Beym
ersteren wird man sich der Bemerkung nicht enthalten
dass solches gleichfalls drey Fenster, wie das zu Craigen-
puttock hat, und mir mehrere Jahre zur Sommer-und
Winterwohnung diente.
ersteren wird man sich der Bemerkung nicht enthalten
dass solches gleichfalls drey Fenster, wie das zu Craigen-
puttock hat, und mir mehrere Jahre zur Sommer-und
Winterwohnung diente.
Thomas Carlyle
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? APPENDIX I 311
"The only thing of any moment I have
written since I came hither is an Essay on
Burns. Perhaps you have never heard of this
Burns, and yet he was a man of the most
decisive genius; but born in the rank of a
Peasant, and miserably wasted away by the
complexities of his strange situation; so that
all he effected was comparatively a trifle, and
he died before middle age.
"We English, especially we Scotch, love
Burns more than any other Poet we have had
for centuries. It has often struck me to remark
that he was born a few months only before
Schiller, in the year 1759; and that neither of
these two men ever heard the other's name;
but that they shone as stars in opposite hemi-
spheres, the little Atmosphere of the Earth
intercepting their mutual light. "1
Yet Robert Burns was better known to
us than our friend conjectured. The charm-
ing Poem John Barley-Corn had come to us
1 From Carlyle's Letter of 25th September 1828. See
supra, p. 123.
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? 3I2 APPENDIX I
anonymously, and being deservedly prized, led
to many attempts to appropriate it in our own
language. John Barley-Corn (Hans Gersten-
korn), a valiant man, has many enemies, who
incessantly persecute and harm him, at length
even threaten to kill him outright. From all
these injuries, however, he finally emerges
triumphant, for the special blessing and cheer
of eager beer-drinkers. In this lively, happy
anthropomorphism Burns is at once seen to be
a genuine Poet.
On further investigation, we found this
Poem in the Edition of his Works of 1822, to
which a Sketch of his Life is prefixed, instruct-
ing us, in some measure at least, as to his
outward circumstances. Those of his Poems
that we have made our own, convinced us of
his extraordinary talent, and we regretted that
the Scottish dialect proved a hindrance precisely
where he must have attained his finest and most
natural expression. On the whole, however, we
have carried our studies so far that we can sub-
scribe to the laudatory statement quoted below,
as agreeing with our own conviction.
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? APPENDIX I 313
For the rest, how far this Burns of ours may
be known in Germany beyond what the Con-
versations-Lexicon reports of him, I should be
unable to say, being ignorant of the new literary
movements in Germany; still I would at any
rate set the friends of Foreign Literature upon
the right road, by mentioning the Life of
Robert Burns, by J. G. Lockhart, Edinburgh,
1828,--criticised by our friend in the Edin-
burgh Review, December 1828.
The following passages translated from this
Article will, it may be hoped, arouse an eager
desire to become thoroughly acquainted with
this Work, and with the man himself.
"Burns was born in an age the most prosaic
Britain had yet seen, and in a condition the
most disadvantageous, where his mind, if it
accomplished aught, must accomplish it under
the pressure of continual bodily toil, nay of
penury and desponding apprehension of the
worst evils, and with no furtherance but such
knowledge as dwells in a poor man's hut, and
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? APPENDIX I
the rhymes of a Ferguson or Ramsay for his
standard of beauty, he sinks not under all these
impediments: through the fogs and darkness of
that obscure region, his lynx eye discerns the
true relations of the world and human life; he
grows into intellectual strength, and trains him-
self into intellectual expertness. Impelled by
the expansive movement of his own irrepressible
soul, he struggles forward into the general view;
and with haughty modesty lays down before us,
as the fruit of his labour, a gift, which Time
has now pronounced imperishable.
"A true Poet, a man in whose heart resides
some effluence of Wisdom, some tone of the
'Eternal Melodies,' is the most precious gift
that can be bestowed on a generation: we see
in him a freer, purer development of whatever
is noblest in ourselves; his life is a rich lesson
to us; and we mourn his death as that of a
benefactor who loved and taught us.
"Such a gift had Nature, in her bounty,
bestowed on us in Robert Burns; but with
queenlike indifference she cast it from her hand,
like a thing of no moment; and it was defaced
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? APPENDIX I 315
and torn asunder, as an idle bauble, before we
recognised it. To the ill-starred Burns was
given the power of making man's life more
venerable, but that of wisely guiding his own
life was not given. Destiny,--for so in our
ignorance we must speak,--his faults, the faults
of others, proved too hard for him; and that
spirit, which might have soared could it but
have walked, soon sank to the dust, its glorious
faculties trodden underfoot in the blossom;
and died, we may almost say, without ever
having lived. And so kind and warm a soul;
so full of inborn riches, of love to all living and
lifeless things! The ' Daisy' falls not unheeded
under his ploughshare; [nor the ruined nest of
that' wee, cowering, timorous beastie,' cast forth,
after all its provident pains, to 'thole the sleety
dribble and cranreuch cauld'1]. The hoar visage
of Winter delights him; he dwells with a sad
and oft-returning fondness in these scenes of
solemn desolation; but the voice of the tempest
1 Goethe translates the words in brackets: 'So wenig als
das wohlbesorgte Nest cUr tUfchtsamen Feldma1ts, tfas er her-
vorwiihlt. '
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? 316 APPENDIX I
becomes an anthem to his ears; he loves to
walk in the sounding woods, for 'it raises his
thoughts to Him that walketh on the wings of
the wind. ' A true Poet-soul, for it needs but to
be struck, and the sound it yields will be music! "What warm, all - comprehending fellow-
feeling; what trustful, boundless love; what
generous exaggeration of the object loved!
His rustic friend, his nut-brown maiden, are no
longer mean and homely, but a hero and a
queen, whom he prizes as the paragons of
Earth. The rough scenes of Scottish life, not
seen by him in any Arcadian illusion, but in
the rude contradiction, in the smoke and soil
of a too harsh reality, are still lovely to him:
Poverty is indeed his companion, but Love
also, and Courage; the simple feelings, the
worth, the nobleness, that dwell under the
straw roof, are dear and venerable to his heart:
and thus over the lowest provinces of man's
existence he pours the glory of his own soul;
and they rise, in shadow and sunshine, softened
and brightened into a beauty which other eyes
discern not in the highest.
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? APPENDIX I 317
"He has a just self-consciousness, which too
often degenerates into pride; yet it is a noble
pride, for defence, not for offence; no cold sus-
picious feeling, but a frank and social one. The
Peasant Poet bears himself, we might say, like
a King in exile: he is cast among the low, and
feels himself equal to the highest; yet he claims
no rank, that none may be disputed to him.
The forward he can repel, the supercilious he
can subdue; pretensions of wealth or ancestry
are of no avail with him; there is a fire in that
dark eye, under which the 'insolence of con-
descension' cannot thrive. In his abasement,
in his extreme need, he forgets not for a
moment the majesty of Poetry and Manhood.
And yet, far as he feels himself above common
men, he wanders not apart from them, but mixes
warmly in their interests; nay, throws himself
into their arms, and, as it were, entreats them
to love him. It is moving to see how, in his
darkest despondency, this proud being still
seeks relief from friendship; unbosoms himself,
often to the unworthy ', and, amid tears, strains
to his glowing heart a heart that knows only
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? 318 APPENDIX I
the name of friendship. And yet he was ' quick
to learn'; a man of keen vision, before whom
common disguises afforded no concealment.
His understanding saw through the hollowness
even of accomplished deceivers; but there was
a generous credulity in his heart. And so did
our Peasant show himself among us; 'a soul
like an yEolian harp, in whose strings the
vulgar wind, as it passed through them,
changed itself into articulate melody. ' And
this was he for whom the world found no fitter
business than quarrelling with smugglers and
vintners, computing excise-dues upon tallow,
and gauging ale-barrels! In such toils was
that mighty Spirit sorrowfully wasted: and a
hundred years may pass on, before another
such is given us to waste. "1
And as we wish the Germans joy on their
Schiller, so, with the same feeling, will we
1 It will be observed that in this extract several passages
have been omitted by Goethe. Compare Carlyle's Essay on
Bums,--Miscellanies (Library edition, 1869), vol. ii. pp. 8-12.
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? APPENDIX I 319
congratulate the Scotch. They have indeed
bestowed on our friend Schiller so much atten-
tion and sympathy, that it would be but just if
we, in like manner, should introduce their Burns
to our people. Some young member of the
honourable Society to which as a whole the
present pages are dedicated, would find his
time and labour abundantly rewarded, should
he determine to perform this friendly service in
return, to a Nation so worthy of honour, and
faithfully carry out his undertaking. We
esteem this highly - praised Robert Burns
amongst the first poetical spirits which the
past century has produced.
In the year 1829, a very neat and attrac-
tively printed little octavo Volume came to our
hands: Catalogue of German Publications,
selected and systematically arranged for W. H.
Koller and Jul. Cahlmann, London.
This little book, compiled with special
knowledge of German Literature, in a manner
to facilitate the S of it, does honour to
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? 320 APPENDIX I
the compiler as well as to the publishers, who
seriously undertake the important office of in-
troducing foreign literature to their own
country; and who do this, indeed, not only in
such wise that one can see what it has produced
in every department, but also so as to attract and
satisfy the scholar and the thoughtful reader,
as well as those who merely seek for sentiment
and entertainment. Every German writer and
man of letters who has distinguished himself
in any department, will be eager to open this
catalogue to see if there is mention of him,
and if his Works have been courteously ad-
mitted with others of a similar sort. If will
be to the interest of all German Publishers to
learn how their wares are regarded across the
Channel, what value is set on each, and they
will neglect no means of establishing and ac-
tively maintaining relations with men of such
serious purpose.
As now I introduce and bring into light the
Life of Schiller, written so many years ago,
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? APPENDIX I 321
by our Scottish friend, and upon which he
looks back with a becoming modesty, may he
permit me to add some of his most recent
utterances, which shall best show our common
progress up to this time.
THOMAS CARLYLE to GOETHE.
2 2d December 1829.
"I have read the Briefwechsel a second time
with no little satisfaction, and even to-day am
sending off an Essay on Schiller, grounded on
that Work, for the Foreign Review. It will
gratify you to learn that a knowledge and
appreciation of Foreign, especially of German,
Literature, is spreading with increased rapidity
over all the domain of the English tongue; so
that almost at the Antipodes, in New Holland
itself, the wise of your country are by this time
preaching their wisdom. I have heard lately
that even in Oxford and Cambridge, our two
English universities, which have all along been
regarded as the strongholds of Insular pride
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? 322 APPENDIX I
and prejudice, there is a strange stir in this
matter. Your Niebuhr has found an able trans-
lator in Cambridge; and in Oxford two or
three Germans already find employment as
teachers of their language; the new light con-
tained in which may well dazzle certain eyes.
Of the benefits that must in the end result from
all this no man can be doubtful: let nations,
like individuals, but know one another and
mutual hatred will give place to mutual help-
fulness; and instead of natural enemies, as
neighbouring countries are sometimes called,
we shall all be natural friends. " 1
If, now, in view of all that precedes, the
hope flatters us, that a harmony of Nations, a
universal goodwill, will by degrees come into
existence, by means of a closer acquaintance
with different languages and ways of thinking,
I venture to speak of an important influence of
German Literature, which, in a special case,
may perhaps prove of great effect.
1 See supra, pp. 161-163.
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? APPENDIX I 323
Namely this, It is well enough known that
the inhabitants of the Three British Kingdoms
do not live in quite the best mutual understand-
ing; but that, on the contrary, one neighbour
finds in the other ground of censure sufficient
to justify himself in a secret aversion.
I am convinced that, as the German ethic
and aesthetic Literature spreads through the
Three Kingdoms, there will, at the same time,
arise a quiet community of Philo-Germans, the
members of which, in their affection for a
Fourth, nearly-related Nation, will feel them-
selves united, nay blended together.
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? APPENDIX II
The following little note by Goethe, which he had intended
to accompany the Ka? stchen, announced in his Letter to
Carlyle of the 6th of June 1830 (Letter XXVIL, see p.
194), had evidently never reached its destination; the
original being now in private hands in Weimar. It was
printed in the Grenzboten (Goethiana: Zu Goethes Verha? lt-
nis zu Carlyle, von Ewald Flu? gel), iii. 1885; but it did not
reach us in time to permit of its being inserted in its proper
place.
SENDUNG AN HERRN CARLYLE.
\l4fhJune 1830. ]
1. Goethe's Farbenlehre, zwey Bde. in 8. , u. ein Heft
Tafeln, in 4? ; in letzterem finden sich:
2. Zwey Kupferstiche beygelegt: (a) von Goethe's Garten-
haus im Ilmthale und (b) dessen Haus in der Stadt.
Beym
ersteren wird man sich der Bemerkung nicht enthalten
dass solches gleichfalls drey Fenster, wie das zu Craigen-
puttock hat, und mir mehrere Jahre zur Sommer-und
Winterwohnung diente. Nur ungern verliess ich es, um
mancher Sorge und Mu? he des Sta? dtischen Aufenthaltes
entgegen zu gehen.
3. Hrn. Dr. Wachler's Vorlesungen u? ber die Geschichte
der deutschen National Literatur. Zwey Ba? nde. 8. 1818-19.
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? APPENDIX II 325
4. Ueber Werden und Wirken der Literatur zuna? chst
in Beziehung auf Deutschlands Literatur unserer Zeit v.
Dr. Wachler. Breslau 1819.
5. Schillerisch-Goethescher Briefwechsel 3-6. Bd. incl.
und das ganze also abgeschlossen.
6. Das Chaos, Wochenblatt, Manuscript fu? r Freunde.
Gesellige Scherze einer geistreichen Weimarischen Gesell-
schaft, wie aus dem Inhalt des mehreren zu ersehen ist.
Es darf eigentlich Niemanden mitgetheilt werden als wer
dazu Beytra? ge liefert, da nun aber wie zu ersehen ist, auch
Mitarbeiter von Edinburg datiren, so ist es billig dass auch
ein Exemplar nach Schottland wandere. Man bittet die
Freunde in der Grafschaft Dumfries ihre bisherige Gunst
fortzusetzen. Leider kann man kein vollsta? ndiges Ex-
emplar schicken, die Gesellschaft war im Anfang sehr
klein und werden nur wenig Exemplare gedruckt um das
Abschreiben zu vermeiden; nach und nach wuchs der
Antheil, die Auflage ward sta? rker aber die ersten Bla? tter
stufenweise nicht mehr zu haben. Mo? gen diese sibyllin-
ischen [Bla? tter1] Productionen, entstanden auf den spa? testen
Kalkflo? zen des Continents, den u? bermeerischen Freunden
auf ihrem Urgranit einige anmuthige Stunden verleihen.
Von Ottilien habe ich die herzlichsten Gru? sse beyzufu? gen,
sie ist ganz eigentlich der Redacteur dieses Blattes und
dirigirt mit einigen treuen versta? ndigen Freunden die
ganze mitunter bedenkliche Angelegenheit.
7. Der Abschluss der Uebersetzung Ihrer Schillerischen
Biographie. Mit der na? chsten Sendung hoffe das ausges-
tattete Werklein zu u? berschicken. Schon einiges deshalb
habe in meinem letzten Briefe vom 7. Juni vermeldet.
8. Auch liegt eine gar lo? bliche Trauerrede auf unsre
Written and crossed out in MS.
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? 326 APPENDIX II
ju? ngst verstorbene, hochst geschatzte und geliebte Frau
Grossherzogin bey.
So1'iel treulichst a. eiligst
damit kdn Aufenthalt sey,
urn baldige Nachricht der Ankunft bittend
GOETHE-
WEIMAR, den 14. Juni 1830.
[Translation. ] Contents of Packet for Mr. Carlyle.
1. Goethe's Farbenlehre, two vols. 8vo, and a set of
plates, in 4to; along with the latter are:
2. Two Copper-plate Engravings: (a) of Goethe's
Garden-house in Ilmthal and (b) his House in town. As
to the first, it may be remarked that it has three windows,
like the house at Craigenputtock; and that it served me
for several years as dwelling-place both in summer and in
winter. I was loath to leave it and to encounter the many
cares and troubles of a residence in town.
3. Dr. Wachler's Lectures on the History of German
National Literature. Two vols. , 8vo, 1818-19.
4. Concerning the Growth and Influence of Literature,
especially of the German Literature of our time, by Dr.
Wachler. Breslau 1819.
5. Schiller - Goethe Correspondence. Vols. 3-6 (the
whole being thus completed).
6. The Chaos, a weekly paper, for private circulation,
in manuscript. Social pleasantries of an intellectual
Weimar Society, as is obvious from the contents of most of
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? APPENDIX II 327
the numbers. Strictly speaking, its circulation is confined
to contributors; but as it appears that certain of the fellow-
labourers date from Edinburgh, it is surely fair that at least
one copy should find its way to Scotland. A request is
made that the favours from our friends in the county of
Dumfries may be continued. Unfortunately a complete
copy cannot be sent. It was at first a very small society
and only a few copies were printed, merely to save tran-
scribing. Gradually the interest in it increased, and the
issue became larger, but by degrees the early numbers were
exhausted. May these Sibylline products, sprung from the
most recent Chalk Deposits of the Continent, afford some
pleasant hours to our friends, who are across the sea on
their Primary Granite. I am to add kindest greetings
from Ottilie. She is in reality the sole Editor of this
Periodical, and, with the aid of a few faithful intelligent
friends, takes the whole direction of the, at times, ticklish
concern.
7. The conclusion of the translation of your Life of
Schiller. By the next despatch I hope to send the little
work complete; I have already given you some news of it
in my Letter of the 7th of June.
8. There is also enclosed a much to be commended
Funeral-oration on our recently deceased, most esteemed
and beloved Grand Duchess.
No more lest I delay the Packet. Hoping for speedy
news of its arrival,
Most faithfully, and in greatest haste,
GOETHE.
WEIMAR, 141l1 June 1830.
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? 328 APPENDIX II
ECKERMANN to CARLYLE.
WEIMAR, d. 20 Octbr. 1832.
MEIN THEURF. R FREUND--Ihr lieber Brief hat mir die
Versicherung gegeben dass unsere schon seit Jahren beste-
hende Verbindung fortbestehen und vielleicht noch inniger
geknu? pft werden wird.
Ihren ersten Artikel u? ber Goethe in dem Magazine habe
ich auf Verlangen vieler Freunde u? bersetzt; und [er] wird
in diesen Tagen im Morgenblatt erscheinen. Ueber den
zweyten bedeutenderen Artikel redet man viel in Deutsch-
land und ich wu? rde ihn auch sogleich u? bersetzt haben,
wenn nicht meine ganze Zeit mit der Redaction der nach-
gelassenen 15 Ba? nde hingenommen wa? re. Doch ho? re ich
dass Herr v. Cotta ihn wird u? bersetzen lassen.
Heute sende ich Ihnen zwey bedeutende Dinge: 1. Eine
vorzu? gliche Schrift u? ber Goethe von Herrn Canzler v. Mu? ller,
der Ihnen ein Exemplar dedicirt hat. Herr v. Mu? ller ist
ein vielja? hriger Freund von Goethe weshalb er auch von
ihm zum Executor des Testaments ernannt worden. Er
hat bey seiner trefflich geschriebenen Schrift Quellen
benutzen ko? nnen die jedem anderen nicht frey standen.
Das Bu? chlein wird fu? r Sie von hohem Interesse seyn
und Sie werden es sicherlich zu einem ferneren Artikel
u? ber Goethe benutzen. 2. Sende ich Ihnen das letzte
Heft von Kunst und Alterthum das am 6n. Bande noch
fehlte und das von uns Freunden herausgegeben worden.
Auch dieses Heft wird fu? r Sie brauchbar und von manchem
Interesse seyn.
Ich bin sehr bescha? ftigt mit der Herausgabe der nach-
gelassenen Werke Goethes wovon die ersten 5 Ba? nde in
wenig Monaten erscheinen. Diese erste Lieferung wird
enthalten:
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? APPENDIX II 329
1. Den zweyten Theil des Faust.
2. Erstes Manuscript v. Go? tz v. Berlichingen.
3. Schweizer Reise von 1797.
4. Ueber Kunst.
5. Theater und Deutsche Literatur.
In die zweyte Lieferung welche Ostern erscheint wird
kommen:
6. Ausla? ndische Literatur.
7.
? APPENDIX I 311
"The only thing of any moment I have
written since I came hither is an Essay on
Burns. Perhaps you have never heard of this
Burns, and yet he was a man of the most
decisive genius; but born in the rank of a
Peasant, and miserably wasted away by the
complexities of his strange situation; so that
all he effected was comparatively a trifle, and
he died before middle age.
"We English, especially we Scotch, love
Burns more than any other Poet we have had
for centuries. It has often struck me to remark
that he was born a few months only before
Schiller, in the year 1759; and that neither of
these two men ever heard the other's name;
but that they shone as stars in opposite hemi-
spheres, the little Atmosphere of the Earth
intercepting their mutual light. "1
Yet Robert Burns was better known to
us than our friend conjectured. The charm-
ing Poem John Barley-Corn had come to us
1 From Carlyle's Letter of 25th September 1828. See
supra, p. 123.
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? 3I2 APPENDIX I
anonymously, and being deservedly prized, led
to many attempts to appropriate it in our own
language. John Barley-Corn (Hans Gersten-
korn), a valiant man, has many enemies, who
incessantly persecute and harm him, at length
even threaten to kill him outright. From all
these injuries, however, he finally emerges
triumphant, for the special blessing and cheer
of eager beer-drinkers. In this lively, happy
anthropomorphism Burns is at once seen to be
a genuine Poet.
On further investigation, we found this
Poem in the Edition of his Works of 1822, to
which a Sketch of his Life is prefixed, instruct-
ing us, in some measure at least, as to his
outward circumstances. Those of his Poems
that we have made our own, convinced us of
his extraordinary talent, and we regretted that
the Scottish dialect proved a hindrance precisely
where he must have attained his finest and most
natural expression. On the whole, however, we
have carried our studies so far that we can sub-
scribe to the laudatory statement quoted below,
as agreeing with our own conviction.
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? APPENDIX I 313
For the rest, how far this Burns of ours may
be known in Germany beyond what the Con-
versations-Lexicon reports of him, I should be
unable to say, being ignorant of the new literary
movements in Germany; still I would at any
rate set the friends of Foreign Literature upon
the right road, by mentioning the Life of
Robert Burns, by J. G. Lockhart, Edinburgh,
1828,--criticised by our friend in the Edin-
burgh Review, December 1828.
The following passages translated from this
Article will, it may be hoped, arouse an eager
desire to become thoroughly acquainted with
this Work, and with the man himself.
"Burns was born in an age the most prosaic
Britain had yet seen, and in a condition the
most disadvantageous, where his mind, if it
accomplished aught, must accomplish it under
the pressure of continual bodily toil, nay of
penury and desponding apprehension of the
worst evils, and with no furtherance but such
knowledge as dwells in a poor man's hut, and
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? APPENDIX I
the rhymes of a Ferguson or Ramsay for his
standard of beauty, he sinks not under all these
impediments: through the fogs and darkness of
that obscure region, his lynx eye discerns the
true relations of the world and human life; he
grows into intellectual strength, and trains him-
self into intellectual expertness. Impelled by
the expansive movement of his own irrepressible
soul, he struggles forward into the general view;
and with haughty modesty lays down before us,
as the fruit of his labour, a gift, which Time
has now pronounced imperishable.
"A true Poet, a man in whose heart resides
some effluence of Wisdom, some tone of the
'Eternal Melodies,' is the most precious gift
that can be bestowed on a generation: we see
in him a freer, purer development of whatever
is noblest in ourselves; his life is a rich lesson
to us; and we mourn his death as that of a
benefactor who loved and taught us.
"Such a gift had Nature, in her bounty,
bestowed on us in Robert Burns; but with
queenlike indifference she cast it from her hand,
like a thing of no moment; and it was defaced
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? APPENDIX I 315
and torn asunder, as an idle bauble, before we
recognised it. To the ill-starred Burns was
given the power of making man's life more
venerable, but that of wisely guiding his own
life was not given. Destiny,--for so in our
ignorance we must speak,--his faults, the faults
of others, proved too hard for him; and that
spirit, which might have soared could it but
have walked, soon sank to the dust, its glorious
faculties trodden underfoot in the blossom;
and died, we may almost say, without ever
having lived. And so kind and warm a soul;
so full of inborn riches, of love to all living and
lifeless things! The ' Daisy' falls not unheeded
under his ploughshare; [nor the ruined nest of
that' wee, cowering, timorous beastie,' cast forth,
after all its provident pains, to 'thole the sleety
dribble and cranreuch cauld'1]. The hoar visage
of Winter delights him; he dwells with a sad
and oft-returning fondness in these scenes of
solemn desolation; but the voice of the tempest
1 Goethe translates the words in brackets: 'So wenig als
das wohlbesorgte Nest cUr tUfchtsamen Feldma1ts, tfas er her-
vorwiihlt. '
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? 316 APPENDIX I
becomes an anthem to his ears; he loves to
walk in the sounding woods, for 'it raises his
thoughts to Him that walketh on the wings of
the wind. ' A true Poet-soul, for it needs but to
be struck, and the sound it yields will be music! "What warm, all - comprehending fellow-
feeling; what trustful, boundless love; what
generous exaggeration of the object loved!
His rustic friend, his nut-brown maiden, are no
longer mean and homely, but a hero and a
queen, whom he prizes as the paragons of
Earth. The rough scenes of Scottish life, not
seen by him in any Arcadian illusion, but in
the rude contradiction, in the smoke and soil
of a too harsh reality, are still lovely to him:
Poverty is indeed his companion, but Love
also, and Courage; the simple feelings, the
worth, the nobleness, that dwell under the
straw roof, are dear and venerable to his heart:
and thus over the lowest provinces of man's
existence he pours the glory of his own soul;
and they rise, in shadow and sunshine, softened
and brightened into a beauty which other eyes
discern not in the highest.
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? APPENDIX I 317
"He has a just self-consciousness, which too
often degenerates into pride; yet it is a noble
pride, for defence, not for offence; no cold sus-
picious feeling, but a frank and social one. The
Peasant Poet bears himself, we might say, like
a King in exile: he is cast among the low, and
feels himself equal to the highest; yet he claims
no rank, that none may be disputed to him.
The forward he can repel, the supercilious he
can subdue; pretensions of wealth or ancestry
are of no avail with him; there is a fire in that
dark eye, under which the 'insolence of con-
descension' cannot thrive. In his abasement,
in his extreme need, he forgets not for a
moment the majesty of Poetry and Manhood.
And yet, far as he feels himself above common
men, he wanders not apart from them, but mixes
warmly in their interests; nay, throws himself
into their arms, and, as it were, entreats them
to love him. It is moving to see how, in his
darkest despondency, this proud being still
seeks relief from friendship; unbosoms himself,
often to the unworthy ', and, amid tears, strains
to his glowing heart a heart that knows only
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? 318 APPENDIX I
the name of friendship. And yet he was ' quick
to learn'; a man of keen vision, before whom
common disguises afforded no concealment.
His understanding saw through the hollowness
even of accomplished deceivers; but there was
a generous credulity in his heart. And so did
our Peasant show himself among us; 'a soul
like an yEolian harp, in whose strings the
vulgar wind, as it passed through them,
changed itself into articulate melody. ' And
this was he for whom the world found no fitter
business than quarrelling with smugglers and
vintners, computing excise-dues upon tallow,
and gauging ale-barrels! In such toils was
that mighty Spirit sorrowfully wasted: and a
hundred years may pass on, before another
such is given us to waste. "1
And as we wish the Germans joy on their
Schiller, so, with the same feeling, will we
1 It will be observed that in this extract several passages
have been omitted by Goethe. Compare Carlyle's Essay on
Bums,--Miscellanies (Library edition, 1869), vol. ii. pp. 8-12.
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? APPENDIX I 319
congratulate the Scotch. They have indeed
bestowed on our friend Schiller so much atten-
tion and sympathy, that it would be but just if
we, in like manner, should introduce their Burns
to our people. Some young member of the
honourable Society to which as a whole the
present pages are dedicated, would find his
time and labour abundantly rewarded, should
he determine to perform this friendly service in
return, to a Nation so worthy of honour, and
faithfully carry out his undertaking. We
esteem this highly - praised Robert Burns
amongst the first poetical spirits which the
past century has produced.
In the year 1829, a very neat and attrac-
tively printed little octavo Volume came to our
hands: Catalogue of German Publications,
selected and systematically arranged for W. H.
Koller and Jul. Cahlmann, London.
This little book, compiled with special
knowledge of German Literature, in a manner
to facilitate the S of it, does honour to
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? 320 APPENDIX I
the compiler as well as to the publishers, who
seriously undertake the important office of in-
troducing foreign literature to their own
country; and who do this, indeed, not only in
such wise that one can see what it has produced
in every department, but also so as to attract and
satisfy the scholar and the thoughtful reader,
as well as those who merely seek for sentiment
and entertainment. Every German writer and
man of letters who has distinguished himself
in any department, will be eager to open this
catalogue to see if there is mention of him,
and if his Works have been courteously ad-
mitted with others of a similar sort. If will
be to the interest of all German Publishers to
learn how their wares are regarded across the
Channel, what value is set on each, and they
will neglect no means of establishing and ac-
tively maintaining relations with men of such
serious purpose.
As now I introduce and bring into light the
Life of Schiller, written so many years ago,
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? APPENDIX I 321
by our Scottish friend, and upon which he
looks back with a becoming modesty, may he
permit me to add some of his most recent
utterances, which shall best show our common
progress up to this time.
THOMAS CARLYLE to GOETHE.
2 2d December 1829.
"I have read the Briefwechsel a second time
with no little satisfaction, and even to-day am
sending off an Essay on Schiller, grounded on
that Work, for the Foreign Review. It will
gratify you to learn that a knowledge and
appreciation of Foreign, especially of German,
Literature, is spreading with increased rapidity
over all the domain of the English tongue; so
that almost at the Antipodes, in New Holland
itself, the wise of your country are by this time
preaching their wisdom. I have heard lately
that even in Oxford and Cambridge, our two
English universities, which have all along been
regarded as the strongholds of Insular pride
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? 322 APPENDIX I
and prejudice, there is a strange stir in this
matter. Your Niebuhr has found an able trans-
lator in Cambridge; and in Oxford two or
three Germans already find employment as
teachers of their language; the new light con-
tained in which may well dazzle certain eyes.
Of the benefits that must in the end result from
all this no man can be doubtful: let nations,
like individuals, but know one another and
mutual hatred will give place to mutual help-
fulness; and instead of natural enemies, as
neighbouring countries are sometimes called,
we shall all be natural friends. " 1
If, now, in view of all that precedes, the
hope flatters us, that a harmony of Nations, a
universal goodwill, will by degrees come into
existence, by means of a closer acquaintance
with different languages and ways of thinking,
I venture to speak of an important influence of
German Literature, which, in a special case,
may perhaps prove of great effect.
1 See supra, pp. 161-163.
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? APPENDIX I 323
Namely this, It is well enough known that
the inhabitants of the Three British Kingdoms
do not live in quite the best mutual understand-
ing; but that, on the contrary, one neighbour
finds in the other ground of censure sufficient
to justify himself in a secret aversion.
I am convinced that, as the German ethic
and aesthetic Literature spreads through the
Three Kingdoms, there will, at the same time,
arise a quiet community of Philo-Germans, the
members of which, in their affection for a
Fourth, nearly-related Nation, will feel them-
selves united, nay blended together.
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? APPENDIX II
The following little note by Goethe, which he had intended
to accompany the Ka? stchen, announced in his Letter to
Carlyle of the 6th of June 1830 (Letter XXVIL, see p.
194), had evidently never reached its destination; the
original being now in private hands in Weimar. It was
printed in the Grenzboten (Goethiana: Zu Goethes Verha? lt-
nis zu Carlyle, von Ewald Flu? gel), iii. 1885; but it did not
reach us in time to permit of its being inserted in its proper
place.
SENDUNG AN HERRN CARLYLE.
\l4fhJune 1830. ]
1. Goethe's Farbenlehre, zwey Bde. in 8. , u. ein Heft
Tafeln, in 4? ; in letzterem finden sich:
2. Zwey Kupferstiche beygelegt: (a) von Goethe's Garten-
haus im Ilmthale und (b) dessen Haus in der Stadt.
Beym
ersteren wird man sich der Bemerkung nicht enthalten
dass solches gleichfalls drey Fenster, wie das zu Craigen-
puttock hat, und mir mehrere Jahre zur Sommer-und
Winterwohnung diente. Nur ungern verliess ich es, um
mancher Sorge und Mu? he des Sta? dtischen Aufenthaltes
entgegen zu gehen.
3. Hrn. Dr. Wachler's Vorlesungen u? ber die Geschichte
der deutschen National Literatur. Zwey Ba? nde. 8. 1818-19.
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? APPENDIX II 325
4. Ueber Werden und Wirken der Literatur zuna? chst
in Beziehung auf Deutschlands Literatur unserer Zeit v.
Dr. Wachler. Breslau 1819.
5. Schillerisch-Goethescher Briefwechsel 3-6. Bd. incl.
und das ganze also abgeschlossen.
6. Das Chaos, Wochenblatt, Manuscript fu? r Freunde.
Gesellige Scherze einer geistreichen Weimarischen Gesell-
schaft, wie aus dem Inhalt des mehreren zu ersehen ist.
Es darf eigentlich Niemanden mitgetheilt werden als wer
dazu Beytra? ge liefert, da nun aber wie zu ersehen ist, auch
Mitarbeiter von Edinburg datiren, so ist es billig dass auch
ein Exemplar nach Schottland wandere. Man bittet die
Freunde in der Grafschaft Dumfries ihre bisherige Gunst
fortzusetzen. Leider kann man kein vollsta? ndiges Ex-
emplar schicken, die Gesellschaft war im Anfang sehr
klein und werden nur wenig Exemplare gedruckt um das
Abschreiben zu vermeiden; nach und nach wuchs der
Antheil, die Auflage ward sta? rker aber die ersten Bla? tter
stufenweise nicht mehr zu haben. Mo? gen diese sibyllin-
ischen [Bla? tter1] Productionen, entstanden auf den spa? testen
Kalkflo? zen des Continents, den u? bermeerischen Freunden
auf ihrem Urgranit einige anmuthige Stunden verleihen.
Von Ottilien habe ich die herzlichsten Gru? sse beyzufu? gen,
sie ist ganz eigentlich der Redacteur dieses Blattes und
dirigirt mit einigen treuen versta? ndigen Freunden die
ganze mitunter bedenkliche Angelegenheit.
7. Der Abschluss der Uebersetzung Ihrer Schillerischen
Biographie. Mit der na? chsten Sendung hoffe das ausges-
tattete Werklein zu u? berschicken. Schon einiges deshalb
habe in meinem letzten Briefe vom 7. Juni vermeldet.
8. Auch liegt eine gar lo? bliche Trauerrede auf unsre
Written and crossed out in MS.
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? 326 APPENDIX II
ju? ngst verstorbene, hochst geschatzte und geliebte Frau
Grossherzogin bey.
So1'iel treulichst a. eiligst
damit kdn Aufenthalt sey,
urn baldige Nachricht der Ankunft bittend
GOETHE-
WEIMAR, den 14. Juni 1830.
[Translation. ] Contents of Packet for Mr. Carlyle.
1. Goethe's Farbenlehre, two vols. 8vo, and a set of
plates, in 4to; along with the latter are:
2. Two Copper-plate Engravings: (a) of Goethe's
Garden-house in Ilmthal and (b) his House in town. As
to the first, it may be remarked that it has three windows,
like the house at Craigenputtock; and that it served me
for several years as dwelling-place both in summer and in
winter. I was loath to leave it and to encounter the many
cares and troubles of a residence in town.
3. Dr. Wachler's Lectures on the History of German
National Literature. Two vols. , 8vo, 1818-19.
4. Concerning the Growth and Influence of Literature,
especially of the German Literature of our time, by Dr.
Wachler. Breslau 1819.
5. Schiller - Goethe Correspondence. Vols. 3-6 (the
whole being thus completed).
6. The Chaos, a weekly paper, for private circulation,
in manuscript. Social pleasantries of an intellectual
Weimar Society, as is obvious from the contents of most of
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? APPENDIX II 327
the numbers. Strictly speaking, its circulation is confined
to contributors; but as it appears that certain of the fellow-
labourers date from Edinburgh, it is surely fair that at least
one copy should find its way to Scotland. A request is
made that the favours from our friends in the county of
Dumfries may be continued. Unfortunately a complete
copy cannot be sent. It was at first a very small society
and only a few copies were printed, merely to save tran-
scribing. Gradually the interest in it increased, and the
issue became larger, but by degrees the early numbers were
exhausted. May these Sibylline products, sprung from the
most recent Chalk Deposits of the Continent, afford some
pleasant hours to our friends, who are across the sea on
their Primary Granite. I am to add kindest greetings
from Ottilie. She is in reality the sole Editor of this
Periodical, and, with the aid of a few faithful intelligent
friends, takes the whole direction of the, at times, ticklish
concern.
7. The conclusion of the translation of your Life of
Schiller. By the next despatch I hope to send the little
work complete; I have already given you some news of it
in my Letter of the 7th of June.
8. There is also enclosed a much to be commended
Funeral-oration on our recently deceased, most esteemed
and beloved Grand Duchess.
No more lest I delay the Packet. Hoping for speedy
news of its arrival,
Most faithfully, and in greatest haste,
GOETHE.
WEIMAR, 141l1 June 1830.
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? 328 APPENDIX II
ECKERMANN to CARLYLE.
WEIMAR, d. 20 Octbr. 1832.
MEIN THEURF. R FREUND--Ihr lieber Brief hat mir die
Versicherung gegeben dass unsere schon seit Jahren beste-
hende Verbindung fortbestehen und vielleicht noch inniger
geknu? pft werden wird.
Ihren ersten Artikel u? ber Goethe in dem Magazine habe
ich auf Verlangen vieler Freunde u? bersetzt; und [er] wird
in diesen Tagen im Morgenblatt erscheinen. Ueber den
zweyten bedeutenderen Artikel redet man viel in Deutsch-
land und ich wu? rde ihn auch sogleich u? bersetzt haben,
wenn nicht meine ganze Zeit mit der Redaction der nach-
gelassenen 15 Ba? nde hingenommen wa? re. Doch ho? re ich
dass Herr v. Cotta ihn wird u? bersetzen lassen.
Heute sende ich Ihnen zwey bedeutende Dinge: 1. Eine
vorzu? gliche Schrift u? ber Goethe von Herrn Canzler v. Mu? ller,
der Ihnen ein Exemplar dedicirt hat. Herr v. Mu? ller ist
ein vielja? hriger Freund von Goethe weshalb er auch von
ihm zum Executor des Testaments ernannt worden. Er
hat bey seiner trefflich geschriebenen Schrift Quellen
benutzen ko? nnen die jedem anderen nicht frey standen.
Das Bu? chlein wird fu? r Sie von hohem Interesse seyn
und Sie werden es sicherlich zu einem ferneren Artikel
u? ber Goethe benutzen. 2. Sende ich Ihnen das letzte
Heft von Kunst und Alterthum das am 6n. Bande noch
fehlte und das von uns Freunden herausgegeben worden.
Auch dieses Heft wird fu? r Sie brauchbar und von manchem
Interesse seyn.
Ich bin sehr bescha? ftigt mit der Herausgabe der nach-
gelassenen Werke Goethes wovon die ersten 5 Ba? nde in
wenig Monaten erscheinen. Diese erste Lieferung wird
enthalten:
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? APPENDIX II 329
1. Den zweyten Theil des Faust.
2. Erstes Manuscript v. Go? tz v. Berlichingen.
3. Schweizer Reise von 1797.
4. Ueber Kunst.
5. Theater und Deutsche Literatur.
In die zweyte Lieferung welche Ostern erscheint wird
kommen:
6. Ausla? ndische Literatur.
7.
