Part 28 (1/2)

I have no doubt that some of these days _Sappho_ will be translated into the idiom of modern Greece and acted in that country. The actress, who did the part of Sappho, gave it full effect, and the part of the young Melitta was fairly performed; but I did not approve of the acting of the performer who played Phaon. He overstepped the modesty of nature and the intention of the author; for he was in his gesture and manner grossly rude and insolent to poor Sappho, whereas, tho' his love to Melitta was paramount, he ought to have shown no ordinary struggle in stifling his grat.i.tude to his benefactress Sappho.

I admire the German word _Gebieterinn_ (mistress). It is majestic and harmonious, and the only word, in any modern language that I know of, poetic enough to render aptly the Greek word [Greek: Despoina].

DRESDEN, Decr. 1st.

I have been to visit the famous Gallery of paintings here; but you must not expect from me a description. I shall send you a catalogue. It would be endless to describe the various _chefs-d'oeuvre_ which are contained in this valuable collection. Dresden has always been considered as the Florence of Germany and has always been renowned for its Gallery of paintings; hence the almost innate taste of the Saxons for the _Beaux Arts_ and the great encouragement given to them at all tunes by this Government.

It is here and at Meissen that the best German is thought to be spoken, tho' Hanover disputes this prerogative with Dresden.

I have been to see the antiquities and curiosities of the _j.a.panischer Palast_ (Palace of j.a.pan), as it is called. In this Palace is a quant.i.ty of ancient armour and the most superb collection of porcelain I believe in Europe. The collection of precious stones is also immense; and I never in my life saw such a profusion of diamonds, emeralds, turquoises, sapphirs, amethysts and topazes. In this Museum are three statues found in Herculaneum on its first discovery or excavation, viz., an Athlete, an Esculapius, and a Venus. Here too, and from this circ.u.mstance, the Palace takes its name, is a collection of j.a.panese antiquities and ornaments, lacker work in gold and silver, which is unique in the world. From the Royal Library, a foreigner, on being recommended, may have at his own house all such books to read as can be replaced if lost or spoiled; but the ma.n.u.scripts and scarce and valuable editions are not permitted to be taken out of the Library. Any person once admitted on recommendation may go to read in this Library at stated hours and may consult any book or ma.n.u.script he pleases on applying to the librarian.

A person fond of music will be in a continual state of enjoyment at Dresden. Besides the fine music in the Royal Chapel, the band of the King's Guard is composed of first rate musicians, who attend regularly at Guard mounting and play for an hour together. There is also a band of music every evening during the summer months that plays in the gardens of the _Linkischer Bad_. Then there are various other places of recreation and amus.e.m.e.nt, at all of which musicians are in attendance; for a Saxon cannot enjoy his repast or his pipe without music and good music too to facilitate his digestion. There is a custom in Dresden that on the occasion of the death of a person the young choristers of the Cathedral are sent for to sing hymns, standing in a semi-circle round the door of the house of the defunct. These choristers are all dressed in black and their style of singing is melodious, solemn and impressive.

Smoking is so prevalent here and in all parts of Germany that if you wish to denote one of the male s.e.x, _smoker_ would be quite a synonymous word.

Such is the pa.s.sion for this enjoyment that even at the b.a.l.l.s the young men, the moment they have finished the waltz, quit the hands of their partners and rush into another room in order to smoke; nor would the beauty of Venus nor the wit of Minerva be powerful enough to restrain the young German from giving way to his darling practise. Smoking tobacco has I think this visible effect, that it serves to calm all tumultuous pa.s.sions, and what confirms me in this idea is, that most young Germans, in commencing life as adults, are full of enthusiastic and even exaggerated notions of liberty and equality. They are romantic to a degree that is difficult to be conceived, and seem to be restrained by no selfish or worldly ideas. This you would suppose would tend to render them rather turbulent subjects, under an autocratical government; but all this _Schwarmerey_ evaporates literally in smoke: they take to their pipe, and by degrees the fumes of tobacco cause all these lofty ideas to dissipate: the pipe becomes more and more necessary to their existence, and consoles them for their wrongs real or imaginary; and in three or four years they sit down contentedly to their several occupations, as strait-forward, painstaking, plodding men, quite satisfied to follow the routine chalked out for them, and either totally forget all ambitious views, or become too indolent to make any sacrifice to obtain them, and this _virtue comes from tobacco_!! The German Hippogriff becomes an Ox, dull and domestic, and treads out the corn placed before him, content to have his share thereof in peace and quietness.

The German Governments, which are mild and paternal, are fully aware of this and allow the utmost liberty of speech; well knowing that, thanks to that friend and ally of Legitimacy, tobacco, the romantic visionary and somewhat refractory youth will subside into a tranquil _ganz alltaglicher Mann_ and become totally averse to any innovation which demands the sacrifice of repose.

The pipe which has this sedative effect on political effervescence, has a still stronger similar effect, it is said, on the pa.s.sion of love; hence the German husbands are proverbially sluggish. But the ladies, none of whom smoke, preserve their romanticity during their whole lives, and would, if they had their choice, give their hands to foreigners, who are more attentive to them than their own countrymen.

The young ladies here are, 'tis said, extremely romantic in their ideas of love and capable of the strongest attachment. They think that any thing should be pardoned to sincere pa.s.sion. It has been related to me that some time ago a young man, who was devotedly attached to a girl, on the father refusing his consent to the marriage, stabbed the girl and then himself. An immense number of young ladies attended their funeral, to throw flowers over the grave of the two lovers. a.s.suredly the young man was only a noviciate in smoking.

Everybody must, I think, admire the Saxon women. They are in general handsome and have fine shapes; they are warm hearted and affectionate; and they are almost universally well educated. Indeed the whole Saxon people are so amiable that foreigners find themselves so happy here that they are unwilling to quit the country. Very many form matrimonial attachments. In short, this people fully merit the epithet a celebrated English traveller (Sherlock)[127] has bestowed on them when he called them a _herrliches Volk_.

DRESDEN, Jan. 8d, 1819.

I have made an excursion to Meissen which lies on the same bank of the river with the old town of Dresden at a distance of twelve miles. As there is no road on the left bank of the river to Meissen, you must cross the river twice to arrive at it, viz., once at Neustadt and once at Meissen, the road being on the right bank. I put up at the _Hirsch_ (Stag), a very comfortable inn. I went to Meissen with a view of seeing the Russian contingent pa.s.s the Elbe on their return from France, which has been evacuated in consequence of the arrangement at Aix-la-Chapelle. They appeared a fine body of men, clothed _a la francaise_ and seemed in high spirits. They seem to have imbibed liberal ideas during their residence in France, for some of the officers who dined at the inn at Meissen spoke very freely on pa.s.sing events.

The return of the Saxon contingent is expected in Dresden in a day or two, and there will no doubt be a great deal of rejoicing among the military and their relations to meet their old comrades and friends; and potent libations of _Doppel Bier_ will no doubt be made. Meissen is said to be famous for the beauty of its women and the few that I saw in the streets did not contradict this reputation.

DRESDEN, Jany. 5th, 1819.

We have had several b.a.l.l.s here. Waltzing is the only sort of dance in fas.h.i.+on at Dresden, excepting now and then a Polonaise.

I have witnessed an interesting spectacle in the _Grosser Garten_. The pond or basin is completely frozen over, and a Russian Prince, Gallitzin, who is here, has fitted up a sort of _Montagnes Russes_ as they are called. Blocks of ice are placed on an inclined plane to the top of which you mount by means of a staircase; and then, seating yourself in a sort of sledge, you slide down the inclined plane with immense velocity. The Prince often persuades a lady to sit on this sleigh on his lap and descend together; and this no doubt serves to _break the ice_ of many an amorous intrigue. This construction of the Prince Gallitzin has contributed to fill the _Grosser Garten_ with the _beau monde_, every day from twelve to two o'clock; so that you see we are in no want of amus.e.m.e.nts at Dresden.

The King frequently attends the theatre; he is a tall, fine looking man, and is usually dressed in the uniform of his Foot-Guards, which is scarlet faced with yellow. The poor King has taken much to heart the injustice with which he has been treated by the coalition, and no doubt will not easily forget the ill-bred and insolent letter of Castlereagh to the Congress, wherein he said that the King of Saxony deserved to lose his dominions for adhering to Napoleon. But how the King of Saxony could act otherwise I am at a loss to find: so little could he possibly deserve this treatment for adhering to Napoleon, that had his advice been taken in the year 1805, the French would never have been able to extend their conquests so far, nor to dictate laws to Germany. But Lord Castlereagh seems to have either never known or wilfully forgotten the anterior political conduct of Saxony. Had he been more versed in German affairs, or had studied with more accuracy the events pa.s.sing before his eyes, it would have been a check upon his arrogance; but here was a genuine disciple of the Pitt school (that school of ignorance and insolence), who sets himself up as the moral regenerator of nations and as a distributor of provinces, while he is grossly ignorant of the political system of the country on whose destinies he pretends to decide so peremptorily. Had Castlereagh paid attention to what was going forward in Germany in 1805, he would have seen too that of all powers Prussia was the very _last_ who with any _shadow of justice_ could pretend to an indemnification at the expense of Saxony. In the year 1805, the King, then Elector of Saxony, strongly advised the Prussian Cabinet to forget its ancient rivalry and jealousy of Austria and to coalesce with the latter power, in resisting the encroachments of Napoleon, in order to prevent the latter from attempting the overthrow of the whole fabric of the const.i.tution of the Holy Roman Empire, with the intricacy and fragility of which no prince in Germany was better acquainted than the Elector of Saxony. Prussia however was still reluctant to engage in the contest and gave no support whatever to Austria. Napoleon defeats the Austrians at Austerlitz and dictates peace. Six months after the Prussian Cabinet, excited by a patriotic but rash and ill-calculating party, has recourse to arms, not from any generous policy, but because she sees herself outwitted by Napoleon, who refuses to cede to her Hanover in perpetuity. Prussia begins the war and calls on Saxony, who always moved in her orbit, to join her. To the Elector of Saxony this war (in 1806) appeared then ill-timed and too late; but with that good faith, nevertheless, which invariably characterized him, he remained faithful to his engagement and furnished his quota of troops to Prussia. The Saxon troops fought n.o.bly at the battle of Jena. This battle annihilates all the power of Prussia, and lays Saxony entirely at the mercy of the Conqueror; but Napoleon not only treats Saxony with moderation, but with rare generosity; he does not take from her a single village, but aggrandizes her and gives to her the Duchy of Warsaw and to her Sovereign the t.i.tle of King. Saxony becomes in consequence a member of the confederation of the Rhine and is bound to support the Protector in all his wars offensive and defensive. The Russian war in 1812 begins: every German state, Austria and Prussia in the number, furnishes its contingent of troops. The campaign is unsuccessful, the climate of Russia having annihilated the French Army, and Napoleon returns to Paris.

Saxony is now exposed to invasion and hara.s.sed by the incursions of the Cossacks. The King of Saxony is perplexed in what manner to act, so as to ensure to his subjects that protection which was ever uppermost in his thoughts; feeling however with his usual sagacity that every thing would ultimately depend on the dispositions of Austria, he repairs himself to Prague, in order to have an interview with one of the Austrian ministers, and to sound that Cabinet. Austria however still vacillates and declines stating what her intentions are. Napoleon returns from Paris, defeats the Prussians and Russians at Bautzen and re-occupies all Saxony. He then writes to the King of Saxony to desire him to return immediately to his dominions and to fulfil his engagements. What was the King to do? Austria still refusing to declare herself, was he to sacrifice his crown and dominions uselessly to the vengeance of Napoleon, to please the Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia, who for aught he knew might patch up a peace the next day? and this was the more probable from their having been beaten at Bautzen, which circ.u.mstance also might with equal probability induce Austria to coalesce with, instead of against France. All the other members of the Confederation of the Rhine remained staunch to Napoleon and poured their contingents into Saxony; was he to be the only unfaithful ally and towards a Monarch who had always treated him with the strongest marks of attachment and regard? and when neither Russia nor Prussia were likely to give him the least a.s.sistance? He therefore returned to Dresden; and Napoleon took up his grand position the whole length of the Elbe, from the mountains of Bohemia to Hamburgh, thus covering the whole of Saxony with his army. Austria however at last comes forward to join the coalition.

Fortune changes; the Saxon troops, tired of beholding their country the perpetual theatre of war and trusting to the generosity of the Allies, go over to them in the middle of a battle, and decide, thereby, the fate of the day at Leipzig. The King of Saxony is made a prisoner, and then he is punished for what he could not help. Why was he to be punished more than any other member of the Confederation of the Rhine? One would think that the seasonable defection of his troops at Leipzig should have induced the Allies to treat him with moderation. The other States of the Confederation did not abandon Napoleon until after he was completely beaten at Leipzig; and Austria refused to accede to the coalition until a _carte blanche_ was given her to help herself in Italy.

Let every impartial man therefore review the whole of this proceeding and then say whether the King of Saxony, so proverbial for his probity, so adored by his subjects, deserved to be insulted by such an unfeeling letter as that of Castlereagh. No! the King of Saxony better deserves to reign than any King of them all. Would they had even a small share of his virtues! Another proof and a still stronger one of the great integrity and honor of this excellent Prince, is, that when Napoleon offered to mediatize in his favor the various ducal Houses in Saxony, such as Weimar, Gotha, Cobourg, etc., and to annex these countries to his dominions, he declined the offer. Would Prussia, Austria, or Hanover have been so scrupulous?

The young ladies here, tho' well versed and delighting in various branches of litterature, cannot overcome that strong national propensity to tales and romances wherein the _terrific and supernatural_ abounds; in all their romances accordingly this taste prevails strongly; nay, even in some of the romances, where the scene is laid in later times, there is some such anachronism as the story of a spectre.

I recollect reading a novel, the scene of which is laid in Italy about the time of the battle of Marengo, wherein a ghost is introduced who contributes mainly to the unravelling of the piece. A young lady here of considerable talent and of general information confessed to me, when I asked her, what subjects pleased her most in the way of reading, that nothing gave her so much delight as ”_Geistergeschichten_.” Lewis' romance of ”_The Monk_” is a great favorite in Germany.[128] By the bye, his poetical tale of _Alonzo and Imogen_ is evidently taken from a similar subject in the _Volks-mahrchen_.