The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-01 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
Seidller's .Life and Works. By Emil Palleske.
Translated by Lady Wallace. 2 vols. Longman.
The recent celebration of the centenary festival
of the great German dramatist renders the appear-
ance of these interesting volumes peculiarly appro-
priate. Expressing as they do, the thoughts and
sentiments of a compatriot of Schiller, they are in
some respects more valuable than had they been
the original work of an English writer. Though
in that case the opinions might have been
more entirely free from bias, the sympathetic ap-
preciation of the author could scarcely have been so
complete. It required a German to enter thoroughly
into the literary difficulties which impeded Schiller's
career, and to bear testimony to the services which
he rendered to the cause of free thought and the
development of popular aspirations. Inspired by
an enthusiastic admiration for his subject, Herr
Palleske follows his chequered course through all
its vicissitudes. He sketches the 'condition of his
poor but honourable parents. He, gives us a
lengthened account of his sojourn in. the Military
Academy at Stuttgardt, of his literary attempts,
an,l the offence given by them to the ruling powers.
He tells us of the arbitrary prohibition of further
pubLication—a command which, to the born drama-
tist and poet, was as idle as Canute's injunction to
the sea. Further en he traces his hero's career
through his flight, his subsequent efforts for sub-
sistence,his earnest friendships, and somewhat fiickle
loves, vividly pourtraying the glorious achievements
of his genius, and the miserable weight of debt and
difficulty that clouded and hampered his days.
The great dramatic poet, whose literary career
commenced with " The Robbers " and ended with
" William Tell," was all his life through hampered
and distressed by encumbrances from which a few
hundreds would have relieved him, and when he
was lifted in any degree above the struggle it was
only by the readiness of friends or the libe-
rality of princes. This was perhaps unavoidable in
the state of society at that period, but it is the more
distressing to reflect upon, since Schiller, if not
always prudent or discreet, was by no means
one of those literary celebritiss who arc indiffe-
rent to their liabilities anti idly improvident
of their means. On the contrary, he was
conscientious and industrious, and struggled
against failing health and depressing circumstances
to obtain an independence. Herr Palleske's admi-
ration for his subject, however, does not make him
prejudiced. He censures his hero on some occa-
sions, and defends others who have been dopres
ciated for his elevation. With all its merits, how-
ever, the book partakes somewhat of two national
faults of style—diffuseness and mysticism. It
would have been very difficult, almost impossible,
for a translator to have compressed it without
altering its character and materially affecting it.
Still, if it had been originally more concise in its
style, it might have been more acceptable to
English tastes. It is, notwithstanding, a valuable
work ; valuable not only from its faithful
record of the career of one of the great chiefs of
modern literature, but from its careful analysis of
his writings, and its picture of the state of feeling and
perturbations of sentiment that were agitating the
minds of the youth of Germany at that epoch. la
Lady Wallace, Herr Palleske has found a careful
and sympathetic translator. She has always, she
tells us in her preface, been an enthusiastic admirer
of Schiller. " Each fresh perusal of works breath-
ing so pure and elevated a spirit inspired me with
greater reverence for the sublime heroic nature and
the lofty mind whose aim it was to elevate the soul
above, the selfishness, individual aggrandisement,
and petty interests which too often absorb the
dwellers upon earth." She had never, however,
met with a biography of her hero which did not
disappoint her expectations, until she' read the pre-
sent one. She was charmed with the work, and
wrote to the author, requesting his permission to
translate it. He immediately gave her full powers
to condense it if she thought proper. This permis-
sion she has availed herself of but sparingly, only
omitting some of the metaphysical portions. The
prose is entirely her own ; the poetry, she tells us,
has been contributed by Henry Inglis, Esq., the
author of some pleasing poems. She has evidently
undertaken her task in a congenial spirit, and her
successful fulfilment of a very arduous under-
taking is the well-merited reward of her la-
bours. Though thoroughly German and charac-
teristic in • its matter and manner, the style
is purely English. There are none of those in-
verted or strained sentences which are so often met
with in translations. In commenting upon the in-
terest of the work, Lady Wallace remarks that
the English, especially, should appreciate Schiller
since he was eminent for his energy and persever-
ance, qualities supposed to be the peculiar posses-
sion of the Anglo-Saxon race. She quotes in re-
ference to the poet, the eloquent tribute of Carlyle.
" His effect on the mind of his own country has
been deep and universal, and bids fair to be abiding.
His effect on the mind of other countries must in
time, be equally decided, for such nobleness of heart
and soul shadowed forth in beautiful imperishable
emblems is a treasure which belongs not
to one nation, but to all. In another are
this Schiller will stand forth in the
foremost rank among the master spirits
of his country, and be admitted to a place among
the chosen of all centuries." Herr Palleske him-
self, speaking of the varying characteristics of
Schiller's poetry, pays him a scarcely less lofty
testimony. " Per him all hearts beat with sym-
pathy ; his accusers find only deaf ears ; his defen-
ders arc innumerable. They are to be found on
the throne and in the cell of the student ; they
crowd the galleries of the theatres, and stand even
in the pulpit. The soldier finds in Schiller his
battles and his camp ; the tender virgin her purest
ideal ; the scholar his romance; the Catholic his
Rome; the Protestant his Gustavus Adolphus;
freedom her Tell ; almost every nation its renown,
and humanity its noblest gifts. Each finds what he
loves best, and what he fails to find he seeks to sup-
ply.":At the closeof the volumes,speaking of Schiller's
too brief career and the influence of his works on his
age, the author says, " He lived long enough to wit-
ness the influence of his poetry and his admirable
success ; and the more he saw that at the core the
German people were sound, the more he was dis•
posed to judge of them with forbearance, looking
with patience to that future time when all that
was false and hollow should be universally con-
temned as suc't, and all that was true and great
more fervently admired as truth." The departed
poet is fortunate in his biographer, who, despite the
weaknesses and foibles inevitable to humanity, has
shown him in noble colours, representing him as
one in whose character were blended the attrac-
tive qualities of a genial heart and kindly
nature with the higher attributes of the poet.
" He enjoyed everything with the gladness and
gaiety of a child ; he acted like a man, and he suf-
fered like a hero." Such as it is, with the peculiar
characteristics which some may regard as merits
and others as defects, the book is likely to find a
large circle of readers, representing, as it does, the
life and literary career of one, who so greatly in-
fluenced the mind of his age, and whose lot it was,
like many another of his intellectual brethren, to
tread the road to immortality through sorrow, dis-
appointment, and life-long care.