No More Learning

I have some very trying days behind me. Bis-
marck asked me to his headquarters: I was to
write the War Manifesto, to work for the policy
of the German Government, and was assured a
Professorship in Berlin, the dream of my am-
bitions; I could write with an easy conscience the
proclamations against Austria and for the German
Parliament. Briefly, the temptation was very
great, and all the more enticing as my stay here is
slowly becoming unbearable. Even Roggenbach,
now an out-and-out Prussian, did not dare
dissuade me, but I had to refuse; I could not pledge
myself to a policy, the final aims of which only
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? His Life and Work 21
one man knows, when I had no power to mend its
defects. I could not for the sake of a very doubt-
ful success stake my honest name. According to
my political doctrine even one's good name is to
be sacrificed to the Fatherland, but only to the
Fatherland; and consequently, only when in
power, and when hopes exist of really furthering
the State by steps which the masses consider
profligate. I am differently placed. " He had
chosen the right way, and his sacrifice was not in
vain. It must have impressed Bismarck that
even such fanatics of Prussianism as Treitschke
did not pardon the way he dealt with the clear
rights of the country. In those days he permitted
negotiations with President von Unruh, in order
to settle the constitutional conflict. Treitschke' s
renunciation, tantamount to an adjournment of
his most ardent wishes, is to be praised all the
more as his isolated position in Freiburg would
have determined any other man less brave than
himself to take his departure speedily. The
posters and threats of the Ultramontanes were
quite personally directed against him. Police
had to watch his house; for in the midst of an
excited Catholic population he was more openly
exposed to danger than Bluntschli was in Heidel-
berg, with its national tendencies. He smiled,
however. "Beneath the screaming insubordina-
tion of the South German rabble" so he writes
"there is not sufficient courage left to even smash
a window-pane. " When, however, the Edelsheim
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? 22 Treitschke
Parliamentary Division, on June I7th, established
that Baden was determined to stand by Austria,
he sent in his resignation. " I cannot gamble with
my oath," he wrote to Freytag; ''that is to say,
I cannot remain official servant in a State of the
Rhine Convention which I, as a patriot, must
endeavour to damage in every way. I cannot
commit political suicide, and in times like these
retire into the interior of the enemy's country.
These are my simple and telling reasons. " To
Gustav Freytag alone he, however, confessed how
difficult this step had been for him, and on July
4th he wrote as follows: "What made these weeks
particularly trying, and rendered so difficult my
radical decision, I will confess to you, but to you
alone. On June i8th, immediately before my
resignation, I became engaged. " At a moment
when an assured position meant everything to him
he departed from his country without knowing
whether he would be able to gain a footing else-
where. On the day on which Freiburg danced
with joy on account of the Prussian defeat at
Frautenau, he received information that his re-
signation had been accepted. On the following
morning, June 29th, he departed by railway for
Berlin in search of a new post. The Freiburg
rabble had planned honouring him with a Dutch
Concert, but it was found that he had already left.
More with a view to travelling quickly the
Badenese lines being blocked by military trains
than on account of apprehensions of unpleasant
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? His Life and Work 23
encounters with soldiers in the railway stations,
he travelled via Strasburg and Lothring. Upon
his arrival at Munster of Stein the display of
black and white flags taught him the real meaning
of the Prussian defeats which caused such rejoicing
amongst his Freiburg patrons.
II.
After his exodus to Berlin, our patriot found
temporary employment at the Preussische Jahr-
bucher (Prussian Annuals) , where he was appointed
deputy to Wehrenpfennig, the editor of the journal.
"For the moment of course, " he wrote to Frey-
tag, "the guns talk, and how magnificently they
talk! '* He also thought that every Hussar who
knocked down a Croat rendered greater service
to his country than all the journalists. All the
same, his aim was to be as useful as possible with
his pen to the cause of the Prussian eagles. He
approved of Bismarck's constitutional plans, but
the introduction of universal suffrage appealed to
him as little then as later on. [J'l consider uni-
versal suffrage in Germany a crude and frivolous
experiment," he wrote. "We are yet a cultured
people, and under no obligation to submit to the
predominant lack of sense. If we once stretch
this point it will, in view of the jealous ambition
for equality prevalent in this century, be almost
impossible to regain it. Of all the Bismarckian
actions I am afraid this is the least beneficial one.
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? 24 Treitschke
For the moment it will procure for him a gratifying
Parliamentary majority; there is, however, in-
calculable confusion in store. " /
Under his editorship the PreUssische Jahrbucher
were distinguished by exceptionally cutting
language. After three months Wehrenpfennig,
however, again took up his duties, and at the be-
ginning of October, at the house of his fiancee at
Freiburg, the news reached him of his appointment
as Professor for History and Politics at Kiel.
Immediately after the winter term his wedding
took place in Freiburg, and the honeymoon was
spent in the north of Italy, the couple subse-
quently leaving for their new home to enjoy a
second spring on the eastern sea. It would have
been quite within his power to obtain an appoint-
ment as Professor at Heidelberg. It was even
the wish of the Grand Duke that he should take
the historical subjects in place of Hausser, who
was suffering from an incurable heart disease.
Treitschke' s refined sentiment was, however, op-
posed to introducing himself as the joyful heir to
the dying man, who was his old master.
When Hausser, amid the peals of the Easter
bells of 1867, closed his worldly account, Treit-
schke told his young wife that for him Hausser 's
death had come a good many years too soon, and
that the departed one had lost a great chance.
To be active during the years of youth in beautiful
Heidelberg, and then, after many struggles and
victories, at the eve of life to march triumphantly
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? His Life and Work 25
into Berlin must be the finest lot of a University
Professor. Besides, as in consequence of his
recent writings during the war his appointment
in a Small State had become almost impossible,
he prepared for a longer stay in the new home, and
on the beautiful Bay of Kiel enjoyed married
bliss. The great crowd of public functionaries
and cultured citizens who thronged his lectures
proved to him that here also there was useful
work to do. He was very pleased with the Kiel
students, energetic and conscientious as they were.
In Gutschmid and Ribbeck he found true political
adherents, but soon he also began to understand
the disposition of the Holsteins. At the house of
Fraulein Hegewisch, the daughter of the well-
known medical practitioner and patriot, who pre-
eminently belongs to the group of the "Children
of Sorrow," and the "Up ewig Ungedeelten," he
made the personal acquaintance of the leader of
the Augustenburgs. Friendly relations developed,
although he did not fail to sneer at the Holsteins,
who considered themselves Normalmenschen (nor-
mal beings). "On one occasion," Fraulein Hege-
wisch informed me, "on account of the crowd, I
walked in the footpath of the Heidelberg high
street instead of on the pavement, when behind
me some one shouted, ' Normalmensch, Normal-
mensch! Why don't you walk on the pavement
like others? ' In /the letters to Freytag, also, he
mentioned a good deal of Holstein conceit and
self-praise, and in course of conversation he was
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? 26 Treitschke
inclined to explain the local patriotism of the
Schleswig student by the fact that everybody
knew his Hardevogt who was ready to attest that
this or the other patriot was needy and deserved
to be exempt from paying college contribution.
That the rest of the world was nailed with "nor-
mal" planks as far as the Holsteins were con-
cerned was also one of the obliging expressions
with which he favoured the population. In the
same way his lady friend, when praising the beauty
of Holstein, was usually annoyed by his remark
that there were eight months of winter and four
months of rain in Kiel. When, however, asked
by Nokk whether he would care to return to
Baden, he replied: "Not for all the treasures of
India to Freiburg, but willingly to Heidelberg/*
His writings since his departure from Freiburg
had not rendered probable his recall. His essay
"On the Future of the North German Middle
States," written in Berlin, 1866, attempting to
prove that the dynasties of Kurhessen, Hanover,
and of his own Saxony, were "ripe nay, over-
ripe for merited destruction," could not serve
exactly as a recommendation for appointment in
a Small State. The intention of the Badenese
Government was somewhat paradoxical, as every-
thing he wrote about Small States and the Na-
poleonic crowns applied to Baden as well as to
Saxony and Nassau. And how he had sneered
at the poor small potentates. "Germany," he
wrote, "will not perish even if the Nassau Captain
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? His Life and Work 27
with his gun, his servant, and his seven bristly
fowls should gaily enter the Marxburg again, the
stronghold of the Nassau Realm. Whether the
Frankfurter will be able to call himself in future
a Republican, whether the Duke Bernhard Erich
Feund and Princess Karoline of the older line
will again ascend the throne of their parents, all
these are third-rate matters which fall to the back-
ground in face of the question of the future of the
three Middle State Courts of the North. " He
quite realized, he wrote, that the punctilious
Counsellor of Court, Goething, would lose faith
in his God if Georgia Augusta were to be deprived
of the euphonic title "The Jewel in the Crown of
the Welfs," and as for the Leipzig Professor, the
thought is inconceivable that he should cease to
be "a pearl in the lozenged wreath of Saxony. "
The doctrinaire is annoyed and offended when
brutal facts disturb his circle. He cannot approve
of the way Prussia has made use of her needle
guns: "But picture the scene of King Johann's
entry into his capital, how the Town Council of
Dresden, faithful at all times, receives the destruc-
tor of the country with words of thanks and adora-
tion ; how maidens in white and green, with lozenged
wreaths, bow to the stained and desecrated crown ;
how another dignitary orders the foolish songs of
particularist poetry to be delivered: 'The Violet
blossoms, verdant is again the Lozenge'; really,
the mere thought fills one with disgust; it would
be a spectacle to be likened to grown-ups playing
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? 28 Treitschke
with toy soldiers and rocking-horses. " Even for
Germans with good Prussian sentiments this was
somewhat strong language. In the presence of
the Prussian General, who occupied Dresden, the
essay was confiscated by the Saxon Public Pro-
secutor, but was released again by order of the
military authorities. Treitschke's father expressed
himself in angry words against his son's pamphlet,
and in return received an autograph letter from
the King expressing sympathy. It is evident,
that, under these circumstances, it was no easy
matter for the Badenese Court to call the author
to Heidelberg. In the same way as his former
articles against the Middle States prevented his
being present at the wedding of his favourite
second sister he wished to avoid meeting the
Karlowitz so did he through this publication
stand in the following year isolated and shunned
at the grave of his father, in addition to almost
losing his appointment to Heidelberg.
When the question of filling Hausser's chair
arose for discussion it caused the opening of nego-
tiations in the first instance with Sybel, a gentle-
man who, especially in our Karlsruhe circle,
enjoyed great reputation, and on his visits even
charmed our particularists by his extraordinary
amiability. Baumgarten had worked with him
in Munich. Von Weech was his pupil. He was
an intimate friend of Philip Jolly. I was also
pleased at the prospective appointment, for when
I spent a few delightful weeks with him and Her-
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? His Life and Work 29
mann Grimm on the Rigi-Scheideck, in 1863, he
had rendered me several literary services, and had
so warmly recommended me to his Karlsruhe
friends that I was cordially received by them.
But Sybel, occupying the position which he did,
considered himself, in view of the Parliamentary
quarrel, unjustified in abandoning Prussia.
Meanwhile the agitated waves had somewhat
subsided, and Mathy had never given up the
bringing back of his "Max Piccolomini" to Baden.
Only in Heidelberg his impending appointment
met with opposition. Hitzig who was, later,
Pro-Rector on November 22, 1866, after Konig-
gratz, in a festive speech entitled, "What does it
profit a man to conquer the world if thereby he
lose his soul? " and expressing unerring confidence
in the return of Barbarossa, and the black-red
golden KyfThauser magnificence, declared to me
at the General Synod in Karlsruhe that he and his
friends would do all in their power to prevent
such an unhappy choice. They did not want a
writer of feuilletons who would make the giddy
Palatines still more superficial. Besides, owing
to his deafness, Treitschke was useless for all
academic functions, which in Heidelberg were of
the greatest importance. The actual Pro-Rector,
Dr. Med. Friedreich, a Bavarian by birth, was
likewise opposed to the appointment, and later
on, after the outbreak of the academic disputes,
declared in a letter to the minister that it was a
matter for regretful doubt whether the mental
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? 3o Treitschke
condition of Heir von Treitschke could still be
considered a normal one. After long struggles
Treitschke was at last proposed in third place by
the Faculty. In the first place, Pauly was men-
tioned, in order to teach a lesson to the Wurtem-
berg Government for having transferred him, by
way of punishment, from the University to a
Convent School. In the second place, there was
Duncker, and in the third, Treitschke. In the
Senate, Duncker was placed first, but Jolly did
not trouble about this order, and after Sybel's
refusal the choice fell upon Treitschke. He
however, had now certain points to consider. His
work made him dependent upon the Berlin
Archives, the unrestricted use of which Bismarck
had granted him till the day when he himself
became minister; there he found the greatest
possible assistance for his history on the Custom
Union. "How stupid of the Berliners," he told
me on a later occasion, "to bury all their acts, and
allow Nebenius to enjoy the fame of being the
founder of the Custom Union. " It would, how-
ever, have been much more difficult to use the
Archives in Berlin from Heidelberg, and he, of
course, did not know how long this favour would
be granted to him. The difficulties in connection
with his appointment at Heidelberg were not
exactly encouraging either, and it could not be
expected of him to display great sympathies
towards Badenese Liberalism, which he had seen
at work in 1866. In a letter to Jolly, he grate-
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? His Life and Work 31
fully acknowledged the sorely-tried noble spirit
of the Grand Duke, who had again stretched out
the hand, in spite of his former sudden resignation
from Badenese official service; but he made the
acceptance of the position dependent upon the
consent of the Prussian Government. In those
days his friends, Mathy, Hofmeister, and Nokk,
did their utmost, personally, to persuade Treitschke,
and only after having received the assurance from
Berlin that his views were appreciated there, that
his activity in Baden for the national cause would
be regarded with favour, and that the King would
continue to consider him a Prussian subject, he
accepted the call to Heidelberg. Having simul-
taneously received my appointment as Assistant
Professor for the Theological Faculty, we once
more met. As until the last moment I was uncer-
tain whether the proposal for the creation of this
Faculty would materialize, not even the slightest
preparations for the winter lectures had been
made by me, and, overwhelmed with work as I
now was, I resolved to pay no visits at all. It was
Treitschke who, although older and "Ordinarius,"
called on me, the younger and Assistant Professor.
Thus our relations were renewed, and, as Prusso-
phils and Prussophobes kept more and more apart,
quite naturally we became closer attached to
each other. On November 22d the Pro-Rector,
Dr. Med. Friedreich, at the dinner in honour of the
dies academicus, had, in accordance with custom,
to deliver a speech. The South German Progres-
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?
32 Treitschke
sive intended avoiding political allusions, and
consequently hit upon a medical comparison of the
two newly-appointed gentlemen with the Siamese
Twins, whose nature and history he exhaustively
detailed. The one, the stronger, lifted the weaker
one when disobedient up in the air until he yielded.
The joy and sorrow of the one transmitted itself
to the other one; when one drank wine, the other
felt the effects, etc. Subsequently he spoke of
the relations of the Theological Faculty to medical
science, in view of the fact that it had undeceived
orthodoxy; and finally he drank the health of the
new arrivals. In very touching words Treitschke
recalled the memory of our mutual teacher,
Hausser. Whether I liked it or not, I had to
picture myself as the weaker twin, who often had
been lifted by the stronger one, and had promised
to be obedient at all times. In spite of the peals
of laughter with which Friedreich's speech had
been received by the learned circle, the whole thing
struck me as very insipid. Treitschke, however,
was most highly amused, and for some time after,
when meeting him, his first words used to be, "Well,
Twin, how are we? " Later on he applied the un-
savoury comparison of the doctor to Delbruck and
Kamphausen, which did not please me either.
III.
In Heidelberg, Treitschke did not experience
with the students the difficulties he had com-
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? His Life and Work 33
plained of in Freiburg a proof that the recalci-
trant attitude of the Freiburg Student Corps was,
to a great extent, due to the Ultramontanes and
to politicians striving to reform the German
Confederation in union with Austria. It is true
some young students complained to me that on the
first few occasions they were quite unable to hear
what he said, that his delivery was much too rapid,
and that they were irritated by the gurgling noise
with which he from time to time unwittingly
drew in his breath. But when once used to his
mannerisms, they all admitted that his gift of
speech, his accuracy of expression, and elementary
force of enthusiasm appealed to them like a some-
thing never before experienced. An enthusiastic
theologian, who died prematurely, applied to him
the following expression from the Gospel of St.
John: "Never before hath a man spoken as this
man did! " Treitschke brought with him to
lectures merely a scrap of paper with the catch-
words written on it, so that he should not stray
from the subject and forget to allude to certain
matters. On one occasion, having left his notes
at home, he told me he had finished, after all,
five minutes sooner, which proved that we all are
"creatures of habit. " What was particularly
fascinating in him was the assurance of his manner.
He stood erect, with an expression of cheerfulness
on his face, the head thrown back, and emphasiz-
ing the salient points by repeatedly nodding.
The contents of his lectures were invariably his-
3
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? Treitschke
torical and political. While Ranke completely
lost himself in pictures of the past, Treitschke
never for a moment forgot the present. What he
said of Cromwell, Gustavus Adolphus, and Na-
poleon always had its references^ to present-day
England, Germany, and France. ; His examples
proved that the taking to pieces "of the sources
of information and the looking for originals of
reports, however indispensable this preparatory
work might be, did not complete the functions of
the historian. It was necessary to understand
the people whose fate one intends to relate, and as
Treitschke himself said, one understands only
what one loves. All great historians are at the
same time great patriots, and no one is a real
historian who has not exhausted the depth of
human nature, and knows how thoughts originate
and passions are at work. The historian must
display a certain ingenuity in guessing connections.
He must be able to reply to the great enigmas of
life, and must be a poet who understands how to
shape material vigorously. All this was to be
found in this wonderful man, and that is why he
combined for the young people politics with philo-
sophy and religion. "Whoever wishes to write
history must have the heart of a lion," says Martin
Luther; and so Treitschke writes: "Only a stout
heart, grasping the meaning of the past of a coun-
try like personally experienced good and evil
fortune, can truly write history. " It is not per-
fection of form only, but depth of soul which
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? His Life and Work 35
accounts for the greatness of ancient historians.
Who will deny that thereby he portrayed his own
picture? "The historian must be just, outspoken,
indifferent to the sensitiveness of the Courts
and fearless of the hatred, more powerful now-
adays, of the educated rabble": these were the
principles to which he adhered from his chair? !
Already in the first weeks of his Heidelberg years,
when reading a good deal of Tacitus and Suetonius
for my New Testament Chronicle, I had a very
instructive conversation on this subject with him.
I told him that in view of the strong antagonistic
attitude taken up by the Roman aristocrats, I
attached no greater value to their descriptions of
the Caesars than to the descriptions of Frederic
the Great, by Onno Klopp, or to the contributors
of the Frankfurter Zeitung. The pictures of
Julius II and Leo X by Raphael, of Erasmus by
Holbein, of Spinola by Rubens, of Lorenzo Medici
by Giorgio Vasari, of old Charles V and Paul III
by Titian, fully confirmed the descriptions of their
biographers; as illustrations they fitted the text;
on the other hand, the statues and busts of Au-
gustus, Tiberius, and Caligula gave the lie to
Tacitus and Suetonius. These marble heads
always appeared to me like a silent and noble,
yet convincing, protest against the calumny of
hostile authors, just as the Philistine bust of
Trajan taught me why Tacitus and Pliny valued
him so highly, simply because he did not prevent
others from calumniating the past. Treitschke
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? 36 Treitschke
differed; Cesare Borgia's handsome features did
not betray his vice; Tacitus, however, was a patriot
completely absorbed in the interests of his people,
who knew no higher aim than the greatness of his
country, which could not be said of the Frankfurter
Zeitung. He admitted that Tacitus had not kept
the sine ira et studio which he promised; but this
is not at all the duty of the historian. The his-
torian should be capable of both anger and love
true passion sees clearer than all the cold-blooded
sophists, and only the historian, writing from a
party standpoint, introduces us to the life of the
parties, and really guides us.
Treitschke's prestige amongst the students and
in Society was, at that time, even more firmly
established than among the professors. The circle
of scholars affected mostly a disparaging compas-
sion towards the feuilletonist, who perhaps could
write an essay but no book, and just as the doors
of the Berlin Academy opened to him, only shortly
before his death as he had not been a scientist,
but merely a clever publicist there sat in Heidel-
berg, in judgment over him, not only students
of law and of the Talmud, but green, private
University teachers, so that even now one feels
reminded of Karl Hildebrand's words: "If to-day
Thucydides were to appear before the public, no
doubt a Waitz Seminarist would forthwith explain
to him his lack of method. " He also realized that
a new volume of essays would not further his
scientific reputation; but, he writes to Freytag:
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? His Life and Work 37
"I am a thousand times more of a patriot than a
professor, and with the real league of scientists I
shall never be on good terms. " As a matter of
fact, Treitschke's chief merit did not lie in the
knowledge he disseminated, but in the incompar-
able effect which his personality and his spirited
words produced on susceptible young students.
His motto was; "German every fibre. " In
reality, however, the fire of his speech was not due
to German but to the Czech blood which still
flowed in his veins. One felt reminded of what
other nations had related regarding the impression
a Bernard von Clairvaux, an Arnold von Brescia,
or a Johannes Hus had produced upon them. Also
the temperament of our German Chauvinist was
not German but Slav. With all his sunny cheer-
fulness, he was at times for hours prone to deep
melancholy. Quick to flare up and as easily
appeased, bearing no malice, inconsiderate in his
expressions yet kind in actions, reserved in his
attitude but a good comrade, ready to assist
there was nothing in him of the German heavy
and mistrustful temperament. He might just
as well have been an Italian or Frenchman, al-
though he had only bad words for the Latin race.
An unfavourable circumstance was that students
crowded to his lectures, but instead of subscribing
to them merely attended. "Taking measures
in this direction one spoils one's relations with
the young people," he said; "but Hausser should
not have brought them up this way. " It even
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? 38 Treitschke
turned out that in the absence of the college sub-
scriptions he had relied upon he could not cover
his house expenses; but Jolly stepped in and pro-
cured him a considerable additional salary. In
Heidelberg he quickly felt at home, thanks par-
ticularly to his keen love of nature. After a short
stay in another part of the town he moved into a
pleasant flat on the Frillig Stift, but although deaf
the noise of the main street affected his nerves.
With childish joy he looked at the blooming lilac-
trees in the court, behind which stood a pavilion
bearing an inscription in Greek: "Look for the
contents above," and which Treitschke inter-
preted as meaning that liqueurs were kept in the
loft by the clergyman who had constructed it.
Later on we moved, almost at the same time, to
the other side of the Neckar River, and as the
inhabitants belonged to a party the nickname
"The Superfluous-ones" was originated for us.
Treitschke settled on a fairly steep slope of a hill,
which only permitted of an unimportant structure
being built. Furthermore, as the contractor had
erected the house by way of speculation, economy
was exercised everywhere, and on one occasion
the terrace had to be propped to prevent its drop-
ping into the valley. But there were beautiful
roses at both sides of the building, and, looking
over old chestnut-trees, which screened the high-
way, one caught a glimpse of the river. It was
touching to see how happy the young husband
felt in his new, tiny home, in which he was most
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? His Life and Work 39
hospitable. He had an inexhaustible desire to
be among human beings, although he did not hear
them.
Conversation with him was most peculiar, as,
afraid to unlearn reading the movements of lips,
he did not like people writing what they wished to
convey to him. He completely abstained from
using the hearing- trumpet, having suffered most
terrible pains when everybody pressed forward
to speak into it. Besides, an unsuccessful cure
in Heidelberg had brought about his complete
deafness. It was soon said that he understood
me best, and consequently I was everywhere
placed by his side. The secret consisted, however,
only in my taking the trouble to place in front the
catchword of what I intended to convey, repeating
it by lip-movements until he understood what the
conversation was about, whereupon he easily
guessed the rest, my nodding or shaking the head
assisting the suppositions. All the same, the
pencil had to come to the rescue from time to time.
If then, in the hurry, I wrote a word incorrectly
and tried to alter it, he good-naturedly consoled
me by saying that he burned all the bits of paper;
and upon somebody telling him he had been able
to study a complete conversation from the slips
of paper which Treitschke had left on the table,
he replied: "This was still more indecent than if
you had been eavesdropping. " At times I com-
plained of his supplementing my notes a little too
freely, whereupon he answered: "Such stories can
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? 40 Treitschke
gain only by my embellishments. " The duty of
acting as his secretary in the Senate was a fairly
unpleasant one. When a passionate explosion
followed observations which were not to his liking,
everybody looked furiously at me as if I had pushed
burning tinder into the nostrils of the noble steed,
and yet I had only written verbatim what had
been said. For a time, therefore, I allowed many
a bone of contention to drop underneath the table,
but soon he found it out, and after several un-
pleasant discussions with both parties, I requested
one of the younger men of the opposition to relieve
me of my duties. Only when the gentlemen had
convinced themselves that the result remained
the same was I re-appointed. At that time his
finding fault annoyed me, as my sole object was
to avoid a quarrel ; but later on I realized how justi-
fied he was in closely watching his writers. When
for the last time he came to us, and when, drinking
his health, I thanked him from the bottom of my
heart for the happy moments his presence in my
house had given, his neighbour noted down nothing
of my speech beyond attacks against the capital
and the Berlin student, whereupon he most in-
dignantly reproved my South German prejudice.
Fortunately, his wife, sitting opposite, immediately
reported to him by finger signs, whereupon he at
once cordially raised his glass. To take undue
advantage of his affliction was, however, one of
the sins he could not condone, and one had
every reason to be careful in this respect. At
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? His Life and Work 41
times curious misunderstandings happened. When
once in the summer the Princess Wied with her
daughter, subsequently Queen of Roumania,
passed through Heidelberg, Treitschke was com-
manded to be present as guest at dinner. "Car-
men Sylva," who already at that time took an
active interest in literature, selected him as table-
companion; he, however, not having understood
the seneschal, and thinking his fair neighbour
a maid-of-honour, entertained her politely, but
persistently addressed her as "Mem gnadiges
Fraulein" ("My dear Miss")- His clever and
sacrificing wife never carried on conversation
without at the same time listening whether he
made himself understood with his neighbours, and,
if necessary, rapidly helped by finger-signs, which
she managed like an Italian, while continuing
conversation with her own neighbour in most
charming manner. Her friends knew only too well
how trying this was for her. Fortunately, how-
ever, it usually happened that he remained the
centre of interest, and everybody eagerly listened
to his flow of conversation. When the neighbours
forgot their duties he, visibly depressed, would
look at the surrounding chattering crowd, whose
words he did not hear, and when, after a great
outburst of laughter, he asked the cause of the
hilarity, we often were at a loss to explain to him
the trivial motive. He himself has poetically
described how since the loss of his sense of hearing
nature, like a snow-clad country, had become
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? 42 Treitschke
wrapped in silence, and how the happy youth,
with aspiring temperament perceives a wall
between himself and his brothers which will
remain there for ever. To me the most touching
of all his poems is the one in which he relates how
he first became conscious of his deafness after a
neglected, but in itself by no means dangerous,
infantine disease (chicken-pox).
Without this ailment Treitschke would surely
have joined the Army. Some of his relatives
highly disapproved of his desire to become a
private University teacher, and when inquiring
what else there was for him to do in view of his
affliction, a gentleman from Court, related to him,
replied: "Well, why not the stable career" a
conception regarding the value of teaching which
he never pardoned. Deafness remained the great
sorrow of his life, and through it every enjoyment
was driven away. In a touching moment he
complained on a certain occasion to my wife that
he would never hear the voice of his children.
"They must be so sweet these children's voices! "
And he loved children so ! He played and romped
about with his grandchildren; both sides under-
stood each other capitally, and it sounded strangely
when he who heard no note sang to them whilst
they rode on his knee; but they liked it, applauded
with their little hands, and often they came run-
ning and asking: "Grandpa, please sing to us. "
His deafness, however, did not prevent him from
travelling. Since Rudolf Grimm, who had accom-
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? His Life and Work 43
panied him to Italy, openly declared that these
duties were too arduous, the deaf man traversed
Europe quite alone. Whilst we were often afraid
that he, when walking of an evening in the high-
way 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 exceeding-
ly 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 embarrassments 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 deafness, in the tales of others.
The whole historical past of the country being
ever present before his eyes, he, although deaf,
derived more benefit from his travels than people
in full possession of all senses. Just as when pass-
ing the Ehrenberg narrow pass he regretfully
reflected that "Our Maurice" had not caught
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? 44 Treitschke
Spanish Charles, so he sees, in Bruegge, Charles V
in Spanish attire coming round the corner; in
Geneva the oil paintings of Calvin and of his
fellow-artists relate to him old stories; and in
Holland the Mynheers and high and mighties
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 strenuously he resisted, his affliction in
many ways reacted upon his general disposition.