Henriette von Willich to Schleiermacher.

[CCLXXII.] 4th August, 1806.

It is a pleasure to me in my solitude to have to write to you, dear Schleier. Since yesterday noon, I have been alone with my little daughter. You know whither Ehrenfried has gone; before the end of the week I must not expect him back. To me it is no hardship to be alone—it is not painful to me as to so many others. Ehrenfried is mine, though absent, and I am already rejoicing at the thought of his return.

It is very long since I wrote to you, yet you have often been present to me, and I have frequently upbraided myself for not telling you so. I do not know how it has happened. We ought to see each other face to face again. I cannot quite give myself up to joyful anticipations of seeing you next autumn. Ah! these are not times of joyfulness—so many dreadful things are happening here. A party of twenty persons have lately been poisoned: one of these, a young Swedish officer, the only joy of his old mother, is already dead; the rest, almost all of them young people, are past recovery. I feel often so sad at heart when I look at my little Jette, that she should be born at a time when peace and innocence seem departed from the world. I long indescribably for the country—the town becomes every day more disagreeable to me; it is so opposed to the inward life which I live with my Ehrenfried and my child, and it is also opposed to the outward life which I most desire to lead.

Yes, dear Schleier, many of the beautiful thoughts in the Christmas Festival have made an impression on me, and I have endeavoured to appropriate them. How could a mother read it, and not be touched by it? Of the excellent Ernestine, I form to myself a most vivid conception, and such a child as Sophie I have ever had in mind. You have depicted maternal love very truly and very beautifully. I have always felt within myself that this feeling is grounded in the divine love, and that it is a longing to behold all that is holy in the child, and a watching for it. Some day, when I shall have an opportunity of speaking to you, I will tell you all that I feel in regard to your book.

Schleiermacher to E. von Willich.

[CCLXXIII.] 15th September, 1806.

Dear Ehrenfried, I send you herewith not only the Christmas Festival, but also the sermon with which I opened divine service to the Academy. I cannot say that I am very much pleased with the latter. To deliver a discourse on a particular occasion always has a laming influence on me, and more especially under such conditions as the present. The laming influence is, I think, owing to the fact that one knows that his auditors have not come to listen with unprejudiced minds, but that each one brings with him in his own mind the leading idea of what he expects to hear, and of how the subject ought to be represented. Nevertheless, I have had the discourse printed, as many persons seemed to wish it. The church was tremendously full, and the seven hundred students or thereabouts, who were present, comported themselves with admirable decorum. Since then the church has not indeed been so crowded, but I have a select congregation of academical youths, by no means insignificant in number, and hitherto it has been the best among them that have come the oftenest. I am also pretty well pleased with myself; I have a satisfactory consciousness of the blessing that attends my discourses, and the delivery of these forms, therefore, no slight addition to my happiness. We have, however, already had one interruption, the church having again been taken, or rather voluntarily ceded by the academy, for a corn magazine. I protested with all my might, and with full right I believe (for this step was in open violation of the spirit of the royal command), but in vain. However, the zeal of the students on the occasion gave me very great satisfaction. Some of them immediately assembled, drew up during the night remonstrances to the Protector and the general in command, and gathered as many as four hundred signatures, though numbers had already left. So much at least has been attained, that another locale has been assigned to us, and that as regards all essentials we are able to go on with the services. But now the church also is to have a vacation in consequence of a proposal of mine, which has been agreed to, and to-day I have preached for the last time. My discourse was especially addressed to those who are about to leave the university, for in my sermons I always hold the academy strictly in view, and I had again to-day most touching proofs of the effect produced by them. Upon the whole, dear friend, I have great reason to be thankful for the success I have had as a teacher, and for the joyful prospects which are opened in regard to the next generation of young theologians. My school may, it is true, easily be counted, and it is indeed rather satisfactory to me that the great mass does not crowd around me; but I can now point out many a glorious mind and respectable talent among my scholars, who embrace the good cause with zeal and affection, and I even know a couple among them who have, through my lectures, been cured of that hostility to Christianity which philologians more especially are apt to entertain; and what greater joy could I have than this?

The Discourses (the second edition) are now ready, and in a few weeks they will probably be in your hands. I am very curious to know what you will think of them as they now are. In my opinion they have gained much in lucidity as a whole, while comparatively little of the brilliancy of the first casting has been lost. Much more than this I have not produced this summer, and in spite of all my business I have been heartily lazy. Next winter I shall be obliged to exert myself far more strenuously.

Do tell me how matters are proceeding in your country, what people in general think about the new constitution, and what promises the latter holds out. I exult in the war against the tyrant, which I think is now unavoidable, and am delighted with the courageous spirit which prevails generally here among the troops and among the people. A considerable corps d’armée is stationed in our vicinity; the king is expected, and when he arrives, it is hoped a forward movement will be made to fight the French, wherever they be met with. I have often felt a strong desire to speak out upon politics too, if I could but have found leisure. In the pulpit I allude to these matters from time to time, but in a very different way from what I hear others do.

Schleiermacher to Henriette von Willich.

[CCLXXIV.] No date.

Dear little Jette, you ought to have written me a few words in Ehrenfried’s letter. In the present times one must seize the opportunities when they offer themselves, and not wait for better ones. Who knows if the post will not be stopped before my letter reaches you. Ah! we have had a bad and a sad interval, and I fully expect that it will be worse still before the balance can again incline towards the good. Say, dear child, will you keep up your courage, even should the war draw nearer to you? Oh, yes, I know you enough to feel sure that you will, and need, in fact, no answer; for the wife and the mother will not be less courageous than I have known the girl to be. Besides, a young mother with a little child, and another in expectation, is even to warriors a sacred object. You see, friend Herz has already betrayed your happy secret to me. Dear child, may the blessing of God attend you! But, I would fain beg you let us have a boy this time; the coming times will require men—men who have seen the light for the first time during this period of dissolution; and sons—such as I think yours and Ehrenfried’s will be—full of courage, cheerful in spirit, self-possessed, and with holy sentiments graven deep in their hearts, are a costly treasure. Oh, when I look to the future, I am the more pained at the thought that in this respect I can do nothing for it, that I have only words to bequeathe to it, because, at this moment, the immediate influence of my mind on the cultivation of youth is suspended, and I lead in fact a perfectly passive and useless life.

The close view of the war has made a wonderful impression upon us here. We had plenty of terror and suffering, and yet often we could not help jesting. Steffens’ wife, with her child in her arms, was in my house, while the French hussars were plundering it; before they came she was dreadfully terrified, but afterwards she was calm and collected. Upon the whole, the terror that prevailed during the four days, until the army had passed through, gave rise to so many ludicrous incidents that they helped to keep up one’s spirit.

The only thing I wish is, that if Stralsund should be besieged and taken by storm, you may not be within its walls; for in such a case the first few hours would, no doubt, be full of horror. And yet I could not blame you if you should refuse to leave your husband for any length of time, on account of this uncertain danger. It would pain me beyond all description to see your lovely, peaceful country, which lies so much beyond the limits of all the great world-transactions, become the theatre of such devastation.

My sister and Steffens’ wife behave admirably, and I think few women here have shown as much courage under the same circumstances and with equally dismal prospects before them. It is very strange to live so entirely in the moment, to be so entirely ignorant of what the future is to bring, as we are at present; and, in fact, it might be an excellent lesson, were we not by the same circumstances deprived of so much that is good and beautiful. Farewell, dear child, and, if you are able, write soon… . .

Schleiermacher to George Reimer.

[CCLXXV.] Halle, 4th November, 1806.

… . The pillage was, indeed, bad enough, yet not so bad as one generally fancies. Immediately after the engagement, the imprudence of the people who live below, enabled several hussars to penetrate into the house and upstairs into our rooms. Steffens and Gass were just with me; we were all three obliged to give up our watches, and Gass his money; Steffens was already drained, and in my possession they only found a few dollars; but all my shirts, with the exception of five, and all the silver spoons, with the exception of two, they carried off. During the engagement, we were very near getting into danger. Steffens came in the morning to invite us to come to his house, if we wished to witness a fight. From thence we saw the attack upon the bridge very distinctly; but when I perceived that the Prussian cannon were being dismounted, and that the position was about to be lost, I persuaded Steffens to go home with me, as his house was very much exposed. We hastened as much as possible; but Hannah and I had not yet reached my street, when we heard shots behind us in the town, and Steffens, who was in the rear with his child in his arms, had very nearly got hemmed in between the crowd of retiring Prussians and pursuing Frenchmen.

The following days I had a fearful number of soldiers billeted upon me, and the proprietors of our house, poor orphans under the guardianship of a couple of old aunts, had nothing in their pockets, so that I felt very much afraid lest the brutality of the people should be roused, and we all spent a very uncomfortable night in Konopak’s room. Subsequently we had officers and privates of the guards quartered in the house, and during two nights I was obliged to admit a secretary of the staff and two other employés into my large sitting-room, as there was no place for them down-stairs. The officers who had their quarters there frightened the poor people with all kinds of rumours of the town being given up to plunder and to fire, and made us spend a very tragi-comical night. But the preceding evening a storm, almost as bad as this, had in reality broken out—I mean the order for the dispersion of the students. Allow me to give you an explanation of what this means from the economical point of view, in order that you may form a conception of our position… . . If peace be soon concluded, it is not at all probable that Halle will remain Prussian. Should it be handed over to Saxony, perhaps the university will be dissolved, or, at all events, there will be an end to my stay in it, as the Saxons are such very strict Lutherans. If the town fall to the share of a French prince, I, for my part, will not abide in it, as long as there is anywhere a Prussian hole to which I can retire… . .

Be not angry with me for troubling you so much about œconomicis. Unfortunately it is necessary to take these wretched matters into very serious consideration. For the rest, I am working as industriously at Plato as anxiety about public matters as well as my own private concerns will allow.

[CCLXXVI.] Later, but without date.

Dear friend, let me shake your hand in acknowledgment of your hearty sympathy. Do not be too anxious about our finances. As yet I do not know whether S—— will pay your draft, and I cannot go to him until to-morrow morning. But if he does, then take no more care about me. If you could do anything for Steffens, it would be very desirable, although at the present moment his creditors cannot press hard upon him. The general demoralization is fearful; on all sides yawning abysses of infamy and cowardice stare you in the face. Only a few, and foremost among these the king and the queen, form glorious exceptions. The old evil has broken out in a frightful manner, the remedy is a desperate one; but all hope is not yet lost, and I keep my eyes steadily fixed on Prussia, and northern Germany generally… . .

Schleiermacher to Henrietta Herz.

[CCLXXVII.] Halle, 4th November, 1806.

Could I but describe to you my state of mind! My personal position, in as far as it is purely personal, gives me very little concern; but that I should have brought my good Nanni hither at this unfortunate period grieves me. As for my ruined activity, which will probably never be restored—the sudden destruction of the school which I was in the act of founding here, and which gave such fair promise—the probable dissolution of the entire university, which was beginning to rise so nobly in character—and added to this the precarious state of our fatherland, in which at the side of so many defects there is so much that is excellent—Dearest, you can hardly conceive how this affects me, and yet how calmly I can at times sit down to my Plato and to my theological writings, and work to my heart’s content, in spite of my constant hankering after the pulpit and the cathedra. Sometimes, however, I am in a feverish state, and many days are very unhappy. The thought that it may be my fate for a long time to live only for and by authorship, is very depressing.

In this place I am sure I should not be able long to endure such a state, and I shall, therefore, be impatient to get away as soon as I find that there is no more hope for the university. I shall join you first of all; but as without some public vocation I could not either live in Berlin, I must wander farther, to Prussia or to Rügen; and this is the fairest dream that remains to me in the case in question. Our entire ignorance of the state of affairs since the capture of Potsdam and Berlin is frightful, and quite calculated to damp our courage and to paralyze our last energies. As often in critical moments I knew not what Eleanore was doing, but could only love and hope on; so also now I know not what my country is doing. Will that also be untrue to itself, and pass away from me as she has? Sometimes I think everything may yet go well, may terminate beautifully and gloriously; but this will require prudence and good luck; and shall we not fail in both? Yesterday rumours were rife of a second battle lost, because delivered precipitately and far too soon: I hope they are without foundation.

Do write me soon how you and other friends have got on. I hope you may not have suffered in any way, and at all events the scarcity and dearness cannot be as great in Berlin as it is here. We are living as frugally as possible, in fact, more frugally than possible, for my health is suffering very much from the privation of wine, and from the almost exclusive vegetable diet, and all my old ailings are returning. Fuel is not to be had: we were burning our last faggot when we obtained half a cord gratis from the French commissary, through the influence of Blanc, who is performing important services at present as interpreter; had it not been for this we should have perished with cold… . . Nanni does not as yet feel quite at home in the new combined housekeeping; the measure was, however, imperative, for I had only very little money, which I had borrowed, and Steffens had none at all. Had we divided we should both have been worse off than now; for as it is we save fuel and light, and I dare say various other matters in the housekeeping… . .

[CCLXXVIII.] Halle, 14th November, 1806.

We have been rescued from the greatest need, as I have obtained part of my salary, and Steffens has got some money from another quarter; and there is some hope at present that our entire salaries will be paid. We are still keeping house together; but I do not know how long this will last, as the ladies are put to great inconvenience by it. Of our going to Berlin, there can hardly be a thought under the present circumstances, for many things have changed since my last letter. The scarcity is, I hear, even greater there than here, and I should also have less quiet for working. Besides, were the hopes entertained by Masson to be realized, I should have the great expense of the double journey on my conscience. The day after to-morrow, thank God, I am once more to preach, for Blanc, who is called upon sometimes to deliver sermons in German… . . Alexander is there, where alone there is anything to be done for our prostrate fatherland, and whence, perhaps, its salvation may yet come. His young brothers have not yet been in battle; whether Louis has, I do not know; but, I have not seen the name of his regiment among those engaged. With Wedike, I have often in thought exchanged a smile of satisfaction, on account of the quiet which he still enjoys, he being the only one of our friends who is so well off… . .

I have again had an invitation to go to Bremen, but indirectly. But as long as there is a shade of hope that the university may be maintained on its present footing, I shall not allow myself to contemplate anything else. More reluctantly than ever would I now separate from the king, to whom I long most heartily to speak a word of comfort and encouragement, in the midst of the misfortunes which have come upon us, certainly by no fault of his. Even the French themselves say that the Berliners are flattering them in the most contemptible manner. I wish that it may not be true, though I dare not hope it.

Schleiermacher to Gass.¹

[CCLXXIX.] Halle, 16th November, 1805.

… . My personal affairs had in the meantime progressed most favourably. Towards the end of September, Eleanore left her husband’s house, and no sooner had her brother learnt this, than he invited her to his house, and undertook to carry on the suit for the divorce himself. I saw her a few days later, and found her quite firm and resolved, and subsequent letters from her husband, and even interviews with him, did not make any change herein. Immediately after I left, the suit was laid, and her husband consented to the divorce. The Decernent had already decreed the dissolution of the marriage, without raising any difficulties, and the affair was to be brought before the court next session. But the day before this, Eleanore, having been informed that the last decisive measure was at hand, was again seized so violently by her old scruples of conscience, that, after a few hours of severe struggle, she, of her own accord, left her brother’s house, and returned to her husband. Immediately after this she sent back to me everything she had received from me, and since then I have not heard from or of her. Unhappy woman! why did she so long deceive herself and me? Happy am I that I have never in any way attempted to bias her convictions in regard to this point. In breaking off all communication and intercourse with me under the circumstances, she has done quite right; it is necessary that it should be so, if she perseveres in her present determination. How hopeless my life is, how utterly annihilated my whole inward being, you can hardly conceive. My labours, the love of my vocation, and my joy in my friends, alone prevent me from falling utterly prostrate; and that I have my sister with me at present is a happiness for which I cannot be sufficiently grateful… . .

Schleiermacher to Henrietta Herz.

[CCLXXX.] Halle, 21st November, 1806.

… . Though it is late in the evening, I must have a little chat with you. What dreadful birthdays have I had two consecutive years! Shortly before that of last year, I lost everything that I possessed on one side, and now on the other. When the first misfortune came, I clung to my vocation, and in it I found a motive and an object in life; now that this also is destroyed, what shall I cling to? It has not indeed been so irrevocably lost as Eleanore, yet it would be folly to hope confidently in its revival; and if it is not my highest, but only my secondary, wish, that I may find death in struggling for the common cause, this is because of an attachment to old plans and purposes, which, in many cases, I must confess, is childish. Yet, perhaps, sooner than I expect, my other wish will be fulfilled; for if fortune does not take a turn, an onslaught will no doubt soon be made against the detested Protestantism, and then it will be my duty above many others to come forward. No one knows what may be his fate in these days! We may still have martyrs, both religious and scientific.

We are living here in a most feverish state. Every now and then comes a favourable rumour, that holds out a hope from the side of Austria or Russia, and then again we learn that it is unfounded. From our own camp we have no accounts whatsoever: this much only is certain, that as long as the war lasts, there is little likelihood that the university will resume its activity. Yet my going to Bremen looks to me like an act of treason, which I cannot allow myself to be guilty of; and I do not in the least know what to do, and am living in the hope of an inspiration, when the moment shall arrive that I must take a resolution. Napoleon must have a special hatred to Halle. Whether he conceived it during his stay here, or had it previously, I do not know; but to me the first seems most probable. The new philosophy cannot be the cause of it, for publicly it can hardly be said to have issued from Halle; it is more likely that the spirit of freedom, and the open expression of public opinion, for which Halle has always been famous, is at the bottom of it. There have also been numerous spies here during several months, who may have betrayed to him the sentiments of the people. It is said now that the deputation from Leipzig has increased and strengthened his hatred in a most shameful manner. But one ought not to believe in such baseness until it is proved… . . May a good genius direct the resolves of our king, and induce him to bear everything rather than to conclude a dishonourable peace; and to hold fast by Russia, for that is the only way in which we can hope for a favourable change in our fate! I feel rather confident that he will not act otherwise… . .

To write letters is becoming quite a hard task to me, though I do not know why. Willich may, of course, send his wife to Rügen; but in case Stralsund be besieged, he himself ought not to desert his post. Should Stralsund be captured, then, indeed, Rügen also must be considered as lost. The rod of wrath must fall upon every German land; only on this condition can a strong and happy future bloom forth. Happy they who live to see it; but those who die, let them die in faith… . .

Can it be true that all the statues, and all the works of art, and all the personal property of Friedrich the Great, are being carried off? A thousand greetings to all friends, and more especially to the Dohnas. I am glad that Fritz has distinguished himself so much. If all had but done the same! Adieu, dear Jette.

Schleiermacher to E. von Willich.

[CCLXXXI.] Halle, 1st December, 1806.

Already, some days ago, dear friend, I received the consolatory news from our friend in Berlin that she had heard from you, and now comes your little note to myself. I congratulate you, my dears, that up to the present moment you have not been immediately engaged in the great conflict and surrounded by the thousand horrors that accompany it. Look upon so much time gained as a great good, and enjoy it cheerfully, but be prepared; for if the drama is not to end in a shameful submission, and in the inauguration of a barbarism that will extend its power over many coming generations, you must be drawn into the vortex. I have often thought with delight of going to join you, should my forced inactivity endure for any length of time; but, even if the prospects to which I have alluded were not before you, I should be obliged to give up this plan, because there would be insuperable difficulties in the way of my transplanting myself to your place, with all the auxiliary means which I require for my writings.

You are aware that Napoleon has driven away our students. The reason for this we are still ignorant of. A few days before the entry of the French, and on receipt of the accounts of new victories, they did, it is true, give a vivat for the king, and a pereat for Napoleon; and it is even said that they repeated the same during his presence here, while the troops in the market-place were crying, “Vive l’Empereur!” a mad proceeding, certainly. A paper was also circulated here, recommending various measures for the benefit of the army, and in which were several hard expressions against the French, and this was signed by the university among others. All this may have worked together to bring about the result.

I have again received a call to Bremen; but I have determined to decline it, because I will remain faithful to Halle as long as there is the slightest hope of the maintenance of the university. Should the king be obliged to conclude an unfavourable peace, and should he retain Halle, though his territories were otherwise greatly reduced, there will be numbers who will prefer leaving to staying, and I will not be among those who set so bad an example. But should the war be protracted, as I hope, I will seek a provisional appointment somewhere else in Prussia, so that I may be at hand immediately when things change. For the influence that an academical teacher may have upon the young generation seems to me more than ever of the highest importance. We must sow seeds, which may not perhaps sprout for a long while, but which will, in consequence, require to be all the more carefully treated and tended. Dear friend, were I to describe to you the utter desolation of my heart when I think of the loss of my pulpit and of my professorial chair, and when it sometimes comes home to me that, after all, my sphere of activity may never be reconstituted, you would hardly be able to understand me. When, however, I look further, and take a more comprehensive view of matters, I become calm again. The constitution of Germany had become untenable; in the Prussian monarchy there was also a great deal that had become superannuated and that was merely patched together: this has been destroyed. The manner in which the kernel shall save itself from similar destruction will prove whether it be sound or not. I feel certain that Germany, the kernel of Europe, will stand forth again in a new and beautiful form; but when this will take place, and whether the country will not first have to pass through still greater troubles, and to bend for a long time under a heavy yoke, God alone knows. I have no fear, except, sometimes, of a dishonourable peace, which may save the appearance—but only the appearance—of a national existence and freedom. But even in regard to this I feel tranquil; for if the nations submit to it, it will prove that they are not yet ripe for better things; and the severer visitations, amid which they are to mature, will not fail soon to fall upon them. Thus, dear friend, concerning what is personal to me, which is of the least importance, and concerning the national cause, which is of the greatest importance, I feel equally calm, however dreary things may look in respect to both; but the intermediate matters, such as the manner in which each individual may be able to influence the whole, and the way in which the ecclesiastical, the educational, and the scientific institutions may be organized—these fill me with anxiety; the latter more especially, for Napoleon hates Protestantism as much as he hates speculative philosophy. My predictions in the Discourses will not, I think, prove false. When it comes to this, dear friend, let us cling to our posts, and fear nought. I wish that I had a wife and child, that I might be on a level with every other man when the sacrifice is called for. I have preached twice within the last twelve days, and, as you may suppose, on both occasions, on the times and the signs of the times, but after my own peculiar fashion, and without fear. I wish I could preach oftener, but opportunities for doing so rarely occur. In my academical church I only preached four or five times, then came the vacations, and now it is destroyed. Of the engagement near Halle, I witnessed the first act, in which the Prussians defended very badly, and soon lost, an excellent position, entirely through the incapacity of their commander. During the second act I was plundered, but that was a mere joke… . .

Should Stralsund be besieged, you will, I suppose, send your wife and child to Rügen. I hope you will hold out better than Magdeburg and Küstrin. When you are able, do write and tell me where Brinkmann is… . .

Schleiermacher to Charlotte von Kathen.

[CCLXXXII.] Halle, 1st December, 1806.

Dear friend, what a fearful time lies between the last words that we interchanged and the present moment! The common misfortunes of our fatherland, accompanied by many humiliating circumstances that I should have thought impossible. I felt almost certain that we should lose the first battle; and I therefore trembled with rage at seeing that the battle-field had not been chosen at a distance; but the fearful disorganization which followed, and the universal discouragement, with the exception of one glorious example, was more than I could ever have expected. The king alone, in his steadfastness, it is gratifying to behold; and I trust, now that he has got over the capture of his capital and the surrender of his fortresses without suing for peace, he will not think of separating his fate from that of the rest of Europe. The times have now come, about which I wrote to you some time ago; and most likely what has as yet taken place is only the beginning. The conflict must become wider and deeper, if new life and prosperity are to rise out of the universal desolation. To this sweet hope I cling; even death shall not tear it from me, should I not live to see it realized. For the present, dear friend, I am in as sad a condition as a man can be—reduced to the miserable, inactive life of a private scholar, and also to the poverty which seems to belong to the lot of such individuals; pulpit and cathedra lost to me; the university, in which so fine a sphere of activity was being opened up to me, dissolved, with little hope of its reconstitution as long as our part of the country is occupied by the enemy; for the great conqueror seems to hold Halle in special detestation; and if the reason be that our youths gave no signs of joy, or even of admiration, when he was here, and that their whole conduct rather indicated the contrary, then I cannot help rejoicing that it should be so. Well, I trust God will help me to another field of activity, for, without such, life loses all its value in my eyes. Oh, dearest Charlotte! what birthdays have I not had these last two years! Before the first came round, all the blossoms had been stripped from my tree of life; before the second, the storm had shaken off all the fruit. What shall we do with the bare trunk?

You may probably have felt anxious about me on many other accounts likewise, as rumour always exaggerates, and after an engagement in a town one generally pictures to oneself a thousand horrors, of which, however, few were perpetrated here.

Ehrenfried writes me that Kathen has lost a brother. Well, he has died the death of his profession, it is true, not only in an unfortunate but in an ill-conducted conflict, in which the blood of thousands was sacrificed by a few incapable men, yet in a conflict for a great cause, in which every one who falls is a costly and holy sacrifice, and not in a vulgar quarrel of princes.

What is your excellent friend Moritz² about? Has he not been advised to take a trip over seas? for certainly he cannot be one of the authors who have gained the good graces of the mighty oppressor. Could we say this of every German it would be easy to provoke him to death; because, free speech is to him the most deadly poison. Do write to me soon, and tell me something about your peaceful, quiet home, which may God long preserve to you!

Schleiermacher to Henrietta Herz.

[CCLXXXIII.] Halle, 8th December, 1806.

… . In a few days I expect we shall, without fail, have accounts of a battle. If it be favourable to us, it cannot prove very decisive, as he holds too many fortified places. You know, I suppose, that the king’s head-quarters are quite near the Dohnas’ place. The severity in regard to the officers is, no doubt, owing to the fact that none have presented themselves to enter his new legion. For the rest, I must say it is very good-natured of you to call the devil a spoiled child; and the destruction of a university may very well enter into his projects, even were he not so malevolently revengeful. I am truly glad that they do not sue for mercy… . . If you could manage to be much with the Reichardts, it would give me great pleasure. Farewell, my only one; I must hasten from you to that wearisome review of Fichte, which must absolutely be finished.

[CCLXXXIV.] Halle, 28th December, 1806.

I have finally determined not to go to Bremen, and shall write to-morrow to decline. I could not possibly renounce Halle and my academical career as long as matters are so undecided; and I could not either make up my mind to say to Masson, as I once thought of doing, that he should only consider my departure as a leave of absence, and that as soon as Halle was re-established (alas! it is established)—I mean as soon as it was in activity again—I would return; for the more I reflected upon this, the more treacherous it seemed to me towards the people of Bremen, and the more unworthy of their kindness; while, at the same time, I felt it to be treason against my inward vocation to leave this place. Were it not for Nanni I should have little care about money matters. I would live like a student, and my literary work would suffice to support me, however unfavourable the times might be. But Nanni is here; nevertheless, I dare say we shall get on, more especially as Masson must necessarily do something for the university, or, when spring comes, all the professors will disperse. At all events, I will not be the first to run away, rather the last… . .

[CCLXXXV.] Halle, 2nd February, 1807.

You must take a grander view of the destinies of men, dear Jette, and then you will find in the present times nothing more than what history shows us at all times, viz., that after enervation comes dissolution, and struggles between life and death, during which, even if it be but one baseness struggling against another, the creative energies of the goodness and capacities of the human mind are developed. Throughout history we see the genius of man working in the same way. The invisible hand of Providence, and the action of man, is one and the same. If we look too much at particulars, the smallness of the objects makes us giddy. But if you cannot help doing this, as is mostly the case with women, then, at least, lay fast hold of your objects, and you will perceive that even among these the difference is much less than it appears when you mistake small things for great ones. What can have happened to Misere? There is little difference between her present and her former joys and sorrows. And this is not only applicable to Misere, but to every human being. Verbally, I should be better able to demonstrate this to you; but you may find the fundamental thoughts of what I should say, in one of my sermons on the justice of God. This standard may be applied to all times.

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Footnotes

1. This extract, giving a fuller relation of the final rupture with Eleanore Grunow than is contained in any of the letters in the present collection in the German edition, has been borrowed from Schleiermacher’s correspondence with Gass, a preacher of the Reformed Church at Breslau, published in 1852.—TRANS. ↩

2. G. M. Arndt. ↩