lo RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. J^A. 24. hesitation, Rahel released the count from his engage- '^'^' ment, mainly on the ground of the difference in social rank, and the strong objection entertained by his family to his marriage with a Jewess. Thus this harassing affair, which had extended over several years, was brought to a conclusion never afterwards to be regretted. At the same time, a temperament so ardent, and a nervous sys- tem so finely strung as that of Rahel, could not pass through such an experience without deep suffering both of mind and body. A long and severe illness followed, after which, in 1800, she made a somewhat lengthened stay in Paris. Rahel had long been familiar with French literature and language. She had known well many of the French emigres who had been from time to time resident in Berlin, and therefore found herself at once able to enter into the thought and life of the lively capital. Jean Paul said of a letter which was shown to him, *' It is worth ten descriptions; no one has thus, at a glance, under- stood and characterised the French people. What eyes they were to see, so keenly and clearly, the truth, and only the truth." It is interesting to observe in the few letters that have been preserved of this date, how Rahel, in the intensity of her own sense of loss and loneliness, and in her physical prostration, still occupies her thoughts with those dear to her at home. She still cares for all their trifling needs. Certain little children in whom she is interested are on no account to have their curls cut, they are to use ''huile antique put on with a small brush." She further entreats that they may not be sent away to school before her LETTER TO ROSA. ii return. Then her sister Rosa, who is about to be married, ^t. 24. receives strict injunctions not to fret her mother about '795- her outfit, to buy only what is necessary, and leave the rest until she reaches her new home in Amsterdam, Rahel undertaking to make full compensation in the new Paris fashions she is prepared to bring with her. "News I never write," says Rahel to Rosa, "no one need ask me for it. You may have it in the papers, but I know none, and none shall pass my lips or my pen. We have mild summer weather, and can be in the Tuileries immediately when it does not rain. But only think of it ; there is no one here for whose sake I care to go into a theatre, and there are some twenty open every day. At home I have the people, but no plays : here it is reversed. But I bear all with patience." Again to Rosa in Amsterdam after her marriage : — " Since your last letter I have felt most sad. You are gone ! No Rosa will again come out to meet me with faithful step and heart, knowing my sorrow through and through. When I am ill in body or in soul, I shall be alone — alone. Your step is no longer in those evermore empty rooms. To risk a happiness. O God ! I cannot even risk it. But all is well with me ! . . . . Dear Rosa, what may not lie before you ! But no, your name is Rosa, you have blue eyes, and quite another life than I, with my star, name, and eyes. Life seems over for me. I know it, but cannot feel it. I have a red heart like others, though with a dark, hopeless, ugly fate. But after all it is not fate, nor poverty, nor anything of that kind. But ! " Greet mamma a thousand times. Tell her I congratulate SilY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IP/ ilTY OF caiFORNU LIBfliRY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNU LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA \v. /^ & it :^ I # ^ 11 ^ iRSiTY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRIRY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GAIIFORIIIA LIBR > ^U44444 , » RSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBR >>^^^ LIBR RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ■^'.-\ V%Y- /8/7 > > , > > rahel: her life and letters. BY MRS. VAUGHAN JENNINGS. WITH A PORTRAIT, ENGRAVED FROM A PAINTING BY DAFFINCER. \ HENRY S. KING & CO., LONDON. 1876. The rights of translation and of rep-oduction are reserved. GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED BY PERMISSION TO C^0ittas CatljrU, WHO FIRST MADE S4'i KNOWN IN ENGLAND. 583383 CONTENTS, CHAPTER I. 1771 — 1803. Intellectual Vigour of the Germans — Influence of the French Revolution upon German Women — Rahel representative of the Epoch — Rahel contrasted with Madame Recamier and Madame de Stael — Birth of Rahel, in 1771 — Her Childhood — Domestic Discomfort — Early Asso- ciates — Rahel visits Teplitz, 1795 — Letters from Rahel to Baron Brinckmann and David Veit — Rahel's Engagement to Count Finken- stein — Rahel the "Interpreter of Goethe" — Goethe's Estimate of Rahel — Her Friendship for Ludwig Tieck — ^Jean Paul's Introduction to Rahel in Berlin, 1803 i— 18 CHAPTER II. 1764— 1803. A German Physician of the Last Century — His Daughter, Henriette de Lemos — Her Dramatic Performances — Henriette, a Bride of Fifteen — A Jewish Wedding — Society in Berlin — The Daughters of Moses Mendelssohn — Dramatic Re? dings — Schleiermacher and Frederick Schlegel — Friendship of Henriette Herz and Schleiermacher — Death of Dr. Marcus Herz, in 1803 — The Duchess of Courland — Ludwig Borne and Henriette Herz 19 — 40 CHAPTER III. 1803 — 1806. Rahel's Salon in 1803 — An Evening in the Jagerstrasse — Baron Brinck- mann — Friedrich von Gentz — Madame de Stael in Berlin, 1804 — Her Jealousy of Rahel — Conversation with Rahel — Madame de Stael's Recantation 41 — 5^ CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. 1806 — 1809. Rahel's Introduction to Varnhagen von Ense — His Literary Tastes and Associates — The Tugend-Bund—S\.vid.\QS and Readings with Rahel and Henriette Herz^Fichte in Berlin, 1807-8 — Varnhagen's Account of Rahel's Salon — His Attachment to Rahel — Varnhagen leaves Berlin for Tiibingen — Letters from Rahel to Varnhagen 57"~72 CHAPTER V. i8cx5 — 1810. Political Depression in Germany — Literary Activity — Friendships of that Day — Simplicity and Leisure — Awakening Patriotism — Schill and Scharnhorst, 1809 — Perthes in Hamburg — Unprotected Berliners — Varnhagen joins the Austrian Army — The Battle of Wagram — Letters from Rahel to Varnhagen 73—98 CHAPTER VL 1810—1813. Rahel's Anxiety and Loneliness — Rahel renews her Friendship with the Fouques — The Modern Minnesinger — His Life at Nennhausen — Fiau von Fouque's ** Roderic " — Correspondence between Rahel and Frau von Fouque — Disturbed State of the Country — Letters to Rahel in 1812-13 99—116 CHAPTER VII. 1813—1814. Varnhagen and Freiherr von Stein at Prague — Rahel meets Varnhagen at Teplitz — Society there — Rahel and Beethoven — Dissipation and Disquietude — Letter from Rahel to Varnhagen — Political Spies — Prince de Ligne — Order for the Arrest of Varnhagen — Stein at Petersburg, 181 2 — Rahel's Work among the Troops at Prague — ; Tettenborn and Varnhagen — Letters from Rahel — The Peace — Rahel's Marriage to Varnhagen, 1 8 14 117 — 142 CHAPTER Vin. 1814— 1815. Vienna in the Autumn of 18 14 — Uncrowned Kings — Rahel arrives at Vienna in October — The Prussian Coterie — Dorothea Schlegel — Frau CONTENTS, xi von Eybenberg — Frau von Grotthuss — Gentz in Vienna — Letters from Rahel to her Brother in Berlin — Rahel and the Baroness Arn- stein — Position of the Baroness in Vienna — Her Patriotism — Her Hos- pitalities — Letters from Rahel 143 — 163 CHAPTER IX. 1815— 1819. Rahel at Frankfort, in 181 5 — Goethe'sVisit to Rahel — Varnhagen Charge- d' Affaires at Carlsruhe — Letter from Rahel to her Sister Rosa — Letters from Rahel to Ernestine G. — Rahel's Acquaintance with the Custines — Character of Count Astolf Custine — Letters from the Count — Letters from Rahel to Count Custine ... ... 164 — 194 CHAPTER X. 1819 — 1829, Rahel and Varnhagen at Berlin, in 1819 — Change in the Society there — Henriette Herz — Rahel's Salon Revived — Letter from Rahel to Baron Brinckmann, at Stockholm — Political Stagnation — Varnhagen abandons Official Life — His Literary Work — Letters from Rahel to Gentz — "Denkblatter einer Berlinerin" — Spoken Literature — Rahel's Vitalising Influence ... ... 195 — 221 CHAPTER XI. 1829— 1833. Count Custine Visits Rahel in Berlin, 1829 — Letter from Rahel to the Count — Extracts from Rahel's Note-Books — Her Religious Faith — Her Freedom from Dogmatism — Dissatisfaction with Social Condi- tions — The St. Simonians — Rahel's Failing Strength — Rahel's Dream — Her Illness and Death, on March 7, 1833 ... ,,. 222 — 247 CHAPTER XIL 9 CONCLUSION. Count Custine 's Memoir of Rahel, in the ** Revue des Deux Mondes " — Baron Brinckmann's Recollections of Rahel — Varnhagen and Hum- boldt — Henriette Herz — Varnhagen's Unchanged Liberalism — Heine sends to him Ferdinand Lassalle — Varnhagen's Death, October 10, 1858 248—259 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. CHAPTER I. Wide horizon, eager life, Busy years of honest strife ; Ever seeking, ever founding, Never ending, ever rounding ; Guarding tenderly the old, Taking of the new glad hold, Pure in purpose, bright in heart — Thus we gain— at least a start ! — GOETHE. Among those assertions which have of late years become axioms, is that which affirms the intellectual vigour of the Germans. We accept without a question the professorial statement that ** all the best books are German books," and yet our most modern experience has not led us to look for any special intellectual delight in German society generally, still less in that of German women. It is with some surprise therefore that we trace, in the letters and memoirs connected with the early part of this century in Germany, the influence of more or less gifted women upon the writers of that time. We all believed long ago in the eulogy of Tacitus upon the womanHness of the German women, and in those '< z I BAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. poets of the middle ages, the Walthers, Gottfrieds, Frauenlobs, who were never weary of extolling that grace and beauty which we will hope were not alto- gether ideal. But it is hard, in the face of the com- bined luxury and household drudgery of the present day, to realise the more intellectual life, led by women as well as by men in many parts of Germany, sixty or seventy years ago. The French Revolution, in its wide-spread influence, brought to German women a higher recognition than they had ever yet received. As by a sudden inspiration, the dawning century began to appreciate the intellectual sympathy, the suggestive genius, which are perfectly com- patible with the smallest household duties and with the all-pervading care for others which is the special and compensating privilege of women. This appreciation reached its climax in Berlin, in the enthusiastic homage rendered to Rahel Levin. As a re- presentative woman, she is at once the creation and the expression of the quick-pulsed life of a stirring epoch in European history. Her character can only be fully under- stood in connection with those events in which she took her share, and with that society of which she formed the controlling centre. Rahel attained her social position in spite of circum- stances. To her were denied those advantages which surrounded the early years of Madame de Stael and of Madame Recamier. Rank, wealth, beauty, she had not. It was the simple force of her acute intellect in its rare combination with an ardent emotional nature that at- tracted towards her the ablest minds of her time. From HER INFLUENCE. the variety of her friendships we learn the breadth and many-sidedness of her character. If we contrast the thoughtful tenderness of Henriette Herz with the daring intellect and passion of the Countess Pachta, the purity and earnestness of Fichte with the unscrupulous clever- ness of Gentz, we become aware of an elasticity of friend- ship almost unintelligible to us with our feelings of insular reserve. But Rahel possessed a magnetic power for drawing out the best nature of all those with whom she came in contact. She had for each, sympathy or counsel, admiration or censure, as the case might de- mand. The influence of her salon, with certain interrup- tions during the War of Liberation, extended over some twenty years. It differed from its older rivals in Paris, that of Madame de Stael, for instance, chiefly in the breadth of its interests, and this precluded its ever sinking into a coterie. The visitors of Madame de Stael were concerned mainly about politics ; while the men and women who gathered round Rahel, from their great variety of gifts, ministered to the spread of a universal culture. Science, art, society, philosophy, theology, were all represented by people of more or less talent, and became subjects of daily interest and discussion. Her salon might be said to represent a miniature Renaissance, whose wider development, like that of its great proto- type, was hindered by the outer barbarism of war. It was at the blooming Whitsuntide of the year 1771, that the Levin household was gladdened by the birth of the first child. Probably no member of it then cared to speculate about the career which we have anticipated in RAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1771. the above remarks. All had present occupation enough in the precarious state of the mother, and in shielding from adverse influences the tiny spark of new life. Care- fully rolled in cotton wool, the first hours of the child's sxistence were passed under the unceasing watchfulness of doctor and nurse. This ordeal survived, she grew and flourished, and in due time received the name of Rahel Antonie Frederike Levin. The circumstances surrounding the childhood of Rahel do not form a pleasant picture, or augur well for future development. Her organisation was susceptible in the extreme, alike to pain or pleasure. During her early years she was wayward and impatient of restraint. Frau Levin never found the clue to the child's character, and as years passed on misconceptions arose on both sides, which were a cause of intense pain to Rahel's affectionate nature. Mother and daughter never understood each other. Her father was a well-known jeweller in Berlin, in easy though not wealthy circumstances. He was an autocrat in the family circle, and his tyranny was a con- tinual source of irritation to Rahel and of suffering to her mother, who yielded everything for the sake of peace, and was crushed in spirit and in health by his continual harshness. Rahel was early taught to seek social and intellectual sympathy beyond the family circle, and her favourite resort was the house of the Jewish philosopher and re- former, Moses Mendelssohn. There was no actual Judengasse in Berlin, as at Frankfort, and the po- sition of the Jews was less ignominious than in other parts of the country. It is true that Israelitish descent EARLY ASSOCIATES. was a barrier to advancement under government, to 1787- professorships, or state appointments ; but it did not prevent the appreciation of Jewish gold and Jewish learn- ing by needy and erudite Christians. It was their learn- ing and intellectual power which gave to Friedlander, Moses Mendelssohn, Marcus Herz, and others, a social position beyond the attainment of Jews in less cultivated cities. Rahel's early friends were Henriette and Dorothea Mendelssohn, bright, intelligent girls, in advance of her in years as well as in all matters of technical training. Their father was remarkable for his belief in the education of daughters as well as of sons, and no pains were spared by him to secure their being highly educated in the true sense of the words. Their natural powers were brought out, tested, developed ; their imaginations had full play, and they grew up able to employ their trained mental faculties upon all questions that came within their reach. Thus, without any re- markable gift of genius or of beauty, they were sought after to the end of their days as women whose compan- ionship was always desirable and delightful. Other friends they also had in common, among whom we shall find the beautiful and accomplished wife of Marcus Herz. At sixteen Rahel was not learned, not even technically well educated. She was self-trained, and read people as other girls read books. She could write clever, chatty letters, but was quite unequal to a work like that of Mademoiselle Necker at the same age, upon Montes- quieu's Esprit des Lois. Rahel's youth was quiet and uneventful. There is only RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^t. i6. one incident bearing strongly upon her future character, ^^ '^' which has come down to us. A burly French gentleman, in the inevitable powder and pigtail of the day, with fierce eyebrows and broad features, pitted with small-pox, was to be seen walking about Berlin. He called upon the king, carried his own letters to post, studied the world through his lorgnette, behaved like any ordinary mortal, and yet was no less a person than Mirabeau. Like all other visitors to Berlin at that time, he sought an intro- duction to the house of Marcus Herz, and it was probably there that Rahel first made his acquaintance. As yet, his lawsuits and love affairs had not rendered him notorious, nor had his association with the nobler movements of the French Revolution elevated him into a popular hero. But Rahel at sixteen was at once arrested by the novelty and boldness of his ideas. His resistless eloquence, his unresting energy, stirred her waking thought, and roused her enthusiastic admiration. The seeds were then sown of that love of liberty which bore fruit for her coun- try in the day of need, and in a later and more peaceful time caused her salon to be looked on with suspicion by a feeble and ignoble government. Her health appears to have required frequent change of scene, and Teplitz became a favourite resort, not more on account of the mineral waters and fine climate than of the charming scenery and pleasant society always to be found there. In 1795 she was there alone with her maid, and consoles herself by writing letters to Gustav Brinckmann, a young Swede, afterwards ambassador at Berlin, whose friendship for her continued throughout her life. LETTER FROM TEPLITZ. To GusTAV VON Brinckmann, in Berlin. 17*95. Teplitz, August, 1795. It is right and proper and wise and good that I should write to you, although I cannot adequately thank you for the book : the writing itself will be an acknowledgment. What is there so interesting as a new acquaintance ? So, first of all, about Herr von Burgsdorf. I thank you for the thought of making us acquainted. Tell him we already know each other. Goethe is a sufficient connect- ing link for anything that is or can be called human. I had hoped, however, that the nearer acquaintance might have developed itself with pleasure to myself and without discomfort to him. Besides, I do already know something of him and his friendships, and so forth. You will have from me to-day only the most disjointed . questions, by no means a letter. I hear from no one. However bad I may be, I am still better than others at correspondence. Because I, upon principle and system, do not write, they also do not. What I do with reason, they follow without reason, and the blame recoils upon me, because they carefully reserve all means of defence. Do not imagine that it distresses me, for what is there to write about ? The only people who write what is worth having are Jettchen and Dorothea Veit. All that is in- teresting, intelligent, or amusing to me, I have already read in your two letters. So it was only a mild passionless upbraiding of destiny. . . . The lady upon whose account I really continue to stay here, is one of the first order. She would be perfect if she had only once been thoroughly unhappy. (Can you understand this ! Please do, this time, RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^t. 24. without an explanation.) Moreover, she is one of the ^^^^' most charming creatures, blonde and blue -eyed, with such a face, figure, grace, expression, character — in short, if she were to be only two days in Berlin, you would be for ever relieved of that most inconvenient guest called a heart. Think how I am living here now on account of this Countess Pachta, — of the fine air, of my health, of in- numerable little reasons. Goethe says in Gotz, "Every- thing has two or three causes." Still I do not live with the countess, only near her ; quite alone with my servant. I dine and sup alone ; in short, I am given over to 'the winds and waves. Yet I am not more deserted than I feel at home ; it is the same always. I am not sure myself whether it is a happiness or a misfortune. Meanwhile I will call it happiness, because any day one may become more miserable, and it is well to be beforehand. In general terms, I ought now to be called happy, since I do not wish for more happiness — I know there is no such thing. I am only waiting for a little health, and then to collect a few ideas. I feel as though many years ago something within me had been shattered, and I have a kind of savage pleasure in the thought that it can never be bruised and broken again. . . . I always believe that everything that is, or that happens, has its appointed influence. Why then should wishes be without result ? Wishes that are intelligent, genuine, fervent, such as we think would draw down the stars, these surely must accomplish something. I think they belong to the general harmony of things and must do their work. For although nothing may be right, yet we HER FIRST ENGAGEMENT. do see through the tangled, crooked lines where they ^t. 24. might be straighter. I hold that an earnest wish ought ^^^^' to accomplish something. In this case it would be my strongest right to see Goethe. Why is he always to be seen by his washerwoman and bootcleaner, by aristocrats and men who write on law and the origin of stones ? I thank you, as I ought, and as you could wish, for your sympathy. I am glad that my brother has showed you the letter. I pity you with the pity of a connoisseur about the teeth — and the peruke is simply dreadful. ... Is Humboldt still in Berlin ? What a pity your neighbour is gone — that comes of speculation ! The Countess Pachta is a friend of the uncivilised Herr Hess, your Hamburg friend. I shall come again about the end of August. It will be good and bad then, as it is now. My friend Gualtieri is still here. Farewell ! I fare tolerably. Apropos, there is here a young, handsome, and amiable sister-in-law of Bernstorff, who tells me that the Meyers will be here in a few days. Adieu. Your R. From all the letters of this period we gather that matters were not smooth in the Levin home. In addi- tion to family disagreements, Rahel had anxiety and sorrow of her own, which are obviously alluded to in the above letter, and no doubt were the town talk of Berlin. Rahel had become engaged to a Count von Finkenstein after a long and persistent courtship. She yielded prob- ably in spite of her better judgment. With her quick perception she must have foreseen those inevitable diffi- culties, in which the count would not believe until they came tangibly before him. At length, after much anxious io RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. J^A. 24. hesitation, Rahel released the count from his engage- ^^^^' ment, mainly on the ground of the difference in social rank, and the strong objection entertained by his family to his marriage with a Jewess. Thus this harassing affair, which had extended over several years, was brought to a conclusion never afterwards to be regretted. At the same time, a temperament so ardent, and a nervous sys- tem so finely strung as that of Rahel, could not pass through such an experience without deep suffering both of mind and body. A long and severe illness followed, after which, in 1800, she made a somewhat lengthened stay in Paris. Rahel had long been familiar with French literature and language. She had known well many of the French emigres who had been from time to time resident in Berlin, and therefore found herself at once able to enter into the thought and life of the lively capital. Jean Paul said of a letter which was shown to him, *' It is worth ten descriptions; no one has thus, at a glance, under- stood and characterised the French people. What eyes they were to see, so keenly and clearly, the truth, and only the truth." It is interesting to observe in the few letters that have been preserved of this date, how Rahel, in the intensity of her own sense of loss and loneliness, and in her physical prostration, still occupies her thoughts with those dear to her at home. She still cares for all their trifling needs. Certain little children in whom she is interested are on no account to have their curls cut, they are to use ^^huile antique put on with a small brush." She further entreats that they may not be sent away to school before her LETTER TO ROSA, ii return. Then her sister Rosa, who is about to be married, ^^t. 24. receives strict injunctions not to fret her mother about ^'^^^^ her outfit, to buy only what is necessary, and leave the rest until she reaches her new home in Amsterdam, Rahel undertaking to make full compensation in the new Paris fashions she is prepared to bring with her. "News I never write," says Rahel to Rosa, "no one need ask me for it. You may have it in the papers, but I know none, and none shall pass my lips or my pen. We have mild summer weather, and can be in the Tuileries immediately when it does not rain. But only think of it ; there is no one here for whose sake I care to go into a theatre, and there are some twenty open every day. At home I have the people, but no plays : here it is reversed. But I bear all with patience." Again to Rosa in Amsterdam after her marriage : — " Since your last letter I have felt most sad. You are gone ! No Rosa will again come out to meet me with faithful step and heart, knowing my sorrow through and through. When I am ill in body or in soul, I shall be alone — alone. Your step is no longer in those evermore empty rooms. To risk a happiness. O God ! I cannot even risk it. But all is well with me ! . . . . Dear Rosa, what may not lie before you ! But no, your name is Rosa, you have blue eyes, and quite another life than I, with my star, name, and eyes. Life seems over for me. I know it, but cannot feel it. I have a red heart like others, though with a dark, hopeless, ugly fate. But after all it is not fate, nor poverty, nor anything of that kind. But ! '* Greet mamma a thousand times. Tell her I congratulate 12 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^t. 24. her from my whole heart — the more that she never knew ''^^' any joy through me — it was not God's will — but in her place I should have had great compassion for such a child. Still, she must not be sad about me ! I know how much she has done for me, and I thank her with deep feeling. I think the more of it as she looks at things so differently. Tell her the destiny before me is like that of nations and great men who are borne up and down upon the sea of existence. From of old such men have seemed to me like spring blossoms carried by the wind, wildly tossed ; none knows where they fall ; only the fewest bear fruit ; the seasons run their course ; man goes carelessly on and has enough to do to live. Tell mamma this. God strengthen you. I look for a letter from Marcus. Then my journey must be determined by weather and roads. The trees blossom, but it is not spring as with us. Many things are uglier here in nature and elsewhere. Adieu ! R. L." It was at this time that Rahel first became conscious of the want of power to express the thoughts which crowded her active brain. While possessing the breadth and originality of thought, the brightness and fertility of intellect, the keen sensibility to suffering, which we admire in our own Mrs. Browning, she was denied the gift of poetic utterance. Her genius found for itself other channels of expression, and accomplished its appointed work in its own way. From Teplitz, in 1795, she writes to Baron Brinckmann : — *' Will you take a thought of mine and put it into heroic verse or rhyme — I think without rhyme would be best. LETTER TO DA VID VEIT. 13 • — ' — - — ■ — . There was an illumination here yesterday, and we sat on ^t. 24. the further shore of the lake to enjoy it. But instead of ^^^^' looking at the lamps, I looked at the water and at the sky : there was one bright immovable star. I saw it also reflected in the water, but the wind ruffling the sur- face, changed its shape and dimmed its lustre. So it is with men, I thought ; we judge them from far off, disturbed and dulled by circumstances. Instead of the fixed star, we see only the moving water, and do not trouble to look upward." Again, in the same year to David Veit,^ then studying philosophy and medicine in the University of Jena : — ** Tell me candidly, did you evdr meet with a person cultivated after my fashion ? I never did. Others, who are ignorant of a subject, are not even aware that they know nothing about it. But with me it is different. I know my ignorance and the cure for it, and yet remain as I was before. How can any one know so exactly, so thoroughly, so aesthetically, I might almost say, what is well written, and yet not be able to mend one's own work. My taste, my judgment, are continually ripening, but I express myself less clearly than the humblest woman who has only read the * Three Friedrichs of Siegfried.' People with far more stupidity at command can write and speak better. I feel this every day, and sometimes to my annoyance. I should, at least, like to be able to trace the cause, since I am aware of the fact. I weigh every * and,' * well,' ' then,' — every syllable ; I know perfectly every ^ Appendix A. 14 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. Mt. 24. shade of difference between writers, and can characterise 1795- them better than most people, and yet my own work is not better for it. I know perfectly when I have written a good sentence, but still that does not help me. I even speak like Siroturier! If I had not a few original thoughts, ignorant folks would say I also was ignorant." This candour, although somewhat extreme in its ex- pression, reveals the one failing which prevented Rahel from filling that definite place in literature to which she might well have attained. Personally associated with the earlier writers of the Romantic School, she lacked, with them, that plastic power which might have given to their imaginative genius appropriate form, and to posterity an abiding literature. The ready appreciation of power in others, which we have seen in Rahel's early enthusiasm for Mirabeau, now showed itself still more strongly. First through her busy brain and tongue and pen was spread in all directions the tidings of the advent of a new poet. Rahel became the interpreter of Goethe, not only by the keenness of her in- tellectual perception (which forestalled the criticism of Schlegel), but by her sympathetic insight into his poetic world of thought. She shared his strong realism, and believed that his genius could express, as no poet yet had done, that harmony between the real and the ideal which was with her but a dim prophetic consciousness. It would appear to have been by force of contrast that Rahel's fervent nature was led so completely into cap- tivity by Goethe's genius, with its calm pagan repose. It may be that in the intensity of her own enthusiasm GOETHE S ESTIMATE OF HER. 15 she was unconscious of what he lacked in this respect. J^a. 24. She became one of the earliest victims of that " daemonic ^795- fascination " which he exercised by his writings as well as in his personal intercourse. It must have been a wonder- ful experience to be roused, amid that slumbrous atmo- sphere of literary platitudes, by the appearance of '' Gotz von Berlichingen," and to read and enjoy it without the intervention of a generation of critics. Rahel was soon installed high -priestess of Goethe -worship in Germany. Throughout her note-books and letters much fragmentary criticism upon Goethe was scattered. It was subse- quently collected by Varnhagen von Ense and forwarded to Goethe, by whom it was acknowledged with Olympian affability. Goethe, although he did not make the personal acquaintance of Rahel until some years later, knew her well by report, and in conversation with Horn, about 1795, thus spoke of her : — *'Yes, she is a charming girl; strong in her emotions and yet prompt in their utterance ; the one fact gives her importance, the other makes her agreeable. We admire her great originality, we feel that it is charming and that we are delighted. Undoubtedly there are many people in the world who seem original, but we have no certainty that it is not an illusion; that what we take to be the movement of a lofty intelligence is not simply a passing whim. It is not so with her; so far as I know she is always the same, always equally animated yet self-pos- sessed. In short, she is what I should call a beautifu soul, the more you know of her the more you feel at tracted and captivated by her." i6 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^t. 24. In reference to her love for his poetry, he continued : — 1795. ** It is doubly pleasant to me, because with her it is no general impression ; she masters every idea in detail. A general impression is often a proof that we ground our admiration of a poet upon other people's opinions. If we have apprehended his work in detail for ourselves, we naturally show that we have pure emotions and clear thoughts of our own." It was this common veneration for Goethe which first attracted Rahel toward Ludwig Tieck. In the old-fash- ioned family life of the Berlin rope-maker, in the back- ground of the hempen coils, the young Ludwig had seen the literature of the past generation carefully treasured, and now the new poetry was received with open arms. The patriarch Tieck, while believing himself in all the fine phrases of the " Illuminati," inconsistently allowed that ' ' Gotz von Berlichingen " should become the household idol of his children. In the intervals of school, in the pouring rain under a dim street lamp, or in bed with a feigned cold, the young Ludwig still read Goethe. He went through a severe crisis of Wertherism, out of which he emerged, strengthened by the robuster study of Shakespere, to leave Goethe as a model and strike out paths — wandering ones perhaps — entirely his own. Rahel delighted in his genuineness of character, his vigour, his sarcasm, his fertile imagination, and her admiration ripened in the course of years to that heresy, shared only by a few, that *' Tieck was the only poet worthy to stand beside Goethe." ^ Appendix B, JEAN PAUL. Rahel recognised not alone the critical faculty, but the ^Et. 24. creative power which placed him far above other writers ^795- of the Romantic School. Only in this sense, indeed, could he be ever spoken of as its head. His personal character was too reserved, too individual for him to as- sociate himself with numbers even as a leader. His enemies were numerous, but he suffered far less from them than from his avowed friends. He differed entirely from the later extravagances of the school, and remained un- affected by that aesthetic religiousness which betrayed many of them into the Roman Catholic Church. When Jean Paul came to Berlin, in 1804, to be caressed and feted, one of his first introductions was to the house of Rahel. They were mutually charmed, and Rahel on her part was especially astonished to find Jean Paul, out of his books, so like the rest of the world, show- ing no sign of humour in his conversation, only the most genial bonhomie^ so that at their first interview she ex- claimed repeatedly, *' You cannot be he." In reference to this visit there is an account in Varn- hagen's " Memoirs"^ of a conversation he held with Jean Paul when he saw him at Baireuth a year or two later: — " Among other greetings," writes Varnhagen,*' I brought him one from Rahel Levin, with the modest question whether he remembered her ? His whole face beamed with pleasure. * How could one ever forget such a being? ' he exclaimed energetically. * She is an entirely original character, I liked her extremely, and the impression she made upon me is deepened as my own powers of perception have grown. ^ Appendix B. 3 i8 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^t. 32. She is the only woman in whom I have found genuine ^ °^' humour, the only humorous woman.' .... He then went on to praise other characteristics, and was not sur- prised when I interrupted him with the assurance that all the intellect, judgment, wit, which he thus praised, was to me much less than the depth and goodness of her heart. When I told him how many of her letters I had, some of my own and others given to me, he was quite jealous, and said if he lived in the same town with me he should insist upon having something, at least, out of every letter; that would be a real and original treasure ; that Rahel wrote admirably when addressing some especial individual, but such personal stimulus was needed to draw her out ; she never could with set purpose write a book. * I can understand her now,' he continued, * much better than when I was in Berlin, and should greatly like to meet her again. The more I think over some remarks and sugges- tions which she threw out, the more surprised I am at them. She is an artist opening out a new world ; an ex- ceptional being at war with ordinary life, or rather far away above it ; and so she must remain unmarried.' " Rahel did write subsequently a few letters to Jean Paul, and took occasion to remonstrate with him upon the un- reality of the women in his books. With the opening century we find Rahel to have won for herself a social position in Berlin. Before we see her in her salon it may be interesting to gain some informa- tion about the state of society in the " centre of culture." We cannot do better than retrace our steps a few decades, and seek a picture or two of Berlin daily life from among the recollections of Rahel's contemporary and friend, Henriette Herz. CHAPTER 11. Daily, customary life, is a mean abode for man, unless he often opens the door and windows and looks out into a freer world beyond. — Sterling. In the dim oil-lighted streets of Berlin just a century ago, one almost omnipresent figure was that of the Jewish physician De Lemos. Preceded always by a servant carrying a lantern, he walked with slow and stately step, his compact figure well set off by immaculate silk stock- ings, buckle-shoes, gold-laced coat, and daintily-frilled linen. His carefully dressed wig was surmounted by a three-cornered hat, but he held the dignity of a physician to be imperilled by anything so common as a cloak. Happily for him and for his family circle, the buckles, gold braid, and dignity in general, were only professional accessories ; and his loving temperament and genial pleasantry brightened the rare hours of slippered ease at home, making him the idol of the house. His wife held him in affectionate reverence, and revealed towards him the tender side of a nature which to all the outer world appeared reserved and cold. In the household circle she was a martinet, bent upon systematising every- thing, down to the smiles and tears of her daughters. She suffered from a complaint in the eyes, which probably was the cause of much of that irritable severity which dis- turbed the peace of an otherwise happy home. 3* 20 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1764. Henriette De Lemos was born in 1764. She was a fa- voured child, upon whom the traditional fairies showered lavishly their choicest gifts. Not the least enviable of these was that of elastic cheerfulness — rare as it is pre- cious, and of priceless value to a life whose noonday heat was to be overshadowed by cloud and storm. All the stern regime of the mother broke down before the irre- pressible Henriette. At ten years old she was full of life, of frolic, and of love, all brimming up into her dark brown eyes, in whose depths the gazer seemed to become lost, and uttering themselves in her alert and airy motion, whose buoyancy knew no repose, brooked no restraint. She pursued her studies — writing, geography, arith- metic, and Hebrew — mostly at home, until it dawned upon Madame De Lemos that more feminine accomplishments were needful. Henriette was sent to a " sewing school," where the many hours of knitting, sewing, and embroidery were no doubt a great weariness to the active girl, who consoled herself by fetching from the circulating library, which she passed daily, books of all kinds. When about twelve years old she was a spectator of one of those the- atrical performances common among her father's friends. Her interest was roused, and her delight knew no bounds when her parents accepted for her an invitation to take part in a similar performance. The charming face and figure of the child made her quite an acquisition. The character assigned to her was that of a country belle in an operetta. She studied her part, perfected her minuet, practised her little songs, and admired over and over again the enchanting dress in which she was to appear. What could be more perfect, she thought, than white silk and MARCUS HERZ. 21 rose colour, with silver-spangled boddice, white silk hat i774- and china flowers ? Almost upon the eve of the play, the merry rehear- sal party was stunned by the announcement that the Jewish elders had forbidden the representation. But in Henriette the organ of hope was large, and those china flowers must be worn. So, with the audacity of childhood, when the elders were assembled she appeared before the grating, and pleaded the cause of the discomfited per- formers. She concluded by telling them that it was beneath their dignity to interfere with the amusements of children. Strange to say, the greybeards retracted their prohibition, and the piece was triumphantly performed. In fact, the triumph of little Henriette brought so much flattery and so many invitations, that her parents had the sense to stop her further appearance upon the boards. Before Henriette was fifteen her father accepted for her an offer of marriage from a man who was her senior by many years. Marcus Herz had lately established him- self as a physician near the De Lemos family. He was a pupil of Kant, a student of philosophy as well as of medicine. He had come from Konigsberg with some misgivings ; he dreaded the pedantry of Berlin. Then as now, while the friends of the true Berliner called him well informed, his enemies denounced him as a prig. Henriette had occasionally seen Marcus Herz as she passed his window with her beloved romances under her arm, and also in her father's house, where, however, he showed no special interest in her. At the time of her betrothal she appears to have had no definite feeling of any kind about him, but was childishly delighted with the 22 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1779- prospect of becoming a braut. The position of the young lady who is engaged — the *' bride," as the Germans call her — has its privileges. Those to which Henriette looked forward with special interest were, evening walks with Marcus Herz, more pocket money, new bonnets, and above all, as soon as she was married, a friseur of her own. The engagement lasted three years, and scarcely fulfilled the lively promise, since evening walks and senti- ment proved alike rare : the bridegroom preferred a game at whist, with Henriette sitting by his side. He also began to supplement a little the deficiencies of her desul- tory education. Among the fragmentary reminiscences which Henriette wrote in later life is this account of her wedding day : — ** Many, many years have rolled by, but every moment of that day lives before me. I woke from an uneasy sleep with a feeling of intense sadness. The thought of leaving my family, especially my father, disturbed me. There was nothing in the future to which I looked forward that could dispel the gloom of my spirit. At any other time, the white satin robe they brought would have enraptured me. But through my streaming tears I saw it and wore it with per- fect indifference. ** The bridegroom came, the guests assembled. My thoughts were all with my dear ones. The time of the ceremony approached. I felt that I must once more speak to my father. All my love at this moment could find no other utterance than in a tearful entreaty that he would pardon me if I had ever pained him, and would give me a parting blessing. He did so, embracing me A JEWISH WEDDING. 23 and weeping : then signing to me to go, he said, in a i779- faltering voice, * Child, do not break my heart.' These words I shall hear to my last moment. God did grant a blessing. I went forth into a rich and beautiful life. *' It was the first of December, 1779. The courtyard in which, according to Jewish custom, the baldachin was erected for the ceremony, lay deep in snow. Grand people, friends of the bridegroom, crowded round with cold and curious looks. I was again made a show of, this time with pain. All was winter, within and without. The next morning the bride of fifteen years sat alone in her room. Full of conflicting emotions, I was longing intensely for one of the dear ones from home. Certainly they were all thinking of me. I hoped each moment would bring some one of them. At last I heard steps upon the staircase ; it was a man's step ; it must be my father. The door opens ; a long-cherished desire is most inopportunely fulfilled ; it is the hairdresser ! "^ The married life of Henriette Herz bore richer fruit than might have been anticipated from so wintry and un- promising a beginning. An affectionate attachment grew up betwen the apparently ill-assorted couple, and Hen- riette soon overlooked the plainness of the face which gleamed with considerate kindness and was animated by a lively intellect. Her sincere affection and her un- failing tact enabled her to adapt herself perfectly to all her husband's plans and wishes, and **to make him as happy as it was in his nature to become through a wife." She was interested in his scientific studies, of some of I " Henrietta Herz : ihr Leben und Erinnerungen." Von J. Fiirst. 24 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1785. which she acquired a superficial knowledge. Throughout her life she prosecuted the study of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, as well as of most modern European languages. In English, French, and Italian she was able to express her- self with fluency. Marcus Herz carefully directed her intellectual development, and guided, for a time at least, her literary tasks. In spite, however, of this intellectual sympathy, domestic life and its interests occupied but an infinitesimal portion of Herz's nature. Science was his passion, and to it thought, time, and energy were all devoted. His rapidly increasing practice brought him into contact with all circles of Berlin society, and his scientific researches made him to be sought out by students from all parts of Germany, whilst his lectures attracted not only scientific men, but dilettanti from the royal palace. No one could have been better fitted to lead and enter- tain this varied social circle than Henriette Herz, distin- guished as she was by beauty, tact, and that sprightly intelligence which made her the most charming of all listeners — patient, yet suggestive. The classical character of her beauty has been well preserved in various busts and portraits taken by Anton Graff, Gottfried Schadow, and others. Even when at Rome, in her fifty-fifth year, she sat in one day to four different artists. All represent a face faultless in its oval, its Grecian profile, its brilliant complexion, surrounded by dark hair, and animated by resplendent brown eyes. Full of dignity as well as grace, her figure appears to have been equally faultless in its outline, and even in middle life obtained for her the title of " the tragic muse." It was HENRIETTE HERZ. 25 only the uninitiated who ventured to complain that in 1785. comparison with her imposing height the head appeared too small. To this perfection of form must be added that charm of manner natural to a character in perfect harmony with all its surroundings, that repose which is imparted by the certainty to please. It is not surprising, therefore, that at one time Henriette Herz was the standard by which all other beauties were tested in Berlin. Such rare and happy association of personal beauty with a frank generous character and an ever-growing in- telligence, naturally commanded much homage, not only from poetical youths but from learned men, in an age when time spent daily in the society of more or less cultivated women was a matter of course ; when the men, making less haste to be rich, were able sometimes to make them- selves agreeable ; and the women, less absorbed in the exigencies of millinery and morning calls, had time to think as well as talk ; in fact, before the entire dissimilarity of their aims and occupations had reduced mixed companies to that dead level of insipidity now observable alike in Belgravia and Berlin. The few young men who, in ac- cordance with the fashionable gallantry of the day, held it to be '* the thing " to worship at the shrine of Frau Hof- rathinn Herz, she brought down to common sense with rapidity and tact. Rarely failing to discern the germ of genius or any other excellence where it existed, she would then transform the sonnet-writing admirer into a life-long friend. The names of those literaiy men who frequented the house during the early married life of Henriette Herz have become so obscured by the greater ones which be- 26 RAH EL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1795- came prominent a few years later, that it is sufficient simply to mention Ramler, Engel, Moritz, Spalding, Reichardt the musician, Schadow the sculptor, and Fleck the tragedian. They formed among themselves small societies for reading aloud dramatic or other works, having fixed evenings,with regulations respecting members, sandwiches, and absentees. These gatherings were held in the house of Moses Mendelssohn, and later in that of his daughter Dorothea Veit. They were also gladly en- tertained by a certain Hofrathinn Bauer, wife to one of the court chamberlains, in winter at the castle, and in summer in a pleasant garden outside the town. Here, however, the young people (much to the disgust of their strong-minded hostess) were apt sometimes to break out into dancing or other frivolous amusement. On one occa- sion Henriette Herz thus sinned grievously in standing up with Alexander Humboldt, to learn from him the new minuet a la Reine, After a year or two we meet with more familiar names, as Count Christian Bernstorff, Brinckmann, Fessler, Count Alexander von Dolma, the younger Humboldt, Frederick Schlegel, Schleiermacher, Gentz. Of these several be- longed to the Tugendbundf of which Henriette Herz was an industrious member. It was an institution not for a yC moment to be confounded with that political Tugendbund called into existence some ten or twelve years later. Alike ignorant and careless of politics, the members were bound to devote all energy to their mutual edification, moral and intellectual. The Bund possessed a legal code and a special cipher of its own. It was probably a lingering relic of those larger secret societies which had spread their LITERARY SOCIETIES. 27 network over Germany in connection with the expiring 1795, Aufkldrung. William Humboldt was received into it, despite his own protestations of unworthiness; also Carl de Laroche, who became an intimate friend and corres- pondent of Henriette Herz. Among the ladies were Ca- roline von Dacheroden (afterwards Frau von Humboldt), Dorothea Veit, Henriette Mendelssohn, Caroline von Wol- zogen,andThereseHuber, married later to George Forster. Letters and essays innumerable, poems and admonitions, passed continually between the members, who all addressed each other by the confidential " thou." It is well known that the Germans in their social as well as in their political and literary affairs always wait for some impetus from without. One effect of the French Revolution and of the social freedom of the Consulate was seen in the opening of salons in Berlin somewhat after the Parisian model. With the character of the latter we are all familiar. We associate them with the glowing patriotism of Madame Roland, the passionate rhetoric of Madame de Stael, the dramatic mysticism of Madame Krudener, the refined coquetry of Madame Recamier. As the creation of a remarkable epoch, they have become a part of its history. In Berlin, Henriette Herz appears to have been the first thus to throw open her house. But such gatherings, mis- cellaneous as they were, must not be supposed to represent more than one of the many wheels revolving in the pon- derous machine of Berlin society. There was first of all the court circle, in which dignity and dulness reigned supreme, and were never even ruffled by those spasmodic court festivities which were periodically ordered to take 28 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1796- place. The diplomatic circle came next, and maintained a decorous intimacy with the royal house. In it Haug- witz and others displayed that wonderful combination of imbecility and duplicity which resulted a few years later in the national disgrace of the Treaty of Tilsit. There were also the all-important military officers, indispensable at the state balls, ubiquitous in the streets, gardens, drawing-rooms, theatres of Berlin ; some noble, some ignoble descendants of the trained bravos of Fritz ; repre- sentatives of the Prussian army, faultless in its pipeclay, its epaulettes, its matchless uniformity of pigtail, but, as officers, mostly unfit to plan a campaign or even to lead a ' charge;^ staff and file alike destined in the future to retreat before the French without a shot, to fall beside Prince Louis Ferdinand at Saaifeld, or to hear the shout of victory upon the battle-field of Leipsic, and then die untended in its streets. There was also a commercial circle, including both Jews and Christians, who believed in purple, fine linen, and bank-notes ; who gave gorgeous entertainments, and ad- vanced money to embarrassed noblemen and officers. Of learned men also there were a few, although the uni- versity was as yet in the future. They lived a quiet plodding life, breaking out occasionally into the evening dissipation of a pipe and glass of beer at their " Monday Club ; " keeping their womankind in a position of due sub- ordination, and excluding all mixed entertainments from their programme. Among these was Nicolai, the repre- sentative of German pedantry, the " Arch-Philister," who became a Sebastian for the arrows of Tieck's irony, and in whom the whole German Philister'thum was attacked » Appendix C. BERLIN CULTURE. 29 by the Schlegels and other Romanticists in the pages of i79^- the **Athenaeum." Where then are we to look for that intellectual society of which we have so often heard ? It was but developing in the families of a few learned Jews, first in that of Moses Mendelssohn. His daughters, like all German girls, possessed an intimate circle of friends, married women and maidens, who quickly caught the infection of their eager intelligence. Among them were Henriette Herz and Rahel Levin, and it was through the intel- lectual activity of these young Jewesses that the spirit of the new era first became imperceptibly diffused. They gradually attracted young men of talent into their circle, who were followed by friends, wives, and sisters. Thus the leaven spread for ten or fifteen years, when Berlin, though then at its lowest depth politically, attained the x climax of its literary glory. Among the young men who were the first to brave the frowns of the Christian world, and enter this charmed circle, were Frederick Schlegel and Schleiermacher. In 1794 the latter received an appointment in a training institution in Berlin. He was introduced to Henriette Herz by Count Alexander Dolma, but the acquaintance was interrupted by his removal to Landsberg, where he remained for two years as assistant preacher. In 1796 he received the chaplaincy of the Charite, a public hospital outside Berlin. During the winter his friendship for Marcus Herz and his wife ripened rapidly. He rarely allowed anything to interfere with his regular evening visits to their house, and willingly faced the discomforts, if not the positive dangers, which lay in the darkness and 30 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1779- unpaved roads between his house and theirs. At last they arranged for him a Httle lantern, to be hooked into the buttonhole of his coat ; and thus, though laden with an umbrella and divers books, he could set out on his homeward journey in some hope of reaching the end with unbroken bones. Schleiermacher was at that time a young man, small, plain, and ill-shaped, offering to the superficial observer no suggestion of future greatness. But the prescient sympathy of Henriette Herz soon discerned the jewel in the unpretending casket. From her he received his first impetus towards literary effort. To her discriminating judgment and to her genial friendship, under which, as under summer sunshine, his whole nature expanded, he owed that period of most vigorous intellectual develop- ment which marked the following ten years of his life. Frederick Schlegel, when he came to Berlin, had intro- ductions to Rahel and to Henriette Herz. The latter hastened to make him acquainted with Schleiermacher. Subsequently the new friends shared a suite of rooms. They were sometimes jestingly referred to as *'the happy pair," Schleiermacher, with his feminine tenderness and susceptibility, forming the orthodox contrast to the aggres- sive predominance of Schlegel. Thus they entered to- gether upon their translation of Plato. But as those sanguine travellers who set forth in parties, for mutual convenience, are invariably found returning home by different routes, so the two friends speedily struck out divergent paths for themselves. The natures of the two men were essentially antagonistic. It is said of the acacia wood, that even when planed into SCHLEIERMACHER. 31 a door-post it will branch and bud and hang out its deli- 1798- cate green fringe above the threshold. Such intense vitality was Schleiermacher's special characteristic. Schlegel, on the other hand, reminds us of the spruce fir, whose pro- gress is imperceptible and slow,, and whether it has attained to one or many feet in height, still presents toward its neighbour the same unyielding uniformity of prickle. Each took his appropriate part in the society as well as in the literature of the day. The eminently social nature of Schleiermacher, his delight in the inter- change of thought and the study of character, led him to spend many evening hours at the house of Rahel or of Henriette Herz. In either circle he was sure of genial welcome, of lively and varied social intercourse ; while in Rahel's presence he was even contented frequently to occupy a subordinate position. His friendship for Henriette Herz continued until his death, in 1834, ^^^ their correspondence ranges mainly from 1800 to 1815. The greater part of it was destroyed by her not long before her death. This holocaust was occasioned by the publication of diaries and letters which shocked her by their indiscreet revelations concerning those who had been dear and well known to her. And while admiring the reticence which prompted the sacri- fice, we cannot but deplore the entire loss of her own letters, with many from Rahel and other contemporaries. A few of Schleiermacher's escaped, and were published in England some years since. From these we quote two passages, just to indicate the intellectual character of the influence exercised over him by Henriette Herz. Writing 32 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 798. to his sister Charlotte, who lived in an almost conventual retreat among the Moravians, he says : — ** I spend much time just nov^ with Henriette Herz. She passes the summer months in a charming little house in the Thier-Garten, where she sees only a few friends, and I can thoroughly enjoy her society. I spend at least one whole day in each week there — with how few people could one do it ! But the day always passes delightfully in varied occupations and pleasures. She still teaches me Italian. We are reading Shakespere together, and have been doing something in natural philosophy. We read the best German books, and spend some pleasant hours in walking out and in talking freely on many important subjects. Thus we have had full and undisturbed enjoy- ment of the early spring. Marcus Herz esteems and loves me, although we are so entirely different. The sisters of Henriette Herz, two amiable girls, are always pleased to see me; even her mother, a severe and irritable woman, has taken a liking for me. . . . Schlegel has confessed himself jealous of the rapidity with which our friendship has grown. He is forced to content himself with my in- tellect and my philosophy, while to her my whole nature expands itself. The time which I spend with her is not simply relaxation, it adds in many ways to my direct in- farmation, develops thought, and spurs my intellect; and in the same way I am of use to her." Henriette Herz possessed in a remarkable degree the power not only to discern, but quietly to draw out the latent faculties of her friends. Fully conscious of this. SCHLEIERMACHER, 33 Schleiermacher in one letter addresses her half humor- 1799. ously : — *' Oh, you all-inspiring, all-fertilizing power ! You are a true Ceres to one's inner nature ; and yet you persist in thinking so much of the activity of that outer world which is but a medium. In that large, universal machine, where- in so little is really accomplished towards the great end of all action, and so much is positively lost to it, the individual becomes absorbed or paralysed. All this restless toil and effort for material good, in which men wrongly and vainly spend themselves, is it not all a hindrance to our silent work ? Who hears us ? What does the world dream of our inner nature and its movements ? All is to it an un- explored mystery. Look round you, and see what you already have done, are doing, and will yet do. Confess that the quiet progressive culture which you enjoy and diffuse is infinitely more valuable than anything to be gained from that outer chaos which has yet to become order. . . . Let us seek quality in time ; we shall find it the best anticipation of quantity. If we can make for ourselves a golden age, is it not as good as though we lived a hundred years ? " The *' Monologues " which established the fame of Schleiermacher were mostly written during his solitary life at Potsdam, and on this account are the outgrowth of emotional, as well as of intellectual struggle and effort. In February, 1799, he writes thus to Henriette Herz : — '' Be good to me and write often, to keep up the vigour of my life, which fails utterly in this solitude. I am the 4 34 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 799. most dependent being on earth, and doubt sometimes whether I am an individual at all ! I thrust out every fibre, every leaflet, thirsting for affection, and if I do not find the supply abundant I v^ither and become dry. It is, once for all, my disposition, and I know not how to cure it if I would. Remind me in your letters constantly of the ' Monologues,' for fear they should come to a sudden stand- still. I will report progress faithfully, but not a word of manuscript shall you have until I can send you the close of the second, for I perceive it is not well to write them in small portions. . . . You see that I am right ; com- position {das machen) is an unnatural effort to me. That is how it is I have of late been so disturbed, and my letters have been so empty, that I should have been quite con- cerned were it not that you know me so thoroughly well. Either it must become more natural to me, or I shall give it up altogether. It takes too much out of my life, and after all accomplishes nothing for myself, the world, or my friends, which is worth the trouble. You fancy you would never know my thoughts if I did not write, but I think I may safely say there is nothing new to you, and the loss to myself in the composition of the * Monologues ' outweighs any gain which the reading of them may bring to you. . . . All religious men are priests, and all are one. If these two thoughts do not run through the * Monologues,' then I have undoubtedly missed my aim." True to this life-long faith, that every good man is a priest of God, Schleiermacher held it as a sacred duty to help all who came under his influence forward in the Divine life. Stagnation, spiritual or intellectual, was more to be dreaded than any physical death. He was always HENRIETTE HERZ. 35 anxious therefore that Henriette Herz should raise the 1799. standard of her effort, and he tried, now by praise and now by blame, to make her conscious of her own gifts and responsibilities. **Yet after all," he writes, ''you are in doubt about yourself, and so far you are wrong. Are you not as much an individual being as others ? Have you not moulded your whole life after your own especial manner ? Do you not combine in a remarkable degree much that we find in other people only singly or in modified quantities ? Must I count them up for you ? Your fidelity to your position, your affectionateness, your unobtrusive learning, your social talent, and all that goes with it ; your inexhaustible imitative faculty, to which belong both your power of language and your power to read human nature ; and finally your practical genius, which is unresting and uni- versal ? How much more am I to upbraid you with your indolence — for in the matter of self-knowledge you are indolent, and for that reason you must write. . . . Make all possible progress in Greek, that you may read Plato's Symposium. I read it again a few days ago, and with increased delight, despite that heretic, Frederick Schlegel, who does not hold it to be Platonic. I laugh heartily at the proof you threaten to give me of your incapacity for writing, by sending me part of your journal. If the journal be genuine it ought to be first-rate. What I wish is, that by writing you should become something more than you are, and unless you already write excellently ^ I cannot give it up. Believe me, and be obedient. But what you write must be as subjective as possible. A re- 4* 36 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1800. presentation of your thoughts and views should be the main thing, although 3''ou may begin with the objective by way of practice." I Here, however, Schleiermacher made a great mistake, and we cannot but secretly rejoice that Henriette Herz did not follow the well-meant but dangerous advice. It is precisely in the absence of such self-consciousness that her great charm lies. Had she yielded to the prevailing subjective habit of thought, and indulged in that mental introspection which became the philosophic fashion of the j day, it would have been, in her case, to sacrifice indi- viduality, and mar essentially the unique beauty of her character. This culture of the individual came up as a necessary reaction from that cosmopolitanism which characterised Goethe and his contemporaries : which was embodied by the philosopher in phrase so felicitous, and by the statesman in action so disastrous. The younger thinkers, followers of Kant, seized eagerly upon his grand Protestant doctrine of individual right, with its attendant responsibility, and spun out of it intricate theories and delicate fancies, until in Schleiermacher's hands the cultivation of character, the perfecting of every- day life, became not only a moral duty, but an aesthetic delight. In certain minds, however, and especially amongst thoughtful women, these theories led to a mor- bid introspectiveness as unattractive as it was pernicious. It perhaps reached its climax in Rahel, intensified by her early sorrows, and by her mental necessity to have every- thing clearly defined. In Rahel, however, genuine humour and true genius are sufficiently counterbalancing ele- DEATH OF MARCUS HERZ, 37 ments, and her character, despite this failing, still con- 1803. strains our loving admiration. In 1809 Schleiermacher married the young widow of his friend Von Willich. She was admirably suited to him, and her published letters leave no doubt as to her capa- city to satisfy him fully in regard to ''subjective "writing. After the death of Marcus Herz, in 1803, the Frau Hof- rathinn Herz found herself dependent upon a very small pension. Their hospitalities, although simple and unosten- tatious, had absorbed the available professional income. But the houses of her many friends were always open to her. They also endeavoured to find for her some occupation which would relieve her difficulties, exercise her many talents, and serve to solace the lonely hours which were shadowed for her by an increasing sense of her loss. Madame Campan, when visiting Berlin with her son Henri Campan,^ saw much both of Rahel and of Henriette Herz, and was extremely anxious to take the latter to Paris. There she promised to find abundant scope for her talents, both social and educational, in a family of high rank, but upon the condition of her renouncing Judaism. As a matter of personal belief, Henriette Herz under the influence of Schleiermacher had long since adopted his views of Christianity, but her consideration for her mother, who was a '* Hebrew of the Hebrews," prevented her from making any public acknowledgment of the change in her opinions. On this account, therefore, the Paris scheme was abandoned. Subsequently, Henriette Herz undertook to superintend the education in English of the youngest daughter of the Duchess of Courland. Probably the pecuniary advantage alone of this arrangement would * Appendix D. 38 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 803. not have led her to accept the offer, but it promised a fresh opening into very varied society, and society having become to her a necessity, she gladly acquiesced. The Duchess of Courland was a woman who combined remarkable energy and administrative capacity with at- tractive manners, intelligence, and unfailing social tact. She gave a peculiar character to the society of her house by her resolute opposition to mere rank as the necessary qualification for admission to that circle. The battle of intellectual equality was fought by the Duchess against the direct and indirect hostility of the Berlin aristocracy, and the influence of her victory was felt in other parts of Germany. Side by side with the most feminine tastes she possessed a political insight and a breadth of judg- ment which was more than once of important service to her husband in his relations to his dependants, as sovereign Duke of Courland. They spent great part of the year upon their estates, but during the winter resided usually in Berlin. There, from her high rank, the Duchess was able to receive any of the Prussian nobility, while at the same time her intelligent human sympathy led her to welcome on equal terms all who were fitted to fulfil the general requirements of educated society — all who were refined, interesting, or agreeable > At these receptions it was the custom to arrange the supper upon a number of small tables, which were occupied by the company with- out distinction of rank : thus Frau Hofrathinn Herz, the physician's widow, might sit and talk with democratic ease to the princes and princesses of the royal house. In addition to the anxieties of the widowhood of Hen- riette Herz, came the unpleasant incident in connection LOUIS BORNE. 39 with Louis Borne, who had been prosecuting his medical 1^04. studies under the care of Marcus Herz. The studies, however, appear to have been nominal. The youth had spent his childhood in the seclusion of a quiet Jewish home at Frankfort. Fettered on the one hand by the restrictions of religious observances, and on the other by the wanton tyranny of the Christian government, outward circumstances seem to have combined to stamp out all poetry or pleasure from the boy's life. He was naturally shy and reserved, distinguishing himself only by the num- ber and the nature of the questions with which he tor- mented his tutor. After a brief stay at the University of Giessen, Borne was removed when seventeen to Berlin, to enjoy the special advantage of scientific training under Dr. Herz. The transition must have been great from the gloom and quiet of the ancestral home in the Judengasse to the lively hospitalities of the Berlin household ; like passing from the grey twilight of a crypt out into a gar- den flushed with the colour and fragrant with the odours of a summer's day. The youth became dazzled, en- tranced ; he made no pretence of study, but from his quiet corner observed and drank in all he saw and heard. On the death of Marcus Herz he begged to be allowed to con- tinue in the house. Henriette Herz, his senior by about twenty years, saw no difficulty in his remaining. After some months, the servant came to her one day at the house of Madame de Lemos, to give her a note which Borne had put into her hands with much agitation. It was addressed to a chemist, and contained ten Friedrichs d'or and an order for arsenic. In much alarm Henriette Herz sent her sister Brenna to the house, to seek some explan- 40 RAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. iZo.\, ation. To her the mivsanthropic youth confessed that he loved Henriette Herz hopelessly, and his life was a burden. Brenna imagined herself successful in bringing him to reason, and for a time matters went smoothly on. After a while, however, a second attempt of the same kind was discovered, and his hostess felt that some decisive step must be taken. She wrote to Reil, then professor at Halle, and made arrangements for transferring Borne to his care. To Schleiermacher, then also at Halle, she wrote, entreating for Borne his care and oversight. Schleiermacher did his best conscientiously, but could make nothing of him. After a while he wrote in despair, saying, " He is incorrigibly idle : how is one to help a man who does not care to help himself? " Borne, on the other hand, could fully appreciate Schleiermacher, and wrote of him to Henriette Herz, " He teaches Christianity as Socrates might have taught it, had he been a Christian." The rougher life at Halle was more congenial to Borne than the social amenities of Berlin. He entered with zest into university life, and we can imagine him somewhat later, in 1806, joining that demonstrative band of students who marched in their top-boots and brass helmets — " a compromise between Roman warriors and German pos- tillions " — under the very windows of Napoleon, and treated him to a loud " pereat." Such an expression was a keynote to the political teaching of Borne, which has been echoed and re-echoed through the discordant changes rung by German democracy in the unwilling ears of German governments. Kings and emperors were to Louis Borne what bishops were to Sydney Smith. CHAPTER III. Where none were sad and few were dull, And each one said his best, And beauty was most beautiful. With vanity at rest.— Lord Houghton. The open evening hospitality of the Herz household, charming as it was, and new to the Berlin world, can scarcely be said to have fulfilled the conditions of a salon. The guests were too frequently strangers to each other, and the company too often larger than is compatible with the cultivation of friendly intercourse. In the year 1803 it was entirely broken up by the death of Marcus Herz. By this time the salon of Rahel had become an accom- plished fact. Her personal friendship formed the abiding link which held together, through many years of disaster and of change, people who met with pleasure, often with eager anticipation. They did not gather together by formal invitation ostensibly to talk, or dance, or listen to music, or to make any sumptuous display ; but to enjoy each other's society, and to partake together of any amuse- ment that might arise. They were accustomed to go to Rahel's house in the certainty of finding there some gra- tifying response either to head or heart. After the death of her father and the marriage of her sister Rosa, Rahel remained the presiding spirit of the house. Madame Levin took little share in its society, but 42 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. Mi. 30. her son, known as Ludwig Robert, did the part of host i8oi. ^hen not absorbed in his poetical and dramatic labours. In the year 1801, Baron Brinckmann entertained a friend from Paris, a certain Count de S . No visit to Berlin in that day was complete without an introduc- tion to Rahel. The Count had come already provided with one from the daughter of Diderot, Madame Vau- deuil. The Baron was always delighted to take a stranger, and to witness the charmed surprise excited in them by his adored *' Sibyl." He was himself a popular guest everywhere in Berlin; an upright, generous man, with all his failings upon the surface. He was remarkable for his enthusiastic friendships and his graceful versatility, rather than for any higher gifts. Ever ready with an epigram, a verse, or a compliment, he fulfilled throughout his persistent bachelorhood his vocation of universal adorer. Upon a certain evening the young men arranged to go together to Rahel's house in the Jagerstrasse. They went up the stairs, through an ante-chamber, to a large room with its windows facing the wide street: these were draped with white muslin and enlivened by flowering plants. There was a scarcity of furniture, a deficiency of carpet, an entire absence of knickknacks, but abundant space, light, and air. Upon the open pianoforte was Beethoven's newest sonata, and upon a small writing-table, amid a pile of letters, lay the " Musen-Almanach," Tieck's new drama of ** Genoveva," and some manuscript poems of Ludwig Robert. A few guests were already there. Baron Brinck- mann presented the Count, who delivered to Rahel the mes- sage from their common acquaintance, Madame Vaudeuil. HER SALON. 43 ** Mademoiselle Levin," writes the Count de S , in J^t. 30. his diary, " was neither tall nor handsome, but delicately ^^°*' formed, and most agreeable in appearance. An expression of suffering — she had lately recovered from an illness — lent her an additional charm ; while her pure and fresh complexion, harmonising with her dark expressive eyes, gave evidence of the vigour which characterised her whole nature. From these eyes a look fell upon me so piercing that I should not have liked to face it with a bad con- science. It was not, however, that I was an object of special interest ; the look was simply a passing question, which appeared satisfactorily answered. When I delivered my message from Madame Vaudeuil her whole face brightened up. I was summoned instantly to tell all I knew. Mademoiselle Levin seemed to think much of the lady, and in a few words had said of her and about her so many kind and characteristic things, that I began myself to have quite a different opinion of her, and with hundreds of miles between us, I felt as though I now understood her for the first time." Upon the sofa beside the hostess was seated a lady of great beauty, a Countess Einsiedel, listening with languid interest to the pedantic talk of a gentleman spoken of as the Abbe ; in the background stood Frederick Schlegel in conversation with Ludwig Robert. The door opened sud- denly, and a laughing, picturesque figure entered, and rapidly took possession of the arm-chair beside Rahel. *'*What is this?' cried Rahel. * Is there no Maria Stuart ? I thought you were * *' * Only think,' answered the lively lady, ' Mortimer is ill, so Iffland has brought out another piece, in which there 44 RAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS, J^A. 30. is nothing for me to do. I turn it, therefore, to the best *^°^* account, by coming to spend the evening with you.' *' * This is charming,' said Rahel, ^ and best of all you already find here two special admirers, Schlegel and my brother.'." Baron Brinckmann, in his character of adorer-general, was here about to step forward, when Frederick Schlegel, with the awkwardness peculiar to him, advanced and said in a solemn, confused way, that it was not he, but his brother August Wilhelm, who was the enthusiastic ad- mirer of Madame Unzelmann, and who had already sung her triumphs as *'The Elf." At this specimen oi gaucherie the company received a shock, but the actress with un- ruffled self-possession replied smilingly, " I know it, I per- fectly understand the difference between the two brothers ; but if I do not exact more from you than I do from your brother, you need have no anxiety about playing his part for one short evening." Other visitors now entering. Baron Brinckmann was driven from his vantage ground between Rahel and Madame Unzelmann, and took refuge with Count S in a window-niche, where he began to expatiate upon the new arrivals, among whom were Majors Schack and Gualtieri. They were interrupted by Schlegel, who com- plained indignantly that Madame Unzelmann had no true idea of art. " 'I can make no way with her at all,' he said, * she does not in the least understand my remarks upon her very best characters, and returned me the most stupid answers.' " Schack, who had overheard this last sentence, took him up immediately, HER SALON. 45 *' * Oh, you critical gentlemen expect too much ! Madame J^x. y:i, Unzelmann understands art perfectly in her own way : she '^^'* plays it, and brings it bodily before you, and you yourself admire it. Why should you insist on her expressing it in your manner also. To expect that divine woman to — to — reason, is as monstrous as it would be for us to demand that you should act as she does. That would be something worth seeing.* "'Bravo, bravo, Schack!' cried a voice behind him. It was Rahel, who had risen, attracted by the animated talk in the window-niche. *' * Have I done it well, little Sibyl ? * asked Schack. * I had not long to think it over, for, gentlemen, I had but a moment before heard that remark from Mademoiselle Levin's own lips, and I wished to make use of it at once, and see what you could have to say against it.' ** Meanwhile," continues the Count in his diary, **the company had been increased by two or three ladies, about whom Brinckmann at once busied himself. They be- longed to the house. One of them undertook to pour out tea ; another was introduced to me as the sister-in-law ot Mademoiselle Levin, but with whom she seemed to have no intellectual relationship. I was therefore the more struck by the affectionate and careful way in which she was treated by the hostess, and her unimportant remarks turned to the best account. Brinckmann, to whom I observed this as he stopped to speak to me, said it was no wonder, since his admirable friend possessed so much mind herself, that she could dispense with it in others ; that she did not demand it of them, and was satisfied with other qualifications ; but at the same time she was 46 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. Et. 30. a thorough Oriental in the tenacity with which she held 1801. ^Q g^ii family ties, that she was specially attached to this sister-in-law, and passionately fond of her two little girls. ** In a few words he described to me her brothers. The youngest was abroad ; of the two present the eldest was a merchant: he was cold and reserved, and did not please me. The second, Ludwig Robert, had an easy bearing, an unconstrained social manner that was very agreeable ; his countenance was remarkable, the keen thinker was perceptible under its superficial easy indiffer- ence. Both brothers, cool and unimpassioned, contrasted strongly with their sister, whose warm cordiality and noble freedom was observable in her affectionate care for them. ** The talk became very animated, ranging from one per- son to another, over the most varied topics. I was no longer able to follow or to retain its changing character. They spoke of Fleck, the actor, and regretfully of his illness and approaching death ; of Righini, whose operas were then received with great applause ; of social matters ; of A. W. Schlegel's lectures, which some of the ladies were also attending. I heard the boldest ideas, the acutest thoughts, the most significant criticisms, and the most capricious play of fancy, all linked and suggested by the simple thread of accidental chit-chat. For in outward form the gathering was like any other, without special plan or pur- pose. Much that passed was inexplicable to me, from my ignorance of persons and the passing incidents of the day. When Frederick Schlegel expressed an opinion, in his painful and awkward fashion, it was always deep and HER SALON. 47 genuine ; the hearer felt at once that no light coin was ^^Et. 30. issued, but precious metal well hammered. When Schack ^ in graceful narrative, or telling piquant strokes, hit off some distinguished character in the social world, or scattered here and there his bright little remarks, he showed his geniality, his breadth, and his wonderful experience of the great world. The lively caprices of Madame Unzelmann made themselves felt throughout the evening. Ludvvig Robert and Baron Brinckmann shone eminently as social favourites. Every one was naturally active, without being intrusive, and all seemed equally ready to talk or to listen. Most remarkable of all was Mademoiselle Levin herself. With what easy grace did she seem to rouse, brighten, warm everybody present. Her cheerfulness was irresistible. And what did she not say ? I was entirely bewildered, and could no longer distinguish, among her remarkable utterances, what was wit, depth, right principle, genius, or mere eccentricity and caprice. I heard from her phrases of colossal wisdom, true inspirations, which in a simple word or two traversed the air like lightnings and lodged in the heart. About Goethe she said some astonishing things, such as I never heard equalled." Presently a proposition was made that Ludwig Robert should read a few of his poems. The company bore up well on the whole. Many applauded, Schlegel made grimaces, and Rahel did her best to conceal her weariness, but she was no hypocrite, and never could patiently endure reading aloud. The salutation of *' Good-evening, Gentz," directed the attention of Count S to a new arrival. ''Seldom have I indeed seen," he continues, '*so remarkable a com- RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. A-A. 30. bination of shyness and temerity as was expressed in the ^ °^* manner of this man. With an uncertain glance he measured every seat and its occupant. As a stranger, I appeared unimportant; others he recognised as friends; but the sight of Schlegel filled him with a secret horror, and he took a seat at the furthest possible distance from him. Between Madame Unzelmann and his patron Schack he opened a conversation, which soon became general. He told how he had been dining with Haug.vitz the minister, with ambassadors and generals, who brought all the news from Paris and London. Madame Unzelmann interdicted politics, and asked for such information only as she could enter into. ** * Certainly, my angel,' replied Gentz, with animation; * it was by no means of politics that we spoke, but of manners, of pleasures, of — is not Gualtieri here? — the wickedness of Paris, of love affairs, and theatres — all charming subjects, are they not ? ' " Frederick Schlegel continued to scowl from the back- ground at Gentz, and was heard to murmur such words as, ** paid scribbler, miserable enemy of freedom," &c. Rahel, ever observant, tried to distract the attention of the too sensitive Gentz, and she succeeded at length in drawing him into an animated discussion and an elo- quent protest, to which all the company listened in delighted silence. This was interrupted by the entrance of Prince Louis Ferdinand. All rose for a moment, but resumed their places and conversation as before. The handsome face of the prince was clouded, and his manner uneasy and preoccupied : he entered at once into conver- sation with Rahel. He spoke with angry indignation HER SALON. 49 against Napoleon, and of the friendly relations still Mi. ^o. maintained towards him by the Prussian Court ; he ^^°^* accused the Emperor of undermining the freedom of Europe. Some one referred to his brother-in-law, the Prince Radziwill, to whom he was strongly attracted by their common love of music. The Prince inquired if he had not already been there. ** * No,' was the reply ; ' he has probably gone to his hunting-seat.' ** * Gone to hunt ! you do not know my brother-in-law,' said the prince, with a smile. * He hunts of course when he must ; he does everything tluat is correct, but it is all done in a musical sense. For example, he cares nothing for the game, and his love of sport is abundantly gratified by leaning, rifle in hand, against a tree, and singing La caccia ! la caccia ! ' " When the prince took up his hat to go, the company followed his example. But upon the staircase Prince Radziwill met and brought him back again into the room. Baron Brinckmann and his friend took a turn up and down the street in the soft night air. A window was open in the room they had left, and from it they heard the most exquisite strains of music' It was Prince Louis improvising, as he was wont to do in certain moods. Rahel and Prince Radziwill stood beside the window, listening. Upon the following morning Count de S again appeared in the Jagerstrasse, according to an appointment made with Ludwig Robert. An odd-looking old servant, who had been darting in and out among the grand folks on the previous evening, led him up to the top floor, upon 5 so RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^^A. 30. which were Ludwig Robert's private rooms. Finding the door locked, she concluded he was not yet up, and the Count turned to go downstairs. At that moment an opposite door opened and Rahel appeared. She explained that her brother had been detained out until an unusually late hour the night before, but would soon make his ap- pearance ; meanwhile she begged the count to wait for him in her room. In this simply furnished room, with its sloping roof and garret window, Rahel sat when she wished to be undisturbed, or to receive a few favoured morning visitors without the interruptions of the more public sitting rooms. From this she gained the sobriquet of the *' Sibyl of the Attic." The distinguished guests of the preceding evening now naturally came under discussion. After talking of Prince Louis and of Gentz, the Count, somewhat incautiously, repeated some remarks which he had heard in disparage- ment of Baron Brinckmann, and which he had resented. "But Mademoiselle Levin," he writes, "took his de- fence into her own hands. ' Faults and failings,' she exclaimed, * who is without them, and who does not find them out in another when they are well hidden, much more those that lie upon the surface. But, for heaven's sake, do not listen to such things again. Make it once for all a principle of life never to judge a man according to his faults, but by whatever he has that is good and excellent. Search for this, and the more you find, the less you will care about his failings. Common minds do the opposite, and on this account they are common. Look at Brinckmann's active intellect, his frank intelligence, his eagerness, his accomplishments, his unswerving friend- HER SALON. 51 ships, his hearty geniality, which makes attachment a ^t. 30. necessity to him. Consider all that he is, and does, and ^ ®'" then look round and see how many you can find who are his equals. Never listen to those empty gossips ! The best judges know how to appreciate him. Ask Schleiermacher, ask Frederick Schlegel — who rarely appreciates any one — ask me, for I count myself among them, and you hear what I think of him.' *' I became almost envious of such praise," continues Count S , " yet it was all fair and true. After a few ; general remarks, I could not help congratulating Made- moiselle Levin upon being the centre of such a gathering as I had seen the evening before. I said she must feel very happy. " But I would gladly have recalled the words, for I saw that I had touched a tender string, and should have felt my position most painful, but that I soon perceived from the remarks which followed that I was of no personal account : they soon became a kind of soliloquy. *' ' How do I stand to all these people ? ' she exclaimed, sadly. * I have no personal satisfaction in any of them. They bring me their sorrows, their offences, their troubles, their cares. They come here to be amused, and if they find better entertainment elsewhere, they leave me at once. I amuse them, I listen to them, I help, comfort, advise them. In so far as I do this because it is my nature, I have a personal satisfaction, but they have the whole benefit. I know well that men are weak, submissive, easily led, and I could bind them to me and make them serviceable. But I scorn the constraints of etiquette, the forms of friendship which become the legal titles to such 5* 52 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. » J?A. 30. services ; services which are to be of no account unless ^^^^' rendered spontaneously, as though straight from heaven. The rest turn my views to account, and consider nothing which they are not forced to consider. The only demands I make are those of social propriety. I have done with any one who infringes upon these. But even among my best friends I stand unarmed, exposed to wounds upon all sides, and without any balsam for the wounds. Shall I say beyond this, that out of all those whom you saw here yesterday, there is only one whom I entirely like — and you were not conscious of his presence.' ^ " I felt that I was an accidental witness to this out- burst, and was too modest to make any reply. The conversation soon returned into ordinary channels. . . . The entrance of Count von der Lippe presently introduced other topics. A further, and almost comical variation occurred, when Gentz unexpectedly burst into the room, and without noticing the two visitors, threw himself upon the sofa, exclaiming excitedly, * I can bear no more ! What weariness ! what torture ! Writing all night, and since five o'clock those confounded creditors. They persecute me wherever I go ; they hunt me to death ; there is no rest anywhere. Let me sleep here for half an hour in peace ! ' " The eloquent speaker of yesterday, the astute states- man, the powerful writer, appeared to-day in a pitiable condition. He lay already with closed eyes and folded arms, and seemed perfectly able to command the desired internal repose if undisturbed from without. Mademoiselle Levin, with a compassionate smile, silently led us down into another sitting-room, where we were joined by Ludwig Robert. ^ Appendix E. HER SALON. 53 ** I saw Mademoiselle Levin many other times, and was ^t. 30. received with increasing cordiality. Soon, however, I was ^^^^• unfortunately obliged to leave Berlin. I did so with the conviction that I was leaving a person whose equal I should never meet in this world ! *' And this belief has been verified." From this abridged outline of a single evening we may see how Rahel's natural social talent was cultivated by frequent, and often trying, exercise. Her guests were not of necessity invited. She never knew what combinations of class or of character would occur in the course of an evening, or what awkward collision of opinions or of interests might suddenly arise. Moreover, the manners of the time were free, and subjects were often started which in a mixed company would require the most dexterous handling, especially as it was a matter of custom to express opinions or inclinations without re- serve. The guests, chiefly known to each other, had a common interest in the proclivities or dislikes, the fancies or convictions which were put forth, and often expressed their differences with considerable warmth. Thus Rahel stood in constant need of her two gifts, instant sympathy, entire and unfailing presence of mind. The latter faculty in its broadest sense was that which she possessed in rare degree. We of to-day complain that poco-curantism has taken the zest out of society, but the modern hostess should thankfully remember that her equanimity can no longer be ruffled by anything so ill-bred as an earnest expression of opinion. One of Rahel's greatest triumphs was over the jealousy of Madame de Stael. In 1803 she spent some time in 54 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^t. 32. Berlin, and upon one occasion heard Prince Louis speak of Rahel as a woman who, in any country or any society, must exercise a very remarkable influence. This appeared to Madame De Stael incredible of any woman out of France. She appealed to Baron Brinckmann. ** What do you think," she asked, " of this assumption, that a little Berlin girl should produce an effect in the circles of Paris ? You know her very well ; do you think she has much esprit ? '* " De I'esprit," replied the Baron. *' It would not be worth while to discuss the question if she had only esprit ; but, believe me, if Greece were living to-day, she would produce an effect in Athens itself. Who would say of Madame de Stael that she had beaucoup d'esprit ? " " Oh, you compare her to me, do you ! That is not bad. What has she written ? " ** Nothing. Nor will she ever, although she has genius enough to stock twenty ordinary authors." " But, mon ami, you are mad ! That is to say, your are a German, a fanatic in friendship as in philosophy. But I must know this miracle. You will arrange an evening for me with her ? " So the Baron invited all the elite of Berlin : beauties, poets, philosophers. Madame de Stael placed herself on a sofa beside Rahel, and for nearly two hours remained in conversation with her, regardless of every other attraction. ** Je vous fais amende honorable," she said at length to Baron Brinckmann. " You have exaggerated nothing. She is extraordinary. I can only repeat what I have already said a thousand times during my travels, that HER SALON. 55 Germany is a mine of genius, whose depth and riches are ^t. 32. yet unexplored. You are happy indeed in the possession *^^^* of such a friend. You will tell me what she says of me ! " " En attendant, madame," replied the Baron, ** I will tell you what she said about you long ago, after the first reading of your book, * Sur les Passions.' ' That is a woman who would have known everything had she been a German. I hope one day she may become so ; because, unfortunately, to write philosophically you must know absolutely every subject, in order to understand the philo- sophy of each.' " ** Ah, mon Dieu," cried Madame de Stael, " how true that is ! She is quite right. I was far enough from know- - ing everything then, but I am improving now." Then addressing Rahel, she said, " Ecoutez, made- moiselle ! You have a friend here who knows how to appreciate you as you deserve. If I stayed here I believe I should become jealous of your superiority." ** Oh, no, madame," replied Rahel, smiling. *' I should come to love you, and that would make me so happy that you could only become envious of my happiness, since there is no one to inspire you with a similar feeling." Madame de Stael during her stay in Berlin received her friends every Friday evening. Upon these occasions she usually invited three ladies. To invite Rahel would have been dangerous. Among her favourites were the Duchess of Courland, Frau von Berg, and Henriette Herz. Upon the last Friday gathering these ladies were present, and Henriette Herz describes it in her " Memoirs " as one of unusual interest. Prince Louis Ferdinand distinguished himself by a musical improvisation of extraordinary bril- liancy, and made himself exceptionally agreeable. 56 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^^t. 32. ** It is true," says Henriette Herz, *' he never entirely ^ °^* lost a certain ton de corps de garde, which however was rather peculiar than offensive. On that evening, for ex- ample, he expressed himself toward me in a manner that from any one 'else would have seemed harsh and incon- siderate, but from him was only a genial expression of sympathy. Taking me by the hand, he led me up to the Duchess of Courland. * Look well at this woman,* he exclaimed, * she is a woman who has never been loved as she deserved ! ' What he said was true. For how- ever good my husband had been to me, however much he had done for my intellectual training, however great might be his confidence in me, and the freedom he allowed to embellish my life in every way, he did not understand such a love as I cherished in my heart, and the very ex- pression of it he repelled as childish." Madame de Stael startled and somewhat wearied the solid Berliners by her rapid superficial observations upon society and philosophy, and did not leave a very pleasant impression. Rahel perhaps understood her best, and liked her personally, although her criticism of her lite- rary work is not always favourable. CHAPTER IV. He who makes, waits.— TURKISH Proverb. It was about the year 1803 that Rahel for the first time saw Varnhagen von Ense. He is so associated with the most important years of her life, that it is necessary to give a brief account of his history up to this date. The son of a physician in Diisseldorf,' he there spent his boyhood, untormented by lessons ; living a free, ideal sort of life in the recesses of a garden overhanging the Rhine; adoring and adored by an only sister, his inseparable companion. The family however removed to Strasburg, and thence — with some difficulty in those troublous days — to Hamburg, where they finally settled. The border pro- vinces were at that time swarming with French emigres, aristocrats, whose grand airs rendered them hateful to the Germans, and strengthened their growing sympathy with the revolutionary movement. Destined for the profession of his father, Varnhagen began his medical studies at an early age, attending lectures upon anatomy and physiology before he was fourteen. On the death of his father he wsls sent to Berlin, where he worked hard and under adverse circum- stances at the Pepiniere. The sudden failure of supplies from Hamburg, through the bankruptcy of an old family friend, unfortunately brought this arrangement to an I Appendix F. 58 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1801. abrupt conclusion. Adrift in Berlin at sixteen, he at length obtained the post of tutor in a wealthy family named Cohen. He now found himself a member of an animated social circle, with time for the prosecution of his own studies, and ample opportunity for literary and general culture. There was a constant flow of intelligent visitors at the house, who kept up such intellectual life as Varnhagen en- joyed to the full. His personal friends at that time were not only young men sharing his literary tastes, but amateur writers, who freely compared their poems and essays, giving assistance to each other by criticism and applause. Among them was Chamisso. To him and Varnhagen occurred one day the idea of printing a selection of these poems, after the fashion of the times, as a Musen- Almanack, It was published : Chamisso, as the richest of the young authors, no doubt paying dearly for the luxury. The new jfena Zeitung assailed, dissected, and condemned it ut- terly. After the first shock, however, the writers recovered their presence of mind, and took courage from the fact that among the abused was Fichte himself. Varnhagen also received a consolatory letter from F. Schlegel, which somewhat reassured them as to their position. It un- fortunately happened, however, that owing to the outbreak of war, Chamisso left Berlin with his regiment, and the next issue of the almanack fell into unskilled hands. The publication was so ill managed that Das grilne Bachlein died ignominiously of misprints. One evening, during his stay with the Cohen family, Varnhagen was reading aloud from Wieland to a small company of listeners, when they were interrupted by the VARNHAGEN VON ENSE, 59 entrance of a visitor. A slight figure in dark flowing 1803. drapery passed up through the company. Varnhagen heard the whispered name, not altogether strange, of Rahel Levin. He observed her animated gesture, her full beaming eye, her musical, genial voice, in which she was exchang- ing pleasantries with Count Lippe. The rest of the company sank into insignificance ; he indited on the spot a poem expressive of his admiration, which, stranger as he was, he sent to Rahel upon the following day. They did not however meet again for two or three years. The lively Cohen household was broken up by pecu- niary embarrassments, and Varnhagen went as tutor to Hamburg. He afterwards studied for a while at Halle under Schleiermacher, Steffens, Wolf, and Reil. When the university was dispersed in 1806 we find him again in - Berlin. He went through the medical course there, though with much dissatisfaction at the purely theoretical teaching of Professor Horn, and he supplemented the lectures by walking the wards of the ChariUy studying suffering humanity in his own way, and maintaining the advanced opinion that commom sense might be ad- vantageously combined with scientific research. He also became acquainted with the secret working of the Tugend-Bund, through Herr von Bardeleben, one of its originators ; who, while leading an apparently idle life in the monotonous repose of Charlottenburg, was actively helping to undermine the power of Napoleon, and to keep alive the little altar-flame of patriotism in the surrounding darkness. It does not, however, appear that either Varn- hagen or Stein became members of this organisation. The eagerness with which Varnhagen pursued his 6o RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1803. medical and literary studies characterised also his culti- vation of the social advantages which were open to him. If we turn to his *' Memoirs," we shall find how fully he could appreciate the acquaintance of Henriette Herz and all that it involved. After speaking of some of his young friends, he goes on to say : — " We met often at the house of Reimar or of Schleier- macher, but we gathered most frequently and gladly in that of Frau Hofrathinn Herz. There we were always sure of easy friendly intercourse and refined intellectual culture. Here we again met with Karl Schede and his sister Wilhelmine, both keenly appreciative of every subject that came up. The study and the practice of foreign lan- guages was a long-established custom with Frau Hofra- thinn Herz. It gave to some meetings a defined object, a continuous interest, which died down only when a complete literature was exhausted. Bekker read with her the Greek classics ; Schede, Spanish and Old German ; in English and Italian she was applied to from all sides as an authority ; both Portuguese and Danish she worked up for herself. Besides her knowledge of these languages and literatures, she took that intelligent interest in more abstract subjects which was to be looked for in the friend of Schleiermacher. With her, Harscher found inexhaust- ible food for his dialectic inquiries, his root-digging pro- pensities ; here he could discuss — sometimes cleverly, sometimes with characteristic eccentricity — such practical matters as served to widen his experimental knowledge, and could test his ideal views of life with those of a genuine woman, which he held to be always practical. . . HER SOCIAL SUPERIORITY. 6i '* Among the many oft-repeated names of long standing 1803. friends of the house, were those of the brothers Hum- boldt and Frau von Humboldt, Frederick Schlegel and his wife, Ludwig Tieck, but perhaps most frequently of all, that of Rahel Levin. She lived in the town, nearer than the rest, and was very intimate with Schleiermacher and Frau Hofrathinn Herz, but accidentally, at the time of which I write, was not often there. I felt a strong desire to know her. Frau Hofrathinn Herz always spoke of her as a person quite by herself — unequalled — before whom she instantly struck sail ; only occasionally differing from Rahel's unreserved expression of opinion and from the disregard to appearances which sometimes jarred upon that sense of the fitness of things which distinguished the Frau Hofrathinn. When a woman who is herself so cultivated, learned, and refined, that she appears a living embodiment of a perfect woman, as developed according to Schleiermacher's ethics — when such an one can speak so highly of another, and place her above all comparison, it is something remarkable. We all, Harscher especially, urged Frau Hofrathinn Herz to invite her friend together with us, when he would be prepared beforehand to find the comparison to be in favour of our hostess, and frankly con- fessed his intention to do so. The visit was arranged. Rahel appeared only for an hour, as she was suffering from fever, and so was scarcely in the right vein to break up the rather prim attitude of the little gathering. Harscher received no notice whatever from her, and when Schleier- macher came in, and with lively eagerness took his place beside her and entered into conversation, all further ap- proach was rendered impossible. We were not a little 62 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 805. astonished to see Schleiermacher, both in jest and earnest, playing only a second part ; indeed, he seemed willingly to accept a subordinate position, and once or twice fell into a discomfited silence, or seemed to have no reply at hand. When the lady left he conducted her to her car- riage, and on his return could not cease praising her. But his mood for the rest of the evening spoke more than words in her praise, for he was lively and energetic the whole evening. This was doubly remarkable to us, since we had never before seen him thus play a second part, and it was long since he had appeared in such good spirits. *' Frau Hofrathinn Herz looked in vain for gratitude from Harscher ; he was put out that Schleiermacher had received all the benefit, and his continued cheerfulness was a posi- tive irritation to him. He would gladly have run down or utterly ignored Rahel's manifest superiority, which he was capable enough of appreciating had he chosen. For myself, I shared his dissatisfaction, but on entirely dif- ferent grounds. I longed intensely for a nearer acquaint- ance with this wonderful being, before whom all others faded, and with whom, in imagination, I already felt my- self in more intimate spiritual rapport than with them." Not long after this incident a propitious fate brought Rahel and a lady of Varnhagen's acquaintance face to face with him unter der Linden, The opportunity was not to be lost ; he walked awhile beside them, and before parting had diplomatically secured a general invitation to Rahel's salon in the Jagerstrasse. Varnhagen very soon availed himself of this long coveted permission. Let us hear his account of the first evening, VARNHAGEN'S FIRST VISIT. 63 which bears date about five years later than that of the ^^^• Count de S . " The company was extremely lively ; each one with all ease and freedom contributed his part ; artifice or hypocrisy had no chance of success. The unconstrained cheerful- ness of Rahel, her spirit of truth and straightforwardness, reigned supreme. I was permitted with youthful extrava- gance to excite myself against the French ; another to air his theatrical information ; the Frenchman received face- tious advice concerning his love affairs ; while Schack himself listened to the democratic outpourings of Vetter. All went smoothly on ; undue seriousness was lightened by wit and pleasantry, which in its turn was followed by sensible conversation, and so all was well balanced and full of animation. The open pianoforte invited to an occasional strain of music — Rahel herself being an accom- plished and enthusiastic mistress of the art — and thus perfected the whole. We separated in good time in a mood of elevated thought, which I indulged for some time, out alone in the starlight, while I vainly scanned my past life for the memory [of such another evening. My impatience would only allow a few days to elapse before repeating my visit. My confidence grew so rapidly, that I soon felt myself justified in coming every evening. I was eager to follow up these new ideas; to come into closer contact with those original truths and grand con- clusions which she opened out more strikingly before me at every step ; to enjoy and share those emotions pene- trated with intelligence of which I now became aware. Infinitely attractive and fruitful were those early days of 64 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 806. enthusiastic intercourse, to which I brought my richest treasures in exchange, and so far offered scarcely less than I received. I found myself face to face with the phenom- enon that Rahel, in the same measure as others seek to misrepresent themselves, strove to reveal her true self. She would speak of her adventures, sorrows, wishes, hopes, though all might be to her disadvantage, though they might appear to her as false and wrong, with the same unconstrained and profound truthfulness as though all were equally flattering and fortunate. This straight- forwardness I have never seen equalled in any other human being. . . . ** Rahel gave to every word, however indifferent, a charm of life, a character of truth and originality, which changed the ordinary into the extraordinary. In this way I breathed a new atmosphere, which affected me like poetry, and yet was the reverse of what is commonly so called. It was reality instead of illusion, the actual instead of the seeming. ** In her presence I was fully conscious of having before me a true human being, that glorious creation of God in its purest, most perfect type. Heart and intellect in lively interchange, active life stirring in every fibre, the whole nature a living harmony : everywhere original and naive utterance of thoughts, grand in their simplicity and wisdom. This nature expressed itself outwardly in word and act, in a manner characteristically prompt and clever. All this was animated and warmed by the purest good- ness, by an ever active love of humanity, the tenderest respect for each one's individuality, the liveliest sympathy for the joys and sorrows of those about her."^ » " Varnhagen von Ense, Denkwiirdigkeiten," vol. ii. p. 107. HER CONVERSATION. 65 This broad human sympathy, which found something 1S05 good or interesting in everybody, did not however always please Varnhagen ; still less did the social tolerance which admitted so many other visitors besides himself. An afternoon or evening to which he had looked forward , as an intellectual treat prepared for his own special en- joyment, Rahel would with naive cruelty devote to com- monplace people, whom she chose not only to receive, but expected him to assist in entertaining. This love of society, of humanity in any shape, is an essentially French element in her character. It was fostered by frequent in- tercourse with distinguished Frenchmen whom the emigra-^ tion, and later the occupation, brought to Berlin. It also, no doubt, gave the impetus to that wonderful conversa- tional power which not only so fitted her for society, but enabled her to produce a revolution in the spoken German of that day. She introduced conversation as an art. Ignorant of the dictum of Talleyrand, people really en- deavoured after her example to reveal their thoughts in the most pointed and appropriate language. During the winter of 1807-8 Fichte delivered in the Round Hall of the Academy his famous Reden, Such fearless patriotism came by slow degrees to inspire all classes in Berlin. It also gave the keynote to a small band of eager young men, once known as the North Star Band, They were all friends of Varnhagen and of Rahel, and counted among them Fouque, Chamisso, Hitzig, and Wilhelm Neumann. Being mostly but amateur writers they can scarcely be said to have influenced greatly the lite- rature of the day. They were, however, upright, vigorous men, whose work had one common patriotic object, and 6 66 RAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ALt 37. was of that healthy kind which never altogether misses 1808. its aim. Varnhagen's first effort in prose fiction was carried on at this time with his friend Neumann. They had admir- ingly read together Jean Paul's " Walt and Wult," which, as our readers will remember, contains in alternate chap- ters the history of two brothers. Under this inspiration, Varnhagen in a moment of enthusiasm dashed off an opening chapter, Neumann carried on the thread, and when it had become hopelessly entangled they called in the professional aid of Fouque. He dexterously loosened the knot, but at the same time led the charac- ters on into a new labyrinth of incident and there left them. Thus the work progressed, embodying a thou- sand passing impressions, events, jests, political grumbles, and personal disputes, all interesting to the circle among whom the manuscript was from time to time read aloud. The genius of Neumann appears to have raised some chapters to the dignity of satire. In 1808 the book was published by Reimar under the title, " The Efforts and Hindrances of Karl.'* Owing to the troubled state of the country, it was not deemed safe that the name of the publisher should appear, or that much should be done in the way of advertisement, so that the success of the work by no means equalled the expectations of the young authors. August Wilhelm Schlegel, then at Geneva with Madame de Stael, received a copy from Varnhagen, and believed him to be the author of the whole book, not discerning, critic though he was, its somewhat clumsy mosaic work. Ten years later, when Neumann and Varnhagen again met in Berlin, they endeavoured to QUIET HOURS. 67 gather up the broken thread and enter upon a second ^t 37, volume. But both had lived through much in the inter- * val, and if leisure had not failed them, the enthusiasm and the effervescing humour of early youth would assur- edly have done so. ** In the course of the summer (1808)," writes Varn- hagen, " Rahel removed into a country-house at Char- lottenburg, where I visited her as frequently as possible. I compressed all my work into the earlier part of the day ; my other intercourse I limited more and more, and I did not allow even the deepening twilight to prevent my hurrying over the intervening miles, on foot or otherwise, so that the busiest day might end in most delightful refreshment. The greater solitude in which I found my friend gave to our conversation and to our whole com- panionship a freer character and richer result. The reposeful shade before the door of the little house in the retired Schloss-strasse, the cool walks in the fragrant garden, along the shore of the Spree, and in the broad roads overhung with trees shading the quiet place — these charms of the neighbourhood, often heightened by the splendour of the moonlight or starlight, are in my memory inseparably interwoven with the loftiest flights of thought, the tenderest strains of lively emotion ; while animated differences and discussions prevented the undue prepon- derance of sentiment. ^ >!< * . * * t ** I was then twenty-four years old, Rahel my senior by more than half those years. This circumstance, taken by itself, might seem likely to have driven our lives widely 6- 68' RAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. /Et. 37. asunder. It was however but an accident — it was essen- tially of no account. This noble life, so rich in experience both of joy and sorrow, retained all its youthful vigour ; not only the powerful intellect which hovered above every- day regions, but the heart, the senses, the whole corporeal being were as though bathed in clear light. She stood a commanding presence between an accomplished past and a hopeful future. A lasting union was however at that time denied us. Nevertheless military service, journeys, bril- liant social distractions, the temptations of ambition and of inclination, the misunderstandings to w^hich the tedious separation gave rise, all left untouched the tie that bound me to Rahel, and could not for a moment shake my belief that I had found the happiness of my life, or slacken my continued efforts to attain its realisation." Impatient of the scientific deficiencies of Berlin, Varn- hagen left it for Tubingen, where, in company with his friend Harscher, he further prosecuted his medical studies. But to each of them the place seemed like a living sepul- chre after the social sunshine they had left. The oppor- tunities for work also proved disappointing. Varnhagen became depressed, and his despondency was not cheered by his intimacy with Justinus Kerner, who persecuted him with ghost stories and spiritual manifestations. Even Rahel's letters were not always consolations at this time, as she suffered much herself, and concealed nothing. To Varnhagen, in Tubingen. Thursday y October 27, 1808. Now it is true ; now it has really come, that terrible time which I would not even dread. How I struggled not LETTER TO VARNHAGEN, 69 to love you, and that was right. I would not again bow i^t. 37. my neck to the pain of loss, but perhaps it was nobler ^ ' after all to let the heart have its way. Happiness, how- ever, remains as usual, beyond reach. What might not life be with you ! but, as it is, we steer, and steer, and know not whither. . . . How alone I have been, without even one friend. In the first days of our acquaintance you asked me what I understood by a friend. When I had finished, you said it was what the ancients called friendship, it was friendship after the antique, and I animated the airy pictures myself. A Roland, a Don Quixote is not truer than I am. You must fill in my letters from this recollection, and from the knowledge that you have of me. I cannot express it. All that is most worth utterance, that is, the growth of sorrow- ful experience, can only utter itself in happiness, in joy, or in death. I have always said, or rather, never said but always felt, that sorrow is shamefaced. . . . I thought Jean Paul knew but little of me, and that the little was bad. The last time I wrote to him was about the women he puts into his books; I asked for something different. I thought he was hurt, and set me down as foolish and conceited. But he is wholly good. What a description you give of him — and so he has grown stout ? How much his opinions fluctuate is clear from his **^sthetics*' and his **Levana" — bad books. He is afraid and overawed by opinions which are at all startling or rousing ; and as the latest ones are of this kind, he sub- mits like a timid child, out of amiability. His work, more- over, is so spider-like, every fresh bit of prey is worked into the nearest web. Thus the modern "sensibility" half JO RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. >^t 37. terrifies him by its boldness and its tendency to Catholi- cism, but he creeps hesitatingly up behind it nevertheless. If a man is to remain original he must keep to himself; gifted as he is, he should not receive all and everything with open arms. His *' Dream of a Madman " is exquisite and genuine. From it you may judge what he is when left to himself. Acquaintance with other writers, even with their books, or worse still, with their critiques, is fatal to him. How has he come to speak of me as humorous? I think I never said anything of the kind in his presence. Perhaps it is because I do thoroughly enjoy and enter into the comic element in his writings, and he knows it. About his own studies, Rahel writes thus to Varnhagen, in December of the same year ; — ** Above all you must have freedom — freedom of heart. Give yourself entirely up to your study or composition while you are at it ; do not think of a friend, a model, not even of a great master, unless to avoid him ; forget the public, forget everything else in fact. Follow your inner- most, your noblest impulse ; represent yourself, all that you see, just as it appears to you. Whatever you find to be most lovely, or painful, or fearful, most fascinating or myste- rious, pour it out with your felicitous words. How is it that you can express to me so wonderfully, with pictu- resque incisive words, your growing thoughts, your changeful conflicting emotions ? If you handle the world and the public in the same way I am convinced all will go well. You have such a perception of your own nature, and are withal so straightforward, that it must give a certain originality to the power you put forth. ... I must LETTER TO VARNHAGEN. 71 counsel you, dear friend, to be truly yourself; work with ^t 37. a kind of abandon^ as though you were alone in the world, or at least as though you wrote in a language of your own, and must wait the coming of others who might speak it with you. How shall I make my meaning clear ?" Here is an outdoor picture a few days later . Saturday i December 9, 1808. To-day, just now, our troops are entering. Three hundred officers dine in the Komodiensaal : moreover there is to be a free performance to-night — Harlequin and a common- place piece. The whole town, except myself, has gone to see them. I cannot control my bitter, frequent tears of pain and chagrin. I had no idea how strongly I loved my country ! I dare not go out ; the sight of a Prussian hussar upsets me entirely. I was unspeakably pained this week to meet in the street a Prussian military man, after whom the people stared and the boys ran, and to be unable to make out whether he was an officer, a non-commissioner, or a private soldier. Perhaps you can hardly understand all this implies to a Berliner born in the time of Frederick the Second. As an Englishman knows all about parliament, the Frenchman about etiquette, the Swiss about peaks and glaciers, so the silliest girl in Berlin can unconsciously distinguish the grade of a uni- form or the imperfection of a march. I saw the man was a Prussian, but could make out nothing more. I entreat you not to write me a word about politics. My head aches and throbs as I think over the course of public affairs ; there is a sense of grim amusement, however, in watch- 72 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ing the follies of these corpse-like figures, all destined to be overthrown before great coming events. How lovely my long broad street looks at this moment, covered with snow under brilliant sunshine, and traversed by streams of people coming from the soldiers. A whole mile from the Bernauer Gate they have come. I did not think there were so many coaches, or ladies, or fur cloaks in all the world ! I have just now seen one troop go by ; they looked well. Like Frenchmen, very well, and as though they had seen some service. . . . CHAPTER V. Les peuples existent malgrd les gouvernements. — Mirabeau. If we call to mind the political condition of Germany during the earliest years of this century, we shall not be surprised that Rahel and the more thoughtful people in Berlin were occupied mainly by literary matters. For one or two hundred years the turbulent vitality of the old empire had been gradually dying out under the pressure of officialism, royal, courtly, and municipal. To the battles between Ulrich of Wirtemberg and the Swabian League, succeeded those memorable ones of the Regensburger Diet, as to which of its members should occupy the green chairs and which the red. At length, by the beginning of the nineteenth century, the people had become quiescent victims to royal incapacity and diplo- matic imbecility. No man any longer imagined that his existence or his work could in any way affect the state. The mass of the German nation in fact concerned itself only with the daily labour which provided the daily black bread and sausage, or veal and sauer-kraut. It worked and ate and slept. On holidays it took its pleasure along the sandy roads to Potsdam, Charlottenburg, and other places, listening to the military band (German or French), and drinking weissbier. It cared as little for outwitted ministers or defeated troops as it did about the queen's 74 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. [800-10. diamonds or the newest system of philosophy. The only demonstration of opinion concerning the French invasion was that evinced after the return of Haugwitz from his visit to Napoleon at Vienna, when all the windows of his house were broken. Hardenberg, on the other hand, who favoured war, and was forced to resign his office in con- sequence of the temporising policy of the government, received a military serenade every night until he left Berlin. These expressions were, however, not so much popular as military and aristocratic, owing their origin most probably to the enthusiasm of Prince Louis Fer- dinand. This unsatisfactory position of public affairs, in which nothing seemed certain but disgrace, drove the men and women of that day to the solace of litera- ture and to the stimulus of intellectual intercourse. When we dip into those voluminous letters wl^ich have come down to us, we are apt to throw them quickly aside as intolerably sentimental and conceited. We, of to-day, do not readily understand the zest with whjch they entered into and promoted each other's pursuits. In the onward hurry of mcidern life friendship dies out, and society comes to be valued less as. a source of en- joyment than as a means of advancement.' We should remember the comparative lightness of their conventional yoke and the abundant leisure which was at their disposal. Therr daily necessities were few, and their habits, whether at home or in society, were of enviable simplicity. Frau Levin, Henriette Herz, Schleiermacher and his sister, the hospitable Reimar family, and others would have their rooms and balconies filled to overflowing with evening FRIENDSHIP AND LEISURE. 75 guests, not only independent of the adjuncts of ices and 1800-10. champagne, but grateful if the supply of tea and bread and butter proved adequate to the demand. All suffered under the same straitened means, and none were ashamed of a poverty forced upon them from without. We ought also to remember the limitations of the literature which they possessed, the possible advantage of not having too many books to read. They were constrained to think for themselves, to understand for themselves, to criticise for themselves. The periodical literature of the day was especially scanty, was mostly in the hands of a few well- known critics, and was liable to suppression at any moment. They could not, therefore, receive with their morning coffee and hot roll a political and literary creed ready made, fresh from the printing press. Men and women were forced to work out for themselves problems of all kinds. The fact that they were politically bound hand and foot, gave greater intensity to their interest in other >. questions, social, sophistical, and sentimental. Denied all freedom in public affairs, they sought it in their conventional relations. Forbidden to allow their life to expand in its natural vigour, thrusting out branch and fruit into the wind and sunshine, they endeavoured within the appointed glass-house limits to trim and train it only to bear perfect flowers ; and as plants will do when reared under a blue glass, not a few of them outgrew their strength. The time was one of confusedly stirring ideas, which everybody, eager for novelty, at once seized upon and criti- cised, each one expecting great things of his neighbour as well as of himself. This naturally led to great glorifica- 76 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1800-10. tion of the individual, often of the common-place. It fostered self-scrutiny and self-worship to a degree which would have been entirely mischievous but for the coun- terbalancing element of actual literary work. This saved them from sinking into a ** Mutual Admiration Society.*' Both men and women followed out studies in language or literature, science or poetry, from genuine love of such pursuits. Varnhagen and his young fellow- students studied with a definite end, either medicine or theology as the case might be, but they also did a good deal of less systematic work, from an eager desire for knowledge and self-culture. The modern idea of ''getting on '* in life, as the main incentive to work of any kind, was as yet undeveloped. A student could then afford sometimes to stop by the dusty roadside to gather a flower or to enjoy the outlook across the valley into the distant horizon. Varnhagen did not write his immature romance to bring his name before the public, nor did Schleiermacher follow the inspiration of a remotely anticipated bishopric when he persevered at his *' Monologues " in the discour- aging isolation of Potsdam. They sought out truth and beauty in all directions diligently, they made them known readily, and above all they admired heartily. From the redundant correspondence of the period, we may gather that, with the intellectual sympathy and real friendship, there was a considerable admixture of mere sentiment and undeniable flirtation. With so imperfect a balance of mental equilibrium, the result of their cramped condition, they were in danger of running into extremes at all points. It can be no matter for surprise if an adventurous few, bent upon solving, in a lifetime, A WAKENING PA TRIO TISM, 77 the knotty problems of centuries, should have made ship- 1800-10. wreck among the abounding rocks and quicksands. After all, when we have satisfactorily censured the society which Rahel and Henriette Herz so enjoyed and adorned, we cannot but see two points in which it may well deserve our envy. The individuality of personal character, which must have given a varied charm to social intercourse such as we can never hope to know ; and the keen relish for intellectual enjoyment, which is becoming less and less compatible with our own condition of material prosperity. Sumptuousness and care are a poor exchange for simplicity, with her handmaid, cheerfulness. And the few thoughts which we work out for ourselves are of in- finitely more value than the many we receive at second hand. Just as the iron work of Peter Vischer is above those productions of machine manufacture which pass for works of art ; as the Sebaldus shrine is above the Skidmore screen; the modern advantage of having our opinions decided, our plain sewing and our fine art per- fected for us, is perhaps not altogether beyond question. Even before the peace of Tilsit, the burden of national disaster and disgrace had become intolerable. The thinkers at length broke silence. Patriotic men uttered their indignation, each in his own way. Steffens, in burning words to the students at Halle ; Jean Paul in his " Morning Gleams " from the sunny repose of his garden at Baireuth ; Schleiermacher, in his " Discourses ; " Arndt, in self-sacrificing effort and in lyrical enthusiasm ; and above all, the genius and patriotism of Fichte kindled a sympathetic fire in the hearts of all classes, when in the winter of 1807-8, within sound of the French drums, in 78 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS, i 800-10. daily peril of liberty and life, he delivered his famous Reden an die Deutsche Nation, Even in down-trodden Hamburg an effort was made by Perthes to rouse and sustain the patriotic spirit with which he so fully sympathised. His project was to start a journal, which should concentrate the thought and effort of intellectual patriots. It was to be called the ** National Museum," but the first number did not appear until 1810. Associated with it were, Feuerbach, Rumohr, the Schle- gels, Eichhorn, Stolberg, Arndt, Fouque, Gorres, Steffens, Grimm, and others. Goethe, in ansv/er to an appeal for interest and help, characteristically replied, ** I must, though reluctantly, decline to take part in so well-meant an institution." In Halle, the students, roused by the eloquence of Steffens, had lifted their voice against the French con- queror. Napoleon, who hated thought as he hated freedom, at once broke up the university. It was but a handful of impetuous young men who were thus dis- persed throughout the country ; but, like sparks among the summer brushwood, they kindled everywhere little flames, which at length became a widespread conflagration. That awakening patriotism and growing spirit of resist- ance which Napoleon sought to stifle in the class-rooms of Halle faced him seven years later in consolidated form upon the field of Leipsic. Thus, Steffens, Schleiermacher, Varnhagen, and others, came full of enthusiasm from Halle, to find in Berlin only apathy. The King of Prussia, after trimming between the French and Russian Emperors, until neither believed in him, was constrained to leave Berlin and join his army. OFFICIAL INCAPACITY, 79 Next followed the garrison, of whose exodus Henriette 1800-10. Herz wrote years afterwards, in her pleasantest vein of reminiscence. Let us look at one of her graphic pictures of those details which go to make the groundwork of history. " Of the bravery of the army, men as well as officers, none of us had any doubt, but the character of some of the leaders filled us with the gravest apprehensions. What men they were to be placed in opposition to the great un- conquered soldier of the day, with his veteran and enthu- siastic generals. ** There was the Duke of Brunswick at seventy-two, who might well have rested in his happy escape thirteen years before, and not again have imperilled the military glory of his youth. There was Field-Marshal Mollendorf, his senior by ten years, a man whom we met daily, and could study at our leisure. We used to see the handsome old man, with his kindly face and lingering traces cf feminine beauty, sitting in his dressing-gown and skull-cap at the first-floor window of the Government House. He would either be enjoying the spring rose-buds as they put forth inside the railing in front of the house, or watching the jubilant school children as they trooped by from school morning and afternoon. He was one of those men of whom, in spite of his high position, people never talked. I remember to have heard only one characteristic story about him. He was extremely careful as to the details of his housekeeping. One day, in the absence of his cook, he was greatly elated at buying a fat capon at a very low price : he bought it at the door from one of those men 8o ^ RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1 800-10. from other parts of the country who served in the Prussian army, and were allowed to do a little business of this kind on their own account. The field-marshal remonstrated with the cook on his return about the high prices he was content to give for such articles, and was confronted by the fact that this identical capon had been stolen from his own poultry yard ! " This comfortable old gentleman, this careful house- keeper, who, apart from the antiquity of his military experience, was fit only to be the subject of one of Voss's idylls, could not but present the most painful contrast to that successful and vigorous commander whom we saw in all the print shops in Berlin, as he dashed, standard in hand, across the bridge of Arcole and seized the victory. .... But we did not yet despair, a nimbus still sur- rounded the phrase, * The Prussian Army.' We still possessed the * Star of Prussia,' before which that of Bonaparte was to fade away. The most thoughtful among us tried to stave off their almost intolerable presentiment of evil ; dreading to entertain those worst fears, which they knew to be well grounded, in spite of cheerful phrases. Their only comfort was, 11 y a un dieu des ivrognes, " But what availed all self-deception, all narcotics ? The hurtling thunder of Saalfeld scared even the most confident. The first engagement a defeat, and a defeat accompanied by the death of so well known and remark- able a man as Prince Louis Ferdinand. No time was left us to cherish our grief; reports came in quick succes- sion from the seat of war. ** The next report, it is true, was incorrect. Soult, it ' QUIESCENT BERLINERS. 8i said, was beaten, and his whole corps made prisoners. 1800-10. This announcement was made to the public by a placard upon the ground-floor of one of the ministers' houses in the Behren-Strasse, I think that of Haugwitz. Had it been well founded its importance would have been incalculable. But no joyful excitement was perceptible among the people. After the first hour there was no crowd collected to decipher the writing upon the absurd little placard. Several hours later in the day I went myself to the house, in order to allay my doubts. I found only one person there, and he was the porter, who paced gloomily up and down in front. Had the Prussian nation become stupefied, or had it ceased altogether to exist ? . . . " But the terrible news of the next day put an end to all conjecture. No one disputed the truth of this new an- nouncement, which was remarkable enough. It has often been incorrectly repeated, but I think I remember perfectly each word: they seemed to burn into my soul. " * The king has lost a battle. Quiet is the first duty of the citizen. I require it from the inhabitants of Berlin. The king and his brother live.' " How laconic and how superfluous. Who was there in Berlin who thought of disturbing its * quiet ' ? This placard also was read. Upon a few faces it raised an expression of fear, but the majority remained unmoved, or passed on with a shake of the head, which implied that things were going on too fast. These Berliners, who were thus exhorted to maintain * quiet,' were so child- ishly peaceful in their disposition, that when the peace - preaching general was leaving the town a day or two after, at the head of his last handful of troops., 7 82 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1800-10. they surrounded him, begging him not to forsake them. ** * I shall leave my children here,' replied the warrior. ** The people were somewhat taken aback. No one knew who these ' children ' were. Some thought it a mys- terious expression, concealing some hidden palladium. He referred, however, only to the Princess Hatzfeld and her husband, the former an intimate friend of mine, who was not a little surprised to hear that she was left behind as a pledge for the safety of Berlin. ** This was the last deed of the last general who for many years left Berlin at the head of his troops. His first was perhaps not more heroic. He had become general of the infantry, as he had also become head of the bank and of marine affairs, general postmaster, privy councillor, cabinet minister, curator or president of the academy ; and had united in his person all these hetero- geneous offices and dignities, because for years it had been an established rule that every vacant and remunera- tive office should be conferred upon the Count von Schu- lenberg-Rehnert. When the mother of King Frederick William III. died at Montbijou, two worthy citizens met outside the palace. *' * Do you know the Queen Dowager is dead ? ' asked one. '* * Ei ! Then who is to be Queen Dowager now?' replied the other. " 'Who is to be? Why Schulenberg, of course,' was the answer. . . . ** The day upon which the French troops entered Berlin was in keeping with its predecessors. The win- THE ''SPOON guards:' 83 dows were filled with curious spectators, as though upon 1800-10. some rarely festive occasion. But of that character the entry certainly had nothing, and it was this fact perhaps which roused the first emotion in these eventful days. The troops streamed along in the worst possible discipline according to Prussian ideas ; little fellows in grey cloaks, talking noisily together, riding three on one horse, and pouY comhle d'horreur upon their three - cornered hats, in close proximity to those tricolours which had figured victoriously in two hemispheres, was stuck a leaden spoon ready for instant service. Nothing thaws a crowd like a good joke, and the Berliners had no sooner apostrophised them as * Spoon Guards ' than they began to look more lively; indeed, they almost felt as though they were vic- torious over the victors. Only now and then a sad face appeared. It was sure to belong to- some half-pay Prus- sian officer, who shook his grey head, unable to comprehend how such undisciplined hordes could conquer the Prussian soldier, with his immaculate uniform-, his unexampled drill." For twa years the French soldiers were q.uartered in Berlin, and not only the purses but the wits of the German housewives were sorely exhausted in providing for them. In the matter of wine a notorious compound was achieved, which was known long afterwards as "quartering wine." A few economical mothers consoled themselves with the reflection that their daughters were getting for nothing "first-rate French conversation lessons." When at length a peace was patched together and the French evacuated Berlin, its inhabitants had been two 7 '' 84 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1 800-10. years without sight of a Prussian uniform. The most insignificant individual bearing that symbol of authority would have been made welcome. But when, upon the loth of December, 1808, the first troops who appeared were the " Schill Battalion," headed by the already fa- mous Major Schill, their enthusiasm knew no bounds. This young officer, of Hungarian descent, was known to have fought bravely at Auerstadt, fallen into the hands of the French, escaped from them, and made his way to Kolberg, a small fortress in Pomerania. There the ruling authority was Colonel Lucadou, a conscientious official of the old school, firm in his belief in red tape generally, and in his own position as a kind of Providence to the lesser order of beings who wore no uniforms. In fact, one of those consequential dummies who had become a curse to the Prussian army, and against whom for years past Scharnhorst had been slowly working. Lieutenant Schill saw that the garrison alone was unequal to the defence of the town: he stirred up the patriotism of the citizens, and, with the help of a brave ship's captain, Knettlebeck, put the outworks into a tenable condition. He dashed out with his little troop upon the convoys of the enemy, harassed them in many directions, and once or twice inflicted upon them serious losses, all in despite of one arrest and many angry oaths from the help- less colonel. Thus for several weeks Schill held Kolberg, until Gneisenau came to take the command. Then ex- perience, ardour, and untiring vigilance kept up the defence until July, 1807, when news of peace came, and Kolberg was the only Prussian fortress which had not ' capitulated. f THE ''SCHILL battalion:' 85 " Let all the world believe," said Gneisenau generously, 1800-10. *' that it was Schill alone who defended Kolberg. The state will be so much the better for it. He is young, and can render important service to the great German cause through his popularity and his widely spreading fame : we must give all glory to such men." The king made Schill major of a regiment of hussars, allowing his little troop of infantry, which had seen such brilliant service under him, to bear the title of the " Schill Battalion," and ap- pointing for them the distinction of first entering Berlin. All through the towns and villages they made one trium- phal march ; while in the city itself, shouting crowds, triumphal arches, wreaths of flowers, jubilant music, balls, and free theatres awaited them. ** These people make too much of me," said Schill, naively. The clouds of incense oppressed him. But he seemed made to be a popular hero, and every tale of his daring deeds fitted rightly to that simple outspoken man, with those agile limbs, those fine features, and those wonderful brown eyes. Schill was now thirty-six, and the most popular man in Prussia — idolised by the soldiers, distinguished by the king, and holding a position of which Scharnhorst thus wrote to him ; — " You are in a fine position, and the time is at hand in which we must be able to reckon upon powerful action. You must have an eye to the state of affairs in Austria : in this year (1809) probably war will break out there, perhaps even in the spring. We must then be ready at all points, and upon you I count most of all. It would be well if you could get possession of Magdeburg, and 86 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1 800-10. rouse central Germany. You will find no lack of sym- pathy among the inhabitants. But you must wait for the signal, and precipitate nothing." We all know how prophetic these words proved, how through the failure, of the Dornberg attempt Schill's com- plicity in it was discovered. He was in communication with the Tiigend-Bund and other secret organisations, which in spite of the precautions of Napoleon were active throughout the country. Finding his plans thus abruptly disclosed, Schill marched his six hundred men out of Berlin, addressed them in enthusiastic words, and led them on towards Magdeburg. Hundreds of young men followed him from Berlin, among them a friend of Rahel and Varnhagen, Alexander von Marwitz, a young man of ardent patriotism and rare intellectual promise. But Schill's plans, when he found himself thus forced into action, w^re only half developed, and the country by no means ripe for the movement. He was defeated at Magdeburg, was unable to join Dornberg, and was further dismayed by the intelligence of a defeat in Austria. Perplexed and discouraged, Schill lost some precious days, unable to come to any decision. At length he made for Stralsund, having first communicated with the English admiral in the Baltic. He reached Stralsund on the 25th of May, just as the gunners were firing a salute in honour of Napoleon's entry into Vienna. With his handful of followers he took possession of the town, where they found ample store of food and ammunition. A price of 10,000 francs was set upon the head of ce brigand Schill^ and the Dutch and Westphalian troops were coming up SCHILL AND SCHARNHORST. 87 behind; but in front was the Island of Rugen, the open xSoo-io. sea, and the English cruisers, who surely would arrive in time to show their teeth to the Dutchmen. But day after day the forlorn little garrison looked out to sea for the help which did not come. On the 31st of May Gratien came up, fired into the half-open breaches of Stralsund, climbed the ramparts, took the twenty rusty old guns, and drove the garrison inch by inch into the streets. There, in a hand-to-hand fight, Schill fell, instantly killed. On the same evening, when all was lost, the English cruisers slowly hove in sight. It was not known where Schill's body was buried, and in the popular fancy he long survived, rescued from Stralsund, and waiting to lead on his country to a terrible retribution. ^ Schill was, perhaps, an idealist, but he stands out an heroic figure when all heroism seemed dead. He woke up the soul of the liberation movement. He was the beating heart, Scharnhorst the working hand: both were pioneers, not of 1813 only, but of 1870. They died in harness, neither saw the promised land of freedom for which they had yearned and laboured. Among those few, scarcely two hundred, w^ho escaped the slaughter of Stralsund and the savage vengeance of the French authorities, was the young volunteer Alexander von Marwitz. When he reached Berlin he was forced to conceal himself most carefully, sleeping each night in a different house, or bivouacking under the spring foliage and spring rains of the Thier-Garten, then a suburban region untroubled by police. He contrived to let Rahel know of his escape. She communicated with Varnhagen, ^ Appendix G. 88 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS, 800-10. who had just returned from Tubingen. The friends met often, and discussed with chafing restlessness the despe- rate condition of the country, the impossibility of remain- ing still, and the hopelessness of action. With the repulse of Napoleon at Aspern, however, hope again revived. Varnhagen at once decided to join the Austrian army as a volunteer. He started in company with Von Marwitz, and together they shared the fatigue, the hope, the disappointment of the long and hard-fought battle of Wagram. Just before its close, upon the 6th of July, Varnhagen was wounded, and carried by a comrade from the field. Then, with other sufferers, he was con- veyed away in a jolting country cart under the burning sun, which raised large blisters upon his neck as he lay, until some compassionate hand threw over him a large bough off a linden tree. Arrived at the village of Zisters- dorf, he passed there the weary weeks of convalescence. By the friendly aid of crutches he was at length enabled to find his way down to the little flower garden below the house ; to visit and study the notabilities of the village — the Ajntmann, or squire, the pastor, the Franciscan monk who envied the pastor, and the gentle lady who visited the wounded and left them fragrant flowers. This little idyll was somewhat rudely broken in upon by the arrival of French troopers, who stayed some weeks in the house, and insisted upon taking Varnhagen to Vienna as prisoner of war. Upon his arrival there Varnhagen at once applied to the military authorities, representing that he had been brought from Zistersdorf at the caprice of a French colonel after the peace negotiations had already been set on foot. The official shrugged his shoulders, and THE CAMP AT PRESBURG. 8^ said there was nothing to be done but to wait in Vienna iSoo-io. until the exchange of prisoners was arranged. Varnhagen was permitted to retain his sword, at that time his only possession, his baggage having remained with the regiment since the battle of Wagram. The faded uniform which he continued to wear, not in patriotic defiance, but from sheer necessity, won for him an enthusiastic reception in many a true Austrian house : from those of Arnstein, Eskeles, and Pereira he received especial kindness. After the lapse of many weeks an intimation came to him that he was at liberty to rejoin his regiment, then stationed near Pres- burg. Here Varnhagen passed dreary days and weeks in a small hut crowded with officers, who had no thought beyond card-playing and smoking. The camp was un- healthy, sickness carried off the feeble and depressed the strong. The regiment of his friend Von Marwitz at length came into the neighbourhood, and they eagerly sought each other's society and sympathy. They felt alike the dread of a disgraceful peace and the impossibility of con- tinuing the war ; they talked of their Berlin friends, and especially of Rahel. For her Marwitz entertained a strong chivalrous kind of worship, which he made no effort to conceal, only yielding up the prize to Varnhagen as to an acknowledged superior. When, after tedious weeks of waiting, a letter from Rahel, dated months before, was handed to Varnhagen, he shared the closely covered sheets with Marwitz as a common property. Often did they discuss together the short campaign and the sudden collapse of the Austrian army. The troops which had fought against unequal numbers with such 90 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1 800-10. persistent energy through August and September were now reduced by one half. The publication of a list of 90,000 sick and wounded, and the sight of suffering and mismanagement on all hands, forced upon Varnhagen the bitter conclusion that peace was an absolute necessit}-. Hundreds of poor sufferers were daily exposed to the October wet and cold in the streets and courtyards ; hundreds more were placed on board ships going further up the Danube, there to die from inanition or miasma ; while others, still more unfortunate, " left hope behind" as they entered the military hospitals, where typhus and mis- rule proved more fatal than the bayonets of the enemy. Among the many victims of the unhealthy camp was Count Bentheim, the colonel of Varnhagen's regiment. Dissatisfied with the treatment of the staff-surgeon, he insisted that Varnhagen's advice should be followed, and that he should remain in constant attendance upon him. With such a breach of etiquette upon his conscience, it is surprising that the count recovered. He did so, neverthe- less, thereby defeating the dreary prophecies of the dis- comfited staff- surgeon. But the fact that an officer of rank should have been attended and cured by a man who possessed no title, civil, military, or medical, was a con- ventional sin which nothing could condone. Varnhagen was not sorry therefore to leave the neighbourhood where etiquette or miasma might any day prove fatal, and to accompany Count Bentheim to Vienna, and thence to Paris, on family affairs. Varnhagen remained in Paris during the summer of 1810, which it will be remembered was marked in the Parisian world by a series of costly demonstrations in VARNHAGEN IN PARIS, 9r honour of Napoleon's marriage with the Archduchess 1 800-10. Marie Louise. The triumphs of the upholsterers and firework makers reached their climax on the occasion of that fete at the Austrian Embassy, which has become historic from its tragical termination. Varnhagen was present when the imperial pair passed through the saloons to the sounds of triumphant music, the emperor glancing grimly round him. Later in the evening he saw by the lurid light of flames a surging crowd of terrified human beings driven hither and thither by the advancing fire ; and in the grey dawn discovered with Dr. Gall, under the charred ruins, an unrecognisable human form, which the uninjured jewels proved to be that of the Austrian ambassadress. The frequent opportunities now offered to Varnhagen of studying the French emperor contributed to intensify his old feelings of animosity. In spite of all that was daz- zling in the imperial court life, in. spite of visits to the Louvre, to Madame de Stael at Chaumont, and to the in- tellectual Henriette Mendelssohn, Varnhagen found him- self tormented by genuine German home sickness. He therefore gladly returned with his friend Count Bentheim to a family estate in Westphalia ; while the reigning count remained behind in Paris, hoping vainly to obtain from Napoleon the restitution of his territorial and princely rights, and clinging to every relic of his vanishing royalty, down to the red shoe rosettes which called forth such sar- castic remarks at his morning promenades. In his *' Memoirs" Varnhagen gives a charming account of the life in the family chateau at Steinfurt ; of the odd mixture of court etiquette and farm-house freedom; of the French espionage which abstracted his papers and 92 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 800-10. reported him to head-quarters, and of the friendly but futile warning which he received from an old French officer '* not to write so many letters." He continued, however, to indite, and also to receive them. Most of those from Rahel at this time to Varnhagen are enig- matical to us, from our utter ignorance of the difficulties, troubles, misunderstandings, and mischief - makings to which they often allude. ^ Public affairs are purposely avoided. Here we have a sketch of her first introduction to Frau von Fouque. *' In my unhappiness yesterday I forgot to mention that Frau von Fouque had been with me the day before. De hut en hlanc; most amiable ; she brought her son with her. I found her charming. Hanna brought her to me ; Marwitz also was here ; we all breakfasted together. As soon as she entered the room, both of us, and therefore the whole company, were as though we had known each other for fifty years. She is a femme coiisonunee, and I observed in her the * thirty charms,' and many other gifts. Marwitz knows her ; she treats him admirably, and also Hanna, but her behaviour to her son is surpassingly good. There is a delightful sense of freedom about her, not a trace of that pride of which people accuse her; still Hanna says she is not quite the same here as at home. Marwitz also likes her. To-day she has returned home, and I must write to Fouque and congratulate him. Her eyes are lovely when raised, as they often are in animated talk. It was unceremonious of her to come, for Fouque has never mentioned her to me in his letters. I Appendix H . LETTERS TO VARNHAGEN, 93 " How odd it is with me ! Generally it is the authors i8oo-io. who are visited, but now the writers seek me — a poor miserable reader ! Really I believe I understand the art of silence with the pen as a few clever people do with the mouth. ;;< 5!' * * * * " This very moment, dear friend, have I received your letter. And first I must speak of Steffens, whom I never saw, but I have always felt attracted towards him. Do not be surprised when I tell you I have read his essay upon the universities, and now — do not laugh — am reading his geognostico-geological essays, as a preparation for a study of the inner history of the earth. I took them away from Humboldt. To him history and nature are one, and thus only do I care to have them treated; thus do I think, unlearned as I am, and know that I understand him. But I cannot write more about him, because I did so at once enthusiastically to Marwitz, and you know me. . . . **The university (of Berlin), if it remain only a begin- ning, is a grand thing ; it wins upon the people in all directions ; it is an intellectual result. It has sprung up under humiliation, poverty, fear, disorder. May Phoebus send only quickening beams upon this spontaneous life ! Neumann has been with the count on his estates since September. My illness has interrupted my correspondence with Fouque, but I am reading much of his, and Robert hears from the baroness. My only amusement just now is corresponding with Gentz. Marwitz is said to be in Friedersdorf. Berlin is not more beautiful than it used to be, and everything else is more odious, so that in winter one hardly knows where to wish oneself ! Prince de Ligne 94 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. i8o3-io writes to me, and last week I sent him six pages of French without a qualm of conscience. Wolf the philologist has been lately in Vienna, and commends the amiability of Frederick Schlegel ! Wolf's writing is exquisite, and sur- passes that of any other German." Altogether it was now a very dreary time for Rahel in Berlin. The pleasant social circle was entirely broken up. The young men, as we have seen, were scattered in many directions. Frederick Schlegel and his wife had left for Paris and elsewhere. Tieck was settled in Dresden. Fouque had married the proprietress of a large estate, and was divided between devotion to his handsome wife and to his own fantastic heroes. Henriette Herz was dragging out a weary exile in the island of Rugen, as governess in the family of her friend Frau von Kathen. But the solitude of the place, beyond reach of the tiniest ripple of the tide of events, became insupportable to her at the end of two years, and she returned again to her beloved Berlin. The same financial depression which had so affected the slender pension of Madame Herz also told upon the remaining members of the Levin family. The house in the Jagerstrasse was given up, and in 1811 we find Rahel in furnished rooms, tormented by anxiety and loneliness, by grief for the state of the country, and uncertainty concerning Varnhagen. She sought distrac- tion in visiting Frau von Grotthuss or the Schleiermachers, and in writing letters of infinite variety, from the philo- sophical to the trivial. Here is one of the latter kind, written to Alexander von Marwitz. His health had suf- fered much since the campaign of W^agram ; with RAHEL TO VON MARWITZ, 95 shattered nerves, and his mind a prey to the gloomiest 1800-10. forebodings, he sought to regain some vigour by baths at Friedersdorf. Thursday y 3 in the afternoon y May 9, 181 1. To-day, dear friend, this is only a greeting which I send you, although I have much to write to you, and in fact have written much in thought for two days past. Everything connects itself with you. Yesterday morning Nanny sat a long time with me, and later Madame Schleiermacher. In the afternoon came Harscher, with whom I went to Bellevue. He spent the evening with me; became subdued, after his fashion, which fashion is to be affected by nothing that is actually before him, not eve;i myself! Nevertheless he said I did him good. I am scarcely alive, through exhaustion and irritation of the nerves : you may see this in my handwriting. I be- come weaker every day, although with some intervals of respite ; some exalted moods, which I may try to explain to you. I saw Madame Wolf and Frau von Grotthuss this morning. I have arranged a multitude of affairs, and also received a visit from Madame Bethmann. Now I shall dine and rest, then to see Wolf in a comedy. You shall have an account of the performance, also of the evening with Frau von Grotthuss. Her husband pleases me, and to-morrow, when I go with them to Madame Bethmann, I mean to pay him pointed attentions. I have already much consoled Frau von G., who is disgusted with Berlin. She said to me to-day, '*I begin to feel better now that you are here again " (from Charlottenburg), and would not let me 96 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1800-10. go. Again I am the Maid of Orleans. I, *' who have ac- complished all these miracles," how do I feel myself? Strangely enough, Marwitz; w^eary, tormented, but not ill. And how I treasure, how I appreciate w^hatever is left me to love. You will write to me. Adieu. How heavenly is the spring foliage here, the town seems under some wonderful spell of enchantment. I wish you had stayed until to-day, that I might have seen it with you. Of the Schleiermachers and the rest, another day. They are going to beg Bettine from me. Imagine it ! The baths at Friedersdorf might be all very well as accessories, but Rahel believed the spiritual healing of her friend depended much upon herself ; so she varied the Berlin chit-chat with grave advice, with aphorisms, and fragments of thought, such as she was in the habit of thinking out for herself. Friday morning. Half-past ten. Brilliant sunshine; the shutters half closed. If you had not written, " Answer me at once," I should have been uncertain whether letters of that kind pleased you, in which I pour out what happens to cross my mind. You do the same yourself, rather than respond to me. This time you are right, and this one expression is a response to all that I wrote. But in future, answer a little more what I have said. For instance, have you read Adam Miiller's book ? Your house pleases me ; it is sensibly and care- fully arranged. You ought to be comfortable in it, to sleep well within those thick walls, which shelter alike from heat and cold. Are the chestnut trees so close to ■*■ RAHEL TO MARWITZ, 97 your window that you can touch them? Do you look in 181 1. among the boughs, or right away beyond them ? How do you occupy yourself ? Can you work ? You must give your body time to make progress. For this your spirit , needs refreshment. The healthiest minds become so 1^ through other minds. As the healthiest organisations are ^ most easily disturbed, so only the dullest minds can thrive " in solitude. (Study this writing : it is achieved by a piece of wood pointed with scissors.) I fret myself to death about you, until you are set right. What can a man do with such a consciousness as you have ? You cannot escape this epoch. There are only local truths; time is nothing but the condition under which they exist, work, and develop. All known beings are thus limited, each man to his day. Ours is a day in which our conscious- ness reflects itself with dizzy repetition on into infinity. I To evaporate, to perish of inanition, is now the fate of the most heroic and gifted nature, especially if it be humanly gifted and allied to keen speculative power, imagination, and a strong but tender heart. In this shattered, new world, which has cast out alike Greeks, Romans, Bar- barians, and Christians, there is nothing left for a thinking man but the heroism of science. Those state-heroes who first annihilate and then conquer do not require any par- ticular consciousness. But you are a man doubly gifted, with a twofold intellect, and you stand gagged and bound. This is your misfortune. Again Rahel writes on June 28th : — ** In Friedersdorf there is no society of the kind you need, intelligent, animating intercourse. You might 8 98 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1811. endure it if you could at the same time carry out some severe study, or follow some occupation which would give freedom to your future life. But what in heaven's name is to come of your simply waiting there ? I did once ven- ture to hint that you should go to Teplitz, but your horror of idleness, your feeble plan about an appointment, your indefinite one about studying, combined to prevent my repeating it. Now, however, I am convinced it is Teplitz that you need. A lovely valley, a free and easy life in pleasant society, with the possibility (according to your present mood) of avoiding everybody whenever you like. There are baths of all kinds. You will find there Goethe, Gentz, the Duke, Varnhagen, Adam Miiller, also Sprecher, numerous acquaintances of mine, and myself as organiser, as salt and savour to all these things ! . . . The longer you remain where you are the harder it will be to move. In Teplitz it will be delightful, we shall see a number of people, enjoy their society, discuss them, study them, laugh at them. No one will prevent you from reading, bathing, or doing what you like. ... I go to Dresden for a few days, acid thence over the Geiersberg to Teplitz." CHAPTER VI. My cherished wishes blossom, And wither again at a breath, And blossom again and wither, And so on until death. This know I. and it saddens All love and joy, once so blest ; My heart is so wise and witty. And bleeds away in my breast. Heine, translated by Bowring. During these two or three unsettled years Rahel had renewed her acquaintance and correspondence both with Fouqu6 and his wife. The letters of the latter deepen our impression of the painfully oppressed and suffering state of the country. Frau von Fouque had been brought up at Nennhausen, an estate belonging to her father, Herr von Briest. It appears to have been within the radius of Berlin culture, since many families at home upon the neighbouring estates offered refined and intelligent society, which was varied in the Von Briest household by the frequent visits of literary men from Berlin. Thus Caroline von Briest had that double advantage not often enjoyed, the stimulus of personal intercourse with supe- rior minds, combined with leisure in which to think over and mature the various subjects constantly suggested to her. She was alive to all that passed about her ; receiving, 8* -loo RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS, 1811. assimilating, and then reproducing, with her own indi- vidual stamp, every impression from without. In person she was tall and graceful, with regular features, and an imposing regal air, which commanded much homage. Caroline selected among many suitors Herr von Rochow, a young officer, possessing an estate in the neighbourhood, and attached to a regiment quartered at Potsdam. After a few years of married life gambling became his absorbing passion, and everything went wrong. Caroline was no • Griselda, she took her three children, and returned home to her father at Nennhausen. The infatuated Von Rochow continued the same course until, in a fit of frenzy at his persistent run of ill-luck at the gaming table, he drew his pistol and shot himself. Many well known philosophers and poets as well as dilettante writers found their way to the free and sylvan repose of Nennhausen. Among the young men scarcely yet known to fame was Baron de la Motte Fouque, who, on plea of ill-health, had abandoned his military career and devoted himself to literary pursuits. He lived in an unreal world, the creation of his own romantic and unre- strained imagination. To think of Fouque mixing in every-day Berlin life is as impossible as to conceive of Sir Launcelot eating dinners at Lincoln's Inn and writing for the " Saturday Review." It was superfluous to address to him that characteristic entreaty of Heine, — Oh, leave Lerlin, with its thick-lying sand, Weak tea, and men who seem so much to know. That they both God, themselves, and all below With Hegel's reason alone understand. The brilliancy and vigour of Frau von Rochow took the DE LA MOTTE FOUQUE. loi dreamy poet as though by storm, whilst, on the other 1811. hand, his romantic mysticism acted like a spell upon her more practical nature. The end of the matter was that I this fair-haired minnesinger, this poetic figure under the name of Fouque, hung his shield and lance up in the ancestral hall of Nennhausen, and took its presiding genius as his wife and ruler over everything — except his pen. Whilst Varnhagen, quite a young man, was studying medicine and coquetting with literature in Berlin, he became acquainted with the Fouques through their com- mon friend Chamisso. In the Whitsuntide vacation of 1807 he was at length able to gratify his long-cherished wish of visiting the hospitable family at Neunhausen. I On the first evening of his arrival he was startled and surprised at the forcible contrast between Fouque's deli- cate feminine appearance, his thin apologetic voice, and generally subservient manner, and the conscious power which marked every word and action of his handsome and stately wife. He felt a chivalrous attraction toward the apparently hen-pecked poet, and a corresponding aversion to the ruling authority. |: Before long, however, he discovered that his sympathy ? and his dislike were equally misplaced. Fouque was a crowned king in his own airy realm, where alone he cared to reign. In his writing-room, surrounded by old books and new manuscripts, his imagination had free play, and his fertile brain arrayed it in poetic figures and graceful language. He wrote with wonderful rapidity, rarely stopping to reflect or to make an alteration: his subject possessed him entirely. To him at least his mediaeval I02 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1811. heroes appeared real, although a future public came to look upon them as " all armour and sentiment/' With Frau von Fouque, Varnhagen explored the rural beauties of Nennhausen. In the first days of the *' leafy month of June " they wandered through the well-kept park, round the lake by which it was enlivened, and out into the jubilant summer woods beyond. Thus he came to know and understand her better ; to see not only her failings, which were upon the surface, but to divine some- what of the intellectual power which was as yet unde- veloped, and which in this world never found its accordant utterance. Varnhagen took back with him to Berlin Frau von Fouque's first novel, " Roderic," with a promise to see it through the press. Upon Varnhagen's testimony, the book, although rough and unpolished in style, bore traces of thought and vigour such as never appeared in Fouque's writings, yet it was entirely eclipsed by them. Her admi- ration of her husband's work led her to endeavour to write after his manner. By degrees she abandoned all that was original and characteristic of herself, yet without being able to adopt successfully what was in truth quite foreign to her nature. She could not breathe the air of that ethereal region of light and colour in which Fouque was at home. The warmth, the brilliant tones which some- times play about her work, are not her own, but like sun- light through a coloured window, unreal and transitory. Intellectual labour of some kind appears to have become a necessity to her, and Varnhagen gladly rendered such practical assistance as we find referred to in the following letters. RAHEL TO FOUQUE. 103 Frau von FouQui: to Varnhagen. 1811 Nennhausen, May 6, 18 11. I must send you an account of my " Mythological Handbook," in order then to beg of you to offer it to Cotta, or some other publisher. It includes the Greek and the Norse mythus, and is so divided between letters and four main sections, that the latter present a general view of the origin, the many rami- fications, the development of the myth; and the letters, as far as possible entering into the hidden mysteries, will follow its course as an intellectual growth, an historical and natural organism. ... I wish much that it should appear before the winter. You are kind, clever, practical — you will do your best for me. It delights me to hear of your acquaintance with Pfuel and your friendship for hirri ; I entertain the same feeling. Greet him heartily, and be as much my friend as he is ; you are so already more than I desire. Your criti- cism on ** Frau von Falkenstein " is humiliatingly gene- rous, at the same time hoof and horns are not perfectly concealed. The revenge is fair and gentle, as it will be observed by few. Now I think our war is for ever at an end. Your grateful Caroline Fouqu:6. Rahel to FoUQUJfi. On Thursday evening, you good, childlike one, they brought me your letter here, with the enclosure for Varn- hagen. On Saturday they continued their journey, as we could best arrange it under existing circumstances, that I04 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. is, with the correspondence of the Austrian ambassador. How your letter will delight him ! It has delighted me also, but in a different manner : your childlike nature touches me/ How you speak of his and of your Muse. You were certainly once older than you are now. Do not live so much alone, dear Fouque. I have seen and know that you are capable of lively, witty, many-sided utter- ances, therefore you also need them. Nothing should lie waste in us, least of all human intercourse ; we need the inner stimulus which comes from such contact only. I do not blame your solitude so much as your stagnant com- placency in it ; your praise of it, your creeping away and burying yourself under the impression that it is good, fitting, healing for you. Behind it, or, rather, before it, is suffering, which should never oppress us, but is to strengthen, refresh, renew us, to make us fruitful in all things. And the sum total necessary to man is human intercourse, whichever way you look at it. It is possible, after the inoculation of the greatest grief, to retain one's vitality. You are a poet, and give to men the greatest treasures of humanity. You shall not become a hermit. I have no taste for hermits, only for hermit thoughts among men. In short, I know nothing but mankind, and only thus can you appreciate solitude when you have it. That you so love your child, who can understand better than I do ? But, if possible, do not love it too passionately — that is, with intensity. I have no child, but this relation is, perhaps therefore, my great study. Never can the child yield what can satisfy the parent's heart. You may rejoice in its existence, in its development, but the perfect blossom of its heart falls in FOUQUE TO RAHEL. 105 other fields. Say this to yourself early, at once. Do not wonder that I, childless, should yet know so much of parental sorrow. I have fathomed many depths of human suffering by the aid of one. I must be clear about all human relations, I must always have reasons, certainty ; and it is the same with you. But I have a quarrel with you, dear Fouque. How is it you write, but do not answer ? Your acknowledgment of the letter Hanne brought you was like an improvisation, not a word of reply. I like an answer ; you must praise or blame, acquiesce or contradict. Also, please do not be so delighted with Jean Paul's criticisms. From him, with his free and easy style, I hate them. A critique should be compact, to the point ; while he mean- ders like a fantasia upon the pianoforte at best. Fare- well. Write to me. And you will come and see us in the winter.' Your good friend, Rahel. Frau von Fouqu^ to Rahel. Nennhausen, March, 1812. Robert wishes me to write to you, dear Rahel. I do so gladly ; will you likewise hear from me gladly ? How often I wish to talk with you ; I think it very possible that we should understand each other. Not, perhaps, in broad and general views, not in full chords, but in single notes — those isolated tones which suddenly escape from one and are resolved in a universal chord. How few perceive them 1 You always prefer talking with your friends to writing to them. You are right, speech is better for most people : ' Appendix J. io6 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. t8i2. scarcely so for me. I am distracted, confused, stupid in conversation, unless roused by strong feeling. In writing I rouse myself, I am conscious and collected, and say more clearly what I have to say. I am always the better for some restraint. I am too apt to lose myself; have done so times innumerable, but I always find myself again. That is a comfort, but not a compensation. Do you perceive this is such a tone, such a cry as I spoke of? Have you understood it ? . . . I am writing another novel. I live in it. How I wish that I could read it with you. As soon as I have finished you must have it, and tell me your first thoughts about it. One can never trust one's own judgment, and is therefore forced to beg for criticism from as many of one's friends as possible. Is there any prospect of your coming here in the summer? You must do so; how much we could then live through together ! Rahel to Frau von Fouqu^, Two o'clock, Sunday y March 23, 1812. I could have written to you before you wrote to me, and I feel certain that we should understand each other well. To understand people thoroughly is an absolute and urgent necessity, which, however, is often hindered, and by a few trivial circumstances. From a variety of small conflicting purposes people become false, or else are stupid, and lack altogether the fine mental perception essential to the contact of mind with mind. You, dear Frau von Fouqu^, appear to me at once intelligent and true, and the most intimate friendship would surprise me less RAHEL TO FRAU VON FOUQUE, 107 than the stagnation of our acquaintance. This impression 1812. I had about you at first sight, and it has deepened upon each subsequent occasion. I thank you therefore the more for your address, and for the mode of it. How frequently from want of enterprise, from sheer laziness, or from outward distraction, do we overlook precious things specially intended for us ; and lay our hands upon those that are of no true value, sacrificing to them our days and our faculties in cowardice and discontent ! My gratitude for your letter expands itself into astonishment that you could write one so tender and so natural, at the request of another person. I do not think it would have been possible to me. In future, however, never send me an open letter. If my eyes are not the first to read the lines, it seems as though some spiritual fragrance must have escaped. Indeed, I carry my prejudice so far, that I never show a passage in a letter before sending it to its owner. Believe me, dear Frau ^von Fouqu^, I was already touched with that passage which you call " a cry '* before you so referred to it. What do you mean by, " I have lost myself innumerable times " ? Was your heart estranged ? Or could you not make all things clear before your own inner tribunal. You go on to say, ** but I find myself again," which is good, but does not make good. If my second question to you is true, then I believe that *' finding again " does make good, . . . To visit you this summer belongs to my ideal possibili- ties ! How much could we then bring out, talk over, and learn from each other. It is a kind of blessedness to be separated from common things, to be in the free open air lo8 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS, 1812. with one of cultivated, congenial mind. Had you not invited me I must have asked myself. But listen, while I tell you what really hinders me. If you had in your village an inn or house of any kind where I could hire rooms, I would come. If I could visit you, Frau von Fouque, alone, all might be well. But in your house I should feel myself the guest of everybody else. I might behave properly, but I should never lose the thought, What are these others to you or you to them ? I have no talent beyond my simple existence, you must take me as I am, nothing without agrement. Then further, my health, especially just now, is very uncertain. If I miss some indulgences I become ailing and useless. My maid, for instance, is absolutely necessary to the toilette of my health : also during many hours of the day I am quite unfit for general society. . . . Whilst Robert was away I was ill and could not write. Be so kind as to tell this to Herr von Fouqu6, with thanks and greetings. I am still weak, and writing wearies me. On this account Frau von Fouque must pardon me that I did not write sooner. ... I often speak with Marwitz of Frau von Fouque. He is a sharp critic, or rather one on a grand scale, broad and simple. He praises 5^ou much, and lets you off easily, which is always a fresh delight to me. My best remembrances to Fraulein Clara. Certainly I should have come to the ball, but there was difficulty in procuring tickets, and I was too ill to raise heaven and earth. You will reply soon ? Les mains jointes ! R. LETTERS TO RAHEL. 109 Frau von Fouqu^ to Rahel. 1812. Nennhausertf March 13, 1812. Shall I write to you in this troublous time ? Shall I tell youof all the painful occurrences which are depressing my spirit, crushing my heart, embittering my life ? Dear Rahel, I am often now moved to tears. I have hitherto been able to submit myself to the inevitable, but seem as though I could not do so now. You may learn from Neumann what is the state of affairs here ; how the whole house is in possession of an etat-major ; how we hear only the empty words, and see the vulgar, insolent faces of our oppressors, and carry our stifled grief with us night and day. My fluent French draws upon me all the conversation. I talk and talk, and when the day is over I have said nothing, yet am worn out. In the town you can form no idea of what a burden a quartered enemy is in the country. The people are about one continually ; added to which, in the evening we have to play at loto ! loto ! Think of it, dear Rahel ! The most stupid and insipid of all children's games, yet it is far preferable to the stale jokes of yesterday, which reappear to-day and to-morrow. March 22. You will see from the foregoing how easily my life is disturbed, and how, with advancing years, I lose nothing of my unfortunate excitability, which has so often harshly disturbed the calm and order of my feelings, and set at nought the conclusions of common sense. Reason and individuality, how rudely do they often clash ! It is easy enough to be wise when all is calm within and without, no RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. but wherx destiny seems to have set itself to tear us from our moorings, we find it is a different matter. . . . I am tormented by a thousand anxieties. Robert has perhaps told you that I am expecting my eldest son. He does not come, he does not write, and the holidays are nearly over. I wait for him day and night. Do you know that torture when you start up at the opening of every door, and say to yourself, He is not there, all the while hoping that it is he ? This happens to me twenty times a day. At night, I go through a wild tangle of dreams, and awake stupefied. God preserve to me the greatest blessing of my life, my children. That relation has been hitherto undisturbed, the only one that remains perfectly pure, true, intact. I do not know how I ; but enough now. God keep us from further misfortune. ... I shall send you before long a novelette, called " The Magic of Nature ; " or it would be better still for you to order a copy in my name from Hitzig. Do not write to me until you have read it, and then write what you feel and think. No censure annoys me, even though it comes from tongues which bear a sting. There is always a ground- work of truth which it is well to hear. Tell me of anything that looks like mannerism. I hate patent phrases, yet they will escape one sometimes. I hope at any rate you may find sense and feeling in the whole. Farewell, dear one ! Love me truly.— Your friend, Caroline. Frau von Fouqu]6 to Varnhagen. Nennhausen, February lo, 1813. I have to-day been deeply moved; what we have so long dreamed of is now true and close at hand. The sum- FRAU VON FOUQUE, in mons of the king to the volunteers takes Fouqu6 away 1812. from here. Also my eldest son, upon whom I depend most, is constrained by honour, justice, and love of the good cause, to go forth into new and untried circumstances. The younger one has been some time with the army. Thus I am very much alone. I hope, however, that we shall, none of us, have time to think of ourselves. And I am glad to find that I have still so much courage and honour left that I do often entirely forget myself. It is not well to remain long unobservant of public affairs, one must follow them closely, in order to maintain one's self- respect. There is now infinitely more at stake than the easy- going habits of every-day life. However all existing re- lations may be torn and distracted, something definite, I know not what, will arise from it all. There is thought and purpose in the action of the present crisis, and that alone gives hope and confidence. One thing is certain, that a dark future lies before me, an upbreaking of all the past. We never return to our old surroundings exactly as we left them. We rend away so much that never again fits in ; time gnaws at the threads of old associations ; they become rotten and shrivel up, instead of again attaching themselves. How often have I experienced that ! What has been, never returns. The new may prove better, but I am no longer young enough to rejoice in it. At the present time I am oppressed by anxieties against which I have to do battle. I will pass on to some- thing else. , , . 112 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. [812. Frau von Fouqu^ to Varnhagen. Nennhausen, June 2, 18 13. Thank God, the unfortunate month of May is done with ! People are so ready to hope that the future will be better than the past. On the whole I hope very little, but perhaps we shall be relieved from this fearful anxiety. The oppression seems to stifle me, I cannot write or work or stay in the same place. I wander out across the fields and woods, where I never go at other times, and there alone I seem able to breathe. I dare not confess for whom and what I am so anxious. I do not like to look my thoughts in the face, one is so impatient. Only in prayer can one collect one's spirit. But one cannot, and should not, be always praying ; at least, I should not. Such exaltation always precedes a fall with me ! The extremes of life comes so suddenly before one, my temperament is so open, so mobile, I have to put the bridle upon my humility as well as upon my pride. The contending powers never wrestled more closely about any human being than about me. ... The war seems to be conducted in the most remarkable, unexampled manner, without regard to near or distant results. In Hamburg you must have had terrible days, and I trembled for the upright, honourable town. Now you are saved. We also have been threatened, but I never lost, even for an hour, courage and unshaken con- fidence. In Berlin they have again shown themselves weak. Somewhat of the spirit of 1806 still haunts their distracted heads ! Imagine them following the example of Moscow 1 LETTER TO VARNHAGEN. 113 We have had the corps of Czernitscheff in the neigh- 1813. bourhood, and have frequently seen him. He is genial, and reminds me of Prince Louis. \Ye have also been very friendly with some of his adjutants ; among them I was delighted to greet Marwitz in my house. He was as usual — half contented ; but he loves his general, and ex- pects much from him, so soon, as he is free enough to follow his own inclination. November 11, 1813. To-day I greet you with a lighter heart than before. The first great blow has been struck, now we may hope for some progress. These lines will probably reach you just before or just after a decisive battle. Th.e Crown Prince is on his way to you. North Germ-^ny w:ill first be freed, since there are the fewest fortifications. Pfuel will tell you particulars about Fouq,ue. He ha,s come through the great battles of the 14th and 19th full of vigour for fresh contests. We have frequently been threatened, and only narrovs(ly escaped the devastation of the vvhole Mark lately, when the enemy succeeded in taking the bridge of Aak. Then I did experience hours of despair which \ cannot describe. to you. There could be nothing more terrible. Oui; armies beyond the Saale, the enemy advancing without hindrance, the fortresses his, the blood of Prussian and of Russian shed in vain, and freedom stifled at its birth. I^ prayed wildly, and if any cry of anguish cpyjd rend the^ heavens, mine would have done so. You see what my life is, what wholly occupies, my soul. I think of nothing but this great struggle, not so much oj 9 114 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1813. its outward course as of its momentous bearings; what it will produce, how the whole direction of the age will be altered by it ! Caroline. For some years after the peace of 1813, Frau von Fouque wrote less, and became greatly absorbed in the society of court circles, where the political views of the Varnhagens rendered them unpopular. The latter also were absent from Berlin for many months together, and thus the inti- macy gradually dropped. In the mean time the feeling of the reading public underwent a marked change. Fouque's tales no longer delighted, his knights and maidens lost their charm, his enchanted woods their mystery. With all the sensitive- ness of a poetic nature, Fouque writhed under the neglect and unkind criticism, which he believed to be the result of personal enmity. The practical sense of Frau von Fouque enabled her to see matters more as they really stood, but the consolation was small and hard to admin- ister. Thus she again has recourse to the friendship of Varnhagen. Frau von Fouquj^ to Varnhagen. Nennhausen, November 18, 1829. •Let me speak a few words to you in confidence. Your letter of to-day to Fouque, in reference to his unsuccessful undertaking of the periodical, has disturbed and pained him. Since that time he has been failing. All literary effort has become burdensome to him ; his spirit is broken, his pure and beautiful soul dissatisfied with the world. He needs much from without and still more from within. LETTER TO VARNHAGEN, 115 He will not understand that it is possible to go out of 1813. fashion in Germany, to be forgotten as quickly as one was formerly appreciated; that one may even become a burden to the very publishers whom one has helped to enrich. He attributes it all to party feeling, and the persecution of some who entertain personal hostility towards him. I do not believe this of those who differ from him, any more than I could believe myself capable of it. He feels this also, but it is a kind of consolation to believe otherwise. Be that as it may, you are in every case his friend ; you are honest, true, and sympathetic. Help me to raise up Fouque, to restore him to confidence in the inner calling to which God has consecrated him by nature and accept- ance of the world. He must write if he is not to become stifled in the turmoil of his own fancy ; he must write if he is to hold fast the links between society and his own active personality ; he must write if he is not in his fifty- fifth year to abandon all the habits of his nature. But how shall we contrive to prevent the once celebrated poet from taking his manuscript round like a beggar, from run- ning after some influential publisher, who turns from him with upraised shoulders and protesting hands, and thus adds humiliation to the sorrow of belonging to an ungrate- ful Germany. Help me, I entreat you, to save Fouqu6 from this. You were always inventive, you will be "so now; and let that great human virtue, fidelity, give im- petus to your thoughts. Fouque had hoped much from this periodical. He has now worked at it in vain for a year. ... I repeat it, I have faith and hope in your fidelity, your cleverness, your judgment. 9. ii6 RAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1813. Do not write at once — possibly not at all. In three or four weeks I shall be in Berlin. I shall then ask what you have been quietly thinking. My kind remembrances to your wife. I give you no further assurances. This letter contains what, as an out- spoken, open-hearted person, I cannot conceal or otherwise express. — Your Caroline de la Motte-Fouqu^. While thus grieved for the disappointment of her hus- band, Frau von Fouque had still more reason for regret upon her own account. If his works had ceased to be favourites, hers were quietly ignored. She had committed the fatal error of ren^ouncing her own individuality for slavish imitation, partly in a vain desire to share the popularity of her husband, partly also from admiration for his poetic talent. In vigour, in apprehension of life, in realistic power, she was undoubtedly his superior; but instead of simply obeying her ovyn instinct, she lost herself in the attempt to follow into his region of phantasmagoria. She never understood wherein her true strength lay, and those unusual powers which should, have ripened to a rich harvest wasted away or became perverted to lesser ends. Thus in sadness and disappointment Frau von Fouque ended her days at Nennhausen. Fouqu6 mourned for her sincerely, but the outer world gave no sign. CHAPTER VII. And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light ; In front the sun climbs slow — how slowly ! But westward, look, the land is bright. Arthur Hugh Clough. When Varnhagen left Steinfurt it was to breathe the freer atmosphere of Prague, then the neutral gathering-place for those Germans whose patriotism had rendered thern oT^noxious to Napoleon ; for irrepressible Prussians like Lilienstern, Sternberg, Majors von Nostiz, von Pfuel, and others. Just at this time also the imperial edict against Freiherr von Stein had reached Berlin. This man ** of the name of Stein, who was causing disturbance in Germany," was to be arrested and his property confiscated. In January, 1811, Stein left Berlin, pursuing his journey on to Prague in a sledge, and under the starry winter sky recalling Schleiermacher's new year's sermon upon **What a man has to fear, and what he has not to fear." Napoleon by this act of tyranny thought to clear from his path an objectionably clever minister, instead of which he built up a political power, that directly or indirectly worked against him, until le nomme Stein controlled in Paris the affairs of the banished emperor. Varnhagen rejoiced in Stein's arrival at Prague : he ii8 RAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^^11- cherished a reverent admiration for his clear intellect, his boundless information, his uprightness, his human interest in everything that surrounded him. There w^as an at- traction about the very ruggedness of his temper, and his sublime contempt for appearances, although upon these, as upon many other points, the characters of the two men were essentially divergent. Stein occupied his enforced leisure at Prague with the study of the French Revolu- tion, aided by files of the ** Moniteur." Every stage of its progress he discussed with Varnhagen, who, while char- acteristically maintaining his own opinions, went through a course of modern history as well as of practical state- craft in his conversations with Stein. Arndt's Geht der Zeit^ which appeared about this time, was read by him with outbursts of enthusiastic admiration. He encouraged all Varnhagen's literary efforts, holding up to him Arndt's writing as a model. *' This is the thing at which you must aim,*' he said energetically : *' practical truths, not metaphysical phrases. Do you understand me, Herr Metaphysicus ? " Such inglorious repose was, however, soon brought to an end by the invitation of the Emperor of Russia. In May, Stein left Prague, to join Alexander at Wilna. In the same month Napoleon also left Dresden, moving with his army towards his fate — in Russia. Rahel had, as we have seen, arranged to spend the summer at Teplitz. Varnhagen came to meet her at Dresden, on her route, and arrived there early in June. They spent several fugitive, delightful days together. Here, as everywhere, Rahel found friends, and abundant society. Stray members of the old Berlin circle reap- RAHEL IN DRESDEN. 119 peared in Harscher, and in the artist Meier of Rathenau, 181 r. the appreciative friend of Jean Paul, who painted his portrait with the sympathy of a poet as w^ell as of a painter. The artistic tone of the few days* intercourse in Dresden was confirmed by the presence of Sulpiz Boisseree, of Cologne. There, as in some other provinces handed over to French dominion, the suppressed national vitality forced a way for itself in the study of old German art, of that mediaeval handicraft which expressed the healthier life of other days. Gorres and Frederick Schlegel both worked in this direction, and Boisseree was a somewhat independent follower of the latter. In most congenial companionship, therefore, Rahel wandered among the art-treasures of Dresden. The company Rahel found at Teplitz in this season of 1811, while apparently enjoying itself in the usual round of dances, picnics, and spectacular performances, might be said to embody the political discontent of Germany. Riihle von Lilienstein and others, who dared not open their lips out of Bohemia, had come over from Prague. The Duke of Weimar could not only enjoy the physical sense of freedom in climbing the wooded slopes round Teplitz, but also give utterance to his political opinions and feelings, which were entirely hostile to Napoleon. Among military men of all classes he was personally a great favourite, while in society his brightness, his refined culture, made itself felt as an intellectual stimulus. Upon both of these accounts, as well as from his friendship for Goethe, the Duke was especially attractive to Varn- hagen and Rahel. His rooms were near to those of Rahel, and they used to exchange morning greetings from their respective windows. 120 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1811. 'pj^g Duke of Wurtemberg with characteristic good- nature sacrificed himself in various ways to promote the general festivity ; while as an Austrian field-marshal he asserted his firm belief that the disgraceful union with France was but a temporary evil. Prince de Ligne, de- spite his French proclivities, was another malcontent. He expressed his ideas upon the political position without remorse, and with a piquancy which greatly enhanced their popularity. Princes, counts, and countesses abounded on all sides. Rahel's friends, Baroness von Grotthuss, Madame Frohberg, and Frau von Crayen, arrived from Berlin, and were accounted social acquisitions. Later also came Clemens Brentano, A. F. Wolf, and Fichte. Beethoven, too, might be seen wandering in the wild un- frequented walks of the lovely Teplitz gardens. There he once or twice met Rahel, also enjoying a solitary ramble. He was much struck by the expression of her face, and a common friend procured for him the desired introduction. As the acquaintance ripened, instead of obstinately re- fusing to touch the piano in the presence of others, as he so frequently did, he would sit down and play to her his newest unpublished compositions, or lose himself in im- promptu phantasies. Between Beethoven and Varnhagen the acquaintance grew into friendship. They met daily, interchanging political sympathies, and making arrange- ments for a dramatic composition, for which Varnhagen promised to supply the words. As the first anniversary occurred of the death of the Queen Louise of Prussia, a few of the most demonstrative malcontents in Teplitz endeavoured to make it a great public occasion for the utterance of patriotic sentiments. FRENCH SPIES. 121 But their zeal was misguided, and the whole scheme 181 1. ended oddly enough in a high mass, arranged for a Pro- testant queen by Berlin Jews. All these apparently holi- day-making men and women who promenaded in the Clary Gardens, drank mineral waters, inaugurated pic- nics, and performed chamber dramas, were more or less tormented by undefined apprehensions. From Hamburg and other unfortunate places under French dominion came private news of the ubiquity of the French police, of domiciliary visits and arrests, of the discovery of com- binations so^ secret that the suspicion of treachery could hardly be avoided. Naturally, Napoleon felt it to be important that, while pursuing his conquests in Russia, the provinces in the rear of the army should be bound hand and foot. Even in Teplitz there was a mysterious lame visitor, who called himself Count D'Estourmel, and betrayed a suspicious eagerness for introductions to those Germans who were most outspoken in their discontent. Frau von Crayen, Rahel, and other ladies would have nothing to do with him. The Austrian officers made him the butt of practical jokes : one of them gravely remonstrated with him about his obviously assumed lameness, protesting that he ought to make up his mind as to which leg he intended should be lame, instead of limping sometimes with the right, sometimes with the left. Altogether his espionage must have been of small advantage to the French government. 1 With the shortening summer days Rahel began to think of returning to Berlin. As a matter of health, the Teplitz visit had not been successful ; the undercurrent of political 122 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1811. uneasiness and personal anxiety had proved too strong. Under the pressure of very limited means, she had con- trived not only to hold her social position, but also to work quietly in her own way for the benefit of other suf- ferers from the prevalent financial disorder ; and while her cheerful benevolence assisted some, others experienced the bracing influence of her hopeful patriotism, which was ever alive and active. Prince de Ligne proposed to Varn- hagen to follow him as his adjutant to Vienna. It was an offer holding out many temptations, many promises for the future. But Varnhagen saw that it must involve relations to France against which his whole soul rebelled, and he remained true to his former purpose. Whether he worked with sword or pen, it must be against Napoleon. So the pleasant weeks came to an end, Varnhagen re- joining Count Bentheim at Prague, and Rahel starting for Dresden, where Marwitz waited to see her further on her journey. She wrote thus to Varnhagen the morning after her arrival : — ** Dear, good Varnhagen, how and where is he ? What is he doing ? These were my constant thoughts during my journey here, alike by day and by night, in the lovely mist, in the clearest, richest sunshine, alone, and in company. Yesterday was the worst for you, yesterday evening : the sun had disappeared under the earth, and you had not seen your dearest ; and many such days have yet to pass ! Hear this consolation, that I grieve much more over the separation from you than I ever thought I could do. I have also a nervous, uncomfortable feeling, as though cut off from protection, safety, and love. I seem to go round RAHEL TO VARNHAGEN. 123 and round myself, searching and asking, To whom and to 181 r. what do you belong ? ** Yesterday evening I took a glorious walk with Marwitz and Lippe, about a mile along the Ostra meadows. You know how much I like Marwitz. We were all friends, and often walked in silence. Most impressive was the wide horizon, the ruddy splendour of the evening sun, the endless avenues of these trees, more solemn and altogether different from those in Bohemia. Still, I could not but think to myself, you are alone and strange here. If these two do not go along beside you, and even if they do, still you are alone and strange ; to them you are not the nearest, dearest of all. . . . ** We are to have war; what say you to it ? You must look to Berlin for news about the country, and to me for what concerns our own affairs. — My dear friend, I believe fully in your best nature, and in your love to me." After a short stay in Prague, Varnhagen resolved to seek his discharge from the Austrian service and to return to Berlin. He received from Metternich, Gruner, and Alexander von Humboldt recomrnendEttions to Harden- berg and other diplomatists. Upon the eve of his journey, however, he was somewhat startled to be summoned to an I interview with Prince Wittgenstein. From him he learned ' that Count D'Aubignose, who was in authority at Ham- burg, had sent instructions to Berlin for the arrest of three dangerous persons, Pfuel, Varnhagen, and Willisen. Varnhagen declared his innocence of any conspiracy against the French, however willing he might be to meet them once more in open fight. He arrived in Berlin to 124 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1812. find all his actions observed. While associating with the most influential men, he was crossed and hampered on every side. The only gleam of comfort through this dreary interval was the occasional delight of Rahel's society. Meanwhile, in this autumn of 1812, it will be remem- bered that Stein was at St. Petersburg, holding the wires of the various diplomatic relations in which England, Prussia, and Russia were concerned. When the early winter set in with unusual rigour, he was almost severed from European affairs. To save himself from the dreaded pos- sibility of idleness, he sent for Professor Grafe, and set to work upon Thucydides, until in December he was able thus to write to Wallmoden about the outer world. *'The French army is annihilated. Napoleon flies, and in his flight drinks much for warmth and consolation. The Emperor left yesterday to join the army which enters Prussia, and in a few days I am to meet him at Konigsberg. Tettenborn and Winzengerode are covering themselves with glory, and you — who surpass both, amuse yourself with travelling about Europe ! Come to us at Konigsi- berg." Scharnhorst was now again minister of war, and hastened to develop those plans which he had been laboriously maturing for many years. Upon the 3rd of February he issued a proclamation to the educated classes throughout Germany to enrol themselves as volunteers. The King, feeble and faithless, had opposed this measure. After his arrival at Breslau, a day or two later, when STEIN AND GOETHE. 125 looking out of the castle window, the King observed a 1812. long train of waggons full of men. ** What are these ? " he inquired. " They are the volunteers from Berlin,** replied Scharn- horst : ** nine thousand of them. Is your Majesty now convinced ? " The King turned silently away, with tears in his eyes. Thus the good cause progressed in spite of the indecision of Austria and the persistent and fatal fidelity of the King of Saxony to the side of Napoleon. It was during this spring, so full of turmoil and military activity, that Goethe passed through Dresden in search of quiet in Bohemia. Conversing one day with, Korner, who had just joyfully despatched his only son, the poet, to join the Lutzow volunteers, Goethe testily exclaimed, *' Napoleon is too strong for you : shake yovi,r chains as much as you will, you cannot break them^, but only drive them deeper into your flesh.'* This was repeated, with some righteous indignation, to Stein, who quietly said, '* Let him be, he has grown old." To Goethe the in^terest of a battle-field consisted not so much in the extinctioi^i' or the glorification of a German principality, as. in its splendid contribution to the science of osteology. He was copcei;ned about man in the ab- stract, either philosophically, aesthetically, or anatomi- cally—not wi.th the Germans. He ha,t,ed politics, which reached his ear only as **a tale of little meai^itig — chanted from an rll-usecj race of men that cleave the soil.'* Wrapped in the calm security of their philosophic theories of universal brotherhood, Goethe and other thinkers had dreamed that, by its intellectual culture, the 126 RAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. NX, 42. German nation was for ever placed above the barbarism 181 •? . ^' of war. Had other nations by any felicitous means, phi- losophical or otherwise, arrived at the same conclusion, might not the dream have become a reality ? Early in 1813 the Russians crossed the Weichsel into Germany. General Tettenborn with his Cossacks chased the last French soldiers 'through the streets of Berlin. Varnhagen renewed the acquaintance which he had formed with the General in Paris. Eager to resume arms, he gladly accepted Tettenborn's proposal to become his adjutant, and an exchange was readily effected from the Austrian to the Russian service. Together therefore they started for the campaign which Tettenborn had already planned in North Germany. Rahel, in the mean time, did not allow her patriotism to exhaust itself in words or tears. She possessed the enviable faculty of turning her best thoughts into deeds. They did not remain, according to Jean Paul's lament, *' like mountain summits which bear no vegetation." Of her daily occupations, first in Berlin and during the busy winter at Prague, we find her thus writing. To Varnhagen in Hamburg. Berlin^ April 20, 18 13. Tuesday morning, 11 o'clock, with cool, stormy weather ; had for the fruit blossoms, of which many are already out. This morning I have been about in all directions, distri- buting to the soldiers the shirts which Markus has given. I must do it, because I will not allow myself to be put out by any amount of trouble or any distance, or by the idle gossip of common people : further, because I know, the HER WORK IN BERLIN. 127 prompter the help, the more efficient it is. I also know J^a. 42 what it is to be too weakand ill even to bear fresh linen ^ ^^' put on, and can sympathise with those who have none to change. Our largest hospital is in a frightful state, owing partly to bad management, partly to deliberate depre- dation. But as soon as it became known in the town, there was a universal movement of indignation and of active help. Everybody exclaimed, and came to the rescue. I wrote to Markus, he again to Bohm, Bohm to the civil governor. Within three days large contributions were made of all kinds of necessaries, and sent to the new hospital ; to which also the doctors drove, heavily laden with purses of money which had been sent to them. Linen and beds were sent, also provisions, which were cooked by a hundred and twenty-five women : no one thought of sleep or rest. It has cost me some strength, but I am in health at present, and can bear much effort. Yesterday, and again to-day, I have walked from Trinity Church to the Landsbergerstrasse. — All this I write to you with tears in my eyes, tears of delight at the spirit which our town has shown. The Jews give all they possess, it Was to them I first turned. Henriette Herz is infinitely busy, and I urge her on. My heart does so rejoice to see the people thus waking up, and doing as Christ would have them do ; doing what it was torture to me to see left undone. What a grief to me has been the state of this hospital ! Now Reil has taken the thing up ; to-day I must see Bohm ; I cannot rest 1 The ** German Observer " is much appreciated here. I cannot keep a copy ; all the gentlemen in the town are 128 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. M\.. 42. reading it. I approve thoroughly what you have written ^ ^^' in it. Let us but keep our courage, a pure will, and a right judgment, and they are welcome to call us Vandals or Trojans ! Dear, good August, in this terrible time do make an effort to write something about the hospitals, not only about our last catastrophe. My heart has been so op- pressed by all that I learn from Reil and others. Reil says it is of no use setting up another hospital, unless the women will take it into their own hands, and arrange all the administration as well as the nursing ; that in no hospital in the world are the sick nursed as they should be ; and he knows all about it. You must tell people plainly, earnestly, how it is the most dreadful of all sins to cheat the sick and helpless; that every town which will deserve the name, which has a church within its walls, and lays claim to justice, human or Divine, must give up its most honourable citizens personally to under- take and superintend such work, so that no agents can again make their fortunes out of the hospital. Do not name our town, but tell what horrors went on in the midst of respectablie well-intenttioned people. All Ger- many, all the world must be compelled, not only to hear such exhortations, but to back them up by their own exertions. Dear August, how slowly we progress ! When shall we come to life ? All is preparation ; you who seem in its midst are but putting in readiness. And I — but I have lived through much, and await what is still higher. That is a great good, although it be neither easy or agreeable ! Ah, we know all ! We will remain strong and diligent. Life is, % v(oi;li; which is appointed for us. RAHEL TO VARNHAGEN, 129 Half our duty is rightly to comprehend it, to take firm ^t. 42. hold of it, then to bear it. We must not undervalue it ' ^^' because both in breadth and detail we find it so uncertain. We should prize it as the rehearsal of another existence ; it is all that we know, and through it we divine the possible. God give our dear countrymen courage and modesty. The poor country suffers fearfully. Each poor fellow wrings my heart. Mere villagers, but they behave admirably. Everywhere there is courage, good-will, help of all kinds. I have no room for the number of anecdotes which are on the lips of all. ... In Breslau, a number of ladies were in consultation about collecting money. A young girl suddenly left them, and presently returned with three thalers. They saw at once that she had parted with her hair. A messenger was sent to the hairdresser, the long fair locks were bought back and made up into rings, which have sold at high prices for the good cause. Perhaps it is not much to give one's hair, but the story is charming. Early in the summer Rahel was glad to take refuge in the neutral ground of Prague, and wrote from thence to Varnhagen. Prague^ June 19, 1813. • Dear August, — This is my fourth letter to you from here ! According to the opportunities which have oc- curred, I have sent them in the hope that one might ; reach you. But now, I really cannot write all the same over again ! In brief, I came here a fortnight ago with my second brother. I am Madame Brede's guest. Louis is also here. The town is full of my countrymen. I have 10 I30 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. Al\. 42. written to your friends by the last post ; to them I owe my asylum and life here. Tieck also is in Prague, we see him every day, so genial and pleasant. He is very pleased with the theatre here, and thinks Madame Brede excellent as *' Francesca," and told her so to-day. Goethe is coming; the Lamels have taken rooms for him; the Liebichs I see frequently, they are extremely kind. The day before yesterday, August, I had your letter from Hamburg of May 27th. But since then I have written to you all the love out of my soul. Where I am to go, I know not. For the present I stay in the care of your friends, and with joyful pride thank you for every- thing, for the journey and for the asylum. The Colonel loves you ; he will think that you must come as soon as you know that I am here. ... I have just asked Augusta to tell you something about Tieck, the theatre, and her career. Our talks with Tieck will be very useful to her. He has said to her word for word what I had already told her ; for instance, that after ** Francesca " she should play *' Lady Macbeth." I am full of the war, but from excitement cannot write about it. . . . Be courageous, and trust me so long as I live. R. Prague^ September 16, 1813. . . . Since the Dresden affair we have an immense number of wounded here of the three hostile nations. The unfortunate creatures lay last week in carts, crowded together in the narrow streets, some even on the bare stones, all under drenching rain. I shall never forget the time. The government was not prepared for the great numbers, or rather not for any at all ! As in the olden HER U ORK IN PRAGUE. 131 times, it is the townsfolk who have done everything. >^^t- 42. They fed and tended the sufferers in the streets or on the ^ *^' floors of the houses. The Jewish girls distinguished themselves; one nurse bound up three hundred wounds in one day; in short, impossible things were done. Still we could not stem the tide of pain and sorrow. We, Augusta Brede, my noble hostess, Frau von Reimann, and I did and gave all we could ; cooked for them, sent linen and charpie. The women of Prague did well. I ran to the Countess Moritz Briihe and begged her to beg of her relations, which she agreed to do. I wrote an urgent letter to Frau von Humboldt and also to Lea Mendelssohn, Bartholdy's sister. Yesterday Caroline sent me a hundred and thirty guldens, so I can now lend to the richer ones among the wounded, and for the rest buy shirts and socks, and have dinners cooked for them. In short, I have a small bureau ; my intimate friends assist me like angels ; I have helpers of all classes. . . . God has smiled upon me. I can help a little. Yesterday afternoon, just as Tieck brought to me a young countryman to whom I was to advance some money, the door opened and Marwitz stood there ; in rags, with both arms bound up. He is alive, is the same as of old, is in health, but has eight wounds. His horse fell upon him and crushed him ; the Poles then rushed on him with their clubs and knocked his sword out of his hand ; one of them took it up and gave him three cuts on the hand and arm; another thrust at him with his lance; a third fired a musket at his head, but missed. The colonel then came up, rescued, and took him prisoner. Through a thousand adventures he has made his way here ; with a crust of RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. /^t. 42. commissariat bread tied up in a handkerchief, and in a ' '■^' peasant's ragged smock. Now he wears linen and a coat of Robert's. Frau von Reimann has cleared a room for him, and he dines with me. He is simple, good, true, silent, gentle as ever, without a shade of prejudice about all that has happened. . . . Farewell ! I have no more time. Oh, the fear, the sorrow, the excitement of these w^ar days. God protect us, protect thee, our poor country, all sufferers. Now the surgeon is here. Farewell, and when you think of me, remember, I care, I pray, I even ^ hope for you. Thine R. To Varnhagen in Luneburg. Tuesday ^ changedbU weather ^ very windy, October 12, 1813. Still with Augusta. Where am I to spend the winter, our enemies permit- ting ? Whither shall I go ? Where is there any home ? Why should I be condemned to wander in marshy moun- tain regions ? Here I am welcome and at ease, that I have practically discovered. There are two prospects of happi- ness before me ; first, that I have read Augusta's character, which has no defects, but a thousand attractions. She is born to be lived with ! Then there is the happiness of being of use to sufferers of all nations. For this purpose I have already thirteen hundred guldens. Frau von Humboldt sent me more than a thousand, and Bartholdy three hundred. From the prince again I received six ducats through the Ambassador Bernstorff, who drove about in a coach seeking me for two days, through the HER WORK IN PRAGUE, 133 stupid direction which Gentz had given him. Also from >^t. 4'2. Bartholdy's sister I have had a hundred and fourteen '* *^* guldens, and the hope of receiving more from the capital. I am in communication with our commissariat and staff-surgeons. I have abundance of charpie, linen, ban- dages, socks, and shirts. I have gratuitous cooking in several quarters of the town. I look after thirty or forty soldiers myself. I arrange and see to all, making the very utmost of my resources. On this account I depute no- thing to other people, I despise the help of the public officials, as well as the public thanks which would then come to me for doing my plain duty. But time I have not. The correspondence, the accounts, addresses, re- ceipts, walks, consultations ; all my small beginning, in fact, branches out into a large business. And I tell you of it all because you will be glad. My countrymen come to me for advice, help, comfort ; and God permits me to give it them, so insignificant, poor, and low-born as I am ! I am ashamed that God has sent to me the happiness of helping, and comfort myself in my inaction while you are fighting with the thought that I can thus heal and help. I know when I have said the right word of consolation at the right moment, by the sudden smile of joy that breaks out from under the cloud on a suffering face. The con- valescents come to see me. Our men have behaved splendidly. I believed it of them when they marched out, but now they are brave under their wounds. They are all eager to go back to the army, modestly, without self- consciousness. I have had a feverish ^old for a week, and have cured myself, but was obliged one day to keep my bed. So I established my bureau before my bed, and 134 RAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^^•43- transacted the business. It could not be called rest! . . . In a former letter I told you that Marwitz suddenly ap- peared a week or two ago. He is well ; his hand im- proves ; he sits at the window reading Plato. I could report signs and wonders of him if I dared confide them to a letter. Among the many friends with whom Rahel resumed pleasant intercourse in Prague, were, as we have seen, the genial and handsome Tieck and the indefatigable Gentz. The pressure of creditors having made it neces- sary for the latter to leave Berlin, he had transferred his services to the Austrian Government. He was now in the zenith of his political career, directing the diplomatic affairs of all the European cabinets, and making himself indispensable to them by his astuteness and literary skill. At Rahel's house he was a frequent visitor, esteeming highly her advice and criticism upon all matters, whether political or sentimental. Amid all the complications of benevolent activities, social exactions, personal suffering, financial difficulties, and incessant anxiety for her friends, Rahel received from Berlin intelligence of the death of Fichte. During this winter he had resumed his lectures at the university, while his wife had been working nobly at the overcrowded hospitals, Madame Fichte was at length attacked by nervous fever, from which, after a period of anxious nursing, she began slowly to recover. Before she was convalescent, Fichte sank under the same disease, and passed away in a deep sleep upon the 27th of January, 1814. RAHEL TO HER BROTHER. 135 ** The priest of knowledge, the apostle of freedom, the >Et. 43. martyr of humanity," Fichte was associated intimately ^ ^^ with Rahel's highest intellectual growth. She honoured the great effort of his life, that of bringing men to a sense of the divinity in their own nature, of leading them per- sistently on toward the highest ideal of virtue, independ- ence, and self-denial. She loved him as a personal friend, and spoke of him always with tender reverence as her " dear master." To her brother Moritz Robert, she thus writes. Prague^ February 14, 18 14. Although a thousand matters surround me, impatiently calling me away from writing; although another thousand jostle each other for the precedence of being written first ; although I have heard since Friday that we have won a battle in France, so that I at once forgot all my sorrows; let us first speak of our revered friend and master, into whose hand one could put life and honour unreservedly. I have thought this a hundred times, looking into his eyes (and now fiercely regret never to have said it), the highest thing one noble thinking being could say to another; and I, contemptibly, never had the courage! Let us speak of Fichte. With him Germany loses half its power of sight ; we may well tremble for the rest. I know of no other like him. Now the Furies may rage round us as they did around the Greeks ; now ignorance, lies, errors, may spread themselves like rank unchecked weeds over field and furrow, draining away the goodness of the soil ; there is no longer a hand to root them up, to sow pure nourishing wheat, to tend it, to garner it, for the growth of other generations. Fichte can sink and die 1 136 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^t. 43. Is it not like an evil enchantment ? Yesterday, ill as I was, I saw it unexpectedly in a Berlin paper. I felt more ashamed than shocked, ashamed that I should be left alive ; and then I felt a sudden fear of death. If Fichte must die no one is safe. I always think there is no safeguard from death like really living; and who lived more fully than he? Dead, however, he is not; cannot be ! Is Fichte not to see the country recovering itself from the war ? border marks and hedges replaced, the peasantry improved, the laws mended, the schools re- opened, sharp-witted diplomatists recovering royal favour, new laws established, thought free to utter itself to king or people, — this alone a happiness for all the future ! Is the man who understands these things, and whatever else is essentially German, as perfectly as others misunder- stand them, is he never to see the upgrowth of what he sowed in the dark furrows with the sweat of his brow and the strong yearning of his soul ? Lessing ! Lessing too is gone. Remembered only by a few. He who had to fight for ideas which now stand in every day*s newspaper; which have become so common- place that people forget the originator, and repeat them time after time in stoHd imbecility ! . . . Lessing, Fichte, all such honoured men, may you see our progress, and bless it with your strong spirits 1 It is thus I think of the saints, enriched by God, loved by God, and faithful tc Him. Peace be with our revered master I Already Rahel was upon the point of breaking down under her too arduous duties, when she was called upon ' to nurse her hostess, Frau von Reimann, through a dan- RAH EL TO TETTENBORN. 137 gerous illness. Her indomitable will bore her up through ^t. 43. this effort, but when the necessity was over, her strength ^ ^^ failed, and she lay helpless for many weeks. It was long since she had received any reliable news of Varnhagen. In extreme anxiety about him, she wrote to General Tettenborn. Prague-y April 17, 1814. Dear General, — I entreat you in God's name, and for the sake of all those who are dear to you, write one word or send me some tidings here of Varnhagen. I know nothing of him since the 17th of February, when I re- ceived a letter from him at Trier. Having been a prisoner to the house for the last five months, I went yesterday to the theatre for the first time, where Count Christel Clamm said at once, in reply to my question about you, that both you and your adjutant were wounded. Perceiving my alarm, he endeavoured to make a jest of it, in which I half believed, since I had read all the papers. The count said he had seen the report in a paper a fortnight before. I told my fright to an incautious woman, who said im- mediately she also had read the statement in the papers. By degrees the report has been repeatedly confirmed. My last illness was inflammation of the throat, and I remem- ber having been unable to read two papers : it must have been in one of those. What I read was that General Tet- tenborn had entered, without a blow, into Chalons, the burghers having opened their gates. However it may be, I look to you for the truth, as speedily as possible. I am prepared for the worst. If my friend lives, and can hear, tell him that I am calm and can take care of myself; that I knew before he marched out what war was, and would 138 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^^t. 43. never have had him remain at home. If only he is not a ^^' prisoner, not in a hospital ! I will not add another word, dear general. I have written to the man in you whom Varnhagen has taught me to know and honour. It is said that you are slightly wounded. — Faithfully yours, R. But fate was better than her fears. On the 15th of October the French left Bremen, and Tettenborn led his troops through the narrow streets of the Free City to its bright little market-place, where the grand old Rathhaus and Rolandstatue have looked down upon so many cen- turies of change. The keys of the town were given up and delivered to the Crown Prince of Sweden on the i8th of October, upon the victorious field of Leipsic. After this battle, so decisive for the fortunes of Germany, Tettenborn proceeded by forced marches toward the Rhine, and thence into France. Passing safely through the many dangers which surrounded them as an advanced guard in an un- known country full of hostile peasantry, Tettenborn and Varnhagen entered Paris with the allies in April, 1814. Napoleon had just signed his abdication at Fontainebleau, and Stein was at the summit of successful power, in Paris, looking down with already waning hatred upon his fallen enemy. A month later, the bitter suspense happily ended, Rahel writes to Varnhagen, in Paris. Prague, May 23, 1814. Monday^ 8 0"* clock in the evening, I am ** happy" now, August, as you tell me to be, now that all my fear and sorrow were in vain. In my heart I often RAHEL TO VARNHAGEN. 139 say, I cannot help being anxious, only God grant it may ^t. 43. be in vain ! I am happy, August, that you are alive, that ^ ^^ your death was not one of those moving atoms whose in- visible development, amid the whirl of the universe, was irrevocably ordained before the creation of the world ! Had it been so, I must still have borne it, as I have had to accept the death of Marwitz,' and to bear all misfortune and all that is denied to us. The relief from such a sor- row is like the sudden cessation of a heart spasm, such as I know well. While it lasts, we pray as though there were nothing else in the world to be delivered from, and God knows that we have to bear it out before a change comes. Our highest, least intelligible life, flows out into a wider stream than at first appears, and perfects itself through every variety of sense and feeling. (This sentence is not mine, it is too good.) In the early morning lately I dreamed that I stood with Marwitz opposite the Krause's House, in Berlin, which was full of officers, on account of a review. Horses and grooms were before the door, officers stood in the windows, but I did not look at them. I was too full of astonishment at Marwitz and at those other dear ones who have died, and whom I now saw all as in life : mamma, Veit, Gualtieri, Selle, Herz, and many others. I did not like to question Marwitz about himself, and so asked him of the others. *' Are they all alive ? did they not really die ? '* and so on. His only reply was a slow, half articulate ** Hem! hem!** Mean time I had looked up at the windows, and perceived Prince Louis standing at the open window in his general's uniform, with powdered hair. I greeted him as prince, » Alexander von Marwitz perished in the engagement of MontmiraiL .^*^^ I40 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ^t. 43. because there were people standing by. He returned it in ^' a friendly manner, as in life, but with an ironical air, as though he knew how surprised I must be, and felt how much more he now knew than I did. I believed the news of all these deaths to have been false. I went into the house, and in the large, but somewhat dim public room I found them all. I speak to mamma, but she remains silent. I am delighted to see Marcus Herz ; he looks fresh and blooming, his hair just curled and dressed ; he is also pleased to see me; Next, to my infinite delight, I see Selle. " How glad I am ! " I exclaimed. ** Tell me what to do for my dreadful rheumatism.'* He shouted in haste, as though he had no time to spare, *' Sulphur baths ! " ** No, no," I replied ; ** they tell me I must go to Teplitz." "■ I know," he said ; " sulphur baths ! " " It is not gout, nothing of the kind." ** I know all," he re- peated. ** I know ; sulphur baths ! " Now therefore I am perfectly resolved to take them, and leave the physicians to themselves. I have no special one at present. I be- lieve only in three in the world, whom I will not name, and in one above all. God has sent me this dream. You know what my dreams are. I am most awake when I sleep. Also I have had a feeHng of comfort ever since, as though I should see my dear ones. Truly I have lost too many matadores for my time of life. We will die together, also live. Enough, you will come and fetch me certainly, Rahel followed the definite advice from dreamland and went to Teplitz, whither Varnhagen also followed for a few weeks of relaxation. LETTER FROM RAHEL. 141 To Frau von Grotthuss. ^^^^' Teplitz, August 19, 1814. . . . Never forget that everything may change, and miracles still happen. You and I have often experienced this, in unexpected help, in life begun again afresh. Those moments ever recur in which by prayer we are brought nearer to the immediate, the Divine Author of all wonders. Hope confidently for this. It is the brightest, the only true light which prevents the terrible darkness from becoming total. Consolation there is none, or else there would be no sorrow. It is with such thoughts only that I am able to strengthen my heart against the worst. On account of Varnhagen's affairs I cannot decide when I shall come to Dresden, but in any case I shall see you. I would gladly know where I shall settle. I know only this, that, setting aside the region of polar bears, icebergs, and vampyres, there is little choice. The good and bad are about even anywhere, and conflict never ceases. This is especially true now there is no longer a capital nor a nation. No upper guiding world, only ques- tions without answers, peace without advantage, one uni- versal ferment. . . . We are very busy. That is, Varn- hagen and the Woltmanns : they are upon the same floor with us. They write and read much, and have piles of newspapers ; so I also hear and read and talk a little — as much as the baths will allow. We have such peaceful bright walks together, and I am as proud when they admire this lovely country as though I had made it myself for the express purpose of delighting my friends with all the wealth of light and shade, of green foliage and fragrant herb. R. 142 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. MX. 43. With the return of Varnhagen and Rahel to Berlin, in September, 1814, we are brought to the year of peace, and to the third volume of our romance. After their many difficulties, toils, and harassing separations, our hero and heroine are at length married. We find nowhere any record of ceremonies or festivities in connection with the event. To publicity and show Rahel had a deep-rooted objection, and just at that time of year there was probably nobody in Berlin. In pursuance of those plans which with Stein's advice Varnhagen had laid out for himself before the final war of liberation, he now returned to his diplomatic career. Diplomacy was to rearrange the disturbed affairs of Europe, and the prospect before him was naturally not one of idyllic calm. CHAPTER VIII. When I consider life, 'tis all a cheat; Yet fool'd with hope, men favour the deceit ; Trust on, and think to-morrow will repay. To-morrow's falser than the former day ; Lies worse, and while it says we shall be blest With some new joys, cuts off what we possessed. Strange cozenage ! None would live past years again, Yet all hope pleasure in what yet remain ; And from the dregs of life think to receive What the first sprightly running could not give. Dryden. WiELAND once wrote, ** The artist plays with nature, the philosopher with ideas, the poet with his imagination, the coquette with our hearts, and kings, unhappily, with our heads." A few decades later he might well have added, and the diplomatist with our destinies. In modern history the fate of an individual, however obnoxious his opinions may be, is rarely sacrificed to royal caprice, while upon the clear-sightedness of a diplomatist may hang the destiny of a whole nation. Civilization in her rapid progress shatters the dynastic faith which nations are supposed to cherish, and the ** divinity that doth hedge a king" is fast becoming a tradition. The responsibility of actions, and of opinions even, is already transferred from the shoulders of royalty to those of prime ministers, privy councillors, or members of parliament. It is the statesman rather 144 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 814-15. than the monarch who must combine a clear insight into the policy of others, with the most consummate skill in baffling all efforts to fathom his own ; who with felicitous discernment knows precisely when the favourable moment has arrived, seizes it, and steers his vessel into the desired haven, or, it may be, loses his opportunity and precipitates a national calamity. Diplomacy, like war, is a ** succes- sion of mistakes," and that side bears off the colours which errs less frequently, and with promptest address turns to its own advantage the blunders of the adversary. It was with such objects that the uncrowned monarchs of Europe, Metternich, Gentz, Talleyrand, Castlereagh, met at Vienna in the autumn of 1814. How assiduously the affairs of the nations were discussed, and the welfare . of peoples as well as of cabinets was promoted, it is not our purpose to inquire. The true key to the acts and protocols of this congress is said to lie in that innermost and second secret history of it which only one man could have written. Gentz alone succeeded in seeing everybody else's cards, while cleverly concealing his own. But the Vienna Congress had its social as well as its political aspects. Many a knotty question was decided, many a delicate diplomatic move accomplished, during the morn- ing promenade or the evening banquet. In Vienna, the days of humiliation were quickly for- gotten, the last traces of its tears were already laughed away. Over the still dusty ruins in which the enemy had laid its ramparts, thronged crowds of citizens and strangers, displaying elegant toilettes, and enjoying the music of the military bands. The Vienna baker, his morning labours over, would saunter out into the mellow THE VIENNA CONGRESS. 145 sunshine, and feast his eyes upon the spectacle of half 1814 15. the royalty of Europe talking the air like ordinary mortals. He would see the Emperor Alexander arm-in-arm with Prince Eugene Beauharnais ; the Emperor of Austria listening intently to the vivacious talk of Prince Talley- rand, while on the other side of him walked the brave Archduke Charles ; Hardenberg and Stein passing and repassing, absorbed in eager converse ; the Prince de Ligne escorting some lovely archduchess ; German dukes in every variety; Lord and Lady Castlereagh astounding the Vienna world by the individuality of their morning toilettes ; and a brilliant galaxy of titled beauties, whose evening entertainments, no less than their morning promenades, formed a distinctive feature in the history of this famous congress. The gorgeous receptions given by visitors somewhat disorganised the usual free and genial tone of Viennese society. That delightful com- bination of refinement and cordiality, so characteristic of the lively city, received an admixture of French thought and custom not entirely to its advantage. Brightness, warmth, music, laughter, form a kind of atmosphere in which the semi-oriental nature of the Viennese reposes, and develops its untiring faculty for sensuous enjoyment. That the Viennese go through their round of fashionable gaiety, not as the penalty of position, or as *' the thing to do," but because their general sense of the pleasure of existence makes it positively delightful, is one of the curiosities of natural history. It remains, perhaps, an open question how far this social atmosphere affected the various members of the congress, and influenced their solemn deliberations ; but II 146 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1814-15. the well-known saying of Prince de Ligne implies volumes — Le Congres danse hieiiy mats it ne inarche pas ! It should however be remembered that the lively courtier could no longer dance. General Tettenborn had been fortunate in securing quarters for himself and Varnhagen in the crowded city. The work which the latter undertook at the suggestion of Stein, and under the direction of Hardenberg, was the writing of a popular and stirring pamphlet upon the annexation of Saxony to Prussia, one of the questions then coming up before the congress. The fighting at an end, Napoleon deposited in Elba, each of the allied sovereigns brought to Vienna his little bill of expenses in the late war. Each one was anxious to have it settled, not in paper money, but by some long coveted substantial slice of territory. Alexander maintained that his great sacrifices could only be compensated by the possession of Poland ; Francis felt that Lombardy alone could con- sole him for what he had suffered ; and Hardenberg, on behalf of Prussia, asserted the right of conquest over the traitorous king and the helpless kingdom of Saxony. Varnhagen no doubt saw, as other Prussian diplomatists have seen, the happy identity of the question of German unity with that of Prussian aggrandisement, and pro- ceeded to execute the work in the spirit of a patriot and a Prussian. The pamphlet was ultimately published in Saxony by Cotta, and Varnhagen was much gratified that it should be approved by Gentz and abused in the *' Allemania." It was not until the end of October that Varnhagen was able to find very humble accommodation, which made it RAHEL AT VIENNA. 147 possible for Rahel to rejoin him and take her share in the 1814-15. stirring life. ** For my part," writes Varnhagen, ** I should have been willing that these straitened circum- stances should last for ever. The old faith, that to the loving heart a cottage becomes a palace, was abundantly realised. The wide strange world beyond my charmed circle became daily stranger to me, and I gradually neglected it more and more. Occupied in earnest work, made happy by Rahel's long desired companionship, I needed nothing more, and both curiosity and ambition loosened their hold upon me.'* All the adherents of Prussian interests were welcomed by Varnhagen and his wife, and from the little centre of their house radiated many of the plans, ideas, and witticisms which were reproduced in the daily journals. In this Prussian coterie we again meet with RaheFs early friend, Dorothea Mendelssohn. After training her to a masculine independence of thought and character, x her father had disposed of her in marriage, with quite oriental despotism, to a middle-aged friend of his own, David Veit. Dorothea did her best to love him, but in vain. She devoted herself to her two boys, but was absolutely starving in intellect and soul when fate brought Frederick Schlegel to Berlin. Dorothea had no pretension to beauty ; her face was plain and unattractive, with the exception of her fine eyes, which gave sudden brilliant revelations of a soul within. This intellectual power attracted Schlegel, and by slow degrees Dorothea came to centre in him her worship of intellect. To her friend Henriette Herz, who had long seen her unhappiness, Dorothea turned for counsel and advice, and Henriette II* 148 RAH EL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. '14-15- bravely undertook to tell the whole story to David Veit. A separation v^as arranged, and Veit generously settled upon the elder boy a sufficient income to enable them to take a house together, and subsequently he gave the younger also into her charge. About a year afterwards Dorothea married Frederick Schlegel, and they left Berlin, to live in Paris, Jena, and Vienna. Here we find Dorothea, an ardent patriot, eager, active, strong as of old, but with the same craving melancholy in her sad eyes. Her wor- ship of intellect had proved a delusion, and a second time she had been cast upon the rocks. The frigid egotism of a born pedant like Frederick Schlegel might well disenchant the most zealous worshipper. Together, how- ever, they went over to the Roman Catholic Church, and we see the curious anomaly of the author of "Lucinde" being lost in enthusiastic admiration of those oriental mystics who stood agonised on stone pillars, and culti- vated birds* nests in their hair. Another of the early friends of Rahel who was also transplanted to Vienna, was her cousin, Frau von Eyben- berg. As Marianne Meyer, a handsome Jewess, lively and well educated, she had commanded much admiration. Her life was thwarted throughout by the barrier of caste. Among her many suitors was Count Christian Bernstorff, then in the Danish embassy at Berlin, but his father peremptorily interfered and broke off the connection. Some time after this disappointment, she accepted an offer from Prince Reuss, the Austrian ambassador at Ber- lin. He was a good, brave, ugly man, several years older than herself, but sincere in his attachment. By a cruel freak of destiny, on the morning of her wedding day she THE PRUSSIAN COTERIE, 149 received from Count Bernstorff a renewal of his proposals, 1814-15. the death of his father having made him his own master. 3^ Prince Reuss was devoted to his wife, but he was of a royal, house, and the marriage could only be a morganatic one. Etiquette permitted them only to visit together out- side the range of the court circle, and Marianne did not even live in her husband's house. Upon the death of the prince these difBculties increased, the conventional world of Berlin thrust her back into her former bourgeois con- dition. Against this her pride rebelled. She went to Vienna and procured an interview with the emperor, laying all her grievances before him. But the paternal monarch could not make her Princess Reuss, so he be- stowed upon her the title of Frau von Eybenberg. In 1811, when her health was rapidly failing, Count Bern- storff came as Danish Ambassador to Vienna. He met accidentally Henriette Herz, who was then visiting the Baroness Arnstein. His first question of her was, ** Where is Marianne Meyer ? " He sought her out, and was unre- mitting in his kindness to her until her death in 1814. There appears so little to attract about her clear hard intellect and her cool worldly wisdom, that we cannot but wonder what the fascination was which she exercised, and whether it was only that of personal beauty. Goethe's admiration of her, and pleasure in her society, no doubt contributed much to make her famous. Writing to Schiller in 1797, he says, ** The celebrated Marianne Meyer is also here. What a pity it is that she did not come a few days sooner. I wished so very much that you should become acquainted with this remarkable woman." By Gentz, on the other hand, she was held in special ISO- RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1814-1 5. aversion. In his letters he has once or twice referred to her in terms of strong dislike. Upon one occasion, when writing to Rahel against Goethe, he concludes thus : '* He (Goethe) does not really enjoy being in any- body's company except that of Marianne Eybenberg, and that is the hardest thing which I believe it possible to say about any human being ! *' The elder sister of Marianne Eybenberg, best known as Frau von Grotthuss, seems in the same way to owe her celebrity quite as much to the letters of Goethe and to the eulogium of Varnhagen as to any personal excel- lences. Henriette Herz, who is rarely so severe about her friends, speaks of her as pre-eminent in that qualifi- cation said to be the only natural gift which cannot be cultivated — stupidity. She was handsome, well educated, extremely amiable, and gifted with boundless self-com- placency. In her early youth she had heard the flatteries of Lessing and of Herder, later in life she became the friend and correspondent of Madame de Genlis, of Prince de Ligne, and of Rahel. Goethe always professed great friendship for her. His letters, however, are few and of no great interest, the subjects being mainly the failure of Marianne's health, Madame de Stael's book on Germany, the representation at Weimar of Ludwig Robert's tragedy of *' Jephtha," and the safe arrival of certain dried goose breasts, which gave special satisfaction. Frau von Grott- huss died at Oranienburg in 1828. In the diaries of Gentz ' we have glimpses of the Vienna world where the rush of life was most rapid, the thirst for pleasure most insatiable ; where the play was the * Appendix K. RAH EL TO HER BROTHER. 151 highest, the society the gayest, and the dinners, under 1814-15. the auspices of Parisian genius, were beyond reproach. While devoting his clear intellect and untiring energy to the cause of " enlightened conservatism," v^ork was never allowed to interfere with the pursuit of pleasure. He lived two lives, distinct in character and purpose. Hence his mild upbraidings of Prince Metternich, that on more than one occasion a political discussion had been per- mitted to drift into talk about the relation of the latter to the Duchess of Sagan, the restless beauty who subse- quently became notorious for her emancipated ideas upon the subject of divorce. There is an entry in December, 1814, of a select little dinner given by Gentz, including the Count and Countess Bernstorff, Varnhagen von Ense and Frau von Varnhagen, Humboldt, Prince Frederick of Coburg, Binder, Dr. Bollman, Prince Reuss, the Grafin von Fuchs. Le diner avec les accessoires a dure jusqu'a 9 heures. It is pro- bably referred to in this letter of Rahel to her brother Markus, who appears to have been at this time her prin- cipal correspondent. To M. Th. Robert, in Berlin. Vienna, December 7, 18 14. Varnhagen sits beside me, finishing despatches for the courier ; he sends, therefore, only a greeting, and thanks, and assurances for the future. We are still in the **Stift;*' to-morrow we remove from a favourite street to a quiet square and up two high flights of stairs ; here we are upon the ground floor. This evening I drive to Fanny Arnstein, whose reception yesterday I missed. 152 RAH EL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 1814-15. My health suffers too much from heat and crowds, and after every such gathering my cough takes nearly a week to recover itself. Gentz has put off. the dinner because the ladies whom he w^ished to meet me are wanted at court for tableaux vivants. He gave me my choice to dine with him without the Countesses Bernstorff and Fuchs, or with them and wait until Monday. I chose the latter, mainly because the thing is at least postponed — I cannot bear ceremony — and because I am particularly anxious to see these two matadors of amiability. Gentz also prefers it. Countess Fuchs is sister to the Countess Plettenberg, who visited us in Berlin, and all the gentle- men are in love with her. The other lady is the wife of Count Christian Bernstorff. I once saw an exquisite letter of hers. She is so admirably wise that she quite astounds me. (You love all this gossip, do you not ?) The night before last I heard the " Magic Flute." Call Moritz to witness ! You will scarcely believe that I discovered, through the marvellous execution, touches of melody where I had never suspected them before, with all my musical perception. I went there mainly because I had heard that Righini's rendering of certain passages was individual, and not in strict accordance with the text. The show and general representation of the piece is behind ours in Berlin. The ** Queen of Night " stepped out of a very large moon, which was unrolled among can- vas clouds. She had on a crown of silver paper, upon which trembled moon and stars in the purest tin. She sang the unmeaning airs with a worn voice, but with such* traces of past excellence that the public remained com- plaisant. Her name is Madame Rosenbaum ; she must RAH EL TO HER BROTHER. 153 be fifty, but she is the first person who ever taught me 1814-15. what staccato is ; not the mere folly which those singers execute who are not born to it. Imagine, this singer brings out that highest note with a restrained power that makes it like the utterance of a broad sound, expressive of anger, grief, and terror. One admires and learns. . . The orchestra playing here is soft, thoughtful, and correct ; its strength does not consist in tearing about like the two Webers, the thin one in Prague and the stout one with us. Altogether, no town in Germany is in -a worse musi- cal condition than Berlin; and, naturally, so much in the dark about its own state, because it spares no trouble or noisy effort. Weber, Zelter, Iffland, are greatly to blame, and also Righini, who gives way from love of applause. Vienna, January 15, 18 15. The conferences last on ; one says this, another that ; nothing definite is arrived at, no conclusion come to. We shall not get all Saxony. I shall be glad that it is not so at present. Saxony and Prussia belong essen- tially together, and will certainly do so when some great event happens. But the practical difficulties in the present confused condition of Germany are immense. I hate war, and the Germans do not readily fight against each other ; their feeling is opposed to it, and they are naturally inactive ; they must be driven to cut and kill. But with other nations war will break out presently : then we shall take the one side, and be practically sepa- rated. It seems to me that what unity we have in the country will only bring us under one government, the others will not unite with us through any harmony of their 154 RAH EL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS, 814-15. governments. That is how I think the matter stands; there is little to be done. The nature of great things, countries, and peoples is essentially right when left to itself. So for the present — peace. Tell this to Moritz; the wisest here think Prussia and Austria will remain friends. (I am now frightfully disturbed by the Russian Colonel Nostiz.) When are Ludwig's songs to be printed? Varnhagen and Nostiz are interrupting me till my cheeks are red and blue with worry and excitement. Not a minute's peace ! ! Farewell. I will write a word to the children. Greet Nettchen and all household friends. Rahel found the whole tone of Viennese society differ- ent to what she had been accustomed to enjoy either in Berlin or Paris. Late hours, crowded rooms, sumptuous dress and entertainment did not constitute social inter- course according to her simple ideas : the physical exer- tion wearied, and the unreality oppressed her. Hence her somewhat sarcastic accounts of the Vienna doings. Writing of a public military funeral, she says to her brother Moritz : — " The ceremony in the St. Stephan's church (an ex- quisite building, made for thought and prayer) cost 40,000 francs. But the decorations produced a pitiful -effect, being without general plan or suitability to the building. Coats of arms, pieces of cloth hanging down in broad strips, and fastened at the top to a big silvery — not silver — crown of France. Some benches covered, some not. A melancholy statue of Religion with a cross on its arm, and beside it a bust of Minerva ! Another wooden LETTERS FROM VIENNA, 155 statue representing the testament of Louis XVI., covered 1814-15. with plaster of Paris drapery ! All very well for an even- ing garden entertainment ! Altogether nearly as inappro- priate as the funeral of Turenne, which I saw at the Pantheon in Paris. Admittance was by ticket. Count Flemming sent me one for a good position, but I did not go, on account of the cold, the crowd, and the wearisome waiting. I saw the church afterwards. The music also was said to be worth nothing. " Yesterday at midday the great sledging party at last came off. You must believe me, not the newspapers. There were most elegant convenient chariots (not of the modern bad fashion), which looked very well, and were mounted on good sledges. The horses were all harness, and the trappings all bells, covered with gold and silver ! Quite imperial. Each one was attended by six servants in elaborate livery, surmounted by three-cornered hats : they were supposed to be outriders, but not to crack their whips. In every sledge was one lady and one gentleman. The ladies in furs and hats of all colours, but all of the same fashion. Only Therese Esterhazy, the niece of our queen, was differently and better dressed. She wore a hat of blue velvet, with crape and gold, a white feather, coquettish, charming ! Lady Castlereagh (not handsome or young, but colossal) in yellow, with a shawl fit to drive one mad. Julie Zichy, cherry brown, a brunette, very beautiful, and like our queen. Countess Fuchs in pon- ceau. All were gay, but she was the loveliest. With my lorgnette I saw her distinctly pass my window three times. The outriders wore different colours, the gentle- men uniforms. The king was very much cheered. . . . Al- 156 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. 14-15. though De Ligne is with his fathers, the congress still only waltzes. Major von Hedemann wagered yesterday they would all be at home in six weeks. But I believe no one ; all are equally ignorant. One thing more, — I en- treat you to send me some tea ; millions cannot buy it here, and before we can turn round the congress will be over." To MoRiTz Robert, in Berlin. Vienna ^ March 12, 1815. I had arranged in my mind all that we have heard about Napoleon since yesterday, in order to send you the information, but I find it briefly stated in the ** Observer," which I will send you to-morrow. The prince who met him is the Prince of Monaco, the same who also sent hither the courier. Napoleon was not depressed, but excited, as on his sledge drive from Moscow to France. He asked impetuously of the prince whether he had observed no movement in France and Paris, which he had just left ; he would not believe that all could be quiet there. Vous ne savez done rien? he said, and told him that the congress here had broken up in confusion. The prince was taken to the bivouac which Napoleon occupied, as the small fort had been refused to him. Now we have to await this affair : on Tuesday we shall have a post. Per- haps you may have earlier news through Paris, because we learnt yesterday that there they have telegraphic com- munication. Peschier's companion, Fries, and others defer their journey for the post day. Monaco really knows nothing ; Napoleon is right. I saw yesterday a letter from Paris from a rich man of business with larEt. 62. January, 1833, she was able to drive out into the Thier- ^^33- Garten, and for the last time enjoyed the clear air and sunshine which seemed essential to her life. But acute attacks of illness {hrustkrampfe) became more frequent and more distressing. Dora, the attendant who had been to her for twenty years both friend and nurse, was unfailing in her tender solicitude, but as the suffering became more intolerable, she craved the support and sympathy of her husband. She would ask him to say something to strengthen and comfort her, while at the same time uttering higher thoughts than any round her had to offer. After one terrible night of suffering she greeted Varnhagen in her most expressive tones. **0h, I am quite happy, I am God's creature. He knows all about me, and before long I shall understand why it was good and necessary for me to suffer thus ; I have to learn something from it, and with the new insight I shall recog- nise each pain as a joy, each sorrow as a glory! And is not this confidence itself a happiness to me ? So also is all the love which is about me." Rahel had suffered much of many physicians, both by necessity, by experiment, and by entire misapprehension. Recovery she knew to be no longer possible. To prolong the intervals of respite from suffering was all that could be hoped for. At the urgent entreaty of Bettine von Arnim, Rahel consented to sec Dr. von Necher, a very successful homoeopathic physician, then temporarily in Berlin in attendance upon the Duke of Lucca. He won Rahel's confidence, and she carefully followed his instructions, although they often involved the renunciation of stimu- lants and palliations to which sh« had been long accus- HER LAST DA YS. 24$ tomed. No signs of amendment appeared, and the nights itt. 62. became even worse. One day, when Dora made some '^^^• reference to the coming summer, she whispered, ** Ah, if you did but know my thoughts ; I think I shall not see the end of March." At other times, however, she was brighter, and able to look forward at least for others, making household arrangements, and considering with provident foresight the wants of some whom she considered dependent upon her. Varnhagen has recorded of these sad last days, intervals of sympathetic interchange of feeling and expressions of religious thought which were a happy memory to him in later years. All such refer- ences came from Rahel with the frankness natural to her ; her religious faith was a part of her daily experience, and in sickness, as in health, was genuine, bright, and ever present. Part of a conversation held 'on the 2nd of March is thus given by Varnhagen :- — ** What a history is mine," she exclaimed, with great agitation. " I, a fugitive from Egypt and Palestine, find with you help, love, and tender care ! It was God's will, dear August, to send me to you, and you to me. With delighted exaltation I look back upon my origin, upon the link which my history forms between the oldest memories of the human race and the interests of to-day, between the broadest interval of time and space. That which was, during the early part of my life, the greatest ignominy, the cause of bitterest sorrow, to have been born a Jewess, I would not now have otherwise at any price. And shall I not find it to be the same with all this present suffering? 246 RAH EL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS, vEt. 62. Shall I not joyfully rise above it, and find it to have been ^ ^^* of priceless value? Dear August, is there not w^onderful consolation in the parallel ? We will go forward in this strength ! " Then she continued, with many tears: ^* Dear August, my heart has been strengthened by thinking of Jesus and His sorrows, and I have felt, realised, for the first time, that He is our brother." At another time, with cheerful earnestness, she told them of a dream which had often consoled her. *' I once dreamt, when I was seven years old, that 1 saw our heavenly Father, quite close. He leant over me, and His mantle stretched out wide as the heavens. Upon a corner of this mantle I was allowed to rest, and lay down to sleep with a blissful sense of repose. The dream has recurred again and again in the course of my life, and, sleeping or waking, it has been in my deepest sorrows a Divine consolation that I might thus rest in heavenly » keeping, free from every care." After severe paroxysms of suffering she would be heard to murmur, " I rest on the Divine mantle, He permits it. Although I suffer so much, I am happy. God is with me, and I am in His hand. He knows what is best, and why it must be thus.'* Dr. Necher had prolonged his stay in Berlin on Rahel's account, and saw her once or twice each day. Other physicians, who also saw her, agreed with him, however, in thinking the danger not at present imminent. Upon the HER DEATH, 247 6th of March she took a few steps up and down her room, ^t. 62. she received visits from her brother, from her sister-in-law, ^^^^• and from Bettine von Arnim. After the last of these Dora arranged her comfortably for the night, and Varnhagen left her, with some hope that she might sleep. But sleep came to none of them. ** It was about midnight, and I was still awake, when Dora called me," writes Varnhagen. " I was to come, she was much worse. Instead of sleep, Rahel had found only suffering, which had now become decided spasm of the breast. Her state was now almost as critical as in the attack a week ago. The medicines left in case of such an exigency (held rather possible than probable) were again tried, with little effect. The frightful struggle con- tinued, and the beloved sufferer, writhing in Dora's arms, cried several times, * This pressure against her breast was not to be borne, was crushing her heart out.* The breath- ing became painfully oppressed. She complained that it was getting into her head now, that she felt like a cloud there : then she leant back. A deceptive hope of some alleviation gleamed for an instant, only to go out for ever. The eyes were dimmed, the mouth distorted, the limbs powerless ! In this state the doctors found her : their remedies were useless. An unconscious hour and half, during which the breast occasionally struggled in spasmodic efforts, and this noble life breathed out its last." 2^8 ^ RAH EL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. CHAPTER XII. None may grudge the dead^ Libations from full cups. Unless we choose To look back to the hills behind us spread, The plains before us sadden and confuse ; If orphaned, we are disinherited.— Cas A GuiDi Windows. Varnhagen was thus left alone, to look back upon eighteen years of married life, made perfect by entire con- geniality of purpose, and by a mutual love which time had only served to strengthen. From Count Custine he re- ceived a notice of Rahel, accompanied by the words, " I have said what my heart dictated, but it is not enough ; because one has to make her known to those who are in- different, and indifference is imbecile. Of a nature so different to most others the world knows but too little. I wish that a collection of her letters could be translated, but the work would be so difficult that I could not pos- sibly undertake it. I have translated one fragment in my sketch of her, and I could write half a volume with less trouble than it has cost me to express one thought of this living soul in a foreign language." This sketch was published in the " Revue des Deux Mondes," in De- cember, 1837. We quote from it a few expressions. '* Rahel was a woman quite as remarkable as Madame de Stael, in her intellectual faculties, her fertility of CUSTINE'S MEMOIR. 249 thought, her clearness of soul, her goodness of heart ; in eloquence she far surpassed the author of Xorinne,' but she wrote nothing. The silence of such a soul is power. With more vanity, so superior an intelligence would have endeavoured to make a public ; Rahel only wished for friends. She spoke, to communicate to others from her abundant life, never for the sake of being admired. . . . " She possessed the intellect of a philosopher and the heart of an apostle. . . . I ** To a person who saw life as Rahel saw it, nothing was ever petty, or vulgar, or impossible. . . . ** If I had never known Madame Varnhagen, I should never have been persuaded, as I am, of a consoling truth, that it is the vulgar who always judge a man by what he has done, only higher minds are able to appreciate him for what he is capable of doing. It is thus that Rahel judged others ; it is thus that she has a right to demand to be judged of us." Baron Brinckmann also, at seventy years of age, sent to Varnhagen, from Stockholm, a history of his friend- ship with Rahel, taken from diaries of other days. It is perhaps the clearest example we have of the stimulating power which Rahel exercised, and of the way in which her genius for ministration was constantly putting itself forth, directly or indirectly, for the good of her friends. Upon the occasion of the Baron's first introduction to Rahel he had been rather summarily put down by a sar- castic lady in the company. As he handed Rahel down the staircase, he asked, '' Did you believe in what my opponent said V 250 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. *' Not in the least," replied Rahel, '* although her sharp answers were perfectly well deserved, and, as I saw, they wounded you : the more deeply, that your own remarks were not genuine, not even true. It is always vanity merely which tries by means of a witty turn to batter down a truth, however awkwardly it may have been advanced, without regard for the convictions of those who differ. Vanity deserves no pity. If you were my friend I should teach you something different." Friends they became before long. **What I had vainly sought," writes the enthusiastic Baron, " in the councils of sages, in the outer splendours of life, in the temples of the devout, simple truth, inde- pendence of thought, fervour of feeling, I found, like a holy revelation, in the * attic-room ' of this rare thinker. ** One day when we had become more intimate she said, with a half melancholy smile, ' You are still like an aspiring child, full of hope, and ignorant of his own predilections and powers. God and virtue are to you blossoms of child- like feeling ; but you are not destined to remain for ever a child, or, even like most other people, an unripe man. You must become free and independent or you will become bad; and if you pay blind homage to estabUshed prejudices, worse still. Is there any worse slavery than the fear of men, however you may gild and polish your chains ? . . Courage — moral courage is everything. External heroism is a trifle, often trivial enough. But courage of the heart, self-con- fidence against a world of prejudices, your own and other people's, if you had but that you would become firm, cheerful, wise — as I am ! . . . God and virtue ! In early life we are taught to utter these words, so full of meaning, BRINCKM ANA'S RECOLLECTIONS, 25! like a charm ; but what do we understand by them ? All or nothing ; according to what we are ourselves, all or nothing.' " Another of the many wise injunctions preserved by the Baron from his friendly Sibyl was the warning to receive nothing at second-hand. *' Not so much because the material may be adulterated as because its cheapness enervates the mind, so that a man no longer toils to dig and work out for himself. No enthusiasm should come to us from without, the flame should spring up on the altar of our own soul. All depends on our own working out ; the object is of far less consequence. Just as the fact of loving is often of more importance to us than the object loved. . . . For a long time I could not under- stand why I never could get into my head all the fine things that other people learn by heart. I thought I was stupid, but I have since learned that it was my teachers who were so. They might have understood that my spirit was already too full, too restless, too occupied, to be able readily to acquire extraneous things. In my little head there was no room for novelties until what was already there had been sifted and arranged." Baron Brinckmann closes his charming little psycho- logical sketch with a warning to Varnhagen concerning the proposed publication of Rahel's letters. He entreats him not to make too free a revelation of the sanctuary of her heart to the outer world, the common herd of people, who as a rule are ''friends to no man." To him, her earlier letters especially, with their rapid thoughts sug- gested or only half expressed, were a *' kind of Sanscrit," to be revealed only to the privileged Brahmin order of 252 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. friends. Such a caution was perhaps not altogether superfluous. Varnhagen's pride in his wife was boundless, and his taste, possibly, somewhat less fastidious than that of the sensitive receptive Swede. A small collection of letters was first published, and re- ceived with general sympathy. It was followed by a fuller edition, entitled, ** Rahel : a Memorial for her Friends." Only with such kindly human interest can these letters be appreciated or understood. Like all lyrical utterances, they demand a certain sympathy, a certain ** rapport," on the part of the reader. They were written in full reli- ance upon such sympathy, from heart to heart. Extend- ing as they do over some thirty years, they are the expression of a life of varied interests and active effort ; they are to be read at intervals, at leisure, for growth and solace, not from any vain curiosity. The style is as varied as the mood of the writer, now clear, forcible, terse to abruptness ; and at another time so verbless and incoherent, that only the delicate fragrance of a thought is discernible through the labyrinth of words. They bring Rahel before us,^ not as a sentimentalist, but as a great thinker, whose genius placed her abreast of the fore- most men of her time, and who stands a living proof of the power of broad sympathies, mental culture, and persist- ent cheerfulness to raise a woman above the narrowing effects of personal weakness and the pettiness of those circumstances by which her lot is inevitably surrounded. ** How is it," writes Varnhagen, in 1855, " ^^^^ Rahel is so difficult to understand ? Because people will bring with them their own false views and distort Rahel's. If she speaks of her own failings, inclinations, experiences, PUBLICATION OF HER LETTERS. 253 \ they do not know how to take it. Her self-commendation, though it may proceed from the most simple misappre- hension, is looked upon as mere vanity, and is dragged down to their own level, while her self-blame is magnified to excess. If they would only look upon Rahel as a most simple and natural character, gifted to a rare degree with passionate benevolence and the broadest intellect, puls- ing with eager life, always abreast with the passing moment, full of goodness, activity, and cheerfulness — their picture would be at least just and true, if not com- plete. She lived in broad practical daylight, was never abstracted, but always took her full share in all that was passing, whether great or trivial. From lesser detail, she always rose to broad and general views. What people call " ways of her own," Rahel had not ; there was nothing disturbing or self-assertive about her ; in her most lively moments she was always modest and self-restrained." Although the whole charm and interest of the salon proper died with Rahel, Varnhagen continued to see many guests. Not only early friends, now fast diminish- ing in number, but new acquaintances, visitors to Berlin, literary men and dilettanti. By common consent he had I come to fill a patriarchal position in the literary world. f It was altogether congenial to him, and when not over- worked, he received gladly, with or without recommenda- tion, those rising authors who knew the value of a good word from Varnhagen von Ense. One frequent visitor of the olden time was the weird Romanticist, Bettine von Arnim. Her character was still that of the spoiled child ; the same exacting fancies and dictatorial caprices which at sixteen had been so charm- 254 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. ing, came with a different grace from a slovenly little old woman of sixty. She would sit and talk by the hour with Varnhagen about the affairs of her brother, Clemens Bren- tano, and about those endless publishing troubles, which she at last settled by publishing for herself, and starting the firm of ** Von Arnim." More to Varnhagen's taste were those leisure hours spent with Henriette Herz. Sitting out upon the balcony of her pleasant house in the Thier-Garten, beside the still stately beauty, he would find some consolation in talking to her of Rahel and of that society of the past to which they both had given life and inspiration. With the same untiring patience she would listen to him and to Humboldt as they told the story of their political grievances, or bemoaned the super- ficialness, the feebleness, the vexation, the ennui of modern Berlin life. ** Other generations have arisen," writes Henriette Herz in her latest days. " I stand as a ruin amongst them. Before me new, not always intelligible, life; behind me, a field of the dead. But amid the fresh verdure of the new world one companion of the olden time still stands strong in his unconquerable youthfulness. Whoever wishes to form an impartial judgment of what I have said respect- ing the generous and self-denying friendships of other days, should well consider his unresting labours in the service of his generation. Many a waking night does he still pass at his writing-table. ** It may be true of the present day that other interests predominate, that life is broader, its objects more varied ; that the individual becomes merged in the community at some self-sacrifice, and thus such a time as we have been HENRIETTE HERZ. 255 considering, with all its failings and its virtues, can never be conjured back again. But in the present generation many of its virtues are entirely wanting, and this very want is accounted a merit. Hence much of the pure and noble sentiment in which that time was rich is looked upon as a pernicious outgrowth, happily uprooted and cast aside with a compassionate smile. It makes me think of the immortal fox and the pendent grapes. They may continue to call me * the eulogist of the past.* Never- theless I am not ignorant of the present, and who knows whether its cold intellect, its half-concealed or often boldly bristling egotism, its paramount striving after material good, is to be preferred to that personal devotion to the interests of others, to that effort, so abundantly fruitful, after intellectual good, which characterised the generation now passed away."^ On October 22, 1847, Henriette Herz died, after a brief illness, at the age of 83. To her, with her fine constitu- tion, her elastic, cheerful temperament, life had been a lighter experience than was possible to Rahel, whose susceptible nerves made her suffer from incessant change of mood. Henriette, full of tender feeling and strong at- tachment, guided by thoughtful judgment, maintained a placid course; scaling no heights, plunging into no depths of thought or emotion, attaching and influencing her friends by her reticent tenderness and her practical sagacity ; Rahel, always conscious of *' the depths " (as she phrased it), found the use and enjoyment of life only in proportion to the sustained energy with which she could swim above those depths. Any day or hour, failing di- ^ " Erinnerungen," von Henriette Herz. J. Furst. 256 RAHEL: HER LIFE AND LETTERS. gestion or shrinking nerves might cause a sudden plunge into them, and for her the whole aspect of life would change, and healthy effort become persistent struggle. With all her culture, all her strength of will, Rahel was quite unable to attain to the bright equanimity of Hen- riette Herz. Her abundant compensation, however, lay in her genuine humour and in her recuperative power. To the humorous element in her character, sadness and mirth were each as necessary as cloud and sunshine to the April rainbow. As Shelley tells us, — Our sincerest laughter With some pain is fraught : Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought. Henriette owed much of her social influence to her personal beauty, as well as to her dignified repose of manner, which conveyed a sense of power. She was docile under the social regime, and somewhat punctilious about small social requirements. Rahel was pre-emi- nently unworldly, she yielded to many of the exactions of society under protest, and was mentally above them all. It is not easy to understand the kind of fascination by which Rahel held both men and women in admiring friendship through years of change and separation. Much of it was due to womanly sympathy, much also to that kind of intellectual influence which in reference to Goethe has been called "daemonic;" an irresistible power ex- ercised apart from her own will ; a power which has been cleverly if not completely defined as ^'presence of mind in combination with a keen knowledge of men,'* ^ Another marked difference between the friends lay in their feeling for nature. Henriette loved the town, its ' Appendix O, RAHEL AND HENRIETTE. 257 busy life, its vigour, its friendly association, even its noisy traffic, and, despite her intimacy with the young •Romanticists of her day, cared little for the poetry of nature. She v^as of a constructive, decorative turn, fond of art, especially of sculpture, and believing much in the embellishment of life. To Rahel, on the other hand, though also town-bred, it seemed part of the irony of her destiny that her years should all be spent in the perpetual sight of walls and housetops. ** Could I but live," she ex- claims, ** where I could step from my window out upon the greensward !" Rahel is representative even of this element of thought in the troubled mind of her day. She echoed the half pantheistic adoration, the passionate longing after nature which found utterance in Tieck, Novalis, and in Wordsworth. Grand scenery she never saw, all her delight lay in a sudden gleam of sunlight on a distant hill or tree-top, in an early violet, or in the quiet shadow of the woods at Teplitz. Her care was not, like Henriette's, for the embellishment of life, but for its full enjoyment ; she was thankful for the simple delight of existence when permitted by her changing health; and believed in savoir-vivre, like a genuine Savoyard. Varnhagen in his old age did not become conservative. His liberalism retained its broad character, and it is satis- factory to find him speaking strongly against the attitude of those German Liberals who could honour the love of freedom as a virtue in Germany and denounce it as a crime in Hungary or Lombardy. Heine relied upon this fidelity when, from his death-bed in Paris, he sent to Varnhagen a young democratic friend — Ferdinand Lassalle '— who ^ Appendix P. 18 2S8 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. afterwards became one of the boldest writers and best abused men of modern Germany. In his letter of introduction Heine writes : — '^My friend, Herr Lassalle, who will bring you this letter, is a young man of the most remarkable intellectual power. He combines thorough, accurate, and varied learning ; an inexhaustible faculty of exposition, and an acute perceptive power, with energy of will and hahi- lite in action, to a degree which fills me with amaze- ment. I anticipate the most active assistance from him if his sympathy with me does not die out. In any case it will be a pleasure to have known a man thus uniting learning and capacity, talent and character. . . . Herr Lassalle bears unmistakably the stamp of the new time, which knows nothing cf that modesty and self-abnegation with which we, more or less hypocritically, were tram- melled and besotted in our day. The new generation means to enjoy itself and make the best of the visible ; we of the older one bowed humbly before the invisible, yearned after shadow-kisses and 'blue-flower'* fragrances, denied ourselves, wept and smiled, and were perhaps happier than those fierce gladiators who walk so proudly to meet their death struggle." Varnhagen continued to the last to act upon that motto which many years before he had selected for Prussia — Through culture to freedom. But the end of his labours came somewhat suddenly. ' The " blue flower " of Novalis became typical of Romanticism. DEATH OF VARNHAGEN. 259 While engaged in playing a game of chess he was seized with pulmonic apoplexy, which terminated fatally on the loth October, 1858. The end of more than threescore years of active life ; — but a day in the course of history, and like a day in its eager dawn, its toilsome noon, its weary, satiate close — a brief yesterday of seed-time fol- lowed by the long fruit-bearing to-morrow. NOTE ON THE PORTRAIT. The portrait of Rahel which accompanies this volume is the same as that published by Vamhagen with her letters in 1834. It has been printed for us from the original steel engraving, by the same publishers, Messrs. Duncker and Humblot, of Berlin. That it was not, however, considered satisfactory by the family, we may conclude from the fol- lowing remarks of Vamhagen : — ^' The portrait of Rahel which precedes the collection of her letters gives no faithful representation of the real features and expression of her face. It is from a miniature painting taken in Carlsruhe, in 18 17, by Daffinger, of Vienna. The original was a spirited, and in some respects very successful likeness, but in the rigid steel engraving its whole character is changed. The outlines of mouth and nose are so exaggerated as to spoil the proportion and injure the entire face." There did exist another portrait by Friedel, in pastels, also unsatis- factory. Rahel wrote of it: — " My picture at home displeases me greatly. I see that it is like me, but I also see that I must often look very different, or I should be too repulsive." When about twenty-five years of age a medallion of her was executed by Friedrich Tieck the sculptor. It appears to have been excellent as a likeness and pleasing as a work of art. Being most anxious to have the best pos- sible representation of Rahel, we made application to Frau Assing Grimelli for permission to photograph and publish this, * which Varnhagen held to be the best likeness, but we regret to say that for some unassigned reason the request was declined. We have, therefore, to rest content with the only available portrait. The couplet at the foot may perhaps be rendered into English thus : — Simplicity — God's gift — we highly prize ; But her without it, nameless we despise. APPENDICES. APPENDIX A. (Page 13.) The correspondence between Rahel and David Veit occupies about two years of the student life which the latter spent in Gottingen and Jena. It was published by Varnhagen in a separate volume, about 1835. The individual character of each of the writers, expressed with entire frankness, gives to these letters a peculiar charm. Unlike most German effusions of that day, they contain no rhapsody, no mutual flattery, no touch of sentiment. Veit was, according to Varnhagen^ " a man of rare gifts, and what is still more rare, of gifts well com- bined and balanced." He lived much alone, prizing lightly ordinary friends and acquaintances. Rahel at this time was bravely enduring the pain of renunciation, with heart and intellect alike hungering for sympathy and occupation. Their letters have the interest of a dramatic dialogue. Veit awaited Rahel's replies always with impa- tience. " Your last," he writes one day, " was such a festive occasion to me, that I immediately ordered up chocolate to complete the enter- tainment." He settled as a physician in Hamburg, and died of fever while attending the French hospitals there, in February, 18 14. APPENDIX B. (Page 17.) ^ This account of Varnhagen's visit will be found in the first volume of his " Denkwiirdigkeiten," p. 137, new edition. It has also been partly translated by Mr. Carlyle, in his Essay upon " Rahel and Varnhagen von Ense," which English readers will find in Vol. VI. of his collected works. APPENDIX C. (Page 28.) SCHARNHORST was aware of the process of degeneration going on in the Prussian army. Bravery and discipline still remained among the ranks, but the more important posts became filled by showy incapables. The army, while living upon the prestige of the past, sank into an or- 18* 262 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. namental appendage to the State, until, after the battle of Jena, Scharn- horst could thus write of it: "It is true that the Prussian army is animated by a fine spirit, that it is not wanting in courage or careful training ; but, managed as it is and will be, it neither can nor will achieve anything great or decisive." APPENDIX D. (Page 37.) Henri Campan was one of several young Frenchmen holding offices under Napoleon in Berlin. The French postal arrangements were in his hands. The "Gallomania," common to all Berhners under the auspices of Frederick the Great, still served to keep up a feeling of personal friendliness toward these young men. They, on their part, made themselves socially agreeable, and did their best to alleviate the tyrannical pressure brought to bear upon the unoffending citizens by the authorities at Paris. Campan attached himself strongly to Rahel, and when forced to leave Berlin found nothing in Parisian life to console him for the delight of her friendship or the intellectual stimulus of her society. APPENDIX E. (Page 52.) Allusion is here made, no doubt, to the Chevalier Raphael Urquijo, a Spanish gentleman present on that evening. Through the Spanish ambassador in Berlin he had been introduced to Rahel. A sudden and passionate attachment sprang up between them. We find nowhere any details of this affair and its apparently abrupt termination. The correspondence which contained its history was put by Rahel into the hands of Varnhagen. It was lost with other papers during the dis- turbances of 1 8 13. He speaks of it as a record of intense passion, grief, despair, a soul-tragedy ; but at the same time characteristically regrets that it can never be published. APPENDIX F. (Page 57.) " The ancient, famous, and knightly race of Von Ense," says an old Westphalian chronicler, "became divided into two branches." Of these, one was known in the twelfth century by the name of Varnhagen von Ense, a name which descended through a long line of feudal lords, church dignitaries, and town councillors, to the burgo-masters, lawyers, and physicians of later times. Towards the close of the eighteenth century one Johann Andrias Jacob Varnhagen von Ense settled in APPENDIX G. 263 Dusseldorf, and soon received the appointments of town-physician and electoral consulting physician. His eldest son, August, was born February 21st, 1875 ; he married Rahel Levin in September, 1814, and died at Berlin, October loth, 1858. We have passed over the ample and complacent details ofVarnhagen's earlier love affairs, among which the curious reader may mystify himself in the original " Denkwurdig- keiten." APPENDIX G. (Page Zy.) Lifting this legendary veil, we come upon an ugly fact for the credit of the most civilised nation in the world. The head of Schill was severed from the body and sent in spirits to King Jerome at Cassel, that he might " make himself merry " {lustik) over it. After this refined personal gratification he made a present of the "robber-head" to Brug- mann, the naturalist, in Leyden, who had it preserved among other monstrosities. Knettelbeck begged for it in vain. Not until 1835 was it, with much solemn commemoration, laid beside SchilFs murdered comrades at Brunswick. Of these six hundred, the officers were con- demned, some to the galleys, the rest to death. The latter — eleven young men all under thirty years of age — were had up before a French court-martial and sentenced to death by the aid of a law against "burglary and theft!" Schmidt- Weissenfels, Charakter - Skizzen. Joachim Knettlebeck, Biir^er zu Kolberg. Eine Lebensbeschreibting. 1 82 1. Third Edition, 1863. Brockhaus, Leipsic. APPENDIX H. (Page 92.) The letters of Varnhagen to Rahel, with some from her not published in the early collection (1834), and which belong to this period of their history, were published in 1874 by Frau Assing-Grimelli, niece to Varnhagen. They contain the most private details of the long engage- ment, of all its harassing uncertainties, separations, misunderstandings. They are, however, scarcely intelligible without previous study of the history of both writers. The later letters of Varnhagen, from 1809 to 1 8 12, written to Rahel during the campaign of Wagram, from Prague, Paris, and Steinfurt, are very interesting, and fill with lifelike pictures the interval of which we can only give a meagre outline. The publica- tion of the inexhaustible treasures of the " Varnhagen Remains " still continues. They are being issued by Brockhaus of Leipsic. 264 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. APPENDIX J. (Page 105.) By the kind permission of Messrs. Longmans and Co., this letter, with two others and some isolated paragraphs, are reprinted from an article in " Eraser's Magazine," for July, 1872. yf APPENDIX K. (Page 150.) These " Diaries " were edited by Vamhagen, accompanied by a bio- graphical sketch of Gentz, the best account of him which at present exists. Although personally on the most friendly terms with Gentz, Varnhagen never approved of his political work at Vienna in 1814, and still less of his share in the unpopular Carlsbad Decrees of the year following. In later times he wrote with some bitterness of the Schrift- sieller-staatsmami, who with his delicate gloved hand could rivet those political chains in which his countrymen were to writhe or stagnate for a whole generation. APPENDIX L. (Page 219.) Through the kind courtesy of Mrs. Grote we are enabled to give the reply of Gentz to this letter. We have permission to reprint the trans- lation, which was issued by her for private circulation. The later letters from Gentz to Rahel nearly all relate to that Indian summer of his life, his love for Fanny Elssler. He tells the history of it with characteristic frankness, saying, " You are, however, the only person in the world to whom I could hazard such avowals, nor could I even have hazarded them with you unless this letter were going by an Austrian courier to Berlin. . . . We two ought never to separate as long as we breathe. Pray chime in with this sentiment, and appease speedily the longing of your faithful friend, Gentz." In reply to Rahel's letter of October 9, 1830, he writes: — " I await your printed sheets with inexpressible impatience. I rejoice in the thought of them like a child over a Christmas present, for I know be- forehand that they will not only satisfy my understanding but also awaken emotions throughout my whole soul. That is the sort of read- ing of which I now stand in need, as a refreshment after other sorts which come to me as a daily obligation. You must, of course, be aware that a number of your spiritnel sayings incessantly resound in my ears — that I repeat them to myself a thousand times, and that I APPENDIX L, 265 never can forget them as long as I live. ... In the freshest years of my youth I v^^as never so wrapt up in poetry as I am now. At no time of our lives should we two have understood each other better ; and from the bottom of my heart I echo your exclamation, * What great and splendid purpose can heaven have in view in keeping us two apart T " On one passage in your last letter I cannot refrain from remarking, because my ancient amour-propre has been awakened by it. You praise Schlegel * because he had a sieve in his ear, which suffered no- thing bad to pass through.' If I rightly understand this, it would run, when translated into my phraseology, ' He had a classical ear.' Should this be your meaning, I must begin by remarking that the phrase does not at all apply to Heine ; for, much as I love and admire his poems, I cannot possibly deny that his sieve suffers much bad matter to pass through, and that his style often degenerates into glaring bad taste. Your pretty saying would have been much more applicable to me when I was an author. I cannot fancy that you can ever have taken much notice of my writings, which must have been in almost every respect foreign and heterogeneous to your feelings ; but for that precise reason I feel obliged to claim what is mine by right. Serious, and dry, and unassthetical as the subjects were upon which I wrote, I must still repeat, to my own credit, that I have never offended against good taste, and this in polemical matters is a very special merit. Really I am not blinded by vanity on this occasion. I have entirely forgotten that I ever was an author, and for the last twenty years I have not looked at a line of my printed works, the ' Protocols of Congress ' ex- cepted. A little while ago a man who reads very well read to me aloud the preface of a certain book on the ' Political Balance,' and I was altogether astonished that I could ever have written so well. Pray read this preface once over, only for a joke, and then tell me yourself whether it was not something like a style. Schlegel has written but a few pages which in point of style will bear comparison with it. " It is full time for me to conclude. This is the longest letter which has come from my pen for years past ; it will give you pleasure, I know well. Reward me with a speedy answer, for I really languish for one. To be understood and loved is the highest enjoyment in the world next to that which the genuine passion of love affords. In our present correspondence both are confounded in one. Forwards ! \, therefore. God be with you. " Gentz." 266 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. Again on November 25, 1830. " .... If you can find some leisure moments, pray write me now and then a few words. They need not even be letters, certainly not classical letters. You are la Romantique itself ; you were so before the word was invented ; and the sparks of your wit cast their hght over a far wider range of ground than whole sheets of dissertations." 7/^// 8,1831. "... I think frequently of you. It is a comfort to me to be under- stood by you, and you understand me better than I understand you. For you were always a deep mysterious being, whose workings cannot be followed except by the aid of constant personal intercourse. I, on the other hand, am an old child, of very simple structure, whose infir- mities and good qualities are alike seen through, by a sharp eye like yours, at a single glance. Both of us, thank Heaven, have continued young ; but in you, though no fair and noble sentiment is unknown to your bosom, the intellect has kept the ascendency — in me, at least, feeling and sensibility. If you think this remark paradoxical or false, pray refute it. That will, at least, procure me a letter from you ; and should you have drawn the conclusion from my long and stupid silence that I no longer set a very high price upon your letters, I entreat you to divest yourself of this erroneous impression." November 13, 1831 . "... The assurance that you are 'still kind to me will be at this moment especially welcome, since I am looking forward to a truly mournful period of existence. You recollect my lamentations about the absence of Fanny last year. That you may conceive in what state of spirits I am now, I must acquaint you that since then my connec- tion with her has become closer and more heartfelt even to a still higher degree — that to her society I have sacrificed everything, abso- lutely everything which can possibly pass under the name of enter- tainment, diversion, social amusement, &c., &c.; and that even in my head, sound and vigorous as it still continues, I can discover nothing capable of filling up the dreadful chasm which this year's separation from her leaves behind in my heart. " Pray address to me a few words of comfort ! Let some sparks of APPENDIX M, 267 light out of your strong and bright soul fall upon the darkness which surrounds me ! Think of me both in your joyful and in your sorrowful hours. No change of destiny can extinguish in me that which indis- solubly binds to you your faithful friend, " Gentz. " P.S. — Salute Varnhagen most cordially for me. One becomes more and more estranged from all one's friends ! What a tasteless affair life is, after all." Gentz died in the following year. A monument to his memory was erected by Fanny Elssler. We may remind the reader of the inter- esting essay upon Gentz in Mr. Hayward's republished " Essays," Vol. I. It concludes with this just remark: — " Yet it is by German modes of thought and conduct that German men and women must principally be judged. The moral atmosphere in which they lived, with their temptations and opportunities, must be kept constantly in view when they are arraigned at the bar of Euro- pean public opinion ; and a purely English standard of right and wrong would obviously lead to unjust or uncharitable conclusions when applied to a Rahel or a Gentz." APPENDIX M. (Page 238.) Saint-Martin was made known in Germany by Rahel, as in France by Count Custine, Sainte-Beuve, and others. He was born at Am- boise, in 1743, and lived through great part of the French Revolution in Paris, enrolled as a member of the National Guard, and carefully conforming to all the duties of a citizen, while at the same time pub- lishing his boldest writings. He was a man of original thought as well as of great learning; he studied the most occult sciences, and attended lectures even at the age of sixty years, shortly before his death in 1803. " If we are to know the man," writes Mons. Tourlet, "we must con- sider his actions. The whole life of the 'unknown philosopher' is a perpetual illustration of the principle which he laid down in his writings and carried out himself most perfectly. " ' It is well always to keep our eyes fixed upon knowledge, lest we should imagine that we already know something; upon justice, that we may hold ourselves free from prejudice; and upon all virtues, that we may not believe we possess them.' " A short sketch of Saint-Martin, with two dialogues, may be found in Varnhagen's "Vermischte Schriften." 268 RAHEL : HER LIFE AND LETTERS. APPENDIX N. (Page 243.) These letters have never been published. In Mr. Stigand's " Life of Heine " we learn that they were sold, with other papers, to the Aus- trian Government, and are said to be among the secret archives of the Imperial Court. In the same work will be found a full and inter-^ esting account of St. Simonianism in Paris; recording, however, less of the philosophy St. Simon than of the eccentricities of his followers. APPENDIX O. (Page 256.) This definition is given in the admirable Essay on "The Influence of Goethe," in the volumes of literary Essays by Mr. Richard Holt Hutton. APPENDIX P. (Page 257.) A VERY full account of the writings of Ferdinand Lassalle v/ill be found in the February and following numbers of " Das Deutsche Rundschan." Also in an article in "The Fortnightly," vol. v. 1869. The only German book concerning Rahel of which we know and have been able to avail ourselves, is that of Schmidt-Weissenfels, " Rahel, und ihre Zeit." A clever but brief sketch, valuable rather to Germans than to the ordinary English reader. y^ THE END. tlNWlN BROTHERS, THE GKESHAM PRESS, CHILWORTH AND LONDON. /\Jp X^' RSITY OF RETURN TO the ckculation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date >^ DUE AS STAMPED BELOW NOV 2 7 1995 JUN Z I 1998 ;^!$a<^S^, SITY OF CUIFORfllA 4D SITY OF CALIFORNIA CDbmM7S13 LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA l^^^SK^^M: i