This hearty participation in the life of the people found expression in the art of the southern Germans. The morbid spirit which prevailed in the society of the educated, drove the fine arts into the lower circles of the people. The popular painters endeavoured to represent the figures and occupations of lower life with humour and spirit; the poets endeavoured to embellish, with a genial interest, the character and condition of the countryman: their village tales, and the interest which they excited in the reading world are always considered as a symptom of how great was the longing in the educated for quiet comfort and a well-regulated activity.
A village tale shall be here given, descriptive of the condition of the people at this period; for the life of the southern German, which is related, is in many respects characteristic of the fate and inward changes in the best spirits of the time which has just passed. The movement which, after the revolution of 1830, vibrated all over Europe, had excited in him also a lively interest in the national development of the Fatherland. The debates of the Chambers of his small country were his first auxiliaries. The struggles which took place there did not remain without fruit; they relieved agriculture and the peasant from the burdens which had hitherto oppressed them; they introduced municipal institutions and public and verbal proceedings, even a law against the censorship of the press. But the German Diet interposed, the law of the press was put an end to, and the complaints of the landed proprietors against the exemption laws found favour with it; and the Frankfort outrage of the 3rd of April, 1833, produced a re-action. Then the author left his official position in a fiscal chamber and devoted his energies to the press. When he was deprived of even this share in the political destiny of his country, by the malicious chicanery of a lawless police, he settled for a few years in Switzerland. All his life it had been a pleasure for him to teach. As a student, as candidate for the service of the State, he had given instruction to young men; he was therefore not unprepared for the office of teacher; which he entered upon in that foreign country. He relates as follows:—
"On Easter Monday, 1838, in the church at Grenchen, in the canton of Solothurn, the Roman Catholic community appointed a Protestant and a German as teacher in the newly-erected district school. The community had chosen him, and the government had confirmed the choice; I was the teacher.
"It was a raw spring morning. The monotonous grey of the clouds covered the sides and summit of the Jura, large snow-flakes fell in thick drifts, and enveloped the procession that was moving towards the church. The words addressed by Father Zweili, superior of the Franciscans, and president of the education council, to those assembled, would have been suitable to any clergyman. He expressed to me that I need have no hesitation in speaking to the scholars on religion; 'it is only necessary for you to abstain from touching on the few points on which we differ.'
"The Franciscans were learned, industrious men, they lived as instructors of philosophy, and were therefore in open feud with the Jesuits. The government found in them, powerful supporters and co-operators in their exertions for the education of the people; in this respect everything had to be done, for the patrician rulers who had been overthrown in 1830 had done nothing. In the first place, they established preparatory schools, and training colleges for masters, and provided for the supervision and conduct of school life. The difficulties that had to be overcome were not trifling, but it was all accomplished in the course of four years. In the beginning of 1837, each parish had its school, each school its master and dotation, and each child suitable instruction; the law punished parents for not insisting on the regular attendance of their children at school. As soon as the preparatory schools were arranged, district schools were added; here there was no compulsion; they were established by the community, and the attendance of scholars who had left the preparatory schools, and had the necessary preliminary knowledge, was voluntary; the State assisted the institution by grants, and maintained a superintendence. Grenchen was one of the first communities which determined on providing means for a district school; the government gave an annual contribution of 800 Swiss franks, about 305 thalers. The merit of this decision of the community is due above all to the physician, Dr. Girard, my dear friend. He could make only a small number of his fellow-citizens understand the utility of the undertaking, for they had not had the advantage of the instruction afforded to the present generation, but they trusted the man who had so often showed his unselfish desire to do good. But the desire of this people, who are by nature so energetic, to be in advance of other communities prevailed, and when it became a question whether Grenchen or Selzach should maintain the new school, the thing was decided; the institution was to be at that place, whatever it might be. I had great pleasure in teaching, and the situation secured me a residence which I cared more for than maintenance which might be obtained by other work.
"The village in which I was now to teach was the largest community in the canton, with more than 2000 inhabitants, and 400 citizens entitled to vote, and it was situated among the outlying hills of the Jura. Towards the south, rich meadows and well cultivated fields, slope down to the Aar, which hastens with rapid course through the valley to the Rhine. On the other side of the Aar the ground rises gently up to hilly Emmenthal, and behind it rises the chain of the Alps. The Urner and Swiss mountains in the east, the Rigi standing alone in foremost grandeur; in the centre the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, up to the Savoy Alps, among which Mont Blanc rises its head majestically. Towards the west the lakes of Viel, Neufchatel, and Meurten spread their shining mirrors. It would be difficult to find anywhere a country so lovely, and at the same time grand, as here presents itself to the eyes.
"The houses of the village are detached and scattered about in groups for some height up the mountain, almost every one is surrounded by a garden and meadow, and shaded by fruit-trees; a clear rivulet glides with many windings through the village. Unwillingly do the thatched roofs give way to the prescribed tiles. The farming of the inhabitants comprises fields, meadows, and woods, the herding of cattle, and on the most valuable properties, mountain pastures, and the making of butter and cheese. The vine also is cultivated. The Grencheners do not deny that in common years their wine is sour, they sneer at it in songs and jests, but yet they drink it, and find it wholesome. They are a powerful race, of Allemanni origin, the men are mostly slender but strong, and some of them uncommonly tall. Among the women and maidens there is frequently that Madonna-like beauty which is often to be found in Catholic districts. They are cheerful and gifted with humour, perseveringly industrious, and skilful in adapting themselves to every position and helping themselves. It is not the custom with them to close the doors; it is mentioned as an unprecedented circumstance, that three years ago a watch was stolen in the village. But the locality is not favourable for thieves; woe to him who allows himself to be caught, he would not come unscathed into the hands of justice.
"The Grencheners had the repute of untamed lawlessness, which manifested itself in litigation and a strong inclination to take the law into their own hands; the knife was frequently used, and blood was shed. If the result was not mortal all who were concerned in it were summoned, in order to keep the magistrates away. The injurer and the injured negotiated, through mediators, as to a suitable indemnification, and with the conclusion of the treaty the enmity terminated. Money was not in my time the standard by which men were valued, but their labour. I value a citizen there, who, having by an unsuccessful enterprise lost his property, has worked as a street servant. His fellow-citizens esteem him as much as before, and praise him because he performs his service right well. For lads who did not like the labours of peace, foreign service offered them a beaten way, which was not objected to by the community, because it freed them from many disturbing elements; however, it brought back many wild fellows not amended.
"In the year 1790, when the French invaded Switzerland, the cantons were very disunited; they carried on their struggle against the enemy singly; the Bernese fought well at Neuenegg and the Vierwaldstättersee, but one after another were subdued by superior power. The Grencheners were bold enough to defend their village against the French invaders; they went out, some of them armed with halberds and old weapons, against the enemy, and joined in hand-to-hand combat. The name of Jungfer Schürer still lives, in the mouths of the inhabitants, and they still show the place where she lost her life in the struggle. The French officer, her opponent, was brought wounded to the hospital at Solothurn, and is said to have there lamented penitently that he was obliged to kill a maiden; but he had only the choice of doing this or falling under her blows.
"The bath lies in a small secluded valley, separated from the village, a building with a large front, betwixt ponds and pleasure-grounds with shady groups of trees. Behind it is the spring, a clear iron water. In summer the bath is visited by guests from Switzerland—Alsacians and others—who accidentally discover the place and take a fancy to it. In this century the small valley of marsh and sedge was still the possession of the community. The father of Girard obtained the land for a moderate price; built his huts upon it, drained the ground, enclosed the spring, and arranged the baths—at first in very modest style, extending the grounds as means increased. Father and mother both exerted themselves, sons and daughters grew up to assist; one son studied at German universities, and became a physician. The institution has to thank him for its rapid prosperity.