XXVIII. authentic materials, of the most important steps connected CHAP. with the final dénouement which at Waterloo terminated the eventful drama. 1800-48. autobiogra Autobiography, when relating to very eminent men, 54. and written in a spirit of candour and moderation, is one German of the most interesting, and withal instructive species of phies. composition; for it at once amuses the indolent with the account of the efforts of the departed great, and encourages the strenuous, whom Providence has gifted with the power of emulating them. How valuable such a record may be is sufficiently proved by the admirable sketch of his life by Hume-the more elaborate and charming autobiography of Gibbon; while the confessions of Rousseau afford a melancholy proof how completely the revelations of a great but vain man may undermine even the most colossal reputation, and the truth of the saying, that of all sights the most unbearable is a "naked human heart." Vanity is the general cause of the despicable character of so many biographies of themselves by eminent men; and unfortunately this failing is generally the most conspicuous in those of the greatest celebrity-witness the autobiographies of Chateaubriand and Lamartine. It is fortunate for the memory of Byron that his has been burnt; for it would in all probability have destroyed all respect for his character, though it could not have impaired the admiration for his genius.* 55. graphy of Oehlen Germany has not been awanting in works of this description from some of the most gifted of her sons, and Autobiothree stand forth pre-eminent among many others of lesser Goethe, fame. Goethe's Autobiography, without being so fearful schlager, a confession of disgraceful turpitudes as Rousseau's, is most curious and valuable record of his mind; so various, so many-sided, so full, alternately, of piercing thoughts * By far the best and most favourable, as well as truthful, picture of Lord Byron, is to be found in Lady Blessington's conversations with him—a work second only to Boswell's Johnson in fidelity and interest, and worthy of a lasting place beside it in English literature. and Ander sen. CHAP. and common inclinations. It is far too minute, however, XXVIII. and in consequence tedious. With more enthusiasm in 1800-48. his disposition and romance in his tastes, that of Oehlen schlager exhibits an interesting picture of the gradual development of an ardent and gifted mind, and of the mingled influence of the traditions of the olden and the literature of modern times upon a highly poetic temperament. It is only to be regretted that its interest is somewhat impaired, at least to a foreign reader, by the multitude of obscure names and characters who are introduced, alike unknown to general fame, and insignificant in the picture of character. But the most interesting of all these autobiographies, as the briefest, is that of Andersen, the celebrated Danish novelist. The picture of his early life in the island of Oldensee, and the patriarchal manners of the inhabitants of the archipelago in which it is placed, is in the highest degree interesting; as is also the picture of the successive means by which his genius was developed, and raised him from a humble station in a provincial town to the society of kings and queens. It is only to be regretted that vanity, the usual foible of successful authors, is too conspicuous in the later pages of his biography, and strangely contrasts with the simplicity and candour of his earlier narrative. It is surprising that so many authors of discernment, in scanning the character of others, fall into this mistake when delineating themselves, and prove blind to the obvious truth that vanity is not only always contemptible, but never fails to defeat its own object, because it wounds the amour propre of those who read its effusions. Romances and novels innumerable have of late Romances issued from the prolific press of Germany; any attempt many: their to enumerate even their names is impossible in a work of general history. Generally speaking, they cannot be said to be at all comparable to those of England or France. Scott, Bulwer, and Madame de Staël, have met with no rivals in the Fatherland. They are generally distinguished by one characteristic-they paint only one, or at 56. in Ger general character. years XXVIII. 1800-48. most two, strata of society. In the first instance, the CHAP. extravagant admiration which was felt for Goethe's Werther led to a crowd of sentimental writers, who descanted on the moon, and midnight serenades, and dying lovers, till ridicule was brought over the whole subject. As usual in such cases, the next school went into the opposite extreme, and the exact representation of real life, with no fictitious additions, became the great object. By its authors, society in a village or small country town in Germany is painted with minuteness and fidelity, but nothing more. The village priest, the apothecary, the bailiff of the neighbouring castle, with occasional glimpses of the inmates of the castle itself; the simple life of the shopkeepers, the visits of strolling actors and actresses, who turn the heads of all the young men; the return from the wars of the hussar officers, who captivate all the maidens; the intrigues of a young baron with a simple true-hearted frau, constitute in general the shape of their tales. 57. sophic Another class of novels belong to the philosophical school; they are filled with abstract disquisitions, and The philoresemble rather moral or metaphysical essays than novelists. pictures of life. As a necessary consequence, they are for the most part insupportably dull: romance may often be made the vehicle of the most exalted sentiment, the purest morality, but it must be by event, not prelection; by character, not disquisition. Even the best novels of Goethe and Wieland are not free from this defect; there are many passages which every reader is fain to pass over. It is remarkable how much more homespun and limited in conception their novels are than their poetry or their dramas: but a little reflection must show how this has come, and unavoidably come to pass. Novels are intended to paint real life, and are in general interesting in proportion as they delineate with accuracy and truth, and yet romantic interest, the manners and incidents of those with whom we are acquainted; poetry CHAP. and the drama diverge into the ideal world, and bring XXVIII. to view the events and character of all ages. Ima1800-48. gination and study can find the last, but nothing can 58. Countess HahnHahn. 59. supply the want of actual observation in the first. The German authors, who almost all belong to the burgher class, and are familiar with its manners only, can paint them, and they have done so admirably; but we can expect from them nothing more; and it need not be said that they form a part only of the materials of fiction. To these observations an exception must be made in the case of the distinguished authoress whose romances have excited unusual attention in Germany. The COUNTESS HAHN-HAHN has been gifted by nature with the true genius of poetry and romance; and her position in society has enabled her to paint its highest as well as its inferior scenes. Her mind is enamoured of strong emotions; like Rachel, she makes straight to them, and, passing lightly over the smiles, dwells with sympathetic interest on the tears. Her best novels have been translated into French and English, and have acquired a European reputation. There are many scenes in them, however, which to our ideas seem coarse, and the dénouement is often of questionable morality,—a singular circumstance in an authoress who, in her beautiful little volume, Ave Maria, has given so many proofs of a refined mind, and of the most heartfelt and exalted piety. We see the same strange mixture, however, in several other German writers, and we need not wonder at it when we observe it also in Steele and Addison. It is want of refinement in taste more than deficiency in moral sense, which is the cause of this blemish in German literature; if their ideas were more depraved, they would, like the French novelists, be more careful to shroud them in refined and elegant language. It is impossible, in a sketch of this brief description, Haklander. to give any idea of the immense crowd of romancewriters who during the last forty years have appeared in Germany. XXVIII. 1800-48. Their name is legion, and a discussion of CHAP. their separate merits would occupy many volumes; but one has recently appeared whose merits are so great and generally acknowledged as to call for a separate notice. M. HAKLANDER unites in himself several of the most striking qualities of our greatest contemporary novelists. In graphic description of character, in all grades of society, and occasional pathetic power, he recalls Dickens ; in the evolving of the story, when to all appearance hopelessly complicated, he resembles Bulwer. He has not, however, the profound knowledge of the human heart, or turn for philosophic reflection, which distinguish the works of the latter author. His most celebrated work, Europäische Sclavenleben, is intended to exhibit a picture of all the stages of society, from the cellars, through the saloon, to the garret, in order to prove that the conventional bonds of civilised life in Europe are even more galling than the rude fetters of the African, and that many a white slave would have something to envy in the lot of Uncle Tom. It is to be feared there is too much truth in this view of the effects of civilisation, and in working it out M. Haklander has evinced great dramatic power, and a thorough acquaintance with all the gradations of German society. His picture of the balletdancers, and their fearful subjection to the caprices of the public; of the ardent and impassioned baron, of the restraints, etiquette, and difficulties of the ducal courts, and of the licentious life of the robbers, cannot be exceeded in fidelity and force of drawing. Unfortunately they are not calculated to elucidate any definite moral impression, and consequently fall short of the highest object of works of imagination, that of being at once true to nature and elevating in their tendency. The characters in the Europäische Sclavenleben, as in My Novel by Bulwer, are so numerous that the two first volumes seem rather too complicated for interest; but in the first, as in the English novel, they are all made to concur in the VOL. V. K |