Cornell University Library DD 801.R75S32 3 1924 028 475 543 THE ZARNCKE LI COI,I,ECTKD BY FK.IEDRIGH ZA SitetJg BRARY RNCKE ///<^/./^;..3 THE GIFT OF 1893 .:/\:M^'f.^. Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028475543 IISTOEICAL SKETCE OF THE RHINE, IN" CONNECTION WIl'H ( ; THE EDUCATION, THE SCHOOLS, THE FINE AETS, AND INDUSTRY OF GEEMANY. AND A SHORT DESCRlPTIOlSr OF A JOURNEY DP THE RHINE TO MAYENCE, THENCE TO FRANCFORT, MARBURG, GASgEL, AND GOTTINGEN, , -AXD BACK BY WAY OF HAMBURG. Read, before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts. FEIEDEICH SCHENCK, v M. EPUC. iINST. S. AND F.R.5. OP ARTS, PROFESSOR OF GERMAN, i^DlNBURCIH. EDINBURGH: MACLACHLAN & STEWART, BOOKSELLERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. ■' V LoIjDON" -. SIMPKIN, MARSHALL '&, CO. 1^7 6. 1 HISTOEICAL SKETCH OF THE EHINE, IN CONNECTION WITH THE EDUCATION, THE SCHOOLS, THE EINE AETS, AND INDrSTEY OE GEEMANY. AND A SHORT DESCEIPTION OF A JOUENEY UP THE RHINE TO MAYENCE, THENCE TO FRANCFORT, MARBURG, CASSEL, AND GSTTINGEN, AND BACK BY WAY OF HAMBURG. Itead before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts. /" 2F- EEIEDEICH SCHENCK, ' EDCC. INST, o, AMD F.E.S. OF AETS, PKOFESSOK OF GEEMAN, EDIHBUEGH. EDINBTJEGH: MACLACHLAN & STEWAET, BOOKSELLERS TO THE UNIVBESITT. LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO. 187 6. R /\-. ts-r^o — ^ ^H'i Q ^^ A HISTOEICAL SKETCH OF THE EHINE. In offering to the, Royal Society of Arts a short sketch of a journey to Germany, in connection with its history and literature, civilisation, education, and schooling, I wish to call particular attention to the Ehine, not so much as to the beauty of its scenery, but as to its being the historical, the strategical, and national river of Europe, and the high road of culture and civilisation into Germany ; flowing, so to speak, through the heart of Europe, it was, and is yet, intimately interwoven with the history of all its nations. Germans look to it with pride and affection ; it is the dream of every native, — of young and old, — and the favoured river of strangers. The beauty of its banks, its history, and its legends, have inspired poets, authors, and artists, native and foreign. The Rhine literature, art productions, and its splendid Saga, are legion. The history of Germany, which was partly that of the Danube, but especially that of the Rhine, commences some three or four centuries before Christ. The inhabi- tants, then being half barbarians, were certainly of Asiatic origin, as is proved by the relation of German to Sanscrit (Indo-Germanic roots, or family). They are first mentioned as a nation by Pytheas, a Greek astro- nomer, about 320 B.C., who testified also as to their being able to write a little. During the irruptions of different German races (from 113 to 109 B.C.) into Italy, until totally defeated by Marius, and even later, they are 4 A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. frequently mentioned by Strabo, Mela, Tacitus, Pliny, Ptolemseus, and especially by Csesar, in the wars which he had with the Germans from 56 to 51 B.C. The many castles or forts (castra) and camps which Drusus and others had built and fortified on the banks of the Ehine before and after Christ, showed the hold which the Romans had of the Rhine and Western Germany, and which exercised a powerful influence on its inhabitants. This was partly due to the presence of so many refined Romans on the Rhine, to so many German captives who, as well as the numerous young noble hostages, were taken to Italia and Rome, the hostages being educated there, Ulfilas, Bishop of the Mosogoths, 360-380, at the Lower Danube, assisted the Germans in forming their alphabet and writing. He is the author of the transla- tion of the Bible into German-Gothic, written in silver on parchment; parts of one copy are at Upsala. Of another copy of Ulfilas' translation in Gothic- letters, some parts are at Wolfenbiittel ; and other parts at Milan, at the Ambrosia Library, all in silver. The migrations of the German races to the West, commencing about 375, and especially anno 395 A.c, broke the power of the Romans on the Rhine, and being connected with war and strife, produced great lawless- ness, which was very detrimental to civilisation and fatal to the Roman architecture of the Rhineland, so that few of these structures have escaped. The taking of Rome by the Herulians, (476) under Odoaker, who had to give place to Theodorick, King of the Goths, along with the Teutonic migrations, pressed by the Huns to the West, brought the Germans into close connection with the cultured Greeks and Romans ; and this, with the spread of the Christian religion, gave education to the Germans, and helped to improve their language, counter- A Historual Sketch of the Rhine. 5 balancing the evils, to a certain extent, which the migra- tions of the German races to the West had occasioned. There exist now, of Roman architecture in the Rhineland, only the Porta Nigra at Treves (Augusta Trevirorum), called also Porta Martis and Roman Gate (Romer Thor), a magnificent relic of Roman antiquity, which was used as a church, until restored by Prussia, fifty years ago, to its original condition ; outside of the town are the Roman Baths-Palace; and the Amphitheatre, which was capable of accommodating above fifty thousand people, the two being still in good preservation ; as well as the famed Ornamental Column or Monument at Igel, 75 feet high, 5 miles from Treves, popularly called the Heathens' Tower. At Mayence are still the Eichelstein (Eigel- stein) or Drusus Tower, and near the town, at Zahlbach, considerable remains of a Roman Aqueduct, sixty-two pillars out of originally five hundred. There exist yet the extensive Roman Baths-Palace at Badenweiler, dis- covered 1784, the most beautiful and best preserved Roman Baths, save those at Rome, a very few more buildingsf ' remnants of some bridges, seen at very low water, and a few other scanty specimens of the Roman architecture of the Rhine. Numerous historical relies of the Roman occupation, and others, down to the time of Charlemagne, consisting of sarcophagi, tombstones, and votive tablets, urns, weapons, coins, sculptures — some of high merit, — imple- ments, &c., have been gathered into most interesting and instructive Roman and German-Roman Museums, as at Cologne, Bonn, Coblenz, Wiesbaden, Frankfort-on- the-Main, Carlsruhe, &c., but particularly at Mayence. It was only under Clodewig, anno 496, after the union of the Francs and Merovingians, and the spread of Christianity, that towns rose again from ruin ; civilisa- tion made again progress, though slowly, and it was left 6 A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. to noble Charlemagne, from 778 to 81-i, to raise and stimulate culture, education, and the fine and useful arts into activity ; this he did particularly after he had been in Italy, 773-774, in the war against the Longobards, in successive years, and after he had been crowned at Eome as German-Roman Emperor, anno 800. His journeys to Italy roused his ambition to renew, on Christian ground, the magnificence and splendour of the Roman Imperators or Csesars. Thus arose the gorgeous and stately imperial palaces (Pfalzen) at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen, the Aquisgranum of the Romans), and at Ingel- heim, near Mayence — that of the former town, at least a great part of it, being alone preserved, — besides other palaces at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Worms, Triburg, and Nymwegen, of all of which only some columns and remnants are scattered here and there, as at Heidelberg and Mayence. Pfalz means palace, and, geographically. Palatinate. These palaces and many churches had been mostly built by Italian workmen, and embellished by Italian artists, as well as many other buildings and churches erected by his son, Louis the Pious, by which art was inoculated into the Rhinelanders, who were also blessed by the schools founded by father and son. Charlemagne was most anxious for the education of his beloved subjects, always in connection with the forma- tion of the German language. He commanded the priests to preach in German, erected everywhere schools, had the works of the fathers of the church translated into German, in which language law was also dispensed. He learnt to write in his manhood, formed a learned society, which he joined under the name of David. Assisted by the great Alcuin or Flaccus, the most distinguished scholar of his time (born 753, died 804), a native of York, and Eginhard, his son-in-law, and Private Secre- tary (born 775, died 848) Charlemagne collected all the A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. 7 written laws of the German races, their poems and songs, and worked even himself at the very first German grammar. See Eginhard : vita Caroli M. Cap. 29, edited by Schmincke, 1711; also Bredow, published 1806. Charlemagne's collection of German heroic poems has not been preserved, but Eginhard speaks of it : vita Caroli Magni, 1st chapter. This beneficial rise of culture, education, and the fine arts was, however, mostly destroyed by the wars which began amongst the 'grandsons of Charlemagne, and with the Normans and Avarians. Their long continuation brought immense misery on the people, and produced such dismay and extraordinary despondency, as alone can explain the fears of the approaching Millenium — the prophesied destruction of the world, — which had arisen among the Rhenish population, so that a complete social dissolution threatened to take place in that part of Germany ; churches, palaces, private and public buildings were allowed to decay ; schools and law, also morals, were neglected, and even the fields were scarcely any longer . cultivated. The year 1000, however, having been safely passed, hope revived, and the stagnation which had endured for a length of time changed almost at a bound, from deso- lation and the extreme of misery into a healthy and hopeful activity. Ruins were cleared and rebuilt ; trade, education, and culture revived, and made such progress, that a new period arose, finding its culmination during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in Germany and tha Rhineland, the first glorious and splendid classical Ger- man era. Poetry and literature flourished, especially from 1138-1254. It was the time of the crusades and 01 exalted chivalry, inspiring poets to sing of what is grand, noble, and courageous in man and nations. The poets sang of the nobility of woman's soul, and the holiness 8 A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. of her nature. Delicious strains floated through the air, inspiring virtue and exalted, courageous chivalry, en- nobling mankind, and denouncing all that was false to God and honour. The mighty and glorious Frederick I., called the Redbeard or Barbarossa, and Frederick II., were the great protectors of literature and chivalry. I must here tell something poetically interesting and touch- ing. Our German peasantry would never believe in the death of Barbarossa, but were convinced that he slept, only in a trance, in a cave of the hill of Kyffhausen (south of the Hartz Mountains), and that he would, at ' the proper time, awaken to re-unite the Fatherland in one strong and glorious empire as of yore. They assert now, and firmly swear, that Kaiser Wilhelm is the resus- citated Barbarossa. I have questioned, in my journeys, peasants in different parts of Germany, and from every one received, with great earnestness, the beautiful answer in a query : You do not doubt that. Sir ? This was always a great theme with poets and artists. Under Henry I. and the Saxon Kings revived also the literary education of Germans. Under the Hohenstaufen Em- perors, beginning with Conrad III., 1138; under Bar- barossa, 1152-1190; Henry IV., to 1197; Frederick II., to 1250; and Conrad IV., to 1254; and at the Courts. of Duke Leopold of Austria, and especially at that of Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia and Hessia, it was a very fortunate and happy time for the German language, and poesy reached the highest pinnacle. Three hundred poets of this period are known. The works of the poets, called Minnesangers (die Minne = love ; they are also called Suabian Sangers, because they flourished under the reign of the Suabian Emperors of the house of Hohenstaufen), partly in fragments, are, to a large extent, to be found in the famed precious Manesse collection of manuscripts of the Minnesangers A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. 9 in the National Library at Paris, formerly at Heidelberg, from whence it was taken away by the French, along with many other rare and valuable manuscripts.^^ The Niebelungen Song, Lohengrin, the Book of Heroes, the Emperorschronik, &c., compare most favourably with the best works of Greece. Bodmer, Breitinger, Adelung, Lessing and Herder, the Brothers Grimm, Lachmann, von der Hagen, Benecke, Massmann, Simrock, &c., have given to the world, in modem German, works of that period. The names of a few of t,hese poets may interest, as Hy. von Veldeck (about 1170), translator of the uEneid in the style of chivalry ; Hartmann von der Aue (end of twelfth century), author of " The Poor Henry," and " Iwein, the Knight- with the Lion ; " Albrecht von Halberstadt (about 1210), translator of Ovid; Wolfram von Eschenbach (Eschilbach) (about 1220), author of the heroic poems, " Parcival," and " Wilhelm von Oranse or the Saint." This, as well as a third epos (heroic poem), " Titurel," were completed by others. See K. Lachmann, Berlin, 1833. "Iwein," by Lachmann and Benecke, Berlin, 1827; also his Dictionary, Gottingen, 1833. "The Poor Henry," by the Brothers Grimm, Berlin, 1815. Henry von Ofterdingen, at the Court of Leopold VII. of Austria ; Nicolaus Ellingsohr or Klinsor, astrologer at the Court of King Andrew II. ; Walther von der Vogelweide, at the Court of Leopold (about 1220); his poems by K. Lachmann, Berlin, 1827; portrayed by L. Uhland, 1822. Gottfried von Strassburg (about 1220), author of heroic poem, "Tristan," con- tinued by others. Ulrich von Lichtenstein (about 1250), poem, " Frauendienst " (service dedicated to Woman), by Hagen, Breslau, 1823. Konrad von Wiirzburg (about * Rudiger von Manesse, Councillor at Zurich, had formed this col- elction, with the help of his son, at the beginning of the fourteenth century. It disappeared afterwards, but was discovered about one hundred and thirty years ago at Heidelberg. lo A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. 1270), "The Trojan War" and "Song of Praise," named the " Golden Smithy," &c. The authors of the " Niebelungen Song," of " Lohengrin," " The Heroes Book," &c., are unknown. The Roland song is by the Priest Konrad; "Flore and Blancheflur," by Konrad von Flecke. Poetry flourished chiefly under Emperor Frederick II., 1215-1250. There is no doubt that the perfection of chivalry of that period,, under the Hohen- staufen Emperors, and the crusades, helped to bring to its pinnacle this classical time. Gothic Architecture sprung up in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, for example the Churches at Treves, Metz, Cologne, Freiburg, Strassburg, Frankfort, Marburg, etc. ; the Fine Arts advanced manifestly in the many new Gothic Churches and other public buildings, in sculpture, in the tempera and wall paintings. The so- called Cologne or Rhenish School of Painters embellished Churches and Palaces in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The most talented of that School were Wilhelm von Coin (Cologne), whose School flourished from 1350-1420. Hupert van Eyck, 1410, invented to paint in oil at Briiges, along with his brother Jan (John) influenced greatly the Fine Arts of the Rhinelands. Stephan Lochner painted already in oil the celebrated Cologne Cathedral picture, called the crown of the Cologne School, the " Adoration of the Magi," or the Three Holy Kings, 1410 (1440 ?). The works of these Masters and others are most important in the Art His- tory of the Rhinei and Art History in general. All this together drew a halo around the Rhenish Middle Ages and Germany. I beg to call the especial attention of travellers to the most interesting and instructive Mediaeval Museums in the towns on the banks of the Rhine. It must, however, not be forgotten that the formation A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. 1 1 of the Rhenish Hansa (confederation of towns, as a pro- tection against the rapacious nobles) — (the Northern Hansa was commenced 1201) — founded 1250 by Arnold von Walpoden (the present family name is Count of Walbott-Bassenheim), a nobleman of Mayence, gave great security to the towns, gave them self-government, encouraged and protected trade and learning. This Hansa did also much for schools and the Fine Arts ; gave strength to the Empire, producing at the same time a sturdy and independent spirit among the citizens, the impress of which is yet visible among the lively Rhinelanders. Henry I., named the Great and the Fowler, the founder of towns with walls (burghs), and of the citizen- guilds, as early as anno 919, endeavoured to give self- government to towns, as a salvation to the Empire and progress, and to balance the power and egotism of the numerous German nobility, contemplating and commenc- ing then already what the Hansa later accomplished. He introduced also the Tournaments into Germany. Great lawlessness reigned during the interregnum from 1254) to 1273 — after the death of the Emperor Frederick II. and Conrad IV. of Hohenstaufen, until Rudolph (Rodolf) of Habsburg (born 1218) was elected to the Imperial Crown, anno 1273 ; he appeased the feuds which had existed between the Empire and Rome for nearly two. hundred years, extirpated the robber knights, destroyed their castles, and did much for educa- tion. He was a grand Emperor. The time of the now following Meister-Sangers rather lowered Literature, but this was counterbalanced by the invention of making rags into paper (first quarter of the fifteenth century), probably by a German ; and by the Rhineland giving to the world the real apostle of freedom in the person of Johannes Gutenberg (Guttenberg) and zum Gensfleisch, 12 A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. the searching spirit of whom gave, along with Fust and Schoeffer, from 1436 and 1440 to 1456, printing to the world, a blessing which was denied to Greece and Eome, which has united the Old and New Worlds and all nations for ever and ever, and by which life has become doubly acceptable, glorious, and valuable. The conquest of Byzanz (Constantinople) by the Turks (1453) drove many learned Greeks to Italy, which occa- sioned the profoundest study of Greek in Germany. The newspapers (the first about 1488) helped to disseminate knowledge ; the discovery of America by Columbus (1492) stirred up the world, and by its treasures gradu- ally ruined Spain ; Franz von Taxis gave the postal system (1516) to, and the glorious Reformation (1517) threw a firebrand into, the world, culminating in the Thirty Years' "War. Luther (1483-1 546) did much for the culture of the Sciences, but especially for the purifi- cation and improvement of the German language. By his famed translation of the Bible and his other writings, his German became the written language of the Father- land, keeping the middle between the high and low German, being now called (new) high German. Hans Sachs, the Niirnberg Poet and Shoemaker (1494-1576), and the Knight, Ulrich von Hutten (1488-1523), Luther's friends, also did much for the improvement of the language. The Thirty Years' War destroyed or injured, however, many of the Mediaeval Buildings and Art Treasures of the Rhine and the Fatherland ; laid prostrate and drove back civilization, education, the fine arts, and the various trades ; brutalized the people, and brought them agonies and miseries, hunger, the pest, and utter demoralization — this all in the name of the Christian Religion, with its war-cry nailed to the mast, " Faith, Hope, and Charity " — all through want of Christian toleration in religion. What blessings and A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. 1 3 misery have Love, Politics, and Religion brought on mankind ! The Romans, the various German tribes, the Avarians, the Normans and Huns, saw the Rhine, and from the Thirty Years' War to the year 1815, the regiments of nearly every country of Europe have watered their horses in its waters. The period of the greater completion of the German language and the second new era of classical German Literature commenced about 1750. Klopstock, Leib- nitz, Lessing, Herder, Goethe, Schiller, Burger, Jean Paul Richter, Arndt, the Schlegels, Tieck, Komer, Uhland, Schwab, Riickert, Freytag, Simroch, J. Heyse, Gutzkow, etc., etc. ; Kant, Mendelssohn, Fichte, Sch el- ling, Hegel, Zeller, etc. ; Winckelmann, Moser, the Humboldts, the Brothers Grimm, Bopp, Booking, Her- mann, Heeren, Welker, Raumer, Ranke, Ritter, Berg- haus, Sybel, Gervinus, Varnhagen von Ense, etc. ; Claudius, Becker, Salzmann, Campe, Peslalozzi, Miiller, Koch, Pohlmann, Schmid, Diesterweg, Frobel, etc. ; Adelung, Bemhardi, Heinsius, Jahn, Schmitthenner, Miiller, Bernhardt, G. Heyse, etc. — all have helped in the improvement of the language. On the death of Frederick the Great, his nephew, Frederick William II., ascended the throne, who, instead of following in the economical steps of his renowned uncle, squandered his considerable savings, led a dis- sipated life, and set a horrible example to his people, whereby everything became rotten in the kingdom, and naturally also in the minor German States, Prussia having become under the Alton Fritz the leading State of Germany. His son and successor, Frederick William III., though of a noble mind, embued with the best intentions, and leading a virtuous life with his beloved and beautiful Queen Luise, purified the Court circles of 14 A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. the debauching elements, but he had neither the strength of mind nor the energy to grapple with the great evil which existed. It required the disasters of Jena and Auerstadt to bring about the reforms needed and to resuscitate the people. The Prussians, sleeping on the laurels of the Great Frederick, over-confident and badly prepared, with an exhausted exchequer and with a weak and- hesitating policy, dared to confront that giant. Napoleon I., who overthrew them, as a matter of course, at Jena and Auerstadt. Prussia and the King, however, showed wisdom, perceived and acknowledged their defeat and shortcomings, and by strict -economy, prudence, frugality, improved education, and awaiting their time, with an earnest purpose and will, and trusting in the justice of the Almighty, Prussia (and the rest of humiliated Germany) rose like the Phoenix from its ashes. In misfortiine, however, the greatness of the soul of Frederick William III. came to Hght ; comforted by his admirable Queen, and assisted by the great statesman. Baron von Stein, by Wilhelm von Humboldt, by Scham- horst, Schon, and other patriots, he created a new era, though often under great difficulties ; the improved schools date from this period. What has been done of late in Art on the Rhine is proved by the doings of the Academy at Diisseldorf {%.&., Cornelius, Schadow, Lessing, Bendemann, Eethel, etc.), and the Art Schools of Cologne, Mayence, Frank- fort-on-the-Maine, and Carlsruhe ; by the many Schools of Design ; by the erection of numerous Churches, Synagogues, and other buildings, splendidly embellished by Frescoes and Oil Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Art ; by many modem public monuments ; by the magnificent restoration of churches, town-halls, and ruined castles, by which the rich Saga of the Rhine was A Historical Sketch of the Rhine. 1 5 revived — see the Rhine Saga by Vogt, Simrock, etc. — as well as by the high cultivation of church and other music, and singing, which was and is certainly much assisted by the Eoman Catholic Church service. The works of Bach, Gluck, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beeth- oven, Weber, Meyerbeer, Mendelssohn, Litszt, Richard Wagner, etc., etc., are much studied, besides purely church music. The Rhineland was, and is yet, rich in Universities : those at Treves, Duisburg, Cologne, and Mayence are now extinct, but those of Bonn, Heidelberg, Strassburg, Freiburg, and Basle flourish yet. Steam in connection with education has done wonders in the Rhinelands for Manufactories and Trades, and those of Aix-la-Chapelle, Diiren, Crefeld, Gladbach, Rheydt, Diisseldorf, Barmen and Elberfeld, Duisburg, Essen, Lennep and Miihlheim-on-the-Ruhr, Cologne, Mayence, Frankfort, Mannheim, etc., compete now suc- cessfully with the world. The Rhenish Geology is also very interesting, i.e., the volcanic Eifel mountains. The water of the lake of Laach fills a deep crater, formed of lava, five miles in circumference ; it is the largest of the many crater- formed lava lakes of the Eifel. See the works and geological maps of Noggerath, Dechen, and Oynhausen. The valleys of the tributaries of the Rhine are rich in coal and minerals, i.e., of the rivers Nahe, Lahn, and Dill, the Moselle and Saar, the Sieg, Ruhr, and Lenne, etc. In regard to the Flora of the Rhine every information can be obtained in Griesebach's " The Vegetation of the Earth," etc., vol. ii., 1872 ; and in regard to its Fauna, in Professor Schmarda's "The Zoography of the Earth," etc., Vienna. 1 6 Education and Schools. A FEW WORDS ON THE EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS OF GERMANY, ESPECIALLY OF PRUSSIA. The various centres which exist there, have contributed and will continue to contribute mightily to the general education of the masses and the higher culture of the Middle Classes. These centres are the provincial capitals, the residences of the various German Sove- reigns and the twenty universities, which shine most beneficially on and brighten up their respective districts. In Prussia, for example, each of the eleven provinces has not only a small army quite complete in itself and always ready — the school education of the soldiers being continued during winter evenings — but also one or more complete seats of Government, quite distinct from law, at whose boards councillors have seats for the general ad- ministration, finance, education and schools, buildings, roads and bridges, medicine, police, etc. The provincial Schul-Collegium (schoolboard) and the Schulrath* (Coun- cillor of Education) manage the schools. The School Inspectors have certain districts apportioned to them, and at stated examinations, under their directions, the teachers themselves examine the pupils. The Inspector looks more to the intelligent development of the pupils' minds than to cramming them with facts, so perni- cious, and which certainly is not education. No Govern- ment grants are given, but efficient "teachers receive occasional rewards in money. + The head teachers of the higher and secondary schools have mostly seats at the local School-boards of towns. No Government teacher can be arbitrarily dismissed, * The Schulrath and the School Inspectors are now mostly taken from the teaching body, as it should be. t Candidates for the universities, polytechnic, scientific and military schools, and those for the teacher's seminaries, must be vf ell prepared before they are admitted, after a strict examination. Education and Schools. 1 7 and even if so, after investigation, he may appeal to the Minister of State. Most of the provinces have one or two technical colleges or schools, complete in everything, to which I beg to caU particular attention, especially to those at Aix-la- Chapelle, Carlsruhe, Stuttgart, Berlin, Miinchen, and Hanover ; then several Gymnasia, Progymnasia, Real- schulen, a military academy, seminaries for male and female teachers, in which they are also taught the art of teaching according to the system of Diesterweg and others. The proviace contains further all sorts of schools, even for different trades where needed, as brew- ing, spinning, and weaving, for building trades, pomology, and wine cultivation, chemical agricultural trial stations, industrial school's for tradesmen, etc., etc. To the modern languages, to drawing, gymnastics, the sciences and music, particular attention is paid. Religious instruction is given by the ministers of the various denominations. Many towns have their own higher, middle, and primary schools, and so have many villages their primary schools, for which they pay, which, however, are subject to Government inspection, as well as private schools. Over the breadth of Germany the means are afforded to young men to receive a proper classical and secondary education, even in small towns of not more than from three to four thousand inhabitants. They are thus properly prepared when' they enter the universities, the seminaries for teachers, or business and trades. Nearly every German university has a chair for English and French, and I trust this ' may soon be the case also here in regard to German. Perhaps energetic Professor Blackie, after having placed his pet child into the Celtic Chair, may be induced to take his German pet child also by the hand and place it likewise in a well-endowed chair of German, — not a mere lecturer but a real Germanist, 1 8 Education and Schools. and no doubt Bismarck will help him with a well qualified savant and the nervus rerum gerendarum. All the teachers of the higher class schools must have studied at a ugivprsity, and teachers for the secondary schools, some^ aP^universities and others at excellent seminaries (a higher class of Normal schools) and thus schooling in Germany is on the whole satisfactory, and though there is no perfection, yet the schoolmaster, i.e., general education of the masses, has gained the battles of the Fatherland, 1870 and 1871. The enlightened minister of Education and Church matters, Dr Falk, will no doubt yet much improve the schools. It is to the honour of Prince Bismarck that he chooses his lieutenants irrespective of family and religion, Dr Falk and Dr Frie- denthal, also a minister of State, being born Jews. The Prince seems to be of opinion that neither nobility nor the kind of religion have aught to do with the brain. It is also an honour to Kaiser Wilhelm that he backs Bismarck out and out, although he has to do his work occasionally with a trenchant weapon, glorious fellow ! I am, however, of opinion that too much is attempted in the higher class male schools, the teaching being far too multifarious and the pupils being worked too hard ; in consequence of which they suffer in health and look sickly; this is corroborated by the Minister of Education just now causing enquiry to be made on that score. A Commission has lately been appointed to consider the inconsistencies of our orthography, as we pretend to pronounce or speak as we write. ' I trust, however, that another Commission will soon be named to simplify our Grammar, and to purge it of many defects, and which might have been done before by the Brothers Schlegel, Tieck, and the Brothers Grimm, and many others who have acknowledged the simplicity, terseness and the facility of expression which the English language affords. Education and Schools. 1 9 having produced thus the best orators of all nations, save perhaps the ancients, and such glorious works as those of Milton, Shakespeare, and others. It is due, however, to the Brothers Schlegel and Tieck, to have laid completely open to the world many unknown beauties of Shakespeare in their translations of his works, acknowledged by Charles Knight in the introduc- tion to his larger edition of Shakespeare. Nearly the half of the English vocabulary is of Saxon origin, and about eighteen thousand words of the Norman, French, Latin, and Greek tongues have been incorporated into English ; which foreign words are understood and to a large extent used by educated Germans, so that I think in teaching German, this should form to a larger extent the basis than is now the case. Some Americans are greatly in advance of us in this respect. See the works, for example, by William Dwight Whitney, Professor of Sanscrit and Instructor in Modern Languages in Yale College, N.A., and other American authors. I try to make this as much as possible my basis. Dr Ross, in his masterly and splendid lecture which he delivered on the 8th April to the members of the Educational Institute, complained bitterly that the place of English in a liberal education was yet neglected in the schools. This struck me most forcibly as applying also to German, at least to some of the Gymnasia of Germany. I have occasionally to translate from German medical and scientific periodicals, and am shocked and grieved to find that many of the Fatherland's savants, and ministers too, murder their beautiful mother- tongue. As the preliminarj'^ study of the sciences forms now an important element not merely in the higher, but also in the middle and primary schools of Germany, the study of the German language, through the sciences, geography and history, etc., might be advantageously 20 Education and Schools. made use of, as it would form a splendid mental discip- line. Dr Ross deserves the gratitude of every true Briton for having exposed the neglect of the nearest and most natural means of cultivating the minds of the rising generation. Dr Ross has, with his magnificent lecture, played out a trump for the High School and Edinburgh. The mode of teaching how to spell and how to read in the primary schools, I consider very superior and the result most satisfactory. In regard to schools, I was much pleased with what I saw at the superior ladies' school of Herrn Director Schwertfeger, where also French and English are taught, and at the Parish School of St Johanni at Gottingen, under the head master Herrn Voigt. In the latter school, besides a plain education the pupils of the two sexes receive instruction in history, political and physical geography, the German language and literature, algebra and geometry, drawing, gymnas- tics, and, of course, singing, besides a certain amount in natural history and in the sciences, which would delight a Huxley and Dr Andrew Wilson. Of course this was only in the upper classes. Every Monday or second Monday a rehearsal takes place of what had been learned the week or two before, — a capital plan. The smaller universities of Germany are the very nurseries of learning, having contributed much to the general dissemination of education. The Professors, owing to the smaller number of students, can, and do, exercise more personal influence on them, and on the other hand clever students refresh in return the minds of their Professors, who have time to study and to gain fame, when they are often called to larger spheres. It is, however, to be regretted that the Art Faculties of some of these smaller universities have forgotten them- selves so far as to sell to all and sundry their degree of The yourney. 2 1 Doctor Philosophise, but happily this is not the case in their other Faculties. Freiburg, Erlangen, Giessen and Jena are notorious in this odious trafficking, and it is considered such a scandal that steps are to be taken to prevent this in future. However, none of the Prussian and other German universities have lent themselves to these abominable practices. A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE JOURNEY. My wife and I, with many others, took, towards the end of last July, the steamer Osborne, under friendly Captain Luckie, for Rotterdam, where we only paid a flying visit to the admirable bronze statue of Erasmus of R. The Dutch regale strangers with a good joke, viz., that, when Erasmus heard the clock strike noon, he turned a leaf of the Bible which he holds in his hand. At Cologne (Coin or Koln), the Colonia Agrippinensis, later Colonia Claudia Agrippina, we went to the Ger- mania Hotel, close to the station and the cathedral. We were at once welcomed by old Father Rhine and friend Bacchus, who treated us to a glass of Hock, not to be despised after a long journey ; they asked most kindly after the welfare of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, and the Educational Institute of Scotland. Next morning at seven o'clock, our first visit was, of course, to the majestic Gothic cathedral, round which we went, admiring the harmonious proportions and beautiful restoration of even the minutest rich details, especially the splendid South Portal.* On entering, we saw the gigantic Kaiser Glocke, a present of the Emperor, pro- visionally placed in the vestibule. The sunny morning • The restoration of the interior is nearly complete, and so is the exterior. The completing of the two towers will require years yet. The expense already incurred amounts to nearly £800,000, but the whole completion, including the two towers, will require most likely a largei: sum yet. 22 The Journey. effect of the interior was supreme ; the loftiness of its vaults, the many high pillars, altars, shrines, and monu- ments, the superbly painted windows, the paintings and sculptures, the whole interior gorgeously decorated in colour and gold, all this produced an unique and wonder- ful effect which can scarcely be expressed. The interior, however, should be entered on various parts of the day, at dusk, and, if possible, also during moonlight. At dusk we entered again and were rewarded with a marvellous sight, the most glorious in our lives, never to be forgotten again — it was the very climax of our enjoyments. The immense windows were yet tipped by the sinking sun, and the church, in demi-obscurity, gave a startling, over- powering, Rembrandt-like effect. The Nave was crowded, — on a sudden the mighty organ vibrated its sounds gloriously through the high vaults ; a band of priests, choristers, and, boys, all in white surplices, appeared (the' boys swinging incense), lighted the tapers of a comer altar of the transverse nave, near the organ, and chaunted a musical Mass in a pre-eminently magnificent style, the people on their knees, giving the responses in a low voice. It was a most memorable and quite enchanting concert. This evening effect were worthy of the brush of a Sani Bough or some other qualified artist. On leaving the Cathedral we were greatly surprised and pleased to see the interesting shrine of the "Mutter Gottes at Kevlaar," the story of which is so beautifully and touchingly told by Heinrich Heine in his " Pilgrimage to Kevlaar," one of the best poems in the German language. Some of the other churches are archseologically, artistically, and historically deserving of inspection — for example, the Church of St Maria im Capitol ; that of St Peter, with Peter's crucifixion by Rubens, a hideous but grand work ; that of St Ursula, daughter of the English The yourney. 2 3 King Yiouetus, who was slain at Cologne, with her eleven thousand English virgins, when returning from a pilgrim- age to Rome. The bones were gathered save those of one virgin who had escaped ; Ursula was canonized, the church built in her honour, and the bones nicely stapled in gilt framed compartments, visible in the church. We counted them and found the number correctly stated, you may be sure. This is partly history and partly legend. Some other churches are as interesting, as well as a hand- some Sjmagogue with a gilt cupola, in the mauresque style, a gift of Baron Oppenheim. Passing the Neumarkt we were greeted in a friendly manner- by two horses, looking out of an upper window, and who told us, on inquiry, that they had placed them- selves there in order to testity that Dame Richmodis von Lyskirchen, wife of the Knight Menzies von Adocht, had been buried whilst in a trance, during the pest, 1537, in the Church of the St Apostles, and been awakened again when the grave-digger came during night to rob her jewels ; the scoundrel, however, took to flight when she arose again. She returned to the Knight, who would not believe her, declaring this to be untrue, and he would rather believe that his horses would run up the stair and look out of the upper window, than that his wife had come to life again. Thereupon behold the horses broke loose in their stable, ran up the stair and looked out of a window. Frau Richmodis was spared yet to live a goodly number of years, the joy of her lord. She worked with her own hands a Lent-cloth which she pre- sented to St Apostles' Church, where it is yet shown, so as to convince unbelievers. On the handsome Railway Bridge across the Rhine stand two colossal equestrian statues of Friedrich Wil- helm IV. by Blaser, and of the Emperor Wilhelm by Drake. From this bridge agreeable views are got. The 24 The Journey. town of Deutz, on the opposite side of the river, is the Castrum Divitensium of the Romans. The art treasures and objects of decorative art in the various Clmrches, the Townhall, and Giirzenich — named after its founder, with splendid saloons for banquets, balls, and concerts, especially during Carnival ; the Archi-Episcopal Museum ; the remarkable Wallraf- Richartz Museum — Wallraf left Xq> the town his splendid art collections, and Richartz spent £30,000 to erect the building, which was finished in 1861, — as well as the many objects of art in the public and private buildings, are most instructive, and form with those of the other JRlienish towns a most important link in the Art history of the Middle Ages and the present time. A Cologne Patron of Art, Baron von Oppenheim, though a Jew, gave anno 1870 for the wounded the munificent sum of £150,000. Cologne is very well supplied with first-rate schools, and also with hospitals for the poor. There is a very well appointed Zoological Garden, and in the Flora near at hand, among flowers and foun- tains, one can enjoy of an afternoon, in the open air, an excellent cup of Mocha, listening to really delicious music. At most of the larger towns of the Rhineland there is on every Sunday English Divine Service, and at Wies- baden, for example, the English have builfc a beautiful Church. The cheapest and certainly most comfortable mode of seeing towns is to engage by the hour an open carriage, and if possible to select a cabby with a decent military air, and to hand to him a list of those characteristic curiosities of the place which one may wish to see a plan superior to the employment of a courier or the private roaming about. It saves time and money — the The yourney. 2 5 hotel stay is shortened, and besides avoids fatigue and overheating, so dangerous in summer. At Bonn — the Bonna or Castra Bonnensia — where Professor Aufrecht, formerly of Edinburgh, is now one of the shining lights — we saw first the statue of Beethoven, at whose unveiling, 1845, Queen Victoria was present. The statue of the .Patriot Moritz E. Arndt, the singer of " Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland ?" etc., is auf dem alten Zoll, a former bastion from which a splendid view of the Seven Mountains is obtained. The university buildings, nearly nineteen hundred feet long, formerly the residence of the Prince-Electors of Cologne, contain an important library, which is graced by good marble busts of Niebuhr,* A. W. von Schlegel, and F. G. Welker (the two last my former revered teachers), of M. E. Arndt, Kilian, etc., worth the attention of the Edinburgh Senatus. The Minster is a very interesting building. The collections at Bonn and at Schloss Pop- pelsdorf — one mile distant, the splendid and extensive new Laboratory, and also the handsome new buildings of the Agricultural College, deserve notice. Dr Schmitz, the predecessor of Dr Donaldson, and favoured pupil of Niebuhr, was formerly teacher at the Gymnasium of Bonn. In the Cemetery is a monument erected by Friedrich Wilhelm IV. " to his friend and teacher Niebuhr ; " further, gravestones of Schiller's widow and son Ernst, of Rt. Schumann, the composer, and others, worthy of a visit. We went then to the Seven Mountains, visited the Lord of Drachenfels — (see Byron's " Childe Harold," " The Castled Crag of Drachenfels," &c., and Bulwer's " Pilgrims of the Rhine ") — broke a lance with the Knight, tasted his dragon blood — a good wine grown near at hand, — enjoyed lute and song, in company of * Niebuhr studied some time at Edinburgh. 26 The Journey. fair dames, chivalrous knights, inspired poets, artists, &c. We crossed then over to comfort Roland at Rolandseck, the nephew and Paladin of Charlemagne, who cannot overcome his grief on account of the loss of His be- trothed Hildegund, who had taken the veil in the near island of Nonnenwerth, when hearing of his reported death in the battle, or rather retreat in the valley, of Roncesval ; where, however, he had only been severely wounded. He built then the Castle of Roland'seck, gazing day and night at the beautiful isle, and listening to the chants of the nuns, but the brave and faithful fellow will not be comforted. The views one obtains here, from the Drachenfels and other parts of the Rhine, of an early morning or evening, and particularly by moon- light, are sublimely charming. Through the vine-clad banks of the river, commencing at Bonn, and through lovely scenery, we steamed up, passed the monuments of the gallant French Generals, Hoche and Marceau (see Byron's beautiful lines), kept religiously in order by the Prussian Government, and arrived at stately Ehrenbreit-' stein and Coblenz, strong fortresses, connected by a bridge of boats. Coblenz, the Roman Contiluentes, at the con- fluence of the two lovely rivers, Moselle and Rhine, has about 30,000 inhabitants. There is a handsome stone- and a railway-bridge across the Moselle ; and a boat- and a railway-bridge across the Rhine. The St Castor Church, with four towers, was originally built by Louis the Pious, more than one thousand years ago, and is very interesting, as well as the other Churches, the Palace, etc. The Rhine Anlage, a gift by the Empress Augusta, is a charming pro- menade along the Rhine. The town has many good schools, and music is much cultivated there. The fortifications of Coblenz and Ehenbreitstein should be visited, as the views from them are unique — (see Byron's " Childe Harold " and Bulwer's " Pilgrims of the Rhine.") The Journey. 2 7 This part is the most imposing and picturesque, a seducing picture of the Khine, especially when coming down from Stolzenfels, at which castle Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were royally entertained, 1845, by Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The views from there, at different parts of day and night, cannot be surpassed. The castle lies opposite to the influx of the lovely Lahn into the Eihine. On this river, a few miles distant. Ems is situated, now historically famed by Olivier 's order to Benedetti : " Brusquez le Roi," which led to the memor- able war of 1870-1871. After a time we entered the splendid gorge*, in which the river is hemmed in by projecting rocks and hills, and this with the windings of the stream, the numerous villages and towns, with battlements and towers, hand- some churches and villas, uncounted castles, some in ruins, others yet tolerably preserved, and again others splendidly restored or rebuilt, with the railways on the two sides of the river, with its many crafts, passenger and goods-steamers, rows of large sailing vessels towed by huge tugs, with numerous small boats and occasional rafts — all this together forming constantly changing pic- tures which no other river of Europe offers to tourists, and which continues until we had passed the mice- tower and whirlpool near Bingen., From the tower of the Klopp ruins at this town, and the adjacent St Rochus Chapel, charmingly described by Goethe, splendid * St Goar, Oberwesel, Caub and Baeharach, are proper places for tourists to make excursions from. The legend of the imposing rock, Lurlei, near St Gear, is well known through the Romance " Loreley," by Clemens Brentano but especially through " Heinrich Heine's Song, Lorelei," " Ich weiss nicht was soil es bedeuten," etc., set to music by Silcher, also by Liszt. It is said that the " Nibelungen Hort " lies in the Lurlei rock. Near it is the formerly famed place for the catch of saljnon, which however is becoming more and more insignificant owing to the immense traffic on the Ehine. 28 The Jotirney. views are obtained, as well as from the opposite wooded eminence across the Rhine, named the Niederwald, sights are enjoyed, charming and varied, down the gorge of the stream, up the Nahe river which joins the Rhine at Bingen, and stream upwards on the same side of the Niederward is the Rhinegau where all the best Hocks are grown, and where one of the finest panoramas of the world presents itself, as attested by Bulwer. To witness a severe thunderstonn in the Rhine valley is terrific but grand and sublime — the artistic effect is startling and extraordinary. In descending to Riidesheim, we took a rest at Ph. Ant. Corvers', an honest winegrower, and drank the health of all our friends in Scotland out of large goblets filled with deliciously invigorating Riides- heim wine. "We stayed for some days at the house of my brother-in-law, the Rev. Carl Ziilch, at Eltville, from which we made delightful excursions into the beautiful Rhinegau. Wiesbaden possesses numerous attractions, and many charming public and private buildings ; the Kurhaus, with its large gorgeous colonnaded saloon and apart- ments, assembles on afternoons and evenings at its back portal, towards a small lake and park, the Elite of the world, so to speak, who listen to the famed regimental bands of Mayence and Wiesbaden, The excellent town's band discourses sweet music from six to eight in the morning, at the boiling spring, where invalids, walking up and down under an open colonnade, quaff the hot mineral water, served to them by damsels. We did not like the taste of the water, but enjoyed a couple of eggs which had been boiled in nets in the Kochbrunnen. The Russian-Greek chapel, in a wood, one-and-a-half miles from the town, contains the Mausoleum of the late Duchess of Nassau, a Russian princess. It is a beautiful structure, with gilded cupolas ; the interior is exquisite The Journey. 29 and unique, and gives a good account of Russian Art, the most of the interior having been embellished by Russian artists. Wiesbaden possesses excellent schools, and the situation being sheltered, many English families resort to it in -winter. The physician. Professor Dr Robert, is much consulted by them. Mayence (Mainz), the Moguntiacum of the Romans, and in the middle ages called the golden Mainz, lies beautifully at the bosom of the Rhine. Mainz owes its origin to Drusus (son-in-law of Augustus), who built a fort there, anno 14 B.C. It is said and believed that the town was the scene of the Emperor Constantine's vision of the Cross — for which, see his letter to Eusebius in 31 J . It has the high honour of having given print- ing to the world, denied to the Greek and the Roman, as Ottfried Miiller appropriately said on the base of Guttenberg's statue, in commemoration of which an admirable statue of the inventor Guttenberg, cast in bronze at Paris after a model by Thorwaldsen, was placed, 1837, between the theatre and the imposing Minster. This cathedral, owing to fires and wars, part rebuildings and additions, presents now an interesting conglomeration of the architecture of different centuries.. It possesses most important monuments, one of which is that of Count Henry of Meissen, sumamed Frauenlob, (1318), by Schwanthaler ; erected, instead of the old ■ monument, by the ladies of Mayence and Germany, 1842, in memory of the sweet singer who sang only of what is good and noble in woman, dear creatures. On the Schiller Platz is a good statue of Schiller by Scholl. The Eichelstein (Eigelstein) or Drusus tower in the citadel is a remnant of that which was erected by the Roman legions in the years nine aiid seven before Christ, in memory of Drusus, the builder of most of 30 The jfourney. the fifty Roman Castra of the Rhiheland. Near the town, at the village of Zahlbach are yet considerable remains of a Roman Aqueduct. The museum contains extremely rich collections of Roman and German-Roman antiquities, besides the largest gallery of painted stucco- casts of German-Roman collections of other German towns. The town library is rich in the earliest printed books by Guttenberg, Fust, and Schoeffer. The town contains also a large Industrial Hall or per- manent Bazaar, where manufactured articles of Mayence are sold, which I think should be imitated by the Edin- burgh manufacturers. From a slight eminence outside of the town, named Neue Anlagen, a public park, (also from the citadel) of an evening in summer, when a military band is playing, a glorious view is obtained of the joining of the river Main with the Rhine; the handsome railway bridge, the Taunus Mountains, the river front of the town, the opposite Kastel and the distant Rhinegau. St Bonifacius (Winfried), a native of Hertford in "Wessex, England, was the first Archbishop of Germany and Mayence, and consecrated anno 751. He was the son of a millwright and thus the arms of the town contain a wheel. George Forster, the celebrated circum- navigator, was Professor at the now extinct university. We proceeded then to Frankfoft-on-the-Main, named so from the Francs under Charlemagne having been defeated by Wittekindt, the warlike duke of the yet heathen Saxons, and who saved themselves only from total destruction by finding a ford, and having gained the opposite side, the Saxons dared not follow them. There we paid first our respect to the great Emperor Charlemagne, on the bridge over the Main, my wife being not a little startled and amused, when I intro- duced her in form to His Majesty, who kindly asked The Journey. 3 1 after the good folks of Edina, assuring us at the same time of his good will towards them. I told then my spouse to hasten, as we were expected by a goodly com- pany at the Romer (Townhall) ; she was greatly astonished and pleased by being received in state by the German Roman Emperors from Charlemagne down to Francis II. ; the last-named abdicated 1806, when the German empire was dissolved after having lasted more than a thousand years. In this splendid hall, embellished by whole length figures in oil of the Emperors, painted by talented modem artists, at the expense of the town, of princes and art-associations, the new Emperor, after having been elected in the next room by the seven Prince-Electors of the Empire, and crowned in the Cathedral (Dom) by the Prince-Elector of Mayence, was in the habit to banquet with the assembled Princes, the Emperor show- ing himself afterwards to the crowd from the balcony. We saw, of course, the house in which that giant, Goethe, was born, 1749, who throws more lustre on Frankfort than all the coronations ; then we saw his colossal bronze statue by Swanthaler, and that of noble Schiller by Diehlmann ; also the galvanoplastic colossal group of Guttenberg and his coadjutors. Fust and Schoeffer, by Von Launitz, and the beautiful marble Ariadne by Dannecker, in the Bethmann villa. The Francfort Citizen, Stadel, spent a princely fortune, above £100,000 in founding an Academy, besides presenting to the town his many houses and other properties, and valuable Art Collections, of which the paintings by the old and modern German masters are very remarkable, i.e., Lessing's best work, " Huss before the Council at Costnitz" (Constance). Francfort can boast of a magnifi- cent new Synagogue, of a handsome Exchange, Casino, Churches, Palm and Zoological Gardens, of the Senken- berg Cabinets of Natural History, including that of the 2,2 The Journey. celebrated traveller, Riippel, of delightful walks round the town and handsome new suburbs, of the Hessian Monument and most interesting cemeteries. Another citizen of Francfort, Eothschild, though a Jew, maintains constantly at his expense, irrespective of religion, a large number of talented young men from all parts of Germany, at Universities, Academies of the fine arts and of music, and on travel. The citizens being very wealthy, enjoy the reputation of being generous in a proper way. It has a good Opera and we enjoyed there " the Spendthrift," the music by Conradin Kreutzer ; especially the orchestra is first rate. It is chosen as a residence by many foreigners, and is considered one of the most agreeable towns imaginable, offering besides great educational advantages. At a distance of three miles is the thriving manufacturing town of Offenbach. The residence of the Princess Alice of Great Britain, Darmstadt, is fifteen miles distant. i/fC^ ."^-^^ We reached, next, Jerusalem-like Marburg , tenderly Sf^^"*"— ' leaning on a hill, situated at the river Lahn, with a dC^Jf-- stately Castle on the height, the first German Protestant University, founded 1527, and famed for the grave of sweet St Elizabeth, over which an admirable Gothic Church was' built — commenced 1234 — see Kingsley, Montalembert, Richard Wagner, &c. — St Elizabeth of Hungary was Consort of Landgrave Louis of Thuringia and Hessen, son of Hermann, at whose court the Sanger War at the Wartburg took place, and is the ancestress of nearly every crowned head of Europe, a most inter- esting fact. St Elizabeth was daughter of King Andrew II. of Hungary, the valiant crusader. Her extraordinary life was fuU of romance, piety, singleness of heart, of self- denial, and charity, nursing the poor and sick, and spend- ing all her means on them. She was a high honour to her sex. The Emperor Frederick II. offered to tha The yourney. 33 widowed Elizabeth his hand, which, she humbly refused. He was present at her canonization, shortly after having espoused the beautiful English Princess Isabel, approached the coffin and said : " Since I could not crown her living as my Empress, I will at least crown her to-day as an immortal Queen in the Kingdom of God," and placed on her head a crown of gold. The famous conference regarding the Lord's Supper, between Luther, Melanchthon, Zuinglius, etc., took place there, 1529 ; "Hoc est Corpus meum," were Luther's - words, which broke up the conference. Dionysius Papin was there Professor of Mathematics from 1686 to 1714, and to him belongs undoubtedly the high honour of hav- ing first employed steam to produce motion by raising a piston. The famous " Newcome Engine " at the Hun- terian Museum of Glasgow, was Papin's invention, im- proved by Newcome, whose name it bears on that account. Through it, James Watt made the working of steam a practical reality, revolutionizing industry altogether. A grateful world — ^enriched by steam — might, before the Railway Station at Marburg, erect at least his statue along with that of Watt. Patrick Hamilton, the first Scottish Martyr, studied, and Frith and Tyndale trans- lated, at this place, parts of the first Bible into English. The present Professors Frankland, Tyndal, and Guthrie, not only studied but took also their degrees at the old Philippina, as the university is called, from having been founded by Landgrave Philip, the champion of the Refor- mation, who had, like Count Gleichen, the Crusader, two wives at the same time, and which, strange to say, had been sanctioned by Luther and Melanchthon. The Gymnasium under Dr Miinscher, and the Real- schule under Dr Hempfing are very superior. The Brothers Grimm, gavigny, Busch, Sybel, Zeller the philosopher, the chemists Bunsen and Kolbe, 34 The Journey. Ludwig, Lieberkiilin, and Vangerow, and many other celebrities, gained their golden spurs at this seat of learning. A number of English and Scottish boys are always there at school ; so were sons of Principal TuUoch, and of the Eev. W. Gillies, and at present there is one of the Rev. Professor Wallace. On reaching beautiful Hessen-Cassel or Kassel, on the Fulda, we drove first through the handsome new parts of the town, saw the exquisite Gallery of Paintings, the Marble Baths, and the Carls Aue-Park. On the Fried- rich's Platz, the largest Square in Germany, stands the statue of Landgrave Frederick of Hessen, whose consort was Mary of Great Britain, daughter of George II. The grandsons of Queen Victoria, the Prussian Princes, are at school at Cassel. LandgTave Frederick is the creator of Wilhelmshcihe — three miles from the town, but named after his successor, Wilhelm, as he had finished it. This charming creation, called the German Versailles, has cost above £3,000,000, paid by Great Britain for the Hessian soldiers, bought — a disgrace to humanity — in order to assist in subduing the North Americans in their successful struggle for independence. The Park runs up a wooded eminence with a famed aquatic stair of nine hundred steps leading up to an octagon building which is topped by a gigantic bronze statue of Hercules, popularly called the great Christoffel, and visible from great distances. There are celebrated waterfalls and waterworks, lakes, fountains, statues, interesting buildings with collections, etc. The beautiful, large Castle at Wilhelmshohe was assigned to Napoleon III. after his surrender at Sedan. In the evening, we assisted at a delightful representa- tion of the Troubadour, the music by Verdi. The first- rate orchestra was formerly under the direction of the composer Spohr, now it is under his favourite pupil Reiss. The yourney. 35 Next we went to Gottingen, the home of my wife, one of the most celebrated Uuiversities, where Bismarck and Professor Blackie were "jolly studios." It was munifi- cently founded by George II. of Great Britain and Hanover, anno 1737, and is called Georgia Augusta. Some of the most illustrious savants, as Biirger, Blumen- bach, Heeren, Gaus, the Brothers Grimm, Ewald and Dahlmann, Hermann, Liicke, Ottfried Miiller, and Gieseler, Siebold, Gervinus, Waitz, Wohler, &c., &c., have shed a lustre on this College. My wife unfortu- nately took ill here, and so in order to pass my time profitably, I constituted mysell Inspector of Schools, being much pleased with what I heard and saw, as explained in my letter in the Educational I^ews of 12th February last. The town has a good gymnasium, a realschule, a commercial academy, etc. Owing to my wife's illness, we could neither see the interesting towns of Hanover and Celle, nor Hamburg, as we had intended to do, and embarked therefore at the port of the last-named town, in the " Cumberland," for Scotland, under the very attentive Captain Parker, friend Aeolus playing to us, on the North Sea, his most lively equinoctial tunes, so that we had, nolens volens, to dance as well on our heads as on our feet ; accompanied by the infernal howUngs of the hurricane, the shriekings of the engine, the creakings of the vessel,' the tramping and cries of the sailors, and by all sorts of unearthly noises, so that we were really glad when we reached in safety the port of Leith. Should any of the Fellows of this Society, the Educa- tional Institute of Scotland, or other gentlemen, desire to undertake during the Summer vacations a three or four weeks' journey to the parts described, or as might be 36 The Journey. arranged otherwise, I would, con cumore, place my services at their disposal. Having treated a good deal on education, schools, and universities, I may be allowed to conclude with a verse of a well-known students' song ; — " Vivat Academia, Vivant Professores ! Vivat Membrum quodlibet, Vivant Membra quselibet, Semper sint id flore ! " NOTICE. Mr ScHENCK purposes commencing in Autumn, in English or German, a course of twenty Lectures on the Art-History of Germany, once a week, should a sufficient number come forward. The Course would be of interest to Architects, Artists, Art- Artizans, and Manufacturers, to Antiquarians, Archaeologists, and Lovers of the Kne Arts. 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