" This
volume of historic essays contained the treatise on the
Republic of the Netherlands--full of sparkling descriptions
of Holland and her national life, which proved that not
in vain had he brought his Brief je van de uuren van hat
vertrekk, i.
volume of historic essays contained the treatise on the
Republic of the Netherlands--full of sparkling descriptions
of Holland and her national life, which proved that not
in vain had he brought his Brief je van de uuren van hat
vertrekk, i.
Treitschke - 1914 - Life and Works
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 49
we were often afraid that he, when walking of an evening
in the highway and disappearing in the dark, might be
run over by a carriage coming from behind, as had
happened to him in Berlin, from his inability to hear
it, he calmly travelled about in foreign parts where all
means of communication were exceedingly difficult for
him. With the inauguration of the new shipping service
he travelled to England, "in order to look at this English
crew a little closer. " When returning from Spain, which
his friends had considered particularly risky, he, loudly
laughing, entered their wine-bar, and before having taken
off his coat he started to relate: "Well, now, these
Spaniards! " In the same way he had traversed Holland
and France in order to impress historical localities upon
his memory. Considering the dangers and embarrass-
ments he was exposed to through his lack of hearing,
it will be admitted that unusual courage was necessary
for these journeys, but he undertook them solely in order
to supplement what had escaped him through his deaf-
ness in the tales of others.
The whole historical past of the country being ever pre-
sent before his eyes, he, although deaf, derived more benefit
from his travels than people in full possession of all senses.
Just as when passing the Ehrenberg narrow pass he
regretfully reflected that " Our Maurice " had not caught
Spanish Charles, so he sees, in Bruegge, Charles V in Spanish
attire coming round the corner; in Geneva the oil paint-
ings of Calvin and of his fellow-artists relate to him old
stories; and in Holland the Mynheers and high and mighties
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? 50 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
on every occasion entered into conversation with him.
His clear eyes were of such use to him that they amply
compensated his loss of hearing. But, however strenu-
ously he resisted, his affliction in many ways reacted
upon his general disposition. There was something
touching in the need for help of this clever and handsome
man, and it cannot be denied that his amiability was
partly its cause. We also told him that the world bene-
fited by his retiring disposition, and that he was spared
listening to the many stupidities and coarsenesses which
so often spoilt our good humour. I firmly believe that
being deaf he was able better to concentrate his thoughts,
but the lack of control in hearing himself and hearing
others speak and express themselves had a detrimental
effect upon him. Sound having become practically a
closed chapter to him whilst he was still a student, he
spoke during the whole of his life in the manner of students
and used the language of his student days. When once
suggesting he should come an hour sooner to our daily
meeting-place he greatly shocked the wives of counsellors
present by replying: "Da ist ja kein Schwein da"
(approximately meaning, "There won't be a blooming
soul there. ") When in the presence of several officers
at Leipzig he expressed the opinion that the new Saxon
Hussar uniform was the nearest approach to a monkey's
jacket, he came very near to having to fight a duel.
Quite good-naturedly, without wishing to offend anybody,
he compared the looks of a lady-student to a squashed
bug. In Parliament likewise he was on a certain occasion
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 51
unexpectedly called to order because he found it quite
natural to speak of the haughtiness of Deputy Richter
as if it were impossible to offend him. It had to be
considered that not hearing himself he did not hear others
speak, and Messrs Caprivi, Hahnke, Hinzpeter, and
Giissfeld, who during the last years were his favourite
targets for criticism, deserve great praise for putting up
with his epigrams--his bon-mots certainly did not remain
unknown in Berlin. His pulpit expressions also at times
savoured of student slang, so that the worthy fathers of
the University disapprovingly shook their wise heads.
His friends, however, thought he was ex lege because
of his deafness; and he was unique in that on the one
hand he was the best educated, refined gentleman, with
exquisite manners, yet when aroused he discharged a
volley of invective hardly to be expected from such
aristocratic lips; on the other hand, his sociable nature
found the seclusion due to his deafness very oppressive.
At times as a student in Heidelberg he had to endure
periods of most abject melancholy, which, however, his
strong nature always succeeded in conquering.
IV.
South Germany and Baden, even after the campaign
of 1866, were a difficult field for Treitschke. Soon after
the war he wrote to Gutschmid he did not relish return-
ing to Baden as conditions there were "too awful. " Even
now this communicative comrade, who quite impartially
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? 52 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
considered the existence of the Small States a nuisance,
had on every occasion to come into conflict with the
Model State. He hated the system of Small States just
because it diverted patriotism, the noblest human in-
stinct in favour of unworthy trifles. Politics were for him
a part of ethics and the unity of Germany a moral claim.
Particularists were therefore to him beings of morally
inferior value. Only hesitatingly he admitted that the
Badenese since 1866 had begun to mend their ways.
"It is true," he wrote to Freytag, "that the conversion
has made considerable progress, but it is noticeable more
in the minds of the people than in their hearts. " Nobody
in the whole of Baden was, however, in favour of media-
tization of the Small States which he, in his Freiburg
Essay entitled "Confederation and Single State," had
plainly demanded. The aim of the Single State
to render conditions uniform is not our ideal to-day-
We are quite content that the University of Leipzig
should stand by the side of that of Berlin, that the
traditions of Potsdam and Sans Souci should be preserved
in the same way as those of Weimar and Karlsruhe, and
that Dresden and Munich art should be appreciated as
much as that of Berlin. How many professors are there
who would desire to see all German Universities under
the same inspectorate as the Prussian ones? Unity as far
as the outside world is concerned, variety internally, is
our ideal, to which Treitschke likewise became reconciled
after hearing that the Army and external politics
would not be affected by internal polygarchy. Bismarck's
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 53
temperate words to Jolly: "If I include Bavaria in the
Empire I must make such arrangements as to make the
people feel happy in it," contains more political wisdom
than Treitschke's gay prescription: Der Bien muss.
Compared with the errors of our ingenious friend,
Bismarck's " political eye " and his infallible judgment of
values and realities can be appreciated in its true light;
under a weak Regent, Unitarian Germany would have
become a new Poland under a violent one a second
Russia.
It, however, redounds to Treitschke's honour that one
by one he renounced his first ideals, such as destruction
of the Small States, Single State, Parliamentarism,
humiliation of Austria, and free trade, subsequent to his
having found in Bismarck his political superior. When
Bismarck's dismissal taught him that in Prussia political
impossibilities do not exist either, his eyes were opened
to a good many other matters. Henceforth no complaint
could be lodged against him regarding adoration of the
Crown; rather the reverse was the case. In 1867
Baden was for him merely das handle (the little
country), but all the same he apparently did not like to
hear from us that our Grand Duchy comprised more
square miles than his Kingdom of Saxony. He strictly
adhered to his dogma of the Rhine Convention, tendencies
to Napoleonic kingdoms--nay, he even attributed to them
aims of aggrandisement. "What people thought of 1866"
--so he relates in his essay on the constitutional king-
dom--" becomes apparent from the painful exclamation
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? 54 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
of a well-meaning Prince to the effect: 'What a
pity we were at that time not on Prussia's side, as we
also should then have enlarged our territory. '" But as
formerly in Freiburg, so here, he misunderstood the popu-
lation. The fact that the developments in the summer of
1870 appeared to him like outpourings of the Holy
Ghost only proves that the deaf man never understood
the ways of our Palatines. Favourable disposition towards
the Rhine Convention, which he suspected everywhere,
was only to be found in the elegant Ultramontane circles
in which he moved, and in the democratic journals which
he for his own journalistic purposes read more than other
people. It proved perhaps more correct when he wrote,
"The South Germans quietly aspire to the Main with the
reservation, however, to revile it in their journals. "
Bismarck did not as yet enjoy general confidence, but
had he wanted Baden the Chamber would not have
refused. The factions in the town caused him amuse-
ment; Heidelberg had the advantage of two political
journals: the Heidelberg Journal and the Heidelberg
Zcitung, which were both Liberal and had accomplished
all that in a small town could be reasonably expected of
them. On this subject he sketched, in his essay entitled
"Parties and Factions" (1871), the following pleasant
picture: "Who is not aware of how in towns of Central
Germany two journals side by side eke out a bare and
miserable existence, both belonging to the same party, yet,
for the sake of their valued clientele, constantly fight-
ing like cats? Who does not know these journals of
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 55
librarians outside whose door the editor stands on duty,
a polite host, deferentially asking what the honourable
public desires to partake of? Tre fratelli tre castelli
still applies to our average press. "
Filled by the desire to continue the worthy labours of
the year 1866 he enthusiastically adopted Mathy's idea
to include Baden in the North German Convention, and
thought it unkind that Bismarck failed to honour Mathy's
memorandum on the subject with a reply. If Prussia
should not carry out her plans he was afraid the Pan-
Germans in Baden would again become masters of the
situation, and he added: "If Bavaria, Wtirtemberg, and
Baden should go with Austria, even the European situa-
tion will assume a different physiognomy. " All the same,
he was at that time too closely in touch with Bismarck to
advocate too strongly the Mathy plan in the "Annuals. "
Treitschke stigmatized as obtrusive the Lasker Par-
liamentary Bill of February, 1871, Lasker acting as
attorney for the Badenese Government, which he was not,
and surprising Bismarck with his proposal without having
first consulted him.
Mathy's death on February 4th, 1868, affected Treitschke
all the more as Mathy had influenced him considerably
in his decision to gain for a second time a footing in Baden.
Besides, Treitschke warmly remembered Mathy's beautiful
trait in assisting younger men whom he considered promis-
ing. "You belong to the few," Freytag admitted to
him, " who have fully grasped Mathy's love and faith. "
It was, however, not only Mathy's sweetness of character
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? 56 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
which he had detected beneath the caustic ways of the
old Ulysses, but also his political reliability. "I still cannot
get over it," he mournfully wrote to Freytag; "among all
the old gentlemen of my acquaintance he was to me
the dearest and the one deserving of greatest respect. "
"The real Badenese," he said in another letter, " never
really cared for their first politician, and your book again
shows clearly the sin for which Mathy never will be
pardoned--character. " Another letter to the same
friend in August, 1868, runs as follows: "Here in the South
the disintegration of order continues. The recent Constitu-
tional Festival has vividly reminded me of our never-
to-be-forgotten Mathy. How the world has changed
in twenty-five years since Mathy organized the last
Badenese Constitutional Festival. Thank goodness, the
belief in this particularist magnificence has to-day com-
pletely disappeared. The festival was an ostensible failure,
a forced and feigned demonstration. The Ultramontanes
kept aloof because they hated Jolly and Beyer, and the
Nationalists who participated for that reason openly
admitted that they had longed for the happy end of the
old man. " His depreciative opinion of the conditions in
Baden finally developed into slight when a few weeks
after the Constitutional Festival the ministerial candidates
Bluntschli, Lamey, and Keifer, who had gone over on
the formation of the new Ministry, attempted to overthrow
the Ministry favourably disposed towards Prussia by
convoking the Liberal deputies at Offenburg. In the
Prussian Annuals he now called upon his North German
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 57
friends in disdainful terms to study the pamphlet of these
gentlemen against Jolly, in order to gain a somewhat more
correct idea of the political state of affairs in Baden.
In his opinion it was a sort of " Ziiriputsch " arranged by
the Swiss gentlemen, Bluntschli, Schenkel, and Renaud.
It might have applied as far as Heidelberg was concerned,
but the country was really attached to Lamey, whose
name was tied up with the fall of the Concordate, and
whose canon laws of 1860, making a Catholic country
of Baden, were at that time praised by all of us as the
corner-stone of liberty and political wisdom. Treitschke's
only answer to Bluntschli's agitation for energetic revision
of the Constitution was to leave the Paragon State in its
present form until Prussia would absorb the whole. The
attempt to overthrow the Ministry failed as the Regent
had been left out of account. In Heidelberg, Treitschke,
at an assembly of citizens, took up the cudgels for Jolly,
and was principally opposed by Schenkel, who declared
that he would not allow himself to be threatened by the
sword of Herr von Beyer. Surprised, Bluntschli, however,
wrote in his diary that the citizens applauded Treitschke,
who spoke for Jolly, no less than Schenkel, who spoke
against him. When the whole question was brought
before a second and very largely-frequented assembly
of the Liberal Party in Offenburg, Bluntschli made
Goldschmidt and Treitschke's other friends promise
that Treitschke should abstain from speaking as he would
upset all peace proposals. The latter, however, immediately
declared he could not be forced to maintain silence. At
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? 58 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
least a thousand men congregated from all parts of the
country, more than the big hall "Zum Salmen " was
capable of holding. Eckard, subsequently Manheim bank
manager, sat in the chair; on the part of the Fronde,
Kieper, instructed by Jolly, spoke, and for Jolly, Kusel
from Karlsruhe addressed the meeting. Treitschke as a
Prussian allowed the Badenese to speak first, and only
towards the finish did he ascend the platform. A con-
tributor of the Taglische Rundschau gave the following
account: "The meeting had lasted for a considerable
time, and the audience, after standing for hours closely
packed in the heavy, hot air, was tired, when a person
unknown to us started speaking. His delivery was slow
and hesitating, with a peculiar guttural sound, and his
intonation was monotonous. Citizens and peasants
amongst whom I stood looked at each other astonished
and indignant. Who was this apparently not very happy
speaker who dared to claim the patience of the assembly?
We were told it was Professor Treitschke of Heidelberg.
At first ill-humoured, but soon with growing interest,
we followed his speech, which gradually became more
animated. The power and depth of thoughts the com-
pelling logic proofs adduced, the clearness and force of
language, and above all the fire of patriotism, all this
captivated the listeners and carried them irresistibly away.
The outward deficiencies of the lecturer were now unob-
served; attentively, with breathless excitement, these
simple people listened to the orator, who spoke with the
force of the holiest conviction; and when finishing with
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 59
the exhortation to set aside all separating barriers for
the sake of the country, a real hurricane of enthusiasm
broke forth. The audience crowded round the speaker
and cheered him; he was lifted by strong arms amid
ceaseless enthusiasm. It was the climax of the day.
Never since have I witnessed a similar triumph of
eloquence. "
He had appealed particularly to the peasants present
by his outspoken and simple words. Schenkel likewise
was disarmed. Heidelberg friends related how Schenkel,
who in Heidelberg had contested Treitschke's speech
in favour of Jolly, immediately afterwards advanced
towards the platform in order to speak, but Treitschke's
utterances had rendered unnecessary a rejoinder. When,
on the other hand, I asked Treitschke after his return
whether in his opinion peace would be a lasting one, he
replied: "Oh, Lord, no! the lack of character is much
too great. " In a still more disdainful manner and full of
passionate exasperation against Bluntschli he wrote to
Freytag: "Jolly understands very well how to assert
himself here; daily he cuts a piece off the big Liberal list
of wishes, but immediately a new one grows beneath.
Where is this to lead? Moreover, there are blackguards
like this miserable Bluntschli at the head of the patriots!
Nokk, my brother-in-law, who is well able to judge the
situation, has long ago despaired of a peaceful solution. "
In January, 1870, whilst staying at Heidelberg, and
shortly before the outbreak of war, the second collection
of historic political essays was published. The editor's
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? 60 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
intention was to publish them before Christmas, but
Treitschke delayed matters. "I hate everything sug-
gestive of business," he told me, "and I don't want to
belong to the Christmas authors. " He was also averse
to editions in parts. The essay on Cavour, which shortly
afterwards appeared translated in Italian, brought him
the Italian Commander Cross--a necklace, as his wife
said. When one of his friends had fallen in disgrace
on account of a biting article in the Weser Zeilung
attributed to him, Treitschke said: "If the man wants
to carry a chamberlain's key and six decorations, he
might as well have the muzzle belonging to it " ; and
when asking him whether this also applied to him, he
replied: "No, but I have not been asking for it.
" This
volume of historic essays contained the treatise on the
Republic of the Netherlands--full of sparkling descriptions
of Holland and her national life, which proved that not
in vain had he brought his Brief je van de uuren van hat
vertrekk, i. e. his railway booklet for the [land of the frogs
and the ducats. Particularly weighty, however, was his
essay on French Constitution and Bonapartism, in which
he proved that Bonapartism had revived, thanks to the
Napoleonic fundaments of State having remained, a
circumstance which even after the fall of Napoleon III,
and in spite of all their defeats, made him believe in the
return of the Bonapartes. His essay "On the Consti-
tutional Kingdom" forming part of this collection, and
containing views on the wretchedness of Small State
Court Life; on the poverty of thought and the rudeness
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 61
of the South German Press; on the South German's
respectful awe of the deeds of Napoleon, the national
arch-enemy; and on the bustling vanity of Church autho-
rities, could not create a great impression after his
previous and much stronger dissertations. He himself
was dejected owing to the scantiness of enthusiasm aroused
by his persistent appeals "to discard decayed political
power," to upset the Napoleonic crowns and to continue
the laudable efforts of 1866. Some friends likened his
situation to that of Borne, who is the object of criticism
in one of the essays, and who, in his Paris letters,
always predicted anew the revolution which always
failed to materialise. By Napoleon's declaration of
war "this sturdy century " took the last stride towards
its goal.
Being a border power, Baden naturally feared the
war which Treitschke was pining for. At that time
already his mind was clear as to the weakness of the
Empire, and the profligate stupidity of the French people.
Being constantly in touch with Berlin he was better
informed regarding certain developments than we were.
When speaking to him for the first time after the declara-
tion of war he solemnly said: "I think of the humilia-
tion we escaped! If Bismarck had not drawn up so
cleverly the telegram on the Benedetti affair the King
would have yielded again. " At the general drinking
bout improvised by the students prior to going to the
front or to barracks, Treitschke was received as if he
had been the commander-in-chief, and he certainly
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? 62 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
was on that evening. The speech of Pro-Rector
Bluntschli, opening the ball, had a decidedly sobering effect.
He pointed out how many a young life would come to
an early end, how many a handsome fortune would be
lost, how many a house and village would be burned to
ashes, etc. The speech was written down, and when
shown to Treitschke he merely said, "S'isch halt a
Schwizer" ("He is, after all, only a Swiss"). Capital
words by Zeller followed: "We have heard the crowing
of the Gallic cock, and the roaring of Mars; but there is
only one to tame wild Ares, and that is Pallas Athene,
the Goddess of Clever Strategy, and upon her we rely. "
When, subsequently, Treitschke rose, applause and
acclamations prevented him for some time from making
himself heard. His speech expressed joy at the events
happening in our lifetime, and exhortations to prove
as worthy as the fighters of 1813. Ideas and colour of
speech were as countless as the bubbles in a glass of
champagne, but they intoxicated. His magnificent
peroration terminated approximately in the following
manner: "Fichte dismissed German youth to the Holy
War with the motto, 'Win or die' ; but we say, 'Win
at any price I'" Already he had received a more
cordial reception than anyone, but now hundreds rushed
forward with raised glasses eager to drink his health.
The shouts of enthusiasm threatened the safety of floor
and ceiling. As one crowd receded, so another surged
round him, just as waves beget waves. I have seen
many teachers honoured under similar circumstances,
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 63
all with a smile of flattered vanity on their lips, but
never had homage assumed such proportions. Treitschke's
face showed outspoken joy at these warmhearted young
people, who surely would not fail to give a good account
of themselves, and it was distinctly annoying to him
that the following winter he had to give lectures to those
who had not joined the ranks. He was, however, deeply
moved at the nation having risen as one man, and he
apologized for all the unkind words he had uttered
previously. Later on, he wrote: "During these days
in Germany it seemed as if humanity had improved. "
The song on the Prussian eagle, which from Hohen-
zollern flew towards the North and now returns south-
wards--a subject inspired by Baumgarten--is a beautiful
memento of his elated feelings at that time.
During the ensuing period he led a surprisingly retired
life, and we heard only that he was writing. When meet-
ing him shortly before the days of Saarbruck, he looked
pale and excited. "What a long time it takes," he
said, "for such great armies to be brought together.
The tension is almost unbearable. " He was visibly ill
with excitement. When the days of Worth and Spichern
had happily passed, we met at the Museum to study the
telegrams which arrived hourly. He, however, failed to
turn up, and it was said he was writing. There was a
good deal of simulated activity about, but for him there
was nothing in particular to do. At last his excellent
essay, "What we Demand of France," saw the light of
day, and at the same time it appeared in the Prussian
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? 64 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
Annuals. Now it was evident what he had been doing
in seclusion. Everybody was amazed at the mass of
detail collected during the short interval, in order to
impress the reader with the thoroughly German character
of Alsace. Of almost every little town he knew a story
by which it became intertwined with the German past.
There was Alsatian local tradition galore in the book,
as if he at all times had lived with these people. To his
mind the fact that the Alsatians at the time would not
hear of Germany did not make them French. "The
mind of a nation is not formed by contemporary genera-
tions only, but by those following. " Erwin von Stein-
bach and Sebastian Brandt, also, were of some account,
and, after reviewing the German past of the country, he
asks: "Is this millennium, rich in German history, to be
wiped out by two centuries of French supremacy? "
In regard to the future of Alsace he was from the first
convinced it would have to become a Prussian province,
as Prussian administration alone possessed the power to
rapidly assimilate it. Only when convinced of the
realisation of Unitarian ideas a Prussian, as he now
always called himself, could desire to see a frontier of
Prussia extending from Aachen to Mulhouse. To make
out of Alsace an independent State, enjoying European
guarantee of neutrality, as proposed by Roggenbach in
the Reichsrath, would have meant creating a new Bel-
gium on our south-west coast, in which the Catholic
Church would have been the only reality, and Treitschke,
in his essay of 1870, replied thereto by referring to the
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 65
"disgusting aspect of the nation Luxemburgoise,"
although in the Annuals he ostensibly spared the
quaint statesman, who was his friend. "Let us attach
Alsace to the Rhine Province," he said; "we shall then
have a dozen more opposition votes in Parliament, and
what does that matter? The rest you leave to Prussian
administration. " Neither we nor he could foresee that
in thirty years it would not achieve more; but he did not
fail to point out that the only cause of the failure was
the creation of the "Reichsland," a hybrid which was
neither fish nor flesh. He, however, shared Freytag's
aversion for the title of Emperor, which, in his opinion,
bore too much of black, red, gold, and Bonapartist
reminiscences. Both wished for a German King; but
finally Bluntschli's common-sense prevailed, he having
suggested, " The peasant knows that an Emperor is more
than a King, and for that reason the Chief of an Empire
must be called Emperor; besides, it will be better for
the three Kings; they will then know it, too," saying
which the stout Swiss laughed heartily.
On the other hand, Treitschke never became reconciled
to Bavaria's reserved rights. He spoke of a new treaty
of Ried, similar to that which, in 1813, guaranteed
sovereignty to Bavaria, and expressed anger at the
weakly Constitution which reverted again to federalism.
With malicious joy he reported that the former Pan-
Austrian fogy, when examining students for the degree
of Doctor of Law, now always questioned on Bavarian
reserved rights. The whole arrangement with Bavaria
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? 66 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
and Wiirtemberg appeared to him "like a Life Insur-
ance Policy of the Napoleonic crowns with his magnani-
mous Prussia, which compelled him to adjourn his
Unitarian plans ad Grcecas calendas. "
It is also peculiar to what a small extent he shared in
the triumphant tone displayed everywhere after the
war. Sybel's essay, "What we might Learn of France,"
had his full approval. He was disgusted with the way
the journalists in the newspapers, the teacher in the
chair, and the clergyman in the pulpit gave vent to their
patriotic effusions. In his letters he likewise spoke
slightingly of the modern customary orations regarding
German virtue and French vice. The more he disliked
the remnants of particularism in the new Constitution,
the less he was disposed to admire the Germans, who,
in his opinion, had forfeited the greatest reward of great
times by their own individualism. This it was which
distinguished him from the ordinary Chauvinist, and
only too well he realised in how many things the nation,
in spite of all successes, had remained behind his ideals.
Nobody, however, has given more beautiful expres-
sion to the deep and serious thoughts with which
we celebrated peace in 1871. Like a prayer-book
we read the essay in the Annuals, in which he opened
his heart. He himself had lost his only brother at
Gravelotte, my wife hers at La Chartre. The Prussian
nobility was in mourning; he, however, consoled us:
"May common grief still more than great successes unite
our people formerly at variance with each other. Rapidly
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 67
die away the shouts of victory, long remain the deep lines
of grief. Who will count the tears which have been shed
around the Christmas-tree? Who has seen the hun-
dred thousand grieved hearts from the Alps to the sea,
who, like a big, devout community, have pinned their
faith again to the splendour of the Fatherland? "
Actuated by the same sentiments, I had preached,
shortly before, in the Church of the Holy Spirit, on
"Blessed are ye who have suffered," and therefore
could doubly appreciate his efforts to touch the
people's innermost feelings. His words have never been
forgotten.
V.
The few years which Treitschke spent in Heidelberg
after the war were, as he himself admitted, the happiest
of his life. His tiny house, overlooking the Neckar and
Rhine Valley, was for him a constant source of joy, and
proudly he would take his visitors to the top of the vine-
yard, from which the Speyer Dom and Donner Mountain,
near Worms, were visible. Immediately adjacent to his
property excavations had been made in times gone by,
and even now bricks and fragments of pottery, bearing
the stamp of the Roman Legation, were to be found.
Thus he had historical ground even under his feet.
When, occasionally, on my return from a visit about mid-
night, I still saw lights in his study, I could not refrain
from thinking of Schiller, who, likewise, found the late
hours of night most propitious for his creations. It
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? 68 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
would be a mistaken idea to think that Treitschke,
vivaciously as he lectured, wrote his works without
exhaustive preparations. He just served as a proof
that genius and industry go hand-in-hand. Thanks to
his iron constitution, he could work until two o'clock in
the morning, yet be gay and full of life the following day.
Surrounded by his small crowd of children--two girls
and a boy--and with his elegant and slim-looking wife
by his side, he felt truly happy. It was a thoroughly
aristocratic and harmonious home, which in every detail
betrayed the gentle and tasteful hand of his spouse.
There was something distinctly humorous in his peculiar
ways, which made the visitor feel at home. Above all,
he was completely unaware of the noise he made. Baum-
gartcn, who was nervous, and worked with him in the
Archives, declared that not only was the throwing of
books and constant moving of his chair unbearable,
but also his uncontrollable temper. On one occasion,
Treitschke took up the register he had been studying,
and, jumping about the room on one leg, shouted,
"Aegidi, Aegidi! " It appeared that in the Ambassa-
dor's Report of the Prussian Diet of 1847 he had found
a memorial of his friend Aegidi stud, juris in Heidelberg,
which the Ambassador had communicated to Berlin
with a view to showing the present spirit of German
students, and which started with the following declara-
tion: "Like the Maid of Orleans before the King of
her country, so I, a German youth, come before the
noble Diet in order to give proof of the patriotic wishes
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 69
agitating youth. " Similar humorous outbursts of his
temperament occurred, of course, at home as well. He at
times experienced difficulties with his toilette. The ladies,
then, had to manipulate him into a corner to adjust his
tie or collar. In Scheveningen, where he occupied a room
next his family, he once rushed out on the general
balcony when unable to manipulate a button, shouting,
"Help! help! " so that the phlegmatic Dutch neigh-
bours looked out of the windows, thinking a great mis-
fortune had happened. The importunity with which
some people asked for autographs, and others for copies
of his books, his photograph, or a memento of some kind,
provided his keen sense of propriety with excellent
material for displaying originality. All this, however,
was done in such a humorous fashion that his company
proved most amusing. He behaved towards his students
with strictness, although he was gay enough when
addressing them from the chair. They idolized him,
but at all times he kept them at a distance.
When the University filled again for the winter term,
1871-1872, Treitschke had gained among the students
a position second to none. His lectures on modern
history, politics, and the Reformation, were crowded,
and his descriptive powers always thrilled his audience.
Hausser's force had been in his irony; with Treitschke,
humour and pathos alternated like thunder and light-
ning. Even listeners of more matured age admitted
that they had never heard anything that could be com-
pared with his natural elementary eloquence. Unable
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? 70 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
to hear the clock strike, he had arranged with those
sitting in front to make a sign at a given hour ; but, as
nobody wished him to discontinue, he often unduly
prolonged his lectures. Now and then ladies turned up.
At first he informed them by letter that he could not
permit their presence, but when they persisted in coming
he told the porter to refuse them entrance, and angrily
added his intention of putting up a notice similar to
those in front of anatomical theatres: "For gentlemen
only! " When meeting his colleagues he never even
hinted at the striking success he scored with his audience.
His disposition was anything but over-confident, and he
associated just as cordially with those whose academic
failures were notorious--provided he appreciated them
otherwise--as with the past-masters, whose level was
as high as his own. He never referred at all to the
demonstrations which students made in his favour.
In the choice of his friends, as well as in the choice of
his enemies, he was aristocratic, but vain he was not.
Enthusiastic patriotism was the keynote of his life, and
this explains its aesthetics. A sensitive admirer of
nature, appreciating as keenly as anybody the lovely
scenery of the ruins of Heidelberg Castle, he nevertheless
favoured the re-building of the same, obsessed by the
idea that it must become the palace of the German King.
His literary opinions could easily be gauged, as his com-
pass always pointed towards Prussia. When he invited
us to an evening, we knew beforehand we should read
the Prince of Homburg, or some similar work. This
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?
? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 49
we were often afraid that he, when walking of an evening
in the highway and disappearing in the dark, might be
run over by a carriage coming from behind, as had
happened to him in Berlin, from his inability to hear
it, he calmly travelled about in foreign parts where all
means of communication were exceedingly difficult for
him. With the inauguration of the new shipping service
he travelled to England, "in order to look at this English
crew a little closer. " When returning from Spain, which
his friends had considered particularly risky, he, loudly
laughing, entered their wine-bar, and before having taken
off his coat he started to relate: "Well, now, these
Spaniards! " In the same way he had traversed Holland
and France in order to impress historical localities upon
his memory. Considering the dangers and embarrass-
ments he was exposed to through his lack of hearing,
it will be admitted that unusual courage was necessary
for these journeys, but he undertook them solely in order
to supplement what had escaped him through his deaf-
ness in the tales of others.
The whole historical past of the country being ever pre-
sent before his eyes, he, although deaf, derived more benefit
from his travels than people in full possession of all senses.
Just as when passing the Ehrenberg narrow pass he
regretfully reflected that " Our Maurice " had not caught
Spanish Charles, so he sees, in Bruegge, Charles V in Spanish
attire coming round the corner; in Geneva the oil paint-
ings of Calvin and of his fellow-artists relate to him old
stories; and in Holland the Mynheers and high and mighties
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? 50 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
on every occasion entered into conversation with him.
His clear eyes were of such use to him that they amply
compensated his loss of hearing. But, however strenu-
ously he resisted, his affliction in many ways reacted
upon his general disposition. There was something
touching in the need for help of this clever and handsome
man, and it cannot be denied that his amiability was
partly its cause. We also told him that the world bene-
fited by his retiring disposition, and that he was spared
listening to the many stupidities and coarsenesses which
so often spoilt our good humour. I firmly believe that
being deaf he was able better to concentrate his thoughts,
but the lack of control in hearing himself and hearing
others speak and express themselves had a detrimental
effect upon him. Sound having become practically a
closed chapter to him whilst he was still a student, he
spoke during the whole of his life in the manner of students
and used the language of his student days. When once
suggesting he should come an hour sooner to our daily
meeting-place he greatly shocked the wives of counsellors
present by replying: "Da ist ja kein Schwein da"
(approximately meaning, "There won't be a blooming
soul there. ") When in the presence of several officers
at Leipzig he expressed the opinion that the new Saxon
Hussar uniform was the nearest approach to a monkey's
jacket, he came very near to having to fight a duel.
Quite good-naturedly, without wishing to offend anybody,
he compared the looks of a lady-student to a squashed
bug. In Parliament likewise he was on a certain occasion
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 51
unexpectedly called to order because he found it quite
natural to speak of the haughtiness of Deputy Richter
as if it were impossible to offend him. It had to be
considered that not hearing himself he did not hear others
speak, and Messrs Caprivi, Hahnke, Hinzpeter, and
Giissfeld, who during the last years were his favourite
targets for criticism, deserve great praise for putting up
with his epigrams--his bon-mots certainly did not remain
unknown in Berlin. His pulpit expressions also at times
savoured of student slang, so that the worthy fathers of
the University disapprovingly shook their wise heads.
His friends, however, thought he was ex lege because
of his deafness; and he was unique in that on the one
hand he was the best educated, refined gentleman, with
exquisite manners, yet when aroused he discharged a
volley of invective hardly to be expected from such
aristocratic lips; on the other hand, his sociable nature
found the seclusion due to his deafness very oppressive.
At times as a student in Heidelberg he had to endure
periods of most abject melancholy, which, however, his
strong nature always succeeded in conquering.
IV.
South Germany and Baden, even after the campaign
of 1866, were a difficult field for Treitschke. Soon after
the war he wrote to Gutschmid he did not relish return-
ing to Baden as conditions there were "too awful. " Even
now this communicative comrade, who quite impartially
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? 52 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
considered the existence of the Small States a nuisance,
had on every occasion to come into conflict with the
Model State. He hated the system of Small States just
because it diverted patriotism, the noblest human in-
stinct in favour of unworthy trifles. Politics were for him
a part of ethics and the unity of Germany a moral claim.
Particularists were therefore to him beings of morally
inferior value. Only hesitatingly he admitted that the
Badenese since 1866 had begun to mend their ways.
"It is true," he wrote to Freytag, "that the conversion
has made considerable progress, but it is noticeable more
in the minds of the people than in their hearts. " Nobody
in the whole of Baden was, however, in favour of media-
tization of the Small States which he, in his Freiburg
Essay entitled "Confederation and Single State," had
plainly demanded. The aim of the Single State
to render conditions uniform is not our ideal to-day-
We are quite content that the University of Leipzig
should stand by the side of that of Berlin, that the
traditions of Potsdam and Sans Souci should be preserved
in the same way as those of Weimar and Karlsruhe, and
that Dresden and Munich art should be appreciated as
much as that of Berlin. How many professors are there
who would desire to see all German Universities under
the same inspectorate as the Prussian ones? Unity as far
as the outside world is concerned, variety internally, is
our ideal, to which Treitschke likewise became reconciled
after hearing that the Army and external politics
would not be affected by internal polygarchy. Bismarck's
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 53
temperate words to Jolly: "If I include Bavaria in the
Empire I must make such arrangements as to make the
people feel happy in it," contains more political wisdom
than Treitschke's gay prescription: Der Bien muss.
Compared with the errors of our ingenious friend,
Bismarck's " political eye " and his infallible judgment of
values and realities can be appreciated in its true light;
under a weak Regent, Unitarian Germany would have
become a new Poland under a violent one a second
Russia.
It, however, redounds to Treitschke's honour that one
by one he renounced his first ideals, such as destruction
of the Small States, Single State, Parliamentarism,
humiliation of Austria, and free trade, subsequent to his
having found in Bismarck his political superior. When
Bismarck's dismissal taught him that in Prussia political
impossibilities do not exist either, his eyes were opened
to a good many other matters. Henceforth no complaint
could be lodged against him regarding adoration of the
Crown; rather the reverse was the case. In 1867
Baden was for him merely das handle (the little
country), but all the same he apparently did not like to
hear from us that our Grand Duchy comprised more
square miles than his Kingdom of Saxony. He strictly
adhered to his dogma of the Rhine Convention, tendencies
to Napoleonic kingdoms--nay, he even attributed to them
aims of aggrandisement. "What people thought of 1866"
--so he relates in his essay on the constitutional king-
dom--" becomes apparent from the painful exclamation
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? 54 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
of a well-meaning Prince to the effect: 'What a
pity we were at that time not on Prussia's side, as we
also should then have enlarged our territory. '" But as
formerly in Freiburg, so here, he misunderstood the popu-
lation. The fact that the developments in the summer of
1870 appeared to him like outpourings of the Holy
Ghost only proves that the deaf man never understood
the ways of our Palatines. Favourable disposition towards
the Rhine Convention, which he suspected everywhere,
was only to be found in the elegant Ultramontane circles
in which he moved, and in the democratic journals which
he for his own journalistic purposes read more than other
people. It proved perhaps more correct when he wrote,
"The South Germans quietly aspire to the Main with the
reservation, however, to revile it in their journals. "
Bismarck did not as yet enjoy general confidence, but
had he wanted Baden the Chamber would not have
refused. The factions in the town caused him amuse-
ment; Heidelberg had the advantage of two political
journals: the Heidelberg Journal and the Heidelberg
Zcitung, which were both Liberal and had accomplished
all that in a small town could be reasonably expected of
them. On this subject he sketched, in his essay entitled
"Parties and Factions" (1871), the following pleasant
picture: "Who is not aware of how in towns of Central
Germany two journals side by side eke out a bare and
miserable existence, both belonging to the same party, yet,
for the sake of their valued clientele, constantly fight-
ing like cats? Who does not know these journals of
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 55
librarians outside whose door the editor stands on duty,
a polite host, deferentially asking what the honourable
public desires to partake of? Tre fratelli tre castelli
still applies to our average press. "
Filled by the desire to continue the worthy labours of
the year 1866 he enthusiastically adopted Mathy's idea
to include Baden in the North German Convention, and
thought it unkind that Bismarck failed to honour Mathy's
memorandum on the subject with a reply. If Prussia
should not carry out her plans he was afraid the Pan-
Germans in Baden would again become masters of the
situation, and he added: "If Bavaria, Wtirtemberg, and
Baden should go with Austria, even the European situa-
tion will assume a different physiognomy. " All the same,
he was at that time too closely in touch with Bismarck to
advocate too strongly the Mathy plan in the "Annuals. "
Treitschke stigmatized as obtrusive the Lasker Par-
liamentary Bill of February, 1871, Lasker acting as
attorney for the Badenese Government, which he was not,
and surprising Bismarck with his proposal without having
first consulted him.
Mathy's death on February 4th, 1868, affected Treitschke
all the more as Mathy had influenced him considerably
in his decision to gain for a second time a footing in Baden.
Besides, Treitschke warmly remembered Mathy's beautiful
trait in assisting younger men whom he considered promis-
ing. "You belong to the few," Freytag admitted to
him, " who have fully grasped Mathy's love and faith. "
It was, however, not only Mathy's sweetness of character
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? 56 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
which he had detected beneath the caustic ways of the
old Ulysses, but also his political reliability. "I still cannot
get over it," he mournfully wrote to Freytag; "among all
the old gentlemen of my acquaintance he was to me
the dearest and the one deserving of greatest respect. "
"The real Badenese," he said in another letter, " never
really cared for their first politician, and your book again
shows clearly the sin for which Mathy never will be
pardoned--character. " Another letter to the same
friend in August, 1868, runs as follows: "Here in the South
the disintegration of order continues. The recent Constitu-
tional Festival has vividly reminded me of our never-
to-be-forgotten Mathy. How the world has changed
in twenty-five years since Mathy organized the last
Badenese Constitutional Festival. Thank goodness, the
belief in this particularist magnificence has to-day com-
pletely disappeared. The festival was an ostensible failure,
a forced and feigned demonstration. The Ultramontanes
kept aloof because they hated Jolly and Beyer, and the
Nationalists who participated for that reason openly
admitted that they had longed for the happy end of the
old man. " His depreciative opinion of the conditions in
Baden finally developed into slight when a few weeks
after the Constitutional Festival the ministerial candidates
Bluntschli, Lamey, and Keifer, who had gone over on
the formation of the new Ministry, attempted to overthrow
the Ministry favourably disposed towards Prussia by
convoking the Liberal deputies at Offenburg. In the
Prussian Annuals he now called upon his North German
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 57
friends in disdainful terms to study the pamphlet of these
gentlemen against Jolly, in order to gain a somewhat more
correct idea of the political state of affairs in Baden.
In his opinion it was a sort of " Ziiriputsch " arranged by
the Swiss gentlemen, Bluntschli, Schenkel, and Renaud.
It might have applied as far as Heidelberg was concerned,
but the country was really attached to Lamey, whose
name was tied up with the fall of the Concordate, and
whose canon laws of 1860, making a Catholic country
of Baden, were at that time praised by all of us as the
corner-stone of liberty and political wisdom. Treitschke's
only answer to Bluntschli's agitation for energetic revision
of the Constitution was to leave the Paragon State in its
present form until Prussia would absorb the whole. The
attempt to overthrow the Ministry failed as the Regent
had been left out of account. In Heidelberg, Treitschke,
at an assembly of citizens, took up the cudgels for Jolly,
and was principally opposed by Schenkel, who declared
that he would not allow himself to be threatened by the
sword of Herr von Beyer. Surprised, Bluntschli, however,
wrote in his diary that the citizens applauded Treitschke,
who spoke for Jolly, no less than Schenkel, who spoke
against him. When the whole question was brought
before a second and very largely-frequented assembly
of the Liberal Party in Offenburg, Bluntschli made
Goldschmidt and Treitschke's other friends promise
that Treitschke should abstain from speaking as he would
upset all peace proposals. The latter, however, immediately
declared he could not be forced to maintain silence. At
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? 58 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
least a thousand men congregated from all parts of the
country, more than the big hall "Zum Salmen " was
capable of holding. Eckard, subsequently Manheim bank
manager, sat in the chair; on the part of the Fronde,
Kieper, instructed by Jolly, spoke, and for Jolly, Kusel
from Karlsruhe addressed the meeting. Treitschke as a
Prussian allowed the Badenese to speak first, and only
towards the finish did he ascend the platform. A con-
tributor of the Taglische Rundschau gave the following
account: "The meeting had lasted for a considerable
time, and the audience, after standing for hours closely
packed in the heavy, hot air, was tired, when a person
unknown to us started speaking. His delivery was slow
and hesitating, with a peculiar guttural sound, and his
intonation was monotonous. Citizens and peasants
amongst whom I stood looked at each other astonished
and indignant. Who was this apparently not very happy
speaker who dared to claim the patience of the assembly?
We were told it was Professor Treitschke of Heidelberg.
At first ill-humoured, but soon with growing interest,
we followed his speech, which gradually became more
animated. The power and depth of thoughts the com-
pelling logic proofs adduced, the clearness and force of
language, and above all the fire of patriotism, all this
captivated the listeners and carried them irresistibly away.
The outward deficiencies of the lecturer were now unob-
served; attentively, with breathless excitement, these
simple people listened to the orator, who spoke with the
force of the holiest conviction; and when finishing with
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 59
the exhortation to set aside all separating barriers for
the sake of the country, a real hurricane of enthusiasm
broke forth. The audience crowded round the speaker
and cheered him; he was lifted by strong arms amid
ceaseless enthusiasm. It was the climax of the day.
Never since have I witnessed a similar triumph of
eloquence. "
He had appealed particularly to the peasants present
by his outspoken and simple words. Schenkel likewise
was disarmed. Heidelberg friends related how Schenkel,
who in Heidelberg had contested Treitschke's speech
in favour of Jolly, immediately afterwards advanced
towards the platform in order to speak, but Treitschke's
utterances had rendered unnecessary a rejoinder. When,
on the other hand, I asked Treitschke after his return
whether in his opinion peace would be a lasting one, he
replied: "Oh, Lord, no! the lack of character is much
too great. " In a still more disdainful manner and full of
passionate exasperation against Bluntschli he wrote to
Freytag: "Jolly understands very well how to assert
himself here; daily he cuts a piece off the big Liberal list
of wishes, but immediately a new one grows beneath.
Where is this to lead? Moreover, there are blackguards
like this miserable Bluntschli at the head of the patriots!
Nokk, my brother-in-law, who is well able to judge the
situation, has long ago despaired of a peaceful solution. "
In January, 1870, whilst staying at Heidelberg, and
shortly before the outbreak of war, the second collection
of historic political essays was published. The editor's
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? 60 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
intention was to publish them before Christmas, but
Treitschke delayed matters. "I hate everything sug-
gestive of business," he told me, "and I don't want to
belong to the Christmas authors. " He was also averse
to editions in parts. The essay on Cavour, which shortly
afterwards appeared translated in Italian, brought him
the Italian Commander Cross--a necklace, as his wife
said. When one of his friends had fallen in disgrace
on account of a biting article in the Weser Zeilung
attributed to him, Treitschke said: "If the man wants
to carry a chamberlain's key and six decorations, he
might as well have the muzzle belonging to it " ; and
when asking him whether this also applied to him, he
replied: "No, but I have not been asking for it.
" This
volume of historic essays contained the treatise on the
Republic of the Netherlands--full of sparkling descriptions
of Holland and her national life, which proved that not
in vain had he brought his Brief je van de uuren van hat
vertrekk, i. e. his railway booklet for the [land of the frogs
and the ducats. Particularly weighty, however, was his
essay on French Constitution and Bonapartism, in which
he proved that Bonapartism had revived, thanks to the
Napoleonic fundaments of State having remained, a
circumstance which even after the fall of Napoleon III,
and in spite of all their defeats, made him believe in the
return of the Bonapartes. His essay "On the Consti-
tutional Kingdom" forming part of this collection, and
containing views on the wretchedness of Small State
Court Life; on the poverty of thought and the rudeness
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 61
of the South German Press; on the South German's
respectful awe of the deeds of Napoleon, the national
arch-enemy; and on the bustling vanity of Church autho-
rities, could not create a great impression after his
previous and much stronger dissertations. He himself
was dejected owing to the scantiness of enthusiasm aroused
by his persistent appeals "to discard decayed political
power," to upset the Napoleonic crowns and to continue
the laudable efforts of 1866. Some friends likened his
situation to that of Borne, who is the object of criticism
in one of the essays, and who, in his Paris letters,
always predicted anew the revolution which always
failed to materialise. By Napoleon's declaration of
war "this sturdy century " took the last stride towards
its goal.
Being a border power, Baden naturally feared the
war which Treitschke was pining for. At that time
already his mind was clear as to the weakness of the
Empire, and the profligate stupidity of the French people.
Being constantly in touch with Berlin he was better
informed regarding certain developments than we were.
When speaking to him for the first time after the declara-
tion of war he solemnly said: "I think of the humilia-
tion we escaped! If Bismarck had not drawn up so
cleverly the telegram on the Benedetti affair the King
would have yielded again. " At the general drinking
bout improvised by the students prior to going to the
front or to barracks, Treitschke was received as if he
had been the commander-in-chief, and he certainly
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? 62 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
was on that evening. The speech of Pro-Rector
Bluntschli, opening the ball, had a decidedly sobering effect.
He pointed out how many a young life would come to
an early end, how many a handsome fortune would be
lost, how many a house and village would be burned to
ashes, etc. The speech was written down, and when
shown to Treitschke he merely said, "S'isch halt a
Schwizer" ("He is, after all, only a Swiss"). Capital
words by Zeller followed: "We have heard the crowing
of the Gallic cock, and the roaring of Mars; but there is
only one to tame wild Ares, and that is Pallas Athene,
the Goddess of Clever Strategy, and upon her we rely. "
When, subsequently, Treitschke rose, applause and
acclamations prevented him for some time from making
himself heard. His speech expressed joy at the events
happening in our lifetime, and exhortations to prove
as worthy as the fighters of 1813. Ideas and colour of
speech were as countless as the bubbles in a glass of
champagne, but they intoxicated. His magnificent
peroration terminated approximately in the following
manner: "Fichte dismissed German youth to the Holy
War with the motto, 'Win or die' ; but we say, 'Win
at any price I'" Already he had received a more
cordial reception than anyone, but now hundreds rushed
forward with raised glasses eager to drink his health.
The shouts of enthusiasm threatened the safety of floor
and ceiling. As one crowd receded, so another surged
round him, just as waves beget waves. I have seen
many teachers honoured under similar circumstances,
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 63
all with a smile of flattered vanity on their lips, but
never had homage assumed such proportions. Treitschke's
face showed outspoken joy at these warmhearted young
people, who surely would not fail to give a good account
of themselves, and it was distinctly annoying to him
that the following winter he had to give lectures to those
who had not joined the ranks. He was, however, deeply
moved at the nation having risen as one man, and he
apologized for all the unkind words he had uttered
previously. Later on, he wrote: "During these days
in Germany it seemed as if humanity had improved. "
The song on the Prussian eagle, which from Hohen-
zollern flew towards the North and now returns south-
wards--a subject inspired by Baumgarten--is a beautiful
memento of his elated feelings at that time.
During the ensuing period he led a surprisingly retired
life, and we heard only that he was writing. When meet-
ing him shortly before the days of Saarbruck, he looked
pale and excited. "What a long time it takes," he
said, "for such great armies to be brought together.
The tension is almost unbearable. " He was visibly ill
with excitement. When the days of Worth and Spichern
had happily passed, we met at the Museum to study the
telegrams which arrived hourly. He, however, failed to
turn up, and it was said he was writing. There was a
good deal of simulated activity about, but for him there
was nothing in particular to do. At last his excellent
essay, "What we Demand of France," saw the light of
day, and at the same time it appeared in the Prussian
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? 64 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
Annuals. Now it was evident what he had been doing
in seclusion. Everybody was amazed at the mass of
detail collected during the short interval, in order to
impress the reader with the thoroughly German character
of Alsace. Of almost every little town he knew a story
by which it became intertwined with the German past.
There was Alsatian local tradition galore in the book,
as if he at all times had lived with these people. To his
mind the fact that the Alsatians at the time would not
hear of Germany did not make them French. "The
mind of a nation is not formed by contemporary genera-
tions only, but by those following. " Erwin von Stein-
bach and Sebastian Brandt, also, were of some account,
and, after reviewing the German past of the country, he
asks: "Is this millennium, rich in German history, to be
wiped out by two centuries of French supremacy? "
In regard to the future of Alsace he was from the first
convinced it would have to become a Prussian province,
as Prussian administration alone possessed the power to
rapidly assimilate it. Only when convinced of the
realisation of Unitarian ideas a Prussian, as he now
always called himself, could desire to see a frontier of
Prussia extending from Aachen to Mulhouse. To make
out of Alsace an independent State, enjoying European
guarantee of neutrality, as proposed by Roggenbach in
the Reichsrath, would have meant creating a new Bel-
gium on our south-west coast, in which the Catholic
Church would have been the only reality, and Treitschke,
in his essay of 1870, replied thereto by referring to the
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 65
"disgusting aspect of the nation Luxemburgoise,"
although in the Annuals he ostensibly spared the
quaint statesman, who was his friend. "Let us attach
Alsace to the Rhine Province," he said; "we shall then
have a dozen more opposition votes in Parliament, and
what does that matter? The rest you leave to Prussian
administration. " Neither we nor he could foresee that
in thirty years it would not achieve more; but he did not
fail to point out that the only cause of the failure was
the creation of the "Reichsland," a hybrid which was
neither fish nor flesh. He, however, shared Freytag's
aversion for the title of Emperor, which, in his opinion,
bore too much of black, red, gold, and Bonapartist
reminiscences. Both wished for a German King; but
finally Bluntschli's common-sense prevailed, he having
suggested, " The peasant knows that an Emperor is more
than a King, and for that reason the Chief of an Empire
must be called Emperor; besides, it will be better for
the three Kings; they will then know it, too," saying
which the stout Swiss laughed heartily.
On the other hand, Treitschke never became reconciled
to Bavaria's reserved rights. He spoke of a new treaty
of Ried, similar to that which, in 1813, guaranteed
sovereignty to Bavaria, and expressed anger at the
weakly Constitution which reverted again to federalism.
With malicious joy he reported that the former Pan-
Austrian fogy, when examining students for the degree
of Doctor of Law, now always questioned on Bavarian
reserved rights. The whole arrangement with Bavaria
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? 66 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
and Wiirtemberg appeared to him "like a Life Insur-
ance Policy of the Napoleonic crowns with his magnani-
mous Prussia, which compelled him to adjourn his
Unitarian plans ad Grcecas calendas. "
It is also peculiar to what a small extent he shared in
the triumphant tone displayed everywhere after the
war. Sybel's essay, "What we might Learn of France,"
had his full approval. He was disgusted with the way
the journalists in the newspapers, the teacher in the
chair, and the clergyman in the pulpit gave vent to their
patriotic effusions. In his letters he likewise spoke
slightingly of the modern customary orations regarding
German virtue and French vice. The more he disliked
the remnants of particularism in the new Constitution,
the less he was disposed to admire the Germans, who,
in his opinion, had forfeited the greatest reward of great
times by their own individualism. This it was which
distinguished him from the ordinary Chauvinist, and
only too well he realised in how many things the nation,
in spite of all successes, had remained behind his ideals.
Nobody, however, has given more beautiful expres-
sion to the deep and serious thoughts with which
we celebrated peace in 1871. Like a prayer-book
we read the essay in the Annuals, in which he opened
his heart. He himself had lost his only brother at
Gravelotte, my wife hers at La Chartre. The Prussian
nobility was in mourning; he, however, consoled us:
"May common grief still more than great successes unite
our people formerly at variance with each other. Rapidly
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 67
die away the shouts of victory, long remain the deep lines
of grief. Who will count the tears which have been shed
around the Christmas-tree? Who has seen the hun-
dred thousand grieved hearts from the Alps to the sea,
who, like a big, devout community, have pinned their
faith again to the splendour of the Fatherland? "
Actuated by the same sentiments, I had preached,
shortly before, in the Church of the Holy Spirit, on
"Blessed are ye who have suffered," and therefore
could doubly appreciate his efforts to touch the
people's innermost feelings. His words have never been
forgotten.
V.
The few years which Treitschke spent in Heidelberg
after the war were, as he himself admitted, the happiest
of his life. His tiny house, overlooking the Neckar and
Rhine Valley, was for him a constant source of joy, and
proudly he would take his visitors to the top of the vine-
yard, from which the Speyer Dom and Donner Mountain,
near Worms, were visible. Immediately adjacent to his
property excavations had been made in times gone by,
and even now bricks and fragments of pottery, bearing
the stamp of the Roman Legation, were to be found.
Thus he had historical ground even under his feet.
When, occasionally, on my return from a visit about mid-
night, I still saw lights in his study, I could not refrain
from thinking of Schiller, who, likewise, found the late
hours of night most propitious for his creations. It
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? 68 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
would be a mistaken idea to think that Treitschke,
vivaciously as he lectured, wrote his works without
exhaustive preparations. He just served as a proof
that genius and industry go hand-in-hand. Thanks to
his iron constitution, he could work until two o'clock in
the morning, yet be gay and full of life the following day.
Surrounded by his small crowd of children--two girls
and a boy--and with his elegant and slim-looking wife
by his side, he felt truly happy. It was a thoroughly
aristocratic and harmonious home, which in every detail
betrayed the gentle and tasteful hand of his spouse.
There was something distinctly humorous in his peculiar
ways, which made the visitor feel at home. Above all,
he was completely unaware of the noise he made. Baum-
gartcn, who was nervous, and worked with him in the
Archives, declared that not only was the throwing of
books and constant moving of his chair unbearable,
but also his uncontrollable temper. On one occasion,
Treitschke took up the register he had been studying,
and, jumping about the room on one leg, shouted,
"Aegidi, Aegidi! " It appeared that in the Ambassa-
dor's Report of the Prussian Diet of 1847 he had found
a memorial of his friend Aegidi stud, juris in Heidelberg,
which the Ambassador had communicated to Berlin
with a view to showing the present spirit of German
students, and which started with the following declara-
tion: "Like the Maid of Orleans before the King of
her country, so I, a German youth, come before the
noble Diet in order to give proof of the patriotic wishes
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? THE LIFE OF TREITSCHKE 69
agitating youth. " Similar humorous outbursts of his
temperament occurred, of course, at home as well. He at
times experienced difficulties with his toilette. The ladies,
then, had to manipulate him into a corner to adjust his
tie or collar. In Scheveningen, where he occupied a room
next his family, he once rushed out on the general
balcony when unable to manipulate a button, shouting,
"Help! help! " so that the phlegmatic Dutch neigh-
bours looked out of the windows, thinking a great mis-
fortune had happened. The importunity with which
some people asked for autographs, and others for copies
of his books, his photograph, or a memento of some kind,
provided his keen sense of propriety with excellent
material for displaying originality. All this, however,
was done in such a humorous fashion that his company
proved most amusing. He behaved towards his students
with strictness, although he was gay enough when
addressing them from the chair. They idolized him,
but at all times he kept them at a distance.
When the University filled again for the winter term,
1871-1872, Treitschke had gained among the students
a position second to none. His lectures on modern
history, politics, and the Reformation, were crowded,
and his descriptive powers always thrilled his audience.
Hausser's force had been in his irony; with Treitschke,
humour and pathos alternated like thunder and light-
ning. Even listeners of more matured age admitted
that they had never heard anything that could be com-
pared with his natural elementary eloquence. Unable
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? 70 TREITSCHKE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS
to hear the clock strike, he had arranged with those
sitting in front to make a sign at a given hour ; but, as
nobody wished him to discontinue, he often unduly
prolonged his lectures. Now and then ladies turned up.
At first he informed them by letter that he could not
permit their presence, but when they persisted in coming
he told the porter to refuse them entrance, and angrily
added his intention of putting up a notice similar to
those in front of anatomical theatres: "For gentlemen
only! " When meeting his colleagues he never even
hinted at the striking success he scored with his audience.
His disposition was anything but over-confident, and he
associated just as cordially with those whose academic
failures were notorious--provided he appreciated them
otherwise--as with the past-masters, whose level was
as high as his own. He never referred at all to the
demonstrations which students made in his favour.
In the choice of his friends, as well as in the choice of
his enemies, he was aristocratic, but vain he was not.
Enthusiastic patriotism was the keynote of his life, and
this explains its aesthetics. A sensitive admirer of
nature, appreciating as keenly as anybody the lovely
scenery of the ruins of Heidelberg Castle, he nevertheless
favoured the re-building of the same, obsessed by the
idea that it must become the palace of the German King.
His literary opinions could easily be gauged, as his com-
pass always pointed towards Prussia. When he invited
us to an evening, we knew beforehand we should read
the Prince of Homburg, or some similar work. This
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