Columbia ^nitjer^ttp 
 
 n 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 FREDERICK PERTHES 
 
 LITERARY, RELIGIOUS, AND POLITICAL LIFE IN GERMANY, 
 
 FROM 1789 TO 1843. 
 
 FROM THE GEllMAN OV 
 
 CLEMENT THEODORE PERTHES, 
 
 raOFESSOR of L\W is the UKITKRSITT op B0N!J 
 
 VOL. L 
 
 EDINBUEGII: THOMAS CONSTABLE AND 00. 
 HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCLVI. 
 
KDiSHUROH : I'lJlNIKD I'.Y T. CONSTA lU.K, rlUNTKK TO IIIOU MAJESTY. 
 
TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE ALBERT, 
 
 TIIESK MEJtOIilAI.S OF IIIS FATllEnLAND, 
 ILLUSTRATING ITS HLSTOIIV IX A TKOUULED rEUIOI), 
 
 EXinnrriNC the ei-evation of gekman intellect, 
 
 THE WAiaiTII OF THE GERMAN IIEAKT, 
 
 AND THE IIEUOISM AND TENDERNESS OF A GEiniAN WIFE AND MOTHER, 
 
 IN CONNEXION WITH THE CAREER OF ONE WHO DID MUCH TO 
 PROMOTE. THE HIGHEST INTERESTS OF HIS COUNTRY, 
 
 AND WHO WAS HONOURED WITH THE CONFIDENCE AND FRIENDSHU- 
 OF ITS MOST DISTINGUISHED MEN, 
 ARE BV IIIS ROYAL IIIGHNESS'S GRACIOUS PRRMISSIOM 
 MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
 2()1H9 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The following Biography is not in every part a literal trans- 
 lation of the German work in three volumes. The minuteness 
 of political detail which characterizes the original, even when 
 treating of affairs which had but a temporary and local interest, 
 could not have been reproduced in a home dress with any like- 
 lihood of interesting the English reader. Abridgment and 
 condensation have, consequently, been resorted to ; but no- 
 thing has been omitted which is of general interest, or which 
 can throw light on the social condition of Germany, and its 
 political, literary, and religious history during the past half 
 century. 
 
 Edinburgh, Augvst 1856. 
 
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I'AGB 
 
 Childhood— 1772-89, ....... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Youth— 1789-93 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 First Impressions of tlie Residence at IlamLurgh — 1793-94. . . 34 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 New Friends and their Influence — 1795, ..... 48 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 His Establishment in Business — 1796, ..... .')7 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 First Acquaintance with Holstein and Westphalia — 179G, . • 67 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Marriage and the First Years of Married Life — 1797-1800, . . 85 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 The Business and the Family, ...... 100 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Confirmation of the Inner Life— 18004805, .... 108 
 VOL. 1. h 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Events of the Years 1805 and 1806, ..... 136 
 
 CHAPTEE XT. 
 
 Germany in 1807 and 1808, . • • • • .149 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Efforts to Keep Alive the German Spirit— 1809-10, . . .162 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Perthes as a French Suhject— 1811-12, . . . . • 174 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Hamburgh endeavour.s to Free itself from the French Domination— J aunary 
 
 to the 18th of March 1813, ...... 179 
 
 CHAPTER XT. 
 
 Re-occupation of Hamburgh by Davoust— March to May 1813, . . 192 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Time of the Truce— June to the middle of August 1813, . . 201 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Situation of the Hause-Towns during the Struggle on the Lower Elbe 
 
 — From the middle of August to the beginning of November 1813, • 211 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Deputation to Frankfort— Nov. 1813 to Jan. 1814, . . .229 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Period preceding the Return to Hamburgh— January to May 1814, 237 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 the Return— Summer of 1814, ...... 248 
 
CONTENTS, XI 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PACK 
 
 State of Politics during tlie Vienna Congress, and the Second War of Inde- 
 pendence — Autumn 1814 to Autumn 1815, . . . 200 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Activity on behalf of tlic Suffering Classes, and Ex2>erienccs in the Fanli]y 
 — 1814 and 1815, ....... 272 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Political Prospects after the Second Peace of Pari.s — Autumn 1815 to Au- 
 tumn 181G, . ■ . . . . . . . 28(5 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Importance of the Book-Trade for Germany, .... 20;5 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Journey to Frankfort-on-thc-Maine— 19th July to 4th August 1816, . 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Stay in Frankfort, Heidelberg, and Stuttgart— 4th to the 20th of August 
 
 1816, ......... 314 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 .Tourney from Stuttgart to Vienna, and return to Hamburgh — 20tli August 
 
 to 8th October 1816, ....... 326 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Popular Movements to the Period of the Carlsbad Decrees — Summer 1819, 344 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 The Attitude of the Governuicuts at the Period of the Carlsbad Decrees, 357 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 Isolated Political Questions, . . .... 373 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXr. 
 
 PACK 
 
 Austria aud Prussia during tlie Period immediately following the Carlsbad 
 
 Decrees, . . . • . • • . 386 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Public Opinion on German Affairs during the Period immediately following 
 
 the Carlsbad Decrees— 1819-1822, ..... 393 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Effect of the Revolutions in Southern Europe on the Public Mind of Germany 
 
 —1820-1822, . . . . . . . .402 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 The Holy Alliance in its bearing on the Revolutions of South-eastern Europe 
 
 — 1820-1822, ........ 415 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 The Religious Conflicts of the Period, . . . . .424 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Church Questions— 1817-1822, ...... 434 
 
THE LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHILDHOOD — 1772-89. 
 
 The year 1772 was a very calamitous year for Germany. 
 Dearth and famine were almost everywhere prevalent, wliile 
 scarcely any district escaped the visitation of a malignant pes- 
 tilence. It was in this, "the great hunger-year," as it was 
 called, that Frederick Christopher Perthes was horn at Rudolf- 
 stadt, on the 21st of April. The ancestors of his father, 
 Christopher Frederick Perthes, Secretary of the Exchequer to 
 the house of Rudolf Schwartzburg, appear to have lived for 
 several centuries at Erfurt, as pastors and physicians. In the 
 year 1740, however, the respectable and art-loving Doctor of 
 Medicine, John Justus Perthes, a God-fearing, honest, and dis- 
 creet man, was summoned from Erfurt to Rudolfstadt as family 
 physician to the Prince. The youngest but one of his seven 
 children was the above-named Christopher Frederick. In 1 741 
 he entered the Rudolfstadt Gymnasium; and in 1755, "well- 
 informed and prepared," as the school-registers assure us, 
 repaired to Jena to study jurisprudence. On his return to 
 Rudolfstadt, he entered into the service of the Court, and was 
 in the course of time promoted to the office of Secretary of the 
 
LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Exchequer, and exercised jurisdiction over the estates of many 
 noble families. He was but seven-and-thirty years of age 
 when liis wife Margaretha Heubel stood by his deathbed. 
 
 He left his family almost destitute. The widow found her 
 pension of twenty-one florins entirely inadequate. She was 
 soon received, however, as an inmate into a kinsman's family, 
 which stood in need of her services as a nurse. Her mother, 
 almost as destitute of means as herself, offered a home to 
 the boy. She died when he was only seven years old, leaving 
 him to the compassionate care of Frederick Heubel, his mater- 
 nal uncle. Half a century after, the children and grandchil- 
 dren of that helpless child, found the generous uncle who 
 had taken pity on his forlorn condition, in the old Castle 
 of Schwartzburg, enjoying, as equeriy and overseer, the re- 
 tirement provided for him by his Prince. A man of inflexible 
 integrity, and of a just and vigorous mind, he was during 
 the whole course of his long life under the influence of the 
 Kantian philosophy. His life restricted, on one side, within 
 the narrow circle of the little principality, on the other, knew 
 no limits to the sphere of its speculations. He took a deep 
 interest in all the great movements of the time. He was fond 
 of the Greek and Roman classics, and studied them even in 
 his later years. His passionate admiration of the horse, led 
 him to the study of anatomy. Tiike all his contemporaries, he 
 liad hailed the great political movement of 1789 with delight, 
 and even at a later period did not condemn it, regarding its 
 further development merely as a running riot of principles in 
 themselves worthy of reverence. In the cause of his Prince he 
 was ready at any moment to have sacrificed both fortune and 
 life : in his service he grudged neither toil nor trouble. Every 
 
CHILDHOOD. .3 
 
 vnai'k of kindness from liis master touched him deeply : he 
 defended him against every aspersion, and his whole being was 
 penetrated by that devoted fidelity characteristic of the royal 
 servant of the Middle Ages. 
 
 In 1779, when still a youth, he had returned from the Uni- 
 versity to his native district, penniless like the rest of his 
 brothers and sisters. An office in the Prince's service, though 
 a help, was by no means a provision. He kept house in Rudolf- 
 stadt with an unmarried sister, Caroline Heubel. Tliough not 
 possessed of beauty. Miss Caroline had great strength of char- 
 acter. Ever ready to help others, to accept help herself was 
 even in extreme age intolerable to her : to independence in 
 every form, even though associated with grinding poverty, she 
 was almost passionately attached. A peculiarity of a less 
 amiable kind was a leading feature in her character ; when not 
 allowed to rule she became irritable and ill-humoured ; so that 
 it might seem doubtful whether she desired to govern in order 
 that she might help, or sought to help in order that she might 
 govern. Such was the household into which the little boy was 
 received and brought up, with tender and even parental affec- 
 tion. The impressions of his childhood were so deeply graven 
 as to influence him throughout life. Born with a very excitable 
 temperament, he always ascribed to his uncle and aunt the 
 horror with which he regarded every kind of immorality ; and 
 he also attributed to them that respect for the rights of others 
 which are alien to extremely energetic characters such as his, 
 in which there is too frequently a tendency to inconsider- 
 atencss. 
 
 The boy's first instructor was his uncle : he subsequently 
 took part in the lessons of the tutors of some noble families ; 
 
LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 and, finally, after frequenting for some time the classes of the 
 court-pages, he entered the gymnasium of Rudolfstadt, when 
 twelve years old, but not sufficiently advanced to profit by the 
 instructions which he there received. A very lively fancy 
 had made regular study a toil ; and naturally possessed of 
 little talent for language, and deficient in memory for numbers, 
 the boy had gained little from the irregular instructions he had 
 hitherto received. He possessed neither the rudiments of his 
 own, nor of any other language ; he was ignorant alike of the 
 elements of history and geography, of orthography and arith- 
 metic ; but he was passionately fond of reading, a taste which 
 sought and found satisfaction in the Court library. Seve- 
 ral volumes of the great history of the world, in quarto, and 
 the one-and-twenty parts of " The Travels by Land and Sea," 
 gave him employment from his tenth to his fourteenth year. 
 The account of the discoveries made by the Portuguese in the 
 fifteenth century, was especially captivating, and the sailor 
 Prince Henry and Albuquerque became his heroes. Then 
 came the translation of Don Quixote, which quickly sujjplanted 
 Campe's " Robinson," and filled his youthful imagination. In 
 this way he collected a mass of knowledge, somewhat too 
 varied and ill-assorted, and which but partially received a kind 
 of arrangement by the perusal of Schrockh's "History of the 
 World," a copy of which he possessed. That the activity of his 
 fancy did not, through the want of severe mental discipline, de- 
 generate into mere idle dreaming, and so extinguish a capacity 
 for the real and the practical, the boy had to thank a near 
 relation of his mother, John David Heubel, who, as lieutenant- 
 colonerand superintendent of buildings, resided at the Castle 
 of Schwart/bui-g. Peculiarlv acute in his observation of nature, 
 
CHILDHOOD. 5 
 
 he succeeded in rousing into activity tlie same undeveloped 
 faculty in the boy. lie would keep him for montlis together 
 in his apartments at Schwartzbuvg, and take him with him 
 when he wandered over hill and valley in his official visita- 
 tions of the forests, or when sojourning for a time in the 
 huts of the fowlers. On these occasions he would exact from 
 him great physical exertions. The remembrance of tliese ex- 
 cursions was never obliterated from the boy's mind. The dusky 
 pines that clothe the mountain-slopes of that wondrously beau- 
 tiful region, the roar of the Schwarza, as far below in the 
 valley it winds round the base of the hill on which the castle 
 is built, were indelibly impressed upon his memory. 
 
 When he had reached his fourteenth year, and had been 
 confirmed, it was thought necessary to choose a calling for him. 
 To allow him to continue his studies was impossible, and from 
 the mercantile life, as known in Rudolfstadt, he shrank with 
 aversion. His father's youngest brother, Justus Perthes, was 
 a pretty successful publisher and bookseller at Gotha, and it 
 was natural for them to think of that business for the boy. Of 
 its nature and details he was utterly ignorant, for there was 
 no bookseller in Rudolfstadt ; but that there must be books 
 for him to read seemed certain, and this was decisive. 
 
 In the year 1786, Schirach the printer took the boy with 
 him to the fair at Leipzig, to seek a master. He was then 
 fourteen years of age. The first person to whom he introduced 
 him was Herr Ruprecht of Gottingen, an aged man, who spoke 
 kindly to him, and desired him to conjugate the verb arao ; 
 but when he found this too great a demand on his learning, he 
 refused to engage him. He was then taken to Herr Siegert 
 at Liegnitz ; but the tall gaunt figure of the man in his long 
 
LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 flame-coloured overcoat, reaching to the heels, so frightened 
 him that he coidd not say a word ; " he was too shy for the 
 book-trade," it was said. At last, however, Adam Frederick 
 Bohme, who carried on business in Leipzig, and supplied the 
 Eudolfstadt library with books, shewed himself disposed to 
 take him, but " the boy must go home for a year ; he is too 
 delicate for the work yet." When a year had elapsed, in- 
 dentures were signed by the uncle and the future master. 
 
 On Sunday the 9th of September 1 787, the boy of fifteen 
 took his seat in the open mail, to begin the great journey of 
 life. " In the evening at Saalfeld I felt very sad," he wrote 
 to his uncle, " but I met with many kind people." On a 
 cold and rainy day, he passed through Neustadt, Gera, and 
 Zeitz ; and on Tuesday the 11th of September, at three o'clock 
 in the afternoon, reached his master's house in Leipzig. 
 " Why, boy, you are no bigger than you were a year ago, but 
 we will make a trial of it, and see how we get on together," 
 exclaimed Bohme. His wife and her six daughters and little 
 son, as well as an apprentice who had been resident four 
 years, all received him kindly. " I like Leipzig very much," 
 wrote Perthes, immediately on his arrival ; " and I hope all 
 will go well, especially as my comrade is a very honest fellow. 
 The young ladies also seem extraordinarily kind ; Frederika, 
 my master's second daughter, came into my room in order, as 
 she said, to drive away fancies and whims." " Herewith," 
 writes his master, " I have the honour to inform you that 
 young Perthes has arrived safe and in good health. I hope 
 we shall be pleased with each other. His pocket-money, 
 which, according to this day's exchange, amounts to one dol- 
 lar and twenty groschen, I have taken charge of, for we can- 
 
CHILDHOOD. 7 
 
 not tell into wliat company he might fall. One request I have 
 to make, and that is, that when in future you favour me 
 with your letters, you will have the goodness to omit the 
 'Well-born'* on the address, for it is not at all appropriate 
 to me." 
 
 On the morning after his arrival, the first words young 
 Perthes heard were these, — " Frederick, you must let your 
 hair grow in front to a brush, and behind to a cue, and get a 
 pair of wooden buckles — lay aside your sailor's round hat — a 
 cocked one is ordered." This once universal custom had lat- 
 terly disappeared, but Bohme tolerated no new fashions among 
 liis apprentices. " You are not to leave the house, eitlier 
 morning or evening, without my permission. On Sundays 
 you must accompany me to church." The two appren- 
 tices certainly were not spoiled by over-indulgence. Their 
 master's house was in Nicholas Street, and there they had an 
 inner chamber up four pair of stairs, so overcrowded with tv/o 
 beds and stools, the table and the two trunks, which consti- 
 tuted its whole furniture, as scarcely to admit of their turning 
 in it. One little window opened on the roof ; in the corner 
 was a small stove, heated during the winter by three small 
 logs of wood, doled out every evening as their allowance. Every 
 morning at six o'clock they both received a cup of tea, and 
 every Sunday, as a provision for the coming week, seven 
 lumps of sugar, and seven halfpence to purchase bread. " What 
 I find hardest," said Perthes to his uncle at Schwartzburg, 
 " is, that I have only a halfpenny roll in the morning — I find 
 this to be scanty allowance. In the afternoon, from one till 
 eight, wc have not a morsel — that is what I call hunger ; I 
 
 * Wohhjehoren — Esquire. 
 
LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 think we ought to have something." Dinner and supper they 
 took witli the family, plentifully and well ; but, alas ! for them, 
 Avhen some fat roast with gourd-sauce, was set upon the table, 
 for it was a law that whatever was put upon the plate must be 
 eaten. The " Er,'"-'- with which Bohme was always addressed, 
 not only by his children, but also by his servants and depend- 
 ants, mortified Perthes, but he wrote cheerfully, " Not the 
 slightest thing is required of me which could hurt my feelings ; 
 while other apprentices have to clean their master's buckles, to 
 cover the table, and take the coffee to the warehouse, none of 
 these things are required of us." 
 
 Bohme was not indeed a man of varied learning or great 
 mental powers ; but he had a good understanding, a character 
 of the strictest integrity, and was not without reverence for 
 knowledge and all noble things. He laboured uninterruptedly 
 every day, from seven in the morning till eight at night, with 
 the intermission of one hour at noon. Sunday after service was 
 devoted to the " Jena Literary Gazette," every word of whicli 
 he faithfully perused, and then took a walk round the city. He 
 never played, never entered a public-house, never received com- 
 pany at home, and drank nothing stronger than water. Occa- 
 sionally in the summer he would go over to Entritzsch with his 
 family, and drink a bottle of gose,f and once in the course of 
 the year he was accustomed to make an excursion to the valley 
 of Storm, about twelve miles from Leipzig, in company with his 
 whole household — wife, children, and apprentices. He was 
 exceedingly good-natured, but equally irritable, and apt when 
 
 * Used by cbiklren towards a parent only when a constrained respect is strongei 
 lliiin affection. 
 
 + A kind of liglit-rolonred beer. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 9 
 
 excited to give vent to a torrent of abuse. Great were the 
 sufferings of Perthes from this irritability, during the two 
 years of liis inexperience in the business. " That which trou- 
 bles me most," writes the boy, " is my master's passionate 
 temper. If we have made the slightest blunder, he breaks out 
 upon us ; this is very different from what I liave been accus- 
 tomed to, and I feel it very hard to bear, but I shall get used 
 to it in time." When the fit of passion was over, Bcihme 
 would good-naturedly endeavour to make peace with the boy 
 by bringing him fruit, or sharing with him his afternoon coffee, 
 and the accompanying lumps of sugar. This most temperate 
 man, and stern disciplinarian, had a heavy domestic sorrow 
 to bear. His wife was addicted to strong drinks, and the 
 household economy accordingly, so far as it depended on her, 
 fell into disorder. This melancholy failing frequently put 
 the poor apprentices in the most painful position. " I am 
 often in perplexity," wrote Perthes, " out of which I cannot 
 extricate myself, for Madame has things brought to her in 
 secret, which she quickly disposes of The master would fain 
 know all that passes, and I would gladly, like an honest ser- 
 vant, tell all to one who though weak is so good at heart, were 
 it not that I should thus only insure my own misery, for many 
 occasions arise in which he cannot protect me, and which he is 
 powerless to alter : from seven o'clock in the morning till 
 eight at night, he is at business, and the children do as they 
 please, the mother being quite unable to restrain them." 
 
 The time of the apprentice was wholly occupied by the 
 work at the warehouse, which was situated in the old Neu- 
 markt. " I have not much enjoyment of our little room," 
 he writes, " for we begin work at seven o'clock, return to dinner 
 
10 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 at half-past twelve, and are at business again from one till 
 eight ; then comes supper, and it is only after this that we 
 have any time to ourselves. We dare on no account leave the 
 house in the evening. On Sunday we must go early to church, 
 and to none but St. Peter's. In the afternoon, after a sharp cross- 
 examination, he lets us out for a couple of hours." The employ- 
 ment was, during the first year and a half, wholly mechanical. 
 When books published by a Leipzig bookseller were ordered, if 
 not among Bohme's stock, they had to be obtained from other 
 warehouses. This part of the business fell to the youngest 
 apprentice, and gave him at first enough to do. " There are so 
 many little details in our business," he writes, " that it takes 
 some time for a beginner to understand them, and the master 
 booksellers use abbreviations for everything, such as the titles 
 of books, and so forth. After a year or so one understands 
 this, but a beginner is sure to make blunders, and if I ask a 
 question, I get for answer nothing but, ' Don't you understand 
 German?'" The work which fell to him as the youngest ap- 
 prentice, kept him in the streets or in the warehouses of other 
 publishers during the whole of the first winter. His vivacity, 
 united with great modesty of demeanour, won for him the 
 favour of all the trade ; he was the only apprentice who was 
 allowed the privilege of warming himself in the counting- 
 houses while the books he came for were being fetched. His 
 hard lot excited sympathy. When towards dusk he returned 
 half frozen and with wet feet to the warehouse, he had to stand 
 for hours upon the stone flags collating. Bohme, who had 
 never been ill in his life, and was particularly hardy, never had 
 the shop heated, but kept himself warm by dint of stamping 
 his feet and rul)bina' his hands. He was not more considerate 
 
CHILDHOOD. 11 
 
 of otliers than careful of himself The consequence was, that 
 in the first winter of his residence at Leipzig, Perthes' feet 
 were frost-bitten ; Bohme saw his distress, but took no notice 
 until he was unable to walk, when the nearest surgeon was at 
 last sent for. Eckhold came, and at once declared that if an- 
 other day had been allowed to pass, it would have been neces- 
 sary to amputate the feet. Nine long weeks the boy lay in his 
 bed in the little attic chamber, but not neglected — for his 
 master's second daughter, Frederika, a lovely child of twelve 
 years, took him under her charge, and tended him witli care 
 and affection. All day long she sat, knitting-needles in hand, 
 by the bedside of the invalid, talking with him, consoling and 
 ministering. 
 
 Upon the floor, among other old books, lay a. translation of 
 Muratori's " History of Italy /' and tlie poor girl, with nevei*- 
 failing kindness, read through several of the ponderous quartos 
 in the little dusky attic. A devoted friendship between the 
 children, the result of these tender attentions, continued long 
 after he had need of her nursing. 
 
 But apart from the sufferings of these months, the boy who, 
 under tlie faithful and kind though strict training of his rela- 
 tions, bad grown up in the free and unlimited enjoyment of 
 wood and mountain, often felt oppressed by the great city and 
 its flat treeless suburbs, no less than by the unhappy relations 
 subsisting in his master's family, and that restraint and un- 
 broken daily routine of business-life, which permitted freedom 
 neither of thought nor of action. His heart turned with yearning 
 to the years of early childhood, and especially to the little inci- 
 dents of the residence with his uncle at Schwartzburg, where ho 
 had wandered at will over hill and dale. All the letters written 
 
12 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 at this time, and even those of a later date, bear witness to his 
 tender recollections of those happy hours which he was never 
 again to enjoy. " All is well with me," he writes on one occa- 
 sion, " but for a sort of melancholy of quite a special kind ; 
 for when I am alone I fall to thinking of my former happy life, 
 now for ever passed away. Now this well-known rock, now 
 another rises before me. Then the path to the fowling-floor, to 
 Dettensdorf, and the spot where Spitz couched and Matzen 
 yelped. Every bush is imprinted on my memory : often when 
 I awake at night, or look out upon the early morning mist, I 
 think now my uncle is saying to Matzen, ' To-day there will be 
 good sport upon the fowling-ground.' Then I see you ranging 
 the woods with your lanterns, and when you have caught any- 
 thing, I fancy I hear you crying out, ' that Fritz were here !' 
 . . . Ah ! how many sweet recollections of Schwartzburg, and 
 of that bygone time, are in my heart." And he writes on an- 
 other occasion, " Here, in a neighbouring village, called Gohlis, 
 there is a cowherd wlio blows his horn as skilfully as the 
 Schwartzburg trumpeter of yore. I can hear him in my bed, 
 and you cannot imagine what a strange feeling comes over me, 
 and the jieculiar kind of sadness to which it gives rise." 
 
 Still the longing after his beloved Schwartzburg had not 
 taken such absolute possession of the boy as to hinder his en- 
 joyment of new books, and of such events as the varied life of 
 Leipzig brought before him. Now it was a comment on some 
 facetious scene out of Siegfried von Lindenberg, or the fine 
 comedy of " Frederick with tlie Bitten Cheek," or a passage out 
 of Villaume's "Logic," that filled his letters; again Blanchard's 
 ascent in an air-balloon, or some procession of the Leipzig 
 students, delighted his boyish fancy ; six postilions in front, 
 
CHILDHOOD. 13 
 
 tlien the riding-master Herzberg, followed by eighty students 
 on horseback, and sixteen curricles — a magnificent spectacle ! 
 " To-day/' he writes, " I have seen a military funeral ; it 
 was very grand, but I wish I had not seen it, for the officer 
 lived in the suburbs, and I cannot go there now, the spectacle 
 has made me so sad/' But it was the annual Book-fair, the 
 first he had seen in Leipzig, that excited him more than any- 
 thing else. It brought indeed days of severe toil ; " but 1 do 
 not even feel the labour," he wrote, " when I think of the few 
 minutes which I may spend with my uncle, who arrived from 
 Gotha on Monday. Pie has been so kind to me during the 
 whole time of his stay, that I often felt as if I had a father, and 
 could confide all my thoughts and feelings to him. One Sunday 
 afternoon, when I had not much to do, he took me with him 
 to Raschwitz, a place in the neighbourhood, on the day when 
 the booksellers of all Germany assemble there ; with what 
 respect I was treated ! — such as no other apprentice would 
 dream of My uncle showed me everything ; besides, it led to 
 other pleasures so numerous, that I must tell you all about 
 them. I saw, what I daresay you also would like to see, a col- 
 lection of wild beasts — first, a seal that sat in a great tub of 
 water, and which was as large as a calf, and quite black, with a 
 dog's head, and five fingers like a man's on each fore-foot, and 
 wiiat was wonderful, it understood its keeper. ' Turn round,' 
 said he, and at once it showed its belly, on which were visible 
 hind-feet, just under the tail, which was like that of a fish. 
 Tlien my uncle gave me six groschen to go to the play, but as 
 there was not time for that, I went into one of the wild beast 
 booths, and as I like when I see anything to see it thoroughly, 
 I gave all I had, and went into the best places. Here I saw 
 
14 LIFE OF PEHTHES. 
 
 wonders that almost bewildered me. First, a bird called an 
 ostrich, all black ; then an African lion, eighteen months old, 
 a very noble fellow ; a panther, which I touched ; and a tiger, 
 Avhich I believe to be the most magnificent creature upon God's 
 earth. There were other wonders at the Fair, but these do not 
 admit of description in Avriting ; but I had well-nigh forgotten 
 one of the most memorable incidents of my life — I spoke to 
 F. Nicolai ;* he is just as I had pictured him to myself, tall and 
 stout, and a most extraordinary swaggerer ; I thought he would 
 have carried himself proudly to the booksellers, but he stood in 
 a doorway for half-an-hour chatting with them." 
 
 During the first year and a half of his residence at Leipzig, 
 Perthes had, indeed, gained but little knowledge and small 
 insight into business from his own special labour, but he had 
 acquired experience and considerable moral strength, for both 
 of which he was chiefly indebted to the influence that his fel- 
 low-apprentice, Rabenhorst, exercised over him. The inward 
 shrinking from all coarseness and impurity, implanted and cher- 
 ished by the lessons of his aunt and uncle in his childish years, 
 was to him an invaluable possession^ of which he was deeply 
 sensible. " Dearest uncle," he writes, " if I am good now, and 
 continue so, I have to thank you and my aunt for it ; — certainly 
 not myself, for if I had fallen into bad hands, my levit}^ of dispo- 
 sition might easily have led me into vice." His lively and excit- 
 able temperament could not dispense with some moral support 
 even after he entered into Leipzig life, and this he found in 
 Rabenhorst, then eighteen years of age, distinguished equally 
 
 * F. Nicolai, an eminent German publisher ; but more distinguished as a critic. 
 He edited tlie Alhjemeine Deutsche Bihliotheh, and, along with Lessing, Mendels- 
 sohn and others, wrote the " Letters on the present State of German Literature," 
 which exposed him to the criticism of Herder, Fichto, Wieland, liuvater, and others. 
 
OHILDHOOI). 15 
 
 for his acquirements, for his business talents, and general 
 character. " I thank God," writes Perthes to his uncle, " that 
 I came here, and that entirely on account of my comrade, 
 whose conduct is so good an example for me ; if it had not 
 been for this, the ways of the world would inevitably have led 
 me quite astray. You thought that I should get into good 
 society here, but this is impossible without money ; for those 
 who have position or fortune are very exclusive, and the pride 
 of the merchants' sons, who can afford to play a four-groschen 
 game at billiards, and drink a bottle of wine out of their very 
 pocket-money, presents an impassable barrier to ni}^ intercourse 
 with them. The booksellers' apprentices are, with only two 
 exceptions, dissipated youths, who spend the Sunday, their only 
 holiday, at the taverns in all kinds of excess. Now you will 
 confess, that had I been left to mix with these, I should 
 liave made shipwreck of all the good principles I derived from 
 you. Men here must live like others, or make up their minds 
 to be persecuted ; but Rabenhorst has been my support." In 
 other respects, the elder comrade was of great service to the 
 inexperienced boy ; he taught him prudence in the troubled 
 economy of their master's house, he made him attentive to such 
 details of business as he could master without extraneous help, 
 and was always urging him to exert himself in order to redeem 
 lost time. But what he was chiefly, though unconsciously, the 
 means of bestowing on his friend was, ease in his intercourse 
 with others. " You will think, dear uncle," he writes, " that 
 I agree well with my companion, when I can praise him so 
 highly ; but it is not so. Rabenhorst by no means possesses all 
 the virtues that go to make a good companion ; he is very 
 proud, and most obstinate in maintaining his opinion ; impe- 
 
16 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 tuous, and, withal, so susceptible and suspicious, that I often 
 provoke him ten times in an hour witliout knowing why. 
 Many a time I have to give up my own opinion, though fully 
 persuaded that it is right ; and when I have done so, and am 
 thinking that our difference is made up, he will exclaim, ' How 
 can you say yes to everything ? — you fancy that I am deceived 
 by your assent, but you are much mistaken.' I know, dear 
 uncle, that you will regard this as very useful training, and you 
 are right ; for, from having been brought up alone, I used to 
 be a most insufferable fellow in the society of young people, but 
 I have now learned how to behave to others, and every one is 
 surprised to find that I get on so well with Rabenhorst ; he 
 has, indeed, an unfortunate temperament, but he loves me, 
 and that is enough." 
 
 In the summer of 1 789, Rabenhorst left Leipzig to enter a 
 bookseller's house at Berlin, and from henceforward Perthes 
 stood quite alone. 
 
YOUTH. 
 
 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 YOUTH— 1789-93. 
 
 Till the end of the preceding century, the German book-trade 
 had been confined to the north-east of Germany. In the south- 
 west, from Vienna to Ratisbon, with the exception of a few 
 publishers of Catholic books, there was no bookseller ; and 
 from Ratisbon to the Tyrol only one— and that in Augsburg. 
 Nuremberg alone was able to supply the trifling demands of 
 this vast tract of country. In Tubingen and Heidelberg, indeed, 
 there were flourishing houses, but the whole north-west, taking 
 Munster as the most advanced literary outpost, was dependent 
 on the scanty supply which Frankfort could furnish. In the 
 north-east, on the other hand, the book-trade had long before 
 received a vigorous impulse, but till the close of the second last 
 decade of the century, it was almost entirely confined to the 
 publication and sale of books of science. New works were not 
 then, as now, at once diffused among the various booksellers of 
 Germany. Those publishers whose business was of sufiicient 
 importance, visited Leipzig, at Easter and Michaelmas, bring- 
 ing with them the titles of their most recent publications. They 
 called on each other, showed their title-pages, and after hag- 
 gling for a while about price and value, they decided how many 
 copies of each other's books they were prepared to take. As 
 
 2 
 
18 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 they could not be returned if unsold, the greatest caution was 
 exercised in the acceptance of works, and it often happened, 
 consequently, that books ordered by customers were not to be 
 had in any of the widely- dispersed book-shops of Germany. 
 They might, indeed, liave been obtained by application to the 
 original publisher, but this would have involved a great expen- 
 diture of time and money. A remedy for this inconvenient 
 state of affairs was provided by the establishment, first, at 
 Frankfort-on-the-Maine, and afterwards on a more extensive 
 scale at Leipzig, of large stores from which booksellers could 
 be at once supplied with any books which they might order. 
 
 Bohme carried on such a commission-business in the then 
 sense of this term. In three large rooms he had an important 
 depository of expensive old books, and of all new publications 
 of value, that is to say, of such as he might have sold two or 
 three copies of in the first year after they issued from the press. 
 He had only two private customers — the princely library of 
 Rudolfstadt, and the historian Anton ; but the principal book- 
 sellers of Germany were his correspondents. Weekly orders 
 from these and from the different Leipzig booksellers poured 
 in, filling five or six pages. The books required were sought 
 out, deleted in the inventory, and entered in the despatch- 
 book, which the principal examined periodically for the purpose 
 of supplying gaps as they occurred. On Rabenhorst's departure 
 the labour of finding and despatching the books ordered de- 
 volved on Perthes, and he gave himself to it with pleasure and 
 interest. It excited his astonishment to find that it was pos- 
 sible, by means of the orders continually pouring in from va- 
 rious districts, to form an idea of the scientific necessities of 
 Germany in general ; and even, by attention to the special 
 
YOUTH. 
 
 19 
 
 cliaracter of the orders proceeding- from within certain bounds, 
 to form some conception of tlie wants of the various districts. 
 To a mind like his, alive to everything, this knowledge was 
 attractive for its own sake, and lie early perceived its value 
 to those booksellers who were inclined to take a large view 
 of their trade. At the same time, the many scientific books 
 tliat passed through his hands, in the course of business, 
 made him acquainted with the names of all the great authors 
 of the preceding century, and gave him at least such an exter- 
 nal view of general literature as to rouse in him tlie desire of 
 obtaining some insight into what was known only by name. In 
 addition to his commission-trade, Bohme was no inconsiderable 
 publisher. Whenever a scientific book was offered to him, he 
 called to his councils an aged antiquary, who, summer and 
 winter, presided at an open bookstall at the corner of Grim- 
 maer-and Ritter-strasse. This man's extensive knowledge 
 and acute intellect gave him great influence with Bohme, and 
 as he had an affection for Perthes, he did not hesitate to make 
 a prudent use of his influence on the boy s behalf, when some 
 excessive severity had led him to complain. 
 
 In the first year after Rabenhorst's departure, Perthes had 
 worked diligently, and acquired tlie confidence of his master 
 to such an extent, as to be left by him in charge of the busi- 
 ness during an absence of some weeks. He managed things 
 so admirably, that, in acknowledgment of his services, he 
 received a pair of silken garters. But Perthes now began to 
 crave more leisure than business allowed, for the purposes of 
 education. " My principal, indeed, teaches me all that is 
 necessary for one who is to continue a servant, but very little 
 suffices for that ; a special knowledge of the trade, I certainly 
 
20 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 do liot learn from liim, for he conducts liis business in tlie most 
 mechanical manner — he does every tiling in the way that first 
 occurs to him, without being guided by any principle ; if a 
 question is asked, he replies, ' We will do it in this way,' but 
 can never give a reason why it is done so, and not otherwise, 
 for if the same thing occur again, he will do it in some other 
 way. All the MSS. that he receives are submitted to the old 
 antiquary, and then whether they treat of tlie three bread- 
 earning studies — reading, writing, and arithmetic, or of mathe- 
 matics, philology, pajdagogy, farriery, or polite literature, 
 if the oracle declares ' it will do,' the thing is settled, and if 
 it Avere by Geiker, junior, it would be taken ; does he say, ' it 
 will not do,' it is as certainly rejected. The antiquary is saga- 
 cious, no doubt, but it does not follow that he has travelled 
 through all the realms of learning." 
 
 That satisfaction which he did not immediately find in his 
 calling, Perthes sought in pursuits of his own. From 1790, 
 when he attained his eighteenth year, he had been possessed 
 by an evident desire for literary employment, but time and 
 money were alike wanting. The entrance of a junior ap- 
 prentice had, indeed, relieved him from the wear and tear of 
 running the streets, and in winter he could now spare himself; 
 still the only hours that he could call his own, were those be- 
 fore seven in the morning and after nine at night. He would, 
 however, have taken lessons in languages at these seasons, had 
 not his extreme poverty put it quite out of the question. The 
 widow's pension of one-and-twenty florins, which his mother 
 had, with generous self-sacrifice, given up to him, scarcely 
 sufficed to provide him with shoes ; his uncle contributed his 
 half-worn clothes, but except iu a ease of extreme necessity, 
 
YOUTH. 2 1 
 
 could do no move. Ills linen was taken by a carrier every fort- 
 night to Rudolfstadt, where his aunt superintended the washing 
 and mending. At Christmas his master always made him a 
 present of two dollars, as pocket-money for the year. An extra- 
 ordinary piece of good fortune would now and then come in 
 the shape of a present, from his uncle at Gotha. " If you could 
 see me now, ray dear uncle, you would not know mo,"' he writes 
 in the summer of 1789, " for I am much taller, and through 
 my uncle's kindness, very well dressed in a green coat with a 
 short waist, and buttons behind, after the English fashion, 
 trowsers of new English nankin, and a white waistcoat. What 
 would you have more ? But I must have a greatcoat at 
 Michaelmas, and then the old dollars must spin. Hurrah ! I 
 have the two still, but I shall look my last at them then." 
 
 Such a state of things made it impossible for him to re- 
 munerate a teacher, and though Perthes frequently tried, 
 grammar in hand, to gain some knowledge of French or Eng- 
 lish, after nine o'clock at night, he could make nothing of it, 
 and invariably fell asleep. His inclination and talents would 
 liave led him to the study of history and geography, but 
 the prevailing fashion required of every young man who 
 would enjoy any respect for his abilities, that he sliould 
 be a philosopher as it was called, and Perthes could not 
 resist the mandate. It was in the direction indicated by Kant 
 that salvation was at this period sought. Kiesewetter's logic 
 was the key to Kant, and Perthes covered whole sheets of 
 paper with tables which were to familiarize him with the ter- 
 minology and the formulae. Although this wearisome labour 
 never made a philosopher of Perthes, yet his intellect and 
 judgment gained in acuteness. Kniggc's work on Intercourse 
 
22 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 with Men,* it was then considered indispensable to have read ; 
 Perthes read it, and with great interest ; but all the while an 
 inward voice was ever telling him that in this book the root of 
 all evil was worked up into a sort of manual. He sought other 
 food for his spiritual cravings, but in the want of any expe- 
 rienced adviser and guide, his choice was determined by casual 
 influences, or by the spirit of the times. He was for a whole 
 year occupied with Reinhard's " System of Morality," and Doe- 
 denlein's " Dogmatic Divinity ;" but the work that impressed 
 him more deeply than either of these, was Garve's " Translation 
 and Exposition of Cicero De Officiis." Here he believed that 
 he had found true satisfaction. 
 
 The impressions of early childhood, when moral progress had 
 been continually kept before him, both by uncle and aunt, the 
 influence of the tendency of the time which received its direc- 
 tion from Kant's philosophy, and his private studies, all reflected 
 themselves in the mode in which the various circumstances 
 that attracted his attention, were apprehended by the intelli- 
 gent and lively youth. His feelings on all subjects were unre- 
 servedly expressed in his letters to his uncle and aunt. From 
 these we find that he at this time began to regard life as a vast 
 institution of the Creator, for leading individuals and the Avhole 
 human race to an ever-increasing perfection. " Viewing things 
 in this light," he writes, " I do not believe in evil, since by 
 every occurrence we may be improved, and everything when 
 it is past heightens our power of enjoyment. No one is afflicted 
 without a purpose ; who could form such horrible ideas of the 
 Godhead as to suppose it otherwise ? But while a man is still 
 under the power of failings and vices, it is impossible that he 
 
 * UiuKansr mit Mciisclieu. 
 
YOUTH. 23 
 
 slioukl be perfectly happy ; he must even take these along with 
 him into the future life, and the conviction that he might have 
 been better than he is, will be his punishment there." He 
 always set before himself and others the stimulus of a perfec- 
 tion to which nearer approaches were continually to be made, 
 and in which a high position was ultimately to be attained. 
 He frequently believed that he could say with deep conviction 
 and perfect honesty, that in this struggle after perfection he 
 had made some progress. " By reading works of practical 
 philosophy," he writes in 1790, " I have established myself in 
 the idea of striving after perfection, and this is strengthened 
 by a consideration of my destiny, and by the remembrance of 
 my benefactors." " Dearest, best uncle," he wrote towards the 
 end of the year 1791, " it is certainly true that he who strives 
 after improvement, is thereby capable of exalted enjoyment ; 
 and I have myself often had such bright hours when, by medi- 
 tation on the perfections of God and his works, and by the 
 consciousness of my own dignity as a human being, I enjoyed 
 a foretaste of the destiny ultimately in store for me. At such 
 seasons, all, all was joy, and I saw everything around me 
 labouring onward to perfection — then all men were my brothers 
 advancing with me to the same goal." At other times the 
 youth had to confess that he often deviated both to the right 
 and the left of the path which he saw to be the true one. 
 " You say," he writes in a letter to his uncle at Schwartzburg, 
 " that you are delighted with the principles expressed in my 
 letters ; and encourage me to cleave to them, and practise them 
 in my life. I do indeed cleave to them, dear uncle, for they are 
 not a mere result of reasoning : Oh no ! they are so interwoven 
 with my whole being that I have no power to think of myself 
 
24 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 without them, but allowing them to actuate my life is quite 
 another matter. I should be a hypocrite if I were to tell you 
 that they had been the never failing guide of my conduct. Now 
 passion triumphs, now habit, again a constitutional levity which 
 is quite at variance with the results of my reflection ; and then 
 I have to pay for the errors which reason has made in de- 
 luding me by the exhibition of a perfection which seemed 
 within my grasp, but which, I find, cannot be reached 
 by a bound, but must be slowly and painfully worked out. 
 The attempt to make such a leap always insures a heavy 
 fall." There were seasons when the youth had so absolutely 
 lost courage as to give up all hope of fulfilling what he con- 
 ceived to be the destiny of man. " I must indeed struggle 
 hard, if I am to expel from my heart all that disturbs my 
 peace ; for, alas ! when I feel tranquil, it is but the sleep of 
 evil inclinations which are gathering strength for a more violent 
 outburst when opportunity off'ers. Ah ! my want of firmness 
 and my hot blood often destroy in one hour what it has been 
 the labour of weeks to build up, and then 1 am the victim of a 
 remorse which is not soon succeeded by the unreproaching 
 self-possession of a heart at peace with itself How often have 
 I, with tears, deplored my pcrverseness, when, after some sted- 
 fast resolution to cling to the good, I have fallen, because too 
 weak to overcome some passion ! At such times every one 
 seems better than myself, even those Avho have openly trans- 
 gressed, while I have erred only in thought ; for I say to m}-- 
 self, — had othere the same impulses to good as thou hast, they 
 would assuredly have been better." Then, again, came seasons 
 in which the young man was inclined to look complacently on 
 these self-condemnations. " You see, dear uncle," he writes, 
 
YOUTH. 25 
 
 '' tliat I have made a good beginning, for the being dissatisfied 
 with myself is a sure proof of this/' 
 
 While anxiously desiring individual progress, he watched 
 eagerly for indications of the advance of the human race ; 
 and it was from this point of view that he regarded the 
 French Revolution, an event that had a most exciting effect 
 on him. " I believe," he writes in 1792, "that humanity is 
 now involved in a chaos from which it will emerge with 
 splendour, having made a great step towards perfection. I 
 enclose a little treatise which appears to me admirable ; to 
 me such an encouragement is especially needful, as I am 
 surrounded by those who are always exalting the old times 
 and anathematizing the new. Now, according to my notions, 
 the government of one's-self is the only true freedom for the 
 individual ; and were all men free in this respect, civil free- 
 dom would soon follow, since we should no longer require any 
 executive. But this must be a work of centuries ; and were 
 the poor French patiently to endure the pressure of a tyranny 
 that cried to heaven for vengeance till then ? No ! and they 
 have assuredly done right to emancipate themselves ; and as a 
 man, and a citizen of the world, I rejoice in the progress of tlie 
 French army, although as a German I would fain weej). I re- 
 gard it as an eternal reproach to us that we recognised the 
 right only after compulsion."' 
 
 " You think, dear uncle," he says in another letter, " that if 
 the efforts of the rulers to coerce the people should succeed, 
 Europe would be covered by a mediaeval darkness ; but this 
 could never be, for knowledge of every kind is diffused amono- 
 all classes, and the spirit of freedom and the rights of nature 
 have found their way even into the beggar's hut ; and where, 
 
 3 
 
26 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 among the present rulers of the earth, are we to look for the 
 heroic sph'it, the high courage, and the presence of mind which, 
 amid all their atrocities, cast a glory around the tyrants of 
 old ?" In spite of this view of the French Revolution, Perthes 
 was already haunted by strong misgivings as to the unqualified 
 blessings of its results. "I do not believe," he writes, " that 
 we are yet sufficiently trained and good enough to be ripe for 
 a complete deliverance from despotism. The lower classes, and 
 even literary men, rail at all despots and aristocrats ; but if a 
 noble condescend to be gracious to them, they immediately for- 
 get all manly dignity, and become mere lickspittles ; and if one 
 of them is fortunate enough to rise in the State, he becomes 
 a more arrogant aristocrat than those who are born to rank. 
 All would fain be masters, but the true sense of equality and 
 the virtue of never infringing on another's right, is of no easy 
 attainment. If you would read something which goes to the 
 root of the matter, I would recommend to you Elder's ' Prin- 
 ciples of Political Philosophy.' I send you an outline of it 
 sketched, in the order which the ideas have assumed in my own 
 mind." — " I cannot contemplate the political world wnthout 
 sorrow," he writes in the spring of 1793 ; " in France a raging, 
 blinded people ; here among us a set of perjured tyrants. I 
 used to believe that even if the individual man fell, the race, at 
 least, would gradually attain to a high development; but this, 
 too, seems to be a dream. Confusion to the French bloodhounds 
 who so outrageously dishonour the sacred cause of freedom I" 
 
 The activity of Perthes both in his business and liis personal 
 jmrsuits, as well as in the political and general movements of 
 the age, by which he was profoundly attracted, had developed 
 his understanding, made him acquainted with life in its varied 
 
YOUTH. 27 
 
 relations, and given liim an intelligent interest in all tlic 
 events of the period ; but this very culture had at the same 
 time made him conscious of a void in his spiritual life, whicli 
 caused him many hours of sorrow. 
 
 Frank, open, and truthful, he keenly felt the want of some 
 one to whom he might pour out his whole heart in the unre- 
 served freedom of mutual intercourse, and be met by a frank- 
 ness and attachment equal to his own. The natural devoted- 
 ness of a child to father and mother, had been denied him ; 
 for his interviews with his mother had been too few and short 
 to exercise any influence in the formation of his character. 
 To the uncle and aunt who had supplied to him the place of 
 parents, Perthes turned with ardent affection, and never al- 
 lowed an opportunity to pass of expressing the gratitude which 
 he felt towards them. He opened his heart to his uncle unre- 
 servedly ; to him he imparted the struggles of youth, the grief 
 which his weakness occasioned, his honest joy at having been 
 at least enabled to prevent evil thoughts from running into 
 evil deeds, — all was communicated to this his fatherly friend. 
 Still he yearned for the daily interchange of thoughts with 
 some companion about his own age, whose sympathies would 
 be in unison with his own. 
 
 " The most earnest wish of my heart," he writes, " is for 
 a friend to whom I might freely unbosom myself, who would 
 strengthen me when I am weak, and encourage me when I 
 begin to despair ; but, alas ! I find no such friend, and yet I 
 feel an irresistible necessity to unburden my heart ; and so over- 
 powering is this longing, that I could press every man to my 
 breast, and say, Thou, too, art God's image." While thus deplor- 
 ing the want of a friend as one of the misfortunes of his life, 
 
28 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 lie had been powerfully attracted by the kindly, though child- 
 ish, advances of his master's second daughter, who, by the force 
 of a benevolent nature, had won the affection of the unfriended 
 boy from the first day of his residence under the same roof 
 with her. 
 
 Frederiha, then twelve years of age, was, as we have seen, 
 his faithful nurse during the illness of his first winter, and con- 
 tinued to be his playfellow and comforter in subsequent years. 
 She provided for all his wants, giving him food, fuel, and light, 
 and never failed to cheer him with her sprightliness. She had 
 often much to endure from the disorders of the house, and when 
 she or Perthes suffered from the unhappy relations which pre- 
 vailed, they found comfort in each other's sympathies. "We were 
 sensible children," writes Perthes subsequently; " we comforted 
 each other, read together, and talked over all our troubles." 
 Together they grew out of childhood : the boy became silent 
 and embarrassed, the girl shy and reserved. About this time 
 a second apprentice, Nessig by name, came into the house ; a 
 smart, good-natured lad, with a wonderful gift for entertaining 
 himself and others with light and lively talk. This was un- 
 bearable to Perthes when addressed to Frederika. He had 
 been able to hold earnest discourse with her only touching the 
 dignity of man and the perfectibility of the human race, of the 
 love of God and of our neighbour, and such high topics, and 
 when these were inappropriate, Perthes had nothing to say. 
 *' On this account," he writes to his uncle, "' Nessig is more 
 regarded than I am ; people talk with him, while they leave 
 me standing, and treat me almost contemptuously." Perthes 
 felt irritated by the neglect, and soon became the victim of 
 jealousy. He first became conscious of this by the ill-will that 
 
YOUTH. 29 
 
 he felt towards the favoured Nessig. This ill-will he determined 
 to overcome ; he opened his wliole heart to the favourite, and 
 promised to conceal nothing from him. A warm friendship be- 
 tween the youths, founded on their common feeling towards the 
 beloved maiden, was the result ; and this afterwards exposed 
 Perthes to much ill-natured raillery, and eventually to many 
 vexations. His former playfellow had grown into a very hand- 
 some girl of sixteen, and the admirers of the elder sister, who 
 had hitherto been regarded as the helle of Leipzig, were now 
 dazzled and tempted from their allegiance by the sprightlincss 
 and superior intelligence of the dark-haired Frederika. Lovers 
 without number soon gathered round her, and yet she could not 
 do without the shy and anxious apprentice at the other side 
 of the room, who numbered only nineteen years, and who never 
 exjjressed his feelings to her except by the involuntary atten- 
 tion that he bestowed on everything she did and said. 
 
 " She is still," he writes, " most kind to me ; she knows how, 
 by a few words, to cheer me when I am troubled and depressed, 
 and she speaks to me of her position in her father's house, as 
 she does to no other. Ah ! my dear good uncle, how sincerely 
 I thank God that my former struggle with evil thoughts, 
 which surely came without any intention on my part, is over ! 
 What the most serious reflections on the greatness and perfecti- 
 bility of man could never accomplish, has been effected by the 
 influence of a pure and innocent love. God will still protect 
 me ; may He also protect you and your wife and children, and 
 what is my most earnest prayer, may He make Frederika 
 happy. — Good-night." The next letter from his uncle, as might 
 have been expected, brought the inquiry, "What next?" 
 " Assuredly she is not in love with me," was the reply ; " she 
 
CO LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 has the choice of so many highly-educated men, that I, with 
 my youthful twenty-year face, cut hut a sorry figure among 
 them, to say nothing of the advantages of dress and social posi- 
 tion which they possess. It is true that the last-mentioned 
 have no great value in Fredcrika's eyes ; but a young man is at 
 this very moment paying attentions to her, whose acquirements 
 I respect so highly, that I should be the vainest of living 
 men were I for an instant to put myself in competition with him. 
 Yet one word, dear uncle : even if she loved me, and I were 
 able to maintain her, I could never make her my wife ; for no- 
 thing on earth would induce me to commit myself irrevocably 
 with Bohme's family, nor would I marry one who has first 
 known me in the humble position which I occupy here. My 
 heart is ready to break while I write thus, yet be not anxious 
 on my account, dear uncle, I never felt so confident of my 
 steady adherence to the right as I do now." 
 
 In 1792, while this struggle was going on, Perthes one 
 day found himself placed opposite to Frederika, at a dinner 
 given by Bohme in honour of some strangers who were visiting 
 Leipzig. She paid him the most marked attention, and drew 
 him into every conversation ; he was animated, and took wine, 
 and when after dinner she happened to draw near, and reach 
 over his chair to take something from the table, approaching 
 him so closely that he felt her heart beat through her blue silk 
 dress, he could command himself no longer, but rushing out 
 into the dark night, wandered for hours through the fields like a 
 maniac. " I felt as if annihilated," he wrote a few years later ; 
 " in that hour the sanctuary of my thoughts lost its purity ; 
 I determined to take vengeance on myself — I resolved never 
 again to look into the maiden's eyes — I could not resist, how- 
 
YOUTH. 31 
 
 ever — I looked, but found there nothing- but a deathlike cold- 
 ness. She was no longer the same ; she was cold as ice, and 
 hard as iron. Then began a desperate struggle with myself, in 
 which I called all my energies, all my strength of will to my aid, 
 and succeeded — not indeed in annihilating, but in overcoming 
 the passion for a time." 
 
 At this time Perthes would sit up half the night, seeking to 
 allay the storm in his bosom, by tlie arduous study of treatises 
 upon Kant's Philosophy and Cicero De Officiis. A better help 
 than any which these wearisome studies could afford, and one of 
 which he, up to that time, had had no experience, was at hand, in 
 the society of young men of great mental activity and high moral 
 character. Accident had given rise to an intimacy with seven 
 young Swabians, considerably older than himself, who formed an 
 aifection for him, and drew him into their circle. The names of 
 four principal members of this circle were, Schroder, Dutten- 
 liover, Trefftz, and Meier. They were men of talent and good 
 education, of pleasant humour, and considerable poetical enthu- 
 siasm. Perthes soon devoted all his leisure hours to them. 
 Through them he became acquainted with Herder, Schiller, and 
 Goethe ; and, moreover, had his first genuine experiences of the 
 joyous life of youth. " Never, since I came here," lie writes, 
 " have I enjoyed such pleasant heart-quickening hours as now, 
 in the society of my beloved new friends. They are all Swa- 
 bians, and closely united, and cultivate no society beyond their 
 own limited circle ; but the moment I enter, I read my welcome 
 in their eyes." — " Yesterday evening," he says in another letter, 
 " one of my friends gave a little farewell party. We were very 
 jolly ; you cannot think what a peculiar kind of good humour 
 those Swabians possess, I am, indeed, not behind the rest in 
 
82 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 merriment, but as for wit, I must knock under, except when 
 my spirits are roused by a glass of wine." — " I am one of the 
 happiest of men," he tells his Schwartzburg- uncle. " The friend- 
 ship, and regard, and aifection of good men accompany me at 
 every step, and an annoyance of a particular kind that oppressed 
 me, has now disappeared. The annoyance I refer to was this ; 
 when I saw other young men of my own age setting about 
 everything with a sort of sprightliness that I could never com- 
 mand, I was grieved at heart, because I was convinced that 
 nothing great or noble could be accomplished without ardour 
 and vivacity. My weak spirits vexed me, and I even went so 
 far as to blame all that was good in me, ascribing my good 
 tendencies merely to the coldness of my temperament, which 
 I consequently mortally hated. And now, dear uncle, all this 
 is changed ! — yes, I feel that there is enthusiasm in me ; but 
 when this enthusiasm, which is now satisfied with lower objects, 
 shall have religion, perfection, and virtue for its inspiration, 
 then the last vestige of selfishness will disappear, and I 
 shall love all, — all as my brethren." 
 
 The circumstances in which Perthes had grown up to youth, 
 had, indeed, been narrow and limited, but his mind had been 
 formed and strengthened by much valuable experience. 
 " When I think of the years I have passed here," he writes in 
 1793, "when I carry myself back within the circle of ideas 
 that I brought with me to this place, I am astonished at the 
 transformation I have undergone. I shall ever look back upon 
 Leipzig with affection and blessings ; for here my mind began 
 to develop and to apprehend the greatness of humanity. I 
 have had seasons of trial, but they have brought forth much 
 good. I came here a light-minded youth, with many failings ; I 
 
YOUTH. 33 
 
 have still many, but many too are corrected. For all tlie good 
 I have enjoyed I thank God, who lilaced so many inducements 
 to good in my way, in order that my levity might not get the 
 upper hand." It was not without a feeling of pride that, as 
 the term of his apprenticeship drew near, he contemplated his 
 actual position. " It gives me pleasure," he writes, " to say to 
 myself, Thou hadst no father, no means, and yet thou hast been 
 a burden to no one, and in a few weeks wilt be independent of 
 all but thyself i" According to agreement the term expired at 
 Michaelmas 1 793 ; but Bohme's friend, Hoffmann the Ham- 
 burgh bookseller, who had carefully observed Perthes and ad- 
 mired his business qualities, requested his master to set him free 
 before the close of his term, as he wished to engage him as an 
 assistant in the Easter of the same year. Bohme consented ; 
 at a grand entertainment he came up to Perthes, told him to 
 rise, gave him a gentle slap on the face, presented him with a 
 sword, addressed him as " Sie," (they,*) and the apprentice- 
 ship to the book-trade was at an end, but not the apprentice- 
 ship to life. 
 
 * The Germans use the third person phiral instead of the second, when address- 
 ing others—" they," instead of you. Children and servants are addressed by the 
 second person singular — " thou." 
 
34 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE RESIDENCE AT HAMBURGH — 1793-94. 
 
 On the IStli of May 1793, Perthes took leave of tlie city iu 
 which he had spent six years — " hapj^y years of earnest striv- 
 ing," as he called them himself; he had now left behind him 
 extreme poverty and abject dependence. He exchanged his 
 cold little chamber in the roof for the comfortable travelling 
 carriage of his new master, and the roughness of honest Bohme 
 for the cultivated society of his travelling companion Hoff- 
 mann, a man of education, and one who also possessed con- 
 siderable knowledge of the world. The country was in the first 
 bloom of spring, and a bright moonlight night induced medi- 
 tation on the past and the future. At Hochweisig, the first 
 stage, the travellers fell in with Hoffmann's friend, Campe of 
 Brunswick, his wife, daughter, and nephews. Campe was 
 a member of the Council of Education, and enjoyed a wide- 
 spread reputation as a man of talent and a distinguished 
 author, and was on intimate terms with the most noted men of 
 the period. It was the first time that Perthes had had an op- 
 portunity of social intercourse with a family of such distinction, 
 and it was not without a feeling of excitement that he contem- 
 plated the meeting. The house in which Campe had found 
 lodging, Avas a wretched village inn, and the many little con- 
 
RESIDENCE AT HAMBURGH. 35 
 
 trivances and mutual good offices called forth by the scanty ac- 
 commodation, and the ignorance and awkwardness of the host, 
 soon made Perthes acquainted with a family from which, under 
 other circumstances, he would have kept respectfully aloof His 
 admiration knew no bounds, wlien he found that he was to visit 
 Worlitz and Dessau in their society. " Herr Campe," he writes 
 to his uncle, " I found to exceed the ideal which I had formed of 
 the author of the Theophron. He is a tall and slender, but 
 liandsome man, with an air of dignity diffused over his whole 
 person ; his most trivial action bears the impress of a superior 
 mind. But she who contributes most to the charm of the family 
 and to his own dignified tranquillity, is his admirable wife, who, 
 to the most refined breeding, unites the warmest affection, and 
 to tlie widest range of information, the most carefiil housewifery. 
 And now comes that masterpiece, the model of education and 
 high-breeding, Lottchen Campe : but to praise her as she de- 
 serves is beyond my power." The nephew invited Perthes' 
 friendship and correspondence — an advance which he joyfully 
 met. " When we parted,'' he writes, " it was as though I were 
 leaving father, mother, sister, friend, all that stands for happi- 
 ness here on earth." By Helmstildt and Uclzen, Hoffmann and 
 he now journeyed to Hamburgh. " Tlie next morning at five 
 o'clock," he writes to his uncle, " we reached the Elbe, and had 
 to be ferried over in a large boat to Zollenspicker, the first 
 point in the Hamburgh territory ; this gave me great pleasure, 
 as it was all new to me. From Zollenspicker to Hamburgh is 
 eighteen miles, but the constant variety in the scenery made it 
 seem hardly a league. The whole tract is one continuous 
 village, a village cradled by the Elbe, surrounded by garden 
 grounds, and houses such as one does not often see in cities — all 
 
36 LIFE OF PERTHES, 
 
 kept with the greatest neatness, finely painted and fitted up 
 with Bohemian plate-glass windows. It is a fine sight ! And 
 just think, there are peasants who give to their daughters por- 
 tions of ten and even twenty thousand dollars. It was at 
 ten o'clock at night, on the 1 7th of May, the day before Whit- 
 sunday, that we entered Hamburgh. I was astonished at 
 the crowds of people, far greater than in Leipzig, even during 
 the most thronged days of the Fair. Everything is grand and 
 beautiful, surpassing all I have yet seen.'' — He was favourably 
 impressed by the polite manners and kind-heartedness, the open 
 candour and regular habits of the Hoftmann family. " Madame 
 Hofi'mann," he writes, " is a woman of superior intelligence. 
 She is admirable as a wife and mother. But I find I must take 
 heed to my manners, for you cannot think how particular she 
 is, and what a way she has of managing us. The daughter is 
 handsome, very handsome, and very good too, but one is some- 
 how compelled to keep at a distance from her." Hofi'mann was 
 a good man of business, and, both as a man and a bookseller, 
 thoroughly well-informed. He liked the luxurious, hospitable 
 style of Hamburgh life. The contrast between the dry tran- 
 quillity of his manner and the excitable vivacity of his wife, in 
 no wise disturbed the harmony of the family. " Were you to 
 see this respectable couple," writes Perthes, " you could not re- 
 frain from laughing ; for she is like quicksilver, and would know 
 everything, while he, as you know, is rather phlegmatic. Though 
 fond enough of talking, he has a great dislike to answering 
 questions. She has consequently to keep up an incessant fire 
 of interrogatories, as, ' I say? — Do you hear? — Hofi'mann ? — Tell 
 me ? — Don't you hear ? — Answer me ?' — and not unfrequently 
 she pours out all these in rapid succession before she can ex- 
 
RESIDENCE AT HAMBURGH. St 
 
 tract a reply. At last he rejoins with, ' I have told you already/ 
 and yet no one has heard a word. If she is too hard upon him, 
 he growls a little ; it is of no use, he must do as she bids." 
 
 The business in which Perthes was now, under Hoffmann's 
 direction, to work, was one that called forth all his powers. 
 Half a year after his entrance on it, he thus writes, " I was 
 ignorant of many things, as is mostly the case with apprentices 
 who have served their time ; but I have hit upon a situation 
 particularly favourable for extending my information, for I 
 have work to do here which is unusual even for an experienced 
 hand. That this keeps my brain in excitement you may well 
 believe ; happily, being left to myself, I can work as I like, 
 and this is the only way in which I can get through much. 
 Reflection has always been my best teacher, and just for this 
 reason I find it very difficult to comprehend and to imitate any 
 one who sets himself to shew me the way to do anything." 
 Perthes did not find many leisure hours in his new employment : 
 "We never close," he writes, "till nine o'clock at night, and 
 once in the week we have to sit up half through the night, 
 and on each alternate Sunday we have to assist in the business 
 half the day. This is in ordinary seasons, but at the ap- 
 proach of a fair the work can scarcely be overtaken." Perthes 
 had already learned in Leipzig to take advantage of the few 
 hours which the uninterrupted routine of business life left at 
 his disposal for mental cultivation and for recreation, and in 
 Hamburgh, too, he found time to accomplish much. 
 
 He had been deeply interested with Herder's " Letters on 
 Humanity," and Jacobi's " Waldemar." Schiller's " Essay 
 on Grace and Dignity" had charmed and caj)tivated him. 
 " It is singular," he whites, " that works of this kind make the 
 
38 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 most profound impression on me, while special treatises on 
 morality, and grave exhortations, however excellent, fail to 
 interest, and even leave me restless and unhappy. These sug- 
 gest many things which rouse all sorts of doubts and question- 
 ings in my mind, but a treatise, which, like that of Schiller's, 
 is so convincing and exhaustive and gives birth to so many 
 new thoughts, lias power to move me deeply." 
 
 On the holidays, the fine environs of Hamburgh afforded him 
 recreation and numerous sources of pleasure. " He must be 
 dead to the beauties of nature," he writes, " who could be un- 
 happy here. You can imagine nothing finer or grander than 
 the neighbouring country. Every turn of the Elbe below Al- 
 tona is unique of its kind, and reflects in its peculiar beauty 
 the greatness and goodness of the Creator," Acquaintances 
 he had readily found, and was no longer, as he had been in 
 Leipzig even during leisure hours, dependent on the will of a 
 master : he was quite disposed to avail himself of the many 
 pleasures which were to be enjoyed in a great city. Concerts 
 and masquerades occasionally form the subjects of his letters. 
 The theatre especially jjresented to him the greatest attractions. 
 " You should see Schroeder act !" he writes; " it exceeds all that 
 can be imagined." The summer brought with it many a Sun- 
 day pleasure-trip by land or water, in the company of families 
 with which he was intimate. " Thirty of us, ladies and gentle- 
 men, some old, some young, floated yesterday down the Elbe, 
 to the sound of kettle-drums and trumpets, and enjoyed our- 
 selves to the full." On these and similar occasions, he was 
 irresistibly fascinated, now by the sparkling wit, then by the 
 earnest thoughtfulness, and again by the frank cordiality of 
 some attractive girl, and seemed indeed to pass from one en- 
 
RESIDENCE AT HAMBURGH. 39 
 
 cliantmcnt to anotlicr. " How liiglily man is still favoured by 
 the gods," he writes ; " how love exudes from me at every pore ! 
 — what is there in me to make every maiden believe that I 
 am in love with her, and thus actually to bring it about ? 
 Should occasion offer I begin to speak with them of Avhat has a 
 deep interest for me, and, as I speak, the interest gains strength, 
 for they are so fascinating that a man believes himself in 
 heaven ; but this does not last long, I weary of them or they 
 of me. It is a sad thing that these powerful natures will so 
 seldom use tlieir influence to make us better. If they were 
 but disposed, how wonderfully they might improve us, for wo 
 are ever ready to do their bidding ; but they have no such 
 high object, and desire nothing from us but folly." 
 
 But amid all the shifting scenes and impressions that the 
 change of life brought with it, Frederika's image was still 
 present with him. When Perthes left Leipzig, they had pro- 
 mised that they would not forget the days of childhood, and 
 that they would correspond occasionally. He was deeply 
 affected at hearing that on the day he took his departure, she 
 had sat for hours at the window weeping. In his first letter 
 to his Leipzig friends, he says, " I still live wholly in the past, 
 and am now first aware how fondly I love Frederika ; she is 
 ever the centre round which all my thoughts turn." True to 
 the obligations he had taken on himself, to keep back nothing 
 bearing on his relations Avith Frederika from his friend 
 Nessig, he sent to him their whole correspondence. A strange 
 intimacy thus grew up between the rivals, grounded solely 
 on their common affection for the girl. " You may have 
 secrets from me," writes Perthes, " but nothing, nothing may 
 you conceal of your thoughts and feelings regarding me. Here 
 
40 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 the least reserve would be the grave of friendshiix Keep 
 back neither doubt nor reproach ; write all, even thougli it 
 should cost me many a bitter tear/' 
 
 Perthes was able to comment to his friend with calmness, 
 nay, even with some severity, on whatever seemed wrong in 
 Frederika, but he found excuses for all in the trying circum- 
 stances of her home. " Men may indeed blame her, but God 
 condemns no one for single and isolated failings. He has ap- 
 pointed a stern discipline for the poor, dear, noble girl, and 
 hereafter she will reap the reward. If I knew any way to make 
 her happy," he writes again, " I would joyfully do so at any 
 cost. I have been long thinking how I can write to her an 
 affectionate letter of advice ; but though you may let a girl feel 
 that you think her wrong, and although she is quite conscious 
 of it, yet you must not venture to say it, or you will at once 
 be made aware of the power which in such a case a woman 
 always has over a man." '* Be her friend, her guide and coun- 
 sellor," he writes to Nessig, " but guard against yourself, and 
 do not harbour a feeling of security which is only imaginary. 
 Your last letter betrayed the height of passion, and shows that 
 you are given up to its intoxication. It were folly to strive to 
 tear it from your heart, even if you could. No ; keep this love- 
 sickness, be still an enthusiast, only forget not virtue and reli- 
 gion." — The calm judgment and self-forgetting anxiety which 
 Perthes at one time exhibited, were at another overpowered 
 by an outburst of passion : *' You are still living," he writes, 
 " under the eyes of my Frederika ! — My Frederika ? Yes, so I 
 call her, for come what may, a part of her soul is mine, and 
 will be mine for ever." In another letter he says, " Frede- 
 rika begins everything with me, Frederika is with me while I 
 
RESIDENCE AT HAMBURGH. 41 
 
 am occupied with it, Freclerika ends it with me — in a word, 
 Frederika is in my heart by night and by day. Ah ! my suf- 
 fering is sometimes great, and it is truly terrible to have to 
 will to subdue such a passion as mine, and yet I must and will 
 subdue it." 
 
 Perthes had the firm conviction that the maiden loved his 
 friend better than himself. "I would fain not confess it," he 
 writes, " but 1 have long been aware of Frederika s preference 
 for you — a preference grounded on your noble character, which 
 is much stronger than mine. Believe me, brother, it often 
 cost me a struggle, yes, a terrible struggle, not to be unjust 
 to you, and not to make you smart for the preference you en- 
 joyed. Once I was on the point of becoming your enemy, 
 but I overcame, and now I am calm, though I must still weep. 
 Write and tell me what is to be the issue of your love, and I 
 will do all I can for you." 
 
 In such a mood Perthes would seek for solitude, where he 
 might give himself up undisturbed to melancholy thoughts. 
 " I have just returned," ho writes, " from a solitary walk, which 
 has done me much good ; I was penetrated by the glory of 
 Nature ; certainly I was never better in soul than now. Dearest 
 brother, be it what it may that now inspires me, God — Nature — 
 Heart — do not grudge it me, but rather rejoice with me. In 
 the twilight of memory, visions rise before me, and the misty 
 figures of the distant loved ones hover around me." " Imagi- 
 nation I" he says in another letter, " Imagination ! no depend- 
 ence is to be placed on thy votaries, says Campe ; and yet 
 though thou hast caused me many sorrows, I would not be 
 without thee. Imagination gave me blessedness — gave me love 
 and melancholy. Oh, the melancholy which is the offspring 
 
 4 
 
42 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 of imagination, is tlie sweetest thing that I know ! My brother, 
 to lie in the stillness of nature, not knowing what one feels 
 or thinks, and yet to know it so well ! In such moments every 
 blade of grass, every leaf is my friend — while as fancy prompts 
 I can extract from each, food for my imagination, and would fain 
 shed tears of sweetest sadness ; there and then is it revealed to 
 man that God is the soul of all." 
 
 Grateful as Perthes was for the happiness of his Hamburgh 
 life, it was not long till he felt its insufficiency to satisfy him. 
 " You cannot imagine, dear Campe," he writes, " what it is to 
 be confined exclusively to the company of the young, and to be 
 quite shut out from that of older men, and from all family 
 gatherings, except on some rare festive occasions. Among the 
 young men, however extended the circle of acquaintance, an 
 unbearable sameness prevails, and the whole conversation turns 
 upon trifles. There can be nothing more perilous than con- 
 stant intercourse with commonplace men ; even if the character 
 do not sustain direct injury, a dry, dull, reserved condition of 
 mind is huluccd, more or less inimical to freedom. When I first 
 came here I was foolish enough to associate with a multitude 
 of young persons, Avho at the outset appeared tolerable ; now 
 that I have discovered how many precious hours they make 
 me waste, I must take decided measures to get quit of them." 
 But though anxious to free himself from these connexions, 
 Perthes by no means sought to avoid all society. His natural 
 disposition, fostered by early habits, made it impossible for 
 liim to find entire satisfaction in what books alone could 
 afford ; to become what he was capable of becoming, he 
 needed both correspondence and personal intercourse with 
 men capable of exercising influence over his mind, men of 
 
RESIDENCE AT HAMBURGH. 43 
 
 different positions, different degrees of culture, and of various 
 tendencies. He became more and more conscious of this want. 
 " My heart," he tells his uncle, " yearns for the society of many, 
 and of cultivated men. Such society is a necessity for me, and 
 I must compass it unless I am to sink entirely." Hamburgh, 
 the most stirring city of Germany at that time, was exactly 
 the place where an ardent desire for the variety and excite- 
 ment of improving society might best be satisfied. As the first 
 commercial city, and the first sea-port of Germany, its world- 
 wide trade had made it the centre of the most varied interests, 
 and consequently the resort of strangers of all nations. From 
 the beginning of the Revolution, the enterprise of a few great 
 houses, and the close alliance wath France, had given an impulse 
 to trade, which was felt even by the lowest classes. So keen, 
 consequently, was the interest in the progress of events in 
 France, that a more exact acquaintance with their sliifting 
 phases than was perhaps to be met with in the great cabinets 
 of Europe, was to be found in Hamburgh. Emigres of all shades 
 of political opinion had sought refuge there; and when, towards 
 the end of the year 1 794, the French threatened the Weser, and 
 many wealthy and influential families from East Friesland, 
 Oldenburg, and Hanover, were desirous to take up their resi- 
 dence in Hamburgh, the pressure and the excitement reached 
 the highest pitch. In addition to the German theatre, which, 
 under Schroeder's management, ranked with the first in Ger- 
 many, a French company from Brussels, and an English one 
 from Edinburgh, had established themselves permanently. The 
 literary movements that agitated Germany, also roused the 
 interest of the more distinguished circles of tlie great com- 
 mercial city. Devotion, in some cases passionate devotion to 
 
44 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 the interests of the Revolution, went hand in hand with a per- 
 fect acquaintance with the contents and purport of the Wolfen- 
 Luttel Fragments* Although the noble efforts of the elder 
 Reimarus, who died in 1767, had left no trace, and even al- 
 though the powerful influence exercised by Lessing, when, in 
 1768, he wrote his Dramaturgic in Hamburgh, was no longer 
 apparent, yet such was the breadth of feeling in the literary 
 circles, that a harsh and invidious exclusion of men of talent, 
 on account of their different political creeds, was never 
 thought of 
 
 " Live and let live" is a maxim in literature as in trade. 
 A comparatively small number of congenial families formed 
 the centre around which citizens and strangers of distinc- 
 tion alike gathered. Blisch, whose writings on political eco- 
 nomy and commerce enjoyed a great and wide-spread cele- 
 brity, was already advanced in years ; but the Commercial 
 Academy, of which he was President, was the means of bringing 
 strangers from all parts of Europe to his house, where all that 
 was most distinguished for wit, talent, or learning, was to be 
 met with. The younger Reimarus, who, as practising physi- 
 cian, commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow- 
 citizens, and as a writer on medical science, as well as on 
 physics and philosophy, enjoyed a high reputation throughout 
 Germany, was on terms of close intimacy with the president. 
 In the evening, when his professional labours were over, a 
 number of townsmen and foreigners used to gather around his 
 
 * Lessing, wlien Curator of the library of Wolfenbiittel, published a work about 
 the year 1774, opposed to the theological spirit of the age, under the title of Wolfen- 
 hutielschen Fragmente einex ungenannten, which attracted great attention in Ger- 
 many, and gave rise to considerable controversy. 
 
RESIDENCE AT HAMBURGH. 45 
 
 domestic circle, which consisted of Mademoiselle Reimaiois, and 
 an unmarried sister, Elise. Still more varied was the society 
 that met together at the house of his son-in-law, Sieveking, who 
 was considered to be one of the wealthiest, as well as one of 
 the most sensible men in Hamburgh. Strangers from all coun- 
 tries, and men of all ojiinions, found an hospitable reception 
 every Sunday at Neumiihlen, his summer residence, beautifully 
 situated on the banks of the Elbe. A circle of seventy or eighty 
 guests might often be seen there at mid-day, gathered round 
 Mademoiselle Sieveking ; than whom, as Rist, a younger cotcm- 
 porary, afterwards remarked, " no one understood better how 
 to make every one appear to the best advantage, and to let 
 each share in the wealth of a pure and benevolent heart." 
 There can be few houses with which so many kindly and grate- 
 ful associations, far and near, are linked. 
 
 The chapel-master Reichardt,* who, after many reverses, had 
 found a refuge at Neumiihlen, formed one of this society. His 
 study was adorned with portraits of Mirabeau, Pichegru, and 
 Charlotte Corday ; and one of his sons, in his ardour for the 
 young Republic, had joined the army of the Pyrenees as a 
 Chasseur. At Altona lived Gerstenberg,t the author of Ugolino, 
 formerly one of the most regular contributors to the Letters 
 on the curiosities of Literature, now one of the most zealous 
 
 * Apparently J. F. Eeichardt, the musical composer, who, after a distinguished 
 life spent in the various European capitals, retired to a small estate in Holstein. He 
 composed, among many other pieces, the operas Andromeda, Olimpiade, and Brenno, 
 but perhaps his most famous production was a dirge on Frederick the Great. He 
 was born in Konigsberg in 1751, and died in 1814. He was not so remarkable for 
 original genius as for a careful musical culture. 
 
 t Gerstenberg was bom in Schleswig in 1737. He was favourably known as a 
 minor poet and litterateur. He joined Klopstock and others in the Briefe liber 
 Merkwiirdiijkuten der Litcratur. 
 
46 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Kantians, and the founder of a Kantian Club. Schroeder above 
 all, who was equally appreciated as a theatrical manager, a 
 publisher of several dramatic works, and as a companion, never 
 failed to find a cordial welcome ; the brothers Unzer, free- 
 thinkers and w^orshippers of Italian poetry, were also there, and 
 were ready at any moment to sit in judgment on the German 
 poets, and on all that they regarded as a narrow-minded 
 morality. Von Hess, who subsequently exercised so vast an 
 influence on the destinies of Hamburgh, represented politics in 
 these social reunions. And amid them all Klopstock might be 
 seen, a frequent and not unwilling visitor ; all respected his 
 opinions, though so unlike their own, and forbore to irritate 
 the aged and distinguished man by argument. 
 
 When Perthes, then in his twenty-second year, first came to 
 live in Hamburgh, he was wholly unacquainted with the opi- 
 nions and objects that formed the centre-point of this society ; 
 but he saw that the life there led was one of some significance, 
 and longed to obtain admission into the circle. " How my 
 heart beats," he writes to his uncle, " when I think of such 
 eminent families, as those of Busch, Reimarus, and Sieveking, 
 and when I meet with young men who are privileged to enjoy 
 in their society the genuine pleasures of life. I must and I 
 will find an entree speedily." 
 
 This was not, however, so easy a matter. The distinction 
 between the business of the wholesale and that of the retail 
 dealer, a distinction grounded in the nature of the occupations, 
 was strongly marked at Hamburgh, by the fact of its being 
 recognised in the very constitution of the city. The merchant 
 might become a member of the Senate, the tradesman only of 
 what are called the burgher colleges. It would be difficult for 
 
RESIDENCE AT HAMBURGH. 47 
 
 any one, not familiar with life in a great commercial city, to 
 conceive the diiference in the mode of life and in society, as 
 well as in opinions and interests, arising from this distinction 
 — a distinction by no means exclusively depending on the acci- 
 dent of superior wealth. 
 
 Bookselling being regarded as a retail business, those engaged 
 in it did not form a part of that which, in other cities, would 
 be called the " best society.'' Perthes, moreover, was poor, and 
 had neither connexions nor introductions. It was a happy 
 accident that first brought him in contact with the Sievekings ; 
 and his first appearance among them was an event of some 
 importance to a youth brought up in the most limited circum- 
 stances — an entrance into an entirely new sphere of life. " My 
 neighbour at the table," he tells his uncle, " was Busch, a man 
 of seventy, almost blind, and not a little deaf ; he would 
 insist on my helping him to everything ; and as each dish was 
 presented, he said, ' What's that V Now 1, you know, had 
 neither seen, smelt, nor tasted any of the dishes before in my 
 life, and as each dish was presented, I was obliged to proclaim 
 my ignorance, in a loud voice, which was laughable enough both 
 to me and to every one else !" The intimacy here quickly 
 gained for him a welcome among the friends and relations of 
 the family. Numerous invitations and much consequent mental 
 excitement followed, but still the inward struggle and uncer- 
 tainty were the same. 
 
 " I have," he writes to a friend, " tasted the intoxicating 
 pleasures of a world in which all is collision and opposition ; 
 carried away by them, like many others, I am not : I have had 
 my experiences, but I am not the better for them, and not to 
 become better is to become worse." 
 
48 I'IFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 NEW FRIENDS AND THEIR INFLUENCE 1795. 
 
 In the society of the most distinguished families of Ham- 
 burgh, Perthes had hoped to meet with influences of an improv- 
 ino- kind, which might give a new direction to his character ; 
 hut the difference of years, of social position, and the fact that 
 his spiritual wants were not experienced by his new friends, 
 made this quite hopeless. Three men about his own age were 
 now destined to exercise a powerful influence on his moral 
 progress. " I liave now," he writes in September 1794-, "be- 
 come acquainted with three men who, in spite of their very 
 different characters, participate in each other's sentiments on 
 almost every subject. One of them, Speckter, is a scholar, en- 
 tirely devoted to the critical philosophy, and the intimate 
 friend of the philosopher Reinhold. The second, Runge, is a 
 merchant, the ablest mind with which I have yet come in con- 
 tact ; the other, Hulsenbeck, is inferior to neither." 
 
 Perthes was two-and-twenty years of age when he was In- 
 troduced to these new friends. His small and slender, though 
 firm and well-formed body, his curling hair and fine complexion, 
 and a peculiarly delicate curve in the formation of the eye, 
 gave to his appearance an almost girlish charm. Singularly 
 susceptible, the slightest allusion to women brought the colour 
 
NEW FRIENDS AND THEIR INFLUENCE, 49 
 
 to his cheeks. When he had determined on carrying out some 
 settled purpose, the decision and resoluteness of his mind were 
 manifest in the expressiveness of his slender form ; his strong 
 sonorous voice, his bearing, and every gesture, indicated that 
 he both could and would carry out his resolution. " Little 
 Perthes has the most manly spirit of us all," said his friends ; 
 and they had many stories to tell of the surprising power which 
 his invincible will had exercised over the stubbornness and phy- 
 sical superiority of strong rough men, Perthes was conscious 
 of his power, and in reliance on it, would often, both then and 
 in more advanced life, advance boldly to encounter difficulties 
 in circumstances under which men who possessed more physical 
 strength would have quietly held on their way. He was not 
 generally afraid of a coming evil, though he would tremble at 
 the recollection of a danger past. 
 
 At the beginning of their acquaintance, Perthes exerted a 
 gently constraining influence on the three friends, and on 
 Herterich, who had recently been admitted to their circle. 
 " Perthes is a man to whom I feel marvellously attracted by 
 his tender susceptibility, and his earnest striving after all that 
 is noble," writes Speckter at this time : " I thank you for hav- 
 ing made me acquainted with such a man." Runge writing 
 at a later period says, " I could not withdraw my eyes from 
 him — the charm of his external appearance I could not but 
 regard as the true expression of his inner nature." But the 
 impression that Perthes on his side received was one of a far 
 deeper kind : " I am now," he tells his uncle, " enjoying to 
 the utteraiost all that a quick and ardent sensibility ca7i enjoy. 
 I have found three friends full of talent and heart — of pure and 
 
 upright minds — and distinguished by great and varied culture. 
 
 5 
 
50 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 When tliey saw my striving after the good, and my love for 
 the beautiful,— when they perceived how I sought and endea- 
 voured, they gave me their friendship, and, oh ! how happy I 
 now am ! Through them I have attained what I stood most 
 in need of. They know how to call into life and activity all 
 that is best in me. I am like a fish thrown from the dry land 
 into the water. Do not say that this is enthusiasm; for a 
 feeling is not to be regarded as enthusiastic because a man 
 experiences it in its full power only in hours of peculiar eleva- 
 tion ; such hours are rather to be regarded as those in which a 
 man is most truly himself" This friendship with men whose 
 minds were more matured than his own, gave him a deeper in- 
 terest in the appearance of the great literary works of that 
 period. " Have you read Goethe's ' Lehrjahre,' " he writes ; 
 " how simple, and how grand ! and that there is anything finer 
 than 'Iphigenie' I do not believe." But the most important influ- 
 ence of this new circle \vas that which bore on his growing appre- 
 hension of the demands of the inward moral law. Whereas Per- 
 thes had previously, in accordance with the received opinion, 
 sought virtue and perfection solely in the avoiding of parti- 
 cular vices, and in the practice of particular virtues, his new 
 friends treated the problem of man in a very different way. 
 Under this influence, he began to perceive that that alone is 
 virtue which is practised for its own sake, and from the im- 
 pulse of motives originating in itself " My affection for you," 
 he writes, " would have furnished me with another motive for 
 striving against every external influence of an unworthy kind ; 
 but is such a motive of any value, since it is not the highest ?" 
 Now, that alone appeared to him to be virtue which was fault- 
 less and uninterraitting. " If," he writes, " virtue consisted in 
 
NEW FEIENDS AND THEIR INFLUENCE. 51 
 
 momentary impulses and individual acts, if it were to be acquired 
 by sacrifices and heroic deeds, I should have attained to it long- 
 ago ; but it is impossible that the worth of a man should bo de- 
 pendent on his occasional and special actions ; it must rather be 
 a permanent, internal state, regulating his whole outward con- 
 duct." " The perfect man," he says in another letter, " must nei- 
 ther think, will, nor do anything that is not in conformity with 
 the highest principles of morality ; no passion must be allowed 
 to have ascendency ; but head and heart, will and understanding, 
 reason and feeling, must move in undisturbed harmony." The 
 same rapid transition from self-satisfaction to self-distrust that 
 had been the experience of the boy, was the frequent cause of 
 doubt to the man, with his more matured views. But notwith- 
 standing his advanced moral standard, there were seasons in 
 which Perthes did not lose confidence in himself "My will is 
 always good," he writes, " but, nevertheless, I am still too 
 often the slave of passion and of habit, but most assuredly 
 I must and will achieve my freedom." Sometimes his account 
 seemed to him to stand fair : " It does one so much good," he 
 writes, " when one can come before God and say, ' Thou, God ! 
 knowest that I am good ;' " and in another letter, " Dear friend, 
 you should not brand me with heterodoxy, because I have this 
 clear consciousness of my own moral condition, for no one can 
 possibly have this but he who is entitled to it. It is indeed 
 possible for a man to be vain of talents which he may or may 
 not possess, but it is impossible for any one to be at peace with 
 his whole inner being, unless it be authorized by the actual 
 state of his inner being." Frequently, however, some unex- 
 pected victory of passion, or a desponding view of his whole 
 moral condition, filled him with sorrow and self-distrust. '"How 
 
52 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 exactly," he writes, " did Speckter hit my case, when he said 
 to me — ' Perthes ! your present love of good is a mere play of 
 nerves that assumes the appearance of a nobler passion, but 
 is merely the result of a sensitive and susceptible temperament/ 
 Ah ! he is right, and even when all else is lulled to sleep, 
 the spirit of evil is ever wakeful." 
 
 " That all-embracing kindness which you so unassumingly 
 extend to every one, is very attractive to me," he says to 
 Campe. " I do not feel thus ; I am always looking inwards ; 
 I have so many and so various objects ! And I fear, too, that my 
 restless imagination has sullied the genuine purity of my heart. 
 Is this to be altered, dear friend ? "Would to God that it were 
 possible i" " Every frail old man," he writes on another occa- 
 sion, " whose appearance indicates inward tranquillity, is an 
 object of envy to me ; a thousand times a day I wish myself in 
 his place, though involving the extinction of all the pleasures of 
 youth. I would fain possess this cold-blooded calm, this dulness 
 of nerve, if I could thereby be set free from the present struggle 
 between passion and duty, which drives me to the verge of dis- 
 traction." "Dear Augustus," he writes in a subsequent letter, 
 " you are indeed good ! Would, alas ! that I were so. It is so 
 difficult to continue good, and so much more difficult to be- 
 come better, that it has often occurred to me to doubt whether 
 we were born good." 
 
 The misgivings he had as to his own perfectibility, naturally 
 led him to doubt that of the human race. He thus gives ex- 
 pression to them : — " So long as I believed that our improvement 
 was dependent merely on the rectification of our understand- 
 ing, and that men must necessarily become better and happier 
 as they become more enlightened, the future perfection of our 
 
NEW FRIENDS AND THEIR INFLUENCE. 53 
 
 race upon earth appeared probable to me ; but now that dail}'- 
 experience shews me the fallibility of the wisest of men, 
 shews me men — whose theories of life are unimpeachable — 
 given up to the practice of vice, I have lost all faith in the 
 realization of this virtuous ideal. If our evil deeds flowed from 
 wrong principles, our errors might then be traced back to mis- 
 conceptions, and we might improve as these were rectified. But 
 can a more enlightened understanding strengthen the feeble 
 will, restore the unsound heart, or change the unnatural and 
 artificial into nature and simplicity? Nay, assuredly, good- 
 ness is no necessary result of enlightenment of mind ; this may 
 indeed eradicate follies, but not a single vice." In accordance 
 with these altered views, Perthes now assumed a new position 
 in regard to the Revolution. " I will not deny the wonderful 
 character of much that the French are now accomplishing," 
 he writes in 1795 ; " but what is it worth, when it has no 
 special human aim as its basis ? In all their advances we 
 indeed discover that they are but following more closely in 
 the track of former conquerors. Even Klopstock had hoped 
 that by means of the Constituent Assembly, the degra- 
 dation of man by warfare would receive its death-blow, 
 but he was deceived. What do you think of the burning of 
 the Jacobin man-of-straw ? I regard it as a deeper disgrace 
 than any that the Parisian populace has yet incurred. What 
 can be more detestable than to roll upon others deeds of wick- 
 edness that we ourselves have done, and then to rejoice that we 
 have the power to burn them for these deeds ? Verily this 
 act was necessary to vindicate the infallibility of the decisions 
 of the sovereign people ! Do not from this think of me as an 
 enemy to freedom or to the French people. Who could be so, 
 
54 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 when he contemijlatcs the unparalleled iniquities, the cold- 
 blooded crimes of the other party ? For he who is conscious of 
 possessing even the lowest degree of physical force, must be 
 ready to exert it against the oppressors of the Poles ; but only 
 in such a manner as shall be consistent with the honour of 
 man, and therefore let us not deify the French." 
 
 But the first use to which Perthes put his newly-acquired 
 opinions was, to bring them to bear upon himself ; and it soon 
 became his firm conviction that the virtue which his friends 
 desired was unattainable by him. " With a feeling of deep 
 conviction," he said, "I know nothing of the heroism of a 
 virtue proceeding from the will alone ; this heroism I do not 
 possess, and if ever I am to attain to it, that which is most 
 excellent in me must first be extinguished ; for, believe me, my 
 heart beats higher for goodness than my will wills it. This is 
 indeed the converse of what you desire, but it is not on that 
 account to be called perverse : for it is only when my heart 
 is deeply stirred by good impulses, and when I am able to 
 surrender myself to the free current of my feelings, that I have 
 power to act. Unspeakable is my thankfulness to the Supreme 
 Being for the heart He has given me ; for to me a heart unsus- 
 ceptible of the higher emotions, a heart that could neither 
 greatly rejoice nor greatly suffer, but would coldly shape itself 
 as the will might dictate, would have been an inward hell. The 
 physician lately told me, that the acute headache, from which I 
 have so long suffered, is to be attributed to the sensibility of my 
 nervous system, and that nothing can remove it but preserving 
 an exact balance between good and evil impressions. But though 
 I should rejoice to be free from pain, yet I should regret as much 
 to lose my sensibility ; for in this consists my wealth. For 
 
NEW FRIENDS AND THEIR INFLUENCE. 55 
 
 through it I live more than thousands live ; and therefore I 
 praise God for it : and yet I am forced to exdaim, Would that 
 I were happy ! — if, indeed, it is possible for me to be so." The 
 same friends who had revealed to him the moral law in its 
 deeper and broader aspects, had, under the influence of Schiller's 
 writings, made some progress in their own moral develoj)ment, 
 and now made Perthes aware of a path hitherto concealed from 
 him, which they said would lead him to the fulfilment of the 
 moral law. The new doctrine did not demand from him the 
 sacrifice of the living warmth of feeling on the altar of a 
 cold and iron will ; nay rather feeling itself inspired, purified, 
 and elevated by and through art, was to reign supreme over the 
 win. It was Speckter who first directed the inquiring youth 
 to Schiller's poem, " Die Kiinstler," (the Artists,) constantly 
 urging upon him the lines, " It is only through the morn- 
 ing gate of the beautiful that you can penetrate into the 
 realm of knowledge," and " that which we here feel as beauty, 
 we shall one day know as truth." Runge then helped him 
 to comprehend Schiller's aesthetic letters. It soon appeared 
 to him as if a grand error, embracing all time, had been 
 overthrown by Schiller, when he said, " It is not enough that 
 all enlightenment of the understanding is worthy of respect 
 only in so far as it reacts upon character ; this enlightenment 
 must also flow from the character, because the way to the 
 head is only through the heart. The cultivation of our feel- 
 ings is therefore the grand necessity." '' I entreat you to 
 read the aesthetic letters," he wrote to Campe ; " take pains 
 to comprehend them, make them your own, and you will reap 
 your reward ; for the views therein opened up of the beautiful, 
 and of the whole condition and capabilities of man, are the 
 
56 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 most sublime and tlie truest that have ever penetrated my 
 soul." And again, " brother ! let us become good, genuine 
 men, aiDproaching more and more within the sphere of the 
 moral and the beautiful. When we have ourselves attained a 
 sure footing, we may then influence others ; we may attain it, 
 but only through the beautiful, for through it alone can good- 
 ness find entrance." 
 
 He was now penetrated with the liveliest gratitude towards 
 his friends for the new convictions which they had awakened 
 within him. " I had despaired of myself," he writes, " while 
 I was striving in vain to become virtuous by the sacrifice of all 
 feeling, spiritual as well as sensuous. Constantly failing to fulfil 
 my purpose, I lived in the constant dread of being an ob- 
 ject of contempt to the men whom I loved. Where was I to 
 find support ? I had discarded as worthless all that was most 
 peculiar to my character. You it was who taught me to recog- 
 nise what I had thus discarded, and strengthened it in me by 
 your love ; and your love will guarantee it to me as long as 
 I am upon earth. You it was who led me to ' the morning 
 gate of the beautiful ;' and now it stands open before me — and 
 now I may, and will strive after that which is most wanting 
 in me, — constancy and equipoise." 
 
 Perthes was soon to discover, that even within the portals 
 of the beautiful there were paths of darkness and perplexity ; 
 and it was well for him, that just as this experience was be- 
 ginning to dawn upon his mind, he Avas forced to concentrate 
 all his powers on the business of active life. 
 
ESTABLISHMENT IN BUSINESS. 57 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HIS ESTABLISHMENT IN BUSINESS. — 1796. 
 
 The society in wliicli Perthes now mixed made him feel 
 keenly the defects of his own education, defects which he saw 
 little likelihood of his now being- able to supply. The daily calls 
 of business occupied every hour. " In culture," he says, " I make 
 no progress, and cannot hope to make any : this is a source of 
 grief to me.'' He hoped, one day, to be able to retire, with a 
 small sum, to some secluded spot, where he might devote him- 
 self to study, and give unity to his various but only partially 
 digested knowledge. " Campe," he writes, " stigmatizes this 
 desire for culture as vanity : ' A man must not live for him- 
 self,' he maintains, ' but to be useful to others.' But he is 
 certainly wrong, and I do not agree with him." His future was 
 pretty sure, as his uncle in Gotha had promised him the rever- 
 sion of his business. " My plan of life is so simple," he said, 
 " that I do not see how anything could occur to thwart it." 
 
 It was only a few weeks after he had thus expressed himself, 
 that Reimarus and Sieveking proposed to him to enter into the 
 publishing trade with a young friend of their own, promising 
 to provide the necessary means ; but, not feeling sufficient 
 confidence in his knowledge of business, (he was then two-and- 
 twenty,) or in the partner whom they destined for him, he 
 
58 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 gratefully declined the offer. But from tliat moment he formed 
 the resolution to establish a business of his own in Hamburgh, 
 as soon as he had acquired the requisite experience. He hoped 
 to get his friend Nessig for a partner, and meanwhile succeeded 
 in securing for him an engagement in Hoffmann's establish- 
 ment. 
 
 At the outset indeed, Perthes regarded the book-trade as the 
 means of acquiring property and achieving independence ; but 
 a sense of the importance of his " beloved book-trade," as 
 he was wont to call it, to the whole intellectual life of the Ger- 
 man people, soon took such entire possession of his soul, that 
 during the whole course of his long life, we are justified in 
 saying, the mere question of gain had little weight with him. 
 Where a large conception of the nature of the book-trade 
 did not exist, it seemed to him that learning and art were en- 
 dangered by its operations. " If there be no blower," he 
 would say, " the greatest artiste would strike the organ to no 
 purpose." In more than one district where literature lay dead, 
 he had seen it revive and flourish by the settlement of an ac- 
 tive bookseller in the locality. Regarding the business from 
 this point of view, he could not but complain that far too little 
 attention had hitherto been devoted to this most interesting 
 branch of industry. He had further observed, that where a 
 bookseller possessed an educated taste, works of a high class 
 were in demand ; and that where, on the other hand, the book- 
 seller was a man of low taste and immoral character, a licen- 
 tious and worthless literature had a wide circulation. Sup- 
 ported by these facts, Perthes ascribed to the book-trade in 
 general, and to each individual bookseller, an important influ- 
 ence on the direction in which the public sought its mental 
 
ESTABLISHMENT IN BUSINESS. 59 
 
 food ; and clearly perceiving the influence of literature upon 
 thought and life, he was convinced both then and throughout 
 his whole life, that the book-trade, and the manner in which it 
 was conducted, had 'a most important part to play in giving 
 direction to the course of events. 
 
 He was aware that the book-trade could be managed mecha- 
 nically and viewed merely as a means of livelihood, but he saw 
 elsewhere also, among priests and professors, ministers and 
 generals, some Avho, in giving their services, thought only of 
 their daily bread. A shudder came over him when he saw 
 booksellers make common cause with a crew of scribblers who 
 hired out their wits for stabling and provender. " Where," 
 writes he in 1794, " where will you find a body of men so 
 deficient in the requisite information, and so negligent of the 
 duties of their calling, as the booksellers? Germany is de- 
 luged with wretched and abominable publications, and will 
 be delivered from this plague only when the booksellers shall 
 care more for honour than for gold." His friend Campe had 
 proposed to institute a tribunal of booksellers, and thus to 
 render impossible the publication of injurious works. But 
 earnestly as Perthes desired the elevation of the calling to 
 which with all tlie energy of his nature he had now devoted 
 himself, he nevertheless regarded the execution of such a 
 proposal to be not only impracticable but dangerous — intro- 
 ducing, in fact, a censorship of the press in another form. 
 It was only in the elevation of the whole body and of each 
 individual member, that he hoped for progress. " Dear Campe," 
 he writes, " in order to bring about all that is possible and 
 desirable, let us first see that we ourselves arc what we ought 
 to be ; let us also increase our knowledge, and strive as much 
 
60 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 as possible to win for our opinions friends and advocates among 
 the young people of our own standing. There are now five of 
 us, and what may not five accomplish if only they be in ear- 
 nest ? Let each strive to diffuse a high tone over his pecu- 
 liar circle ; let each seek out some choice spirits, and if we 
 persevere, and God favour us, what may we not accomplish ? 
 — what good may we not bo the means of bringing about ? 
 Write me your views on this subject, I entreat you, quickly, 
 and at length." 
 
 Perthes desired to be independent, and to exercise a wide- 
 spread influence by means of his calling. He had become so 
 much attached to Hamburgh, that it seemed almost impossible 
 to leave it ; he was constantly revolving in his mind the 
 practicability of founding a business there, and the change 
 introduced shortly before into the manner of conducting the 
 book-trade, appeared likely to facilitate the carrying of his wish 
 into effect. 
 
 At the present day the two branches of the business, pub- 
 lishing and bookselling, are carried on separately. The for- 
 mer involves the printing of works made over to the pub- 
 lisher by their authors ; the latter the selling of copies received 
 from the publishers. Till the close of last century the two 
 had been united, but at that time they underwent consider- 
 able change. When Pertlies entered on his apprenticeship, 
 the German booksellers, as we have seen, were accustomed to 
 meet twice in the year at Leipzig, for the purpose of exchang- 
 ing their respective publications. If the reckonings did not 
 happen to balance each other at one Fair, the difterence was 
 generally left to stand over till the next ; it was but seldom 
 that money passed between the parties, and a great many 
 
ESTABLISHMENT IN BUSINESS. 61 
 
 liouses remained permanently in barter with each other. But 
 while Perthes was in Leipzig, this mode of conducting business 
 was done away with, owing to the unwillingness of the respect- 
 able publishers to give their valuable works for the trashy and 
 insignificant publications which then began to issue from the 
 German press with incredible rapidity. 
 
 A different mode of reckoning was now universally adopted ; 
 and at the close of each Fair all outstanding balances were paid 
 in cash. Thus every bookseller whose purchases exceeded his 
 sales required a supply of ready money, and the bookselling 
 business, which had previously only existed as part and parcel of 
 the publishing, now found itself in a position to assume a seim- 
 rate and independent form. Another change, which came 
 into operation about the same time, gave to the now growing 
 trade of bookseller a decided advantage over that of publisher. 
 Formerly no bookseller could return works which he had once 
 taken from a publisher; if they were not purchased by the public, 
 he was obliged to keep them himself, and on this account great 
 caution was exercised in the purchase of books. The publishers 
 soon perceived that the sale of their works suffered owing to the 
 early exhaustion of the bookseller's limited stock, and, by way 
 of experiment, they gave to the latter, over and above the coj)ies 
 purchased by them, a certain number on commission. These 
 the booksellers were to endeavour to dispose of ; but if they 
 failed they were to be taken back by the publisher. This 
 custom gradually became more general, and eventually the 
 purchase of copies by the bookseller was almost entirely dis- 
 continued ; every new work, as it appeared, being sent by the 
 l^ublisher to all active and solvent houses, and the unsold 
 copies returned at the next Fair, as Remittenda, or Crabs. 
 
62 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 All risk of loss was thus shifted to the shoulders of the pub- 
 lishers, and an extraordinary impulse was given to the book- 
 selling department. Any one enjoying the confidence of a 
 publisher might trade on a very small capital ; and provided 
 he had such a knowledge of men and of books, as would enable 
 him to introduce the right book to the right circle, he might 
 hope to carry on a thriving business in a stirring locality. 
 
 Perthes was of opinion that in this position of the book- 
 trade he might, without running any improper risk, found 
 a business in Hamburgh, and by conducting it on liberal prin- 
 ciples, stimulate the literary appetite to such an extent as to 
 benefit rather than to damage the existing " Houses." He was 
 only four-and-twenty, but "more at liberty on that account," 
 he wrote to his uncle, " to enter on a great undertaking, as I 
 may look forward to ten years of labour without thinking of 
 marriage." 
 
 A thousand pounds of capital, however, was necessary, and 
 Perthes had nothing. Nessig, however, was willing to be- 
 come his partner, and to bring a capital of <^300. A loan from 
 one of his old Swabian friends, and the associating in the en- 
 terprise of a young Hamburgh merchant, gave him command 
 of the necessary funds. The firm was to be under Perthes' 
 name. In Easter 1796, he left his situation and proceeded to 
 Leipzig Fair, in order to open up communications with pub- 
 lishers. The circular which he issued was to the following 
 effect : — 
 
 " I wish to signify to you my intention of establishing myself 
 in Hamburgh as a bookseller, and to beg your confidence and 
 support in this undertaking. In asking this, it becomes my 
 duty to give some information concerning my past experience 
 
ESTABLISHMENT IN BUSINESS. Q?, 
 
 in the business I propose to conduct. Allow mc to refer you to 
 Herr Bohrae of Leipzig, under whom I served six years, and to 
 Herr Hoffmann of Hamburgh, whom I have served for the last 
 three years. If you think it necessary to make any further 
 inquiries, I shall endeavour to give you every possible satisfac- 
 tion, either orally or in wri ting."' The old men were not with- 
 out misgivings as to the prudence of giving credit to a young 
 man of four-and-twenty, who so boldly established a business 
 of his own. Perthes required larger sums of money than he 
 had anticipated ; he fell into the most painful perplexity ; but 
 the faithfulness of his three Hamburgh friends extricated him 
 from his difficulties, " You will have heard," he writes to 
 Campe, " how things fell out at the Fair, but hajDpily, amid 
 so many other childish pleasures, I had also that of procur- 
 ing a few thousand dollars ; and that was pleasant, — very 
 pleasant I" 
 
 In the midst of the throng and tumult of business, his old 
 passion for Frederika returned. He had persuaded himself 
 that his love was no longer a passion, nothing but pleasure in 
 reflecting on the intelligence and gracefulness of the maiden, 
 and had, indeed, engaged to renounce her in favour of his 
 friend. But, in the presence of the beautiful girl, the fire that 
 had warmed his earlier youth was rekindled. " There she 
 stands before mc," he writes, " in all her power and in the full 
 consciousness of her freedom — earnest — free from all petty 
 vanity — her eye full of thought, every feature beaming with 
 life and expression ; and, when her eye looks into mine, passion 
 takes possession of me, and in the depths of my heart I feel 
 that I am on the threshold of a great decision." The pro- 
 mise he had made to himself to win her for his friend, not 
 
64 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 for himself, he now regarded as an evil destiny. " Such 
 overflowing happiness," he exclaimed, " I saw for myself in 
 that beaming eye ! and I find that in all — all, I have been the 
 victim of self-delusion, and that I am poor and helpless. I 
 ought to withdraw from her presence, and I cannot. Must I 
 keep my purpose, even when it is I, not he, whom she loves ? 
 No ; I cannot, for love to me gleams in her eye." He saw but 
 one way of escaping from this struggle between passion and 
 duty. He at once wrote frankly to Nessig explaining all, and 
 while awaiting his answer, he employed a friend to break the 
 matter to Frederika. Perthes and Nessig each made an offer 
 of his hand ; the choice was to rest with her, and the rejected 
 was to withdraw in peace, and, in all fidelity, to live and 
 labour for the beloved pair. — " Frederika,'' wrote Perthes, 
 " listened without changing colour, remained silent for a short 
 time, and then, with deep earnestness, rejjlied, — ' I love Per- 
 thes, I love Nessig ; but my hand I can give to neither.' And 
 now," proceeds Perthes, " I feel sad and perplexed ; for is it 
 not I who have called forth this decision of Nessig's destiny ?" 
 A letter from his friend relieved him from the load of self- 
 reproach, but the future now appeared empty and desolate. 
 " My whole life-plan is ruined — ruined by her ! I have done 
 with life. God give me comfort and strength \" In another 
 letter he thus expresses himself, — " You think the hard cold- 
 ness with which I endure all this sorrow unnatural ; you would 
 have me give way to tenderness and melancholy. Well, I 
 will obey you, and in future learn to submit ; hitherto I have 
 trusted too much in myself." 
 
 The necessity of working hard in order to give a fair start 
 to the new business, Avas now a grievous burden to Perthes. 
 
ESTABLISHMENT TN BUSINESS. 65 
 
 " Would that I had never begun ! but the thing is done. Al- 
 ready I am under heavy engagements to others, and these I 
 must and I will fulfil, like an honourable man." He returned to 
 Hamburgh, and there had the delight of receiving his mother 
 and sister, to whom he was now in a position to offer a home. 
 He now devoted himself, with all the energy of his nature, to 
 those preliminary labours on which the successful opening of 
 the business depended. He was the first bookseller who dis- 
 played a selection of the best works, old and new, in all the 
 various branches of literature, classified and arranged. His 
 shop presented the appearance of a small but well-chosen 
 library, and the addition of the periodicals of the day offered 
 the means of gaining a general view of the actual state of 
 literature, its movements and its tendencies. Perthes started 
 business in a stirring quarter of the city. " The house which 
 I have rented," he writes, " for a thousand marks, is quite a 
 wonder in Hamburgh, for, from top to bottom, all is literary. 
 On the ground floor book-shelves ; up one stair the same ; up 
 two stairs Dr. Ersch, as editor of the newspaper, recently set on 
 foot ; on the third story, Dr. Ersch as litterateur and helper's 
 helper to Meusel* and his associates ; on the fourth, French 
 booksellers in front, and at the back, the sleeping apartments 
 of the young German booksellers ; up five stairs a loft, which 
 may be used for a storeroom." " My own domestic arrange- 
 ments," he tells his aunt, " are on a small scale, but tolerably 
 neat ; I think you would approve of them ; at least my love 
 
 * Probably J. G. Meusel, distinguished for his literary activity. He was chiefly 
 engaged with historical studies, and did much to diffuse a knowledge of the history 
 of hterature. He was born in 1743, was called to Erfurt in 1769 to the Chair of 
 History, and, at the period when Perthes established his business, was editing the 
 Neues Museum and the JSem Mlscellaneen artist. Inhalts. 
 
 6 
 
QQ LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 of order is becoming a terror to all tlic household." The pre- 
 parations being all made, Perthes announced the opening of 
 his business by the following advertisement in the " Hamburgh 
 Correspondent" of the 11th July 1796 : — "I hereby make 
 known that I have established a new bookseller's shop, which 
 is now opened. In my shop the best books published in Ger- 
 many, old and new, are to be found ; and I venture to promise, 
 that I will procure any book which is to be had in other parts 
 of Europe. A portion of my assortment is ready bound, in 
 order to meet the wislies of the reading public more readily, 
 to facilitate to the purchaser the knowledge of what he is buy- 
 ing, and to supply the wants of the passing traveller more 
 adequately. 
 
 " I am persuaded that by beginning in this manner, I have 
 engaged in a useful enterprise. Whatever may be incomplete 
 and defective in the manner of carrying out my arrangements, 
 I shall endeavour to remedy as soon as I have acquired a better 
 acquaintance with the wishes of the public. In order to make 
 a visit to my shop agreeable, and, so far as I am able within 
 my own sphere, to aid in diffusing a knowledge of recent lite- 
 rature, I shall take care that a copy of every German journal, 
 every novelty of the day, and all writings of general interest, 
 shall always lie in my shop for inspection. To attention, pimc- 
 tuality, and politeness to those who shall visit mc, I pledge 
 ■myself in all circumstances as a duty." 
 
 The business was now established with good hope of success. 
 It was, as Perthes said later in life, a bold and adventurous 
 youthful undertaking ; but it was founded on a correct insight 
 into the important movements and necessities of the literary 
 life of that period. 
 
HOLSTEIN AND WESTPHALIA. 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH HOLSTEIN AND WESTPHALIA. — 1796. 
 
 In July 1796, only a few weeks after Perthes had commenced 
 business, a tall, slender man, witli a finely formed face, a 
 darkish complexion, and glorious, thoughtful, blue eyes, en- 
 tered the shop. He appeared to be about fifty, but in all his 
 movements there was the ease and power of youth. His dress, 
 expression, and bearing, had the air of being studied and yet 
 perfectly natural. His fine and noble bearing soon attracted 
 the attention of Perthes ; it was Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi,* 
 who having left Diisseldorf, was at that time residing in Hol- 
 stein and Hamburgh. Superiority was stamped upon him, but 
 it was neither cold nor repulsive. The attractiveness of his 
 appearance inspired immediate confidence ; and Perthes had 
 scarcely given the necessary replies to his inquiries, when he 
 expressed to the astonished author of Waldemar, the reverence 
 
 * Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, the younger brother of the poet, Joh. Georg, was 
 the son of a Diisseldorf merchant. He was born in 1743, and was early distinguished 
 by his deep religious feeling. He devoted himself chiefly to metaphysico-theological 
 speculation, and rendered great service to the philosophy of his time by his criti- 
 cisms on Mendelssohn, Kant, Fichte, and Schelling. The leading idea of his philo- 
 sophical theology was, that as by our bodily senses we perceive the external world, so 
 through Faith, or, as he afterwards preferred to call it, Reason, the Divine reveals 
 itself to us This revelation or Eeason-intiiition, he maintained to be an immediate 
 consciousness : all knowledge (of the understanding) was mediate, and at the best 
 second-hand. 
 
68 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 and aifection with which he had instantaneously heen inspired, 
 lie, at the same time, gave the friendly listener a glimpse into 
 his own earnest striving, and the uncertain ground on which 
 he stood. Jacobi was pleased with his candour and animation, 
 returned after a few days, and from that time became a fre- 
 quenter of the shop, now turning over the leaves of the new 
 French, English, and German publications, and now conversing 
 with tlieir owner. A few weeks later, in August 1 796, Perthes 
 was invited to visit Jacobi at Wandsbeck, where he was then 
 living. There he saw Jacobi's youngest son Max, who had just 
 finished his medical studies in England, and the two sisters of 
 his host, Charlotte and Helena. Clever, lively, and deeply in- 
 terested in all the literary movements of the period, the sisters 
 at the same time discharged all household duties with praise- 
 worthy energy and self-denying care. From this time Perthes 
 cnjo^'ed the privilege of joining the circle at Jacobi's as often 
 as he pleased, and that was not seldom. Helena became a real, 
 motherly friend to him, and her brother a paternal counsellor, 
 ever ready to enter into the feelings, to sympathize with the 
 inward struggle, and to answer the doubts and questionings 
 of his young friend, admonishing and instructing him, and 
 thus doing much to further his mental development. " I love 
 and honour the glorious man as I love and honour none beside," 
 he writes to his uncle. " I met him with a full heart ; he re- 
 cognised it, and thought it worth his while to occupy himself 
 with my inner being." 
 
 The state of Perthes' mind at this time was such as to render 
 the influence of Jacobi irresistible. He had striven for years 
 to bring his will into subjection to laws to be fixed by the un- 
 derstanding, as the only valid standard ; for years he wearied 
 
HOLSTEIN AND WESTPHALIA. 69 
 
 himself in vain endeavours to establislv tins law-bridled will as 
 the rule of his actions. Subsequently, he had joyfully recognised 
 the feelings of his own heart as the pole-star of life, but these 
 were to be first fashioned and purified by Art and the Beautiful, 
 and in this he was equally unsuccessful. Jacobi now met him 
 with all the weight of a great and acknowledged name, and with 
 all the fascination of his personal appearance. He confirmed his 
 willing listener in the opinion that tlie feelings are to be followed 
 as the pole-star of life, though in a manner, and for reasons 
 different from those he had hitherto supposed. " It is true," 
 such was Jacobi's theory, " that truth has been revealed to man 
 by the Creator as a guide for his earthly course ; not, indeed, 
 in word or symbol, but as a feeling seated in his own human 
 heart. An inscrutable event, which receives no explanation by 
 being apprehended as the Fall, has disturbed this original reve- 
 lation in the feelings, and left man erring and sinful. The 
 idea of a First Cause of all things has remained inseparable 
 from the very being of man as man ; but when the understand- 
 ing, whose range is limited, which, indeed, can only raise sen- 
 sations into conceptions, or give definiteness to the conceptions 
 we already possess, seelcs to demonstrate this original cause of 
 all by the machinery of logic, or to explain it by sensuous per- 
 ceptions, it is inevitably landed in a necessary Being destitute 
 of all personality — the lifeless idol of the understanding. God, 
 however, does reveal Himself and eternal truth in human 
 feeling, without any intermediate agency. It is, then, only by 
 receiving these direct revelations, and by withdrawing himself 
 from the impressions of the sensuous world, as well as from the 
 influence of the understanding, that man can aspire to an ever- 
 increasinof knowledge of eternal truth." 
 
70 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 " How can I ever thank you," wrote Perthes to Jacobi 
 some years later ; " you it was who fixed my destiny by your 
 love, strengthening my young heart, and opening up for me 
 a new moral career." The sentiment of grateful veneration 
 that bound him to Jacobi never grew cold ; and Jacobi, who 
 kept up the correspondence with his young friend to the last, 
 used frequently to address his letters thus — " The aged Jacobi 
 to his brave and beloved son, Perthes." 
 
 Perthes had met Claudius* at Jacobi's house in September ; 
 and on the 27th of November he was, for the first time, re- 
 ceived as a guest at the residence of the " Wandsbeck Mes- 
 senger," which was situated near the entrance of the neat 
 and pleasant town of that name, on the high road to 
 Lubeck. The sickly complexion, the hair tightly drawn 
 back and fastened with a comb, the ungainly figure, the 
 homely dressing-gown, and the Low-Saxon dialect, would 
 hardly have revealed the treasure that was hidden in this ex- 
 traordinary man, had it not been for the heavenly fire which 
 flashed from his fine blue eye. " I had long felt a great regard 
 for Claudius," he writes to his uncle, " but it is not easy to get 
 at him. I had bowed to the deep sense of his writings, every 
 line of which is an evidence that the spark which proclaims 
 our ffodlike origin burns in him as in none beside." In the 
 house of Claudius, as in tlie circles of Hamburgh, he again 
 
 * Matthias Claudius was born in Holstein in 1743. He wns at once earnest and 
 humorous in his writings, and cared less for the graces of diction than for the incul- 
 cation of honest, noble, charitable, and patriotic sentiments. He adapted himself to 
 the tastes and condition of the people. Many of his prose and poetical pieces first 
 appeared in a periodical which he edited when resident in Wandsbeck, called the 
 " Wandsbecker Bote." He published these and many additional writings in 1775, 
 under the title " Asmus omnia sua secum portans" or collected works of the " Wands- 
 hecher Ilnte." 
 
HOLSTEIN AND WESTPHALIA. 71 
 
 encountered tlie great political and religious questions; lierc 
 also he found the most lively interest in literary movements, 
 but an interest of a different kind from that which had hitherto 
 come under his observation. Altogether opposed to the pre- 
 vailing notions of the period, Avhich had a tendency to subject 
 religion and politics more or less to the wavering opinions of 
 man, Claudius found in the revelation of Holy Writ the only 
 source of true religion, and in hereditary rule the one indis- 
 pensable and divinely ordained means of security against the 
 outrages and caprices of the people. He agreed with Jacobi 
 in denying to logic any power to find out truth ; but in other 
 respects they were widely separated. While Jacobi gave great 
 prominence to the moral wanderings of man as the result of the 
 inscrutable event that brought disorder into the creation of 
 God, Claudius looked at once to the sin of man as itself the 
 cause of his departure from God. Thus he could not, like 
 Jacobi, rest in a salvation to be found in feelings listening to 
 the voice of God within, but only in the historical fact of the 
 Redemption, and its converting power on the heart of man. 
 Still, in spite of this essential difference, the convictions of 
 these closely united friends were not diametrically opposed to 
 each other. Jacobi could, without inconsistency, declare that 
 he regarded him as a happy man who was following a brighter 
 light than his, and clinging to a more stedfast support ; while 
 Claudius, inasmuch as the longing after truth, though unable 
 to make a man morally great, gives the capability of becoming 
 so, could not but regard Jacobi as moving on a path which led 
 towards the same goal as that after which he himself was 
 striving. 
 
 Claudius stood in a different relation to the convictions of 
 
72 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 others. At that time, people, even of the most opposite 
 tendencies, practised mutual toleration much more generally 
 than in later times, but, partly perhaps on that account, the 
 opposing convictions were expressed in very abrupt, straight- 
 forward, and unmistakable language. The religious and poli- 
 tical controversy admitted of no mediation. Much that was 
 unessential and irrelevant, was grasped with as much tenacity 
 as a first principle itself, because it had once been held as in- 
 volved in some fundamental position ; and men hesitated to 
 concede anything to their opponents, because they feared that 
 if they exposed a little finger, the whole hand would be taken. 
 Even Claudius, though holding his convictions with a strength 
 and stedfastness unusual among his contemporaries, was not 
 always master of his anxiety, and of the harshness of state- 
 ment resulting from it, although severity was by no means a 
 characteristic of his mind either in earlier or in later life. When 
 Perthes made his acquaintance, he had just written " Urian's 
 Intelligence about the New AufkUirung ," * and wished to 
 publish it, in order to remove from himself the reproach of 
 obscurity. But of bitterness or irritation, there was as little 
 appearance in this work as in any other of the same class. 
 The belief that he was reconciled to God being to him not a 
 mere speculative doctrine, but a state of mind acting upon his 
 whole inner being, all sad and disturbing, all gloomy and 
 anxious thoughts, were unknown to him and his household. " I 
 found Claudius as harmless and as full of German humour as 
 ever," said Ewald, a devoted supporter of the '' Aufkldrung," 
 
 * The clear perceptions of uneducated common sense, in all matters which affect 
 human interests. The word, from its connexion with " Illumination," fell iuto bad 
 odour in Germany, but did not merit the suspicion with which it was sometimes 
 regarded. 
 
HOLSTEIN AND WESTPHALIA. 73 
 
 when he visited him in 1 796, in the expectation of finding a 
 gloomy fanatic ; " and/' he adds, " whatever may be said of 
 his religious and political opinions, they have not changed the 
 man: he has no gloomy views, and is kindly towards all; indeed, 
 he laughs at many things which would half kill with vexation 
 many of our humanity and tolerance and stoicism preachers." 
 
 The characteristics of the father's mind, which was incapa- 
 ble of developing intellectual greatness and depth otherwise 
 than in a garb of unattractive comeliness or invested in forms 
 that were all but ludicrous, as well as the noble and womanly 
 simplicity of the mother, were reflected in the daily life of the 
 family. The great works of Palestrina, Leonardo Leo, Bach, 
 Handel, and Mozart, the language and literature of England, 
 and intellectual pursuits of all kinds, found a home here, side 
 by side with an extreme simplicity of life. The daughters 
 were brought up to discharge the daily routine of domestic 
 work. Claudius was most careful to develop and strengthen 
 the germ of spiritual life in his children, but in every other 
 respect left them to themselves. It is true, that he had him- 
 self to struggle with the enemy in the human heart, which in 
 his case led to the exhibition, in many circumstances, of a 
 seemingly inborn harshness of nature, and to his allowing a 
 greater influence to the impressions of the moment than was 
 reasonable; this infirmity, however, in no way disturbed the free 
 and unrestrained movements of the family life. Affected and 
 pretentious alternations from tlie earthly to the heavenly were 
 not known among them ; their life was simple and natural. 
 
 Perthes had hitherto regarded it as an important duty to 
 analyze his actions and inclinations, and to pass sentence on 
 them accordingly, and had thus become a troublesome self- 
 
 7 
 
LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 inquisitor. The first distinct impression that he received from 
 Claudius' family was that there might be a condition of the 
 soul in which the lying in wait for every impulse of the inner, 
 and every movement of the outward life is no help, but rather 
 a disturbance and impediment to a man. 
 
 The Hamburgh friends, Runge, Hiilsenbeck, and Speckter, 
 did not fail to observe the impression which Jacobi and 
 Claudius made upon Perthes. From their stand-point they 
 could not approve of this, and they dreaded that through this 
 influence the distance between them and Perthes would be 
 more and more increased. A serious explanation took place ; 
 but Perthes, by a candid and affectionate letter to Runge, aveit- 
 ed the threatened misunderstanding. " My position in regard 
 to you is indeed altered," he says, " since I have known Jacobi 
 and his friends. I venture to oppose you — I even oppose 
 you for the sake of opposition. Hitherto you had taken my 
 mind captive ; now I have attained to an assurance which, 
 though not perhaps in itself of more value than yours, actually 
 recognises the truth in which others may be resting, and since 
 then I feel more free. But my affection for you is unchange- 
 able ; he whom I have once loved with all my heart, I never 
 forsake ; have faith in me, and do not misunderstand me." 
 
 These words indicate that the impression which Jacobi and 
 Claudius had made upon Perthes had, up to that time, only led 
 liim to depart from his former point of view, but it was easy to 
 see that a longer and more intimate acquaintance with these two 
 men, whether it were to have the effect of attracting him still 
 more or of repelling him, would eventually lay the foundation 
 of firmer and clearer convictions. The importance of his new 
 friendships was greatly enhanced by the introduction which 
 
IIOLSTEIN AND WESTPHALIA. 75 
 
 they secured to the most cultivated society of Holstein, with 
 which Jacobi and Claudius were closely connected. 
 
 A number of eminent men, most of whom were more or 
 less intimate, were at this time living in Holstein, either on 
 their estates, or in the smaller towns ; and these diffused life 
 and activity throughout the whole duchy. The Greeks and 
 Romans, nature and art, religious topics and politics, — all had 
 their friends and partisans in this country, Niebuhr the father 
 had been living at Meldorf in the Suderditmarsh since 1778, 
 intimately associated with Boie, the editor of " The German 
 Museum," who held the office of Landvogt ; and, at the same 
 time, like Niebuhr, had an extensive connexion with the men 
 and affairs of foreign countries. Count Leopold Frederick Stol- 
 berg,* had, on his return from Italy in December 1792, fixed 
 his residence at Eutin, as president of the government of the 
 principality. He was then, as during his whole career, full of 
 life, spirit, and love, and yet restless and unsettled, because, 
 as a Protestant, he could not find for his religious convictions 
 that firm external support of which he felt the necessity. 
 Nicolovius,f the late director of the ministry of public worship 
 in Prussia, worked under Stolberg. He had accompanied the 
 
 * Fred. L. Stolberg, the younger brother of Count Christian, was born in Hol- 
 stein in 1750. Both brothers were distinguished as poets and men of letters. The 
 younger was characterized by more extensive learning, and by greater poetic power. 
 In 1800, he astonished his friends by passing over to the Koman Catholic Church. 
 His works are numerous, embracing original and translated poetry, romances, 
 dramas, and satires. After he became a Koman Catholic, he published a " History 
 of the Religion of Jesus Christ," which was translated into Italian by order of the 
 Pope. He died in 1819. 
 
 t G. H. L. Nicolovius was born at KiJnigsberg in 1767 ; travelled with Count 
 Frederick Stolberg, and after his return was appointed secretary to the Duke of 
 Oldenburg. He was afterwards employed in high offices connected with the de- 
 
/ 6 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Count to Italy, as the tutor of his children, and in 1 795, had 
 received an appointment in Eutin, as secretary of the Exche- 
 quer. Voss* had come to Eutin as Rector of the Academy of 
 ' Otterndorf, and had long been known and esteemed among the 
 Holstein circles. Both the Stolbergs had been united with him 
 in the association of poets at Gcittingen, and from 1775 to 1778 
 iie declared that he had led the happiest life at Wandsbcck, in 
 the society of Claudius and his noble friends. His relations 
 with the Eutin society, however, were not agreeable. Their 
 want of sympathy on the most essential points, the diversity 
 of their views on the aristocracy, on religion, and the French 
 Revolution, and probably, even more than all, the difference 
 of the positions in life in which the quondam college friends 
 had met, had irrevocably broken up the youthful friendship 
 between Voss and the Count Frederick Leopold. The un- 
 constrained freedom of familiar intercourse was at an end ; 
 Voss saw everywhere aristocratic pride and religious fanaticism, 
 and ill-disposed tale-bearers came in and widened the breach. 
 
 At Emkendorf, between Kiel and Rendsburg, lived Count 
 Frederick Reventlow, who had retired to this estate after his 
 recall from London, where he had filled the office of Danish 
 ambassador. As a zealous champion of the necessity of the 
 closest adherence to the Augsburg Confession, as Curator of 
 
 paitment of Public Instruction in Prassia. He enjoyed the esteem of all his cotem- 
 poraries. He died in 1839. 
 
 * J. H. Voss was boni in Mecklenburg in 1751. He devoted himself with ardour 
 to the study of ancient literature and mythology, and wrote several much-valued 
 treatises on the latter subject. As a poet, and especially as the translator of Homer, 
 he attained considerable celebrity. His translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey 
 are still regarded as the most successful in any language. The most famous of his 
 original poems is " Luise," in which he has succeeded in reproducing the spirit of 
 . the Idyls of Theocritus. He died in 1822. 
 
HOLSTEIN AND WESTPHALIA. 77 
 
 the National University, and as a stanch maintainer of the 
 rights of the nobility, he incurred much odium ; but his talents 
 and integrity, joined to the refinement of his manners and 
 his knowledge of the world, excited general admiration. His 
 wife Julia, (born Countess Schimmelmann,) by her intellectual 
 vivacity, her unassuming piety, and her cheerful resignation 
 under severe personal suiFerings, as well as by lier judicious 
 kindness to her dependants, had won the friendship and respect 
 even of those who did not share her opinions. This house was 
 the frequent resort of Jacobi, Claudius, the Stolbergs, Cramer 
 the father, and Hensler ; and the gravity and refinement by 
 which it was distinguished were free from all formality, and 
 interfered neither with tlie pleasures of literature, nor with 
 the animation and cheerfulness of their social life. 
 
 The brother of Count Reventlow, the Count Caius, had his 
 residence at Altenhof, near Eckernford, on the Baltic. In re- 
 finement of manner and general culture he was perhaps inferior 
 to his brother ; but in energy, in business capacity, and activity 
 of character, he surpassed him; while in intelligence and extent 
 of knowledge he was not his inferior. Closely connected with 
 both was Count Christian Stolberg, at that time Warden of 
 Tremsbiittel, a town situated about three miles from Hamburgh. 
 It was not owing so much to the Count himself as to his wife 
 Louisa, (born Countess of Reventlow,) that his house was pecu- 
 liarly attractive to the friendly circle. By the acuteness of her 
 understanding, and the thoroughness of her education, the 
 Countess stood high in the estimation of her friends ; and she 
 did not hesitate to assert, witli spirit and independence, opin- 
 ions, political and religious, that Avere diametrically opposed to 
 those of the kindred and friendly families of Holstein. 
 
78 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 One would liave expected that Kiel, as the seat of the na- 
 tional University, should have been the natural centre for all 
 these distinguished circles, but it was too much under the 
 influence of party spirit. On the removal of the philologist 
 Cramer in 1794, on account of the unheard-of manner in which 
 he announced his delight in the French Revolution, political 
 antao-onisms arose ; and when the Curator of the University 
 insisted on an unqualified adherence to the doctrine of the 
 Augsburg Confession, religious differences were brought to 
 light. In fact, of the residents in Kiel, it was only the venerable 
 Cramer and Hensler, whose merits as a man and a scholar are 
 known to all through the medium of Niebuhr's Letters, who 
 were identified with the intellectual life of Holstein. 
 
 Holstein was separated from Hamburgh by essential differ- 
 ences of character — differences which affected their mode of 
 viewing all the events of the day and all relations of life, and 
 these were now aggravated by the position taken up in Ploen 
 by the Warden von Hessing, known as the editor of the " An- 
 nals of Suffering Humanity." Intimately associated with the 
 circle of his father-in-law Reimarus, he was, on the other hand, 
 avoided and hated by the Holsteiners. Notwithstanding this, 
 Claudius, Jacobi, and the two Stolbergs, were fond of Hamburgh, 
 and, overlooking religious and political diversities, were often 
 to be found there, enjoying its intellectual advantages. But 
 the controversy regarding the Confession was connected rather 
 with the influential circles of Munstcrland, with the Princess 
 Gallitzin as their centre, than with Hamburgh. For the elevated 
 position which, since the year 1770, the archbishopric of Mun- 
 ster had occupied, it had been indebted solely to the Baron Fre- 
 derick William Francis von Furstenberg, who, as Minister of 
 
HOLSTEIN AND WESTPHALIA. 79 
 
 Max-Frederick von Konigseck, Archbishop of Cologne and 
 Bishop of Mlinster, had governed Miinster since 1764. Flir- 
 stcnberg was a statesman in the noblest sense of the word. 
 Withheld by circumstances and by inclination, from endeavour- 
 ing to initiate any changes in the existing forms of the terri- 
 torial and ecclesiastical constitution which were so inimical to 
 all political activity, he yet, in an incredibly short space of time, 
 brought about such a transformation in every department of 
 the diocese, that in the educated character of its clergy, the 
 activity of its people, the excellence of its primary and its 
 classical schools, its agricultural and commercial activity, and, 
 above all, in the attachment of the inhabitants to the country 
 and its institutions, it left all the ecclesiastical, and most of 
 the secvilar governments far behind. But, apart from his merit 
 as a statesman, Fiirstenberg enjoyed a high literary reputation. 
 He had at his command an amount of knowledge and experi- 
 ence seldom to be met with, and was quite at home in all the 
 literary and philosophical movements of the period. Having 
 been greatly addicted to the art of war in early life, and, in 
 consequence, active in promoting the cultivation of mathema- 
 tical studies and of a vigorous and manly style of education, 
 he now, in his advanced years, devoted himself to the study 
 of religion and philosophy. 
 
 To this man and to this country came the Russian Princess 
 Gallitzin, on a visit, in the summer of 1779. She was the wife 
 of the ambassador at the Hague. Her object in visiting Miin- 
 ster was to consult Fiirstenberg about her son, with the intention 
 of devoting herself to his education, in some country residence 
 on the banks of the lake of Geneva. But so great was her ad- 
 miration of the Minister, that she would not withdraw herself 
 
80 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 from his counsel and support, and, consequently, became per- 
 manently established in Munster. 
 
 The princess, who was the daughter of the Prussian Field- 
 Marshal Count Schmettau, had received an education calculated 
 only to fit her for entrance into the fashionable world. In 
 1768, when in her twentieth year, she had accompanied the 
 Princess Ferdinand to the baths of Spa, as her maid of honour, 
 and there became acquainted with Prince Gallitzin, to whom, 
 at the end of a few weeks, she was married. In the course of 
 her travels she had acquired some experience of court-life in 
 Vienna, Paris, and London, and was then called to play a 
 distinguished part at the Hague, as the consort of the Rus- 
 sian ambassador. Her ambition and vanity were flattered by 
 the homage which her talents no less than her position com- 
 manded, but she was nevertheless far from being satisfied with 
 her condition. From her earliest youth she had experienced 
 an earnest desire for the knowledge of the truth, and the attain- 
 ment of the ideal of moral perfection which ever floated before 
 her in a variety of forms. The distractions of the great world 
 had never quenched this desire. From the unbroken circle of 
 amusements and visiting, of balls and theatrical representa- 
 tions, she returned night after niglit with a craving after some- 
 thing better, that grew in intensity till it became a torture. 
 She felt a wish to withdraw from society, and to quiet the in- 
 ternal struggle by devoting herself entirely to the acquisition 
 of knowledge and the education of hef* two children. It is 
 somewhat remarkable that it should have been Diderot who 
 obtained the consent of the Prince to her plan, although the 
 philosopher had been unable to comply with her request, that 
 lie would introduce her into the realm of knowledge. At the 
 
HOLSTEIN AND WESTPHALIA. 81 
 
 ao-e of twenty-four, the princess had retired to a small secluded 
 house near the Hague— there with an energy bordering on 
 passion, to follow out a course of scientific study. Under the 
 guidance of Hemsterhuis,* she gave her whole soul to the study 
 of mathematics, languages, and above all, Greek literature and 
 the Platonic philosophy. Although from her mother being a 
 Catholic, she had been brought up in the forms of the Papal 
 Church, yet neither in the form of Catholicism nor in that of 
 Protestantism had she ever come into personal contact with 
 Christianity. So long as she remained at the Hague, she had 
 firmly maintained with Hemsterhuis, that none but the popu- 
 lace really believed the gospel ; since it was impossible to have 
 faith in its promises and threatenings, and yet to act in such 
 direct contradiction to its doctrines, as was the almost universal 
 custom. On coming to Munster, she forgave Furstenberg his 
 Christianity, as a prejudice of education, and on account of her 
 reverence for his great sagacity ; but she entreated hira not to 
 attempt her conversion, as she could not endure to entertain 
 any thoughts relating to God, except those which God himself 
 had formed in her own heart. In 1783, when she and her 
 physicians alike despaired of her life, she had dismissed the 
 priest whom Furstenberg had desired to attend her, because 
 she was absolutely without faith in the efficacy or importance 
 of the Sacraments. 
 
 During her long and tedious recovery, she for the first time, 
 and much to her alarm, became alive to the fact, that she was 
 
 * A philosopher and archasologist, born in Grbningen in 1720. He died in 1790. 
 He presented the philosophy of the sensuous school in a popular garb, and in a 
 higher form than that in which it has been usually presented. He wrote also on 
 the philosophy of religion, and on the fine arts. ._ 
 
oi; LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 a slave to literary ambition and the pride of learning. " With 
 this discovery," she said, " all pleasure in myself vanished." 
 About this time her children were of an age to receive religious 
 instruction, and she considered it to be her duty as a mother to 
 impart it. In order at once to preserve her own integrity, and 
 to keep from her children her doubts on the subject of Chris- 
 tianity, she resolved that the instruction should be purely his- 
 torical. For this purpose she gave herself up to the earnest 
 study of the Holy Scriptures, reading them by preference in the 
 Latin version. What she had entered on for her children's sake, 
 she soon continued for her own. The truth of Christianity, as 
 set forth in the Scriptures, penetrated her heart ; and- once 
 convinced, she ever after strove, with all the energies of her 
 powerful mind, to bring her life and actions into the strictest 
 conformity to the truths which she had imbibed. A small but 
 distinguished circle gathered round this extraordinary woman. 
 Fiirbergsten brought to it his large culture and wide experience; 
 Overberg, in whose childlike piety and simplicity the penetrating 
 glance of the Minister had at once recognised the man destined 
 to carry out his most early and cherished plan for the educa- 
 tion of the people, was a favoured member of the circle. It 
 was also frequented by some younger men. These were the 
 sons of Baron Droste of Vischering, Kaspar Max, afterwards 
 Bishop of Mlinster, and Clement Augustus, who subsequently 
 became Archbishop of Cologne, with their two brothers and 
 their former tutor, afterwards the Prebendary Katercamp. 
 A woman who, like the Princess Gallitzin, surpassed, in breed- 
 ing and culture, all her contemporaries of the same rank, and 
 who now linked with her dazzling talents the faith of a little 
 child, could not but make a deep impression on these powerful 
 
HOLSTEIN AND WESTPHALIA. 83 
 
 intellects. Goethe and Lavater, Herder and Hamann,* felt 
 themselves in a like degree, though in different ways, attracted 
 and elevated by this remarkable character. 
 
 All the literary men of distinction lived in intimate union 
 during the latter portion of the last century. Holstein and Mun- 
 ster also were brought into closer relations through Hamann. 
 "Those times," said Perthes, fifty years later, " were very unlike 
 these in which we now live. The Holstein families, as well 
 as the Gallitzin-Droste circle, stood apart on account of their 
 Christian tendencies. The prebendaries, and other dignitaries 
 of Munster, with the single exception of the family of Kersen- 
 brock, looked upon the Church with the eyes of mere men of 
 the world ; while, among the burgher class, luxury and vice 
 were universally prevalent. Earnest Christians, whether 
 Catholics or Protestants, were closely united. There was no 
 mutual suspicion or bitterness ; Claudius, Reventlow, Jacobi, 
 and the Stolbergs, were often to be found in Miinster, and the 
 Princess paid frequent visits to Hamburgh and Holstein ; 
 Claudius and his family especially attracted her. Their con- 
 fessions of faith were indeed dissimilar ; Claudius was a decided 
 Lutheran, the Princess a zealous Catholic. Her Catholicism 
 was that of all times, so far as dogma and ceremonial were 
 concerned ; but in so far as it was a life, and presented itself as 
 such, it differed as widely from the new-poetic, and the histo- 
 rico-political Catholicism of the present, as it did from the fri- 
 volity of the French and the torpidity of the German Catholi- 
 
 *llamaiin was born at Kljnigsberg in 1730. He opposed himself to the theolug}' 
 and popular philosophy of his time, and was far from being popular with his contem- 
 poraries. His writings are not much read, on account of their obscurity, arising 
 from his peculiar style and his love of symbolical language. He died in 1788. 
 
84 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 cism of last century. The great fact of the Redemption, the 
 common ground of Protestantism and Catholicism, exercised 
 such a vital and governing influence on the Princess, that, so 
 far as the Holstein circle was concerned, the diversity of con- 
 fessions ajjpeared comparatively unimportant ; while again the 
 names of Furstcnberg, Overberg, and the Princess, were never 
 mentioned in Holstein save with the greatest affection and 
 respect." 
 
 No sooner had Perthes become a familiar guest in the houses 
 of Jacobi and Claudius, than his attention was directed to 
 these Holstein circles. They were destined to exercise a power- 
 ful influence both on his intellectual development and on his 
 worldly position, but for a while ho knew them only by report. 
 
 An event of an important kind, one which was to be the 
 source of all his earthly happiness, was awaiting him. 
 
MARRIAGE AND ITb FIRST YEARS. 85 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MARRIAGE AND THE FIRST YEARS OF MARRIED LIFE. — 1797-1800. 
 
 Caroline Claudius, the eldest daughter of the Wandsbeck 
 Messenger, was born in 1774, and was two-and-twenty when 
 Perthes first visited at her father's house. Although there 
 was nothing remarkable or dazzling in her general appearance, 
 notwithstanding her fine regular features, her slender figure, 
 and her delicate complexion, yet the treasures of fancy and 
 feeling, the strength and repose of character and the clearness 
 of intellect which shone in her deep hazel eyes, gave her a 
 quiet but irresistible charm. Throughout her whole life she 
 inspired unbounded confidence in all who approached her. To 
 her the glad brought their joys, secure of finding joyous 
 sympathy, and to many of the afilicted both in body and in 
 mind, she ministered consolation, taught resignation, and in- 
 spired them with fresh courage. Accustomed to the simple life 
 of her parental home, contact with the bustle of the outward 
 world appeared to her as fraught with danger to her childlike, 
 simple walk with God. Household duties, study, and music, 
 occupied her time. When more advanced in life, she retained 
 a rich clear voice, and a fine musical taste. She was ac- 
 quainted with the modern languages, and had gone far enough 
 in Latin to enable her subsequently to assist her sons. 
 
86 LIFE OF PERTHES, 
 
 While Caroline had remained at home, she had received 
 but few impressions from without. She clung with reverential 
 affection to the Princess Gallitzin, who was a frequent visitor 
 at her father's house, and who reciprocated the attachment 
 with so much warmth, that to the end of her life she preserved 
 a motherly friendship for her. By the Countess Julia Revent- 
 low, Caroline was equally beloved. She had been to Emken- 
 dorf on a visit of some months in the summer of 1795, and had 
 become so great a favourite with the family, that they would 
 have tahen her with them to Italy, had they been able to 
 obtain her father's consent. The first great event in her life 
 was the death of her sister Christian, who was only a year or 
 two younger than herself A letter that she wrote at this time 
 to the Countess Reventlow at Rome, has been preserved. 
 
 " I am," she says, " like a little child, who, when it is 
 in trouble, stretches out its arms to those it loves, and finds 
 pleasure in weeping on their bosom. How often have I thus 
 wished to be with you, dear Countess ! but though my arms 
 cannot reach you, my letter may. Wo have had a sad time ! 
 Our dear Christian was attached with nervous fever, and died 
 on the 2d July. Gently she fell asleep, after having suffered 
 much ; and now that the pains of death are over, I would not 
 wish her bade. How dear has the deathbed become to me ! 
 — it is at such times that we feel deeply, and in a manner that 
 we can never forget, how necessary it is to seek for something 
 that may support us in death, and accompany us beyond." 
 
 It was on the 27th of November 1796, that Perthes first saw 
 Caroline in her father's house. " Her bright eyes, and her open, 
 clear look pleased me, and I loved her," he afterwards wrote. 
 A few weeks later, at the beginning of the Cliriitmas season 
 
MARRIAGE AND ITS FIRST YEARS, 87 
 
 he had been spending the morning, along with Jacobi, at the 
 house of Caroline Rudolphi, the superintendent of the well- 
 known Educational Institute, and had received an invitation 
 from the former to spend the evening of the Christmas festi- 
 vities with him. Among the guests, Perthes found Claudius 
 and his whole family. Before the entertainment commenced, 
 accident threw him alone with Caroline in a side-room ; he 
 had not a word to say, but he experienced a calm and a 
 happiness which he had never felt before. The Christmas 
 games began, but Perthes had eyes for nothing but the ex- 
 pression of quiet pleasure which beamed in Caroline's face. 
 In his opinion the best that the evening offered was hers 
 by right, and yet her younger sister's gift seemed better than 
 hers. On the topmost branch of the Christmas tree hung 
 an apple finer and more richly gilt than any ; Perthes dex- 
 terously reached it, and, blushing deeply, presented it, to 
 the no small surprise of the company, to the conscious Caro- 
 line. From that evening things went on between them as they 
 usually do between those who are destined to share the joys 
 and sorrows of life together as husband and wife. " Indeed," 
 said Klopstock, as he was returning to Hamburgh witli Perthes, 
 after Claudius' silver wedding-day festival, on the 15th of 
 March 1797, "you young people are quite unconscious of tlie 
 love that we have long seen in you both ! " But Perthes was 
 well aware of the affection that had taken possession of his 
 heart, and which was daily growing deeper. He felt, liowever, 
 that the distance between himself and Claudius was too great 
 to justify his approaching him without friendly mediation. 
 He at once told his secret to Jacobi and his sisters, and en- 
 treated them to ascertain for hi)n whether there was any hope. 
 
88 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 " Thank God ! my dear Perthes," wrote Helena Jacobi on the 
 27th of April, "you are truly loved, and inasmuch as my 
 courage is as great as yours is small, I see a prospect of great 
 happiness for you. I could not hear anything yesterday from 
 Caroline herself, for I did not find her one minute alone, but 
 I ascertained from her mother enough to inspire me with great 
 confidence, and Caroline looked so friendly that it was clear 
 that she had something pleasant in her thoughts." A few 
 days later, on the 30th of April, Perthes applied to Caroline in 
 person. " How can I ever forget that day of deep emotion in 
 which I first revealed my love to you ! Silent and motionless 
 you stood before me ; not a word had you to say to me, but as I 
 was sorrowfully turning to leave you, you affectionately put 
 your hand in mine." So in after days wrote Perthes. 
 
 Caroline's love was frankly confessed and pledged in the 
 course of the evening, but to her father the decision not un- 
 naturally appeared a hasty one. Perthes had only just entered 
 his twenty-fifth year ; he had boldly established a business 
 which was attended with considerable risk, and he was too can- 
 did to conceal from the father, the struggle of the conflicting- 
 moral principles that were fermenting in his mind. Moreover, 
 Claudius was not altogether free from a species of jealousy. 
 It was a pain to him to have to resign the protection of his 
 daughter to another, and it was almost with grief that he dis- 
 covered that she loved a young and inexperienced man better 
 than her father. The saying, " Thou shalt leave father and 
 mother," was to him a hard one. All he could do was to assure 
 Perthes that he would not oppose the marriage, but his formal 
 and full consent he could not yet be persuaded to give. Perthes 
 v/as not uneasy on this account, and, two days later, took his 
 
MARRIAGE AND ITS FIRST YEARS. 89 
 
 departure for Leipzig, with love and thankfulness in his heart. 
 " Know, my beloved Caroline,'' he wrote in his first letter, " that 
 I would fain do, or leave undone, everything with sole regard 
 to you. I am indeed happy, and have never loved the good 
 God since my childhood so well as I love Him now. I have, 
 indeed, felt love before, but it was torture and distraction ; now 
 it is peace and joy, and I thank thee for it, my dearest Caro- 
 line." He long expected news from Wandsbeck in vain. At 
 the end of a fortnight came a letter from Claudius himself, 
 which ran thus : — 
 
 " Dear Mr. Perthes, — We are glad to hear that you arrived 
 happily and safe, and that you are well and mindful of us. 
 Caroline has received and read your letters from Brunswick and 
 Leipzig, and thanks you kindly for them. She would answer 
 them herself; but while the consent of her parents is not for- 
 mally given, she is not at liberty to open her heart fully. 
 It is better, therefore, that she should postpone her answer till 
 your return." 
 
 A letter from Helena Jacobi explained matters. " Your 
 Caroline said to her father, when he told her not to reply as 
 if his consent were already given, — ' If I may not write all that 
 is in my heart, I cannot write at all ; you must write and say 
 why I remain silent/ I pressed your dear Caroline more 
 closely to my heart than ever," adds Helena, " on hearing this." 
 
 From Leipzig Perthes wrote to inform his three Hamburgh 
 friends of the state of his heart. An alliance which drew him 
 still nearer to Claudius and Jacobi, could not be regarded by 
 them as a desirable one for their friend. *' Why should the 
 news of my engagement to Caroline have caused such bitter- 
 ness in you ? Were you thinking of my former unhappy love ? It 
 
90 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 will live as long as I live ! or, were you thinking- on the fleeting 
 and changing fancies that have often filled my heart ? It is 
 possible that these too may move me again at some future time. 
 If thoughts like these have suggested your letter,! cannot blame 
 you. But listen to me. When I had succeeded in extinguish- 
 ing my rejected love, I was horror-stricken to find that such 
 love, — love with which the highest aspirations of my soul were 
 associated, could be extinguished. A deathlike coldness took the 
 place of the burning flame. Shall love, then, whose source is 
 in God, and in all goodness, be annihilated by external, adven- 
 titious circumstances ? There must at all events be something 
 that is stable. If it be not love, it must be friendship. Friend- 
 ship ! I have nothing to say against friendship — and yet shud- 
 der to think that this is all. Where, then, shall I find deliver- 
 ance and help for my inner being ? My soul craves something 
 that shall not pass away ; my heart craves one who shall be all 
 to me ; my spirit desires some abiding good ; my personality 
 longs for union with some other being, — a union which shall 
 endure even when the world is shivered to atoms ; and nothing 
 'but love is greater and more enduring than the w^orld. If I 
 can in any way be preserved, it is only through Caroline ; in 
 her I find peace and stability, devotion and truth. The passion 
 of love implanted by my former attachment is still latent 
 witliin me, but the love itself is no longer there. The passion 
 Y/hich I then experienced can exist but once ; I can never love 
 Caroline as I loved Frederika, but with her I can again lift 
 my eyes to God, and this is the help from above which my soul 
 requires." 
 
 On the return of Perthes to Hamburgh at the end of May, 
 Claudius no longer withheld his formal consent. It was to the 
 
MARRIAGE AND ITS FIRST YEARS. 91 
 
 Princess Gallitzin that Caroline first communicated her happi- 
 ness. " To you, mj dear motlier Amelie, I must myself tell 
 the news of my being a bride, and a happy bride. This would 
 at one time have seemed to me impossible, even if you had 
 assured me of it, but my beloved Perthes has reconciled me to 
 the step. I know and feel its importance for time and for 
 eternity ; but I believe that I have taken it in accordance with 
 the will of God, and now can only close my eyes and entreat 
 God's blessing, and you, too, must pray for me, dear Princess. 
 I can say, in all truth, that my Perthes is a good man, who does 
 not regard himself as formed, but who knows and feels that he 
 is not yet perfect ; and I think, therefore, that he and I may 
 make common cause, and, by God's help, make progress." 
 
 Perthes was now frequently to be found on the way to 
 Wandsbeck, and letters were almost daily exchanged. Many of 
 these have been preserved. On the 15th of July, the betrothal, 
 which in Holstein is a church-ceremony, was celebrated. The 
 solemnity was graced by the presence of the Princess Gallitzin 
 and her daughter, by Overberg, who was then on a visit to 
 Claudius, and, much to Caroline's satisfaction, by the Count Fre- 
 derick-Leopold Stolberg. Shortly before the commencement of 
 the ceremony, the bride was reminded by the pastor, that after 
 it had taken place she was no longer free, and could bo released 
 from her vows only by the Consistory. " It is long since I 
 took the step," she replied, " from which I could be released 
 neither by you nor by the Consistory." In the quiet of Caro- 
 line's maiden-life, the bride-like love grew deeper and stronger, 
 and put even her tranquil nature in commotion. " Caroline 
 would fain act the philosophic bride/' writes the daughter of 
 the Princess Gallitzin, " but in vain ; her love perpetually be- 
 
92 LIFE or PERTHES. 
 
 trays itself, and I believe that she dreams of nothing but the 
 letter P, and if for a moment she devotes herself to mo, you 
 well know who it is that quickly comes and displaces me/' — 
 " Your brother Hans," writes Perthes to his bride, " brought the 
 rose safely into the room, but then broke it. Thank you for this 
 rose ! Hans slanders you. He says that you can never find 
 anything you are looking for. Even if you have this failing it 
 matters not, since once, although not seeking, you yet found 
 him who was seeking the good angel of his life, and suffered 
 yourself to be found by him." 
 
 The 2d of August was the day fixed for the wedding. On 
 the previous day Perthes received the last letter from Caroline 
 as his betrothed bride. " I have a great desire for a little black 
 cross," she writes, " and don't know how better to get it than 
 through you, dear Perthes, and why not ? I have been to the 
 pastor this morning. The formula by which we are to be 
 united is neither cold nor warm, neither old nor new, — a 
 wretched neither one thing nor another. But it will do us no 
 harm, dear Perthes ; we will ask God to bless us after the old 
 fashion, and He will bless us after the old fashion. Do it with 
 me, dear Perthes, opening your arms and clasping me to your 
 heart. I am thine, body and soul, and trust in God that I shall 
 find it to be for my happiness." The marriage was solemnized 
 on the following day, the 2d of August 1797. In the first 
 months and years of their married life, the diversity of their' 
 minds and their habits was to be brought into strong relief 
 Perthes had been fitted for the sphere in which he now moved 
 by natural character, by the circumstances of his early life, 
 and by his actual position in Hamburgh, by the variety of 
 external relations and impressions, by tlie efforts he had to 
 
MxiRRIAGE AND ITS FIRST YEARS. 93 
 
 make in difficult and changing circumstances, but, above all, 
 by contact with men of the most opposite opinions. On the 
 contrary, Caroline had never come in contact with the noisy 
 outer world, but had lived a life entirely from within. To her 
 the duty of man seemed to consist in withdrawing as much as 
 possible from worldly business and motives, and in abstaining 
 from all lively participation in the transitory. The first three 
 books of Thomas-a-Kempis, taken as a whole, might be re- 
 garded as reflecting her views of life. Now that she had left 
 her father's house, and experienced on all sides an infinite 
 variety of new impressions, she could not fail to be disturbed 
 and disquieted under their influence. 
 
 Her afi'ection for her husband was, however, strong, and 
 in the depths of her soul she felt that her new position was 
 one of happiness and blessing. On one occasion, a few weeks 
 after her marriage, when her father surprised her weeping in 
 her room, he exclaimed, not without a measure of complacency, 
 — " Did I not tell you that the first flush of happiness would 
 not last if you left your father and mother f " And if I 
 am to pass the rest of my life in weeping," she instantly replied, 
 " I should still rejoice that I am to spend it with my Perthes." 
 But this confidence, whicli was an essential characteristic of 
 her nature, could not overcome the uneasiness caused by the 
 frequent disturbance and the many real or apparent hindrances 
 to which the inner life was exposed from things without. In 
 her sorrow and perplexity she thus writes to her husband: — 
 " A thousand times has my soul spoken out and told me, that 
 I am no longer what I was. Formerly, God always held me 
 by the hand and led me in all my ways, and I never forgot 
 Him ; now I see Him afar off with an outstretched arm, that 
 
y4 Liri; cf piruTnrs. 
 
 I am unable to grasp. This must not be always so, for tlie 
 heart could not endure sucb a prospect. But I have made 
 up my mind that so it will be upon earth ; and may God 
 grant me the continuance of this inward longing, and suffer me 
 rather to die of it, than to be content without it. There are 
 moments in which I take courage again, but they do not last, 
 and it is no longer with me as it was once." In another letter 
 she says, " When you are away, my beloved Perthes, I feel quite 
 lonely and forsaken ; when you are not at my side to support 
 me, I am a picture of grief. Is this to continue — ought it to 
 be so ? It was otherwise once." 
 
 The letters written by Perthes, during short absences at 
 Leipzig, Holstein, and Westphalia, shew, that while he took 
 pleasure in the exercise of his powers in public life, he knew 
 how to appreciate the value of a life which looked within rather 
 than without. " Believe me," he wrote to his wife, in the sum- 
 mer of 1799, "believe me, my good angel, when I tell you, that 
 you have much spiritual life ; do not then disquiet yourself. 
 Our father acted wisely in keeping his children from active life 
 and an artificial existence. Even if he had carried this too far, 
 if he had rendered you unfit for the business of life, so that to 
 you the whole world were foolishness, still you would have 
 had the spirit of love, and the spirit of love is all in all." The 
 respect in which Perthes held the rights of individuality would 
 have withheld him from any attempt to force his own mode of 
 life upon Caroline, even if her character and her manner of 
 looking upon life had not claimed respect from their own in- 
 herent merits. " To force upon one mind the opinions of 
 another ; to graft the fruit of our own tree upon another stem, 
 is sin," wrote Pertlics to a friend. Besides, he clearly per- 
 
MARRIAGE AND ITS FIRST YEARS. 95 
 
 ceived that any such attempt upon Caroline's mind would be 
 futile. " My Caroline," lie wrote to his Schwartzburg uncle, 
 " makes me unspeakably happy. She is a pious, faithful, 
 true-hearted, and submissive creature ; but her inward course 
 she shapes for herself, and pursues it with a steady step." 
 
 As steadily did Perthes himself tread the path that seemed 
 marked out as his. In 1798 he says to his wife, " I am more 
 than ever persuaded that my destiny is an active, masculine 
 career ; that I am a man born to turn my own wheel and that of 
 others with energy.'' He was not diverted from his course by 
 the difference between his wife and himself " Can you then, 
 indeed, believe," he wrote in 1799, " that my restless labours, 
 my activity and energy, can be detrimental to you ? To 
 you, Caroline ! You should rather thank God that he has 
 enabled me to take pleasure in things that might have been a 
 weariness and a burden to me. How otherwise could I wish to 
 exist ? Dear Caroline, I am not always so good as you think 
 me, but in this respect I am better than you think me." 
 Doubts, indeed, would occasionally arise as to the distracting 
 and hurtful influence of his mode of life upon Caroline. 
 ** You have to fight against many failings in me," he writes. " I 
 have asked myself what I would do, if it depended on me to 
 remove you to a situation in ewerj respect congenial to your 
 tastes — whether to a convent or into the hands of a man who 
 not only loved you as I love you, but whose disposition and 
 habits entirely coincided with your own. No, dearest Caroline, 
 I could not do it. You must live with me, or not live at all ; 
 and, dearest wife, I know that in this you feel as I do." 
 
 That Caroline's dislike to all contact with the world, and her 
 extreme susceptibility under the disturbing circumstances of 
 
96 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 her new position, were sanctioned by the claims of the inner 
 life, Perthes did not for a moment believe. He was of opinion 
 that a character like hers ought to show itself as an example 
 in the world. " Believe me," he writes, " I understand you 
 and your present feelings thoroughly. While you lived in your 
 father's house, you maintained, it is true, a constant walk 
 with God. You had but one thought and but one path. But 
 then your walk with God was the walk of a child, who knew 
 sin and the world, and life, not at all, or only by name ; still 
 there was a unity in your existence. Now, simply because you 
 are in the world, this condition must be disturbed. I have torn 
 you from that childlike life, and brought you into the bustle of 
 the world ; you recognised in me an honest heart, full of love 
 for you, but you have also seen in me, and through me, and 
 in yourself, the sin of mankind. For a while, but it was not 
 long, your love for me concealed all this. Now you can 
 no longer walk so confidingly as formerly with the Unseen, and 
 He no longer speaks to you as before. You are perplexed, and 
 would gladly regain the purity and simplicity of the child, and 
 are unable to bring order and unity into your thoughts. My 
 dear Caroline, the want which you feel is entirely the offspring 
 of your own imagination. You have, pious child, ardent faith 
 in your heart, and in your mind entire subjection to the higher 
 decrees of conscience : but where others would be contented and 
 at peace, you are full of care and anxiety, because you would 
 fain lead again the undisturbed and simple life of childhood, 
 and cannot. Here on earth, man has but a changing and un- 
 settled existence ; he does not all live in any single moment, but 
 only a part of himself The only things of value are love 
 and truth, but would you, therefore, disregard all besides? 
 
MARRIAGE AND ITS FIRST YEARS. 97 
 
 Would you live apart from everything ? But even if you were 
 to withdraw to some retirement where no sorrow, no disquiet, 
 could reach you, you would become cold because you love only 
 the Highest and no other object, and coldness is always a hor- 
 rible thing. No, we are not to drift away from the world ; God 
 demands not the sacrifice of natural ties, but the submission 
 of our will to Ilis. The sorrow and annoyances which may be 
 our lot in the world where He has placed us, we should bear 
 with inward tranquillity rather than seek to escape from them. 
 " Caroline does not find life easy,"' said Perthes to a friend ; 
 " in spite of her calm temper, and her rich and lively fancy, she 
 feels it hard to have to do with the ever-changing and finite 
 things of the w^orld and of time. And yet, when I see her hold- 
 ing fast by her inward life, in spite of the annoyances which the 
 tumult and distractions of her daily existence too often cause 
 her, and also fulfilling the outward duties of her position in a 
 manner so self-denying, kind, and noble, she imparts strength to 
 me, and becomes truly my guiding angel." " Two creatures more 
 different than Caroline and myself, in culture and tendency, it 
 would have been hard to find," said Perthes later ; " and yet, 
 in the first hour of our acquaintance, Caroline recognised what 
 of worth there was in me, and loved me ; and in spite of all 
 that she subsequently discovered in my character, that was op- 
 posed to her own modes of thought and life, her confidence has 
 remained unshaken and unalterable. I, ou my part, soon per- 
 ceived her love, and at once apprehended the true and noble 
 nature, the lofty spirit, the life-heroism, the humility of heart, 
 and the pure piety which now constitute the happiness and 
 blessing of my life." 
 
 If Perthes and Caroline had not met till later in life, they 
 
98 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 would probably have repelled each other ; but now the fusion 
 of two characters so diverse was facilitated by the passionate 
 ardour of youthful affection, — an ardour which long survived 
 their marriage. Many of the letters written by Perthes at this 
 time have been preserved. They are often full of tender playful- 
 ness ; frequently, too, we find in them the expression of fervid 
 passion, and of deep reverence for that spiritual life of Caroline, 
 still unattained by himself In a letter written in the third 
 year of his marriage, during her absence for a few weeks, he 
 says, — " During my bachelor life, when one aifection used to 
 give place to another, when I loved Frederilca, when I first 
 knew you, my only aim was to conquer, to please ; I sought 
 only myself — was always /. But now in you I have lost myself 
 — without you, I am nothing — I have nothing— am to myself 
 nothing." " You, yes you, my ever-youthful love, have given 
 me a new life," he writes on the following day ; " through you 
 I am born again. While you are absent, all around me is cold 
 and uninteresting ; you alone give tone and colouring to every 
 thing. I did not know that my heart had retained such feel- 
 ings ; I had thought that the first love had passed away ; but 
 no ! ever since you were mine, the first love is the first and the 
 never-ending love. Where can it cease ? Love, ever strength- 
 ening love ! every morning I rise to new love, and every even- 
 ing I repose on thy heart. Ah ! I can well understand now, 
 how one may be cold and desolate, while yet, in the stillness, 
 the heart is beating warmly." 
 
 " Dear child ! dear Caroline !" he says in another letter, 
 " I am exactly like our Bishop Kaspar ; I would, without in- 
 terruption, cry, Love, love, nothing but love ! When I rise in 
 the morning, I ask— Why should I ? my Caroline is not here. 
 
MARRIAGE AND ITS FIRST YEARS. 99 
 
 Wlien I am at work, I am thinldng only of my return to you ; 
 and, alas ! you arc not here, and I have no home, no place of 
 rest. If at evening I have done the day's work, and would 
 assume a happy face — ah ! for whom ? my heart is not here. 
 If you were to leave me, my angel, to leave me entirely, the 
 good spirit would go with you. I helieve, indeed, that I should 
 iove again, but how ?" . . . Again he writes, — "You fancy 
 that I am jealous of our little daughter, because I would 
 share your love as well as she ; ah I I could wish you had 
 twelve strong and healthy children, to be your joy ; for you 
 would have to thank me for all the twelve, my noble, ex- 
 cellent wife i" Caroline's return from a short excursion having 
 been unexpectedly delayed for some days, Perthes wrote that 
 the days passed as though a thousand pounds' weight were 
 liung upon each : — 
 
 Just as the traveller's aching sight 
 
 Explores in vain the morning sky, 
 Where, hidden in a flood of light, 
 
 The soaring lark sings joyously : 
 So glance I anxious to and fro, 
 
 Through wood and field, o'er hill anil plahi, 
 My songs one only burden know, 
 
 come, beloved, to me again ! 
 
100 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 THE BUSINESS AND THE FAMILY. 
 
 The partnership into which Perthes had entered in 1796 
 was only provisional, and its continuance was contingent on 
 the success which attended the undertaking. The returns 
 during the first two years were so trifling as to cause a dissolu- 
 tion of the partnership in December 1798. Perthes, when left 
 alone, found himself in a position of considerable difficulty ; 
 but, relying upon the attention which his mode of conducting 
 business had already attracted among the literary circles of 
 Hamburgh, Westphalia, Hanover, Holstein, and Mecklenburg, 
 he did not lose hope of ultimate success. 
 
 Nothing, however, could be done without additional capital. 
 The confidence which he inspired was such as soon to put 
 30,000 dollars at his disposal, and, so supported, he was enabled 
 to weather the great commercial and monetary crisis of 1 799. 
 
 From the nature of the business, Perthes had escaped the 
 immediate influence of this wide-sweeping calamity, but indi- 
 rectly he felt severely the general scarcity of money. By 
 the help of his own energy and prudence, and the friendly as- 
 sistance of his three Hamburgh friends, he not only stood firm 
 at this great crisis, but was enabled to extend his business 
 
THE BUSINESS AND THE FAMILY. 101 
 
 considerably, and amid the universal ruin, it acquired a name 
 and received an impulse. He far overstepped, however, the 
 means which he had in hand, and this prepared for him much 
 anxiety and many painful perplexities. 
 
 "My engagements," wrote Perthes in 1799, "are now so 
 manifold, that all my time and all my strength are required 
 for the superintendence. What men commonly call good for- 
 tune, I may be said to possess, for success attends all my 
 undertakings; but this good fortune has been anything but 
 easily won, and when I weigh the hours of ease and tranquillity 
 against the hours of labour and anxiety, the latter have an 
 overwhelming preponderance. You know me well, and know 
 what it has cost me hitherto to ask, to entreat, to put on a bold 
 face ; you know how difficult it has always been for me to seem 
 harsh, stern, inflexible ; and all this I have been obliged to be, 
 or to appear. God, indeed, has come to my help, when most 
 I required His aid. Good fortune, and that activity and energy 
 which are called forth only by enterprise, never fail me." 
 
 Perthes had a lofty aim in the business which he had founded. 
 Hamburgh, Holstein, and Mecklenburg were to be only the basis 
 of his operations, from which it was to attain a position which 
 would constitute it the medium of literary intercourse for all 
 European nations, and would render accessible to each people 
 the literature of every other. Hamburgh seemed to be the 
 right place for a business so extensive in its relations : a 
 branch was to be established in London as a support. But 
 Perthes had not resources for carrying out so great a plan 
 without assistance. He felt keenly the want of the necessary 
 information, and more keenly still the inadequacy of his edu- 
 cation — a want not then to be supplied. He looked around for 
 
102 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 lielj), and found it in John Henry B-esser, who, from this period^ 
 may be regarded, both in joy and in sorrow, as his truest and 
 most confidential friend, and who shortly became by marriage 
 with his sister, a near and much-loved connexion. 
 
 Besser was one of those happy persons who are liked as soon 
 as seen, whose society is sought by all, and with whom every 
 one feels happy. His exterior was prepossessing, and as a young 
 man he had been distinguished for his handsome figure; his lov- 
 ing and love-desiring heart shone in his friendly eye, and gave 
 expression to his delicate features. He had an instinctive per- 
 ception of the wishes and wants of others, and without informa- 
 tion or inquiry, he was ever ready to help to the utmost of his 
 power. The favours of all kinds that he had conferred were 
 innumerable. He attracted children as the magnet attracts iron, 
 and could scarcely defend himself from their demonstrations 
 of affection. Always, and in all circumstances, he acted with 
 the purest integrity without the slightest effort, and without re- 
 quiring to will to do so : that a man should speak contrary to his 
 convictions seemed to him impossible. During the occupation 
 of Hamburgh by the French, he would, with alarming naivete, 
 tell the plainest truths to tlie officers and functionaries, and yet, 
 strange to say, he enjoyed their confidence. His many little 
 peculiarities, his absence of mind, his habit of devolving on 
 the morrow the business of to-day, often occasioned the most 
 extraordinary incidents ; but these peculiarities were regarded 
 by his friends as component parts of a character of such rare 
 amiability, that they would not willingly have missed them. 
 
 Besser was born in 1775. His father was chief pastor 
 at Quedlinburg, and had sent his son, well instructed in the 
 modern languages, to Hamburgh, to learn the business of a 
 
THE BUSINESS AND THE FAMILY. 103 
 
 bookseller. Here lie so early won the confidence of his master 
 Bohn, that, at the end of three years, he was sent to Kiel to 
 take the sole charge of a branch-business in that town. Perthes, 
 who had seen Besser in passing through Leipzig, was drawn into 
 his society soon after he came to Hamburgh, and each recognised 
 in the other a turn of mind which led to a strong mutual attach- 
 ment. In 1797, Besser went to pursue his literary education 
 in Gottingen. There he made good use of his opportunities, and 
 attended lectures on the history of literature. On his return, 
 in 1 798, he entered into partnership with Perthes ; and al- 
 thousrh the business was still carried on in the sole name of 
 the latter, the services of Besser became henceforward indis- 
 pensable. 
 
 " It would be hard to find in any individual bookseller," said 
 Perthes, at a later period, " so extensive a knowledge as Besser 
 possesses, of the most celebrated books in all languages, their 
 character and value ; and there is no one who knows, so well 
 as he does, where to find, and liow to procure them.'' Besser, 
 moreover, in spite of the gentleness of his disposition, main- 
 tained a calmness and presence of mind under harassing and 
 complicated circumstances, which, united with the vigorous 
 mind and active invincible spirit of Perthes, carried the busi- 
 ness through great difiiculties to a position of consideration 
 and influence. The plan of making it the medium of the 
 literary intercourse of the various European nations, was ne- 
 cessarily, in a great measure, abandoned, in consequence of the 
 troubles and losses of the year 1S06. Till then, it was steadily 
 kept in view, and in the German book-trade, Perthes and 
 Besser took an establislied and influential position. Even 
 so early as 1802 Perthes could write from Leipzig, — "I do not 
 
104 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 think that any of our brethren in the trade have met with such 
 distinguished kindness as I have ; every one is ready to take 
 trouble for me." 
 
 So great was the confidence inspired by Perthes, that nu- 
 merous families in the north-west of Germany employed him 
 to select periodically the works which he thought best suited 
 to their respective characters and tastes — a duty which he 
 performed with equal conscientiousness and success. It was 
 impossible for Perthes, in his relations as a man with men, to 
 be actuated by any mercenary considerations. 
 
 " I can forgive everything but selfishness," he once wrote, 
 and in more advanced life nothing made him so indignant as 
 petty narrow-mindedness in money matters. " Even the nar- 
 rowest circumstances," he said, " admit of greatness with 
 reference to mine and thine ; and none but the very poorest 
 need fill their daily life with thoughts of money, if they have 
 but prudence enough to arrange their housekeeping within 
 the limits of their income." In accordance with these opinions, 
 Perthes, in time of pressure, could accept freely from his lite- 
 rary friends the assistance they freely offered. Many of those 
 Avho subsequently became his most intimate friends were ori- 
 ginally only connected with him by the ties of business ; while 
 his extensive literary acquaintance was of considerable advan- 
 tage to his interests. But notwithstanding the flourishing 
 aspect of aff'airs, he was very far indeed from being free from 
 great and continual anxiety, and frequent anticipations of 
 l^ecuniary embarrassment. The business meanwhile continued 
 steadily to increase. " I am still," he Avrites in 1805, " in 
 occasional straits for money, but yet in a sure way of becoming 
 rich. I desire fortune only as a means of freedom and for the 
 
THE BUSINESS AND THE FAMILY. 105 
 
 general good. God grant that I may one day be in a position 
 to work with a more tranquil mind [" 
 
 It was with the warmest gratitude that Perthes acknow- 
 ledged the blessings that had attended him in his calling. 
 " A week ago/' he writes, " I entered on the tenth anniversary of 
 my establishment in business ; how thankful should I be ! For 
 if the enterprise of 1796 had not succeeded, I should not now 
 possess my dearest Caroline, nor my faithful partner Besser, 
 nor my friends, nor my present wide and glorious sphere of 
 action. I feel that I have found myself through my calling ; 
 for, owing to my previous negligence, this was the only way 
 in which my powers were susceptible of development." His 
 family circle afforded a resting-place from the ceaseless turmoil 
 and anxious cares of business, and maintained in him that 
 cheerfulness and vigour necessary for the proper discharge of 
 his daily duties. " You have penetrated into the profoundest 
 recesses of my being," he writes to his wife ; " there is no mo- 
 ment of my existence in which you are not with me, in me, 
 and before me ; and all I see, feel, and observe, I seem to see, 
 feel, and observe only for your sake." 
 
 On the 28th of May 1798, his daughter Agnes was born ; 
 on the 16tli January 1800, a son, Matthias ; on the 10th of 
 January 1802, a daugliter, Louisa ; and on the 25th of Febru- 
 ary 1804, another daughter, Matilda. Joys and troubles, which 
 are found in every family, become, wherever there are children, 
 a means of education to the parents. One may indeed be in- 
 duced by the love of God to withdraw from the external world, 
 in order to give himself exclusively and without distraction 
 to the cultivation of the spiritual nature ; but the love of a 
 mother for her children is, in its very nature, the closest of 
 
106 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 all links to outward and practical life, a direct and continual 
 doing and caring, which leaves no time for a life of contem- 
 plation. Caroline's maternal love was the school in which she 
 first learned wisely and vigorously to give to the hidden " man 
 within the heart" an outward direction. Increasing household 
 cares, the influence of her husband, and varied intercourse 
 with men of the most opposite characters, further tended to 
 bring out her capabilities, and to make her move freely in the 
 world, so that amid the variety of external circumstances she 
 was able to preserve an inward calm and self-control. She 
 retained indeed to the end of her days a desire after a life 
 of unruffled tranquillity, — a longing which would occasionally 
 dispose her to melancholy. " It is still the old story with 
 me," she writes to the Countess Sophie Stolberg ; " I desire 
 much, and can do but very little ;" and again to her husband, 
 in the spring of 1804, on the day after his departure on a 
 journey, " Agnes sends you word, she hopes you will cross the 
 water safely, and is anxious — my daughter ; Matthias only 
 desires to know how his rocking-horse is, and is happy — thy 
 son." Notwithstanding the continued longing for a life of 
 outward repose, she had in the first ten years of her marriage at- 
 tained to a measure of freedom, self-command, and tranquillity, 
 which, when she was subsequently threatened with the loss 
 of property, family, and all external happiness, she maintained 
 with true womanly heroism. 
 
 She was now no longer disquieted, as she had often been 
 at first, by the influence of her husband's position and 
 mode of life. " I have just looked out into the night, and 
 thought of thee," she once wrote to the absent Perthes, " It 
 is a glorious night, and the stars are glittering above me. 
 
THE BUSINESS AND THE FAMILY. 107 
 
 and if in thy carriage one appears to thee brighter than the 
 rest, think that it showers down upon thee love and kindness 
 from me, and no sadness ; for I am not now unhappy when 
 you are absent. Yet am I certain that this does not proceed 
 from any diminution of affection. If I could only shew how I 
 feel towards you, it would give you joy ; after all I may say 
 or write, it is still unexpressed, and far short of the living 
 love which I carry in my heart. If you could but appre- 
 hend me without w^ords, you would understand me better." — 
 " "What you have now," wrote Caroline in 1803, to a newly- 
 married friend, " is only a foretaste, and will every day increase. 
 At least, the merciful God has so ordered it for me these six 
 years, and my eyes overflow as I think of it." — " My beloved 
 Perthes," she writes a year later, on the anniversary of the day 
 on which he had declared his attachment ; " this is the SOth 
 of April, and it is just nine o'clock. Do you remember this 
 very moment this day seven years ? I thank God from the 
 bottom of my heart for having made you think of me. I have 
 just come from looking at the children, who are already in bed, 
 and while I gazed on them I had you in my heart ; thus, al- 
 though you are so far away, we are still united. I bless the 
 happy moment in which seven years ago you looked on me, 
 and said ' I love you/ Yes, my ever-beloved Perthes, I thank 
 God, and I thank you, for our happiness. May God continue to 
 be with us and with our children, and preserve us to a peaceful 
 and blessed end." 
 
108 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. — 1800-1805, 
 
 The affection and ardour with which Perthes followed his 
 calling, and the moral strength which he drew from his domestic 
 life, enabled him to escape becoming the victim of vacillating 
 indecision or of confused fancies — a danger to which his inter- 
 course Avith men of such diverse and influential characters 
 peculiarly exposed him. Next to his own, the house of his 
 father-in-law was that which possessed the greatest attractions 
 for him. " I have confidence in every one who esteems your 
 father," wrote Perthes, in the summer of 1797, to his bride; 
 and in a letter dated 1802, he says, " There is no one on earth 
 that I think more highly of than our father. May God long- 
 preserve to us the noble, beloved man !" The uninterrupted 
 and ever-increasing influence of Claudius was sti'engthened by 
 many kindred impressions. Perthes was a frequent and willing- 
 visitor at Klopstock's house, till his death in 1803. " The re- 
 pose of death was greatly to be desired for Klopstock," wrote 
 Perthes, shortly after his decease. " He said to me three weeks 
 before he died, ' I prefer a state of pain to any other — all else 
 is but torpor.' He died as he had lived, peacefully, simply, and 
 with composure. No one, not even his brother, saw him during 
 the last fortnight. Only his wife, Meta, and the physicians, were 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 109 
 
 with him. His wife seems to have entertained mistaken ideas 
 of ui)hokling Klopstock's greatness, even in his last hours. I 
 am sorry for this ; everybody knows that people do not die 
 artistically. His funeral procession shewed the respect in which 
 the people of Altona and Hamburgh held their fellow-citizen. 
 As the body was borne from the church to the grave, a chorus of 
 young girls sang, ' To rise again, yes, to rise again \' It was a 
 moment of general emotion ; but, even in death, Klopstock had 
 to do penance for his toleration of the spirit of the times, and 
 of his own insipid and shallow disciples, for N. delivered an 
 oration over him." 
 
 In Hamburgh, Perthes still kept up his former intimacy 
 with the Sieveking circle, and lived in free and familiar inter- 
 course with his old friends, Runge, Speckter, Hiilsenbeck, and 
 Herterich ; but it was from Holstein that the deepest and most 
 abiding impressions were now received. The Countess Julia 
 Reventlow of Emkendorf continued till her death to be the 
 warm friend of Caroline ; and the unpretending sprightliness 
 and gentleness of her disposition, which revealed itself even 
 in her correspondence, made others more open to the influ- 
 ence of her opinions. Her husband's brother, Count Caius 
 Reventlow of Altenhof, won the confidence of all who ap- 
 proached him by his genuine earnestness, and by his spirited 
 and hearty manliness of character. Attracted by the goodness 
 and candour of Perthes, the Count became his faithful friend 
 in word and deed, notwithstanding the difference of age and 
 position. " The Count was the last of the high-minded 
 nobles of a bygone time," wrote Perthes to the widowed Coun- 
 tess Louisa, in 1804, shortly after her husband's death, " and 
 a nobler than he our fatherland never possessed. He was a 
 
110 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 good friend and a benefactor to me at the period of my greatest 
 need ; and there are many who will think of him with love and 
 regret as I do now/' At Altenhof, Caroline and Perthes had 
 become intimately acquainted with the Countess Augusta, 
 (born Stolberg,) who, as second wife of Count Andreas Petrus 
 BernstorfF was the stepmother of the Countess Louisa. Many 
 might have overlooked the gentle, pious woman without sus- 
 pecting the treasure which lay concealed in her heart, but Goethe 
 showed his wonderful power of discerning mental endowment in 
 the well-known inscription to this unseen friend of his youth. 
 To Perthes the Countess was wont frequently to refer, in letters 
 full of intelligence and affection, and she always found in him 
 a trustworthy friend. On his final departure from Hamburgh, 
 she wrote, " Your life has taken such deep hold of mine, so 
 intimately is it connected with many of the earlier and later 
 associations of my heart, that your departure makes me veiy 
 sorrowful. — Forget me not." Manifold were the inij)ressions 
 which Perthes was to receive from Holstein. His intimacy 
 with the pious and venerable Kleuker introduced him to a more 
 extensive acquaintance with theological questions, while the 
 friendship of Reinhold exhibited to him the mental confusion 
 engendered by the mutual repulsion of philosophical and theo- 
 logical views. " Reinhold has received me in his old fashion, 
 and with his accustomed kindness," wrote Perthes to his wife 
 in ] 799, " and has given up his own room to me. He wins 
 upon me as a man, the longer I know him ; but his monotonous 
 many-sidedness obstructs him in his progress towards truth. 
 He pushes back the curtain little by little, but he cannot draw 
 it up. It will be difficult to break down the partition-wall that 
 separates him from Kleuker, because neither will allow the two 
 
CONPIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. Ill 
 
 points on whicli the wall of partition rests, and on wliicli all 
 depends, to be touched ; while, by their mutual sarcasms, they 
 continually provoke each other." " I must read Reinhold's 
 ' Treatise on the Rights of Common Sense' a second time,'' says 
 Perthes, " disagreeable as his mannerism makes it to me. In 
 speaking with him I get on much better than in reading his 
 books." Jacobi's influence with Perthes Avas also an abid- 
 ing one, and he was ever ready to converse with his young 
 friend on the works in which he was engaged. " Yesterday, 
 Jacobi gave me his new MS. treatise to read," 'writes Perthes 
 to Caroline from Eutin, in 1801 ; " it was hard work. I laboured 
 at it the whole of yesterday, and the ' tall papa' said admirable 
 things apropos of it ; to-day I have studied it again with him 
 in right earnest." In all his visits to Holstein, whether long 
 or short, Perthes felt himself improved and elevated by the 
 influence of the country and the people. " On Sunday," he 
 says to Caroline, " I was at Sielbeck with Nicolovius ; the day 
 was glorious. Nicolovius is a charming man. I felt so youth- 
 ful, and so rich, and so thankful to God : He has bestowed on 
 me so many gifts ! such a long and happy youth, and you, my 
 love I" 
 
 With Catholic Munster, Perthes was no less closely con- 
 nected than with Protestant Holstein. It was in the winter of 
 1 798 that he had first become personally acquainted with it, and 
 on his journey thither he was greatly impressed by the grand 
 aspect of the lofty oak forests and deep valleys of West- 
 phalia, or more properly of Osnaburg. In a letter to Caro- 
 line, written after a night of travel, he says, " To-night as the 
 stars sparkled, and life with its joys and sorrows lay reposing 
 in slumber below, while T alone watched and was conscious 
 
I 12 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 that the good God was also watching over all His children in 
 the scattered cottages around, I was so overcome by my happi- 
 ness, that I burst into tears ; and it was remarkable, that just 
 at this moment the starlight fell upon a crucifix placed on an 
 eminence among some poplars." In Mtinster, Perthes again 
 met the Princess Gallitzin and the Droste family, the venerable 
 Furstenberg, then seventy years of age, Kistemaker and Kater- 
 kamp, and the singular father of the historian Buchholz. This 
 short and hurried visit to Munster was sufficient to give him 
 an idea of the life with which, from other causes, he was after- 
 wards to be so intimately associated. The Princess Gallitzin, 
 till her death, kept up her correspondence with Caroline ; and, 
 notwithstanding the difference of creed, stood godmother to 
 Perthes' eldest son, Klopstock and Claudius being godfathers. 
 Caroline, on her part, preserved her affection and reverence for 
 the Princess. In 1806, on hearing of her fatal illness, she 
 wrote, " No one ever made so deep and so lasting an impression 
 on me as she ; and from the first moment of our meeting, she 
 has been, I may say, my guide to God." Perthes had made 
 the acquaintance of the Baron von Droste, a few weeks after 
 his marriage to Caroline, when the three brothers, Kaspar, Cle- 
 mens, and Francis had visited Hamburgh in company with 
 Kellermann and Brockmann. He had been their cicerone, and 
 they had gladly shared the frugal meals of the youthful couple. 
 They were about the same age, and a friendship so intimate 
 was then established, that neither differences of position nor of 
 opinion had any power to shake their mutual affection and 
 esteem. "I was particularly attracted by Kaspar," said Perthes, 
 in his later years, " even then a suflfragan-bishop, and one who, 
 in depth of love, might have been compared with the beloved 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE, 113 
 
 disciple." In 1806, the Princess Gallitzin died. " The last 
 few hours," writes Kaspar to Perthes, " were hours of severe suf- 
 fering, and yet rich in mercy. She met her end in perfect con- 
 sciousness, and committing herself entirely to God, receiving 
 her Lord and Saviour in the most holy sacrament about a quar- 
 ter of an hour before her death ; and thus her beautiful, puri- 
 fied, sanctified soul departed in the most blessed and intimate 
 union with Christ. A beautiful death, dear Perthes ; pray 
 especially for her beloved daughter, that God may give her 
 grace." " You believe as I do," he says in another letter, 
 " in the necessity of illumination and grace from above, and 
 that is everything." And somewhat later he writes, — " I am 
 sure that you cannot rest on your present stand-point. The 
 striving and hastening after the truth, which characterize you, 
 and the need you feel of some firm footing, cannot continue ; 
 for, dear Perthes, we are not now searching for the truth — we 
 have it, we are not looking for the true faith — it is already ours. 
 This only is our task and our duty, to shew our faith by a real 
 Christian walk, in all we do or leave undone. All our striving 
 ought to have for its object progress in this path, and since we 
 cannot advance without the grace of God, we pray to Him daily 
 for this grace. Forget me not, dear Perthes." Notwithstanding 
 Kaspar Droste's decided attachment to his own Church, he 
 gladly recognised all that he held in common with Christians 
 of other communions, and had no sympathy with those who, in 
 the rancour of their unloving hearts, regard themselves as good 
 Christians because they hate Protestants. In the year 1819, 
 the suffragan-bishop could still close a letter to the widow of 
 Claudius with these words, " May God watch over you, dear mo- 
 ther, and all of us. Pray for me in childlike love. — Your Kaspar." 
 
 10 
 
114 LIFE OF PEKTIIES. 
 
 Ever since liis entrance into tlie Catholic Cliurch, Count Fre- 
 derick Leopold Stolberg had been a member of the Munster 
 circle. He had forsaken the Church of his fathers in order to find 
 rest for his soul, which craved some visible support, something 
 through which he might recognise the security and stability of 
 his faith. His change of creed, which had great influence in giv- 
 ing direction to the spiritual tendency of that period, had shown 
 what previously had been but little considered, — how wide the 
 gulf was that separated the Catholic from the Protestant Confes- 
 sion ; for Stolberg, although a Christian before as well as after 
 his change, had been unable to find that rest in the one Church 
 which he had at last found in the other. The step he had 
 taken was a matter of the deepest regret to his friends, but 
 when the efi'ect of the first overwhelming shock had passed 
 away, they could neither personally reproach nor misinterpret 
 him. It was as the son-in-law of Claudius that Perthes had first 
 been brought into contact with Stolberg, but their acquaint- 
 ance soon ripened into a warm friendship, founded on mutual 
 liking and mutual confidence. To the end of his life, Stolberg 
 was a stranger to that bigoted, restless zeal, by which religious 
 as well as political converts are so often distinguished ; not 
 that at any subsequent period of his life he regretted the step 
 he had taken, but having changed his church rather than his 
 faith, he was able to maintain a remarkably clear judgment 
 with reference to Protestantism. " I have received your ac- 
 ceptable letter with the notice of the National Museum," he 
 writes to Perthes in 1809, " we shall always understand each 
 other, dear Perthes. There is a passage in the Prospectus that 
 will offend many, alas ! too many Catholics. It does not offend 
 me. The Reformation originated in pure motives ; and although 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 115 
 
 I feel assured that Luther assumed more than his adherents, 
 as men, had the right to give, I yet recognise the many and 
 great advantages resulting from it to those who remained in the 
 Catholic Church in the stimulus it gave and the rivalry it 
 excited. I would never raise a finger against the person of 
 Luther, in whom I recognise not only one of the greatest minds 
 that has been seen on earth, but in whom I also discover a great 
 religious sentiment that never forsook him." 
 
 In 1802 Perthes had also met Sailer, then Professor at 
 Landshut, in feeling and opinion a member of the Munster 
 circle. " Sailer has sought me out here," he writes to his wife 
 from Leipzig ; " I am much pleased with him ; he is a man of 
 decided talent, and sees things from the Catholic point of 
 view, though, as it appears to me, not without some effort. He 
 desires to be commended to your father, and also to you." Per- 
 thes, like many others, never believed that Stolberg, although 
 he had become a Catholic, had received every dogma of the 
 Catholic Church, as part and parcel of his Christian creed. 
 "You ask," writes Sailer to Perthes, from Landshut, in 1803, 
 " whether it is essential that a convert to the Catholic Church 
 must acknowledge the whole system as true. To this I can 
 only give the following answer : before God, — before the tribu- 
 nal of conscience, and in the judgment of every independent 
 thinker, no man can believe that which he cannot believe, and 
 therefore ought not. According to the judgment of a literal 
 and absolute orthodoxy, the fundamental principle may be 
 stated differently, and in practice at least is thus enunciated : 
 — 'This is true, this must be fully believed, therefore believe 
 it.' In a literal orthodoxy, the distinction between credible 
 and incredible is practically scarcely admitted. But he who, 
 
116 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 by the force of liis own mind, has worked his way through this 
 literal and absolute orthodoxy to the gentle and broad spirit of 
 all orthodoxy, will find as little necessity in the Catholic sys- 
 tem as in any other, for stretching faith beyond the limits of 
 conviction, and will be content with simply leaving undecided 
 that which he who has not attained to the same position refuses 
 to believe. I know not what more to write." And he thus con- 
 tinues, — " You should certainly pay a visit to the good people 
 of the patriarchal Wernigcrode. You would be welcome for the 
 sake of your father-in-law, and for your own. Fenelon's works 
 are read by all the earnest ; but, alas ! the earnest are as rare 
 as white crows." 
 
 While the spiritual life was thus manifesting itself to Perthes 
 in Holstein in a decidedly Lutheran, and in Munster in a de- 
 cidedly Catholic form, he became acquainted with a religious 
 life which shrank from any expression of the religious principle 
 in dogma or formulary, in the persons of two distinguished 
 individuals. The Countess Louisa of Windebye, who, as well 
 as her husband, Count Christian Stolberg, kept up a regular 
 correspondence with Perthes, asserted constantly, with all the 
 intelligence of her acute understanding, that it is impossible for 
 man to express his internal relations to the Deity by any form 
 or formulary whatsoever. " Ah, dear Perthes !" she wrote, 
 " it is so dangerous to shut up the real living faith in dogmas, 
 and to seek to define it by dogmas ! How weary I am of all 
 formulas ! I am striving to free myself so entirely from all 
 literality, as to be able in every ritual to separate the essential 
 from the accidental, the spirit from the letter, and to take as 
 little exception to the Catholic as to the Hindoo rosary. Still, 
 dear Perthes, every spiritual struggle after truth renders the 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 1 1 7 
 
 Catholic form more and more distasteful to me. I am delighted 
 with Claudius' new hook ; although I differ from him in many- 
 respects, I agree with him in general principles, for these with 
 him take the form of acts not of words." — " He who attaches 
 himself to dogmas," she says in another letter, " has mistaken 
 a planet for the polar star. Many a time have I myself mistaken 
 the aurora of the night for the dawn of the coming day ;" and 
 again, in a letter of later date, she speaks still more decidedly, 
 — " Ever}^ one who dogmatizes, be he Catholic or Protestant, 
 theologian or ^philosopher, is to me an idolater.'" 
 
 Philip Otto Runge, the artist, a man animated by a deeply 
 religious spirit, and, like the Countess Louisa, opposed to dog- 
 matic teaching, had for Perthes singular attractions. His 
 morality was stern, his mind vigorous and racy, and full of 
 humour. While to strangers he was, without intending it, a 
 sealed book, he opened his whole heart without reserve to his 
 friends, and displayed all the riches of his lively, witty, and 
 original mind. The centre of his being was nourished by a 
 spiritual sense peculiar to himself, by which he apprehended the 
 great mysteries of the Godhead, as manifested in the symboli- 
 cal representations of nature. " If," said Perthes in later life, 
 " there was any German of the last century who was a genuine 
 representative of Mysticism and Theosophy, it was Runge ; for 
 in him, as in no one else, were united the grand Theosophic in- 
 tuitions of Jacob Bohme, and the mystic spiritual love of Suso ; 
 and this arose from an inward and spontaneous impulse, and 
 without any external influence. Runge could declare with the 
 most solemn sincerity, that the artist who had gone so far as 
 to make Art a religion, should have a millstone hung about 
 his neck, and be thrown into the deepest part of the sea. At 
 
118 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 the same time, a great religious idea would often unconsciously 
 insinuate itself into the merest play of his pencil ; for every 
 where in nature he saw traces of the mysteries of creation, 
 redemption, and sanctification, and he regarded it as the great 
 duty imposed upon him, to seek out those traces, and to repre- 
 sent them to others through his Art. His apprehension of 
 them was not always attainable by others, and thus many 
 things in his compositions are unintelligible. When ashed for 
 an explanation, he used laughingly to say, " If I could have 
 said it in words, I need not have painted it/' Runge occupied 
 the same position in painting that Novalis did in poetry. 
 " The exhibition of a new and singular form of art, through 
 which the earnest, pious, and tender feeling of the true artist 
 revealed itself," as Goethe said, met with acceptance at Wei- 
 mar. " Runge," wrote Goethe to Perthes in 1810, " is a cha- 
 racter such as is seldom born into the world. His remarkable 
 talent, his true and sterling honesty as a man and an artist, 
 attracted me and attached me to him long ago ; and although 
 his tendencies led him out of the path which I regard as the 
 right one, he never excited any displeasure in my mind, but I 
 was always able gladly to accompany him wherever he was 
 carried by his peculiar style." 
 
 Runge had come to Hamburgh from Wolgast, his native 
 place, in 1795, when eighteen years of age, to be trained to 
 business in his brother's house. He left Hamburgh in 1798, 
 in order to fit himself for an artist's life by study at Copenhagen 
 and Dresden, and did not return till 1804. But the confidential 
 friendship so quickly formed between him and Perthes, suffered 
 nothing by this separation, but continued to gain strength till 
 Runge's early death in 1810. "You have fully understood 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 119 
 
 me," writes Runge in 1802, "and I think of myself just as you 
 think of me, and not at all more highly/' Even in his old age 
 Perthes retained the impressions he received on his visit to the 
 Dresden Gallery with Runge in 1 802. " Yesterday afternoon," 
 he wrote to his wife at the time, "I saw Raphael's Holy 
 Family, alone and unaccompanied, and I trust that this heaven 
 will never pass away from my soul. To see creations such as 
 these, from the hands of our fellow-creatures, is ennobling ; 
 pictures of this kind are the direct effluence and evidence of 
 the Divine within us, and words are poor in comparison. 
 Sounds may, perhaps, in a still higher sense, be akin to God, 
 but then they are evanescent, and rouse in us a vague fore- 
 feeling of intuitions, rather than intuitions themselves." 
 
 The friendships that Perthes had now formed were chiefly 
 with men whose grand object, though pursued in diverse ways, 
 was the cultivation of the inner life. His natural disposition, 
 and the necessities of a calling that demanded the greatest 
 activity, preserved the equipoise of his own mind in the midst 
 of the various influences to which he was subjected. Two men 
 of great eminence who shared his intimacy, Count Adam Moltke, 
 and Schonborn, were perpetually exerting themselves to give 
 intensity to Perthes' easily excited interest in the affairs of the 
 world. 
 
 Count Moltke, a fine-looking man, with a noble forehead and 
 a sparkling eye, had lived from the beginning of the present 
 century at Nutschau, a small estate in Holland, which he had 
 received as a trifling indemnity for the lost family fiefs in Zea- 
 land. His restless energy and glowing imagination had been 
 deeply stirred by the French Revolution, and he remained, for 
 many years, one of its most ardent, but, at the same time^ 
 
120 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 purest well-wishers. After having travelled over a great part 
 of Europe, and experienced not a few of life's bitterest sorrows, 
 he returned to Nutschau, and there, far from the cares of State, 
 though deeply interested in political movements, he strove 
 with a forced resignation to live patiently through that iron 
 time. He required but little sleep, and sought to still the 
 inward sorrow by the earnest and persevering study of history ; 
 particularly the history of the rise of the Italian Republics of 
 the middle ages, with which he was minutely acquainted. He 
 had often undertaken to present his own thoughts in poetry, 
 or to give the history of remarkable political events of former 
 times, but he was unable to express his ideas with that clear- 
 ness and precision which were necessary to fit them for appear- 
 ing before the public. He was thus excluded from writing as 
 well as from acting history ; but as, in the days of his fervid 
 youth, he had exercised a powerful influence on all with whom 
 he came in contact, so in his mature age he infused energy 
 into every circle that he frequented. " He had attained the 
 perfection of his nature," said Nicbuhr in 1806, of this the 
 friend of his youth ; "he had tamed the lion, the ever-restless 
 spirit within him, and he had used the fire of his youth to 
 animate Greek forms." 
 
 Perthes had met Moltke at Kiel in 1799. "What a man I" 
 he wrote to his wife ; " what power ! and what self-control ! 
 I wish, Caroline, that you could see this ' mad Moltke,' as they 
 call him. I esteem him as highly as any of my acquaintances. 
 His wife, too, is a charming person." A few months later 
 the two had become intimate, and mutually attached. " Thank 
 the Countess for her delightful letter," wrote Perthes to the 
 Count, in the autumn of 1799. " Caroline and I may well read 
 
CONFIEMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 121 
 
 witli surprise what she wishes, and I wish I had matters of 
 corresponding weight and interest to write of to lier." Moltlcc 
 came frequently to Hamburgh at that time, as he did in later 
 years ; and then, all thought of rest for that night was at an end. 
 Between nine and ten in the evening, when Perthes had left 
 business and had joined his family, he would find Moltke wait- 
 ing his arrival. Before many minutes were over, they were 
 involved in an earnest and impassioned conversation, and many 
 a time the rising sun reminded the disputants that it was 
 time to break off. When Moltke was in Florence in 1 803, a 
 report reached him that Perthes was about to stop payment. 
 " Help my friend immediately with all that I have, if I be yet 
 in time," wrote Moltke to his man of business in Hamburgh, 
 at the same time sending the necessary powers with the 
 letter. 
 
 The Councillor of Legation, Schonborn, was in almost every 
 aspect the direct opposite of Count Moltke. Rist has preserved 
 his name from oblivion in a characteristic sketch. From 1802 
 to 1806, he lived as a guest in the house of Perthes. This 
 extraordinary man, whose unj^leasing exterior was somewhat 
 relieved by the expression of resolution and depth in his coun- 
 tenance, would frequently remain in the house for weeks 
 together, rejoicing in the comfort of his dressing-gown and 
 the disorder of his apartment, or buried in the literary 
 treasures that the warehouse afforded. He was now nearly 
 seventy years of age, and there was no person or thing in the 
 circuit of the busy city that had any claim upon him ; and 
 thus in the enjoyment of a long-desired independence, he 
 would submit to no restraints, except those which his own 
 habits and his constitutional sluggishness imposed. About 
 
 11 
 
122 LIFE OP PERTHES. 
 
 noon lie was frequently to be seen standing in the door-way, 
 dressed in a long, loose overcoat with his stick under his 
 arm, looking about in all directions, pondering with what 
 friend or in what tavern to bestow himself for the hour, and 
 then, after a while, re-entering the house, to shut himself up 
 ao-ain in his own room. In the house of Perthes he was re- 
 garded as a member of tlie family, and went and came just as 
 he pleased, at one time enjoying the lively and ever-varying 
 society, at other times passing hours in silent abstraction, or in 
 a kind of dreamy, silent enjoyment with the children, or the 
 visitors. " Silence,'' says Rist, " was no burden to him, even 
 when fools were talking ; but in later years, he would give vent 
 to his displeasure in some one of those strong expressions which 
 he had borrowed from the rude mode of speech not uncommon 
 in Lower Saxony." When, however, Schonborn could be led 
 to converse, and Perthes well understood how to bring him to 
 the point, he became at once the centre of the circle, and the 
 rare treasures of learning, and of general knowledge and ex- 
 perience of life, that lay hidden in his mind, were brought out 
 in surprising turns, and in expressions emphatic and racy, the 
 suggestions of the moment, 
 
 Schonborn, the son of a pastor from the Harz, who had been 
 settled at Holstein, was born in 1737. With great efforts, and 
 by fits and starts, he had made himself familiar with many 
 branches of knowledge, and subsequently lived in the intel- 
 lectual society that frequented Count Bernstorff's house at 
 Copenhagen and at Hamburgh, associating on terms of equality 
 with the first men of his time. In 1773, through the influ- 
 ence of the Count, he was sent as Secretary of the Danish 
 Consulate to Algiers. " The gentlemen pirates equip their 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 123 
 
 privateers here/' he wrote to one of his friends, fi-om his new 
 abode, " and often for a month or two together, it is impossible 
 for any ship to leave. May the vultures prey on you, ye beasts 
 of prey ! but rather a hundred thousand times may they prey 
 on the European Governments who foster you I" And again 
 he writes, " That Algiers is still standing astonishes me, now 
 that I have seen it with my own eyes ; no less does the short- 
 sighted vulture-like policy of Europe, which precipitates itself 
 upon a drachm of present evil, and leaves a hundredweight 
 accumulating for the future." After a few years' residence in 
 Algiers, Sclionborn went to London as Danish Secretary of 
 Legation, and remained there till 1802, frequently discharging 
 the duties of Consul. " Yesterday evening I again philoso- 
 phized for a few hours with Schonborn," writes Niebuhr from 
 London in 1 7.98. " We spoke from overflowing hearts. He is 
 very original in his mode of expressing himself, and vigorous 
 sometimes even to coarseness ; he is a profound philosopher, 
 and extensively acquainted with the ancients, especially with 
 their philosophy and mathematics ; he has a mind of extra- 
 ordinary power, but impatient of contradiction. His bold spirit, 
 which sported wildly in strange interpretations of mythology, 
 afforded me an interesting entertainment." In another letter 
 Niebuhr says, — "When he exhibits his deeply-pondered and 
 well-weighed system, in all its extent and with the boldest 
 applications, he kindles the spirit of his listener, and hurries 
 him along into ideas entirely new. But when this splendid 
 intellect leaves the depths of metaphysics for the common 
 ground of daily life, he is no longer the same ; he is like a 
 mathematician who lias measured the earth in imagination, but 
 who doe^ not know its surface." 
 
124 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 After an absence of nearly tliirty years, Schonboni, then 
 sixty-five years of age, returned to Germany, which he liad 
 visited but once during- that long period, and then only for a 
 short time. He found Germany as though centuries had passed 
 over it during liis absence. The Seven Years' War had not 
 been long ended when he left liis native land. Germaiay was 
 striving to strengthen herself through Frederick the Great ; 
 every German eye was turned confidently to him. Lessing, 
 Schonboni's companion and friend, had just completed his 
 " Hamburgh Dramaturgy," his " Minna von Barnhelm," and 
 " Emilia Galotti ;" and when Sclionborn, on his route to 
 Algiers, had visited Councillor Goethe at Frankfort, he had 
 been introduced to liis son, the remarkable young man who had 
 just then written " Goetz ;" and who soon afterwards wrote 
 to Sclionborn at Algiers, — " I have allowed a trumpery thing 
 about Wieland to be printed under the title, ' Gods, Heroes, 
 and Wieland.' " When Schonborn returned to Germany, the 
 triumph of the Revolution was a tradition of the jmst, and 
 Napoleon was dazzling Europe. Lessing, who had been twenty 
 years dead, was almost forgotten, and Goethe was preparing to 
 strike the balance of the life he had lived. Schonborn had 
 spent the time of the great political developments throughout 
 the Continent, in London their central point, and he came back 
 with a knowledge of England, and its relations to Europe, not 
 inferior to that of Gentz himself. He still retained his former 
 passionate attachment to philosophy, though he had long given 
 up all hope of absolute truth being attainable by man. "A more 
 thorough sceptic," said Perthes later, " has, perhaps, never 
 existed. God, Freedom, Immortality, were the objects which 
 he was perpetually combating with the intellect ; perhaps just 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 125 
 
 because, being firmly rooted in liis noble nature, they were per- 
 petually forcing themselves upon him. Freedom, indeed, uni- 
 versal as well as personal, was his idol ; and he would not allow 
 it to be circumscribed even by his own inward constitution. 
 The limits of his individuality made him furious, and he in- 
 cessantly champed and bit his chains like an old lion. His 
 features also bore some I'esemblance to those of that kingly 
 animal ; and v/hen, as was sometimes the case, he fell asleep 
 at table from the weakness of old age, his eyebrows would be 
 elevated like a mane, indicating that the spirit was still busy 
 within. He died in his eightieth year. The death-struggle 
 lasted for a week ; he would not give up his life ; he must 
 have been welded to it, said the physician." In keeping with 
 the most marked feature of his character, the objects of his 
 search in philosojihy and in life were consistency and activity ; 
 and, wherever he found them, he felt sure of having grasped one 
 side of the truth. Passionately as he detested all shams, he 
 was equally ready to recognise opinions the most adverse to his 
 own, provided only that they were earnest convictions. Imme- 
 diately after his return from England, and while desirous to 
 form connexions with the men of that day, in order to enjoy 
 with them the free and hearty intercourse that he had enjoyed 
 with their fathers, ha was, through Klopstock and Claudius, 
 introduced to Perthes, and ere many weeks had elapsed be- 
 came an inmate of his house. His intimacy with the Countess 
 Catharine Stolberg, whose restless spirit was ever expatiating 
 in all the realms of knowledge, had not then been formed ; and 
 he whiled away the years in the house that he loved, following 
 the humours of the hour. A new world of interests and opin- 
 ions, of information and experience, was thus opened to Perthes. 
 
126 LIFE or PERTHES. 
 
 The manifold relations in wliich Pcrtlies stood to active life, 
 and the distinguished men among whom he moved, could not 
 fail to exercise a great influence upon him, and almost to 
 fashion his mind anew. " I know," he says in a letter to his 
 Schwartzburg uncle, " that you often think of your Fritz ; but 
 I am no longer the Fritz of whom you are thinking. You only 
 know ' little Fritz ;' you have to begin to learn to know me. 
 Where shall I commence, and where leave ofi", in order to ex- 
 plain to you who and what I am ? You knew me as a child 
 who had something good in him, who was lovable and who was 
 thankful to be loved, warmly returning the love that was given ; 
 as a child of quick perceptions and some cleverness, but also of 
 most perilous vivacity, and of almost morbid susceptibility. 
 Many years have since rolled away, and of all that the child 
 cherished in his bosom, what is left ? — what is added ? — what 
 has the child preserved of the childlike ? If I were to endea- 
 vour to trace the path I have trodden, who shall certify me that 
 I really and truly know it 1" 
 
 From his earliest childhood, and amidst anxiety and po- 
 verty, Perthes had uniformly and earnestly striven to bring 
 his soul and his whole course of action into harmony with the 
 Eternal Will. As he grew in knowledge and in culture, he 
 had always endeavoured to attain his objects by spiritual 
 means ; and yet where anxiety regarding his inward condition 
 was stronger than levity and self-confidence, he was forced to 
 acknowledge that the will in his bosom was far from being the 
 will of God, and that the tendency to oppose his own will to 
 the will of God, was still the master tendency. Disturbed as 
 he was by a consciousness of this kind, the society of so many 
 eminent persons, who regarded the discovery of man's real po- 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 127 
 
 slfcioii witli regard to God, as tlic first and great business of life, 
 could not fail to give a religious direction to tlic further deve- 
 lopment of his mind. He had long ago given up, as limited and 
 perverse, his early stand-point, according to which man was to 
 fashion himself to a rational existence by virtue of an intelli- 
 gent will. In 1799 he thus vvrote to Caroline, — " N. was with 
 me yesterday ; he thoroughly displeases me ; his formal know- 
 ingness has dried up his brain and hollowed out his heart. 
 After all his much-boasted reflection, he has merely satisfied 
 a sort of tabular ethical system ; but in the (so-called) de- 
 sire always to do right, he has no share, he has lost spirit and 
 vitality. He dare not follow the promptings of his inner ge- 
 nius, for he must needs reflect perpetually ; and yet his reflec- 
 tion has not been able to preserve him from a commonplace 
 style of mind, which was not natural to him.'' 
 
 Perthes had long regarded Feeling — the immediate consci- 
 ousness of the soul — as the only power that could lead man 
 through life with cheerful and courageous views of God and 
 the world. He had renounced the hope kindled by Schiller, 
 of seeing feeling purified and perfected by means of Art. 
 " If," he writes to Count Moltke, " we could indeed so ele- 
 vate and ennoble the Physical as to harmonize with the Spiri- 
 tual, humanity would be perfected. But we are soon aroused 
 from the delusive dream of such a hope, in a world where 
 sorrow, want, and death, meet us at every turn." Perthes 
 had next, as we have seen, been brought under the influence 
 of Jacobi, and listened to the voice of God speaking to and iu 
 Feeling ; still there was disunion and discord in his mind. 
 " Man is a twofold being," he writes to Jacobi, " the one mocks 
 the other, and the latter in its turn despises the former. This is 
 
128 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 tlie state of every nican who is not in harmony with liimself." 
 Latterly, in his intercourse with the circles of Holstein and 
 Miinster, Perthes had met with men who, in a manner that had 
 not previously come under his observation, seemed to be in 
 harmony with themselves. That it was the supremacy of Love 
 that enabled them to preserve peace, joy, and inward har- 
 mony in the midst of the tumults of life, he was fully per- 
 suaded. " It is only one overpowering idea that can uphold 
 a man, and make him forget sorrow and death, earth and 
 heaven." He writes to Molthe, "All such forgctfulness is 
 greatness ; but the greatness may be good and may be evil, 
 according to the nature of the idea that has called it forth. 
 We have seen men of angelic and of devilish minds, equally 
 ready, firmly and fearlessly to confront the terrible. What is 
 great is not always good, but what is good must always be 
 great. Now, there is a something which is in God, and which 
 He has kindled in us, that is always both good and great, and 
 this is Love. Love can make even weakness great, and what 
 the highest greatness is without love we may see in the devil. 
 Your sturablingblock, dear Moltke, is not the want of Chris- 
 tian love in your heart, but the preponderance of Roman great- 
 ness in your head. But why should we think of greatness at 
 all ? It is but a poetic dream for us now ; if we have made 
 love our paramount idea, greatness will follow of itself" " Only 
 the man who is possessed by love," he writes to Jacobi, " can 
 solve the riddle of our being and of our freedom. Love is the 
 visible form of freedom. He who loves, and even he who does 
 not love, can see if he will that love is free as nothing in the 
 world besides, I am in bondage if I do not love, and I can- 
 not love if I am in bondage ; and he who loves knows, as none 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 129 
 
 else does know, that individual freedom and tlie will of God 
 are one and the same thing." 
 
 But in order to abide in love, as the permanent condition of 
 the soul, Perthes felt the necessity of a human and personal 
 medium, and no one stood nearer to him than Caroline. It 
 was then through her, and her alone, that he expected the 
 essence of life, as he called love, to be incorporated with his own 
 being. " That I have something within me which lives and will 
 live eternally," he writes to his wife, " I feel with a degree of 
 certainty that is not to be expressed in words ; I also feel that 
 this eternal individuality can only find its satisfaction in the 
 love of God. To him who strives after this love, and who in 
 the midst of stumbling and falling, praying and thanksgiving, 
 is in earnest, God will be gracious even if he worship a bit of 
 wood instead of the Crucified One. For as the invisible is 
 hidden behind the curtain of the outward world of sense, every 
 medium by which I venture to draw near to the glory of God, 
 is a sanctified means of escape from sin, and is not in itself 
 idolatry. Evil rages within me and is powerful ; my prayers 
 are but signals of distress, and do not help ; for I am not pene- 
 trated, as you are, by the holiness of the Supreme Being, by 
 His light and glory ; but I am penetrated by the love of thee, 
 my angel, and through the love of thee I shall rise higher, and 
 draw nearer to Him, in whom I find I cannot participate without 
 some medium." And in another letter, " Do not lose heart, my 
 pious Caroline, and make me, by your instrumentality, as pious 
 as you are yourself" 
 
 But Perthes now began to be conscious that the love of God 
 is not a spontaneous development of that which he had spoken 
 of as the love of man, but that it differs from this not only in 
 
130 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 degree, but in its object, and therefore in its essence. Althougli 
 deeply conscious that his affection for Caroline was ever deep- 
 ening and strengthening, he yet drew back timidly from God. 
 He regarded his past life, and the present condition of his soul, 
 as a partition- wall between himself and God, which even love 
 had no power to throw down, and he could not but confess a 
 desire to be without God, and a struggling against God as the 
 predominant tendency of his heart. It seemed to him impos- 
 sible that the alienation of man from God should be overcome 
 by any human means. " My internal anxiety," he writes to 
 Caroline, " calls for some one who in my stead gives satisfac- 
 tion ; and undefined feelings come across me, which seek after 
 a God who as man has felt the agony of man. I have leaned 
 upon many a staff that has given way, and have seen many a 
 star fall from heaven. What is true, is given to us in science, 
 but not The Truth. Human science can measure many things, 
 but can take the full measure of none, and the great mysteries of 
 life must for ever elude her grasp ; — have they, therefore, no 
 existence, or are they, therefore, less certain or less vital ?" 
 
 He thus writes to Moltke, " That which is unusual, which 
 does not repeat itself, but happens once only, we call unnatural, 
 and if we have not ourselves been conscious of it, we call it un- 
 true, and chai'acterize the belief of it as superstitious ; and yet 
 Nature itself, which is assuredly the most unnatural of all 
 miracles, delights us, and we find it quite natural: and thus 
 we, whose whole history forms but a moment of this great 
 nature-miracle, pretend to decide upon the naturalness or un- 
 naturalness of a particular event ! No, the great mysteries of 
 the world are not to be sought and found without us — the 
 intuition of them is born in us ; our soul is intuitively christian, 
 
CONFIKMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 131 
 
 and that which exists in us as intuition, the mercy of God has 
 revealed externally as actual, objective existence." Jacobi had 
 maintained against Perthes, " I shall become a Christian, ac- 
 cording to Claudius, if I can be certified of the perpetuity of 
 the Pentecostal miracle ; but no historical belief can make up 
 to me for the cessation of the Pentecostal miracle."' To which 
 Perthes had replied, " An individual man cannot be justified in 
 disbelieving the perpetuity of the Pentecostal miracle simply 
 because he has not himself experienced it." To Perthes the 
 facts of Revelation were indubitable historical events ; " but," 
 he says to Moltke, " the time when these facts are to become 
 vital to me, and the measure of their vitality, depend on the 
 grace of God." An inward wrestling and striving now took 
 place to realize in himself, as he expressed it, " the uncreated 
 Son of the Father as in reality his God." The (to him) unde- 
 niable fact of the incarnation he desired for himself as the idea 
 that should take entire possession of his being. Holy Scripture 
 now appeared to his soul in all its majesty, and Claudius was 
 at his side, to aid, to animate, and to confirm, at one time in 
 person, at another by his writings. Their personal intercourse 
 had been continually growing more intimate and confidential, 
 and Claudius' tract, " A Father's Simple Instructions about the 
 Christian Religion," which appeared in 1803, in the seventh 
 part of his collected works, had made a deep impression upon 
 his son-in-law ; and he reached a certainty of conviction, and 
 a repose of mind which he had never before known. "You 
 ask how it fares with me, dear Moltke ; I know what truth is, 
 I know what man is, and what he shall be ; I knoiu how to 
 estimate the world ; I know that the richer a man becomes 
 in himself, the poorer he is in the world, I thank God for 
 
132 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 this knowledge, and especially for the consciousness that I am 
 a poor sinner, in myself helpless and comfortless. Those men 
 are now a problem to me who seek satisfaction in themselves, 
 and, if nnsnccessful, try to find it in one fruit after another, in 
 the hope of being satisfied at last, and are never awakened to the 
 alarming consciousness that the sap is not there." And in a 
 letter to Caroline, " My youth," he says, " was healthy, and. an 
 unquenchable longing and an intense striving upwards pos- 
 sessed me, much more truly than now. But, on the other hand, 
 I have now a clear insight into life ; I am conscious of power 
 and vigour, of an assurance and actuality such as I never pos- 
 sessed, before ; I know God, and this state of peaceful certainty 
 is not indeed so pleasing, not so flattering I might say, as 
 my former condition ; but perhaps, on this account, it is a 
 surer evidence of the truth. If passions were less violent, and 
 if we could escape from the troubles of the world, it might be 
 better for us ; but it is presumption to require what God has 
 not been pleased to ordain for us. An undisturbed internal 
 assurance and perfect peace were possible to only one in this 
 world, and that one was the God-man. Dear Caroline, when 
 we have learned to be content, and to accommodate ourselves 
 to times, circumstances, and outward relations, with tolerable 
 calmness and composure, we thus advance more steadily than 
 by all our striving and self-tormenting, towards the goal to 
 which through the grace of God we are drawing nearer, but 
 to which we can never attain on earth." To Jacobi he says, 
 " I thank you from my heart, my fatherly friend, for the 
 kind tone of the letter in which you declare the difference 
 between our inmost convictions ; I have only now to add, that 
 by the words, ' Philosophical unbelief satisfies me as little as 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNER LIFE. 133 
 
 poetical superstition/ I certainly did not intend to indicate 
 that which you, with an implication of censure, designate ro- 
 mantic. I believe that I take surer ground than others in my 
 opposition to a wild, wanton, vain, and ever-wandering belief, 
 because I take my stand on the revealed word of God, as the only 
 word, the only law which is above us ; all besides is only in us, 
 and whether it be a simple and compact, or a romantic and 
 parti-coloured philosophy, it wanders in a perpetual maze, till 
 at last it finds that all is vanity. I am, like you, disturbed by 
 Jean Paul's fluctuations whenever I read his works ; he indeed 
 longs for truth and a settled faith, and yet he cannot abstain 
 from representing the God-man as a mere creature of human 
 imagination. But poems about the Messiah, whether written 
 by Klopstock or by otliers, will never do." " It is far better," 
 he says, after having read tliat amusing book, " Scenes from 
 the World of Spirits," " to become a fool by philosoi^hizing'^ 
 than to graft our own imaginations upon the great truths of 
 religion." — " Winckelmann's letters are interesting, yet, like 
 Winckelmann himself, they have afforded me but little plea- 
 sure," he says in another letter to Jacobi, " and Goethe ho- 
 noured him too much, when he called him a true-born Pagan, 
 at the same time making him the representative of his own 
 views of man and the world. But, on the other hand, I find 
 in these letters the Gocthean paganism more beautifully and 
 forcibly developed than it is anyvvhcre else, as the opposite pole 
 of Christianity ; on this side, we have strength and unity 
 through love, on that, self-renunciation. Christianity is a free- 
 gift-investiture — and in Christianity all is given by the grace 
 of God, and received by love ; Avhile in heathenism all is nature, 
 and every product is a self The religious feelings of men ap- 
 
134 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 pear as if begotten by nature alone ; every creature as if self- 
 created is to stand only upon its own feet, man is to enjoy all 
 things, and to resist or endure all unavoidable evil with a 
 strength whose origin is in himself. Heathenism and Christi- 
 anity exhaust everything ; and that which lies between, call it by 
 what name you please, is a mere inconsistent fragment, mere 
 patchwork and vanity, resulting either in despondency or in 
 pride. That Goethe should hate the pole that is opposed to him 
 is only natural ; and why should not the Christian also choose 
 rather the opposition of an avowed enemy, than that of ten 
 hobbling praters ? Let any man honestly strive to become a 
 Goethean Pagan, and truly to stand on his own feet, it will give 
 him work enough, and will bring many proselytes to Christian- 
 ity. I must confess to having received a good lecture from the 
 Countess Louisa for my praise of this Goethean"work ; but by 
 appealing to Reinhold she herself proves that I am right and 
 that she is Avrong." 
 
 Jacobi left Holstein in the spring of 1 805, to settle at Mu- 
 nich. " God be with you," wrote Perthes. " How can I ever 
 sufficiently thank you, who have been the means of giving a 
 fixed direction to my development ? It is through you that I 
 have attained to the conviction, the religious certainty which 
 I now enjoy, and shall enjoy throughout eternity ; that con- 
 viction which, though seeking, you had not, and I am com- 
 pelled to say, have not yourself yet found. None but you 
 persuaded me of the nothingness of self; but that which you 
 have not been able to grasp, to seize, or retain with your head 
 or with your heart, was to be sought in a direction different 
 from that pursued by you. Farewell ! God bless you and all 
 your doings." 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE INNEE LIFE. 136 
 
 It was through anxiety and labour and after many wander- 
 ings, that Perthes had won his way to the saving truths of 
 Christianity, but he had won them as part and parcel of his 
 life. It is true, indeed, that neither at this nor at any later 
 period did they reign alone, nor did they hold habitual ascen- 
 dency in his heart : the natural man too often asserted itself, 
 in sorrow and in joy, in the midst of the cares and activities 
 of life : but the truths he had gained were never lost sight of; 
 and when, after many years, he lay on his deathbed, they filled 
 his whole soul, and had power to take its sting from death. 
 
136 . LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 EVENTS OF THE YEARS 1805 AND 1806. 
 
 "When the imperial deputies met at Ratisbon in 1803, to 
 parcel out the territories of the weaker powers, and divide 
 them among the stronger, Hamburgh had had the good fortune 
 to preserve its independence as an imperial city. Neverthe- 
 less, it was plain to all who looked at the power and violence 
 of Napoleon on the one side, and the weakness of the empire 
 on the other, that if there was any future for Hamburgh, it 
 was to be found in its own political wisdom and strength ; and 
 of political vitality, there was little then within the walls of 
 the free imperial city. That indifference to all political affairs 
 which pervaded the whole of Germany, had extended its be- 
 numbing influence to the council of the city, and to the once 
 proud and sturdy burgesses. The citizens, careless and indif- 
 ferent, had left the government of the city entirely to the 
 council, formerly the object of so much jealousy and suspicion. 
 The burgher colleges, whose duty it was to watch the proceed- 
 ings of the senate, were deserted by all, save those whose duties 
 compelled them to be there, for the citizens had ceased to avail 
 themselves of this field of political activity. The civic govern- 
 ment of the preceding century was, indeed, one of great conve- 
 nience, alike for governors and for the governed ; but it was 
 
■ EVENTS OF THE YEARS 1805 AND 180G. 137 
 
 not of a kind to develop strengtli, confidence, or ability, either 
 in the council or in the citizens, so as to enable them to act 
 with independence in difficult and important circumstances ; 
 and the men whose eyes were open to European events, found 
 it morally impossible to arouse to any lively political sympa- 
 thies the torpid life which pervaded the imperial city. 
 
 The enthusiasm with which Perthes had, as a very young 
 man, received the intelligence of the French Revolution, was 
 converted to hostility when France declared war against the 
 German empire. It was not in Prussia or in Austria, but in 
 the smaller principalities, that the true national, imperial feel- 
 ing was to be found, and Perthes, who had been born in one 
 of the petty states, had grown up with a true Kaiser-loving 
 heart. Hamburgh, it is true, relying on its foreign relations 
 for its importance, did not afford the materials for a thoroughly 
 German national enthusiasm, but the opposite feeling, at least, 
 had no influence. The earlier leaning in that town towards the 
 French Republic had been weakened by the growing connexion 
 with England. 
 
 Although in the distinguished men with whom Perthes as- 
 sociated, the religious was the predominating element, he still 
 took a lively interest in political events. He was not then 
 committed to any definite political tendencies or doctrines ; he 
 remained entirely free, also, from a limited narrow-minded 
 zeal for a particular part of the fatherland to the exclusion of 
 all the rest. His political feelings, thoroughly Gei'man, were 
 opposed to the cosmopolitanism which places greater value on 
 political doctrines than on nationalities, as well as to that local 
 or territorial patriotism which cannot see the wood on account 
 of the trees. 
 
 12 
 
138 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 He saw Ham])iirgli only through Germany. He had an ar- 
 dent desire to gain insight into its great political relations ; 
 and the circumstances of life in which he was placed were of 
 a kind to afford facilities for the realization of this desire. 
 Among his acquaintances were many men who had come into 
 personal contact with European affairs. Schonborn had opened 
 his eyes to the internal condition of England and its relation 
 to the Continent, while the Danish poet, Baggesen, who had 
 moved for many years in the most distinguished circles of 
 Paris, and whose political views were at once intelligent and 
 profound, threw much light on the confused politics of France. 
 
 Reinhard, the French consul in Hamburgh, was a member of 
 the circle in which Perthes moved, and by frequent intercourse 
 with him, Perthes imbibed enlarged views of political affairs. 
 There were two Frenchmen with whom he maintained still more 
 intimate personal relations on account of their appreciation of 
 German life, — Matthew Dumas and Villers.* Dumas,| honest 
 and straightforward, independent in his pursuit of knoAvledge, 
 and decidedly German in his outward appearance, was yet a 
 thorough Frenchman, G'est un maztre-homme, he used to say, 
 admiringly, of Napoleon. In 1830, when nearly eighty years 
 
 * He afterwards acted as French commissioner in arranging the affairs of the new 
 Tuscan government ; under the Directory, he held, for a short period, the post of 
 Minister for Foreign Affairs. 
 
 f Duraas had been deeply implicated in the Revolution. In 1789 he had orga- 
 nized the National Guard with Lafayette ; in 1792 he was one of the most influen- 
 tial speakers of the period, and commanded the armed force which secured the> 
 King's return after his flight from Paris ; in 1796 he took an important part in the 
 Council of the Elders. In 1797 he made his escape from Paris on being condemned 
 to banishment, in consequence of the reverse of the eighteenth Fructidor, and took 
 up his residence at Hamburgh, under the name of General Funk. He became » 
 warm friend of Claudius, I\Jopstock, Jacobi, Stolberg, and Reventlow, and was as 
 much at home in Perthes' house, as one of his own family. 
 
EVENTS OF THE YEARS 1805 AND 180G. 139 
 
 of age, lie appeared once more in the uniform of the National 
 Guard, among the combatants of July. He had attained com- 
 plete mastery of the German language, and when he traversed 
 Germany in 1812, as one of the generals to the Grande Arniee, he 
 shewed that he still preserved his attachment to his old friends. 
 
 Villers stood in much nearer relation to Germany. He 
 had studied at Gottingen, devoted himself with ardour to the 
 pursuit of knowledge, and attained to a degree of German cul- 
 ture rarely to be met with even among Germans. He was so 
 attached to Germany, that he would not quit it. After he took 
 up his residence in Lubeck in 1797, his political sympathies 
 were wholly with theHanseatic towns, of whose significance in 
 Germany and in Europe, he entertained decided opinions. They 
 afterwards owed much to his exertions on their behalf in Paris. 
 His views regarding these towns had great influence on Perthes. 
 
 Perthes longed for a political connexion with men who would 
 not only give breadth to his political views, but also share his 
 political feelings, and by a community of hope and fear, waiting 
 and striving, might impart warmth, clearness, and strength to 
 his own convictions. It was easier to find political fellowship 
 then than in later times ; for there were at that period but two 
 parties — a small one that saw jjolitical salvation only in opposi- 
 tion to Napoleon — another and much larger one which hoped 
 to achieve it through his ijistrumentality. All who took up a 
 hostile position towards France, and sought, at whatever cost, 
 to preserve the internal, and to retrieve the external independ- 
 ence of the German nation, felt themselves politically one. All 
 the striving after this or that definite form of the German poli- 
 tical future, which subsequently gave rise to numerous parties, 
 was then merged in the general desire to free Germany from the 
 
140 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 supremacy of Napoleon. Of all the men of German sentiment 
 witli whom Perthes had intercourse, Johannes von Muller and 
 Niebuhr exercised the most powerful influence over him. 
 
 Johannes von Muller had left Vienna for Berlin in J 804, as 
 Prussian historiographer, and, in closest concert with Gentz, 
 had put forth all his power to remove the difficulties which op- 
 posed a simultaneous and united rising of Austria and Prus- 
 sia. Muller was at the same time incessantly seeking to arouse 
 the national feeling of the Germans, and to excite their wrath 
 against the oppressor, by a series of spirited and powerful ap- 
 peals. It was one of these that led Perthes to write his first 
 letter to Muller, dated August 1805. He turns to him with 
 warm and generous confidence, and concludes with these 
 words, " old and young, rich and poor, strong and weak, all who 
 love their fatherland, freedom, law, and order, must now act 
 together." — " Thanks, noble-minded man, for your letter," was 
 Midler's reply ; " it is refreshing to find such genuine feeling, 
 and without having seen you, I have become your friend. The 
 time is come when all who are like-minded must embrace each 
 other as brethren, and work together"_for the national deliver- 
 raice. This is now the only charm that life has for me. There 
 is an unspoken language, an invisible brotherhood among the 
 like-minded, by which they recognise each other. This brother- 
 hood to which you, my friend, belong, is the salt of the earth, 
 and they who arc united in it are brethren and friends, far 
 more really than many who have passed a lifetime together." 
 
 From this first exchange of letters sprung a correspondence, 
 which, as a key to the opinions and tendencies of the years 
 1800, 1807, and 1808, is of great importance. A portion of it 
 was afterwards printed. At Easter 1806, Perthes went to see 
 
EVENTS OF THE YEARS 1805 AND 1806. 141 
 
 Midler at Berlin, and in the autumn of tlie same year, Miiller 
 came to Hamburgh to return the visit. Of this personal in- 
 tercourse Perthes thus wrote to Miiller : — " The esteem that is 
 felt for a lofty spirit, for a great name, for a fi'ank correspond- 
 ent, is a very different thing from the personal attachment and 
 affection felt towards the man ; and, now that I have seen 
 you, believe that I entertain this personal feeling towards you. 
 I for my part make no claim on you, except that you should 
 recognise that a strong and warm heart beats in my bosom, and 
 that I have some knowledge of the necessities of the times." 
 
 The friendship with Niebuhr, who had been long known in 
 the circles frequented by Perthes, was of slower growth, but of 
 greater dej^th. He had spent his sixteenth summer in Ham- 
 burgh with Biisch, in 1792, and had at that time made the 
 acquaintance of Klopstock, Reimarus, and Sieveking- ; and 
 while studying at Kiel, from 1794 to 1796, had formed a close 
 intimacy with the Stolbergs, Reinhold, Jacobi, and especially 
 with Moltke. In the spring of 1798, he again passed some 
 time at Hamburgh before his departure for England, and it was 
 then that an acquaintance began with Perthes, who was about 
 the same age with himself; this acquaintance soon ripened into 
 a friendship that continued to increase in warmth, in depth, and 
 in power, up to the period of Niebuhr's death, in spite of one 
 interruption that seemed to threaten its continuance. While 
 Perthes was captivated by the noble character and the culti- 
 vated intellect of the great man, whom he seldom named except 
 as " my dear Niebuhr," Niebuhr, on his side, was no less at- 
 tracted by the " glorious power," as he was wont to call it, and 
 the manly aptitude for the business of life that characterized 
 his unlearned friend. It was to the uncultivated man of 
 
142 LIFB OF PERTHES. 
 
 business that ho sent his first volume of his Roman History, 
 in 1811, with these words : " I am anxious to have your un- 
 reserved opinion of mv book. I do not ask for a learned 
 judgment ; but if the great features of the work please you, I 
 shall be delighted. On some points I fancy we are^not agreed ; 
 but on others, I believe we are quite at one." To Perthes's 
 answer, Niebuhr replied some months later, — " Your opinion of 
 the first volume of my book has been of inexpressible value to 
 me. Do not take it as an overstrained compliment, when I say 
 that Goethe's praise and your feeling about it suflice me, even if 
 hostile voices should be raised, as we may naturally expect, at 
 Gottingen." Niebuhr's intellectual superiority, together with 
 a certain sharpness of manner, which not unfrequently broke 
 through the natural gentleness of his disposition, caused even 
 men who were themselves eminent in the literary world, to feel 
 a degree of restraint in his society ; and this made the per- 
 fect freedom, and the unconstrained ease of Perthes's inter- 
 course with him, a matter of surprise. This perfect ease, 
 which Perthes never lost, even in his intercourse with the m.ost 
 distinguished men, was owing partly to his position, partly to 
 his consciousness of desiring to pass for no more than he 
 was. His calling and his whole career precluded any expecta- 
 tion of learning or of statemanship, and yet nevertheless he 
 must have been conscious that he stood for something in 
 society. In a letter to Miillcr he thus expresses himself on 
 this subject : — " I know who and what I am, and am always 
 anxious to reveal rather than to conceal my ignorance, in 
 order to prevent waste of time. Don't, however, give me too 
 much credit for modpsty, for though I am aware that I know 
 nothing, I am also aware that I can do much." 
 
EVENTS OF THE YEARS 1805 AND 1806. 143 
 
 The terrible years T805 and 1806 were years of animated cor- 
 respondence between Perthes and tliosc last-named friends. The 
 greater part of this has indeed been lost, and the letters written 
 after the battle of Jena, shew how heavily French espionage 
 pressed upon epistolary intercourse ; but enough remains to 
 shew the political principles and the hopes by which Perthes was 
 animated. It was with bitter vexation and deep sorrow that 
 he witnessed the stolid apathy which, since the peace of Lune- 
 ville and the Diet of Ratisbon, had fallen upon men who were 
 regarded as the pride of Germany, and from which neither the 
 unutterable sufferings of their native land, nor the audacity of 
 her tormentors, could arouse them. He was indignant at the 
 appearance of Goethe's Eugenie at this season. " Our hearts 
 must and should be filled with shame, burning shame, at the 
 dismemberment of our fatherland," he writes to Jacobi in 1804 ; 
 " but what are our noblest about ? Instead of keeping alive 
 their shame, and striving to gather strength, and wrath, and 
 courage to resist the oppressor, they take refuge from their feel- 
 ings in works of art I" A new hope of deliverance dawned, when, 
 in the summer of 1805, the report of an alliance between Eng- 
 land, Russia, and Austria, was propagated. But Perthes saw 
 with dismay the political leaders of Germany array themselves 
 on the side of Napoleon against England, and strive to work 
 upon the minds of the people through the leading journals. 
 " Our journalists," he writes, " take up the cause of the tyrant 
 and the ' Grande Nation,' either from meanness, stupidity, fear, 
 or for gold. I need name only Woltmann, Archenholz, Voss, and 
 Buchholz ;" and in a letter to Miiller of the 2oth of August, he 
 gives ven t to his stifled feelings. " Your letter distressed me, by 
 the deep emotions that it stirred in my soul. If such men grow 
 
144 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 faint-tearted — what tlicn ? I am not so hopeless ; ray courage, 
 indeed, has grown of late. True, I am young, and not well 
 read in history. From the past you form conclusions as to the 
 present, and so despond ! But has not every people, till conso- 
 lidated into unity, been ready to receive a leader, a deliverer, 
 a saviour ? This readiness is, I think, very observable among 
 us. There is a universal panting, longing, grasping after some 
 point d'appui. Much is already cleared away ; I instance only 
 this, — the end of the paper times. Twenty years more of such 
 coquetting with literature, such playing at intellectual develop- 
 ment, such hawking of literary luxury, and we, too, should 
 have passed through a siecle litteraire still more insipid than 
 that of our neighbours. Are not our youth now persuaded that 
 the country does not exist to serve knowledge, but knowledge 
 to serve the country ? How many are now convinced that 
 strength and virtue grow out of moral principles, and are the 
 fruit of no other soil ! Do not men regard the love and care 
 for their own houses as more important than a widely-diffused 
 love capable of no intensity ? Are they not now disposed to 
 honour a hearty and even passionate love of country, rather 
 than a cold cosmopolitanism ? And even as regards religion, 
 although through the long-standing abuse of theological tenets, 
 infidelity and indifference have struck their roots deep in 
 our soil, still the want of religion is increasingly felt. I 
 grant you that a miracle must be wrought before the coun- 
 try or the people can again have a faith, but then many, 
 many lament this, and would pray without ceasing to revive 
 the religion of the nation." " Ought we not to feel ourselves 
 great," he added, "just because we are born in such evil 
 times ?" 
 
EVENTS OF THE YEARS 1805 AND 1806. 145 
 
 "I can give you but a very imiDerfect idea of the impression 
 made by your letter," wrote Miiller in reply. " You regard 
 what we see around us as a jareparation for something better. 
 I wish it may be so ; but what clement of good has ever been 
 found in a monstrous empire full of the spirit of rapine, mock- 
 ery, and vain-glory ? The cold hand of death is its sceptre, 
 and humanity and learning perish at its touch. And yet that 
 is a sublime saying of yours, — ' Must we not therefore feel our- 
 selves great since we are born in such evil times V You are a 
 man of a rare soul, and I love you." 
 
 It was but a few weeks after this letter was written, that 
 Austria, she scarcely knew how, found herself allied with 
 Russia and drawn into the war against Napoleon ; and on the 
 20th of October, the Austrian General surrendered his whole 
 noble army to the French. 
 
 After the disastrous day of TJlm, Perthes rcg-arded all lost 
 if Prussia persevered in her indecision, and much gained if 
 Prussia, uniting her forces with those of Russia, should resist 
 Napoleon. " What are we yet to pass through ?" he writes to 
 Miiller ; " what suiFerings, what indignities, what degrada- 
 tion, are still in store for Germany, and for the world ? And 
 yet what opportunities Providence offers to men who have 
 energy ! Prussia can and must be the deliverer of Austria, 
 even at her own peril. ... Go to the King of Prussia and tell 
 him what he, as a German, can do for the freedom of Germany. 
 Prussia does not stand in this prominent position to no pur- 
 pose. Let her raise the standard of Germany and all will flock 
 to it, and will gladly give up their cherished local independence 
 and look the danger in the face, as a united nation, rather than 
 become the slaves of a people that has suffered itself to be made 
 
 13 
 
146 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 the instrument, by means of which one mean may reduce the 
 whole earth to the same degraded level Should the historian 
 have eyes only behind him ? Never was a man so high in his 
 position as you are. You can have no motive for holding 
 back wlien djaty says, Go forward. The anticipation of failure, 
 and consequently, of doing something ridiculous, is nothing. 
 Does one man know what is in another, and what there is to 
 be aroused ? It is not I who call you, — Germany calls you ; if 
 you knew our city it would inspire you, and be assured all 
 Germany feels as we do. This hour is pregnant with greatness ; 
 but it is passing away and will never return." Soon after this 
 he writes, — " I am not dispirited and will not be ; free Ger- 
 man hearts will never be wanting, and God will take care of 
 the rest." 
 
 The battle of Austerlitz was fought on the 2d of December 
 180.5, and on the 26th of the same month the luckless peace 
 of Presburg was concluded. Bavaria and Wiirtemburg had 
 assumed the kingly title. It soon became certain that Prussia, 
 through its Commissioner Haugwitz, had pledged herself deeply 
 to Napoleon. In January 1806, Russian troops invaded the 
 Hanoverian dominions, and closed the Elbe against England. 
 
 In July was formed the Confederation of the Rhine, and thus 
 the very form of the Germanic Empire was destroyed. " Events 
 have now outgrown all political calculation," writes Mtiller. 
 " All customary expedients fail, and there is no appearance of 
 help from any quarter. God must remove one man, or raise up 
 a greater, or bring about something yet quite unforeseen. I no 
 longer feel either indignation or fear. The scene is become too 
 solemn. The Ancient of Days is sitting in judgment ; the 
 books are opened, and the nations and their rulers are weighed 
 
EVENTS OF THE YEARS 1805 AND 1806. 147 
 
 in the balance. What will be the end ? A new order of things 
 is in preparation very different from what is imagined by those 
 who are the blind instruments of its establishment. That 
 which now is, is not abiding ; that which was, will hardly be re- 
 stored : and the difference will not consist in the mere sub- 
 stitution of Corsican rule, for that of some weakling of Italy, 
 Germany, or Sclavonia." 
 
 By the annihilation of the empire, Hamburgh had become, 
 from a free imperial city, a sovereign state. Perthes declared 
 that there were but few Germans who would shed a tear over 
 the downfal of the empire ; the majority, and that composed of 
 sensible men too, rejoiced to be relieved of their disbursements 
 to Vienna and Ratisbon, and believed that Hamburgh would 
 be Hamburgh still. 
 
 Immediately after the battle of Jena, and while Murat, 
 Bernadotte, and Soult were advancing upon Lubeck in pursuit 
 of Blucher, Mortier had occupied Hanover, and on the 19th of 
 November 1806, marched into Hamburgh. " How you will 
 have mourned over the fate of these districts," writes Perthes 
 to Jacobi, " and over that of our city ! Why should I describe 
 to you the awful fate of Lubeck ?" Alarming accounts were 
 now received from all parts. " Prussia will be annihilated," 
 writes Niebuhr from Dantzig, " and that without leaving a 
 single deed of heroism, daring, or patriotism on record." "' Our 
 blunders are of such a kind," wrote Scharnhorst on the 11th 
 of July 1807, " that nothing short of a miracle can save us." 
 From Berlin, Miiller wrote despairingly : " I call to mind the 
 great seer of antiquity, who knew, by the signs of the times, 
 that God was about to create a new thing upon earth. Jere- 
 miah had wept himself blind, but yet he saw that Asia, and 
 
148 LIFE or PERTHES. 
 
 also Ills own people, were given into the hand of the Babylo- 
 nians, and he counselled submission as the only prudent course, 
 although even when doing so he forgot neither his country nor 
 the desire of his heart. In like manner, in these days, in this 
 wonderful year, are the nations taken as in the net of the 
 fowler ; from Cadiz to Dantzig, from Ragusa to Hamburgh, and 
 soon, everywhere, it will be L'Erapire Frangais, whether for 
 seventy years as in Babylon, or for seven hundred as it was in 
 the case of Roman sway, who can tell V 
 
 Immediately after the French occupation of Hamburgh, all 
 intercourse with England was prohibited on pain of death ; 
 all English property declared forfeited, and all goods purchased 
 from English dealers, although paid for, were demanded from 
 the owners, and trade was allowed to be carried on only under 
 the restraint of a system of certificates. " All that was is an- 
 nihilated," writes Perthes to Jacobi. " There is no longer any 
 trade as it existed formerly." Owing to the general insolvency 
 which followed the issue of the French regulations, Perthes's 
 personal losses involved all that ten years of toil and anxiety 
 had realized. In Mecklenburg alone, he reckoned his losses at 
 20,000 marks. Still his courage and hopefulness did not desert 
 him. 
 
GERMANY IN 1807 AND 18)8. 149 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 GERMANY IN 1807 AND 1808. 
 
 In those sad years of political oppression, tlie importance of 
 tlie family life, in all its calm independence, revealed itself to 
 many. It is true, indeed, that the family must always share 
 largely in the joys and sorrows of the State ; but as in seasons 
 of the greatest national prosperity the family has still sorrows 
 of its own, so in a season of national torpor and calamity it may 
 yet be gathering strength and spirit, and generating courage and 
 vigour for outward activity. The darker the political horizon 
 appeared, the more gratefully did Perthes acknowledge the 
 value of the gift that had been bestowed on him in Caroline. 
 His four children were strong and healthy, and on the 23d of 
 January 1806 another son, John, was added to the number, and 
 on the 15th September 1807, a daughter, Dorothea. The do- 
 mestic sorrows which grow only out of the family were now, for 
 the first time, experienced by Perthes in the death of this infant, 
 three months later. " Dear mother," wrote Caroline immedi- 
 ately after, " God has taken my angel gently and calmly to 
 Himself I thank our heavenly Father that He has heard my 
 prayer, and taken my darling child without pain. She looks 
 so peaceful that we must be so too." 
 
 Perthes had, as we have seen, sustained heavy losses in 
 
150 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 1806 ; but the excitement of the times, which left so many 
 houses in anxious suspense, or led them to cautious limitations, 
 aflforded to his bold and active spirit, opportunities of extend- 
 ing his business. He could say with truth, " No one in Ham- 
 burgh has anything to do, but my business is more active than 
 ever, and I look for a still further extension." His library was 
 now regarded as the finest in North Germany. In 1807, 
 Hiillmann had written from Frankfort on the Oder, — " You 
 have the most extensive collection in Germany ;" and Niebuhr 
 had sportively called him, " the king of the booksellers from 
 the Ems to the Baltic." 
 
 The spirit that animated him, and the domestic happiness 
 which he enjoyed during those years of external and political 
 suffering, are exliibited in a letter to Jacobi of October 1807 : 
 — " My mind becomes every year stronger and more free, and 
 thus I am able to meet all events with courage and cheer- 
 fulness. I am, indeed, an ever-erring mortal, but unhappy 
 I am not ; I am, indeed, singularly happy, for one who has so 
 restless a career allotted him. A multiplicity of interests for 
 this world and the next ; — much love, much passion, many 
 friends, many children, much labour, much business, much to 
 please, much to displease me, much anxiety, and little gold ; 
 moreover, a dozen Spaniards in the house, and for the last nine 
 days three gens-d'armes to boot, who drive me almost to dis- 
 traction." — " You ask how I am, and how I get on," he says 
 in another letter of the same period ; " I will tell jow, as far as 
 it is safe to write such things in these times. I am, then, 
 rich in correspondence. Countess Louisa Stolberg writes to 
 me diligently, and never without having something of import- 
 ance to communicate. I receive regularly every fortnight a 
 
GERMANY IN 1807 AND 1808. 151 
 
 letter from Johannes Miiller ; and Niebuhr, frank as ever, lias 
 frequently something remarkable to communicate. Here we 
 have Maruchal Brune for our governor, and find ourselves 
 tolerably contented, as he on his part may well find himself. 
 The ci-devant printer has already paid his compliments to 
 the craft by visiting mo. Old Zimmermann of Brunswick 
 is still living at Altona ; he is one of the most sensible men 
 I ever knew, and deeply interesting to me. I love with- 
 out trusting him. We occasionally see at our own house, or 
 at Madame Sieveking s, Walmoden, and the young Count- 
 esses of Lippe-Biickeburg, two very interesting girls, and the 
 youngest positively enchanting. Besides these, there are many 
 eminent men coming and going, who keep life from stagnating, 
 and put some spirit into us." — Bernadotte made a deep im- 
 pression on Perthes ; " He is in person, as in many peculiarities 
 of manner and of habit," he writes, "very like Jacobi. He is un- 
 commonly fond of philosophizing. In Lubeck, at a great dinner, 
 he engaged in a dispute as to the existence of a God, which he 
 thinks he disbelieves, and at last being hard pushed, he called 
 out with great vivacity to his opponent, who was a citizen of 
 Lubeck — ' How can you contend for the being of a God ; if there 
 were one, should I be here in Lubeck ?' Villers is often in 
 Hamburgh, and likes it : he is very dear to me still ; but it is 
 singular that while he will no longer recognise, and cannot 
 understand the French, he looks the Frenchman all over." 
 
 To shut himself up within the happy and attractive circle of 
 his family and his business was not, however, in Perthes's 
 nature ; his inclination and the influence of the times led him 
 rather to take a lively interest in those events which com- 
 manded the attention of the whole civilized world. He now 
 
152 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 began, like many others, to consider Napoleon to be, and 
 likely for some time to continue, an historical necessity. "Napo- 
 leon, the ruler of the earth, is a unity, and is secure and firm in 
 himself as no other is, because, more than any other, he seeks 
 only himself: and like no other, he is a devil incarnate, because, 
 like no other, he has made himself his god. ' He does not 
 will, he is willed,' said Baggesen to me, with striking emphasis.'' 
 To this demon-like man Perthes believed the world given 
 over by God — not to continue subject to his sway, but that 
 through suffering, even of the most dreadful kind, the paralyzed 
 energy of goodness might be resuscitated. " All that was," he 
 says, " is ruined ; what new edifice will rise on the ruins I 
 know not ; but the most fearful result of all would be the re- 
 storation of the old enfeebled time with its shattered forms. 
 By a practical path of suffering and distress, God is leading us 
 to a new order of things ; the game cannot be played back- 
 wards, therefore onward must be the word. Let that which 
 cannot stand, fall ! Nothing can escape the crisis, and it is 
 some consolation to see that events are greater than the cir- 
 cumstances that called them forth. He who would now turn 
 the wheel backwards cares only for repose, comfort, and pri- 
 vate happiness, and to these indeed the times are not favour- 
 able ; but to such things Providence cannot accommodate 
 itself. We should rather consider ourselves to be the growtli 
 of the epoch ; and who could expect to compress the begin- 
 ning and end of such a revolution into one lifetime ?" 
 
 His opinion of the world-wide importance of the German 
 people is more particularly developed in a letter to Jacobi, of 
 the 19th October 1807. " We Germans have never been want- 
 ing in great moral and intellectual pursuits of a general nature : 
 
GERMANY IN 1807 AND 1808. 153 
 
 we have always devoted ourselves to knowledge for its own 
 sake. Has not Germany, for many years, been the general 
 Academy of Sciences for all Europe ? All that was discovered 
 or expounded, felt or thought in or out of Germany, was at 
 once generalized by the Germans, and elaborated into a form 
 which might further the progress of humanity. In so far as 
 we Germans had any vitality, we had it not for ourselves alone, 
 but for Europe. We have every right to take credit to our- 
 selves for intellectual wealth and for depth of character, but, 
 alas ! we have never known how to use our treasures. We 
 liave never given a general education, or a general business 
 aptitude to our people ; nor have we ever founded those na- 
 tional institutions which would have a tendency to keep alive 
 the feeling of national honour, and which might preserve us 
 from the aggressions of foreign enemies. That which we 
 think and have thought can only be real and influential, when 
 we shall have learned to act as well as to think." 
 
 For the deliverance of Germany, and through it of Europe, 
 Perthes trusted little to Russian interference. He looked to 
 united action on the part of the German nation itself. But 
 that this self-dependent movement would originate with any 
 of the German governments, Perthes did not believe ; since no 
 comprehensive and permanent form of policy had ever been the 
 work of an individual monarch, however great. " Have not 
 all the valuable constitutions, administrations, and institutions, 
 enjoyed by nations, been acquired in the course of centuries, and 
 independently ; I mean, have they not been the gradual develop- 
 ment of the intelligence, the sagacity, the foresight, and the expe- 
 rience of the Community itself? Who made the English — who 
 made the Hamburgh constitution ? We could not name the men ; 
 
154 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 we honour the forefathers, with whom these constitutions ori- 
 ginated. The existing governments had, moreover, clearly 
 shown their self-seeking imbecility by the character of their 
 submission to Napoleon." — " Our people are betrayed," said 
 Perthes, after the peace of Presburg ; " we are delivered over 
 to dishonour by our own hands, and even the most commonplace 
 national feeling is extinguished in the ambassadors, the rulers, 
 and the spokesmen of our common fatherland. Their possessions, 
 their blood, and their honour, have been staked by the people," 
 he says, after the peace of Tilsit ; " and if, notwithstanding all 
 this, a reconciliation has been possible among the princes, as 
 at Tilsit, who will in future commit himself to the guidance 
 of such men V Despairing of external help, and expecting 
 nothing from the existing governments of Germany, Perthes 
 centred all his hoi^es for the German people in their unity. 
 He had already, in 1 80-5, been conscious of an innate power 
 which might then have made tliem the deliverers of Europe, 
 and, he believed, would still do so, " On all sides we see 
 among the people," he writes, " will, energy, and indigna- 
 tion. Even in Bavaria, a spirit of nationality is spreading 
 which will gain the ascendency over the Bavarian spirit. 
 Here we think of nothing but the national honour ; and at 
 Leipzig, where people of all conditions, and from all parts 
 of the empire meet, we have the joyful assurance that Ger- 
 many has but one voice and one utterance, ' Fatherland, 
 freedom, vengeance !' I spoke with thousands, and was con- 
 sequently the more circumspect in what I said. We have 
 indeed reason to be well satisfied with the people ; God send 
 us a spirit which may unite the minds of the people ! No ! 
 Germany will not perish from the earth as a nation of do- 
 
GERMANY IN 1807 AND 1808. 155 
 
 nothings ; a new race of Germans will arise, and will flourish 
 for centuries I" " Whatever may be impending over Germany," 
 he says in another letter written after the surrender of Ulm, 
 " our first object must be, where special provincial interests 
 still exist, to arouse the national German feeling and to keep 
 it alive, bringing it more and more into the consciousness of 
 the people." 
 
 The spirit to stake all in a worthy cause was inborn in 
 Perthes ; once aroused to action, he knew no retreat. " And 
 I thank God," he writes, " that I have a wife who shares my 
 feelings, and who, if it come to the worst, will not shake my 
 courage. He who has in him any element of intellect or power, 
 of greatness or passion, cannot but turn his attention to what 
 is noAv passing around him, in order, so far as he can, to influ- 
 ence the direction of events. He who has only an inward life 
 in these times, has no life at all.'' Pertlies, however, was too 
 practical and clear-sighted to involve himself enthusiastically 
 in any undefined and ill-digested plans. He well knew that 
 every deed of violence, and every individual act of resistance 
 to the existing state of things, was mere madness, and was also 
 criminal, notwithstanding the dissolution of political order. 
 He knew, moreover, that it was impossible for any private 
 individual to have any direct influence on the attitude of 
 statesmen and governments, or on the political supremacy of 
 armies and of gold. Still he regarded it as the right and the 
 duty of every German to arouse and to strengthen, by every 
 possible means, the hatred and the exasperation of the Ger- 
 mans against the oppressor. Yet even here it was impossible 
 to his practical nature to stand, as it were, beating the air in 
 his attempts to act upon others ; he must work from a centre, 
 
156 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 and that centre he found in his calling as a German bookseller. 
 He regarded it as his first duty to provide for the printing and 
 the general diffusion of the most weighty and stirring writ- 
 ings of men animated by true German feeling. 
 
 Sensible at the same time that isolated individuals could exert 
 but little influence on the great mass of the people, Perthes 
 regarded it as the duty of all who felt themselves capable in 
 any way of arousing the spirit of the nation, to unite in some 
 definite association. " I often think,'' he says to Miiller in 1805, 
 " of the possibility of bringing right-minded Germans together, 
 so as to form a centre where strength would meet strength, 
 and gather fresh vigour. Men who are unlearned, nameless, 
 and uncompromised like myself, might in that way do good ser- 
 vice ; and if tlie really German-minded men of all parts could be 
 brought together, and a common direction given to their love for 
 their fatherland, much might be done." He did not consider 
 great diversities of political opinion as an obstacle to united 
 action against the common enemy. — This he expresses in a 
 letter to Miiller in 1805: — "Diversities of theory, senti- 
 ment, and opinion are to be honoured as characteristic of the 
 German nation, and could never be a hindrance to the for- 
 mation of a league among Germans. Do not misunderstand 
 me": I do not mean any external league with vows and bonds, 
 but that league, the germ of which is in every German heart, 
 and which should only be called forth by such an association 
 to a common life. Whatever may come of it, it floats like a 
 bright vision before my eyes ; such a spirit might be infused 
 into the German people through this means, as should constrain 
 the princes to establish a princes'-league, which no power on 
 earth would be able to dissolve. But, in the meantime, we must 
 
GERMANY IN 1807 AND 1808. 157 
 
 be silent ; the great crisis will soon come, and we shall then 
 see what direction to take/' " I agree with you in thinking," 
 he writes sliortly after, " that the articles of the league should 
 be few, simple, and inviolable, and that it must be managed 
 by a union of talented men. The articles should not be printed ; 
 they must be transmitted by word of mouth, or by letter, in 
 all their power and significance."' 
 
 Perthes had thought of Johannes Midler as the intellectual 
 centre of this league of German patriots. Miiller was tho- 
 roughly well informed as to the condition of Western Germany, 
 and the secrets of Austrian and Prussian j)olicy. He had the 
 most extensive acquaintance with German statesmen, and with 
 literary men of all shades of opinion : he was highly and univer- 
 sally respected ; and both as a man and as an author, he had 
 shewn that he was ready and resolved to act for Germany and 
 against Napoleon when the time should come. There was no 
 man who seemed so well suited as he to be the soul of the de- 
 sired Germanic Union. But the results of the war of 1806 
 forced him into a different path. "When Berlin was occupied by 
 the French, Miiller did not leave the city : Napoleon invited 
 him to an interview, and he wrote in high spirits to Bottiger at 
 Dresden, that he had talked for an hour and a half with the 
 conqueror about all the great events of history, and all the 
 great subjects of politics. Miiller now delivered his celebrated 
 oration on the glory of Frederick at the Academy of Sciences, 
 went in the autumn of 1807 to Paris, and early in 1808 to 
 Cassel as Secretary of State, and Minister to the King of West- 
 phalia. " I shall no more forget Germany," he said, " than 
 Daniel — who was never thought the worse of for having taken 
 office at Babylon — forgot Jerusalem in that foreign court." 
 
158 WFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 But this change placed Perthes in a very painful position. 
 He had loved Miiller, and a man whom he had once loved, it 
 was almost impossible for him to cease to reverence. " Give 
 utterance to no harsh judgment against Miiller," he says in a 
 letter to Max Jacohi ; " you have never seen him, and one 
 must have seen him to recognise his greatness, to know his 
 goodness, and to have the key to all his weaknesses and fail- 
 ings." Perthes had regarded Muller as a man who meant 
 truly and well to his fellow-countrymen, and he still believed 
 that he had associated himself with the foreigner in order to 
 work for Germany in the only way which was left open to him. 
 " As to the manner in which you will shape your future," he 
 writes, " I have no fears. As surely as I know what right is, 
 so surely am I persuaded that you will do nothing that can 
 lead you to forget what you owe to yourself. I believe that 
 you will take office dans V Empire Fran^ais;" and he adds, 
 sorrowfully, "where else could you take office?" Again, he 
 writes, " Your criticism of the Rhenish Confederation is fine, 
 sensible, and spirited. It is the business of the scholar and 
 spokesman of the country to take the nation under his protec- 
 tion in whatever form it is compelled to assume, and to give 
 utterance to its rights and its nationality." When Muller s 
 appointment to Cassel was decided, Perthes writes thus : — 
 " God give you strength, and arm your heart and mind with 
 firmness. That is my special prayer for you. I would not 
 be the last to congratulate you on the important work now 
 before you. What we expect of you is, that you stand for- 
 ward as the peace-maker, the comforter, and the arouser of 
 your country. Such a destiny as yours is rare. I know your 
 piety too well not to be assured that you recognise in all this 
 
GERMANY IN 1807 AND 1808. 159 
 
 the hand of the highest wisdom." And when Mullcr had un- 
 dertaken the Ministry of Public Instruction in "Westphalia, 
 Pertlies writes — " Happen what may, you can and will be a 
 labourer in the Lord's vineyard. You are called to preside 
 over those establishments and institutions which are the 
 special organs of the German mind and people. May God 
 strengthen and preserve you for the work ; I have never dis- 
 trusted you, and I have pledged myself for your fidelity and 
 your truth." 
 
 But notwithstanding this personal confidence, Perthes could 
 not mistake the nature of the impression that the conduct of 
 Miiller had made on the people at large. " To me," he says 
 to Jacobi in 1807, " to me he is what he ever was, but he is 
 certainly wrong, and is now lost to Germany." And shortly 
 after the battle of Jena, he writes to Miiller himself, " Your 
 letter was a great source of consolation to my friendship ; I 
 believe with you that God has delivered the earth into the 
 hands of Napoleon the Great, and that he is therefore invinci- 
 ble. Only I would say, that the head of the universal historian 
 can and must be united Avith the most comprehensive estimate 
 of governments and of political tendencies, and with the heart 
 that beats the most strongly for the Fatherland. It is not, 
 however, always the case that those who have a deep and well- 
 grounded faith, are also skilled in the wisdom of this world ; 
 and such a one as I depict must be careful of giving offence to 
 the finest spirits of a nation. It is not enough to be pure in 
 the eyes of our confidential friends, we must also be clear in 
 the sight of mere blind partisans. It is a difficult matter for 
 many of our doubters to conceive why you should have gone 
 to Mayence, to Vienna, to Berlin. We must have patience with 
 
160 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 the noble-minded of the nation. Your influence with the 
 people is no more. This should not have been.'*' 
 
 Perthes himself was also greatly distressed, not by any doubt 
 as to the uprightness of Mliller, but as to the correctness of the 
 principles on which he had acted. Miiller, dazzled by the un- 
 paralleled successes of Napoleon, had given up all for lost, and 
 regarded him as the instrument chosen by God for establishing 
 a new order of things in the world. He believed it impossible 
 to form any idea of what lay hidden behind the curtain of 
 futurity, and he viewed it as mere folly to oppose himself to 
 this future. He felt that duty called him to consider how the 
 intellectual energy lavished on the past might best be employed 
 in the service of the present. The earth was given to Napoleon ; 
 that w^as fate, the finger of God was there. " It is God who sets 
 up governments ; who, then, is at liberty to set himself against 
 them 1" he exclaimed. " Men must rather accommodate them- 
 selves to them, and seek to make the best of things as a whole ; 
 not allowing themselves to degenerate, but awaiting patiently 
 the further development of events over which they have no 
 control." 
 
 In March 1807, Perthes had communicated to Miiller in a 
 letter, all the anxieties and torturing doubts that agitated him 
 on his account. " A whole friend or no friend," he writes, 
 " is my motto, and I therefore feel compelled to tell you all 
 that I see and hear about you. These things have given me 
 many a sad week, and I have occasionally been quite over- 
 come. They declaim about hypocrisy, falsehood, treachery to 
 the cause of freedom and fatherland : and it is not only the 
 rabble yielding to the popular feeling of the day who do so ; 
 but men, who still love and honour you, weep and lament over 
 
GERMANY IN 1807 AND 1808. 161 
 
 the grave of Johannes Miiller." " Believe me," he writes again, 
 " amid all the troubles of these uncertain and disturbed times, 
 your present relation to your country is to me one of the most 
 painful. The nation, believe me, is in perplexity and without 
 leaders, and knows not if in future it is to hear your voice or 
 not. I torture you — but I must have ceased to respect myself 
 and to love you, before I could refrain from speaking. God be 
 with you and with us all ! The judgment of God will soon be 
 given ; I feel that I have still spirit and strength to be Ger- 
 man, whatever turn things may take, and I trust that the 
 road we are to follow will shortly be clear to us all." 
 
 14 
 
1 g2 liiFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 EFFORTS TO KEEP ALIVE THE GERMAN SPIRIT. 1809-10. 
 
 MoRTiER had taken possession of Hamburgh on the 19th 
 of November 1806, but it had remained a free sovereign 
 city, although occupied by the troops of Napoleon. French, 
 Italian, Dutch, Spanish, or German legions, under imperial 
 generals, succeeded each other. Externally every vestige of 
 independence was gone ; but the internal administration of 
 the city, as in the towns of the Rhenish Confederation, re- 
 mained in the hands of the former magistracy, subject, how- 
 ever, to the French code. The revenues of Hamburgh being 
 derived wholly from its commerce, its territory being of no 
 importance, were entirely annihilated by the continental sys- 
 tem. More than three hundred Hamburgh vessels were now 
 lying unrigged in the harbour, and the Assurance Companies 
 sustained, in the course of the three years following the occu- 
 pation, a loss of twenty millions of francs. While trade- 
 returns were thus incalculably diminished, the 130,000 persons 
 who made up the population of the city and its territory, were 
 given up to the unprecedented extortions of the French Go- 
 vernment, and the shameless exactions of the French officials, 
 among whom Bourrienne attained an infamous distinction. 
 
EFFORTS TO KEEP ALIVE THE GERMAN SPIRIT. 163 
 
 Many wealthy men left Hamburgh, that they might not lose 
 what they had, and those that remained v/ent about in sullen 
 sadness, tortured by anxiety and want. 
 
 At this period, which was one of distrust and despair for 
 Germany and for Europe, as well as for oppressed and down- 
 trodden Hamburgh, the news of the rising of Spain was re- 
 ceived with universal joy. The importance of this new con- 
 test was deeply felt in North Germany, and more especially 
 in Hamburgh, when it was found that the Marquis de la Ro- 
 mana, who had been banished to Fiinen by Napoleon, had 
 effected his escape, and had reached Spain in August 1808, in 
 an English ship. Perthes felt a more lively interest in the move- 
 ment, from having enjoyed much personal intercourse with the 
 Marquis during his residence in Hamburgh, since the latter 
 part of the summer of 1807. Shortly after his departure from 
 Fiinen, vague reports of great preparations in Austria, and of 
 associations of resolute men in Prussia and Westphalia, reached 
 Hamburgh, and kept Perthes in a state of continual excite- 
 ment. 
 
 At Easter 1809 he went as usual to Leipzig. " I rejoice that I 
 have come here,'' he writes to his wife ; " you would hardly 
 imagine the general unanimity. Germany was never before so 
 united." On the 25tli of April the news of the series of victories 
 in which Napoleon, on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of that month, 
 had defeated Austria, arrived at Leijizig. " Yesterday evening 
 we got the tidings of the lost battles," he writes, " and with 
 the greatest precipitation the people illuminated." The battle 
 of "Wagram, fought on the 6th of July, and the peace of Vienna, 
 signed on the 14th of October 1809, confirmed the dominion of 
 Napoleon. West Germany had long been united to France. 
 
16-i LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Ill the east, Austria and Prussia were wholly subdued, and the 
 countries lying between were subject to princes who either be- 
 longed to the family of Nai^oleon, or who, as members of the 
 Rhenish Confederation, were his tools. Germany was dismem- 
 bered, and any isolated attempt to restore political union would 
 have been an act of madness. The great object was to pre- 
 vent the j^olitical dissolution from becoming a national one. 
 Were Austrians and Prussians, the people of the west bank 
 of the Rhine, and the subjects of the princes of the Rhenish 
 Confederation, to forget that they were members of one and 
 the same nation, all hope of the restoration of German unity 
 and independence was at an end. There appeared but one 
 means of developing German nationality, without running 
 the risk of exposing it to the prying eye and crushing power of 
 the enemy. Science, so long as it was only science, Napoleon 
 neither feared nor regarded ; and for centuries independent 
 scientific life had been one of the essential characteristics 
 of Germany as a nation. This consciousness of scientific inde- 
 pendence and unity was not indeed sufficient of itself to up- 
 hold the national spirit, but it might help to do so ; it might 
 be the veil beneath which the national hatred of the tyrant 
 miglit gather strength ; it might be the undisputed medium of 
 communication between patriotic men in all parts of Germany, 
 who, thus prepared, might, when the hour for action came, be 
 found armed with other weapons than those of science. 
 
 In the months following the fresh conquest of Austria,. 
 Perthes had sought consolation for the present, in the history 
 of the i)ast. It appeared to him that the period of the Refor- 
 mation, on account of the great clianges that it was the means 
 of effecting — and tliat of the Italian Rej)ublics, on account of the 
 
EFFORTS TO KEEP ALIVE THE GERMAN SPIRIT. 165 
 
 political divisions of a spirited people — presented analogies with 
 tlie circumstances of Germany since the outbreak of the Revolu- 
 tionary war. " For the inner life of the sixteenth century," he 
 writes, " I committed myself to Benvenuto Cellini, and then 
 Robertson's ' Charles Y.' was my guide. I have learned that 
 a steadfast purpose and will, that calm reflection and the at- 
 tainment of great objects, are possible even in times of the 
 most terrible outward disturbance and revolution. Sismondi's 
 ' Italian Republics ' delights and cheers me at present. For 
 centuries Italy was without a centre of influence and without 
 political cohesion ; but in the little circle of those republics 
 there was power ; there were men of understanding ; and Italy 
 flourished anew and produced men of deathless spirit, the 
 memory of whose glorious deeds is imperishable. And should 
 we despair ? No I althougli our previous hopes have died away, 
 I am still full of confidence ; I love my fatherland — have often 
 prayed, often trembled, and would have fought for it, had 
 there been hope of achieving aught. ' I am,' to use Adam 
 Muller's exi^rcssion, ' afilicted with the disease of patriotic mad- 
 ness,' and, tberefore, not in despair ; but feel strongly convinced 
 that although the old form of the Germanic Empire is fallen 
 to pieces, the future history of Germany is nevertheless, not 
 destined to be the liistory of its downfal, if every one does 
 what he can in his own station : I, for my part, shall try what 
 I can do in mine :" individuals can, and will do much. 
 
 It was only through his own calling that Perthes hoped, in- 
 dividually, to be able to accomplish anything. " The German 
 newspapers," writes Perthes to Jacobi, " are, with few excep- 
 tions, in bad hands. Some are deliberately bad in their objects ; 
 otliers having been established solely for gain, seek only to 
 
166 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 please the palates of their customers with the most recent 
 novelty. Such a state of things is at all times lamentable ; in 
 our own times, it is alarming. It is important, since things 
 will tell only when uttered at the proper moment, that Germans 
 should know where tliey can at once bring before the public 
 anything which demands and deserves publicity. A journal, 
 appearing at short intervals, which shall uphold the vital 
 union of all German-souled men, is a pressing want. I have 
 this object at heart, and my position is favourable ; the first 
 men of Germany are known to me either personally or by con- 
 nexion, and I am sure of their co-operation, while my shop 
 offers facilities for the publication such as are nowhere else to be 
 met with. But, perhaps, you will say, "What avails your having it 
 at heart ? — dare you do it ? I answer with Jean Paul, ' The si- 
 lence of fear is not to be excused by the plea of coercion.' There 
 are many things that may be said, even under the government 
 of Napoleon, if only we learn how to say them, and take care 
 not to overlook the good we have because of our hatred of the 
 foreign medium through which it comes to us. Indeed, there is 
 much to be learned from the French, and it is the native ten- 
 dency of the German mind, to recognise and assimilate the 
 good from whatever quarter it may come. The new journal 
 shall be called ' The National Museum." It must not be prohi- 
 bited, and must, therefore, be characterized, especially at the 
 outset, by caution and circumspection ; it must, at the same 
 time, be read, and its object and tendency must, therefore, be 
 evident to Germans. I shall go quietly forward in the firm 
 conviction of reaching the goal, and, probably, without inter- 
 ruption." 
 
 Towards the end of November 1800, Perthes began to 
 
EFFORTS TO KEEP ALIVE THE GERMAN SPIRIT. 167 
 
 send the Prospectus of his " National Museum" to all parts of 
 Germany, wherever men were to be found of whose patriotism 
 and intelligence he had knowledge. In the private letters that 
 accompanied it, many of which have been preserved, we find 
 him presenting the enterprise to each in the point of view 
 that seemed most likely to attract him. To one he urges the 
 promotion of German science ; to another the effect which 
 such a periodical would exercise over the public mind; to a third 
 the encouragement which the journal might afford to patriotic 
 men who had been abandoned and oppressed by their respec- 
 tive governments, to reserve themselves for better times. To 
 some he sot himself to prove that a scientific association was 
 the only possible bond of union in Germany, and that Ger- 
 man Science should hold the first place in the ' National 
 Museum;' while to a few, such as Jean Paul, he opened his 
 whole heart. He trusted that an alliance, unsuspected by their 
 oppressors, might thus be formed among those who were called 
 to be the intellectual leaders of Germany, every member of 
 which, according to his ability and his position, might, without 
 attracting observation, act as a centre of influence. When the 
 right time came, the scientific alliance was to be transformed 
 into a political one possessing the strength and union neces- 
 sary for vigorous action. In order to extend this union as 
 widely as possible among the people, the literature of Germany 
 was to be presented in all its aspects. Humohr was applied to 
 for information relating to the works of ancient German art ; 
 Wilkcn for old national manners and customs, and for the truth 
 or falsehood of the diversities of North and South Germany ; 
 Feuerbach was to write on German law and jurisprudence ; 
 Augustus William Schlegel on German, and Frederick Schlegel 
 
168 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 specially on Austrian literature ; Sailer, at Landsliut, on the 
 religious life of German Catholicism ; Marheineke of Heidel- 
 berg, on the importance of the German pulpit ; Schleiermacher 
 on the pliilosophical, and Plank on the historical theology of 
 Germany. Schelling was reminded, by a reference to his oration 
 on the Plastic Arts, how well he could adapt himself to the public 
 mind, and Gentz was recommended not to keep silence, because 
 he could not utter all he might wish. Innumerable answers 
 poured in from the cities and from the most remote corners of 
 Germany ; and there were few that did not express enthu- 
 siasm for the undertaking, and gratitude to the man who had 
 planned it. Pie received encouragement from Adam Midler, 
 Gentz, and Karl Ludwig von Haller ; K. F. Eichhorn, Thibaut, 
 Savigny, and Heise ; Marheineke, Stalidlin, Schleiermacher, 
 and Plank ; Sailer, Stolberg, and Frederick Schlegel ; Steifens, 
 Arnim, and Fouquo ; Gorres, Franz Baader, and Brentano, 
 Rumohr, Tischbein, and Fiorillo ; Scheffner of Konigsberg and 
 Schlippenbach of Courland, Lichtenstein and Grimm ; Ruhs, 
 Heercn, Raumer, and Rehberg; the venerable Feder of Hanover, 
 and the equally venerable Hegewisch of Kiel, who all, though 
 from various points of view, expressed themselves more or 
 less hopefully of the intended scientific Association. Hiillmann 
 expected to introduce the 'Museum' to the German Society at 
 Konigsberg, and trusted that the example would be followed 
 by similar societies in other places. Villers looked forward 
 with the liveliest interest to its introduction, through his influ- 
 ence, to the Germans in Moscow, Paris, and Warsaw, and even 
 brought it under Guizot's notice. Goethe, however, declined 
 participation : — " I must, though reluctantly, decline to take 
 part in so well-meant an institution," was his reply. " J 
 
EFFORTS TO KEEP ALIVE THE QERMAN SPIRIT. 1 69 
 
 have every reason for concentrating myself in order to meet, in 
 any measure, my obligations ; moreover, the character of our 
 times is such that I prefer to let it pass before I speak either 
 of it or to it. Forgive me, then, for declining to share in the 
 undertaking, and let me hear frequently how it succeeds." 
 Count F. L. Stolberg, on the other hand, writes, "I rejoice 
 to associate myself with you and yours, dear Perthes, and I 
 need not say how highly I love and honour the boldness of 
 your Address. Those parts of the announcement intended for 
 the public cannot but appear somewhat constrained, but that 
 is of no consequence : the unpractised reader will not observe 
 it, the practised will at once detect the reason, and the patri- 
 otic will be deeply indebted to you." The numerous replies 
 which he received from his widely scattered correspondents 
 breathed similar warmth and cordiality. 
 
 The "Museum" made its appearance in the spring of 1810. 
 It contained contributions from Jean Paul, Count F. L, Stol- 
 berg, Claudius, and Fouque, with posthumous papers of Klop- 
 stock ; essays by Ileeren, Sartorius, Hullmann, and Frederick 
 Schlegel, by Gorres and Arndt, ScheiFner and Tischbein, and 
 many other eminent men. Although Perthes was forced to 
 confess that but little of what he would fain utter could be 
 said in the pages of the " Museum," its reception far exceeded 
 his expectations ; but the labour involved in editing it, combined 
 with the great political excitement to which he was exposed 
 and the continual efforts for the extension of his business, al- 
 most exceeded the limits of human strength. Joys and sorrows 
 in the family too, added to his anxieties. On the 2d of March 
 1809, his son Clement was born. " "We rejoice in the birth of 
 a boy," he writes ; " through the youth now growing up we 
 
 15 
 
1 70 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 may exert an influence on the future, which we cannot exer- 
 cise upon the present." His daughter Eleonora came into the 
 world on the 4th of April 1810 ; while his second son, Johannes, 
 a lively and promising boy, had been removed by death on the 
 18th of December 1809, " His heart was overflowing with 
 love and merriment," wrote Caroline, " so that he was our 
 joy and delight. We yearn after him, and cannot yet fully 
 believe that we must continue our pilgrimage without him ; 
 we have but a melancholy pleasure in the blessings that God 
 has left us." 
 
 After many years of labour, Perthes snatched a short inter- 
 val of leisure to revisit the beloved Schwartzburg home. The 
 two younger children were committed to the care of their 
 Wandsbeck grandparents, and in the beginning of July 1810, 
 Perthes and Caroline set out with the other four, by Bruns- 
 wick and Naumburg to Thuringia. From Schwartzburg Caro- 
 line wrote to her mother, — " Would that I could describe to 
 you the grandeur, the beauty, the loveliness of this country ; 
 but words can convey no idea of it. I thank God that we are 
 capable of feeling more than we can express : speech is but a 
 poor thing when we are in earnest. The hills and valleys of 
 Thuringia impress one just in -the right way. I love them, 
 and shall remember them with afiection while I live. It is too 
 much, I sometimes think, and one has no power to repress the 
 excitement which this scenery stirs in the heart. In our flat 
 country, we cannot attain to such a height of joy in the Lord of 
 this glorious Nature, or to such intense gratitude towards Him, 
 as are possible in the midst of scenes like these ; and I consider 
 it as a great gift that the good God has permitted me to see 
 all this, while yet on earth. The valley of Schwartzburg sur- 
 
EFFORTS TO KEEP ALIVE THE GERMAN SPIRIT. l7l 
 
 passes all tlie rest. There is an inconceivable wealth of min- 
 gled grandeur and beauty about it which rivets the spectator 
 to the spot, and compels him to stretch out his arms in adora- 
 tion of the Creator and Sustainer of all this wondrous work. 
 On the one side are vast masses of rock, piled one upon another ; 
 on the other, hills of surpassing loveliness, adorned with mea- 
 dows, houses, men, and cattle ; in the midst of all, the Schwarza 
 runs clear and sparkling, rushing and roaring bravely, far be- 
 low in the hollow. Our reception was very agreeable ; we had 
 left the carriage, and were walking towards Schwartzburg ; sud- 
 denly, from behind the rock, the lieutenant-colonel made his 
 appearance, and caught Perthes in his arms. My beloved 
 Perthes, thus disturbed in the tranquil current of his thoughts, 
 forgot nature like the I'est of us in the pleasure of the reunion. 
 This lieutenant-colonel is a fine, vigorous, frank, and very dear 
 old man, and I already like him much. When we had walked 
 a few paces farther, we came to a broad, flat rock on which a 
 breakfast, brought in his own game-bag, was spread. He was 
 quite overjoyed, and never weary of recounting the pleasure 
 he had experienced long ago, in walking tours and fowling ex- 
 peditions with Perthes. A little further on we met the other 
 uncle with his troop of children ; we packed the little folk into 
 the carriage, and walked slowly after it. The very depths 
 of my soul are stirred when I perceive the great and general 
 happiness which the return of my Perthes has diffused ; my 
 dear Perthes himself is like a child with delight, and I thank 
 God that He has let us live to see this time. They live the 
 past over again, and are all twenty years younger.'' 
 
 After a stay of a few weeks, Perthes proceeded with his wife 
 and children to Gotha, the home of Justus Perthes, his pater- 
 
172 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 nal uncle. " Here, too," wrote Caroline, " we were received 
 witli inexpressible kindness, but our dear Thuringian hills are 
 now only seen in tlie distance. The children long for the free- 
 dom of the woods, and to speak the truth so do I ; and it is 
 with difficulty that I can conceal my feelings. We had quite 
 forgotten the French in our beloved woods ; but here we are 
 daily reminded of them. For months cannon of enormous calibre 
 had been passing through the town from Dantzig and Magde- 
 burg on their way to Paris. Ah ! here we have the world 
 and artificial life with all their annoyances, continually sug- 
 gested to us ; there is no place like hills and woods for for- 
 getting ourselves and all our wants and infirmities." — They 
 returned to Hamburgh by way of Cassel and Gottingen. " A 
 journey such as we have enjoyed," writes Perthes to Schwartz- 
 burg, " is a real picture of life ; but that part of a journey 
 which remains after the travelling is, properly speaking, the 
 journey. This still remains with us." 
 
 Ere long, rumours were afloat of new and violent changes 
 contemplated by Napoleon in the German governments. The 
 French Ambassador, Reinhard, had been in Hamburgh ever 
 since the autumn of 1809, in order to settle the final destiny 
 of the city. " He holds continual conferences," writes Perthes, 
 " with deputies and others as to the maintenance and perpetu- 
 ation of the Hanse-towns. The Emperor, after hearing the real 
 state of matters, is to determine the future of the cities." More 
 than a year after this letter was written, and just before Christ- 
 mas 1810, the decision of the French Senate was announced 
 at Hamburgh. The Hanse-towns with the whole north-west 
 of Germany were henceforward to be considered as forming 
 part of the French empire. " Hamburgh, built by Charles the 
 
EFFORTS TO KEEP ALIVE THE GERMAN SPIRIT. l73 
 
 Great," so ran the decree, " was no longer to be deprived of 
 the happiness to which it had a hereditary right, of acknow- 
 ledging the supremacy of his greater successor." 
 
 Hamburgh had now become a French city, and its burghers 
 subjects of Napoleon. At the same time, Perthes finding the 
 impossibility of carrying out his original object, in the form 
 which it had up to this time assumed, gave up the " National 
 Museum." " My sole aim in the establishment of this journal," 
 he says, at the close of the last part, " was to unite the well- 
 disposed and wisest of our countrymen, and enable them to 
 contribute, by teaching and counsel, in a variety of forms, to the 
 maintenance of that which is of peculiar worth in Germans, 
 namely, energy, truth, literature, and religion. Now that, as an 
 inhabitant of Hamburgh, I am, by the recent incorporation, 
 made a subject of the French Emperor, the obligations thereby 
 imposed are incompatible with this object, and the ' German 
 Museum' can no longer be carried on by me." " Your ' Museum' 
 is indeed silenced," wrote Nicolovius, " but its spirit still lives, 
 and will yet redound to the glory of you and your endeavours." 
 
 He who now, after the lapse of years, gives a glance at the 
 contents of the " German Museum," cannot fail to be impressed 
 with a sense of German ability and honesty ; but only those who 
 can recall the iron pressure of that period, resting on every 
 form of life, will comprehend how the discontinuance of this 
 Journal should, at a time of such unexampled tribulation, have 
 been on all sides regarded as a national calamity. 
 
1 74 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PERTHES AS A FRENCH SUBJECT. — 1811-1812. 
 
 The problem wliicli Perthes, as a French subject and a man 
 of business, had now to solve, was the maintenance of his 
 business unimpaired under the new censorsliip. A widely orga- 
 nized system of espionage had been established, with its head- 
 quarters at Paris, which imposed restrictions not only on the 
 books which issued from the German press, but on their cir- 
 culation through the empire. The bookselling trade suffered 
 severely from the new laws. Perthes, however, perceiving the 
 irregularities of their operation, arising from the ignorance of 
 the officials, succeeded, by skilfully taking advantage of these, 
 not only in preserving his varied and wide-spread trade con- 
 nexions, but even in extending and giving increased efficiency 
 to his business. 
 
 In the meauAvhile, his intellectual life was kept alive by an 
 active correspondence with eminent men of the most opposite 
 tendencies and opinions ; such as Rumohr and Klinkowstrom, 
 Stolberg and Drostc, Steffens and Fouque, Niebuhr and Nico- 
 lovius, Gorres and Yillers, Jacobi and Reinhold ; while the 
 sittings of the jury, of which Perthes was a member, and a 
 friendly intercourse with De Serre and Eichhorn, created other 
 interests of a local kind. " There will be no peace," wrote 
 
PERTHES AS A FRENCH SUBJECT. 175 
 
 Gorres, " till the whole generation contemporary with the 
 Revolution, is extinct to the very last man." But althougli 
 Perthes could see no signs of better days, his firm conviction 
 that the present cloud would pass away, and that in the mean- 
 while the best must be made of things as they are, gave a 
 tone of freshness and cheerfulness to his conversation and to 
 his letters, which attracted the friendl}' sympathies of many 
 persons of eminence far and near who admired the spirit that 
 he displayed. '' Your letter," wrote Fouque, " has baptized 
 me with fire and water — with the tear-water of the deepest 
 melancholy, but at the same time with the fire of a sure and 
 invincible faith and courage. If all the good men of our times 
 could regard the phenomena of the present with the same 
 calmness, the same depth of feeling and of penetration as your- 
 self, then we should have nothing to complain of as regards all 
 that is highest and most worthy of preservation among us." 
 " Niebuhr will tell you/' wrote Nicolovius, " how greatly we 
 admire your manly spirit and your Christian serpent-and- 
 dove demeanour. Do not doubt us, but believe that, to the 
 best of our ability, we keep up our spirits, and will continue to 
 be worthy of your sympathy.'' 
 
 The great intellectual movements, which were now visible, 
 and the opposing attitudes which political parties now began 
 to assume in Prussia, and especially in Berlin, were not un- 
 observed by patriotic Germans of other countries. Perthes did 
 not clearly see whether this mutual clashing and fermenting 
 of political opinion would be productive of good or evil, and 
 in the summ.er of 1811, was desirous to see and judge of the 
 state of Berlin from personal observation ; but ho was j^re- 
 vented from accomplishing his purpose. " I regret exceed- 
 
176 I'lT'E OF PERTHES. 
 
 ingly that you are not able to come," wrote Niebuhr ; " I had 
 so ardently desired to see you ; you could have passed a couple 
 of days with us, and seen none but your friends ; you are, 
 perhaps, hardly aware of the genuine goodness still to be found 
 in those who maintain either of the two principles which exist 
 here side by side— a goodness as pure and genuine as you could 
 wish. I hate talkers and empty blusterers as much as you can, 
 but I would gladly have introduced you to the salt of our wil- 
 derness, and I, as well as Nicolovius, wish to talk heart to 
 heart with you for a couple of days. Dear Perthes, if it is not 
 quite decided, ask yourself again, whether you could not con- 
 trive to come to us. I promise you that you shall not repent 
 it. Your principles indeed are not exactly those generally 
 adopted here, but I have so long been fjiithful to them that 
 they have become a second nature to me." 
 
 In July 1812, Perthes accomplished his long proposed visit 
 to Berlin, and passed some weeks there, during the passage of 
 the French armies on their way to the East. He made him- 
 self acquainted with the views and objects of the ardent pa- 
 triots who composed the two parties ; and all that he saw tended 
 to strengthen him in his belief that the hour of deliverance for 
 Germany was not far distant, " The mental sprightliness of 
 Perthes," wrote Niebuhr to the wife of the physician Hensler, 
 " is very refreshing ; he loft us on Friday ; we passed many 
 cheerful hours together. The facility with which he adapts 
 himself to every changing phase of the period, literary and 
 political, without ever compromising his independence, keeps, 
 and will continue to keep him youthful, and is greatly to be 
 envied." And Nicolovius, in a letter of the 12th of August, 
 says, " Your visit has strengthened me, my dear Perthes. 
 
PERTHES AS A FRENCH SUBJECT. 177 
 
 You understand how to take these evil times, so as not to be 
 overwhelmed by them ; may God grant you strength for fur- 
 ther struggles and future victory," 
 
 Perthes had now seen with his own eyes, how heavily and 
 how fearfully the French yoke pressed upon Prussia. In Ham- 
 burgh it was no less galling. Trade and shipping were anni- 
 hilated ; of the 422 sugar-boiling houses, but few now stood ; 
 the printing of cottons had entirely ceased ; the tobacco- 
 dressers were driven away by the government. The imposi- 
 tion of innumerable taxes, door and window-tax, capitation, and 
 land-tax, &c., &c., along with the vexations that attended their 
 collection, drove the inhabitants to despair. Charitable institu- 
 tions, such as the Orphan-house, the hospital, and the alms- 
 houses, were deprived of their revenues, and their very existence 
 was threatened : landed property was depreciated in value, and 
 the interest of the public debt could not be paid. The once 
 proud and flourishing city now presented the appearance of 
 complete decay. Harsh regulations were enforced with heart- 
 less brutality. Ground down by the exactions of greedy offi- 
 cials of every rank, and harassed by arbitrary persecution, the 
 inhabitants of Hamburgh had not even the consolation of feel- 
 ing tliemselves free from annoyance in their own houses ; and 
 when, towards the end of the summer of 1812, the Gazette 
 announced victory after victory of the Grand Armee in Russia, 
 all hope of deliverance, or even of alleviation, seemed to be at 
 an end, and no man dared to attach any credit to the faint 
 rumours of misfortune and defeat which were subsequentl}'' 
 whispered. In gloomy and desperate dejection the citizens 
 were preparing to celebrate the Christmas festival, when, on 
 the 24)th December, to the surprise of all, the publication of 
 
178 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 the 29t]i bulletin confirmed beyond any possibility of doubt, 
 the tidings of the total annihilation of the French host. A 
 miracle had been wrought, and a star of hope had appeared, 
 which rekindled life and spirit in every oppressed heart. Such 
 a Christmas Eve was kept in Hamburgh as had not been 
 known for many a long year. 
 
HAMBURGH — EFFORTS TO FREE ITSELF. ] 79 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 HAMBURGH ENDEAVOURS TO FREE ITSELF FROM THE FRENCH DOMINA- 
 TION — JANUARY TO THE 18tH OF MARCH 1813. 
 
 Perthes had long been connected, in a variety of ways, witli 
 Ludwig von Hess, a remarkable and talented Swede, of noble 
 birth, who had in early life filled the post of privy councillor 
 in his own country. He had settled in Hamburgh in the year 
 1780, and his passionate attachment to his new home, his 
 strict integrity, and the acuteness of his understanding, had 
 secured for him universal respect. He was singularly fertile in 
 expedients, and had a peculiar aptitude for stating complicated 
 questions clearly and intelligibly. He had shone in the circles 
 of Reimarus and Sieveking, and was nearly connected with 
 many foreigners of distinction. By a series of talented essays 
 on the external and internal condition of Hamburgh, he had 
 attracted the attention of the literary and political public, 
 while he had won the confidence of the burghers by his asser- 
 tion of the rights of citizenship. He had on many occasions 
 availed himself of his favourable position, to advance and pro- 
 tect the interests of the city as far as this could be effected by 
 private and personal influence ; but he had seldom taken part 
 in the public business of the State, because the inflexible 
 tenacity with which he held his opinions, a quarrelsome dis- 
 position, and a mind too subject to the influences of the mo- 
 
180 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 nient, unfitted him for engaging in debate. He had many 
 warm friends, but the majority of them were at the same time 
 his most vehement opponents ; for he himself was a twofold man, 
 bearing within him unreconciled the greatest contradictions. 
 In his conceptions he was magnificent and noble, but petty and 
 unforgiving in his character, and while he could throw himself 
 with enthusiasm into any plan, he would cherish lurking sus- 
 picions in his soul : despising externals, he was yet vain and 
 ambitious : thirsting after freedom, he was a military despot : 
 his weak and excitable body was capable of being stimulated 
 to the greatest exertions by the singular energy of his mind, 
 and yet he was often the victim of a profound despondency, 
 without any apparent cause. 
 
 Von Hess had always placed confidence in Perthes, and en- 
 joyed his society ; but it was Napoleon's Russian expedition 
 that, by the excitement it gave rise to in both of these men, was 
 the means of drawing them more closely together. They sought 
 consolation and relief in the unreserved exchange of their 
 opinions, hopes, and fears. Hess, a man of the past, and a 
 foreigner by birth, had connected all his hopes and fears with 
 Hamburgh, the home of his choice, but he possessed no German 
 national feeling ; Perthes, on the other hand, though attached 
 to the city, and grateful for all that it had given him — educa- 
 tion, friends, calling, wife, and children, nevertheless did not 
 hesitate to say — " If the freedom of Germany be not achieved, 
 nothing in Hamburgli is of any consequence to me, — can inter- 
 est me for a moment." But neither their political diiferences, 
 nor their dissimilarity of view on more important points, opposed 
 the slightest obstacle to their mutual and entire confidence. 
 In speaking of this friendship in after years, Perthes used to 
 
HAMBURGH — EFFORTS TO FREE ITSELF. 181 
 
 say — " We were of different ages ; our career in life, and our 
 inward history, had been quite dissimilar ; and our views and 
 opinions were constitutionally opposed, and yet we became 
 friends in the fullest and most genuine sense of the word." 
 
 The winter of 1812 drew nigh, and the burning of Moscow 
 opened the prospect of a near and pregnant future. Perthes 
 communicated his hoiies to several men in whom he had con- 
 fidence ; first of all to Von Hess, and his old friend Hulsen- 
 beck, then to Doctor Ferdinand Bcnecke, whose heart beat 
 with the most self-sacrificing devotion to German}'-, and to 
 the Count Joseph Westphalen, who had been led at this time 
 to Hamburgh, in the hope of finding there some field for his 
 chivalrous spirit. The circle soon grew larger, and the opi- 
 nions and plans of those who composed it more definite. In 
 January 1813, the French garrison nvimbered scarcely more 
 than 3000 men. To oppose this handful of troops, there was 
 the numerous and vigorous population of the great maritime 
 and commercial city, accustomed to hard labour and perilous 
 enterprise, aware of their physical superiority, and not wanting 
 in daring. The words of the burghers waxed daily louder and 
 bolder ; even men who had belonged to the old magistracy of 
 the city, gave their fellow-citizens to understand that when 
 the hour came they might reckon on their support. All de- 
 pended on giving form and cohesion to the powerful but un- 
 disciplined mass, and towards tlie end of January, Von Hess 
 spoke to his friends about the establishment of a burgher force. 
 The consent of the French authorities, tortured as they now 
 were with anxiety, did not seem improbable, as they might 
 regard the measure as being to some extent a security for them- 
 selves in the event of any wild outburst of popular fury. While 
 
182 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Rist proposed the subject to the French generals, Perthes and 
 his old friend Spcckter formed a close intimacy with Mettler- 
 kamp the plumber, a man of spirit and decision, and known 
 and greatly beloved by the people. At their instigation, Met- 
 tlerkamp spoke to a number of the strongest and most deter- 
 mined among the people, chiefly of the labouring class, addressing 
 each individually, and urging them to speak to others. Perthes, 
 in like manner, availed himself of the extensive acquaintance 
 that he had formed, partly through his vocation, and partly 
 throu"'h his previous position as a member of the committee 
 for billeting the troops. Lists were soon made out of men who 
 eno-aged to be ready whenever the expulsion of the French was 
 thought practicable. 
 
 While the excitement and the spirit of the burghers were at 
 their height, General Lauriston appeared in Hamburgh, early 
 in February, and withdrew the greater part of the garrison to 
 Mao-deburg, where a large body of troops was to be concentrated. 
 The French generals who remained, Cara St. Cyr and Ivendorf, 
 now fully recognised the dangers of their situation, and mani- 
 fested their uneasiness by the vacillation and uncertainty of 
 their movements. 
 
 Perthes had unbounded confidence in the strength and spirit 
 of the burghers, and he was unwilling to owe the deliverance 
 of the city to any third party ; still he could not overlook the 
 fact that military discipline and experienced leaders were want- 
 ing, and that there was nothing to rely upon except the strong 
 amis, and the courage of the untrained citizens. He was, in- 
 deed, fully convinced, that an outbreak of popular fury which 
 should annihilate the French garrison might, at any time, be 
 counted on ; but then who was to conduct the defence of the 
 
HAMBURGH — EFFORTS TO FREE ITSELF. 183 
 
 city, and to lead the raw burghers against the French troops 
 under French generals, who, in such a case, were certain to 
 endeavour to regain the town ? Moreover, Perthes desired that 
 the rising of Hamburgh should be regarded not as a local but 
 as a German movement. The solemn deliverance of the down- 
 trodden city from its oppressors, seemed to him to possess im- 
 portance as a signal for the rising of the whole north-west of 
 Germany ; for, in the event of this, it seemed likely that the 
 jmnces, who at that time were the victims alternately of hope 
 and fear, would be driven to a decisive step. In order to give 
 this character to tlie efforts of an isolated city, some man of 
 high rank and of recognised position was wanted, to whom 
 the command might be intrusted, and who would be able to 
 provide the citizens with experienced leaders. The Duke of 
 Oldenburg appeared to be the man, and Perthes thought him- 
 self at liberty to send him an urgent solicitation without delay. 
 " These eventful times," he says, " authorize the burghers to 
 approach the prince with candour and confidence, and the voice 
 of the individual burgher is also that of a band of united 
 friends. It is only through herself that Germany can attain 
 a real and permanent independence. And if, at this moment, 
 even a small body of troops, led by a brave German prince, 
 having under him men of irreproachable and recognised name, 
 both from the ranks of the nobles, and from the burgher class, 
 were to appear on our territory, the country would every- 
 where rise to support him, and by God's help Germany would, 
 through her own unaided efforts, be free to the Rhine. The 
 prince who now devotes himself to the German cause may 
 rely upon the nation. The German has always loved his prince, 
 and this affection still survives, and is now anxiously looking 
 
184 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 for an object. You are the universal object of hope and de- 
 sire, most serene Duke, for you have rendered your own States 
 singularly prosperous ; you have appreciated German manners 
 and German art, and you saved your honour when with dignity 
 you retreated before violence." 
 
 On the 21st of February Perthes, accompanied by his eldest 
 son Matthias, set out with this document to the house of Count 
 Adam Moltke at Niitschau. Moltke took him, the next day, 
 to Eutin, and there through the earnest eloquence of the 
 Councillor Runde, the President von Maltzan was persuaded 
 to undertake its presentation to the Duke. From Eutin 
 Perthes went to Lubeck, where he found the burghers anima- 
 ted with the same spirit as the citizens of Hamburgh. He 
 returned home on the night of the 24th of February, and 
 found the whole aspect of aifairs changed. On the 22d there 
 had been great excitement in the city on account of a false 
 rumour of the approach of the Russians. " Yesterday morn- 
 ino-," wrote Caroline to her father at Wandsbeck, " there 
 were Cossacks at Perlebcrg, seventy-six miles from this, — ah ! 
 that I had a thousand voices to sing Benedictus qui venit ! 
 The city is all alive, and assuredly some great step is about to 
 be taken." On the 24th of February, the day before the return 
 of Perthes, the citizens had risen simultaneously in diiferent 
 parts of the city. The Custom-house guard at the Altona gate 
 was attacked, and the soldiers fired repeatedly on the people. 
 The number of the killed was never ascertained ; but the 
 guard-house was taken and demolished, and a long row of 
 palisades thrown down. At the harbour, where the prefectoral 
 guard, which was composed of tlic sons of the burghers, was to 
 have been embarked, the population of the neighbourhood 
 
HAMBURGH — EFFORTS TO FREE ITSELF, 185 
 
 placed themselves in the road, and on the appearance of the 
 Mayor, pelted him back with stones, and proceeding tumultu- 
 ously through the city, tore down the Frencli eagles wherever 
 they found them with shouts of triumph, and trod them under 
 foot. The house of a particularly obnoxious French police- 
 officer was levelled with the ground. There was no theft com- 
 mitted ; the French only were sought for by the mob." — 
 " There is no longer an eagle to be seen in the city," wrote 
 Caroline to her father ; "the tumult in the streets grows louder, 
 God be praised ; would that my Perthes were here I" The 
 French garrison suffered considerably, but kept the people at 
 bay. No leader stept forth from the ranks of the madly- 
 excited populace ; and the consequence was, that at nightfall, 
 the mob dispersed, leaving the French, though dispirited and 
 full of apprehension, still in possession of the city. 
 
 When Perthes, on the morning of the 25th of February, was 
 made acquainted with the state of things, he immediately 
 sought out Von Hess, to urge upon him tlie importance of 
 overcoming a groundless but passionate dislike of Benecke, 
 and of acting in concert with him and his friends Prell and 
 Ewald. On Hess declaring that he was willing to unite, Per- 
 thes added Mettlerkamp to the number, and these six men 
 held their first meeting at the house of Perthes on the 26th of 
 February. "When they learned from an announcement by the 
 Mayor that the French authorities had concurred in the pro- 
 priety of arming five hundred of the burghers, and had 
 promised to supply them with arms, the main difficulty was 
 removed ; but the angry warmth with which Hess in this first 
 interview opposed the ardent German nationality of Benecke, 
 made him fear that it was scarcely possible to induce these two 
 
 16 
 
186 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 men to work together. " It was tlien for the first time," said 
 Perthes, " that I saw the evil element of hatred shew itself in 
 Von Hess, with a violence hitherto unknown to me ; I saw that 
 the business could only be carried on through my mediation, 
 and that a painful and laborious task was thus imposed on 
 me." Perthes persuaded the Committee to choose Iless as 
 Commander of the burgher-reserve. " I was certain," said 
 Perthes, " that Benecke, for the sake of the good cause, would 
 gladly range himself under him, and I hoped that Von Hess, 
 sensible of the honour conferred on him, would overcome his 
 hatred." ,0n the 27th of February the invitation to the 
 burghers to enrol themselves in the reserve companies was 
 issued. Men of respectability and spirit offered themselves in 
 sufficient numbers, and subjected themselves to the necessary 
 military drill. The five Captains assembled at the house of 
 Perthes, to master the manual exercise which they were after- 
 wards to teach tlie men, in a timber-yard that had been cleared 
 for the purpose. Some days of restless excitement followed. — 
 " In the old town all is quiet now," wrote Caroline to her 
 father, " but elsewhere all is confusion. In Lubcck the move- 
 ment is in full progress, and there is no longer an eagle to be 
 seen. Cossacks have crossed the Elbe into Hanover, but at 
 present, it must be confessed, they serve the purpose only of 
 alarm-drums ; for we have letters from Berlin, and they have 
 not yet been seen there ; but all, old and young, are preparing, 
 even Fouque and StefFens are with them." But the hopes that 
 had been founded on the arming of the burgher-reserve soon 
 disappeared. The rapidity with which this had been entered 
 into, and the success of the movement, had excited the jealousy 
 of the old burgher-guard, who felt themselves thrown into the 
 
HAMBUnaH — EFFORTS TO FREE ITSELF. 187 
 
 background, and who busied themselves in disseminating their 
 suspicious and hostile views. At the same time tlie differences 
 among the leading men of the reserve force, were found to be 
 past remedy. Hess opposed with frantic violence every na- 
 tional German sentiment, only because it was advanced by 
 Benecke, and rejected with intemperate warmth every plan for 
 the deliverance of Hamburgh that reckoned on the rising of 
 the untrained and undisciplined masses, as an element of suc- 
 cess ; while Benecke and Perthes, on the contrary, perceived 
 in the efforts of the people, irregular as they might be, a power 
 which, in the present position of aftairs, might be turned to good 
 account. " The rising of the 24th of February," said Perthes, 
 " has shewn that our people are ready for great events, and 
 that they are neither bloodthirsty nor ill-natured." " Above 
 all things, the burgher-reserve must be popular," said Benecke, 
 " and we must therefore avoid everything that would be likely 
 to deprive them of the confidence of the people ; their duty 
 must then be confined to the protection of the persons and 
 dwellings of their fellow-citizens, and they must on no account 
 be called on to aid the French military or Custom-liouse autho- 
 rities against the people. From this principle there must not 
 be the slightest deviation." 
 
 Hess held quite contrary opinions. Perthes saw that the 
 union of the citizens was endangered by these irreconcilable 
 differences among the leaders of the Reserve, and was per- 
 suaded that the only means of averting this danger was its 
 immediate dissolution. Supported by Mettlerkamp, he gained 
 the consent of the Committee on the 2d of March, and on 
 the Sd, the reserve-companies were dissolved. On the very 
 day that found him deploring the extinction of the hopes 
 
1 88 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 of deliverance "whicli lie had associated witli this movement, 
 his spirits were revived by glad tidings from Berlin. " Here, 
 in Berlin, all is life and activity," wrote Reimer, " and every 
 one is engaged after his own fashion in raising the cry of 
 Fatherland and King. The excitement and commotion has a 
 charm for all, each lives a new life, and the individual disap- 
 pears and is lost in his relation to the whole. Confidence has 
 risen to the highest pitch by this visible manifestation of 
 Divine providence, and the hope of a happy result has now 
 become certainty. Sucli is the state of affairs with us, dear 
 friend, and I hope that all Germany will participate in our 
 joy, and do valiantly, so that a new day may dawn, and peace 
 and happiness may once more take up their abode upon earth." 
 Now that there was no longer any possibility of openly 
 training a large body of men in military exercises, Hess, Per- 
 thes, and Prell, assembled a small number of the most resolute 
 and trustworthy members of the reserve, and went through the 
 drill with them at the houses of different individvials. The 
 object was to have ready for action a few leaders on whom, 
 in case of need, reliance might be placed. Without enter- 
 ing into fjirther details, we may simply state that the French, 
 aware of the growing spirit of discontent, and of the ap- 
 l)roach of the Russians, considered their position untenable, 
 and much to the delight of the citizens of the town, evacu- 
 ated Hamburgh on the 12th March. The city, however, was 
 soon threatened with a siege. When, on the T6th of March, 
 General Moraud, with about three thousand five hundred men, 
 entered Bergedorf, a village within a few hours' march of Ham- 
 burgh, and the excitement of the burghers had risen to the 
 highest pitch, Perthes, Mettlcrkamp, and some other friends, 
 
HAMBURGH — EFFORTS TO FREE ITSELF. 189 
 
 determined to make every effort to defend the city against 
 the French, and to avail themselves of the popular fury, which 
 was ready to burst forth on the slightest occasion. But the 
 necessity of having recourse to this extreme measure vanished 
 with the announcement that a detachment of Danish troops 
 had taken up a position between Hamburgh and Bergedorf, 
 and refused to allow Moraud a passage through the Danish 
 territory. The latter found himself obliged, in consequence of 
 this refusal, to transport his troops to the left bank of the 
 Elbe. A body of some fifteen hundred Cossacks about the 
 same time entered Bergedorf, having marched by way of 
 Ludwigslust and Liineburg from Berlin ; and on the evening 
 of the same day, a flying party of thirteen men, under the 
 command of Captain (afterwards Councillor) Biirsch, rode for 
 an hour through the streets of Hamburgh. " As the detach- 
 ment approached the city, and came in sight of the Stein- 
 thor Guard-house," wrote Benecke to Perthes, " the guard 
 turned out, and our Captain with eight men, myself being one 
 of them, advanced towards the Russians. At a signal from 
 him, the Russian officer commanded a halt, and our Captain 
 delivered the keys of the city to him with these words, — ' Here 
 are the keys of the free Hanse-town of Hamburgh — long live 
 Russia and Germany, hurrah !' The shouts taken up by 
 thousands after thousands, rendered the German reply of the 
 Ptussian officer, who received the keys with dignified bearing 
 and cordial friendliness, inaudible. The rejoicing passes de- 
 scription, — ' German, Russian, Cossack, Alexander V were the 
 only intelligible cries, and tears stood in many eyes. Dear 
 Perthes, it was a moment to be had in everlasting remem- 
 brance." 
 
190 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 During tlie niglits of tlic l7th and 18tli of March, the 
 Russians occupied Bergedorf, over against Hamburgh, and on 
 the morning of the 19 th, entered the city. The streets were 
 filled with crowds of happy citizens, anxious to behold with 
 their own eyes those wild horsemen of another world wlio had 
 hitherto been known to them only in nursery tales. " My dear 
 papa," wrote Caroline, a few hours before their arrival, "how 
 can I give you any idea of the universal joy of old and young, 
 rich and poor, bad and good ? To have seen, and heard, and 
 felt it, is, indeed, a thing to be thankful for, I will not in- 
 quire into the causes of the joy, but its expression was unspeak- 
 ably grand, and it appears to spring from a good and pure 
 source. An advanced guard of thirteen Cossacks entered the 
 city yesterday evening, with long flowing mantles, and adorned 
 with the spoils of the French, — at any rate adorned with parts 
 of the French military dress. Every throat was strained to 
 welcome them, and every heart thanked God in heaven, and 
 the Russians on earth. Never, dear papa, have I seen such a 
 union of hearts, the feelings of thousands all centred in one 
 point. Ah ! could we but so centre ourselves in the best point 
 of all, what a glorious Church we should form ! The Cossacks 
 advanced at a gallop, their lances lowered, and waving tlieir 
 caps, and looking wonderfully honest and friendly. The people 
 crowded round them, bringing brandy, cakes, and bread. People 
 who were yesterday quite desponding, are to-day full of hope 
 and courage. If the depths of the soul were more frequently 
 stirred, it could not but be attended with good results." 
 
 About noon, the Cossacks entered the city amid wildest 
 shouts of welcome, and all the sorrows of the past and the 
 dangers of the future, seemed merged in the happiness of the 
 
HAMBURGH — EFFORTS TO FREE ITSELF. 191 
 
 present. And yet, sccarcely a German mile off, lay tlie enemy, 
 who might, in the course of a few hours, fill the city with blood 
 and desolation ; but no one thought of the enemy or of his 
 chagrin. To him who wandered through the streets in the 
 summer warmth of that spring evening, the city presented a 
 strange spectacle. The echoes of triumphant rejoicing had 
 died away ; everywhere profound stillness and the calm of 
 security reigned ; there was neither guard nor watch, not even 
 a policeman was to be seen. The moon shone brightly on the 
 houses with their sleeping inhabitants, and completed the pic- 
 ture of peace and tranquillity. The joy-wearied city had com- 
 mitted itself to the sole keeping of the Almighty. 
 
192 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 RE-OCCUPATION OF HAMBURGH BY DAVOUST MARCH TO MAY 1813. 
 
 The Russian trooiDs whicli Tettenborn led into Hamburgh 
 were too few in number to enable the citizens to entertain the 
 liope that the French would leave them undisturbed. Great 
 exertions were now made to strengthen the government of the 
 city, and to make preparations for a successful resistance in 
 the event of the return of the French. Perthes worked with 
 indefatigable energy, fixing the attention of all the leading 
 men on himself as the citizen in whom most reliance could be 
 placed in the hour of need ; and he was regarded by many as 
 the centre of the efforts which were 'being made. 
 
 A few weeks after the evacuation by the French, Davoust, 
 at the head of 6000 men, advanced to recapture the city. 
 Without resistance he had made himself master of Harburg, 
 which was separated from Hamburgh only by the Elbe, and 
 the islands Wilhelmsburg, Ochsenwiirder, and Feddel. On 
 the 9th of May, at five in the morning, the drums sounded 
 an alarm through the city ; the enemy had effected a landing 
 on Wilhelmsburg, had driven back the Lauenburg and Hanso 
 battalions by which it was occupied, and had taken possession 
 of the island. Two companies of Mecklenburg grenadiers and 
 the first battalion of Hanseatics advanced against the enemy 
 
RE-OCCUPATION OF HAMBURGH BY DAVOUST. 193 
 
 as soon as their leader, Von Canitz, had placed himself at their 
 head ; and charging with spirit and in order, forced the French 
 to the extreme south corner of the island, and even drove them 
 back to Harburg. But to the surprise and alarm of all, Tet- 
 tenborn, on the 11th, gave orders to evacuate the island which 
 they had so bravely regained, and on the 12th, after the two 
 Hanseatic battalions were to a man almost cut to pieces, Feddel 
 also was lost. The foe was now close to Hamburgh, and on the 
 night of the 19th of May, the bombardment of the city began. 
 " Dear Caroline," wrote Perthes to his wife, who had passed 
 the night at "Wandsbeck, " I implore you from the depths of 
 my soul to be calm, and place yourself and me in the hands of 
 God ; trust me, and believe that whatsoever I do, I shall be 
 able to answer before God. The bombardment seems more 
 terrible than it is, and even if it should be repeated, the 
 damage will not be so great as one would imagine ; there 
 is often far more danger hidden under common things." Dur- 
 ing the night of the 22d, above five hundred grenades were 
 thrown into the city, but the spirit of the burghers was still 
 unbroken. 
 
 The Burgher-Guard, which at the most mustered 3400 avail- 
 able muskets, and was therefore, to a great extent, armed only 
 with pikes, had, since the 9th of May, furnished daily from 
 800 to 1000 men to secure Hamburgh Hill, the Stadtdeich, 
 and the Elbdeich, against the landing of the enemy. Every 
 night a part of them were obliged to bivouac. Perthes 
 now felt that his position in the Burgher-Guard required him 
 to exert all his moral and physical powers of endurance, all 
 his elasticity of spirit, and all his influence over men's minds, 
 in order to stimulate the courage, and to increase the steadfast- 
 ly 
 
1 94 LIFE or PERTHES. 
 
 ness of liis fellow-citizens, under circumstances which, trying 
 enough in themselves, Avere rendered still more so hy the con- 
 duct of the military authorities. Now, he aiforded to Von Hess 
 — who in restless excitement passed from the boldest confidence 
 to the most abject despair, and from the most violent activity 
 to a state of absolute torpor — the support of which he stood in 
 need ; now he might be seen quieting the citizens, when with- 
 out any apparent cause, they had been summoned by the alarm 
 bell, and were left to stand forgotten for hours together on the 
 muster-ground ; on other occasions, and generally by night, 
 he sought out the burghers on the more distant posts, to many 
 of whom his presence was a source of courage and of confidence. 
 "From the 9th of May," wrote Caroline afterwards, "Perthes 
 had not undressed for one-and-twenty nights, and during 
 that period had never lain down in bed. I was in daily 
 anxiety for his life. He was only occasionally, and that half- 
 an-hour at a time, in the house. The three younger children 
 were at Wandsbeck, with my mother, the four elder were with 
 me, because they could not have been removed without force. 
 I had no man on the premises — all were on guard. People were 
 constantly coming in to eat and drink, for none of our acquaint- 
 ances kept house in the city. I had laid sacks filled with straw, 
 in the large parlour, and there, night and day, lay burghers, 
 who came in by turns to snatch a short repose. At the battle 
 of Wilhelmsburg we lost our Weber, and many of our friends. 
 Day and night I was on the balcony to see if Perthes, or any of 
 our relations, were carried by among the wounded. At the time 
 when the cannonading was loudest, and the greatest terror and 
 anxiety prevailed, lest the French should land, Perthes sent to 
 desire that I would instantly send him a certain small box, 
 
RE-OCCUPATION OF HAMBURGH BY DAVOUST, 195 
 
 that lay on his writing-table. As I was running clown the 
 stairs with the box in my hand, I felt sure that it was filled 
 with poison. I desired the messenger to wait, and went to my 
 room to decide what I ought to do, for this great matter was 
 thus committed to me ; it was a dreadful moment. My horror, 
 lest Perthes should fall alive into the hands of the French, 
 overcame me; and 4t appeared to me that God could not be 
 angry with him for not willing this ; and then the injustice of 
 my deciding a matter between him and his God, seemed so 
 great, that with trembling hands and knees, I, in God's name, 
 gave the box to the messenger. Many hours elapsed before I 
 heard anything further. It was poison, and poison prepared 
 for the purpose I had feared, but not for Perthes, who assured 
 me before God that he should not have thought it lawful, and 
 was displeased with me for having so misunderstood him." 
 
 Tettenborn had entirely forfeited the confidence of the citi- 
 zens, from the day on which he had given up the islands to 
 the enemy. Many saw that he was not the man to whom the 
 defence of the city, under such circumstances, should have 
 been committed ; and many feared that in the loss of Ham- 
 burgh he would see little more than the unlucky termination 
 of a boldly planned and luckily commenced Cossack adven- 
 ture. From the city authorities no aid was to be expected ; 
 the warlike preparations which had been made, had been car- 
 ried into effect without their co-operation. Tlie appearance of 
 the Frencli on the Elbe had rendered the problem that Herr 
 von Hess was to solve, far too difficult for him. All eyes were 
 looking for foreign aid. As this was neither to be expected 
 from the great army of the allies, nor from the corps under 
 Walmoden, posted between Boitzenburg and Magdeburg, hope 
 
196 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 was now fixed upon the Danes. They had in Altona, at the 
 very gates of Hamburgh, an adequate force, and as from the 
 end of March they had entertained the hope of being in- 
 demnified by the possession of the Hanse-towns for the loss 
 of Norway, they declared themselves willing to undertake the 
 defence ; but it was not till the evening of the 11th of May, 
 when the danger had become imminent, that Tettenborn availed 
 himself of their oiFcr of assistance. Danish troops now marched 
 in to the relief of the besieged. But, unfortunately, at the 
 same time Count Joachim Bernstorflf returned from London, 
 whither he had been sent to treat respecting the entrance of 
 Denmark into the general alliance. He had been sharply re- 
 called ; for Denmark having been led to believe that she could 
 escape heavy losses only by reliance on Napoleon, felt herself 
 compelled to espouse his cause ; and thus, on the 19th of May, 
 the Danish troops, in obedience to orders, abandoned Ham- 
 burgh, and assumed a more than equivocal attitude in Altona. 
 In this dilemma, Tettenborn placed his hopes upon Sweden, 
 The Crown-Prince of that country had not yet indeed arrived 
 at Stralsund, but a Swedish division lay in Mecklenburg, under 
 the command of General Dobbeln, a man of dauntless courage 
 and genuine integrity. On his own responsibility, and at his 
 own risk, he marched into Hamburgh, on the evening of the 
 21st of May, with three battalions. No sooner, however, had 
 the Crown-Prince arrived at Stralsund, than having learned that 
 the Swedish troops were enclosed on one side by the French, on 
 the other by the Danes, he ordered tlieir immediate retreat, 
 and thus Hamburgh was once more left to itself General 
 Dobbeln, for his independent and irregular conduct, was con- 
 demned to death. 
 
RE-OCCUPATION OF HAMBURGH BY DAVOUST, 197 
 
 Early in May, the conviction of the desperate posture of 
 aftairs had forced itself upon Perthes. " How should, how can 
 this end V he wrote. "The desire which we have to do our best 
 is all that we have to rely upon. I will not speak of the people 
 who act as though they wished to neutralize all our efforts ; but 
 what avails courage, when there is not one citizen among us 
 who knows anything of military movements, or even of the use 
 of arms, and when no soldiers are sent to us with whom we might 
 incorporate ourselves ? Our neglect of our good old guard for 
 so many years past is fearfully avenged now. If we had but 
 three battalions of burghers, who could go through military 
 drill, and were good marksmen ; if we had but a hundred 
 young fellows, who knew how to manage a cannon, we might 
 still be saved ; but now our preservation depends upon stran- 
 gers." And Perthes knew but too well what was to be ex- 
 pected from such quarters. Of all the citizens, he was the only 
 one who was acquainted with the jjolitical situation of Russia 
 and Denmark, and only he and Yon Hess possessed any infor- 
 mation about that of Sweden. In the meanwhile the turn that 
 European affairs had taken, had cut off every chance of foreign 
 aid ; and, on the 26th of May, the day after the retreat of the 
 Swedish force, Tettenborn's intention of leaving the city to its 
 fate became known. 
 
 " The hours pass in uncertainty, dear Caroline," wrote Per- 
 thes, " and thus bring sorrow and difficulty. This evening 
 will bring certainty, and two days hence you must leave the 
 city." With the departure of Tettenborn every hope of suc- 
 cessful resistance vanished. In these circumstances, Perthes 
 saw it to be his duty to make preparations for escape, in the 
 hope of working for Germany in some otlier place, and through 
 
198 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Germany for Hamburgh. " I consider tlie thing as decided/' he 
 wrote to Benecke, " and can only place my trust in God. Fare- 
 well, beloved friend, I shall hardly be able to see you again. I 
 am going into the wide world with a pregnant wife and seven 
 cliildren, without knowing where at the end of a week I may 
 find bread for them ; but God will help us." Once more, on 
 the 27th of May, a ray of hope shone out, when, at the 
 urgent instance of Tettenborn, Walmoden despatched the brave 
 Prussian battalion to Hamburgh, to take part in the defence 
 of the city. " Our position is twice twenty-four hours older 
 than it was the day before yesterday," wrote Perthes to Be- 
 necke, — "does that imply that it is better? I think not. Never- 
 theless, we must keep up from hour to hour ; I am not yet 
 disposed to give up all hope of deliverance." 
 
 On the evening of the 28th of May, Perthes sent away his 
 wife and children to Wandsbeck ; there, in the Danish territory, 
 they were safe from the perils of war. In a letter of some weeks' 
 later date, to her friend Emily Petersen in Sweden, Caroline 
 thus writes concerning these sad days : — " You can form no 
 conception of the anguish and dismay, the hopes and fears of 
 our last three weeks in Hamburgh. My heart is full, and I 
 rejoice to be able to tell you how much more kindness, truth, 
 and fortitude we all evinced, than we had supposed ourselves 
 capable of We may speak of it now, for it has been proved by 
 exposure to want and danger. How heartily do I thank God 
 for this experience ! I never knew how strong we are when all 
 concentrate their energies on one point. Dear Emily, I never 
 before felt such a universal ' willing' in one direction. We were 
 all elevated above small troubles and difficulties, and desired 
 only the one thing needful, and desired that with all our heart, 
 
RE-OCCUPATION OF HAMBURGH BY DAVOUST. 199 
 
 eacli one in his own way, and without any doubt of obtaining 
 it. The 28th of May, the birth-day of my Agnes, was the last 
 I spent in Hamburgh ; then I bade farewell to my dear sitting- 
 room, with a sad, and yet a thankful heart. I had sent the 
 beds and linen to Wandsbeck some days before, and the rest 
 of the things I had either hidden or given away ; the larger 
 pieces of furniture we were indeed obliged to leave behind, 
 because Perthes would not discourage the burghers by making 
 them aware of our preparations for escape." 
 
 Caroline had left the city but a few hours, when, on the 
 night of the 28th of May, the firing recommenced. The enemy 
 had passed over from Willielmsburg to the isle of Ochsen- 
 wtirder, and had attacked the Lauenburg battalion posted there 
 with irresistible fury. " The battle," wrote Perthes to his wife, 
 "which began at two o'clock, still rages on Ochsenwiirder, and, 
 as far as we can observe, the smoke becomes more and more dis- 
 tant : we hope the best, for it has already lasted five hours." 
 And again, a little later,—" We have no certain tidings yet ; 
 the fight continues. Trust me still, and believe that God is in 
 my heart, and before my eyes. How, in my circumstances, could 
 I act otherwise than I do?— how could I have appeared before 
 you ? That I repress, as far as possible, the outburst of sorrow 
 and of feeling, is for your sake ; for one hour of feeling does me 
 more injury than ten nights of watching, and I desire to spare 
 myself for you and for the children." After an arduous struggle, 
 the French remained masters of Ochsen warder, the island im- 
 mediately opposite the city, and there were now but few 
 obstacles in the way of their triumphant re-entrance. The 
 Danish commandant at Altona, at the same time signified on 
 the 29th, that, in case of his being compelled to proceed to 
 
200 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 hostilities, it would not be in his power to give more than two 
 hours' notice. The greatest excitement prevailed during the 
 whole of that sad day. At one time, it was announced that 
 Tettenborn had commenced his retreat ; then this, again, was 
 contradicted. Perthes was on guard at the Steinthor with Von 
 Hess ; they were walking backwards and forwards in earnest 
 conversation a little after ten o'clock at night, when Major 
 von Pfuel drove through the gate and invited Von Hess to 
 accompany him into the city, saying to Perthes that he would 
 not detain him long. About half an hour later, when Perthes 
 was to have met and concerted measures with Mettlerkamp, 
 (commanding the burgher-battalion posted at the Steinthor,) in 
 case of a night attack, he was ordered by an officer to repair im- 
 mediately to Herr von Hess at the Hiihnerpost, distant about a 
 mile and a half On reaching this station about midnight, he 
 learned that Tettenborn, with his whole force, had retreated 
 from Hamburgh. He conveyed his troops in safety to Lauen- 
 burg, leaving the city to its fate. On the morning of the SOth 
 of May, and only a few hours after the retreat of Tettenborn, 
 the Danes entered Hamburgh, and saved the citizens from 
 the vengeance of Davoust, acting as a friendly and m.ediating 
 power, and formally putting him in possession of the city. 
 
 On hearing this sad news from Hess, Perthes had set 
 out for Wandsbeck ; tliere, at two o'clock in the morning, he 
 told his wife that all was lost, and appointed Nlitschau, the 
 residence of his friend Moltke, as her next place of refuge. 
 The French troops were now within a few hundred paces of 
 "Wandsbeck. To escape a prison, and a rebel's death by the 
 hangman's hand, Perthes himself drove on through Rahlstadt 
 under cover of the nidit. 
 
THE TIME OF THE TRUCE. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE TIME OF THE TRUCE — JUNE TO THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST 1813. 
 
 It was impossible for Caroline to remain long at "Wands- 
 beclc. In a letter written somewhat later to licr sister Jacobi 
 at Salzburg, she says, — " As soon as Perthes had taken leave 
 of mc in his flight, I began to pack, and then, exhausted as I was, 
 set out with mj seven children and the nurse, in a light open 
 carriage. It was a very affecting parting ; my mother could 
 not control her feelings, and my father was deeply moved ; the 
 children wept aloud ; I myself felt as if turned to stone, and 
 could only say continually, — ' Now, for Heaven's sake !' My 
 sister Augusta went with me, to comfort and to assist me ; 
 truly willing to share my labours and anxieties. In the morn- 
 ing Ave arrived at Niitschau, where, finding only two beds for 
 ten persons, I was obliged to divide our cloaks and bundles of 
 linen, so that the children might at least have something under 
 their heads.'' Yet, on the evening of this day, Caroline con- 
 trived to write a few lines to her parents, — " I can only wish 
 you good-night," she said, " for I am so weary in mind and 
 body, that I can neither think nor write. If I had but met 
 Perthes here this evening, safe and sound, as I had hoped, I 
 believe I should have forgotten all my sorrow. I am still cold, 
 and hard as a stone, and shrink from the thought of the thaw- 
 
202 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 ing. I felt all clay as if everybody were dead, and I was left 
 alone on the earth. These have been weeks of life-and-death 
 struggle ; God help every poor man who is in trouble of mind or 
 body in these eventful times I" On the first of June Perthes 
 arrived. " And now," says Caroline, " we wished to pause and 
 consider where we should go, and what we should do ; but ray 
 brother John came and told us that our friends advised us to 
 lose no time, but to go farther away, as our house at Ham- 
 burgh had been searched, and NUtschau was too near to Lubeck. 
 Perthes set out at once, and again I began to pack up, and, on 
 the 3d, I left for Liitgenburg, to be e7i route for Augustenburg if 
 need were." Perthes, accompanied by his eldest son Matthias, 
 had reached Altenhof, near Eckernforde, on the Baltic, the 
 estate of Count Caius Reventlow. " I was so unaffectedly 
 and kindly welcomed by the Count and Countess," he wrote 
 to Caroline, " that it gave me genuine pleasure. The Count 
 will give up Aschau to us ; it is, I am told, a dreary place ; 
 but I think it will do very well.'' On Monday, the 7th of 
 June, the husband and wife met again at Eckernforde. 
 " Here we wept freely together," wrote Caroline, " which, 
 in all our trouble, we had never been able to do before." 
 Tlience the whole family removed to Aschau, a summer villa 
 on the Baltic, belonging to Count Reventlow, and made them- 
 selves as comfortable as they could. " And there," wrote Caro- 
 line, " I for a while forgot all our troubles for joy that I had 
 got my Perthes, and I can truly say that we were inexpres- 
 sibly happy in each other. I thought neither of the past nor 
 of the future, but thanked God incessantly, and rejoiced that, 
 out of all these perils, He had brought my husband to me, safe 
 and sound." 
 
THE TIME OF THE TRUCE. 203 
 
 Perthes had lost everything. His shop in Hamburgh was 
 scaled, his other property was sequestrated, and his dwelling- 
 house, after being plundered of every moveable, was assigned 
 to a French general. Ready money for the support of Ins wife 
 and family he had none. " Do not suppose that I complain," 
 he wrote to his Schwartzburg uncle ; " he who has nothing to 
 repent of has also nothing to complain of. I have acted as 
 in the presence of God ; I have often risked my life, and 
 why should I be dispirited because I have lost my fortune 'i 
 God's will be done ! I do not yet see how I am to provide 
 bread for my wife and children in a foreign land. In the 
 meantime if I receive but two-thirds of my outstanding claims, 
 I shall be able to fulfil all my engagements ; but in our country 
 no one is in a position to j)ay, and I dare not press my demands 
 in the French dominions, and thus I may not be able to avoid 
 bringing others into difficulty ; this to me is a great cause of 
 grief." Letters from creditors now came in from all parts, 
 and there is none in which such expressions as the following 
 may not be found, "Do not think of my claims at present ; I know 
 as well as you do, that when you can pay, you will ; you acted 
 as you wore in duty bound to act." By the help of the busi- 
 ness books, which had been brought away, Perthes managed 
 to get a tolerable insight into his position, he made such ai'- 
 rangemcnts as w^ere jjossiblc in the circumstances, and endea- 
 voured, at all events, to secure the creditors, through the debtors 
 of the house. By exerting himself to the utmost he accom- 
 plished this. " He works from morning to night," wrote Caro- 
 line, " with the exception of an hour after dinner, which we 
 devote to thinking over our position, or rather to sleep ; for we 
 rise at four o'clock, and require some repose during the day. 
 
204 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Perthes is perfectly clear and calm, and, I may say, in some 
 respects more cheerful than formerly, and so am I, while he is 
 with me." Perthes received strength and encouragement from 
 the expressions of respect and consideration that were con- 
 veyed to him from all sides : " What I hear of you inspires 
 me with the deepest respect," wrote the Duke of Augusten- 
 burg, " and your indomitable spirit fills me with admiration, 
 and I esteem it as an honour and pleasure to have an oppor- 
 tunity of saying this to you. Your belief in a higher world 
 is, indeed, a great matter ; it is this belief alone which is 
 the source of your strength." No sooner had Perthes set 
 his affairs in order, so far as circumstances permitted, than 
 he was informed by the Danish Government that it would be 
 imj)0ssible for them to protect him, in the event of his being 
 demanded by the French ; and that he must leave Aschau. 
 It was true that the truce concluded on the 4th of June, be- 
 tween the Allies and Napoleon, kept the sword in the scabbard 
 for the next few weeks even in North Germany ; but Perthes, 
 who from his solitary retreat could see nothing of the state of 
 external relations, desired to attain to such a knowledge of the 
 position of affairs, as might aid him in forming some plan for 
 himself, after the expiration of the truce. A number of influen- 
 tial men of all kinds were assembled in Mecklenburg, and thither 
 he proposed to repair ; and, at the same time, he hoped to se- 
 cure resources for the present support of his family, by collect- 
 ing many outstanding debts due to him in that place. In a 
 letter of Caroline's, she says, " When we had spent a few 
 weeks together at Aschau, Perthes said to me that matters 
 W'ere not yet settled, and that he must be off, in order to pro- 
 vide for our sustenance. Tlien it was that the scales fell from 
 
THE TIME OF THE TRUCE. 205 
 
 my eyes ; I knew, without asking, what Perthes intended to 
 do — what, indeed, he was compelled to do, and once more 
 I became exposed to all my former sorrows. Perhaps it 
 would he weeks, perhaps months, perhaps we should be in the 
 world above, before I saw liim again. I feared for myself ; for 
 I believe that with him I can bear all things, but without him 
 I know not what will become of me. Ah! and my soul is filled 
 with sorrow, anxiety, and care, on his account. You know how 
 earnestly I have desired more rest and leisure for him, and now 
 that he has lost all that he had earned in seventeen toilsome 
 years, he must take up the yoke again, and he will feel it 
 to be lieavier than ever. Pray for me that I may not grow 
 faint-hearted." On Thursday the 8th of July, under the shade 
 of the gloomy pine-trees of Aschau, Perthes took leave of Caro- 
 line. " It was the most painful parting of my life," he wrote 
 at the time ; and a journal which begins with this parting, 
 and contains little else except short notices of facts, opens with 
 these words, " I enter again into the world, into a new and 
 unknown world, full of great possibilities, and also full of jierils, 
 but I have spirit and courage to meet them cheerfully. Re- 
 signation to the will of God, firm convictions and rich experi- 
 ence, a heart full of love, and youthful feeling, truth, and rec- 
 titude, such are the treasures which my forty years of life have 
 given me ; — Lord my God, I thank thee for them ; forgive a 
 poor sinner, and lead me not into temptation." 
 
 The two elder children, Agnes and Matthias, accompanied 
 Perthes to Kiel ; here he met Besser, and travelled with him 
 by Liitgenburg to the little town of Heiligenhafen, situated on 
 the shore of the Baltic. The feelings of his heart found expres- 
 sion in many letters written from that place. " About five miles 
 
206 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 beyond Liitgcnburg, the aspect of the country changes entirely," 
 he says in one letter : " all becomes wild and rugged, and the 
 little inn of Brockel is a very picture of desolation — not even a 
 blade of grass does the barren wilderness produce. The host 
 lay in his coffin ; strangers were listlessly conducting the busi- 
 ness: even the poodle at the door was hardly to be called a dog, 
 and though the colour was evidently intended for black, it had 
 got no farther than the dark grey of the surrounding scenery. 
 But when we get over a few hills we come again into another 
 world. There are, indeed, neither trees nor hedges, but the 
 land is covered with the most glorious crops of green corn, and 
 between the boundless green of earth, and the boundless light 
 of the sky above, stretches a sea of the deepest blue, blending 
 and harmonizing all. On the shore, looking inland, it becomes 
 darker, till we reach the horizon, where it becomes brighter and 
 more transparent, melting into the light of heaven. At my side 
 stands in spirit my beloved, blessed Otto Runge, to point out to 
 me all the mysteries and wonders that nature hides and reveals." 
 Perthes was soon left alone in Heiligenhafen, for Besser 
 was obliged to return. " For many weeks past," he wrote to 
 Pool, " one member after another of the old life has been re- 
 moved from me ; farewells follow hard upon each other : now 
 Besser, too, is gone, and as the door closed after him, I felt as 
 if the coffin-lid were shut down upon me, and I had passed 
 from the old to a new world ; but love and memory are fresher 
 and more sacred in me than ever. I mean to go next to 
 Rostock, in order to find out Avhat there is for an honest and 
 upright man to do in these momentous times. I have seriously 
 put it to my conscience as in the sight of God, whether or not 
 I should listen to the inward voice which impels me to rush 
 
THE TIME OF THE TRUCE, 207 
 
 again into the tumult of life, and I find that I must follow it. 
 It is not ambition that urges me, for under any circumstances 
 I shall fall back, if I am spared, upon the business that I love. 
 My still youtliful heart is animated with an enthusiastic hatred 
 of our oppressors, and to this my religion allows me to give full 
 scope. Still, as I am not a military man, and have no scientific 
 knowledge, and as there is no want of brave and strong men, 
 I shall not enter the army ; but if any leader were in want of 
 a man who is accustomed to see his way through complicated 
 relations, and who would unite the candour of a friend with 
 the obedience of a subordinate and the duties and labours of 
 an adjutant, I would shun no danger to fulfil the duties of such 
 a post : Caroline would forgive me, and I should leave to my 
 children a legacy of honour. If, on the other hand, on my 
 arrival in Mecklenburg, I find things and persons in a state 
 which seems to make it my duty to keep aloof from them, 
 I shall then pay attention to my own concerns first ; go with 
 my wife and children to Sweden for the winter, and in the 
 spring to England, where I am sure, in a very short time, to 
 achieve independence by following my calling.'' 
 
 Perthes was detained nearly a week in a small house at 
 Heiligenhafen, the extreme point of Germany, by the preva- 
 lence of a strong east wind, which in spite of the bright, beau- 
 tiful weather, prevented any craft from putting to sea. " A 
 severe trial of patience," he said, " but since we sufier so much 
 from men, why not from nature also ?" On the 1 7th of July 
 the wind changed, and at five o'clock in the afternoon, Perthes, 
 in company with some other Hamburgh ers, and Curtius, Re- 
 corder of Liibeck, sailed in a driving storm from Kiel across to 
 Warnemunde, a seaport town near Rostock. 
 
208 LIFE or PERTHES, 
 
 " So I am again on land," he wrote to Caroline, " after a 
 glorious passage ! How I deliglit in tliose noble waves ! My 
 deepest feelings are called forth by them, and I become cheer- 
 ful and courageous. I feel as if I were in my proper element. 
 The waves were long and high, so that the open boat which 
 just held us ten, was now poised on the edge of the billow, now 
 deep in the trough of the sea. By the time it grew dark, all 
 the passengers and one of the boatmen became sea-sick ; I re- 
 mained well. At eleven o'clock that night, the strong gale had 
 driven us to the point of Warnemlinde, but the skipper was 
 afraid to run in ; so we cruised ^about in the dark till morning. 
 Nothing was to be seen but the monster billows which yawned 
 for us in all varieties of horrid shapes. At dawn we found our- 
 selves lying immediately opposite to Admiral Hope's ship, a 
 colossus of seventy-four guns, surrounded by two-and-twenty 
 other large vessels all bearing the flag of England. Far off across 
 the sea the moon cast a strip of silver light, and the rayless sun 
 a reflection of glowing red. I never received such impressions 
 of the sublime as during that short voyage." 
 
 At this time tidings came from Hamburgh that a general 
 pardon had been proclaimed. Ten men, however, were ex- 
 cepted, among whom was Perthes, " I thank you from my 
 heart, my beloved Perthes," wrote Caroline, " that your name 
 stands among the names of the ten enemies of the tyrant. 
 This will bring us joy and honour as long as we live," The 
 general pardon failed to protect the city from the atrocities 
 of Davoust, Bad as these appeared in July, they liad not 
 then reached their height. "It will do some good," said 
 Perthes, "for if it had not been for this, the old-fashioned 
 
THE TIME OF THE TRUCE. 209 
 
 spiritless people would have relapsed into the indolent let- 
 alone habits of their former life — still it is terrible, and it cuts 
 one to the very soul when one hears of such horrors/' But 
 still more grievous than the fate of particular cities was the 
 miserable condition of Germany. The uncertainty as to the 
 results of the truce filled all hearts with uneasiness. Would 
 it end in a desperate renewal of the struggle, or in a disgraceful 
 peace ? Would Austria join the allies or preserve her neu- 
 trality ? A native Austrian, in a letter to Perthes, says, — 
 " It must soon be decided whether Germany is to be a nation 
 or not, and whether the name of German is henceforth to be 
 our pride or our reproach. Would that I were but relieved from 
 the anxiety caused by the conduct of Austria ! I cannot, and 
 will not suspect that its hesitation is grounded on a crafty 
 policy which hangs the decision of its adherence on the next 
 turn of events." To many the honesty of Prussia appeared no 
 less doubtful The hesitation of Austria made it more than 
 ever apparent that it was by Prussia, hated where it was 
 not forgotten, that the fate of Germany was to be decided. 
 The great warlike preparations of the people had excited the 
 enthusiasm of all North Germany. 
 
 During the next month Perthes was actively engaged in re- 
 viving the Hanseatic Legion, and in talcing measures for the 
 defence of the Hanse-towns, and for their full recognition as 
 an important political element in North Germany. He was 
 well aware that no step of an important kind could be at- 
 tempted without the support of Prussia, and it was therefore 
 with considerable satisfaction that he discovered the opposi- 
 tion between the Government and the people, which now began 
 
 to manifest itself. To the Privy Councillor Scharnweber, who 
 
 18 
 
210 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 possessed the entire confidence of the Prussian Chancellor, he 
 sent a full statement of the position of North Germany, and con- 
 cluded with these words : — " I build my hopes of deliverance for 
 North Germany almost exclusively on the Prussian nation — 
 on the earnestness, on the real German spirit, and the freedom 
 which it is developing ; and whatever may be the particular 
 tendencies and aims of the government of the day, they must, 
 and will be overmastered by this spirit. Of your own personal 
 desire and the influence you possess, I am well aware, most 
 excellent sir, and I therefore commend our affairs to your pro- 
 tection. If you take up our cause, we have gained a point 
 d'appui such as we need." It was amid this complication of 
 cares, of labours, and of doubts, that on the 10th of August, 
 the truce, which had for a time sheathed the sword in North 
 Germany, came to an end. 
 
SITUATION OF THE HANSE-TOWNS. 211 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE SITUATION OF THE HANSE-TOWNS DURING THE STRUGGLE 
 ON THE LOWER ELBE, FROM THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST TO THE 
 BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER 1813. 
 
 On the l7tli of August, hostilities recommenced between Wal- 
 moden and Davoust. Walmoden, whose division formed the 
 extreme right wing of the northern army, under the command 
 of the Crown-Prince of Sweden, was forced to retreat, and by 
 the end of August, the enemy had taken Wismar, Gadebusch, 
 and Schwerin. But early in September, Davoust himself was 
 compelled to withdraw altogether from Mecklenburg, and to 
 fix his head-quarters at Ratzeburg during the rest of the 
 month ; while Walmoden sent strong reconnoitring parties to 
 the left bank of the Elbe, and, on the 16th of September, cut 
 to pieces a body of 7000 French on the Gohrde, occupied Liine- 
 burg, and made incursions into the Hanoverian territory. Thus, 
 when at the beginning of October, Davoust assembled the main 
 body of his army on the Elbe between Lauenburg and Ham- 
 burgh, he found himself menaced by Walmoden's troops on the 
 side of Hanover, as well as from Mecklenberg. 
 
 During these months of hope and fear, Perthes found full em- 
 ployment at his post in the Burgher-Guard, and in the Hanse- 
 atic Directory. The maintenance of the Burgher-Guard he 
 considered as a matter of the first importance, both for the 
 
212 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 future external position and inward development of the cities. 
 It seemed to afford the only means of diverting the burgher 
 mind from the one object of trade and commerce, and of cher- 
 ishing a vigorous self-reliant spirit, by means of which the 
 narrow city-life might expand into something wider and more 
 national. But to be in a position for accomplishing this task, 
 when it should return to the citizen-life, the Burgher-Guard 
 must, in the meanwhile, have obtained general confidence 
 and respect, and this was only to be won by active co-operation 
 in the struggle. General Vegesack's appointment of this force 
 for garrison-duty at Rostock, in the rear of the contending 
 armies, Avas consequently regarded by Perthes as an unfortu- 
 nate arrangement. He says to Mettlerkamp on the 3d of 
 ►September, — " We have sworn to risk our lives for the liberty 
 of the cities, and the hour is come. Our brethren in the legion 
 are a-head, we dare not draw back. We burghers of the cities 
 entreat to be led out to war ; not because our little contingent 
 can add any weight to the army : it is for our own sake we 
 ask it." On the following morning he laid before the officers 
 and privates a petition addressed to General Vegesack, request- 
 ing to be led into the field at once. It was signed by the whole 
 corps, but the General declared that he could not, without the 
 most urgent necessity, consistently with the dictates of his own 
 conscience or with his duty to the future authorities of the 
 Hanse-towns, oppose to the enemy a force composed almost en- 
 tirely of heads of families. The Burgher-Guard accordingl}' 
 remained in garrison during the months of September and 
 October, in Wismar, Gressow, Calsow, and Grevismiihlen, in the 
 vicinity of the foe, but without participation in the strife. 
 The injurious consequences of such a half-way position be- 
 
SITUATION OF THE HANSE-TOWNS. 213 
 
 tween citizen and soldier life were soon manifested. The spirit 
 of tlie corjis declined, and its discipline^became relaxed. Pro- 
 tracted delays and long seasons of inactivity engender evils 
 and ffive rise to vices which cleave even to the best men. 
 Endless disputes arose ; the one party demanding military sub- 
 ordination, the other asserting burgher independence. Bitter 
 jealousies also arose between the guard and the legion ; and 
 Perthes saw that the only means of avoiding future mischief 
 was to effect a union of the two forces under the command of 
 Colonel Witzleben. Mettlerkamp was opposed to this arrange- 
 ment, and wished to retain an independent position with his 
 burgher force ; but Perthes first won over Vegesack and Witz- 
 leben, and then exerted the whole weight of his personal in- 
 fluence to bring the members of the guard themselves to his 
 opinion. On the 24th of October, he publicly appealed to the 
 officers, and finding that they were unanimously of his way of 
 thinking, the union of the Burgher-Guard with the Legion took 
 place at Gadebusch on the 29th October. All jealousy and 
 ill-will were now forgotten ; and, writes Perthes, " It was a 
 happy hour when burgher and burgher, brother and brother, 
 were reunited : there were, indeed, elements of evil to be over- 
 come, but what was not to be done by gentleness, I accomplished 
 by force. The youth of both corps adhered to me, and their 
 affection won the victory over their ill-disposed elders." 
 
 Perthes had taken a considerable part of the labours of the 
 Hanseatic Directory upon himself These were continually 
 increasing, on account of the growing necessity of procuring 
 fresh supplies of money from England and Germany to provide 
 for the support of the destitute exiles who were daily receiving- 
 additions to their numbers. The universal confidence in his 
 
214 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 integrity and his conscientiousness, was increased by the cir- 
 cumstance of his having thought it his duty distinctly to refuse 
 every kind of support for himself 
 
 The position assumed by the Hanseatic Directory, as the 
 political representative of the cities, had thrown its business, as 
 a relief committee, somewhat into the background ; and, in 
 the meanwhile, the plans for the future had assumed a definite 
 form. The restoration of the regenerated empire, under a 
 prince of the house of Hapsburg, was the hope of all North 
 Germany, with the exception of Prussia. The cities united by 
 the Hanseatic league, elevated to a position of dignity and im- 
 portance by their internal reformation, were to form an indepen- 
 dent portion of the Empire, like Bavaria, Russia, or Hanover. 
 The separation of the judicial functions from the administra- 
 tive, an improved state of finance, the removal of all political 
 disabilities from non-Lutherans, the abrogation of the College 
 of Ancients, and the adoption of a new principle of burgess-repre- 
 sentation, were brought forward by a committee of organization, 
 as a means of effecting the necessary reformation. Availing him- 
 self of his extensive acquaintance, Perthes applied to the most 
 opposite quarters for the purpose of ascertaining in how far the 
 projects of the Directory were in keeping with the plans of the 
 Great Allied Powers. The answer was, in all cases, one and the 
 same, that neither sovereign nor statesman had any plan for the 
 political future of Germany, and that Germany would undoubt- 
 edly become what the result of circumstances should make it. 
 To the Emperor of Austria the Imperial Crown was as a crown 
 of thorns, and his cabinet assumed an attitude of delay and 
 indecision. No one knew the intentions of the Russian govern- 
 ment, but all distrusted them. Under these circumstances the 
 
SITUATION OF THE HANSE-TOWNS. 215 
 
 position of the cities could only be assured externally by the 
 co-operation of England and the Crown-Prince of Sweden, and 
 internally by those of the generals who might effect their de- 
 liverance. Early in September, Gries and Sieveking, deputed 
 by the Directory, repaired to the head-quarters of the Crown- 
 Prince. Perthes sought through his personal connexions to 
 excite the interest of England, and especially of Count Miinster, 
 while he hastened from Vegesack to Walmoden, from Walmo- 
 den to Dornberg, Witzleben, and other Germans of influence, 
 in order either to awaken their sympathy on behalf of the 
 cities, or to stimulate and keep it alive. 
 
 The views of the Hanseatic Directory met with strong oppo- 
 sition on the part of the Conservatives of Hamburgh, who 
 wished to see the old constitution restored. It seems to have 
 been Sieveking who first saw the danger that might accrue to 
 the future independence of the cities from this jealous opposi- 
 tion. In a letter written from Berlin on the 19 th of September, 
 he says, "We have laid before the Crown-Prince the Memorial 
 relating to the measures which may be rendered necessary in 
 the event of Hamburgh being placed under military authority. 
 But I must confess, dear Perthes, that many an anxious fore- 
 boding has accompanied this step. The future independence 
 of the Hanse-towns seems to me to be so absolutely contin- 
 gent on their internal tranquillity, and on the result of the 
 intervention of the Princes, that I would rather decline the 
 avowal of our helplessness, and shrink from provoking the 
 strife of burghers or admitting the interference of princes, even 
 with the purest intentions. Let us keep our heads clear and 
 our hands free, so that the fall of the Hanse-towns, which is 
 perhaps a necessaiy result of the tendencies of the age, be not 
 
216 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 placed to our account. Let us not reckon too much on the 
 indifference of our narrow-minded fellow-citizens ; there is fire 
 enough under the ashes ; and you know as well as I, that Pro- 
 vidence often makes use of the ideal in legislation to lead 
 blinded men, by little and little, to political suicide. I am not 
 sufficiently acquainted with Hamburgh to come to a conclusion 
 as to the possibility or impossibility of restoring the old consti- 
 tution ; but I am sure that it is only in the event of its impos- 
 sibility, that we should be justified in hazarding much in the 
 hope of gaining much ; and even then we must remember that 
 we are playing a game of chance. The reaction w^hich is now 
 fast manifesting itself, confirms my conviction of the necessity 
 of avoiding every appearance of innovation.'' 
 
 The danger of attempting to carry out constitutional changes, 
 by means of foreign assistance, was increased by a rumour that 
 Von Hess had availed himself of his credit with the English 
 Ministers, to induce them to take the Burgher-Guard into the 
 pay of England ; thus throwing the power of framing the new 
 constitution into his own hands. Rumour was also busy with 
 reports of similar designs on tlie part of the Crown-Prince of 
 Sweden. It was said that the forces of all the petty states of 
 North Germany were united under his supreme command, and 
 that he just required to obtain a victory, in order to have at his 
 disposal an army of 50,000 Germans, and 80,000 Swedes. The 
 Crown-Prince had indeed treated with the Hanseatic Directory 
 throughout, as a duly constituted and independent political 
 power ; but when it should actually assume independence, 
 then we should hear of the necessity of avoiding revolutionary 
 measures. Such was the current report. General Vegesack, a 
 rough soldier of the old stamp, when some observations as to 
 
SITUATION OF THE HANSE-TOWNS. 217 
 
 the future constitution of the cities were made in his presence, 
 replied, " When I enter Hamburgh, or Lubeck, I shall say to 
 the people, ' Now, my children, thank God that you have got 
 your freedom again, and govern yourselves according to your 
 laws. Where is your old burgomaster? — where are your old 
 councillors ? I will put them in their old places ; if you have 
 heretofore had any foolery among you, be the wiser on that 
 account for the future. I know neither the blockheads nor the 
 foxes, but you must know them ; I can't trouble myself about 
 nothing. Not a word of constitutional changes, I can hear 
 nothing of the sort ; I bring you back your old laws, and will 
 do what my master commands me.' " 
 
 At the sight of these opposing forces, the influence of which 
 ]ie could not avert, Perthes was greatly perplexed. " It is a 
 momentous time," he wrote, " and I am able to comprehend it ; 
 but the man often sinks into melancholy, and then all, all a|>- 
 pears vain and miserable — all is falsehood, deceit, and illusion. 
 Through such dark seasons a man must pass, they are part of 
 human destiny ; and even He who was without sin was pleased 
 to endure the like. I could not tell you in a tliousand pages, 
 my Caroline, all the thoughts and feelings that pass through 
 my head in the course of the day ; my days are often sad 
 enough. How hard it is to present truth in its purity ! it 
 receives the colouring of each individual's mind, and of 
 each individual's weaknesses and follies. How weak and 
 corrupt are men, even the good ! If man were not a poor 
 sinner, he might regard himself as a God." And in another 
 letter, "May God enable me to do what is right, and keep 
 me from self-exaltation. I will preserve my integrity ; I will 
 look upon my fatherland with a good conscience, and will 
 
 19 
 
218 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 return to our city with an open countenance and head 
 erect." 
 
 He still retained the conviction that the circumstances of 
 the times required a change in the constitution of the cities, 
 while at the same time they were such as to render it imprac- 
 ticable Avithout foreign help. " But what avails it/' he said, 
 " that the way is clearly and definitely pointed out to us, when 
 the men with and for whom we are to act have shut their eyes 
 to the requirements of the time ; and at this moment the opi- 
 nion of men is stronger than the might of circumstances, and 
 to disregard them at the present juncture would be both foolish 
 and criminal." Perthes soon relinquislied the idea of effecting 
 any change by extraneous means. " Every suspicion must be 
 removed," he wrote, " that we are serving the political purposes 
 of foreign princes, or that we are aiming at revolutionary 
 changes within the cities. For the present the Hanseatic 
 Directory must keep quiet, and wait upon events, without 
 arousing jealousy and suspicion. Its first object must in the 
 meantime be to prevent the allied cities from being given up 
 to some sovereign prince, and to secure for them the same 
 independent position that the princes themselves expect to 
 occupy under the future empire.'' 
 
 The stirring events between the expiration of the truce and 
 the middle of November, had demanded from Perthes mental 
 and physical exertions and sacrifices of all kinds ; but it had 
 also been rich in experiences both of heart and life. Naturally 
 disposed to self-confidence, he had learned that his powers were 
 limited ; "but," he said, " I have at the same time learned that 
 the voice of an honest man is a mighty power, and has great 
 influence." There were seasons when the impressions made on 
 
SITUATION OF THE HANSE-TOWNS. 219 
 
 liim by the great agitation tlirougliout Prussia, and the battles 
 which were then being fought — remarkable both in themselves 
 and in their consequences — rendered it difficult for him to pre- 
 serve his sympathy and his energies for circumstances which, 
 when compared with the momentous events of the times, were 
 petty and circumscribed. Many of his friends desired a wider 
 sphere of action for liim. " Would to God," wrote Niebuhr, 
 *'that you would now step forth as a statesman in our father- 
 land ! I call to every one who has ears to tell me how 
 you can in future be brought into the administration of Ger- 
 many." Perthes, on the contrary, was convinced that he was, 
 by the previous course of his life, unfitted for working for great 
 things except in ^ small circle ; and since he was excluded from 
 any immediate participation in the great affairs of Germany, he 
 rejoiced the more in the confidential relations in which he stood 
 towards the most eminent men of the North. He possessed 
 the personal confidence of Generals Walmoden, Dornberg, and 
 Vegesack, as well as of the Hereditary Prince of Schwerin, and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Witzleben who requested his intervention 
 in numberless cases, when fresh supplies were to be procured, 
 intricate questions to be determined, or young troops to be 
 animated and encouraged. The young men of the Legion were 
 devoted to him heart and soul, and clung to him with childlike 
 affection and confidence. They delighted in the sympathy of 
 the slender, delicately-formed man, who never shrank from the 
 endurance of any hardship with them, who took part in all their 
 joys and perils, and who never spared earnest and friendly re- 
 monstrances in the hope of preserving them from the reckless 
 licence of a wild and irregular soldier-life. Perthes repaid 
 their affection with the most cordial recognition. It was not 
 
220 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 without some mixture of personal pride tliat lie heard Witzle- 
 bcn and other experienced officers praise the cheerful patience 
 under hardships, and the daring, even foolhardy rashness of the 
 attack of the newly-formed legion : he excused their occasional 
 Avildness as the exuberance of a poetical enthusiasm. Tears 
 stood in his eyes on receiving a letter from Witzleben, in which 
 the general wrote, " The infantry fought like lions, my dear 
 Perthes, in yesterday's battle at MoUner Wood, and I am per- 
 fectly satisfied with their conduct ; they have revived the glory 
 of the old Hansa." Perthes writes on one occasion, " I see 
 many fine youths here, who are developing noble qualities. 
 The blessing of God will rest upon our youth, and through them 
 He will make all right ; such is my firm conviction, and it is 
 my happiness that all our dear young people cling to me like 
 children." 
 
 But the active and stirring life of three months was pervaded 
 by a deej^ and heartfelt sorrow, arising from the position of his 
 wife and children. He had been obliged, as we have seen, to 
 leave them in the beginning of July at Aschau, a farm belong- 
 ing to the Count Caius Reventlow. There, near the farm- 
 house, and in the middle of the wood, close to the sea, stood 
 the summer-house which had been the refuge of Caroline and 
 her children, consisting of a sitting-room and a few small bed- 
 rooms. The farmer was the only inhabitant within a circle of 
 four miles. In a letter written some time afterwards to her sister 
 at Salzburg, Caroline says, " We could get nothing from the 
 farmer, kind as he was, but milk and butter ; bread, soap, salt, 
 oil, and so forth, were not to be had within four miles, and my 
 sister Augusta, with the two elder children, had to fetch them. 
 For eighteen weeks we had neither meat nor white bread in 
 
SITUATION OF THE HANSE-TOWNS. 221 
 
 the house. What was called the kitchen was about forty paces 
 from the house ; our cooking utensils consisted of four copper 
 pots, a bowl, and a few plates. Fortunately, I had brought 
 our spoons with me, and I purchased a few knives and forks ; 
 everything else wo did without." " And yet," she says, in an- 
 other letter, "we are rich in comparison with many others, for we 
 have a hundred thousand times more than nothing." Caro- 
 line's confinement was expected in a few months. The eldest 
 of her children was a daughter of fifteen, and the youngest, 
 a boy, did not yet run alone. The eldest son, Matthias, 
 walked every morning at seven o'clock to Altenhof, a dis- 
 tance of three miles, to receive instruction with the sons of 
 Count Reventlow. The education of the rest was in the 
 meantime interrupted. One old and faithful servant had re- 
 mained with them, and their means did not allow them to en- 
 gage a second. The damp garden-house, with its twelve windows 
 down to the ground, and unprovided with shutters, brought 
 ailments of all sorts upon the children during the moist, rainy 
 season, and Caroline herself was often laid upon a sick-bed. 
 There was a friendly old farrier at Eckernfordc, but no physi- 
 cian nearer than Kiel, a distance of at least twelve or fifteen 
 miles. 
 
 The deserted wife, however, met with sympathy and com- 
 fort. Her sister Augusta was ready for every emergency by 
 night or by day, " and the families of Count C. Reventlow and 
 Count C. Stolberg, vie with each other," writes Caroline, " in 
 their attention, and in the readiness they manifest in lending 
 us assistance in our need. No words can describe the kindness 
 of our dear friends at Altenhof and Windebyc." The children, 
 too, while adding to her anxieties, ministered no less to her 
 
222 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 strength and happiness. "They refreshed me in my distress, each 
 in his own way, and out of the simple and genuine affection of 
 tlieir hearts, — the little Bernard not excepted, who is often at a 
 loss to find expression for his love. I am indeed convinced 
 from experience that God can give us no greater joy, or sorrow, 
 than through a loving and beloved child. Nothing else so 
 revives and sustains the heart, and shames us into enersfv. 
 This I have experienced a thousand times ; and I scarcely 
 think that I could have continued mistress of myself, if God 
 had not given me my angel Bernard, and in him a living image 
 of childisli love and confidence. When I was in deep affliction 
 and anxiety on account of Perthes, and in sorrow for my eight 
 children entering upon life deprived of a father's counsel and 
 affection, I was often on the brink of despair. And when at 
 such times I folded my dear Bernard in my arms, and looked 
 into his clear infant eyes, and saw that he was neither troubled 
 nor afraid, but calm, sweet, and loving, I found faith again, 
 a^nd prayed to God that I might become even as my dear 
 child." 
 
 The kindness of friends and the love of her children, 
 might indeed uphold her against the heavy pressure of exter- 
 nal circumstances, but when her anxiety for her absent hus- 
 band was aroused, she could not be comforted. The commu- 
 nications with Mecklenburg being interrui>ted, letters from 
 Perthes were seldom received, while the most contradictory and 
 exaggerated reports were in circulation, as to the position he 
 had assumed, and the dangers with which he was encompassed. 
 Caroline's mind meanwhile was full of the saddest forebod- 
 ings : in a future that did not seem far off, she pictured her 
 children fatherless and motherless, helpless and forsaken. Her 
 
SITUATION OF THE HANSE-TOWNS. 223 
 
 grief is revealed in letters evidently written under the deepest 
 melancholy: — " I have need of hope/' she writes to Perthes, " for 
 the present is mournful, and my condition and circumstances are 
 more serious, and my sense of desolation is greater than you in 
 the midst of so much activity and hopeful labour can realize. 
 If I am to spend my time here alone, if I am to remain here 
 without tidings of you, while I know you to be exposed to con- 
 stant danger, I cannot survive. I cannot sufficiently impress 
 on you, my Perthes, the importance of making such arrange- 
 ments as may prevent our being separated during the coming 
 winter. I solemnly assure you, that it is an act of injustice to 
 
 leave me here, without the most urgent necessity I am 
 
 surrounded by darkness and perplexity, and I see before me a 
 sad and painful deathbed, to which I may at any moment be 
 called ; but I will not despair. May God protect and preserve 
 you to us ; we will pray for you by night and by day." And 
 in a letter written somewhat later, she says, " If you love me, 
 take care that in the event of my death, my children, especially 
 my little children, be intrusted to the care of those who will 
 teach them to love God, without knowing that they are learning 
 it. This is the main point, and to little ones everything else is 
 comparatively unimportant: their hearts, in which so much lies 
 dormant, are first to be opened. Ah, my Perthes ! may God 
 help us to awaken the love of Himself in our children, whether 
 we are to live together or apart in this world. My hand trembles, 
 and I can write no more." At other times her anxiety for the 
 life of her husband overcame the thought of her own approach- 
 ing hour of danger : — " How can I persuade myself that you, my 
 dear Perthes, will be preserved to me?" she writes ; " God takes 
 away thousands of husbands as much beloved by their wives 
 
224 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 and cliildren as you are by us. Perthes, my dear Perthes ! to 
 fulfil your slightest wish would be my only pleasure, were you 
 to be taken from me, and I were to have the misery of being 
 left in the world without you. Tell me then more of your 
 views regarding the children, and of what I can do to please 
 you. 
 
 The quiet energy and self-command with which Caroline, 
 even in her deepest affliction, presided over her household, and 
 the expressions of courage and resignation which filled many 
 of her letters written to women who, like herself, were victims 
 of the events of the time, had impressed her friends with the 
 con\action, that even if the worst should befall her, her peace 
 of mind would still remain unshaken. To her husband, 
 whom she had always found a sure refuge in circumstances 
 of trial, she, indeed, gave vent to her oppressed heart in 
 frequent complaints ; but amid her complainings she as often 
 gave utterance, without seeming to intend it, to the lan- 
 guage of patience. Thus she writes in one of her letters to 
 Perthes, — " I have the firm conviction that my trust in God 
 will never fail, but I cannot always rejoice in the will of God, 
 and I cannot make up my mind to resign you without tears, 
 and without the deepest anguish : you are too entirely my all 
 in this world ; but believe me, I do not murmur, I only weep, 
 and I am yours for eternity." But it was only at long inter- 
 vals that these letters came into the hands of Perthes, and his 
 answers sometimes lost, sometimes carried from place to place 
 for months together, afforded no help to Caroline in forming 
 her plans, and little or no support in her solitude. To trans- 
 port his wife and cliildren to Mecklenburg into the midst of 
 the confusion of war, was impossible, and to have visited them 
 
SITUATION OF THE HANSE-TOWNS. 225 
 
 in Holstein, he was assured by the Danish authorities, would 
 Lave involved peril to life or liberty. Perthes was, moreover, 
 fully persuaded that he was in the path of duty. " I follow the 
 voice of God and duty/' he says in one of his letters, " and 
 that voice is now clearer and more distinct than ever ;" but the 
 privations and anxieties to which he knew his family to be 
 exposed did not on this account affect him the less. 
 
 " Never, my Caroline," he writes, "permit yourself to think 
 that my love for you and for the children is one whit less warm 
 or deep than that of those who are anxiously striving to pre- 
 serve their lives for the sake of their families. There are seasons 
 in which the whole weight of the anxieties which await us in 
 the future, and of the sorrow that is involved in the present, 
 presses heavily upon me. Your task is, indeed, a hard one, but 
 mine is not light. Have patience, be calm and self-possessed, 
 my beloved Caroline, trust to my sense and prudence, and 
 leave the event to God. When we took leave of each other, 
 you wished to know what was to become of the children in 
 the event of my death. It is not well to make minute ar- 
 rangements which are to have effect long after our death, for 
 life is always changing, and any disposition we can make, 
 may thus turn out unsuitable. I trust to your wisdom, your 
 energy, and your affection, and I pray to God to give you what 
 you want ; and that is, tranquillity. If I have a wish, it is that 
 you and the cliildren should live near Nicolovius, and that 
 Matthias should remain under the tuition of Twesten for five 
 or six years. But man proposes, God disposes." " Thank God," 
 he says, in another letter, " that you, my darlings, and my 
 only earthly treasures, are well. Dear Caroline, what a vast 
 wilderness the world becomes when man has no home ! That 
 
226 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 whicli I wanted as a youth I want now, but in a different way. 
 In my youth you stood before me, the object of my love and 
 desire, like some fairy-enchantment ; I behold you again in my 
 thoughts, but it is in all the reality of your truth and worth, and 
 I cannot reach you. These times are, indeed, wonderful and in- 
 teresting, but it is hard to be without a home, and the sad hours 
 that I spend apart from you, shifting for myself, are too many. 
 .... The sight of little children always brings tears into my 
 eyes." " God will help me," he writes again ; " I dare not leave 
 what I have undertaken. I am not so blinded by vanity and 
 folly as not to see that my own want of ability and experience, 
 as well as my age and my previous calling, unfit me for mili- 
 tary life, especially considering that there is no lack of brave 
 young men ; but it is my business to lift up my voice for truth 
 and justice, as opportunity offers, and to shew that the will 
 of God is not altogether forgotten, in spite of the sinfulness and 
 weakness that everywhere impede its clear and perfect recog- 
 nition. That in times such as these, when the struggle betwixt 
 good and evil, truth and falsehood, is so fierce, a man cannot 
 hope to achieve anything without risking much ; that, in order 
 to do homage to truth and right, a man must be ready to give 
 up heart, and life, and fortune, and estate — tJiat, my noble 
 wife, you know as well as I. I have courage, and energy, and 
 moderate desires, and I am at peace with God and with myself I 
 can pray as I never prayed before, and I pray much. My much- 
 loved Caroline, take courage and be calm ; God will help you 
 and me also." Again, he writes, " It seems as if God were 
 blessing all my undertakings. Indeed much has been achieved, 
 many things have received form, and in more than one instance 
 harmony and stability have been secured by my efforts ; but 
 
SITUATION OF THE HANSE-TOWNS. 227 
 
 it is not only in its results, as they affect the one great na- 
 tional object, that our separation has been useful : it has also 
 enabled me to assist many individuals known and unknown. 
 Large sums of money are placed at my disposal, and thus I am 
 able to aid the distressed not only with sympathy and advice, 
 but also with substantial assistance. Yes, dear Caroline, all 
 the inducements that can move a man to sacrifice every earthly 
 possession in order to work energetically and actively, com- 
 bine to stimulate me now — honour, gratitude, affection, free- 
 dom, love of action. Comfort yourself as I do, by thinking on 
 what has been done." 
 
 On the 17th of September Caroline and her children had 
 left Aschau for Kiel, where Count Moltke had given up to 
 them the apartments which lie usually occupied when he was 
 staying in that city. There, Caroline found indeed medical 
 help, friends and relations ; but she had still to endure the 
 most severe privations from the want of money. Her own 
 illness and that of her children added to her sorrows. Her 
 anxiety for the fate of her family, in the event of her not 
 surviving her confinement, was also increased by her total 
 ignorance of her liu&-band's circumstances, and even of his 
 place of residence. From the 7th of August to the 2d of Oc- 
 tober she was without tidings of him, and knew not whether 
 he were alive or dead. Towards the end of October she wrote, 
 " I struggle ever more and more to keep thought and fancy, 
 heart and yearning, under control, but oh, my beloved, I suffer 
 inexpressibly ! " — and then after details concerning the chil- 
 dren, she adds, " I tell you everything, for you should know how 
 things actually stand, that you may be able to do what is right 
 in the circumstances • but I do not write thus to induce you 
 
228 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 to draw back. I take God to witness, who is more to me tliaii 
 even you are, that I do not wish you to do anything but your 
 duty." 
 
 These last words were conveyed to Perthes with unusual 
 rapidity, and within a few days he was transported to a sphere 
 of action which enabled him to assure his wife that she had 
 now nothing to fear for his life, for that he was employed on 
 a peaceful mission. 
 
DEPUTATION TO FRANKFORT, 229 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DEPUTATION TO FRANKFORT, NOV. 1813 TO JAN. 1814. 
 
 Circumstances arose which rendered it desirable that Per- 
 thes should remove to Bremen, to prosecute there his labours 
 on behalf of the Hanse-towns. With all the zeal, the untiring 
 energy, and the self-sacrifice which we have already seen 
 him display, he continued to labour until he was deputed to 
 represent the Hanse-towns at the Diet of Frankfort, where the 
 affairs of Germany were to be deliberated upon. On the 3d 
 of December, in company with Sieveking, his fellow-deputy, 
 he left Bremen, and on the 8th reached Frankfort. 
 
 On the following day Perthes had the satisfaction of obtain- 
 ing from Baron von Stein, in a long and very candid conversa- 
 tion, the most positive assurances of the Independence of the 
 three towns. " The Germanic Empire," said Stein, " will be 
 restored ; but till peace is concluded, it is not advisable to 
 proceed to any definite arrangements, lest we should thereby 
 (r'we rise to misunderstandings. But the feeling of the great 
 allied powers is entirely favourable to the Free Cities ; they will 
 not be subjected to any prince, but will preserve their indepen- 
 dent place in the empire. They have nothing to fear from the 
 Crown-Prince of Sweden ; he and his intrigues are well known." 
 He highly approved of the proceedings of the Hanseatic Direc- 
 toiy, and considered it as a matter of justice that a Provincial 
 
230 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Committee should be appointed for Hamburgh, in order to carry 
 out the requisite changes in the Constitution/' Stein entirely 
 agreed with Perthes in his opinions respecting the Elsfleth duty. 
 " Duties," he said, " imply no restriction on trade ; even Eng- 
 land admits them ; only a duty should not be levied for the 
 benefit of a single district. A regular scale of duties should 
 be fixed for the whole empire, from Holland to Russia." — 
 " Stein spoke so freely and openly," said Perthes, " that I 
 poured out my whole heart to him, and told him all my feel- 
 ings with reference to our German Fatherland and our Hanse- 
 towns, and I soon perceived that he listened to me with 
 pleasure." 
 
 From Stein Perthes and Sieveking went at once to Herr von 
 Pilat, private Secretary to Prince Metternich. " We spent the 
 afternoon and evening in friendly and cheerful conversation 
 with him and Baron Binder," said Perthes, " and soon per- 
 ceived that Austria was prepared to look favourably on every 
 attempt to restore the Germanic Empire and the Imperial 
 power ; but a conversation with Barthokly, the Prussian coun- 
 cillor, admitted us to a difierent view of things. Everything 
 here seemed to point to great changes, — ' The king,' said Bar- 
 thold}'-, ' will shortly assemble tlie States, and the relation in 
 which Prussia stands to Germany will then at once appear. 
 As to the internal policy of the Free Cities, we were to do,' he 
 said, ' what we could without asking many questions, and what 
 is done would be approved.'" On the 10th of December the 
 deputies were introduced by Pilat to Prince Metternich. " The 
 Prince received us very kindly," wrote Perthes, " assured us 
 of the independence of the Free Cities, and spoke with con- 
 fidence of the restoration of the Germanic Empire. On my 
 
DEPUTATION TO FRANKFORT. 231 
 
 observing that the cities would not be disposed to return to a 
 simple neutrality as before, but would desire to be included in the 
 Emjiire ;" he replied, " I see that you, like the rest of us, have 
 given up many of the chimeras of former days/' On the same 
 day the deputation was admitted to an audience of the Empe- 
 ror Francis. " You have suffered much," he said, " but matters 
 are improving, for now we are all Germans, and I will soon 
 help you." Then turning to Perthes and Sieveking, he added, 
 " Yes, it goes hard with Hamburgh, and that wild fellow Da- 
 voust avenges himself cruelly, but what I can make good, I 
 will," While the kind assurances of the Emperor had increased 
 the previous aifectionate attachment of the deputies to his 
 person, the abrupt harshness of the King of Prussia, by whom 
 they were received on the following day, was in no way calcu- 
 lated to lessen the dislike which was then felt in North Ger- 
 many towards the Prussian supremacy. By the Chancellor 
 Hardenberg, by Wilhelm von Humboldt,* and by the Privy- 
 Councillor Hippel, the freedom of the Hanse-towns was spoken 
 of as a political necessity, but a secret misgiving as to the de- 
 signs of the Court of Berlin still remained. 
 
 Many were the political impressions tliat Perthes received 
 during his short stay in Frankfort. At the table of the Chan- 
 cellor he met the most distinguished personages of Prussia : 
 Count Ncssclrode spoke kindly to him of the importance of 
 the Hanse-towns to the trade of Europe, while the Hanoverian 
 Count Hardenberg hastened to assure him of his friendly 
 feelings : Stagemann, and the banker Harnier, frankly told 
 
 * Wilhelm von ITuruboldt, the younger brother of Alexander, distinguished as an 
 nrientalist and philologist — and in other respects as one of the most eminent men 
 of the period. 
 
232 LIFE OF PEETHES. 
 
 him that they were persuaded that the commercial relations, 
 the river navigation, and the customs, would be adjusted as 
 chance or the influence of the moment might suggest, there 
 being no one present who had any clear views respecting these 
 matters. The plenipotentiaries of the smaller states, the Chan- 
 cellor von Kettelhodt, President von Berg, the Minister von 
 Gagern and the Swiss deputies, aflbrded information regard- 
 ing the special relations of the states which they represented. 
 Intellectual subjects of all kinds formed topics of discussion in 
 the evening assemblies, with such men as Schlosscr, Zacharias 
 Werner, Giinderode, Passavant, and others equally distinguished. 
 " This day,'' writes Perthes, on the 16th of December, "termi- 
 nates our journey of discovery, and we have found that the terra 
 firma which we sought is not yet in sight ; but our hearts are 
 filled with gratitude and praise to God, for showing us how much 
 kindly feeling exists among the great European powers towards 
 our Fatherland and the Hanse-towns." While Sraidt remained 
 at head-quarters, Perthes and Sieveking returned to Bremen, 
 and arrived there on the 20th of December. The Emperors 
 Francis and Alexander, and King Frederick William had in 
 writing recognised the Independence of the Free Cities, and 
 the deputies were thus able to render a joyful account of their 
 journey in the Council-hall at Bremen, where the senators 
 assembled to meet them. 
 
 Perthes had been disappointed in his hope of finding letters 
 from Caroline at Bremen : he was the more anxious, because 
 Holstein had become the seat of war. Finding no letters at 
 Bremen, he hastened to Lubeck, carrying with him tlie gua- 
 rantees of the Independence of the cities. Here he heard 
 tliat Caroline had been safely delivered of a son, Andreas, on 
 
DEPUTATION TO FRANKFORT. 
 
 233 
 
 the 10th of December. On Christmas night he travelled to 
 Kiel, now no longer threatened by a hostile army, and arrived 
 there next day at five o'clock in the afternoon. " Unexpected, 
 and in the twilight, he entered my room, after a separation of 
 nearly six months," wrote Caroline : " Matthias saw him first. 
 I had the happiness of restoring all the children to him safe 
 and well, with the addition of a darling, healthy infant. What 
 this was none can know but one who has experienced it." 
 
 Shortly after his return, Perthes was requested by the staiF- 
 general of the Crown-Prince of Sweden, to associate himself 
 with two other gentlemen of Lubeck and Bremen, who were 
 also named, to administer the large sura of money which the 
 Prince had granted for the relief of the exiled Hamburghers. 
 For this purpose, Perthes again left his family on the 1st of 
 January 1814, and in order to be as near as possible to the scene 
 of sufiering, he took up his quarters at Flottbeck, a small town 
 on the Elbe, about nine miles above Hamburgh. Here the 
 situation of the city revealed itself to his eyes in all its horror. 
 
 While the greater part of Germany had long been delivered 
 from the French, Davoust had maintained himself in Ham- 
 burgh, although confined within the limits of the city by the 
 besieging army of General Benningsen, who had succeeded to 
 General Woronzow, towards the end of December. What Da- 
 voust did may perhaps find its excuse in his position as a 
 beleaguered general, but the manner in which he did it could 
 only have been devised by the rage of a disappointed villain. 
 He began his cruelties with the robbery of the Bank, and the 
 most cruel treatment of the burghers. On the week following 
 the Christmas festival, the suburbs, all the surrounding vil- 
 lages, and the fine country houses on the Alster, were set oa 
 
 10 
 
234 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 fire after only eighteen hours' notice, and 20,000 people were 
 driven out of the city destitute and homeless ; first the young 
 and strong as dangerous, and then the old and weak as super- 
 fluous. The children were next brought out of the orphan- 
 house, the infirm poor from the alms-houses, the criminals from 
 the prisons, and all were driven outside the gates, and there 
 left to their fate. At mid-day, on the 30th December, Davoust 
 gave orders that the hospital in which were 800 sick and idiots, 
 should be vacated, and set on fire, and by the same hour on 
 the following day it was in flames, but not till, through the 
 incredible exertions of the burghers, the helpless inmates had 
 all been removed, while bands of drunken soldiers were strug- 
 gling with the sick for their clothes and their bedding, and 
 scenes of reckless plundering were being enacted on every side. 
 The troops, at the same time, set fire to the adjoining houses, 
 and gave themselves up to deeds of unmitigated atrocity. 
 The intense excitement, and the bitter cold of a January 
 niffht, cost 600 of the sick their lives. 
 
 The tidings of these horrors filled with sorrow and indigna- 
 tion the minds of Perthes and his friends at Flottbeck, while 
 the misery which came under their own personal observation 
 was equally heart-rending. For miles round, the snow-covered 
 country presented the appearance of a vast waste of ruins, 
 above which, here and there, a wall, or a half-consumed tree, 
 might be seen, while women and children wandered about 
 amid the desolation, seeking their property. Every night the 
 sky was illumined by the glow of freshly-kindled fires. In the 
 streets of Altona, and in the neighbouring villages, half-frozen 
 figures were seen wandering about and crying for food and 
 clothing, and for shelter from the frost and cold, while long lines 
 
DEPUTATION TO FRANKFORT. 235 
 
 of the sick and tlie aged, of women and children, might be seen 
 on the roads to Lubeck and Bremen, under the escort of a troop 
 of Cossacks, on their way to seek in the sister-cities the assist- 
 ance they so sorely needed. " You will have heard of the 
 misery of this district," writes Perthes to Caroline, " but no 
 words can give any idea of it. It must be seen : all the trouble 
 that I have witnessed and shared for the last nine months, is 
 as nothing in comparison. How will it end ! May God gra- 
 ciously shorten it, and bring us safely through it." Much was 
 done to alleviate the wretchedness ; the most strenuous efforts 
 were made in Altona, Bremen, and Lubeck; contributions 
 poured in from far and near ; a committee of Hamburgh 
 burghers made great exertions at Altona, and those appointed 
 to administer the Swedish contribution did what they could : 
 " but all we can do," wrote Perthes, " is to relieve cases of 
 individual suffering, we cannot meet all the necessities of the 
 present ; may God save the future ! We must in the mean- 
 time summon all our energies to prevent the burghers and 
 the city from sinking into depths out of which there will 
 be no possibility of raising them." It seemed as though 
 the destiny of Hamburgh for years to come had been sealed, 
 by Avhat had been already done. Everything depended on 
 Davoust's abandonment of Hamburgh being insisted on, as 
 the preliminary condition of the next truce or treaty between 
 the allies and Napoleon. Perthes turned to Smidt with the 
 most urgent entreaties that he would continue to press on 
 Metternich, Hardenberg, and Nesselrode, the importance of 
 making the evacuation of Hamburgh a preliminary condition 
 of any treaty with Napoleon. With the same object Perthes 
 availed himself of his personal influence with the Duke of 
 
236 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Oldenburg, to request liis mediation with the Emperor Alexan- 
 der. " The Princess, lately won for Germany, appears at the 
 present crisis as a heaven-sent deliverer among us," wrote 
 Perthes to the Duke : " one word of hers to her imperial 
 brother may rescue thousands from wretchedness and suffer- 
 ing." " The Duke will write to you himself," replied Zehender, 
 " but for the present I must tell you that in all probability a 
 courier will shortly be despatched to the Emperor, who will 
 carry with him a good word for the unhappy Hamburghers." 
 
 Perthes sought to minister to the pressing wants of the 
 Burgher-Guard, by applying to Benningsen and to his friends 
 in London, but without success. He then had recourse to a loan, 
 by means of which food and clothing were to a certain extent 
 provided. He next drew up for Smidt an estimate of the 
 losses that Hamburgh had suffered through the French occu- 
 pation, and ho was incessantly busied in bringing to Benning- 
 sen's head-quarters, men who could give information required 
 by the General. 
 
 The letters belonging to this period which have been pre- 
 served, give evidence in general of an almost incredible num- 
 ber of references made to Perthes during his residence in 
 riottbeck, touching matters great and small, far and near. 
 From the Russian and Swedish head-quarters, from the lead- 
 ing men of Bremen and Lubeck, from men of all parties, and 
 from the unfortunate, he received applications for informa- 
 tion, counsel, money, or for assistance in carrying out their 
 plans. Perthes held no office, he had neither rank nor title, and 
 vet he appears at this time to have occupied the centre around 
 which all business revolved that had any bearing on the destiny 
 of Hamburgh. 
 
THE PERIOD PRECEDING THE RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE PERIOD PRECEDING THE RETURN TO HAMBURGH — JANUARY TO 
 MAY 1814. 
 
 Perthes had passed the last days in Flottbeck In sorrow and 
 depression, working amid many anxieties. On the l7th of 
 January he wrote to Caroline, " No letter, no word from you, 
 my beloved Caroline — how is this? I am very unhappy, and 
 long to be with you and the children ; but I dare not leave, for 
 an important decision may depend on m^'- presence. Never 
 since our departure from Hamburgh have I been so unhappy 
 as I now feel myself, and yet I have no tidings from you. 
 Surely some great calamity has overtaken you. Is my darling 
 Bernard still alive ? — he was unwell when I left." This child, 
 a boy of uncommon beauty and vivacity, was indeed still alive 
 when Perthes wrote these lines, but he was even then struo-- 
 gling with death, and within two days the Lord took him to 
 himself. " My dear Perthes," wrote Caroline, immediately after 
 the death of the child, " what I feared has happened ; our 
 dear Bernard is very ill, and although the physicians assured 
 me yesterday evening that he was not in danger, I am full of 
 care and anxiety, and fear the worst. I wish above all things, 
 both for your sake and for my own, that you were here, . . . , 
 
238 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 May God be our help ! Why should I conceal it longer from 
 you ? — our angel is with God — he died this morning at half- 
 past nine. He looks wonderfully beautiful, and I implore you 
 to come as soon as possible, that you may see his dear remains 
 before any change takes place." Owing to the irregularity of 
 the posts, Perthes had neither received this letter nor a former 
 one acquainting him with the illness of the child ; and on the 
 2Jst of January he stejiped cheerfully into Caroline's room 
 with the question, " Are all well V "I had to lead my poor 
 Perthes to the corpse of our beloved child," wrote Caroline to 
 her sister : " his grief was excessive, and my anxiety for him 
 carried me through this painful day." 
 
 Perthes had been only a few hours in Kiel when he received 
 an invitation to repair to the Russian head-quarters at Pinne- 
 berg, in order to consult in the name of the Crown- Prince, as 
 to what further measures ought to be taken for alleviating the 
 suiferings of the outcast Hamburghers, and for obtaining the 
 voluntary cession of the city. " Called at such a time and 
 under such circumstances, you must go," said Caroline. But 
 Perthes was physically unable. " Caroline's heroic spirit was 
 greater than my bodily strength," he wrote. He was unable 
 to leave the house till the 27th January, " But, thank God, 
 nothing has suffered by my absence," he wrote from Pinne- 
 berg. " Be strong, my beloved ! ]\ray God spare us further 
 trials. We are quiet just now, I have no more to say to you 
 at present ; but we understand each other for eternity with- 
 out words. May the Lord protect you and my dear children, 
 and keej) for us those who are now at rest." 
 
 The misery that Perthes met on every side left him no time 
 for the indulgence of his own urief He exerted himself 
 
THE PERIOD PRECEDING THE RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 239 
 
 to tlie utmost to give unity to the efforts which were being 
 made to relieve the sufferings of the Hamburghers, and was tlie 
 means of bringing into operation a Central Relief Board, under 
 the able presidency of Senator Abendroth ; and in this way 
 much was effected for the relief of the more urgent necessities 
 of the fugitives. In order to be as near as possible to the seat 
 of suffering, Perthes had fixed his quarters at Van Smissen's 
 Mill, near the Devil's Bridge at Flottbeck. On the 9th of 
 February the Russians converted the mill into a temporary 
 hospital for their soldiers, and he had to carry on his work 
 amid the groans of the wounded and the dying. 
 
 " My letter of the 7th of February, your fortieth birthday, 
 my still young and ever youthful bride, you will have re- 
 ceived before tliis,'' wrote Perthes ; "and gladly would I have 
 hastened to your arms and pressed you to my heart. Be com- 
 forted, my dear Caroline ! True love is immortal, and by some 
 bonds of love I feel sure that our departed little ones are still 
 united to us. Here, since three o'clock to-day, things look 
 very, very serious. The French are attacked on every side, at 
 Wilhelmsburg, at Ncuhof, and in Harburg, and many of our 
 people have already been brought in wounded. One fine brave 
 young fellow, Volkmann, fell to-day. He went out yesterday 
 full of spirits. His father, a stout artisan, was obliged to flee 
 from Hamburgh on his account, and is in deep distress, but is 
 supported by the tliought of the honour his son has won by his 
 self-sacrifice. Close to me lies a Russian captain, a man up- 
 wards of fifty ; as the surgeon was cutting out the ball, he said 
 that he felt the house shaking. And here I sit amid blood 
 and moaning, groans and death, but I trust in God that 
 the end is approaching. Here come three waggons full of 
 
240 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 wounded, and there is not a spare corner in the house. Nine 
 corpses are now lying in a row in the snow before my door. It is 
 strange to look upon these once wild men, now so still and tame." 
 The misery of the exiles, and the sufferings of the wounded, 
 now that he was brought into such close proximity with them, 
 filled the heart of Perthes, already saddened by the loss of his 
 child, with a horror sucli as he had never before experienced. 
 
 He was compelled to be almost perpetually in motion, passing 
 and repassing over ground covered with snow, while suffering 
 severely from a contusion on his foot, which he had received 
 by a fall from a carriage. A dangerous fever at the same time 
 prevailed in the regiment stationed at the mill, and Perthes 
 carried the germ of this with him, when on the 1 6th of Feb- 
 ruary, he left Flottbeck for head-quarters, and for Lubeck, 
 with a view to complete arrangements for the relief of the 
 destitute. He arrived in Kiel on the 19th of February, and 
 then it was found on examination that a bone of his foot was 
 broken. " I hope my future biographer will record," he wrote 
 playfully to Sieveking, " that I have walked about for nearly a 
 fortnight, and driven twenty miles in a requisition waggon, with 
 a broken bone." For nine long weeks he was now confined to 
 bed, and for the first part of the time was in great danger from 
 a severe attack of nervous fever; but a good constitution 
 carried him through all, and he had soon only to endure the 
 pain of lying still. " Here," he wrote to Besser, " after many 
 journeyings up and down, I have been obliged to cast anchor at 
 last. Such a fate is hard to bear at the present moment. If a ball 
 had done it, one might have been better jileased." His spirits, 
 however, never flagged; and his wife could write, — "My dear 
 Perthes is always the same, whether lying and enduring, or 
 
THE PERIOD PRECEDING THE RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 241 
 
 travelling and acting ; and during the whole period of his con- 
 finement, he has never been cross or impatient. I rejoice that 
 he was with us when he fell ill, and that I had the happiness 
 of nursing him. The children were all well, fortunately, and 
 we made the best of it." 
 
 Intellectual excitement was not wanting meanwhile. As soon 
 as the state of his health permitted, he was visited by his numer- 
 ous friends, who passed many cheerful hours by his bedside. He 
 took advantage also of his being laid aside from public duties 
 to consult with Besser, whose faithful friendship afforded him 
 comfort and support in this, as well as in many other seasons 
 of trial, as to the ways and means of resuming tlieir business ; 
 and he gave himself up with fresh delight to the pleasure of 
 reading, of which he had been so long deprived. He sought 
 the probable causes of the present state of Europe in Putter's 
 " Development of the German Imperial Constitution," Frederick 
 Schlegel's " Lectures," and Lacretelle's " History of France," 
 %vithout overlooking the numerous fugitive pieces to which the 
 events of the day gave rise. Nicolovius directed his attention 
 to Neander's " Life of St. Bernard." " Read Neander's ' Life 
 of St. Bernard,'"* he wrote; "you will be astonished at Ne- 
 ander's wealth of inward experience, and his exalted view. 
 Fr. Leopold Stolberg wrote to me about it with the most 
 enthusiastic admiration, inquiring whether the author were 
 old, or whether he might be expected to write more. His popu- 
 larity in the university here is great, and his influence must be 
 good. It is touching to see the simplicity with which he brings 
 forward the most sublime opinions, and the results of the most 
 
 * A translation of this work has been published by the Messrs.'; Rivington, 
 London. 
 
 21 
 
242 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 laborious study/' But above all other books, Perthes was 
 agam enchanted by a re-perusal of Goethe's " Wahrheit und 
 Dichtung," of which he writes, " Just as the Bible is the book of 
 the life in God, so I would say is Goethe's ' Wahrheit und Dich- 
 tung' the book of the life in the world ;" but all other objects 
 of interest were soon cast into the shade by the events of the 
 time. By an active and extensive correspondence, Perthes 
 endeavoured to bring order, harmony, and regularity into the 
 plans for the assistance of the exiles, and even from his sickbed 
 his efforts were attended with success. The conferences at 
 Chatillon, the fresh victories of Napoleon, the onward march 
 of the Allies, their arrival before Paris, were known to him 
 before he had left his room, and many a word of hope for the 
 future found its way to distant Kiel. " We are living in a time 
 of miracles," wrote Nicolovius, in a letter that the Countess 
 Louisa Stolberg transmitted to Perthes ; " what we, with sad 
 hearts, desired for our cliildren, but never dared to expect, we 
 ourselves have lived to see. And what a glorious day this 
 beautiful dawn promises ! A generation that has raised itself 
 so high will never sink again." On the 9th of April, Perthes 
 at length received permission to leave his bed. On this occa- 
 sion he wrote to Max Jacobi, — " I have borne this trial of pa- 
 tience with tolerable composure and cheerfulness. I have been 
 strengthened by the victory of truth which is once more bringing 
 back freedom, order, and love to mankind. God is with us, and 
 all now feel tliat they have been doing more than they thought." 
 On tlic 19th of April, Perthes left Kiel with his whole family, 
 and on the 20th arrived at BUxnkenese, a fishing village a few 
 miles below Hamburgh, where he purposed remaining till the 
 French evacuated that place. Although the day of Ham- 
 
THE PERIOD PRECEDING THE RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 243 
 
 burgh's deliverance seemed uncertain, it was evident that it 
 must come in the course of a few months, and in this certainty 
 all those hopes and fears for the political constitution of the 
 city that had been thrown into the background by the pressure 
 of the moment, now started once more into life. 
 
 The thoughts of all now naturally turned to the question of 
 the future constitution of the Hanse-towns. As to Hamburgh, 
 Perthes was decidedly of opinion that some innovations should 
 be introduced. He was desirous above all to see a perfect civil 
 equality among the three confessions, and to infuse fresh blood 
 into the hereditary B'tirgerschaft, by the admission of deputies 
 from the hundreds, the educated classes, and the Jews. It was 
 in the executive, how^ever, that he thought reform most indis- 
 pensable. But apart from any reference to his own peculiar 
 views, Perthes had begun to doubt whether any open party strife 
 was not likely, in present circumstances, to be more perilous to 
 the interests of the city than the restitution of the old and de- 
 funct constitution. From the head-quarters of the Allies came 
 an emphatic warning against all internal division. " It is all 
 over with the Hanse-towns," wrote Smidt, " unless they see tlie 
 necessity of avoiding all that may lead to foreign interference. 
 The Allies can look upon each city only as one body politic, 
 not as divided into factions, each of which seeks some separate 
 object." 
 
 At this time Niebuhr, irritated apparently by the prominence 
 which the Hamburghers were giving to their own affairs, and 
 especially to their own differences, took a view of the position of 
 Hamburgh and the other Hanse-towns, and of their claims in 
 the settlement of the general question then engaging German 
 statesmen, which caused a temporary estrangement between him 
 
244 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 and Perthes. " I need not tell you my opinion of yourself/' he 
 wrote to Perthes ; " you have done what your friends expected 
 of you ; hut wc must not expect the historian to hear the fame 
 of an unwarlike people like your Hamburghers, whose thoughts 
 are bounded by their trade and whose city has ingloriously 
 fiiUen, made so much of without ascribing it to a vain and par- 
 tial exaggeration." " For a long time/' wrote Niebuhr subse- 
 quentl}', " the isolated Hanse-towns have existed by a kind of 
 sufferance, without any political activity worthy of the name. 
 Such civic communities, in fine, have been contented with the 
 reed's destiny, and have regarded it as a privilege to bow be- 
 fore the wind. Bravery is the attribute of cities full of free 
 and vigorous life, and which by virtue of their own resources 
 are capable of defending themselves. A full and free life is 
 now only possible in great states, in which all homogeneous ele- 
 ments are concentrated." Many passionate and hasty words 
 passed between the friends in the spring of 1814, and Perthes 
 wrote so bitterly of Niebuhr, that Nicolovius replied, — " I like 
 quarrelling in such times as these as little as you do, and I am 
 convinced that in no circumstances are we warranted in speak- 
 ing hastily, or otherwise than as the good spirit prompts, and 
 that in this respect, as in the Gospel, a mite is of more value 
 than large gifts and mighty deeds. You must not do injustice 
 to Niebuhr as you do in your last letter to me. You make 
 erroneous combinations, and draw false conclusions. Continue 
 to him your full and entire confidence, for he deserves it. He 
 is not only one of the most profound and most original of men, 
 but also one of the most upright. He is excitable, and may, 
 therefore, be occasionally unjust, but he is full of humility in 
 the presence of the good, the great, and the godlike." 
 
THE PERIOD PRECEDING THE RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 245 
 
 It was at the price of what then seemed an irreparable breach 
 of friendship with the man whose sympathy of heart and mind 
 had attracted him in a period of national suffering, that Perthes 
 learned the inevitableness of a contest between those who 
 sought to develop the future destiny of Germany through 
 the German people, and those who sought its development by 
 means of Prussia. Many perplexing anxieties were, indeed, 
 involved in the prospect of such a struggle, but that help from 
 above which had wrought deliverance in the hour of greatest 
 necessity, was not now to be distrusted. Nicolovius warmly 
 pressed this home to the heart of Perthes. " As I have an 
 opportunity of forwarding a letter, I send you a few lines, my 
 dear, noble, old Perthes. God above has certainly under- 
 stood and willed matters better than the wise heads at Cha- 
 tillon, wlio are seeking to reconcile themselves with the evil 
 one : they don't know how wonderfully God helps when we are 
 but in earnest in our pursuit of what is truly great. This great, 
 and mighty, and all-sufficient help, must have given you also 
 new life in heart and soul, and is the earnest of a glorious re- 
 ward for all the sacrifices you have made. Whatever you may 
 henceforth become, and I am glad that you mean to return to 
 bookselling, no man can take the crov/n from your head, or 
 the order from your breast, or the consciousness from your 
 heart. Blessings a thousand-fold await you in this life ; such 
 is my belief, and I hear the amen from above confirming it." 
 
 The impression which his correspondence with Niebuhr, 
 Nicolovius, and many others made upon Perthes, led to the firm 
 conviction that the future destiny of Hamburgh was rather de- 
 pendent upon German vitality, than upon any efforts of its own. 
 Thus the question of modes of civic government lost much of 
 
246 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 its importance, and from tins period, Perthes was able to follow 
 with composure and equanimity that course of events which led 
 to the final restoration of the independence of Hamburgh. 
 
 Early in May, and through the mediation of a French Ge- 
 neral despatched from Paris, negotiations were entered into 
 for the surrender of Hamburgh to one of the Prussian Com- 
 manders. In consequence of this, the former members of the 
 Senate thought it right to assemble without the city, and as its 
 legitimate representatives, to take part in the negotiations. 
 
 On the 25th of May, the old Senate declared itself restored 
 to place and authority, and on the following day, the hereditary 
 Biirgerschaft met, and chose twenty men who were to form a com- 
 mission for three months for the reorganization of the city. The 
 attempts to secure the extension of the constitution and to infuse 
 greater energy into the executive were thus resumed. " Hence- 
 forward," wrote Perthes, " I can have no other bearing on public 
 aifairs than such as springs out of my position and rights as a 
 citizen, and my influence with my friends ; and I thank God 
 from my heart that He has been pleased to give me a larger 
 share of the affection and confidence of my fellow-citizens than 
 is usually the lot of any one who steps out of the limits of his 
 own immediate sphere." 
 
 The day when Perthes and his family were to leave Blank- 
 enese, and return to Hamburgh, now drew nigh. "These six 
 weeks in Blankenese have been the sweetest part of my life," 
 wrote Caroline to her sister. " Perthes with me, the children 
 well, and the hope of the deliverance of our city gaining 
 strength day by day. Suddenly the white banners waved once 
 more at Harburgand from St. Michael's tower : in all directions 
 outcasts might be seen streaming into the city. We lived near 
 
THE PERIOD PRECEDING THE RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 247 
 
 the Elbe, and could see all those who were hastening back 
 from Bremen and Hanover. One day, a carriage full of little 
 children, whose parents had died in the Hospital at Bremen, 
 arrived at our door. Troops of starving people with many 
 children and but little luggage, passed under our windows, 
 and it was touching to witness the love for home and hearth 
 that was manifested, though, for the most part, the poor crea- 
 tures could look forward to nothing but trouble and wretched- 
 ness. As they came through the country, each silently broke 
 a branch from the trees by the vvayside, and bore it in his hand, 
 and old and young, and even little children, amid tears of grief 
 and shouts of joy, thanked God for their deliverance from the 
 o-reat and universal calamity, little thinking all the while that 
 each brought his own burden with him, and that a heavy one." 
 On the 31st of May, General Benningsen made his entrance 
 with the Russians and the Burghcr-Guard ; and on the morn- 
 ing of the same day, Perthes and his family left Blankenese 
 and in the midst of the advancing troops returned through 
 Altona, to the home from which they had been driven a year 
 before. 
 
248 
 
 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE RETURN — SUMMER OF 1814. 
 
 On the 31st of May 1814, Perthes had returned to the home 
 and the city wliich he at one time hardly expected to see again. 
 Many an anxious thought was mingled with his feelings of 
 gratitude. " God be praised that He has brought us thus far, 
 that He has stood by us and lielped us in this year of heavy 
 trial," wrote Caroline to her parents on the day of her return. 
 " I will be glad, and forget all, except my dear Bernard. "We 
 have many troubles before us, even under the most favourable 
 circumstances : God grant that my Perthes may be spared to 
 me with strength and spirits for the heavy daily toil now be- 
 fore him/' 
 
 It was, indeed, no easy task to take up the links of the old 
 life after so long an interval, — an interval filled with suffer- 
 ing and privation. Even to render the house habitable was a 
 difficult undertaking. The pleasant and beautiful apartments 
 on the ground-floor had for many months been used by French 
 soldiers as guard-rooms. In the middle of the largest room was 
 a huge stove ; trunks of trees had been dragged in through 
 the windows to feed it. All the woodwork that could be 
 pulled down had been burnt ; the smoke had found an outlet 
 through the windows. The upper part of the house had been 
 
THE RETURN. 249 
 
 inhabited by General Loison, but even there the soldiers had 
 conducted themselves so riotously, that the whole house was 
 little better than a heap of filth. All the furniture had been 
 taken away ; some of it, by kind friends who had concealed it 
 where they could, and the rest by the French prefect. There 
 was not a single habitable room — dirt and rubbish, a foot high, 
 covered the floors. Chairs and tables, beds and bedding, 
 and the whole apparatus of the kitchen, had to be replaced ; 
 v/hile the want of money and the heart-breaking spectacle of 
 numbers of hungry and sorrow-stricken exiles flocking into the 
 city, made the strictest economy a duty no less than a neces- 
 sity. It was a heavy re-commencement for Caroline ; but 
 before winter all was once more in order, though not without 
 considerable labour and anxiety. To place the business, which 
 liad been entirely broken up, on its former footing was an 
 undertaking of far greater difficulty. A numerous family 
 had to be maintained, and many liabilities to be met. Along 
 with a number of adventurers, sharpers, and revolutionists, 
 times of great political excitement always call forth the most 
 talented and energetic members of a State, turning their atten- 
 tion away from their usual avocations, and drawing them into 
 the current of events in which unusual powers are required to 
 meet unusual circumstances. When the waters have returned 
 to their accustomed channel, these men, whose minds had been 
 kept in a state of continual activity and excitement, and who 
 had been intimately associated with all the great events of the 
 period, have to return to the quiet, uniform, and narrow circle 
 of their own peculiar vocations. Such a step has been difficult 
 even to men of strong natures, and many who were deemed wor- 
 thy of all praise in critical times, become, when order is restored, 
 
250 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 a species of intellectual vagabonds, who, at home in no calling, 
 occupy themselves first with one thing, then with another, 
 unsettled in their minds, discontented with themselves and 
 with the world, and a source of grief to others. Perthes felt 
 that if he would escape this danger, the time was now come 
 when he must devote all his talents and all his energies, to the 
 business of his calling, and he was able both to form the resolu- 
 tion to do so and to carry it out. In spite of seasons of trial 
 and difficulty, it was not without a certain pleasure that he had 
 taken part in the weighty and complicated political events of the 
 period ; but, fortunately, he had sense to see the limited orbit 
 in which he was henceforward to move, and courage to keep 
 within it. The actual state of his business was such as to render 
 a return to its daily cares and labours doubly difficult : " I dis- 
 like this transition," he wrote to Villers, " from the poetry of my 
 previous existence, to the prose of common life, and the more 
 so, because I see labours and anxieties of all kinds before me." 
 On the day following the re-occupation by the French, in the 
 previous year, Davoust had sealed up Perthes' warehouse, and 
 had given notice that all debts due to the firm were to be paid 
 to the French authorities. He then issued an order that all 
 the serviceable books were to be seized and divided between 
 the libraries, schools, and the officials, and the rest sold by 
 auction. A great part of the valuable stock of maps was dis- 
 tributed, some to the topographical bureaux, some to the 
 diff'erent generals, while many valuable works fell into the hands 
 of individual officers : the auction was, however, delayed. It 
 was impossible for Perthes to pay any attention to the con- 
 cerns of the business during his exile, but Besser, though also 
 an exile, never lost sight of it. Ever watchful, and on the alert 
 
THE RETURN. 251 
 
 to take advantage of any favourable turn to save what might 
 yet be saved, he was ably seconded by the dexterity and zeal 
 of a faithful servant named D'Haspe, The first thing to be 
 done was to separate the books in the large commission ware- 
 house, which were the property of other booksellers, from 
 tlie rest: it was accordingly committed to the safe keeping of 
 the firm of Hoffmann and Campe. D'Haspe then paid all 
 ti'adesmen who had claims on Perthes, not with ready money, 
 but with small bills on such persons as were in debt to the firm, 
 from whom, owing to the dissolution of all order, he would him- 
 self have found it difficult at that time to obtain payment. 
 Finally, an attempt was made, and not absolutely without suc- 
 cess, to carry on the business through the firm of Hammerich in 
 Altona, and that of Michelscn in Lubeck, and either personally, 
 or by means of friends and connexions, to solicit debtors in the 
 neighbouring districts to pay what they owed into the hands 
 of Besser, in spite of the prohibitions of the French commander- 
 in-chief. But it was not so easy to stop the threatened dis- 
 pei'sion and sale of the books in Perthes' own warehouse. In the 
 hope of accomplishing this, however, the creditors were secretly 
 invited to come forward and state that before any division of 
 the property could take place, they must have satisfaction for 
 their claims. As they could take up quite a legal position, 
 Davoust, after making careful personal inquiries, yielded, and 
 ordered that the creditors should be paid first out of the pro- 
 ceeds. Thus one point was gained. But before the sale could 
 take place, it was necessary that a catalogue should be pre- 
 pared; and this, Besser, in the expectation of a speedy deliver- 
 ance from the French, proceeded with as slowly as possible. He 
 gained his object, though Davoust more than once threatened to 
 
252 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 have the books sold by weight, if the catalogue were not forth- 
 coming. The warehouse being required as a residence for the 
 French officials, the 30,000 volumes which it contained were 
 removed in waggons to another place, and thrown together 
 without any regard to order. The catalogue was nevertheless 
 begun, but before it was ready, the Allies had crossed the 
 Rhine, and, under this change of circumstances, Davoust care- 
 fully avoided any stej) that might have led to claims being made 
 on what he considered as his private property. The books 
 accordingly still remained unsold and in safe keeping. 
 
 Such was the state of things when the two friends, Besser 
 and Perthes, met at Kiel towards the end of February 1814, 
 and subsequently at Blankenese, to deliberate as to their 
 further proceedings. Altliough the whole of tlie customers 
 were dispersed, both partners were of opinion, that under the 
 circumstances, it was not only possible to resume the business 
 without involving any culpable risk, but that it was a duty to 
 do so, as being the only means of securing the creditors from loss. 
 With this view, Perthes issued a circular in 1814 : — " No one 
 could expect that I should at once fulfil all my engagements, 
 and I am aware that many of my correspondents expect a pro- 
 posal for an accommodation. But now that the position of our 
 fatherland has enabled me to re-establish myself, I trust to God 
 to end as I began, and to pay every man his own. I have, in- 
 deed, no longer the youthful energy with which I set out 
 eighteen years ago, and I have a numerous family to support ; 
 but on the other hand, I have experience, and am thus saved 
 paying the apprentice-fee of ignorance. I have the confidence 
 of my fellow-citizens, and also a large circle of friends and 
 patrons, and an extensive connexion in foreign countries. I re- 
 
THE RETURN. 253 
 
 sume my business confidently in reliance on the friendship of 
 my correspondents, and with the resolution to pay all my debts, 
 and to let none suiFer loss through me. The how and the when 
 of payment I must ask you to leave to myself, but within three 
 years all liabilities shall be discharged." In this circular Per- 
 thes announced that the name of Besser, who had long been 
 actually in partnership, would " now appear in the firm, and 
 would thus afford to the commercial world a further guarantee 
 for the security of the house." 
 
 It was not their intention immediately to resume their busi- 
 ness in all its former extent, but to proceed with prudence and 
 caution. There was little to be expected from Hamburgh or 
 the immediate neighbourhood under existing circumstances, 
 and not much from Germany in general, since the present dis- 
 tress was likely to tell on the literary market for many years 
 to come. The attention of the partners was thus turned to 
 England, where the results of the war of Independence had 
 awakened a degree of sympathy with the Continent, such as had 
 not been known for centuries. The time appeared especially 
 favourable for arousing a taste for the wider diffusion of German 
 literature in England, and more particularly for directing the 
 attention of the many great and wealthy collectors to German 
 classics of all kinds, and to v/orks on philology. The very defec- 
 tive state of the English book-trade also induced them to hope 
 that the German booksellers might be constituted the medium 
 of the English foreign literary traffic. Besser had passed some 
 time in England, earlier in life, and had perfect command of the 
 language, and introductions to the most influential persons 
 were at his disposal. It was therefore determined that he 
 should go to England and endeavour as much as possible to ex- 
 
254 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 tend the previous connexion in that country. The preparations 
 were soon made, and on the 4th of May Besser embarked at 
 Ritzehiittel. 
 
 In the meantime Perthes was left to make the necessary 
 arrangements for re-opening the shop as soon as possible after 
 the retreat of the French. " Yesterday," wrote Perthes to 
 Villers, " I was invited by the Prefect to enter the city, in 
 consequence of the Marshal's resolution to release my premises 
 from the embargo he had placed upon them ; and I was also 
 informed, that 700 francs had to be paid by me for a catalogue 
 which they had prepared. You see, that under the Avhite flag 
 they are still the same people. Thus, for having hung me on the 
 gallows in effigy, for having hunted me out of house and home, 
 for having destroyed my trade, stolen the half of my books, 
 and burned my furniture, the scoundrels ask 700 francs I" Per- 
 thes having at once and decidedly declared that, as it was not at 
 his request that the authorities had given themselves the trouble 
 of taking charge of his books, or preparing the inventory, he was 
 not disposed to reimburse them for their pains, the warehouse 
 was, on the 19th of May, unconditionally surrendered to Runge, 
 as his representative. On the 30th Perthes himself returned to 
 the city, and thus wrote to Besser : — " I shake hands with you 
 from our old house. I dare not express in words the emotions of 
 my heart. It is, indeed, like a resurrection from the dead." Tlie 
 labours involved in the re-opening of the shop were begun and 
 carried on with all diligence. " You will believe, but you can 
 form no idea of the labour of finding one's way tlirough all this 
 confusion, and of putting everything in order ; if only there 
 were some one to lielp me ! — but that is impossible. I thank God 
 that I am well and in good spirits, and I am grateful both to 
 
THE RETURN. 255 
 
 Him and to men. The worst of all is the payments wliicli re- 
 quire to be made immediately : few pay us, while every day bills, 
 little and great, from Peter and Paul, from bookbinders, trades- 
 people, and others, are coming in : the poor creatures are in 
 the greatest distress, and petition us to pay them. This is very 
 sad. Bills and notes, too, pour in upon us from abroad. I will 
 fight my way through, but it will only be by the sweat of my 
 brow.'' Amid all his labours, cares, and anxieties, Perthes 
 never for a moment lost hope or courage, and many a favour- 
 able turn helped him througli difficulties when things were at 
 the worst. " I am inexpressibly affected," he writes again to 
 Besser, " by the confidence, the affection, and kindness which 
 our fellow-citizens manifest towards us in so many ways. Our 
 credit is not only maintained, it stands firmer than ever. The 
 booksellers' answers to our circular are now come in. "With a 
 single exception they are all satisfied with our proposals, and 
 express the most entire confidence. I can assure you that our 
 business will soon be once more in full operation." Towards 
 the end of June Perthes himself opened the shop, and within 
 a few days he could write : — " God's blessing is upon us, and 
 all promises well ; but I cannot get through the work alone, 
 and it is absolutely necessary that you should return. One 
 thing presses hard on the heels of another, while things are not 
 yet in order. All are desirous to prove their friendship, and 
 orders pour in from every side. I am overpowered, and long 
 for your return." 
 
 Besser's stay in England was to have been longer, but he 
 quickly perceived the position and relations of the book-trade 
 there, and felt that his absence from Hamburgh was no longer 
 necessary. He had been deeply impressed by the spectacle 
 
256 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 which London presented in the first moments of excitement, 
 immediately after the fall of Napoleon. " Here I am," he says 
 in his first letter, " in this great city, and in this wonderfully 
 beautiful country, at a time which has not its parallel in his- 
 tory. The sovereigns are expected shortly ; but General ' Blut- 
 scher' is more thought of than all the rest. There is some- 
 thing absolutely overpowering in this enormous mass of ani- 
 mated and mechanical life ; but with the people, if you only 
 understand their manner and their language, you are soon 
 quite at home, spite of their want of amenity." 
 
 It was Besser's object to form acquaintance with men of all 
 kinds and of all ranks, and his numerous introductions gave 
 him access to the most distinguished circles. Germans, Eng- 
 lish gentlemen of fortune, leading men in the " city," he freely 
 mixed with. Now he had intercourse with the keen business 
 man ; then with the amiable and the good ; at another time 
 with Methodists and Quakers ; and again, with people who 
 knew nothing of life but its worst side. " It is a perilous 
 thing," he exclaimed, in one of his letters, " for a poor frail 
 mortal to seek to take the measure of the knowledge of so 
 many other children of men ; whether we will or not, we must 
 place ourselves above those whom we presume to judge. I am 
 heartily tired of this sort of life, and often, in the course of the 
 evening, find myself longing for my little lodging, where at least 
 in thought I can be with you." He turned for rest and re- 
 freshment frequently to the great Museum, and the private col- 
 lections of London. " I am delighted to have Hans Lappenburg 
 to enjoy all these grand things with me," he writes. " There is 
 something glorious about youth ; and with a young man we our- 
 selves feel young again." The interest evinced by so many dif- 
 
THE RETURN. 
 
 257 
 
 ferent men for German literature, seemed to justify the most 
 sanguine hopes, and Besser formed his plans accordingly 
 "Through Schwabe, who is a truly admirable man and highly 
 respected, and through some other clergymen and Count Mun- 
 ster, as soon as he comes, I mean to suggest the introduction of 
 German into the schools. Why not as well as French ? Don't 
 laugh, this is what I call going to the root of the matter — and 
 it will succeed. We should also have a German periodical 
 hero, on the plan of the English miscellanies ; I do not mean 
 that we should undertake it, but we might give encouragement 
 to such a thing in connexion with a literary advertiser. I have 
 the right men in my eye, both authors and publishers. In 
 close connexion with this periodical, it would be well to endea- 
 vour to establish a subscription library. It would bring toge- 
 ther the lovers of German literatm-e, and increase their num- 
 bers. At present there is scarcely a single German work to be 
 found among the twenty great booksellers at Oxford. My 
 proposals are warmly seconded by friends and acquaintances. 
 Only take courage, I may assuredly say that my coming to 
 London will have important results." 
 
 A few weeks very much diminished Besser's hopes. "Here,'' 
 after further experience he writes, " you must strike again and 
 again before you can hit. Strokes are not wanting on my part, 
 but I am no ferther advanced in the carrying out of my plans." 
 As was natural, Besser had at first conversed chiefly with the 
 most eminent men, both Germans and English — men who had 
 cultivated and who were fond of German literature — and had 
 imagined that each of these was the centre of a circle, devoted 
 like himself to its advancement. But he was soon to learn 
 from the men themselves, that each occupied an isolated 
 
 22 
 
258 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 position. " Alas ! I am candidly told," lie wrote, " not only by 
 Germans, but by Englishmen who are thoroughly acquainted 
 with German literature, that the English as a people are in- 
 capable of apprehending it. Goethe and Herder they do not 
 understand, and Klopstock they totally misunderstand. I my- 
 self now see more and more clearly that it is impossible that 
 the genuine English should have any taste for our works. I 
 do not speak of the men of ' the city,' who are certainly by no 
 means the patrons of literature, but as Robinson calls them, 
 mere quill-dy'ivers ; neither do I refer to my Methodist friends, 
 to whom Goethe is a ' wicked fellow ;' but the insular character 
 of the people generally, is intellectually exclusive, it cannot get 
 out of itself, and it cannot take in anything foreign. Such men 
 as Robinson are of rare occurrence in England. A better me- 
 dium than this remarkable and most attractive man, it would 
 be impossible for Germany to find. I unconsciously place him 
 in my mind by the side of Villers, and then the different in- 
 fluence which a thorough German education has had on the 
 Frenchman and on the Englishman, is very striking." After 
 an interval of a few weeks, Besser again writes to Perthes : 
 " I have at last become thoroughly aware that to promise, to 
 will, and to be able, are three very different things ; and 
 while we may with certainty reckon on the two first, in 
 the case of many men, we must not on that account ven- 
 ture to rely upon the third. I am distressed at the thought 
 of having raised false hopes as to the results of my present 
 visit, nevertheless we have gained much by it. We know with 
 certainty what we should not undertake ; and if we cannot 
 enter into any great enterprises in England, we may yet reap 
 cei tain positive advantages. We must keep our eye upon works 
 
THE RETURN. 259 
 
 of science, especially of natural history and medicine, while, on 
 the other hand, German editions of the Classics appear to be 
 less used than formerly. Under these circumstances, a longer 
 stay in London is unnecessary, and I hope to be in Hamburgh 
 by the beginning of August." " Your lamentations do not 
 alarm me," answered Perthes ; " only be contented; the blessing 
 will not fail us, even in England. We are in good repute there, 
 and the tranquillity which is by degrees winning its way all 
 over Europe, will open to us fresh channels even on that side 
 of the water." 
 
 On Besser's return from London in August 1814, the two 
 friends laboured together in right good earnest, and friends far 
 and near assisted them gladly in their constantly recurring 
 pecuniary embarrassments. By Easter 181 5, Perthes and Bes- 
 ser were able to show that they had already discharged all 
 their obligations long before the lapse of the stipulated time, 
 and from that period the house took the important position 
 which it has ever since maintained. 
 
 Perthes, however, did not allow the demands of business so 
 entirely to engross his attention as to divert him entirely from 
 the attempts which were being made to re-establish the old civic 
 constitution. By speech and writing he did as much as his 
 position and the circumstances of the time permitted. 
 
260 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 STATE OF POLITICS DURING THE VIENNA CONGRESS, AND THE SECOND 
 WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. — AUTUMN 1814: TO AUTUMN 1815. 
 
 "While individuals were labouring like Perthes, each in his 
 own place, to gatlier up the links of social life in all parts of 
 Germany, the sovereigns and princes, the ministers and diplo- 
 matists of Europe were assembling in Vienna, to settle afresh 
 the great European relations, and especially to re-unite the 
 German states, which since the dissolution of the empire had 
 been very much isolated. The unheard-of political contradictions 
 from which Germany had suffered for centuries, had been in some 
 degree concealed, so long as the heavy pressure of habit made 
 everything appear more tolerable than the commotions to which 
 political changes would give rise. A political existence Ger- 
 many had indeed possessed for centuries, but no political life. 
 Napoleon had not solved the problem of the old contradictions, 
 but only cut the knots. He had destroyed the empire, and now 
 the German states existed only as so many separate sovereign- 
 ties; he had annihilated tlic power of Austria and Prussia, and 
 so removed the danger that might have resulted from their 
 union ; nevertheless, at present, Germany had neither political 
 life nor political existence. Napoleon's dominion was ended, 
 and as it passed away the former difficulties were developed 
 more clearly than ever. Germany was to form a whole, while 
 
STATE OF POLITICS DURING THE VIENNA CONGRESS. 261 
 
 yet she was to find room for a host of independent princes ; her 
 future presupposed the close alliance of Austria and Prussia, 
 while yet the jealous rivalry of these powers was a recognised 
 fact. The Congress could neither mistake nor refuse its task. 
 And this was, to seek for Germany a political organization which, 
 while it should not ignore the actually existing contradictions, 
 should make them, at least, endurahle. 
 
 Throughout Germany the people were everywhere deeply 
 impressed with a feeling of the importance of the Congress, 
 both as affecting the present and the future ; and during the 
 summer of 1814, the hope that the statesmen assembled at 
 Vienna would at once present the nation with a grand political 
 constitution, was predominant. But no sooner was the Diet 
 really opened in the autumn of 1814, than it became evident, 
 first to the initiated, then to the lookers on, that the power 
 of the assembled dij^lomatists was rather negative than positive. 
 Every scheme of organization that had for its objects the unity 
 of the Germanic nation, and the political connexion of the 
 several states, was attacked as soon as it was brought forward. 
 The practical difficulties were insurmountable, and the author 
 of the new Germanic constitution was not forthcoming. From 
 his home at Hamburgh, Perthes had followed the course of 
 events with the most lively interest. lie had friends and ac- 
 quaintances both among those who actually took part in the 
 business of tlic Congress, and among those who were well- 
 informed as to their proceedings, and accordingly his corre- 
 spondence during this period, and during the war in France, 
 includes many particulars of interest. 
 
 As early as May and June 1814, he had been made aware of 
 the difficulties that attended the political organization of Ger- 
 
262 I-IFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 many ; lie had heard of the strife between Austria and Prussia, 
 and then of the restless efforts of Bavaria to secure a position 
 that would carry weight not only in Germany but in Europe. 
 He heard, too, of the fears that agitated Wiirtemberg, lest she 
 should be left beliind Bavaria, and of the mistrust of Hanover, 
 ready to be pleased with everything but the influence of 
 Prussia ; he perceived the blind struggles of the less powerful 
 states, who believed their own permanence most likely to be se- 
 cured by an Austro-Glermanic empire, provided ahvays it did not 
 trench too closely on their own sovereignties. He heard hoAv 
 Baden and Hesse were unable to determine whether to asso- 
 ciate themselves with Bavaria and Wiirtemberg, or with the 
 smaller princes ; and he was informed of the strenuous opposi- 
 tion which every step that tended to increase the influence of 
 Germany or of any German sovereign, encountered from the 
 rest of the European powers. 
 
 But each letter only proved more plainly than the preceding 
 how greatly the actual difficulties were increased by the pas- 
 sions of the contending parties. Among the acquaintances of 
 Perthes who attended the Congress, there were some who re- 
 garded with indignation the attitude of Austria, and hotly 
 attacked Metternich. " Metternich," writes one of these, 
 " cannot leave off the old tricks of his wicked policy ; and in 
 order to secure some advantages for Austria, he favours the 
 desire for an Imperial Commonwealth that is manifesting itself 
 on the Rhine and in Swabia, the grasping ambition of tlie 
 Minister of sovereignty-seeking Bavaria, and, in the smaller 
 States, the wish of the Princes to establish a sort of patriarchal 
 empire, while, at the same time, he has relations with Talley- 
 rand, which might convulse not only Germany but Eurojoe." — 
 
STATE OF POLITICS DURING THE VIENNA CONGRESS. 265 
 
 " The Austrian statesmen/' writes anotlier, " are fallen to the 
 lowest depth of political expediency."—" The Cabinet of 
 Vienna," says another, "regards all danger as over because 
 Napoleon is conquered, without considering what is under the 
 surface, and is forcing itself upwards. Austria, lowered in the 
 opinion of foreign powers, deficient in spirit, and eating out 
 the life of every one that devotes himself to her service, can 
 never be at the head of Germany. If Germany would escape 
 the fate of Italy, and would not be partitioned among neigh- 
 bouring powers as an indemnification for this or that supposed 
 loss of territory or influence, the smaller States must yield to 
 the strongest, and range themselves under Prussia : that power 
 has in this last heroic period shewn that it has both the will 
 and the power to render Germany free and independent." 
 
 Not less violent were the attacks made on Prussia in other 
 letters that Perthes received from Vienna. " While Austria," 
 says one of these, " has fought for Germany for thirty years 
 witliout making a boast of it, while the Emperor of Austria 
 has been oiw Emperor, and is, as well as all his brothers and 
 his whole Cabinet, thoroughly German, Prussia is actuated 
 solely by the thought of her own personal interest, and lier own 
 aggrandizement. Prussia has insinuated herself like a wedge 
 into Germany, and now seizes on the dead chips which she her- 
 self has made, under the pretext that they have long been desti- 
 tute of all vitality. The Prussians are possessed by the fixed 
 idea that Prussia is Germany, and that every augmentation of 
 the power of Prussia gives strength to Germany ; they are 
 persuaded that the Germans can only attain to genuine Ger- 
 manism by becoming Prussian." — " The whole administration 
 of Prussia," writes another, " is full of dishonesty. The ma- 
 
264 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 jority of the Privy-Council are men of grossly immoral lives ; 
 and almost all the employes of the State have imbibed some 
 of the prevailing corruption of morals, according to which every 
 kind of means is sanctioned as ' State wisdom, ' if only it be 
 suited to circumvent others." 
 
 In the letters that were received after November 1814, the 
 increasing alienation of the Great Powers appeared still more 
 plainly. " Fresh grounds of hatred and ill-will," says one, 
 " are daily brought to light. The Great Powers, in the despe- 
 rate strife that they are now waging, have had recourse to the 
 former weapons of diijloniacy, and are again endeavouring to 
 outwit and overreach each other by dissimulation, treachery, 
 and artifices of all kinds. Indeed, things are now come to 
 such a pass that a man is ashamed to aj^pear what he really 
 is. Woe be to him who has set his hopes upon this mass of 
 diplomatists, wdio, in fact, know no other way of settling diffi- 
 culties than by postponing them ; and who yet pretend, before 
 they separate, to close the Congress in such a manner as shall 
 console the nations with the illusive appearance of a final ar- 
 rangement." — " The resolutions which have been adopted in 
 accordance with the passing humours and mutual expediencies 
 of arrogant men," wrote another, " cannot and vvill not be pro- 
 ductive of any lasting results ; and another power, the revolu- 
 tionary spirit, will sooner or later overtake the whole mass of 
 them, and bring the house about their ears. But what then ? 
 The man who might take the measure of these important times 
 has not appeared among us." 
 
 The nation itself offered a striking contrast to the vain and 
 fruitless labours of the Congress, and the cares and anxieties 
 of diplomatists. Germany was animated almost to enthusiasm 
 
STATE OF POLITICS DURING THE VIENNA CONGRESS. 265 
 
 by an elevated political spirit, the growth and result of influ- 
 ences of different kinds which had been working together for 
 several generations. After a long season of self-forgetfulncss, 
 the Germans, about half a century before, had seen their na- 
 tionality reflected in the poetry of Klopstock and his imitators. 
 To their own surprise they had discovered that they were not 
 only a people, but a great and powerful people. The belief in 
 the existence of an idealized German nation had, notwith- 
 standing petty obstacles, sunk deeper and deeper into the 
 public mind during the last few years of the preceding century. 
 and had received a fresh coloviring through the tendency first 
 embodied in the works of Schiller, who sought to give an 
 actual existence to the ideal. Then came the romantic ele- 
 ment, which, regarding things and circumstances almost exclu- 
 sively in their poetical aspect, had discovered much of the 
 poetical in the German character, and had accordingly ele- 
 vated the German people to a more glorious position than 
 ever. "While the dominion of Napoleon had effected a great 
 political disorganization, it had also been the means of draw- 
 ing together the elite of the nation in a manner hitherto un- 
 known : so that German customs and the German lanofuasre, 
 as well as German science, art and tradition, were brought 
 into prominence as a mine of national wealth ; and to these 
 the struggles and the results of the war of Independence now 
 added the lustre of a great military fact. It was no lono-er in 
 poetry alone, it was in the stern realities of life that the Ger- 
 mans had won the meed of praise, and foreigners looked witli 
 amazement at the power that was now once more raising its 
 head in Europe. The nation came out of the war with a glow- 
 ing faith in its own greatness ; a faith whieli was the result of 
 
 23 
 
266 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 the spirit of poetry, of idealism, and of romance, of the admi- 
 ration of German science and art, and of the pride of having 
 brought the war to a successful termination. It was not pos- 
 sible that the mighty overfloAving tide of national feeling could 
 again be confined within the narrow, petty, and now shattered 
 forms of the preceding century ; or that it could be divided and 
 diifused among a multiplicity of isolated neighbouring States, 
 artificially united, as in Napoleon's time. The nation, newly 
 aroused to consciousness, demanded some all-embracing form 
 which might serve as the political expression of the National 
 Unity. This was a necessity; and the public mind was so 
 exclusively occupied with the consciousness of this necessity, 
 that all its hopes and efforts were directed to this point. That 
 a glorious future awaited the German nation in its unity every 
 one believed, though of what nature no one had perhaps formed 
 any very definite idea. Every one knew what he did not want, 
 and with ardour proclaimed it ; but none could state precisely 
 and practically what he did want. 
 
 Perthes had always regarded nationality as far more impor- 
 tant for the Germans than political organization. It was not 
 merely Hesse, Wlirtembcrg, or Mecklenberg, but even Austria 
 and Prussia that he considered as altogether secondary to 
 German nationality. He had not looked upon all as lost, even 
 when one by one the different States succumbed to the genius 
 of Napoleon ; he always expected that the German States 
 would ultimately be delivered by the German peoide, and the 
 national rising had confirmed his faith in them. " Deprive 
 us of our nationality," he once wrote to a friend, " and all 
 our states and cities, our burghers and householders, will be- 
 come as the leaves and branches of the oak when that hidden 
 
STATE OF POLITICS DURING THE VIENNA CONGRESS. 267 
 
 and living power wliicli God hcas put into the stem of the tree is 
 withdrawn." Amid all the fluctuating events of the years 1 81 4 
 and 1815, Perthes adhered firmly to the conviction that the 
 nationality of the Germans was the gift of God, and was inde- 
 pendent alike of the good-will or ill-will of those in power ; that 
 it was great and good, and a mighty power on whicli we might 
 and ought to rely, in spite of all the corrupt and selfish coun- 
 ter-workings of individual princes or merchants, ministers or 
 artisans, soldiers or lawyers. He had already confidently 
 stated his belief that Germany would never rest till it had 
 attained the full recognition of its nationality; and now, not- 
 withstanding liis esteem for the Prussian people, he rejected 
 most unequivocally every proposal that pointed to a merely Prus- 
 sian development of Germany or of any portion of it. " All the 
 men," he wrote, " who are now labouring honestly and in good 
 faitli to reduce Germany to one or two States, are unconscious 
 tools in the hands of artful diplomatists, who are all the while 
 laughing at them as visionaries. The Germans will, how- 
 ever, escape this fresh danger by which they are now menaced, 
 and will in future be united as one great nation, though 
 without ranging themselves under the banner either of Aus- 
 tria or of Prussia." He regarded with satisfaction the 
 struggle in which the escape of Napoleon in March 1815 
 threatened anew to involve Europe, as a means of withdraw- 
 ing the decision of the fate of Germany from the arbitrary will 
 of the few, and throwing it back upon the people. " Now it 
 is once more man to man, friend to friend," he wrote ; " now we 
 shall see whether it is a mere flash, or a steady flame that has 
 been kindled among us." The sluggish indifi'erence with which 
 at this time the military preparations of the smaller German 
 
268 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 States were conducted appeared to him to be unaccountable. 
 Being himself appointed commissary at Hamburgh, he had 
 CA'^ery opportunity of seeing what was done and what was left 
 undone there, and he complained bitterly of the negligence of 
 the authorities. 
 
 It was his opinion that a number of the best and bravest 
 troops of all parts of Germany should be marshalled under the 
 command of a leader of the highest rank, in the rear of the 
 acting army, in order to keep up the spirit of the people, to 
 support the weaker and wavering princes, and to take sum- 
 mary vengeance on any traitors among them. If circumstances 
 sliould afterwards call for a general levy, the peojole would, he 
 believed, easily incorporate themselves with the corps already 
 formed. " The very existence of such a body under the command 
 of Prussia would," he said, " repress the inclination to play the 
 coward or the traitor among even the most dissembling." While 
 out of Hamburgh, Perthes could do nothing more than seek 
 sympathy for his views : within the city he put his hand to the 
 work. A number of spirited and warlike youths chose a com- 
 mittee of ten elder burghers, who met at the house of Perthes 
 on the 1st of April, The necessary military preparations were 
 made, engagements were formed with Lubeck and Bremen, and 
 the Landgrave Ernst von Barchfeld was invited to take the com- 
 mand of the troops thus to be assembled. — " Your happy and 
 valuable suggestion," wrote subsequently a Prussian statesman, 
 " has indeed been without results, owing to the unexpectedly 
 speedy termination of the war ; but to have formed such a plan 
 at such a time must afford you pleasure as long as you live." 
 
 In the midst of the universal excitement, Perthes on the 8th 
 of April set out for Leipzig to attend the Fair there, after an 
 
STATE OF POLITICS DURING THE VIENNA CONGRESS. 269 
 
 interval of two years. He found everywhere the greatest con- 
 sternation prevailing on account of the future fate of Saxony 
 then just determined. But the momentous aspect whicli 
 European affairs now began to assume, soon diverted the gene- 
 ral attention from this unhappy country. 
 
 Soon after the return of Perthes from Leipzig, the opposing 
 armies met, and the decisive day drew near. Minds long since 
 exhausted by the perplexities of politics, were now inspired 
 with military ardour. Two days before the battle of Belle- 
 Alliance, Perthes wrote as follows to Fouque, who, after a 
 short stay at Hamburgh, had gone to visit the Counts Stolberg 
 and Reventlow : " You have by this time become acquainted 
 with the honoured Count Stolberg and his noble consort, and 
 with the pious, humble family at Altenhof. How gladly would 
 I spend a day with you there ! We would, together, take a 
 cheerful survey of history, and see how a spirited, self-confident, 
 and vigorous youth— brought to God and to humility by grap- 
 pling and struggling with dangers and difficulties — is about 
 to recover for Germany its ancient free constitution, developed 
 and fortified by the experience of centuries. I would fain never 
 cease preaching to that perpetual youth, courage, progress, and 
 lovino- hope. Time broods and ferments long before he takes 
 a step, but then it is a giant's step, which treads many wrig- 
 gling, creeping worms into the dust ; this must not disturb our 
 faith and trust. We must step forward, difficult as it may seem, 
 not in proud self-confidence, but beholding with awe how God 
 has forewarned and prepared the world for the step. It is 
 necessary, however, to fight manfully with those who, shutting 
 their eyes to the truth, would fain avert the course of events, 
 either for the purpose of ruling with despotic sway, or of repos- 
 
270 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 ing in selfisli ease and enjoyment on the last remaining pillow 
 of a bygone age." 
 
 Sooner tlian any one could have ventured to expect, the 
 hopes of Germany were realized by the victory of Waterloo. 
 Caroline had been residing for a few weeks at Wandsbeck, and 
 when the first uncertain rumours of a great and decisive battle 
 reached her there, she wrote at once, in the greatest excitement, 
 to Hamburgh. " Is it true, dear Perthes ? Oh, why are you not 
 here, or I with you ? Write to me immediately if it be true. 
 I cannot believe it, and stand listening for voices in the air." 
 Caroline had posted her children on the path leading from 
 Hamburgh, in order to have the first news of the approach of the 
 expected messenger. At length a horseman was seen in the dis- 
 tance advancing at full gallop, and waving a white flag. It was 
 a friend whom Perthes had despatched with the Gazette of the 
 victory, and these words, — "Behold the wonderful works of God ; 
 give thanks and praise to Him." " That is indeed a victory," re- 
 plied Caroline : " may God help us still further, and may it bo 
 without fighting and conquering, if this is not asking too much. 
 You write that Hanbury is shot. Alas ( for the poor mother 
 at Flottbeck. But she must bear up ; she sees what he has 
 died for." Events now succeeded each other with wonderful 
 rapidity. " The first great act of the European drama is 
 ended," wrote Perthes on the 20th of Juno. " Napoleon is 
 dethroned. You will read the rest in the Supplement to the 
 Gazette ; the French, if they give up their idol, set the crown 
 on their own degradation. I expect it, and, on this account, I 
 shall illuminate, and not because of the fall of the monster, who 
 lias long ago appeared to me as fallen." And again, a few days 
 l;^ter, — " In France all is confusion, and this kingdom of hell 
 
STATE OF POLITICS DURING THE VIENNA CONGRESS. 271 
 
 is going to pieces. What a judgment from God !" On the 
 26th of June, he again writes to Caroline, — " Yesterday came 
 the report of the taking of Napoleon, but it is not yet con- 
 firmed. Believe me, the person of this monster is not now of 
 the importance that you and half the world imagine. Look 
 at the fate of the French ! their present downfal, their ter- 
 rible prospects ! The dispersion of the Jews is nothing in com- 
 parison." 
 
272 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 ACTIVITY ON BEHALF OF THE SUFFERING CLASSES, AND EXPERIENCES 
 IN THE FAMILY. 1814 AND 1815. 
 
 The events wliicli had again convulsed Europe had, indeed, 
 driven the citizen from the seclusion of private life, and 
 forced him into the wide circle of political sympathies and 
 aifairs. But the individual and his purely human lot retains 
 his significance in a period of political excitement, as well as 
 in a season of political repose. Wliile states are struggling 
 with each other, and conquering or falling, cold and hunger, 
 bodily and spiritual privation, are still inflicting their sufferings 
 on the individual. While great battles are being fought, and 
 great congresses are being assembled, the individual still re- 
 quires our sympathy with his present and his eternal wants ; 
 for even the poor perishing man occupies a far higher place 
 than the State : he is connected with eternity, the State has 
 to do with affairs of earth alone. It would have been no sign 
 of political greatness, but a symptom of moral decay, if man, as 
 an individual, had been forgotten in the mighty rising of the 
 "War of Independence. In fact, the distress had become every- 
 where so great, during the eighteen months between the first 
 and the second peace of Paris, and liad reached such a height, 
 especially in Hamburgh, that none but the hardest hearts could 
 
ACTIVITY ON BEHALF OF THE SUFFERING CLASSES. 273 
 
 have been unmoved bv it, even amidst all the excitement of 
 political events. 
 
 For many months the numerous workmen of all kinds that, 
 in Hamburgh, earned the daily bread of wife and children by 
 daily labour, had, perforce, kept holiday : the whole trade and 
 commerce of that world's emporium had given place to a still- 
 ness like that of death. From the moment that labour ceased 
 on the quays and in the warehouses, hunger began to tell upon 
 strong and active men. Thousands had lost home and all, 
 when Davoust had set fire to the suburbs ; and though death 
 had made provision for a large number of the 120,000 of grey- 
 headed and helpless men, women, and children, whom Da- 
 voust had driven out of the city in tlie cold of a December night,* 
 still thousands survived to return, bringing sickness and sorrow 
 with them, and no property of any kind, save what they carried 
 on their persons. To provide food and lodging, and a bed of 
 straw for each, was the least that could be done. Artisans, too, 
 required tools to enable them to resume their work ; while the 
 many petty dealers who ministered to the daily wants of the 
 great city required some capital, however small, to meet their 
 first outlay; in every corner wants were springing up that craved 
 immediate attention. The public charities were turned to the 
 best account, and were admirably worked : 148,000 marks were 
 expended annually in alms, clothing, and lodging ; but the 
 distress that had been occasioned by extraordinary circum- 
 stances called for extraordinary exertions. Collections were 
 made among the wealthy burghers, and sums, greater or 
 smaller, came in from the different European cities. Distant 
 Malta sent a large sum, and in London Von Hess laboured with 
 
 * In tlie meadow behind Ottcnsen 1138 of tliosc lie buried. 
 
274 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 indefatigable zeal to procure fresh contributions for his unhappy 
 countrymen. A number of the most experienced citizens dis- 
 tributed the supplies thus sent. Perthes, with a few others, 
 undertook the distribution of the English contributions, and 
 the minute accounts, still preserved, attest the care and con- 
 scientiousness with which he discharged this duty. 
 
 As the dispenser of these contributions, Perthes had come in 
 contact with individuals who were suifering the extremity of 
 privation, and in every instance he had found that they were 
 suffering from other than mere bodily wants. Thus in Sep- 
 tember 1814, he wrote, "I have gathered much valuable expe- 
 rience among the lower classes, and, thank God, I have often 
 found that suffering and sorrow have been the means of rousing 
 many from their former spiritual death, and of awakening in 
 many hearts a sense of divine and eternal things. Hundreds 
 of families would fain seek help and comfort in God, but they 
 know not the way that leads to Him, and, under our former 
 circumstances, could not know it. What would our handful 
 of clergy do with this multitude of people ? The Bible, too, is 
 known only to few families ; I have found it wanting even in 
 schools." It was at this time that the London Bible Society, 
 founded in 1804, began to direct its efforts towards Germany. 
 The missionaries Stcinkopf and Patterson were first deputed to 
 request that Rambach, Perthes, and Gilbert van der Smisseii 
 would form an association in Hamburgh and Altona, for the 
 distribution of Bibles ; in the event of their doing so, a contri- 
 bution of several hundred pounds was promised. Perthes and 
 his friends were well aware, that owing to the tendency of the 
 times, such an undertaking would expose them to the reproach 
 of pietism or mysticism, or some such term of reprobation, and 
 
ACTIVITY OX BEHALF OF THE SUFFERING CLASSES. 27o 
 
 in order to avoid, as far as possible the suspicion of anything 
 clandestine or sectarian, Perthes had recourse to the men who 
 then held the first ecclesiastical and political offices in Ham- 
 burgh, and requested their personal co-operation. On the 6th 
 and loth of October 1814, the preliminary meetings were held 
 at Perthes's house ; and on the 19tli the Hamburgh- Altona 
 Bible Society was founded. When its twenty-fifth anniver- 
 sary was celebrated in 1839, the important services which 
 Perthes had rendered to the Society in its infancy were grate- 
 fully commemorated. 
 
 Perthes regarded the Bible Society as but one of many means 
 for bringing about a revival of religion, and he gladly recog- 
 nised the labours of those who, in a variety of different ways, 
 were seeking to influence the people. But to make the theatre, 
 although frequented by great numbers of persons who were 
 inaccessible to any other influence, a means of rousing religious 
 feelings, seemed to him more than doubtful. " Be temperate," 
 he Avrote to Fouqud, " and don't seek to bring your religious 
 feelings, or rather your convictions regarding our holy religion, 
 on the stage. Life and nature, and therefore destiny, belong to 
 the theatre, but not the consolations of religion. These man 
 must seek in his chamber or in the church, and there God will 
 reveal himself to him." Popular works by which the dormant 
 Christian consciousness might be revived, Perthes viewed on 
 the other hand as an absolute necessity. Thus he wrote to 
 Fouque, " We greatly need a national-historical religious cate- 
 chism for our primary schools, through which our youth may 
 be taught that God made man, that the human race fell by sin, 
 of the coming of the Redeemer, and of the means by which 
 Christianity was spread ; how a way was made for its intro- 
 
276 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 duction by the migrations of the Germanic tribes, how we Ger- 
 mans, thus born again, advanced in the new world-career, and 
 how the seed of better times was and is still preserved among 
 us. I do not understand how to put it together, but you have 
 it all at your fingers' ends. It must be short, and in question 
 and answer, or else in simple propositions. The man who 
 should give us this would be an unspeakable benefactor in the 
 sight of God and man."' 
 
 It was upon the youth of our land, and on their yet uncor- 
 rupted susceptibility, that Perthes built his hopes of future im- 
 provement among the people, and as a favourable opportunity 
 of advancing their interests now presented itself, he did 
 not suffer it to pass unimproved. A committee of twelve was 
 appointed to make an extraordinary collection for the educa- 
 tion of the poor of the city. " We got 80,000 marks at once," 
 he says to Fouque, " for the education of poor children, and 
 we hope to get a great deal more. We twelve have now gone 
 minutely through the town, and what numbers of fine cliildren 
 we have found ! The blessing of God is indeed upon our 
 people. We have taken 700 of the destitute children of the 
 city." The Hamburgh schools for the poor, since so widely 
 extended, owed much to this collection. 
 
 That it was possible to form well-organized associations to 
 minister to the temporal and spiritual wants of our perishing 
 people, was a thought that lay beyond the horizon of 1814; 
 but Perthes regarded with lively hope the female associations 
 that had been instituted in Germany during the war, for the 
 purpose of nursing the wounded, and taking care of the widows 
 and orphans of the slain. " Whether two, three, or four Ger- 
 man cities shall by these means be henceforward united, no 
 
EXPERIENCES IN THE FAMILY. 277 
 
 one can tell," he wrote ; " but these associations of ladies may 
 certainly do much to unite all Germany in one blessed circle, 
 in spite of all intestine divisions and all future struggles with 
 foreign enemies. They may hold on their way undisturbed, if 
 only they steer clear of all interference with the State, and 
 carefully avoid mixing themselves up with any of the questions 
 of right and wrong, which will have to be determined so soon 
 as peace is re-established." 
 
 The anxieties and privations of the year of exile had told 
 severely on Caroline's health. Her freshness and vivacity of 
 mind, however, never forsook her ; and on this account she felt 
 only the more painfully the pressure of the bodily disease 
 which had its origin in great excitability of the nervous sys- 
 tem, and in an incipient complaint of the heart. " I have not 
 yet recovered my strength and energy," she writes to her 
 friend Madame Petersen in Sweden, " and I often find my 
 household duties so heavy, that I almost despair." But al- 
 though occasionally depressed, Caroline was neither indiiferent 
 nor ungrateful for the many blessings she enjoyed. " The old 
 song is every morning new," she once wrote, " that, if pos- 
 sible, I love Perthes still better than the day before. How 
 inadequate seems all the gratitude I feel for having been per- 
 mitted to retain him I" 
 
 Death was now to be revealed to Caroline in its most 
 solemn form : she was called to attend her father, as he ap- 
 proached that awful moment when time and eternity meet 
 together. Claudius had suffered severely in the years 1813 
 and 1814. At the age of seventy-three, he had been driven 
 from the house and home to which he was attached by the 
 
278 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 happy memories of half a century, to seek an uncertain asy- 
 lum and a precarious subsistence in Holstein, where he was 
 often exposed to poverty. " "We are pretty well off here," 
 he wrote on one occasion to Caroline from Lubeck : " we 
 have a little room, with a bed and a sofa which almost fill it. 
 We cook groats and potatoes for ourselves, but fuel is extrava- 
 gantly dear. You will have seen in the papers that Wandsbeck 
 is in the hands of the Allies. Fritz is there taking care of 
 our house, and has sold the cow : he writes me that the cellar 
 is, like the universe before Creation, waste and void," A few 
 weeks later he wrote, — " We are now living in a larger, I might 
 say a large room, but it is very cold, and we have not the means 
 of making and of keeping it warm." The outward difficulties 
 were o-reat, but it was not these which affected Claudius the 
 most sensibly. " The still vigorous man of seventy-three, had 
 strength to bear all his personal sufferings and the dispersion of 
 his children," says Perthes in a letter of that period ; " but 
 his sincere and patriotic heart was broken by the conflicting 
 emotions and the doubts for his fatherland to which the war 
 with Denmark had given rise. He felt that the exaltation and 
 victoiy of Germany involved the defeat of his own king, whom 
 he had good reason both to love and honour. This inward 
 struggle, during a season of such violent outward excitement, 
 was too much for the simple mind and the loving heart of the 
 noble old man." 
 
 Claudius had returned to Wandsbeck in May 1814, but never 
 again to enjoy his old home. Wearied with the burden of 
 years, and worn by bodily infirmities, he struggled through 
 summer and autumn. In compliance with the earnest entreaties 
 of his daughter, he removed to Hamburgh in the beginning 
 
EXPERIENCES IN THE FAMILY. 279 
 
 of December, tliat he might be within reach of medical advice. 
 " Papa is weary and languid/' wrote Caroline, soon after the 
 arrival of her father and mother ; " but we have reason to be 
 thankful that he is free from pain. He is so calm and so kindly, 
 I might even say so satisfied and contented, that I am too happy 
 to see this, to give utterance to the grief which I really 
 feel." It soon became evident that recovery was not to be 
 expected ; but life was prolonged for seven weeks, — to Claudius 
 a season of thankfulness and of almost uninterrupted calm and 
 love : the blue sky above, the rising of the sun, the sight of his 
 Rebecca, of his children and grandchildren, were all perpetual 
 sources of enjoyment. One night he called Caroline to his bed- 
 side, and said, " I must take something from the night, for the 
 day is too short to thank you, my dear child," Caroline, writing 
 a few days before his death, says, " He is confident, peaceful, 
 and, except at very short intervals, even joyful. Yesterday, after 
 half an hour of distress from difficulty of breathing, he said to 
 Perthes, ' Well, dear Perthes, this is all just as it should be, 
 though not pleasant.' He then spoke of the approaching struggle, 
 and of Him who is mighty to save, and said that he had placed 
 his whole confidence in God. He is wonderfully kind towards us 
 all, and likes our mother to sit by his bed. He is also anxious 
 that you absent ones should have daily tidings of him, and 
 never fails to send you his greeting." His mind continued 
 active to the last, and he was able to trace the daily pro- 
 gress of his own dissolution—of the great mystery of the 
 separation of soul and body. " I have all my life reflected 
 by anticipation on these hours," he said to Perthes, " and now 
 they arc come ; but I still understand as little as ever about 
 the manner of the end." During the last few days he prayed 
 
280 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 incessantly, and was pleased when he saw the bystanders 
 praying, although he did not like prayers or exhortations 
 to be made aloud. He never relinquished the hope that 
 God would vouchsafe him a glimpse into the realms be- 
 yond, while still on this side of the grave ; but although sight 
 was not vouchsafed, his faith was never shaken. " The 21st of 
 January was the day of his death ; about two o'clock in the 
 afternoon he became aware that his end was approaching, and 
 prayed, ' Lead me not into temptation, and deliver me from 
 evil.' An hour later he said ' Good-night !' several times, and 
 in the moment of departure he opened his eyes, and looked 
 lovingly upon his wife and children, as though they had a right 
 to the last outgoings of affection." 
 
 " His mind was quite unimpaired, and he retained all his ori- 
 ginality and all his peculiarities to the very last hour," wrote 
 Perthes on the day of his father-in-law's death. " He died with- 
 out anxiety — I may say, he died rich ; for even in temporal 
 things the fulness of hope was, as usual, at his command. The 
 expression of the whole person is still very striking ; there is 
 an air of weariness, as if he were satisfied and pleased to have 
 done with the earthly ; while the brow still retains the beauty 
 and power, and the mouth all the fulness of affection which 
 characterized them in life. The end of this man was indeed 
 great and noble." " May God forgive us," writes Nicolovius, 
 " for feeling that such a man could have been better spared in 
 heaven than upon earth." — " Death is a hard step," wrote Caro- 
 line, " but to take the step as he did is inconceivably great." 
 
 The solemn experiences of these weeks, during the whole 
 of which her husband had been at her side, took deep hold 
 of Caroline's mind ; and with her lively fancy and a heart ever 
 
EXPERIENCES IN THE FAMILY. 281 
 
 seeking sympathy, she felt it to be a heavy trial, that Perthes, 
 laden with caves, business, and interests of all kinds, could 
 devote so little time to her and the children. " My hope be- 
 comes every day less that Perthes will be able to make any such 
 arrangement of his time as will leave a few quiet hours for me 
 and the children. There is nothing that I can do but to love 
 him, and to bear him ever in my heart, till it shall please God 
 to bring us together to some region where we shall no longer need 
 house or housekeeping, and where there are neither bills nor 
 books to be paid. Perthes feels it a heavy trial, but he keeps up 
 his spirits, and for this I thank God." To these and kindred 
 feelings vrhich she had long cherished in her heart, Caroline now 
 gave expression in letters which she wrote to Perthes during 
 his absence. After eighteen years of trial and vicissitude, her 
 affection for her husband had retained all its youthful fresh- 
 ness ; life and love had not become merely habitual, they 
 remained fresh and spontaneous as in the bride. She always 
 gave free utterance to her feelings, in a manner at once un- 
 restrained and characteristic, and felt deeply when Perthes, 
 as a husband, addressed her otherwise than he had done as a 
 bridegroom. Now that he was detained for some weeks in 
 Leipzig, this state of feeling found expression on both sides, 
 half in jest and half in earnest. " You have indeed renounced 
 all sensibility for this year, because of your many occupations," 
 wrote Caroline a few days after her husband's departure ; " but 
 I, for my part, when I write to you, cannot do so without feel- 
 ino- ; for the thought of you excites all the feeling of which 
 ray heart is capable. Not a line have I yet received. Tell me, 
 is it not rather hard that you never wrote me from Bruns- 
 wick ? At least I thought so, and felt very much that your 
 
 24 
 
282 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 companion G. slioukl liavo written to his newly married wife, 
 and you not to me. It is the first time you have ever gone 
 on a journey without writing to me from your first resting- 
 place. I have been reading over your earlier letters to find 
 satisfaction to myself, in some measure at least, but it has been 
 a mixed pleasure. Last year, at Blankenese, you promised 
 nie many happy hours of mutual companionship. I have not 
 yet had them ; and yet you owe many such to me, yes, you 
 do indeed." Perthes answered, " You write, telling me that 
 I have renounced all sensibility for this year. This is not 
 true, my dearest heart, it is quite otherwise. I think that after 
 so many years of mutual interchange of feeling and of thought, 
 and when people understand each other thoroughly, there is an 
 end of all those little tendernesses of expression, which represent 
 a relationship that is still piquant because new. Be content 
 with me, dear child, we understand each other. I did not write 
 to you from Brunswick, because we passed through quickly. 
 Moreover, it is not fair to compare me with my companion, the 
 bridegroom ; youth has its features and so also has middle age. 
 It would be absurd, indeed, were I now to be looking by moon- 
 light under the trees and among the clouds for young maidens, 
 as I did twenty years ago, or were to imagine young ladies to 
 be angels. Nor would it become you any better if you were 
 to be dancing a gallopade, or clambering up trees in fits of love- 
 enthusiasm. We should not find fault with our having grown 
 older : only be satisfied, give God the praise, and exercise pa- 
 tience and forbearance with me." " I wish you were here on 
 this your birth-day," answered Caroline on the 21st of April, 
 " and had half an hour to spare to celebrate it with me and the 
 children. The children do their best, but you are always your- 
 
EXPERIENCES IN THE FAMILY. 283 
 
 self, and have ever the first pLace in my lieart. Thank God, my 
 Perthes, neither time nor circumstances can ever affect my love 
 to you. It is, indeed, beyond the reach of change. May God 
 be pleased only to spare my life and restore my health, and 
 preserve you and the children, and maintain your love for me 
 unimpaired. It is all I ask ; but there is no end of wishing 
 and praying, and happily, none too, of granting, — if not in our 
 own way, at least in God's. Your last letter is, indeed, a strange 
 one. I must again say, that my affection knows neither youth 
 nor age, and is eternal. I can detect no change, except that I 
 now know what formerly I only hoped and believed. I never 
 took you for an angel, nor do I now take you for the reverse ; 
 neither did I ever beguile you by assuming an angel's form 
 or angelic manners. I never danced the gallopade, or climbed 
 trees, and am now exactly what I was then, only rather older ; 
 and you must take me as I am, my Perthes : — in one word, 
 love me, and tell mc so sometimes, and that is all I want." 
 " Your answer," says Perthes, in his next letter, " was just 
 what it ought to have been ; only don't forget that my inward 
 love for you is as eternal as yours is for me ; but I have so 
 many things to think of. How much of us belongs to earth, 
 and to man ? — how much to heaven? for we belong to both." 
 And so ended the correspondence upon a subject which, perhaps, 
 is not altogether unknown to otlier married persons. 
 
 In the middle of May Perthes returned to Hamburgh, and 
 soon became aware that Caroline's health required serious atten- 
 tion. The physician, Dr. Schroder, an old friend of the family, 
 had told Caroline that her nervous system, although still unim- 
 paired, was over-wrought ; and that by stimulating the boddy 
 powers to exertions beyond their strength, she was gradu- 
 
284 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 ally prej)aring the way for disease. A change of scene was de- 
 sirable, and Caroline, with her younger children, went to pass 
 tiie summer of 181.5 at Wandsbeek with her mother. During 
 this period, almost daily letters were exchanged betw^een her 
 and her husband. While those of Perthes were devoted to 
 warnings and entreaties to take care of her health, the few lines 
 in which Caroline was wont to reply, were full of expressions 
 of love, and of sorrow on account of their necessary separation. 
 "I am seated in the garden," she writes, "and all my merry 
 little birds around me. I let the sun shine upon me, and make 
 me well if he can. God grant it ! if it only be so far as to en- 
 able me to discharge my duties to my family ; for I feel myself 
 too unhaj)py as a mere cipher." And again, " I hope, my dear 
 Perthes, that you will again have pleasure in me ; the waters 
 seem really to do me good. Come to-morrow% only not too 
 late. My very soul longs for you." — "You shall be thanked 
 for the delightful houi's that I enjoyed with you yesterday," 
 she wrote after a short visit to Hamburgh, " and for the sight 
 of your dear, kind face, as I got out of the carriage." — "I only 
 live when you are with me," she writes a few days later ; " send 
 Matthias to me if it does not interfere with his lessons ; if I 
 cannot have the father, I must put up with the son." — " The 
 children enjoy their freedom, and are my joy and delight: 
 alas ! for those who have none I" she says after telling some 
 childish adventures. " But you, dear old father ! you, too, 
 are my joy and delight. Let me have a little letter ; I cannot 
 help longing for one, and will read it when I get it ten times 
 over. Pray don't forget the poor people in the mud-huts at 
 Ilamm : the house is easily found, it is in the lane, opposite to 
 something particular, but I cannot remember exactly what." 
 
EXPERIENCES IN THE FAMILY. 285 
 
 With many fluctuations of health, Caroline had passed the time 
 at Wandsbeck ; August had now conic, and with it was brought 
 vividly before her mind the many years of happiness she had 
 spent wath Perthes. " It is eighteen years to-day," she writes, 
 " since I wrote you the last letter before our marriage, and sent 
 you my first request about the little black cross. I have asked 
 for many things in the eighteen years that have passed since 
 then, dear Perthes, and what shall I ask to-day ? You can tell, 
 for you know me well, and know that I have never said an un- 
 true word to you. Only you cannot quite know my indescrib- 
 able affection, for it is infinite. Perthes, my heart is full of 
 joy and sadness — would that you were here ! This day eighteen 
 years ago I did not long for you more fervently or more ar- 
 dently than now. Thank God over and over again for every- 
 thing ! I am and remain yours in time, and, though I know 
 not how, in eternity too ! Be well pleased, if you come to- 
 morrow. Affection is certainly the greatest wonder in heaven 
 or on earth, and the only thing that I can represent to myself 
 as insatiable throughout eternity."' 
 
 In the middle of August Caroline returned to Hamburgh, 
 and although not fully restored to health, she was yet able, 
 with sundry interruptions, to superintend the large household, 
 and to continue to minister comfort and joy, support and 
 assistance, to many persons of different classes and ages. 
 
?.86 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 POLITICAI. PROSPECTS AFTER THE SECOND PEACE OF PARIS. 
 AUTUMN 1815 TO AUTUMN 1816. 
 
 Political excitement was not less violent in Germany at 
 tlic time of the second peace of Paris, than it had been at the 
 period of the first ; but the objects of hope and fear were dif- 
 ferent. In 1814, the unity of German}^ and the restoration of 
 the empire, had roused the political imagination of the Ger- 
 man people. In 1815, although in many places the first feeling 
 was that of displeasure at the substitution of the prosaic Bund 
 for the poetical Kaiser, yet, as the Bund was now tlie recog- 
 nised form of German unity, and as, moreover, there was little 
 probability of setting it aside, the popular excitement spent 
 itself on the probable fate of the separate governments, seek- 
 ing to obtain for them a something which, under the various 
 names of constitution, representation, states-general, freedom, 
 was c{uitc as indefinite, though quite as reasonable as the 
 cry of unity that had been raised a few months before. To 
 the governments of Germany this political agitation appeared 
 by no means the less dangerous, on account of its change of 
 object, but seemed rather to call for an additional amount of 
 watchfulness and care. Schmalz's pamphlet on " Political 
 Associations," written in the summer of 1815, in which the 
 objects of these unions and the means adopted by them were 
 bitterly attacked, called forth, in reply, a nunibcr of pam- 
 
POLITICAL PROSPECTS AFTER THE SECOND PEACE OF PARIS. 287 
 
 plilets no less bitter and violent. Those internal differences 
 of opinion were thus made manifest, which, with occasional 
 intermissions, have continued to agitate the German nation 
 to the present day. 
 
 The efforts to secure the political rights of the subject had not 
 then associated themselves with a self-seeking fanaticism, fight- 
 ing for a series of lifeless dogmas ; but was rather a poetical 
 lono-inc: after something fabulous. The careful conservatism of 
 the governments had not yet degenerated into a spirit of cold 
 negation and open persecution, but appeared rather as the dull 
 prose of an exclusive attention to the petty political duties of 
 daily life, and as the fear that shrinks with timid caution from 
 all that is great. The sting of long mutual exasperation was 
 wanting in the struggle of 1815, but the struggle itself was 
 everywhere recognised ; and every German had now to choose 
 between prince and people, as in 1814 he had been obliged to 
 choose between nationality and state craft. The first collision 
 arose out of the question. Whether the political destiny of 
 Germany was to be brought about by the various governments, 
 by the help of their police, their armies, and their treasuries ; 
 or by that spirit now fermenting and working in the minds of 
 their subjects, which at the time could be manifested only as 
 public opinion ? 
 
 Perthes was in many respects opposed to the prevailing ten- 
 dencies and their representatives, and expressed his opinions 
 plainly and without reserve. He was too well acquainted with 
 the machinery of newspapers and journals to receive their dicta 
 as the expression of public opinion ; and had so little confidence 
 in theorists and essayists, that he would have excluded them 
 altogether from political organizations if this had been possible. 
 
288 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Secret associations also were repugnant to his very nature. 
 "We spoke our minds about secret associations wlien you were 
 here/' he writes to Fouque, "and I participate in all your opi- 
 nions, and in your abhorrence of them." 
 
 In a letter to a restless friend he says, — " The time is passed 
 in which it was a man's duty to put on liarness for God and 
 fatherland. Believe me, truth and right are not wholly on 
 one side now, as they were in those years, but, on the contrary, 
 they are greatly divided. Above all things keep your eyes open, 
 and make use of them, and don't suffer yourself to be led by the 
 blind. Be cautious if you would not be unjust. The powers 
 and passions that were let loose in 1813 threaten us now, 
 and what have we to oppose to them? We are so little ac- 
 quainted with public affairs, and have so little talent and 
 training for public business, that a strong and firmly-esta- 
 blished monarchical government will be still necessary for us." 
 When, however, Perthes turned his eyes to the existing go- 
 vernments, and saw what they were now doing and leaving 
 undone, he could not believe that the future destiny of Ger- 
 many was to be moulded by them. Letters that Perthes re- 
 ceived at this time from persons holding the most opposite 
 opinions, conveyed the same impression of anxiety and dis- 
 pleasure at the attitude assumed by the various governments. 
 Thus R H, Jacobi writes from Munich, — " I have read a printed 
 letter of yours, dear Perthes, headed, ' Extract from the Letter 
 of a German from the North, who has great hopes.' It has, 
 indeed, edified and comforted me ; but it lias not communi- 
 cated the strength of which I stand in need. If I were not so 
 very weak, I would write a postscript with the title, 'Extract 
 from the Letter of a German from the South, who has great 
 
POLITICAL PROSPECTS AFTER THE SECOND PEACE OF PARIS. 289 
 
 anxieties.' How rapidly Schmalz's mischievous pamphlet, with 
 all the contemporary laudations, has been circulated in all the 
 public papers ! And this is from Prussia ! your most German 
 of German States ! When such things are done there, Bava- 
 rian Alemannia may fold her hands as indeed she does. If the 
 Absolutists get the upperhand in France, our princes will con- 
 trive to turn the promised representation of the people into a 
 mere mockery. 1 wish with all my heart that ' the spring 
 which moves all this clock-work may give way !' " — " What will 
 become of Germany," wrote another friend in the autumn of 
 1816, "if the princes go on with this Macchiavellian policy? 
 Instead of representation, and freedom of the press, we have the 
 censorship, police, militia, persecution of the best men among 
 us, and the beginning of a political inquisition. The dreadful 
 condition of the peasants in South Germany, especially in 
 Wiirtemberg, Bavaria, and Baden, has affected me deeply. I 
 did not know before that German princes could thus torture 
 and squeeze the very life-blood out of their people for the sake 
 of possessing a new summer-palace, or a few head of deer or 
 wild boars, or a regiment of guards to protect them from the 
 despair of their oppressed subjects. This must and will be 
 altered, for our people awoke, in the last war, to the con- 
 sciousness of their power and greatness. The question is, how 
 long will they be satisfied with the mere consciousness, while 
 England, America, and even France, are reaping the fruits of 
 the knowledge ? I am ready to weep at the thought that 
 the angel of resurrection can only come forth from the grave- 
 yard of revolution. And now, the hungry eagles of the East 
 and the West will rejoice to tram^jle my beloved fatherland 
 into dust with their savage hordes, and to divide it for a spoil, 
 
 25 
 
290 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 under pretext of restoring order ! My mind cannot discern the 
 means of deliverance, but my belief that no amount of oppres- 
 sion can crush out of our people what is great and good remains 
 unshaken/' 
 
 It was clear to every one that the attitude of the Prussian 
 government would give direction to the policy of the other 
 German cabinets ; and, accordingly, the tendencies to which 
 the pamplilet of the Privy-Councillor Schmalz had given ex- 
 pression, excited no small amount of anxiety and exasperation, 
 and were vigorously attacked in the counter-pamphlets of Nie- 
 buhr, Schleierraaeher, Koppe, and others. " We are beset with 
 dangers on more than one side," wrote Perthes to his friend 
 Jacobi at Munich. " The contest in Prussia is a sign of the 
 times. The government, in its terror, attacks the Tugend- 
 bund, disarms private associations, would fain crush public 
 opinion and public spirit, and the popular wish for a constitu- 
 tion, militia, &c. ; and not understanding the present times, 
 would fain work her way out of them, and settle down quietly 
 in the past." Perthes regarded the present proceedings of the 
 German governments as so utterly destructive, that he Avas 
 ready to rejoice in the diiSculties by which they were now on 
 every side beset. " I do not complain of the second peace of 
 Paris," he says to Fouque ; " the governments 7nust in future 
 be threatened from witliout, in order to feel their need of the 
 people. If the balance of power were so exactly poised as to 
 secure peace and tranquillity to Europe for the next fifty years, 
 the rights and claims of the people would be wholly disre- 
 garded, and all would be left in the old unconstitutional form. 
 Constitutions are not, indeed, to be made to order, they are the 
 work of time and circumstances ; and those men are fools who 
 
POLITICAL PROSPECTS AFTER THE SECOND PEACE OF PARIS. 291 
 
 expect to do all with a pair of scissors : still there must bo a 
 beginning — and tins beginning, alas ! princes and governors 
 do not like to Lear of." 
 
 But the position of the governments with regard to public 
 opinion was but one of the questions then agitated ; the future 
 position of Prussia with reference to Austria, and to the whole 
 of Germany, was another point which was discussed with equal 
 warmth, though not so widely. The German Bund was in- 
 deed fomially established in June 3 815; but the Bundestag, 
 its only exponent, was not opened till the otli of November 
 1816. Thus, at the period of the second peace of Paris, the 
 Bundesact was a mere dead letter, and no one could form any 
 opinion as to the practical working of the twenty articles of which 
 it was composed. One thing, however, was already plain, that 
 in spite of the article by which all decisions were to depend on 
 a majority of voices, Austria and Prussia would in reality de- 
 termine all questions. Austria and Prussia were thus to be 
 joint leaders of Germany, just as if, instead of having been so 
 long animated by mutual hatred and suspicion, these two 
 cabinets had been swayed by a common instinct, and had been 
 indissolubly united by the bonds of mutual confidence. 
 
 Perthes was exclusively neither North nor South German. 
 "If my hopes be realized," he wrote, "we shall see the North 
 and the South, as two halves of all Germany, standing as a 
 mighty bulwark against every attack from without, while our 
 internal divisions will be merged in an amicable contest for 
 the best development of constitutional freedom and order, of 
 attachment and fidelity to our princes, and of such intellectual 
 culture as may set forth the glory of God, and advance the 
 best interests of man. And truly we, in North Germany, .shall, 
 
292 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 if we live, have enough to do, not to be outdone by the South ; 
 for we may expect great things from the lionest Emperor of 
 Austria, whom we would so gladly have hailed again as our 
 own emperor, and from the thoroughly well-informed princes 
 of his house. There is also mucli to be hoped from the heirs 
 of the kingdoms of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg," 
 
 We have already seen the alienation that had arisen between 
 Niebuhr and Perthes, when in 1814 the latter had regarded 
 Niebuhr as exclusively Prussian rather than German in his poli- 
 tical sympathies. In 1815 he had bitterly attacked Niebuhr's 
 answer to Schmalz, as written from a merely Prussian point 
 of view. These violent political contests between the former 
 friends seemed to oifer little probability of a renewal of friend- 
 ship ; and on this account it was with no small emotion and 
 pleasure, that Perthes received the following lines from that 
 great and noble man, written shortly before his departure for 
 Rome in the spring of 1816: — "Dearest Perthes, I would not 
 willingly impoverish myself, or part poorer than inexorable 
 destiny may have decreed. That destiny has beggared me in 
 those nearest friendships in which but one short year since I 
 felt myself so inconceivably rich. Three days ago was the 
 anniversary of my father's death, Avith which sad day the de- 
 struction of my possessions began. My friendships I know 
 have suifered from passion and irritability ; — let all be forgotten 
 between us, and let every misunderstanding be removed before 
 I leave my native land. Will you accept this ? " 
 
IMPORTANCE OF THE BOOK-TRADE FOR GERMANY. 293 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 IMPOKTANCE OF THE BOOK-TRADE FOR GERMANY. 
 
 Perthes had never regarded the book-trade merely as a 
 means of subsistence and of personal gain ; he had always 
 looked upon it as one of the institutions by means of which 
 spiritual vitality is maintained in a nation. Ilis business had 
 indeed secured to him a comfortable livelihood and an inde- 
 pendent position ; but he never forgot, in the enjoyment of 
 these advantages, that it also involved the responsibility of 
 quickly discerning and diligently supplying the literary wants 
 of the nation within the sphere of his own business-operations. 
 It is in this perpetual and practical recognition of the indis- 
 soluble union existing between his private interests and the 
 public welfare that we detect the secret of the success that, to 
 the end of his life, attended all his undertakings. In 1816, he 
 believed that the time was come when the German book-trade 
 stood in need of a fresh impulse and a partial transformation. 
 
 Among the many dangers by which Germany w^as menaced 
 from within, that which Perthes most feared was the possibility 
 that the division into North and South, Protestant and Catholic, 
 Austrian and Prussian, might eventually cease to be merely 
 political, and become national in its effects. Once divided into 
 distinct races — into North and South Gennans, he gave up all 
 
294 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 hope of any future brilliant destiny for Germany, as a mere 
 illusion. For this reason he regarded with displeasure and 
 anxiety the many North Germans who, while they could speak 
 with fervour of the political unity of Germany, were at the 
 same time helping to destroy, what it necessarily presupposed, 
 the unity of the nation. 
 
 There exist, indeed, important differences between the North 
 and South, grounded in the very nature of things, and these can 
 neither be overlooked nor cfiaced ; but in spite of these, and of 
 the diversity of races, Perthes considered it as the first duty of 
 all Germans fully to recognise, and to labour earnestly to deve- 
 lop, the national unity. A pertinacious adherence to the local 
 had stereotyped every religious and social diversity, and pre- 
 served every political and historical remembrance ; still Perthes 
 believed that in literature, the North and the South, Protestant 
 and Catholic, Prussian and Austrian, would learn the lesson of 
 their common nationality. But even in this, unhappily, Ger- 
 many was divided. In the South, especially in Austria and 
 Bavaria proper, the literature of the North had but little influ- 
 ence ; and the literature of Austria and Bavaria, again, was so 
 little known in the North, that it was impossible to say whether, 
 notwithstanding a Romanist bias, it might not contain trea- 
 sures destined to confer universal benefit. He believed it to 
 be the first and special duty of German booksellers to overarch 
 this unnatural breach in our literature, and to render the circu- 
 lation of a work equally easy, whether it was published at 
 Hamburgh or Vienna, at Konigsberg or Treves. But he also 
 knew that the trade was at present in no condition to dis- 
 charge this duty : it was to some extent operative in Bavaria 
 and other smaller states, but in Austria it could scarcelv 
 
IMPORTANCE OF THE BOOK-TRADE FOR GERMANY. 295 
 
 be said to have any connexions at all. With the exception 
 of Wiirtemberg-, as Perthes himself had said but a few years 
 before, South Germany as far as Nuremberg and Dresden, 
 and AVest Germany as far as Frankfort and Heidelberg, were 
 totally dead to literature. Since, however, the Rhenish pro- 
 vinces had become Prussian, and Austria and Bavaria had 
 identified themselves more with German scientific life, this 
 had been changed, and the connexion with those countries had 
 increased, but the intercourse was still incidental, unsystematic, 
 and unbusiness-like. 
 
 Every attempt to bring unity of action into the German 
 book-trade was met by an obstacle which the German govern- 
 ments alone could remove. The publishing trade, though re- 
 presenting one language, literature, and people, was yet carried 
 on under exclusive regulations in eveiy separate State. Thus 
 there was no general copyright, and the right of reprinting 
 without acknowledgment, a work which had been published 
 in another State, was recognised and adopted as a lawful 
 source of profit. The pernicious effects of such a system of 
 spoliation Perthes endeavoured to make plain, even to the 
 uninitiated, in a small pamphlet written about this time. 
 " When an author," he says, " wishes to publish, he applies to 
 a bookseller to print his book, since he himself has neither 
 time, nor money, nor aptitude for such an undertaking. If 
 the bookseller think well of the work, and heVieye—know he 
 cannot — that it is likely to interest the public, he buys the 
 manuscript, and pays for the paper and printing of a certain 
 number of copies. But the bookseller is perhaps mistaken, and 
 lias many copies left on his hands, so that he loses not only 
 his hope of gain, but a portion of the capital he has expended. 
 
296 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 This experience the bookseller repeats several times, perhaps 
 with the sixth undertaking he may be successful, and thus he 
 may be indemnified for his previous losses. Then comes a second 
 publisher, who, taking no note of the failures, pounces at once 
 upon the popular work, and prints a new edition at a cheaper 
 rate, which he can afford to do, as he has neither previous losses 
 to cover nor author to pay. The original publisher is thus left 
 with half an edition on his shelves, and is afraid to venture on 
 anything else. The author no longer finds a purchaser for his 
 book, but the pirate publisher, the lier-in-wait, pockets what 
 should be his and his publisher's rightful profit. The public, 
 it is true, reap the benefit of the cheaper edition ; but can we 
 call him a good householder who eats up his seed-corn ?" 
 
 The parties more immediately concerned — the authors and 
 publishers — had indeed always considered this piracy as an evil, 
 and had taken steps for putting a stop to it, immediately after the 
 second peace of Paris. Eighty-one of the principal publishei*s 
 had held a meeting in the summer of 1814, and had chosen a 
 committee, authorizing it to take such steps as might induce the 
 several governments of Germany, and the impending Congress, 
 to guarantee to authors and publishers the protection of copy- 
 right throughout Germany. Cotta and Bertuch had repaired 
 to Vienna, as a deputation, with a memorial drawn up by 
 Kotzebue, and had been favourably received by Motternich and 
 Wessenberg, Hardenberg and Humboldt. The result had been 
 the insertion of the following words in the Bundesact : — "The 
 Bund shall, at its first meeting, endeavour to devise some mea- 
 sure of general application, by which the rights of authors and 
 publishers may be secured against piratical reprints." As the 
 day of meeting drew nigh, it was thought desirable, in order to 
 
IMPORTANCE OF THE BOOK-TRADE FOR GERMANY. 297 
 
 secure the fulfilment of this promise, that the statesmen of 
 whom the assembly was to be composed, should be provided 
 with clear and accurate information regarding the bearings of 
 a question half mercantile, half literarj, of which they could 
 have little previous knowledge. Urged on all sides, Perthes, 
 in the summer of 1816, drew up a memorial, entitled, "The 
 German Book-trade as a condition of the existence of German 
 Literature," especially calculated by its tone to win over Aus- 
 tria, which, in so far as literature was concerned, had been up 
 to that time estranged from the rest of Germany. 
 
 This statement Perthes caused to be printed and distributed, 
 it having been most favourably received by Schlegel, who ad- 
 vised its immediate publication, and promised to do all in his 
 power to bring it before the members of the Bund. 
 
 There were many obstacles in the way of attaining the object 
 which the publishers had in view, in the political institutions and 
 police stringency, not only of Austria, but of most of the other 
 states. In order to form an opinion of the existing obstacles, 
 and of the means of removing them, and to gain reliable in- 
 formation respecting the literary wants, tendencies, and objects 
 of the different German states, as well as to form connexions 
 with the most influential statesmen, all which seemed indis- 
 pensable, it was necessary to have a personal knowledge of the 
 various districts. The extensive acquaintance of Perthes, and 
 the general confidence with which he was regarded, not only by 
 authors and publishers, but by the statesmen of many difi"erent 
 governments, seemed to point him out as the person on whom 
 such a mission should naturally devolve ; and ever since the 
 spring of 1816, he had entertained the thought of making a tour 
 in South Germany, in pursuance of these objects. He believed 
 
298 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 that the expenses of the journey, vvliich to one in his circum- 
 stances were by no means inconsiderable, would be balanced by 
 the extension of his own business-connexions, and also by the 
 publication of a new and cheap edition of Stolberg's " History 
 of Religion," in and for Austria, from which he expected to 
 realize a large profit. Urged on all sides to carry out his inten- 
 tion, and assured in confidential letters from the most eminent 
 and influential men, that they regarded it as likely to be 
 fraught with good results, and to be a means of cementing a 
 cordial and fraternal union between the still divided North 
 and South, he resolved to undertake the journey, and accord- 
 ingly he set out in August 1816. 
 
JOURNEY TO FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE. 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 JOURNEY TO FRANKFOPvT-ON-THE-MAINE 19tH JULY TO 
 
 4tu august 1816. 
 
 On Friday the 19tli of July, Perthes left Hamburgh in com- 
 pany with his son Matthias, then sixteen years of age, with 
 the intention of travelling by way of Cologne, Frankfort, and 
 Munich, to Vienna. 
 
 " Our journey has been prosperous thus far," he writes from 
 Bremen. " The night was clear and mild, and the postilions were 
 good. The carriage is convenient, and holds me and our boy 
 very comfortably. I am somewhat fatigued in mind and body ; 
 the labours and efforts of the last two years, coming imme- 
 diately after the terrible anxieties of the fearful time that 
 preceded them, have shaken me. To you, my beloved Caro- 
 line, I know not what to say concerning our present separa- 
 tion, but that I believe I am going where God calls me. I 
 commit you and the children to His protection." 
 
 Perthes travelled without stopping to Miinster, where he 
 meant to stay some days. " It is sad,'' he writes, " to see the 
 fine Chaussee, made by the French with German money and 
 German labour, entirely neglected by the Hanoverian govern- 
 ment ; the displaced stones are left by the wayside, and in 
 many places between Bremen and Brinkum, for instance, it is 
 
300 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 impossible to travel by night ; yet tlie tolls are everywhere 
 exacted. Till you approach Osnabrl'ick, the country is dreary 
 and tedious ; towards Bohmte it is more interesting. Here 
 we drove to see the oak of a thousand years. Its circumference 
 at the base is twenty paces. This giant of antiquity stands 
 towering to the sky, but bears neither bark, branches, nor 
 boughs ; on one side only where a vein of living sap still runs, 
 the trunk is covered with tender green sprouts ; a touching- 
 sight this monument of grey antiquity, standing like some an- 
 cient watch-tower, clothed with clustering ivy. It is a pleasing 
 custom they have here of giving proper names to horses. The 
 horse is a noble and intelligent animal, and quite as deserving 
 of such a distinction as the dog ; and when it has a name, it 
 has made some advance towards personality." " Here I am 
 once more in old Mlinster," he says in another letter, " and 
 find it as usual, devotional and lively. Yesterday, at noon, 
 July 22d, we arrived, and as we alighted I saw Count Joseph 
 Westphalen, riding across the Square, and I am sorry to say 
 about to leave the town, but we enjoyed a quarter of an hour's 
 cordial communion : after this I inquired for our old friends, 
 and paid many visits. Bishop Droste is on a journey, but is 
 expected back to-morrow. I was invited to the President von 
 Vincke's, and found several members of the council of Minister 
 there, and a few also from Mindcn. The conversation was 
 animated and unrestrained, and the men seemed to me to be of 
 the right German sort, simple, intelligent, and well-intentioned: 
 Vincke bears the impress of a gifted man, capable of accom- 
 plishing much by the union of power and promptitude. In his 
 carriage and his gestures he often reminds me of Niebuhr, while 
 in acuteness, solidity, and genuine German character, he may 
 
JOURNEY TO FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE, 301 
 
 be compared with Moser." "Early this morning, July 24," he 
 writes to Caroline, " the dear Bishop took me to his house, 
 which, though comfortably, is very simply fitted up. We were 
 alone for two hours, and spoke together with perfect openness. 
 We understand each other, though on certain important points 
 we are not on the same track. He is calm, stedfast, decided, 
 and liberal in the best sense, for his liberality is the fruit of 
 love. I went with him to visit his brother Clement, and thence 
 to call on the other brother, Canon Francis, where we met Ka- 
 terkamp and the vigorous old Vicar Konrad, Avho now has a 
 living in the country ; the venerable Overberg, alas ! I did not 
 see, for he was travelling. The hours that I spent in the 
 society of these men will always live in my memory : it did 
 one good to look at the three brothers. Clement is matured 
 in every quality which can call forth respect, is full of fire 
 and energy, simple and sure : Francis is talented, acute, and 
 lively. They are all alike distinguished by honesty of purpose 
 and purity of heart, and in each the outer man reflects what is 
 within. It is an advantage to the Roman Catholic Church to 
 have men of social distinction among its priesthood, but they 
 must be of the right sort. Clement has lately returned from 
 Rome, and is labouring zealously for the freedom of the Church, 
 ' in order,' as he says, 'that aspirations after divine things, and 
 the free movement of the higher spiritual life, may not be sub- 
 jected to the supervision of the State and the control of the 
 police.' In a higher ecclesiastical position he might become too 
 dependent on Rome to work freely." 
 
 " On the 24th of July we left Miinster," says Perthes in 
 another letter. " From Hagen, which we reached next morn- 
 ing, the country assumes an aspect unusual in Germany. In 
 
302 LIFE OF PERTHES 
 
 the valley, wliicli is about two miles broad, with a number of 
 lateral valleys opening into it, lie closely crowded together 
 factories, and mills, and smithies, all encircled by trim gar- 
 dens. The sloj^es of the low hills are covered with corn, the 
 summits with wood. For four hours we travelled through 
 this wealthy district, till we got to Schwelm, and looked 
 from the height into the Wupperthal, and down on a little 
 clustering town. From the summit the view of the valley is 
 very striking, — the hills crowned with wood, and their declivi- 
 ties clothed with grain, or adorned with emerald meadows, here 
 white as snow, there with a purple hue, or glittering in various 
 colours according to the dyes of the outspread manufactured 
 stuffs, and far below, on the banks of the Wupper, lordly man- 
 sions, with their fine flower-gardens and luxurious and some- 
 times tawdry decorations ; the fruits of that incredible manu- 
 facturing activity which will be the grave of our character, our 
 morals, and our power. The children work in the factories from 
 eight, or even six years of age ; become cripples and beget 
 cripples ; and the efforts of the so-called pietists to put a stop 
 to this style of things have hitherto been as unsuccessful as 
 the exertions of the government. We could not stop to see the 
 wonders of the valley, but we had the pleasure of visiting 
 J. Keetmann ! I have also met and conversed with all the men 
 whose names I had set down. It appears to me that the people 
 express much more dissatisfaction with Prussia in the hill- 
 country than in the Munster district. Considerable irritation 
 between Catholics and Protestants has arisen among the mixed 
 population, and both parties accuse the government, while 
 many branches of trade suffer by the separation fi'om France, 
 and no one has patience to wait for better times. The Prussian 
 
JOURNEY TO FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE. 303 
 
 forms are complained of as tedious and antediluvian, and a 
 demand for a constitutional assembly is strongly urged." 
 
 It was at Diisscldorf, and by the light of a fine sunset, that 
 Perthes first saw the Rhine. " The glorious river makes a 
 grand impression," he says ; " it is true that like the Elbe at 
 Hamburgh, it flows through a level country. I should not say 
 flows, but streams impetuously, for there is a vast difterence ; 
 yet the Rhine can never form so beautiful a mirror as the Elbe 
 occasionally does. We have now, my beloved Caroline, the Elbe, 
 the "Weser, the Ems, the Ruhr, and soon we shall have the 
 Rhine, too, between us ; but love and devotion recognise no 
 boundaries. Be confident. Your glances into the past, and 
 fearful and hopeful longings, are indeed guarantees for the 
 great future beyond the grave; yet do not forget that a 
 vigorous grasp of the present is our duty so long as we are 
 upon earth. It is the present moment that supplies the energy 
 and decision Avhich fit us for life. Retrospect brings sad- 
 ness, and the dark future excites fears, so that we should be 
 crippled in our exertions were we not to lay a vigorous grasp 
 upon the present." Perthes passed some days in the family of 
 his brother-in-law. Max Jacobi, who had lately exchanged the 
 post of Director of the great Hospital at Salzburg, for that of 
 State-councillor at Dusseldorf. They had not met since 1808, 
 and in reminiscences of the great events in midst of which 
 both had lived, the hours passed quickly away. It was with 
 deep emotion that at Pempelfort, Perthes looked on the spot, 
 where in bygone times, before the stormy season of the first 
 revolutionary war, Frederick Henry Jacobi had formed the 
 centre of a highly cultivated circle, and had received as his 
 guests, Goethe, Herder, Lavater, Hamann, Schlosscr, Heinze, 
 
304 LIFE OF PEKTHES. 
 
 the Princess Gallitzin, and so many others : and thus in recol- 
 lections of the past, rather than in observation of the present, 
 the time was spent in Diisseldorf. But the general impression 
 that even the j^assing traveller almost inevitably receives, was 
 not favourable to the inhabitants of this town. " There is an 
 appearance of restlessness and inconstancy in the countenance, 
 bearing, and manners of the people ; their features are not well 
 defined, and they do not look like men whom one would choose 
 as associates in a time of peril." 
 
 It was but a hasty visit that Perthes could pay to the 
 literary residents, Kohlrausch, Kortiim, and Delbriick — witli 
 Frederick Hoffmann, the merchant, he remained somewhat 
 longer. In his earlier mercantile journeys Hoffmann had been 
 in the habit of everywhere seeking out men animated by ear- 
 nest religious feeling, and had thus formed an extensive circle 
 of friends — men of the most diverse characters. " I sought 
 out our old friend Hoffmann," writes Perthes to Caroline. 
 " The peculiar and distinguishing characteristic of this pious 
 and very wise old man, is his enmity to all Churches and eccle- 
 siastical institutions. He maintains that the outpouring of the 
 Holy Ghost, through which medium alone a Church can be 
 constituted, ceased with the third century : that all endea- 
 vours to restore the lost visible Church are ineffectual ; but 
 that, according to the promises of Scripture, a second effusion 
 of the Holy Ghost is sooner or later to be expected, when 
 the Church will be restored, and the present forms of society 
 will be dissolv ed. I could not help answering, that the Jews 
 had failed to recognise the Redeemer when He came, because 
 they were expecting a worldly lord and a king clad in purple ; 
 and that we too should be on our guard, lest in our anticipa- 
 
JOURNEY TO FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE. ^0) 
 
 tioii of a g-lorious and all-conquering manifestation of a Church, 
 we should think ourselves justified in overlooking- and slight- 
 ing the present inward working of the power of God. Hoffmann 
 and Keetmann accompanied us to Benrath, a summer palace, 
 commanding a fine prospect, wliere Murat, when Grand-Duke 
 of Berg, used to pass much of his time ; thence we travelled 
 through an exuberance of fruitfulness, bj Mulheim and Deutz 
 to Cologne." 
 
 " It is difficult to give you any idea of Cologne," he writes 
 in a letter to Caroline, " for all is so new to us — men, man- 
 ners, and customs, the city, the houses, and the institutions. 
 We have already seen much that is grand and beautiful, and 
 also much that is comic. Don't be alarmed at our having be- 
 come somewhat Catholic : in the cathedral there was a service 
 against the rain, and at night there were torch-light proces- 
 sions, the priests praying aloud, and were we travellers to keep 
 aloof? As soon as we arrived, we wandered through the city. 
 The streets, lanes, and alleys, very appropriately called Spar- 
 gasseii, are strangely intricate and perplexing. Houses of all 
 periods, antiquities of all ages, are here seen side by side ; in 
 a few paces you walk through the history of the old Roman 
 times. The Colognese dwell among the stones and the ruins 
 of fifteen hundred years: they are distinguished by pecu- 
 liarity of dialect, carriage, and manners. On the street floor 
 most of the houses have only a counting-house or shop with a 
 dark room at the back ; above are warehouses and large rooms 
 without windows, the frequent dwelling-place of the bat and 
 the owl. But on passing through the ground-floor to the back 
 of the house, you find well-built, spacious rooms, in which the 
 family live as quietly as if they were in the country, and which 
 
 ■26 
 
oO() LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 frequently open into large gardens surrounded by venerable 
 walls festooned with ivy and other climbing plants. We saw 
 a number of small houses built against the old Roman city 
 wall, and clustered together in mid air, like swallows' nests. 
 How many generations with their joys and sorrows have passed 
 away within them ! But amid the ruins of the past we were 
 pleasantly reminded of the present by a glass case, protected 
 by wire-work like a parrot's cage, and containing three merry and 
 fine-looking children, which was let down upon us as we passed 
 under a window. These floating children's rooms are hung out 
 of the windows in the sunshine, or when there is anything to 
 be seen. — We went to the cathedral on the day of our arrival 
 though it was already half dark ; our cicerone unceremoniously 
 tapped on the shoulder a very old priest, who was kneeling 
 and praying diligently, and the old man rose at once from his 
 knees, in order to do the honours of the cathedral to us, while 
 the cicerone knelt down in his place, and carried on the 
 prayers. To-day we went again for the third time to the cathe- 
 dral. On entering the choir, every one is expected to drop 
 his arms. What honour has been conferred upon man in 
 making him the instrument by which the Spirit of God pro- 
 duces such wonderful works ! It is impossible to write about it. 
 St. Peter's has now recovered the picture of the Crucifixion of 
 Peter, painted by Rubens, and presented by liim to this church 
 in which he Avas baptized. It was taken to Paris by the French, 
 but I am afraid that the barbarity which did not scruple to tear 
 even this precious legacy from the very altar will soon be forgot- 
 ten by the inhabitants. This morning, after visiting the Wall- 
 raft" collection of Cologncse antiquities, where I might have 
 learned much if I had known more, we went to the house of 
 
JOURNEY TO FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE. S07 
 
 Schauberg the bookseller, a very well-infornied and higbly 
 cultivated man, and tliere met Professor Wallraff, State-coun- 
 cillor von Harthausen, Captain Biirscli, and a Herr de Groot. 
 Several hours passed rapidly away in animated conversation ; 
 Catholicism and Protestantism being among tlie subjects 
 discussed. On my mentioning the incident of the cicerone 
 and the priest, and referring to similar indecencies of daily 
 occurrence in Catholic churches, I was told that it was the 
 office of this priest to shew the relics, and that whether pray- 
 ing or not, he must needs be always ready to discharge the 
 functions of his office ; that among Catholics it was the custom 
 to treat God with familiarity, as a father, and thus they could 
 occasionally put Him on one side with childlike confidence, 
 while Protestants who, on the contrary, always make an effiart 
 when they pray, must be on ceremony with Ilim as they would 
 with some stranger of rank. This reminded me of the drunken 
 Catholic peasants who, before they begin to fight, with a simi- 
 lar confiding spirit, put the crucifix under the table, that tlie 
 Lord may not be a witness of the scandal \" 
 
 On the 31st of July Perthes left Cologne for Godesberg. 
 " Wliile changing horses at Bonn," he says, " I sought out old 
 Stegmann. The sight of me reminded him of the death of 
 his daughter, our dear Herzfeld, and he wept bitterly; but 
 we drank to her memory in a glass of old Rhenish wine, and 
 he soon recovered his spirits: — ' Oh Human Nature!' At 
 Bonn the vineyards begin ; the bright green of the foliage 
 o-ives a colouring to the district, of which we in the nortli 
 have no idea : the growth of plants and flowers is, in general, 
 more luxuriant here than with us. Fruit-trees are planted in 
 rows in the corn-fields, and the cherry here aspires pine-like 
 
303 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 to tlie skies, while the apple and pear-trees spread out like 
 limes. At Godesberg, there is a mineral bath. Everybody is 
 dispirited by the incessant rain. I am determined to be cheer- 
 ful, for the enjoyment of nature was not the object of my jour- 
 ney ; yet the farmers have but too much cause for uneasiness. 
 All have failed — corn, grapes, and fruit — and the prospect is 
 dreary enough : ' Believe me,' said an intelligent man, ' the 
 winter of 1816-17 will bring famine.' " 
 
 Perthes reached Coblentz on the 1st of August, and early on 
 the following morning, the anniversary of his wedding, wrote 
 to Caroline : — " You are awake I am sure, and looking towards 
 me as I to you. We have known fulness of joy in our nineteen 
 years of wedded life, and have also experienced much trouble 
 and sorrow ; God be praised for both ! I again hold out my 
 hand to you, beloved one ! for the years that are yet appointed 
 to us ; let us meet them bravely. Matthias is just awake, and 
 he, too, greets his mother. The day is breaking : the dark 
 majestic rock of Ehrenbreitstein rises in the east and hides 
 the sun, which, nevertheless, casts kindly rays athwart into the 
 valley that winds between the heights, while a thick grey mist 
 is still brooding over the rushing Rhine in the plain beneath." 
 — " This morning," he says in a letter written on the evening 
 of the same day, " I went to Gorres.* He is a tall, well-made 
 man, energetic and plain spoken, but withal somewhat affected. 
 The genial spirit and the kindling fancy appear at once. In 
 figure he reminds me of Benzenberg, only he looks abler ; 
 
 *■ J. J. Giiires was born at Col kiitz in 1776. He was celebrated as a political 
 orator, and was for some time editor of a Journal called " Das Rotlie Blatt." He 
 lield an eminent place among the politicians of the time. In 1827 he was appohited 
 lo the Chair of History in Munich. 
 
JOURNEY TO FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MATNE. 809 
 
 he speaks like StefFens. I found him alone ; his wife was at the 
 bleaching- field with a great washing; she came in afterwards — 
 a cordial, unaffected, and very amiable woman, with a good, clear 
 intellect. The children were with her, a very pretty girl of 
 fifteen — a frank, lively boy of twelve, whom I would gladly 
 have taken with me, and another little wild girl ; altogether an 
 amiable family, and a well-ordered burgher household, simple 
 and beautifully clean. Everything bears the impress of Gorres' 
 strong moral sense ; the same cannot be said of all gifted men. 
 At noon we went in company with him and President Meuse- 
 bach to the Procurator-General Eichhorn, and afterwards Gorres 
 and the President accompanied us to Ehrenbreitstein, and like 
 experienced guides, shewed us, through the chinks of the de- 
 molished fortress, wonderfully fine glimpses of the vale below. 
 Meusebach was delighted with Matthias, and chased him from 
 rock to rock. This Gorres was pleased to call a mere literary 
 predilection for the grandson of Claudius, whom, indeed, the 
 President does not deem sufficiently honoured till his works are 
 printed in grand folio volumes, instead of in their present octavo 
 form, or else written on parchment ! Among these antiquarian 
 gentlemen, the value of a book is determined by the antiquity 
 of the form, by the type, and the binding. The evening was 
 spent in cheerful society at Gorres' house." 
 
 In the house of Gorres, and all along the Rhine, at that time, 
 there was no escaping political discussion. " The dinner to-day 
 was very animated and interesting," says Perthes in his next 
 letter from Coblentz. "Meusebach and a hard-headed old 
 knight of the iron cross* formed the Prussian ^urtj versus the 
 
 * The iron cross was a decoration conferred on those who bad fought iu the Wiir 
 of Independence. 
 
310 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Rlienish-Gorres, and set down all the liberal ideas and institu- 
 tions developed by the Revolution as ' Napoleonism/ declarino- 
 that that was what the Rhenish people loved and would fain 
 have back again. — ' You are Lithuanians/ cried Gorres from 
 the other side of the table — ' Lithuanians with the fetters of 
 serfdom yet hanging about your heels.' This mutual esteem 
 between Prussian and Rhenish does not appear to me to be 
 limited to the intercourse of the table. The Rhenish are, how- 
 ever, genuine Germans in spite of their twenty years' subjec- 
 tion to France ; although, of the Germany on the other side 
 Frankfort they know notliing wdiatever. They regard their 
 own concerns as all-important ; their own as the only beautiful 
 country, and theirs as the only liberal ideas : to them bar- 
 barism begins where Frankfort ends, and they only take occa- 
 sional cognizance of what lies beyond, and then with a kind of 
 condescending compassion. I like the Colognese best ; with all 
 their petty state notions there mingles somewhat of the great 
 City-feeling of olden times when cities were principalities. They, 
 and they alone, have a history, and therefore are entitled to self- 
 respect. It will be hard for Prussia to win over Diisseldorf and 
 Coblentz ; there is an unsteadiness about the people, and a 
 disposition to gainsay everything, even in matters of religion. 
 Catholicism is well adapted to Munster and Westphalia : it is at 
 home there, and appears as the growth of the soil ; but on the 
 Rhine it is like an exotic, or something ingrafted or assumed, 
 and therefore a mere external ornament. It was in the midst 
 of this state of things that our Protestant Bible Society began 
 its work of furnishing Catholics with Bibles, and this often by 
 means which, if adopted by Catholics, we should style Jesuiti- 
 cal and proselytizing. The future welfare of the country and 
 
JOURNEY TO FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE. 311 
 
 its position with respect to Prussia depend greatly on tlie 
 personal character of the bishops who are about to be appointed. 
 Ivaspar, Droste, and Sailer are mentioned. What an infinite 
 amount of labour and of influence they might take from the 
 government if they were inclined ! This evening I have taken 
 leave of Gorres. The force of his understanding must be evi- 
 dent to every one who hears him speak ; but there is great 
 confusion in his views. His letters and his writings had pre- 
 pared me for hasty conclusions, startling paradoxes, flights of 
 fancy and of wit, but not for his often self-contradictory and 
 really revolutionary arguments. Gorres does not know what 
 he wants. Tlie elements of the positive are in him, but the 
 district, the time, and the city in which he lives, have in- 
 grafted on it a spirit of opposition which is not worthy of him. 
 Beyond the limits of Frankfort and Heidelberg, he, like the 
 rest, is absolutely unacquainted with our fatherland." 
 
 In order to speak with Baron von Stein, Perthes chose the 
 route by Ems and Wiesbaden, rather than that by Bingen and 
 Mainz. " On leaving Ems," he writes, " you see on a hill that 
 rises before you the ruins of the castle that was the cradle of 
 the Nassau race, and beneath, raised upon a rocky emi- 
 nence, the remains of the castle of Stein. In the valley be- 
 low, the Lahn winds its way through charming meadow lands, 
 and in a narrow bend of the stream lies the little town of 
 Nassau, and near it Stein's present castle. I sent in my name, 
 and was received by him in a veiy friendly manner, and recog- 
 nised as an old acquaintance, on account of our meeting here 
 in December 1813. He requested me to sit down. 'You are 
 going to Vienna ? What do you want there ? What do you 
 want with me?' Assuredly, he who did not know precisely 
 
312 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 what he wanted with Stein, would very quickly find liimself 
 outside of the door. I explained my views and intentions in 
 few words, and he went into the whole aifair at once, heart and 
 soul. He then asked me about the Ilanse-towns, and whether 
 any fresh blood had found its way into the Hamburgh Senate, — 
 the perukes he had once seen there had made no pleasing im- 
 pression. He agreed with me in my observations on the Rhenish 
 provinces, but he cherished a hope that they would gradually 
 grow into the Prussian kingdom. Great mistakes, he said, 
 had indeed been made by the superior Prussian authorities 
 through indecision and vacillation, but the government was 
 working for good, and the chief authorities in the provinces 
 were, without exception, men of sense and integrit}'', and 
 thoroughly German, while the majority of them were also able 
 and active. So much still remains to be arranged, and there 
 are still so many places left for Rhenish-born subjects, that 
 complaints of neglect were, to say the least, premature. In 
 Coblentz, in particular, everything was found fault with, and 
 yet the city, were it not for the employes and the garrison, 
 would soon fall to pieces. Gorres, he said, was a genius, a 
 learned and upright man, but he would not listen to counsel, 
 though the Chancellor had done his utmost to keep him within 
 bounds ; finally, that both in and out of Prussia there were 
 blunders and evils, and so it had ever been, and so it would be 
 to the end of the world. ' Nevertheless, even in Frankfort,' 
 he added, ' you will see that good also is in store for 
 Germany, and, therefore, for Europe ; for the present conser- 
 vators of freedom — the English — will hardly continue so much 
 longer.' Stein invited me to dinner, and on my refusal, 
 accompanied me to the door, in order to shew me a stone tower 
 
JOURNEY TO FRAUKFORT-ON-TIIE-MAINE. olo 
 
 in process of erection. On my saying, 'that will be a Zvving- 
 Uri, not against the people, but/or them,' lie laughed heartily, 
 and shook my hand, and thus I left a man, who, after a world- 
 wide experience, is yet open to every new impression ; and 
 who though so many of his schemes have foundered, and though 
 he has been so often compelled by the will of the Prince, or by 
 an unfavourable majority in the council, to withdraw his plans 
 for the progress of the pcoplfe, is still full of hope. We got on 
 afterwards as far as Wiesbaden, and this morning, August tlie 
 4tli,.arrivcd in Frankfort." 
 
SI 4 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 STAY IN FUANKFORT, HEIDELBERG, AND STUTTGART. 4tH TO THK 
 
 20th of august 1816. 
 
 At Frankfort, Perthes found letters informing- liim of the 
 sudden and serious illness of Caroline. He had resolved on 
 a hasty return, when in a letter from Caroline herself, he was 
 assured that all danger was over. " How can I thank you for 
 your letters," she wrote, " and for the lively enjoyment that 
 they afford me ? H I were not altogether yours, I would now 
 give myself to you anew. You cannot conceive how thankful 
 I am. To-day I have another letter, while I am still enjoying 
 those from Cologne and Coblentz. They are living pictures of 
 your inner life, and of all that you are seeing and doing, and are 
 inexpressibly dear to me. Often I can scarcely persuade myself 
 that it is only a narrative, it is so exactly as if I were present 
 at all you describe. Rubens* picture of Peter hangs before me 
 day and night, and yet it is too terribly beautiful to have always 
 before my eyes. I am also thankful to God for keeping you so 
 well, after so many years of wearing labour." 
 
 His mind set at rest by this letter, Perthes could now sur- 
 render himself without anxiety to the manifold impressions of 
 Frankfort life. " I did not find one of my personal friends here 
 on my arrival," he says, " and was consequently obliged to make 
 
FRANKFORT, HEIDELBERG, AND STUTTGART. o I .*) 
 
 my own way ; and first I sought out Frederick Seldcgol, wliotn, 
 notwithstanding our long correspondence, I had never scon. 
 He is a fat, round man, with very bright eyes, which, never- 
 theless, look coldly out : he has shortness in his manner, whiclt 
 you may call straightforwardness if you will. He gave me a 
 very friendly reception, and yet I did not feel myself con- 
 strained to open my heart to him. I passed the evening at his 
 house in company with Buchholz ; you remember this accom- 
 plished, amiable southron of 1813. Frau von Schlegel made 
 a very favourable impression on me. She may, indeed, have 
 passed through a hard apprenticeship ; but she seems to me to 
 have won the victory, and appears to be an unassuming, sensible 
 woman. Canon Helfrich, the well-known papal orator at the 
 Congress of Vienna, was also there ; a lively, talented, and 
 open-hearted man, who won my confidence. The conversation 
 soon turned on the important subjects shortly to be discussed 
 at the Bund. I learned how to look at them from the Catholic 
 point of view, which was made still plainer to me in my fre- 
 quent subsequent meetings with these men, and with the 
 brothers. Christian and Frederick Schlosser, who received me 
 as an old friend. Schlegel, who evidently thinks that he will 
 have great personal influence on the decisions of the Bundestag, 
 declared that its first act must be one of justice towards the 
 Catholic clergy on the left bank of the Rhine, who, under the 
 French regime, had sunk into extreme poverty. On this 
 Helfrich observed that Rome also thought of putting in a claim 
 on behalf of her necessitous clergy, as the Pope wished to esta- 
 blish a library in each diocese, to be composed of works on 
 Church history, and of sermons from all the Christian confes- 
 sions by way of replacing the monastic libraries, the dispersion 
 
316 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 of wliich had deprived the poor village priests of any means of 
 acquiring professional knowledge. This, said others, was the 
 more necessary, since even among the Catholic priesthood no- 
 velties of various kinds were appearing. On one side. Sailer 
 and his party, with Von Meyer, Schubert, and others, were 
 endeavouring to realize a visible union of the religions of all 
 confessions; while, on the other. Von Constanz, under the 
 Vicar-General Wessenberg, was labouring to bring all German 
 bishops under the supremacy of one German Patriarch. The 
 appointment of such a Patriarch, they said, would sever Ger- 
 many from Rome, and withdraw it from its connexion with the 
 Catholic Church ; while it could not fail to bring the bishops 
 within the jurisdiction of the State. To preserve the indepen- 
 dence of the Church it was indispensably necessary, they main- 
 tained, that the bishops should directly acknowledge Rome ; so 
 that each might be constituted without any reference to terri- 
 torial limits — one state being often divided into three or four 
 bishoprics, and one bishopric being sometimes formed out of 
 as many different states. ' Our bishops must not be territorial 
 bishops,' said Helfrich, 'and paid by the Slate — they must 
 live on their own means, however small. Poor the Church 
 should be ; she has a right to poverty, and this right being 
 disregarded by the German prelates, they have made themselves 
 rich, and have thus led to the violation of the liberties of the 
 Church. Things have come to such a pass that there is more 
 union of sentiment among Protestant divines in Church mat- 
 ters than among Catholics. I have,' he added, 'collected the 
 transactions, and all the documents I could get, and sent them 
 to Rome. And now may good come of it !' On my asking 
 bow an independent Catholic Church unity, such as he con- 
 
FRANKFORT, HEIDELBERG, AND STUTTGART. 317 
 
 templated, was to be upheld in Germany, in the face of Pro- 
 testantism, I saw that the restoration of a Corpus Evangelico- 
 rum* was already forming matter for discussion, though from 
 different points of view. To such a political corpus in itself 
 the Catholic politicians do not appear to object, only they would 
 have it placed under the presidency of Saxony, as in the time 
 of the Empire : but being all aware that this is no longer pos- 
 sible, and that Prussia would now be at its head, they are 
 opposed to its revival. In general, the claims of Protestants 
 and Jews are regarded by Roman Catholics as precisely on 
 the same footing ; even to the latter, Schlegel would have all 
 civil rights conceded, excepting only that of sitting in the 
 representative assemblies. ' You Protestants stand outside 
 the Church, as well as the Jews,' said he to me, ' and so have 
 no right to speak against them !' How different, in spite of 
 all the external unity of Catholicism, are the Catholicisms of 
 Munster, Coblentz, and Frankfort ! Here, in this very intel- 
 lectual circle, the dread of Protestant influence is in the 
 ascendant." 
 
 In order to obtain some exi^lanation of the suspicions which 
 he was surprised to hear associated with the name of Sailer, 
 Perthes applied to Count F. L. Stolberg. " I well know," re- 
 plied the Count, " why Sailer is regarded with suspicion by 
 certain rigid Catholics. In some respects the suspicion does 
 him honour ; for the rest, he owes it, in some measure, to a cer- 
 tain mannerism, which, however, he has been gradually throw- 
 ing off for several years past. He has done much to keep 
 alive a spirit of real religion in Bavaria, as formerly in Swabia : 
 attacked by zealots, and persecuted by Illuminati, his labours 
 
 * A union of all Christians, who could unite on a broad evangelical basis. 
 
SI 8 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 iiave bccUj iiotwitlistanding, manifestly blessed by God, and he 
 has steadil}' gone forward on the straight way." 
 
 Among those who were accounted the most zealous Protes- 
 tants, Perthes found almost as much to dissent from as among 
 tlie Catholic circles of Frankfort. " I shall name first the Sena- 
 tor J. F. von Meyer/' he writes, " the same who, under the 
 signature Imo, wrote the criticisms in the Heidelberg Annual, 
 on Jacobi, Goethe, and Claudius, which so much charmed us. 
 I met him with feelings of respectful anticipation, but quickly 
 found myself repulsed, and in a few minutes involved in a 
 violent argument witli him. You see at once that he is a man 
 of talent and weight ; but he is ever ready to do battle for 
 petty points of controversy, in support of which he has an 
 infinite number of texts at his fingers' ends. He is undoubtedly 
 a man of piety, and full of genuine humility towards God, but 
 wliat he says, he says in the name of God, and carries it very 
 proudly towards men. To him Rome is Antichrist, Stolberg a 
 castaway, who does not know what the grace of God is ; every 
 other Christian community is good only when compared with 
 Rome, in other respects they have only the external form of 
 Christianity." 
 
 Wilhelm von Humboldt, an old personal acquaintance, re- 
 ceived Perthes with great cordiality, and took up the book- 
 trade question with zeal. After an afternoon passed in his 
 family circle, in company with the Secretary of Legation, Count 
 Flemming, and Von Blilow, Perthes wrote, " There is a won- 
 derful atmosphere about a really great man ; nowhere do we 
 feel so much at home ; nowhere does one feel so free and 
 happy. Through all the light play of conversation, in which 
 he takes quite an equal share with his wife, — the real, actual 
 
FRANKFORT, HEIDELBERG, AND STUTTGART. ' 319 
 
 greatness of Wilhclra von Humboldt comes out, and I am con- 
 firmed in my old opinion, so often laughed at, that under an 
 ice-cold exterior, and a keen-edged sarcasm, this man conceals 
 deep and warm feelings, and a lively interest in Germany. He 
 made no allusions to the future attitude of Prussia towards the 
 Bund, and I do not think it improbable that he is himself at 
 present in the dark as to the next step to be taken by that 
 Cabinet. The general opinion is, that it is only the delay in the 
 nomination of the Prussian Plenipotentiary tliat has hitherto 
 prevented the opening of the Assembly ; Plerr von Hanlein is, 
 indeed, now fixed upon, but report says he will be superseded 
 by Count Goltz, or by Humboldt before the opening of the As- 
 sembly. While the Prussians are thus silent as to the views 
 and intentions of their Government, the Austrians, on the other 
 hand, are loud and long in their talk, and apparently with a 
 purpose." 
 
 At the end of a week Perthes prepared to leave Frankfort. 
 " I am," he wrote, " so thorouglily tired of eating and drink- 
 ing, of speaking and hearing, and of the exuberance of talent 
 and wit which I have here encountered, that although there are 
 still several influential men I would fain see, I have determined 
 to depart. I have received letters of all kinds for Vienna. 
 Schlegel, whom I met this morning at breakfast at Smidt's, 
 after partaking of some fresh herrings tliat our host had just 
 received from Bremen, asked me, on my conscience, whether I 
 was not a Free-mason, or a member of some other secret society, 
 and when I said I was not, he commended me to the Director 
 of the Police at Vienna, Councillor von Ohms. And now for 
 the southern Tetrarchy — Darmstadt, Baden, Wiirtemberg, and 
 Bavaria." 
 
320 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 As he left Frankfort on the 12th of August at noon, Perthes 
 cast a last look, from the Sachsenhaiiser Tower, across the broad 
 plain, with its innumerable towns and villages, watered by the 
 silver stream, and stretching itself in luxuriant fertility at the 
 foot of the Taunus range. " It is from this point,'' he says, 
 " that one first learns to appreciate the splendid situation of 
 Frankfort. How many memories of former times, and of its 
 grand old history, are awakened as one looks upon the out- 
 spread city ; and liow many conflicting efforts in which the 
 welfare of Germany and of Europe are involved, are now 
 mutually clashing there ! Immediately on leaving the Sachsen- 
 haiiser Tower, you are in the Darmstadt territory, which is like 
 a piece of patchwork. Here — the capital with the original do- 
 mains of the Landgrave — in the distance isolated Giessen, and, 
 on the other side of the Rhine, Electoral Mainz, with a portion 
 of the Archiepiscopal territory. The little place seems to have 
 been bent on great things, for the gates are a mile and a half 
 from the city. But though the greatness is yet unachieved, 
 things seem in good order, and much has been done to pro- 
 mote science and literature. I went to Leske the bookseller, 
 and asked him if he could tell me where Claudius had for- 
 merly lived ? ' Here, in this room,' he replied. ' My house was 
 the printing-office of the journal which was begun under the 
 superintendence of Claudius, for the benefit of the invalids.' 
 Late in the evening I saw the house again. The moon was 
 shining brightly, and I thought of the little Caroline who had 
 played here so many years ago. On the well-known Berg- 
 strasse between Darmstadt and Heidelberg, we were met by 
 large parties of emigrants, whom a characteristic restlessness 
 drives from this earthly paradise to the barren steppes of 
 
FRANKFORT, HEIDELBERG, AND STUTTGART. 321 
 
 Russia. On the other hand, what numbers of peasants from 
 the Brcisgau* flock hither for the harvest ! We encountered a 
 large party of these reapers talking a simple Ilebel-f- language. 
 The girls, with their pretty faces, short petticoats, and short 
 morals, were quite on simple Old Testament terms with the 
 lads who accompanied them. The Heidelberg students who find 
 their way into this Canaan, must have a hard time of it.'' 
 
 At Heidelberg Perthes passed three days full of interest and 
 instruction. His first visit was to Professor Thibaut, whom 
 he had known at Kiel. Under his guidance he saw the castle 
 and the Kcinigs-stuhl, and feasted his eyes on the fine outlines 
 and luxuriant verdure of the mountains. He was particularly 
 struck with the graceful melancholy of the weeping willow, 
 which there attains a size and height unknown in North Ger- 
 many ; while the famous Yat delighted him as a specimen of 
 genuine German humorous folly. At the house of Mohr, the 
 bookseller, he spent a pleasant evening in company with Daub 
 and Kreutzer, with whom he had no previous acquaintance. 
 To his groat delight he also met Pastor Zimmer, who had for- 
 merly served in his own warehouse, and had left him to estab- 
 lish a business of his own in Heidelberg. Amid all the hin- 
 drances of a laborious business life, he had acquired the classical 
 languages, studied theology, passed his examinations, and had 
 now assumed the priestly office in Worms. " When I see my 
 dear Zimmer, I feel proud of human energy ; we see in him 
 what a man is capable of accomplishing, when he is resolved." 
 
 Voss, also, was one of Perthes' early personal acquaintances ; 
 and on the day after his arrival he went to visit him, anxious 
 
 * A district of Baden, in which wooden clocks and toys iiro made. 
 t A writer of great naivete and simphcity. 
 
822 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 to know liis manner of bearing himself in his altered circum- 
 stances. " Voss has a healthy loolc," he writes, " and what was 
 decaying in him has passed into the tough ; but Ernestine is 
 worse, and does not look as if she would live long. I received 
 a kind and friendly welcome from both, and a cordial greeting 
 for you. The old man took me into his garden, and was very 
 amiable among the flowers. At first he spoke patriarchal 
 Luisisms* about God's beautiful nature, about flowers and 
 plants, old times and simple-hearted men ; and then, suddenly, 
 at the mention of Fouque's name, gave expression to a spirit of 
 hatred which I was really terrified to see in the old man. 'Ah !' 
 he exclaimed, ' that Fouque, who has misled the whole crew of 
 booby priests and aristocrats, is seeking to make Catholics 
 of them, as he has done of Stolberg!' He next inveighed furi- 
 ously against the worthless spirit of the Mecklenburghers and 
 Holsteiners ; then attacked Claudius, and said, it was his inten- 
 tion to publish an edition of the ' "Wandsbeck Messenger/ in 
 which all the priestly legends should be expunged, which he 
 said had been the suggestion of the dark spirit of superstition. 
 I was silent for a while; but to this last sally I replied, that I, on 
 the contrary, was thinking of publishing a new edition of Stol- 
 berg's ' History of Religion,' to the extent of several thousand 
 copies, believing that I should have cause to congratulate my- 
 self on the speculation, not only as a matter of business, but 
 as one that was likely to have a great and good influence 
 throughout the whole of Catholic Germany. Upon this the old 
 man said, that he had read nothing of Stolbcrg's since his 
 apostasy. I then endeavoured to turn the conversation, for 
 I do not willingly speak of Catholics, or of the Catholic 
 
 * Voss had, in his jouth, written a sentimental Idyl, called " Luise.'' V'ide p. 76. 
 
FRANKFORT, HEIDELBERG, AND STUTTGART. 323 
 
 Church, except with those wlio have themselves received the 
 faith of Christ in all humility. With such persons we can 
 contemplate, from a firm and intelligible stand-point, the various 
 forms in which the spirit of Christianity has expressed itself; 
 but with a man who is ever revolving in the circle of his own 
 self-constructed religious system, it is nothing but idle or pas- 
 sionate disputation. After dinner, Voss went with me alone 
 into the garden ; he hastily ran over a string of names, adding 
 to each some epithet, such as ' sneaking fellow, mischief-mak- 
 ing traitor, scoundrel,' &c. At hist, I got up and ran away. I 
 would not answer the worthy old man as he deserved, and I felt 
 that I ought not to be silent. Believe me, in spite of all the 
 domestic spirit and garden joys which are visible here, there 
 reigns in this house a spirit of hatred that has surprised and 
 deeply pained me." 
 
 It was not alone in Yoss's house that Perthes observed the 
 presence of a prevailing spirit of bitterness, which, manifesting 
 itself as it did chiefly in political questions, caused him deep 
 anxiety for the future. " It is as if scales had fallen from my 
 eyes,'"' he says ; " I was in nowise prepared for such scenes. 
 Here, when, during the reign of Napoleon, circumstances might 
 have justified some exhibition of political hatred, it was scarcely 
 known, and now it rages with wildest fury against their own 
 government. For the first time, I understand much that I 
 heard and overheard at Frankfort. 
 
 " In an hour we leave for Stuttgart. I should have remained 
 here some days longer, for one can hardly see the game these 
 men are playing so well elsewhere : but notwithstanding all this 
 wonderful beauty of scenery, I am oppressed and dispirited. 
 There are few here who recognise in their lives, fewer still in 
 their words, the mysteiy of love in its uniting and saving 
 
324 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 energy, the point to wliicli the inexhaustible goodness of God 
 is ever leading us back. The moral nature becomes rank 
 through license, and the spirit hardened ; and although there 
 are many who have escaped the snares of sensuality, there are 
 few who have been delivered from those of pride. Here, in 
 this earthly paradise, grief and dejection have overtaken me. 
 To-night we put up at Hcilbronn." 
 
 From Stuttgart, whore he remained from the 18th to the 
 20th of August, Perthes continues his narrative : — " I passed a 
 night of the wildest fever-fancies at Hcilbronn ; body and mind 
 were both over-excited by personal fatigue, by speaking and 
 hearing, and the experience gained at Heidelberg had im- 
 pressed me deeply. But the fresh and glorious morning chased 
 away the spectres of the night, and, refreshed in spirit, we 
 drove through the valley of the Neckar, a valley so highly cul- 
 tivated, that the artisan can scarcely find a spot to settle in 
 undisturbed. I heard of nothing but the apportioning of lands 
 and emigration. We reached Stuttgart at noon. Cotta drove us 
 to see the fine environs, and with this remarkable man, in whom 
 the greatest contradictions meet, I passed the evening. On 
 Sunday morning I called on the Medical-councillor Jager — he 
 was absent ; then on the Russian Ambassador, Yon Striive — 
 gone to church ; to Von Wangenheim — not at home ; then to 
 the Parade — which was at home. I dined at Cotta's with a 
 small circle of very interesting men, among whom was Wangen- 
 heim, whom I had known long ago at Gotha, as a wild youth. 
 His imposing person, all covered with decorations, ofiers a sin- 
 gular contrast to his careless manner of presenting himself. 
 Full of talent, he is apt to be overtaken in conversation by 
 flights of fancy, and to hurry his hearer with him over hill and 
 dale up to the clouds of speculation, and down into the depths 
 
FRANKFORT, HEIDELBERG, AND STUTTGART. 325 
 
 of human nature. In his place, I should not have spoken so 
 freely as he did of public affairs. Yesterday afternoon and this 
 morning I spent in calling on many distinguished people. 
 This country is truly in an extraordinary and perilous situa- 
 tion. Its princes are possessed of a kind of heathen great- 
 ness — wicked and powerful ; just such as men in the olden 
 times required as rulers, in order to keep them quiet. As to 
 personal affection for the king, that is not to be thought of. 
 A Stuttgarder said to me with evident pride, 'Our princes have 
 always been wicked fellows, and have deserved to occupy 
 even higher thrones.' The people of Wurtemberg are proud 
 of the vastness of their palaces, the magnificence of their gar- 
 dens, the beauty of their theatre, and of their model highways. 
 They are proud that their king should have better horses and 
 dogs than any other king ; that he is the best shot known, and 
 that, what lie wills, he accomplishes in spite of any amount of 
 opposition from his subjects. Every Stuttgarder knows, and 
 makes no secret of it, that the wildest beast in the whole me- 
 nagerie of kings has fallen to his share. Freedom of speech 
 is at the same time so unlimited, that I could not write the 
 half of what was told me openly close under the palace windows. 
 Order reigns supreme ; the ministers appear to be honour- 
 able men, and are so situated as to be kept out of the range of 
 popular hatred, the burden of which the king takes pleasure in 
 keeping to himself, by a series of offensive and tyrannical 
 enactments. In vigorous and determined opposition to this 
 powerful prince, stand the Constitutionalists, regarding the 
 voice of the country as the voice of God, and looking neither 
 to right nor left ; while between them, the world, with its self- 
 ishness, its corrupt principles, and its interested views, plays 
 a cunning and wicked game." 
 
326 LIFE or PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 journey from stuttgart to vienna, and return to hamduruh, 
 20th august to 8th October 1816. 
 
 On the 20th of August Perthes left Stuttgart, and travelled 
 by way of Esslingeu, Geislingen, and Ulm, to Augsburg. In 
 spite of the hurried journey, he found abundance of material 
 for observation among a country and a people, which, to a North 
 German, were foreign. He halted for a few days at Augsburg, 
 attracted by the social life of this old, art-loving, imperial city. 
 "On the 21st, at noon," he writes to Caroline, "we drove to 
 the magnificent hotel of the Three Moors, and in the course of 
 the afternoon I visited several book and map sellers, and have 
 wearied myself yesterday and to-day with walking and listen- 
 ing. Augsburg is a large and handsome city, but it does not 
 impress one with the idea of antiquity. There is not a single 
 public building, and but few private houses, that date from our 
 great architectural era. Centuries of prosperity have enabled 
 the inhabitants to renovate their dwellings according to the 
 fashions of the day. It is within the houses and in the mode 
 of conducting business that we find the family manners and 
 customs of ancient artistic Augsburg. I am much mistaken 
 if we are not here among a spirited and determined population, 
 hard to bend or to break : we find here ' originals' in character 
 and even wild eccentricities. At the present time, a vast traffic 
 
STUTTGART TO VIENNA, RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 327 
 
 is carried on, and many factories are in full operation ; while 
 works of art in silver and other materials are still objects of 
 desire with the burghers ; and yet there are tokens of decay. 
 Such a life, so prodigal of labour, energy, and invention, can only 
 be sustained in these days by men possessed of civil and political 
 freedom. The good people of Augsburg finnly believe that, on 
 his accession, the Crown Prince will again declare their city 
 and Nuremberg to be free cities." " The present state of the 
 literary traffic here," he says in another letter, "is really 
 extraordinary, and it has been at the expense of much labour 
 and fatigue that I have got a glimpse of it. I shall write the 
 details to Besser." 
 
 The journey from Augsburg to Munich offered little that was 
 attractive in natural scenery ; but the Sunday brought out the 
 peasants in all the picturesque variety of their singular but 
 grotesque costume, richly adorned with silver lace, buttons, 
 and coins. " They may be at once distinguished from the 
 Swabians," wrote Perthes. " These are stout, cheerful fellows, 
 well-fed, and vigorous ; in Swabia, the men have a downcast, 
 oppressed look, and are often thin, sallow, and ill-shaped." — On 
 the 25th of August he reached Munich, and went straight to 
 Jacobi. " He received us as if we had been his children, and 
 with the feelings of a child I embraced the dear old man. In 
 appearance he is little altered, and his health is quite as good 
 as can be expected at his age, especially for one so delicately 
 organized, and of so susceptible a temperament. In conversa- 
 tion, when only two or three are present, there is the same 
 power as ever, the same clearness and readiness of mind, but 
 for general society he is dead ; being somewhat deaf, he does 
 not follow a conversation quickly. If possible, he is even more 
 
S28 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 affectionate and cordial than ever ; and he bears his altered 
 and now narrow circumstances with the composure of a wise 
 man ; it was only when he referred to the pension that he had 
 lately been obliged to ask of the king for his sisters that his 
 voice failed, and the tears came into his eyes. He still takes 
 the liveliest interest in public affairs, and carefully watches tlie 
 progress of events. lie listened to ray account of the death of 
 his friend (Claudius) at Hamburgh, and seems to dwell with 
 interest and thoughtfulness on this last event in human life, 
 but yet without seeing further into Christianity than he did 
 ten years ago." 
 
 " I have seen few things in Munich, because I felt that my 
 time belonged to Jacobi ; but tlie Picture Gallery has great 
 attractions. For some time I was perplexed, till from the mass 
 of the great and beautiful, I was able to fix on something 
 definite: the contrasts are too strong. With wonderful power 
 has Rubens penetrated into the dark side of human nature, 
 and with equal power has he exhibited it. His drunken Silcnus 
 is a horrible compound of devil and sow ; the woman just fall- 
 ing into hell, and still reeking with lust and passion — the 
 torments of the damned portrayed in her countenance — is not 
 less horrible than the principal figure in the same picture, a 
 bloated glutton. Gluttony and the dread of future hunger are 
 both depicted in his face, the latter somewhat diminished by 
 the consciousness of having a resource for a while in his own 
 fat. The evil that is in man is as truly represented by Ru- 
 bens as man's heavenward aspirations and pure affections 
 are by Guide Reni and Raphael. Man is in both : we feel, 
 and are conscious of the contradiction that we carry within 
 us, at other times and in other places, but here we see it 
 
STUTTGART TO VIENNA, RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 329 
 
 in pictures — it becomes visible to itself. It was strange to 
 see again tbc pictures that were in the former Diisscldorf 
 Gallery, and wliicli I had helped Tischbein to take, one by 
 one, out of a chest in a barn at Gluckstadt." " Matthias 
 shall have special thanks to-day," replies Caroline, " for his 
 descriptions of nature, which really did me good, after you 
 had frightened me with Rubens' dreadful picture. I hold it 
 to be sinful and wrong to pervert such a divine gift as Ru- 
 bens had received to such corrupt and monstrous uses. I 
 rejoice over one who has passed through life without having 
 known, seen, imagined, or been susceptible of such abomina- 
 tions. How dare a man, by the medium of pictures, realize 
 to better and purer souls, who dream not of them, tilings 
 which arc the disgrace and brand of humanity ? In a word, I 
 hate such pictures, in spite of all the art with which they may 
 be painted. It is a black art. Matthias should not paint such 
 pictures if he could ; I glory in God's work, — Nature ; she 
 comes from Him and leads to Him, and happy is he who has 
 it in his power to look upon these works as you have done. 
 Dear Matthias, fill your soul with such pictures, and let them 
 live there till you have learned to draw nigh to your Creator 
 in another and higher way : bring back to me all that you can 
 apprehend and can communicate — I long for it." 
 
 The position of Bavaria, as a state, appeared dark indeed, as 
 Perthes contemplated it, during his visit to Munich, and he says, 
 — " What political form Bavaria may ultimately assume, no one 
 here seems to have any idea. As to any feeling for a common 
 Germany, or for national union, it is wholly unknown here ; but 
 if a German spirit were awakened, the Bavarians would be 
 one of our bravest, most powerful, and loyal races. All is un- 
 
 28 
 
S30 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 certainty cas regards the internal policy. The king is cordially 
 loved as a true, warm-hearted citizen, but he will not hear 
 of representative chambers or constitutions, and has said 
 that whoever speaks of them attacks the throne. Montgelas 
 seems to be a highly-cultivated and very well-informed man. 
 He can talk admirably, and does so with the utmost liber- 
 ality and openness about the freedom and the rights of the 
 })eople: he knows Europe — Courts and men — but only their 
 weak and dark side, and is not conscious of the divine power 
 that can, and does preside in the heart of man. He has thus 
 misunderstood our times, and is come to the limit of his activity 
 and influence. The Royal house owes him much, but he has 
 brought the country to the verge of ruin in more than one re- 
 spect. Without enriching himself, he has squandered enormous 
 sums, and now finds himself unable to make up his accounts. He 
 is not politically opposed to a representative chamber, but in- 
 asmuch as this would be sure to call for a reckoning, he is the 
 king's most zealous associate in opposing everything constitu- 
 tional, and was the prime mover of the violent opposition offered 
 by Bavaria at the Vienna Congress to the article referring to the 
 States-general in the Bundesact. Everybody says that Montge- 
 las must retire when a constitution is agreed on, and this time 
 cannot be far distant, since the disorder of affairs has reached 
 such a point that the total dissolution of the monarchy is onl}^ 
 prevented by the faithfulness of a small circle of efficient servants, 
 and by the loyalty of the people." " I have again spent some 
 hours with Jacobi," wrote Perthes immediately before his de- 
 l)arture from Munich ; " he took me into his room alone, and 
 ei)oke of many things, and his voice was often tremulous : he 
 was always beginning the conversation afresh, and I could see 
 
STUTTGART TO VIENNA, RETURN TO IIAMBL'UG]!. 331 
 
 plainly that lie dreaded the parting moment. lie felt, as I did, 
 that in this life we shall never meet again/' 
 
 And now that Perthes was entering on the hitherto unknown 
 world of the Alps, he forgot kingdoms, literature, and the book- 
 trade, and surrendered himself with all the freshness and joy 
 which were peculiar to him, to the overpowering impressions of 
 that glorious region. He passed some days at Salzburg, and 
 thence visited Berchtoldsgaden, the Konigsee, the Eiscapelle, 
 and the Salt-works of Hallein. In spite of these demands on 
 his physical strength, he preserved sufficient elasticity of spirit 
 to write to Caroline late in the evening, and to convey to hei 
 living and graphic pictures of the sublime Alpine world. But 
 the human element in man never, even amid such scenery, lost 
 its attractive and abiding interest for Perthes, — " I have/' he 
 says, " seen many men, and men of all kinds, in my long 
 journey from Hamburgh hither; and my love for man is in nowise 
 diminished. I have found far more intelligence, ability, and up- 
 rightness, and far less outward immorality than I expected. If 
 only we meet men with confidence, and are not repelled by dif- 
 ferences of manner, and peculiar modes of viewing things, we 
 everywhere feel how nearly related the individuals of our race 
 are to one another. I have felt in some degree at home even in 
 the rigidly Catholic countries, and have seen much that is attrac- 
 tive there. How touching, for instance, was it to sec in one of 
 the churches at Augsburg, the childlike thought of a whole row of 
 little chapels, each devoted to special prayers, suited to different 
 circumstances, — first a marriage chapel, where, under garlands 
 and orange-flovvers, bride and bridegroom come to be united ; 
 then a chapel to the Virgin Mother, to entreat her blessing on 
 the marriage ; a third, in which maidens pray for good hus- 
 
ooZ LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 bcxnds, and a fourth for parents whose darlings are sick or 
 dying. In the Salzburg district you see a crucifix at the sum- 
 mit of every declivity, and a crucifix or an image of the Virgin 
 on every bridge ; and the driver never passes any of these 
 symbols without a grateful reverence and a friendly look. 
 After all, the peojile of Cologne were not far M^rong when they 
 talked about the Sunday-God of the Protestants and the 
 family-God of the Catholics, to whom they can resort in work 
 days, and in all tlie petty circumstances of life." To this 
 Caroline replied, — "The little chapels for prayer interested 
 me, but, nevertheless, you are very unjust to Protestantism, 
 dear Perthes, I can tell you, as before God, that I have many 
 little chapels in my heart, to which I resort in time of need, 
 although not so fervently or so purely as I ought, and as I could 
 wish. At present, the chapel of thank-offering takes up most 
 of my time, and you must retract what you said of the Catholics 
 being more familiar with God than we, and of our making a rush 
 to Him only on Sundays." 
 
 The character of the South German, as he saw it at Salz- 
 burg, struck Perthes forcibly. " At the tables-d'hote," he says, 
 " I met chiefly officers and employes. Everywhere I found 
 good common sense, expressing itself clearly and decidedly 
 on all the circumstances of life, without exaggeration and 
 without losing itself in vague generalities. Learned or book- 
 borrowed phraseology you never hear. Cheerfulness and gaiety 
 prevail unchecked. The different dialects, with their simple 
 hearty accents, suit all this. To many travellers this appears 
 tiresome, unpolished, and insipid; some, in the pride of their 
 refinement, have thought themselves justified in animadvert- 
 ing on this simplicity of manners, and have, for the most part, 
 
STUTTGART TO VIENNA, RETURN TO HAMBURGH. o33 
 
 been answered as they deserved. I have often found the people 
 draw back suspiciously from the North German, leaving him 
 to himself, as though all belonged to the class of commercial 
 travellers, with whom they are most familiar, and who are in- 
 deed often very ignorant, and unblushingly immoral in their 
 talk. For myself, I have everywhere found the South German 
 easy of access. If you ask about the inner man, I must say 
 that, here as elsewhere, we find self-sufficiency and arrogance ; 
 and here as elsewhere, one is forced to admire the wisdom that 
 planned the world, and is ever renewing it by means of chil- 
 dren, and the love they bring with them ; and restoring men 
 when their faith in their own wisdom is at the strongest to the 
 simplicity of childhood, and placing marrying and giving in 
 marriage in the middle. — Here we walked for a while in the 
 churchyard, and read the inscriptions. They are, in general, 
 very singular, and many of them provoke a smile ; but there 
 are no flowery, fantastic, or sentimental phrases, and no heathen 
 philosophy ; all is from the heart, and expressive of a firm 
 faith in the mercy of God. There is much love and goodwill 
 in our people, and where the materials are still, or I should 
 rather say, already so good, the right political form will surely 
 not be long wanting, if we would but try to work in existing 
 forms, however unfitted they may be, and — satisfied wath a 
 gradual development — not insist on having everything ready- 
 made." 
 
 It was with no small regret that, on the Sd of September, 
 Perthes took leave of the Alps. " We travelled through a fine 
 and pleasing district, but our hearts and minds were closed, and, 
 like one who sighs for his home, we often turned to look for the 
 splendour we had left behind, till at length even the last of tlie 
 
334 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Salzburg hills had vanished from our eyes. In the evening we 
 passed Neumark and Vocklabruck, and at night reached the 
 Austrian frontier, and were harshly wakened from our soft 
 slumbers by the officials on duty. The officer, roused out of 
 his sleep, asked sternly, ' Is the business then so urgent that 
 people are obliged to travel by night ?' But on my replying 
 politely that the explanation of my business would only detain 
 him the longer from his bed, he looked at the passport, and 
 muttered, ' Drive on — but at Lambach you must stop for 
 the night.' In some anxiety as to the reception that might 
 await us, wo drove on, and stopped at Lambach, in front 
 of a large building. The postilion unharnessed his horses, 
 called out, ' This is the custom-house,' and rode away. The 
 question now was, whether we should patiently wait for day- 
 break in our carriage, or knock up the custom-house autho- 
 rities. At last I took courage and knocked, and soon an old 
 soldier with a lantern in his hand came out, and said, ' Follow 
 me.' He brought me into a large hall, where there were at 
 least twenty desks, went into a side-room and returned imme- 
 diately, bringing two large wax-candles, and followed by a 
 man of very gentlemanly appearance, in snow-white under 
 garments, who very politely asked to see my papers. The sol- 
 dier again said, ' Follow me.' We went to the carriage, and 
 he searched the pockets, — ' Cards, maps, and schnapps, the rest 
 only dirty linen.' For the third time the old man said, ' Fol- 
 low me ;' and reported at the bureau, ' The gentlemen have all 
 in order.' Thus satisfied the officer bowed, returned my papers, 
 said, ' All right,' and disappeared. The old soldier procured 
 horses, took a two-guilder token, and at the end of an hour we 
 drove free from these mighty perils." 
 
STUTTGART TO VIENNA, RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 335. 
 
 Without further delay they travelled through Wels, Amstet- 
 teii, and Molk, to Vienna, where they arrived on the 5th of 
 September. 
 
 " I soon felt quite at home here," says Perthes in his first 
 letter. " In the midst of so many people and of so much 
 activity, a man soon finds freedom of life and action for him- 
 self I feel uncomfortable and ill at ease only in a place where 
 I am conscious of being observed, and where I am liable to 
 come in contact with individuals of peculiar and different 
 characters, who have as yet given no intimation whether they 
 are friendly or hostile — however, this does not apply to Vienna. 
 Here the stranger sees neither officers, orders, signs of rank, 
 nor official costume in the streets or public walks — at the 
 tables-d'hote, or in the theatres. He sees no individuals, but 
 everywhere Viennese, all seeming to be on equal terms, and 
 none allowing himself to be disturbed in his ways and enjoyments 
 by a third party, or even recognising the existence of such a 
 third party. In Vienna the stranger observes only life and 
 pleasure, not the living and the pleasure-loving ; all is freedom 
 and equality, as these are to be found only in great cities." 
 In the Austi'ian capital there was so much to be seen and done, 
 so many persons to be visited, that the time till late at night 
 was fully occupied, and apart from the fear of committing 
 everything to paper in Vienna, it was im.possible for Perthes 
 to record tlie impressions received there, and to continue his 
 jonrnal-like letters to Caroline — a jotting down of names was, 
 in general, all that he could find time for. Even of his audi- 
 ence of the Archduke John, his dinners with Gentz, his visit 
 to Collin, where he saw the young Napoleon, and of his fre- 
 quent meetings with Hammer, Baron Stahel, Stift, and other 
 
o36 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 eminent men, we find mere passing notices, but the general 
 impression made on liim by Vienna life appears in all liis 
 letters. Many questions were there debated, on which Perthes 
 was already well informed, but the religious movements of a 
 small, yet decidedly Catholic circle in Vienna, touched and 
 interested him deeply. 
 
 "Pilat," he writes to Caroline, " is a talented and imaginative 
 man ; but he is also a man of strong passions. His bearing 
 and manner are remarkable. lie works daily with Prince Met- 
 ternich, who has given him the Austrian Observer for his services. 
 Diplomatic he undoubtedly is, but I believe him to be honest, 
 and he certainly has at heart the interests of religion, and of 
 what, as a Roman Catholic, he regards as appertaining to 
 religion. Towards me he has really behaved like a friend. 
 Our old acquaintance Klinkowstrom I also believe to be au 
 honest man, in spite of the opinion of some." Perthes, having 
 expressed a wish to hear a good genuine Catholic preacher, was 
 recommended by Pilat and Klinkowstrom to Father Pascal, 
 a Franciscan. " To-day," he writes, " was the festival of the 
 Salutation, a great day for a church boasting the possession, of 
 a miraculous picture of the Virgin Mary. The high altar was 
 splendidly lighted, the church crowded. Behind the pulpit is 
 a gallery, some paces long ; in this the father walked up and 
 down, laid aside his sackcloth, &c., and made himself quite at 
 home. His voice and gesticulations are powerful and violent, 
 his idiom is that of the common Austrian dialect. We were 
 reminded of everything from Abraham to Sancta Clara, whether 
 we would or not. He had taken the power and graciousness 
 of the Virgin as the subject of his discourse. Two-thirds of it 
 were directed against the prevailing corruption of morals, one- 
 
STUTTGART TO VIENNA, RETURN TO HAMBURGH. So/ 
 
 third against heretics, that is to say, heretics within the Church, 
 for with those without tlie father declared he was in that place 
 no way concerned. The comparison of the Virgin bearing the 
 spiritual world within her, with the ark of Noah containing 
 all the beasts, was clever, but far from delicate in the details. 
 Tlie pictures of famine and its accompaniments, disease nnd 
 crime, as similitudes of a famine-stricken, unbelieving heart, 
 were very good, and the concluding pi-ayer was admirable. 
 When at every fresh petition the father, turning himself to- 
 wards the miraculous picture, devoutly supplicated the Virgin, 
 people could not fail to be aifected, and overlooked the comic 
 element. On the whole, it was an able discourse, and eifective." 
 But the interview with Father Hoffbauer of the Redemp- 
 torists, to whom his attention had long been directed, had 
 greater interest for Perthes. "To-day," he writes on the 18th 
 of September, " after many ineffectual attempts, I succeeded 
 in meeting Father Hoifbaucr. I found him in a large gloomy 
 saloon, whose very windows were converted into small latticed 
 chambers, within M'liich young ecclesiastics were sitting, some 
 reading, some writing. During my visit one of them came for- 
 ward, and took a slice of bread and butter out of a safe attached 
 to one of the pillars, Hoft'bauer seated himself by me in the 
 centre of the room ; he is over seventy, and small of stature, 
 but vigorous and smart. He has not the usual downcast look 
 of a Catholic priest : his eye is full of fire, and his glance keen 
 and steady, with great variety of expression ; yet withal there 
 is a repose of countenance that one can only call heavenly. 
 Hoifbauer began the conversation with great politeness, by 
 speaking of common friends ; then, of my youth and manner of 
 education. From Claudius he passed to F. L. Stolberg and his 
 
 29 
 
338 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 joining the Catholic Church. He soon won my heart, and 1 
 talked quite freely of Stolberg and his connexion with the Prin- 
 cess Gallitzin, whom I spoke of as my motherly friend, and said, 
 tliat considering Stolberg s peculiar temperament, and the state 
 of the Protestant Church at the time he left it, with' reference 
 both to doctrine and practice, I regarded this step not only as 
 natural and intelligible, but almost as inevitable. When, how- 
 ever, I perceived the impression that my words had made, and 
 found that they were received as having immediate reference to 
 my own position, I immediately added, in order to set the worthy 
 old man right, ' Had I been born and brought up in the Catho- 
 lic Church, I should have remained in it ; or were I now to be 
 transplanted to some land where there is no Protestant con- 
 gregation, I should, if obliged to remain there, join the Catho- 
 lics ; and even, in the event of the present Protestant Neology 
 getting the upper hand, and becoming generally acknowledged 
 in the Protestant congregations, I would, in order to secure 
 Christian communion for my children, follow Stolberg's ex- 
 ample. But this, I said, will never happen, and such a step is 
 nowise necessary for the salvation of my own soul, inasmuch as 
 consciousness of sin, the necessity and certainty of redemption 
 through Jesus Christ, humility, faith, and walking with God, 
 are entirely independent of adhesion to the Catholic Church ; 
 while the passing over of individual believers from one cliurch 
 to another, except in peculiar circumstances, might be an anti- 
 cipation of the Lord's purposes, and an obstacle to the future 
 union of all Christians as one flock. The Catholic Church 
 has already given way in many matters of form ; the Protes- 
 tants will also have much to retract, and the course of time 
 m\ist and will unite them again.' While I was speaking, Hoif- 
 
STUTTGART TO VIENNA, RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 
 
 339 
 
 bauer regarded me steadily but calmly, tben grasped my 
 hand, and said, ' I, too, believe in an invisible cbureb ; 1 will 
 pray for you, that you fall not into temptation. And now let 
 us talk on without disturbing the explanation which you have 
 just given.' We then spoke of the Reformation, and Hoff bauer 
 said, ' Since I have been enabled, as Apostolic Nuncio, to com- 
 pare the religious position of the Catholics in Poland with that 
 of the Protestants in Germany, I am convinced that the apos- 
 tasy from the Church arose from the need which the Germans 
 felt, and still feel, of genuine piety. The Reformation was 
 propagated and upheld not by heretics and philosophers, but 
 by men who were seeking a religion for the heart. I have said 
 this at Rome to the Pope and Cardinals, but they would not 
 believe me, and will have it that it was enmity to all religion 
 of whatsoever kind that brought about the Reformation.' lloft- 
 bauerthen listened to much that I had to tell him about the 
 religious and ecclesiastical condition of North Germany, and, 
 on my departure, the gentle and pious old man extended liis 
 hand to me with his blessing." 
 
 A young Catholic priest, named Horni, who, on the death of 
 Claudius, had written to Perthes a letter full of respect and sym- 
 pathy, made, indeed, a diifercnt but not less interesting impres- 
 sion. " This morning," he says to Caroline, " a young man in 
 the dress of an ecclesiastic entered my room, and approached me 
 with great respect. It was Horni, whose letter written on the 
 occasion of your father's death you will remember. He entered 
 on his fauiily history, explained to me his personal circmn- 
 stances, and the course of his education, in a very amiable and 
 intelligent way. ' I too, like most of my associates,' he said, ' was 
 a victim to the religious free-thinking that prevailed in Austria 
 
S40 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 under Joseph the Second ; but my truant soul was led bacls 
 to tlie way of truth and grace by the writings of Claudius. 
 How wonderfully great lie was ! In the hottest of the battle 
 waged througliout Germany, Protestant as well as Catholic, 
 against all revealed religion, he clung but the more closely to 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and when all the so-called philosophers 
 of Germany were perverted by the prevailing systems, he re- 
 mained luimoved, and recognised the delusive enchantment, 
 when at its culminating point, as what it really was — a dazzling 
 nonentity. His wisdom was, indeed, too little like that of this 
 world, to be acceptable to the children of this world. His con- 
 temporaries did not understand his lofty simplicity, and 
 esteemed it liglitly ; they spent their energies spinning cob- 
 webs, and seeking out many devices, and only went the farther 
 astray. For my own part, I shall be thankful as long as I 
 live, that the wisdom of the single-minded Wandsbeck Mes- 
 senger was revealed to me in its height and in its depth.' 
 Horni tlion asked me for further particulars of your father's 
 last hours. • For though,' said he, ' it is possible that, in 
 the death-agony Claudius may not have had the power of 
 expressing what the soul experienced in prospect of approach- 
 ing union with its Friend and Redeemer, I believe that after 
 such a uniform and singularly Christian life, his death must 
 have been beautiful and Christian, and that the consolation 
 poured into his soul by the Redeemer must have been evi- 
 dent to the happy witnesses of his passage " to the land of 
 life and truth." ' On taking leave he asked me for a picture 
 of Claudius. ' It docs a wrestling man good,' he said, ' to be 
 surrounded constantly by tried wrestlers ; evil thoughts are 
 put to flight when the eye falls on tlie portrait of one in 
 
STUTTGART TO VIENNA, RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 341 
 
 whose living presence one would liave blushed to own them.' 
 All that Horni said bore the impress of truth, and of pious 
 conviction. The intelligence with which he spoke indicated 
 great accomplishments ; his manner of speaking is fluent and 
 pure, such, indeed, as you seldom meet with here, even among 
 people of rank and learning. Next to the Drostes at Mun- 
 ster, he appears to me to be the deepest and most assured Ca- 
 tholic I have over met, deeper and better grounded assuredly 
 than any of the champions of Catholicism that I am acquainted 
 
 with." 
 
 Towards the end of September, Perthes had brought to a 
 close the arrangements preparatory to entering into literary 
 undertakings in Austria, and delighted with the fruitful weeks, 
 and the confidence tliat he had enjoyed in Vienna, he took his 
 departure from that city on the 22d of the month. After a 
 hurried journey and a halt of four days in Nuremberg, he found 
 himself on the morning of the 2d October in the neighbourhood 
 of Blankenburg in the Thuringian forest, and within a few 
 leagues of Schwarzburg, the home of his childhood. The heavy 
 rains of the last month had swept away the bridge over the 
 forest-brook between the village of Schwarza and the little 
 town of Blankenburg. Perthes, well acquainted with all the 
 footpaths, ordered the postilion to drive round by the stone 
 bridge while he with his son walked in the direction of the 
 paper-mill, where he knew that a lofty narrow footbridge was 
 thrown over the stream ; but this also had been carried away, 
 and in its place two trunks of trees had been laid from shore to 
 shore. As they were setting foot on these, a bystander asked 
 if the travellers thought it safe to venture to cross on so narrow 
 a ledge. They went forward, however, without hesitation, 
 
'M'l LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 both liaving risked far more perilous paths in Salzburg. The 
 Schwarza swollen to a torrent rushed rapidly beneath them : 
 they were within two paces of the opposite shore, when Matthias, 
 who Avas foremost, called out, " Hold me, I am falling !" Per- 
 thes seized the falling boy by the collar, and was instantly 
 precipitated with him into the water. He soon regained his 
 feet, but both were again carried away by the impetuous 
 stream. Once Perthes rose to the surface and cried, " Don't 
 lose your presence of mind," then immediately sank. Wife 
 and children flashed across his mind, and then he lost all 
 consciousness. Both were being swept along towards the 
 wheel of a saw-mill about two hundred paces distant, but when 
 within a few yards of this, Perthes was vigorously grasped 
 by the left arm, and slowly dragged to the shore. In the 
 struggle for life he had kept convulsive hold of his son, by the 
 right hand, and now, all unconsciously, dragged him to the 
 bank. The stranger who had warned them of the danger — 
 Stall], the owner of the paper-mill — when he saw them precipi- 
 tated into the torrent, had hastened over the narrow bridge 
 and along the bank to a shallow whicli extended far into the 
 Schwarza. Here, up to the middle in water, he waited, seized 
 the floating body as it passed, and, while expecting to save 
 only one from certain death, found he had saved two. In the 
 warm drying-room of the paper-mill the rescued father and 
 sou speedily recovered under the treatment of a surgeon from 
 Hudolfstadt, who happened fortunately to be on the spot. They 
 then hastened to Schwarzburg, where, well heated by a rapid 
 walk, they arrived towards evening. The hand of death had 
 been upon them, but had left no tokens of his having been so 
 near. 
 
STUTTGART TO VIENNA, RETURN TO HAMBURGH. 343 
 
 Amid the scenes of his childhood, — cherished and aifection- 
 ately ministered to, as if he had been still a child, by the old 
 Colonel, the old Master of the horse, and the old Aunt Caro- 
 line, — Perthes rested for a day or two after the excitement of 
 the two preceding months. Then, after a short stay in Gotha, 
 he hastened back to Hamburgh by way of Gtittingen and Han- 
 over. He reached homo on the 8th of October, and found 
 Caroline, whose health had often been a source of anxiety to 
 him during his absence, stronger than he had left her. 
 
 [The information which Perthes gained during this tour re- 
 garding the state of the German book-trade, confirmed the 
 views which ho had been led to take of it ; we omit the de- 
 tailed account of his observations and inquiries on this special 
 subject, as not likely to interest the English reader.] 
 
344 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIIL 
 
 POPULAR MOVEMENTS TO THE PERIOD OF THE C'ARI.SBAr) DECREES, 
 SUxMMER 1819. 
 
 Shortly before the return of Perthes to Plamburgh, Besser 
 had written to him : " You went out to see Germany, but, as 
 it appears to me, you did not find it." This was undoubtedly 
 true. On the Rhine, in WUrtomborg. in Bavaria, and in Aus- 
 tria, Perthes liad indeed met with truly German manners and 
 modes of thought, and even with the wish for a great and 
 powerful fatherland ; but, at the same time, lie had found the 
 South Germans unwilling to diminish the independence and 
 integrity of Baden and Wlirtemberg, Bavaria and Austria, 
 which yet would be a necessary consequence of their becoming 
 parts of a whole. The North German adhered as tenacioush' 
 as the South German to the independence of his own particular 
 state, but less consciously, and arose from an impression, that 
 in any alliance with the South, the preponderance would still 
 be his. 
 
 With even more turbulence than in 1814, the movement for 
 a German empire manifested itself in many parts of North 
 Germany in 1816, and following years, among all who were 
 young either in age or in feeling. Perthes was well aware 
 that the restoration of Emperor and Empire had become au 
 
POPULAR MOVEMENTS. 345 
 
 impossibility, but he still retained a conviction that the Diet 
 was bound to represent and embody the unity of Germany, 
 notwithstanding the opposition of individual governments. " I 
 am astonished," he wrote to a friend in Prussia, " that in your 
 historical treatment of the Germans, the words Empire and 
 Emperor have never escaped you. The loss of our Emperor has 
 made a terrible gap in our history, and we shall henceforward 
 have no fatherland morally, historically, or politically, unless the 
 imperial idea be transferred to the Diet, and the imperial power 
 to the Diet's army." In answer to a letter of similar import, 
 Count F. L. Stolberg wrote to Perthes : — " The noble patriotic 
 hopes which you still entertain gladden my heart ! May God 
 fulfil them ! My eye, however, rests on the Diet with desire 
 rather than confidence. Not only Austria herself, but Ger- 
 many, ay, and all Europe, will have cause to repent that Aus- 
 tria disdained the imperial crown, when all Europe, so to speak, 
 offered it to her." 
 
 Another question that occupied the minds of old and young, 
 and excited as much interest as that of German unity, was, 
 liow the demands of the subject for political emancipation 
 should be satisfied. The call for representative assemblies, 
 as promised by the Diet, waxed louder and louder. Gorres, 
 in the summer of 1817, wrote, " The 18th of October is fixed 
 for signing the addresses to the Diet throughout Germany, 
 praying that Article ISth be put in execution. It can do 
 no harm if for once the masses are stirred, and with roar- 
 ing and stamping give vent to their impatience, just to shew 
 the governments that they are in earnest. At the same 
 time we must support the Diet, insignificant though it be. 
 Its weakness requires a protection against Court-influence, 
 
346 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 and wifcliout backing, it cannot be expected to act with vi- 
 gour.' 
 
 The waves of the German movement reached even to the 
 German Baltic provinces of Russia, and kindred impulses 
 found expression there too, though in another form. " The 
 emancipation of the serfs originated with the nobles them- 
 selves,'' writes a friend of Perthes from Livonia in March 1817, 
 " and I trust t])at even the reluctant among them will soon 
 perceive, that, for all the relations of civil life, the free man 
 is better than the bond, I am myself deeply concerned in 
 the matter, but I do not expect to suiFer any diminution of 
 income by the change ; our peasants lived, on the whole, as 
 well as they can expect to do in their new circumstances, and 
 I shall consequently be at no more expense on their account 
 now than when they were bondsmen." The same party 
 wrote, in June 1818, " The emancipation of the serfs has 
 been confirmed by the Emperor, but, that it may be effected 
 in Esthonia and Livonia at one and the same time, it is not 
 yet officially proclaimed. A commission has been appointed 
 in each of the three Baltic provinces by the Emperor, for the 
 purpose of collecting and harmonizing the provincial laws ; 
 and we are cherishing the hope that this legislation may pave 
 the way for a constitutional and distinct definition of the 
 rights of all classes." 
 
 Perthes regarded the struggles and conflicts of these years 
 as the necessary result of the course that bvents had taken in 
 Germany. Tie says in a letter to Jacobi, " Men of action are 
 never far from men of thought ; but the struggle is violent and 
 wide-spread in proportion to the rapidity with which history is 
 enacted. Formerly opposite movements of thought and eifort 
 
POPULAR MOVEMENTS. 347 
 
 were separated by centuries, but our times have united wboUy 
 discordant elements in the three cotemporaneous generations. 
 The immense contrasts of 1750, 1789, and 1815, acknowledge 
 no transition state, and appear to men now living not as suc- 
 ceeding one another, but as co-existing." The fact of conflict 
 was not only intelligible to Perthes, but even matter of re- 
 joicing. "You remember what I said to you in 1815," he 
 writes to Fouque, " that the real hard fighting would only 
 begin with the war of minds, when the external warfare 
 should be over. And now, do you think I should be sorry if 
 I turned out to be in the right ? By no means. Remem- 
 ber, dear Fouque, here below, in some way or another, work 
 is God's will for man. Man has more time on hand than he 
 can spend in mere love and contemplation ; therefore, pray 
 and work ; now warfare and struggle are a sort of work. It 
 is in vain that as friends we give each other the hand of 
 love ; as soon as we would come to an understanding, by word 
 or deed, on any subject of human interest, we find ourselves 
 in mutual opposition, and a conflict is inevitable till the goal 
 be reached. You do not yourself like the stagnant waters 
 of indiff"erence, the slough of compliance and servility ; why 
 then be disquieted by conflicts in these times, even when they 
 arise among friends ? But let no unfair weapon be ever made 
 use of, and let us give even our opponents credit for intentions 
 good and noble as our own. It is only when experience has 
 proved them to be otherwise, that indignation, driving the liar 
 out of the sanctuary with sword and scourge, can become well- 
 pleasing to God." Perthes was, however, reminded by serious 
 and thoughtful men, that conflict is not itself true life, and 
 that it does not alwavs, as a matter of course, end in victorv. 
 
oi8 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 " However fortunate the course of events," wrote a friend in 
 the summer of 1817, "many an ardent wish of the age will 
 remain unfulfilled. I find consolation in the thought, that the 
 wishes of the age are not always the best, and that an effort is 
 not always in vain, though it fail of the ohject intended. In 
 the life of nations, as in that of individuals, Lessino-'s re- 
 mark, that the straight line is not always the shortest, is often 
 true. Like the Jews, we are journeying through the wilder- 
 ness to the promised land, and, like them, we need much pre- 
 paration and purification, that our freedom may be built upon 
 a right basis, and that its permanence may be guaranteed by 
 love and insight developed in" ourselves. To restore and 
 create, not to deny and destroy, was the aim and endeavour of 
 those earnest but turbulent years which succeeded the libera- 
 tion Avars ; this indeed was what made them so attractive. 
 But the age knew not precisely what to restore and create ; 
 and partly in consequence of the hesitation resulting from 
 this ignorance, and partly in consequence of the arrogance 
 with which many individuals obtruded their owui political 
 nostrums, the whole movement assumed a fantastic and often 
 an extravagant character. The Wartburg festival in 1817, 
 where the Reformation and the battle of Leipzic were in the 
 most extraordinary manner united in one commemoration, 
 is an instance in point." In a letter from Berlin, dated 
 November 29, 1817, a friend writes, — "I would not say a 
 word about the Wartburg afl^\ir, if I had not something to tell 
 you, which you cannot otherwise know, viz., that Richelieu 
 has sent a note to our Court respecting it, and that a similar 
 one is every hour expected from Moscow, full of unction — 
 you know the style — and that Austria insists on the most 
 
POPULAR MOVEMENTS. 349 
 
 stringent measures against the press. You can have no con- 
 ception of the spirit which lias intoxicated Weimar even to tlie 
 extent of prizing and protecting audacity. It reminds me of 
 Lessing's host, who quietly allowed people to he beaten and 
 murdered in his alehouse." Count F. L. Stolberg wrote, — 
 " You commend the seriousness of our youth : for my own 
 part I would rather see them joyous, for this too early serious- 
 ness is a precocity that bodes no good. I know that a portion 
 of our youth has been animated by a noble spirit ever since 
 the assertion of our national freedom. But it is contrary to 
 nature that a nation should be led by its youth, as if men in 
 their prime were dotards. The best of youths need restraint, 
 example, guidance ; but now so much praise is lavished on 
 them that it must turn their heads. Young men are like 
 young trees, to which older ones are the natural protection 
 against wind." Perthes, however, remained of opinion that 
 the vagaries which the young men had been betrayed into by 
 their patriotic earnestness, were very pardonable. 
 
 A letter which Perthes received from Gorres about the end 
 of the year 1818, expresses the opinions of many eminent men 
 of the period. " You, my dear Hanseatic friend," he says, 
 " have now seen what reception my address has met with 
 from the most dastardly and the coarsest of despotisms. The 
 slightest stimulant applied to these people brings on delirium 
 and convulsions, and without stimulants they sink into dul- 
 ness and lethargy. The Rhenish Mercury was the very thing 
 for them. Every other day it came out with an ointment, 
 compounded according to circumstances, of bitter, stimulant, 
 sedative, gently purgative, or nauseating ingredient. Thus an 
 equilibrium was maintained, a gentle perspiration induced, the 
 
350 LIFE OF PERTHES, 
 
 excessive irritation carried off, and the animal sj^irits set once 
 more into regular circulation. After three years of silence, I 
 thought it well to send a rocket among the j^artics again, in 
 the form of an address, but I cannot say that it has revealed 
 to me anything agreeable. It sliewed me princes who have 
 been in the school of adversity without having learned any- 
 thing there, not even so much as to take care of their own 
 dignity : ministers who have good intentions but no ability, 
 decision, or courage : a Court opposition, — bad rather from the 
 absence of all good than from the presence of positive evil, 
 stupid to brutishness, awkward as a rhinoceros, cowardly, con- 
 temptible, and beneath all criticism throughout : a democratic 
 party without unity, without standing-ground, inactive, yet 
 running after every Jack o' Lanthorn, always hoping that over 
 night things will shape themselves anew ; without skilful 
 leaders, without principles or comprehensive views ; arrogant, 
 frivolous, scatter-brained, and negligent ; barren and inconsis- 
 tent ; at once cowardly and boastful ; without dignity, vigour, 
 and repose. Such are the magnificos of this crotchety time ; 
 they are worthy of a generation that has stood on the pinnacle 
 of the temi3le, and yet waded through every sort of mire ; 
 which has shewn aptitude only in destroying, complete impo- 
 tence in building uj). Like the Jews, who spent forty years in 
 the wilderness and never saw the promised land, so these men 
 will accomplish nothing, but only lay the foundation of some- 
 thing better. Another generation, however, is growing up now, 
 from which we may reasonably expect much good." 
 
 The year 1819 is rightly regarded as a turning-point in tlio 
 history of Germany. It not only revealed the deadly breach 
 between sovereigns and subjects, but gave it a new and more 
 
POPULAR MOVEMENTS. 351 
 
 perilous charactei'. The idea that the old which remained 
 was an obstacle to the attainment of the new, daily gained 
 ground ; a mighty future, it was supposed, would open up 
 of itself if the existing order were only destroyed. Hence 
 the destructive tendency began to predominate. The ro- 
 mantic element of the liberation war disappeared, and gave 
 place to hatred of the political condition of Germany in general, 
 of the several governments, and of the Diet. The favour for 
 Russia and the Emperor Alexander was turned into animosity ; 
 and France, which had so recently been an abomination, came 
 to be admired and extolled on account of the opposition in its 
 Chambers. This negative tendency found expression in every 
 possible way, and the following letter represents the actual peril 
 of it by a single instance : — " You in North Germany don't 
 seem to be aware," wrote a well-informed and intimate friend 
 in April 1819, "that in the Grand Duchy of Hesse there are 
 60,000 militia who refuse to give up their arms, and that, con- 
 sequently, the reins are only fornialiter in the hands of the 
 government. Popular writings of a revolutionary tendency are 
 in universal circulation." 
 
 These political movements, under the name of Liberalism, 
 were regarded with deep anxiety by many high-minded and 
 eminent men. Count F. L. Stolberg wrote, — " "Wittingly or 
 unwittingly, all the efforts of the age have destruction, politi- 
 cal and religious, for their object. For a long season we were 
 humbled, then we thought upon God and He had pity on us ; 
 but we quickly forgot Him. The discussions of the Chambers 
 in Munich, Stuttgart, and Darmstadt, are all of the same char- 
 acter ; all aim at a constitution like that which has brought 
 anarchy and despotism upon France. The governments, 
 
352 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 through cowardice, allow full scope to this goblin, and I fear 
 that we shall have to pass through another furnace of purifica- 
 tion before we come to ourselves again. The devil is but 
 slightly bound in France ; when he bursts the cords, will Ger- 
 many shout applause or defiance at him ? There is the terrible 
 possibility that from the general confusion we may fall into a 
 state of utter barbarism/' 
 
 Perthes himself distrusted the noisy orators of 1819. He 
 thought that civil freedom could exist only when the members 
 of a state think less of themselves than of the general good ; 
 and to the question whether this were the spirit of the Liberals, 
 he answered, " No : division and discontent characterize the 
 popular leaders, because they are in bondage to the spirit of 
 selfishness, which, I fear, is at present the prevailing spirit of 
 liberalism." 
 
 It was not, however, in police regulations, but in a wholesome 
 influence exerted on the minds of the people, that Perthes saw 
 the means of deliverance ; and to bring the noblest spirits of the 
 age to grapple with what was evil and perverted, became now 
 the first wish of his heart. In the summer of 1 819 he wrote, — 
 " It is greatly to be deplored that our political literature, unlike 
 that of France and England, is exclusively in the hands of 
 book-men. A wall of separation is thus raised between literature 
 and life, between word and deed, which, in the absence of reme- 
 dial measures, may be violently broken down. At this moment 
 of extreme peril, could not honest and talented business-men 
 throughout Germany unite in publishing a political periodical, 
 in which practical experience, hitherto unrepresented in our 
 literature, might be brought to bear on national questions? 
 The contributors must not, however, write in the style of diplo- 
 
POPULAR MOVEMENTS. So.'} 
 
 matic notes and protocols, and tlicy would require to be inde- 
 pendent in every respect of princes and ministers. Something- 
 of tlie kind is, I hear, to be started in Frankfort." 
 
 The murder of Kotzebue by Sand, on the 2Sd of March 1819, 
 revealed to every one the form which the spirit of the times 
 might assume in overheated imaginations. Perthes wrote, — 
 " That whicli gives such a frightful aspect to the deed, is that 
 it seems almost to have been necessitated by the course of 
 events. It is not detestation of the murder that should move 
 us first and most ; it is especially important that both rulers 
 and subjects should recognise in this crime, a last and ter- 
 rible warning, which, since all milder intimations have proved 
 vain, should open our eyes to the state of things which has 
 rendered so bloody a deed possible, and to the terrible future 
 that awaits us without a thorough political regeneration. 
 The germs of other terrible events lie in this act, which is, 
 only apparently, the crime of an individual. Fanaticism once 
 armed with the dagger will not stop at the comic dramatist." 
 A statesman wrote to Perthes in the summer followano-; — . 
 "The murder of Kotzebue is like a jet of fire from a volcanic 
 abyss ; the flame may be put out, but the sea of fire still 
 surges beneath. The judgments passed on the horrible deed 
 are more frightful than the deed itself, and shew that the 
 state of feeling which engendered it is not confined to a few 
 excited students. The individual criminals may, and should 
 be punished with the utmost rigour of the law ; but a system 
 of terrorism would only multiply the chances of a revolutionarv 
 outbreak; for every hydra-head cut ofi", two new ones would 
 spring up. The Germans have a profound longing for common 
 objects of affection, reverence, and hope ; but this craving re- 
 
 30 
 
So* LIFE OP PERTHES. 
 
 eeived no satisfaction after the victory over France. On the 
 contrary, the victors see the vanquished in possession of great 
 national treasures ; honoured and respected as a people, while 
 they themselves are deprived of all political coherence and im- 
 portance. The result is, that, failing objects of common love, the 
 Germans have found out objects of common hatred — and it is 
 impossible for any government to maintain the existing political 
 order long in opposition to such a state of opinion." 
 
 While the Germans at home were fretting in discontent, many 
 a voice of earnest yearning for the beloved fatherland sounded 
 from abroad. One such expatriated German wrote to Perthes 
 from Courland, and, after stating that only one-half of the last 
 book-parcel had reached him, the other lialf liaving been sent 
 to the authorities at Mitau, he subjoins the letter of apology for 
 the mistake, sent him by the custom-house officer in cliarge of 
 the book-department : — " You are aware of the difficulties at- 
 tending the admission of books. I must however observe, that 
 you have only yourself to blame for the accident that has 
 happened to the last parcel. If you liad given me earlier 
 notice, so tliat I could have made the necessary arrangements, 
 every annoyance would have been avoided. Under existing 
 circumstances, I have done all that lay in my power, and if 
 the gentlemen of the civil department in Mitau have taken 
 payment for their trouble by detaining some of your books for 
 perusal, this is no more than fair. I enclose a memorandum 
 of costs." Perthes' friend writes subsequently that he had made 
 an arrangement with the customs, by which he would in future 
 receive his books complete and uninjured. How true is it, that 
 unless the principle of honour exist in officials, right and law 
 become fictions ! — " The longer I am here, the more ardently do 
 
POPULAR MOVEMENTS. 35ii 
 
 I long for home/' wrote a German lady, frequenting the first cir- 
 cles in London. "By the side of my husband, with my child, 
 and in my own house, I am happy, but England is, and always 
 will be, foreign to me. The English are a wonderful but not an 
 attractive people ; the education of the ladies is so imi)erfect, 
 or at least so one-sided, that it is impossible to take pleasure 
 in their society, and amidst the throng of the great world I 
 feel lonely. How far behind England is, in all that relates to 
 education and culture, no one can believe who has not seen it. 
 The English might learn much from us. The German mother 
 who is compelled to educate her children here, is greatly to be 
 pitied. In spite of all the talk about Christianity in this 
 country, the religious element is fearfully deficient among the 
 people ; a vast number of the clergy live away from their 
 parishes, and are represented by curates, who read prayers on 
 Sunday, and give themselves little farther trouble. It is 
 almost inconceivable how a people can be so far in advance in 
 some things, and so far behind in others. Of this you may be 
 quite certain, that when I return to the dear fatherland I shall 
 be more thoroughly German than ever." — A friend in Sweden 
 wrote to Perthes praising the liberty and security of his 
 adopted country, the King, and the Crown-Prince, and the 
 progress of agriculture, and complaining only of the scarcity of 
 money. He then adds, " Almost every change involves the 
 interests of one or other of the four Estates by which the 
 country is represented ; whatever Estate is menaced, leaves 
 no means untried to bring a second over to its side, and thus, 
 by establishing an equality of votes, defeats the proposal. 
 But inasmuch as the national will is bent on progress, and 
 the press is almost entirely free, progress is certain, though 
 
•j5{) life of PERTHES. 
 
 it may be slow. I love and esteem Sweden, as you see, but 
 he who has grown to manhood in Germany can never forget 
 that country ; elsewhere he will be a stranger, yearning for 
 intercourse with the earthly home of his spirit. Here, however, 
 we know little of what interests Germany and the world. The 
 Swede has no interest but in domestic affairs ; the few foreign 
 journals that reach us are no mirror of the times, and German, 
 French, or English books, are quite beyond the means of any 
 jtrivate person, owing to the highly disadvantageous state of 
 the exchange, and the difficulty of transit." — " The whole 
 German nation, governments, and people, are turned hypo- 
 chondriac," writes another distant friend ; "you all talk so 
 much about perils and destruction, that you will actually die 
 of the fear of death ; get rid of this death-phobia, and you will 
 find yourselves well, at least as well as man can be on earth. 
 You have many imaginary evils and much real good ; but 
 being, as I said, hypochondriac, you must needs be angry 
 when any one says to you, ' My dear friend, you are really not 
 so very ill.' Just look at France — where there is much ima- 
 ginary good and much real evil ; but there everybody is cheer- 
 ful, and rejoices in the delightful consciousness of belonging to 
 ' lagrande Nation.' If the German nation could but make the 
 tour of Europe, it would on its return find life very bearable 
 at home." 
 
ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENTS. 357 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENTS AT THE PERIOD OF THE 
 CARLSBAD DECREES. 
 
 It is probable that on the termination of the war, tlie neces- 
 sity of political regeneration was not less keenly felt by the 
 more powerful German governments, than by the effervescent 
 youthful population. Many paragraphs in the first speeches 
 made at the Diet, would have been received with applause at 
 tlie Wartburg Festival. But it is for governments to act, not to 
 speak ; and, as the necessity only, and not the mode of action, 
 was what the ruling powers discerned, they could not act, and, 
 of course, soon left off speaking, their silence being then inter- 
 preted as indifference. Perthes shared the universal dissatisfac- 
 tion at the inactivity of the rulers. After giving vent to it very 
 decidedly in one of his letters, he proceeds : " The appearance of 
 Madame de Stael's 'Considerations sur la Revolution Fran9aise' 
 may be useful. This talented work will be read by princes, 
 for it is written in the language of their drawing-rooms. 
 When they see how the murderous axe of revolution hung 
 over the king's head they will tremble at the sound of the 
 tempest that is approaching their own thrones, and when all 
 other inducements have failed, fear may perhaps force them 
 
358 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 into action. Even Steifens' pamphlet on ' The Present Times' 
 is said to be capital ; but I cannot read it ; it is too wordy, 
 and, like an interminable stair-case without landings, takes 
 away the breath of my spirit." 
 
 The year 1819 was decisive so far as the attitude of the go- 
 vernments was concerned. The want of knowledge, which is the 
 same as want of power, that kept them from acting immediately 
 after the war, now became want of will. The spirit of Conserva- 
 tism sought to retain not only those institutions and usages 
 which the development of our national character and history 
 had called into being, but all those mere accidents which 
 the languid stream of centuries had deposited on its banks. 
 The congress of European powers at Aix-la-Chapelle in the 
 autumn of 1818, gave universal satisfaction, by maintaining 
 the integrity of Baden, of which Bavaria had sought to appro- 
 priate a part ; but apart from this, the carefully concealed pro- 
 ceedings of the Congress were regarded with the utmost dis- 
 trust. "The sovereigns of Europe," wrote Perthes, "have 
 placed themselves in opposition to the half-slumbering, half- 
 roused peoples, and seek, like rnaster-tailors, to shape govern- 
 ments for them. Governed, indeed, we must be, and kings and 
 princes we must have, but we need not be bondsmen for all 
 that." A lively representation of the public excitement oc- 
 curs in a letter written to Perthes about the end of Decem- 
 ber 1818 : "At Weimar I rubbed shoulders with the Emperor 
 Alexander this time, as twelve years ago with the Emperor 
 Napoleon. Now, as then, I found everybody in excitement ; 
 even Goethe spoke of nothing but the masquerade in which 
 he was to declaim his own noblest pieces to their high 
 mightinesses. Twelve years ago Napoleon was in a great hurry. 
 
ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENTS. o59 
 
 but he came from Paris, and went I know not wliither, and had 
 a hundred cannon in his train. Alexander was also in a great 
 hurry, hut he came from Aix-la-Chapellc, and is going to 
 Petersburg with twelve carriages full of lacqueys, gentle and 
 simple — some with pointed, others with flat noses. It thus 
 appears that an emperor is not always the same thing : so 
 at least I thought, when, at Erfurt, I heard Napoleon abused 
 in the most outrageous manner by the officers after he was sent 
 to St. Helena ; whicli reminded me of Blumenbach's furious 
 anger at the mischievous disposition of scorpions, when, at the 
 very time, he was exhibiting them to his auditors preserved 
 in spirits I" 
 
 Shortly after the breaking-up of the Congress, the Ger- 
 man governments attacked with the strong arm of the law 
 those demonstrations which had hitherto been attempted on 
 the part of the people, only with the weapons of argument. 
 In the spring of 1819, the gymnastic grounds* were closed ; 
 in the course of the summer many arrests were made, and 
 house-visitation was extensively carried on. " When I look 
 at Germany as a whole," says a well-informed political friend, 
 in a letter written at the beginning of 1819, " the many- 
 coloured and even bright tints which belong to particular parts 
 are mingled with a sort of dull grey, one might even call it 
 black. You yourself find the present state of things tiresome 
 — and tedium is always dismal. No account is to be made of 
 the present, in order that the foundation-stone of a political 
 edifice for the distant future may be laid ; and thus the present 
 generation is sacrificed to posterity. All that has been won is 
 every moment imperilled anew. We have placed nothing in 
 
 * Places without the towns where the young met fur gymnastic exercises. 
 
360 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 safety, not even our boundaries and defences. Neverthe- 
 less, we arc not standing still ; it is astonishing how rapidly 
 things advance, but always by a succession of events, which 
 are stronger than man, and may overwhelm him at any 
 time. Is not this revolution ? although, deluded as we are 
 by the order which the police maintain, we perceive it not. 
 In this respect France, with her strong, vital spirit of freedom, 
 is far before us." 
 
 The two great German States were well aware that police 
 regulations availed but little, since the press, secret associa- 
 tions, and the universities, could exercise a mighty subverting 
 influence over all Germany, so long as they could find were it 
 only one place where they might organize their attacks. In 
 the few years that had elapsed since the Congress of Vienna, 
 the governments had learned that for them, too, if they would 
 maintain external order, the unity of Germany was a necessity. 
 The Diet did not, however, appear to the two great powers 
 equal to this task of achieving the unity. Prince Metternich, 
 therefore, invited a few of the more important German Courts 
 to send plenipotentiaries to a conference, to be held at Carls- 
 bad during the months of July and August 1819. 
 
 Perthes had kept up an active correspondence with several 
 members of the Diet during these years. He thus gained an 
 insight into the plans that were in preparation for tlio develop- 
 ment of the federal system, and was led to form certain views, 
 which are expressed in many of his letters, and may be sum- 
 med up as follows : — " The governments must, uprightly and 
 honourably, further the universal movement for something like 
 unity ; otherwise it will force a way for itself, and sooner than 
 they think, and then a little fire may set the whole forest in 
 
ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENTS. 361 
 
 flames. Some common object must at least be found on which 
 hope may fasten, and patience feed. Nor may this be a 
 petty object : it must have some bearing on the most im- 
 portant point of all, viz., that Germany should acquire a 
 separate independence in Europe similar to that of France 
 or of England. The discussion of the differences between 
 Bavaria and Baden before a European tribunal ; the Russian, 
 French, and English hortatoria and dehortatoria, addressed 
 to the Elector of llesse, the negotiations carried on inde- 
 pendently of the Diet regarding the fortresses of the Con- 
 federation, — these, and many other things of the same kind, 
 are insults to the German nation, and have tended to confirm 
 the opinion that Austria and Prussia regard the Confederation 
 not as an end but as a means ; and that the stoppage of 
 proceedings at Frankfort originates in their wish to manage 
 the affairs of Germany in concert with the European powers, 
 rather than through the Diet. Others beside the Biivarian 
 Ambassador will receive the thanks of their respective 
 courts, on announcing that nothing particular has been 
 done at Frankfort ; that the sittings are reduced to almost 
 one per week ; that three weeks' holidays have again been 
 agreed to, and that the long recess is eagerly anticipated. 
 Truly the public grief and indignation on account of this na- 
 tional abasement cry aloud ; and there is but one remedy, viz., 
 the adoption by the Diet of an independent policy. The de- 
 sire to see Germany take her due place among the nations is 
 indeed less ardent in the inhabitants of Austria and Prussia, 
 because their respective governments carry weight already in the 
 European balance, but the consciousness of political inferiority 
 serves only to raise the indignation of the rest of Germany to a 
 
862 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 higher pitch ; partly from envy, and partly from fear of complete 
 absorption into these greater powers. We do not wish to be 
 protected by Austria and Prussia, but to be represented as the 
 German nation in Europe. Everything cannot, indeed, be done 
 at once, but some important step ought not to be longer delayed ; 
 such, for instance, as the appointment by the Diet of a Com- 
 mission for foreign affairs, with authority to accredit ambassa- 
 dors to the Eurojiean courts. The almost immediate conse- 
 quence of such a step would be, that the embassies of all the 
 German States, excepting Austria and Prussia, would disap- 
 pear ; and then the delicate question would fall to be considered, 
 in what relation the federal ambassador should stand to those 
 of tlie two great German powers." 
 
 In the extensive correspondence which Perthes carried on 
 with his political friends in the summer of 1819, there is much 
 to the following effect: — 
 
 " A step has been made toward the union of our armed forces, 
 by the appointment of a federal military commission ; but 
 unity of trade and commerce, uniformity of duties, weights, and 
 measures, of coinage and postage, and of law as regards the 
 book-trade and literary piracy, — these and many other things 
 are, like the great desideratum of a federal tribunal, urgently 
 needed, and although difficult, not impossible of attainment. 
 If, however, the peculiar situation of Austria, and the conse- 
 quent remoteness of her connexion with many of the confede- 
 rated States, be ignored, — if the special wants and interests 
 of the several States are not carefully and fairly balanced, — 
 if a reckless disregard be shewn to alarms, though groundless, 
 and to long-standing prejudices, then, by endeavouring to gain 
 all at once, we shall gain nothing. But if two or three States 
 
ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENTS. 36o 
 
 would unite in the pursuit of a common object, leaving an 
 open door for the accession of others, and inviting them to join, 
 were it only by way of experiment, for a few years, things 
 would shape themselves, and more would be eifected than 
 could result, in the present state of jealous feeling, from the 
 best general measures. The grand function of the Diet is to 
 preserve the unity attained, and to extend it farther. But 
 it needs assistance. Practical men out of all the States should 
 be assembled at Frankfort, and formed into committees. These 
 would constitute a popular board, knowing far better than a 
 council of statesmen where the shoe pinches. By their means 
 the Diet would be able to devise and carry out really useful 
 measures, and not till it do so, can the Diet become a pDwer, 
 and the salvation of Germany." 
 
 The letters received by Perthes from Carlsbad, during the 
 summer of 1819, were not calculated to excite hopes of any 
 earnest efforts, on the part of the deputies there assembled, for 
 the further development of the powers of the Confederation 
 " We would bless the Conference," says one, " if it took but one 
 earnest step towards securing for Germany her proper standing 
 in Europe : but my fears outweigh my hopes. The men now 
 at the helm are men of details, whose views are not large 
 enough to embrace objects of national importance. Prussia is 
 especially called on to take the lead, but who believes in her 
 honesty ? Austria feels herself safe at home, and would tolerate 
 liberal principles in other States to a certain extent, pi-ovided 
 they were carried out in peace and order. Metternich is per- 
 sonally more favourable to federal unity than the other Austrian 
 ministers : still tranquillity is the great point with him. On 
 returning from the Aix-la-Chapelle Congress, he was as pleased 
 
364 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 as a child, with what he regarded as the lasting pacification 
 of Europe. ' Now/ said he, ' every man may go and look 
 after his cabbages in safety for a long time to come ; and if the 
 ambassadors were only forbidden to report proceedings to their 
 respective courts, the only occasion of misunderstanding would 
 be taken away.' " Adam Muller wrote to Perthes from Carlsbad : 
 — ' As to the freedom of the press, though my own writings 
 are often objected to by the censor at Vienna, what of that ? I 
 do not serve a political chimera, whose enigmas I may intcrin'et 
 as I please, but a real flesh-and-blood Emperor, whose express 
 will is my law ; add to this that I am a Catholic, and as such, 
 believe that we already possess the truth, not that it lies bidden 
 somewhere, and must be brought to light by the freedom of the 
 press ; finally, T believe that the existing secular authority must 
 be preserved at any price, if only as a foundation ; and, therefore, 
 as the Episcopalians of the 17th centuiy said, ' No bishop, no 
 king,' so now I say, ' No censor, no sovereign ;' but I say it with 
 a bleeding heart, and with profound sorrow, that we, in this age, 
 are sunk so low, as to be constriiined to commit the intellec- 
 tual guardianship of the people to the clutches of oflicial 
 functionaries." 
 
 On the 31st of August 1819, the ministers assembled at Carls- 
 bad sat for the last time ; the resolutions adopted were com- 
 municated to the governments who had no deputies there, with 
 a request that they would so instruct their representatives in 
 tlie Diet, that the Carlsbad resolutions might through the Diet 
 be made binding on the wliole of Germany. No time was 
 allowed the smaller States for deliberation or consultation, and 
 of course no one of them dared to oppose the will of tlie two 
 great powers ; consequently, the Carlsbad resolutions became 
 
ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENTS. 365 
 
 decrees of the Diet on the 20th of September, without a dis- 
 sentient voice. They imposed on every State tlie duty of sub- 
 jecting to censure all publications of less than twenty sheets, and 
 of appointing for every university a special inspector. Further, 
 the confederation was to establish at Mayencc a Central Board 
 for inquiring into the revolutionary intrigues which had been 
 discovered in several of the confederated states ; as also a 
 provisional executive tribunal, and a commission for the sup- 
 pression of dangerous works. 
 
 The Carlsbad decrees, and their working, were regarded by 
 some of Perthes' cori-espondents with sorrow, and by others 
 with indignation. Sartorius wrote from Gottingen, — " Unless a 
 middle party, strong enough to keep in check the two that 
 have vowed each other's destruction, be speedily formed, we 
 shall pass through the crisis of a revolution, and land either 
 in despotism or in anarchy." Gorres gives the reins to his 
 active and fervid fancy, in a letter written to Perthes on the 
 2d of October 1819 : — " You will," he says, " have received the 
 Carlsbad decrees. It must be confessed that these people have 
 a peculiar talent for defeating their own purposes, for there 
 are no greater movers of disquiet among us than those whose 
 repressive measures, like the smith's dripping mop, produce only 
 a fiercer glow in the fire. I can only account for it by supposing 
 that they have maggots in their brain, such as cause the staggers 
 in sheep, which become furious, not exhibiting their fury in a 
 bloodthirsty way of course, but by stamping and blowing, so 
 that their very gentleness has an angry look. One would have 
 thought that people who look at things from the political 
 height should see them calmly and clearly ; but the contrary 
 
o6"5 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 is the case ; being weak-headed, they turn giddy ; and when 
 anytliing stirs, they think the world is whirling round : they 
 are afraid, lest the houses should fall upon their heads, and the 
 trees start forth to impale them ! Meanwhile necessity has 
 extorted from them the execution of the 13th article : they 
 have, indeed, told us plainly enough how they mean to carry it 
 out ; but that matters not ; what they give, is given ; and what 
 they unjustly withhold will be taken ; and so, though not with- 
 out striving and collision, things will get into the right track. 
 Their ordinances regarding the press are simply ridiculous ; it 
 would be easier to keep a sieve full of fleas, than to confine 
 tliought within their pen." 
 
 The excitement produced by the Carlsbad decrees was called 
 forth rather by their completely ignoring the national will, 
 than by their stringency. " It is not in what the Conference 
 has done," wrote Perthes in the autumn of 1819, " but in what 
 it has not done, that the evil and the peril consist. If the 
 decrees mean no more than they say, then they will do no 
 liarm and suppress much evil ; if they contemi^late something 
 else or something more, they will fail. But that at a moment 
 of such incalculable danger, the statesmen of Germany should 
 have assembled in council and do nothing, absolutely nothing, 
 to satisfy the craving of the nation for freedom and unity, this 
 is, indeed, a terrible calamity. No genuine national craving 
 has ever been stifled ; nor can the most perilous aberrations be 
 prevented by an authoritative veto." 
 
 The consideration and influence which the Diet still pos- 
 sessed are known by the universal astonishment manifested 
 at its acquiescence in the Carlsbad decrees. " It is dreadful 
 
ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENTS. 367 
 
 to find the Diet, instead of taking up a proud position, stoop- 
 ins: to become the blind executive of what I do not hesitate to 
 call a bad principle, and the tool of an illiberal, terrorist fac- 
 tion," wrote a stanch conservative. " The consequences both 
 to individuals and to the body politic are incalculable ; and 
 the demon of revolution, so long made use of as a scare-crow 
 bv the governments, will now manifest himself as a veritable 
 giant. The whole proceedings are yet veiled in mystery. We 
 know not whether the two great powers have compelled the 
 silence of the smaller, or whether the German people are de- 
 ceived by an assurance of unanimity, when diversity of opinion 
 was the fact. But up to the present moment we do not hear 
 that even a single member of the Confederation has given in 
 his resignation, rather than continue, under the guise of inde- 
 pendence, to be a tool in the hands of bad men.'" 
 
 On the 23d October 1819, Perthes received the following 
 from a friend : — " There were two ways open to the Conference, 
 viz., address and force. Had there been less anxiety like that 
 of drowning men who catch at a straw, and more of cool cal- 
 culating intellect at Carlsbad, the paneni et circejises would not 
 have been forgotten, and things would then have been in a very 
 critical position indeed. For example, had they only deter- 
 mined on abolishing frontier-dues throughout Germany, and 
 opened up the country to free-trade, it is very probable that 
 the decrees which have now called forth deep and universal 
 displeasure, would have excited but little attention, and that 
 the masses would themselves have contributed the wood for the 
 aw^o-dla;/'^'' of liberal writers and speakers. But if the Carlsbad 
 deputies either could not, or would not employ political ad- 
 
S6S LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 dress, they slioulJ, in order to secure the attainment of their 
 objects, have determined on a course of unflinching severity. 
 Blow upon blow should have been struck, victim upon victim 
 should have fallen, and that before any one had time to think. 
 If the anti-revolution tribunal at Mayence had come into opera- 
 tion on the very day that the decrees were pviblished, and had 
 it immediately ordered a series of imprisonments, the suppres- 
 sion of some dozen liberal journals, and, every month or so, a 
 public execution, a Napoleonic terrorism would have spread 
 over Germany ; but for such measures other men were required 
 than the g-ood-natured hon-vivans of Carlsbad, who, assuredly, 
 have no desire to inflict positive suffering on any man — whose 
 only object, indeed, is the tranquillity of the world, and their 
 own continuance in ofliice. It is solely to their ignorance of 
 any other means of attaining those ends that we owe the 
 apparently stringent decrees, of whose wisdom they are still 
 trying to persuade one another." Again, — " Just because the 
 delegates at Carlsbad could not resolve on employing either 
 address or violence, their measures will probably have little 
 efibct. The views of statesmen are not always identical with 
 those of the States they represent, and the conference at Carls- 
 bad may be regarded as the club of a ministerial faction. 
 Already in those States where the minister for foreign aflairs is 
 not all-powerful in the cabinet, have the Carlsbad deputies on 
 their return been severely blamed. Hardenberg and Berns- 
 torff, for instance, have been fiercely attacked by Humboldt. 
 In short, all the larger States, with the exception of Austria, 
 will pass through an internal crisis, which will result either 
 in displacing the present ministers, or in making them take 
 
ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENTS. 369 
 
 diftercnt ground ; and in either case, tlic niinisters even of the 
 States represented at Carlsbad will be found in opposition to 
 the Carlsbad decrees. I know that many princes who think 
 and govern independently, were very unpleasantly surprised by 
 the results of the Conference, and desire to preserve at least 
 the appearance of having given only an extorted consent. The 
 majority of the deputies at Frankfort are enraged at being 
 made the jiassive instruments of the Carlsbad Conference, and 
 are therefore not likely to aid in bringing its resolutions into 
 authority and honour. When, in addition to all these hin- 
 drances, you consider the wounded pride of the petty princes 
 who believe themselves, as it were, mediatised, and the fury of 
 public opinion, which, as ever, gains in intensity the more it is 
 compressed, there is no reason to exjiect any permanent effect 
 from measures which have entirely failed in their primary in- 
 tention of inspiring a general terror, and have thus virtually 
 ceased to exist, even before coming into operation." 
 
 Again, — " While the Carlsbad decrees have certainly failed 
 in eifecting what they intended, it is not unlikely that they 
 may bring about what they did not contemplate. Since 1815, 
 the old rivalry of Austria and Prussia for supremacy in Ger- 
 many has taken the form of a contest for the lead in the con- 
 federation. At Carlsbad, they believed themselves to be masters 
 of Germany; but they were mistaken, and the opposition they 
 have encountered will, for a long time, compel them to seek for 
 union with all the states whenever in political matters they 
 would act for Germany. This confirmation of the federal prin- 
 ciple is one blessing which the Carlsbad Conferences have 
 bestowed on us, — but it is not the only one. Individual states 
 were always unwilling to compromise their sovereignty by sub- 
 
S70 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 ordinatiDg themselves to the confederation. Now, however, 
 they have been able to find no wav of attaining the objects 
 proposed at Carlsbad, but that of handing over the police of 
 political offences, together with the superintendence of the 
 press and the universities, to the Diet. The object will not, 
 indeed, be attained, but the means used recognise in the Diet, 
 as representing the totality of Germany, a power superior to 
 the individual states, and the consequences of this recognition 
 will soon be developed. The subordination of individual states, 
 then, to the Diet, is another benefit which we owe to the Carls- 
 bad Conferences."' 
 
 An assembly of plenipotentiaries from all the German States 
 had been called to meet at Vienna in November 1819, for the 
 further development of the federal constitution. The deep- 
 rooted mistrust with which this Vienna Conference was re- 
 garded even by calmly-judging men, is expressed in a letter 
 received by Perthes in December 1819 : — " What will the 
 Vienna Conference do ? It may be that our magnates are not 
 unanimous enough to carry out their plans, and that Hum- 
 boldt will do his utmost to unseat Bernstorff. Things are come 
 to such a pass that our best hopes must be founded on the 
 mutual jealousies and suspicions of courts and ministers ; for 
 all the noble sentiments and endeavours of the German people 
 are ineffectual from the want of organization. The noblest 
 energies, isolated and unguidcd, are indeed as likely to end in 
 a chaos as in justice and order." Another wrote: — "For 
 ministers there is no history, no experience, and but one 
 political idea, viz., that of imprisoning Jacobins." The Vienna 
 Conference confirmed the policy of the Carlsbad decrees. 
 
 While the German governments were thus striving to repel 
 
ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENTS. 371 
 
 popular attacks by force, a eliainpion appeared, waging the 
 most deadly intellectual war against all the political tendencies 
 of the age. Since 1816, K. L. von Haller had been engaged 
 in the publication of his comprehensive work, " The Restora- 
 tion of Political Science," and inasmuch as he assailed the 
 adversaries of the German statesmen, they regarded him as 
 an ally, not seeing that Haller's principles must sooner or 
 later lead him to turn against the State, as represented by 
 the governments, the very weapons which he now used against 
 tliat form of it which was sought to be realized by the people. 
 Adam Miiller was one of the most talented adherents of the 
 new political school, and to him Perthes wrote his own views 
 as follows : — " I entirely coincide with you and with Herr von 
 Haller, Avhen you say that we can be saved only by submit- 
 ting ourselves to the external political ordinances ordained by 
 God. But what is ordained by God ? His ordinances were 
 once proclaimed in the Theocracy under Moses, of which the 
 Papacy in its best days was a shadow. But where now is 
 Moses ? where the Papacy ? The Church is now abreast of the 
 State ; in temporal matters under, in spiritual over it. This 
 separation of what was originally united is the ordinance of 
 God in our times, and we may not seek either to secularize 
 the Church, or to spiritualize the State. But what does Herr 
 von Haller do ? You indeed write — ' Haller has only restored 
 the genuine idea of right, and erected a barrier against this 
 century's idle dreaming about natural and political rights, 
 which it will not be easy to break through.' I answer, well ; 
 but Haller pays to this idea of right, to this secular law, 
 apart from the Church, divine homage. This idea, we are 
 
372 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 above all things to respect, love, and trust. Now, what is this 
 but to set up a golden calf while Moses tarries on Sinai ? You 
 set up as the law of God tables of stone, which have nothing 
 in common with those of Moses but the stone, and for their 
 sake God's own law is set at nouaht." 
 
ISOLATED POLITICAL QUESTIONS. 373 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 ISOLATED POLITICAL QUESTIONS. 
 
 The public mind, agitated by the absorbing interest of great 
 general subjects, was little attracted to individual political 
 ([uestions, such as the organization of the public service, of 
 taxation, of the law-courts, and of the police. The mercantile 
 world, however, had been considering the relation between 
 paper-money and that which it represents, as also the compati- 
 bility of the custom-house system with a prosperous commerce. 
 In the hope of gaining information for himself and others, on 
 the perplexing subject of the currency, Perthes had already, 
 in 1817, applied to Gentz at Vienna. Gentz replied, " The mo- 
 netary question, from its complications, is not a popular one ; 
 and to treat it in clear and j^recise language, is above all things 
 necessary. No one in Germany has yet done so with success. 
 A single chapter in the style of Adam Smith is worth more 
 than a hundred volumes of fantastical and mystic writing, like 
 Adam Miillcr's, in his ' Theory of Money.' When, in 1810-11, 
 the interesting question, as to whether the then high price 
 of gold arose from the depreciation of the English notes, was 
 discussed in Parliament, I procured all the documents, and 
 eagerly pursued an inquiry which might tlirow light on several 
 
374- LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 of tlie most important questions relating to the currency, paper- 
 money, banks, exchange, and the balance of trade. In Vienna 
 there was not an individual with whom I could have talked on 
 such a subject, and I found a charm in the calm discussion of 
 these difficult questions, with the clearest heads and greatest 
 authorities of England. The result was a work, which I sent 
 to England in June 1812, but which did not arrive there till the 
 end of the following year, after war had broken out." What 
 eventually became of this very valuable and instructive MS. 
 does not appear from the papers left by Perthes. 
 
 The customs' question became one of great interest, on the ces- 
 sation of the continental blockade, when Grermany was suddenly 
 deluged with English goods, while the importation of German 
 corn into England was all but prohibited, and the exclu- 
 sive system was revived in France and Holland. The new 
 system established by Prussia in 1818, was regarded as an 
 attempt to shut the door against the rest of Germany ; and it 
 was feared that if permanent it would annihilate the trade of 
 the smaller States. From many quarters the cry for help arose, 
 and in 1819 a commercial and industrial association was founded 
 at Frankfort, which, headed by List, sought to establish a ge- 
 neral system of prohibitory duties for the protection of German 
 industry. " The Hanse-towns ought not to stand aloof from 
 this new association," wrote a friend from Frankfort to Perthes ; 
 " for if they do, a spirit of hostility to them will inevitably 
 spring up. The association is indeed already disposed to see 
 only selfishness in their endeavour to establish free-trade ; 
 wliile, in fact, the interest of the Hanse-towns is the same as 
 that of all Germany." The excitement of the Hanse towns 
 reached the highest pitch on the appearance of Lindner's well- 
 
ISOLATED POLITICAL QUESTIONS. 375 
 
 known ' Manuscript from South Germany/ in 1820, the special 
 object of which was to prove the necessity for elevating Bavaria 
 to the position of a first-rate power, even at the expense of her 
 weaker neighbours. But there were also allusions to North 
 Germany, among others, the following, — " What mean these 
 Barbary States of Germany, the Hanse-towns, whose interests 
 as English factories involve the spoliation of the rest of Ger- 
 many, and the annihilation of her industry ? Germany ought 
 to hold her own most important sea-ports, and not commit them 
 to the keeping of a privileged merchant-caste, closely linked to 
 England by their own selfish interests. These republics are in 
 every sense a hors cFoeuvre in fatherland ; and the Congress of 
 Vienna did not know what it was doing when it recognised 
 their independence." 
 
 On the publication of this Essay, a friend living in South 
 Germany wrote to Perthes : — " You have no idea of the pre- 
 judice entertained here against free-trade, and the Hanse-towns. 
 The feeling is just now deepened by the zeal and earnestness 
 with which it is attempted to unite the South German states 
 in an association opposed to the Prussian customs-system." 
 On the other hand, many believed that even the new custom- 
 laws of Prussia ignored the importance of German trade, and 
 might, in seeking to protect the manufacturer, sacrifice the 
 merchant. Perthes felt the greatness of the danger, and be- 
 lieving that it could be averted by acting powerfully on public 
 opinion, he stirred up a number of experienced merchants to 
 write articles for the most extensively circulated journals ; and 
 it is probable that these were not wholly without influence on 
 subsequent commercial legislation. 
 
 But questions regarding the representative assemblies, and 
 
376 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 the nobility, were of far deeper interest to the general public 
 than those connected with trade. Representative assemblies 
 were indeed ardently desired, but only in the general. The in- 
 finite difficulties connected with their realization in the present 
 circumstances of Germany, were perceived only in very few 
 circles ; and it had become a generally received maxim, tliat the 
 voice of the majority should be law. In opposition to this 
 view, Falk had written from Kiel, as long ago as the year 1817, 
 " Nothing is more dangerous than a delusion, which prevents 
 men from recognising any higlicr law than their own will, and 
 justifies every folly for which a decision of the majority can be 
 shewn. Major pars meliorem vicit, says Livy, and the old 
 saying is true yet. If, indeed, there exist in any society no 
 higher ground of decision than the will of the majority, its 
 first effort should be to create a law for restraining indivi- 
 dual will." 
 
 Perthes himself entertained no doubt that if the majority 
 were to rule, the government would fall into the hands of those 
 whose proper function is to obey. This he says very deci- 
 dedly in a letter of the 4th March 1821 :— " It will be long 
 before we attain to constitutional order ; and the hindrances 
 lie rather in the liberal than in the monarchical jjarty. We 
 must again be subjected to a despotism ; but this time tlio 
 despot will be a majority. If Chambers be established as in 
 France, or Cortes as in Spain and Portugal, the State and all 
 that belongs to it become a prey to party leaders whose cry 
 is popular opinion. Already passion rages wildly in these 
 countries, as at the era of the French Revolution, and the re- 
 presentative system opposes only one barrier to the invading 
 deluge, namely, the majority of votes. Do you really believe 
 
ISOLATED POLITICAL QUESTIONS. Oli 
 
 that men politically opposed, instruct or convert each other 
 by argument ? Never ! Each adheres but the more closely 
 to his opinion and party. The representatives of the people 
 are therefore but counters ; and, according- as they have been 
 won by gold, fear, intrigue, or some other means, we can 
 tell beforehand how they will vote ; and all the fine speeches 
 about the welfare of the state are but spoken into the air, and 
 leave no trace behind. Our forefathers in Hamburgh well 
 knew that most hideous tyrant the majority, and sought to 
 break its power by voting not individually, but by the five 
 parishes. Unless remedies of this kind, or, at least, to the 
 like effect be found out, we shall be slaves to the multitude, 
 or rather to the miscreants who lead and beguile them. That 
 liberalism is advancing towards a decided, if only a tern 
 porary victory over monarchy, I cannot for a moment doubt. 
 The people will however soon discover that to be politically 
 free, and to have no king, or a weak one, are two very different 
 thino-s. When once liberalism has attained its objects, i.e., a 
 kino- who is but a cipher, and a majority which, under the 
 name of Chambers, acts the despot, then the struggle will 
 beo-in ; blood, death, and utmost misery will overtake men in 
 whom no trace of humility will then be left. The end of all 
 will he, that since every one wishes to get much and to give 
 nothing, to be everything and to acknowledge no authority, 
 every man will oppress his neighbour, in order that lie may 
 not himself be oppressed." 
 
 Perthes nevertheless took a lively interest in the further de- 
 velopment of representative assemblies in the different German 
 states. In the Grand Duchy of Hesse the deputies were sum- 
 
 32 
 
S7S LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 moned for May 1820, but they refused to recognise the edict of 
 tlie Grand Duke as a constitution, unless it were altered into 
 the form of a contract ; the Grand Duke, on the other hand, 
 required recognition of its authority previous to its revision. 
 Wiirtemberg attracted especial attention. King William, who 
 had succeeded to the Crown in October 1816, had previously, as 
 Crown Prince, excited great expectations, and even during his 
 struggle with the Chambers on the subject of the new constitu- 
 tion, had won universal confidence. Wlien the Carlsbad decrees 
 appeared, there was a general impression that they especially 
 aimed at tlie overthrow of the Wiirtemberg constitution. The 
 attitude of the king, therefore, seemed decidedly patriotic. Thus 
 in a letter from Frankfort to Perthes, it is said: — "They thought 
 at Carlsbad to frighten the King of Wiirtemberg, and to give 
 the constitution a blow ; but the king is not to be frightened, 
 and will certainly maintain what he has determined on." Count 
 Moltke also writes from Heidelberg, — " A very sensible article 
 lias appeared in the Stuttgart Court Journal, against the Carls- 
 bad decrees ; the king has, moreover, declined to become a 
 member of that commission, whose function it will be to send 
 delegates to that darling inquisitorial tribunal. Throughout 
 South Germany the king is enthusiastically beloved." 
 
 The tumultuous joy excited in Bavaria by the concession of 
 the constitution in 1818, was reckoned a happy augury for 
 the first deliberations of the Chambers. However, immedi- 
 ately after assembling, a misunderstanding arose between the 
 first and second Chambers, the senators regarding themselves 
 as one with the king, and looking upon the Chamber of Deputies 
 as a common enemy. In the course of a few weeks, a difierence 
 
ISOLATED POLITICAL QUESTIONS. 37JJ 
 
 between tlie government and tlie Chambers, on the monetary 
 question, was added to that previously existing between the 
 aristocracy and the representatives of the people, so that the 
 country and its rulers soon came to regard each other with the 
 same ill-will and suspicion in Bavaria as everywhere else. 
 
 Another question had at this time greater interest for Per- 
 thes than even that of the representation. So early as the period 
 of the Vienna Congress, the standing of the lesser nobilit}^ which 
 had been kept in the background during the war, became 
 again the subject of discussion. Pride, suspicion, and the love 
 of prerogative on the one side ; jealousy, discontent, and the 
 mania for equality on the other, embittered the contest, which 
 arose, indeed, out of actual relations. The anticipation of a 
 new and fantastic future for the lesser nobility, as advanced for 
 instance in the " Adelskette," excited in the opponents of the 
 nobility a still stronger fear, lest such anticipation should be 
 fulfilled. The universal unpopularity of the nobility was mani- 
 fested when Voss attacked Count Frederick Leopold Stolberg. 
 Public opinion was decidedly with Voss — although his weapons 
 were most unworthy, — partly, indeed, because in Stolberg he 
 attacked Catholicism, but far more on account of the vehe- 
 mence with which he attacked the nobility as represented by 
 him. Even to so honourable and moderate a man as Count 
 Caius Reventlow, the cause of the nobility seemed to be very 
 feebly supported. He wrote to Perthes in 1820 : — " The no- 
 bility, now that it exists, and for that only reason, is not to be 
 killed outright, it seems ; but a mere pro forma nobility is as 
 good as none. Besides, the contest is not one of principles but 
 of feelings, and it can never therefore be settled by arguments. 
 
o80 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 One can contemplate the struggle and its vicissitudes more 
 calmly by reflecting that the perfection of the social system is 
 not so important as that men, feeling themselves ill at ease 
 here, should be brought back to God. From this point of view 
 we look upon the never-ending play of the natural and spiritual 
 elements as a training school, and are reassured." 
 
 While by the people, the present position of the nobles was 
 regarded as absolutely untenable, the governments adhered 
 with greater tenacity than ever to the opinion that to the 
 nobility alone belonged the conduct of public affl^irs. " The 
 old poetico-historical nobility of former centuries has lono- 
 since passed away," writes a friend of Perthes in 1819. "Our 
 nobles, however, would fain return to the glorious times of 
 the Emperor Frederick II. ; well, let them try it. The nobles, 
 in that case, should be nothing but knights : and they only, 
 not citizens and farmers as well, should be subject to military 
 service, and, shouldering the musket, form our regiments ; 
 every knight of course disdaining pay. Now, if our nobles 
 neither will nor can do this, they no longer represent the 
 ancient knightly nobility ; and the rights and claims of a 
 class cannot last longer than the class itself Driven by hun- 
 ger from the ruined castles of their fathers, the nobility would 
 fain revel at the burgher's table ; and because, in days of yore, 
 they were outside the State, now they would be over it ; because 
 formerly they were the only warriors, now they are to be the 
 only ministers and privy-councillors. I know, indeed, that we 
 want an aristocracy, but I also know that it is the necessity of 
 the State, and not the interest of the nobility that must de- 
 termine their position." Similar sentiments on the same sub- 
 
ISOLATED POLITICAL QUESTIONS. S81 
 
 ject were expressed in letters to Perthes, with reference to the 
 special circumstances of particular States. Thus a Prussian 
 statesman in 1819 writes, " Everything lies bound in the fetters 
 of the aristocracy, and the efforts to shake off these fetters which 
 have been attended with such happy results in the humbler 
 spheres of society and government, have scarcely been felt in 
 the higher ranks. Public life is made up of petty private 
 considerations ; the State, the government, public offices, and 
 public institutions serving merely as ornamental appendages to 
 a small number of families. I have no hope, so long as the 
 ministries are regarded as prizes to be contended for within a 
 limited aristocratic sphere ; for a fresh breeze can only then 
 fill our sails, when the State comes to be influenced by a spirit 
 not born and educated in the prejudices of the aristocracy." 
 
 Even Rehberg, so long and intimately acquainted with the 
 nobility, expressed his anxiety on account of the delusions that 
 led the governments to regard the nobles alone as born to rule, 
 and all others as born only to obey. Count Adam Moltke, too, 
 wrote in the same strain, — " Just because I love the aristocracy, 
 and regard it as essential, I regret the more deeply to see it 
 leaning uj)on prejudices. Its present position is quite false, it 
 stands as a historical wrong, upheld by force only ; and unless 
 it be reconstituted according to the spirit and requirements of 
 the age, not a scion of it will be allowed to remain." 
 
 In spite of this vehement controversy, it was seldom that any 
 attempt was made to gain clear views of the inner life and pro- 
 per functions of the order in dispute. In the hope of obtaining 
 correct ideas, Perthes applied to men holding the most various 
 positions in life. " The essence of the nobility," wrote Count 
 
382 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 F. L. Stolberg, " cannot lie in territorial possessions, or in 
 any particular employment or position in life. The accident 
 of birth could not in that case remain long and everywhere 
 an object of high consideration : there must, therefore, be 
 some idea of wliicli the external position of the nobility is 
 only the expression. There is, indeed, something poetical, 
 which appeals to sentiment, in the nobility. As the military 
 order represents courage, and the clerical piety, so the nobility 
 represents nobleness of mind : and unless this idea had always 
 influenced the conduct of a great many among them, the 
 nobility, in spite of territorial possessions and external posi- 
 tion, would have sunk beneath notice long ago." — "The nobi- 
 lity," wrote Fouque, " is virtually the same institution in Eng- 
 land and in Germany ; but the form that it assumes in the two 
 countries is very different ; and this difference we should re- 
 spect as of historical origin, without seeking to transfer the form 
 acquired by the nobility in the one country to the other. Even 
 in England territorial possessions do not imply nobility, but are 
 an appendage to it ; and in Germany a noble is still noble, 
 though he may not possess a single rood of land. This being 
 so, there must be something in the noble which is not repre- 
 sented by property. The peculiar knightly spirit which is, as 
 it were, the soul of nobility, is a. subtle essence, almost as deli- 
 cate as virgin purity, and like it, must be represented in the 
 living person, not defined. I cannot say — this precisely is the 
 knightly spirit, but I can say, here is a man in whom it lives. 
 While this spirit exists in the nobility as a class, individuals in 
 whom it is found may, from time to time, be admitted to their 
 order ; but that an order of chivalry may be developed, the 
 
ISOLATED POLITICAL QUESTIONS. 38*5 
 
 institution must be permanent, and the cliivalric flame kept 
 alive from father to son. Each member of the class must know 
 from his earliest childhood that he belongs to it, and the English 
 custom, according to which a younger son, suddenly, and witli- 
 out preparation, becomes noble on the death of his elder brother, 
 is inconsistent with the spirit of the nobility.'' 
 
 Notwithstanding these and many other mutually contradict- 
 ing views, Perthes, on the whole, adhered to the idea which 
 Rehberg had developed in his Essay on the German Nobility, 
 published in 1803 ; and, in a series of letters which afterwards 
 appeared in a somewhat altered form, under the title of " A 
 Word on the German Nobility," Perthes endeavoured to work 
 himself into clearness on the whole matter. Thus : " You regard 
 knighthood as synonymous with nobility ; but incorporated 
 knighthood was only a passing form of nobility, and is there- 
 fore not to be reproduced in our diiy, however honourable and 
 glorious it may have been. The knighthood of the Middle 
 Ages, translated into modern language, is military nobility ; 
 but how can there be such a thing as a military nobility, when 
 the whole nation won its spurs in 1813 ? For your practical idea 
 of chivalry, we lack the castle, the feudal dominion, and the 
 knight himself The knightly spirit must be one that exists 
 exclusively or pre-eminently in the noble ; but if knighthood 
 and military nobility are one, then the knightly spirit and mi- 
 litary honour are also necessarily one. Now, military honour 
 consists in this : that it tolerates no doubt on the matter of 
 personal courage, and washes away the slightest aspersion of 
 cowardice with blood. This is military honour, and it extends 
 not an inch farther ; for piety, integrity, fidelity, courage, and 
 
384 LIFE or PERTHES. 
 
 respect towards the female sex belong to no particular class, 
 but are common to men as men. Unless, then, you would 
 make military honour the soul of all nobility, you must find 
 some other foundation for our present nobility than chivalry, 
 and I can find none but that of entailed territorial possession. 
 If this be so, then nobility must be limited, like territorial pro- 
 perty, to the eldest son ; the rest of the family falling back into 
 the ranks of the people, unless Germany is to be inundated 
 with unsatisfied candidates for all posts of influence." 
 
 To the friends of the aristocracy Perthes freely expressed his 
 opinions, that their present position was untenable ; but he 
 did not conceal from others the great anxiety with which he 
 regarded these attacks on their hereditary and legal rights. 
 Thus, in the spring of 1821, he wrote, " Very unsatisfactory and 
 ambiguous is the answer to the questions, — Why should the 
 rights of property be more sacred than personal rights ? Why, 
 if I may deprive the noble of his privileges, may I not, with 
 equal justice, deprive the rich man of his wealth ? If, as you 
 Liberals would have it, we are to be all equal, I may, neverthe- 
 less, do whatever I please with what I have earned myself; and 
 what becomes of equality if the son of a wealthy father spend 
 his hard-earned fortune in ease and idleness, in the midst of a 
 starving community ? Should not children work like their 
 fathers before them ? Is social order established for the benefit 
 of ' slow bellies ?' No ! If we are to be really equal, all property 
 must return at the death of its possessor to the common stock, 
 to be anew divided. But even this will not suflice to preserve 
 equality. Diflferences of education will, even after heredi- 
 tary rights are swept away, produce inequality. Why should 
 
ISOLATED POLITICAL QUESTIONS. 385 
 
 the children of the poor be worse educated than the children 
 of the rich, whose parents have worked less ? Educational 
 establishments must, then, be provided for all. This is a con- 
 sequence of the demand that the nobility be deprived of their 
 privileges. I know, indeed, that to be consequent is to be 
 devil-driven ; but it is well sometimes to be consequent in 
 theory, for many may thus, perhaps, see what a perilous thing- 
 it is to be consequent, and may change their minds." 
 
 33 
 
386 LIFE OF PERTHKS. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXI. 
 
 AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA DURING THE PERIOD IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING 
 THE CARLSBAD DECREES. 
 
 The Cai'lsbad decrees secured repose and external order to 
 Germany for a number of years. The governments obtained 
 an interval to shew what they could do in the way of political 
 development, undisturbed by grievance-mongers and tumultu- 
 ary outbreaks. Those, however, who expected a new impulse 
 to proceed from the Diet, forgot that the Diet was composed 
 not of independent plenipotentiaries, but of deputies charged 
 to represent the will of their several courts. Whether or not 
 the interval of repose should be directed to the development of 
 political freedom, depended on the good pleasure of the several 
 states, — mainly, of course, on Austria and Prussia. Perihes' 
 letters from Vienna assured him that the policy of Austria 
 would be, simply to maintain the status quo, the elements 
 wliich had sprung out of revolution being respected no less 
 than those which owed their origin to reaction. A return to 
 the old, it was supposed, would be as hazardous as a transi- 
 tion to the new. 
 
 From 1817 to 1819, Baron von Ilormayr, historiographer of 
 the Empire, and on good terms, as yet, with Metternich, pub- 
 
AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA AFTER THE CARLSBAD DECREES. 387 
 
 lislied a Universal Modern History in the Austrian sense. One 
 of Perthes' correspondents characterizes it as a piece of special 
 pleading for Austria. 
 
 Ever since the spring of 1820, Frederick Schlegel had, in his 
 " Concordia," brought the whole force of his wonderful talents 
 to bear against every form and degree of opposition to the 
 existing order of things. A friend, who declines to pronounce 
 judgment on Schlegel's views till they shall be further developed, 
 thus continues in a letter to Perthes : " His historico-philoso- 
 phical inquiries are conducted in words of such varied mean- 
 ing, that they can be twisted any Avay, and indeed confuse the 
 mind. I am convinced that, in the paper to which you parti- 
 cularly refer, Schlegel's object is not to search after truth, 
 but to strengthen the Papal Church, and it would not be 
 the first time that great gifts, deep insight, comprehensive 
 learning, and even true wisdom, have been made subservient to 
 political ends. That he honestly believes he is riglit I do not 
 for a moment doubt ; but I believe that he is entirely mistaken 
 in his fundamental principle, and that from the very first every 
 stroke has been aimed so as to clinch the ultimate conclusion. 
 One observation I will hazard. It is dangerous to regard and 
 pronounce upon good and evil in the mass. He who condemns 
 or praises a whole century, is as certain to hit some nail on the 
 head as he who throws a stone into the middle of a heap is 
 certain to strike something ; but something is not everything. 
 Considered in the mass, things always appear better or worse 
 than they really are, because the infinite is brought into the 
 narrow focus of our weak sight. We select from the total of 
 events, we reduce, we abstract, but we cannot reproduce those 
 shadings which gave to the actions and the times criticized 
 
,388 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 their genuine character. For instance, the century before the 
 Revolution is now characterized as torpid, contemptible, and 
 frivolous. This may be true of the higher ranks and of liter- 
 ature ; but, does a whole century become what it is in virtue 
 of its literature, and of the small educated minority ? I main- 
 tain, that while, in the ten years preceding the Revolution, 
 those above were building the Tower of Babel, simple-minded- 
 ness, contentment, and innocency were to be found below. 
 A tendency passes slowly from above downwards, and it is 
 only now, when improvement has taken place above, that 
 corruption, frivolity, and ungodliness, are in possession of 
 the lower classes. Then, again, that many-sided thing, the 
 individual heart, so strangely divided between good and evil — 
 who holds the thread of investigation here? Who from the 
 action can judge the thought? Ought not the hidden virtues 
 of individuals to balance national corruption ? But the most 
 perilous of all is to condemn mercilessly the age on whose current 
 we ourselves are floating. Every improvement must originate 
 within, and improvements must be changes ; that which is 
 vital in the old forms will pass into the new ; but the past is 
 not, as such, to be honoured as imperishable, which is precisely 
 what they vainly insist on in Austria, Many a premature at- 
 tempt will fail, but I have no fear of the total ruin of European 
 civilisation. It has in Christianity a princij^le of vitality, a 
 pledge of regeneration which will preserve its spiritual energy 
 through all external confusions." 
 
 The Austrian government endeavoured to procure the gene- 
 ral circulation in Germany of the Vienna Annual Register ;* 
 the real views of Austria were too strongly opposed to the 
 
 * "Jahr-lucli" — German. 
 
AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA AFTER THE CARLSBAD DECREES. 38.9 
 
 spirit of tliG age, and were a secret to none. Ever since ISW, 
 there had been a general feeling of distrust towards the Aus- 
 trian government. The following letter to Perthes bears on 
 the subject : — " The present policy of Austria results from the 
 whole character and history of the empire. From the time of 
 the Reformation, when Austria would not or could not obey 
 the intellectual impulse, she has felt herself an alien in the 
 new world ; and being unable to adapt herself to the ago, would 
 have the age adapt itself to her. When the Turkish empire 
 ceased to tlireaten Europe, the bond which had held together 
 the heterogeneous elements of the Austrian empire, and made 
 it the bulwark of Christendom, lost its power. The far- 
 sighted Joseph II. foresaw the coming dismemberment of the 
 Austrian dominions, and since his time this misgiving has 
 been the mainspring of Austrian policy. Hence the repression 
 of intellectual progress and provincial development since the 
 French Revolution ; hence, too, the opposition of Austria to 
 political progress everywhere. To maintain the status quo not 
 only is, but must be Austria's policy." 
 
 While the opposition of Austria to the universal tendencies 
 of the age was regarded, and sometimes pitied, as an inevitable 
 necessity, the attitude of Prussia was considered simply as cul- 
 pable, and the Prussian government became the object of bitter 
 hatred. The subsequent course of events has indeed proved, 
 beyond a doubt, that the men who then guided the helm of 
 Prussian affairs, are responsible for great calamities ; but only 
 infatuation can overlook the enormous difficulties, arising out 
 of Prussia's political situation, no less than out of Austria's — 
 and, because of the evil, ignore the good. Prussia could always 
 boast of a magnificently organized army, and of an honest and 
 
3,00 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 mild administration, and these cannot co-exist without confer- 
 ring great benefits on the community. 
 
 The views which prevailed regarding Prussia during the 
 years immediately succeeding the Carlsbad decrees, are thus 
 expressed in a letter to Perthes : — " For a century past Prussia 
 has had but one object, — that, namely, of becoming a great 
 European power. The material power and greatness of Prussia 
 are in striking contrast with this pretension'; but the perfect 
 organization of her administration, and of many of her political 
 institutions, as well as the intellectual advancement of her 
 people, throw an incalculable weight into the scale, and attract 
 the other German states, which are her natural, and to a cer- 
 tain extent dependent allies. Immediately after the Libera- 
 tion-war, Prussia fell into contradiction with such of her own 
 institutions as had originated from 1808 downwards, and with 
 the intellectual tendencies of her whole population. By refus- 
 ing a constitution, and by opposing every liberal measure in 
 the rest of Germany, she undermined her own standing-ground 
 in Europe, made enemies of her own people, and alienated 
 the other German States. In consequence of this, though 
 preserving the name of a European power, she has become really 
 subordinate to Russia and Austria. Prussia well knows that 
 her independent utterance would be disregarded in the councils 
 of Europe, and is therefore careful to say only what some 
 influential power has said already, or will say : immediately 
 after the war she was the echo of Russia ; and now she has 
 thrown herself into the arms of Austria. It is certain that 
 Prussia can attain to independence and influence in Europe 
 only by the development of liberal institutions at home, and 
 renouncing all selfish designs, such as the amalgamation of 
 
AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA AFTER THE CARLSBAD DECREES. 391 
 
 the smaller States with herself: otherwise, she can only be the 
 echo and tool of Austria in Germany." 
 
 Among the many letters which Perthes received at this 
 period, there occurs not a single expression of confidence in the 
 men who were at the head of affairs ; no one believed them 
 capable of understanding the problems involved in history, and 
 in the relations of Prussia to Germany and Europe, 
 
 In March 1817, the Council of State was inaugurated, and 
 from this body a commission appointed to frame a constitu- 
 tional charter. A violent discussion arose among the leaders of 
 the opposite parties, on the form which the representation of 
 the people should take, and on the new system of taxation 
 proposed by Count Bulow, minister of finance. From this 
 period William von Humboldt headed the opposition. The 
 immediate result was, that both questions were postponed ; 
 that William von Humboldt, being appointed ambassador to 
 Great Britain, was removed from the arena ; and that in the 
 summer of 1818, not he, but the then Danish ambassador in 
 Berlin, Count Christian von Bernstorfi', was appointed minister 
 of foreign affairs : but in January 1819, Humboldt was recalled 
 to share the ministry of the interior with Herr von Schuclc- 
 mann, while the ministry of the royal household was confided to 
 Prince Wittgenstein, previously minister of police. Hereupon, 
 in the summer of 1819, began the prosecution of the dema- 
 gogues in Berlin. 
 
 In the autumn of 1819, the Carlsbad decrees gave occasion 
 to an almost open rupture in the ministry. William von 
 Humboldt, Beyme, and Boyen, were on the one side. Prince 
 Hardenberg and Count Bernstorff on the other, while Prince 
 Wittgenstein, with a strong party, worked in silence. The 
 
892 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 issue of the struggle was not long dubious : at the end of the 
 year, Humboldt and Beyme were dismissed ; while Generals 
 Boyen and Grollmann, who had shortly before asked for their 
 conge, received it. Peace and confidence did not, indeed, even 
 now reign in the ministry; the divisions, however, originated 
 no longer in political principles, but in j^ersonal rivalry. One 
 correspondent sarcastically writes to Perthes : — " The great 
 questions of the age have, at last, set our government in mo- 
 tion. For many weeks our statesmen have been uninterruptedly 
 engaged in determining the cut of the coat that our young 
 people shall henceforth wear ; but they have not yet decided 
 whether the German coat shall be absolutely prohibited, or 
 allowed on condition of its not exceeding a certain length." 
 
PUBLIC OPINION ON GERMANY AFTER CARLSBAD DECREES. 393 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 PUBLIC OPINION ON GERMAN AFFAIRS DURING THE PERIOD LMMEDIATELY 
 FOLLOWIXG TUE CARLSBAD DECREES. 1819-1822. 
 
 ■ The attitude which Austria and Prussia had assumed ren- 
 dered it impossible for the Diet to effect anything of importance. 
 Even in respect to the military system, and the protection 
 of the mediatised states, everything remained as it was. It is 
 not surprising that the hindrances inherent in the state of 
 affairs, and arising from the proceedings of revolutionary dema- 
 gogues, were wholly overlooked, and that this inactivity was 
 ascribed solely to the corruption of the governments. Con- 
 spiracy raised its head in 1820, and even men who were quite 
 innocent of conspiracy, gave expression to feelings both orally 
 and in their correspondence, just such as animated the con- 
 spirators. More than one weak point was indeed presented by 
 the governments. By many of the reigning families and their 
 adherents, the idea of authority was associated with the notion 
 that the crown transformed its wearer into something super- 
 human. A king, let him be what he might as a man, was to be 
 regarded as, in a sense, inspired, — a sort of political pope. This 
 superstition, so opposed to the whole current of our history, and 
 to our national feeling, could not but be offensive to the Germans, 
 who never regarded their princes as demigods, but simply as men 
 of sense and vigour, who had inherited from their forefathers the 
 
394 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 right and the duty to govern, even as the people had inherited 
 the rights and the duties of subjects. " The princes feel more 
 and more," writes one of Perthes' correspondents, " that they 
 conquered Napoleon not by their own power, but by that of 
 others ; and since they will on no account own themselves 
 indebted to the people by whose manly uprising alone they are 
 what they are, they resort to a convenient subterfuge, alleging 
 themselves to be special objects of divine favour ; political 
 prophets, plenipotentiaries, and vicegerents of God, images of 
 His wisdom, infallibility, and inviolability I" Another corre- 
 spondent, writing from Berlin in July 1820, says: — "While the 
 blinded partisans of the governments throughout ^Europe are 
 making the essence of monarchy to consist in a political incarna- 
 tion of God, the principle of monarchy is caricatured by events 
 now passing in Spain, and by scandals in England." 
 
 The absolute and irresponsible authority claimed by the 
 governments was met with still more general repugnance than 
 the pretension to a sort of divinity in behalf of the office and 
 person of the sovereign. " I know not," wrote one of Perthes' 
 correspondents, " if it really was said at the Diet, that we had 
 just escaped great political dangers ; if so, I know not whether 
 to rejoice or lament at our escape. To governments, as to 
 individuals, calamity survived is often a benefit, and calamity 
 escaped a misfortune. Only those who are wise enough to re- 
 cognise the precarious nature of all arrangements, however 
 specious, and the narrowness of the boundary that separates 
 good from bad results, become more gentle and tolerant, or as 
 you would say, humble, by the contemplation of a danger 
 escaped. Such, however, is not the character of the German 
 o:overnments." 
 
PUBLIC OPINION ON GERMANY AFTER CARLSBAD DECREES. 395 
 
 In 1819, Gorres had in his famous Essay, " Germany and 
 the Revolution," attacked the governments with volcanic elo- 
 quence. In December 1820, Gorres wrote to Perthes from 
 Strasburg, where he had found an asylum : — " Now as twenty 
 years ago, when I declared Napoleon to be a tyrant, I am in 
 contradiction with the world ; now as then, the course of events 
 lias not been premeditated and pre-arranged, but rather deter- 
 mined by a sort of instinct working out obscure ideas into fact. 
 I penetrated these ideas sooner than others, and set forth their 
 meaning in plain German five years ago ; and for that reason 
 have the rulers hunted the unwelcome seer out of the country. 
 This, in short, is the whole story. People cannot get over their 
 astonishment here at a liberalism like mine, which tolerates 
 the aristocracy and the Pope. In France, as in Germany, the 
 good in the masses is leavened with much evil ; the vilest 
 passions ferment within while the lips drop wisdom ; wooden 
 hands are raised in the attitude of prayer, while, beneath the 
 cloak, the real hands are engaged in pilfering and plundering. 
 Whichever party prevail, there will be cause both for joy and 
 sorrow. The young generation is growing up in a hatred of 
 the past, which the knaves and fools who write in defence of 
 it, do their best to justify ; and so before another half cen- 
 tury has passed over our heads, not one stone will be left 
 upon another." Perthes answered : — " You should have painted 
 the sins of the assailants of government in the same glowing 
 colours, and with the same unexampled eloquence, with which 
 you have represented those of the governments themselves : 
 yea, you should have given pre-eminence to the former. What 
 would have been the consequence ? — why, you would have been 
 sitting quietly at Coblentz, and for the sake of the one you 
 
396 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 would have been forgiven the otlier. In a letter which you 
 wrote to me shortly before the appearance of your book, you 
 represented the democratic party in Germany as a mass of con- 
 fusion, ignorance, coarseness, and impotence ; why did you not 
 do the same in your book ?" Gorres answered, — " My pro- 
 phetic vocation is, indeed, rather an unprofitable one ; for my 
 masters call out to me, 'If we don't want the accursed truth, 
 why should you force it upon us?' I have now disgorged all 
 my political plunder, and have returned to the work which 
 has occupied me for years ; my legendary history of the old 
 world is to embrace in one panoramic view, whatever preceded 
 the so-called exact history of all nations. If possible, I shall 
 publish Ancient Germany by way of commencement next year, 
 and thus rid myself of a good deal of accumulated matter. I 
 fancy that our primitive age will appear far otherwise than it 
 does in the miserable lamplight of pedantic book learning." 
 
 While the governments were thus assailed on the one side, 
 they were defended on the other, everywhere throughout Ger- 
 many, by men who were devoted, heart and soul, to authority 
 and its claims. But many of these men regarded the rights of 
 authority as more seriously endangered by the proceedings of 
 princes and ministers than by the attacks of demagogues ; and 
 did not, therefore, judge it advisable to act or speak directly 
 in support of authority, lest they should seem to countenance its 
 abuses. One of Perthes' correspondents remarks : — " In public 
 affairs, our conduct is determined less by principles than by the 
 tendencies of those who for the time being represent them." 
 To other favourers of authority, again, every danger appeared 
 trifling in comparison with that to which the governments were 
 exposed. These turned with unmitigated fury on the dema- 
 
PUBLIC OPINION ON GERMANY AFTER CARLSBAD DECREES. S97 
 
 gogues of the day. In 1821, a nobleman of the old stamp wrote 
 to Perthes : — " The cause of freedom is injured most of all by 
 tliose who would force us to wear national cockades and caps of 
 liberty. And althougli when they cry liberty they mean domi- 
 nion, they are exceedingly displeased when those who have the 
 power and the obligation do actually govern. How often have 
 I been displeased with kings for seeking to comjoel their own 
 people and others to live and think thus, and not otherwise ! 
 But do not these would-be kings do the same ? Like the tuneless 
 organ-pipe of my village- church, they strike into every melody 
 with their single harsh note, to silence, if possible, every ex- 
 pression of opinion but their own." Another correspondent 
 writes : — " It is said that the people are regenerated, and must 
 therefore be put into a new skin. I myself don't believe that 
 it would be advisable to try on the old coats again : but these 
 brawlers feel themselves ill at ease, not because the coats are 
 too tiglit, but because their own bodies are jniifed up. Ger- 
 many is inundated with selfishness as with an ocean of dirty 
 water, and we must all beware of being drowned in it." 
 
 But it was in the letters which Perthes received from Livonia 
 and Courland in 1820 and 1821, that the strongest denuncia- 
 tions of the German demagogues were found. Thus : " The 
 outcry made in Germany, because the unattainable has not 
 been attained, originates in the importance which the German 
 writers arrogate to themselves. Thus some old professor seated 
 in his arm-chair, and surrounded by medicine phials, believes 
 that his pen is the lever which moves the world ; and yet the pens 
 of all Germany would not have rubbed off the rust from German 
 swords, but for the Russian year of 1812, The spears of the 
 Russian Cossacks and peasants pierced deeper than the Ger- 
 
398 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 man pens, and their public spirit was right genuine though not 
 distilled in the retort of any venerable professor. The politi- 
 cal good which is fabricated by the pen resembles beet-root 
 sugar ; it tastes like the real, but has no strength. A people 
 is formed not by orations but by events ; and the popular spirit 
 is not to be called forth by the author, but the author by the 
 popular spirit." Another : " Germany is held together by a 
 pair of good, stout iron hoops ; Russia and Austria are strong 
 enough to withstand the fermentation of the popular spirit, and 
 the little froth which now and then oozes out through the tap 
 does little harm. We shall yet see these revolutionary heroes 
 end their career, without having effected anything. Germany 
 has no political, but only a literary nationality; and that 
 which cannot be struck down will neither be bawled nor hooted 
 down ; in political as in private life, he is very fresh who 
 thinks to accomplish by big words what he cannot do by 
 the sword." Another still : " I believe that every German 
 State might, without loss, consent to an exchange of rulers with 
 Russia, even where the Prince has recently hatched a fresh 
 constitution. Blind prepossessions and one-sided prejudices, 
 which, like the trade-wind, hold but one course, making com- 
 pass and helm alike useless, is the curse that now rests upon 
 Germany. Singular, indeed, is the hatred of all that is called 
 Russian ; Russia shares the fate of Rupert :* he brings freedom 
 and regeneration as Christmas gifts to the Germans, but they 
 are not fond of calling him by name, and don't speak of him 
 as a benefactor, because it is possible that he may come to 
 them some time or other with a rod." 
 
 Perthes sent a number of these Baltic letters to a friend, 
 
 * An allusion to a Christmas custom in Germany. 
 
PUBLIC OPINION ON GERMANY AFTER CARLSBAD DECREES. S99 
 
 and wrote : " There is a wonderful confusion of trutli and 
 falsehood, of German and Russian, in these letters, but I can- 
 not be angry with the writers ; I am sure that the men who liere 
 speak so proudly for Russia, speak still more proudly in Russia 
 for Germany, and contend bravely for German culture and 
 German honour in the nation to wbich they are politically 
 subject." 
 
 There were at this period men in Germany wlio entertained 
 at once the hatred of these Livonian noblemen against the dema- 
 gogues, and that by which Gorres was animated against the 
 existing governments. "Our position," writes one, " is the most 
 perilous that can occur in the history of a people ; we are hesi- 
 tating between anarchy and despotism, and the question, as to 
 which side we shall take, is the question of the lamb between the 
 bear and the wolf, when it had to decide by which it would rather 
 be devoured.'' The strife of parties appeared to many men of 
 culture as a great historical drama, in which both parties, 
 while intending only their own interests, were in reality but 
 instruments in bringing about a political condition desired by 
 neither." — " The chance of revolution is over," exclaims one of 
 Perthes' correspondents despairingly ; " that symptom which, 
 to us Germans, is ever the precursor of recovery, has appeared ; 
 the poison which, like suppressed gout, was pervading the sys- 
 tem, has now passed from the fingers to the pen ; the literary 
 wrangling is resumed, princes and ministers breathe freely, 
 rub their hands delightedly, and exclaim, * The danger is past, 
 let us sit down to dinner.' " 
 
 Perthes was quick in detecting base natures, and sheered off 
 from them immediately ; but wherever he found not baseness, 
 but only a very different stand-point from his own, he always 
 
400 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 believed that some common ground must exist : and he had a 
 peculiar faculty for discovering this, which enabled him to asso- 
 ciate intimately with men of the most opposite tendencies. Even 
 in holding intercourse with those whose views in the main coin- 
 cided with his own, Perthes was in the habit of ojiposing them 
 on individual questions, and so awakening their interest. In 
 his letters he generally took the side opposite to that espoused 
 by his correspondent, not from the love of contradiction, but 
 because, truth being many-sided, he selected, in contemplating 
 it, sometimes one side, and sometimes another. Seldom did 
 Perthes come to a rupture with his political opponents, and 
 even in cases where tlie opposition was too decided to allow of 
 farther political intercourse, he always endeavoured, in giving 
 up the politician, to retain the man. 
 
 Perthes recognised a full expression of political truth even less 
 in public opinion than in the sentiments of individuals. He 
 would on no account concede to public opinion the right of sit- 
 ting in judgment on the convictions and actions of individuals. 
 "Can we truly affirm that there is a public opinion in Germany V 
 he writes in the spring of 1 820. "TJiis wonderful thing can only 
 be regarded as a principle and a power, when it is the natural 
 growth of events and circumstances ; not when it is created by 
 some talented men who understand how to flatter the passions 
 and weaknesses of the time. In the case of a virtuous and 
 simple people living in quiet, and in relations so limited that 
 they can be easily scanned, unity of opinion, of desire, and 
 aversion, has certainly an authority, — but is that case ours ? 
 How often have we seen a couple of cleverly-written articles 
 echoed in all the other journals, and turning opinion com- 
 ])letely round ?" — " There arc fevv," he wrote on another occa- 
 
PUBLIO OPINION ON GERMANY AFTER CARLSBAD DECREES. 401 
 
 sion, "who hear the opinion of so many men of all political 
 parties as I do, and yet I have never in a single instance been 
 able to say what the public opinion was. If we turn to the 
 newspapers, we at once perceive that the noblest and most influ- 
 ential men are not represented there. IIow often, indeed, are 
 the talkers bad men ! Where, then, is public opinion ?" And 
 in a letter which Perthes wrote to Hormayr, he says, " If we 
 would understand what public opinion is, we should always bear 
 in mind, that in every age three generations are living together, 
 one of which consists of inexperienced, and often turbulent 
 youth, and another of satiated, often weak, desperate, or bank- 
 rupt old age. The intermediate generation ought indeed to be 
 an independent power : in our times, however, it is not so, but 
 belongs partly to the childish, partly to the imbecile age." 
 
 34 
 
402 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 EFFECT OF THE REVOLUTIONS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE ON THE PUBLIC 
 MIND OF GERMANY, 1820-1822. 
 
 There was but little probability that the German govern- 
 ments would shrink from the course marked out at Carlsbad ; 
 and the democratic party was too well aware of its own weak- 
 ness and want of cohesion to attempt force. ' It was on a Euro- 
 pean agitation that their hopes were based. If revolutionary 
 principles triumjshed in other parts of Europe, it was impos- 
 sible that the German powers should long resist their influence. 
 The eyes of Germany were therefore turned with earnest atten- 
 tion to every popular outbreak. During the years 1820, 1821, 
 and ] 822, revolution was in the ascendant in Spain, Portugal, 
 Italy, and Greece, while Germans looked on, and familiarized 
 themselves with the idea that it was not impossible for subjects 
 to appear in anus against their rulers. 
 
 The Spanish nation had been very popular in Germany ever 
 since its heroic resistance to Napoleon. Through his friend 
 Boehl von Faber, then resident at Cadiz, Perthes had the oppor- 
 tunity — rare in Germany — of becoming acquainted with both 
 sides of Spanish affairs. In June 1815, he wrote to Perthes, 
 "Your fears lest confidential letters to me should fall into 
 dangerous hands, and do mc mischief, are unfounded. This 
 
EFFECT OF THE REVOLUTIONS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. 403 
 
 idea belongs to the tissue of lies woven by the liberals, in order 
 to render Catholicism, and every part of the Christian system 
 hateful. No letters are opened in Spain ; every man says 
 freely what he thinks, and for every defender of the present 
 system there are a hundred assailants ; it is fashionable, indeed, 
 to rail at king and clergy, and one of my stamp is a vara avis. 
 Every house swarms with prohibited books, and as yet not one 
 has been seized by the Inquisition. As for what you hear of 
 tyrannical decisions, torture, and imprisonment at Madrid, 
 you may set it down as fabulous, and a proof only of deep- 
 rooted hatred against monarchy and religion. That the former 
 state of things cannot be exactly restored I am fully aware : 
 but I would fain have something akin to the old, and not 
 the entirely new of 1812." In a letter of October 1817 he 
 says, "My knowledge of the proceedings of government, 
 although it applies especially to Cadiz and Andalusia, extends 
 to the whole of Spain, and I assure you that the Inquisition 
 exists only in name. The Inquisitors are for the most part 
 liberals, and blush for their office. Prohibited books are pos- 
 sessed and read by everybody, and conversation is perfectly 
 free except when it would raise its voice in behalf of monks, 
 inquisitors, and the rosary. In a word, the tendency to 
 liberalism is so general and decided, that the few who adhere 
 to the former state of things are silent.'' In October 1818 he 
 wrote, " It is a wonder that the social edifice holds together, 
 and that the patience of the troops continues without pay. 
 The king will at last be compelled to concede what perhaps he 
 ought in the first instance to have granted of his own free 
 will; especially as under another political form, sacrifices would 
 willingly be made, against which not the people, but the so-called 
 
404 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 liberals would rebel." At the beginning of 1820, the revolu- 
 tion broke out in Andalusia, shortly afterwards in Galicia and 
 New Castile, and in all parts of the kingdom ; and in March, 
 Ferdinand VII. accepted the constitution of 1812, abolished the 
 Inquisition, opened the prisons, proclaimed liberty of the press, 
 and shortly afterwards called the Cortes together. 
 
 Boehl von Faber wrote on the 4th of April 1820:— "The 
 ignorance regarding civil freedom that prevails among even the 
 would-be liberals, is incredible. By ' constitution' each man 
 understands a release from his particular burden. I have my- 
 self heard one say, ' Now, I shall not need to fast any more ;' 
 another, ' Now, I shall be able to smoke tobacco without paying 
 for it \ a third, ' Now, our old treasure ships will come to us 
 again from America.' The sheets of the daily press are filled 
 with the most miserable slip-slop, — high-sounding words with- 
 out definite meaning, but also without indecency, and with 
 boundless devotion to the person and character of the king. 
 The Royalists give a willing assent to the constitution, since 
 their beloved and shamefully calumniated king has accepted 
 it, and the Liberals cordially love the king because he has 
 restored to them their pet child. I trust that the Jacobins will 
 remain a small minority. The king by accepting the constitu- 
 tion has given them a check. Here, in Cadiz, we are enjoying 
 perfect security and peace." 
 
 When the first news of the triumph of the Spanish Revolu- 
 tion reached Germany, all eyes were turned to the arena where 
 the great political quarrel had been fought out, not as in 
 Germany with words, but with arms, and these the arms of 
 victory. A friend from Franconia wrote to Perthes : — " Every- 
 thing in Spain wears so bright a colouring, that we can hardly 
 
EFFECT OF THE REVOLUTIONS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. 405 
 
 hope for its continuance, and yet it may be that this noble and 
 heroic people is destined to serve as a model for Europe. Their 
 aifection for the king- ; the moderation of all parties ; the fact 
 that the people are not groping about in the dark for they 
 know not what, but have a definite object in the constitution 
 of 1812, reassures me ; the consequences to Europe are incal- 
 culable." 
 
 The Cortes met in Madrid, July 1820, and continued to 
 sit till the following November. Even then the struggle began 
 which the constitutionalists had to maintain against the king 
 and the clergy on the one hand, and the Jacobin Decamisados 
 on the other. " The people are content/' writes a friend on 
 his return from Spain, "and are not fond of commotions. The 
 king, a mere debauchee, is too contemptible to be respected even 
 by superstition ; the clubbists are getting into disrepute ; and 
 the ostensible chiefs of the revolution are men of no great in- 
 fluence. Riego is said to be a man of talent ; and the leaders 
 who are behind the scenes are also said to be very able fel- 
 lows ; they would fain have a republic, but will hardly win 
 over the people.'' Another correspondent wrote to Perthes : — 
 " In Spain the preponderance is really where it appears to be, 
 that is, in the middle class. The aristocracy and the clergy, 
 since the time of Charles V., no longer stand in the same rela- 
 tion to the State. Why has their voice been unheard, and 
 their arm unfelt during the great movement which began in 
 1808 ? Because archbishops and the like were dancing at- 
 tendance at Madrid in the ante-chamber of Manuel Grodoy, in 
 expectation of a gracious look, or, perhaps, a benefice ; be- 
 cause there was not one among the grandees, who had respect 
 enough for himself and his order, to repel an insult by chal- 
 
406 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 lenging, at liis own risk, the contemptible minion of the 
 king ; and because the best believed they had done much when 
 they merely sulked in silence. Why, on the other hand, have 
 not the citizens unlearned to bear the burden of war and to care 
 for the public weal ? because they have been kept fresh and 
 vigorous by labour, self-conscious and awake by their munici- 
 pal institutions, and because their leaders have always been 
 courageous enough to assert and defend their rights. ' Would 
 you know,' said Fivre to Napoleon, ' the worth of the institu- 
 tions you have created ? try to overturn them ; those that offer 
 no resistance are good for nothing.' In Spain the nobility and 
 clergy are absolutely at the beck of the king, not so the towns. 
 I do not deny that the middle classes in Spain have been mis- 
 taken in aiming at a federo-provincial constitution ; but I find 
 this mistake very natural. The component parts of the Spanisli 
 monarchy, brought together by conquest and inheritance, are 
 so markedly distinguished as to race, manners, spirit, and con- 
 stitution, that the attempt to get rid of the Castilian rule which 
 they have never liked, and now like less than ever, is easily ac- 
 counted for. If you only bear in mind that the whole tendency 
 of the times is, in spite of all experience, republican, you will 
 not be surprised that many Spaniards should regard a new con- 
 stitution and an old dynasty as incompatible. I know, posi- 
 tively, that many of the most violent regard the constitution 
 of 1812 as we do, but they see the republic beyond the consti- 
 tution, as a light after a brief darkness. The assertion that the 
 present struggle in Spain is confined to the towns is wholly un- 
 founded ; it may be so in the South, but, in the Northern and 
 Eastern Provinces, where property is for the most part free and 
 divisible, the political feeling is strong in tlie country, although 
 
EFFECT OF THE REVOLUTIONS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. 407 
 
 there also it manifests itself first and strongest in tlie towns, 
 because in them men come into closer contact with one another, 
 and the means of organizing an agitation are more readily- 
 found." Pertlies wrote to a friend, — " If ever a revolution 
 appeared a necessity, this does. I am not disconcerted be- 
 cause soldiers brought it about, knowing that in Spain the 
 soldier is more closely connected with the people than in any 
 other country. That, however, which I heard long ago, but 
 would not believe, is only too true. The upper ranks, including 
 the majority of the clergy, know no other teaching than that 
 of the French Encyclopedists and more refined Jacobins. 
 Whole shiploads of the writings of Rousseau, Voltaire, D'Alem- 
 bert, and Diderot, are sent to Spain, where they are circulated 
 and devoured. The suppression of the monasteries and aboli- 
 tion of the tithes have set the monks and the regular clergy 
 in opposition to the new order of things, and civil war appears 
 inevitable." 
 
 While the strife of parties was just beginning in Spain, 
 revolution triumphed in Portugal, and raised its head in Italy. 
 The northern part of the Apennine peninsula had, after the 
 expulsion of the French, been broken up, and divided among 
 Austrian archdukes and the King of Sardinia, while the States 
 of the Church and Naples had been given back to their former 
 rulers. The Carbonari, who had arisen during the French domi- 
 nion, now overspread Italy, and possessed considerable influence. 
 On the 8th July 1820, Ferdinand IV. was compelled to accept 
 the Spanish constitution of 1812, as the groundwork of one 
 for the kingdom of tlie Two Sicilies ; and in Piedmont and 
 Lombardy, plans were laid for placing the crown of all Italy 
 on the head of Charles Albert of Savoy. 
 
408 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Count Moltke wrote to Perthes, " If I were an Italian, I 
 should be a Carbonaro. To dispute about the lawfulness of 
 revolution, appears to me like disputing about the lawfulness of 
 storms and earthquakes ; thus much is certain, no people makes 
 a revolution because it wills so to do, but because it must, and 
 the 77iust is plain enough in the case of Italy. The Italians 
 have slept for centuries, like the marmot in winter, spending 
 their sickly strength in the composition of languid sonnets ; 
 one cannot but rejoice that they are now animated by the wish 
 once more to play a part in history." Perthes wrote at this 
 time, — " When I regard the Neapolitan Revolution, not as one 
 act of a great drama, but as an independent piece, it seems to 
 me to border on madness. Look at the component parts of 
 the kingdom. A state with a very limited territory, but a 
 capital of 400,000 souls, the greater part lying idle in the 
 streets ; Calabria inhabited by a race of savages, almost in 
 the primitive condition of Nimrod ; and then Sicily, with its 
 feudal divisions of territory, which, though equal in import- 
 ance to all the rest of the kingdom, is yet sej)arated from it as 
 widely by manners as by the sea ; liow should such a medley 
 of natures, customs, circumstances, and pretensions, be united 
 in one common bond of national and political interests ? Could 
 a legislative assembly effect this ? Never. The new force, 
 styled the majority, would with remorseless tyranny obliterate 
 all right, all freedom, and all that is sacred. But the Neapo- 
 litan Revolution is assuredly not for Naples alone, it is the 
 first stroke of the tocsin which the Carbonari would fain 
 sound over all Italy, and this changes the matter. Who 
 that lived with us through 1813-15, and drank in the in- 
 spiration of the struggle which began in 1806, would cast a 
 
EFFECT OF THE REVOLUTIONS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. 409 
 
 stone ? The Italians, like ourselves, have tlieir national rights, 
 and are entitled to live after tlieir own fashion." 
 
 The revolutionary spirit, in its progress from west to east, 
 did not stop at Italy. In the spring of 1821, Greece, so long 
 oppressed, rose in arms against the brutal yoke of Turkey. 
 Under Alexander Ypsilanti, Moldavia and Wallacliia broke out 
 in insurrection, and in the Peloponnesus, Attica, and the 
 isles of the Archipelago, a war of extermination began between 
 Greeks and Turks. The heroic deeds of the Greeks, and the 
 tortures to which they were subjected by the Sultan, were 
 sounded throughout Europe. The insurrection of Greece was, 
 of course, hailed with joy by all who favoured revolution in ge- 
 neral ; but because this was an insurrection of the descendants 
 of the Hellenes against the Osmanlis, of presumed civilisation 
 against utter barbarism, of the victim against his tormentor, 
 of the abused Christian against the brutal Mahometan, — even 
 the most decided opponents of revolution, in general, forgot tliat 
 the Greeks had turned their weapons against their lawful 
 masters, and wished them success. At the beginning of the 
 struggle, it was generally believed that the Emperor Alexander 
 had provoked it ; and this won for the Greeks many an advo- 
 cate who would otherwise have been silent. 
 
 The sympathy felt for the Greeks in the Russian-Baltic pro- 
 vinces was most enthusiastic. One of the Courland nobles wrote 
 to Perthes in May 1821 : — " I never before believed it possible 
 that I should earnestly wish for war, but I do so now. Wo to 
 the English, who were so indulgent to the liberal party in 
 Naples, and now surrender the poor Greeks to the wild hordes 
 of barbarism ! Where are now the loud voices we then heard ? 
 They are silent, because, whether Greece rise or fall is nothing 
 
 35 
 
410 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 to them, since in Hellas it is not Jacobinism striving for the 
 mastery, but humanity struggling to shake off the yoke of a 
 dreadful tyranny. The Germans, like the European liberals 
 in general, are basely selfish. The age is great, and yet paltry ; 
 it flies and creeps at the same time ; it is a cricket which springs 
 only to make a noise behind the stove. If it be the will of 
 God, our glorious Alexander will again cut asunder, with the 
 sword of justice, the bonds of an oppressed people. If I did not 
 feel age in every limb, I should go myself to the holy war." 
 The reproach of apathy on the part of Germany, conveyed 
 in this letter, was wholly unfounded. Although Austria closed 
 her ports against all who conveyed succour to Greece, and in 
 Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony, every public demonstration 
 was strictly forbidden by the police, nevertheless associations 
 were formed throughout Germany, for the purpose of collecting 
 money and arms for the insurgents. 
 
 A friend, who was rather fond of paradox, wrote to Perthes 
 in June 1821 : — " You are busily engaged with Greek affairs. 
 For my own part, I cannot think of the Greeks otherwise than 
 as history represents them. From their first appearance in 
 history they have, like the French in modem times, shewn 
 themselves to possess everything that could be desired in 
 honest men, except honesty itself It is not only in their pre- 
 sent state of degradation and semi-barbarism, but also in tlie 
 days of their greatness and glory, that the Greeks have proved 
 themselves wanting in the sense of truth and right, of justice and 
 gratitude, and have even ridiculed these qualities. Thucydides 
 is my witness in respect to ancient times ; the period of Ro- 
 man influence, and the abominations of the Byzantine empire 
 furnish evidence enough, and you may add to these the Greek 
 
EEFECT OF THE REVOLUTIONS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. 411 
 
 councils. I am no panegyrist of church councils in general, 
 nevertheless those of the West, especially those of the noble- 
 minded Goths and Spaniards, wore the aspect of seriousness 
 and dignity, sometimes even that of fairness and benevolence. 
 How entirely opposite was the character of the Greek councils! 
 What an abuse of imprecations and maledictions on the most 
 indiiferent occasions ! What wrangling ! What impatience ! 
 What sudden transitions from condemnation to approval ! And 
 among patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops, what coarseness, 
 what stamping and cuffing, what mutual altercation ! Then 
 look at the period of the Turkish dominion. Are the sufferings 
 of Moldavia and Wallachia due to the Turks ? No : but to the 
 cruel exactions of the Greek princes, and insatiable Fanariots, 
 to whom the government of these provinces was delegated, and 
 who preyed upon the vitals of the population. The conqueror of 
 Constantinople, Mohammed II., conceded important privileges to 
 the Greek patriarchs and their church, and the Turks have kept 
 faith ; but the paltry Greeks have outbidden each other for tht; 
 Patriarchate, and constrained the Turks to put it up to auction. 
 The Greeks have indeed suifered severely, but not more than 
 they deserved : they will sooner or later achieve their freedom, 
 but only to abuse it, else twice two are not four. I cannot be- 
 stir myself for such men, or such Christians." 
 
 This view, which was entertained by very few at that time, 
 but in which there was some trutli, did not ])rcvent Perthes 
 from continuing his efforts ; and in the course of these he be- 
 came acquainted with the dark side of the enthusiasm for Greece 
 then prevalent in Germany. He was beset by adventurers of all 
 classes and ages, by men with one foot already in the grave, 
 
412 LlfE OF PERTHES. 
 
 and by lads who were yet almost boys, all bent on seeking their 
 fortunes in Greece : some wanted a coat and boots, some money 
 and letters of introduction, and the greater part, as soon 
 became evident, Avere moved by anything rather than by en- 
 thusiasm for Greece. Perthes answered one impostor as 
 follows : — " Since you, most illustrious sir, possess such extra- 
 ordinary influence with personages of the most exalted rank, 
 I advise you to apply rather to the Emperor of Austria, or to the 
 Crown-Prince of Bavaria, to whom you have constant access, 
 or to your special patron Count Wrbna, or to your intimate 
 friend, the Prime-Minister Wangenheim, or to any of the other 
 kings, ministers, and generals named in your letter, rather than 
 to me, who am a bookseller antl citizen of Hamburgh/' — " The 
 Greeks, as I am informed," he wrote to another party, " don't 
 want soldiers, but experienced officers of artillery or engineers. 
 You, however, my young friend, belong neither to the artillery 
 nor to the engineers, and I advise you to stay quietly at home 
 and learn something useful." When a lady, who was herself 
 devoted to the Greeks, and whose son, a good-natured but 
 thoughtless and insignificant youth, wished to join their ranks, 
 asked Perthes' advice, he gave it thus : — " You seem to regard 
 the cause of Greece as so grand and sacred that all other claims 
 and ties are to be overlooked in comparison with it ; but I must 
 tell you that I consider it to be the first duty of a mother to pre- 
 serve her son from moral ruin ; and the first duty of a son and 
 brother, to take care of his widowed parent and fatherless sisters. 
 These are paramount obligations, and take precedence even of 
 the claims of our native country ; much more, consequently, of 
 the claims of Greece. I entreat you to picture clearly to your 
 
EFFECT OF THE REVOLUTIONS l^ SOUTHERJT EUROPK. 413 
 
 maternal heart the probable fate of your sou if you should let 
 him go. Should he reach the shores of Greece, he would arrive 
 there with insufficient pecuniary means, ignorant of the lan- 
 guage and manners of the people, and without military experi- 
 ence. I say nothing of the officers and comrades he would find 
 there, of the battles and skirmishes, the mutilation and slavery 
 to which he might be exposed, for I believe that if you let him 
 go, he will no more get the length of fighting against the Turks 
 than of fraternizing with the Greeks. Suppose that we actually 
 despatch him to Marseilles, he will probably have to idle about 
 there for some months without family ties, and surrounded by 
 temptations of all kinds, waiting for a ship ; when on board, his 
 companions will be adventurers from all parts of Europe, and 
 he will be ruined in soul and body before he has ever seen 
 Greek or Turk. In short, it would be throwing him into the 
 flames, or pushing him into a quagmire, and therefore it is 
 impossible that it should be as you write, 'the most sacred duty 
 of a mother to send her son to Greece..' " 
 
 As, on the one hand, many, who spoke and collected for the 
 Greeks, regarded the means as more important than the end, 
 aiming to keep up an excitement in Germany rather than to 
 deliver the Greeks, so, on the other hand, the German govern- 
 ments subjected the whole movement to the strict surveillance 
 of the police. But this only provoked greater activity, and con- 
 verted the movement in behalf of the Greeks into a movement 
 against authority at home. Perthes was continually receiving 
 applications, now for support, now for the transmission of letters, 
 now for forged passports, which last it was not very difficult to 
 obtain in Hamburgh, Such applications, however, were abhor- 
 
414 LIFE or PERTHES. 
 
 rent to his character, and were answered accordingly, "I re- 
 gard the cause of Greece," he wrote to one of these correspon- 
 dents, " as just and important ; but I also know what I owe to 
 my country, and public order in it ; if I meet with a reputable 
 and experienced officer desirous to join the Greeks, I shall re- 
 joice to help him according to my ability ; but I will take no 
 part in the general agitation." 
 
BEVOLDTIONS OF SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPK. 415 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 THE HOLY ALLIANCE IN ITS BEARING ON THE REVOLUTIONS OK 
 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE. 1820-1822. 
 
 While Revolution was thus progressing in South Europe, and 
 exciting sympathy and admiration in the North, all parties 
 were expecting, some with hope, others with fear, a counter- 
 movement on the part of the great powers. Perthes wrote, 
 "All the Romanic nations, the Spaniards and Portuguese, the 
 Italians and French, are in the wildest agitation : on the other 
 hand, the Sclavonic races stand motionless, like a brazen 
 colossus ; and between these lie the Teutonic, agitated intel- 
 lectually like the Romanic, but politically motionless like the 
 Sclaves. Although the three great European races retain their 
 distinct and strongly-marked peculiarities, the corresponding 
 territorial boundaries are confounded as at no previous period 
 of modern history ; the same state-boundary enclosing various 
 races, and dividing others into two colonies, sej)arate from the 
 mother country ; other states besides the European are join- 
 ing the family of nations ; and, by the increased rapidity 
 of communication, the spread of mechanical appliances, and 
 the community of scientific and literary activity, all the 
 nations of the world are coming into closer contact. All 
 imaginable elements of peril are let loose in Europe ; every- 
 
4] 6 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 where unsatisfied claims abound, everywhere the passions are 
 on fire. While the tendency of conflicting nationalities to 
 separation, and the tendency of kindred interests and passions 
 to union meet each other, foaming and roaring like two mighty 
 torrents ; while all the political forces of tlie earth are confess- 
 edly raging as they never did before, no controlling and direct- 
 ing power seems to be at hand. The supreme sway of Imperial 
 Rome, the twofold temporal and spiritual government of the 
 middle ages, the balance-of-power system of last century, all 
 liave disappeared, and our age must find a substitute." 
 
 Ever since the downfal of Napoleon, the necessity of some 
 power that should be recognised as director and regulator 
 in all European questions, was generally felt ; and the Holy 
 Alliance concluded between Russia, Austria, and Prussia in 
 kSeptember 1815, sprang out of this feeling. The Christian 
 religion was to be the only rule in the government and inter- 
 course of the allied states ; love, justice, and peace was to 
 reign upon earth — God was to be the only Sovereign — all men 
 brethren — and kings were to be considered only as fathers 
 chosen by God for the guidance of the great Christian family. 
 Russia, Austria, and Prussia believed the introduction of this 
 new order of things to be their mission, and invited the co-ope- 
 ration of the other European states : in five years' time, how- 
 ever, there were few who saw in the Holy Alliance an institu- 
 tion capable of averting the ruin Avhich impended over Europe. 
 Perthes wrote in 1821, "Although the Holy Alliance has 
 sprung from the inquiring and tentative spirit of the age, it has 
 nevertheless so far outstripped the existing order of things, as to 
 be without truth and power. A council of European sovereigns, 
 summoned for the candid consideration of high destinies, and 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE, 417 
 
 for the purpose of appeasing or repressing disturbances, is a 
 thought pleasing alike to God and man ; but such a council 
 must not be merely an assembly of princes for the maintenance 
 and increase of princely power, — it presupposes princes who 
 represent states, and govern them by just and constitutional 
 means ; and since we have no such princes, we cannot have 
 such a council." 
 
 The religious character of the Holy Alliance disappeared 
 soon after its formation. At Aix-la-Chapelle an alliance was 
 concluded between the five great powers on the 15th of Novem- 
 ber 1818, in virtue of which, all events which might in future 
 threaten the peace or order of Europe, were to be withdrawn 
 from the jurisdiction of individual states, and referred to the 
 united judgment of the five great powers. And now the ques- 
 tion was, whether the Holy Alliance in this new form would 
 be able to check the movements arising out of the revolutions 
 in the South. A well-informed friend wrote to Perthes as 
 follows: — "When Russia, Prussia, England, and Austria 
 had, by their union, overthrown the dominion of Napoleon, 
 they thought to exercise jointly the same power over Europe 
 which Napoleon had hitherto possessed. They regarded 
 themselves as heirs of his sword ; and though, in the first 
 moments of devout gratitude, they vowed to use it as a shep- 
 herd's staiF, the sword was still a sword, the abuse of which 
 Europe might well dread. Notwithstanding the more repub- 
 lican forms of government now introduced, oligarchy was still 
 formidable ; and as, in all directions whatsoever, the age was 
 striving after representative forms, so the states of the second 
 and third rank naturally sought to be represented in the coun- 
 cils of Europe. The quadruple alliance, however, was not 
 
418 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 generally considered likely to be permanent, and never won 
 much confidence from tlie other states ; it was indeed held 
 together only by the necessity of crushing every new attempt 
 of France to make herself again the arbitress of Europe. 
 France, however, not only became less and less dangerous from 
 month to month, but even joined the Alliance at Aix-la-Cha- 
 pelle, which thus admitted a quite alien element ; and it was 
 all the more difficult to amalgamate this element with the Alli- 
 ance, because the other powers had previously been in oppo- 
 sition to France, and a hostile attitude is apt to be retained in 
 feeling and act long after it has been renounced in theory. In 
 order to preserve unanimity and energy in the Alliance after the 
 accession of France, a common object was wanted which might 
 take the place of the former common hostility to the dreaded 
 preponderance of France ; and as such a common object was not 
 found, the Alliance was in danger of falling to pieces, each 
 member seeking to make the interests of his own state the vital 
 principle of union. But the particular interests of the several 
 great powers were very different. Austria, from her internal 
 position, would fain make use of the Alliance to uphold tlie 
 order of things established in 1815. Prussia seeks in the 
 Alliance the means of ranking in Europe as a great power. 
 Russia has, indeed, greater interest than either in the perma- 
 nence of the Alliance. The necessity of civilizing her un- 
 wieldy masses binds her closely to Europe ; but in her rela- 
 tions with Europe she must ever seek to counterbalance the 
 want of intellectual superiority by the greatness of her phy- 
 sical resources. Direct and instantaneous interference in the 
 minor collisions of civilized Europe is difficult to Russia on 
 account of her geographical position ; her views and advice 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE. 419 
 
 can generally only then be learned when circumstances have 
 already changed. Russia seeks, therefore, to make up for 
 the want of direct interference by indirect influence, and sees 
 in the Alliance a means to this end : she has constantly 
 striven to gain an influence over some one of the other 
 powers, so that this power may acquire the habit of consult- 
 ing Russia before deciding, and thus delay the definitive 
 settlement of every matter till her voice has been heard. The 
 future course of events in Europe is to Russia, from its isolated 
 position, generally a matter of indifi'erence. For instance, whe- 
 ther or not a constitution be granted to a certain country is of 
 great importance to Austria, while it matters little to Russia ; 
 but it is of the utmost importance to Russia that she should 
 always play a part in European politics ; all which explains the 
 frequent apparent inconsistencies of Russian diplomatists in 
 treating of particular interests. England's position is altogether 
 different. England has all along regarded the Alliance only as 
 a means to a well-defined end ; the arbiter of the Continent 
 was to be overthrown, and a guarantee obtained that France 
 should never again attempt, as she did in 1815, to concentrate 
 in herself the whole power of Europe. Now that the neces- 
 sity for that guarantee is diminished, the Grand Alliance 
 which she has made use of, for no other purpose, becomes 
 indifferent to England. As long as it holds together, Eng- 
 land will take part in it, but she will not oppose, nay, may 
 even favour its dissolution, in order to be more at liberty to 
 devote her whole strength to the promotion of her own in- 
 terests, which do not always harmonize with those of the 
 Continent. Finally, France found herself obliged to tread very 
 softly, on first joining the Alliance, in order to allow the his- 
 
420 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 torical enmity of the other powers to subside : and although 
 her influence slumbered for a few years after the fall of Na- 
 poleon, she is, nevertheless, in virtue of her whole history, 
 a power which need not stoop like Prussia to continual sub- 
 serviency, in order to keep her place among the great powers. 
 France regarded the Alliance as a means of regaining her for- 
 mer position ; and, as a sick man throws away his crutches as 
 soon as he can walk without them, she now shews herself in- 
 clined to dispense with it, as being in its origin odious to every 
 Frenchman. If we consider all the changes that have occurred 
 in the position of the great European powers since the fall of 
 Napoleon, it seems impossible to believe that either the Holy 
 Alliance, or its continuation at Aix, is called on or is fit to 
 check the events now taking place in Southern Europe." 
 
 Austria was quite sure that the Neapolitan revolution 
 might and must be put down by force. She had determined 
 upon an armed intervention, but she desired, if possible, to 
 obtain for it the sanction of the great powers. The Holy 
 Alliance served as a pretext. Prince Metternich invited a 
 European Conference, and at the Congress of Troppau, held 
 in November 1820, tried to win over all Europe to make war 
 with revolution when and wheresoever it might shew itself But 
 his purpose was overthrown by the opposition of England, which 
 declared against all foreign intervention in the internal affairs of 
 independent States ; and thus delivered the minor States of Ger- 
 many from the fear of seeing their cities occupied by the troops 
 of Austria and Prussia under the pretext of guarding against 
 revolution. In spite, however, of England's opposition, the pleni- 
 potentiaries of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, signed an agree- 
 ment to oppose by force of arms all revolutionary movements. 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE. 421 
 
 A few months later, in January 1821, a fresh congress of the 
 five powers met at Laibach. To this the king of Naples was 
 also invited ; he came and was loaded with honours, but his 
 foreign minister, the Duke of Gallo, was detained by the Aus- 
 trian authorities in Goerz, and 2>laced under the surveillance of 
 the police. England, sujiported by France, opposed the principle 
 that a foreign power was entitled to interfere in the internal 
 aifairs of an independent people, simply because Europe in 
 general was pledged to oppose revolution. At the same time, 
 England declared that in case Austria felt herself called on to 
 send troops to Naples, she would offer no opposition. In the 
 middle of February 1821, an Austrian army marched towards 
 the Neapolitan frontier, and Europe, in feverish anxiety, awaited 
 the clash of arms. 
 
 " Those who have led the poor deluded princes into this 
 frightful mistake, must answer for the consequences," writes a 
 friend to Perthes. " Naples, with the Terra di Lavoro, will 
 l>e easily overpowered ; but along with Naples the immense 
 and restless population of the capital falls to the victor, and 
 it is not so easily cabined within doors as the populations of 
 the north. Then how are the Abruzzi, Calabria, and that 
 second Gibraltar, Gaeta, with its fortifications hewn out 
 of the perpendicular rock, and provisioned from the sea, to 
 be mastered ? Austria may exhaust herself in this struggle, 
 and if she lose but one battle, she has a hundred cities in 
 revolt behind lier : her physical preponderance will not secure 
 lier against the entliusiasm of a whole people. Was she not 
 the stronger, physically, when she struggled with Switzerland ? 
 .Spain, too, when she would have subdued Holland ? — Has 
 not England been compelled to acknowledge the indepen- 
 
422 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 dence of the United States ? and will Spain much longer hold 
 sway over South America ? That a people determined to win 
 for themselves a political existence is unconquerable, is for 
 me axiomatically certain. Such a people stakes its all — life and 
 fortune, body and soul, on the die ; and there is no other power 
 on earth that can command this devotion, for eveiy other 
 power seeks only some particular object, not existence. The 
 Neapolitan troops may indeed be inexperienced, but a deter- 
 mined army is soon in fighting order : Naples has surely 
 inhaled something of the warlike spirit of the last thirty 
 years, and English, French, and Spanish officers will not be 
 wanting." Like the writer of this letter, there were few in- 
 deed who expected that, when the Austrians entered the Nea- 
 politan territory in the beginning of March, it would be not to 
 cross swords with a wildly excited people, but to chase a 
 cowardly and miserable rabble. In the course of a few weeks 
 all trace of revolution had disappeared in Naples, and a cipher 
 was exalted to absolute dominion. 
 
 Tliis sudden turn of aftairs appeared to many a consequence 
 of the stedfast cohesion of the five great j)owers, and the Holy 
 Alliance, strengthened and cemented by this first victory, was 
 expected to follow up the struggle with revolution in Portugal, 
 Spain, Greece, and elsewhere. But better-informed men knew 
 that the Holy Alliance, instead of being strengthened by the 
 congresses of Troppau and Laibach, had been, on the contrary, 
 weakened almost to dissolution. A friend wrote to Perthes in the 
 summer of 1821, — "Austria has found that the ministers of 
 constitutional states fall back on their responsibility to the 
 Chambers, and are frequently unable to fulfil their engagements. 
 Representative constitutions have consequently become more 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE. 423 
 
 hateful than ever to Austria, and Prince Metternich has left the 
 congresses with the firm determination that no new constitutions 
 of the sort shall be allowed to arise. Austria has, at the same 
 time, exchanged her close connexion with England, which her 
 geographical situation and her liability to Russian dictation ren- 
 dered natural, for a sort of protection from Russia, which pro- 
 mises military support in case of any untoward events in Naples ; 
 she has been obliged to consent to the claims of France for 
 greater influence in Italy, and is not on the best terms with 
 Prussia, because the court of Berlin has, it appears, declined to 
 promise actual help in case of need ; and this is doubtless tlie 
 reason why the King did not make his appearance in Laibach. 
 Russia has yielded in many points to Austria, but without 
 losing sight of her own interests. England and France have 
 won golden opinions at Laibach ; they echoed the voice of 
 Europe, by decidedly refusing the demands of Austria, and 
 have thus immeasurably increased their European influence ; 
 France, in particular, has thus made a step towards the reco- 
 very of her former influence in Italy. The recklessness with 
 which Austria has manifested her wish to make the Alliance 
 subservient to her own interests, has so aroused the suspicion 
 of the other powers, as to threaten the dissolution of the Alli- 
 ance altogether. The attempt to unite Europe under the five 
 great powers, may be regarded as abortive ; the grand Alliance 
 is to all intents and purposes at an end ; each member of it 
 goes independently his own way, and will seek as before to 
 gain as many allies for himself as possible among the greater 
 and smaller States." 
 
424 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS OF THE PERIOD. 
 
 The men to whom in his youth Perthes had been accustomed 
 to look up with childlike reverence ; by whose faith and con- 
 victions he had strengthened his own ; and in whose strivings 
 he had found a guide through the intricacies of his own inner 
 life, were no longer in the arena on which the great religious 
 conflicts of the age were to be fought out. The man, to whose 
 words he once listened as to those of an oracle, had now be- 
 come a loved and honoured patriarch, who required and received 
 the most tender consideration. In December 1818, Frederick 
 Henry Jacobi, then in his seventy-seventh year, wrote to 
 Perthes a few lines concluding thus : — " It is really wonder- 
 ful how, in old age, men often gain what they had previously 
 striven for in vain ; I, for instance, can speak of an increas- 
 ing cheerfulness." Perthes answered, — " You have certainly 
 every reason to be cheerful ; it is assuredly no misfortune 
 to have reached an advanced age, and few even of the most 
 distinguished men retain so nmch clearness and activity of 
 mind. But don't look for production any more ; liistorical 
 narration is the province of age. I very much wish you 
 would let alone Part Fourth of your works, and devote your- 
 self to gathering and arranging the experience of the last 
 
RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS OF THE PERIOD. 425 
 
 forty-five years of your life. It would cheer you, by bring- 
 ing vividly before you the entire circle of ideas and course of 
 thought belonging to an important period. If it has not been 
 granted you to accept with childlike confidence the Divine 
 Revelation, because you have eaten too largely of the tree of 
 knowledge, this is indeed a great spiritual loss ; but he who 
 can ask as you do in your last letter, ' Where and what is 
 truth V possesses humility before God, such as few inquirers 
 like yourself attain to ; and humility is the very kernel of 
 humanity, and the way to God." 
 
 Throughout the length and breadth of Protestant Germany, 
 the rationalism of the 18th century, as propounded by Roehr, 
 Bretschneider, Paulus, and others, had exercised absolute do- 
 minion, but its very existence w^as now endangered from two 
 opposite quarters. The profounder scientific theology had ap- 
 peared in alliance with the new philosophy, and in Schleier- 
 maclier especially, who was then at the zenith of his influence, 
 had found a powerful champion. It withdrew from rationalism 
 the loftiest minds, limited its influence to the less intelligent, 
 and threatened its extinction. Scientific theology might at first 
 escape the notice of the laity, or it might be suspected of 
 merely defending the old errors of rationalism with more ap- 
 proved weapons, and of making the ascertainment of truth the 
 first object, while sanctification in the truth was not even the 
 second. Doubts of this kind may have been expressed by 
 Perthes in the letter to which a theological friend sent the fol- 
 lowing answer : — " "We ought not to forget that, as the majo- 
 rity, and among these the most eminent men of our times have 
 been seduced from Christianity by science, it is only through 
 science that they can be brought back. She alone can heal the 
 
 3(J 
 
426 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 wounds which herself has made. In saying this I am advancing 
 nothing new ; none of the Fathers thought otherwise, though, 
 undoubtedly, they were as ready to sacrifice life and fortune for 
 their convictions as any of our present zealots can be ; never- 
 theless they always acknowledged that the word of life revealed 
 in Christ was reflected in the philosophy of the East and West, 
 and that, as the Jews by the law, so the heathen might by 
 pliilosophy be prepared to receive Christ." Perthes' doubts 
 were in nowise removed by this and similar representations ; 
 he still feared that the theologians, rejoicing in the newly dis- 
 covered or newly established scientific ideas, would not resist 
 the temptation of bringing them into the Church, which, as it 
 neither was, nor could be a scientific institution, would find in 
 these only a new element of disruption. 
 
 On the other hand, Perthes took the warmest interest in an- 
 other movement that threatened rationalism from a different 
 quarter. The deeper spiritual life which had been called forth, 
 first by the heavy pressure of the French yoke, and then by the 
 popular rising to shake it ofi", Avas actively working and pene- 
 trating into the heart of the nation. The craving for remission 
 of sins and godliness of life, apart from all scientific theology, 
 had manifested itself in individuals, in congregations, and here 
 and there in whole parishes. Not finding satisfaction in the 
 prevailing Rationalism, the subjects of this craving betook 
 themselves to a new, or rather to a very old method ; in all 
 parts of Germany, associations were formed of men seeking 
 spiritual help, atid finding it in the old faith of the Church. 
 The links which had held the whole of Germany in the grasp of 
 Rationalism were broken, and its prestige as the universal Pro- 
 testant creed disappeared. Perthes had attentively observed the 
 
RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS OF THE PERIOD. 427 
 
 new movement ; and though he was by no means insensible to 
 its perils, its aberrations, and its caprices, he yet rejoiced in it, 
 in so far as it was earnest and healthy. " Harms is now pastor 
 in Kiel," he writes to a friend, " and all Holstein goes, drives, 
 and rides to hear him, even the professors ; and if Yoss should 
 come to Holstein this summer, it will be at the risk of becom- 
 ing a low German* Christian. Harms, as I hear, has no per- 
 sonal advantages, and an unpleasant delivery ; but his earnest- 
 ness and his steadfast belief in Divine revelation, aided, per- 
 haps, by his provincial plainness, carry all before them. Falk 
 tells me, that his preaching has already made other preachers 
 somewhat more careful in disseminating their rationalistic wis- 
 dom, so that they at least refrain from pulling down what a 
 more godly era had built up." In mentioning another earnest 
 and pious man, who headed another religious movement, Perthes 
 regrets his arbitrary use of Scripture passages, whereby they 
 can be made to say anything. 
 
 A friend in Berlin wrote to Perthes, that certain young men 
 in that city were attracting attention by their earnestness 
 in the matter of salvation ; but that they were of a sombre 
 mood, regarding everything secular, and even art itself, as sin- 
 ful, and were very eager proselytizers. Perthes answered, " If 
 the zeal of the young men be sincere, you need not alarm your- 
 self about their gloom. Sadness and cheerfulness are things of 
 temperament, and the same earnestness and faith are variously 
 manifested, by some in seriousness, by others in cheerfulness, 
 according to the bodily constitution, and we may not, on ac- 
 count of the earthly husk, quarrel with the heavenly substance." 
 Another theological friend writes: — "A very peculiar view of 
 
 • Platt-deutsch, low German, the dialect in which Harms preached. 
 
428 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Christianity is just now manifesting itself here and there among 
 the Moravians, Thej split men into two parts — the natural, 
 which, as such, according to Kant, has no knowledge of the 
 infinite and the divine, but appreciates only the finite and tem- 
 poral relations of things ; and the intuitive, which sees God 
 and eternity everywhere. Thus, for instance, the rational ego 
 must, of necessity, deny miracles, and everything supernatural ; 
 while the intuitive ego sees these everywhere. Thus they divide 
 man into halves ; one necessarily unbelieving, the other super- 
 stitious, and the whole (I add) necessarily unsound." Perthes 
 answered : — " It is not the business of Christianity, by fine- 
 spun theories, to immortalize the contest which goes on within 
 us all, and to shew that each of the combatants is justified in 
 its own department ; rather it is by means of saving faith, to 
 make of twain one new man." 
 
 To understand the character of the popular religious move- 
 ment of this period, we must bear in mind, that it originally 
 manifested itself as the antithesis of Rationalism, and conse- 
 quently brought chiefly into view those wants of the soul which 
 Rationalism ignores. With the Rationalists, good and evil differ 
 only in degree ; bad is synonymous with inferior good — good 
 with inferior evil. Refusing to acknowledge good and evil as 
 eternal opposites, belonging respectively to the kingdoms of 
 life and death, of light and darkness ; viewing them, in fact, 
 only as difierent stages or platforms in the same realm, the 
 Rationalist feels no need of a helper to carry him over the 
 abyss that separates the two kingdoms, and which none can 
 cross in his own strength. The exhibition of this human want 
 was consequently the starting-point of every genuine, religious 
 movement among the people of this period. 
 
RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS OF THE PERIOD. 429 
 
 " He who has not felt the internal working of a great mystery 
 which is ever alienating us from God," wrote Perthes, " will 
 never attain to that humility without which the saving virtue 
 of the atonement is inaccessible. The flesh is not the root of 
 evil, pride, — pride is the real devil. The flesh is but the means 
 of punishment and cure, ever reminding, even the proudest, of 
 his misery and lielplessness. Little that is positive is revealed 
 to us, but that little is all. What form shall be given to revealed 
 truth is an open question, for it breaks into rays of the most 
 various colours, according to the fancy and modes of thought 
 peculiar to individuals and epochs. But when you say that 
 the Christian revelation, if received as truth, at once shrouds 
 history and philosophy in a haze, in which man is confounded, 
 and dreams rather than thinks, I reply, that to every one who 
 ignores the redemption through Christ, history becomes one 
 immense tangled skein, and every philosophical system a sum 
 in arithmetic, the correctness of which, for want of proof, can 
 never be ascertained. Inquiries into the nature of the Trinity, 
 and of our Lord, into redemption and atonement, are great and 
 noble, but the craving in Avhich they originate is scientific not 
 spiritual. We are lighted and warmed by the rays of the sun, 
 whether we understand the laws of light and heat or not. On 
 your expression, ' The swinish multitude do indeed require a 
 faith which surpasses comprehension,' I must observe, that 
 the arrogant contempt of the people which it betrays, is very 
 remarkable in so determined a liberal as yourself In conclu- 
 sion, I have only further to say, that a man who, like you, has 
 never been seduced by the allurements of sense, and never felt 
 the swellings of pride, nor ever needed any to help him, would 
 only be wasting his time by bestowing further attention on 
 
430 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 me. Such a man miglit choose for his spiritual adviser a 
 preacher in this neighbourhood, who selected two Jews as spon- 
 sors to his own child ; and he might repeat daily, till his last 
 hour, that men are all in the right, and all in the wrong." 
 
 An upright and gifted man, far gone in rationalism, endea- 
 voured in lengthy communications to justify to Perthes his 
 position with reference to the Christian revelation. " My words 
 will not have pleased you," he says in conclusion, " but I can- 
 not hclj) it, and you have too much sense and fairness to expect 
 fresh bark on an old withered trunk. I believe but little, but 
 I am fully persuaded that every man is justified in believing a 
 great deal more than I do, and tliat it is not the business of 
 the so-called wise or learned to despise those who do. We need 
 not be hypocrites, eye-servants, and enemies to intellectual free- 
 dom, in order to despise the talkers who make use of their 
 own liberty for the purpose of imposing laws on the rest of 
 the world ; and this I would not hesitate to say to the Heidel- 
 bergers, Paulus and Voss. Both stand upon a rock which I 
 myself have tested ; but neither can see that the standing- 
 ground of other men may be equally sure. I thank God that 
 my views are compatible with feelings of the highest consider- 
 ation for every faith which respects the moral law. I am as 
 candid towards Christianity as an inveterate heathen can be, 
 and simple-minded Christians will never be my opponents, nor 
 I theirs ; they are rather my natural allies, and only go further 
 than I do : my religion ceases, indeed, where their mysteries 
 begin ; I cannot follow them there, and remain peacefully, with- 
 out envy or scorn, in the heathen camp. You may at the most 
 pity me, for I would have believed, if it had been the will of 
 God ; it was not His will, and I am too honest to play the 
 
EELIGIOUS CONFLICTS OF THE PERIOD. 431 
 
 hypocrite : Low, indeed, could my salvation be promoted by 
 deceiving men and offending God with a lie ? I am passing 
 on to a futurity which cannot be worse than my Father and 
 Creator has appointed it. A place in the outer court of your 
 temple is all I aspire to, and if you refuse mc this, the wil- 
 derness also belongs to my Lord ; but I think that so quiet a 
 neighbour might be tolerated in the outer court of the heathen, 
 at the threshhold of your temple." 
 
 " You say," replied Perthes, " that with the mysteries of 
 Christianity your religion ceases. To this I reply, that the 
 God of Rationalism baffles conception far more than does any 
 mystery of Christianity. You say that you cannot abide the 
 teaching of that school, in which the world is the Godhead, 
 proceeding from, and flowing back to it, — in fact, nowise dis- 
 tinguishable from it. This is all very well : but when you 
 assert that, by dint of thought, you can pass from the God of 
 Pantheism to that of Rationalism, the voice of all experience 
 is against you. All acute and profound thinkers, past and 
 present, who either did not know of Christ, or who rejected 
 Him, have landed in Pantheism, not in a personal God ; and 
 this I need not tell you. But for Christianity there could have 
 been no Rationalism ; and apathy alone enables it to remain 
 where it is. By the idea of an Eternal Being, exalted above 
 time and space, the Rationalist seeks to satisfy himself and 
 others, — but what he means by these words, he neither says 
 nor knows. Man cannot conceive of a personal God without 
 investing him with a human form ; every religion is an incar- 
 nation of Deity, and so far an obscure anticipation of God's 
 manifestation in the flesh. It is true, indeed, that men have 
 never attained to an incarnation of God, but only to caricatures 
 
432 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 of it ; and they are right in saying that by no eftbrt of human 
 thought can they attain to a proper incarnation, to atonement 
 and redemption. But how does that aifect the truth involved 
 in the historical fact ? In no way. The most acute thinkers 
 could not by thinking discover the Roman Empire ; but had 
 it, therefore, no existence ? You, my dear friend, will be 
 obliged to go either forwards or backwards, since you cannot, 
 like others, shut the eyes of your understanding." 
 
 "You say that Christianity is forced upon man," wrote Per- 
 thes to another friend, " and are displeased that it should be 
 so. I, at all events, cannot complain of any such violence. 
 Neither upon me nor upon any of my cotemporaries did any 
 teacher or pastor, force eternal truth, nor so much as bring it 
 near to us, by an injunction to attend church or read the Bible. 
 But as every year strengthened the conviction of my divine 
 origin, I felt but the more deeply the degradation of my 
 shameful bondage through the flesli and the mind. My trouble 
 on account of selfishness and impurity drove me to seek re- 
 conciliation with the God before whom I trembled, and thus 
 led me to recognise and lay hold on revelation. Christianity 
 was not forced upon me, but I upon Christianity ; I was thrown 
 by an inward necessity into the arms of the Saviour, and so, 
 I believe, are many others." — " Our existence is that of fallen 
 spirits," he says in another letter ; " but we have retained a 
 yearning after the purity of our divine origin, and this elevates 
 everything. We are all conscious of an eftbrt to soar, to climb, 
 or to creep upwards ; many get the length of struggling with 
 evil, but none gain a victory over it ; the most elevated, as 
 well as the most grovelling natures, need a Helper and Me- 
 diator in order to rise ; and he who is unconscious of this 
 
RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS OF THE PERIOD. 4.'?3 
 
 necessitj, wearies himself out in ineffectual endeavours. For 
 him who, in the anguish of his heart, cries out, ' I am a miser- 
 able sinner,' and stretches forth his arms to the Saviour, — 
 for him, I say, Christ died. How closely, then, is faith in the 
 Redeemer allied with the realization of one's own sinfulness ! 
 Many, who no more recognised Christ than did the disciples 
 at Emmaus, may yet have prayed to Him, and in their per- 
 plexity made an idol their mediator. Such men Christ will, 
 in His own time, bring to that truth, which is rest and light ; 
 and many will sit down on the right hand of God, who in this 
 life never uttered the name of Christ." 
 
 " The Divine light," says Count F. L. Stolberg in one of 
 his letters, " has so thoroughly penetrated the modern mind, 
 that our civilisation could not be preserved if that light were 
 extinguished. The heathen philosophy found an element of 
 preservation in that yearning after light in which it origi- 
 nated ; but the false philosophy of our times originates in 
 insensibility, audacity, and vanity, without any yearning after 
 light or truth. The Divine light, indeed, will never be extin- 
 guished, but the candlestick, on which it is placed, may be 
 removed from a land that has rejected it, to another ; and of 
 this, history furnishes alarming examples." 
 
 37 
 
434 LIFE or PERTHES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 CHURCH QUESTIONS — 1817-1822. 
 
 The certainty, to which Perthes had attained in matters of 
 faith, did not extend to ecclesiastical questions ; but he did 
 not consider his own salvation or that of others endangered 
 by uncertainty with reference to these. He, nevertheless, 
 considered the external Church to be of inestimable value 
 as a depositary of the faith. " God has, in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures," he writes to a friend, "taught us the way in which 
 He delivers men from their self-imposed slavery. Man, how- 
 ever, is so obstinately self-willed, that he cannot apprehend the 
 directions of Scripture ; he overlooks them, perverts them, or 
 stares at them stupidly in the letter, so that, in fact, he re- 
 quires a second helper, in order to avail himself of the help 
 which they contain. But who is to open up to him the depths 
 of their meaning ? Who is to keep, disseminate, and expound 
 the Scriptures ? This is the grand and the hard question. 
 Scripture needs protection against the perversity of man ; man 
 needs an interpreter of Scripture, and the visible Church is the 
 institution charged with both these functions. But where is 
 .«he ? In few and simple lineaments the Lord himself has jior- 
 trayed her ; but did he not commit her further development to 
 the good sense of believing men ? Tlie Papacy, indeed, sup- 
 posed Divine authority to be wlicre it really was not, and has 
 
CHURCH QUESTIONS. 435 
 
 overlaid the Church with man's handiwork. The Reformation 
 laid bare the mistake ; but I doubt whether the Reformation 
 could establish a Church, or even disprove that the Catholic, 
 or Universal Church — althpugh disfigured— was yet contained 
 in the Papal." "Where in the Protestant Church, as such," 
 wrote Perthes to Merle d'Aubigne, " is the power to evolve and 
 maintain the truth contained in the words of Scripture ? The 
 laity, it is said, are to learn of the clergy ; be it so ; but who is 
 to teach the clergy ? Who believes that truth is imparted with 
 ordination ? or that the Protestant Confessions, framed undei 
 the pressure of the period, as a defence against cotemporaneous 
 errors and assaults, contain not only ti-uth, but nothing besides 
 truth, and the whole truth ? Does not every minister make a 
 system for himself out of the scientific instruction he receives 
 at the university ? Each begins afresh, and the result depends 
 on the natural disposition, tlie poetical faculty, the philosophical 
 acuteness, and the believing heart of each. If it wore not for 
 the dread of incurring disgrace and shame in the eyes of the 
 Catholic Church, how loud and despairing would be the cry of 
 believing Protestants for the help and authority of a Church I" 
 The question as to the nature and functions of the Church was 
 producing violent excitement among Protestants, when, as a 
 preliminary to the celebration of the third centenary of the 
 Reformation, an attempt was made in Prussia and in other 
 German states in 1817, to amalgamate the Lutheran and Re- 
 formed Churches. About the same time, Harms published a 
 series of propositions in Kiel, one-half of which were directed 
 against Rationalism, and the other against the Reformed 
 Church and the Union, his object being to secure an indepen- 
 dent existence for the Lutheran Church. 
 
'loG LIFE or PERTHES. 
 
 In July 1818, a friend wrote from Berlin, expressing a fear 
 that, as Harms grew more ecclesiastical, lie was becoming less 
 spiritual, and then continued : — " This, indeed, is the danger 
 of propping up faith by means of a church, tliat we suffer 
 as much from the petrifaction of the spiritual as fi'om in- 
 fidelity itself It appears to me both unscientific and un- 
 christian to confound the Reformed and the United with 
 infidels, as Harms does." Far more decidedly wrote another 
 friend : — " The Catholic Church, as we all know, cares only for 
 the appearance of unity ; as long as the deep internal rent 
 does not appear outside, she is content ; as long as the in- 
 fidelity of her members consists with their attendance at 
 masses and processions, they pass for good Catholics. They 
 who imperatively insist on maintaining the authority of the 
 symbolical books, are bringing us into a similar condition, 
 although, I allow, unwittingly. At that rate ours too will be- 
 come a Church .in which Rationalism may be in the heart, 
 while orthodoxy is on the lips and in the pulpit. I rejoice in 
 the union because it recognises, instead of ignoring, differences 
 in scientific theology ; let us frankly give up tlie semblance 
 of unity, in order that the way may be open for truth and 
 real unity, whenever they appear." Others of Perthes' cor- 
 respondents saw in the union of the two Protestant Churches, 
 only a sign of indifference and danger to the faith of both, 
 Harms' position being defended thus : — " How any one can 
 seriously assert that a Church constituted on Harms' principles 
 could not be distinguished in principle from the Romish Church, 
 I cannot at all understand. A hundred or a thousand men are 
 convinced that a certain interpretation of Holy Writ is the 
 right one ; they draw up a creed accordingly, and appoint a pas- 
 
CHURCH QUESTIONS. 437 
 
 tor, who shares their convictions, to proclaim tlie Word, and to 
 administer the Sacraments. He who does not accept its creed 
 cannot belong to this communion ; the pastor who does not 
 teach in accordance with its creed cannot continue to be one 
 of its pastors ; but it has not, therefore, the principle of the 
 Romish Church, for it would never seek to put down those of a 
 different faith by saying to them, ' You have departed from the 
 doctrines of the Church,' but would rather argue with them on 
 Scriptural grounds, and would refrain from the forcible impo- 
 sition of church doctrines as unchristian." 
 
 This striving of Protestantism after a more definite ecclesi- 
 astical form was regarded by the Catholic party with various 
 feelings. Many dreaded the uprising of a mighty power when 
 Protestantism should no longer be divided into Lutherans 
 and Reformed. Others, on the contrary, looked with a sort of 
 malicious pleasure on the efforts of their old and dangerous 
 adversaries, to get, as they said, a Catholic Church, with- 
 out the Catholic faith ; a Romish hierarchy without Rome ; a 
 papacy without a pope. The Catholic friends of Perthes were 
 too much in earnest to cherish feelings like these ; but they 
 hoped that, when all attempts to create a new Church should 
 have failed, Protestants would at last recognise in the Catholic, 
 the Universal Christian Church, and they earnestly warned Pro- 
 testants against entertaining the opinion that it was possible to 
 rest in a merely inward Christianity unexpressed in any Church 
 form. " The most powerful and terrible delusion of the Evil 
 Spirit," wrote Klinkowstrom to Perthes, "is that of a so-called 
 inward faith, preached by a large party. Tliis mystic Refor- 
 mation, the only one which we have still to fear, offers to the 
 man of feeling, even while here on earth, a life in God, which 
 
438 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 acknowledges no order, and is Independent of truth. Where 
 are unity, peace, order, but in the holy Church founded on the 
 rock ? This is assuredly not a point at issue between us, but 
 the tongue still carries on the combat even when the heart has 
 made peace ; just as the outposts continue firing after the 
 shout of peace has been raised at head-quarters." In milder 
 terms F, L. Stolberg wrote : — " All that I hear and read of 
 Neander gives me a high idea of his learning, talents, and sin- 
 cere piety. His mistake is that of many honest Protestants, who 
 seek to worship in spirit, without troubling themselvesmuchabout 
 positive truth, not seeing that it is the function of the Church 
 to gather into her bosom those who, without her, would be 
 wanderers, and that it is only a visible church that can do this." 
 The real differences existing within the boasted unity of the 
 Romish Church, not to speak of the secret enmity and the in- 
 difference of many of lier members, were, in these years of gene- 
 ral and violent excitement, manifested more plainly than in all 
 the preceding century. In many parts of Germany, and espe- 
 cially in Bavaria, the priestly thirst of power began to work 
 afresh. Thus, in a letter to Perthes one says: — "At the present 
 moment, mixed marriages are the apple of discord in Bavaria. 
 Excited by a pastoral letter of the Nuncio, the priests everywhere 
 insist on the children of these marriages being brought up Ca- 
 tholics. At the same time, the mania for miracles has reappeared 
 in many Catholic districts." — " Hohenlohe, and no longer Ho- 
 henlohe only, is working miracles on miracles," writes a decided 
 opponent ; " wherever he appears, all is excitement and enthu- 
 siasm, although he is opposed by a great many of the clergy. 
 The facts are remarkable, physiologically ; the old Bavarian 
 craving after miracles borders on the enigmatical, but some of 
 
CHURCH QUESTIONS. 439 
 
 tlie cures effected by the prince arc indisputable." In August 
 1821, Kaspar Droste wrote to Perthes: — " The cures wrought 
 by Prince Hohenlohe in Wiirzburg and the neiglibourbood, in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, are assuredly deserving of 
 the greatest attention. The man himself is pious and of ex- 
 emplary character ; his exterior is pleasing and simple ; he is 
 a benevolent, good-humoured, attractive person ; his humility 
 and self-denial, his faith, his simple piety, and his profound 
 sense of personal unworthiness, must have fitted him for re- 
 ceiving this mark of God's favour. He may have been im- 
 posed on by persons feigning sickness in some instances ; 
 but in the cures of the Princess Schwarzenberg, the Crown 
 Prince of Bavaria, and individuals totally blind and lame, the 
 idea of deception is inadmissible. On all hands, indeed, there 
 are mockers who turn the whole thing into ridicule. But this 
 in no way alters the fact. A formal investigation has been 
 already instituted ; the Prince himself has forwarded informa- 
 tion to Rome, and so has the Crown Prince of Bavaria, with 
 reference to his own recovery, and to what passed under his 
 own eyes in Briickenau." 
 
 While some among the Catholics sought and found, or at all 
 events desired to find miracles, others, like the Rationalists 
 of Protestantism, recognised in the Christian Revelation little 
 more than a system of morals. "The irreligion of former 
 times is laid aside for the present," says F. L. Stolberg, in a 
 letter to Perthes, " but that which so many, even among those 
 who call themselves Catholics, mean b}' religion, is mere mo- 
 rality. Jesus Christ is, indeed, extolled as an admirable moral 
 teacher ; but morality severed from Christian faith, which is 
 its root, and left to float in the air, will soon wither. Under 
 
i40 LIFE OF TEIITHES. 
 
 the name of mysticism, which is confounded with fanaticism, 
 faith in the divine mysteries is ridiculed, and tlie doctrines of 
 faitli arc called opinions/' The mysticism of Christianity was 
 not, indeed, attacked by that intellectual Catholicism whicli 
 received its colouring from converted Protestants, such as Fre- 
 derick Schlegel ; but Sclilegelian Catholicism did enter tlie lists 
 against Sailer and his school, on account of the great stress 
 which they laid on the inward life, and thus increased the 
 contradictions witliin Catholicism in Germany. Even the 
 ecclesiastical authorities warned their people with some anxiety 
 against the doctrine of an inner life, which they regarded as 
 dangerous to the traditional forms of the Church. Even in 
 Pastoral Letters it was called " a pseudo-mystical impulse." 
 
 The efforts of Protestantism to distribute the Scriptures, 
 amid all these commotions, were variously regarded by Catho- 
 lics. " Tlie Bible societies, like all the other institutions of Pro- 
 testantism, for the enlightenment of mankind," wrote a zealous 
 Catholic, "prove only new engines of destruction, because they 
 are not in harmony with the Church, which is under the guid- 
 ance of the Holy Ghost. The watchword of all Protestant effort 
 is ever anything but Catholicism, ie., anything but Christianity." 
 \^cry differently did R L. Stolberg express himself in a letter to 
 Perthes :— " I am grieved to find that a feeling of distrust has 
 arisen among Catholics witli reference to the Bible Society. 
 The members of this society must, of course, proceed with cau- 
 tion in Catholic countries ; but it is my firm conviction that 
 infinite good is done by the general circulation of the Holy 
 Scriptures. Ten thousand copies of a Catholic version of the 
 New Testament have been distributed in Bavaria, to the great 
 joy of Sailor and other pious ecclesiastics, through the assist- 
 
GIIURCH QUESTIONS. 441 
 
 aiicc of tlic Bible Society. May God prosper its lioly work as 
 He has hitherto manifestly done ! At my brotlier's, I met with 
 one of its most active members, Mr. Henderson, from Scotland, 
 an admirable man. The only thing that awakens my anxiety, 
 is the circumstance that, from the majority of the Society's 
 members being dissenters, they are likely to deal very ungra- 
 ciously with Catholics, as one may see in that otherwise beau- 
 tifully written book, Buchanan's 'Christian Rescarclies in Asia.' 
 With him I curse the Inquisition in Goa, but the entire temple 
 is not to be judged of by one dark corner. AVhether any mea- 
 sures in behalf of religion are to be expected from the Diet, I 
 know not. Real good can onlj^ be brought about by men 
 whom the Sjjirit of God has endued with power. All the rest 
 is a mere patching of the outer garment, and leaves the man 
 where he was. That our bishops cannot in future be princes, 
 or our canons idle squires, is in any case a gain." 
 
 But, in spite of all internal contradictions, the Roman Catholic 
 Church presented the outward appearance of unity, and how- 
 ever its members might in other respects differ among them- 
 selves, they unanimously cherished the belief that the Roman 
 Catholic was not one of many churches, but the only true one. 
 Accordingly, they contemplated the recantation of Protestants, 
 and their return to the bosom of Rome. So Stolbei-g writes, 
 " The craving for a church is, indeed, deeply felt by many, 
 but there can be no churcli so long as each individual claims 
 the right of withdrawing himself from the authority of the 
 Ghurch. Why may not a Protestant Christian adopt Calvin's 
 doctrine concerning the Lord's Supper, and Luther's concerning 
 election ? Thus, in fact, the two parties inevitably split into 
 many subdivisions. And what, then, becomes of the idea of a 
 
442 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Church founded by the Son of God ? Yet this exists and will 
 exist to the end of time. Whether the others will flow back 
 into its bosom, or lose themselves in the quicksands of shifting 
 ojiinion, God only knows." 
 
 Perthes never could tolerate attacks on the peculiar doctrines 
 and ceremonies of Rome, much less on the Christian truths com- 
 mon to all confessions, although even these were now regarded 
 by some Protestants as papistical ; no wonder then that at a time 
 when the perversion of many had awakened suspicion, he should 
 have been supposed favourable to Catholicism. He had many 
 friends among the zealous Catholics, and Stolberg's Historv 
 of Religion was not only sold by him as publisher, but like- 
 wise recommended by him from conviction. Those suspected 
 of Catholicism were also identified with absolutism in politics ; 
 for Metternicli and Gentz upheld both alike, and Haller and 
 Adam Miiller both assailed liberalism, and went over to Rome. 
 Many a sad hour was thus prepared for Perthes. Of his 
 staunch Protestantism, however, he gave many proofs. When, 
 in the spring of 1821, he was requested to undertake the 
 publication of Essays on IndifFei'ence, translated from the 
 French of the Abbe de la Mennais, who was still at that 
 time a hero with the rigid Catholics, he replied : — " I don't 
 hesitate to publish works that have grown out of the Catho- 
 lic faith, and that breathe the spirit of love ; they are not 
 opposed to my convictions, which also recognise the neces- 
 sity of an external, universal Church, and I can put up 
 with the reflections cast on me in consequence. La Mennais' 
 work, however, is of a different kind ; his zeal against the 
 ' uncatholic sects' carries him so far that he represents Holy 
 Scripture as an unsafe authority. He may be a pious man, but 
 
CHURCH QUESTIONS. 443 
 
 he has entirely forgotten all humility before God, and is guided 
 by his own understanding and passions. How could I publish 
 such a book without myself appearing to be a liar!" Perthes' 
 relation to Catholicism is clearly brought out in a letter to a 
 very rigid and bigoted Catholic friend, — " Man," he says, " had 
 lost God, and could only find Him again through Christ. Christ 
 has appeared, the work of redemption is accomplished, and 
 the partition-wall between God and man is broken down. Sucli 
 is the faith alike of Protestant and Catholic, and by those who 
 consider it Catliolic only, and not Protestant, I am willing to 
 be called a Catholic. Even the ceremonies of Catholic worship, 
 foreign as they are to Protestantism, offend me but little ; 
 many of them I find attractive ; and I am in nowise alienated 
 from Catholicism by them. But, then, Catholicism says that 
 the work of redemption, although perfected, is only accessible 
 and eifectual to individuals through the priesthood, and the 
 Church built on the priesthood ; apart from the j)riesthood no 
 salvation, no grace, no access for man to Christ, no work of Christ 
 for man. So speaks Catholicism, and because it so speaks, teach- 
 ing everywhere in word and sacrament accordingly, I neither am, 
 nor ever can be a Catholic. The grace of the Lord is tied to no 
 priesthood, and to no priestly work ; to reach the Mediator 
 man needs no new mediator ; access to Him is by the atone- 
 ment free to all who, casting aside their own merits, offer to 
 the Lord an humble heart. I am well awai-e that it is not left 
 to chance to bring to tlie individual the message of redemption. 
 For this end there must be an institution, preserving to all 
 ages tlie living Gospel, and imparting it to every individual. 
 So long as the Romish Cliurch, with her priesthood, fulfilled 
 these conditions, she was a corner and foundation-stone of 
 
444 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 Christianity ; but she could not remain as she was before the 
 Reformation, and slie lias never been able to recover her uni- 
 versality since. Still she is not replaced by the Protestant 
 churches, and never will be. It is only by means of an institu- 
 tion common to all Christians, only by a truly Catholic Church 
 that the Gospel can be preserved and diffused. When such an 
 Institution will be granted to us, God alone knows. But you 
 will not hasten its coming by your efforts to bring over indivi- 
 dual Protestants to your Church, and you will retard it by 
 attacking us with unfair and unchristian weapons. What guilty 
 blindness lies at the root of sucli assertions as those made in a 
 letter of our friend N., when he says that in Protestant congre- 
 gations unchastity is not regarded as a sin, and that the recent 
 crucifixions among certain fanatics in Catholic Austria, were 
 brought about by the circulation of the Scriptures ! Christ and 
 Truth are one, and the Truth cannot be insulted without in- 
 sulting Christ." A sharp answer to this letter was a matter of 
 course. "Whatever you may say," was the reply, "your stand- 
 ing is not that of a Christian, but that of a pious man under 
 the old covenant. You have a yearning expectation, but are a 
 stranger to fulfilment ; like the Jew, you know only of a fallen 
 not of a sanctified humanity, such as the Catholic Church in- 
 cludes: according to you, the Lord dwells not in humanity 
 through the pricstliood, but in Scripture through the letter, 
 and accordingly, like the Jew, you believe not in God mani- 
 fest in the flesh, but only in God manifest in Scripture. You 
 are even worse off than the old Jews ; for they expected One 
 who was actually promised, while you, not recognising that 
 which has long since come, build your hopes on what has 
 never been promised ; and have, moreover, added to the Jewisli 
 
CHURCH QUESTIONS. 44f) 
 
 sacrament of Scripture tlie hcatlien sacrament of reason. 
 Tliis most unfortunate position you seem to have taken up, 
 chiefly because, gazing fixedly at the Catholic priesthood, you 
 have overlooked the fact that, according to the teaching of 
 the Churcli, and of every page of Scripture, human nature 
 sinned, and was redeemed as a whole. If, however, sin and 
 grace are both the inheritance of man, the means of grace can- 
 not be communicated to each individual by direct Revelation, 
 but must be offered through an institution comprehending all 
 mankind. The most honest Protestants, and especially those 
 who have possessed most of inward life, as Arndt, Spener, 
 Zinzendorf, for instance, reject the inheritance, and prefer to 
 wait for the Messiah, who is come already. The Catholic Church, 
 on the other hand, is not expecting the Lord ; she has the Lord. 
 In saying that she luas a corner and foundation-stone of faith, 
 and at the same time that you are hoping for a new building, 
 you are simply asserting that, for the present, the individual 
 has no need of corner or foundation-stone at all. What is this 
 but humility towering to the height of pride? Forgive, sir, 
 the harshness of my language. If I could lay my heart, de- 
 voted as it is to you, on the paper, you would receive this let- 
 ter as it is meant." 
 
 To the distinctive doctrines of Catholicism, neither at this 
 nor at any other period of his life had Perthes any leaning 
 whatever ; but, at the time of which we are writing, he cer- 
 tainly adhered to the opinion that the Church of Rome, rooted 
 in the history of a thousand years, might yet by development 
 and renovation become the universal Christian Church. To 
 this he was led by the consideration of what he regarded as 
 the abortive attempts of Protestants to establish a permanent 
 
446 LIPE OF PERTHES, 
 
 Church. This opinion was earnestly opposed from different 
 points of view by many of his Protestant friends. Some of them 
 regarded the Romish Church as uttei;ly apostate, and combated 
 the idea that it could contain tlie germ of a new church-life 
 for Christendom. " You are deceived," writes one of his cor- 
 respondents ; " when you think you are commending the Romish 
 Church, you are only commending some of your Catholic 
 friends ; and it is very possible that, without being aware 
 of it, what you find attractive in these men is not the Ca- 
 tholic but the Protestant clement : for tlie Protestant spirit 
 extends far beyond the limits of the Protestant commu- 
 nion, and makes a still deeper impression on us when we 
 meet it in a Catholic dress. The Reformation still delivers 
 many an earnest Catholic from the yoke of the hierarchy 
 and of superstition, and enables him to taste the blessings 
 of that which he so violently opposes. The ground which 
 earnest Catholics take in their controversies with us is not 
 Roman-Catholic, but Christian-Catholic ; this it is that our 
 Reformers, in opposition to Popery, desired to restore and 
 preserve ; and they achieved it, not only for us, but foi- 
 Catholics. Where would Roman-Catholicism have been nov/ 
 without the Reformation ? and what would it become, if the 
 influence of the Protestant spirit were withdrawn ? Now, 
 surely a Church which is indebted for the vitality she still 
 possesses, to her most violent opponent, can never be the 
 Church of which that opponent stands in need." — " You 
 rave against tlie commonplace generalities that Protestants 
 are accustomed to urge against Catholicism," writes another, 
 " and you are right : but you appear to me to regard certain 
 Roman Catholic arrangements as almost innoxious, simply 
 
CHURCH QUESTIONS. 447 
 
 because they have been unworthily attacked. If you liad 
 ever passed a year in a Catholic country, you would be shocked 
 by the base lies with which the great mass of the clergy 
 blacken Protestantism, You are also familiar with the every- 
 day side of Protestantism, while Catholicism is known to you 
 only through the best and most pious Catholics ; hence your 
 judgment is unfair." — " Wliat is your exact meaning when you 
 speak of the Catholic Church ?" wrote a French friend : " the 
 Catholic Church, as you find it in the person of this or that 
 friend, may indeed please you ; but the Catholic Church, as it 
 actually exists, cest vraiment la Bete de V Apocalypse. It is 
 very desirable that every one who speaks of the Catholic 
 Church should carefully ask himself, in order that he may 
 neither be misled himself, nor mislead others, whether he is 
 speaking of an imaginary, or of an actual Church." 
 
 Others, among Perthes' friends, combated the possibility 
 of any future development of the Romish into the universal 
 Church, because they regarded its fundamental principle as 
 absolutely antagonistic to the belief of Protestants. " You 
 cling/' writes one of these, " to the doctrine of Augustine and 
 the Reformation ; that man in his natural state has no power 
 to find out God, to love Him, or please Him, but must sur- 
 render himself to the Divine influence, and be saved through 
 faith. You will not hear of the Pelagian doctrine, con- 
 firmed anew a century ago by the Church of Rome, that a 
 man can be saved by works done in his own strength. You 
 are an out-and-out Protestant in doctrine ; but you think that 
 the Protestant doctrine may be included in the forms of the 
 Romish Church, and that thus the universal or Catholic Church 
 of Christianity will sooner or later issue from it. Now this, I 
 
448 LIFE OF PERTHES. 
 
 must absolutely refuse to concede. Every Church built upon 
 the evang-elical doctrine must, unless she would deny her own 
 origin, proceed on the supposition that the infallible and immu- 
 table Church, out of which there is no salvation, is invisible, 
 and not to be confounded with the visible Church, i.e., with any 
 local and temporary association for the proclamation of the 
 gospel and the administration of the sacraments. Many may 
 be members of the invisible, who never belonged to the visible 
 Church, and vice versa; hence no Protestant Church can deny 
 salvation to those who are without, or assure it to those who 
 are within her pale ; neither can any Protestant Church con- 
 sistently have recourse to the sword, or to violence under any 
 form. On the contrary, the adherents of the Romish Church 
 must of necessity identify the visible with the invisible Church, 
 transferring the attributes of the latter to the former, particu- 
 larly to its clergy, bishops, and pope. Her utterances, just be- 
 cause they are from her, are a law to every human being, and it 
 is merely out of courtesy that she ever reasons out of Scripture. 
 So great is the difference between Protestant and Catholic 
 doctrine, that if at any future time, Protestants and Catholics 
 should be included in one universal Church, one or other must 
 give up the doctrine which made them Catholics and Protes- 
 tants respectively. So, then, I must absolutely deny the possi- 
 bility of a universal Christian Church as a development of the 
 Romish." 
 
 END OF VOLUME FIRST. 
 
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