The May Laws are only the begin-
ning of an energetic Church policy.
ning of an energetic Church policy.
Treitschke - 1914 - Life and Works
86 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
nation. With feelings of bitterness he watched the
great number of Germans who, in spite of experiences in
the past, returned to France to again take up positions,
and even obtain their naturalisation. He considered
this a lack of sense of honour which he could not under-
stand. The Pole who on all battle-fields fought against
Russia was to his mind more respectable, in spite of his
vodka smell.
VI.
From 1871 to 1874 the Reichstag was by no means the
only arena in which the warrior, prepared at all times,
practised his strength, and his academic opponents
occasionally reproached him with dragging the bad tone
of the Reichstag into the University debates. As a
matter of fact, in those days there was little difference,
thanks to the urbanity of Richter and Liebnecht.
Peculiarly enough, the chief interest of Academicians
since March, 1871--during the time, therefore, when the
most important questions agitated the German Father-
land--hinged upon a quarrel which must be styled
almost childish. Knies and Schenkel were at daggers
drawn, because the former, as Pro-Rector, occupied
the chair in the Economic Commission conducted by
Schenkel. The University statutes clearly conceded this
right to the Pro-Rector, but Schenkel declared that
Knies, in that case, might also undertake the agenda of
the Commission. The reason for Treitschke's passionate
participation in this question was partly aversion for
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 87
Schenkel, and partly gratitude for Knies, who, in Frei-
burg, as well as in Heidelberg, had urged his appointment.
Besides, he highly appreciated Knies as a scientist, and
managed to intersperse his Reichstag speeches with
exhaustive extracts from Knies' latest book, "Money. "
In the terms of the statute Knies was absolutely in his
right. When the quarrel came to no end, Jolly sus-
pended the Commission and entrusted the Senate with
its duties, but the Senate protested. As negotiations
assumed a very unparliamentary character, the philologist
Kochly declared it beneath his dignity to participate
further in the meetings. A motion was now brought
in compelling every " Ordinarius" to take part in the
meetings, and in this way the stupid discussion con-
tinued. The principal seat of terror was the Philosophic
Faculty, and by his drastic speeches Treitschke more
than once drove the Dean to despair. "He is a fire-
brand," said Ribbeck. "I am always trembling when
he asks to speak. " It was, of course, picturesque when
the tall, handsome man with thundering voice shouted
at the tiny, bespectacled gentlemen in the Senate,
"Whoever is of a different opinion will have me to deal
with. " But as he had no conception as to how loudly
he spoke, even when intending to whisper a confidential
information into his neighbour's ear, he often placed his
friends in a most awkward position. One of his con-
fidential cannon-shots particularly caused lasting damage.
When the natural history scientists, on a certain occasion,
interfered, he shouted to his neighbour, meaning of
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? 88 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
course to whisper, "What has this to do with these
chemists and dung-drivers ? "--and the fat was naturally
in the fire. Nobody was more annoyed at these sallies
than his own party, and, after a similar occurrence,
Knies, taking advantage of his deafness, called after
him, "Good-night, old baby! " He, however, gaily
departed, totally unaware of the feelings which he had
aroused even amongst his friends. It was impossible
to exercise a restraining influence over him. With his
temperament, he could not understand why he should
say something different from what he thought. A friend
who, in his opinion, although right, was unjustly ill-
treated and ill-used, would be helped out by him, what-
ever the cost.
When, however, in an article in the Prussian Annuals,
he declared that Court Theatres and University Senates
would remain for ever the classic field for jealous intrigues
and childish quarrels, the contest reverberated in the
Chambers and the Press. The so-called majority broke
off all relations with him, and, in consequence, we became
more intimate than ever. "The outlaws" was the
name he preferably applied to us, and the round table
at Konig's Winebeer, in Leipzig, was christened by him
as " The Conspirators. " In reply to my remark that we
cared by no means to be considered outlaws, he said:
"I have my students. " Anyhow, the close relations
thus established among a number of influential col-
leagues was also a gain. We met every evening, one
hour after his lectures, at the Museum, where we drank
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 89
cheap beer. "It merely costs a little effort," he said.
The circle consisted of historian Weber, the three
theologians, Gass, Holtzmann, and myself; further, the
botanist, Hofmeister, with whom Treitschke was on
friendly terms while in Leipzig; Herrmann, the teacher
of Canon Law, where Treitschke was received when still
a student in Gottingen, and who, for his benefit, had
learned the deaf and dumb language; and Knies, who,
after occupying the position of Director of the High
School Board and University Inspector, was degraded
to that of Professor at Heidelberg, so that Hitzig greeted
him with the following toast: "Behold Adam, who
now has become one of us! " The spokesmen were
Knies and Bluntschli, who both defended their one
political point of view, Treitschke keeping as much as
possible apart from the latter. His opinion of Bluntschli,
as now confirmed in print through his letters to
Freytag, was unjust. Bluntschli's intentions were for
the common weal, but in his opinion it could best be
done through him. The Otez vous que je mif mette (real
Swiss-German) applied to him in his Faculty as well as
in the Chamber. In vain I tried to prove to Treitschke
that Bluntschli's propensity to mediation proposals, and
his desire to vote always with the majority, was
founded on his peaceable disposition and his benevolent
concern for the public good. When, however, on a
certain occasion, prior to leaving for Edingen by rail, I
spoke to him in this strain, he raved to such an extent
that the attention of the people in the waiting-room was
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? go TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
aroused, and I preferred to discontinue the argument.
On such occasions, the misfortune of his deafness became
very marked, for how was it possible to make complicated
circumstances clear to him by lip-movements and scrib-
bling on block slips? For good reasons he disliked
letters by post. Although he belonged at that time,
academically, to the Bluntschli party, he attacked, in
his essay of 1871, on "Parties and Factions," the
Bluntschli-Rohmer State Law, establishing a parallel
between the State functions and the human organism.
"State science demands thought, not comparisons,"
he wrote. "What is the use of speaking figuratively,
which is just as arbitrary as the old bad habit so
favoured by natural philosophers of comparing the State
with the human body? Argument ceases with such fan-
tastic parables. Analogies are easily found, and with
beautiful words one might describe the King as the
head or the heart, or also as the index of a State. "
This was not polite language, and must have annoyed
Bluntschli, all the more as Treitschke, in the language
of Goethe, "only tugged at the discarded serpent's
skin," Bluntschli himself having left that part of the
Rohmer philosophy behind him; and that is why, as
far as I know, he never replied to the attack. Treitschke
also reproached Bluntschli with attempting to count
Luther amongst the Liberals--" He, whose eminent
mind admirably combines the traits of the revolutionary
stormer of heaven with those of the devout monk, he
who was anything but a Liberal! Or will our opponents
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 91
think more of us if we are so bold as to declare that the
true spirit of Christianity is liberal? The greatness of
Christian faith lies in its inconceivable and manifold
plasticity; after thousands of years it will, in eternally
new, yet ever identical, forms, elevate humanity when
not even scientists will have anything to say of Liber-
alism. " Although sitting at the same round table there
was, speaking philosophically, a century between Bluntschli
and Treitschke. Treitschke was a true representative
of the historical school, and not Dahlmann; but Ranke
was his real master. Bluntschli liked to refer to Savigny;
but, in reality, his views of the world, in spite of Rohmer's
symbolism, were culled from the age of enlightenment.
When, in 1873, Wehrenpfennig remodelled the
Spenersche Zeitung into the semi-official Preussische
Zeitung, Treitschke was offered the salary of ten thousand
thalers for undertaking the editorship of the journal.
This salary was unheard of at that time. Some friends
of his advised him to accept, saying that his deafness
would, in years to come, impair his functions as teacher,
but he told me, "I am not a journalist; I like to see things
developed so that I can form an opinion. To write a leading
article on the latest telegram, on the spur of the moment,
and to have to contradict it eight days later, I leave to
other people. " Wehrenpfennig tried to make the pro-
posal more acceptable by informing him that the minister
would appoint him as professor at a fixed salary, conse-
quently there would be no need to sacrifice his function
as teacher, whilst others would look after the ordinary
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? 92 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
journalistic work; only the handling of political matters
and the daily leading article would be his department.
A big salary as professor, and a big income as editor,
would have tempted a good many; there even were
people who declared that it was Treitschke's duty,
impecunious as he was, to provide thus for his family;
but he maintained that it was contrary to his honour
to change his profession for monetary gain, and we were,
naturally, glad that he remained in our midst.
In spite of his refusal to take part in journalism he
played a prominent part in contemporary politics, and
the journals repaid him with interest for his bold observa-
tions in the Prussian Annuals. Ludwig Ekkard, an
Austrian, resident since 1866 at Mannheim, and editor
there of a weekly publication--a man of whom the Karls-
ruhe people whispered he had, in 1848, in Vienna, hung
Latour, the Minister of War--wrote a leading article on
"Treitschke von Cassagnac. " After he had fallen out
with the Jews, a Berlin paper reported that Treitschke
was the descendant of a certain Isaac Treitschel, who,
at the beginning of the century, had come as a youth
from Bohemia to Saxony selling trousers. A social
democratic journal thought Herr von Treitschke was
a living proof of the injustice of present-day Society
institutions, as he was only appointed professor because
his father had been a general. "If we lived in a
State which practises justice, such a weak-headed
creature would never have been allowed to be a
student. " Similar flattering expressions were^showered
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 93
upon him by the Ultramontane journals, which, on
account of his monomania, would have liked to have
him bundled off to a lunatic asylum. When shown
such a masterpiece, he laughed heartily, saying: "One
has to put up with that sort of thing when one is
in the public eye. " He was only angered at the small-
mindedness of some of his colleagues, who threw stones
at him behind his back merely because he had stolen a
march on them.
It is notorious that Treitschke, after lacking sym-
pathy with Badenese Liberalism, became its supporter
whilst in Heidelberg; but in Berlin he again reverted
to feelings of contempt for it.
During the years 1867 to 1874, which he spent amongst
us, I could not discern an appreciable difference in his
views. As his parliamentary speeches and essays in
the Annuals amply testify, he greeted with joy Bis-
marck's first steps towards the re-establishment of the
Authority of the State versus the Catholic Church; the
abolition of the Catholic department in the Ministry of
Public Instruction; the penal code against abuse of the
pulpit, and Bismarck's refusal to give way to the new-
founded centre. We also thoroughly agreed in regard
to the Muhler administration of ecclesiastical affairs.
He wrote: "The Universities in Prussia are going back-
wards, since fashionable orthodoxy, with its mistrust,
is supreme at Court against liberty of thought.
Here, if anywhere, our State is in need of a radical
reform, i. e. , the conversion of the conversion of science. "
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? 94 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
In the last essay written in Heidelberg he said: "Since
the unhappy days of Frederick Wilhelm IV the school
system in Prussia has been fundamentally miscultivated
by a spirit of confessional narrow-mindedness which
exasperates the most patient. " Consequently nothing
astonished us more than the attitude which he adopted
subsequently in Berlin, towards Stocker and his town
mission, even going so far as to lament Stocker's dis-
missal from his position as preacher at the Royal Chapel.
Those who contend that the misunderstanding had been
on our side, are invited to read Treitschke's publications
up to the last week of his stay at Heidelberg. The views
with which he came to us, and which he defended in
Heidelberg in the circle of friends as well as in the chair,
find expression in the beautiful essay on "Liberty,"
the opening sentence of which runs as follows: "Every-
thing new created by the nineteenth century is the work
of liberalism. Particularly in the clerical sphere, this
is destined to continue its labours in order to create at
last true conditions. Does it redound to the honour of
the land of Lessing," he asks, "that there is no German
University which possesses sufficient courage to admit
a David Strauss to its halls? Those who have any
conception of the enormous extent to which faith in the
dogmas of Christian revelations has disappeared among
the younger generation, must observe with great anxiety
how thoughtlessly, how lazily, nay, how lyingly, thousands
do homage to a lip service which has become strange
to their heart. The lack of veracity in the field of
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 95
religion grows in an alarming fashion. The philosophers
of the eighteenth century thought that real virtue does
not exist without belief in God and immortality. The
present generation contests this, and declares point-
blank, 'Morality is independent of dogma. '" He
recognises the immortality in the never-ending effect
of our good as well as of our bad deeds. "For weak or
low characters, the belief in an after life can equally be
a source of immortality, like the denial of same, for in
their anxiety for the hereafter they often neglect their
duties on earth. The Church has taken no interest
whatever in the great work of the last centuries, and in
the deliverance of humanity from one thousand terrors
of unchristian arbitrariness. The defenders of the
Church claim the prerogative to spoil even the best
measure by the incomparable meanness of their methods.
And, according to human estimate, this symptom will
continue. More and more the moral value of Christianity
will be investigated and developed by laymen, and more
and more it will become apparent that churches do not
suffice for the spiritual demands of matured people. "
That this last sentence coincides with the specula-
tions of Richard Rothe, the aesthetic scientist, and the
teaching of the Tubingen School is apparent from a letter
to his Catholic fiancie, written in 1866, in which he says,
"Christianity loses nothing of its greatness if the stupid
priest tales of Paganism are dropped. "
"The New Testament embodies more ideas of Plato
than our clergy is ready to admit. " Under these
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? 96 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
circumstances we could count him merely from a theo-
logical point of view amongst the Liberals, and only
in the attitude adopted by Treitschke towards the
contested reforms of Evangelical and Catholic Church
matters we regained our own convictions. He likewise
greeted Muhler's fall in February, 1872, with joy, although
he disapproved of the American Press tactics, now gain-
ing more and more the upper hand in the German Press,
which heaped with opprobrium the fallen opponent--
"he hardly deserved the title of lion. " Treitschke
likewise demanded the abolition of the Stiehl regulations,
as they acted as a deterrent to many an intelligent per-
son embracing the career of teacher. Where Herr von
Miihler had ordered that certain colleges should assume
a strictly evangelical character, he urged Falk to appoint
Catholic or Jewish teachers for those schools, in order to
put an end to the fictitious story that Prussia possessed
colleges for specific confessions. During his last term
at Heidelberg he, in a short and decisive fashion, on
December 10th, 1873, still approved of the Falk legisla-
tion enacted in May, respecting the restrictions of the
Catholic Church. "Not a word is to be found in these
laws which is not beneficial to the Church. " He declares
it the most unpardonable error of the Conservative party
in Prussia to have entered into an alliance with the
Ultramontanes. The suppression of the Jesuit Order,
which he formerly opposed, now had his approval. The
struggle for civilisation was likewise, for him, a struggle
of liberty against fanaticism, and he was convinced that
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 97
a firm attitude maintained by the State would lead to
victory.
"For two years the Ultramontanes have wasted their
powder; they have so often conjured up the names of
Nero and Diocletianus that one fails to see what can still
be done after this fanatical clamour, beyond a street
battle, and this they cannot risk. " Treitschke's practical
demands were likewise those of the Liberals. A law for
compulsory civil marriage has become a necessity; after
years of deliberation, it must at last be evident that
facultative civil marriage is based on a misconception
and does not mitigate, but rather accentuates, the conflict
between State and Church. Furthermore, a special law
will have to be enacted by the State enabling the com-
munities themselves to look after the Church Funds,
should no legally recognised parson be available; the
State will have to concede to Old Catholics the right to
reclaim their share of the Church property when quitting
the Church. After all that has happened, there is no
need to shun the reproach of animosity; we require a
law empowering the arrest of persistently refractory
priests. It will not do to leave religious orders in their
present condition, so uncertain from a legal point of
view, and to allow processions and pilgrimages to be
exposed to molestation and insult on the part of citizens
of different creeds.
The May Laws are only the begin-
ning of an energetic Church policy. " The Baden Liber-
alism has never transgressed these demands, and it may
safely be said that Treitschke, while in Heidelberg,
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? 98 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
shared in this respect fully the views of his Liberal
friends.
Slowly the change came about while living in Berlin.
Owing to his affliction, social intercourse was restricted
to a few people, and amongst those it was the new
President of the Supreme Ecclesiastic Council, Herrmann
by name, with whom he formed a close friendship-
Herrmann having been able, better than anybody, to
make himself understood by deaf and dumb language,
and also corresponding with Treitschke. In Heidelberg,
before, Herrmann had raised all sorts of objections to
the Falk Laws, and heated discussions took place between
him and the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs on the
endowment of evangelical clergymen, the abolition of
incidental fees, and similar questions. His opinions on
the Falk Church Laws were now so unfavourable that
we often had the impression that he considered himself
destined to replace Falk. In unctuous fashion he in-
variably reverted to the statement that as long as
the population fail to realise that ecclesiastical decrees
speak the language of profound respect for religion, every
reform will prove abortive on account of the people's
want of confidence. The aristocratic and military
circles, with whom Treitschke now associated more
frequently, too, had only one watchword: The struggle
for civilisation must cease. He expected nothing of the
Old Catholic agitation, and disapproved of the loud
applause of the Jewish Press, which would have better
served the cause by greater reticence. It so came
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 99
about that we had gradually to rely less upon his co-opera-
tion in the struggle. But we gathered this opinion more
from his verbal scruples than from his written expressions,
which in principle were in agreement with ours, although
he now considered the legislation as laws of necessity,
i. e. , as a temporary evil. Then took place the great
defection of Lasker and the Progressive Party, which the
Catholic faction attempted to engineer for the elections,
and which willingly left the odium of civilisation--a
name invented by Virchow for the glory of Falk--to the
National Liberals. After one wing of the Army had gone
over to the enemy, the great Bismarck retreat commenced,
which Treitschke had to cover with heavy artillery,!
Even in course of these rear-guard actions, he had both
written and spoken many clever things in the Annuals,
as well as in the Reichstag, but it oppressed his mind that
henceforth he would have to recommend the abolition
of the " ineffective or mistaken May Laws," after having
greeted their formation with words of joy. To retract
words suited him, who was used to employing such strong
language particularly badly. Times out of number
he had proclaimed that the old feud could not be adjusted
by concessions, but by perseverance. If, in a country
whose population to the extent of two-thirds are Protes-
tants, the Bishops reign to-day, and an Ultramontane
President is President of the Reichstag, the old saying
characterising this state of affairs, viz. , "Every nation
has the government it deserves," is decidedly appropriate.
For the rest, it must be recognised that Treitschke never
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? 1oo TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
expressed his pleasure at this result as did the Kreuz
Zeitung, but always contemplated it with deep regret
as a proof that, contrary to the opinion of Aristotle,
the German being is by no means a political animal.
While still in Heidelberg, Treitschke's rupture with the
University Socialists became imminent, among whom he
counted his intimate friends Knies and Schmoller.
Contrary to Knies, he asserted that Socialism could not be
convinced by reason, but had to be suppressed by forcible
laws. He also defended the view that it is in the interest
of the public to compel labour to work cheaply, and that
the State should possess authority to enforce the fulfil-
ment of this duty. In his first Berlin article, of July,
1874, he took this sharp attitude against the Social
Democrats, whom he called Socialists, and whom he
did not wish to distinguish from the Radical Socialist
politicians. The article had been begun in Heidelberg,
and we were diverted to see how here again he gave ex-
pression to his most recent experience, when he wrote:
"After packing books for two or three days, and
filling up freight forms--finally looking stupidly at the
completed work--the question will suddenly occur what
the brave packers might think, who, during these removal
performances only, were my servants? The calling of
the furniture shifter is, after all, a very respectable one,
because it is cleaner, and more refined, than many equally
necessary occupations. " The essay itself, j" Socialism,
and its Supporters," met at the round table of the
Museum with no more approval than the speeches
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 101
which were its prelude prior to his departure. Knies
thought that the inability to distribute wealth in accord-
ance with actual deeds--it not being a creation of the
present--and the fact that virtue is not fully rewarded
in this world, would not produce a greater feeling of
contentment amongst the working classes, who demand
their share of the realised profit, and in the terms of
their favourite author, Heine, leave Heaven to the angels
and sparrows.
Colleagues otherwise friendly disposed towards him
found the point of view that the working classes should
continue to toil for the sake of religion, and his cruel
reference to that true friend of the people, Fritz
Reuter, particularly hard-hearted when a question of
hungry people who have no time to read novels
was being discusssed. Treitschke's assertion that
the introduction of slavery had been a redeeming
achievement of culture, which, during thousands
of years had exercised at least as powerful a moral
influence as Christianity during a later epoch, appeared
to us a comparison of things which could not be tolerated;
and if nature formed all its higher beings unequally there
can be no question of the introduction of slavery as a
redeeming historical achievement. From a prehistoric
point of view, it can be compared with the relationship
existing between master and dog, or the shepherd and
his flock. An innovation of his was the stronger touch
of religious chords which, with this essay, begins to
obliterate the formerly habitual attacks upon the wicked
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? 102 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
class of theologians. The full meaning of Social Demo-
cracy became clear to him with the classic expression of
the Volk Staat: "Either there is a God, and then we
admit we are in a mess, or there is none, in which case we
can alter the existing state of affairs as much as we like. "
It was only right that against such speeches he should
have emphasized more strongly his positively religious
sentiments, but now and then his old habit of chaffing
the theologians came to the fore. Whilst Schmoller traces
the economic formation of classes to an original injustice,
viz. , violence of the stronger, which as a tragic fault is
hereditary, Treitschke sneers at the doctrine of "social
apple tasting," and the sin which is no more ingenious
than the theological doctrine of hereditary sin. But
the doctrine of hereditary sin is the preamble to
Christianity, and to be one of its champions in Berlin
was his aim.
It was quite natural that Schmoller, in his reply,
complained at having had his standpoint quite wrongly
represented. Both Ribbeck and I asked, after perusal,
what now really was Schmoller's view, as Treitschke's
controversy had been conducted in such a general way as
to make it impossible to know what referred to Schmoller
and what to the school in general. All the same, nobody
who knew his warm and philanthropic disposition
harboured the suspicion that Treitschke intended to
become a champion of class interests. He only protested
against such erroneous expressions as " The Disinherited,"
or "the excess measure of economic injustice, which
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 103
needs must bring about a crevasse," phrases which were
to the liking of National Socialists, but which necessarily
played into the hands of the demagogues, exciting the
working classes as they did, and arousing hopes in them,
the realisation of which was, in the nature of things,
out of the question. Although he expressly pointed out
that only false prophets, and instigators could lead the
labouring classes to believe that any social regulation
could neutralise the inequality of the human lot, he never-
theless in a letter to Sybel expressed the hope: "We
also will get our ten hours' bill, our factory inspectors,
and many other things, which are in opposition to the
Manchester doctrine," and in this sense the warmhearted
friend of the people acted in the Reichstag. Equal
rights for all, and due care for the economically weaker
and those incapable of working, was his motto; the
contest between him and Schmoller was therefore by
no means as great as the strong words exchanged at
that time might have led one to believe. Like so many
big cannonades, this one finally proved merely to be
noisy reconnoitring and not a decisive battle. Any-
how, the discussions on social questions between him and
Knies were the most interesting experienced by the
round table, and we regretted that they were the last.
VII.
Immediately after the war the Prussian House of
Commons had granted considerable sums to raise the
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? 104 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
University of Berlin to its destined height again, and
Helmholtz was the first to receive such an offer in 1871,
Zeller following in 1872, and Treitschke in 1874. No
efforts were spared on the part of the Baden Government
to retain Treitschke. His friends entreated him to
remain. If only he had listened to our supplications
the German History would have been completed long
ago, he himself would presumably still be in the land
of the living, and all the hardships which the trying city
atmosphere caused him and his family would never have
found their way to the small house hidden behind trees at
the other side of the Neckar. We urged him not to aban-
don so light-heartedly a sphere of activity such as he had
found.
On a slip, I wrote to him that in Berlin nobody
believed Prussia to be such a great country as he preached.
"I would not say such a thing," he replied, in angry
fashion, but then he explained that, owing to his having
to spend six months in the Berlin Archives for writing
his history it was preferable that he should permanently
remain in Berlin. But just because empty-headed
Liberalism was gradually gaining ground in Berlin, he
wished to go there to take up the battle. He also wrote
to Jolly in this sense: "Our capital is not to become a
second New York; those who can do something to pre-
vent this misfortune must not abstain without good
reason. Anyone as firmly attached to Prussia as I am
must not refuse, without good cause, if my services are
thought to be of use. " In similar fashion he expressed
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 105
himself to Ranke, who, by sending Treitschke his
"Genesis of the Prussian State," at once greeted him as
his colleague--a matter for great pride. He wrote to the
old master as follows: "Here in Heidelberg my object
was simply to teach youth, on the whole ignorant but
naive; over there my task will be to uphold the positive
powers of the historical world against the petulance of
Radical criticism. I fully realise the difficult position in
which I shall find myself in consequence of the predomi-
nant Radical opinions in the capital. *' He admitted that he
could not expect to exercise such lasting influence upon
the students in Berlin as in Heidelberg, for theatres,
concerts, and life in the capital generally prejudiced the
interest in lectures; but he thought he would surmount
the difficulty in Berlin, as well as he had done in Leipzig.
Only one question oppressed him, soft-hearted as he
was: "Children are deprived of the best part of their
youth when they are dragged to a capital to be brought up
there as Berlin Wall-Rats. " "It is true," he subsequently
wrote to Freytag, "my son prefers the Zoological
Garden to the Black Forest; a forest is all very fine
and large, but the Emperor and the old 'Wrangel'
are only to be seen in Berlin. " At first negotiations were
carried on regarding limiting his activity, and that of
Droysen, he, as he told me, not wishing "to raise
shabby competition " with the old gentleman. By the
death of Droysen this question settled itself. I felt
Treitschke's impending departure very much, and when
the matter had become an accomplished fact the
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? 106 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
following verses occurred to me during a sleepless
night:--
"Du gehst wir Konnten Dich nicht halten
Du gehst weil Du gehen rausst
Wir lassen Deine Sterne walten
Und bietcn Schweigen unserer Brust. "
The other part I have forgotten, and perhaps it is
better so. Not wishing to be counted amongst the poets
of the Tageblatt, I merely signed the poem "N. N. ,"
but at our final meeting at the Museum he looked at
me frankly, and amiably said: "I go, because go
I must," and then I knew that my anonymity had been
unavailing. In spite of the academic encounters in the
past the colleagues assembled in great, although by no
means full, numbers. All the same, everybody recognised
his honesty and unselfishness, just because he had been
open and very rough. Windscheid, as Pro-Rector, also
referred to the fact that Treitschke liked to be where
sharp thrusts were exchanged, and likened him to a noble
steed on the battle-ground, which cannot be kept back
when it hears the flourish of trumpets. No doubt we
would hear in future of his deeds. The great student of
law was much too refined and clever a personality to
undervalue Treitschke as the "majority" did, but for
the mature and calm scientist the young colleague was
still like new wine, and jokingly he compared him to
Percy Heissporn, who regularly was asked by his wife,
when washing the ink from off his fingers before dinner:
"Well, Heinrich, darling, and how many have you killed
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 107
to-day? " At our last meeting Treitschke told me in
his usual kind-hearted manner that there were too many
important men in this small town, and collisions
were therefore unavoidable. In Weimar the same con-
ditions existed as is proved by the letters of Karoline
Herder and Karoline Schlegel. When he gaily described
subsequently in the German History the battles of Voss,
with Creuzer on the hot field of Heidelberg, we grate-
fully recognised that the memory of the Economic
Commission, and Majority and Minority, still continued
to cling faithfully to his heart. There might have been
at that time too many academic stars, but he was never
too much for us, and we felt that the importance of such
men was fully recognised only by the void they left.
It was as if a spell had been broken, the parlour seemed
empty, the round table at the Museum only half occupied,
and as Gustav Freytag said at his parting speech in the
Kitzing, so we could say: "A good deal of poetry has
disappeared from our circle, which had warmed and
elated us. " Our circle undeservedly now resembled the
defiant prince of olden times, who was deserted by his
generals one by one. The one who now goes from us
is Max Piccolomini. Fortunately, although missed, he
was not completely lost to us. He annually accompanied
his family to the house of his parents-in-law in Freiburg,
and we generally had him in the autumn for days or hours
with us either at the usual round table or at our house.
Subsequently we saw him more frequently, as, on account
of his eyes, which were being treated by the Heidelberg
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? 108 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
ophthalmologist, Dr. Leber, he came to us also in the
spring, and was easily to be found close to my house at
the " Prinz Karl " or the " Weinberg," and was grateful
when people made him forget his sorrows for an hour or
so. We therefore continued to keep in touch with him.
Merely to read his writings was insufficient; one had
to hear him to understand his meaning thoroughly.
When in the autumn of 1874 he turned up for the first
time, he was full of praise for the systematic and quick
way with which University matters were settled in
Berlin. As it was not customary to visit the wives of
colleagues in Berlin, the education of such fortified
Society camps, as used to be the case in Heidelberg, was
conspicuous by its absence. With his former Heidelberg
opponents, Zeller and Wattenbach, he was on best terms
there; besides it was, as he said, very healthy to be reminded
daily in this town of millions that the few people whose
company one cultivated did not constitute the world.
Every one of them might fall from a bridge across the
River Spree, and onwards would rush the stream of life
as if nothing had happened. When daily hurrying past
thousands of people to one's occupation, one only begins
to realise the true proportion of one's dispensability.
Somewhat less politely he had expressed similar views
in an essay on Socialism, in which, willy-nilly, we had to
apply to ourselves the remark that a strong man always
felt steeled and elated when fleeing from the restraint,
tittle-tattle, and the persistent interference of a small
town. He also wrote to Freytag: "The liberty in
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 109
the capital pleases me, and I should not care about
returning to Heidelberg's quarrels and gossip. " Any-
how, he spoke of us as "of his beautiful Heidelberg,"
whereas Leipzig remained for him "the empty-headed
University," meaning thereby, of course, not the professors,
but the disparity between the great University and
the small country. Thus he had grown a proud Berlin
citizen ; but later on he felt how life in a big city affected
his nerves. He complained of the "everlasting haste
which was called life in Berlin," and which, above all,
undermined his wife's health. Even the correspondence
with Freytag stopped, as Berlin made it impossible to
maintain relations as he wished and as they should have
been maintained. This complaint is intelligible, as lectures,
parliamentary sittings, and the editorship of the Prussian
Annuals completely occupied his time. Now and then
the Berlin papers, and especially the Tageblatt, brought
out "details respecting the lectures of Herr v. Treitschke,"
which proved a totally new experience to him and to us.
Treitschke finally saw himself compelled to declare that
this information by no means originated in student circles.
As the big banking firms closed at 6 p. m.
nation. With feelings of bitterness he watched the
great number of Germans who, in spite of experiences in
the past, returned to France to again take up positions,
and even obtain their naturalisation. He considered
this a lack of sense of honour which he could not under-
stand. The Pole who on all battle-fields fought against
Russia was to his mind more respectable, in spite of his
vodka smell.
VI.
From 1871 to 1874 the Reichstag was by no means the
only arena in which the warrior, prepared at all times,
practised his strength, and his academic opponents
occasionally reproached him with dragging the bad tone
of the Reichstag into the University debates. As a
matter of fact, in those days there was little difference,
thanks to the urbanity of Richter and Liebnecht.
Peculiarly enough, the chief interest of Academicians
since March, 1871--during the time, therefore, when the
most important questions agitated the German Father-
land--hinged upon a quarrel which must be styled
almost childish. Knies and Schenkel were at daggers
drawn, because the former, as Pro-Rector, occupied
the chair in the Economic Commission conducted by
Schenkel. The University statutes clearly conceded this
right to the Pro-Rector, but Schenkel declared that
Knies, in that case, might also undertake the agenda of
the Commission. The reason for Treitschke's passionate
participation in this question was partly aversion for
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 87
Schenkel, and partly gratitude for Knies, who, in Frei-
burg, as well as in Heidelberg, had urged his appointment.
Besides, he highly appreciated Knies as a scientist, and
managed to intersperse his Reichstag speeches with
exhaustive extracts from Knies' latest book, "Money. "
In the terms of the statute Knies was absolutely in his
right. When the quarrel came to no end, Jolly sus-
pended the Commission and entrusted the Senate with
its duties, but the Senate protested. As negotiations
assumed a very unparliamentary character, the philologist
Kochly declared it beneath his dignity to participate
further in the meetings. A motion was now brought
in compelling every " Ordinarius" to take part in the
meetings, and in this way the stupid discussion con-
tinued. The principal seat of terror was the Philosophic
Faculty, and by his drastic speeches Treitschke more
than once drove the Dean to despair. "He is a fire-
brand," said Ribbeck. "I am always trembling when
he asks to speak. " It was, of course, picturesque when
the tall, handsome man with thundering voice shouted
at the tiny, bespectacled gentlemen in the Senate,
"Whoever is of a different opinion will have me to deal
with. " But as he had no conception as to how loudly
he spoke, even when intending to whisper a confidential
information into his neighbour's ear, he often placed his
friends in a most awkward position. One of his con-
fidential cannon-shots particularly caused lasting damage.
When the natural history scientists, on a certain occasion,
interfered, he shouted to his neighbour, meaning of
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? 88 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
course to whisper, "What has this to do with these
chemists and dung-drivers ? "--and the fat was naturally
in the fire. Nobody was more annoyed at these sallies
than his own party, and, after a similar occurrence,
Knies, taking advantage of his deafness, called after
him, "Good-night, old baby! " He, however, gaily
departed, totally unaware of the feelings which he had
aroused even amongst his friends. It was impossible
to exercise a restraining influence over him. With his
temperament, he could not understand why he should
say something different from what he thought. A friend
who, in his opinion, although right, was unjustly ill-
treated and ill-used, would be helped out by him, what-
ever the cost.
When, however, in an article in the Prussian Annuals,
he declared that Court Theatres and University Senates
would remain for ever the classic field for jealous intrigues
and childish quarrels, the contest reverberated in the
Chambers and the Press. The so-called majority broke
off all relations with him, and, in consequence, we became
more intimate than ever. "The outlaws" was the
name he preferably applied to us, and the round table
at Konig's Winebeer, in Leipzig, was christened by him
as " The Conspirators. " In reply to my remark that we
cared by no means to be considered outlaws, he said:
"I have my students. " Anyhow, the close relations
thus established among a number of influential col-
leagues was also a gain. We met every evening, one
hour after his lectures, at the Museum, where we drank
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 89
cheap beer. "It merely costs a little effort," he said.
The circle consisted of historian Weber, the three
theologians, Gass, Holtzmann, and myself; further, the
botanist, Hofmeister, with whom Treitschke was on
friendly terms while in Leipzig; Herrmann, the teacher
of Canon Law, where Treitschke was received when still
a student in Gottingen, and who, for his benefit, had
learned the deaf and dumb language; and Knies, who,
after occupying the position of Director of the High
School Board and University Inspector, was degraded
to that of Professor at Heidelberg, so that Hitzig greeted
him with the following toast: "Behold Adam, who
now has become one of us! " The spokesmen were
Knies and Bluntschli, who both defended their one
political point of view, Treitschke keeping as much as
possible apart from the latter. His opinion of Bluntschli,
as now confirmed in print through his letters to
Freytag, was unjust. Bluntschli's intentions were for
the common weal, but in his opinion it could best be
done through him. The Otez vous que je mif mette (real
Swiss-German) applied to him in his Faculty as well as
in the Chamber. In vain I tried to prove to Treitschke
that Bluntschli's propensity to mediation proposals, and
his desire to vote always with the majority, was
founded on his peaceable disposition and his benevolent
concern for the public good. When, however, on a
certain occasion, prior to leaving for Edingen by rail, I
spoke to him in this strain, he raved to such an extent
that the attention of the people in the waiting-room was
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? go TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
aroused, and I preferred to discontinue the argument.
On such occasions, the misfortune of his deafness became
very marked, for how was it possible to make complicated
circumstances clear to him by lip-movements and scrib-
bling on block slips? For good reasons he disliked
letters by post. Although he belonged at that time,
academically, to the Bluntschli party, he attacked, in
his essay of 1871, on "Parties and Factions," the
Bluntschli-Rohmer State Law, establishing a parallel
between the State functions and the human organism.
"State science demands thought, not comparisons,"
he wrote. "What is the use of speaking figuratively,
which is just as arbitrary as the old bad habit so
favoured by natural philosophers of comparing the State
with the human body? Argument ceases with such fan-
tastic parables. Analogies are easily found, and with
beautiful words one might describe the King as the
head or the heart, or also as the index of a State. "
This was not polite language, and must have annoyed
Bluntschli, all the more as Treitschke, in the language
of Goethe, "only tugged at the discarded serpent's
skin," Bluntschli himself having left that part of the
Rohmer philosophy behind him; and that is why, as
far as I know, he never replied to the attack. Treitschke
also reproached Bluntschli with attempting to count
Luther amongst the Liberals--" He, whose eminent
mind admirably combines the traits of the revolutionary
stormer of heaven with those of the devout monk, he
who was anything but a Liberal! Or will our opponents
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 91
think more of us if we are so bold as to declare that the
true spirit of Christianity is liberal? The greatness of
Christian faith lies in its inconceivable and manifold
plasticity; after thousands of years it will, in eternally
new, yet ever identical, forms, elevate humanity when
not even scientists will have anything to say of Liber-
alism. " Although sitting at the same round table there
was, speaking philosophically, a century between Bluntschli
and Treitschke. Treitschke was a true representative
of the historical school, and not Dahlmann; but Ranke
was his real master. Bluntschli liked to refer to Savigny;
but, in reality, his views of the world, in spite of Rohmer's
symbolism, were culled from the age of enlightenment.
When, in 1873, Wehrenpfennig remodelled the
Spenersche Zeitung into the semi-official Preussische
Zeitung, Treitschke was offered the salary of ten thousand
thalers for undertaking the editorship of the journal.
This salary was unheard of at that time. Some friends
of his advised him to accept, saying that his deafness
would, in years to come, impair his functions as teacher,
but he told me, "I am not a journalist; I like to see things
developed so that I can form an opinion. To write a leading
article on the latest telegram, on the spur of the moment,
and to have to contradict it eight days later, I leave to
other people. " Wehrenpfennig tried to make the pro-
posal more acceptable by informing him that the minister
would appoint him as professor at a fixed salary, conse-
quently there would be no need to sacrifice his function
as teacher, whilst others would look after the ordinary
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? 92 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
journalistic work; only the handling of political matters
and the daily leading article would be his department.
A big salary as professor, and a big income as editor,
would have tempted a good many; there even were
people who declared that it was Treitschke's duty,
impecunious as he was, to provide thus for his family;
but he maintained that it was contrary to his honour
to change his profession for monetary gain, and we were,
naturally, glad that he remained in our midst.
In spite of his refusal to take part in journalism he
played a prominent part in contemporary politics, and
the journals repaid him with interest for his bold observa-
tions in the Prussian Annuals. Ludwig Ekkard, an
Austrian, resident since 1866 at Mannheim, and editor
there of a weekly publication--a man of whom the Karls-
ruhe people whispered he had, in 1848, in Vienna, hung
Latour, the Minister of War--wrote a leading article on
"Treitschke von Cassagnac. " After he had fallen out
with the Jews, a Berlin paper reported that Treitschke
was the descendant of a certain Isaac Treitschel, who,
at the beginning of the century, had come as a youth
from Bohemia to Saxony selling trousers. A social
democratic journal thought Herr von Treitschke was
a living proof of the injustice of present-day Society
institutions, as he was only appointed professor because
his father had been a general. "If we lived in a
State which practises justice, such a weak-headed
creature would never have been allowed to be a
student. " Similar flattering expressions were^showered
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 93
upon him by the Ultramontane journals, which, on
account of his monomania, would have liked to have
him bundled off to a lunatic asylum. When shown
such a masterpiece, he laughed heartily, saying: "One
has to put up with that sort of thing when one is
in the public eye. " He was only angered at the small-
mindedness of some of his colleagues, who threw stones
at him behind his back merely because he had stolen a
march on them.
It is notorious that Treitschke, after lacking sym-
pathy with Badenese Liberalism, became its supporter
whilst in Heidelberg; but in Berlin he again reverted
to feelings of contempt for it.
During the years 1867 to 1874, which he spent amongst
us, I could not discern an appreciable difference in his
views. As his parliamentary speeches and essays in
the Annuals amply testify, he greeted with joy Bis-
marck's first steps towards the re-establishment of the
Authority of the State versus the Catholic Church; the
abolition of the Catholic department in the Ministry of
Public Instruction; the penal code against abuse of the
pulpit, and Bismarck's refusal to give way to the new-
founded centre. We also thoroughly agreed in regard
to the Muhler administration of ecclesiastical affairs.
He wrote: "The Universities in Prussia are going back-
wards, since fashionable orthodoxy, with its mistrust,
is supreme at Court against liberty of thought.
Here, if anywhere, our State is in need of a radical
reform, i. e. , the conversion of the conversion of science. "
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? 94 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
In the last essay written in Heidelberg he said: "Since
the unhappy days of Frederick Wilhelm IV the school
system in Prussia has been fundamentally miscultivated
by a spirit of confessional narrow-mindedness which
exasperates the most patient. " Consequently nothing
astonished us more than the attitude which he adopted
subsequently in Berlin, towards Stocker and his town
mission, even going so far as to lament Stocker's dis-
missal from his position as preacher at the Royal Chapel.
Those who contend that the misunderstanding had been
on our side, are invited to read Treitschke's publications
up to the last week of his stay at Heidelberg. The views
with which he came to us, and which he defended in
Heidelberg in the circle of friends as well as in the chair,
find expression in the beautiful essay on "Liberty,"
the opening sentence of which runs as follows: "Every-
thing new created by the nineteenth century is the work
of liberalism. Particularly in the clerical sphere, this
is destined to continue its labours in order to create at
last true conditions. Does it redound to the honour of
the land of Lessing," he asks, "that there is no German
University which possesses sufficient courage to admit
a David Strauss to its halls? Those who have any
conception of the enormous extent to which faith in the
dogmas of Christian revelations has disappeared among
the younger generation, must observe with great anxiety
how thoughtlessly, how lazily, nay, how lyingly, thousands
do homage to a lip service which has become strange
to their heart. The lack of veracity in the field of
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 95
religion grows in an alarming fashion. The philosophers
of the eighteenth century thought that real virtue does
not exist without belief in God and immortality. The
present generation contests this, and declares point-
blank, 'Morality is independent of dogma. '" He
recognises the immortality in the never-ending effect
of our good as well as of our bad deeds. "For weak or
low characters, the belief in an after life can equally be
a source of immortality, like the denial of same, for in
their anxiety for the hereafter they often neglect their
duties on earth. The Church has taken no interest
whatever in the great work of the last centuries, and in
the deliverance of humanity from one thousand terrors
of unchristian arbitrariness. The defenders of the
Church claim the prerogative to spoil even the best
measure by the incomparable meanness of their methods.
And, according to human estimate, this symptom will
continue. More and more the moral value of Christianity
will be investigated and developed by laymen, and more
and more it will become apparent that churches do not
suffice for the spiritual demands of matured people. "
That this last sentence coincides with the specula-
tions of Richard Rothe, the aesthetic scientist, and the
teaching of the Tubingen School is apparent from a letter
to his Catholic fiancie, written in 1866, in which he says,
"Christianity loses nothing of its greatness if the stupid
priest tales of Paganism are dropped. "
"The New Testament embodies more ideas of Plato
than our clergy is ready to admit. " Under these
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? 96 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
circumstances we could count him merely from a theo-
logical point of view amongst the Liberals, and only
in the attitude adopted by Treitschke towards the
contested reforms of Evangelical and Catholic Church
matters we regained our own convictions. He likewise
greeted Muhler's fall in February, 1872, with joy, although
he disapproved of the American Press tactics, now gain-
ing more and more the upper hand in the German Press,
which heaped with opprobrium the fallen opponent--
"he hardly deserved the title of lion. " Treitschke
likewise demanded the abolition of the Stiehl regulations,
as they acted as a deterrent to many an intelligent per-
son embracing the career of teacher. Where Herr von
Miihler had ordered that certain colleges should assume
a strictly evangelical character, he urged Falk to appoint
Catholic or Jewish teachers for those schools, in order to
put an end to the fictitious story that Prussia possessed
colleges for specific confessions. During his last term
at Heidelberg he, in a short and decisive fashion, on
December 10th, 1873, still approved of the Falk legisla-
tion enacted in May, respecting the restrictions of the
Catholic Church. "Not a word is to be found in these
laws which is not beneficial to the Church. " He declares
it the most unpardonable error of the Conservative party
in Prussia to have entered into an alliance with the
Ultramontanes. The suppression of the Jesuit Order,
which he formerly opposed, now had his approval. The
struggle for civilisation was likewise, for him, a struggle
of liberty against fanaticism, and he was convinced that
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 97
a firm attitude maintained by the State would lead to
victory.
"For two years the Ultramontanes have wasted their
powder; they have so often conjured up the names of
Nero and Diocletianus that one fails to see what can still
be done after this fanatical clamour, beyond a street
battle, and this they cannot risk. " Treitschke's practical
demands were likewise those of the Liberals. A law for
compulsory civil marriage has become a necessity; after
years of deliberation, it must at last be evident that
facultative civil marriage is based on a misconception
and does not mitigate, but rather accentuates, the conflict
between State and Church. Furthermore, a special law
will have to be enacted by the State enabling the com-
munities themselves to look after the Church Funds,
should no legally recognised parson be available; the
State will have to concede to Old Catholics the right to
reclaim their share of the Church property when quitting
the Church. After all that has happened, there is no
need to shun the reproach of animosity; we require a
law empowering the arrest of persistently refractory
priests. It will not do to leave religious orders in their
present condition, so uncertain from a legal point of
view, and to allow processions and pilgrimages to be
exposed to molestation and insult on the part of citizens
of different creeds.
The May Laws are only the begin-
ning of an energetic Church policy. " The Baden Liber-
alism has never transgressed these demands, and it may
safely be said that Treitschke, while in Heidelberg,
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? 98 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
shared in this respect fully the views of his Liberal
friends.
Slowly the change came about while living in Berlin.
Owing to his affliction, social intercourse was restricted
to a few people, and amongst those it was the new
President of the Supreme Ecclesiastic Council, Herrmann
by name, with whom he formed a close friendship-
Herrmann having been able, better than anybody, to
make himself understood by deaf and dumb language,
and also corresponding with Treitschke. In Heidelberg,
before, Herrmann had raised all sorts of objections to
the Falk Laws, and heated discussions took place between
him and the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs on the
endowment of evangelical clergymen, the abolition of
incidental fees, and similar questions. His opinions on
the Falk Church Laws were now so unfavourable that
we often had the impression that he considered himself
destined to replace Falk. In unctuous fashion he in-
variably reverted to the statement that as long as
the population fail to realise that ecclesiastical decrees
speak the language of profound respect for religion, every
reform will prove abortive on account of the people's
want of confidence. The aristocratic and military
circles, with whom Treitschke now associated more
frequently, too, had only one watchword: The struggle
for civilisation must cease. He expected nothing of the
Old Catholic agitation, and disapproved of the loud
applause of the Jewish Press, which would have better
served the cause by greater reticence. It so came
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 99
about that we had gradually to rely less upon his co-opera-
tion in the struggle. But we gathered this opinion more
from his verbal scruples than from his written expressions,
which in principle were in agreement with ours, although
he now considered the legislation as laws of necessity,
i. e. , as a temporary evil. Then took place the great
defection of Lasker and the Progressive Party, which the
Catholic faction attempted to engineer for the elections,
and which willingly left the odium of civilisation--a
name invented by Virchow for the glory of Falk--to the
National Liberals. After one wing of the Army had gone
over to the enemy, the great Bismarck retreat commenced,
which Treitschke had to cover with heavy artillery,!
Even in course of these rear-guard actions, he had both
written and spoken many clever things in the Annuals,
as well as in the Reichstag, but it oppressed his mind that
henceforth he would have to recommend the abolition
of the " ineffective or mistaken May Laws," after having
greeted their formation with words of joy. To retract
words suited him, who was used to employing such strong
language particularly badly. Times out of number
he had proclaimed that the old feud could not be adjusted
by concessions, but by perseverance. If, in a country
whose population to the extent of two-thirds are Protes-
tants, the Bishops reign to-day, and an Ultramontane
President is President of the Reichstag, the old saying
characterising this state of affairs, viz. , "Every nation
has the government it deserves," is decidedly appropriate.
For the rest, it must be recognised that Treitschke never
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? 1oo TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
expressed his pleasure at this result as did the Kreuz
Zeitung, but always contemplated it with deep regret
as a proof that, contrary to the opinion of Aristotle,
the German being is by no means a political animal.
While still in Heidelberg, Treitschke's rupture with the
University Socialists became imminent, among whom he
counted his intimate friends Knies and Schmoller.
Contrary to Knies, he asserted that Socialism could not be
convinced by reason, but had to be suppressed by forcible
laws. He also defended the view that it is in the interest
of the public to compel labour to work cheaply, and that
the State should possess authority to enforce the fulfil-
ment of this duty. In his first Berlin article, of July,
1874, he took this sharp attitude against the Social
Democrats, whom he called Socialists, and whom he
did not wish to distinguish from the Radical Socialist
politicians. The article had been begun in Heidelberg,
and we were diverted to see how here again he gave ex-
pression to his most recent experience, when he wrote:
"After packing books for two or three days, and
filling up freight forms--finally looking stupidly at the
completed work--the question will suddenly occur what
the brave packers might think, who, during these removal
performances only, were my servants? The calling of
the furniture shifter is, after all, a very respectable one,
because it is cleaner, and more refined, than many equally
necessary occupations. " The essay itself, j" Socialism,
and its Supporters," met at the round table of the
Museum with no more approval than the speeches
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 101
which were its prelude prior to his departure. Knies
thought that the inability to distribute wealth in accord-
ance with actual deeds--it not being a creation of the
present--and the fact that virtue is not fully rewarded
in this world, would not produce a greater feeling of
contentment amongst the working classes, who demand
their share of the realised profit, and in the terms of
their favourite author, Heine, leave Heaven to the angels
and sparrows.
Colleagues otherwise friendly disposed towards him
found the point of view that the working classes should
continue to toil for the sake of religion, and his cruel
reference to that true friend of the people, Fritz
Reuter, particularly hard-hearted when a question of
hungry people who have no time to read novels
was being discusssed. Treitschke's assertion that
the introduction of slavery had been a redeeming
achievement of culture, which, during thousands
of years had exercised at least as powerful a moral
influence as Christianity during a later epoch, appeared
to us a comparison of things which could not be tolerated;
and if nature formed all its higher beings unequally there
can be no question of the introduction of slavery as a
redeeming historical achievement. From a prehistoric
point of view, it can be compared with the relationship
existing between master and dog, or the shepherd and
his flock. An innovation of his was the stronger touch
of religious chords which, with this essay, begins to
obliterate the formerly habitual attacks upon the wicked
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? 102 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
class of theologians. The full meaning of Social Demo-
cracy became clear to him with the classic expression of
the Volk Staat: "Either there is a God, and then we
admit we are in a mess, or there is none, in which case we
can alter the existing state of affairs as much as we like. "
It was only right that against such speeches he should
have emphasized more strongly his positively religious
sentiments, but now and then his old habit of chaffing
the theologians came to the fore. Whilst Schmoller traces
the economic formation of classes to an original injustice,
viz. , violence of the stronger, which as a tragic fault is
hereditary, Treitschke sneers at the doctrine of "social
apple tasting," and the sin which is no more ingenious
than the theological doctrine of hereditary sin. But
the doctrine of hereditary sin is the preamble to
Christianity, and to be one of its champions in Berlin
was his aim.
It was quite natural that Schmoller, in his reply,
complained at having had his standpoint quite wrongly
represented. Both Ribbeck and I asked, after perusal,
what now really was Schmoller's view, as Treitschke's
controversy had been conducted in such a general way as
to make it impossible to know what referred to Schmoller
and what to the school in general. All the same, nobody
who knew his warm and philanthropic disposition
harboured the suspicion that Treitschke intended to
become a champion of class interests. He only protested
against such erroneous expressions as " The Disinherited,"
or "the excess measure of economic injustice, which
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 103
needs must bring about a crevasse," phrases which were
to the liking of National Socialists, but which necessarily
played into the hands of the demagogues, exciting the
working classes as they did, and arousing hopes in them,
the realisation of which was, in the nature of things,
out of the question. Although he expressly pointed out
that only false prophets, and instigators could lead the
labouring classes to believe that any social regulation
could neutralise the inequality of the human lot, he never-
theless in a letter to Sybel expressed the hope: "We
also will get our ten hours' bill, our factory inspectors,
and many other things, which are in opposition to the
Manchester doctrine," and in this sense the warmhearted
friend of the people acted in the Reichstag. Equal
rights for all, and due care for the economically weaker
and those incapable of working, was his motto; the
contest between him and Schmoller was therefore by
no means as great as the strong words exchanged at
that time might have led one to believe. Like so many
big cannonades, this one finally proved merely to be
noisy reconnoitring and not a decisive battle. Any-
how, the discussions on social questions between him and
Knies were the most interesting experienced by the
round table, and we regretted that they were the last.
VII.
Immediately after the war the Prussian House of
Commons had granted considerable sums to raise the
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? 104 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
University of Berlin to its destined height again, and
Helmholtz was the first to receive such an offer in 1871,
Zeller following in 1872, and Treitschke in 1874. No
efforts were spared on the part of the Baden Government
to retain Treitschke. His friends entreated him to
remain. If only he had listened to our supplications
the German History would have been completed long
ago, he himself would presumably still be in the land
of the living, and all the hardships which the trying city
atmosphere caused him and his family would never have
found their way to the small house hidden behind trees at
the other side of the Neckar. We urged him not to aban-
don so light-heartedly a sphere of activity such as he had
found.
On a slip, I wrote to him that in Berlin nobody
believed Prussia to be such a great country as he preached.
"I would not say such a thing," he replied, in angry
fashion, but then he explained that, owing to his having
to spend six months in the Berlin Archives for writing
his history it was preferable that he should permanently
remain in Berlin. But just because empty-headed
Liberalism was gradually gaining ground in Berlin, he
wished to go there to take up the battle. He also wrote
to Jolly in this sense: "Our capital is not to become a
second New York; those who can do something to pre-
vent this misfortune must not abstain without good
reason. Anyone as firmly attached to Prussia as I am
must not refuse, without good cause, if my services are
thought to be of use. " In similar fashion he expressed
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 105
himself to Ranke, who, by sending Treitschke his
"Genesis of the Prussian State," at once greeted him as
his colleague--a matter for great pride. He wrote to the
old master as follows: "Here in Heidelberg my object
was simply to teach youth, on the whole ignorant but
naive; over there my task will be to uphold the positive
powers of the historical world against the petulance of
Radical criticism. I fully realise the difficult position in
which I shall find myself in consequence of the predomi-
nant Radical opinions in the capital. *' He admitted that he
could not expect to exercise such lasting influence upon
the students in Berlin as in Heidelberg, for theatres,
concerts, and life in the capital generally prejudiced the
interest in lectures; but he thought he would surmount
the difficulty in Berlin, as well as he had done in Leipzig.
Only one question oppressed him, soft-hearted as he
was: "Children are deprived of the best part of their
youth when they are dragged to a capital to be brought up
there as Berlin Wall-Rats. " "It is true," he subsequently
wrote to Freytag, "my son prefers the Zoological
Garden to the Black Forest; a forest is all very fine
and large, but the Emperor and the old 'Wrangel'
are only to be seen in Berlin. " At first negotiations were
carried on regarding limiting his activity, and that of
Droysen, he, as he told me, not wishing "to raise
shabby competition " with the old gentleman. By the
death of Droysen this question settled itself. I felt
Treitschke's impending departure very much, and when
the matter had become an accomplished fact the
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? 106 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
following verses occurred to me during a sleepless
night:--
"Du gehst wir Konnten Dich nicht halten
Du gehst weil Du gehen rausst
Wir lassen Deine Sterne walten
Und bietcn Schweigen unserer Brust. "
The other part I have forgotten, and perhaps it is
better so. Not wishing to be counted amongst the poets
of the Tageblatt, I merely signed the poem "N. N. ,"
but at our final meeting at the Museum he looked at
me frankly, and amiably said: "I go, because go
I must," and then I knew that my anonymity had been
unavailing. In spite of the academic encounters in the
past the colleagues assembled in great, although by no
means full, numbers. All the same, everybody recognised
his honesty and unselfishness, just because he had been
open and very rough. Windscheid, as Pro-Rector, also
referred to the fact that Treitschke liked to be where
sharp thrusts were exchanged, and likened him to a noble
steed on the battle-ground, which cannot be kept back
when it hears the flourish of trumpets. No doubt we
would hear in future of his deeds. The great student of
law was much too refined and clever a personality to
undervalue Treitschke as the "majority" did, but for
the mature and calm scientist the young colleague was
still like new wine, and jokingly he compared him to
Percy Heissporn, who regularly was asked by his wife,
when washing the ink from off his fingers before dinner:
"Well, Heinrich, darling, and how many have you killed
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 107
to-day? " At our last meeting Treitschke told me in
his usual kind-hearted manner that there were too many
important men in this small town, and collisions
were therefore unavoidable. In Weimar the same con-
ditions existed as is proved by the letters of Karoline
Herder and Karoline Schlegel. When he gaily described
subsequently in the German History the battles of Voss,
with Creuzer on the hot field of Heidelberg, we grate-
fully recognised that the memory of the Economic
Commission, and Majority and Minority, still continued
to cling faithfully to his heart. There might have been
at that time too many academic stars, but he was never
too much for us, and we felt that the importance of such
men was fully recognised only by the void they left.
It was as if a spell had been broken, the parlour seemed
empty, the round table at the Museum only half occupied,
and as Gustav Freytag said at his parting speech in the
Kitzing, so we could say: "A good deal of poetry has
disappeared from our circle, which had warmed and
elated us. " Our circle undeservedly now resembled the
defiant prince of olden times, who was deserted by his
generals one by one. The one who now goes from us
is Max Piccolomini. Fortunately, although missed, he
was not completely lost to us. He annually accompanied
his family to the house of his parents-in-law in Freiburg,
and we generally had him in the autumn for days or hours
with us either at the usual round table or at our house.
Subsequently we saw him more frequently, as, on account
of his eyes, which were being treated by the Heidelberg
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? 108 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
ophthalmologist, Dr. Leber, he came to us also in the
spring, and was easily to be found close to my house at
the " Prinz Karl " or the " Weinberg," and was grateful
when people made him forget his sorrows for an hour or
so. We therefore continued to keep in touch with him.
Merely to read his writings was insufficient; one had
to hear him to understand his meaning thoroughly.
When in the autumn of 1874 he turned up for the first
time, he was full of praise for the systematic and quick
way with which University matters were settled in
Berlin. As it was not customary to visit the wives of
colleagues in Berlin, the education of such fortified
Society camps, as used to be the case in Heidelberg, was
conspicuous by its absence. With his former Heidelberg
opponents, Zeller and Wattenbach, he was on best terms
there; besides it was, as he said, very healthy to be reminded
daily in this town of millions that the few people whose
company one cultivated did not constitute the world.
Every one of them might fall from a bridge across the
River Spree, and onwards would rush the stream of life
as if nothing had happened. When daily hurrying past
thousands of people to one's occupation, one only begins
to realise the true proportion of one's dispensability.
Somewhat less politely he had expressed similar views
in an essay on Socialism, in which, willy-nilly, we had to
apply to ourselves the remark that a strong man always
felt steeled and elated when fleeing from the restraint,
tittle-tattle, and the persistent interference of a small
town. He also wrote to Freytag: "The liberty in
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 109
the capital pleases me, and I should not care about
returning to Heidelberg's quarrels and gossip. " Any-
how, he spoke of us as "of his beautiful Heidelberg,"
whereas Leipzig remained for him "the empty-headed
University," meaning thereby, of course, not the professors,
but the disparity between the great University and
the small country. Thus he had grown a proud Berlin
citizen ; but later on he felt how life in a big city affected
his nerves. He complained of the "everlasting haste
which was called life in Berlin," and which, above all,
undermined his wife's health. Even the correspondence
with Freytag stopped, as Berlin made it impossible to
maintain relations as he wished and as they should have
been maintained. This complaint is intelligible, as lectures,
parliamentary sittings, and the editorship of the Prussian
Annuals completely occupied his time. Now and then
the Berlin papers, and especially the Tageblatt, brought
out "details respecting the lectures of Herr v. Treitschke,"
which proved a totally new experience to him and to us.
Treitschke finally saw himself compelled to declare that
this information by no means originated in student circles.
As the big banking firms closed at 6 p. m.
