CONCLUSION.
Amidst the noise and confusion of the year 1848, the German people began a struggle for a new political constitution of the Fatherland. We must look upon the Frankfort parliament as a characteristic phase of our life, not as the result, but as the beginning of a noble struggle, as a grand dialectic process in which the needs of the nation, and the longing for a political idea, passed on to will and decision. What in 1815 had been only the unimportant fancy of individuals, had become a formalised demand of the people, around which the minds of men have been tossed in ascending and descending waves.
Since the year 1840 the longing for political life has obtained expression in Prussia. There has arisen family discord between the Hohenzollern and their people, apparently insignificant, but from it has sprung the constitutional life of Prussia, the beginning of a new formation of the State, a progress for prince and people. Again it becomes manifest that it is not always great times and great characters which produce the most important progress.
But how does it happen that the favourites of their people, the Royal race on which the hopes and future of Germany depend—that the Hohenzollerns regard so hesitatingly and distrustfully the new position which the constitution of their State and the Union party of Germany offers to them? No royal race has gained their State so completely by the sword as they have. Their ancestors have grandly nurtured the people; their ancestors have created the State; their greatness, and their renown in war originated in the time of the fulness of royal power. Thus they naturally feel as a loss what we consider as a gain and an elevation.
The whole political contest of the present day, the struggle against privileges, the constitutional question, and the German question, are all in reality only Prussian questions; and the great difficulty of their solution lies in the position which the Royal house of Prussia have taken up in regard to them. Whenever the Hohenzollerns shall enter warmly and willingly into the needs of the time, their State will attain to its long wanted strength and soundness. From this they will obtain almost without trouble, as if it came of itself, the conduct of German interests, the first lead in German life. This is known to friends and enemies.
We faithfully remember how much we owe to them, and we know well that the final foundation of our connection with them is indestructible, even though they may be angry because we are too bold in our demands, or we may grumble because they are too dilatory in granting them. For there is an old and hearty friendship betwixt them and the spirit of the German nation, and it is a manly friendship which may well bear some rubs. But the German citizen feels with pride, that he values the honour and greatness of their position, and the honour and happiness of the Fatherland, no less than themselves.
The German citizen is in the fortunate position of regarding the old dynasties with warm sympathy. They have grown up with his fondest reminiscences, a large number of them have become good and trustworthy, fellow-workers in the State and in science, and promote the education of the people. He will be indulgent when he sees individuals among them still prejudiced in their judgment by feeble adherence to the old traditions of their order; he will smile when they turn a longing look on the times that are gone, when their privileges were numerous and undisputed; and he will perhaps investigate, with more acuteness and learning than themselves, wherever, in the past of their race, real capacity and common sense has appeared. But he will be the inexorable opponent of all those political and social privileges by which they lay claim to a separate position among the people, not because he envies these things, or wishes to put himself in their place, but because he sees with regret that their impartiality of judgment, and sometimes their firmness of character are diminished by it, and because, through some of these obsolete traditions, like their court privileges, our Princes are in danger of falling into the narrowmindedness of German Junkers.
In the two centuries from 1648 to 1848, the wonderful restoration of the German nation was accomplished. After an unexampled destruction, its character rose again in faith, science, and political enthusiasm. It is now engaged in energetic endeavours to form for itself the highest of earthly possessions,—a State.
It is a great pleasure to live in such a time. A hearty warmth, and a feeling of youthful vigour fill hundreds of thousands. It has become a pleasure to be a German; and before long it may be considered by foreign nations also to be a high honour.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1]: At the time of Frederic II. it varied in amount; a large property had to supply a whole horse (there were half and quarter horse imposts), or pay 18 to 24 thalers; in the Electorate it amounted to the high sum of 40 thalers.
[Footnote 2]: The strength of the militia under Frederic I. was, according to Fassmann, i. p. 720, up to 60,000.
[Footnote 3]: The system of allotting to each regiment its recruiting district.
[Footnote 4]: Fassmann, "Life of Frederic William I.;" and Von Loen, "The Soldier Depicted."
[Footnote 5]: V. Loen, "Der Soldat," p. 312.
[Footnote 6]: G. V. Griesheim, "Die Taktik," p. 75; v. Liebenrothe, "Fragmente," p. 29.
[Footnote 7]: Small smoking society, consisting of the King and his intimates.—Tr.
[Footnote 8]: It was not the bad combination of colours, the blue and yellow velvet housings, that incensed the dying king—those were the colours of his body-guard—but he wished to see those of the Dessauer on him—blue, red, and white.
[Footnote 9]: Lafontaine's "Life of Gruber," p. 126.
[Footnote 10]: "The Poor Man in Tockenburg," published by Fussli. Zurich: 1789 and 1792. Afterwards by G. Bülow, Leipzig, 1852.
[Footnote 11]: Elector Frederic William inherited 1451 square miles, with, perhaps, 700,000 inhabitants, most of it in Ordensland,[A] Prussia, which was less devastated by the war.
[A] Ordensland, the country that once belonged to the Teutonic Knights.
| Square Miles. | Inhabitants. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In the year | 1688, the Elector left | 2034, | with about | 1,800,000. |
| " | 1713, King Frederic I. | 2090, | " | 1,700,000. |
| " | 1740, King Frederic Wm. I. | 2201, | " | 2,240,000. |
| " | 1786, King Frederic II. | 3490, | " | 6,000,000. |
| " | 1805, King Frederic II. | 6563, | " | 9,800,000. |
| (Before the exchange of Hanover.) | ||||
| " | 1807, remain | 2877, | " | 5,000,000. |
| " | 1817, were | 5015, | " | 10,600,000. |
| " | 1830, were 13,000,000 inhabitants; but in 1861, | 18,000,000. | ||
[Footnote 12]: "Journal de Seckendorf," 2nd Jan., 1738.
[Footnote 13]: Œuvres, t. xvii., nr. 140, p. 213.
[Footnote 14]: Ib., t. xviii., nr. 10.
[Footnote 15]: Portions of his historical works appear under special titles with many introductions. "The Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg" (begun 1746), the greatest part of it unimportant and compiled; "History of My Time" (written 1746-75), his masterpiece; then the great history of "The Seven Years' War" (ended 1764); finally, "Memoirs after the Hubertsburger Peace" (written 1775-79). They form, in spite of inequalities, a connected whole.
[Footnote 16]: V. Templehoff, "Siebenjähriger Krieg," i. p. 282.
[Footnote 17]: Sulzer to Gleim: "Briefe der Schweizer von Körte," p. 354.
[Footnote 18]: He had in 1759, a year before he wrote the foregoing words to the Marquis d'Argen, published through this friend, his treatise, "Réflections sur les Talons militaires et sur le Caractère de Charles XII. Roi de Suède," one of the most remarkable works of the King. His view of the faults of Charles XII. was sharpened by the personal experience which he had himself made in the lost battles of the last year, and, whilst he judges respect fully the unfortunate conqueror, he at the same time claims for himself higher credit for his own moderate policy. The work is, therefore, not only a very characteristic record of his wise moderation, but also a memorial of quiet self-enfranchisement and of great inward progress.
[Footnote 19]: Œuvres, xxvii. 1, nr. 328, from 17 Sept.
[Footnote 20]: In the year 1740, 1,100,000; in 1756, 1,300,000; in 1763, the number had sunk to 1,150,000; in 1779, there were 1,500,000; it was supposed then that the country could maintain 2,300,000 more. It numbers now 3,000,000.
[Footnote 21]: New Prussia, "Provinzial Blätter," Jahrg. vi., 1854, nr. 4, p. 259.
[Footnote 22]: V. Held, "Gepriesenes Preussen," p. 41; Roscius, Westpreussen, p. 21.
[Footnote 23]: When, in 1815, the present province of Posen was returned to Prussia, the wolves there also were the plague of the country. According to a statement in the Posen "Provinzial Blätter," in the district of Posen, from 1st Sept. 1815, to the end of February, 1816, forty-one wolves were slain; and still in the year 1819, in the district of Wongrowitz, sixteen children and three grown-up persons were devoured by wolves.
[Footnote 24]: From manuscript records of the year 1790.
[Footnote 25]: The complaints are very frequent. Compare v. Liebenrothe Fragm. p. 59.
[Footnote 26]: Much, that is interesting concerning the social condition of the North of Germany after 1790 is to be found in "Der Schreibtisch," by Caroline de la Motte Fouqué, pp. 46.
[Footnote 27]: Kant's works, xi. 2, p. 80. The man in question was one of doubtful reputation.
[Footnote 28]: The drinkers were Klopstock and his friends.
[Footnote 29]: The travellers were Fritz Jacopi and his brother.
[Footnote 30]: The new guest was Wieland; the hosts, Sophie Laroche and her husband; and the narrator, Fritz Jacopi.
[Footnote 31]: Leuckhardt relates this in his "Lebensbeschreibung," and there is no ground to doubt what is imparted by this disorderly man.
[Footnote 32]: "Reise von Mainz nach Cöln im Jahre, 1794," p. 222; "Briefe eines reisenden Franzosen, 1784," ii., p. 258. Both books are only to be read with caution.
[Footnote 33]: Slang terms of the period, ridiculing their keen appetites and grotesque uniforms.—Tr.
[Footnote 34]: "Schilderung der jetzigen Reichsarmee," 1796-8. This interesting description is often quoted, but it is not quite trustworthy. The author is that Lauckhart, a disorderly theologian, who made the Rhine campaign as a musketeer in the regiment Thadden. His autobiography is as instructive as it is repulsive.
[Footnote 35]: That this description is not too strong, we have sufficient warrant in the many accounts of that time. In "Reise von Mainz nach Cöln im Frühjahr," 1794; "Lafonteine Leben," p. 154. The description also which Lauckhart gives of the emigrants in his autobiography may be examined. These French doings excited disgust and horror even in him.
[Footnote 36]: Officials, analogous to the Préfet.
[Footnote 37]: Von Held's writings were, "Das Schwarzebuch"—now very rare—"Die Preussischen Jacobiner," and the "Gepriesene Preussen," the most notorious. They and their refutations give us the impression that the author, as is frequent in such cases, had written many things correctly, others inaccurately, but on the whole honestly; but he was not to be depended on as a judge of his opponents. Varnhagen knew him, and wrote his life.
[Footnote 38]: "Gründliche Widerlegung des gepriesenen Preussens," 1804.
[Footnote 39]: "Buchholz, Gemälde des gesellschaftlichen Zustandes in Preussen," i.
[Footnote 40]: The narrator is Adelbert von Chamisso. His letter of 22nd Nov., 1806, is one of the most valuable relics of that true-hearted man. The concluding words deserve well to be remembered by Germans. "Oh, my friends, I must atone by a free confession for the secret injustice that I have done this brave, warlike people. Officers and soldiers, in the harmony of a high enthusiasm, cherished only one thought: it was, under the pressure of external and internal enemies, to maintain their old fame, and not a recruit, not a drummer-boy would have fallen away. Indeed, we were a firm, faithful, good, stout soldiery. Oh, if we had but had men to lead us."
[Footnote 41]: The following is taken from an autobiography which he left in manuscript for his children. The editor has to thank the family of the deceased for it.
[Footnote 42]: In the old Prussian Rhine country stones were beginning to be used for the chaussées.
[Footnote 43]: The three officers were, Lieutenants von Blücher, von Lepel, and von Treskow; the three Prebendaries, von Korff, von Bösclager, at Eggermuhlen, and von Merode.
[Footnote 44]: Ministerial decrees setting aside the course of justice.
[Footnote 45]: Vinke had succeeded Stein as First President.
[Footnote 46]: Alliance of students in Germany.
[Footnote 47]: In the number of 247,000 soldiers the volunteers are not included, because they in general consisted of those who were not native Prussians. Beitzke's calculation, which we here take because it is lowest, undoubtedly includes the Landwehr, and the squadrons which, in the course of the campaign, were formed on the other side of the Elbe; there are, therefore, about 20,000 men to be abstracted from his amount. But as his reckoning only comprehends, the strength of the army in the field, which up to the battle of Leipzig was almost entirely gathered from the old Prussian territory, his figures may be considered rather too low than too high. In 1815, the proportion of soldiers to population was still more striking. East Prussia contributed then seven per cent, of its inhabitants, each seventh man was sent to the war; there remained scarcely any but children and old people in the country, very few from 18 to 40.
The amount of the population is reckoned according to the last official census of 1810. Prussia, after the peace of Tilsit, had been obliged to cede New Silesia to Poland, and thus since 1806 had lost more than 300,000 men. No increase, therefore, of the population can be assumed up to the spring of 1813. The chief fortresses, also, were in the hands of the French, and their inhabitants should be deducted from any calculation of the efforts of the people. According to the proportion of 1813, Berlin as at present, could bring into the field an army of from 23,000 to 25,000 men; Leipzig, four battalions; and the Dukedom of Coburg-Gotha seven battalions, amounting to 1000 men.
[Footnote 48]: Schlosser, "Erlebnisse inns Sachsischen Landpredigers," from 1806 to 1815, p. 66. The foreign nations, Portuguese and Italians, were more moderate.
[Footnote 49]: Schlosser, "Erlebnisse," p. 129.
[Footnote 50]: It may be allowable to introduce here some extracts from the receipts which Heun brought forward in the newspapers. What was placed at the head of them was accidental, especially as his lists only enumerate a very small number of the donations, none of those from East Prussia are mentioned. We must begin with the first patriotic gift, which was announced publicly in 1813. About New Year's Day, long before the volunteer rifles were equipped, the Roman Catholic community at Marienburg, in West Prussia, placed all the plate of their church that could be dispensed with at the disposal of the State (it was about 100 marks), begging, as they could not give away church property, for the interest of the value of the silver in the future. But the first money contribution noted down by Heun, was from a master tailor, Hans Hofmann, at Breslau, 100 thalers. The first who gave horses were the peasants Johann Hinz, in Deutsch-Borgh, Bailiwick of Saarmünd, and Meyer, at Elsholz, of the same Bailiwick; the last had only two horses. The first who gave oats, 100 scheffel, was one Axleben. The first who sent their golden wedding-rings, expressing the hope that much gold might be collected if all would do the same, were the lottery-collector Rollin and his wife, at Stettin. The first officials who resigned a part of their salary were Professor Hermbstädt, at Berlin, 250 thalers; Professor Gravenhorst, at Breslau, the half of his salary, and Professor David Schultz, 100 thalers. The first who gave a portion of his fortune was an unnamed official; of 4000 thalers he gave 1000. The first who sent his plate was Count Sandretzky, at Manze, in Silesia, value 1700 thalers, besides three beautiful horses; a servant of the chancery, four silver spoons; anonymous, 2000 thalers; an old soldier, his only gold piece, value forty thalers; anonymous, three gold snuff-boxes, with diamonds, value 5300 thalers; an old woman, from a little town, a pair of woollen stockings.
[Footnote 51]: 10,000 volunteer riflemen, and about the half of the irregulars, amounting to 2500 men, were equipped in the old provinces, together with 1500 horses. Putting the cost of each foot-rifleman at 60 thalers, and that of a horseman at 230 thalers,—the price of horses was high,—the amount is 1,150,000 thalers, which is certainly too low. And the pay and extras, given by private persons to individual riflemen, are not reckoned.
[Footnote 52]: The Editor is indebted for much of this to a record of the worth Oberregierungsrath Hackel.
[Footnote 53]: From Family Reminiscences.
[Footnote 54]: Record of the Appellations-gerichtsrath Tepler, who himself, as a boy, went to the field with the Landsturm against the French at Magdeburg.
[Footnote 55]: She lives in Berlin, and is now mother of a large family.
[Footnote 56]: From the diary of the pastor, Frieke, at Bunzlau.
[Footnote 57]: Scene from the fight at Goldberg, on the 23rd August, from the account of an eye-witness.
[Footnote 58]: Thus, on the 22nd of May, at Bunzlau, during the retreat after the battle of Bautzen, the prisoners, red Hussars, lay in the suburb near the Galgenteich.
[Footnote 59]: Vossische Zeitung, No. 45, from the 15th April.
[Footnote 60]: Now a practising doctor at Halle. The account is from the mouth of the worthy man.