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THE FRENCH STUDIES OF MARIO EQUICOLA (1470-1525)
BY CAMILLO P. MERLINO
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS IN MODERN PHILOLOGY
Volume 14, No. 1, pp. 1-22 Issued April 23, 1929
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Lonpon, ENGLAND
CONTENTS
IntRopucrory REMARKS... 0... Ee et a a ee ee | I. Le Roman pews Rose... 20 ENS: RE AGoE. TO
Il. Jean Gerson. ee hene 4feoh and SE Til. Martin Lerrane... 0 0. i BiGjn ia) Dabo ieee: SS IV. La Fontatne PERILLEUSE....... dente, Witbiisa. ance witn Onda“eeanyes. ther. SAO) V. Le Déspat pes Deux SEvRB........ hy Cpt metits, estan Wbdguw. “2_ “Hel VI. Le Buason pe Faunses AMours.. ...i(istsi‘ SD VII. Le MessaGier D’AMOURS.... 0 ee ee 18 VIII. Le Jarpin p’AMouRs......... | peus4 at peo anon nesqin wee, Ae IX. Paris ev HELENA......... sags tines 6 cae &. sive ving ay eka, VO X. Le RENONCEMENT D’AMOURS.......0 000 eee SB XI. La Fontaine p’AMOURB......... : . 5 de ratendeaptealiete. SL XII. La Traison p’AMovRS...... 2. 0 4. ibawes Aaeohetend It XT. Le Caasreau p’AMOURS.....0000 00. | Sineeioeeiutin ora aan ‘Vek AIV. L’Hosprrau p’AMOURS........ sighs Uoanethn, Me 0 Re XV. La Beyue DaME SANS MERCL.0 ee eres 19 XVI. Jean DE GARENCIERES........ | XVIT. Jean pe Fayet
ConcLuping REMARKS... 000 00 eettttttte bese 22
Original from
Digitized by Google THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
THE FRENCH STUDIES OF MARIO EQUICOLA (1470-1525)
BY CAMILLO P. MERLINO
It is a matter of common knowledge that one of the principal characteristics of the Renaissance was the revival of the cult of the Classics. It is not, however, so well known that some of the Itahan humanists of the early sixteenth century were among the first to leave the ‘‘chiusi orti dell’Umanesimo e spaziare per 1 freschi giardini delle terre romanze.”’ For having been one of the most important of these Italian humanists who, although deeply absorbed in the literatures of Greece and Rome, yet found dehght in peering, as it were, into the modern descendants of the Classics, Mario Equicola commends himself to our study and admiration.!
Equicola’s many references to French literature are introduced here and there in his major work, the Natura de Amore,? usually to support some neo-Platonic doctrine of love or to contrast these references with it. In no case does he cite his source, and in not a few instances he carelessly omits the name of the writer
1 Mario Equicola was born at Alvito in 1470. Following his studies at Naples, Rome, Florence, and Paris, about 1497 he entered the service of the Estensi at Ferrara, first as secretary to Margherita Cantelmo and later as political agent of Duke Alfonso I and Cardinal Ippolito. In 1508 he was appointed preceptor, and in 1519 secretary, of ‘‘la pid squisita dama del Rinascimento,’’ Isabella d’Este, at the Gonzaga court at Mantova. Equi- cola died there July 26, 1525. For a detailed biography, well documented, see D. Santoro, Della vita e delle opere di Murio Equicola (Chieti, Jecco, 1906).
? The Natura de Amore is a long treatise on love in which Equicola passes in review nearly all the ancient and many modern authors who treat of love, “‘riferendo de loro opinioni il succo.’’ It was first composed in Latin in 1495-6, translated into Italian about 1509, and revised and corrected by Equicola himself about 1511. The only extant manuscript, which I examined at length, is now in the Biblioteca Universitaria-Governativa at Turin (N—III—10). It was first published at Venice in 1525, which rare edition I was fortunately able to consult. The references in this study, however, are to the Venetian edition of 1554. For a list of Equicola’s works, cf. Santoro, ‘‘Appunti su Mario Equicola,’’ Giornale Storico d. lett. ital., XLV (1903): 402 ff.
2 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
or the title of the work described, or both. Moreover, paraphrases of the works referred to are often incorporated into the very text of the Natura de Amore with only the slightest clue to their iden- tity, or none. The extreme rarity of some of these compositions is indicated in the notes relative thereto.’
The names of Pasquier, Fauchet, Barbieri, and Corbinelli, among others, come to mind when we think of the fortune of French studies in the sixteenth century. They all, however, came later than Equicola and only two or three surpassed him in the extent of their investigations. True, the studies of Equicola are often erratic and all too often are annoyingly vague and incom- plete. But it is equally true that in spite of these shortcomings his fragmentary accounts of some fifteenth-century works add to our knowledge of an epoch in French literature which even today is far from being satisfactorily known.
The aim of the present study is twofold: first, to present, with at least a semblance of order, Equicola’s scattered and, as it were, haphazard references to French literature; secondly, to determine, in so far as this is possible at the present time, his sources, either editions or manuscripts.
I Le Roman de la Rose
In spite of the great popularity and influence of the Roman de la Rose for upwards of three centuries, Equicola was apparently the only Italian of the Cinquecento to give an analysis and a critical opinion of this work.‘ His study attests the fact that, although no longer well known, the Roman de la Rose still sur- vived in Italy in an age. when Classical models predominated and when the neo-Platonic doctrines of love were so widespread, even though only in theory.
3 For help in tracing some of these rare works, I am glad to record my thanks to Mile E. Droz of Paris and to M. Charles Macon, conservateur du Musée Condé at Chantilly, through whose courtesy I was permitted to consult some valuable copies there. Iam also greatly indebted to Professors
Giulio Bertoni of Rome and Santorre Debenedetti of Pavia for valuable advice and suggestions.
4Cf. S. Debenedetti, ‘‘Notizie e documenti per la storia degli studi romanzi nei secoli XVI-XVIII,”’ Archivum Romanicum, IX (1925): 203.
1929 ] Merlino: French Studies of Mario Equicola 3
Equicola, apparently, knew nothing of Guillaume de Lorris and would seem to attribute the entire poem to Jean de Meung, assigning it to about the year 1300.5 In a later passage, however, concerning this same work, Equicola writes: “In continuata opera si lauda Jean de Meuz (sic)....” (p. 345) and I think we may well conclude from this that he knew of the double paternity of the Roman de la Rose, even though he does not mention, or perhaps carelessly forgets to mention the first poet.®
Equicola takes the title to be the opening distich, which he misquotes:
Cest le roumant de la rose ou tout lart damour est enclose (pp. 24, 345).
As for the word ‘““Roumant,”’ Benedetto thinks Equicola mistook it for ‘‘Amant,’”’ and adduces in support of his statement’ the passage: Roumant d’una del giardin s’innamora (p. 24).
This, however, is the only case in which “Roumant” is written for ‘‘Amant,” and I think it is due only to confusion or negligence on the part of the printer. Such errors are all too common in works published during this period, and especially so in the various editions of the Natura de Amore. I am, nevertheless, at a loss to explain the curious wording in the caption of the chapter dealing with the Roman de la Rose:
Joan de Meun Detto Roumant della Rosa, et Altri Francesi (p. 23).
In any case, I am reluctant to admit that the learned, though erratic, Equicola could have taken ‘““Roumant” to be synonymous with ‘‘Amant.’”’ Indeed, Equicola’s profound knowledge of this celebrated work would not have led him astray so easily and so stupidly. His admiration for the poem is sincere and is based on a thorough assimilation of its contents as well as of its spirit. For, although he grieves that ‘‘Tanto autore se stesso macchiasse,
5 Cf. Natura de Amore, p. 23. The date 1305 which L. F. Benedetto gives must be due to a misprint. Cf. ‘‘Il Roman de la Rose e la letteratura italiana,’’ Zeitschrift Pass rom. Phil., Beihefte XXI (1910): 195, n. 2. It is
well known that the first part of the R. de la R. was composed between 1225 and 1230 and the second about 1270.
® Benedetto, art. cit., p. 192, and Debenedetti, art. cit., p. 203, failed to note this added reference.
7 Cf. art. cit., p. 192.
4 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
pero che tutta sua poesia lacera & morde donne... . ” (p. 24) he adds, referring to its imitators: ‘‘Alcuni fuor d’ogni bel costume, poi che si han ben satiati delle chiare onde, metteno 1 porci & si sforzan il fonte turbare.”’ (p. 26).
Nor does the distinctly neo-Platonic atmosphere of the Natura de Amore prevent Equicola from judging aright the wholly un- Platonic aspects of the Roman de la Rose, ‘‘nel quale si contiene il desiderio & amore verso un bottone d’una rosa, la qual tocca un bordone.”’ (p. 23.) Moreover, he compares the “‘rose’’ with the symbolic rose in Lucan, Apuleius, and the Bible (p. 23).
One further point before discussing what manuscript or edition of this work Equicola could have utilized for his study. In analyz- ing the poem, he abruptly introduces an allusion to some of its sources: ‘Qui pretermettemo molti precetti che da lo amico allo amante perché molti sono di Ovidio & di Terentio” (p. 25). This is one of the earliest references, if not the first, to the sources of the Roman de la Rose, and, what is more noteworthy, the refer- ence to Ovid is correct.®
From a study of the passages, for the most part paraphrases, in which Equicola summarizes the poem, Benedetto finds that he did not use any of the editions current at the time, nor any manuscript which served as a basis for those editions, but rather one exactly or nearly like that followed by Molinet for his moral- ization. This manuscript, published in part by Bourdillon,!® re- veals several interpolations to which Equicola’s account shows a striking affinity.
In the first place, the list of Figures on the wall is preceded in the Molinet version by a description of one not found in the original poem, “Orgueil.’’ Referring to this same list, Equicola mentions “‘orgoglio rampognoso”’ (p. 24). Again, in the description of “‘Biautés,”’ a longer passage supplements the twenty-two lines
8 Cf. E. Langlois, Origines et sources du Roman de la Rose (Paris, Thorin, 1890), pp. 71-2. Terence, however, is not mentioned by Langlois, who writes: ‘‘Macrobe et Ovide sont les seuls auteurs de l’antiquité dont la Cu a laissé des traces dans la premiére partie du Roman de la Rose’’
9 Cf. Benedetto, art. cit., pp. 191 ff. 10 The Early Editions of the Roman de la Rose (London, 1906), pp. 174-86.
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of Guillaume de Lorris. Molinet extends them to more than a hundred, and Equicola summarizes this interpolation in that part of the Natura de Amore where he attempts to characterize, on the basis of their literature, the way in which some races manifest their love. A few parallel passages will make this clear.
N.de A. R.delaR. (Bourdillon ed., 181-5) p. 345 vv. 24-5 Maravigliase il Francese Je me merueil comment et in laude di sua maestressa sceut faire nature femme canta esser impossibil cosa si plaisans
che mai pid natura formasse si bella donna
vv. 109-11 de mediocre statura con El estoit droite et allignie, proportionate membra, dritta & Et de tous membres bien taillie, gratiosa Voire a merueilles et auenans. v. 26 capelli di color d'oro, Le chief eut blons et reluisans piana fronte v. 31 Beau front plain vv. 27-8 piccole & rotonde Les oreilles eut petitetes orecchie Rondes et netes et blanchetes vv. 53-4 ciglia brune, di peli Les sourcilz out haulx et voultiz bassi, bene arcate Bassez de poil, brunez, traitiz vv. 344 masselle bianche & Blanche comme liz est sa meselle rosse Vermeille com rose nouvelle vv. 56-7 naso dritto che ben Tant lui auoient bien linez nasce, & descende Qu’el auoit droit et bien naissant dalli confini delle ciglia v.77 denti minuti, netti, Dens menuz, serez, nez et blans bianchi & ben serrati v. 80 lo mento un poco forciuto Un petit fourchie le menton
It will be observed that Equicola simply puts together in a more logical way, as Benedetto points out, the various descriptive
6 University of Caltfornia Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
elements introduced by Molinet. To do this he of course had to depart from the order followed by the latter, but Equicola’s ren- dering of the text, as we have seen, is none the less faithful.
Thus, there can be no doubt as to the nature of the manu- script utilized by Equicola. A few discrepancies, however, be- tween the two texts might lead one to doubt the conclusion that this manuscript was similar to that used by Molinet, were it not that these errors are obviously due to negligence and inaccuracy on the part of Equicola. I shall list some of these differences:
1. Molinet interpolates a long description of the five evil arrows where in the original the poet says he purposely defers the de- scription till later.' Equicola says that Love ‘“‘ha cinque altre saette brutte,’”’ but then goes on to list six, ‘‘amor carnale, orgoglio, sdegno, ingiuria, inconstanza, disperatione” (p. 24). He adds ‘amor carnale.”’
2. The ten mural pictures described by Guillaume de Lorris are reduced to eight by Equicola, ‘‘Felonie’’ and ‘“Vilonie’’ being absorbed by ‘“‘Orgueil’’ (p. 24).
3. In the Roman de la Rose, ‘“Cortoisie’’ invites the lover to take part in the dance and not simply to witness it. Equicola says ‘“‘da cortesia chiamato a veder il ballo” (p. 24), deceived, no doubt, as Benedetto conjectures,'* by the line ‘“‘A regarder lores me pris’’ (v. 800).
4. On taking leave of the ‘‘Amant,’”’ ““Amour” does not say as Equicola has it ‘‘che Venere ha piacere di prendere & esso di cacciar” (p. 25).
5. Equicola fails to list ‘“Danger’’ among the defenders of the towers (p. 25). On the same page, however, he remembers “Danger,” which he translates ‘‘pericolo’’; for example, ‘‘cacciato dal pericolo fuora del giardino.”
11 Guillaume de Lorris, however, did not fulfil this promise; nor did Jean de Meung redeem it.
12 Benedetto is right in thinking that ‘‘rampognoso Orgueil’’ renders useless ‘“‘orguilleuse et rampogneuse Vilonie’ (vv. 160-1). Cf. art. cit., p. 194, n. 2.
13 Cf. art. cit., loc. cit.
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6. Reason calls Love “maladie de pensée,” and Equicola care- lessly renders it ‘‘malitia di pensieri’”’ (p. 25). 7. In the description of the assault Equicola forgets to mention “Délis” and ‘‘Sureté” (p. 25). 8. Equicola arms “Cortesia” and ‘Letitia’ against “la Vieille’ (p. 26), whereas Jean de Meung speaks only of ‘‘Cortoisie’”’ and “‘Largéce.’’!4
In conclusion, it is to be remembered that Equicola does not deliberately attempt to relate all he knows about the Roman de la Rose, or about any other work. In spite of his dislike for the atti- tude of Jean de Meung toward women, Equicola, true to his eclectic method, writes: ‘“Non perd noi cessaremo di sue peregrine merci elegger quanto in ornar nostro Amor si converra”’ (p. 24), and on the next page, ‘‘Lasciaremo quanto mal dice di donne per esser fuora di nostro proposito, & esser bugia in la maggior parte.”’ Although Equicola’s account of the Roman de la Rose is not free from errors, his ‘‘analisi breve, nervosa, nitida non é senza pregio e non é inferiore a molte altre analisi fatte da critici pit recenti e in apparenze piv seri.’’!
II Jean Gerson
Of the works written in opposition to the Roman de la Rose, Equicola cites that treatise by Gerson which was such a powerful aid to Christine de Pisan against her opponents in the quarrel over the work of Jean de Meung:
Gian Gerson sommo & excellente theologo in reprobatione di tal opra compose (p. 24).
Nor does Equicola expatiate on this brief statement. The “Tractatus”’ in question was first composed in French,'® but was first published in a Latin translation with the title
14 Perhaps in a hasty reading of the text, Equicola mistook ‘‘Largéce’’ for ‘‘Liesse.’’
18 Cf. Benedetto, art. cit., p. 195.
16 §*Traictie maistre Gehan Gerson contre le Roumant de la Rose’’ (1492). Cf. E. Langlois, Romania, XLV (1918-19): 23.
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Tractatus contra Romantium de Rosa in 1502, and later in 1518. Thus Equicola must have seen this treatise in its Latin version, and in all probability saw only the first edition of 1502.
III Martin Lefranc
But although Equicola hastily dismisses the work of Gerson, he more than redeems himself by a long and detailed analysis of the Champion des Dames, also written in opposition to the Roman de la Rose. To be exact, he summarizes accurately the first three books and then, with a haste often characteristic of encyclopedic minds, takes leave of the last two with but a brief synthetic statement.
Equicola rightly attributes the Champion des Dames to Martin Lefranc, and adds a biographical detail taken from the edition he saw: ‘Martin Franch secretario di Felice quinto Papa adult- erino, nel suo campion des Dames riprendendolo pagliard, ribauld, villain lo chiama’’!® (p. 24), and later: “Tra gli altri son gid sessantanni passati!® che Martin Franch (del quale havemo fatto mentione di sopra) a Philippo Duca di Borgogna dedicéd cinque libri intitolati Campion des Dames” (p. 26).2° Equicola then adds an excellent analysis of the Champion des Dames,” and thus gives the author, title, approximate date, and a good summary of a work which has been often neglected by subsequent historians of French literature.”
17 Published as Part IV of the second edition of the works of Gerson, at Strasbourg by Martin Flach. The French original was published for the first time by Langlois, ‘‘Le traité de Gerson contre le Roman de la Rose,’’ Romania, XLV: 23-49.
18 T.e., Jean de Meung.
1 According to Piaget (Romania, XXXIV (1905): 564), the Champion des Dames was written in 1441. Hence Equicola must have known this work not later than the early years of the sixteenth century.
20 This statement was copied by Barbieri in his Origine della poesia rimata (Modena, 1790), p. 93. For the parallel passages, cf. S. Debenedetti, Gli studi provenzali in Italia nel Cinqucento (Torino, Loescher, 1911), p. 93.
21 The best analysis from every vo of view is, of course, that by A. Piaget in Martin le Franc, Prévot de Lausanne (Lausanne, 1889), pp. 79-100.
22 The Champion des Dames today receives only scant attention, if any. A modern reprint would help to restore it to the study of fifteenth-century literature.
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According to Bédier and Hazard,” perhaps relying on Picot,™4 the Champion des Dames was published for the first time at Lyon in 1485.% However that may be, Equicola could have seen only this first edition, for the second did not appear until 1530 at Paris, five years after his death. I was fortunate to be able to examine at Paris a copy of this first edition, now very rare. A few ex- amples will suffice to show how well Equicola’s account accords with it.
Natura de Amore ~ Champion des Dames (B. N. Rés. Ye 27) p. 27 Bk. I, fol. Ei vv. 12-20
.... la letitia fa debile; Amours liesse enlangouree nociva carita, speranza Amours charite enuyeuce disperata, riso piangente, Esperance desesperee glorioso inferno, seas a paradiso melanconico, Ris plourant enfer glorieux risguardo senza occhi, i ee ee ee senso senza sentire Paradis melancolieux presente passato. Regard sans yeulx; sens insensible
.... presence passee.
Bk. ITI, fol. Viir
p. 28 vv. 5-6 .... che renontie al A toute creature renonce vivere chi non si Qui ne se tient joyeuse pour elle sa tener gioioso p. 29 Bk. III, fol. Miiit Guarda prima chi tu vv. 1-3 : -sei et donde vieni Quant au premier voy dont tu viés se nobile, se bello, se Qui tu es: (e que tu sces faire) virtuoso Ou noble ou sage ou plais de biens.
Of the last two books, Equicola writes briefly but correctly: “Tl quarto libro lauda donne eccellenti antiche, et alcune de’ suoi tempi. II quinto della vergine madre regina, di sua concettione, et sua lode racconta” (p. 30). Equicola’s account of the work of
23 Cf. Histoire de la Littérature francaise, I: 92.
%4 Cf. Catalogue de la Bibliotheque de Rothschild (Paris, 1884-1920), I, no. 446
26 Picot, loc. cit., simply says ‘‘vers 1485.”’ 26 In the Bibliothéque Nationale (Rés. Ye 27). The edition bears no date.
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Martin Lefranc is tolerably complete and accurate in spite of a few errors in the translation. What he says of it is of interest for the history of the fortune of the Champion des Dames.”
Nor did the influence exerted by the Roman de la Rose and the Champion des Dames, “qui dés la fin du XV° siécle se débi- taient ensemble comme le poison et le contrepoison,’’?* escape the attention and diligent study of Equicola. Passing in review sev- eral minor works’ influenced by one or the other of these two models, Equicola describes some that are little known and others that are irretrievably lost or entirely unknown. True, his de- scriptions or analyses are all too brief, and in some cases too fragmentary to be of much value, but we are none the less indebted to him for what he tells us of some works today extremely rare or lost.
IV La Fontaine Périlleuse*®
Da queste due fonti,®! molti rivi sono stati tratti da scrittori Francesi 1’opere delli quali investi- gando ho trovato fontana perigliosa dove si finge un castel governato da gelosia & mala lingua (p. 30).
As far as I can find, only two copies of La Fontaine Périlleuse are extant: one in the Musée Condé at Chantilly (vi. E. 42), the other in the Biblioteca Colombina at Sevilla.* In one of the very few studies of this poem, the Abbé Goujet wrongly states that Jacques Gohory, Parisien (‘‘surnommé le Solitaire, Lecteur ordi- naire és Mathématiques 4 Paris’’), was the first to mention La
27 Apparently no one of the few modern students of Martin Lefranc knows of Equicola’s study.
28 Cf. Picot, op. cit., I: 252.
29 Because of the absence of modern reprints, many of these compositions are unknown to the general historian of French literature.
30 T shall discuss the works in this series in the order named by Equicola. In every case I shall give his entire reference.
31 T.e., the Roman de la Rose and the Champion des Dames.
32 La Fontaine peri|\leuse avec la chartre Damours, in 8°, 28 ff. car. goth. sign. a-d iiii. This is the only copy known to be extant in France.
33 Cf. G. Babelon, La Bibliotheque Francaise de Fernand Colomb (Paris, Champion, 1913), no. 70.
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Fontaine Périlleuse. The credit is due, rather, to Equicola, who as early as 1525, date of the first edition of the Natura de Amore, quotes and describes it first in a list of similar works.
Gohory, failing to establish the authorship of La Fontaine Périlleuse, erroneously states that the authors of the Roman de la Rose “‘l’ont imité.”* As a matter of fact, the anonymous author helps us to ascertain the approximate time of its composition. I quote from the Chantilly copy of La Fontaine Périlleuse:
Esperance navoient aucune Dyssir hors de ce lieu vilain Du quel selon leur voix comune fut iadis encloux maistre alain.
The allusion is to the Hépital d’Amour, wrongly attributed to Alain Chartier. We know that this latter poem, written by Achille Caulier, is anterior to 1441, and we may thus conclude with certainty that La Fontaine Périlleuse belongs to the fifteenth century.*
Vy Le Débat des deux Seurs
Nel dubittamento di due sorelle si disputa esser pil’ piacer amar molti che prolungar vita & fama (p. 30).
Equicola’s synthetic description of the “dubittamento” be- tween two sisters, ‘‘Laisnee”’ and “La ieune’’ is correct. His failure to mention the author of this work, or of others in this series, is to be attributed to the fact that most of these poetic composi- tions conceal the name of the poet in the text itself or in the form
34 Cf. Goujet, Bibliotheque Francoise (Paris, 1745), IX: 181-89. Gohory had a manuscript of this poem, and published it with a commentary at Paris in 1572 (p. 181).
35 Cf. Piaget, Romania, XVI (1887): 412-14.
36 It may be of interest to add here that Marcantonio Nicoletti in Le Vite degli Scrittori Volgari, Bk. I, includes in a list of poets: ‘‘Lo scrittore della Fontana perigliosa.’’ Cf. V. Crescini, Per gli studi romanzi (Padova 1892), p. 177. Nicoletti, without mentioning his source, copies this and other titles from Equicola’s Natura de Amore.
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of an acrostic. Thus they were for a long time considered anony- mous. The authorship of the Débat, however, is revealed in the last two lines of the poem:
Et celluy a qui il advint Se nomme Lembusche Vaillant.
Of this poem, I was able to examine only one copy, that at Chantilly." It bears no date, but as far as I can learn, it is the first and in all probability the last single edition of the Débat. Equicola must have studied a copy of this edition.
VI
Le Blason de Faulses Amours
Nel biasmo de falso amor si danna Jo amor lascivo (p. 30).
This poem, of which Piaget and Picot have published a critical text,?7 contributed most to assure Guillaume Alecis a place of honor among the poets of the fifteenth century. The first edition was published by Pierre Levet in 1486, who brought out a second edition in 1489. In both cases, the title is Le Blason de Faulses Amours.38 A third edition, however, by Gelian Lambert bears the title Le Grant Blason de Faulses Amours2® Now, Equicola does not include the word “grant,” and this leads me to think that he must have seen one of the two editions with the shorter title. In any case, deceived by a careless reading of the title, he mistakes ‘‘blason”’ for “‘blasme,” whence the translation “‘biasmo,’’ which appears in his reference to this work.
36a Musée Condé (IV. D. 53). Le Débat uae seurs dis||putant d’amours (Paris, Denis Janot), s. d. in—8, 20 ff. car. goth. For a modern reprint and study of the Débat, cf. Montaiglon et Rothschild, Recueil de Poésies Fran- coises des XV° et XV sitcles (Paris, 1855-78), LX: 92-148.
7 Cf. Les Huvres Poétiques de Guillaume Alexis (3 vols. Paris, Soc. des Anc. Textes francais, 1896), I: 157-248.
eee editions are well described by Piaget and Picot, op. cit., I: 165-7. % This is not to be confused with Le Contre Blason de Faulses Amours.
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VII Le Messagier d’Amours
Lo messo d’amore non é altro che una donna innamorata (p. 30).
With this curious description, an excellent example of his vague and slipshod style, Equicola refers to the Messagier d’Amours, poem composed in 1489 in the form of a dialogue between “La Femme’ and “l’Omme.” Besides the date of com- position, the last octave discloses the name of the author, Pilvelin, written in the form of an acrostic.*°
The Messagier d’Amours, one of the many works that followed in the wake of Alain Chartier, was first published in 1490.°% A second edition appeared in 1500, and a third not until 1530. It is clear from this that Equicola could have seen no edition later than the second.”
VIII Le Jardin d’Amours
Nel giardin d’amore cortesia guarda la rosa, insegnasi lascivamente essere coll’amata
(p. 30).
Much to my surprise in view of a title which at first sight seems obviously common, and in spite of my varied efforts, I am unable to ascertain to what work Equicola is here referring. I think, however, it may be either one of the two following composi- tions, and more likely the second.
4° Picot (Catalogue de Rothschild, cit. III: 384, no. 2581) refers us to MS 447, fonds frangais, of the Bibliothéque Nationale for the true name, Jehan Piquelin.
41 Le Messagier damours s. 1. n. d—(vers 1490?). Cf. Picot, op. cit., IIT, no. 2581.
42 For a modern reprint and study of this work, cf. Montaiglon and Rothschild, Recueil... . cit., XI: 1-31.
14 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
In an “Inventario di Libri” published by Luzio and Renier,* I find a “Giardino de Amore di Gio. France. Soardi in Quarto scritto a mano in carta pergamena coperto di corame rosso.’ If Equicola is describing this work, which he might well have seen among the books of Isabella d’Este, he inadvertently includes an Italian work in this series of French poems. It is also to be noted that, if this is the case, he utilized a manuscript and not an edition.
The second possibility, and one which I think much more likely, is Le Jardin Amoureulx by Christofle de Barrouso.“ True, the title is not exactly the same as that given by Equi- cola, “‘giardin d’amore,” but the discrepancy is only apparent, since in the latter case the adjectival phrase ‘‘d’amore”’ translates ‘‘Amoureulx.”’ Moreover, Equicola’s account would seem to accord with the description of the Jardin Amoureulz, as given in the complete title in the note relative thereto. The passage ‘“insegnasi lascivamente essere coll’amata’”’ may well be an allusion to the “‘reigles damours,’”’ and “‘]’amata’’ would seem to recall “‘Lamye.”’
However, it will be objected that the probable date of Le Jardin Amoureulz is given as ‘vers 1535,’”’ too late for Equicola to see. But ‘“‘nouvellement imprimée” implies at least one earlier edition, which Equicola might well have used. However that may be, and whether or not I have succeeded in the identification of this work, Equicola is here pointing to one of the rarest works in this rare series.
43 Cf. Appendix I to an excellent series of articles, ‘‘La Coltura e le Relazioni Letterarie di Isabella d’ Este Gonzaga,’’ Giorn. Stor. della lett. ital., XLII (1903): 75-111.
“4 Cf. Giorn. Stor. XLU: 78, no..60. Nothing is known of this work nor of its author.
4 T found an edition of this work listed and described only in the Cata- logue de Beaux Livres Anciens et Rares et Curieux composant la Bibliotheque de M. Edouard Mourra (Paris, 1923), p. 76, no. 227: Le Jardin A||moureulz, Contenant toutes les reigles||\damours. Avecque plusieurs lettres mis||stues tant de Lamant comme de Lamye.|| Faict et composé par Maistre Christofle de Barrouso|| . . . Nouvellement imprimé 4 Paris par Alain Lotrain ...s. d. (vers 1535), pet. in-8, de 44 ff. non chiffrés, de 26 lignes 4 la page, car. goth.
1929 } Merlino: French Studies of Mario Equicola 15
IX Paris et Helena
Di Paris & Helena passo lo leale & magnanimo amore, |’amorosa traison, la perduta speranza, il suo recorso a nostra donna (p. 30).
Of this work, in all probability lost, I find only one mention, Amore de Paris et helena in versi coperto de brasilio stampato, listed among the books belonging in 1495 to the library of Ercole I, Duke of Ferrara.“ During his sojourn at Ferrara as secretary to Margherita Cantelmo, Equicola had ready access to this collec- tion, and it is without a doubt this work that is here referred to. We cannot ascertain whether it was written in French or Italian, but since Equicola includes it in this list of French works we may well conjecture that it was in French.”
xX
Le Renoncement d’Amours
Similmente il rinontiamento che’! simile effetto vifa (p. 30).
This description appended, as it were, to that of Paris et Helena, is all too vague to be of any value. There is no doubt, however, that Equicola here refers to the Renoncement d’Amours, written by Jean Blosset, ‘‘Capitaine de la garde du dauphin en 1475, grand sénéchal de Normandie en 1479.’’48
The nature of the Renoncement d’Amour; indicates that it belongs to that series of poetic compositions influenced by La Belle
46 Cf. G. Bertoni, La biblioteca Estense e la coltura ferrarese ai tempi del Duca Ercole (Torino, Loescher, 1903), p. 236, no. 21.
47 Were it not for this sole reference to Paris et Helena by Bertoni (op. cit., loc. cit.), I should be led to suspect that Equicola is probably referring to the Roman de Paris et. Vienne, described by Chabaneau, Revue des Langues Romanes, X XVI (1884): 211-13.
48 Cf. Guvres Poétiques de Guillaume Alexis, cit. II: 31. For a brief note on Blosset, cf. also G. Raynaud, Rondeauz et autres poésies du zv® sitcle (Paris, Champion, 1899), p. viii. For a brief analysis of the Renoncement d’Amours, cf. Piaget, Romania XXXIV (1905): 577.
16 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
Dame Sans Merci. Indeed, the Renoncement contains a reference to this work by Alain Chartier,4® and thus we are certain that it was composed later,®® but in all probability in the fifteenth cen- tury. Nor can we learn the exact date of the publication of the Renoncement d’Amours from any of the early editions." I saw a rare copy of the Renoncement d’Amours at Chantilly,* and another in Paris. Equicola may well have seen a copy of either of these editions.
XI La Fontaine d’Amours
Non curo referire le fontane di Amours, opera tutta rubbata a Romant della Rosa (p. 30).
This mention of a work by Watriquet de Couvin, who was ‘‘Menstrel du Comte Gui de Blois et florissait au commencement du XIV* siécle’’® does not lack in interest, in spite of its brevity. Not knowing the date of its composition, Equicola includes La Fontaine d’Amours among works of a similar nature that belong to the fifteenth century. What is noteworthy, however, is Equi- cola’s reference in no uncertain terms to the source of La Fontaine d’Amours, ‘opera tutta rubbata a Romant della Rose.’’*
49 Cf. Piaget, art. cit., loc. cit.
59 La Belle Dame Sans Merci was composed in 1432, but was not published until 1490.
51 There is no modern reprint of this poem.
52 Renoncement d’Amours imprimée & Paris par Jehan Trepperel, s. d., MVE car. 4) goth. de 42 ff., non chiffrés, in the Bibliothéque du Musée Condé
53 In the Bibliothéque Nationale (Rés. p. Ye. 218).
54 There is no extant MS of the Renoncement d’Amours (Piaget, Romania XXXIV: 577).
55 Cf. Dits de Watriquet de Couvin, publiés pour la premiére fois d’aprés les ea de Paris et de Bruxelles, par Aug. Scheler (Bruxelles, Devaux, 1868), p. vill
56 Cf., for example, the Roman de la Rose (ed. Langlois; Soc. des Anc. Textes francais), II: 83, vv. 1596-1600: Por la graine qui fut semée Fu cele fontaine clamée La Fontaine d’Amors par droit Don plusor ont en maint endroit Parlé en romanz e en livre.
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I was able to see only one of the early editions of La Fontaine d'Amours, published in a miscellany volume of fifteenth-century compositions.” It is certain, however, that La Fontaine d’Amours was published singly,®® and in all probability it was this edition that Equicola used.*®
XII
La Traison d’Amours
Nel traison di Amours é guardata una dama de honore. Amor da quella la leva, lamentasi Vabandonata dell’amante, ragione & fortuna vi si interpongono (p. 30).
It is clear from Equicola’s description that the Traison d’Amours belongs to the series of poetic compositions influenced by those of Alain Chartier. However, in spite of my diligent search, I was unable to find a single trace of this work and, unless I am mistaken, Equicola is the first and last to mention the Trazson d’'Amours. We are indebted to his study for whatever little we now know of this lost work.
XIII
Le Chasteau d’Amours
Lo castel d’amor lo amor folle mostra, & a matriomonio ne esorta (p. 30).
This brief but comprehensive description suffices to identify this poem with Le Chasteau d’Amours by the well-known Pierre Gringore.® Nor can it be any other work with this or a similar title.©
57 La Fontaine Da\|mours et la description. Nouvellement imprimée, and below the finis: Imprimé & Rouen pour pierre prevost. Demourant & Paris. The text comprises only four double pages. This miscellany volume is in the Bibliothéque Nationale (Rés. 2947-2962).
88 La Fontaine Damours|let sa description. Nouvellement imprimée. s. 1. n. d.—in-8. car. goth. de 4 ff. A copy of this edition is recorded in the Catalogue de Mes Livres (Bibliothéque de M. le Comte Paul Riant, (3 vols., Lyon, Perrin, 1865), no. 1629.
88 La Fontaine d’Amours was published by Montaiglon et Rothschild in the Recueil, cit. 1V: 19-23, and by Scheler, op. cit., pp. 101-11.
60> For a description of the Chasteau d’Amours, cf. Charles Oulmont, Pierre Gringore (Paris, Champion, 1913), pp. 31-2.
61 ,. Savino erroneously suspects that Equicola’s reference is to the Carcel de Amor by Diego de San Pedro. cf. ‘“‘Di Alcuni trattati e trattatisti
18 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
I was unable to see any edition of Gringore’s Chasteau d’Amours,” but of those described by Oulmont,® Equicola could have seen only the first three, since the fourth appeared in 1532, seven years after his death.
XIV L’ Hospital d’Amours
Non si deve preterire l’hospital di amore
dove |’amante va per guarirsi, cortesia é infermiera, & pieta servente, medico speranza. Diceli amore che’l tutto é@ fatto per
Vhuomo, & l’huomo é fatto per servir la donna, & Ia donna per farlo valere (p. 30).
It would have been indeed surprising had Equicola not in- cluded in this series of French works the Hospital d’Amours, one of the most popular of its type in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This poem, for so long a time attributed to Alain Chartier,“ was written by Achille Caulier, whose name is revealed in acrostic form in the last six stanzas.“ The date of the composi- tion of the Hospital d’Amours has not yet been established, but since it is mentioned in the Champion des Dames, it must be anterior to 1441.%
d’amore italiani del sec. xvi.,’’ Studi di Letteratura Italiana, X:53,n.3. The meagre description, however, in no way reflects the contents of the Castel de Amor. Cf. Menéndez y Pelayo; Origenes de la Novela, I: ccexx-ecexxv, and IJ: 1-28, for a reprint of the editio beg ot of 1492. Nor does Equicola refer to that short novel Castel d’Amor by Clotilde de Surville, fifteenth- century writer; nor, indeed, to the religious poem Chasteau d’Amour by Robert Grosseteste, Norman poet of the thirteenth century.
62 Tt is not included in the @uvres Completes de Pierre Gringore (Bibli- othéque Elzévirienne) (2 vols. Paris, Ganet, 1858).
83 Cf. op. cit., pp. 31-2.
64 In an article as late as 1899 in the Zeitschrift fiir rom. Philologie, XIII: 291-294, M. A. Feist attempts to prove that the Hospital d’ Amours belongs to Alain Chartier.
* For further proofs as to the authorship of Achille Caulier, cf. A. Piaget, Romania, XX XI (1902): 317. Caulier also wrote La Cruelle Femme.
6 Cf. Piaget, Romania, XVI (1887): 412-14. For the best study of the Hospital d’ Amours, ef. Piaget, Romania, XXXIV (1905): 559-65.
1929 | Merlino: French Studies of Mario Equicola 19
The earliest editions I could see of this poem are the ones published by Pierre Le Caron,” and the one of which there is a copy in the Musée Condé at Chantilly, also attributed to Alain Chartier. I think Equicola saw a copy of this latter edition published singly. However this may be, that his description fol- lows closely the text of the poem is evident from the following parallel passages:
Natura dc Amore Hospital d’ Amours (Bibl. Nat. Rés. mZ. 17) p. 30 fol. Fut Col. 2 v. 33 cortesia ¢ infermiera et courtoisie lenfermiere v. 39 pieta servente Servent pitié fol. Finiiy Col. 1 v. 1. medico speranza Le vray medecin est espoir fol. Gnit Col. 2 vv. 34-35. tutto é fatto per Tout est fait pour home servir huomo, Il’huomo et home est fait pour servir e fatto per servir la dame. donna XV
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
Vago libretto & pien di suavi ragionamenti é
dama senza merci, dove humilmente prega una donna che debbia reamare. Ostinata ella con argute risposte afferma fuor d’ogni pensier d’amor voler sua vita tradurre (p. 30).
Equicola thus praises and describes Le Belle Dame Sans Merci written, as is well known, by Alain Chartier. Probably no French work of the fifteenth century enjoyed more popularity in France
_.© Les Faicts, dictes et ballades d’Alain Chartier (Paris, Vérard, 1489) (Bibliothéque Nationale, Rés. mZ. 17).
% Cy Comence hospital damours, 8s. 1. n. d. In-4. car. goth. 34 ff. (IIT. F. 31), ‘‘édition de la fin du XV siécle. Les caractéres sont ceux de P. Maréchal, imprimeur a Lyon.”’
20 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
or abroad.*® Composed in 1424, this poem was first printed at Lyons in 1490,7° which edition Equicola must have used for his study.
Nor was Equicola’s knowledge of French literature limited to the works already discussed. In Book V of the Natura de Amore, after paraphrasing many Provencal poems, he again takes up the literature of France in a passage which, in spite of its poverty, should be of interest to students of the French fifteenth century.
Delli Francesi rimanti che io trovo
li antichi & appretiati sono Garantiéres, Vosmhaves, & Jehan di Fauel. Delle ballate, Rondelli, Complainte & letres delli sopradetti
sono stati imitatori diversi, liquali Poeti- zando hanno di lor cure amorose scritto (p. 345).
It occasions no surprise that Equicola should mention as among the “‘appretiati”’ of their day two poets,” Garanciéres and Fayel, whose fame has left no trace of any kind today.
XVI Jean de Garenciéres
From Equicola’s reference, we must assume that he saw an edition of ‘‘ballate, rondelli,” etc. by Garenciéres. If this edition is lost, which is most likely the case, we have at least one manu- script which includes, presumably, all his poems.” These, with the exception of two or three, are preceded by the motto Vous m’avez> and must have been printed with this motto in the lost
6° For excellent studies on the influence of this work, cf. A. Piaget, “‘La belle dame sans merci et ses imitateurs,’’ Romania, XX X-I (1901-12), and XX XIII-1V (1904-1905).
70 According to Brunet, this edition now very rare ‘‘paraft imprimée A Lyon vers 1490.”’ Cf. Manuel du Libraire (Paris, 1860), Suppl. I, col. 250. I saw a copy at Paris in the Bibliothéque Nationale (Rés. Ye 838).
71 For ‘‘Vosmhaves’’ cf. below. ;
72 MS 19139, fonds francais, of the Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris. The section of this MS containing the poems of Garanciéres was first studied by A. Piaget in the only article on this almost entirely unknown poet (‘Jean de Garenci¢res,’’ Romania, XXII (1893): 422-81).
73 This recalls to Piaget (loc. cit., p. 433) a similar one ‘‘Mon cuer avez’’ in L’Amant rendu Cordelier a Uobservance d’Amors.
1929] Merlino: French Studies of Mario Equicola of
edition. Equicola must have inserted these words ‘immediately after the name “Garantiéres,” probably in parenthesis.“ The printer, then, deceived by Equicola’s careless writing, mistook Vous m’avez for the name of a poet, ‘‘Vosmhaves.’’
Of the fifty-one poems of Garanciéres, “balades, rondeaux complainctes et letres,’”’ only five are published in Le Jardin de Plaisance.”® More recently, Piaget republished these” and pub- lished a few others for the first time,’? but with the exception of two other poems cited by Lachévre’? nothing further has been done to make this poet known.
XVII Jean de Fayel
The only poem extant that is attributed to Jean de Fayel is the one beginning ‘Jay trop honny le mestier amoureux,” found among the various poems of Garanciéres.8° Nor should we assume on this account that Equicola included Jean de Fayel among the “appretiati’ solely on the basis of this one poem, worthy as it is. Indeed, we are certain that he composed others, even though these be now lost. L’Abbé de la Rue mentions, but unfortunately without any description or indication of his source, the ‘‘chansons et ballades de Jean Fayel, vicomte de Breteuil.’”’®!
74] cannot ascertain this point, since the entire part of Book Vv of the Natura de Amore dealing with the Romance Literatures, including the passage here in question, is not found in the only extant MS of the N. de A. which I examined at Turin.
75 T arrived at this conclusion independently after studying MS 19139 at Paris. Later, I was glad to find that I unknowingly corroborated De- benedetti, who in a simple mention of these poets cited by Equicola, had solved long before the conundrum of ‘‘Vosmhaves.’’ Cf. his Studi Provenzali in Italia nel Cinquecento, cit., p. 53, n. 2.
76 Cf. Le Jardin de Plaisance et Fleur de Rhétorique (Soc. des Auciens Textes, Paris, I, 1910, II, 1924), nos. 76, 403, 463, 466, 470.
77 Except no. 403.
78 Cf. Romania, XXII, art. cit., 454-81.
79 Cf. Index of Bibliographie des recueils collectifs de Poésies du XVI* siecle (Paris, Champion, 1922).
89 MS 19139, fale francais, fol. 421v. It was published by Piaget, Romania, XXII: 44
81 Cf. Essai laone, sur les bardes, les jongleurs et les trouvéres, III: 349.
22 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [ Vol. 14
This, I think, is without a doubt a reference to an edition of the poems of Fayel which Equicola must have seen, and which seems now irretrievably lost.82 However that may be, Equicola’s mention of both Garanciéres and Fayel throws light on the fortune of two poets very little known.*
CONCLUDING REMARKS
An attempt has been made in the foregoing study to present briefly and accurately a picture of Equicola’s knowledge of French literature together with a consideration of its sources. Even though fragmentary, his studies are nevertheless of value to the literary history of the fifteenth century. Indeed, some of the works studied by Equicola are entirely unknown today even to specialists in this field.
I succeeded in ascertaining that a copy of Paris et Helena belonged to the library of Ercole I, Duke of Ferrara. Of the Traison d’Amours, I could find no trace anywhere. My identifi- cation of Equicola’s “giardin d’amore”’ may still be open to ques- tion, but neither in this case nor in any other are the conclusions which I reached unwarranted.
8 Neither Fayel nor Garanciéres is mentioned by Brunet in his Manuel du Libraire. Nor does Pellechet record either of them in the Catalogue des Incunables des bibliothéques de France (3 vols., up to Gregorius).
83 It may not be irrelevant to add here that Marcantonio Nicoletti (1536-1596), a scholar only ‘‘per modo di dire,’’ quotes ‘“‘Garantiéres Vosno, Havos e Giovanni de Faunel, Francesi’’ (sic), an all too obvious borrowing from paula, For Nicoletti’s text, cf. V. Crescini, Per gli studi romanzi, cit., p. 176.
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MAIN LIBRARY
ECHOES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION IN GERMAN LITERATURE
BY
HENRY SAFFORD KING
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS IN MODERN PHILOLOGY Volume 14, No. 2, pp. 23-193 Issued June 24, 1929
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Loxpon, ENGLAND
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE... cin dca ice id wWheaktciedice eituanke Se ee eee Vv INTRODUCTION... 200 ee eT a ee 23 PouiticaL CONDITIONS IN GERMANY..... ........... 8h. “Gis 23 THE SPIRIT OF REBELLION IN GERMAN LITERATURE... ancAae 27 Two GOETTINGEN GROUPS.......00000000.00000 wee See es 30 I. Klopstock, Stolberg, Voss, Guadiing. Buie, Sturz............. 80-45
II. Schlézer, Lichtenberg, Forster... 00000 0. ee ee. 46-56 STORM AND STRESS AND CLASSICAL WRITERS... ... —i ee 57 I. Lenz, Klinger......000....... sieeag ha te de oath nd ee =86-67
II. Herder, Goethe, Schiller... io ydaeseManes Hegate eee 68-85 NORTH GERMAN WRITERS... — ee | ie Meee alee ecto: 86
Kant, Hippel, Palin: Scinaeht: Gleim, Lessing, Schmettow, DO UMIG cy ether Pte oa whee Ser ase ieeh ate. ees, Gt OSL
JOURNALISTS AND JOURNALS........... iy tesla Beieke sara esas 112 I. Schubart, Wekhrlin, W siaia. Nie eat tnecht Ty gee Mead Case wath? 112-134
II. Deutsches Museum, Bibra’s Journal, Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek........00........ iia hat ag Fad sata ae Tikda th Md jose Prerd wha eee tens 134-152 OCCASIONAL “PORT RY 65s ies eee os arated ea oeansee Eesha ily veal: 153 ATONVMIOUS “POEMS iis ceed iwsier a Mablaiens, Hameed Aha 153 Poems by Minor Poets......00000.0000000000000 cece ceee tee cette tetee sees 156 VIEWS OF SWISS CONTEMPORARIES 000000000 oooccccccccccccccececceseveeecesveeeesevvteeveees 160 I. Von Knonau, Sulzer, Zimmermann, Bodmer... ......................... 160-161 II. Johannes von Mitller....00.0ooccccccccccccccccececes cevsevveccetvetstevs vesvevece 161 ar. (a: 6 a6 -) (6), ae Ne Re CC ee ene Ae ee TERE See ne Se Ree RR ee 174 Literary Aspects. ce Se RL ene eS 174 The Mercenaries....0...0000000000ccccccce cecceeeeeceee cca ieatat a ecg a A Sea 177 Political Aspects... eects ee tan ae eee 180 STB ETO GRA P FY sent ots s hoseoeeeus ch Atta rete ce bitadhe dar evan oulut es ae: 187 | 8) 2, Oe ET Cee Ten ean ae I een Cet Ee Ee TY ae nD 000
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PREFACE
The subject of the present work has been treated in a more or less fragmentary way by various scholars in Europe and America, but no thorough study has ever before been made of the entire subject in a single monograph. The present work attempts to fill this gap, and the reader will notice that the term ‘‘literature’’ in the title is used in the broadest sense. —
The first writer, apparently, to call attention to the subject was Biedermann, who published an article entitled ‘‘Der Nord- amerikanische Freiheitskampf und seine Eindriicke auf Deutsch- land’’ in the Zeitschrift fir deutsche Kulturgeschichte in 1858 (dritter Jahrgang, pp. 484 ff.). More recently the following articles have appeared :
W. A. FripscH. ‘‘Stimmen deutscher Zeitgenossen tber den Soldaten- handel deutscher Fiirsten nach Amerika,’’ Deutsch-Amerikanisches Maga- zin I (1886-87), 589 ff.
JULIUS GOKKEL. ‘‘Amerika in der deutschen Dichtung,’? Forschungen zur deutschen Philologie: Festgabe fiir Rudolf Hildebrand zum 13. Mirz 1894, pp. 102-127.
HatTrietp and HocusaumM. ‘‘The Influence of the American Revolution upon German Literature,’’ Americana Germanica III (1899-1900), 338-385,
H. P. Gauuincer. Die Haltung der deutschen Publizistik zu dem ameri- kanischen Unabhangigkeitskriege, 1775-1783. Leipzig Diss. 1900.
JOHN A. Wauz. ‘‘The American Revolution and German Literature,’’ Mod. Lang. Notes XVI (1901), 336-351, 411-418, 449-462.
JOHN A. Wauz. ‘‘Three Swabian Journalists and the American Revo- lution,’’ Americana Germanica LV (1901-2), 91-129, 267-291, and German- American Annals I (1903), 209-224, 257-274, 347-356, 406-419, 593-600.
ANON. ‘‘Der Freiheitskampf der Union in der deutschen Literatur,’’ D. Rundschau, Jan. 18, 1902.
MAXIMILIAN Koun. ‘‘Amerika im Spiegel deutscher Dichtung,’’ Zeit- geist (1905), No. 32.
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W. H. Carrutu. ‘‘Schiller and America,’? German-American Annals VII (1906), 131-146.
W. W. Frorer. ‘‘Schiller’s Conception of Liberty and the Spirit of 76,’? German-American Annals VIII (1906), 99-115.
G. 8S. Forp. ‘‘Two German Publicists on the American Revolution,’’ Journal of English and Germanic Philology VIII (1909), 145-176.
C. BREFFKA. Amerika in der deutschen Literatur (Céln, 1917).
For the sake of comprehensive treatment I have plowed up the same ground that was explored by these pioneers;! I have considerably extended the boundary lines of the preliminary surveys, discovered new material, and corrected old landmarks. I have examined the entire field of contemporary German letters, so far as facilities at my command in this part of the world would permit. The gaps left by the pioneers I have largely filled. Although there still remains much material buried in European archives, I feel confident that the present work will serve as a useful guide to any subsequent study of the subject.
After the material had been collected, two possible methods of arrangement presented themselves: the topical and the bio- graphical. The former was finally rejected because I felt it would not be so valuable for reference and research as the bio- graphical. I accordingly endeavored to make this monograph a kind of biographical reference work, with its focus upon the Revolution. For the sake of consistency, the mercenaries were not given a separate section, as they naturally would have been if the topical method had been employed; but rather, since this subject is subsidiary, space was set aside for them at the end of each division.
The arrangement of sections is according to groups of writers or to the type of material presented. Thus the first section deals with two groups of writers who were bound more or less closely together by mutual or common interests. The second section joins five names that are associated not only with the Storm and Stress, but also (save two) with German Classicism. Those comprising the third section are classified as North Ger-
1] have seen all the above articles with the exception of those in the Rundschau and the Zeitgeist, which were not available.
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mans, and the individuals in the fourth as publicists.? There- upon follows a section on poetry and one on Swiss writers. While this grouping is admittedly arbitrary—like any other— the sequence it affords reveals a closer organic relationship among the subjects treated than would appear in a chronological or alphabetical arrangement.
One of the pleasant memories associated with my task was the privilege of borrowing from outside libraries, and the unfailing courtesy encountered on these occasions. To the librarians of the Universities of Stanford, Harvard, and Penn- sylvania, of the Library of Congress, New York City Library, and Long Island Historical Society, I am especially grateful.
To Professor Schilling, who suggested the topic of this study, and gave much valuable help in working out details; also to Professor Price, who gave useful suggestions, it is a pleasure to acknowledge indebtedness.
HENRY SAFFORD KING.
2 Wieland appears in this work in the role of publicist only; hence there seemed to be no escape from this classification.
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ECHOES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION IN GERMAN LITERATURE
BY
HENRY SAFPORD KING
INTRODUCTION PouiticaL Conpitions IN GERMANY?
At the time of the American Revolution, Germany was politically weak and disorganized. The particularism of which Bismarek later complained was at its worst: there was no strongly centralized power. It is true, the shadow of the Holy Roman Empire fell across Germany from Vienna, but the power of the Emperor extended hardly beyond that of bestowing titles. The country was divided into some three hundred sovereign states and fifteen hundred semi-sovereign territories. Within these territories the power of the petty princes was absolute: freedom, property, life itself, were at their merey.
The machinery of the imperial government consisted in the Reichstag and the courts. The former was so ineffectual that it was not taken seriously by the people. It consisted of three houses: the Electoral Princes (who alone had the privilege of voting for the Emperor), the Princes, and the Free Cities. Voting was so arranged that the Free Cities were overridden. The most important affairs were tabled for decades or buried in the transactions of committees, and definite action on impor- tant public matters was thus prevented.
3 Unless otherwise noted, the material presented in this section is taken from Biedermann, Deutschland im achtzehnten Jahrhundert,
24 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
The courts were even worse than the Reichstag. In the first place, there was a lack of imperial authority to enforce their decrees. The princes refused to obey their mandates. In the second place, the number of court officers was inadequate to handle the volume of business. In the Reichskammergericht at Wetzlar there were in 1772 sixty thousand unsettled cases. There was a record of one case pending one hundred and eighty- eight years. Not only were the delays in such cases dishearten- ing. but the courts themselves were corrupt and partisan.
It was an age of despotism, and the welfare of each state depended upon the enlightenment of its ruler. Paternalism was rampant. Everything was provided by the ruler or his minister ; nothing was done by the people for themselves. Under the régime of a truly enlightened prince, the people were happy and contented and unconscious of a need for a change; under the sway of an unscrupulous ruler, conditions were well-nigh intolerable.
Probably the worst abuse practiced by the despots upon a docile people was the traffic in soldiers. This traffic was not new at the time of the American Revolution. In 1687 Hessen- Cassel sold one thousand men to Venice for war against the Turks; in 1702 nine thousand were bartered to the Maritime Powers; in 1706 eleven thousand five hundred were dispatched for war in Italy; after the Peace of Utrecht twelve thousand were delivered to George I of England. In the War of the Austrian Succession, Hessians fought Hessians, having been sold to both parties. During the Seven Years’ War the English auxiliary troops for Frederick II were composed entirely of German soldiers, among them twelve thousand Hessians. The war waged by the Dutch against the natives at the Cape was fought with German blood. But, to use Biedermann’s own words,
am schamlosesten ... ward dieser Menschenhandel wihrend des Krieges der Englander gegen die nordamerikanischen Kolonien getrieben. Wahrend der acht Jahre 1775-1783 erfolgten gegen Geld die nachbenannten Truppen- heferungen aus deutschen Landern:
a
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von Braunschweig 5,723 Mann oder 3.45% der Bevdélkerung
‘¢ Hessen-Cassel 16,992 ‘* ie £559. ©" eS ‘¢ Hessen-Hanau 2,422 = §§ of B90Ge ms ‘« Ansbach 1,644 § £6. “OL79Go.. “8 Fa ‘6 Waldeck £225. -* 6 1.50% + * us ‘¢ Anhalt-Zerbst 1,160 ‘ of 3.059. ©
29,166 «¢
Davon ging verloren 11,853
In an article in the Zeitschrift fiir deutsche Kulturgeschichte (1858, p. 487) entitled ‘‘Der Nordamerikanische Freiheitskampf und seine Eindrticke auf Deutschland,’’ Biedermann gives the following illuminating facts:
Der Kopf war durchsehnittlich auf 100, 120, 150 Thaler geschatzt, auBerdem aber fiir jeden gebliebenen oder verstiimmelten Soldaten noch eine besondere Entschiidigung ausbedungen, Je mehr also von den Landes- kindern verloren giengen, desto gréBer war der Gewinn fiir die landes- herrliche Kasse.....
Auf doppelte Weise ward das Gefiihl der Deutschen durch diesen Handel verletzt, durch das Mitleid mit den armen Opfern einer so graB- lichen Tyrannei, und durch den besehimenden Gedanken, daB die Sklaven- dienste deutscher Birger dazu helfen sollten, die Freihcit eines andern Volkes zu unterdrtcken.
Although there was much grumbling over the abuses prac- ticed by the princes, there was no widespread desire for a change in the form of government. The people were impotent and docile. They did not think in terms of self-help. If they thought about political conditions at all, their thoughts were in terms of monarchical government. Even political writers of distinction, like K. Fr. v. Moser and Justus Moser, while deplor- ing the weak, disunited condition of the country, and cognizant of the need of a ‘‘third estate’’ to offset the power of the princes and of the aristocracy, were not able to devise a practical means for the attainment of this end. Indeed, they did not seem to cherish any hope that their ideas would ever be realized. The very title of Méser’s ‘‘Patriotische Phantasien’’ would indicate that he considered his ideas as well-nigh unattainable ideals. The writings of the time showed much good intent, but no practical political sagacity: they were characterized by an indefiniteness
26 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol.14
and incompleteness which rendered them impotent to awaken the people and stir them to ‘great deeds. The greatest lengths to which the political writers allowed themselves to go consisted in the exposal of the wicked princes, the holding up of the good ones as models, and the prayer to heaven that the evil ones might relent. Says Biedermann:
Dieselbe Unklarheit bildete den vorherrschenden Charakterzug der ganzen Zeit: in Gedanken erhob man sich bisweilen zu den allerkthnsten Wiinschen groBter politischer Freiheit und vollkommenster Staatsverfas- sung; allein in der Wirklichkeit war die Gewohnheit des Gehorchens so tief gewurzelt, daB selbst ein Zustand republikanischer Selbstregicrung, wenn man sich einen solechen tiberhaupt als moéglich hatte vorstellen kénnen, den Meisten nur in der Form eines fiirstlichen Gnadengeschenkes oder einer obrigkeitlichen Anordnung denkbar erschienen sein wiirde.
The public press of the time consisted of a large number and variety of weekly and monthly magazines, which furnished the channel for the expression of public feeling. Many of these publications devoted considerable space to the treatment of political questions, and wielded no little power. The most influential publisher was Schlozer, whose Staatsanzeiger was feared even by the lordly Maria Theresia. The people hailed the press as an apostle of truth and justice, a public airing in its columns sometimes being more effectual than an imperial or judiciary order in bringing a recalcitrant prince to terms.
The final appeal of the press, however, was not to public opinion, but to the reigning prince: in his hands lay its freedom, or liability to censorship. This explains the character of some of the periodicals of the time. As Minor says: ‘‘Von einer Zeitung des absolutistischen Jahrhunderts wird man keinen sicheren politischen Standpunkt und keine feste Ueberzeugung 4 The periodicals were com- pelled to consider their own safety, and for this reason we find them freely criticizing some evils, and passing over others.
In general the majority of public organs were on the side of enlightenment and progress, and therefore at odds with estab- lished conditions. This did not prevent them from giving
in politischen Dingen erwarten.
4 Vierteljahrsschrift fiir Literaturgeschichte I, 482.
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praise where it was due, and extolling even an unjust despot when he conferred some benefit upon the people.
In Prussia there was much freedom of the press; Frederick’s example here, as elsewhere, had a Iberalizing influence upon contemporary rulers. Other states that enjoyed a relative free- dom of the press were Hanover, Brunswick, Holstein, Baden, Dessau, some of the tiny Thuringian states, and the Free Cities, especially Hamburg.
In Roman Catholic Bavaria there was the most severe and arbitrary treatment of the press: speeches in the Academy of Sciences had to be censored; cases of arrest and imprisonment without trial of publicists were not lacking; in Chureh lands the press was subjected not only to the local but to the Roman censor as well.
The history of the imprisonment without trial of writers in Germany will probably never be written. Often the writers were obscure; but it is known that there were many instances of arbitrary treatment. Three well-known writers who fell victims to the despotie will of prinees were J. J. Moser, Schu- bart, and Schiller. Schubart’s case was no doubt the most notorious: as publisher of the Deutsche Chronik he criticized the soldier-traffie of Duke Carl Eugen of Wiirtemberg and satir- ized the Duke’s loose morals; he was arrested and, without trial. compelled to spend ten of the best vears of his life in prison.
THE SPIRIT OF REBELLION IN GERMAN LITERATURE
In 1759 Lessing wrote to Gleim: ‘‘Ich habe tiberhaupt von der Liebe des Vaterlands . . . keinen Begriff, und sie scheint mir auf’s Hochste eine heroische Schwachheit, die ich recht gern entbehre.’’ This indifference to political matters was shared by most of the writers of his time. But the younger generation of writers who came to the fore in the last quarter of the century were men of a different mould. They were filled with a spirit of unrest and rebellion. They were agitators, at odds with
28 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
things as they were, but had nothing to set up in their place. There was much talk of freedom, patriotism, and heroic deeds, much shouting against the tyrants, but no definite action.
This ferment, this awakening from the lethargy of the paternalistic régime, was not occasioned by the American Revo- lution. In so far as it expressed itself in national pride and yearning for heroic action, the cause may be found in Germany. But the opposition against the established régime, the yearning for greater individual independence and self-expression became conscious and articulate through impulses from without. Goethe’s comments on the movement, especially the outcry against the tyrants, are not without interest here:
Dureh die Hermanns-Schlacht und die Zucignung derselben an Joseph den Zweiten hatte Klopstock eine wunderbare Anregung gegeben. Die Deutschen, die sich vom Druck der Romer befreiten, waren herrlich und machtig dargestellt, und dieses Bild gar wohl geeignet, das Selbstgefthl der Nation zu erwecken. Weil aber im Frieden der Patriotismus eigentlich nur darin besteht, daB jeder vor seiner Thure kehre, seines Amtes warte, auch seine Lection lerne, damit es wohl im Hause stehe, so fand das von Klop- stock erregte Vaterlandsgeftih] keinen Gegenstand, an dem es sich hatte iiben konnen. Friedrich hatte die Ehre eines Theils der Deutschen gegen eine verbundene Welt gerettet, und es war jedem Gliede der Nation erlaubt, durch Beifall und Verchrung dieses groBen Firsten, Theil an seinem Siege zu nehmen; aber wo denn nur hin mit jenem erregten kriegerischen Trotz- gefihl? Welche Richtung sollte es nehmen, und welche Wirkung hervor- bringen? Zuerst war es bloB poetische Form, und die nachher so oft gescholtenen, ja lacherlich gefundenen Bardenlieder hauften sich durch diesen Trieb, durch diesen AnstoB. Keine auBeren Feinde waren zu be- kimpfen; nun bildete man sich Tyrannen, und dazu mu&ten die Fiirsten
und ihre Diener ihre Gestalten erst im Allgemeinen, sodann nach und nach im Besonderen hergeben.5
But Hettner recalls in this connection Goethe’s remark to Eckermann that he had not in his autobiography emphasized strongly enough the contribution of contemporary French litera- ture to his development; and he concludes® that this influence was significant not only in Goethe’s own development, but in his characterization of the entire period:
5 Dichtung und Wahrheit, 3. Teil, p. 141. 6 Literaturgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts III, 1, 3.
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Die eigentliche Wurzel der deutschen Sturm- und Drangperiode ist das Naturevangelium Rousseau’s. Was stumm und ahnungsvoll im Herzen der deutschen Jugend gelegen, das hatte durch Rousseau Leben und BewuBtsein, Ziel und Richtung, Gehalt und Gestalt gewonnen.
In commenting upon the revolutionary spirit of the time, Francke says:
Ina word... . all German literature of those vears seems to be aflame. A new order of things seems about to break forth from the brain of the nation. A political and social revolution seems imminent. Why did this revolution not come %
He summarizes the reasons as follows (ibid., 317) :
(1) The social-reform policy entered upon by the most enlightened of the German governments—tending, as it did, toward the limitation of feudal privileges, the softening down of class distinctions, the public recog- nition of the rights of man—was, in part at least, a fulfillment of the very demands raised by the leaders of the movement. (2) The political decentral- ization of Germany—preventing, as it did, on the one hand the growth of a strong public opinion, and ensuring, on the other, a considerable amount of local independence, private comfort and happiness—served to make the middle classes (the well-to-do peasant, the burgher, the scholar, the pro- fessional man, the official) slow even to desire a radical change of existing eonditions. ... (3) The ‘‘Sturm und Drang’? agitation, although teem- ing with social catchwords and political phrases, was at bottom an essentially intellectual movement.
This revolution of the spirit was already under way in Germany when the American Revolution began, and although there is no question that Germany was profoundly agitated by contemporaneous events in America, the initial impulse of Germany’s intellectual revolution is to be sought not in America, but in France.
7 Social Forces in German Litcrature, 312.
TWO GOETTINGEN GROUPS I
Friepricu Gorriies KLopstrocK (1724-1803)
Although Klopstock made no secret of his sympathy for the American cause, he left few traces of his feeling about it in his writings. During the war he wrote only two poems that can be definitely linked with it, Die Krieger and Der jetzige Krieg;* neither of them is important.
Klopstock’s best thoughts on the American war were penned at the time of the French Revolution. In his first enthusiasm over the French achievement, he was reminded of what Americans had done a few years before; later, when he became disillusioned by the Reign of Terror, he could not refrain from comparing France and America, to the advantage of the latter.
In the poem Sie und nicht Wir (1790), he expressed his poignant regret that it was not Germany that scaled the pinnacle of freedom:
Ach, du warest es nicht, mein Vaterland, das der Freihcit
Gipfel erstieg, Beispiel strahlte den Volkern umher;
Frankreich war’s! du labtest dich nicht an der frohsten der Ehren, Brachest den heiligen Zweig dieser Unsterblichkeit nicht!9
This palm, which goes to France, he likens to the one that Ger- many plucked when she purified the Christian religion; he seeks solace in the thought that if Germany had not first broken the bonds of ecclesiastical tyranny, France would not now be able to throw off the burden of royalty. But he fails to find com- plete consolation:
8 Samtl. Werke IV, 242, 256. 9 Werke IV, 320,
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Denn du warest est nicht, das auch von dem Staube des Birgers Freiheit erhob, Beispiel strahlte den Volkern umher ;
Denen nicht nur, die Europa gebar. An Amerikas Stromen Flammt schon eigenes Licht, leuchtet den Volkern umber.
Hier auch winkte mir Trost, er war: in Amerika leuchten Deutsche zugleich umher; aber er tréstete nicht.
The pathos of wounded patriotic pride which is voiced in these lines strikes a more vibrant note than anything else written in Germany on the American Revolution.
Klopstock venerated the name of Washington, and in 1792, when he, together with Pestalozzi, Goethe, Washington, and others, was made a citizen of the French Republic, he stated in a letter to the French minister Roland that one of the causes of his satisfaction in being a citizen of the Republie was the fact that it made him ‘‘zum Mitbiirger Washingtons.’”'? This thought evidently continued to give him no little pleasure, for we find it expressed in later writings."!
Klopstock’s last reference to America in his poetic works is in the poem Zwet Amertkaner (1795).'* The outeome of the French Revolution had dashed all his joyful hopes for freedom to the ground. He has no curse for the madmen of the Revolu- tion; he is struck dumb by their excesses. His tone here is one of Christian resignation, and he pays America a compliment by putting his own sentiment into the mouth of one of her sons (p. 367):
Hla, was wihlest du dir, dich zu trésten? blutige Thranen Oder der Franken ewigen Hass? ‘¢Nein, die Thrane nicht und nicht den Hass... . . Wer zum Steine Wurde, verstummt.’’
Strangely enough the poet of freedom, the idol of the Gottinger Bund, the inspirer of Schubart, has not one word to say of the nefarious soldier-traffic, which had for many years been practiced when he declared in the poem Wir und Sie (1769) : ‘*‘Cherusker unsre Heere sind.’"* And when he wrote
10 Werke XX, 341. 12 Werke IV, 367 f. 11 Werke LV, 340; X, 349. 13 [bid., 181.
32 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
Sie und nicht Wir, many of the German soldiers that had been sold to England to fight against ‘‘freedom’’ were living in America; what unconscious satire therefore lurks in the last lines cited: ‘‘in Amerika leuchten Deutsche zugleich umher!’’
FRIEDRICH LEOPOLD STOLBERG (1750-1819)
Long before the American Revolution began, Stolberg had written his first poem on freedom. He belonged to the younger generation of writers, whose patriotism had been fired by Klop- stock’s genius. As a young man he had great faith in the power of the poet to stir the people to heroic deeds, and in all the literature of the Storm and Stress there is nothing more extra- vagant than the invectives of this scion of nobility against the tyrants.
Despite his patriotic ardor, Stolberg was slow to respond to the influence of the American Revolution. During the first five years of the war there is not a single direct allusion to it either in his poems or in his copious correspondence. Hatfield and Hochbaum™ say of Stolberg: ‘‘During the period of the American war the fermentation of this vehement spirit found an outlet in such poems as Die Frethett (1774), and Fretheitsge- sang aus dem zwanzigsten Jahrhundert (1775), in which he prophesies the death of himself and his brother for the sacred cause of liberty.’’ This statement is correct, but its implication that there is a connection between the poems and the Revolution is unwarranted.?®> In them we see but the gushing forth of a stream that had long been flowing under the surface.'* Stol- berg’s spirit had been roused by Klopstock, and the ball which the master had tossed in his poem Weissagung (1773) was
14 Cf. Preface to this paper, p. v.
15 In this view I concur with Walz, Mod. Lang. Notes XVI, 462.
16 In May 1774 Stolberg wrote to Voss (F. L. Stolberg, Briefe an Voss, p. 17): ‘‘Ich denke viel an die Freiheitagesinge. . . . Klopstock hat mir geraten nicht ein ganzes daraus zu machen, sondern einzelne Gesinge deren jeder ein ganzes ist... alle diese Gesiinge sollen aus dem zwanzigsten
Jahrhundert sein, und verschiedene Situationen, aber lauter Freiheitssitua- tionen darstellen.’?
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thrown back, with embellishments, by the disciple in Fretheits- gesang aus dem zwanzigsten Jahrhundert.
The first poem of Klopstoeck in which we can trace a con- nection with the war bears the date of 1778, and it is significant that Stolberg’s first direct allusion to the Revolution is in his poem Die Zukunft, which was begun and finished between June 1779 and June 1782.'’ As in the case of the Fretheitsgesang, the initial impulse was received from Klopstock; it is simply a more mature product of the ferment caused by Die Weissagung. But besides prophesying the freedom of Germany and the rest of Europe, the poem also contains allusions to America, condemns the soldier-traffic, and foretells American freedom.'®
In the following lines we see first Europe and then America freed from bondage by maidens representing the centuries (p. 93):
Edel sah ich und kiihn der Jungfraun cine sich heben,
Eine Fackel schwang sie in strahlender Rechte, da schaute
Ihr ins Antliz Europa, und ward erhellet, und schaute
Ihrer Kinder Viele, mit Jochen belastet, mit Ketten Viele, die lésete sie mit starken leitenden Handen.
Ziirnend entstieg die folgende Jungfrau rauschenden Fluthen, Hielt in der Rechten ein Schwert, und in gleich nervigter Linken Eine Wage, sie wog, und hieb mit blizendem Schwerte Von Amerikas Nacken und Hianden die driickenden Bande...
America will make noble use of her freedom (269 f.) :
Auf weise Gesetze Werden sie griinden ihr Reich, sie werden sich mehren wie Bienen, Aemsig wie Bienen, wie sie mit scharfem Stachel geriistet Gegen Jeden, der sich erkiihnt zum Zorn sie zu reizen.
* * * * *
Thiler werden erschallen vom frohen Liede der Schafer, Und die Ufer des Sante! vom lauten Jauchzen der Winzer. Viele Geschenke giebt die Natur dem gliicklichen Lande,
17 Stolberg was at this time ambassador of a roval house to the courts of Copenhagen, Berlin, and Petersburg, and the poem was not published with his other works on account of its content.
18 Cf, Archiv fur Litteraturgeschichte XIII, 94, 99, 260.
19 Santee: a river of South Carolina.
34 University of California Publications tn Modern Philology [Vol. 14
Diese wird es mit dankender IIand empfangen, und lernen
Zu entbchren, was ihm die weise Mutter versagte;
Oder von fernen Gestaden, gegen Friichte des FleiBes,
Selbst auf seufzenden Fiehten mit sechwellendem Segel zu holen, Was es theuer vordem dem brittisechem Makler verzollte.
Geist der Frevheit, Du wirst mit weitumschattendem Fligel Ueber Amerika wehen!
Justice and permanent freedom will be America’s heritage. Not only North America will be free, but South America also will bask in the rays of truth and freedom. With such a consumma- tion in the New World, will the Old World be content to lie wrapped in the shades of night? (p. 272) :
Meintest Du, daB ewig das Joch unmenschlicher Kneehtschaft
Driicken sollte? Folgen denn nicht die Lenze dem Winter,
Nicht den Nachten die Tage? Dem allzusichren Europa
Sey es Warnung dereinst, daB wenn die Sonne dem Inka Strahlet, unsre Welt in nichtliche Schatten gehiillt ist!
The poet scorns English pride, but admires the able Chatham, to whose words of wisdom his fellow-countrymen turned a deaf ear; and if the prophetic spirit had not hinted at better times to come, he would wofully wail at the thought of his demise (p. 269) :
Neben Kénigen ruht der Letzte der Britten!
The main portion of the poem is written in the Klopstockian spirit of credulous optimism. Save for the ecastigation of the soldier-traffie and for the freeing of America, there is no important addition to Klopstock’s theme of German freedom. But in this addition, the freeing of Germany (or of Europe—a point that is not made prominent in the poem) appears almost. as a corollary of the freeing of America. The poet’s optimism is fortified by events in America.
There is also another difference between this poem and Der Freiheitsgesang, of which Stolberg said that the tyrants denounced were products of his imagination, and that contem- porary princes did not need to be disturbed by it. In Die Zukunft there is direct reference to serfdom, a conerete condi-
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tion of the eighteenth century in Germany (p. 253, 1. 184) ; to the soldier-traffic, a shameful historic fact (11. 190-191) ; and to the demoralizing influence of the profligate princes, whose flagrant excesses cried to heaven (Il. 194-196).
These princes he called (1. 165) ‘‘gekroénte Verriiter.’’ If they are actual flesh-and-blood despots, it is easy to believe that the tyrant addressed in the following poem was not a mere product of Stolberg’s imagination; and the date of the poem, August 1783, suggests some connection with the American Revolution:
ANFRAGE Das kiihne Wort, das kihne Schwerd Sind beyde aller Ehren Werth. Der Persiflage ist ein Dolch Es wafnet sich mit ihm der Molch. Doeh mein’ ich sey ein Fall wo auch der brave Mann So Persiflage als Doleh gebrauchen kann, Was meinen Sie groBmachtigster Tirann ?20
In Der Priifstein, published in 1784, Stolberg says:
Wer spricht von Chatam der im Leben groB8, Und gréRer noch in seinem Tode war? Wer vom bescheidnen Helden Washington ??1
In the same year he mentions Washington again in a letter to his sister. His attitude of credulous optimism appears here to be giving way to a more sober view of the actualities of political life: ‘‘ Apropos von Washington, ich wollte daB der groBe edle Mann sttirbe. Noch ist sein Ruhm tadellos, und wie selten bleibt er das.’’*?
Much as Stolberg admired Chatham and Washington, he was no out-and-out republican. In the poem Der Rath, published in 1784 (Iamben, 68), he tells of his solicitude for the well-being of monarchs, and wishes that he might whisper a word of counsel to them, that they might sit with more repose upon their thrones.
20 F, L. Stolberg’s Briefe an J. H. Voss, 91. 21 Jamben, 64. 22 Bricfe der Familie Stolberg, 243.
36 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
Although he can exclaim: ‘‘O nur die Regierung eines freien Volks hat Nerv!’’?* his admiration for the republican system is qualified by the reflection that the multiplication of conflicting laws observable in ‘‘more recent constitutions’’ is a weakness.
He not only believed in monarchy for Germany, but he dreaded the consequences of a general overthrow of monarchical government in Europe as a result of the ferment of the time. The ardent ‘‘Freiheitsrufer’’ came to see things more objectively. ‘‘Sind die Menschen moralisch gut genug um frei sein zu konnen?’’ he asks in 1790 (ibsd., 415). And he answers it him- self as a true conservative: ‘‘Montesquieu’s Satz daB Freiheit auf Tugend gegriindet sein miisse, wird durch die ganze Geschichte bestitigt. ... . die unausbleibliche Gefahrtin der Irreligion wird immer die Anarchie sein.’’?*
Nevertheless he hailed the general awakening that he was able to observe in Germany, an awakening that resulted partly from the liberal movements in America and France. His reflec- tions in January 1790 are a milestone in the development of German political consciousness :
Interessanter, als seit Jahrhunderten sie war, ist die politische Situation. Und was ich als Knabe unter dem Druck allgemeines Widerspruches fiihlte, was ich in meinem ersten Gedichte ‘‘die Freiheit’’ mit lallender Poesie zu pianen mich unterwand, das wird nun Volkseinsicht. Deutsche Zeitungen, dieser Abschaum des Gemeinorts-Kleinmuths und knechtischer Kannegie- Berey, sagen nun Wahrheiten, welche der gro8e Montesquieu unhiillen muBte. Der Monarchisten Ausdriicke werden gema@Bigter, und keiner wagt es, die
edlen Belgen Rebellen zu nennen, selbst hier nicht, in diesem Berlin, welches Freidrich, sobald er todt war, einzig und Menschenfreund nannte.25
Although there is no mention of America here, we can see the influence of the American war reflected in Stolberg’s obser- vations. The boldness of the German press did not come sud- denly, as a result of the French Revolution. Between the time of Stolberg’s youth and the French Revolution, the American
23 Briefe der Familie Stolberg, 352.
24 He either misunderstood or misapplied Montesquieu here, for Mon- tesquieu ’s ‘‘virtue’’ is political, rather than moral: it is patriotic partici- pation in the affairs of the State.
25 Halems Selbstbiographie, 88.
1929] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 37
war had been fought, and during that war the German press had been filled with frank and lively discussions of political questions; a beginning had been made which culminated in the condition Stolberg describes.
A year later he said of the French Revolution, which some Germans described as a fire that was kindled by sparks from America: ‘‘Ich sehe den groBen Strom heranrauschen, welcher alle Despotieen stiirzen wird.’’?®
As already noted (p. 33), the long poem Die Zunkunft con- tains a criticism of the soldier-traffic. In the Third Canto of that poem, Germany’s liberation is represented as the result of the awakening from slumber of the Genius of German Freedom. After demolishing the thrones he brings peace and plenty:
Auch wird Blut der Jiingling’ gegen Gold nicht gewoyen,. Um fiir stolze Nachbarn in fernen Welten zu flieBen.27
The ‘‘proud neighbors’’ are warned that they will reap only scorn from the traffie (p. 269) :
Albion, schone das Blut von Deinen Séhnen und Briidern, Deine Wunden bluten vergebens! Vergebens erkaufest Du von deutschen Fiirsten die Bliithe kriegrischer Jugend, O der Schmach fiir uns, zum Hohngelachter des Kaufers! * * * * * Aus dem Blut betrieften Lande werdet Ihr weichen, Denn frey wird Amerika seyn! Und kann es Euch Trost seyn, Britten, 30 sey es Euch Trost, daB unter den Sodhnen der Freyheit Eure Briider die Erstlinge sind.
The last three lines remind of those in Klopstock’s poem Sie und nicht Wir:
An Amerika’s Stroémen
Flammt schon eigenes Licht, leuchtet den Vo6lkern umher. Hier auch winkte mir Trost, er war: in Amerika leuchten Deutsche zugleich umher; aber er trostete nicht.
It would seem as if this were a case of reciprocal indebtedness to Stolberg.
26 Ibid., 117. 27 Archiv fur Litteraturgeschichte XIII, 255.
38 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
JOHANN HEINRICH Voss (1751-1826)
Despite Voss’s intense feeling upon the subject of freedom, his writings from 1775 to 1783, like those of Stolberg, bear scant traces of the American Revolution. In fact, we find only the merest allusions to it. In his Luise, however, which appeared in 1784, there is a direct reference, in which Voss pays America a warm and sympathetic tribute: he ascribes to America the quality of ‘‘Menschlichkeit,’’ a quality that was close to the poet’s own heart:
Gliiht mir das Antliz Nicht, als hatt’ ich in Eifer gepredigt, oder mit Walter Ueber Europa geschwazt und Amerika, jenes im Dunkel, Dies im tagenden Lichte der Menschlichkeit? Oefne das Fenster! Frische Luft ist dem Menschen so noth, wie dem Fische das Wasser,
Oder dem Geist frei denken, so weit ein Gedanke den Flug hebt, _ Nicht durch Bann und Gewalt zu den folgsamen Thieren entwiirdigt ! 28
Brave words! and they no doubt reflect Voss’s own feeling, as well as that of others. That he had a propensity for contro- versy, his biography amply shows; but his pugnacity did not extend to open defiance of political wrong. In this respect he was as ‘‘docile’’ as most of his countrymen. ‘‘Soar aloft’’ as he might in thought, and wax warm in descanting on ‘‘humanity,”’ when it came to a publie espousal of the people’s cause, his pen, as we Shall see, was easily subdued.
Although there can be no doubt about his sympathies during the war, we do not find them expressed to any extent in his writings until the epoch of the French Revolution. In the poem Aufmunterung (1794), he voices reassurance in face of the turmoil in France:
LaBt den armen Nachbar schaffen, Was er will und kann!
LaBt ihn Biirger sein den Pfaffen Und den Edelmann!
28 Sdmtl. Ged. I, 86-87.
1929 ] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 39
Heiliger Geseze Birger
Sind ja nicht nothwendig Wirger! Was die Vorwelt sah, Sieht Amerika! 29
Even if things are not as they should be in France, the practical example of America is proof that the republican system can
succeed. In the same vear appeared the poem Chorgesang beim Rhein- wein. Addressing the wine, he says:
Wie ungestiim aus deinem Kerker Du, Greis, erwachst!
Was du, als sinniger Bemerker, Fir Augen machst!
Als man dich unter Glas verpichte,
Wars anders da, daB du dem Lichte So heiter lachst?
Nicht bist du spater Zeit Veridchter, Du Altpapa!
Man wird mit jedem Tag nicht schlechter: Das weiBt du ja!
Viel gutes findest du, und neues!
Zum Beispiel nennen wir ein freies America!30
We are reminded in the following strophe of Stolberg’s Zukunft:
Europa staunt, da ernst die Wage Des Schicksals wagt, Und Menschenrecht und Volkerklage Entgegen legt. Weissag’, o Greis: du schaust verwundert! Was uns das nahende Jahrhundert Im SchooBe tragt!
Voss, like Klopstock and Stolberg, was a monarchist. What- ever good he saw in republics, whatever future changes he sur- mised might come over the political complexion of Europe, he was content with a limited monarchy as the ideal for his own generation in Germany. In April 1795 he wrote to Gleim:
29 Ibid. IV, 276. 30 Ibid. IV, 247 f.
40 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
Majestat des Volkes! Woher haben wir das Wort Majestatf Und was bedeutet es, als Wille der Mehrheit, gesezmaRBig erklirt? und einem Vollzieher iibertragen? .... Dawider handelte der Konvent, als er die Religion aufhob; dawider Joseph in den Niederlanden; dawider Konig Georg in Amerika; dawider—doch wer mag aufzahlen!31
In the following lines (p. 313 f.) we see how easily he is sub- dued. He is impatient enough with abuses, and would fain do something to correct them; but a gesture is sufficient to deter him from the attempt, and he nurses his grievances in silence:
Sind wir Schriftsteller denn nur zum GutheiBen des Hergebrachten, oder seit kurzer Zeit Gewordenen bestimmt? Nicht auch zum Warnenf Man hort es nicht! So wollen wir ganz schweigen; aber auch keinen Laut zum
Einschlafern der aufgeschreckten Gesezlosigkeit, sie nenne sich Monarch oder Gleichheitsbiirger, uns verstatten.32
LEOPOLD FRIEDRICH GUENTHER VON GOECKINGK (1748-1828 )
Like Voss, his associate in the publication of the Gottinger Musenalmanach from 1780 to 1788, Gockingk left in his writings unmistakable evidence of his pro-American sympathies. In the Kriegslied eines Provinzialen,*> which appeared in the Gottinger Musenalmanach of 1780 (pp. 102 ff.), the Americans are repre- sented as addressing the German mercenaries in a friendly and generous manner. In the Antwort eines deutschen Soldaten, which followed,** the Germans are presented in a less favorable light. These two poems are typical of the occasional poetry of the day: there is strong feeling in their accents, but of real poetry scarcely a trace.
In the poem Golddurst (1782), Gockingk makes a general charge of avarice against his countrymen, and cites their barter-
31 Voss, Briefe II, 313.
382 In 1798 Voss again wrote to Gleim on the subject (Voss, Briefe II, 343): ‘‘Fiir das unbeschrankte Konigthum in abstracto habe ich keinen Enthusiasmus; wohl fiir das beschrankte, wie es in England war. Fiir das Gespenst, das wir deutsche Verfassung nennen, noch viel weniger. Aber fiir den K6nig, fiir das edelbeherschte Preuszen, so heisz, wie irgend einer.’’
38 Gockingk, Gedichte ITI, 75 ff.
34 [bid., 78 ff.
1929] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 41
ing of their own blood for bread, as proof. In the last three stanzas he becomes more specific, and arraigns the ‘‘magnates’’ (rulers). What great things could not Germany have if her powerful men, instead of bending all their efforts upon filling their coffers, instead of living like sybarites at the expense of their subjects, would learn to control themselves, foster the well- being of the country, and perform great deeds:
Die allgemeine Leidenschaft
Ist nicht der Ruhm! In meinem Vaterlande
Zum mindsten nicht. Denn ach! der Deutsche rafft Nach Golde nur. Was kiimmert ihn die Schande?
Was thut der Deutsche nicht fiir Geld!—
Ein schoner Ruhm! Ein Sprichwort aller Zonen! Wief bauet er, dem Britten gleich, scin Feld? Und nahrt es schon zu viele Millionen?
MuB darum sich dein sehlanker Sohn,
Klopfechtern (!) gleich, fiir einen Fremdling raufent Und ach! zu eines stolzern Volkes Hohn,
Sein tapfres Blut fiir theures Brod verkaufen?
* * + * *
Germanien! was kénntest du
Nicht thun und werden! Sé&nnen die Mapnaten, Die immer sinnen, was geradezu
Die Kasten fiillt, auf edle, groBe Thaten!
Und pflanzten Menschen in ihr Land,
Statt Menschen wie das Unkraut auszujaten, Und richteten mit vaterlicher Hand
Den Pfliiger auf, statt nieder ihn zu treten.
Und spotteten, wie Friederich,
Im Ueberrock, des Prunks der Sybariten, Und—schwer, doch groB!—geboten iiber sich, Um weiser iiber Andre zu gebieten.35
In the Musenalmanach of 1787, there is a poem signed —tt—, as in the case of the Kriegslied eines Provinzialen, and it is there- fore to be ascribed to Géckingk. It is entitled Der gute Fiirst,
and two stanzas (pp. 145, 147) appearto have reference to the Duke of Baden and the soldier-traffic:
35 Ibid., 112 ff.
42 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
Er brennt nicht unsre Hab’ und Gut In Feuerwerken auf; Nicht auf Maitressen-Gunst beruht Der Preis im Wettelauf; Auch trigt er unser deutsches Blut Den Britten nicht zu Kauf. * * * * * Sei Jude, Freigeist oder Christ: Bei ihm gilt nur die That! Sei fremd: Er wirbt dich nicht mit List Als Mietling fiir den Staat; Wer nicht Soldat sein will, der ist Bei ihm auch nicht Soldat.
HEINRICH CHRISTIAN BorE (1744-1806)
Boie was in his thirties when the Revolution began, and was endowed with none of the volatile enthusiasm of a Stolberg. He was associated not only with the Géttinger Bund, but also with Lichtenberg and other friends of England at the University of Gottingen. He wrote very little about the American Revolution, and when it was over, he was cynically skeptical of the success of the republic it produced. Though a liberal, he was a mon- archist, and his distrust of popular rule is seen in the verse entitled Amerika, which appeared in the Musenalmanach of 1784 (p. 59):
Sei froh! bist frei! bist frei Von deiner Mutter Tirannei!
‘ Nun wird das Recht dir niemand disputiren, Dich selber zu tirannisiren.
The French Revolution he looked upon as the ‘‘necessary result of historic events,’’°® a view which at first sight appears noncommittal, but may contain the belief shared by Stolberg and others that it was a more or less direct descendant of the American Revolution.
Boie’s monarchical sympathies did not prevent him from taking a decided stand against the soldier-traffic. His feelings
36 Weinhold, Heinrich Christian Boie, 125.
1929 | King: The American Revolution in German Literature 43
on the subject are recorded in two short poems. The first one, Kunz und Hinz, was written as early as 1776, but did not appear in print until 1783, when it was published in the Musenalmanach (p. 217) over the signature X:
Kunz
Hinz, méchtet Ihr im Monde leben?
Es sollen dort auch Leute sein. Hinz.
Nein! Doch wenn sie dort Streit erheben,
Schiekt uns der Prinz fiir Geld hinein. Kunz.
In Mond? Was schert der Krieg uns da? Hinz.
Denkt doch nur an Amerika!
In the Musenalmanach of 1784 appeared the second poem (p. 43), In des Konigs Namen, in which Boie flayed the traftie with keen satire. This poem was also signed X:
Man warb ihn mit Gewalt, und riB ihn von Dem jungen Weib’ und lieben Sohn
Zum blut- und thranenvollen Frohn.
Man zwang ihn zur Kapitulation
Auf sieben Jahr. Die hat er treu gedient, Und nicht zu mucksen sich erkihnt.
Die Zeit war um. Nun wollt er von
Dem blut- und thranenvollen Frohn
Zum jungen Weib’ und lieben Sohn;
Allein umsonst war sein Verlangen.
Er bat, er weint’, und Priigel war sein Lohn. Was that er daf Er lief davon,
Ward wieder gefangen,
Und in des Ko6nigs Namen aufgehangen.37
37 Seume, Werke I, 61 f., relates that at the time of the departure of his regiment for America, a plot to escape was discovered, and the ringleaders were condemned to be hanged; but, after being allowed to suffer the torture of suspense under the gallows, they were imprisoned for life.
44 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol.14
HELFRICH PETER Sturz (1736-1779)
Sturz, a friend of Klopstock, Stolberg, and Boie, was more interested in politics than were his associates. He had lived among Tories in England, and although he was not sympathetic with the American Revolution, he followed its course with inter- est, as one or two of his writings show. His article ‘‘Ueber den Vaterlandsstolz,’’ which is given in part on page 158, contains no direct reference to America; but it is difficult to believe that the following appeal to his countrymen in that article was not called forth to some extent by the example of the American colonists :
Wo ist der lebendige Geist, der uns allgewaltig, und zu Einem End- zweck ergreifen? der uns an Einer Kette halten sollte, wie Jupiter die
Schicksale halt? Wo ist Regulus Tugend? Leidenschaft, ein Opfer zu werden firs Vaterland 738
In January 1777 Sturz sent Boie an article on America for ‘the Deutsches Museum, which, he says, must soon appear, ‘‘ weil das Interesse sonst aufhort.’’*® This article appeared in the February (1777) number of the Museum (pp. 186ff.) and expresses contempt for the democratic leadership of Hancock and Adams, but admits that the Americans have powerful friends among the German writers and poets, ‘‘who cannot easily comprehend how it comes to pass that a hired army is able to subdue these sons of freedom.’’ The article is a good illustration of the feudalism prevalent in German political thinking at the time when the American ideas of democracy and equality began to penetrate the European consciousness. It begins by express- ing the premature judgment that ‘‘contrary to the expectations of the newspaper philosophers, the fate of America appears to be approaching a rapid decision.’’ Paine’s Common Sense, the author admits, is excellently written, but his cynical sneer that it will be rendered ‘‘sheer nonsense’’ by Howe’s arguments—
38 Schriften II, 282. 39 Archiv fir Litteraturgeschichte VII, 84.
1929 ] King: The American Revolution in German Literature - 45
namely, cannon ball and musket fire—does him little credit as a political thinker, and is a far cry from Klopstock’s longing for the triumph of ‘‘der Vernunft Recht vor dem Schwertrecht.’’*°
Of humble origin himself, Sturz saw years of service in court eircles, and this experience obfuscated to a certain extent his political vision. Nowhere is this better seen than in his com- parison of the American and Dutch leaders: The common people, he avers, are not the only ones who are impressed (getiuscht!) by birth and rank; people of attainment also feel an injury to their pride if their leader is of humble origin. It is only where eminence of rank is indubitable that unquestioned obedience is found. The Dutch had a prince to lead them; but
Was sind Hancock und Adamsf Geschépfe der Demokratie, die ihre Gozen eins ums andre anbetet und vernichtet. Eine Welle hob sie empor; eine andre begrabt sie im Abgrund. Daher der Mangel an Einig-
keit, daher Widersinn in den Entwiirfen und in der Ausfiihrung Tragheit. Massaniello war einst gefiirchteter als sie.
The cynicism of his conclusion is on a par with that of Boie
and Lichtenberg:
Hatte Washington ein Heer halb geistlicher Schwarmer, gelange es ihm den Kongress, wie Cromwell den Rumpf des Parlaments, zu vernichten, so ware die Aussicht fiir England bedenklich, aber trauriger fiir Amerika selbst; denn wer war mehr Tyrann, als Oliver Protektor Libertatum
Populi Anglici?
A passage in his famous article on ‘‘ Vaterlandsstolz’’#! makes clear his view of the soldier-traffic. It castigates the young dreamers who, in spite of their enthusiasm for freedom, are mute when they appear in the German courts where German blood is bartered as a commodity.
40 Klopstock’s Sdmtl. Werke IV, 234.
The Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek (Anh., Part 4, p. 2305) indignantly brands this slur as ‘‘shameful,’’ and is moved to protest: ‘‘Aber ist es einem Gelehrten anstandig, dies mit einem triumphirenden Hohnlicheln zu sagen?’?’
41 Schriften II, 282.
46 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol.14
II Aucust Lupwia ScHL6OzER (1735-1809)
In his position as editor of the Briefwechsel and Staatsan- zeiger, Schlézer, professor of history and statistics at Géttingen, was the most powerful publicist of his day. Not so much through his own writings as through his editing and publishing of the contributions of others he attained to a position of influence, opulence, and fame that makes him stand out head and shoulders above contemporary journalists. At a time when Germany was flooded with periodical literature, when some of the best minds were attempting publicistic ventures and failing, the success of Schlozer’s periodicals is the more notable when we consider that they were read by all classes, from monarch to humble citizen, that they appeared with practically no interruption for nearly two decades, and that all this time the editor was professor in the University of Géttingen, and looked upon his journalistic enter- prise as a mere avocation.
Schlozer’s Briefwechsel was published from 1776 to 1782,*? and his Staatsanzeiger from 1782 to 1793. In them he published articles whose purpose was instruction or reform, frequently appending his own notes or comments as editor.
Schlézer’s attitude toward the American Revolution was hostile. .A convinced monarchist himself, he had no faith in republics, and though he agreed that England had no right to levy internal taxes upon the colonies, he held the view that Eng- land’s treatment of the colonies had not been tyrannical, and denied that the latter had the right to rebel.
42 To be exact, the first beginning of the Briefwechsel was in July 1774 under the title 4. ZL. Schlozer’s Briefwechsel meist statistischen Inhalts. This first project lasted only until February 1775. In February 1776 he started the periodical again, under the title 4. DL. Schlozer’s Briefwechsel, meist historischen und politischen Inhalts. This was sometimes called
Neuer Briefwechsel. It lasted until 1782, when it was succeeded by A. L. Schlozers Staatsanzeiger.
1929] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 47
In an appendix to an article in the very first issue of the Briefwechsel (1776), he took his stand against the ‘‘rebels,’’ comparing the participants in the Boston tea party to highway robbers :
war ... der Bostonianer Betragen verantwortlich? sind vermummte StraBenrauber, oder unvermummte Beschiitzer vermummter StraBen- rauber, gebiirliche Organe, durch die ein wirklich leidender Untertan bei seinem Oberherren um Recht und Hilfe ruft ?43
In an article of his own, entitled ‘‘Politische Betrachtungen tiber den Aufruhr in Amerika,’’ which, according to Bieder- mann, appeared in the first number of the Briefwechsel, Schlézer describes the unhappy effect which, in his opinion, the uprising of the Americans against their sovereign will have upon the development of political life in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. He says:
Das allerbetriibteste hiebei sind die fiir die Menschhcit traurigen Folgen, welche die subalternen Politiker, die in den Pallasten der Fiirsten und den Cabinetten der Minister nisten, aus dem Beispiel der englischen Colonien ziehen werden. Alle die Maximen von MaBigung, Menschlichkeit und Freiheit, welche in neuerer Zeit nicht nur von den Weltweisen verbreitet, sondern auch von vielen Fiirsten bereits ange- nommen wurden, sind, so werden sie mit einem gewissen Schein von Wahrheit sagen, Keime der Empdérung, der Unordnung und Anarchie, sind eine falsche Theorie, der die Erfahrung widerspricht. Despotie und Tyrannei werden sich auf den Triimmern der Gebiude einer gerechten Freiheit und der Grundsatze der Menschlichkeit und einer gesunden Staatskunst, welche zu griinden so viel Miihe gekostet hat, emporheben, die Gegensatze werden durch das Beispiel der englischen Colonien, ver- glichen mit andern Colonien, mit denen ganz anders umgegangen worden ist, autorisirt und gerechtfertigt werden. Weise und maéBige Manner, Freunde der Menschheit, Anhanger der Freiheit, werden keinen Mund mehr aufthun diirfen, sondern iiber das Ungliick ihrer Zeitgenossen nur heimlich seufzen, einige werden gar die Schwachheit haben, die Wahrheit ihrer Grundsatze zu bezweifeln, da doch der MiSbrauch derselben alles das Unheil anrichtet, welches sie beweinen.
In conclusion he inveighs against the Americans with the words:
Sehet da, Ihr Herren Colonisten, oder vielmehr Ihr Vertheidiger ihrer faulen Sache, was Ihr iitber Ever Jahrhundert und die Nachwelt bringt! Durch Eure Trugschliisse gebt Ihr dem Tyrannen das Schwert in die
43 Briefwechsel I, 53.
48 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
Hande, entfernt Ihr den Starken, gegen den Schwachen erstickt Ihr in den Herzen der Fiirsten den Keim der Tugend, der MaBigung und Menschlichkeit.+4
During the war many letters from German soldiers in America were published in the Briefwechsel. One of the im- pressive features of these letters is the lack of political comment. The soldiers described the battles and campaigns in which they had a part, and the country and people they saw; for political conditions they apparently had no eyes.
The most notable of these soldier-correspondents is no doubt Baron Steuben. In a letter of July 4, 1779, he writes of his passage to America. It was a passage abounding with thrills, even for a soldier. It lasted 66 days, he tells us, and occurred in the most dangerous time of the year. But the hardships of the voyage were atoned for by the cordial reception tendered him by the populace upon his arrival; and the way he was received by the army flattered him still more:
Gen. Washington kam mir auf etliche Meilen weit entgegen, und begleitcte mich nach meinem Quartir, woselbst ich einen Officie: und 25 Mann zur Wache fand; und als ich solche verbat, mit dem Beisatz, daB ich
blos als Volontair anzusehen ware, erwiderte er auf die hdflichste Art, daB die ganze Armee mit Vergniigen solche Volontairs bewachen wollte.45
He adds that his name was made the password for a dav; the troops were reviewed before him; and Washington, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, or the first Field Marshal of Europe could not have been accorded greater honors. That Steuben appreciated the reception accorded him, the following words (:bid., 331 ff.) show:
So sehr diese entscheidende Ehren Bezeugungen schmeichelhaft sind: so groB sind meine Verbindungen, mein Freund, um solche zu verdienen. So weit meine Seelen- und Leibes Kraéfte zureichen; wende ich solche ohne UnterlaB an, um das Verlangen einer Nation zu erfiillen, die mich mit solechem Vertrauen beehret. Keine Schwierigkeit, keine Miihe, keine Gefar, soll und kan meinen Fortgang hindern. Mein Departement ist
44 Biedermann, ‘‘Der Nordamerikanische Freiheitskampf und seine Eindriicke auf Deutsehland,’’ Zeitschrift fiir deutsche Kulturgeschichte (1858), 490 f.
45 Briefwechsel VII, 330.
1929] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 49
weitlauftig: der achte Teil der Welt erwartet, da8 meine Verfigungen ihm niitzlich seyn sollen. Sie sind es bishero, Gott sei Dank! und mit Freuden will ich fiir eine Nation sterben, die mich so mit ihrem Zutrauen beehrt. ....
Welch ein schones, welch ein gliickliches Land ist dieses! Ohne Kénige, ohne Hohepriester, ohne aussaugende General Pachter, und ohne miBige Baronen. Armut ist ein unbekanntes Uebel. Ich wiirde zu weit- lauftig werden, wenn ich Ihnen meine Beschreibung von der Gliickseligkeit dieser Einwohner machen wollte. ....
In a footnote under this paragraph Schlozer says all Europeans who have seen America during the war are unanimous regarding the prosperity of the people. Since this prosperity could not possibly date from the time of the war, it must go back to the period under British rule: ‘‘also konnte diese nicht hart, unterdriickend, tyrannisch seyn.’’ In another note on the same paragraph, Schlozer disparages the talk about freedom, pointing to the abuses existing in the times of Brutus and
Cromwell. Steuben was impressed with the democratic standard that he found dominant in America. He writes in the same letter
(p. 335 £.) :
Uebrigens muB ich Ihnen aufrichtig gestehen, da8 mir hier 6 aus- landische Officiers mer zu schaffen machen, als 200 amerikanische; und die meisten Auslander haben hier ihren Credit durchaus verloren, so daB es von Tag zu Tag schwerer fiallt, fremde Officiers zu employiren. Eine groBe Anzal deutscher Baronen und franzoésischer Marquis sind bereits wieder abgesegelt; und ich bin allemal besorgt, wenn sich ein Baron oder Marquis melden l4Bt. Wir sind hier in einer Republik, und der Hr. Baron gilt nicht Einen Heller mer, als Mstr. Jakob oder Mstr. Peter: und hiezu kénnen sich die (deutschen und) franzdsischen Nasen schwerlich gewonen. Unser General der Artillerie war Buchbinder in Boston: ein wiirdiger Mann, der sein Metier aus dem Grunde versteht, und seine gegenwartige Stelle mit vielen Ehren verwaltet..... Ich endige diesen Krieg hier, oder er endigt mich: warscheinlicher Weise kan England das Spiel nicht langer als héchstens 2 Jare, aushalten.
Nunmero ist Canada mir die Wildhiitte, Georgien der Lindich: und dieser Strich enthalt den achten Teil der Welt; an beiden Enden dieses Teils wird ein von mir unterzeichneter Befel vollzogen! Dieses schmeichelt ein wenig einen Ehrsiichtigen, und hieran erkennen Sie Ihren Freund.
Although Schlozer denied that as editor he assumed the fune- tion of apologist for the British government, his blunt and
50 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol.14
caustic comments make it clear that his own private position was far from neutral. His outspoken criticism made him many enemies as well as friends, and the people of his time attributed his pro-British leaning to his official position in the University, which was a center of pro-British influence. It seems likely, however, that as good a reason as any is the fact that his own sovereign, George III of England, was a reader of his Staats- anzeiger.*®
If Schlézer held for himself the ideal as editor to ‘‘set forth the facts for his readers, and leave them to form their own judg- ments,’’4* he pursued a different course in the lecture-room, if we may judge from the testimony of one of his students,*® who reported that Schlozer ‘‘lese mit auBerordentlichem Applausus und zeige, da8 die nordamerikanischen Colonien die undank- barsten Rebellen seien.’’*®
Schlézer was so hostile to the American cause, so bitterly opposed to republics, both ancient and modern, that the Schu- bartesque acclaim with which he greeted the French Revolution*® cannot but mystify us. Biedermann*! quotes Schlézer (from Staatsanzeiger XIII, 466 ff.) as saying:
Welcher Menschenfreund wird das nicht sehr schon finden? Eine der groBten Nationen in der Welt, die erste in allgemeiner Cultur, wirft das
Joch der Tyrannei endlich einmal ab. Zweifelsohne haben Gottes Engel im Himmel ein Tedeum laudamus dariiber angestimmt.
His attitude may partly be accounted for by the fact that he was a believer in Rousseau’s theory of the social contract.** He was also an admirer of Montesquieu, and hailed the French Revolution as the triumph of his ideas.**? May we not assume also that the American Revolution had something to do with
46 Schlosser, Weltgeschichte 14, 566.
47 Staatsanzeiger I, 315 f.
48 Sommering.
49 Wagner, SOmmering’s Leben II, 15 f.
50 I have not been able to locate copies of Schlozer’s periodicals of later date than 1782; hence the lack of references from this period.
51 Zeitschrift fir Kulturgeschichte (1858), 659. 52 Biedermann, Deutschland im achtzehnten Jahrhundert I, 157. 53 Allgemcine Deutsche Biographie XXXI, 588.
1929 ] King: The American Revolution in German Literature ol
forming Sehlozer’s opinion? Although of a stern disposition, a dealer in facts and figures rather than sentiments and fancies, Schlozer was at heart a lover of freedom** and human progress ; and it seems not unlikely that the victory of the American colonies and the subsequent developments in the republic were influential in shaping his thought between 1783 and 1789, and preparing him to weleome the uprising in Franee.*®
GeorG Curistopyn LICHTENBERG (1742-1799)
Lichtenberg was one of the few German writers who were positively hostile to the American cause. Both his environment and his constitution conduced to this attitude: his early associa- tions were with Hanover, an English province; he lived for a time in England, in association with Tories; he was for years professor at G6ttingen, a pro-British center; and, finally, his sharp insight and his physical debility gave a cynical tinge to his thought. As an enlightened thinker, he naturally believed in freedom, but was convinced that it 1s never a possession, always an objective; an objective that will be pursued throughout the ages by means of a series of revolutions; and the form of govern- ment in which he reposed the greatest confidence was that of a limited monarchy.
54 Cf. quotation from Biedermann, p. 47 f. above; also testimony of Wilh. von Humboldt, adduced by Walz, Mod. Lung. Notes XVI, 417.
55 A word about Caroline Michaelis (1763-1809), a friend of the Schlézers, may not be out of place here. She was pro-British in her sympa- thies, but this faet did not prevent her from expressing contempt for the Duke of Hessen-Cassel and compassion for the victims of his arbitrary will. From Gottingen she wrote to one of her girlhood friends in April 1782 the following description of her visit to Cassel in company with the Schlozers: Im Hinweg wohnten wir auch in Munden einem merkwiirdigen aber trau- rigen Schauspiel bey, der Einschiffung der Truppen nach Amerika. Welch eine allgemeine mannichfaltige, grause Abschieds Seeene. Was sie mir vorziiglich war, das last sich begreifen. Die Gegend um Minden ist so romantisch, da sie zu solch einer Sceene geschaffen zu sevn scheint. Dir, liebe Luise, brauch ich nicht zu sagen, wie mir CaBel gefallen hat, nur machte mich der Gedanke unwillig, daB der Landgraf in Miinden Menschen verkaufte, um in CaBel Pallaste zu bauen. ... Die Collonade, wo ich dic Wachparade aufziehen, und auch, mit allen [!] Respect gesprochen, das Vieh den Landgrafen sah, hat mir vorziiglich gefallen.
52 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
The views he expressed regarding the American war are found in his correspondence and in his diary and journal, the latter coming down to us in the form of ‘‘aphorisms,’’ the title under which the compiler has grouped them. These aphorisms, although not great in extent, form an interesting commentary upon the war, and it is very unfortunate that the journals con- taining his jottings during the years 1779-88 have been lost.
Lichtenberg’s very first note regarding the American rebellion seems to be depreciatory. He writes, in his diary of 1774-73:
Ich habe selbst jemanden sehr unparteilisch die Rechte der Amerikaner verteidigen hdren; er sagte: das glaube ich, das ist meine Meinung, allein
wenn mir der Hof 600 Pfund jahrlich gibt, so will ich anders sprechen. So denken vielleicht alle.5¢
In other words, partisanship is a cheap commodity of barter. There is no ingenuous espousal of the American cause in Eng- land : championship of that cause may be interpreted to indicate an ‘‘interest.’’ ;
What Lichtenberg says of the king is all the more valuable because he had met him personally. In a letter to his friend Dietrich in October 1775, he appraises him thus:
Der Konig ist, wie ich sicher iiberzeugt bin, eben so wohl ciner der
rechtschaffensten Manner, die ich je gesehen habe, so wie er einer der ordentlichsten ist.57
The king’s cause was for Lichtenberg the cause of righteousness, and he followed it with great interest by the use of a special chart, pointing out to his students the course of events.
One of the English students at Gottingen whose name has come down to us is Major André. Lichtenberg speaks of him as ‘‘eine vortrefiliche Seele,’’ and describes him in a letter of November 1780 as follows:
Er und Sir Francis Clerke sind .... sicherlich die vortrefflichsten Englander gewesen, die wir seit 16 Jahren hier gehabt haben, und André war der einnehmendste. Er sprach englisch, deutsch und franzosisch gleich vollkommen, und mahlte[!] vortrefflich.5s
56 Vermischte Schriften V, 316. 5% Briefe I, 242. 58 Ibid., 368 f.
1929 ] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 53
‘“von fast
In the same letter he refers to André as a person FrauenzimmermaBiger Bescheidenheit und Sanfftmuth.’’
Lichtenberg’s satirical bent appears in a reference to Frank- lin, in whom he liked the physicist, but contemned the insurgent. He wrote in August 1782:
Francklin hat neuerlich nichts physisches geschrieben, Seine 13 Radrige Politische Maschine hat ihm wohl die Einriédrige elecktrische aus dem Sinn gebracht.59
In his ‘‘Aphorisms’’ Lichtenberg derides the tendency to prophesy the outcome of the war: Es ist sechwerlich ein Schuster in Deutschland, der nicht tiber den
Ausgung des Amerikanischen Kriegs zuverlissiger als Lord George Germaine urtheilt.60
Incidentally to a note on popular sympathy with the colonies in England, Lichtenberg makes a keen observation regarding the inherent strength and weakness of the democratie system of government:
Die Freyheit der Englander unterscheidet sich von der unsrigen im Hannoverischen [dadurch] da sie dort durch Gesetze gesichert [ist] und hier von der Guthertzigkeit des Kénigs abhangt. Sie kan also nicht anders untergraben werden, als durch Bestechung der Mitglieder des Parlements, welches jezt der Fall zu seyn scheint, der Krieg gegen die Colonien wird gegen die Stimme des Volckes gefiihrt. Wie gut wiir es, wenn man die Stimmen, anstatt sie zu ziihlen, waigen konte.61
Lichtenberg remained a monarchist, even after the American Republic was successfully established; but the passage quoted below (written in 1791 or later) betrays a different tone from others in which America is mentioned, and it would seem as if his rigid rejection of the American system were relenting somewhat :
Ich glaube, ohne deswegen richten zu wollen, man wird ewig und ewig durch Revolutionen von einem System in das andere stiirtzen, und die Dauer eines jeden darin wird von der temporellen Giite der Subjecte abhangen. Nach Amerika laBt sich noch nichts beurtheilen weil sie zu weit von den Landern entfernt sind, die anders dencken, und die auf
59 Briefe II, 43.
60 Deutsche Litteraturdenkmale des 18, und 19. Jahrhunderts CXXXVI, 264.
61 Tbid., 348.
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jener Seite der Welt anders dencken nicht mehr Unterstiitzung genug haben. Die eingeschranckte Monarchie scheint am Ende die Asymtote zu seyn. Aber auch da wird es immer und ewig auf die Giite der Subjecte ankommen & sic in infinitum.62
GeorG Forster (1754-1794)
Johann Georg Forster, the son of Johann Reinhold Forster, who accompanied Cook on his journey around the world, recalls, in his Geschichte der englischen Interatur vom Jahre 1790, ‘‘the countless writings about the American Revolution,’’ of which, by 1790, the people were becoming weary.®* He does not fail to speak of Franklin, whose demise occurred in that year. In sharp con- trast with Lichtenberg’s contempt was Forster’s reverence for the sage, who was, according to him (7bid., 170) :
Der Stifter des nordamerikanischen Freistaats, .... und der gliick-
lichste von allen, die im achtzehnten Jahrhundert zu Mitarbeitern am groBen Volléndungswerke menschlicher Gliickseligkeit auserkoren waren,....
In Forster’s Hrinnerungen aus dem Jahre 1790, we find a glowing tribute to Franklin, from which the following selections are drawn (pp. 205 ff.) :
Amerika ist gliicklich, daB es so bald nach der Griindung seiner gesitteten Staaten aus ihrem SchoBe den Weisen hervorgehen sah, dessen innere Harmonie ihm gleichsam die Natur unterwarf, ihn zur Entdeckung des Wahren in allen ihren Verhaltnissen fiihrte, und ihn zum Lehrer seiner Briider bestimmte. Die Unabhangigkeit vom brittischen Parla- mente hatten die Amerikaner auch ohne ihn errungen; die moralische Freiheit, die heilige Achtung fiir die Vernunft in jedem einzelnen Men- schen, und die innige Anerkennung der Pflicht, eines Jeden Ueberzeugung und Glauben zu ehren: dies alles, nebst so manchen Anleitungen zur praktischen Lebensweisheit, und so manchen einfachen, hauslichen Ein- richtungen, die in jenen angehenden Niederlassungen zur Bequemlichkeit gereichen, verdanken sie ihm..... Was er aber fiir die Rechte ver- niinftiger Wesen, fiir die héchste Gerichtsbarkeit selbst der Vernunft, fiir die Freiheit des Menschengeschlechtes gesprochen und mit unwiderleg- baren Griinden fiir seine Mitbiirger insbesondere sonnenklar bewiesen hat, das steht auch dicsseits des Oceans fest, als cin ewiger Damm gegen die Tryannei der willkiirlichen Gewalt.
62 Deutsche Litteraturdenkmale des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts CXXXVI, 16 f. 63 Schriften VI, 75.
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Forster had the good fortune to meet Franklin and speak with him personally; and the words of the philosopher remained engraved in the young man’s memory :
Im Jahre 1777 sagte er mir selbst zu Passy: ‘‘wir kampfen dreibig Jahre zu frith.’’ Seine Abneigung gegen Alles, was Blut kostet, lag dieser Ueberzeugung zum Grunde; denn es war in seinem Verstande klar entwickelt, daB Vernunft und Tugend allein, auch ohne Blut, dereinst die Unabhangigkeit errungen hatten.
The lofty humanity and integrity of this simple American impel Forster to compare him with the sordid rulers of the Old World. How different from those of Sturz (p. 45) are Forster’s views of democratic leadership as he here sets them forth in eloquent prose:
Ihr Unglickseligen, an deren Gewissen ein Tropfen Menschenblut um Rache ruft, wie gern erkauftet ihr mit curen beiden Indien das BewuBt- sein eines Weisen, der alle seine Mitgeschépfe mit Liebe umfaRte, und schuldlos blieb am Tode eines einzigen verniinftigen Wesens! Thr Gotter dieser Erde, die ihr euch nicht seheuet, der Vernunft eure Gewalt ent- gegenzustellen, wenn ihr je zur Besonnenheit zuriikkehrt, wie werdet ihr euch selbst verachten miissen, indem ihr zu dem Manne hinaufschaut, der nie seiner eigenen Meinung physisehen Nachdruck geben mochte, und gleichwol unumschranktes Zutrauen, treue Folgsamkeit und feste Anhing- lichkeit unter Briidern und ihm an Rechten vdollig gleichen Menschen fand! Ihr armen Beherrscher der halben Welt, die ihr vergebens noch die andere Halfte wiinscht, wie beneidenswerth, mit euch verglichen, ist nicht dieser Amerikaner, der ewig gréGBer, reicher und gliieklicher als ihr gepriesen wird, weil er sie ganz zu entbehren wuBte und mit seinem Geiste tiber ihr und tiber euch sehwebte!
The victory which the Americans won through bloodshed over the British was, according to Forster, far transcended by their achievement without bloodshed of the new constitution in 17838, an achievement made possible only by the teachings of the ‘‘meekest and wisest inhabitant of that hemisphere’’:
Benjamin Franklin! Ehrwiirdiger Schatten! Lehre du selbst die
Volker durch dein groBes, unvergeBliches Beispiel. Mir ist es, als horte ich deine Stimme; ich vernehme noch deine Worte:
‘¢Thr Kinder Europens! Ehrt den Gottesfunken Vernunft in euch, und vervollkommnet euch durch ihren Gebrauch. Die Freiheit ist nur der Tugend erreichbar; Tugend nur mdglich durch Vernunft. Wuth und
56 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
HaB kénnen nur Blut vergieBen; mit Blut allein erkauft ihr die Freiheit nicht. Nein, ihr erkauft euch Schande, Reue, Qual: ihr tédtet eure Freude und euern Frieden; darum ist, was Blut kostet, kein Blut werth. Der verniinftige Geist in euch werde frei, so wird die duBere Freiheit folgen. Tragt das Bewu8tsein eures Werthes im Busen; nehmt eure Begierden und Leidenschaften gefangen unter den Gehorsam der Ver- nunft. Kinder! ich sage euch, dann werdet ihr nicht umsonst geglaubt, gehofft, geduldet haben; denn Gott—ehrt und liebt ihn—Gott ist gerecht! Seid einig, wie es Briidern ziemt, liebt und helft euch unter einander; seid ruhig und ernst im Gliicke, bescheiden im Genusse, standhaft und heiter im Ungliick; seid fleiBig, maBig, enthaltsam, weise:—dann erreicht ihr das der Menschheit vorgestekte Ziel; die Willkiir und die Gewalt verschwinden, ihr werdet gliicklich, ihr seid frei!’’
SUMMARY
There is no complete unanimity among the Gottingen writers. Of the first group, Klopstock and the younger writers of the ‘‘Bund”’ are friendly to the American cause. Boie—who was older than either Stolberg or Vo8—and his friend Sturz, who was in his forties, were not sympathetic. Klopstock and Stolberg are subjective; Vo8 betrays the sober good sense of the North German. Stolberg, Gockingk, Boie, and Sturz are united in their condemnation of the soldier-traffic, while Klopstock and VoB do not mention it. Stolberg observes a significant awaken- ing of political consciousness among his countrymen.
In the second group, Schlozer and Lichtenberg are hostile to the American rebels; but the latter seems by 1791 to have modi- fied his hostility, at least to the point of suspending judgment. In his eulogy of Franklin, Forster extolled the ideas of the Revolution, and thus took a stand at variance with that of the Tories in Gottingen.
STORM AND STRESS AND CLASSICAL WRITERS
I
JAKOB MICHAEL REINHOLD LENz (1731-1792)
It does not appear that Lenz had any personal sympathy for the American cause, but in his published writings he made use of the motif of the German soldiers fighting in America.
In his short dramatic work Henriette von Waldeck oder die Laube (1776), occurs a dialogue, in which it transpires that Constantin, one of the characters, is about to depart for America with the Hessians.**
In his introduction to the scene Weinhold gives the following explanation of the situation (ibid., 111):
Die Anwerbung Constantins bei den Hessen ist Abspicgelung der Thatsache, daB Lenzens Freund v. Lindau Anfang 1776 in Dem Wuthge- nauschen Regiment, das der Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel in den ameri- kanischen Krieg verschacherte, eine Leutenantstelle angenommen hatte. Aber noch naher steht, daB Lenz selbst bei seiner verzweifelten StraB- burger Lage fiir den Vorschlag seines Freundes, den ihm dieser am 9. Febr. 1776 obenhin machte, mit ihm nach Amerika zu gehn, Lust empfand. Er schrieb damals an Frau Sophie von La Roche iiber diese Absicht. Freilich war im Marz nicht mehr die Rede davon.
So far as Lindau’s proposal to Lenz is concerned, this statement is, as we shall see, inaccurate.
Another reflex of Lindau’s experience is found in Lenz’s posthumous novel Der Waldbruder, where we hear of an ‘‘ Ober- sten Plettenberg ...., der schon eine Kampagne wider die Kolonisten in Amerika mitgemacht hat.’’** Two other historic characters in the story are Lenz himself (Herz) and Goethe
64 Lenz, Dramatischer NachlaB, 116. 65 Gesammelte Schriften V, 132.
58 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
(Rothe). In the eighth letter (the book is in letter form), Herz says (p. 127):
Eben erhalte ich einen wunderbaren Brief von einem Obristen in hessischen Diensten, der ehmals mit mir in Leipzig zusammen studicrt hat, und mir die Stelle als Adjutant bei ihm antrigt, wenn ich ihn nach Amerika begleiten will. Wie Rothe! dieser Sprung aus dem Schul- meisterleben auf die erste Staffel der Leiter der Ehre und des Gliicks, der Himmelsleiter, auf der ich alle meine Wiinsche zu ersteigen hoffe. Was sagst Du dazu?
This offer of a position in the Hessian army is evidently pure fiction that grew out of the possibility of entering upon a mili- tary career in America. Aside from this, the story adheres to the facts regarding Lenz’s going to America, for in the next letter we learn (p. 128) that Herz did not receive a position in the army, and that a friend is seeking a place for him elsewhere.
The situation of Lenz at this time bears a striking resemblance to that of Klinger. Both felt desperate about their future. It may have been suggested to Lenz, as it actually was to Klinger, that he participate in the American war. Neither had any enthusiasm for the cause of the colonists, but both desired personal advancement.*® In their dramatie and belletristic writ- ings, both made use of the motif of going to America as a soldier ; there are also references to it in their correspondence. As to actually going to America himself, Lenz’s correspondence does not indicate that he ever entertained the idea.
The subject first appears in a letter of January 1776 to Lindau from Lenz in reply to a prior proposal by Lindau. Just how this proposal was worded, we do not know, as the letter containing it is lacking. The wording of Lenz’s reply indicates that the invitation was to accompany Lindau’s younger brother Peter from StraBburg to Cassel, where Lindau was stationed with the troops until their departure for America (Lindau originally intended that the boy enter the army as an officer, but finally decided to take him as a companion). Lenz does entertain the
86 Hatfield and Hochbaum are certainly wrong in saying, ‘Swe may
eonclude that he [Lenz], too, was personally interested in the American cause.’? Cf. Americana Germanica LI, 365,
1929 ] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 09
proposal, but his attitude is expostulatory. He agrees that he ean be a useful mentor to the boy as the latter steps out into the
world:
Aber nun die Kosten Heber Lindau! die Kosten. Thr seyd nicht reich, ich bin ein Bettler. Apostolisch zu reisen leidet die Jahrszeit nicht. Ich muB hier hundert Bindergen zerhauen die ich nachher schwer wieder ankniipfen kann. Doch kann tch sie anknitipfen und an eine Entschi- digung will ich nicht denken, nur freve Reisekosten hin und zuriick, frever Aufenthalt in Weymar und Cassel sind Sachen die ich verlangen
mu.67
In the last sentence he speaks of free fare to Weimar and Cassel, and back. We know from the very next sentence, in which he speaks of Weimar as the confluence of the best minds of Germany ‘‘wie der Medicis ehemals in Florenz,’’ that he dearly wished to go there™® and held that the visit would repay him for the annoyance of the trip. But he says no word of going to America himself; on the contrary, he speaks only of Lindau’s going (p. 170), and intimates a desire for a farewell meeting :
Ihr geht also sicher nach Amerika. Auch dariiber hatt ich viel mit euch zu reden. NB. das laBt sich nur reden. Wenn ihr nach Amerika
geht, muGBt ihr nicht umsonst dagewesen seyn, so wenig als euer Peter der euch in allem unterstiitzen wird. Mein Rath soll euch bis dahin begleiten.
This letter had not been received by Lindau on February 9, when he wrote the one in which Weinhold says Lindau casually proposed to Lenz that he accompany them to America. The diction of this letter is also in some places vague, but it contains particulars which, in conjunction with Lenz’s letter, furnish the key to the entire situation. Lindau writes:
Mein lezter Brief wird dich verwundert haben. Ich habe die Antwort noch nicht haben kénnen weil ich noch nicht in Cassel gewesen bin: ich irre noch immer auf dem Lande herum. O dafS sie doch nicht abschlagich ist! Die Ursachen warum ich es wiinsche habe ich besser
gefiihlt als ich sie Dir jezt sagen werde. Erstlich, wird der kleine Lindau Gelegenheit haben (so koémt es mir vor) auf dieser Reise Bilder und
67 Briefe von und an Lenz I, 169. 68 As a matter of fact, he did make a prolonged visit to Weimar after Lindau ’s departure.
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Ideen zu samlen die vielleicht nun nicht mehr kénten in seine Seele gebracht werden da wir Europa verlassen, und wahrscheinlich es nie wiedersehen; er kommt auch in eine ganz fremde Sphere; ware es ihm den [!] nicht gar gut wen [!] Du koéntest bey ihm seyn. Sein Umgang mit Dir wir ihm vielleicht eine Vorrede zu einem Theil seines kiinftigen Lebens.
Zweitens kontest Du mir manchen guten Rath geben in Absicht auf die Art wie ich mit ihm umgehen soll.
Wenn Du aber gerne bis nach Weimar gegangen wéarest, Lieber, 80 habe ich gros Recht gehabt dich fiir Schlosser in der Luft zu warnen. Mit diesen armselgen 9 Carolinen (alles was ich missen kan) muB Peter bis nach Frankfurt kommen. Nimm Du davon noviel mdglich, und geh so weit mit als Du hin und her mit dem Gelde auf der Diligence zureicht [!]. Konte es doch bis Manheim zum wenigstens seyn und paste es sich so, daB ihr kéntet die Oper sehen!69
In the first paragraph of this letter appear the lines: ‘‘er kommt auch in eine ganz fremde Sphere; ware es ihm den nicht gar gut wen Du kéntest bey ihm seyn. Sein Umgang mit Dir war ihm vielleicht eine Vorrede zu einem Theil seines kiinftigen Lebens.’’ It was evidently this passage that caught Weinhold’s eye and led him to infer that Lindau’s proposal included the trip to America. But the rest of the letter clearly corroborates what we have already learned from Lenz’s letter: that the proposal was only for the trip to Cassel. That is conclusively shown by the context whenever here or in Lenz’s letter the proposed trip is discussed: Lindau wants his brother to have the benefit of Lenz’s mentorship at his entrance into was man Welt nennt, and that is not the new world; it will perhaps be the boy’s last chance to get certain ‘‘impressions and ideas,’’ as they will probably never see Hurope again; traveling on foot [apostolisch |] is precluded by the season, so they will have to take the stage [Diligence]; Lindau ean spare only 9 louis d’or, and that sum must take Peter as far as Frankfurt and enable Lenz to accom- pany him a part of the way—at least to Mannheim, so Lindau hopes—and to return to Stra8burg. In the second place, he speaks of Lenz as going as far as Weimar; then as far as Frank- furt; finally, as far as Mannheim, the whole thing hinging upon how far the meager funds at Lenz’s disposal would take him.
69 Briefe von und an Lenz I, 176 f.
1929] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 61
No reply from Lenz appears in the Briefe, but additional evidence is furnished by two subsequent letters. On the sixteenth of February Lindau writes from Cassel:
Es hat so keine grosse Eile mit eurem Marsch; mein lieber unsere Truppen marschiren nur den l5ten Merz zum friihesten. Mit Erstaunen habe ich gesehen das du die ganze Reise mit 12 Louis’dor bestreiten willst. Ich werde dich also noch vielleicht konnen umarmen, wenn mir méglich ist noch 3 nach Frankfurt zu schicken Reiset von dort nicht nach Cassel sondern nach Wommen das bey Eisenach liegt und wo ich zwei liebe Schwestern habe, von dort wirdest du auch k6nnen nach Weimar Reisen.70
Lindau is pleasantly surprised at the prospect of being able, after all, to embrace Lenz once more; the noch points plainly to the subsequent parting. A week or two later Lenz writes to Frau La Roche that he is planning a trip into Germany which will precede or perhaps indefinitely postpone the intended Italian journey of which he had told her the summer before:
Gegenwartig gehe ich mit einer kleinen Reise nach Deutschland um, die die nach Italien wohl noch vorher kreuzen, vielleicht ganz auf eine andre Zeit aussetzen konnte.7!
There is no thought here of a trip to America, as Weinhold supposed. The passage which misled him, in the letter quoted above, must be interpreted in the light of its context and of the evidence pointed out; with due allowance for its loose colloquial diction it yields quite naturally the following free rendering: “YT hope you will accept my proposal. This trip will probably be the boy’s last chance to gather impressions of Germany; and as he is going to a new world, would it not be best for him if you could be with him first [on the trip with which the whole letter deals}? This communion with you would perhaps be to him the preface to a part of his later life.’’
How Lenz really stood regarding the American cause is clearly indicated by the two following letters. In the first (undated) one, to Lindau, he derides the colonists for battling for a freedom that is not guaranteed by the English constitution and is ‘‘a mere abuse that has crept in.’’”?
70 [bid., 180. 71 [bid., 182. 72 Ibid., 201.
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In the other letter, written to a friend in May 1776, he refers to Lindau, who wrote a poem on liberty, as the ‘‘most worthy of all Don Quixotes’’; expresses the hope that the poem will be forwarded to Franklin or Washington, as Lindau desired; and believes that it will serve to hearten the colonists. ‘‘Und man weiB iiberhaupt nicht was ein ausgeworfener Saamenstaub fiir gute Folgen haben kann.’”*?
Whatever the merits of the poem or the ‘‘Personalien”’ referred to, the letter is interesting for the valuable lght it throws on the sentiments of one officer at least in the German army hired by England: his participation on the British side is professional and perfunctory; his actual sympathies are with the colonists.
Lenz’s suggestion as to the possible good results of the poem is the nearest approach he makes to an expression of sympathy with the American cause; and when weighed in the balance with his friendly tilt at the ‘‘most worthy of all Don Quixotes’’ and with his direct utterances about the colonials, it does not appear to be more than a polite gesture.
FRIEDRICH MAXIMILIAN KLINGER (1752-1831)
Klinger is a typical representative of the Storm and Stress. None of his contemporaries was more restive than he. When the time came to choose a profession, nothing short of a military career would do for him. Since peace reigned in Prussia, as elsewhere in Germany in 1775, there was little chance of obtain- ing a commission in the Prussian army. His friends therefore looked toward America as a field for his advancement. To Klinger it seems to have mattered little on which side he fought: the main thing was to secure a position and launch forth upon a career. When the efforts of his friends failed, Klinger turned his thoughts in another direction; but he left the record of his interest in America at this time in two of his early works, Die Neue Arria (1775) and Sturm und Drang (1775). In Die Neue
73 Briefe von und an Lenz I, 264 f. The Goethe-Jahrbuch XXXII, 24, gives an abstract of this letter.
1929] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 63
Arria one of the characters receives a sentence of banishment to America.‘* In the case of Sturm und Drang the scene of the play itself is America.
There is much autobiographical material in Klinger’s works, and Sturm und Drang appears to have been nothing less than a literary cathartic in the Goethean sense. In this play, the char- acter ‘‘ Wild’’ is Klinger himself.*® Wild has led his boon com- panions from one adventure to another, and in the first scene of the play’® announces to them: ‘‘nun seyd ihr mitten im Krieg in Amerika. Ha la8t michs nur recht fiihlen auf Amerikanischem Boden zu stehn, wo alles neu, alles bedeutend ist.’’ One of his companions asks (p. 270) : ‘‘ Was soll’s aber hier am Ende noch werden?’’ In the reply that Wild makes, we see as in a mirror the image of Klinger’s own soul at this time (p. 270 f.) :
DaB Ihr nichts seht! Um aus der griBlichen Unbchaglichkeit und Unbestimmtheit zu kommen, mu8Bt’ ich flichen. Ich meinte die Erde wankte unter mir, so ungewiB waren meine Tritte. Alle gute Menschen, die sich fiir mich interessirten, hab ich durch meine Gegenwart geplagt, weil sie mir nicht helfen konnten.
Ich muBte iiberall die Flucht ergreifen .... Seht, so strotze ich voll Kraft und Gesundheit, und kann mich nicht aufreiben. Ich will die Kampagne hier mitmachen, als Volontair, da kann sich meine Sceele
ausrecken, und thun sie mir den Dienst, und schieBen mich nieder, gut dann! Ihr nehmet meine Baarschaft, und zicht.
It is plain from the above that Klinger’s interest in the war is personal and not political: it is merely a convenient field for his own activity. Of immense interest and significance in this connection is a parallel passage in a letter of August 19, 1776, to his friend Schleiermacher :"
Lieber Bruder! bin immer noch in Unbestimmtheit—wars vollig oline einen Engel der mir gute Stunden macht, der mich versteht, in dessen Seele ich alles lesen kann. Und s0 gut mir? Ich treib mich in unend-
lichem Wirrwarr herum und fliichte da und dorthin vor mir, dem Schreck- lichsten. Doch mangle ich nie an Muth und Treue gegen mich und dich.
74 Klinger’s Theater II, 249, 256.
75 Cf. M. Rieger, Klinger in der Sturm und Drangperiode I, 262.
78 Klinger’s Theater II, 267 f.
77 Not the celebrated divine, but Ernst Schleiermacher of Darmstadt, his roommate at GieBen.
64 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
Ein herrliches Project ist auf dem Weg und da gebe der Zufall gedeyen! Ich will die Campagne nach Amerika als Officier machen. Es wird geschrieben werden und bey der ersten Recroutirung gieng ich mit. Stell dir vor Junge, welch eine Welt! welch eine neue groBe Welt! Auf Amerikanischen Boden zu stehen mit dem Muth, dem Blik, der Zuver- lassigkeit! Hilf ewiger Himmel! .... Sieh Bruder wie herrlich das nun all ware und das romantische poetische, wie’s der Krieg iiberhaupt ist—und so fern, wo alles so neu, so bedeutend—und ich ahnde ich komme wieder. .... Auf alle Falle bin ich Soldat, werde Soldat—dafiir sorge ich nicht, es wird zu sehr gesorgt. Und 1la8 mich auch bleiben—was denn weiter ?—ist dieses ungestiime Herz denn nicht all der Qualen lo& und wo ists besser als verschiittet liegen. . . .78
Although Wild seeks to enter the war on the American side,” it is not fighting, after all, that brings him peace, but the finding of his sweetheart, ‘‘Miss Berkley’’ (p. 300). The war is kept in the background. ‘‘The battle’’ and ‘‘the general’’ are men- tioned; ‘‘the Captain,’’ Lord Berkley’s son, says (p. 356): ‘*Vater! geht mit auf mein Schiff, wir wollen fiir die Colonien capern.’’ But aside from this, there is no mention of names or places.
In the exposition, Wild’s true identity is revealed as Carl Bushy. We learn that the parents of Wild and Miss Berkley have been bitter enemies. In America they become reconciled, and Wild and Miss Berkley marry (pp. 366 ff.).
This dénowement might possibly be considered as a prophetic vision of the mission of America to break down the racial ani- mosities of Europe and engraft upon the world a more humane social order; in which case the play (which gave the name to a literary movement) is significant not only for its name, but also for this part of its content.
Not only in Klinger’s earliest works, but in some of his later ones as well, we find echoes of the American Revolution. In two works written in 1797 much attention is given to conditions in America, England, and Germany. In the Geschichte eines Deutschen der Neuesten Zeit, Klinger represents one of his char- acters as gaining the favor of Franklin—a good fortune that had been denied to Klinger himself when his friends were seek-
78 Rieger, Klinger I, 397 f. 79 Klinger’s Theater II, 303.
1929 | King: The American Revolutwn in German Literature 65
ing a position for him in the American army.” Franklin is referred to as an ‘‘unusual man,’’ a ‘‘noble old man,’’ as ‘‘the noblest man of the country,’’ and ‘‘the first man of his nation.’’*'
Concerning the soldier traffic, Ernst von Falkenburg, one of the characters of the Geschichte eines Deutschen der Neuesten Zeit, makes the following observations (p. 128 f.) :
Ich war in England .... in dem Lande, das die Sdéhne der Deutschen von ihren Firsten erkauft, um sie iiber das Meer zur Schlachtbank zu senden..... Ist der Deutsche dazu geboren? Seinem Fiirsten von der Natur als cine Waare gegeben? was hofft dieser von den zuriickgeblicbenen Waisen, wenn die Zeit kommt, da das Vaterland seiner Sdhne bedarf? Wird er mit seinem aufgehiuften Golde nun auch fremde Vertheidiger erkaufen? oder wird er dem Feinde die Summe entgegen tragen, die et fir dus Blut seiner Kinder erhalten hat, und damit Schonung erkaufen?
England, which has been celebrated by Montesquieu and Voltaire as the land of freedom, is a shock to the idealistic Ernst on account of its sordid greed for gain (p. 130). In fancy he sees the English in all parts of the world, trading and practicing deceit and violence, and even at home selling the shadow of their remaining freedom for the glitter of gold. He fears that this proud nation, which looks down with contempt on other peoples, will in the day of reckoning pay a fearful price for its idolatry (p. 131) :
O, es ist ein trugvoller Gétze ... und die Zeit wird cinst gewiB die gemiBhandelten Volker der Erde an scinen feurigen Anbetern richen! Und geschicht es nicht schon jetzt, in dem Erdtheile, wo Sie leben?
After describing the miserable lot that befell some of the mercenaries in America, the helpless mortification of the German heart reaches its climax in the words (p. 197): ‘‘Und liegt nicht schon alles in dem Gedanken begriffen: die Deutschen wurden fiir Geld nach Amerika verkauft ?’’
The book ends in the vein of Rousseau with a pessimistic con- templation of European civilization and a glorification of the
simple virtues of the savages of North America (pp. 313 ff.).
Klinger, like Goethe, was a Faust-nature: two tendencies struggled for ascendency in his life. The conflict of these two
80 Schmidt, Lenz und Klinger, 73. 81 Klinger’s Werke VIII, 125 f.
66 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol.14
tendencies is portrayed in Der Weltmann und der Dichter (1797), and the most striking chapter is the one dealing with the selling of German soldiers. It is plain that both the ‘‘ Welt- mann’’ and the ‘‘Dichter’’ are Klinger himself, and interesting to see that neither phase of his personality yields to the other: the Practical Man looks at things as they are, and acts accord- ingly; the Poet speaks of the things that ought to be. While the Practical Man yields not one jot to the Poet, yet there is on his part an unmistakable yearning for a different order of things.
The work purports to be a series of visits of the Poet to the Practical Man, who is represented as an important court official. In the dialogue that ensues, the Poet introduces the subject of the mercenaries, and the Practical Man presents arguments in justification of the sale of troops:
Der Weltmann. .... Die Hochzeitsfeste—die Geschenke—klcine Reisen—néothige Ausgaben—Abtragung alter Schulden, die sich nicht mehr hinhalten lieBen—der etwas muntere Ton nach L——s Entfernung hatten die fiirstliche Kasse ein wenig tiber die Gebiihr erschépft. Brauch’ ich dem Dichter zu sagen, daB dieser kleine Umstand die Quelle aller groBen Ereignisse in der Welt ist?
Der Dichter. DaB er die Quelle der Bedriickungen fiir die Kleinen ist, weiB ich schon lange.82
The Prince discloses the dilemma to the Practical Man, sug- gests drastic cuts in the army and civil list, and increased taxes upon the people, leaving it to the Practical Man to work out details. The Practical Man realizes that the execution of this plan will not only be insufficient to fill the empty treasury, but will throw the burden of recuperation upon innocent people. So he secretly suggests the English subsidy.
Der Dichter. Also Sie? Sie verkauften das teutsche Blut?
Der Weltmann. Ich! Ich verkaufte das teutsche Blut, einen Theil des teutschen Bluts, damit hier den tbrigen Teutschen die Quelle des Blutes nicht giinzlich austrocknete; damit die Zuriickgebliebenen mit den Verkauften nicht ganz zu Bettlern wiirden!
And the Practical Man flatters himself that he can prove that by the employment of a lesser evil he has avoided a greater. But the Poet is not satisfied (pp. 159 ff.).
82 Werke IX, 154 ff.
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Der Dichter. So ruhen Sie sanft auf Ihren Lorbeeren—gut, daB ich auf diesem Felde keine zu pflicken habe!—
Der Weltmann. Freilich, so griin und erfrischend sind sie nicht, wie deine.
Der Dichter. So wenig—so wenig—daB mich diinkt, um alle die Lor- beerkranze, die da zu den FiiBen dieser schrecklichen G6ttin liegen, schwebt ein rother, blutiger Duft.
The author quite properly puts the best arguments into the mouth of the Practical Man, while the Poet is frequently made to give way to feeling. The result is that the argumentation is rather one-sided. While the Practical Man is always on the defensive, he is allowed much freedom in choosing his own ground. In the question, ‘‘Und konnten sich nicht andere Leute einschranken?’’ (p. 156) the Poet makes a sharp thrust at the very crux of the question, which the Practical Man parries in — such a way that the Poet fails to drive his point home. The Poet’s moral position is secure, but his argumentation in political matters is weak.
Nevertheless, the author evidently intended to give both Sentiment and Expediency an opportunity to balance accounts. While Expediency has every chance to justify itself—it does succeed in making the position of the Princes clear—it does not fortify that position. The utmost it does is to compel the admission that the ministers (or the Princes) were in a difficult situation, which had sometimes been created by others, and were perhaps not always so bad as they were painted.
The Practical Man is not only a loyal German, but he takes a broad European view of the matter, and concludes that, in com- parison with the sinister intrigues of the brilliant courts in other European countries, the doings in the petty German principalities are dull and commonplace indeed (p. 168) :
Der Weltmann. .... Was wiirde ich dir zu erzaihlen haben, wenn ein groBes Reich das Theater meiner Thaten gewesen wire! Wie wiirdest du auffahren, wenn ich dir die Nothwendigkeit von Thaten beweisen miBte, die so oft wie Verbrechen aussehen! So oft es gar sind; und die sich gleichwohl die Staatsleute groBer Reiche, gezwungen durch
die Noth, zu Tugenden machen miissen, wenn sie sich erhalten, und das schlimmre abwenden wollen.
68 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [ Vol. 14
IT JOHANN GOTTFRIED HERDER (1744-1803)
Herder left in his writings unmistakable evidence of his sympathy with the American cause, and abhorrence of the system that was pitted against it. But the ‘‘priest of humanity’’ was more philosopher than politician, and however well disposed he may have been toward the ideas embodied in the American struggle, the excesses of the French Revolution compelled him to modify his view of the application of those ideas in European society. His final solution of the problem of individual adjust- ment to the European environment lay not in radical political change, but rather in spreading a mantle of philosophy over the situation, in turning thought inward, and seeking satisfaction in the cultivation of individual human worth.
In 1780 Herder was depressed by the outlook in Europe. Johann Georg Miller, brother of Johannes von Miiller, says of a conversation with Herder at this time:
Wir redeten (13. Oktober ’80) von dem Druck, unter dem itzt die Menschheit allenthalben seufzt, Atheismus, Despotismus, Knechtschaft
der Gewissen und Geister; und wie so allenthalben ohne Widerspruch die heiligsten Rechte der Menschen fiir nichts geachtet und zertreten werden.*3
Herder thought in this connection of the American struggle against European oppression, and wondered if Europe’s sun was setting, as many believed it was, and that of America rising. In speaking of the.exceptional superiority of the British colonies in America, Herder compares them with those of the ancients, and concludes: ‘‘ Vielleicht wenn die Wissenschaften in Europa ver- fallen seyn werden, werden sie dort aufgehen, mit neuer Blithe, mit neuen Friichten.’’**
x3 Herders simtl, Werke XVIII, 523.
84 From the paper ‘Vom EinfluB der Regierung auf die Wissenschaften,
und der Wissenschaften auf die Regierung,’’ which received the prize from the Berlin Academy of Sciences in 1780. Werke IX, 363.
1929} King: The American Revolution in German Literature 69
Herder appears to have given no little thought to the ques- tion of Europe’s eclipse by America. The temptation to believe in Europe’s decline was strengthened by the inhuman acts of the French Revolution; and inthe essay Tithon and Aurora (1792) ,* Herder answers the question in a characteristically philosophical manner. Although not directly a product of the American Revo- lution, the essay was stimulated in part by the republic whose successful establishment as a free nation was prepared by the Revolution, and the thoughts thus called forth are so important that it will be fitting to indicate several in brief outline here:
Political institutions, like individual human beings, some- times outlive themselves. The body remains after the spirit has flown. On the other hand, forms die, sometimes with their inventor, but the essence, the heart and soul, never dies. In early spring, dead grass and foliage are to be seen. Soon all disappears, and a new garment covers the earth.
Not revolutions, but evolutions are the gentle manner of the great Mother Nature: in summoning slumbering powers, in reju- venating untimely senility, and in transforming apparent death into life.
Individual man is part of the river of humanity. Indi- viduals and institutions must move with the current. Let no one believe that if all the kings of the earth should unite, they eould turn back the hands of the clock, and permanently obstruct the progress of the human race.
All elasses and institutions of society are children of their times. But just as Time brought them forth, so she also buries them—as she buries and rejuvenates herself. Therefore he who identifies his own interests with the permanency of a class, makes himself unnecessary trouble. In Herder’s own words:
Du fiir Deine Person, sei mehr als dein Stand ist: so wirst du in ihm, er altre wie er wolle, fiir dich selbst und fiir andre stets jung seyn, ja in der dunkleren Nacht wirst du als ein helleres Gestirn glanzen. Wer sich nicht tiber die Brustwehr seines Standes erhebt, ist kein Held in demsel- ben; hinter ihr mag er kriechen, sitzen oder liegen. Der Stand als solcher macht nur Puppen; Persénlichkeit macht Werth und Verdienst (p. 121).
Ergraue also nie wie der alte Tithonus, im Wahn, daB deine Jugend dahin sei; Vielmehr fahre, mit neuerweckter Thiitigkeit, taglich aus deinen Armen eine neue Aurora (p. 124).
The timid anxiety of the human mind often conjures up remote possibilities as immediate dangers, depicts as death that
ss Werke XVI, 109 ff.
70 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
which is merely wholesome, refreshing slumber, and deceives itself in its prophecies about countries and nations. There are latent powers of which it is not aware; usually our judgment, even when correct, veers too much to one side. ‘‘If this is to live,’’ we say, ‘‘then that must die,’’ without considering whether both may live and benefit each other (p. 126).
At this point Herder appends, with a German translation by himself, the famous poem of Bishop Berkeley on the westward course of empire, which this essay was written to refute. He concludes with the words (p. 128) :
So weissagte der gutmiithige Bischof, und wenn seinem Geist anjetzt ein Blick iiber das aufstrebende Amerika wiirde: so wiirde er vielleicht mit eben demselben Blick gewahr, daB auch in den Armen seines alten Tithonus, Europa, eine neue Aurora schlummre. Nicht vier, kaum drei Acte sind im groBen Schauspiele dieses auch jungen Welttheils voriiber; und wer sagt uns, wie oft noch der alte Tithonus des Menschengeschlechts sich auf unserm Erdball neu verjiingen konne, neu verjiingen werde?
This essay is a classic of its kind, and of all the productions that owe their stimulus to the American war, is the finest piece of writing in German literature. It is a monument of the mental struggle caused by the realization that the old order, the feudal system, the absolutist régime, had outlived itself. Herder sum- mons his fellows to direct their lives according to the spirit of humanity, and promises that the transition to a new system can then be effected peacefully and harmoniously, without loss or retrogression.
In the Humanitatsbriefe there are several references to the war. The very first lines testify to the influence which the great events of the time®* exerted upon the author’s thought and feel- ing: The lover of truth and humanity, he writes, feels new life, his breast is distended, his thought greater and freer.
In die Gedanken- oder Handlungssphare andrer gréBerer Menschen gesetzt, ... nehmen wir Theil an ihrem Geist: wir denken mit ihnen, auch wenn wir mit ihnen nicht wirken konnten, und freuen uns ihres Daseyns. Je reiner die Gedanken der Menschen sind, desto mehr stimmen sie zusammen; die wahre unsichtbare Kirche durch alle Zeiten, durch alle Lander ist nur Ejine.87
66 Kiihnemann, Herder, 530 f. 87 Werke XVII, 5 f.
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Herder cherished a profound admiration for Franklin, and © did not hesitate to ascribe immortality to his name.** He was so strongly impressed with the value of Franklin’s Club, a society formed for the common improvement of its members, that he established a similar one in Weimar. Since the club of Franklin was extant long before the Revolution, and therefore an out-growth of Franklin’s own personality, we shall consider it only in passing. The activity of the club was based upon a set of questions prepared by Franklin. Before forming his own society at Weimar, Herder presented the questions at a lecture, in German translation, accompanied by his own comments on the various points. One of the questions is political in nature, typically American, and one of the broadest in its application. It reads, in English: ‘‘Have you lately observed any encroach- ment on the just liberties of the people?’’*® As Suphan points out,°° Herder omitted this question from his lecture, but included it among the questions when he inserted them in the Humanitats- briefe, although with the cautious rendering ‘‘rechtméBige Rechte.’’
Herder’s interest in republican institutions was gained from a study of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Says Suphan: ‘‘Herder aber war, seit er politisch denken gelernt hatte, ein entschiedener Freund freier Verfassungen.’’®' It is probably safe to state that Herder was never more favorably inclined toward the republican form of government than during the American Revolution. Bancroft writes:
At Weimar, in 1779, Herder .... published these words: ‘‘The boldest, most godlike thoughts of the human mind, the most beautiful and greatest works, have been perfected in republics; not only in antiquity, but in mediaeval and more modern times, the best history, the best philosophy of humanity and government, is always republican; and the republic exerts its influence, not by direct intervention, but mediately by its mere existence.’’ The United States, with its mountain ranges, rivers, and chains of lakes in the temperate zone, seemed to him Shaped by nature for a new civilization.92
88 Werke, XVIII, 503. 91 Ibid., 523.
88 Works of Benjamin Franklin I, 321. 92 History of the United States 90 Herder’s Werke XVIII, 452. X, 89 f.
72 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol.14
Though Bancroft’s association of the concluding statement with Herder’s foregoing words on republics is no doubt justified, these thoughts must not be accepted as adequately representing Herder’s permanent view of either. During the French Revolu- tion Herder came to believe that there was no best form of government for all alike; and the conviction that America was destined to be the home of a new civilization is qualified by his
-aeceptance of the theory that too sudden migrations of peoples to a different climate are injurious.**
Although Herder’s volte-face from the view of republics expressed in 1779 was no doubt occasioned by the French Revo- lution, it also found a pivot in his own independent thinking, for as early as 1785 he stated the conviction: ‘‘kein Staat ist auf Ein Wortprincipium gebauet.’’®* What he wrote in 1797 in the Humanitiétsbriefe is probably his final opinion:
Die sogenannt-beste Regierungsform, die ungliicklicher Weise noch nicht gefunden ist, taugt gewiB nicht fiir alle Volker, auf Einmal, in derselben Weise; mit dem Joch auslandischer, iibel eingefiihrter Freiheit wiirde ein fremdes Volk aufs argste belistigt. Eine Geschichte also, die bei allen Landern auf diesen utopischen Plan nach unbewiesenen Grundsatzen alles berechnet, ist die glanzendste Truggeschichte. Ein fremder Firni®B, der den Gestalten unsrer und der vorigen Welt ihre wahre Haltung, selbst ihre Umrisse raubet. Viele Schriften unsrer Zeit wird man zwanzig Jahr spater als wohl- oder tibelgemeinte Ficber- Phantasieen lesen; reifere Gemiither lesen sie jetzt schon also.95
Herder’s burning indignation at the soldier-traffie is best ex- pressed in the long poem Der deutsche Nationalruhm. Although evidently written during the war, it was not published until 1810°* on account of political conditions in Germany. The lines referring to the soldier traffic are in part as follows:
“‘Und doch sind sie in ihrer Herren Dienst
So hiindisch-treu! Sie lassen willig sich Zum Mississippi und Ohio-Strom
“3 Werke XIII, 285 ff. Cf. also p. 39, where he points to America’s accessibility and conformation as disadvantages (1784).
94 [bid., 386.
95 Werke XVIII, 283.
96 Tbid., 585.
1929 } King: The American Revolution in German Litcrature 73
Nach Candia und nach dem Mohrenfels
Verkaufen. Stirbt der Sklave, streicht der Herr
Den Sold indeB, und seine Wittwe darbt;
Die Waisen ziehn den Pflug und hungern.—Doch
Das schadet nicht; der Herr braucht einen Schatz.’’97
In the Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit (1784), there is a passage which evidently refers to the rulers who engaged in the traffic:
In groBen Staaten miissen Hunderte hungern, damit Einer prasse und
schwelge: Zehntausende werden gedriickt und in den Tod gejaget, damit Ein gekronter Thor oder Weiser seine Phantasie ausftihre.%s
Again there is a reference to them in a letter to Knebel in 1788; in speaking of the writings of Frederick the Great, Herder says:
Er scheint sich, in der Geschichte seiner Zeit, zu wundern, daB die Englander bei den amerikanischen Angelegenheiten nicht eine Revolution gemacht hatten. Die deutschen Prinzen, die ihre Truppen an sie ver-
kauft haben, nennt er: des princes arides ou obérés, und nennt gleich darauf die Hessen und Braunschweiger, ete.99
GOETHE (1749-1832)
During the American war Goethe took little personal interest in America. After the war his interest grew, and there are numerous references in his later works to America and the Revolution.
In Die Mitschuldigen Goethe treats in a disparaging manner the impulsive sympathy in Germany for the American colonists:
Ja, ja, bei’m Glase Wein hort’ ich wohl manchen prahlen, Er lieBe Haut und Haar fiir meine Provinzialen:
Da lebt’ die Freiheit hoch, war jeder brav und kiihn, Und wenn der Morgen kam, ging eben keiner hin.100
From the foregoing it seems plain that Goethe’s interest in the struggle of the American colonists, from the standpoint of
97 Ibtd., 211. 98 Werke XIII, 340. 99 Von und an Herder III, 46.
me Werke IX, 44. The play was first written in 1768, but the part in question originated during the American war, perhaps in 1783.
Google ;
74 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
political reform, was distant and impersonal. By 1776 Goethe had outgrown the Storm and Stress; he no longer yielded himn- self to temporary illusions. During the war he was making mental reservations and forming a view of life. In the things that he said about America and the war after this period, his deep insight and mature view of life are manifest.
In this respect he stands almost alone. He recalls in Dichtung und Wahrheit that by the stirring events of his youth—among which the American war figured conspicuously—the hopes of the younger generation were keyed to a high pitch of expectancy. Much had been accomplished for the benefit of humanity, and great things were hoped for the future. Goethe did not share these expectations :
An allen diesen Ereignissen nahm ich jedoch nur in so fern Theil, als sie die groBere Gesellschaft interessirten, ich selbst und mein engerer Kreis befaBten uns nicht mit Zeitungen und Neuigkeiten; uns war
darum zu thun, den Menschen kennen zu lernen; die Menschen iiberhaupt hieBen wir gern gewahren.101
But an inkling of the manner in which republican ideas began to take root in the imagination of the larger circles of his fellow-countrymen is afforded by a passage in Wilhelm Meister (1777-1796), which refers to Melina’s theatrical com- pany as follows:
Man nahm als ausgemacht an, daB unter guten Menschen die repub- licanische Form die beste sei; man behauptete, das Amt eines Directors
miisse herumgehen; er miisse von allen gewahlt werden, und eine Art von kleinem Senat ihm jederzeit beigesetzt bleiben.102
The idea was received by the company with alacrity and good humor (p. 23 f.): ‘‘Man schritt sogleich zur Sache, und erwahlte Wilhelmen zum ersten Director. Der Senat ward bestellt, die Frauen erhielten Sitz und Stimme, man schlug Gesetze vor, man verwarf, man genehmigte.’’
Stirred by the events of the French Revolution, Goethe uttered thoughts that no doubt bear some reference to the
101 Werke XXIX, 69. 102 Werke XXII, 23.
1929 ] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 75
American Revolution. In the Venetian Epigrams (1790), he declared :
Alle Freiheits-Apostel, sie waren mir immer zuwider; Willkiir suchte doch nur jeder am Ende fiir sich.103
He could not ardently commit himself to one side or another of
these local movements, because there seemed to him so much
illusion and self-deception involved in them. Both kings and
demagogues have the limitations of human beings, even if we
should admit that both seek the welfare of mankind (ibid.): Menschen, ach, sind sie, wie wir.
Nie gelingt es der Menge, fiir sich zu wollen; wir wissen’s; Doch wer verstehet, fiir uns alle zu wollen; er zeig’s.
But Goethe’s very freedom from illusion made him impartial. He was always able to look on both sides of a question, and while he recognized the excesses of the revolutionists, he deplored the docility of his more moderate countrymen (ibid., 321):
doch redet ein Toller in Freiheit Weise Spriiche, wenn ach! Weisheit im Sklaven verstummt.
In a conversation with Eckermann, Goethe enlarges upon the foregoing in a manner that reminds of Lichtenberg. He empha- sizes the fact that he had enjoyed the advantage of being a contemporary witness of such significant events as the Seven Years’ War, the American and French Revolutions, and the Napoleonic wars:
Hierdurch bin ich zu ganz andern Resultaten und Einsichten gekom- men, als allen denen moglich sein wird, die jetzt geboren werden und die sich jene groBen Begebenheiten durch Bicher aneignen miissen, die sie nicht verstehen.
Was uns die nachsten Jahre bringen werden, ist durchaus nicht vor- herzusehen; doch ich fiirchte, wir kommen so bald nicht zur Ruhe. Est ist der Welt nicht gegeben, sich zu bescheiden: den GroBen nicht, daB kein MiBbrauch der Gewalt stattfinde, und der Masse nicht, da sie in Erwartung allmahlicher Verbesserungen mit einem mé#@igen Zustande sich begniige. Koénnte man die Menschheit vollkommen machen, so ware auch ein voll- kommener Zustand denkbar; so aber wird es ewig heriiber- und hin-
103 Werke I, 320.
76 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol.14
iiberschwanken, der eine Teil wird leiden, wahrend der andere sich wohl- befindet, Egoismus und Neid werden als bose Damonen immer ihr Spiel treiben und der Kampf der Parteien wird kein Ende haben. Das Ver- niinftige ist immer, daB jeder sein Metier treibe, wozu er geboren ist und was er gelernt hat, und daB er den andern nicht hindere, das seinige zu tun. Der Schuster bleibe bei seinem Leisten, der Bauer hinter dem Pfluge, und der Fiirst wisse zu regieren. Denn dies ist auch ein Metier, das gelernt sein will, und ‘das sich niemand anmaBen soll, der es nicht versteht.104
The same view crops out again in some thoughts that Goethe jotted down when about to read Scott’s Life of Napoleon. He compares Scott with himself as living contemporaneously with the American and French Revolutions, and therefore being able to give first-hand impressions, rather than depending upon the observation of others. Instead of allowing himself to be swept off his feet by local explosions, the poet trained himself to see events in their relation to one another, and to trace their logical connection.!%
Under the title of ‘‘Bildnisse jetzt lebender Berliner Gelehr- ten,’’ Goethe wrote in 1806 an interesting review of the auto- biography of Johannes von Miiller. How truly he judged this work and how important the American Revolution seemed to him among the great events of the period, appears from the following passage:
Wir finden die Wirkung groBer Weltbegebenheiten auf ein so emp- fiingliches Gemiith nicht genugsam ausgedriickt .... des amerikanischen Kriegs [ist gedacht] nur in so fern ihm dadurch ein Freund geraubt wird. .... Und gerade jenes Herankommen von Ereignissen, welche Aufmerksamkeit muBte es einer solechen Natur und in jenem Alter nach
und nach erregen, und was mufBte sich an diesem AeuBeren aus seinem Inneren entwickeln!106
Goethe would have found this judgment fully corroborated if he could have examined the private letters of Miiller, as well as some of the latter’s own testimony, in his lectures and historical
104 Biedermann, Goethes Gesprache III, 74 f.
105 Werke XLII, Part 2, p. 479. Cf. also Ietter to Zelter, Nov. 1827, Werke XLIII, Part 2, 178 f.
106 Werke XL, 363.
1929] King: The American Revolution in German Literature 77
writings, as to the influence of the American war upon his thought.?°'
When the American war was fought, the German people were politically untrained and helpless. The American and French Revolutions were a stimulus to the Germans toward greater political alertness and self-reliance. In a letter of 1827 Goethe uttered a warning anent the change that had come over his countrymen, and seemed to imply in it a connection between their present state of mind and the events that had occurred in America and elsewhere:
Indessen ergibt sich aus diesem Symptome,!08 daB bey den vorseyenden Wahlen eine Art von Kampf auf Leben und Tod eintrete, wo wir denn den Erfolg freylich nur zu erwarten haben. So versank ja auch die agvptische Flotte im Hafen von Navarin ohne unser Zuthun, so warfen vor so viel Jahren die Nordamerikaner die Theekisten in’s Meer, und
so wird es tiberall einen Bruch geben, wo der obschwebende Antagonism nicht aufzulosen oder noch eine Zeitlang hinzuhalten ist.109
Goethe was too shrewd to trust a mere change of the machin- ery of government to bring freedom to the people. He knew with Franklin and Lessing, with Herder and Kant, that external reform is of itself insufficient ; that freedom is achieved by good will and consecrated effort; and this thought is given beautiful expression in a poem celebrating the return from America of Duke Bernhard of Weimar. The entire poem is pervaded by a spirit of freedom, democracy, and virile enterprise. It concludes with the matchless aphorism:
Die Erde wird durch Liebe frei, Durch Thaten wird sie gro.11¥
About 1779 Goethe visited a workhouse near Cassel, where the inmates were engaged in making bird-cages, and this fact furnished the basis for his figurative allusion in Das Neueste von Plundersweilern (1781) to the selling of Hessian soldiers:
107 Cf. chapter on Miiller.
104 j.e., abuse of the freedom of the press. 109 Werke, XLIII, 186.
110 Werke IV, 309.
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Und zwar mag es nicht etwa sein,
Wie zwischen Cassell und WeiBenstein, Als wo man emsig und zu Hauf Macht Vogelbauer auf den Kauf,
Und sendet, gegen fremdes Geld,
Die Voglein in die weite Welt.111
The point of the figure is that the sale of soldiers is depopu- lating Hessia, which is contrasted with the flourishing community of Plundersweilern (ibid.) :
Vielmehr sind hier, wie in Paris,
Der Leute mehr als der Logis;
Und wie ein Haus gebaut sein mag, Gleich ist’s besetzt den andern Tag.1!12
A further passage in Wilhelm Merster leaves no room for doubt as to Goethe’s repugnance to the soldier traffic, and may possibly indicate a change in his attitude toward the Revolution. Lothario, we are told (Book 4, 16th chapter), had just returned from America, where he had served—not as a hired mercenary against the colonies—but ‘‘in Gesellschaft einiger Franzosen unter den Fahnen der Vereinigten Staaten’’!!13 The importance of Lothario in the story adds weight to the reference. He is presented to us as ‘‘liebenswiirdig,’’ ‘‘geistreich,’’ and as being in touch ‘‘mit den meisten verdienstvollen Méannern seines Zeitalters.’’ His friend Aurelie despises her countrymen, but
111 Werke XVI, 45.
112 Dr. Strehlke thinks the following lines from Der ewige Jude (ca. 1769-1775) may also refer to the sale of Hessian soldiers for use in America (Werke XXXVIII, 61):
Verschliesst der Fiirst mit seinen Sklaven Sich nicht in ienes Marmorhaus
Und britet seinen irren Schafen
Die Wolfe selbst im Busen aus!
Ihm wird zu grillenhaffter Stillung
Der Menschen Marck herbey gerafft,
Er speist in eckler Ueberfullung
Von Tausenden die Nahrungskrafft.
The objection to connecting this passage with the American war is that the fragment was probably complete, as we know it, in 1774 (cf. op. cit., 456), and the sale of Hessians to England for use in America did not begin until December 1775 (Kapp, Soldatenhandel, 54).
113 Werke XXII, 103.
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Lothario works a complete change in her thought. Through him she learns to respect the solid virtues and potentialities of her compatriots, to be glad that they did not scorn to accept leader- ship from abroad. ‘‘So jung er war, hatte er ein Auge auf die hervorkeimende hoffnungsvolle Jugend seines Vaterlandes, auf die stillen Arbeiten in so vielen Fachern beschaftigter und thitiger Manner.’”!!* And he did not fail to inspire Aurelie with an impulsion to be ‘‘true, alert, and dynamic’’ in her profession.
When we reflect upon the symbolic character of Wilhelm Meister, its pregnant wealth of significance, it is not difficult to read here between the lines a compliment to the American Revo- lution: to that age it meant new life, development, rejuvenation!
SCHILLER (1759-1805)
Schiller was a schoolboy in his fifteenth year when the American Revolution broke out. The opinions of his school- fellows were divided in partisanship for the English or the American side of the war, the majority favoring the Americans. Schiller aligned himself with neither side, did not read the newspapers, and gave no heed to the momentous trans-Atlantic events.175 His only allusion to America during the first six years of the war is a timid parenthesis inserted in his first printed poem, Der Abend (1776). When we recall Schiller’s prolixity in subjects that vitally affected him, his indifference to the American cause is apparent. The poem begins:
Die Sonne zeigt, vollendend gleich dem Helden, Dem tiefen Tal ihr Abendangesicht,
(Fiir andre, ach! gliicksel’gre Welten Ist das ein Morgenangesicht).11¢6
Although Schiller no doubt had the North American colonies in
mind here, his gaze probably swept the entire western hemi-
114 Ibid., 106. 115 Hartmann, Schillers Jugendfreunde, 208. 116 Schillers sdmtl. Werke III, 152.
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sphere as well, and his sigh over happier realms is not necessarily a testimony of political insight.
In 1781 Schiller became editor of the Nachrichten zum Nuzen und Vergnigen. In this paper he published on January 2, 1731, a New Year’s poem, in which he offered a prayer for peace, in America as well as in Europe:
Nimm uns alle Gott in Deine Hut!
Losch’ die Flamme—die Verderben lodert.
Stréme Bluts von unsern Briidern fodert, Auch dort—jenseits in America!
Hohn’ sie aus die Gotter dieser Erden!
La&B die Schwerdter Pflug und Sicheln werden Wie Du thatest in Germania,
Als wir Herr! zu Dir, um Hiilffe rieffen,
LaB den Himmel reichen Segen trieffen, Auf die Erde in dem Neuen Jahr!117
Schiller’s paper contained much news from America, most of which was gleaned from English, French, American, and other foreign newspapers. Many of the articles were pro-American when the originals from which they were translated were from pro-American sources; but the attitude of the paper in general was neither pro-American nor anti-British.1’® Since the articles are unsigned, it is difficult to determine whether Schiller or an assistant wrote them, and therefore a few examples will suffice for our purpose. On September 29, 1781 (No. 79, p. 312) appeared this yarn:
Einer von den teutschen Soldaten machte langsthin einen Amerikaner hinter einem Busch zum Gefangenen, und schrie seinem Hauptmann zu: Herr Hauptmann ich hab einen!—Nun, 80 bring ihn—! aber er will nicht gehen!—nun so komm dann du—! ja Herr er will mich nicht gehen lassen? Onihnlich siehet freylich dieses Geschichtgen nicht sehr der ganzen Art, wie die Englinder in den Siidlich-amerikanischen Landern Krieg fiihren.119
Minor (ibid., 371) attributes the well written articles to Schiller, and sees the hand of the dramatist in the following sketeh (ibid., 374):
117 Vierteljahrschrift fur Litteraturgeschichte II, 354 £.
usCf, Walz: ‘*Three Swabian Journalists and the American Revolu-
tion,’’ Americana Germanica IV (1902), 95 ff. 119 Vierteljahrschrift fur Litteraturgeschichte II, 361.
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Eine Dame sah ihren Gemahl in den Krieg gehen; sie lebte nur in diesem Gemahl. Ihre ganze Seele begleitete ihn. Sie bebte vor seinen Gefahren zur See; sie bebte vor seinen Gefahren zu Lande. Jede empor- steigende Welle hielt sie fiir sein Grab; jede Kugel glaubte sie ziele auf ihn. Eine glinzende Hauptstadt schien ihr cine schreckliche Wiste; ein Mann war ihre Welt, und dieser Mann, so sagte ihre angstliche Fureht, ist in Gefahr. Ihre Tage sind Tage des Kummers, und sechlaflos sind alle ihre Nachte. Unhbeweglich sizt sie des Morgens mit aller Wiirde des Schmerzens bekleidet, wie Agrippina da; und wenn sie des Nachts Ruhe sucht, so ist Ruhe von ihrem Lager geflohen; stumme Thranen flieBen ihre Wangen herab, und benezen ihr Lager; oder wenn etwa die erschopfte Natur eine Stunde des Schlummers findet, so erblickt ihre Einbildung, krank von ihrer leidenden Secele, in diesem Schlafe den blutigen Geliebten, oder seinen zerfleischten Leichnam. Mit jedem Tage wuchs ihr Kummer, bis sie endlich von heiBer Liebe verzehrt das Opfer ihrer zu zartlichen Empfindsamkeit ward, und mit Kummer in die Grube sank! Diese Frau ist die Grafin von Cornwallis.120
Most of the news items are given without comment, but the following one looks suspiciously like a cleverly disguised satire (ibid., 387) :
Am 4. Marz wurden aus Anspach die nach Amerika bestimmten
Truppen eingeschifft. Kurs vor dem Ausmarsch hatte diese Residenz das
wonnevolle Entziicken, Ihren angebeteten Landesvater und Regenten in bestem Wohlseyn von der Reise nach der Schweiz zuriickkommen zu
sehen.
Ten days earlier there appeared an Ode auf die gliickliche Wiederkunft unsers gnadigsten Fiirsten by Schiller: Sag’ Ausland, schielst du nieht mit neid’schen Blicken Auf Wirtembergs gliicksel’ge Hiitten her? , Trigt ihr nicht gern die Ketten Republicken War’ euer Herrscher—Er ?!21 When Schiller, some months after his flight from Stuttgart, found an asylum in the Bauerbach home of Frau von Wolzogen, he felt it mecessary to mystify his friends as to his whereabouts, since Frau v. Wolzogen was living in Stuttgart, where her sons attended the academy, and would have been exposed to the Duke’s wrath if she had been known to harbor the fugitive.
120 Minor comments, ibid., 374: ‘*Fiir den Fieseco hat das Schicksal der Griifin Cornwallis cine Parallele geliefert.’’ 121 Blatter fur litt. Unterhaltung (1850), I, 119.
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Schiller even wrote his protectress a letter fictitiously dated from Hanover, which she might show the Duke in case she were ques- tioned about him.'?? In this letter he speaks of a change in his plans, and of a decision to go to America if that country should obtain its freedom.'!** When he left Bauerbach, he took a similar precaution by writing from Frankfort to Wilhelm von Wolzogen that he was leaving for America (ibid., 136).
While in Bauerbach, he was absorbed in writing, in study, and in friendly intercourse with his protectress and her daughter. The struggle on the western continent was far from his thoughts. His use of ‘‘ America’’ in his letters should therefore not be con- strued as an indication of his interest in the struggle: it was merely a feint.
Just as the immature student at the Carlsschule had not kindled over the news of events in America, so the mature man betrayed a lack of appreciation of America’s significance in the world’s development. Some time in the closing years of the century, Schiller jotted down the following fragmentary lines:
Nach dem fernen Westen wollt’ ich steuern Auf der StraBe, die Kolumbus fand,
Die Kolumb mit seinem Wanderschiffe
An die alte Erde... . band.
Dort vielleicht ist Freiheit
Ach, dort ist sie nicht, Flieh!124
A strange paradox: the poet of freedom, the immortal author of Wilhelm Tell, uninspired by the greatest struggle for inde- pendence in his day and generation!
A few years later, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, he is just as pessimistic: nowhere in the wide world can he dis- cern a city of refuge, where the oppressed may find peace, far removed from war’s alarms and undisturbed by the clash of con- flicting forces. Like Herder, the artist in him feels impelled to
turn thought inward and find in the world of his own creating
122 Berger, Schiller I, 302 f. 124 Werke IX, 283. 123 Schillers Briefe I, 89 f.
+. ew ee een
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the freedom and harmony that his soul eraves. In a poem aldressed to an unnamed friend he writes:
Edler Freund! Wo ofnet sich dem Frieden, Wo der Freiheit sich ein Zufluchtsort ?
Das Jahrhundert ist im Sturm geschicden, Und das neue ofnet sich mit Mord.
Und die Grenzen aller Lander wanken, Und die alten Formen stiirzen ein,
Nicht das Weltmecr sezt der Kriegswut Schranken, Nicht der Nilgott und der alte Rhein.
* + * Ach umsonst auf allen Lindercharten Spahst du nach dem seligen Gebiet, Wo der Freiheit ewig griiner Garten, Wo der Menschheit schone Jugend bliiht.
Endlos liegt die Welt vor deinen Blicken,
Und die Schiffahrt selbst ermiBt sie kaum, Doch auf ihrem unermeBnen Riicken
Ist fiir zehen Gliickliehe nicht Raum.
In des Herzens heilig stille Riume Must du flichen in des Lebens Drang, Freiheit ist nur in dem Reich der Triume, Und das Schéne bliiht nur im Gesang.125
In Goethe’s pregnant line, written in 1826, ‘‘Die Erde wird durch Liebe frei,’’ (p. 77) there is more wholesome realism than in this subjective, pessimistic pronouncement. What Schiller would have said if he too had outlived the Napoleonic era would probably do him more justice.'®
Schiller’s views of the soldier traffic are powerfully presented in Kabale und Liebe, which was finished in 1783. The treatment of the subject there is the most notable expression, in dramatic form, of revolt against that sort of tyranny. It is so drastic that
; 125 Deutsche Litteraturdenkmale des 18 u. 19. Jahrhunderts XCI-CIV, 87 f.
_ 326 Brandes evidently overlooked the poem, for he says (Afain Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature VI, 110): ‘‘Not even in Schiller can we find any direct reference to the polities of the day.’?
84 University of California Publications in Modern Philology [Vol. 14
the words referring directly to America had to be omitted in the first performances, in order to give no offense to the representa- tives of the princes engaged in the traffic, and to assure the con- tinuance of the play upon the boards.!** The acts of violence here portrayed, and the shouting by intimidated soldiers of *‘Juchhe, nach Amerika!’’ were no inventions of Schiller’s imagination. Bellermann points out:
War doch Vater Schiller selbst vor dem Abmarsch in die boéhmische Kampagne Zeuge einer solchen Revolte gewesen, die dadurch unter- driickt wurde, da8 man siebzehn Aufriihrer niederschieBen lieB, worauf dann die iibrigen ‘‘freiwillig’’ mitzogen.128
In the scene in Kabale und Inebe,’”® a servant brings a casket of diamonds to the Duke’s mistress, Lady Milford. The servant informs her that the priceless gems were paid for by the sale of seven thousand troops for the American war, and that he himself had two sons among those that had departed only the day before.
Lady (wendet sich bebend weg, seine Hand fassend). Doch keinen gezwungenen f
Kammerdiener (lacht fiirchterlich). O Gott!—nein—lauter Freiwillige. Es traten wohl so etliche vorlaute Bursch’ vor die Front heraus und fragten den Oberst, wie teuer der Fiirst das Joch Menschen verkaufe !— Aber unser gnadigster Landesherr lieB alle Regimenter auf dem Parade- platz aufmarschieren und die Maulaffen niederschieBen. Wir horten die Biichsen knallen, sahen ihr Gehirn auf das Pflaster spritzen, und die ganze Armee schrie: ‘‘Juchhe! Nach Amerika! ’’
Lady (fallt mit Entsetzen in den Sofa. Gott! Gott!—Und ich horte nichts? Und ich merkte nichts?
On hearing this dreadful news, Lady Milford will have noth- ing to do with the jewels. She has heard of the destruction by fire of a town on the border, which rendered some four hundred families destitute. These homeless people she will succor by the sale of the precious stones. Her maid protests; she replies:
Narrisches Madchen! ODafiir werden in einem Augenblick mehr
Brillanten und Perlen fiir mich fallen, als zehn K6nige in ihren Diademen getragen, und schénere—
127 Gleichen-RuBwurm, Schiller, 174. 128 Schiller, 98. 129 Act 2, scene 2.
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SUMMARY
Herder’s views of the war are presented in the frame of a large perspective. He shows a warm sympathy for the American cause, which is not dampened by his maturity of judgment and keenness of intellect. He came finally to believe that there was no best form of government for all alike. In his Tithon and Aurora we have the finest piece of writing in German that may be called in any wise an echo of the American war.
Goethe at first stood aloof from sympathetic interest in the war. His thought on political reform is characterized by dis- illusionment. If all men were good, the republican form of government would probably be the best; but humanity is not perfect, therefore no form of government will guarantee the removal of abuse. Freedom will come as the product of a mental attitude—a spiritual quality—love, not as the result of the mechanical operation of any form of government.
Schiller, the poet of freedom, showed a paradoxical lack of sympathetic interest in the American struggle for independence and toward the close of his life saw freedom not even in America—only in the ‘‘realm of dreams.”’
With the exception of Lenz, the writers of this group are unanimous in their condemnation of the soldier traffic. Klinger criticizes it at great length; Herder feels the national humiliation implied by it; Goethe satirizes it in Das Neueste von Plunders- weilern, and apparently criticizes it indirectly in Wilhelm
Meister; Schiller’s treatment of the subject is full of intense
feeling.
NORTH GERMAN WRITERS
IMMANUEL Kant (1724-1804)
The philosopher of K6nigsberg was not a revolutionary spirit: he did not favor the overthrow by violence of established institu- tions. He was preeminently a teacher, and believed in gradual progress through enlightenment and moral development. Like most of his contemporaries, he gave comparatively little thought to matters political, but during the era of the American and French Revolutions his attention was sharply drawn to the sub- ject of political freedom, the relation of the individual to the state, and the relation of the states to one another. While he con- ceded with Lessing that the spirit of a government is more important than its form,'*° he set his face against the monarchical tradition that treats territory and subjects as property, and inclined to the republican form of government as the one that is based upon the clearest realization of human worth, and offers the greatest promise of future peace and progress.?*"
Despite Kant’s opposition to revolution as a means of reform, he warmly sympathized with the American cause.’*?. The British colonial policy seemed to him bent upon fostering slavery and barbarism, rather than freedom and civilization.1*? How ‘‘the greatest German philosopher, greatest modern philosopher, greatest philosopher at all with only the usual exceptions of Plato and Aristotle’’ eloquently defended the American cause
1380 Werke VI, 438.
131 Tbid., 434 ff.
1382 His opposition to revolutions in general is qualified by the reserva- tion that there may be times when revolution is justifiable. In the nineties he wrote, Nachla&, Part 11, 94: ‘‘[Die Republik] ist eine moralische Ver- fassung. Sie zu beginnen ist Frevel. Wenn aber das Schicksal es herbey- fiihrt ist es ein noch groBerer ihm nicht zu folgen. Denn sie entspringt aus dem Urquell alles Rechts, dem Willen Aller.’’
132 Hoffmann, Immanuel Kant, Part II, 249.
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in a company of strangers, unwittingly stirred the patriotic ire of an English merchant, was challenged by this merchant to mortal combat, continued his disquisition unperturbed, as one inspired, and not only won over his opponent to his point of view, but gained from the occurrence a lifelong friend, is deseribed in an interesting paragraph in the biographical sketch of Kant by one of his former students, Reinhold Bernhard Jachmann, in part as follows:
Kant lieB sich durch den Zorn des Mannes nicht im mindesten aus seiner Fassung bringen, sondern setzte sein Gesprich fort und fing an seine politischen Grundsitze und Meinungen und den Gesichtspunkt, aus welchem jeder Mensch als Weltbiirger, seinem Patriotismus unbeschadet, dergleichen Weltbegebenheiten beurtheilen miisse, mit einer solchen hin- reiBenden Beredsamkeit zu schildern, daB Green—dies war der Eng- lander—ganz voll Erstaunen ihm freundschaftlich die Hand reichte, den hohen Ideen Kants beipflichtete, ihn wegen seiner Hitze um Verzeihung
bat, ihn am Abend bis an seine Wohnung begleitete und ihn zu einem freundschaftlichen Besuch einlud.!34
Kant took a keen interest in contemporary events, followed them closely in the newspapers, and made them one of the chief topics of his conversation.1°* The results of his political reflec- tions are recorded in six essays, four of which appeared within three years after the termination of the American war, and the other two during the French Revolution. In 1784 he wrote (‘‘Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklarung?’’) :
Durch eine Revolution wird vielleicht wohl ein Abfall von person- lichem Despotism und gewinnsiichtiger oder herrschsiichtiger Bedriickung, aber niemals wahre Reform der Denkungsart zustande kommen; sondern
neue Vorurteile werden, ebensowohl als die alten, zum Leitbande des gedankenlosen groBen Haufens dienen.136
He not only saw the inadequacy of popular revolutions in pro- ducing thoroughgoing reform, but he deplored the imposition
134 Hoffmann, Kant, Part I, 54f. Gildemeister (Hamann’s Leben und Schriften VI, 59) points out that the friendship of Green and Kant had existed a considerable time before the beginning of hostilities, and concludes that the above incident must have occurred in pre-Revolutionary days, when the English, by their treatment of the colonists, were provoking them to rebellion.
135 Hoffmann, Kant, Part III, 298.
136 Werke 1V, 170.
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by the ruling classes of military operations upon the people, with the consequent interruptions in the processes of education and moral development. He noted clearly how the encroachment upon civil liberty paralyzed the domestic and foreign affairs of a country; enlightenment, however, was spreading as a great boon among the people, and must finally be felt by the thrones themselves.'*? He was confident that the interlocking interests of modern states, the discouraging burden of huge war debts— the very stress of circumstances—would finally compel the nations to arbitrate their differences, rather than rush light- heartedly to arms. This resort to arbitration would finally result in a World State such as the ancient nations never saw. He writes (ibid.):
Obgleich dieser Staatskérper fiir itzt nur noch sehr im rohen Ent- wurfe dasteht, so fangt sich dennoch gleichsam schon ein Gefith] in allen Gliedern, deren jedem an der Erhaltung des Ganzen gelegen ist, an zu regen, und dieses gibt Hoffnung, da8 nach manchen Revolutionen der Umbildung endlich das, was die Natur zur héchsten Absicht hat, ein allgemeiner weltbiirgerlicher Zustand als der SchooB, worin alle urspriing-
liche Anlagen der Menschéngattung entwickelt werden, dereinst einmal zustande kommen werde.
When we consider the time in which this work was written (1784), the interest that Kant took in the American cause, and his keen prophetic insight in political matters,'** it seems not unlikely that his optimism was based partly upon consideration of the influence that the great western republic would exert upon events in the future.
Kant’s belief in freedom and equality rested upon his pro- found regard for individual human worth. Neither a state nor individuals comprising a state can be looked upon as a possession ; it follows, therefore, that the bartering of troops is an offense against the moral order. He declares (1785) :
Nun sage ich: der Mensch und tiberhaupt jedes verniinftige Wesen, existiert als Zweck an sich selbst, nicht bloB als Mittel zum beliebigen
137 ‘“Tdee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in weltbiirgerlicher Absicht,’’
Werke IV, 163. 138 Hoffmann, Kant, Part I, 88.
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Gebrauch fiir diesen oder jenen Willen, sondern muB in allen seinen, sowohl auf sich selbst, als auch auf andere verniinftige Wesen gerichtcten Handlungen, jederzeit zugleich als Zweck betrachtet werden.139
In the famous work on perpetual peace (1795), he says:
Ein Staat ist namlich nicht (wie etwa der Boden, auf dem er seinen Sitz hat) eine Habe (patrimonium). Er ist eine Gesellschaft von Menschen, uber die niemand anders, als er selbst zu gebieten und zu disponieren hat. Ihn aber, der selbst als Stamm seine eigene Wurzel hatte, als Pfropfreis einem andern Staate einzuverleiben, heiBt seine Existenz als einer moralischen Person aufheben und aus der letzteren eine Sache machen.
... Auch die Verdingung der Truppen eines Staats an einen andern gegen einen nicht gemeinschaftlichen Feind ist dahin zu ziihlen; denn die Unterthanen werden dabei als nach Belicben zu handhabende Sachen gebraucht und verbraucht.140
Kant’s political writings are cast in the same mould as his moral philosophy; but the chronology of their appearance and part of their actual content are attributable to the powerful stimulus that his thinking received from the American and
French Revolutions.
THEopoR GOTTLIEB Von Hipreu (1741-1796)
Hippel, like his great contemporary Kant, took an interest in events in America. During the French Revolution, when people were inclined to trace its roots back to the writings of such men as Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu, Hippel expressed the opinion that the acts of the American Revolution should not: be overlooked. In his work Ueber die biirgerliche Verbesserung der Weiber (1792), he wrote:
Eine Schrift kann nie ein machtiges um sich greifendes Feuer anziinden; und wenn man behauptet: Rousseau, Voltaire und Montesquieu hiitten die Franzdsische Revolution zu Stande gebracht; so vergiBt man Nordamerica: und es gehért zu den Zeichen dieser Zeit, wenn man mit Biichern bekannter als mit Menschen ist, um zu regieren.14!
Hippel ’s respect for Franklin knew no bounds; he referred to him (ibid., 155) as ‘‘ein Mann, desgleichen weder das Griechische
139 ‘‘Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten,’’ Werke IV, 286. 140 Werke VI, 428 f. 141 Th, G. von Hippels simtl. Werke VI, 257.
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noch das Romische Alterthum aufzuweisen hat.’’ And of Franklin and Washington he concluded: ‘‘Ein groBes Vorbild fordert zu ahnlicher GroBe auf.’’!*?
In his work Ueber Gesetzgebung und Staatenwohl, Hippel makes an allusion to America by way of illustrating one of his best thoughts:
Die Gesctzgebung muB bey dem gemeinen Besten das Beste eines jeden Biirgers, und bei dem Staatsbesten das Beste der Welt zu befordern suchen. Auf die briiderliche Liebe folgt die gemeinere, und auf diese die allgemeine—und wie kann man Gott lieben, den man nicht siehet und
nicht sehen kann, wenn man nicht den Bruder im Nordamerikaner und Franzosen so wie im Neger liebt 7143
This view is unmistakably Kantian, and its implications are broad. Applying them to the German states, one might con- clude: if all the German states had had such legislation, there would have been no German mercenaries sent to America. Going still farther, and applying them to Great Britain, one might say: ‘‘If British legislation had been dictated by this universal rule, the American Revolution would never have occurred.
JOHANN GEORG HaMann (1730-1788)
One of the dominant traits in the character of Hamann was love of freedom; but his views of political freedom were sub- ordinate to his religious convictions. For him God’s revealed religion was the greatest promoter of freedom ;1** hence we find him writing in 1788:
Alle Monarchien sind in meinen Augen Schattenbilder der goldenen Zeit, wo Ein Hirt und Eine Heerde sein wird..... Ich halte alle Regierungsformen fiir gieichgiiltig..... Ein Republicaner liebe sein freies Vaterland und der Unterthan eines Monarchen trage sein Joch
ohne wider den Stachel zu lécken. Jeder thue seinem Beruf Geniige aus Liebe der offentlichen Ordnung und allgemeinen Ruhe.145
142 Werke VIII, 331.
143 Werke XI, 140 f.
144 Gildemeister, Hamann’s Leben und Schriften IV, 199. 145 [bid., 208; III, 405.
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During the entire American conflict, Hamann hardly gave it more than passing notice, and the views then expressed are in accord with the spirit of lofty indifference indicated above.'*®
His views of the relative merits of the monarchical and republican régimes were not altered by his own unhappy experi- ence with the former, although he often became discouraged over conditions in Prussia. While serving as a poorly paid official under Frederick’s French financial agents, he wrote (1782) :
Bei der jetzt herrschenden Ungerechtigkeit wird aber alle Menschen- liebe unter Reichsgenossen, geschweige gegen Cosmopoliten und Colonisten
einer neuen Welt zu Eis—oder concentrirt sich zum Brennpukt des monarchischen Selbst.147
And farther on in the same letter (p. 520) :
Was ist bei so bewandten Umstanden anzufangen? Sollen wir auch dem lieben Vaterlande, dem deutschen Boden, .... Valet sagen, und Demagogen wilder, unruhiger, ungezogener Kinder ciner neuen Welt werden?—Dergleichen Fliichtlingen und exemplis odiosis unsere letzte Schindmahre zum Vorspann aufopfern? Stehen muB man wenigstens konnen, um ein Erdbeweger oder Welterschiitterer zu sein.
In this passage he is thinking of a mysterious young author, a fugitive from justice, who had anonymously written a pamphlet that was under the ban of the censor, and who was at that time on his way to America. Hamann had taken a liking to him, and had lodged him for a week at his home. Though the young man’s views of government were widely divergent from his own, Hamann derived much pleasure from intercourse with him.?*8 He first knew him under the name of Becker; he refers to him repeatedly in his letters to Reichardt and Herder as ‘‘ Vetter Becker’’; and to all three he became known as the author of the book Ueber Nordamerika und Demokratie.\*® Hippel and Kant
1486 In 1782 he wrote to J. F. Reichardt (Petri, Hamann’s Schriften und Briefe III, 510): ‘‘Wollte eben so unruhig forteilen [aus einem Buch- laden], als man mir eine Neuigkeit anbot tiber Nordamerika und Demo-
kratie. Das erste ist ganz gleichgiiltig fiir mich und das zweite hat auch nicht viel Reiz.’’
147 Petri III, 519. 148 Tbid., 512. Letter to Reichardt, June 17, 1782. 149 Cf. section on J. C. Schmohl.
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also were familiar with his writings, including the surrepti- tiously circulated pamphlet that had led to his flight, and Kant prophesied for him a cool reception in America on account of his strong utterances about France. He was such a ‘‘raving demagogue’’ and ‘‘mad iconoclast’’)*° that Hamann took it upon himself to warn him against ‘‘demomania,’’**! though he was convinced that in one point, at least, he was more democratic than ‘‘ Vetter Becker’’ himself.
Als Demokrat denkt unser Vetter zu schlecht von der Weisheit der
DummkoOpfe; in diesem Punkte bin ich, ohne Ruhm zu melden, demo- kratischer gesinnt als er selbst.152
When Becker’s book Ueber Nordamerika und Demokratie was published, the author’s true identity transpired as one Schmohl, a man whose reputation at the time was not clear. Hamann was naturally chagrined over the discovery,'** but con- tinued to like him, and, save for the moment when it seemed that Reichardt’s safety might be involved on account of friendly relations with Schmohl, treated the whole episode in an ironical and jocular manner.
While Hippel and Kant both expressed their interest and sympathy for the American cause, Hamann remained aloof from any partisanship, at least during the time the war was being fought. On New Year’s day 1783 he wrote Reichardt :
Nun, Gott lasse es uns Allen wohl gehen in der alten und neuen Welt; die Erde ist doch allenthalben des Herrn, aber ungezogenen Menschen- kindern preisgegeben, von wilden Sauen zerwihlt, von wilden Thieren verderbt. Vetters kiinftige Relationes curiosae aus Philadelphia werden mich kaum eines Besseren belehren.154 .
These narratives, unfortunately, were never written, for Becker did not live to set foot upon American soil.1°> What effect such
150 Petri III, 551.
151 Tbid., 514.
152 [bid., 528. Letter to Reichardt. 153 [bid., 524.
154 [bid., 541.
155 In February 1785 Hamann wrote Herder (Petri IV, 259) that Becker had met death by drowning near the Bermuda Islands.
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narratives might have had upon Hamann’s views, we are unable to say; but we do know that after the war was over he con- tinued to read, from time to time, about the Americans,’** and the indications are that he modified his views of the new common- wealth, at least to the extent that it was no longer a subject of ‘total indifference’’ to him.'*’
J. C. ScumMonu
Schmohl enters our orbit as the author of the pamphlet Ueber Nordamerika und Demokratie. To Hamann he was known under the assumed name of Becker. When his true identity came to light as Schmohl, a fugitive from justice and the author of a fiery pamphlet that had provoked the wrath of the authorities, Hamann seems to have entertained the rumors which dogged his reputation, and to have considered him more.or less a vagabond.?** Although our information regarding Schmohl is meager, what we do have is sufficient to require that we correct this impression of his character.
In the first place, we know from an article’®® by Schmohl in the Deutsches Museum, I, 37 ff. (1781), that he was a man of vision, education, and independent thought. In the second place, we know from the pamphlet on North America and Democracy that he was not only capable of expressing noble sentiment, but also of carrying out an heroic and resolute purpose. Finally, the Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek contains a review of the very book that led to Schmohl’s arrest. The tenor of this review completely clears Schmohl’s name of the opprobrium that Hamann ’s letters seem to reflect upon it.
The book is entitled Sammlung von Aufsdtzen verschiedener Verfasser,'® and Schmohl is held to be the author of most, if
not all, of the essays. The criticism is very friendly, especially 456 Cf, Gildemeister III, 156.
187 [bid., 235. .
158 Cf. Petri, Hamann’s Schriften und Briefe ITI, 520.
159 On agriculture and political economy. 100 4, d. B. XLIX (1782), Part 1, 237.
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when we consider its conservative source. The author’s treat- ment of his subject, we are assured—
zeugt von sehr viel Kopf, Selbstdenken und wahrem Beobachtungsgeist des Verf., so wie von Edelmuth seiner Gesinnungen. Freylich scheint derselbe noch ein junger Mann zu seyn, der oft die Resultate seiner ersten lebhaften Untersuchungen giebt, manchen Gegenstand nur einseitig betrachtet, manchen Gedanken zu wenig bestimmt, zu nackt und kiihn auBert. An andern Orten aber findet man sehr reif durchdachte Sachen, und mit Scharfsinn eroffnete neue Aussichten.
The section of the book that interests us most is the one dealing with a case of oppression in the Principality of Anhalt- Zerbst. The victim is Schmohl’s own father, and the Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek comments: ‘‘Die Facta sind freylich sehr merkwiirdig, und verdienten die Bekanntmachung, falls sie wahr sind.’’ The only thing that displeases the reviewer is the passion- ate tone of the author’s charges; but the critic denies that the latter are mere scribbling:
sie bestehen'61 nicht aus Deklamationen, sondern umstandlich erzahiten Factis,.... Alle seine iibrige Aufsitze beweisen fiir jeden, der selbst Kopf hat, daB er ein Mann von Kopf sey; und eines solchen Mannes Beschuldigungen verdienen immer Aufmerksamkeit.
The author’s passionate tone is explained (p. 239) as an ‘‘error of youthful inexperience’’; and the Allgemeine deutsche Biblio- thek was stirred to protest when the book was condemned to be burned. It expressed hope that the collection would be con- tinued, and assurance that Schmohl would moderate his censure of the princes and their governments: ‘‘Er darf sich alsdann gewiB Beyfall aller denkenden versprechen, und wird sicher unsern vorziiglichsten politischen Schriftstellern beygezihlt werden. ”’
Later the Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek reported (p. 240 f.) that the government of Anhalt-Zerbst demanded that Schmohl, who was living in Halle, be delivered up. The Prussian govern- ment refused, on the ground that he was ‘‘living and writing’’ under protection of Prussian laws. But the University of Halle,
161 p. 238—The pagination here is erroneous: there are two 237’s and 238’s, the one in question being the second.
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where Schmohl was evidently studying, complied with the demand, and his trial was begun. Before this was concluded, Schmohl escaped from prison—but was not acquitted, as some papers had reported. It was whispered that he had fled to Italy.
Zu bedauern ist es immer, da8B ein so guter Kopf durch seine Unvor-
sichtigkeit sich unfahig gemacht hat, zum Besten seines deutschen Vater- landes noch vollkommen in demselben sich auszubilden (p. 241).
From the quotations above it becomes clear that Schmohl was a young man of power and promise, who was respected and admired by his fellow-countrymen; this fact adds significance to the young author’s determination to go to America to fight for freedom, and also enhances for us the importance of his pamphlet Ueber Nordamerika und Demokratie.
This document bears the subtitle ‘‘Ein Brief aus England’’ and the date 1782. It was ostensibly published in Copenhagen, and circulated in Germany in book form. It purports to be a letter written to a friend for the purpose of justifying the author’s American sympathies. It betrays the ferment of the time, but is more sober and moderate than the writings of the Storm and Stress. It considers in almost painful detail the his- toric questions at issue; and although the author is one-sided in his argumentation, he makes out a good case for the Americans. Only one thing disturbs the tranquillity of his trust in American integrity: the defection of Arnold; and this disturbance is removed by a visit to Laurens in his English prison. From the standpoint of favorable reaction to the stimulus of the war, the book leaves nothing to be wished: it might be called the classic of German response to the American Revolution. It reveals the only known ease of a German writer thinking out the American ideas for himself, and going to America to fight for them. The author, although an admirer of England, is convinced that the British are tyrannizing over America (p. 32), that the colonists as a whole are a splendid type of people (p. 85), and that America is destined to guide Europe out of political and social disintegration (188 ff.) ; and he wishes to prove his ardor by
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fighting side by side with the Americans himself, thus expiating to a certain extent the crime of his compatriots in fighting against the Americans (p. 191).
It is evident that the author has not only followed closely the events of the American war; he appears to be well-versed in European and ancient history as well. In treating his subject, he sees parallels with ancient times. The most notable of these is his comparison of England’s treatment of the colonies with the sufferings the Helots endured at the hands of the Spartans (pp. 36 f.) ‘‘Und doch waren die Spartaner unter allen Griechen, die tapfersten, edelsten, groBesten ; und doch sind die Englander unter allen Europdern die tapfersten, edelsten, groBesten!’’
The detailed arguments of the book revolve about three main questions :
1. Whether the American revolt and formation of an inde- pendent state were justified.
2. Whether the nobility of American character was as great as the author imagined.
3. Whether the change in the form of government was an advantage, and whether a free democratic state would ensure happiness to its citizens.
In answering these questions, the author has much to say about the iniquity of the Navigation Act and of arbitrary taxa- tion. He answers all questions in the affirmative, some of his points being as follows:
Under question one:
Nichts hat mich mehr gedemiithigt, als der niedrige Spott, mit dem unsere Zeitgenossen, besonders die klugen, gesetzten Manner, auch die groBesten, ehrwiirdigsten Handlungen der Kolonen.... aufgenommen haben; wir sind unter unsern Despoten schon so tief gesunken, daB sich selbst unser Gefiihl nicht mehr zu dem, was Freyheit, was Antheil an der souverainen Gesetzgebung ist, erheben kann!162 (p. 55 f.)
162 A glaring example of this supine attitude is found in the article ‘‘Ist es gut, ete.’’ (in the Deutsches Museum [1782], II, 442), whose author defends the Germans for bearing without murmur far worse treat- ment than that against which the Americans had rebelled—on the ground that it was within the constitution of the country! See section on Deutsches Museum, p. 134.
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.... diese Provinz [Pensylvanien] hat doch eine Regicrungsform, Gesetze und Einrichtungen, an deren Werth fiir die Menschheit vielleicht keine der alten und keine der neuen Regierungsformen gestiegen ist (p. 104).
To the third question he answers:
Wir finden keine einzige gesetzgebende Monarchie, weder in Europa, noch sonst wo in der historischen Welt, wo die Gesetzgebung and Auf- lagebestimmung nicht ehmals in den Hiinden des Volks gewesen sey,.... dahingegen man in der ganzen Welt keinen einzigen Staat aufweisen wird, wo die gesetzgebende Monarchie eher als Demokratie gewesen sey. (p. 110.)
These considerations impel him to denounce Rousseau’s essay on inequality as an ‘“‘unhistorical, wretchedly-inferred phan- tasm.’’ Democracies, Schmohl admits, allow of inequalities; but these are not so glaring as in the present European situation:
Itzt hat Einer dreyBig bis funfzig Millionen Rthl. jahrliches Ein- kommens; da der gréBte iibrige Haufe nicht dreyBig Rthl. hat... . Itzt ist einem Hund an Leib und Seele, wenn er auf dem Thron geboren ist, Majestat, Gottlichkeit angeboren, indem ein wackerer Kerl durch die Geburt zum Hundsvott wird (pp. 126 ff.).
Um andern Eigenthum und Freyheit zu schiitzen, ist keine Monarchie nothig, das kann allein gute Demokratie (p. 137).
The author refers to the Declaration of Independence as the ‘‘Kriegserklarung vom vierten Juli 1776,’’ gives many of the paragraphs in translation (pp. 51 ff.), defends their various assertions as ‘‘the most transparent facts’’ which are entirely ‘‘supported by history,’’ and comments on the document :
der hohe Geist der Wahrheit giebt ihr Kraft, nicht der Stil! Man muB entweder in der Geschichte der Kolonien ganz unbewandert oder von der blindesten Kronpartheylichkeit eingenommen seyn, um sie zu verkennen.
But some Europeans are also blinded by their environment:
Zur Ejinsicht gewisser Wahrheiten gehért nicht blos ein nicht allen gegebener Sinn und Gefihl; es gehort auch eine eigne Lebenssituation darzu. Und wo sind die Menschen in Europa, die jene groBe Wahrheit, daB alle willkirliche gesetzgebende und Auflagen fodernde Monarchie Usurpation sey, die durch keine Verjahrung gerecht wird, zu erkennen und zu fiihlen, die gliickliche Situation haben? Sie findet sich nur in Freystaaten, doch besserer Art als die meisten schweizerischen oder in gesetzgebenden Monarchien nah am Rad, das den Staatsverbrechern
geheiligt ist! pp. 61 f.)
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In conclusion the author writes (pp. 188 ff.) :
Und nun zum Zweck! Noch keine Regierung ist der ersten, dem Ideal der reinen Demokratie naher gewesen, als die dreyzehn vereinigten Staaten in Nordamerika, wo jeder Biirger Kriegsmann ist, und seine Stimme bey der gesetzgebenden Gewalt hat, aus jeder Land- und Staat- schaft Deputirte nach dem ProvinzialkongreB und von jedem Provinzial- kongreB gleichviel Deputirte mit gleichen Rechten, auf den General- kongrcB abgefertigt werden; wo jedes Familienhaupt, hat es Krafte und Verdienst darzu, noch zum Ersten, zum Prisidenten des Generalkongresses hinauf steigen kann.
Although the Americans may not possess all the institutions that he has mentioned