federation Council." Here the states have a different number of votes according to their size; Prussia, by far the largest state, has seventeen votes out of a total of fifty-four; since the admission of Alsace-Lorraine in 1911, of fifty-seven. In exact proportion to its inhabit- ants it should have more votes, but as it is, it has a great preponderance and is almost always sure of suffi- cient support to get a majority for its purposes. The Supreme Court of the Empire has its seat in Leipzig. Criminal and Civil Law r s, Commercial and Industrial Laws, are uniform for the whole Empire, as well as the legal procedure, but the administration of justice, the judiciary, with the exception of the Supreme Court, is reserved to the single states. Uniform weights and measures, the metric system, as well as a uniform monetary system based on the gold standard, were introduced at an early date. The postal and telegraph as well as telephone systems are under the control of the Empire, with certain reservations for Bavaria and Wiirtemberg. The same states have reserved for themselves a certain independence in military matters in times of peace, though they are subject to the control of the Emperor as Commander-in-Chief. The financial system of the Empire has so far proven to be a failure and has been unable to balance revenues and expenditures. The Empire has no cabinet, but" the whole respon- sibility of the government rests on the shoulders of the Chancellor; gradually, however, certain departments have been intrusted to secretaries of state, such as the Postal Service and Foreign Affairs, although the latter remains perhaps the most important sphere of the XLIV 1848 TO 1870 483 Chancellor's competency ; for in its foreign policy, if anywhere, the German Empire forms one unit. While Germany has a constitutional, representative government, it has not a parliamentary government. The English constitution has not to any extent been the model for Germany. CHAPTER XLV THE KEIGN OF THE FIRST EMPEROR THE first decade of the new Empire was given to the work of construction, in which the National Liberal party played a most important part. But new party influences made themselves felt before long and proved more dangerous to the National Liberals than their old Conservative antagonists or the radical elements which had separated themselves from their own party. The latter formed for a time, under the name of Pro- gressive party, an influential part of the opposition, due perhaps more to the intellectual capacity of its members, men like Eugen Richter, Virchow, and Hanel, and others of hardly less importance, than to their number. Later they were divided again into separate groups and lost their significance to a great extent. In 1910 all radical liberals united to form one party. The industrial development of Germany, which had taken its start in the first third of the century, had ad- vanced so far that into the constitutional Reichstag of 1867 Labor was able to send at least one representative, August Bebel, who is the recognized leader of the Socialist Labor party in Germany to-day. In the first Reichstag elected under the new Constitution of the North German Federation, seven socialist deputies took their seats. Thus the social question came to the surface in Germany, and soon gained place in the foreground of interest when the Liberals, after a long 484 CHAP. XLV THE REIGN OF THE FIRST EMPEROR 485 and bitter fight, had reached their goal of German unity, under a constitutional government with uni- versal suffrage. The new problems sadly interfered with the execution of their program, which had be- come unsuited to the new conditions at an earlier time than it could be realized, and thus they never really had time to enjoy the fruit of their victory or to put their theories to an unhampered practical test. However, during the first years the danger which threatened to arise from this new party to the present state of society was overlooked, and Bismarck tried to finish his work of national unification in another direction. The Socialists were not the only new party that made its appearance at the time the German Empire was founded, and the representatives of the people set about to work out the details of the national organiza- tion. Of equal importance is the Ultramontane party, which has tried to unite the German Catholics for po- litical purposes. One must be careful not to identify the Ultramontane party, or, as it is shortly called from the seats its deputies hold in the Chamber, the Centre, with the Catholic Church. Theoretically one may be a very good Catholic without being a Centrist, and on the other hand the Centrists have more than once denied the Pope or the Higher Clergy the right to in- terfere with their affairs. But practically it is very difficult to say where the political influence ends and the religious influence begins. There is a strong inter- national Ultramontane current within the Catholic Church, which popular opinion identifies with the Jesuits and their followers. It is furthermore an un- deniable fact that the disciplinary means of the Church and the authoritative position of the clergy are frequently used to strengthen the influence of the political party. 486 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. We know that since the days of Luther the denomi- national line between Catholics and Protestants sepa- rates German from German much more than the bound- aries between the Empire and Austria or Switzerland. At times the antagonism is less apparent, and in times of greatest national vitality, like 1813 or 1870, it is for- gotten, but Ultramontanism has greatly emphasized the gap. How much this religious disparity enters into secular questions, into politics, can hardly be imagined by Americans, who owe an undying gratitude to the founders of the Republic for having kept religious and state affairs completely separate. The experiences of European nations should teach them that he is one of the worst enemies of this country who, no matter under what high pretext of justice or morals, will allow the smallest breach of this principle. Both the Common- wealth and religion suffer from this intermixture. Historical tradition and the intimate connection of the Protestant Church constitution with the political organization of the state make a separation of Church and state, the only possible solution of the problem, extremely difficult in Germany, and this can only be hoped for under democratic rule. In 1870 the Ecumenical Council at the Vatican pro- mulgated the infallibility of the Pope as an article of faith of the Catholic Church. In the same year Italy took advantage of the German victories over France and by occupying the City of Rome, heretofore held for the Pope by a French garrison, accomplished the unity of the nation, as already in 1866 the Prussian victories had carried the day for the Italians who had been defeated in the field and at sea by Austria. The acceptance of the dogma of infallibility more than balanced the loss of prestige suffered by the Pope XLV THE REIGN OF THE FIRST EMPEROR 487 through the loss of his secular possessions. Now in Germany the Catholic party rallied on two demands : first, that the state should recognize certain important claims of a political nature of the Catholic Church ; and second, that the young Empire should use its newly acquired power to demand that Italy should relinquish Rome and restore to the Pope his secular dominions, and should eventually press this demand by force of arms. Let alone the peaceful policy laid out for Germany in the Emperor's Proclamation of Acceptance, neither the Protestant governments nor the Liberal party could be won for the support of such program. This was the beginning of a serious conflict, which by Rudolf Virchow, the great medical scholar and liberal politician, was given the name of Kulturkampf, "strife for Culture," i.e., the contest between the medi- aeval Roman and the modern German culture. The battle was fought both in the Reichstag, where a law exiling the Jesuits and other religious orders from Ger- many was passed, and in the several Diets. Prussia especially adopted certain laws, known as the Maige- setze, the Laws of May, intended to bring the Church into the organism of the modern state. The Catholic priests who would not submit to the new laws were persecuted, as formerly Democrats and Liberals were. Bishops and priests were imprisoned or exiled ; they were not allowed to hold services, and their salaries were withheld. This illiberal policy could only have the effect of strengthening the Catholic party, the more so since, though aiming at the interest of the state, of the whole people, Protestants of a certain type could not refrain from displaying their religious party spirit, and hereby made the new legislation appear more like petty party tyranny than a broad measure for public wel- 488 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. fare. Only a small part of the liberals withstood the temptation to neglect their fundamental principles in order to take advantage of their opponents. The con- flict lasted for several years. In the meantime industrialism, and with it socialism, had become stronger. It became evident that the new movement could not be neglected any longer. Though Bismarck had made use of the constructive forces of Liberalism in organizing the Empire, he was still a politician of the old school, who in internal politics knew only of one way, to which, in the face of serious opposition, he was rather quick to resort, namely, force. The Liberals had not awakened to the fact that there was a social question. As in the conflict with the Church they showed that their Liberalism had value only so far as their own rights were concerned, but that they were not willing to apply their liberal principles to the treatment of dangerous opponents. Bismarck and the ruling powers saw that it was necessary to concentrate all available forces in order to protect the old historical institutions of society, embodied in the modern state, and to unite the liberalizing middle class with the conservative aristocracy and land- holders, against the rising power of Socialism. The result was a compromise between the Catholic party and the government; Bismarck, who at the height of the conflict had proudly declared, "We shall never go to Canossa!" yielded to Rome. Since then the victorious Ultramontane party became an important factor in German politics. The government had its hands free to begin its fight against Socialism. The plans of Bismarck were matured when, in 1878, old Emperor William was twice shot at by fanatic socialists, the second time not without receiving injuries. A XLV THE REIGN OF THE FIRST EMPEROR 489 special law was passed for the suppression of Socialism, and later renewed, which had the usual effect of such legislation, viz., to foster the very movement it aims to suppress. Still, the government did not confine itself to persecuting the representatives of labor. Recognizing the necessity of improvement for the laboring classes, to which the Socialist's movement, though it refused its aid in positive legislation, had called attention, Emperor William, on No- vember 17, 1880, sent forth his famous proclamation recommending the passing of laws for the protection of labor. It was the beginning of that social legislation which, as far as the provision for the material welfare of the laboring classes is concerned, has placed Germany at the head of the civilized world ; an important step forward, which already means the payment of about two million marks day for day to the families of work- ing men who otherwise would be completely destitute. Certainly more could be done, and ought to be done ; but still the critics of the laws, none of whom would do without them any more, should remember that they mean the recognition, for the first time, of a great principle by making a right what used to be considered " charity," thereby raising the dignity of manhood. The labor legislation that followed the proclamation of Emperor William under Bismarck's administration comprises an insurance law, a law for the protection of labor in case of accident, and a sick benefit law; the state, the employer, and the employee share in the expense. A revision of the laws in 1911 has extended their benefits to rural laborers and to clerical and tech- nical assistants and added provisions for widows and orphans, and a motherhood insurance. Unfortunately it has curtailed the working-men's part in administration. 490 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. By these measures William I and Bismarck, the makers of the German nation, have increased their claims to gratitude ; they have become benefactors of humanity. Already other nations have imitated their work, or are trying to improve upon it, but they will always remain the pioneers, the pathfinders, and guides in this glorious work of peace. To give an idea of the development of these insti- tutions, I quote from a United States Consular Report (for 1910) as follows : "Of a population of 63,879,000, about 13,385,000 per- sons, 9,928,000 men and 3,457,000 women, were insured, in 1909, against sickness under the disability insur- ance acts, in 23,449 sick funds. The total number of people insured against accident, after subtracting about 3,500,000 persons who were doubly insured, was about 23,767,000 14,854,000 men and 8,913,000 women. This form of insurance was administered by 66 trade corporations, 48 agricultural societies, and 545 state, provincial, and municipal boards. Disability insur- ance embraced about 15,444,000 persons, 10,707,000 men and 4,737,000 women, and was administered by 31 insurance organizations and 10 disability funds. The income for all these forms of insurance amounted to $212,200,000 ; employers' premiums totaling $98,3 12,000 and employees' $81,414,000. The state's contribution was $12,257,000. The regular disbursements amounted to $142,544,000, exclusive of reimbursements. Com- pensation paid from the sick funds, including miners' funds, amounted to $80,675,000, from accident insur- ance $38,619,000, and from the disability funds $44,989,000. The figures for 1910 had risen so much that the sum devoted to these objects may be said to have reached $250,000,000. To this must also be added XLV THE REIGN OF THE FIRST EMPEROR 491 $50,000,000 for the insurance of public servants and 50,000,000 for that of private servants." But the beneficent results of these institutions are not confined to direct financial assistance in times of need. The accumulation of capital in the different insurance funds, to a great extent under the administration of the contributing working-men, has proved a wonderful educational agent in hygiene and economics. Con- valescent homes, open-air hospitals and schools, the construction of hygienic working-men's homes by the help of loans at low interest and cheap ground rent and other improvements, as well as a more hygienic mode of living, especially greater moderation in the use of alco- hol, deserve special mention in this respect. Increased efficiency of the working force has awakened employers to the fact that the improved conditions of their la- borers mean increased gains to themselves. No wonder that " social conscience" has become an indispensable element of human character in Germany and has a decisive voice in education, in legislation, in short, in the general shaping of private and public life. The instruction and training of the future leaders of com- merce and industry, in their social duties as citizens and employers, is considered to be as important an end of the commercial universities as the fitting of the students for their special calling. Special industrial courts (Gewerbegerichte) for the protection of the rights of laborers as employees have been in existence in Germany for a century. The rise of industry caused a change in the tariff policy of the Empire, which in 1879 changed from free trade to protection. The increase of population, the annual loss to the fatherland of hundreds of thousands of emigrants, the desire to provide raw material as well 492 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. XLV as new markets for the ever-growing industry, caused in 1884 the inauguration of the colonial policy of Germany, just in the nick of time, before the older commercial powers had laid their hands on all avail- able parts of the globe. At first there did not seem to be overmuch value in the territories acquired by Ger- many, but the outlook is more favorable since they have been thoroughly explored and unexpected re- sources discovered. It remains to be seen, when the Germans have finished their apprenticeship in colonial administration, what German systematic thoroughness and scientific methods of organization and exploitation will be able to accomplish. CHAPTER XLVI NON-POLITICAL CURRENTS DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY THE movement towards national unity and consti- tutional government was so conspicuously in the fore- ground of German life until the accomplishments of its ends that it has seemed best not to interrupt our narrative to consider the other currents of culture de- velopment during the century. The longing for and the realization of the external embodiment of the Ger- man nation is coincident with the change of the German man from a man of thought into a man of action. In- deed, the desire to give physical expression to his inner life, the application to practical life of the evolution experienced by the national soul, may be considered as the ultimate source of the movement in question. The German Empire is the manifestation of this racial will; call it "will for power," if you please, but per- haps it may be more adequate to call it a will for active self-realization, the irresistible impulse to put to practical use forces and accomplishments that have lain idle. Of course, there were the sentiments of national brotherhood, of a desire for political rights. But since the creation of the Empire the Germans are satisfied to leave one-fourth of their racial brethren outside of the blessings of political unity, and in the possession of universal suffrage the majority are apparently not in 493 494 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. a hurry to establish what we might call a truly demo- cratic government. Indeed, they see in their Emperor, their army and navy, and then- bureaucracy so many representatives or visible parts of that product of self- realization, i.e., the Empire. Up to the present it has filled its purpose sufficiently well to make them over- look many shortcomings, just as a manufacturer will keep a machine which turns out satisfactory work, in spite of some defects in its parts, and, rushed with orders, he is even loath to interrupt his work in order to mend these defects. The political movement was, therefore, not unnat- urally accompanied by a development of commerce and industry, an interest in the sciences of reality and the practical application of scientific results; instead of speculative philosophy the natural sciences and history, based on the investigation and verification of actual occurrences and conditions of the past, take the lead in the intellectual world. Even literature and art find gen- eral recognition only when placed in the service of the ruling tendencies of the times. Perhaps nothing is more significant than the fact that the very greatest writers of Germany during the nineteenth century were almost overlooked by then- contemporaries and find due recog- nition only with the approach of the twentieth century. During the first decades of the century speculative philosophy held high sway. Hegel, with his historical view of the world, as the realization of supreme reason, and his dialectic, rules the mind. His philosophy furnished the philosophical excuse for the reactionary tendencies in state and Church at Berlin, which found support likewise in Romanticism, while the Liberals found their philosophical ammunition in the writings of Fichte and Schelling, the latter himself a Romanticist. XLVI NON-POLITICAL CURRENTS 495 But out of Hegel's school go forth the most radical enemies of political conservatism and ecclesiastical orthodoxy. Disciples of Hegelianism are David Fried- rich Strauss, whose Life of Jesus appeared in 1835, and Feuerbach, the father of German materialism. The liberal opposition to the Church as one of the reaction- ary forces made this view of the world welcome to many members of the educated class. Strauss himself adopted the materialist doctrine and preached it in his later work, "The Old and the New Creed" (1872). Hegelians were also the founders of modern socialism, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. In the middle of the century the mechanical view of the world became more and more popularized, reviving the French materialism of the eighteenth century. In the meantime the scientists had broken loose from phi- losophy altogether. The great discoveries in natural science led them to believe that observation and ex- periment were the only means of getting at the truth underlying the universe. What could not be measured and weighed had no existence for them. Karl Vogt and Moleschott may be considered as the chief German representatives of this mechano-chemical theory of the universe. Thus science and philosophy had come to the same results. Biichner's rather shallow book, ' ' Kraft und Stoff," -"Force and Matter," -continued the work of popularization and was accepted as the essence of an enlightened view of the world by the general reading public. The appearance of Darwin's "De- scent of Man" was welcomed as another evidence for the truth of materialism. Darwinism and materialism were taken as equivalent. "Force and Matter" held its own as the greatly admired authority of German in- tellectual youth. It still held the centre of popularity 496 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. when the Socialist party began to arouse the proletariat to a higher intellectual life, and has for a great many of them taken the place of the Bible. We must, however, be careful not to confound this materialist view of the world, which took the form of atheism or pantheism, with the ethical materialism in the relations of human life. On the contrary, those who were the most unselfish enthusiasts for the ideals of humanity, to be obtained on earth, were found among the number of those who denied the existence of a God and the im- mortality of the soul ; while those who considered the good things of this world, the material welfare, a mo- nopoly of the few for whom the rest of the people were destined to toil and sweat, were faithful members of the churches, with the clergy only too willing to help them. This explains easily why Social Democracy is hostile to the Church, and why the materialistic view of the world has remained so closely connected with the economical doctrine of Socialism. The latter, holding out before the laborer a comfortable life on earth, such as he sees realized before his own eyes by the more fortunate classes, has the advantage of those who can promise only the happiness of heaven, which never has been the object of actual experience. Too late the leaders of Christian thought have discovered that the demands of the proletariat might be founded on Christian doctrine, as were those of the peasants in Reformation times. As it is, continental Socialism and Atheism go mostly together, and the efforts to separate them have not been very successful, though the German Social Democratic party has, for tactical reasons, de- clared religion to be a private affair. The new realistic attitude of the mind made itself felt within the Church, as we have already seen in D. F. XLVI NON-POLITICAL CURRENTS 497 Strauss's book. The principles of historical and phil- ological criticism were applied to the Bible, most prominently at the University of Tubingen, strongly supported by attempts to bring the teachings of the Scriptures in accord with the result of science. But the " Rationalist " element in the Protestant Church made very little progress at first, a fact which helped to estrange the radical lay element. Since the beginning of the sixties, a continuous growth of the liberal forces within the Protestant Church is observable, more so since the reaction against pure materialism has set in with the intellectual classes ; but still the orthodox element, supported by the government, is in control. Within the Catholic Church liberalism tried to assert itself in the formation of a " German Catholic Church" in 1844 and again of the "Old Catholic Church" in 1871, both without vitality and influence, although the latter during the times of the Kulturkampf enjoyed the protection and financial support of the Protestant governments. All these movements find their parallels in other civilized countries, of course, but they are of a peculiar impor- tance in Germany, on account of the intricate con- nection of the Church and state in that country and the osmosis of intellect and emotion in the German character. Philosophy proper seemed entirely discredited. Dis- satisfaction with existing conditions turned these in- dependent thinkers who did not accept materialism to embrace the pessimism of Schopenhauer and later that of his most eminent follower, Eduard von Hartmann. Hartmann (" Philosophy of the Unconscious"), Lotze ("Mikrokosmus"), and F. A. Lange ("History of Ma- terialism" ) may be mentioned as the most repre- 2K 498 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. sentative philosophers, who tried to set their idealism against the materialistic tide. However, the philosophi- cal study turned mostly to the theory of knowledge, to history of philosophy, and to psychology. The intellectual and spiritual revolution which began about the year 1830 was, as we have seen, a funda- mental one. The struggle was fought along the whole line and compelled those who took an active part in the life of the nation to choose a definite stand, not only on political and religious questions, but also on social, ethical, and sesthetical problems. The hottest battle was fought in the field of literature, which became decidedly partisan. Only those writers gained public favor who placed their pen unreservedly in the service of the popular demands. One feels tempted to say that German public opinion had lost the feeling for the perma- nent values in literature and was receptive only for those products that might be used to meet the immediate in- terests of the day. Even while the readjustment of political and social conditions did not hold a conspicuous place on the surface of national life, the need for it was not less vividly felt ; a part of the intellectual public, disgusted by the excesses of the political Muse, turned to a worship of elegant form which passed by the really powerful representatives of true national poetry. After- wards, the Bismarckian era, wonderful spectacle of national vigor as it offers in general, still is not devoid of certain symptoms of cultural morbidity, which was not conducive to the appreciation nor the creation of true art. Thus it came to pass that many of the best writers of the century, inferior only to Goethe and Schiller, had to be rediscovered when the crisis in the national development came to an end and began to give room to a feeling of greater security and health. Men XLVI NON-POLITICAL CURRENTS 499 like Kleist, Grillparzer, Moericke, Ludwig, Hebbel, Jordan, Raabe, Keller, have only recently found the appreciation they deserve. So little known were these great writers to their own nation that, when the re- action set in against the threatening degeneracy, shortly before and contemporaneously with the begin- ning of the reign of Emperor William II, the " youngest Germany " turned to French, Scandinavian, and Russian authors for literary discoveries which they might have found in the German literature of a few generations ago. These products of the national spirit would have been more congenial to their people than the appropriations and imitations from foreign writers. But the generation that went to school before 1880 was brought up hi the opinion that after Schiller and Goethe German literature had produced a few scattered poems of merit, but no personalities worth knowing. Their literary diet out- side of school consisted of writers like Marlitt, E. Werner, and others of that ilk, and, perhaps, Heine, Freytag, Spielhagen, Heyse, Scheffel, Dahn, and Ebers. Heine had been the leader of the political storm and stress period from 1830 to 1848, and has remained a favorite with those who are not hi voluntary or in- voluntary dependence of "official Germany." He has been and is of great influence with a great part of the German youth, though modern nationalism is strongly against him. Indeed, there are a few only of the poeti- cally inclined who do not show in their first poems the deep impression made upon them by Heine. His language, both in prose and poetry, is rather loose, often too much so ; but it has helped much to open the eyes of the Germans to the usual stiltedness of German style. With pitiless sarcasm he has scourged the shortcomings, not only of the German conditions of 500 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. the period, especially of the governments, but also of the character of the German people. On the other hand, he has found most beautiful expressions for the tenderest emotions of the German soul. There is, next to Goethe, no German poet who has found so much appreciation abroad as he. The antagonism shown to him by offi- cialdom and race cranks is a proof that his writings are a living force. There is only Schiller that excels him in popularity to-day, barring Goethe's preeminent hold on the intellectuals. Here the German youth finds expression for the con- trasting emotions of his soul, when the wide chasm be- tween the ideal and the realities begins to dawn on him in melancholy experience. Its keynote is the old German zwivel, the Weltschmerz, not by any means so modern a mood as many think. Old Bismarck, who on his lonely walks in the " Sachsenwald " carried a volume of Heine in his coat pocket, may tell us how wide the circle of his admirers really is. The cultured world outside of Germany wonder that among the superabundance of monuments in which Germany in- dulges, where even the inventor of the card game of Skat has his statue, Heine had to forego this honor for so long a tune. Still, it is clear that the citizen who is a Skat enthusiast is much easier governed than an admirer of Heine. The opposition to Heine, however, it must be said, is not confined to the official world, the Clericals and the Anti-Semites. We must not forget that for the German a work of art must be the expression of a strong person- ality, and this they fail to find in Heine. Then, this is a time of strong national or race feeling, especially strong in Germany, where it asserts itself after a long period of humiliation, and there is much in Heine that must XLVI NON-POLITICAL CURRENTS 501 strike a German as foreign. The self-debasing irony with which Heine has seemed to brand his best creations as insincere, is looked upon by many as a defamation of man's most sacred feelings. And yet it is decidedly German to feel ashamed of one's innermost emotions exposed to the public eye. When, with the passing of the generation that began life without it, the feeling of secure national existence has become so natural to the German that he is not even conscious of its presence ; when the self-conscious strength of the nation has so changed the national character that it will have outgrown the faults to the criticism of which they are still sensitive, the poet will not lack the public appreciation at home that is willingly conceded to him abroad. At present, too many questions of vital im- portance are before the German people to allow the erection of a monument to a favorite poet to become a political issue. As popular as many of Heine's immediate followers, centred in the literary group of "Young Germany," were hi their time, we must leave it to history of litera- ture to give them their proper rank; it is the same tendency that is at work in them all. After the failure of the Revolution of 1848 and 1849, part of the educated class turned away from a literature that in the heat of battle had frequently lost its artistic character and had sunk to the level of journalism, some- tunes not even of an elevated kind . Romanticism was re- vived in its most unwholesome form, characterized best, perhaps, by mentioning as its most representative work Oscar von Redwitz's " Amaranth" with its saccharine moonshine. Others devoted themselves to a cult of form that was not at all in keeping with German tradition. But Geibel and Heyse, the masters of this school, for a 502 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. long time held the centre of the stage, and therefore became the principal objects of attack and contempt for the modern literary reformers. But a few authors of greater depth succeeded in ob- taining popularity at this tune who clothed their mes- sage in the Low-German dialect, showing the peasant population and inhabitants of smaller cities of northern Germany in their daily life as a thoroughly healthy people. The same service was performed by Gustav Freytag hi his novel "Sollund Haben" " Debit and Credit" for the trading middle class, and in "Die Verlorene Handschrift" "The Lost Manuscript" for the university world. All this was welcome to the people preparing to assert itself, and strengthened their confidence in their own worth. He who wants to see the "German people at work" in this period of holding the breath before the last dash of national assertion must read these books. There is one other poet of this period whose popu- larity did not have to wait long for recognition, I mean Scheffel, who found his stanchest admirers amongst that class of greatest enthusiasts in Germany, the Ger- man students. As Heine's songs give to the senti- mental side of the German youth such an adequate expression as to make him feel that the poet had simply anticipated his own feelings, Scheffel's humor seems to come out of the students' own Kneipzeitung, the written periodical made up by contributions of the members of the student corporations and read at their weekly social gatherings. A cloudburst of youthful poetry and humor, frequently not without artistic merit or even genius, floods the German university world in this manner every week and disappears in the soil like a refreshing summer shower. As to Scheffel, he is XLVI NON-POLITICAL CURRENTS 503 thoroughly German in all his works, the German view of life underlies his poems as well as that masterpiece of his- torical fiction, his "Ekkehard," for a long time the most widely read German novel. It would be interesting to follow up the lines of research why Reuter, Freytag, and Scheffel succeeded in entering into the national life, when greater ones like Ludwig, Hebbel, and Raabe failed. The period immediately before the founding of the Empire, when commerce and industry and new-made riches began to play their part, when it became the ambition of Berlin to become the capital of Germany in the same sense as Paris is the centre of French life, means a falling off in the quality of German litera- ture and in some other sides of national life, which lasted until in the second decade of the new order of things. The result of the Franco-German War, with the sudden increase of national wealth, the effect of the popularization of the natural sciences, which, with the same shallow self-satisfaction as the decadent Rationalism of the eighteenth century, claimed that the world held no more problems for deepest thought, and the occupation of the best minds with political and social problems promoted, rather than hindered, the reign of commercialism and ephemeral success in the world of literature and art. It was the period when the solid growth of German industry and com- merce was interrupted by most unhealthy speculations ; money never had been so plentiful in Germany, and, for a time, the surface of life was bubbling with all the vulgar luxury of freshly acquired wealth. It was the prominent part which Jewish financiers as well as Jew- ish writers played in this debauch of the business and literary world which, favored by the strengthened race- 504 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. feeling, has given rise to that disgraceful phenomenon of anti-Semitism. Though slowly abating in its most ob- noxious forms, it has done untold harm in preventing for years the assimilation of the Jews which, especially with the better classes, had made most promising progress. A financial crisis soon made evident the hollowness of this apparent success. The words of the now famous criticism of German industry by the Imperial Commis- sioner to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, 1876, "Cheap and Bad," may, without great injustice, be applied to the products of art, and what has been said of the German literature of the century, to wit, that the best authors remained almost unknown to their contemporaries, is even more true as to painting and sculpture. We know now that during the first half of the century German art attained a high stand- ard. Though Cornelius, Rauch, Schinkel, Semper, Schwanthaler, and others did not fail of recognition in their time, the number of artists of excellence, dis- covered by the retrospective exhibitions of our days, who have been forgotten or even have never been heard of outside of the narrowest local circle is astonishing, and has revealed the fact that, as in literature, so in art, the pre-imperial Germany had reached all those attainments which the modern artists went abroad to learn. To talk of a truly national art in the sense that it had be- come the property of a considerable part of the people would, of course, be incorrect, no matter how distinc- tive a character its works exhibit. The poverty of the Germans did not allow the buying of pictures by private persons, outside of one private gallery, and thus of oil-paintings portraits almost alone found their way into private houses. Modern travelling facilities were unknown, and the treasures of public galleries were ac- XLVI NON-POLITICAL CURRENTS 505 cessible to a few only. Even good graphic reproduc- tions were not easily obtainable. Thus of artists who became truly popular we can mention, perhaps, only Ludwig Richter and Moritz von Schwind, who, poor colorists though they are, gave true expression, and therefore appealed to the soul-life as it revealed itself in work and pleasure, in street and home, hi field and forest, as well as in song, story, and fairy-tale. As in literature we may mention some names that have found their proper place in popular favor only in recent times, as Rethel, Menzel, Boeklin, Leibl, Thoma, and others, while I mention the name of Hans Makart as the favorite of the period of vulgarity, contemporane- ous with the beginning of the Empire. It is in this period of artistic decay that Richard Wagner reached the height of his success. There was, perhaps, no other occasion which brought forth the full vulgarity of a shoddy public that noisily tried to set the fashion for the German people, as far as they made themselves conspicuous, than the scenes before and during the opening of the Bayreuth theatre. This observation has nothing to do with the high place the composer holds in the hall of fame of German music. He was not the product of that time, and it was not the best in him that gave rise to the boisterous controversy. As a personality he towers like a giant above the pygmies with whom he had to share the popular favor of his day. No matter what place history will concede to him, it will be one of highest honor ; but in the evo- lution of German culture his crowning achievement, "Parsival," does not express the ideal of the rejuvenated nation, nor does it revive the spirit of German classi- cism ; it is at best, artistically spoken, the last word of the pessimism and romanticism of a dying age. 506 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. It would be wrong to go on with this narrative with- out mentioning at least a few of the men who, after Beethoven and the classical period, were instrumental in making music such an integral part of German na- tional life. Already during the time of Napoleonic rule the famous Male Singing Society of Berlin, Zelter's Liedertafel, had been founded for the expressed pur- pose "of singing in the service of the King and Father- land, of the Common Good, of the German Soul and German Faithfulness," and had attracted the active interest of Goethe. Carl Maria von Weber composed some of his best songs for this society. In the South similar societies were organized under the influence of the Swiss Naegeli, and on the impulse of the enthusiasm aroused by Weber's stirring compositions for Koerner's patriotic songs. Silcher and Kreuzer were their most popular composers. The German student song must not be forgotten in this connection. The Romanti- cists contributed their collection of "Volkslieder " in "Des Knaben-Wunderhorn," while especially some of Eichendorf s poems have inspired some of the most popular compositions. In 1821 Weber's "Freischiitz," that most "German" of operas, found a most enthu- siastic reception, and appeals more to the tastes of the German people to-day than Salome or Electra. From Weber the current of musical development leads directly to Richard Wagner, who turned to him after discover- ing the shallowness of the cosmopolitan school of Meyerbeer, whose music he characterized as "an effect without cause." What Weber, Silcher, Erck, and others had become for the popular mass-song is paralleled in the composi- tions of Mendelssohn-Bartholdi, Schubert, and Schu- mann for the social culture of the family. XLVI NON-POLITICAL CURRENTS 507 As to the period of decadence mentioned before, we are too close to it, too many of us have experienced its direct influence to be able to give an objective judg- ment. How deep the disease which showed all the symptoms of degeneracy had infected the national body is hard to tell. However, we must not forget that while those dangerous symptoms were, and are still, though in a smaller degree, conspicuous on the surface, the German schoolmaster has still been teach- ing, day by day, the great lessons of veracity, duty, honesty, and industry, and distributing the inheritance of German idealism, doubly valuable because so much of it had left the world of dreams and had become reality. Barbarossa had left the Kyffhauser, and long- ing had been changed into will and action. Still the German people sing their beautiful songs. German science, while not entirely avoiding com- mercialism and success worship, still continued its search for truth, preparing to counteract the mischief of premature popularizers, while it placed its results in the service of public welfare. Liebig had more than doubled the productivity of the soil by showing new ways to agricultural chemistry twelve years after Woehler had laid the foundation of organic chemistry. Robert Mayer was the first to discover the Law of the Conservation of Energy; in 1846, Werner Siemens invents the gutta-percha insulation for cables ; in 1857, the gas regenerator ; in 1866, the electro-dynamo, and in 1879, he invents and operates the first electric railway. Kirchhoff and Bunsen discover spectrum- analysis in 1860; Herz the electric waves in 1888. Space would not be sufficient to complete this list, even if we confined ourselves to a mere enumeration of names and important contributions to human 508 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. XLVI progress, known all over the world, and belonging to this period. At the same time the German school systems have been modernized by increasing the opportunities for technical education, the expansion of the secondary schools. It certainly sounds somewhat exaggerated when we hear German critics talk of national degeneracy in the Bismarckian Era, simply because some of the bad con- sequences of rapidly gained wealth became evident, and because a superficial and premature popularization of scientific hypotheses favored for a time a mechanical view of life; this talk of degeneracy is, perhaps, prin- cipally due to the fact that the change in the condition of the individual expected from the achievement of national unity was not at once realized, and the hope for another Golden Age of Art and Literature, like that of Greece after the Persian wars, had been dis- appointed. CHAPTER XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II A NEW period begins for the German Empire and for German life in general with the last decade of the nine- teenth century, which had, indeed, already been prepar- ing since 1880. As has been pointed out before, the first decade of the new Empire had been taken up with the organization of its institutions. An attempt to assert the authority of the German state against the Roman Church had been abandoned, the expulsion of the Jesuit order from the Empire being one of the few lasting results. The forces just set free were to be used to keep down the new social element, the working classes, who were asking for recognition of their rights through the medium of the social-democratic party. But all re- pressive laws were of no avail ; the laborer had come to stay, the importance of the social question made itself felt, and the first step towards its solution without the total destruction of the fabric of society had been taken in the enactment of the laborers' old age, sick benefit, and accident insurance laws. This, indeed, was only a first tentative step towards the solution of a new problem, more difficult, but even more urgent, than the many others agitating the national soul. These measures must not be defined as paternalism ; they mean an expansion of the conception of the state. They mean the recognition of the furtherance of human culture in its widest sense as a purpose of the national 509 510 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. state in addition to the protection of its citizens. Indeed, it was only the natural consequence of the de- velopment that set in with the period of enlightened despotism, and a development not at all in contrast with the Germanic conception of organized society, in which all those tasks were allotted to the state which could not be adequately performed by the in- dividual. In other words, the German sees in the state, as a recent writer expresses it, "the executive instrument of the organized will of the people." The social problem is of an international character, indeed, but its solution is nowhere so urgent as in Ger- many, since nowhere are the representatives of labor so well organized and so radical in their demands ; and in no other country has democracy had so little time for development before the great industrial change took place. This social question has come so prominently into the foreground that it has caused a complete de- moralization of the old political parties, since people who stand for the same political principles differ widely on the social-economical side. There is a process of readjustment going on now. It would seem but nat- ural that the men whose political ideal is the participa- tion of the governed in the government under some form of constitution would come to a point where they are willing to give the working-man a voice in the shap- ing of the conditions which control his labor. At the same time, in the ranks of the Social Democracy, a re- cession from the doctrinarianism of the first years appears to be noticeable, and, as is but natural with German thinkers, the view gains ground that any change towards their social ideal can be brought about only by organic development of the historical factors. The neglect of the historical element is easily under- XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 511 stood in a party whose existence does not date any farther back than the present political conditions. Thus, while the Socialist party escaped the disadvan- tage of being too closely bound by historical tradition, only too common in German life, it made the opposite mistake of overlooking the law of historical continuity altogether. In the meantime German industry, which had caused this social unrest, has, by diligent application of both the results and the discipline of German science, be- come ready to enter the markets of the world. Thirteen years after the Philadelphia Exhibition and Professor Reuleaux's scathing criticism, the Paris Exhibition revealed an unprecedented advance and showed that Germany had as good as removed the difference that for so long had placed England and France ahead of her in industrial civilization. At home the change from an agricultural to an industrial nation had been completed, and an unparalleled increase of the popu- lation of the cities had set in. The solution of numberless questions of practical politics, in which everybody participated under uni- versal suffrage ; the powerful position of the Empire, which, under Bismarck's leadership, held the political supremacy of Europe ; the example of practical energy given by the Iron Chancellor himself; the strenuous tension of the new industrial rivalry and the wider view, opened by international commerce ; the control over nature gained by the great progress of the natural sciences and the inclination towards a mechanical view of the world ; again, the industrial application of science, which, active heretofore only in the search after truth, now had become the servant of wealth-pro- ducing activities, all this had apparently made out 512 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. of the nation of " poets and thinkers" a nation of wealth- seekers and men of practical life. It seemed as if German idealism had played its part. Such was the character of German life when the first generations who had received their education in the schools of a united Germany entered upon the stage of political and social life. These young men had grown up as the sons of a great and respected nation, not merely the subjects of some petty prince whom and whose nation any under- ling of a foreign government might insult without fear of rebuke. Fate willed that at the same time a man of the same generation should ascend the throne of the Empire. Wilhelm II, in contrast to his father and grandfather, had before him, from boyhood, the prospect of the Im- perial Crown, and in another sense he belonged to a new generation of princes inasmuch as he had shared the school life of at least his educated subjects. Thus it happens that the reign of Wilhelm II marks an epoch in German life, not in the sense that he was the cause of this change, but by a coincidence outside of human control. Even if he was less of a personality himself, his reign would go down to history as one of the most interesting periods of German development. As it is, he joins in the struggle as an element to be counted with, now fostering progress, now trying to stem him- self against the tide of modern development. The first decade of the young Emperor's rule was a time of dissatisfaction. The reasons for this have been in part explained in the last chapter. The faults of the Germans have never lacked critics among their own nation; now we find a whole group of " culture critics," of people who take issue with the tendencies of the time, and the lack of what they call a truly XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 513 national culture. The most important of these was Friedrich Nietzsche, "the philosopher, poet, and prophet." But there are other elements entering into the general feeling of discontent with existing condi- tions ; they were not confined to Germany, but repre- sented the attitude of the civilized world for which the term fin de siecle has become popular. In Germany, where the universal military service, the strong rule of bureaucracy under a head like Bismarck, on the one hand, and the general democratic tendencies of the century and the spread of socialism, on the other, apparently strove for the same result of bringing all people to the same level, individualism felt more than usually oppressed and joined the forces of the mal- contents. The "new course" entered upon by Wilhelm caused an endless amount of criticism, and even irritation. The reception which Professor Quidde's "Caligula," one of the most clever and sensational political pasquils ever published, found on all sides shows most clearly the trend of public opinion. The whole pamphlet con- sisted of quotations from Roman historians on the Roman Emperor Caligula. No reference whatever to Wilhelm II was to be found, so that no case could be made out against its author, but everybody exchanged in his mind the name of the ruling German Emperor for that of the ancient Roman one of unenviable fame. I will not say that no good reasons might be given why Bis- marck should have made room for a younger, more modern Chancellor, but the concomitant circumstances of his dismissal gave to the world the most disgraceful spectacle of base ingratitude and cowardly byzantinism the accredited leaders of any modern nation have ever displayed; a fact which can be explained but never 2L 514 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. excused. It aroused the indignant protest of the grow- ing generation, which in the schools of the new Empire had learned to see in him and the old Emperor the makers of their nation, and had entered the political life ready to be stanch supporters of the government and its conservative policy. The true sentiment of the people showed itself in a continuous series of pilgrimages from all parts of the Empire to the old Chancellor's Buen Retiro in Friedrichsruhe, and in the attention with which the utterance of his titanic wrath as well as of his wise, statesman-like counsels were received. The German academical youth showed once more their healthy national spirit, and there was no more hopeful sign for the future of Germany than the pilgrimage of ten thousand students doing homage to the founder of their nation at his eightieth birthday. The vacillating policy of the Emperor, who under- took to be his own chancellor, added a new element of insecurity to the restlessness of the nation. It did not take long to see that the commanding position occupied by Germany, as long as Bismarck held the helm of state, had been lost when the pilot left the ship. The dissatisfaction with the Emperor's " personal regime" had come to a climax only twenty years later, when a rather unimportant incident aroused public opinion to such an extent that the Reichstag made the person of the Emperor the object of an open and pro- longed discussion in which hardly a voice was heard in his defence, an unheard-of procedure hi German his- tory, but not failing of the desired effect. Indeed, parliament was the mouthpiece of public opinion, and public opinion has become powerful enough to command the attention of the government, even though it has a majority in parliament to do its XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 515 bidding. Several unpopular measures of a reactionary character have been withdrawn in recent years, though their legislative enactment was assured. In turn, the government found a popular majority in its favor when- ever the Reichstag was dissolved. Thus it seems, after all, from other forms of constitutional government, the ultimate power rests with the people. There are many points, however, in the Emperor's favor, and though the people have found it necessary to censure him, they recognize his great merits. It is largely due to him that the German merchant marine and shipbuilding industry has reached the place it holds to-day. He refused to renew the unjust laws for the suppression of Socialism; military service was reduced from three to two years ; and there are other measures to his credit. With all his romantic ideas as to the divine mission of the king, he is a truly modern ruler and is sensitive to the new forces of the tunes. Political party life is taken so much more seriously in Germany than elsewhere because it is based on fun- damental difference of the Weltanschauung, of religious opinion. That is why the question of the secular, denominational, or interdenominational character of the public schools is the subject of endless political strife. What keeps the conservative forces, the old agrarian aristocracy, the military nobility, and the bureaucratic hierarchy in power is, outside of the historical tradi- tions, the necessity for the government to secure the passage of the military and naval budget. The Liberals have not always been reliable in this respect; the Centrist party has made its consent always an object of dickering, while the Social Democrats refuse to vote the budget altogether. The old Conservatives may be considered, more or less, as the party of Orthodox 516 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. Protestantism, while the so-called Free Conservatives concentrate their strength in upholding the central power of the state. The Liberals may be called the representatives of a more liberal and rationalistic Christianity, including adherents of the active volun- tarism of Eucken, of views similar to those of President Eliot, and of a more radical pantheism or monism; while the Centrist party, comprising all shades of political creeds, represents ultramontane Catholicism. Of course, allowance must be made for exceptions and transitions. As the parties are not simply organiza- tions for political expediency, it is easily understood that a serious difference of opinion will often cause a split in the party, so that, instead of four great parties just described, there are a number of factions or groups. Under these conditions parliamentary government in the sense of party government is impossible. But even though it was possible, it is doubtful whether the Germans would want it. They expect their adminis- tration to stand above the parties, and though historical development and dynastic interest naturally let the government incline towards certain political maxims and affiliations, it generally tries to maintain the equi- librium between all interests, and, in consequence, can give complete satisfaction to none, for all have to make sacrifices. Only in order that it may pass legislation considered to be in the interest of the whole nation, the government identifies itself with combinations of differ- ent parties with the exception of the strongest of all in popular votes, the Socialists, who, at the election of 1906, had a following of three and a quarter million voters. They claim that a just division of election districts would give their party at least one hundred and forty seats in the Reichstag. The deficiency of XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 517 political rights in many of the state constitutions is naturally a cause of great dissatisfaction with many. Ever stronger becomes the demand for a modernization of the constitutions and a just distribution of election districts. Some states, especially in the South, have already reformed their suffrages. An experiment to form a government majority of the Conservative and Liberal parties against the Centrists and Social Democrats, in 1907-1908, proved a failure, and ended in the resignation of Chancellor von Buelow. Since then a more natural coalition has been formed by the Conservative and Centrist parties ; that is, by the Protestant and Catholic Conservatives. This gave a renewed ascendency to the so-called Prussian concep- tion of government with its tendency towards bureau- cratic and police tutelage, its inclination to rely on the hereditary nobility and militarism. An awakening of the liberal element, a renewed clamor for recognition of the political rights of the people, an inclination towards a temporary combination of the liberal and social democratic forces for the purpose of obtaining full political rights, and a democratization of the adminis- tration is the result. There are many who believe that the final struggle against the supremacy of the reaction- ary powers has begun. The Reichstag elected 1912 shows the combined Liberals and Socialists slightly in the majority. The election campaign began in 1910, and had from the start a very passionate character, with the destruction of the preponderance of aristo- cratic, bureaucratic, clerical, and police influence as a dominant issue. But, notwithstanding the well-known standpoint of the Social Democrats, there is nothing to indicate a strengthening of anti-monarchical feeling. As a curiosity, the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg 518 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. must be mentioned, which still have no constitution at all, and live under some form of territorial feudalism, while, as citizens of the Empire, they enjoy the demo- cratic rights of universal suffrage. While there is no party government, as we know it in England, there is a most efficient check on the arbitrary use of governmental power hi the obligation of the Chancellor and his secretaries, and the cabinet minis- ters or their representatives to appear in person before the popular representatives, answer interpellations, and give information on all expenditures and occurrences that fall in their department. The discussion of the annual budget, especially, furnishes the opportunity to give an account before the whole country of the conduct of all departments of administration, to investigate and set to right irregularities of the minutest order, and to protect the poorest against administrative arbitrariness. The newspapers print stenographic reports of all ses- sions, and every German has an opportunity to inform himself how his nation and his state is governed, and to have any grievance attended to. This makes par- liamentary debates in Germany often appear too long drawn out and trifling, but this is a cheap price to be paid for the conduct of government in a manner that does not need to avoid the most open and frank expla- nations. The body of the bureaucracy cannot be said to be free from modern success worship and byzantinism, but it still maintains its integrity and enjoys the confidence of the people. They consider then 1 officials the best in the world, but do not fail to criticise them freely. They complain of too much class-spirit, of a certain favoritism shown to the extreme royalist and militarist elements in Prussia, and especially find fault with the XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 519 military tone frequently heard in the dealings, not of subaltern officials only, with the public. Recently, however, they show a decided tendency to come hi closer touch with the actual life of the people, and technical experts begin to replace the ubiquitous jurist. Observing the eminent success of German state, provincial, and municipal administration, in meeting the problems of public welfare, the unsparing criticism of their government by the Germans is somewhat surpris- ing. However, it would be unjust to attribute the apparent dissatisfaction wholly to "German invidious- ness" ; it may, at the same tune, be taken as another demonstration of the old truth that material prosperity and external power are not sufficient to give content- ment to a high-spirited, self-respecting people. While the struggle for more democratic methods in politics is going on, a new party alignment on entirely different principles of division seems to arise out of the chaos of conflicting economical interests. Heretofore already certain of the parties, by the nature of their constituencies, have been more or less closely allied to special economical interests. As the industrialization of the country progressed, the extreme Conservative party, having their stronghold in the landed nobility of the East, the ancient colonization territory, have identified themselves more and more with the agrarian interests. The Farmers Alliance (Bund der Land- wirte), an association for the protection and promotion of agriculture, forms the backbone of the party which of late is most frequently designated as "the Agrarians." While these represent apparently in the first place the great landholders, recent movements indicate a ten- dency of separation on the part of holders of small farms whose organization, Peasants Alliance (Bauernbund) , inclines towards liberal affiliations. 520 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. The Social Democratic party has been, from the beginning, the party of the industrial laborers. The labor movement in Germany, as has been pointed out, is distinguished from that of other countries in that it started with the organization of a political party. But of recent years, after the effects of the special legisla- tion against socialism had passed away, trade-unionism is in the ascendency and claims ever-increasing atten- tion hi the decisions of the political party. The Socialist or Free Unions have over 2,000,000 members to-day. Besides these the non-Socialist laborers have been organized in the so-called Christian or National Unions, which claim over 1,000,000 laborers. While their representatives in the parliaments are affiliated with the more conservative parties, experience has shown that in actual labor conflicts they side mostly with their more radical brethren of the Free Unions. So do like- wise the so-called Hirsch-Duncker Unions (100,000 members), allied politically to the Liberals. There have recently been added by special efforts of capitalists a number of unions that identify themselves with their employers; they are considered as scabs by the other organizations, and called "Yellow" Unions. In 1910 Germany had all together 2,400,000 Union labor- ers. Besides the industrial laborers proper there are strong organizations of the technical, commercial, admin- istrative, and other employees of private enterprises (Privatbeamte) , which, though of recent origin, com- prised nearly 1,000,000 members in December, 1906. All organizations propose to take an active part in political Me, if not trying to exercise an exclusive control over one distinct party, as the Free Unions have done, still hoping to influence legislation through XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 521 candidates pledged to champion their interests hi return for their votes. The latest organization, which, founded in 1908, has reached an unprecedented growth, is the Hansabund. It was planned as a counterweight against the pre- dominant influence of the Farmers Alliance, comprising the representatives of commerce and industry, not only of the great capitalist concerns, but also the middle class, the small tradespeople and independent craftsmen (Handwerker), employers as well as employees. If in- dications are not deceiving, their presence will make itself distinctly felt in politics and will help to empha- size social-economical opinions in the distinction of political parties. It is not at all impossible that in time we shall have to deal with industrial, agrarian parties, etc., instead of Conservatives and Liberals. In spite of all conflicts, employers and employees have, on the whole, a fair understanding for the com- munity of then 1 interests " under existing conditions," as the socialists would add. Disastrous strikes are not frequent, and deeds of violence, though not entirely absent, are not the rule. What is called the "dry wage movement," that is, an improvement of the laborer's conditions by negotiations without resort to strikes, proves more successful from year to year. The right of strike and boycott is recognized by the highest court of the Empire. Many economists see in collective bargaining, the wage tariff agreement, in a kind of constitutional arrangement of the relations between employer and employed, the approaching solu- tion of the social question. As the first, practically the whole printers' trade was united in such an agreement, which, renewed for three periods of five years each, has secured an undisturbed peace in that trade for fifteen 522 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. years. The Free Unions especially favor these tariff agreements, which are increasing at the rate of nearly two thousand per year, even in such branches as were formerly declared absolutely unfit for them. In the world of literature and art and in the concep- tion of life the apparent exhaustion, the superficiality and materialistic tendency during the Bismarckian Era, characterized in the last chapter, met with vigorous opposition as soon as the first generation, grown up in the young Empire, began to feel as men, unfortunately in many cases before they were really entitled to do so, and the new Storm and Stress period, which set in between 1880 and 1890, exhibits a decidedly immature character. Not strong enough to stand by themselves, too ignorant to recognize the hidden current of healthy German literature, the young authors turned to for- eign models. Zola, Dostojewsky, Ibsen, were the prophets of the new school, and while, though uncon- sciously, they were right in their feeling that a reawak- ening was necessary, they made of themselves at first a rather disgusting spectacle, affecting a decadence which in reality was not their own. They were not able to rid themselves so easily from unhealthy influ- ences at home and were attracted by the assumption of artistic form abroad. Their naturalism became vulgarity; in their antagonism against the hollowness of fashionable sham literature, they turned against all idealistic art as untrue, and the demand for " truth, not beauty," became the new slogan. The social question was justly recognized by them as the leading interest of the times, but they only saw and reproduced the dark side of it. It was a period of wild experimenta- tion with all theories of art, of psychology, and so forth that had arisen at any place and at any time. XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 523 The juvenile moderns were looking for a national prophet when, about 1890, Friedrich Nietzsche was first introduced to a greater public by the Danish litera- teur George Brandes. His criticism of the " culture Philistines," his theory of the " superman," of amoral- ism, were the very food for which their rebellious souls had been starving. The artistic and mystical form in which the philosopher's teachings were clothed increased their attractiveness, but most of all, Nietz- sche's personality, his life, which " consumed itself in the flame" of his own genius. It is this unity of his personality with his work which represents his real and lasting value for the generation of young Germans that followed him as their master. For a tune the catch phrases, the "superman," who stands "beyond good and bad," and numerous others, played great havoc with immature, weak-brained people of brutal, uncontrolled instincts, but, on the whole, his influence has been a wholesome one, and the more he retreats with advancing years, the more the greatness in his personality and the lasting contributions of his phi- losophy are recognized and appreciated. His demand for a "revaluation of all values" certainly expresses the needs of our times and begins to bear fruit. With Nietzsche a new interest in idealistic philosophy sets in. None of his admirers of the "Youngest Germany" has reached the goal of a new great literature. After many promising beginnings their most talented authors have disappointed us, their growth has ceased before they succeeded in finding the highest, or even a satisfactory, expression of the emotions of this age, the poetical solution of its problems. Still, Germany owes to them, after they had outgrown their infantile disease of exag- gerated naturalism, the return to honest, truthful 524 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. literary production. In lyric poetry, and especially prose fiction, Germany brings forth most meritorious work, firmly planted in the life of the people and out- ranked by no other nation. More fortunate than literature were the plastic arts. Here we find the same immature beginnings, the same leaning on foreign models. But the painters really were benefited by the advanced technique of their French teachers, although the same achievements had been reached by their older countrymen, unbeknown to them. Here we see growth, here we see more of a successful struggle with the problems of the day. A few of the old school have lived long enough to secure, after all, an uninterrupted healthy tradition. Very creditable work has been done by many of the younger artists, a most interesting life is stirring the artistic world, hundreds of brains are busy, hundreds of eyes and hands, to solve new problems. There is apparently nothing in the universe of mind and matter that has not something to tell to some German artist, a message he tries to express in line and color, in light and shade. New techniques are tried, old ones resuscitated to new life. Not a few find one mode of artistic expression insufficient ; they paint and etch, engrave in copper and draw with pen and ink, or form in stone and bronze. Sculpture and architecture have come nearest to the creation of a distinct national style of art. Such a style, however, seems to have been produced by Indus- trial Art, as was revealed to the world by the Brussels Exhibition, 1910, reluctantly appreciated even by French critics. But modern idealists, who want to see a truly national culture centred in art, are at work to give an artistic aspect to the daily life even of the humblest children XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 325 of the nation. Whatever has come down from past times of artistic products, in house and field, of build- ings, of fine scenic effects in cities and villages, of picturesque ruins, of beautiful scenery, even a single tree, which are of interest by their appearance or some romantic story, is carefully preserved. The law begins to recognize the artistic milieu as a public asset, which no individual may destroy by tasteless structures. Provincial costumes and dialects are fostered. Beauty has entered the workshop and the factory, and the tasteful products of modern machines vie with fine reproductions at low cost of older masterpieces. It has been said above that Nietzsche came at a time when speculative philosophy, so long neglected, began to attract renewed attention. The mechanical theory of the world, taught by materialism, failed to give lasting satisfaction ; the natural sciences had proved themselves to be unable to answer the last questions of existence. Ernst Hackel, the successor of Vogt, Moleschott, and Biichner in popular favor, whom Charles Darwin called the greatest exponent of his theory, protests against being called a materialist and claims kinship to the pantheism of Spinoza and Goethe. Many philosophi- cal systems have adherents amongst the intellectual classes, especially such as make the will their funda- mental principle. Of all modern philosophers Eucken seems to be in greatest favor with the cultured classes outside of strict Christianity. Mysticism again has found its place in German philosophy and has entered into the theories of some of the most radical thinkers. Even German Catholicism begins to respond to the modern spirit. Also here in science and literature, within the limits set by dogmatism, a healthy activity is displayed and shows creditable results, too little noticed, it seems, by their non-Catholic countrymen. 52& HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. How little Germany is willing to rest contented with its achievements may be seen by the continuous expan- sion of its educational facilities. To her large system of technical and professional schools the Commercial University was added at the end of the nineteenth century, an institution coming fully up to its name in its requirements and accomplishments. Prussia has lead the way in a modern organization of the higher education of girls, still in its first period of practical test. Since 1908 all German universities admit women on equal terms with men, counting 1911 nearly three thousand female students. Special sociological and economical courses are held for people standing in active life for a long time as government officials, judges, teachers, etc. The first municipal university will be opened in the near future in Frankfort-on-the- Main. Continuation schools provide for the boys and girls after dismissal from the common school, and their employers are legally held to give them leave to attend them in daytime, as night schools for young people after a day's work do not meet with approval. An academy for the study of Municipal Administration in Dtisseldorf is the latest addition to the educational system. It would be wrong to fail in this connection to call attention to the beneficent influence of the socialist movement on the education of the working classes. Based on the economical conception of history, it must, of course, be one-sided from the start. But, let alone that the arousing of the masses out of their indolent lethargy is in itself a great accomplishment in the service of progress, the leaders have by no means confined themselves to expounding economical and political theories, but have succeeded in awakening the XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 527 interest of the people in higher culture as it manifests itself in science, literature, and art. Compared to the shallow pursuits of many of their despisers, the youthful enthusiasm of numerous laborers for everything beau- tiful, true, and noble, for any new and great achieve- ment, gives one a refreshing reassurance for the future. It is one of the stupidities of the bureaucratic govern- ment, out of fear of their political theories, to place, by police regulations, obstacles in the way of the socialist endeavors to give to the laboring youths, after school age, a higher standard of life ; the results of their experi- ments with anti-socialist legislation in Bismarck's times ought to have taught the authorities the futility of similar methods. The end of the nineteenth century seems to open a very hopeful outlook for Germany. It is true all the great centrifugal forces that threaten to rend Germany asunder are still at work. Northern sober pedantry and cool reasoning against the emotional nature of the easy- going South; Catholicism against Protestantism; or- thodoxy against liberalism, rationalism, and disbelief; the classes against the masses ; reaction and habit against progress in politics, in art, in social questions; capitalistic concentration against the individualist of the middle class and the laborer who claims his own ; agriculture against industry and commerce; but, in spite of all this, the spirit of national unity, the common interest, is strong enough to hold all the contrasting elements together. The same spirit, at the bottom, inspires them all ; the great task of readjusting the inner man to the new external conditions is felt alike by every thinking German ; more and more they find themselves united in positive production, while science begins to gather the fruit of overlong specialization, and, side 528 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. by side with art, seems to promise an harmonious, self-centred national culture, based on a unified view of the world. A few words hi conclusion as to German idealism ! According to some modern writers it is a thing of the past. It is really touching to read the expressions - usually in the French or English language of deepest sorrow at the sad change of the Germans since they have ceased to be a " nation of poets and thinkers," and have taken a hand in the world's affairs as men of purposeful and successful action. But a cool observer will concede that ideal interests still have a large part in German life, in the daily work of the German people. Idealism cannot be wanting in a nation that bases its whole activity, so to speak, on the results of scientific research ; it shows its influence even in the most unpre- tentious trades. Idealism is apparent in the energetic manifestation of the social conscience, the striving after social justice. It is effective hi that longing for the inner unification of the nation. It is true, the class controversies of modern development have emphasized the bars between the social strata, but earnest efforts are made to remove these bars, not only by those attempts at the solution of the social question, the establishment of social peace, but by a more human mutual approach of the opponents. It is in the service of this inner national unity, of a strengthened national consciousness, that we see those interests arrayed which German idealism of the old type considered always as the highest; to wit, the struggle for a theory of life and the universe, the struggle for a new culture. There are increasing signs that this idealism, which in the pressure of new tasks, set by new conditions, certainly did not overshadow all XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 529 national life as it did when it opened almost the only outlet to a higher intellectuality, will again take a prominent part in the development of the German people. But there is a difference between the idealism of the nineteenth century and that of the twentieth : while the former in its postulate of pure humanity had put up an abstraction which took no account whatever of the actualities of life, modern German idealism has learnt that, no matter how lofty your aims are, you can reach them only if you first fill your position hi the sur- roundings and under the conditions in which nature has placed you. While it still may be the abstraction of the perfect man which is the aim of the modern German idealist, he sees the only way of reaching this ideal by the perfection of the German man so that he can fulfil his mission for the best of mankind. To discover and develop the germs for further evolution that are born with him and improved by the oppor- tunities offered to him by his surroundings, is the immediate task before him. Most vividly he feels the inadequateness of the answers given by inherited culture to the most im- portant questions; he longs for the visible expression of the modern soul, for a saviour out of its harrow- ing struggles. To find a national form for this ex- pression is his most ardent desire; that is what he means by national culture. From this point of view the movement in literature and art of the last twenty years is to be judged ; it is one great struggle for inner harmony in visible expression. And is not all the world held by the same expectation of something great to come? While a new spiritual world is slowly forming, who is to be its prophet, its interpreter ? Will he be a great philosopher, dramatist, 2 11 530 HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION CHAP. poet, artist? a man of action? Whenever such restiveness has agitated the soul of the people in times past, the great man has been forthcoming. If it be a German, will not his genius show relationship to Luther, to Schiller, to Beethoven, rather than to Bach, Kant, or Goethe ? or will he unite both sides of the German character ? But if it be asked what are the high ideals of the German people to-day, I should say : those of all noble men Truth, Justice, Beauty. The search for Truth should reveal to him the deepest mysteries of existence ; his industrious search is rewarded by the mastery of helpful natural forces. Justice, as social justice, should secure for him and for his people the rights due to them ; but it demands at the same time of everybody a con- sciousness of responsibility towards society, of the duty to fill one's place in the nation and in the world ; it demands equal opportunities for all to enjoy the good things of this life, a share in modern achievements for everybody. Beauty should give expression in graceful external appearance to the soul's innermost experience, representing the unity of all life. To realize all this in his personality and in his people is the purpose of political and social organization, inner and outer freedom are its foundations, conditions of being for which he strives with his whole being, with his life. This is the meaning of his will for power : safety from interference with his individual and national develop- ment. History has taught the Germans to trust in their invincibility when they are united in the defence of their rights. By force of arms the progress of Ger- many in the arts of peace may perhaps be retarded, but never stopped. Only one thing is left to the nations that do not want to be left behind in the peaceful rivalry XLVII THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II 531 of human progress; that is, to become the equals of Germany in untiring industry, in scientific thoroughness, in sense of duty, in patient persistence, hi intelligent, voluntary submission to organization. The German himself, however, must take care that he forever remain conscious of his ideals, and remember that wherever the pernicious consequences of acquired riches and power, the ruin of so many noble nations, become visible, and we know that they are at work, -the first symptoms of decadence must be pitilessly eradicated. INDEX Aachen, 194. Absolutism, 318-326, 347, 348, 382, 455. Accent, 31, 32. Adalbert, St., 172. Adolf of Holstein, 171. JSneas Sylvius, see Pius II. sEtius, 93. Africa, 82. Agrarians, see Conservatives. Agriculture, 28, 42, 126, 157, 158, 159, 161, 162, 293, 511. Aix la Chapelle, see Aachen. Aix en Provence, 75. Alamans, Alemans, 86, 91, 103, 325. Alaric, 82, 93, 107. Albertus Magnus, 232. Albrecht of Mainz, 248. Aleander, 250. Alembert, d', 388. Alexandria, 5, 130. Alliteration, 31. .47pwe type of man, 24, 26. Alps, 143 ; see also Swiss, Tyrol. Alsace, 81, 122. Alsace-Lorraine, 454, 482. Alt-Breisach, 167. America, 43, 53, 55, 68, 84, 113, 134, 173, 201, 224, 254, 280, 288, 289, 302, 321, 323, 340, 347, 348, 365, 369, 385, 399, 406, 418, 434, 438, 451, 456, 463, 486, 504, 516. Anabaptists, 280. Angles, 92. Anglo-Saxon, -a, 6, 46, 86, 109, 331. Anthropology, 13, 14, 15, 21. Anti-Semitism, see Jews. Antwerp, 194. Arab, -ic, -a, 144, 202, 289. Arausio, 74, 78. Arbogast, 93. Archaeology, 13, 14, 15, 21. Architecture, 20, 168, 202-205, 247. Arianism, 86. Ariovistus, 79-81, 93. Aristocracy, see Nobility. Aristotle, 243, 403. Arminius, 78, 93. Arms, 40, 76, 77, 320. Arndt, E. M., 452, 455. Arnulfings, see Kar lings. Art, 27, 32, 43, 44, 67, 71, 168, 197, 200-205, 233, 273, 283, 293, 294, 330, 331, 401, 402, 403, 412, 426, 427, 434, 481, 494, 503, 504, 505, 612, 614, 525. industrial, 67, 200-202, 219, 272, 273, 293, 524. Aryan, see Indo-European. Asceticism, 127, 128, 142. Asia, -tic, 16, 20, 25, 26, 176. Athens, 82. Attila, 93, 95. Augsburg, 194, 278, 280, 303. Convention, 280, 282. Ausonius, 38. Austria, 58, 171, 249, 283, 291, 349, 361, 381, 396, 435, 451, 455, 463, 465, 466, 472, 473, 477, 478, 486. Avarians, 176. Babylon, 5, 20. Babylonians, 16, 17. Bach, J. S., 314, 315. Bacon, 244, 380, 440. Baden, 470. Baireuth, 506. Baltic plain, shores, sea, 25, 173, 192, 193, 290. provinces, 192, 287, 435. Bolts, see Letto-Lithuanians. Bamberg, 204. Banking, 182, 209, 210, 280. Barbarossa, see Frederick I, Emperor. Barmen, 395. Basel, 194. Bastarni (-ae), 73. Bavaria, -ns, 38, 79, 91, 103, 311, 349, 362, 482. Bayle, 345. Bebel, 484. Becker, J., 353. Becker, N., 468. 533 534 INDEX Beethoven, 316, 317, 421, 425, 506. Behaim, Martin, 193. Belgce, 80. Benedict, St., Order of, see Monas- teries. Beowulf, 6, 40. Berlin, 170, 303, 391, 395, 427, 468, 503. Bern, 194. Bernburg type, 20. Bernhard of Clairvaux, 146. Bernward of Hildesheim, 197. Berthold of Regensburg, 244. Bismarck, 58, 134, 164, 421, 448, 472, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 480, 481, 485, 488, 489, 498, 500, 511, 513, 514, 522, 527. Bissula, 38. Black Forest, 180. Black Sea, 28, 49, 73. Blackstone, 55. Blood feud, 63, 64, 65. Bock, 353. Bocklin, 505. Bodin, Jean, 276. Boehm, Jacob, 310, 347. Bohemia, 79, 172, 303. Boii, 79. Boiorix, 76. Bologna, 227. Boniface, St., 86, 125, 134. Boniface VIII, 139. Borgia, house of, 282. Borkum, 165. Borne, 458, 465. Boundaries, 35, 173. Bouvines, battle, 125, 286. Brabant, 273. Brandenburg, 276, 286, 350 ; see Prus- sia. Brandes, 623. Braun, Canon, 362. Braunschweig, 194, 395. Bremen, 194, 219, 420. Breslau, 194, 267. Brethren of Common Life, 226, 258. Britain, see England. Bronze Age, 20, 28. Bruges, see Brugge. Brugge, 194. Brunhild, 101. .Brwno of Toul, 138. Brussels, 524. Bryce, James, 286. Buchner, L., 495. Buergi, 352. Building, 41, 168, 219; see Billow, v., 517. Bundestag, see Reichstag. Bundschuh, 39. Bunsen, 507. Bureaucracy, see Officials. Burggraf, J., 420. Burgundian, -s, 36, 83, 103, 150, 218, 277. Swr/be, 405. Burschenschaft, 459, 460. Buttmann, 453. Byrhtnoth, 58. Byzantium, see Constantinople. Caesar, 8, 35, 56, 61, 73, 79-82, 91. <7aefe, 339. Caglioslro, 335, 401. Calvin, 259. Calvinism, 272, 345. Cambrai, 100. Camerarius, 353. Canossa, 133, 134, 184, 187, 488. Capital, -ism, 211, 228, 240, 279, 285, 291, 292, 520, 521, 522. Carlisle, 405. Carolingians, see Karlings. Carolus, Johannes, 355. Carstens, 426. Cartesianism, see Descartes. Cassiodorus, 56. Cashes, 175, 176. Catalaunian Fields, 94. Catholicism, Roman, see Catholics. Deutsch-Katholiken, 397, 497. Old, 497. Catholics, Cath. Church, 37, 86, 105, 113, 118, 120, 125, 134, 145, 158, 210, 231, 232, 233, 238-241, 245, 247, 276, 280, 281, 282, 309, 335, 362, 397, 429, 438, 456, 457, 467, 468, 485-488, 496, 497, 525. Celt, -ic, see Kelt. Centre, Centrists, see Catholics, Politi- cal Parties. Chamberlain, Houston Stewart, 14, 94, 239. Character, 6, 29, 32, 33, 34, 41,46, 47, 48, 50, 53, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63, 75, 78, 79, 81, 83, 92, 101, 108, 128, 145, 148, 149, 158, 160, 164, 166, 174, 195, 206, 213, 214, 216, 221-223, 232, 237, 247, 253, 288, INDEX 535 289, 302, 303, 304, 305, 315, 316, 324, 325, 326, 333, 335, 337, 341, 374, 377, 379, 381, 389, 412, 413, 417, 418, 429, 432, 436, 443, 446, 453, 457, 458, 463, 466, 469, 473, 478, 480, 481, 491, 493, 507, 511, 513, 518, 519, 530, 531. Chararich, 100. Charity, see Social Welfare. Charles the Bald, 239. Charles the Great, 86, 103, 104, 108, 129, 130, 134, 181, 183, 185, 186, 193, 196, 218, 235, 239, 311. Charles the Hammer, see Karl Martell. Charles IV, Emperor, 151. Charles VII, of France, 286, 320. Charles VIII, of France, 286. Charles X, Emperor, 250, 276, 286, 319. Cherusks, 40. Childerich, 101. Chilperich, 88, 101. Chivalry, 142-154, 185, 230. Chloderic, 100. Chlodowech, 100, 101, 114, 181, 311. Chlodowiecky, 426. Christianity, 9,43, 62, 63, 85-90, 200, 210, 233, 238, 239, 240, 241, 309, 368, 496, 497, 525. Church, see Catholics, Protestants. Church and State, 103, 104, 105, 123, 126, 133-140, 467, 486-488, 494, 497. Cimbri, see Kirribers. Cistercians, 171. Cities, 93, 175-178, 191-213, 223, 224, 230, 245, 281, 296, 444. Civilization, 3-7, 84, 103, 106, 145, 161, 164, 236, 246, 271, 406, 416, 419. history of, 4-7. Crosses, social, 54, 56, 122, 143, 144, 160, 172, 211, 212, 227, 232, 285, 288, 297, 298, 324, 326, 363, 385, 386, 434, 444, 446, 519-522. organizations by, 519, 520, 521, 522. Classicism, 130, 390, 415, 437, 443, 455 ; see Humanism. Claudius, 343. Clausewitz, von, 412. Climate, 37. Clovis, see Chlodowech. Cluny, 137. Coin, coinage, see Money. Colbert, 349, 384. Coleridge, 405. Collective Bargaining, see Labor. Cologne, see Kdln. Columba, 125. Columbia College, 456. Columbus, 236. Comenius, 348. Comitatus, see Retinue. Commerce, 48, 49, 191-193, 209-211, 273, 280, 285, 290, 291, 292, 385, 455,494, 511, 515. Commercial Routes, 28, 49, 193, 272, 280, 285, 290. Conservatives, 515, 516, 519 ; see Po- litical Parties. Constant, Benj., 405. Constantine, 85, 92. Constantinople, 85, 104, 105, 130, 141, 210. Copenhagen museum, 30. Copernicus, 237, 238, 243, 246, 252, 253, 342, 352. Cornelius, 504. Costume, 39, 217, 218, 219, 328, 329, 330, 365, 399, 425. Gotta, 365. Council, of Macon, 63. of Trent, 282. of the Vatican (1870), 486. Councils, Conciliar Movement, 243, 244. Counter-Reformation, 249, 262, 282. Country, 37, 158, 164, 168. Craft, -s, 27, 32, 43, 44, 160, 196. Craft-guilds, 198, 211, 212, 292, 444. Crete, -an, 20, 28. Crimea, 18, 19. Cromlech, 20. Crusades, 130, 131, 141, 142, 144, 146, 147, 185, 209, 210, 218. Culture, 4-7, 106, 145, 277, 406, 416, 419, 434, 487, 512, 524, 525, 528, 529, 530 ; see also Civilization. Customs Union, 464. Czechs, 156, 172, 250. Dagalaif, 93. Dahlmann, 466. Dahn, Felix, 499. Dance, 30, 153, 221. Daniel, prophet, 104. Danneker, 427. Dante, 243. Danube, 49, 73, 167, 171, 173. Danzig, 353; see Marienburg. 536 INDEX Darwin, 494, 525. Delft, 346. Denmark (see also Jutland), Danish, Danes, 21, 92, 289, 290, 427, 468. Descartes, 343, 345, 410. Deutsch, 74, 109, 110. Diesbach, 353. Discoveries, Inventions, Technical Progress, 193, 197, 198, 199, 224, 233, 243, 289, 351-354, 394, 395, 507,608. Dohm, 388. DoUart, 164. Dortrecht, 164. Dostojewsky, 522. Drave, 173. Dresden, 267, 353. Drink, 42, 161, 219, 221, 289, 340. Duel, 64, 65, 124. Duke, Duchies, 55. Durer, Albrecht, 233, 294. Dusseldorf, 166. Dutch, see Holland. East-Albingian, 168, 171-174; see also Elbe. East Mark, 171 ; see Austria, Poland. Ebers, 499. Eckart, 243. Education, 45, 56, 126, 129, 159, 215, 254, 255, 258-271, 277, 289, 328, 336, 337, 349, 350, 366, 393, 395, 416, 435, 444, 445, 449-451, 508, 515, 525, 526. Eichendorf, 506. Eichhom, 405. #fte,river,20,36,79, 156, 171, 172,173. Eliot, Charles W., 516. Elizabeth of Baden-Durlach, 339. Elizabeth Charlotte d'Orleans, 339. Emser Punktation, 397. Engels, Friedr., 494. England, English, 36, 53, 58, 63, 79, 86, 92, 125, 165, 193, 201, 229, 230, 280, 289, 290, 247, 248, 313, 320, 328, 331, 343, 361, 362, 365, 367, 393, 395, 405, 408, 431, 455, 482. Enlightenment, see Rationalism. Erasmus, 261, 345. Erck, 506. Erfurt, 194, 289. Ernst of Gotha, 349. Eschenbach, Wolfram von, 46, 147, 153, 154. Estates, 229, 230, 231, 281, 322, 468. Esthland, 287. Ethelings, see Nobility. Eucken, Rud., 516, 525. Eugene of Noyes, 197. Eugenie, Empress, 478. Eugenius, 93. Exhibitions, see Brussels, Paris, Phila- delphia. Eyb, Albrecht von, 224, 225-227. Fahrenheit, 353. Fehderecht, see Duel, Law. Ferdinand I, 250, 276. Feudal System, 111-124, 136, 139, 320 325 Feudalism, 172, 297, 319. Feuerbach, L., 495. Fichte, J. G., 452, 453, 494. Finns, -4sh, 13, 27. Flanders, 145, 171, 193, 194, 273. Flemings, 36, 172. Floods of North Baltic Seas, 163-167. Florence, 182. Floras, 11. Foehse, Marie Louise, 340. Food, 42, 43, 161, 162, 163, 219-221, 354. France, French, 13, 17, 60, 93, 142, 143, 144, 145, 152, 154, 158, 193, 204, 229, 241, 273, 276, 286, 297, 320, 323, 333, 343, 345, 360, 361, 367, 369, 370, 371, 393, 395, 405, 408, 413, 432, 433, 443, 447, 451, 454, 455, 463, 464, 468, 478, 479, 486. Francis I of France, 276, 286. Franciscans, see Monasteries. Francke, A. H., 366, 367. Francke, Kuno, 89. Franco-German War of 1870-1871, 13, 478, 479, 503. Frankfort on the Main, 280, 302, 364, 456, 470, 471. Parliament, 471, 480. Franklin, Benj., 399. Franks, Prankish, 40, 86, 89, 91, 93, 99-104, 111, 125, 134, 172, 176, 184, 192. Fredegund, 101. Frederick I, Emperor, 146, 185, 186, 478, 507. Frederick II, Emperor, 106, 185, 186, 319. Frederick I of Prussia, 324, 387. INDEX 537 Frederick II, the Great, of Prussia, 350, 359, 360, 373, 376, 378-393, 396, 397, 400, 403, 429, 432, 438, 442, 443, 447, 454, 471. Frederick William of Brandenburg, 349, 350, 351, 378, 387. Frederick William I, 323, 325, 326, 330, 373, 376-378. Frederick William II, 391, 414. Frederick William III, 442. Frederick William IV, 466, 471, 474. Freedmen, 54. Freemen, 54, 55, 57, 113, 114, 122, 197, 248. Freiligrath, 469. French, see France. Freytag, Gustav, 304, 365, 499, 502. Friede, 51, 63, 65, 208. Friesland, 122, 166, 171. Frisians, 66, 91, 122, 166, 240. Fugger, 182, 248, 249, 268, 276, 278. Fulda, city, 125, 129. river, 156. Fiirsten, see Princes. Furth, 465. Gotten, St., 125, 129. Gallus, St., 125. Gaul, 74, 75, 79, 80, 82, 83, 86, 91, 113, 125. Gefolgschaft, see Retinue. Geibel, 501. Gellert, 399-401. Genseric, 93. Gerhard, Paul, 310. German Americans, 347, 348, 418, 456, 463. German Idealism, 343, 345, 373, 391, 400, 401, 404, 418, 419, 427, 428, 443^52, 455, 459, 460, 469, 471, 474, 507, 512, 528-531. German Religion, see German Idealism, Religion. Germanic and German, 108, 109, 247, 248. Germanic Branch of Nations, 27-96. Subdivisions, 35, 36, 72, 73, 79, 86. Urheimat, 27, 28. Gervinus, 466. Ghent, 194. Gluck, 401, 425. Gobineau, 12. Goethe, 166, 239, 314, 317. 363, 364, 394, 410, 416, 419, 420, 421, 425, 428, 436, 437, 450, 458, 498, 499, 500, 506, 525. Goldsmith, O., 399. Goslar, 180, 205. Goth, -s, -ic, 22, 56, 73, 83, 131. Gotha, 433. Gothic style, 204, 205. Gotland, 20, 194. Gottfrid of Strassburg, 147. Gdttingen, 362, 466. Gottschalk, Count, 239. Gottsched, 332. Government, 55, 102, 103, 114, 123, 185, 186, 197, 208, 209, 228, 229, 230, 281, 282, 285, 318, 322, 361, 362, 390, 431, 432, 444, 462, 463, 468, 475, 476, 480, 481, 482, 483, 512, 515-517, 518. See also Bureaucracy, Officials. Graeco-Roman civilization, 9, 30, 73, 83, 145. Graff, 426. Great Britain, see England. Great Elector, see Frederick William of Brendenburg. Greek, Greeks, Greece, 3, 61, 71, 82, 130, 268, 328, 403, 426, 427, 435, 444. Gregory of Tours, 99, 101, 134. Gregory VII, 58, 138. Gregory IX, 106, 240. Gregory XIII, 288. Grillparzer, 499. Grimm, J. and W., 405, 466. Grobianus, -ism, 149, 288. Grotius, Hugo, 345, 369. Grilndler, 352. Guelphs, 185. Guericke, 352. Guilds, 195, 444. Guizot, 405. Gundling, N. H., 356, 357. Gustavus Adolphus, 301. Gutenberg, Job., 199. Habsburg, house of, 150, 249, 272, 361, 396. Habsburg, Rudolf von, 230. H&ckel, 525. Haendel, 314, 315. Hague Conference, 346. Halle, 44, 194, 267, 353, 357, 366, 369, 371, 372, 380. Haller, Abrecht von, 395, 407. Hambacher Volkstest, 463. 538 INDEX Hamburg, 194, 280, 310, 354, 364, 373, 380, 395. Hand, 484. Hanover, 362, 374, 466. Hansa, 181, 195, 280, 290. Hans Sachs, 282, 294. Hardenberg, 451. Harlem Sea, 165. Harnack, A., 430. Hartmann, Ed. v., 497. Hartmann, M., 469. Hare Mts., 180. Haupt, Albrecht, 202. Hauptmann, Gerh. and Karl, 450. Hauisch, 352. Haydn, 317, 401, 425. tfetaeZ, 499, 503. Hebrew, Hebrews, 3, 328. Hecker, 470. #e0eJ, 453, 494, 495. Hehn, V., 19, 37, 44, 161. Heidelberg, 273, 289, 303, 353. Heine, 134, 166, 365, 458,465,499-501. Helgoland, 166. Heliand, 88, 238. #enn/ 1, 143, 176, 183. Henry III, 138. #enn/ IV, 135, 138, 184. Henry V, 136. ffenn/ VI, 183. Henry II of France, 287. Henry of Lower Bavaria, 286. Henry the Lion, 185. Hercynian Forest, 73, 87. Herder, 5, 317, 404, 405, 408, 419, 421, 425. Heretics persecuted, 240, 241. Herwegh, 469. Herz, 507. Hesse, 162. Hessians, 323. Heumann, J. H., 357. Hildebrand, see Gregory VII. Hildegard, 242, 338. tftrt, H., 15, 16, 17, 23, 25, 26. #i>zeJ, 365. History, conception of, 4, 12, 133, 187, 235, 236, 526. Hochstetter, 182, 278, 292. Hoffmann von Fallersleben, 469. Hohenstaufen, house of, 184, 235, 241 ; see also Frederick I, II. Hohenzollern, house of, 287, 351, 378, 391. Holbein, 232, 294. Holland, 35, 164, 165, 171, 172, 272, 280, 290, 339, 345, 350. Hollandsch Diep, 166. Homer, 28, 71, 435. Houses, see Architecture, Building. Hoyer, Anna Owena, 339. Hrabanus Maurus, 129, 311. Hrosvith v. Gandersheim, 130, 132, 338. Huguenots, 272, 350. Humanism, 253, 258-261, 271, 274, 328. new, 415, 437, 443. Humboldt, Al. von, 180, 405, 425. Humboldt, Wilh. von, 405, 425, 430, 451. Hungarians, Hungary, 172,173, 176; see also Mongolians. Huns, 73, 94. Huss, 248, 250. Ibsen, 522. Iceland, 36. Idealism, see German Idealism. Iffland, 436. Ikonium, 185. India, 9, 193, 296. Indo-European, 9, 10-26, 186. Indo-Germanic, see Indo-European. Indo-Iranians = Aryans, 18. Industry, 199, 292, 394, 395, 461, 462, 474, 491, 494, 504, 511, 515. Influence, Foreign, 152, 164, 201, 203, 218, 226, 229, 271, 276, 277, 285, 296, 299, 328, 329, 401, 408, 499. English, 334, 365, 373, 374, 381, 399, 401, 408. French, 144, 148, 152, 164, 203, 218, 324, 327-334, 351, 375, 402, 408, 443, 499. Roman, 34, 70, 92, 93, 106, 107, 114, 162, 164, 177, 203, 218, 226, 233. Innocent III, 241. Innocent VIII, 241. Inquisition, 240. Institoris, 489. Inventions, see Discoveries. Iran, 26. Ireland, Irish, 125, 163. Isabella the Catholic, 318. Isidorian, see Pseudo-Isidorian. Italian, -s, 192, 226, 229, 313, 401. Italy, 28, 49, 82, 86, 91, 106, 203, 258, 271, 314, 436, 484, 489. Ivan the Terrible, 290. INDEX 539 Jahde, river, 165. Jahn, Fr., L., 215, 452, 455. Japanese, 156. Jean Paul (Richter), 436. Jena, 261, 418, 442, 451. Jerusalem, 141, 185. Jesuits, see Monasteries. Jews, 115, 142, 182, 192, 209, 210, 231, 287, 288, 444, 471, 474, 500, 503, 504. Jordan, 499. Joseph II, 380, 381, 396, 397. Journalism, 355, 371, 374, 395, 396, 399, 440, 518. Julian, Julianus Apostata, 93. Justinian, 227, 311. Jutes, 92. Jutland, 16, 25; see Denmark. Kalwe, 395. Kant, 237, 317, 375, 381, 404, 408- 414, 421, 425, 429, 430, 441. Karl, see Charles the Great. Karl Martell, 102, 116, 142. Karlings, 102, 103, 104, 108, 134, 154, 175, 176, 197, 209. Keller, Gottfried, 499. Kelt, -s, -ic, 18, 26, 35, 38, 44, 57, 59, 73, 74-76, 80, 180, 232. Kepler, 310, 342, 352. Kimbers, 73-79. Kirchhoff, 507. Kiwik, monument, 29. Kleist, H. von, 499. Klopstock, 314, 315, 402, 425. Knossos, 20. Koln, 81, 100, 175, 192, 193, 221, 223, 245, 362. Konigsberg, 18, 413. Konrad of Marburg, 240. Korner, 437. KSstlin, A. H., 312, 314, 315, 317. Kossinna, G., 15, 19. Kotzebue, 436. Kracow, 194. Kratzenstein, 395. Kreuzer, 506. Kroats, 300, 301. Kudrun, 7, 153. Kuhnau, 314. Kultur, Kulturgeschichte, see Culture. Kyffhauser, 186, 478, 507. Labienus, 82. Labor, Laborer, 90, 113, 122, 127, 157, 158, 292, 293, 413, 462, 484, 489- 491, 509, 510, 520-522. Lamprecht, Karl, 52, 62, 153, 206, 256, 405. Landesherr, see Territorial Prince, Lord. Land holding, ownership, 51, 111, 112, 113, 118, 124, 126, 157, 158, 170. Lange, F. A., 497. Langobards, 22, 83, 103, 108; see also Lombardy. Language, Germanic, German, 23, 24, 27, 30, 33; 67, 94, 109, 132, 152, 204, 244, 255-257, 273, 330, 331-333, 334, 362, 371, 402, 499, Latin, 67, 131, 152, 215, 259, 274, 328. 333. nations, see Romance. Lautverschiebung, 23, 24. Law, 56, 60, 63-67, 90, 94, 101, 102, 118, 121, 124, 150, 177, 207, 210, 224, 228, 229, 233, 281, 283, 322. Roman, 60, 101, 102, 226-229, 294, 295, 297, 318, 322, 384, 482, 489, 491. International, 346, 347, 448. natural, 346, 347, 369. Layamon, 73. Lehnsmann, 117. Lehnswesen (Feudal System), 116. Leibl, 505. Leibniz, 310, 315, 331, 339, 343-345, 352, 371, 410, 440. Leipzig, 194, 353, 364, 371. Lemberg, 194. Leasing, 314, 315, 317, 333, 377, 390, 401-404, 419, 425, 426. Leo III, 104, 134. Leopold of Dessau, 340. Letto-Lithuanians, 18. Leuwenhoek, 353. Liberalism, 438, 455, 457, 467, 468, 475-477, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 515, 516, 517; see also Political Parties. Lieber, Fr., 456. Liebig, 507. Limburg Chronicle, 61. Lisbon, 194. List, Friedrich, 456, 464, 465. Literature, 30, 31, 47, 48, 67, 88, 131, 132, 151-154, 166, 225, 256, 257, 283, 287, 310, 371, 375, 400-407, 412, 435, 437-440, 451, 458, 466, 540 INDEX 469, 494, 498-503, 522-524, 525; see also Poetry, Songs. Lithuanian, -s, 23. Livonia, 287. Locke, 344. Lombards, 192. Lombardy, 103, 106. London, 193, 194. Loss of territory, 286, 287, 304, 305, 347, 448, 454. Lothmann, E., 297. Lothringians, 108. Lotze, 497. Louis XIV, 319, 322, 329, 456, 479. Louis Philippe, 468. Louise Henriette v. Brandenburg, 324, 339 Lubeck, 194, 224, 226. Lucerne, 265. Ludwig, 499, 503. Luitbrand, 108. .Lurer, 29, 30, 311, 313. Luther, 135, 217, 225, 234, 235-238, 241, 246-255, 259, 273, 279, 281, 282, 283, 288, 289, 343, 347, 357, 362, 369, 410, 480, 486. Lutheran, see Protestantism. Maas, river, 290. MachiaveUi, 319. Macpherson, 399. Magdeburg, 194. Magyars, see Hungarian, Main, river, 36, 173. Mainz, 193. Makart, 504. Mannegold, 338. MarcA FieW, 230. Maria Theresa, 396. Marienburg, Danzig, 205. Marignano, battle, 268. Marius, 75-77. Markgenossenschaft, see Village Com- munity. Markgraf, 395. Marlitt, 499. Marriage, Matrimony, 54, 60, 61, 62, 63, 81, 148, 220, 224, 253, 374, 425. Marx, Karl, 495. Mar^, the Catholic, 240. Materialism, 410, 494, 497, 525. Mayence, see Mainz. Mayer, Robert, 507. Maximilian I, 355. Maximilian II, 291. Mazarin, 322, 329. Mechthildis of Magdeburg, 242, 338. Mecklenburg, 22, 230, 517. Medardus, St., 88. Mediterranean, see Grceco-Roman. Meissen, 265, 353. Meissner, 469. M#oc, 273, 300. Melanchthon, 253, 261, 264. Menapians, 80. Mendelssohn, Moses, 387, 388. Mendelssohn-Bartholdi, 506. Mendicant Orders, see Monasteries. Menhir, 20. Menno, Simon, 280. Mentz, see Mainz. Menzel, 505. Merchant-guilds, see Guilds. Merovings, -ians, 88, 93, 99-102, 104, 144, 193, 194, 200, 217. Mettemich, 454. Afete, 287. Meyer, Tobias, 395. Meyerbeer, 506. Af#an, 268, 355. Militarism, see Military Service. Military Service, 55, 119, 123, 150, 176, 230, 296, 320, 321, 364, 445- 449, 475, 476, 482, 515. Mining, 44, 160, 180, 181, 293. Ministerial, 117, 119,211; see Officials. Mississippi, 173. Mode of Life, 47, 48, 217, 219, 220, 221, 334, 335, 365, 394, 457. Moeser, 394. Mohammedans, 130, 146, 185. Moleschott, 495, 525. Monarchy, Monarchism, 55, 56, 58, 102, 103, 104, 105, 117, 228, 230, 282, 319, 322, 334, 335, 347, 350, 376, 379, 382, 383, 384, 386, 472, 495, 515, 517. Monasteries, 125-132, 159, 160, 171, 231, 240, 241, 242, 244, 249, 252, 262, 282, 283, 339-381, 396, 457, 485. Money, Coinage, 48, 114, 181, 182, 200, 482. Mongolians, 143, 171, 176. Monks, see Monasteries. Montesquieu, 55, 111. Moorish, 202. Moors, 102. Morals, Morality, 243, 247, 289, 338, 368, 369, 374, 411, 412, 440, 531. INDEX 541 Mdricke, 499. Mosel, Moselle, 49, 122, 172. Mozart, 317, 421, 425. Much, M., 15, 19. Munchen, 194. Munich, see Munchen. Munster, 280. Munzer, 280. Music, 28, 29, 32, 33, 96, 152, 153, 217, 310, 311-317, 401, 426, 505, 506. Mykene, 28. Mysticism, 32, 62, 68, 69, 226, 242- 244, 310, 401, 525. Mythology, see Religion. N&geli, 506. Names, 108, 223, 293. Napoleon I, 101, 276, 418, 439, 442, 443, 452, 453, 454, 455, 458, 471. Napoleon III, 478. National feeling, life, spirit, 9, 11, 51, 107, 108, 214, 215, 277, 287, 379, 388, 393, 402, 418, 431, 455, 460, 462, 463, 464, 471, 473, 493, 500, 501, 512, 524, 525; see Separa- tism. Nature, love for, 69, 174, 217, 343, 406, 418. Naumburg, 266, 267. Neolithic Age, 20, 27, 28. Netherlands, 258, 271, 272, 273, 288, 294, 298, 313, 343, 357, 366; see Holland. Netze, river, 390. New England, 43, 53. Newton, 344, 380. New York, 68. Nibelungenlied, 7, 58, 152. Nicolai, 456. Niebuhr, 405, 420. Nietzsche, 513, 523, 525. Nikolaus Cusanus, 243. Nobility, 56, 102, 103, 151, 279, 285, 296, 326, 335, 364, 385, 386, 444, 445, 515, 519. Norderney, 166. Ndrdlingen, 302. Normans, 92, 135, 204. North German Federation, 478, 480. Northmark, 171. North Sea, 14, 25, 165, 173. Norway, 36. Novalis, 438. Novgorod, 194. Nurnberg, 192, 224, 226, 244, 250, 292, 349, 3M, 352, 353, 354, 465. Oder, river, 20, 36, 49, 73, 269, 390, Odoacer, see Odowakar. Odowakar, 82, 93. Officials, 116, 117, 119, 151, 228, 229, 318, 325, 330, 377, 379, 384, 390, 391, 494, 516, 517, 518, 519. Opitz, 310, 314. Orange, see Aransio. Orders of chivalry, 149. Ore Mts., 180. Ornament, 200, 201, 427. Ornamentation, see Art. Ostrogoths, 36, 83. Otfrid, 88. Otto I, the Great, 108, 109, 130, 135, 184, 235. Otto III, 106, 171. Padua, 227. Paine, Thomas, 369, 431, 440. Painting, 201, 205, 232, 272, 273, 426, 427, 504. Palestrina, 314. Pandures, 300. Paracelsus, 243, 244. Paris, 203, 204, 313, 432, 462, 503, 511. Paschalis II, 136. Pastorius, Franz Daniel, 247 ; see also German Americans. Paternalism, 509. Paul V, 252. Paulsen, 356. Peace = law and order, see Friede. Peasantry, 52, 53, 88, 121, 178, 221, 279, 281, 282, 297, 318, 326, 363, 385, 386, 387, 519. Pennsylvania, 348. Percy, 399, 404. Periodicals, see Journalism. Persia, -n, -8, 9. Pestalozzi, 416, 451. Peter, St., Dominion of, 134. Peter the Great, 323. Peirus Lombardus, 311. Peurbach, 352. Pharsalus, 81, 82. Philadelphia, 347, 504, 511. Philology, 13, 18, 20, 21, 430. Germanistic, 439. Pietism, 347-349, 366, 367, 368, 372, 397. 542 INDEX Pippin, 102, 103, 135, 181. Pirkheimer, W., 244. Pitiscus, 274. Pius II, 223. Plato, 243. Platter, 264. Po, river, 49, 75. Poefry, 30, 31, 46, 47, 152-154, 166, 216, 426, 439, 450 ; see also Lit- erature. Poggio, 131. Poland, Poles, 156, 170, 192, 287, 389, 390, 463. Political Parties, 172, 394, 418, 429, 438, 449, 462, 471, 475-476, 484- 488, 509, 515-517. Politics, Political Life, see Govern- ment, Political Parties. Pompey, 81. Pope, the, 104, 123, 133-140, 239, 240, 241, 244, 245, 282, 283, 287, 397, 456, 486. Population, 157, 224, 283, 285, 298, 304, 349, 389. Postal Service, 354, 355, 482. Prog, 194, 226. Premonstratensians, 171. Prince Electors, 231, 287. Princes, 56, 57, 122, 245, 250, 287, 388, 453, 455, 457, 464; see Ter- ritorial Princes. Property, Conception of, 228. Protestantism, 240, 250, 252, 272, 282, 287, 309, 338, 367, 372, 457, 467, 486, 496, 497. Provence, -c.al, 154. Prussia, Province, 287. State, 350, 351, 356, 358, 377- 393, 443-453, 464, 465, 467, 468, 471, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 489; see Brandenburg. Prussians, Slav tribe, 172. Prutz, Robert, 469. Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, 136, 243, 397. Public Loans, 321. Publishers, 365. Pufendorf, Samuel, 346, 347, 369, 370. Punishment, see Law. Puritans, 68. Pyrenees, 75, 102, 103. Pytheas, 28, 35. Quakers, 348. Quatrefages, de, 13. Quidde, Ludw., 513. Raabe, 499. Race theories, 12, 13, 14, 204. Rachnachar, 100. Ranke, 257. Rationalism, 327, 354, 367-372, 397, 398, 399, 410, 415, 432, 455, 456, 497, 503. Ratzel, 17. Raudian Fields, see Vercellce. Ravenna, 203. Ravensburg, 199. Rechtstaat, see Monarchy, State. Redivitz, 501. Reformation, 135, 225, 238, 239, 246- 254, 260, 261, 279, 281, 287, 292, 309, 313, 347, 357, 367, 433, 496. Reformed Church, see Protestantism. Regensburg, 182, 194, 363. Regiomontanus, 352. Reichenau, 129. Reichstag, 249, 250, 287, 291, 322, 361, 449, 456, 480, 485, 486, 487, 514, 515, 516, 517. Reinhold of Saalfeld, 354. Religion, 44, 65, 67-71, 78, 85, 87, 88, 89, 117, 128, 133, 137, 147, 238-246, 309, 381, 391, 400, 402, 406, 412, 421, 496. Rembrandt, 272. Renaissances, 5, 108, 130, 185, 200, 271, 273, 294, 426. Renan, 405. Repgow, Eicke v., 209, 228. Rethel, 505. Retinue, 6, 57-59, 111, 151. Reuchlin, 261. Reuleaux, 504, 511. Reunion of Churches, 344, 457. Renter, Fritz, 464, 502, 503. Revenues, 115, 482; see also Taxation. Rheinbund, 453. Rhine, river, 36, 79, 80, 143, 145, 164, 166, 194, 203, 290. Rhone, river, 28, 49, 73, 78, 83. Richar, 100. Richardson, 399. Richelieu, 322, 329. Richter, Eugen, 484. , Richter, Ludwig, 505. Riemenschneider, Dill, 294. Ripley, 15, 21. Rivers, 167. INDEX 543 Rohse, M., 294. Roland, 103. Roman, Romans, Rome (ancient), Roman Empire, 73, 74-83, 108, 163, 187, 238, 239, 247. Roman Empire of the German nation, 102, 105. Roman Law, see Law. Rome, city, 106, 135; see also Pope, Church, Catholic. Roman Catholicism, see Catholicism. Roman Influence, see Foreign Influ- ence. Romance nations, 83, 84, 127, 137, 152, 173, 204, 233, 253. Romanesque, 203, 204. Romanticism, 155, 437-440, 456, 457, 465, 466, 471, 494, 501, 505, 506. Rone, 171. Rostock, 289. Rousseau, J. J., 374, 405-407, 408, 439. Rubens, 273. Rudolf August of Brunswick, 340. Rudolf von Schwaben, 58. Runes, 30. Runge, Otto, 427. Russia, -n, 17, 18, 19, 23, 69, 192, 287, 389, 435, 452, 455, 466, 499. Saale, river, 156. Sachsenspiegel, see Repgow. St. Germain, 336. Saladin, 185. Saleph, 185. Salvianus, 82. Samo, 176. Sanskrit, 14, 439. Sapidus, 264. Saracens, 135, 142, 143. Saxons, 40, 73, 86, 91, 92, 103, 156, 168, 171, 172. Scadia = Scandinavia, 28. Scandinavia, -n, 16, 21, 22, 25, 26, 53, 86, 192, 290, 499, 500. Scharnhorst, 451. Scheffel, 499, 502, 503. Scheldt, 164, 173, 290. Schelling, 494. Scherer, Wilhelm, 315, 330, 464. Scherr, Johannes, 67. Schiller, 73, 94, 168, 314, 317, 407, 416, 419, 420, 421, 427, 428, 436, 437, 439, 450, 452, 458, 474, 478, 498, 499. Schinckel, 427. Schleiermacher, 427, 430, 453. Schleswig, 39, 78, 171, 468. Schleswig-Holstein, 468, 476. Schlettstadt, 264. Schlozer, 394. Schmidt, Job., 10, 16. Schoolmaster, 450, 451, 507. Schopenhauer, A., 473, 497. Schroder, O., 14. Schubert, 506. Schumann, 506. Schurmann, Anna Maria von, 339. Schurz, Carl, 472. Schutz, Heinrich, 314. Schwartz, Sybilla, 339. Schwertbruder, 193. Schwind, Moritz von, 505. Science, 174, 181, 232, 244, 260, 261, 274, 275, 276, 310, 342-347, 395, 412, 428, 429-431, 439, 462, 466, 507, 508, 525, 527. Scotus Erigena, 240. Sculpture, 205, 427, 504. Seegeberg, 171. Separatism in National Life, 227, 274, 275, 277, 362, 363, 468, 486, 527. Seguani, 80. Serfdom, 54, 113, 119, 121, 122, 279, 297, 319, 376, 386, 443. Shakespeare, 247, 248, 402. Sickingen, 279. Siemens, Werner, 507. Sigibert, 100. Sigismund, 150. Silanus, 74. Silcher, 506. Slavery, 44, 54, 122, 178. Slavs, 18, 26, 69, 73, 155, 156, 157, 159, 170, 171, 172, 176, 194, 233. Social Democracy, Social Democrats, see Socialists. Social Welfare, 126, 269, 288, 491-498, 509, 510. Socialism, 327, 429, 447, 449, 485, 488, 489, 496, 509, 510, 516, 517, 520, 527. Solingen, 323. Songs, 30, 31, 47, 67, 131, 153, 216, 217, 451, 468, 502, 506; see Lit- erature. Sorbonne, 319. Spain, Spaniard, Spanish, 75, 82, 83, 86, 91, 103, 272, 276, 301, 328, 329, 355, 361. 544 INDEX Spalatin, 256. Specialization, 5, 526. Spencer, Herbert, 363. Spener, 315, 347, 348, 367. Speyer, 194, 212. Spielhagen, 499. Spinoza, 343, 345, 356, 404, 525. Spreewald, 170. Sprenger, 241. Spyres, see Speyer. Stahl, G. E., 353. State, conception of, 50, 213, 327, 382, 386, 394, 406, 413, 510. Stavoren, 166. Stedinger, 240. Stein, Freiherr von, 451. Stone Age, see Neolithic Age. Stonehenge, 20. Storm and Stress, 405, 407, 437, 522. Strassburg, 194, 264, 355. Straus, Richard, 506. Strauss, D. F., 495, 497. Struve, 470. Students, 262, 289, 303, 361, 460, 461, 502, 515. Sturm, 264. Sturmi, 156. Suabia, 122, 439. Sudermann, 450. Suevs, -i, = ians, 56, 79, 81, 91. Suso, 243. Sweden, -4sh, -e, 287, 300, 301, 302, 303, 354. Swerdiones, 40. Stfltss, 122, 168, 194, 230, 264, 265, 268, 273, 298, 320, 405, 407, 435, 451, 486. Switzerland, see Swiss. Tacitus, 8, 37, 57, 61, 68, 74, 111, 158, 168, 195. Taine, 405. Talleyrand, 454. Tauler, 243. Taxes, 114, 209, 211, 230, 296, 377, 387. Tencteri, 81. Ten Eyck, 233. Territorial Princes, Lord, 151, 208, 228, 230, 231, 277, 280, 281, 285, 292, 295, 296, 318, 322, 335, 349, 355, 361; see also Government, Monarchy, Princes. Tetzel, 248. Teutoburg Forest, battle, 78. Teuton, -ic (a) = German, Germanic, 74, 109, 110. (6) Keltic tribe, 74-79. Teutonic Order, 149, 150, 172, 192, 205, 287. Theodoric the Great, 93, 203, 239, 311. Theodoricll, 95, 311. Theodosius, bishop, 130. Theodulf, 311. Theophano, 130. Theory of Life, see Weltanschaung. Thierry, 405. Thiers, 468. Thietmar of Merseburg, 106. Thoma, Hans, 505. Thomas Aquinas, 233. Thomas a Kempis, 226. Thomasin von Zirklaere, 238. Thomasius, 242, 333, 367, 370, 373. Thorwaldsen, 427. Thilrings, Thuringians, 91, 103, 156, 162, 173. Thum and Taxis, 355, 362. Tocquevitte, de, 405. Tolstoi, 406. Toul, 287. Toulouse, 241. Tournai, 101. Transylvania, 172. Treue, 57, 58, 92. Treves, see Trier. Tribes, tribal duchies, 91, 108, 123. TVier, 241, 245. Tritheim, 199. Tubingen, 497. Turenne, 300. TwrJfcs, 141, 320. Twentieth Century, statements refer- ring to, 5, 22, 58, 62, 65, 68, 149, 325 Type, racial, 15, 16, 21, 27, 36, 37, 285. Tyrol, 122, 355. Ubii, 81. Uhland, 439. Ulfilas, 131, 177. Vim, 194. Ulrich von Hutten, 279. Ultramontane, see Catholic, Political Parties. Unions, see Classes. United States, see America. Universities, 226, 227, 260, 262, 263, 277, 289, 356-358, 373, 382, 428, 429, 459, 460, 461, 497, 526. INDEX 545 Urheimat, 14, 25, 155. Usipii, 81. Vagrants, see Students. Valens, 86. Valentinian, 93. Vandalism, 82. Vandals, 36, 82, 83, 93. FoasoZ, -o0e, 111, 117, 123, 124, 151, 230. Vedastes, St., 87. Veltheim, 346. Venice, 194, 211. VercelloB, 76. Verdun, 287. Versailles, 339, 340. FestoZ Virgins, 77. Vico, 5, 405. Ftenna, 194, 289, 354. Vienna Congress, 454, 455, 456. Fiew; oftheWorld, seeWeltanschauung. Vikings, 79. Village community, 42, 51, 52, 53, 195, 207, 228. Fineta, 166. Virchow, 484, 487. Virginia, University of, 456. Visby, 20, 194. Visigoths, 36, 82, 83, 86, 93, 239. Vistula, river, 18, 36, 155, 390. Vogt, Karl, 495, 525. Volcae, 35, 73. Volga, river, 14, 19. Volkslied, 154, 216, 217, 310, 313, 506. Voltaire, 380. Vosges Mts., 180. Foss, T. H., 363. Wagner, Richard, 67, 275, 404, 421, 455, 505, 506. Walafrid Strabo, 129. Wallburgen, 20. Wattis, 264. Walls of Troy, 20. Walter von der Vogelweide, 147, 149, 153, 238. Warsaw, 194, Wartburg, 241. Washington, George, 55, 358, 365. Weber, Carl Maria von, 427, 506. Weier, 242. Weise, Christian, 348. Wellentheorie, 10. Welser, 278. TFek/i, 35. Weltanschauung, 5, 46, 47, 71, 147, 215, 344, 360, 365, 399, 403, 409, 421, 427, 428, 437, 440, 462, 495, 496, 498, 511, 515, 523, 525, 528, 629, 530. Wends, see Slavs. Werden, 88. Werner, A. S., 180, 395. Werner, E., 499. Werner, Z., 458. Wessenberg, 457. Westphalia, 80, 122, 162. Peace of, 299, 304, 305, 318, 361. Wetterau, 122. Wetzlar, 323. White, Andrew D., 346. Wieland, 402. William I., 186, 474, 476, 477, 478, 479, 484-492. William II., 499, 512-515. Wimpheling, see Wympheling. Winckelmann, 403, 404, 426. Winfred, see Boniface. Witchcraft, 241, 242. Wittenberg, 252, 261. Woehler, FT., 507. Wolf, F. A., 405, 406. Wolff, Chr., 367, 371-373, 379, 380, 410. Wollner, 391. Wollmann, 25. Women, 39, 61, 62, 63, 69, 148, 225, 241, 338-340, 374, 426, 440, 452, 526. Worms, city, 192, 193, 212, 249. Wundt, 24. Wiirtemberg, 482 Wycliffe, 248. Wympheling, 199, 294. Ximenes, 319. 399. Zimmermann, 395. fa, 522. Zuider Zee, 165. Zurich, 194. Zwingli, 259. 2N / T~ V HE following pages contain advertisements of a few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects What leading reviewers are saying about DR. ERNST RICHARD'S HISTORY OF GERMAN CIVILIZATION Cloth, i2mo, $2.00 net; by mail, $2.14 From the Brooklyn Eagle (N.Y.) " No more interesting or careful study of any phase of European history has come from the press in years than the recent volume of Ernst Richard's History of German Civilization. Without fear of overpraise we may place it in the same rank with that wonderful History of European Morals of Professor Lecky, and we are confident that when the present work becomes known, it will have as great a vogue among scholars as Lecky 's had for years." From the Boston Herald (Mass.) " In some ways his book is a model on which all writing of history might be patterned. . . . There is a thoroughness about the book which is itself German. The sketch of Germanic origins shows the grip of an expert upon his subject. Dr. Richard writes as a German and at times writes enthusiastically. But he is no chauvinist, and his emphasis on the value of German ideas for world civilization rests on solid foundation. In placing that emphasis he covers the whole range of German achievement in literature and science, in law and in art. His book is itself a noteworthy contribution to the ' German ideals of truth, justice, and beauty.' " From the Tribune (N.Y.) " Dr. Richard's book is literally what he calls it, ' a survey.' What is more, it is a survey which admirably well weighs the rela- tive importance of periods, and which makes a telling use of con- trasts, of those amazingly pronounced alterations of development and retrogression that have marked the ' Kultur Geschichte ' of the German people. The author is strictly impartial, notwithstanding his profound interest in his subject. Germany is none too sympa- thetically dealt with by foreign observers, students, and critics of the day. This work furnishes a welcome counterweight to their not al- ways unprejudiced and well-considered strictures." From the New York Times' Review of Books " A useful and interesting book. He draws a persuading, even a convincing portrait of a people strong in mind and will, active, duti- ful, in many ways noble, in some very attractive." From the Westminster Gazette (London) " He has succeeded in producing a general history of German civil- ization which is wholly admirable. ... It is written in a clear and confident style. The English is as pure as anything which comes from Oxford." Translated from the Weserzeitung (Bremen, Germany} " Thus the book which holds the middle between scholarly investi- gation and popular representation proves itself inspiring and instruc- tive also for us Germans." THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York BY THE HON. JAMES BRYCE The Holy Roman Empire Revised edition, cloth, 8vo, $1.50 net "The ripe scholarship, the philosophic insight, and the judicial tempera- ment of the distinguished author are revealed with increased vividness, and the treatise as it stands to-day is more than ever an impressive illus- tration of literary evolution. That a prize composition should grow into such a monument of erudition is difficult to realize." Outlook. 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Author of "A History of Germany in the Middle Ages," etc. A Short History of Germany Cloth, 8vo, $2.50 net " Mr. Henderson's history proves that the modern chronicle of the development of a nation can be", and often is, even more interesting than the old-fashioned history, which was merely a collection of biographies of famous men and descriptions of dramatic events." The Times, Washington. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York The Book of the Rhine BY S. BARING-GOULD Illustrated, Dec. cloth, izmo, $2.00 net A charming descriptive volume of the world-renowned river and its scenery. German Society at the Close of the Middle Ages BY E. B. BAX Cloth, 8vo, $1.75 net " A work of great and lasting interest to the historical student." Critic. The Peasants' War in Germany, 1525-1526 Cloth, 8vo, $2.00 net Nuremburg BY MRS. ARTHUR BELL Handsomely bound in blue and gold, with gilt top, and 20 full-page illustrations in color by ARTHUR GEORGE BELL CONTENTS The Burg of Nuremburg The Connection of the Hohenstaufen Family with Nuremburg Convents and Churches of Nuremburg founded in the Thirteenth Century The Town of Nuremburg in the Thirteenth Century The History and Growth of Nuremburg in the Fourteenth Century Nuremburg under Karl IV. and Wenceslas I., with the Build- ing of the Frauenkirche and the Carthusian Monastery Nuremburg under Ruprecht I., Sigismund I., and Frederick III., with the Building of the Third Wall and Opening of the Extra-mural Cemeteries The Golden Age of Nuremburg, her Rapid Decline and Modern Revival Nuremburg of To-day. PRESS NOTICES " Pictures of the old German city, admirable, and admirably reproduced in color. The text is a gossipy account of the town, part following the topography, part giving the history in order of time. 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