who did not at all expect it, by the hair behind, and threw him instantly to the ground, and pressed my knee upon his back. The other, a younger and weaker one, who attacked me in the rear, I drew by the head under my arm, and nearly throttled him with the squeeze. The last, and not the weakest, was now remaining, and I had only my left hand to defend myself; but I caught him by the dress, and by a ready twist of mine, and a hasty one of his, I brought him down, his face against the ground. They tried their worst at biting, scratching, and kicking; but I had only my rage in my heart and in my limbs. With the advantage I had over them, I knocked their heads together repeatedly. At last they raised a horrid cry of murder, and we were soon surrounded by all the inmates of the house. The rods scattered about, and my legs, which I had bared of the stockings, soon bore witness for me. They put off the punishment, and let me leave the house; but I declared that, for the future, on the least injury I would scratch the eyes of one or other, and tear off his ears, if not even throttle him. This incident, although, as is usual with childish matters, soon forgotten again, or even laughed at, was yet the cause that these joint private lessons became rarer, and at last entirely ceased. I was therefore again, as previously, more confined to the house, where, in my sister Cornelia, only a year younger than myself, I found a companion daily more and more delightful to me.

I will, however, not quit this subject without relating some more stories of the many annoyances which I met with from my playfellows. For this, in fact, is what is most instructive in such moral disclosures, that a man learns how it has gone with others, and what he too must look for in life; and that whatever happens, he may know this to betide him as man, and not as one specially lucky or luckless. If such knowledge is not of much importance for avoiding evils, yet is it very useful for learning to understand our position, to bear it, nay, to triumph over it.

There is still one general remark which will be apposite here. As life goes on with children of the cultivated classes, a great contradiction displays itself. I mean this, that they are ex

horted and trained by their parents and teachers to conduct themselves moderately, intelligently, even reasonably; to give no one pain out of petulance or arrogance, and to subdue all malignant impulses which may happen to arise in them; and yet, on the contrary, while the young creatures are exercised in this discipline, they have to bear that from others which in them is blamed and severely punished. Thus the poor sufferers are brought into a pitiable strait between nature and civilisation, and according to their diversity of character break out either cunningly or violently, after having for a time restrained themselves.

Force ought rather to be resisted by force. But a well-disposed child, inclined to affection and sympathy, has little to oppose to insult and malice. If I was pretty well able to stop the active assaults of my companions, yet I was by no means on a level with them as to taunts and abuse; for in these he who only defends himself must always lose. Therefore attacks of this kind, when they excited anger, were also repelled by physical force, or awoke strange reflections in me, which could not but produce after-results. Among other advantages, my ill-wishers grudged me also my enjoyment of a dignity which accrued to the family from my grandfather's chief magistracy; for while he was first among his fellows, this had no small influence on all belonging to him. Thus, one day after the holding of the Pipers' Courts, I appeared to set some store by the importance of seeing my grandfather in the midst of the Council, a step higher than the others, and as it were enthroned under the picture of the Emperor. But one of the boys said disdainfully-that I ought at least, like the peacock looking at his feet, to cast a glance beyond my grandfather on his father's side, who had been landlord of the Willow-Tree Inn, and would have laid no claim to thrones and crowns. To this I answered, that I was not at all ashamed of it, as the very glory and excellence of our native city consisted in this, that all citizens were bound to hold each other equal, and that every one might derive pr profit and honour from his endeavours in his own line. I grieved only that the old man had been so long dead; for I had often longed that I also could have known him personally, had frequently looked at his portrait, nay, had visited his grave, and drawn pleasure, at least, from the inscription on the simple monument of that past existence to which I was indebted for mine. Another ill-wisher, the spitefulest of all, took the first aside, and whispered something into his ear, while they continued to look tauntingly at me. Already had my gall begun to rise, and I challenged them to speak out. "Now then, as to the rest," said the former speaker, "my friend here thinks that you might seek about far and wide without finding your grandfather."-I now threatened worse violence if they would not explain themselves more clearly. Then they repeated a tale which they pretended to have overheard from their parents. My father was the son of some considerable man, and that honest citizen had given his consent to take outwardly the paternal office. They had the impudence to bring forward all sorts of arguments; for instance, that our property came only proper from my grandmother, that the other side-relations, in Friedberg and elsewhere, were equally without fortune, and the like arguments, which could derive no weight except from malice. I listened to them more quietly than they expected; for they were already on the watch to escape, if I made as if I would seize their hair. But I answered quite tranquilly, that this also was no evil to me. Life is such a blessing, that one might well hold it quite indifferent to whom one was indebted for it, as, at last, it must be derived from God, in whose sight we are all equal. Thus, as they could gain nothing, they let for this time the matter rest, and we went on to play together, which among children is a tried means of reconciliation.

These spiteful words, however, had implanted in me a kind of moral disease, which crept on in secret. I could not feel at all displeased at being the grandson of a man of distinction, even if it were not in the most lawful way. My ingenuity hunted in this track; my imagination was excited, and my acuteness developed. I now began to examine the allegation of those discoverers, and found and invented new grounds of probability. I had heard little said of my grandfather, except that his portrait rait had hung with that of my grandmother in

a parlour of the old house, and that both, after the building of the new one, were preserved in an upper room. My grandmother must have been a very beautiful woman, and of the same age as her husband. I also remembered to have seen in their parlour the miniature of a handsome gentleman in uniform, with a star and order, which after her death had disappeared, together with many other small articles, in the all-confusing work of the new structure. These, and many other things, I put together in my childish head, and exercised early enough that modern kind of poetic talent, which, by a surprising combination of the important facts of human life, is able to obtain the sympathy of the whole cultivated world.

Now, as I could not venture to confide such a matter to any one, or even to enquire about it from a distance, I did not relax the diligence of my secret efforts to come, if possible, somewhat nearer to the matter; for I had heard it maintained explicitly, that the sons have often a positive resemblance to the fathers or grandfathers. Several of our friends, and particularly the Councillor Schneider, an intimate of the family, were connected by business with all the princes and noblemen of the neighbourhood. No small number of these, whether of the ruling or of the younger branches, had their possessions on the Rhine, and Maine, and in the space between; and sometimes, out of special favour, presented their faithful agents with their portraits. These, which from my childhood I had often seen upon the walls, I now studied with double attention, looking whether I could not discover some likeness to my father, or even to myself. This, however, was so often the case, that it could not lead me to any certainty. First it was the eyes of one, then the nose of another, which seemed to me to indicate a relationship; so these marks led me deceptively up and down. And although I was ultimately compelled to regard the allegation as an utterly groundless tale; yet the impression remained with me, and I could not cease, from time to time, silently to call up and inspect all the noblemen whose likenesses had remained very clear in my fancy. true is it, that all which inwardly strengthens a man in his self-conceit,

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and flatters his secret vanity, is an object of such extreme desire to him, that he asks no further whether, in any other way, it may turn to his honour or disgrace.

But, instead of introducing serious and even reproachful considerations into those happy times, I will rather turn away my eyes from them. For who can have the power to speak worthily of the fulness of childhood? We cannot see the little creatures that move about before us but with pleasure, nay, with admiration; for they generally promise more than they fulfil; and it seems as if nature, among other roguish tricks which she plays us, in this also particularly designs to take advantage of us. The first organs which she gives to children in the world, are suitable to the nearest immediate state of the creature, which uses them, without art or assumption, in the readiest way, for the nearest ends. The child, regarded in and by itself with its equals, and in relations fitted to its powers, appears with so much understanding, so much reason, that nothing can exceed it, and at the same time so easy, cheerful, nimble, that one could not wish it any farther culture. If children grew up as they promise, we should have nothing but geniuses; but the growth is not a mere development. The different organic systems which make up one man spring out of each other, follow each other, change into each other, supplant each other, yea, devour each other. Thus, of many capacities, many tendencies, after a certain time there is hardly a trace to be discovered. Even if the individuality of a man, on the whole, has one distinct direction, yet will it be hard for the greatest and most experienced master to announce it beforehand with any confidence. But afterwards one can well discern what it was which pointed towards a future now realized.

I have, therefore, nothing like an intention of entirely including the story of my childhood in these first books. On the contrary, I shall hereafter take up and continue many a thread which ran unnoticed through my first years. But I must in this place remark, what an increasing influence the events of the war gradually exerted on our dispositions and mode of life. The quiet citizen stands

in a wonderful relation to the great events of the world. Even from afar they excite and disquiet him; and even if they do not touch him, he cannot abstain from an opinion and a sympathy. He soon takes a side, according as his character or outward circumstances determine him. If such great fatalities, such important changes, approach nearer to him, then, along with many outward inconveniences, he has still that inward discomfort, which, for the most part, doubles and sharpens the evil, and destroys what happiness was still within his power. must he practically suffer both from friends and enemies, often more from those than these; and he knows not how to take thought for and secure either his inclination or his interest.

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The year 1757, which we still passed in entire civic quiet, kept us nevertheless in great mental disturbance. No other, perhaps, was richer in events than this. Victories, exploits, misfortunes, restorations, succeeded by turns, and seemed to devour and destroy each other. But always the form of Frederick, his name, his glory, soon floated again high over all. The enthusiasm of his admirers became always greater and more animated, the hatred of his friends bitterer; and the different views which divided even families, helped not a little to isolate from each other the citizens, who were, at all events, in many ways separated. For in a city like Frankfort, where three religions distinguish the inhabitants into three unequal masses, where only a few even of the ruling faith can arrive at political authority, there must needs be many wealthy and instructed persons who draw towards each other, and by their individual studies and tastes form for themselves an exclusive existence. Of such men it will be necessary, now and hereafter, to speak, if we would bring before us the peculiarities of a Frankfort citizen of those days.

My father, as soon as he returned from his travels, had, according to his peculiar turn of mind, adopted the design, that in order to qualify himself for the service of the state, he would undertake one of the subordinate employments, and perform its duties without emolument, if he could obtain it without a ballot. According to his way of thinking, with the conception which he had of himself, and in the consciousness of his own goodness of purpose, he believed that he deserved such a distinction, which in truth was neither lawful nor customary. Therefore, when his proposal was rejected, he fell into ill-humour and disgust, vowed that he would never accept any office, and in order to make it impossible, obtained for himself the title of an imperial councillor, which the chief magistrate and seniors of the court bear as a special honour. Thus he had made himself the equal of the highest functionaries, and could not begin again at the bottom. The same motive also induced him to propose for the eldest daughter of the chief magistrate, by which he was excluded also on this side from the council. He now belonged to the retired, who never can combine into a society. They stand as isolated with regard to each other as to the whole; and the more because in this separation the peculiarity of each character becomes always harsher and harsher. My father had perhaps been able to gain in his travels, and in the open world which he had seen, the conception of a more elegant and liberal mode of life than perhaps was common among his fellow-citizens. In this, however, he had forerunners and companions.

The name of Uffenbach is known. A magistrate, Von Uffenbach, lived at that time in good repute. He had been in Italy, had applied himself particularly to music, sung an agree. able tenor; and as he had brought back with him a fine collection of music, concerts and oratorios used to be performed at his house. Now, as he sung in these himself, and favoured musicians, it was thought not altogether worthy of his station; and the invited guests, as well as the other neighbours, permitted themselves many jocose remarks on the subject.

I remember, moreover, a Baron Von Hackel, a rich nobleman, who being married but childless, inhabited a handsome house in the Antoniusgasse, furnished with all the appurtenances of a dignified existence. He also possessed good pictures, engravings, antiquities, and much else which usually accumulates in the hands of collectors and amateurs. From time to time he invited the more distinguished persons to dinner, and was beneficent in a thoughtful way of his own, clothing the poor in his house, but retaining their

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Earlier, so that I scarcely saw him, John Michael Von Loen gained a good deal of attention in the literary world as well as in Frankfort. Not a native of the city, he had settled himself there, and was married to the sister of my grandmother Textor, whose family name was Lindheim. He knew the world of courts and politics, enjoyed a revived nobility, and obtained a name by having the courage to take a part in the different excitements which arose in Church and State. He wrote the Count of Rivera, a didactic romance, the contents of which obvious from the second title, or the Honest Man at Court. This work was well received, because it required morality even at a court, where in general only prudence is at home; and thus his labour brought him applause and estimation. A second work would, therefore, be the more dangerous for him. He wrote The only True Religion, a book which had for its object to promote toleration, especially between Lutherans and Calvinists. By this he got into controversy with the Theologians, and a Dr Benner of Giessen wrote particularly against him. Von Loen answered; the controversy became violent and personal, and the unpleasantness springing from it led the author to accept the place of President at Lingen, which Frederick II. offered him, thinking he discerned in him an enlightened man, not disinclined to the novelties which had already gone much further in France, and one free from prejudices. His former fellowtownsmen, whom he had left in some anger, maintained that he was not contented there, nay, could not be so, because a place like Lingen bore no comparison to Frankfort. My father also doubted the happiness of the President, and asserted that his good uncle would have done better not to connect

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last century, spread from above downwards in so many ways, and broke out in results so unexpected.

himself with the King, because it in general dangerous to come too near him, extraordinary prince as beyond doubt he was. For it had been seen how ignominiously the celebrated Voltaire had been arrested in Frankfort at the requisition of the Prussian resident Freitag, though beforehand he had stood so high in favour, and been regarded as the King's instructor in French poetry. On occasion of such events there was no want of reflections and examples, as warnings against courts and the service of princes, which indeed a born Frankforter could hardly conceive.

I will mention only the name of an excellent man, Dr Orth, because it is not here so much my business to erect a monument to deserving Frankforters, as merely to notice them so far as their reputation, or they themselves, had some influence on my earliest years. Dr Orth was a rich man, and also belonged to those who never took a share in the government, although his knowledge and views would have well entitled him to do so. The antiquities of Germany, and especially of Frankfort, were much indebted to him. He published the remarks on the so-called Frankfort Reformation, a work in which the statutes of the Imperial Town are collected. In my youth I studied diligently its historical chapters.

Von Ochsenstein, the eldest of those three brothers whom I before spoke of as our neighbours, had not become remarkable during his life, owing to his secluded habits. But he was the more remarkable after his death, by leaving a direction that he was to be carried to the grave by working men, quite early in the morning, and without company or attendants. It was so done; and this event excited much notice in the city, where there was the custom of pompous funerals. All those to whom usage gave important functions on such occasions, rose up against the innovation. But the stout patrician found imitators of all classes; and although such funerals were called in derision Ochsen burials, yet, to the gain of many ill-provided families, they became usual, and the pompous funerals gradually disappeared. I cite this fact, because it presents one of the earliest symptoms of those tendencies to humility and equality, which, during the second half of the

There was also no want of lovers of antiquity. There were cabinets of pictures, collections of engravings; and especially old curiosities of our own country were zealously sought and hoarded. The older enactments and mandates of the imperial city, of which no public collection had been established, were carefully searched for both in print and manuscript, arranged chronologically, and preserved as a treasure of our native rights and usages. The likenesses also of Frankforters, which existed in great numbers, were brought together, and formed a particular department of the cabinets.

My father seems in the main to have taken such men as his models. He wanted none of the qualities which belong to a respectable and esteemed citizen. Therefore, after building his house, he brought his acquisitions of all kinds into order. An excellent collection of maps by Schenk and other geographers then eminent, those above-mentioned enactments and mandates, those portraits, a case of ancient weapons, a case of curious Venetian glasses, cups, and goblets, natural objects, ivory-works, bronzes, and a hundred other things, were separated and displayed; and whenever an auction occurred, I gained permission to make some purchases towards the increase of his treasures.

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I must still speak of one considerable family, of whom, from my earliest youth, I heard great singularities, and from some members of it learned to experience myself much that was wonderful. It was that of Senkenberg. The father, of whom I can say little, was a wealthy man; he had three sons, who, even in their youth, made themselves uniformly conspicuous oddities. This, in a limited town, where no one must put himself forward either for good or evil, was not well thought of. Nicknames, and strange stories, which long remain in the memory, are commonly the fruit of such oddity. The father lived at the corner of the Hasengasse, [Hare Street,] which had its name from the one, or perhaps even three Hares, represented on that house. Thus, these three brothers came to be called only the three Hares-a nickname which, for a long time, they