New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-03-17

with theee words, sent you the book three Year,
ago from G0ttingen; to-day send 10 you again from
the lard of nv birth iHesse Casse 90 at first. From
my study in G0ttiDgen could see bat the tall tops,
above intervening roofs, of few hndens planted py
1Ieyne behind his house, which have grown apace
with the growth Of the University their leaves Wepe
yellow and ready TO fall left my dwelling on the %
of October 1898; doubt much that shall ever again
see them in the garb of Spring. had stlil Anew
weeks TO speI there and passed them IN the mouse %
a freDd-in the society Of those whom mac loVeu au
whose love had won As al length lourneyed from
the city, procession stopped me, the unyersy
following some one to biz grave. II was already dtA
ss | entered the city lCassel), and crossed ,he
threshold of the same house, when, IN 9ooi
cold had left eight Yeas before How surpTSed mas
l. dear Bettine 10 find You in my family circle, Mdne
and comforting nv sick wife From that PERIOD, 80
nportsnt TO us in its influence upon our fortunes ana
which 80 disturbed the peaceful current OF our nVes
your hearty sympathy pas ever oeeh Win ,,,I ~
iathy sweet and egiving 10 me- as the warmth OF
wonder blue sky now flowing into my chamber, from
whose windows / shall again to morrow see the sun
rising and closing its course at night behind the ia b
tains at whose feet sbimmerng flows the nver. lne
fragrance of orsngetrees and ndens comes up 70 me
from the park and in the midst OF love and ennlty,
feel again the fresh veor OF youth Gan wish pet
ter period in which to employ myself again win THESE
MGrchenl In 1913, wrought upon the secor volume
while we brothers interrupted and dis iurbed by
troops QuarteIed upon us, and noisy kustps occupied
the next room; but then the feeling OF newly recovered
freedom was that Spring breath which filled the breast
and assuaged every care. :,
"Tbi, time. dear Bettine can present the book
with N own hands, which before j cent you from q
distance. You have sought out for us house outside
the CITY Berln walls where, upon the borders OF the
wood a lew city is growing up-a house shaned Dy
trees surrounded by green pats rosecovered mounds
and alleys of flowers, and far from the NOISE OF tIe
streets. During the heats Of last Summer, as AT carry
morn paced up and down in the shade OF the oass,
where the cooling breeze gradually freed me from he
burden with which a long and severe illness mad
weighed me down; then thankfully felt how good
for NE had been your provdent care i bring you now
not one of the beautiful plants which are cultivated
here in the TeIgaTten, a goldfish from the
dark waters above which the Grecian god joyous
stands; but why should not bring You again these
Innocent blossoms which spring from the green earth
so ever fresh and new? myself have seen you
standing by simple flower looking down into its cup
with the Joy OF earliest youth - -
"Berlin, in the Spring Of lS45. WILHELM GRIMM"
For me, this letter had an indescribable charm
even before it was my good fortune to know the
writer and the noble woman to whom 1t was adj
dressed. Bettine was not the merely romantic per-
sOnage which the readers of the Goethe GORE
spondence" and "HyperOn" are apt to imagine.
The romantic and poetic were but one side of her
character. The other was cOnspcuOusly shown in
1912 when most who could do so fled the cholera
doomed city of Berlin while she remained and with
a noble faith and constaDcy carried hope and COM
fort into cellars and garrets, where the poor and
friendess were dying IN squalid misery. The alice
ton which the Grimms cherished for her was not
merely that which the wife and widow OF
Achn Won Arnm would naturally find in the hearts
of his dearest friends. II was founded upon the
appreciation of her own sterling qualities, and grew
with the lapse of years. Few evenings OF my lite
have left so strong an impress upon my memory az
those when met her at the house OF Pr0i. Grllnm
The tall calm, dignihed, handsome man, with
whitened locks, from whose every feature beamed
peace love. beneficent gOOdness-the small, lively
In ID al. o1t poa1 in M
lectual. witty, apprecative of everything good and
noble-tbe two seemed more than frends-they
were like brother and sister, between whom existed
an affection beyond the ordinary standard. She
passed away before him. but he lived TO see the ties
which had connected them renewed in closer
union between her youngest daughter and hs eldest
SOD.
Is there not an impression in our country that
German family life-home life in Germany-bas
peculiar charm beyond that of other lands
/ am not disposed to grant this IN general;
but if 80, nowhere could 1t be found
manifested more beautifully than in the home
Of Wilhelm Grimm. Between the elder and younger
members of the family existed that Scrptural
" love which casteth out fear" The subject can,
of course, only be- mentioned in general terms,
would one avoid the abuse of confidence for the pur-
pose of adorDing a picture. Yet, here II was that j
felt all the words Of euogy above translated more
than justified in the personal character OF Professor
Grimm. 1t was there, too, that he impressed me
even more than in the lecture-rOOm with sense of
bis extraordinary requirements. Yet, when he
came out of his study, he lift all pedantry, his
hooks. his labors behind But while cOnversing
upon the ordinary events of the day, remarks would
rise spontaneously which glowed with the bright
ness of his wisdom, which gave gllmpscs INTO the
profound depths ofhis learning
But The relations between him and his elder
brother, Jacob-whose name is, perhaps, the more
widely known in our cOuntry-Here such " thlng
of beauty' as 10 be "a Joy forever 10 all who had
the bapDness TO witness them. In childhood, they
were always together; in youth and early manhood,
but occasionally SCI arated, as when Jacob was Ell,
gagged in public empOyments in Vienna, PARIS, and
other places; but for more than forty years, save
when the occasional demands of health or business
drew them apart for few days or weeks, tney
have seldom slept beneath different roofs ms ~,
lection was not demonstratIve, but coored ana
beautifed all their intercourse. You felt IL a. you
sat with them at table, or in the evening Ill the
social circle Wilhelm, beside his constant dehcacy
of constitution passed through several very danger
Gus periods of Illness as IN the W inter- oil lo4o-ii'
when he lay deliriOus fourteen weeks Win Draln
fever, and the great physician Schonleln was OF
opinion that if he recovered, his mind would be
found permanently affected. Ii this illness TO
which he refers in the letter to Bettine above given
Ten wears before be had had similar experience in
G0ttingen during which Jacob was at work upon
the third part Of his DeUtsehe Grammatk Got
tingen, 1s3I). When finished, he printed single
copy of the following lines and bound II in the large
paper copy of the work, as pleasant surprise TO his
brother. ] wish could give in English the force OF
the sweet German 'du."
"Dr.R WILHELM: While Won were lying sick
last Winter was forced 20 think that perhaps, your
faithful ewes would never fall upon this book. l sat
at your table, in your chair, and saw, with an inde;
scribable feeling Of wo, how carefully you had re-
a. xnInnna of the extracted here and