New-York tribune., 1867-08-30
GERMANY.
,xrrryIFws WIN BOECKH AND NEuMANN'

S,,rvp which he was probably too lazy 10 "ll'e'
with the parenthetical statement; HeIe oOV
.r,lost" beeye il is many weeks since lhdNe .'''u
with NV friendly readers and might easily say
.Ira si letters have miscarried' and so preserve
O. pt,tiou for punctuality, had ii not been part OF
original bargain that should be lett free 10 CHOOSE
,imes places and subjects. In this hiatus la'o
made Journey to the PyTenecs, Barcelona anu '"1
r,lcar;c I,lauds-of which more in a few days-ahu
81 IS only since have settled down 10 oUiic g.
in ono of the greenest and lOyeest corners u u''
-, thot the continuation of these random letters
has presented itself TO my m'nu III '"' 's"
pleasure rather than task
Tho season indeed has not been Of q nature 10 iuI
fber that free nmble. joyous play ot the lacu'ioS
which makes literary work attractive suppose
tl,ere never was q more disagreeaDe year KNOWN Ill
I,rope North of the Alps the number OF bright
warm Summer days has hardly reachedten rams ana
cold winds succeed each other in succession Whlch
no change of moon seems able TO interrupt. NhaV-
ever the promise of the sunset may be- the next ioi
inc breaks IT, With great difficulty the rye-helds IN
this neghborhood havo grown ripe enough 10 CUT
Int AN additional fortnight will be required for the
wheat Except cherries and gooSeberrles no Hult
has vet ripencd. The thousands of guests who come
eth, Tbiiringian Forest from Berlin LcipSic, and
U,mbnrg seeking Summer tonic in this mountain
mir have more than they baTganed for. Instead OF
spending their days in the resnOus hr-woods OF
climbing TO the many points Of view among these
picturesque mountains they watch the dripping treeS
before their windows or meet in rooms that must DO
warmed night and morning to make them comfort
able.
The little town where have settled for a"hno Is
one of the favorite resorts of the Berners Who oh
Nav 10 September increase its population py one
third 1t has neither mineral springs nor places OF
h,tfie retired pastoral, convenient
10 much fine scenery and at the same time easily ac
ces.ible The Duchy of Saxe-CObuTg- -GOtha while 1t
cxsts will be the freest of German territory which
Prussia with all her growth and progress Is not the
people hereabOuts arerendly and not yet accustomed
10 exorbitant rates of payments IN short there are
many reasons why the truly intelligent ana lnde-
pendent class of Germans should come to this place.
and the merely rich and fashionable stay away some
wears ago in the street below our cottage saw the
veteran Wilhelm Grimm walking and other scholars
and authors have since then followed him.
One of the most renowned of these died last week
in Berlin-August Boeckh. In him Germany has lost
her foremost classical scholar the successor and the
equal of Wolff and Heyne. lie was struck with apo
plexy in April last but his mental constitution dld
not appear TO be seriously shaken, and his family
were hopeful of partial recovery until few days
before his death But he nearly So years old, and
life OF immense labOr-a profeSSOTshp OF sixty years
lay behind him.
In the neighboring castle of Reinhordtsbrunn, l
met Bocckh and his son-n-aw Prof Gneist of Berlin,
in the Summer of 1861. The Duke had given me an
invitation to dinner and found, on entering the
halls of reception, that those two distinguished men
were in waiting Boeckh was small man, white
haired and wrinked but not bent hy age, with won
derfuy clear lively gray eyes remarked the erect
elastic character of his body, which denoted some
thing more than physical vigor. There was sturdy
independence in his bearing which, but for the line
intellectual air of the head would have seemed stub
born and almost defiant His manner was very simple
and straightforward, and thoroughly dignihed, as
true simplicity always is. lie spoke little, yet was
evidently not silent through abstraction. One saw
that in his case the scholar was engraited on mar
of energy and character.
Only few weeks before his death BOeckh spoke
strong independent word. member of the presen
Ministry of Prussia, was praisng, IN his presence
the strict observance of Sunday in England and re
gretting that il had not been introduced into Ger
many Conservatism and rigid Orthodoxy 60 to
u gether in Prussia). Boeckh listened calmly TO tn
end and thrn, faoine tho Miuister. said. Give us
the uoet-days of England, and will all be very
willing 10 take the English Sabbath as part of the
barganw
Prof Gneist who Is one of the ablest speakers in
the Pussian Legislature. is q tall athletic man, with
square brow, dark hair, and face which is Roman
rather than TeutOnic He was twice the size Of his
fsther-in-law. and of a totally different physique,
yet the two men were alike in their bearing. They
appeared to be drawn together and at the same time
repelled. by the same quality of stubborn independ-
ence There were several other gentlemen at the
dinner and the conversation upon general topics
each of the two supporting his part when necessary
but not seeming inclined TO express more than the
occasion required. They left early in the evening
and thus the only impression of them which
brought away that of their moral force and con-
sstency.
Prof. Karl Friedrich Neumann, Of the University
of Berlin was stricken with apOple&y two days
after Boeckh and is now residing here with his fam
ily in the hope that the mountain air and respite
from labor will restore his shattered strength M
man in Germany has moro thoroughly studied tn,
history political as well material of the United
States or has done much 10 set nation before
his cOuntrymen in true light This is a much NOR,
serious work than one unacquainted with the Ger
man people and the influences which affect theil
opinions, would suppose. In the first place. to the
usual amount of ignorance concerning a foreign ma
ton and the tendency to judge Of events by the Eu
ropean standard there is added the effect of the
views distributed by a large portion of the press
Secondly, the German mind has tendency TO bend
facts to suit accepted theories rather than modify
the theories according TO the facts and lastly, some
Of ability. DR.. Andree at the head, blind
as any original Secessionst TO the real character of
the American people.
As a traveller, and in a very limited and private
way. have seen and felt the working of these
agencies. can at least estimate the daring of o
saUdnt who was willing to make himself ridiculous
Tor two years by predicting in advance the O
the Union cause and stubbonly standing by his
opinion. Prot. Neumann's History of the United
~ IN he