before the Franco-Prussian War, the direction in which the domestic affairs of Germany were rapidly tending. He desired to avert the shock of conflicting interests which, as he thought, the internal policy of the late Chancellor tended to accelerate and render inevitable. Had his counsel been accepted twenty years ago, it is possible that the present Emperor might not now be driven to the alternative, either of governing by military force or of posing as an earthly Providence. In these political views lies the secret of the conflicts which have centred round the name of the Emperor Frederick, the explanation of the hostility of the official German press, the key to the depreciatory criticism of Gustav Freytag. To any German author the subject which Freytag selected for his theme is sufficiently inspiring; but Freytag seemed preeminently the man to feel the inspiration. His liberalism, his patriotism, the confidence to which the Crown Prince at one period admitted him, all promised not only that the material would be valuable, but that the treatment would be sympathetic. His professed disregard for honours, and his assured literary position, suggested that his judgment would be independent. The importance of this last consideration can hardly be exaggerated. Independence was, in the time of Prince Bismarck, a rare virtue in German political writing. The official press was all-powerful and entirely dependent. The Guelf Fund, which now amounts to nearly three million poundsa year, was in great measure devoted to its support. Originally expended in seeking out the Reptiles,' as the Chancellor designated the secret agents of King George of Hanover, it was mainly spent in the subvention of newspapers. This large expenditure, combined with the severity and frequency of Pressprosecutions, and united with the withdrawal from Opposition newspapers of official intelligence, legal notices, and foreign. news, reduced German journalism to subserviency. The whole of this vast machinery has been assiduously worked against the late Emperor and his supporters. A smaller man than Freytag would scarcely dare to be independent. At the same time his acknowledged mastery of the German language guaranteed that a brilliant setting would enhance the value of the portrait. Everything, therefore, seemed to indicate that Freytag's picture would be a genuine likeness, true, sympathetic, and final. These hopes have not been realized. Except in the brilliancy of the style, the results have falsified the expectations which the author's antecedents justified the public in forming. To his own countrymen Gustav Freytag needs no introduction.. In England some mention of his special qualifications for the task 6 task he has undertaken may prove useful. For many years. Freytag has held the foremost place among German writers. In grace and clearness of style he has no rival among his contemporaries. As novelist, poet, dramatist, and historian, his reputation is firmly established. Born at Kreuzberg in Silesia in 1816, he is connected with the province by birth,, education, and marriage. Soll und Haben,' with its admirable passages of local description, and its pictures of the family life of the distinguished Breslau merchant, Molinari, turns to excellent account this intimate knowledge of his native province. In 1848, Freytag settled at Leipzig as editor of the 'Grenzenboten,' or 'Border Messenger'-a paper which, under the joint management of himself and Julian Schmidt, exercised a widespread influence in literary and political circles. In his early writings, Freytag may be regarded as the apostleof industry. He loves to linger over details of the business routine of a merchant's office, or the laborious research of a learned professor. German poets and novelists, who preceded him, had praised the pursuit of harmonious culture as the goal of life. The ideal of social perfection was the existence of an aristocratic idler, possessed of wealth and political privileges, cultivating the graceful amenities of society, exercising a kindly patronage towards inferiors. Freytag struck out a line which vividly contrasted with that of these Epicurean dilettanti. He adopted as his motto the maxim, that national novels must seek out the German people where it is found in its true strength; that is, at its labour. For all the industrial classes who have built up the solid strength of Germany-for merchants, teachers, journalists, and tradesmen-he claims social and political recognition. This note is struck in Soll und Haben,' which on the one side presents a picture of Silesia in 1848, and of the conflict of the Catholic Polish element with the Prusso-German Protestant population, and on the other vindicates the value of independent citizen families who compose the strength of the middle classes, and who alone can control absolutism, check democracy, and support the pillars of constitutional government. His ideas are the fusion of educated classes, the abolition of caste and bureaucratic feeling, the removal of social barriers which divided the aristocracy of birth from the aristocracy of talent or of industrial wealth.. An acknowledged master of the pen, and at one time a Liberal in his political views, Freytag was also an ardent patriot. It is true that he was, and still is, steeped in Prussian particularism; that his view of a united Fatherland did not extend beyond a Federation of North and South Germany under the the hegemony of Prussia; and that, under the influence of these ideas, he drifted from Liberalism into an almost blind admiration of Bismarck. The fact is important, because it at once places him out of sympathy with the ideas of the Crown Prince. Freytag dreaded, that the assumption of the imperial dignity would destroy the Spartan simplicity which characterized the Prussian Court, the civil service, and the army. He feared that, under the imperial mantle, the old blue coat of the Hohenzollerns might become an antiquated relic. Yet though Freytag's conception of the best form of union differed from that which the Crown Prince advocated, and which has now rooted itself in the political life of Germany, his enthusiasm was fired by the spectacle of a united nation. In 1870, he was inspired with the idea of a series of historical novels, illustrating successive epochs in the growth of national life. The result was 'Die Ahnen.' He shows himself a keen observer of superficial peculiarities. Excelling in description, he fails in presentation of character. Above all, it is difficult to him to understand large-minded men, to grasp great political ideas, to comprehend the spirit of an age or nation. In contact with practical questions, this narrowness of view told against him. For a few months he took an active part in politics. In 1866 he was elected a member of the North German Diet, and joined the National-Liberal party under the leadership of Bennigsen. Political life was, however, distasteful to him, and he resigned his seat in 1867. The next two or three years were spent upon his beautifully-written biography of his friend Karl Mathy, whose energies were consistently devoted to the building up of the German nation. A few weeks after the appearance of this work, the French war broke out, and he was invited by the Crown Prince to join him at head-quarters. It is at this period that the Reminiscences' commence. Commended to the Crown Prince by his literary reputation, his liberal views, and his patriotism, Freytag was already known both to the Prince and his wife. He owned a country-house near Gotha, and his occasional visits there had brought him into personal contact with Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Duke Ernest made him Hofrath' in 1854, accepted the dedication of 'Soll und Haben' in 1855, and in 1858 presented him to the Prince Consort, who had been greatly amused by Freytag's clever comedy of The Journalists.' (Die Journalisten' was published in 1852.) As the friend of her father and her uncle, and as the most distinguished literary man in Germany, the Crown Princess made his acquaintance in the early years of her married life. The Crown Prince had commanded the 11th Regiment Regiment of the Line at Breslau, and Silesia was one of his favourite provinces. Always fond of clever novels, he was specially charmed with the graphic pictures of Silesian life which Freytag painted in Soll und Haben.' It was the first German novel which he read with his young wife. Admiring Freytag's genius, sympathising with much of his Liberalism, reciprocating his ardent desire for the unification of Germany, the Crown Prince and Princess distinguished the popular author with proofs of personal kindness. As he says himself in the Preface to these Reminiscences,'' I am indebted both to the dead and the living for many flattering marks of their gracious favour.' This rapid sketch of Freytag's career before 1870 explains why he was invited by the Crown Prince to accompany him in the impending campaign. Freytag joined the head-quarters of the Third Army at Spire on the 1st of August. At this date the * Reminiscences' commence. They terminate on the 8th of September, 1870, shortly after the battle of Sedan. In his Preface, Freytag tells us of the materials of which the book is composed, the object it is intended to serve, and the reasons for the delay in its appearance. The material of the 'Reminiscences' consists of notes made in the camp, and of letters written to a friend during the campaign. Their object is to make a contribution to the history of the origin of the German Imperial dignity,' and to give an estimate, formed without fear, yet with reverent affection, of the character of the late Emperor. Finally, their appearance has been delayed by the period of unhappy excitement,' which the Emperor's death occasioned. In none of these three points do the contents exactly correspond with the Preface. Only a few pages of the volume consist of genuine first impressions, noted down at the time, or embodied in letters written on the spot; the original strokes have been touched, retouched, altered, or obliterated, till they are but dimly visible. In the second place, scarcely one-eighth part of the 'Reminiscences' deals with the subject which Freytag proposes to himself by his title. In the third place, if the appearance of the volume was delayed on account of the unhappy excitement arising out of circumstances connected with the Emperor's death, it would have been wiser to abstain altogether from its publication. The feeling which then prompted delay, would now equally dictate silence. The title of the volume re-opens the whole conflict; the tone of the author revives every bitter feeling which was aroused by the insulting memorial of Prince Bismarck on the late Emperor's Diary (Immediats-Bericht' of September 23, 1888); the new facts that he contributes to history are of infinitesimal value. If Freytag were indeed a loyal friend of the Crown Vol. 171.-No. 341. D Prince, Prince, he would have remained silent, instead of reviving, under the cloak of affection, the charges of the 'Reptile Press' and Prince Bismarck's memorial. He has, however, chosen to renew the controversy that raged round the grave of the Emperor Frederick, and he has done so in a spirit which necessitates a reply. 6 The volume is divided into three portions: (1) pp. 6-65, 'with the Headquarters of the Third Army;' (2) pp. 68-86, 'after the War; (3) pp. 89-126, consisting of appendices. The second portion contains Freytag's estimate of the Crown Prince's character after the war. After 1870 the Crown Prince only saw Freytag once a year, or once every other year, at Wiesbaden, and he never wrote to him except to thank him for copies of his works as they from time to time appeared. In this portion of the volume, Freytag therefore speaks with no authority. He has no special knowledge of the subject. The third portion is made up of three articles, republished from the 'Grenzenboten' in 1870, or ' In Neuen Reich' of 1871. None of these republications have any special bearing upon the subjectmatter of the volume. The forebodings of Freytag in 1870 respecting the Imperial Crown, have no interest in 1890, when they have been falsified by experience. The first part alone possesses any original value. But even this portion contains a quantity of miscellaneous matter, which has little connection with the Crown Prince or the Imperial Crown. Not more than an eighth part of the Reminiscences,' as we have already said, is really relevant to the subject, and even this eighth part mainly consists of a long monologue by Freytag upon the impolicy of assuming the Imperial dignity. The Crown Prince's arguments on behalf of the project occupy lines, while Freytag's objections fill pages. If the subject of this conversation is important enough to give a title to the book, the title should at least be changed from the Crown Prince and the Imperial Crown' to Freytag and the Imperial Crown.' In this first portion, which, as the Preface tells us, is mainly taken from notes made in the camp or from letters written from there, Freytag takes occasion to give his opinion upon the Morier incident. We allude to this for three reasons. In the first place, the digression illustrates the palpable fact that the notes of the original impressions are carefully revised and 'written up to date.' In the second place, it exemplifies Freytag's tendency to speak with authority on subjects of which he knows no more than ordinary outside observers. He devotes a page to the vindication of Bismarck's imaginary opposition to Sir R. Morier's mission to Berlin. As a matter of fact, the suggested |