Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries, Vol. II.

by Gustav Freytag

"I had indeed never been fearful of so unceremonious a proceeding from the adherents of the 'Black party,' but it was not till now that I was cheered by a feeling of security. Many small but significant traits showed me that the people no longer considered me and mine as strangers, and an approximation was here accomplished which was perhaps the first for some generations. Before the opening of the institution, it had been a question of procuring benches and other requisites, and it was then remarked that these articles should not be supplied by foreign joiners. A long time afterwards one of these came to me—there were two brothers—to beg of me to lay a memorial before the government, stating that they wished to remain at Grenchen, and obtain the rights of citizens. By a new decree, the mayors were ordered to examine the papers of settlers, and to send to their own homes all whose papers were not according to rule. These had no papers, and were therefore in danger of losing their domicile. On my inquiring how long they had lived in the place, the man answered, that he and his brother had been born there, also their father and mother; their grand-parents had wandered there as young people, and, indeed, not from a foreign country, or from another canton, but from a Solothurn village, only four hours from Grenchen, where, however, they would no longer know anything about them. The community had dealt well with them, giving them an equal share with the citizens in the communal property, but they denied them the rights of citizens. The government then signified to the community, that they had neglected to demand from their sires the papers, and that the grandchildren must not suffer from it. They became citizens, but still remained foreign joiners.

"After a year was passed, fortune was favourable to me. The neighbours' children chose mine as playfellows, and the wives sought intercourse with mine, whilst many of the men persuaded me to join a union which was engaged in objects of general utility; it soon attained a great development, and introduced much improvement into the administration and economy of the property of the community. I learnt to esteem many excellent country people; many have passed away in the vigour of manhood. Her Vogt, justice of the peace, a genuine Allemanni, with a long thin face and dark hair, adapted by his understanding and acuteness to be the champion of the rising enlightenment, was killed not long ago by the fall of a tree which he was felling with an axe. The common councillor, Schmied Girard, met with an accident in the flower of manhood, on the occasion of a bonfire, which was lighted on the Warinfluh, high up on the edge of a rocky precipice, in order to show the Bernese neighbours sympathy in the celebration of the festival in honour of their constitution. He pushed a great log with his foot into the fire, slipped, and fell backwards over the rock into the abyss. He was an uncompromising opponent of the rotten system in the State, and had not feared to make known his sympathy for David Strauss, whose call to Zurich in 1839 had brought about the noted Zurich row, and to express his conviction that there could be no improvement till the community could choose their own pastor, and it should only be for five years. No wonder then that the ultramontane party spoke of his death in their papers as by the finger of God, for the edification of the good, and as a warning to the godless. The Grencheners answered the fleeting curse of the pious press by an enduring inscription on stone. In the village, by the side of the high road, in a place that every traveller who goes along the road must remark, there is a simple memorial stone. The inscription says that it is dedicated to the memory of the common councillor Girard, who was loved and esteemed by his fellow citizens, who laboured and met his death in the cause of liberty, justice, and enlightenment. He was a good neighbour to me, and a powerful support: my wife gazed at him with astonishment when he took her Italian iron out of the fire with his bare hand, and placed it in the iron stand.

"An esprit de corps in a good sense soon arose among the scholars; they felt themselves a distinguished corporate body. I made expeditions with them; amongst others, to Neuenberg, where the curiosities of the town, especially the rich collection of natural history, were shown to them with praiseworthy willingness. Another time we accepted the friendly invitation of a teacher at Solothurn to see a series of physical experiments. To the capital of the country the boys would not go on foot, but drove, as proud Grencheners, in a carriage decked with foliage, drawn by stately horses. In the lecture-room their demeanour was quiet, and they showed attention and intelligence, and they could see there much that, from want of proper appliances, I could only describe to them. The school was the focus of their life, the place where they collected on all great occasions. When one night the alarm-bell sounded, announcing a fire in the neighbouring village of Bettlach, they all came unsummoned to me; we put ourselves in order, and hastened with rapid steps to the spot where the fire was; we formed a rank to the nearest brook, and received our share in the praise and parting thanks of the pastor, for, when the fixe was extinguished, the clergyman delivered a speech of thanks to the neighbours who had come to help. I became the confidant of the cleverer ones in many features of their inward development. The boy who had come forward as advocate for his father was, on his first entrance into the school, so uncurbed in his overflowing strength, and so untamed by any culture, that, instead of taking his place in the usual way, he always vaulted over tables and benches; the wild creature scarcely kept within his clothes. But very soon all this was changed; Sepp became quiet and serious, and his whole strength exerted itself in reflection and learning. I expressed to him my pleasure at the change, and he told me that one night he had not been able to sleep, and the thought had come into his head, 'Thou hast hitherto not been a man, but an animal; now, through the means of the school, thou canst become a man, and must do so.' From that night he felt himself changed. Another—now an able forest-manager and geometrician—had surprised me by an almost sudden transition from slow to quick comprehension and rapid progress. He gave me afterwards this explanation: 'All at once light broke upon me. You had set us an equation; I racked my brains with it, but could not find out a solution. I was in the stable milking the cows: I had taken the paper with me, laid it beside me on a log, and was looking at it every moment. Then it passed like lightning through my brain: "thus must thou do it!" I left the cow and pail, took my paper, ran into the room, and solved the equation. Since that all my learning has gone on better.'

"The year 1839 had come to an end, and the winter term—the most tedious time of the school—had begun with an increased number of scholars. One Sunday some old scholars came to me, and suggested that the Grencheners had at one period occasionally performed a play. This old custom had long fallen into disuse; there had been nothing to see except at the carnival, 'the Doctor of Padua,' Punchinello, and the old buffoon sports, which had been brought home by mercenaries from the Italian wars, and established in the villages; but they wished to have again a great play, and begged me to help them. I desired to have time to think, and made inquiries of the old people, particularly of old Hans Fik, who, at least forty years before had co-operated as a youth, and, as he acknowledged to me with shame, had acted the part of the 'Mother of God.' From him I learnt that the last dramatic performance had been the 'St. Geneviève.' He doubted whether this younger generation could accomplish anything similar, for such a splendid paraphernalia, with many horses, such tremendous jumps clear over the horses, could no longer be seen in the present day. The rôle of the count had been particularly fatiguing; one man had not sufficed for it; they had, therefore, had three counts, who, by turns, exercised their gymnastic art. Upon my asking whether there had not been speaking also, and whether he could not remember some passage which he could recite before me, the old man began to declaim, one tone and a half above his natural voice, singing and scanning with a monotonous abrupt rhythm and cadence. Undoubtedly this mode of delivery was a tradition from ancient times, and the speaking in these representations was an accessory only, while the jumping, wrestling, and gymnastics were the main point. From the productions of modern art which were at my command, I chose a native tragedy, 'Hans Waldmann Bürgermeister von Zürich,' by Wurstemberger of Berne. The hero, a leader in the Burgundian war, exerted himself to destroy the rule of the nobles in his native city, and to introduce reforms in accordance with the spirit of the age. Many of these innovations were displeasing to the citizens. The 'man of the people' became unpopular, a conspiracy of nobles upset him, and he was executed. The piece was not deficient in the necessary action; single combats, popular insurrection, fighting, and prison scenes gave spice to the dish; and longer dialogues were struck out. When my time for consideration had passed, the scholars made their appearance with military punctuality, and undertook with acclamation to perform the piece I had chosen.

"The young men set actively to work, and showed that innate disposition to self-government which had been developed by education and practice. Those who took part in it—the elder and fifth-class scholars—assembled at the national school, formed a union, and constituted it by the election of a president, a treasurer, and a secretary. They immediately proceeded to the distribution of parts. This took place as follows:—The president inquired of those assembled, 'Who will act the part of Hans Waldmann?' Three or four candidates rise, each brings forward his claims—height, a powerful voice, or school education; then they retire, and the discussion begins. Each candidate has his adherents and opponents. The discussion is closed, and a nearly unanimous majority allots the principal rôle to the teacher, Tschui. Thus it went on with all the parts in succession, and the remainder of the general body agreed together as to their distribution as soldiers, peasants, and peasant women from Lake Zurich. The final vote put an end to all contention; there was not the least murmuring against the decision of the majority. I had been present at the meeting without saying a word; for, willing as the boys always were to listen to my advice—nay, even to look to my countenance for the expression of a wish,—yet it would have been annoying to them if I had obtruded myself upon them on the occasion of this performance. The distribution of parts gave perfect satisfaction; if I had undertaken it, it could not have turned out better,—probably not so well. Immediately after, a number of the elder lads, between twenty and thirty years of age, asked me to allow them to assist by acting the part of soldiers; they represented that there were some wild fellows among the actors, and there might be some ill-conducted lads among the spectators who would behave mischievously, and it would be well if they were at hand to keep order. Their desire was willingly complied with, and the appearance of these stout youths may have contributed to make their service unnecessary.

"After the parts had been written out and learnt by heart, the rehearsals began, and continued during the whole winter. Most of the actors could only be brought to a certain point of proficiency, and there they remained; but some, especially the actor of the first part, richly repaid the trouble taken with him, and won, both at the performance and afterwards, the highest praise. But what delighted me most was to observe the moral effect of this dramatic industry of the young people on the life of the village. The common councillors related, with joyful surprise—what had been unheard of in the memory of man—that this winter there had been no fighting, nor the least ill-behaviour. The lads no longer sat in the taverns, drinking; they practised their parts at home, neighbours and acquaintances listening to them. Although women were excluded from the stage, the young ladies and peasant women being represented by the boys; yet the women and maidens were called upon to co-operate in other ways.

"For many things were to be procured for the theatre—decorations, costumes, and orchestra. The newly-built wing of the bath-house was chosen for the theatre; this wing contained the dining-room and the adjoining dancing-room; the first, a long room, the other somewhat smaller and a square; there was an opening in the wall from one room to the other, in the form of an arch. The dancing-room was to be the stage, and before the arch hung a curtain: the dining-room was for the spectators. A platform and benches gave more than a thousand seats, and a gallery attached to the wall opposite to the curtain served as boxes. The plan of the stage arrangements was devised by a genuine artist, the painter Disteli, of Solothurn, known by his pictures of Swiss battles; the union took charge of the execution of it. It begged the common council to signify what trees might be cut to supply the necessary timber; crowds went out; the trees fell under the strokes of the axe; the lads harnessed themselves to them, putting on the tinkling-bells of the sledge-horses, and exultingly dragged the stems down the steep hill-path to the saw-mill. Then came the carpenters of the village, assisted by a sufficient number of men; in a short time the theatre was ready. The decorations were much aided by the misfortune of a play-manager, who, with his company, had for a long time been giving representations in a neighbouring city, but then had been obliged, by the pressure, not of the public, but of creditors, to go away, leaving behind him the whole of his theatrical properties. The scenery, therefore, was in the custody of the city, and the theatrical union succeeded in hiring, for a moderate sum, what was necessary—a room, a street, a wood, and even a dark prison. The costumes were designed by the painter Disteli; he coloured not only the particular dresses faithfully, according to the attire of the time and place, but contrived how it might be most cheaply carried out, by using the articles of dress that were at hand,—the aprons, bodices, shawls, and cloaks of the women. Whilst the village tailor worked, with an additional journeyman, incessantly at the costumes which required a higher degree of dexterity, the maidens occupied themselves for weeks with the smart dresses of the noble ladies, and the simple, picturesque attire of the women of the people; and many heroes owed to the taste and skill of a sister or a future bride the plumed cap and mantle which made him an object of admiration. If the dress, even less than the wearers, left little to desire, so did the equipment of the soldiers give a peculiar excellence to this performance; for the union addressed a petition to the government of the Canton, to allow them the use of the equipments and arms from the Burgundian war that were in the armoury at Solothurn, of helmets, armour, armlets, greaves, swords, spears, and halberds; and safe securities were offered for the careful return of them, with compensation for any damage. The government not only granted the request, but their most intelligent members helped both by word and deed, and delighted the troops with an old culverin and the coal-black equipments of the Burgundian gunners of the end of the fifteenth century.

"When February was so far advanced that the days of performance could be settled,—it was to be on at least three following Sundays, in order to repay in some measure the great preparations,—I pointed out to the president of the union, after a general rehearsal, that it would be well to have some playbills printed. 'Playbills!' said the president, 'there can be no harm in that, the people will then know who they have before them.' It so happened that the actors had thought of having a strip of paper attached to the head-dress of each, on which the public could read in large characters the name of the person. This mistake induced me to add upon the bills, to the usual contents, a short summary of the scenes in each act. The union sent their messengers, and I doubt whether there were any town or village within five leagues where the bills were not carried. What conduced to all this zeal in the preparations, was not only the pleasure of showing themselves before so many men, but also the calculation, that only a numerous attendance would bring up the entrance money to balance the expenditure, and give a chance of an overplus, which would be at the disposal of the union.

"Again the actors came and begged to have a procession, 'such as there used to be formerly, in which we ride, the soldiers march, and women and others drive in smart carriages.' Those, therefore, who assisted in the village, were to assemble and move in regular procession to the baths, distant about a quarter of an hour. But the youths who had gone through numerous rehearsals, in order to attain the heights of the art, wished now to have a rehearsal of their procession, and to put on their equipments and beautiful dresses; I left it to them to do as they pleased. I learnt too late that to this innocent pleasure was added also a plan of revenge. It had come to the ears of the union, that the clergy of the place were not favourable to what the worldly authorities were so well disposed. The pastor had made a report at Solothurn, against the godless intention of performing a worldly piece on a Sunday, and the Bishop and Chapter pressed the government to prevent such misconduct. This made the young men very indignant. One Sunday afternoon, when the church bells sounded for the catechisings, the dissonance of a drum mingled with their solemn sound. It was the parochial servant, who had become old as a drummer in foreign service; he was a master of his instrument, and on this occasion was not in the service of the council, but of the actors for the rehearsal of the procession. The great strength with which the veteran played in the closest vicinity to the church, and the pleased twinkle of his eye, betrayed that he had lost at Rome and Naples all respect for ecclesiastics, and had particular pleasure in vexing the priests. He had before this avowed to me that he did not believe all Calvinists would burn in hell; he had told his pastor at confession that he had always been good friends with his Bernese comrades, and that he felt assured the good God would not cast away such brave fellows into the jaws of the devil; when in consequence of this, the pastor had refused him absolution, he had gone away saying: 'Good Mr. Pastor, henceforth I throw all my sins on your back.' So he marched round the house of God, overpowering the voice of the preacher, and causing the young people to run out of the church to see the procession. The clergy had good reason to complain, as people had been disturbed in their devotions. Soon there appeared an order from the government for the affair to be investigated; there was some difficulty in bringing it to a satisfactory conclusion, but the union promised never again to disturb the worship of God, and the ecclesiastics dropped their opposition to the performance.

"At last the great day for the first performance came. It was Sunday, the 15th of March, 1840. At mid-day the village was all astir; about two o'clock the procession was arranged, and began its march along the old high road which led from the village to the baths. The ground was still covered with snow, but the sun shone bright. First came a carriage with a brass band from Fulder, which was travelling in western Switzerland; this band played a solemn march. Then the knights with mounted retainers, two and two, in brilliant Burgundian armour, as many as forty horse; then again carriages adorned with fir-branches and ribbons, occupied by the wives and daughters of the nobles and people, and with insurgent peasants, the infantry with their gun brought up the rear. It was not a bad picture of the old time, the weapons shone in the sunshine, and the figures rose, sharply defined, from the dazzling snow.