am indebted to the assiduity of a Polish gentleman of the name of Casimir, who has shown me all possible attention." "This morning I went once more to range the city; but the heat was so suffocating that, after climbing to the top of St. Stephen's-and it is higher than St. Paul's-I had only fortitude to visit the Armories. The view from the cathedral is very magnificent; and makes, I think, excepting Edinburgh, the finest panorama I have ever seen. In one direction, about six miles off, you see the village of Aspern, and island of Lobau, where Buonaparte retreated and built his bridge to attack the Austrians. The whole battle must have been distinctly visible with glasses from this tower. The enormous bell, made of cannon taken from the Turks in the siege, when Sobieski defeated them, sounded whilst we were in the steeple. Its tongue is nearly a ton weight." severe. "14th.-Poor Casimir! I ought to learn fortitude from seeing such a being always cheerful and contented. I am yet in the strength of life-he is fifty-seven. He has been five times wounded in battle, and showed me his scars, which are His life has been one tissue of hardships; and he has now a family to support, by running about with strangers for a couple of shillings, and at the rate of twenty miles a day. Often out of employment-pushed about by insolent waiters, at the hotels where he serves-yet this poor fellow never appealed to my pity; and showed me his wounds only to convince me that he had been a brave soldier. He told me a singular circumstance of his being once shot by a French vidette, with a candle instead of a bullet; and this wound, he said, was the worst of all he had received." "Well, I have this evening entered my lodgings, parted with my Pole, and have nothing for my companion but a Hungarian Grammar. I shall not study the language; but I have been told that it contains some original and characteristic poetry.* "T. C." The Poet's arrival in the Austrian capital was publicly announced, the friends of genius were invited to bid him welcome, and an elegant translation of his "Mariners," with a * See specimen of Hungarian War Songs, Vol. I. Altona, 1800-1. ET. 43.] VIENNA-INCIDENTS-IMPRESSIONS. 123 very complimentary notice of his Poems and Lectures, appeared in one of the leading journals. The grand object, it was added, with which he had come to Vienna, was to collect materials for a voluminous work on German Literature.* The following letter presents a brief, but interesting summary of his residence and impressions : "VIENNA, September 29, 1820. I have been as much alarmed as you could be at the reports of the soldiery having taken an interest in Her Majesty. It is curious to see how extremes meet. Here, the courtier will not speak out on the subject; for the Cabinet of V. never quarrels, unless there is something to be got by quarrelling; but its opinion is known to be utterly hostile to the trial. One of them said to me, 'It is too bad in your K. to publish the actions of a woman so highly born. We all know that Maria Theresa-that the Empress Catharine-that Maria Antoinette-that, &c., &c. But nobody until now ever dared to drag down royal personages to be disgraced in the face of the whole world.' This is the general-though rather the muttered than spoken-opinion of all the grandees here: so you see that the Courts of Germany and St. Giles' exactly accord in their sentiments! You hate the English Radicals—so do I. But there is a system here that carries radicalism to the opposite extreme. There is a ministry that tries, upon principle, to eradicate every germ of liberal opinion-that naturally, and in spite of a despotic government, springs up under the increasing light of human intelligence. "I was introduced to the Prime-Minister, and might have gone to his evening parties: but I have read the books and journals published under his sanction; I know the system on which he acts, and have so profound a contempt and abhorrence for that system, that I wish to see nothing of him, or of his satellites. Of course, however, I adhere to the old prudent idea, which I adopted on my arrival in Germany--never to trouble any one with my political opinions. A stranger has no right to * "Herr THOMAS CAMPBELL [geboren zu Glasgow, 1778], Professor, &c., &c., lustwandelt jetzt in den fruchtbaren Gefilden der deutschen Literatur, und befindet sich gegenwärtig in Wien's Mauern. Er ist jetzt beschäftigt, Materialen zu einem grossen Werke allgemein-literarischen Inhalts, zu sammeln. Wir glauben," &c., &c. Here follows a literal and spirited translation of the "Mariners," beginning: "Ihr Kriegessegler Englands! Die ihr die heim'schen Seen bewacht," &c., [page 1025.] intermeddle with the worst government that he may meet with, whilst he is protected by that government. But I cannot help making my own observations in silence. The police is good in Austria; but then their government is nothing but police. It has no policy, nor principle, that an Englishman can view without disgust. The press is not only under a censor, but it is prostituted to inculcate servile principles. Gentz* and Frederick Schlegel, and a knot of literary men, are enlisted, with splendid abilities, but venal, unblushing impudence, to inculcate the exact principles that reigned in the Spanish Inquisition. They preach on the advantages of Feudal servitude, and the happiness of the Middle Ages, when the Church had not yet lost its power. It was lately proposed, in earnest, to forbid the use of the Classics in schools and colleges, as they taught revolutionary doctrines! All these efforts, however, to put back the human mind, is so far from serving the intended purpose, that it is sowing the seeds of disgust and disaffection among a people who are naturally peaceable, and passive, almost to imbecility. "I dined lately in company with a Professor of the College of Gratz, in Styria, whose labors, in a long historical work, which he was about to publish, were thrown to the ground, and his literary and private fortune ruined, because he introduced a sentiment on government translated from our historian RobertA liberal man, Von Hammer,-for there are some even here said to the Minister and to Gentz, who is his oracle, 'Expunge, if you please, the offensive sentence; but pray let the poor man publish his book.' 'No,' said Gentz; 'I don't see any necessity for his publishing at all.' son. "I have found a kind friend in the Countess R. All Vienna speaks not only well, but reverentially of her. She is majestic, like Mrs. Siddons, but very natural and gentle, an excellent scholar for she helped me out with a quotation from Cicero, yet perfectly unassuming, almost to timidity. Her house is the rendezvous of the best society in Vienna; and she made me promise to come every evening. When I arrive, I find her seated in full glory at the upper end of the room, where the place beside her is reserved for me. Here you meet a num *In the "Life of Sir James Mackintosh," is some interesting correspondence between this talented writer and Sir James. In speaking of his political adversaries, it was usual with Campbell to express himself strongly -more strongly, at times, than he felt upon reflection. ÆT. 43.] VIENNA-LITERATURE AND THE STAGE. 125 ber of the Polish nobility, of whom the women are extremely beautiful. The men are more like Englishmen than any foreigners I have seen. It is curious to find myself at home amongst them, and receiving invitations to call upon them, should I ever be at Warsaw ! * During a day I spent at the Countess's house, she took me to the height called the 'Fountain of the Thorn,' where we had a most magnificent view of the course of the Danube, from the walls of Vienna to the mountains of Hungary. Our party partook of a collation on the side of a beautiful hill, where we looked over woods on the fine prospect, and sat surrounded by beds of mignonette, which was fragrant enough to regale even my dull senses. I have written a few lines to the Countess on the subject, which I will show you when we meet. "I "I have found an excellent friend-for so I may truly call him-in Von Hammer, a member of the Aulic Council, and of celebrity as an Oriental scholar. He has translated my 'Lines on a Scene in Argyllshire:' another literary man has translated 'Ye Mariners;' and both have appeared in the Vienna papers. 'The Exile of Erin' has been ten years translated; and, would you believe it? The Pleasures of Hope' was translated into Danish three years ago, and the translator is to sup with me to-night. It has been a great loss to me that the Archduke John has been absent: he is Von H.'s particular friend, and, I have reason to believe, a friend to liberal principles." have seen the Comedies and Tragedies of Vienna. I know not which are the more tiresome. They have good actors; but, in my ear, the discord of the language defies all power of graceful recitation. . . . I have been at our Ambassador's since I wrote. At a very large party, I was the only Englishman presented, formally, to the Foreign Ambassadors, and to every person of distinction in the room-except the Duke of C., who, however, came up to me himself, and said he knew that I lived at Sydenham, and that it was a very pleasant society. I fancy H. R. H. must have heard this through Mr. A. He looked very princely, and was very pleasant. There is a laugh here, at present, against an illustrious personage, who, it is said, asked Napoleon's wife, if she resided constantly at Vienna and if she was not married to the Archduke Louis, who is her uncle! . . . I expect to leave Vienna in a few days. T. C." *This daily intercourse with the Poles revived all his youthful ardor in their cause, and, after a few years, led to his founding the Polish Association in London. The following are the lines addressed to the Polish Countess R-ski : * "Though I honor you at heart, More than these poor lines can tell; With a common, cold farewell!' In descent, and speech, and clime; Oh, how long shall I delight In the memory of that morn, When we climbed the Danube's height There was gladness in the sky, There was verdure all around; Noon's purple haze was cast; But it was not mute creation, That inspired my heart's emotion, But that you had deigned to guide me, R- -ski stood beside me, Taking leave of Vienna, and the great library in which he had spent most of his time, Campbell retraced his steps through Bavaria to Ulm; and on the 1st of November found himself once more in the society of his friends at Bonn. Further particulars of his homeward journey occur in the following letters: *A mountain overlooking the island scenery of the Danube, near Vienna, to which the Poet was conducted by his noble friend. The battle-ground where the Turks were defeated by John Sobieski. A romantic history of this amiable and accomplished lady is given in a letter from Campbell to Mrs. Fletcher, of Edinburgh, in November of this year, page 130. |