New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-04-09
IiRTNE.

Heinrich Ueine once wrote "A treatise In which
he considered the subject. first. ~ feet In gen
cr4I. second ~ Tho feet ~ the ancicnts; third
~ the feet = elephants. and fourth, Of the feet
~ the women II GJttingcn. Ii Is. perhaps for
this reason that the town ~ which he was
native declines 10 give place to a memorial ioun-
tain In his honor. executed by IIerel. Of Berlin.
and fine piece Il art. TT 10 adorn the public
spaces Of any municipality. Tho excuse that 1t
IS rejected On count ~ the radicalsm. lnc.vsm
and treatment cantankcro usuoss II the character II
IS intended t. commemorate is probably subter-
fure the real reason being to resent this old
afrront T. the pedal cxtrcmtics II the women
Of that ancient Rhonish city. The town or
Ma!ux likewise declines A. His works do not
contain any reference to the feet Of the women 81
Ma,rz and the objections az that commune 10
giving his memorial place may actually repose
on the moral and political grounds which are put
forth in explanation Of them The failure q
these efforts toward his celebration seems to
have put "A stop To others. so far his native
land IS concerned. and some OF his admiring
courtrymon resident here now propose 10 offer
It 10 u.s. ana invite handsome and conspicuous
site on which TO erect It. Heinc did not probably
know more about America than about Tmbuctoo
perhaps not SO much. as the remotcness and
mystery az that desert capital would naturally
INSPIRE his Imagination. affordng him basis for
numerous epigraus and brief missionary lyrics
which our own country too raw ana pro-
yincal AMI commonplace TO do. Consequently
we are without any serious wound from his
witticisms and no objection exists on that score
10 any statuary celebration Of him which may
BE- deemed suitable.
Perhaps none exist from any point OF view
though 1t must be said that Americans left to
themselves. would not single him out for such an
honor. He rare and marvellous genius
without dispute. ON Parnassus his place Is
higher than Votaircs. though good deal lower
than Goethc's: and there Is some Justice in the
claim his admirers make to rank him In the
plane with Byron. As "a wit. he was the first
Of the Germans, breaking tradition Of dulncss
In that people reaching back 10 the time OF the
Suevi and Arninlus. lie was himself lie
brew though sufficiently Germanzed to make
him at times an intolerablc patriot SO that all
the latter years of his life were spent In exile But
hc was not unwilling to take on new faiths, wear
ing them as some OF his race do hats. one on the
top Of the other all OF them extraneous. though
possessing a certain value. and not without u
! fitness in their superpostion At Berlin he be-
came n Lutheran. a local law of citizenship I'M
| pelling: in Paris he was reported to have be-
/ come "A tatnoHc-pcfndIS ulu d'lNdly SO
no apparent change in his literary other
characteristics thereby ensuing. OF his Berlin
conversion. he said that he could easily ac-
| commoIate himself to the very enlightened
Christianity filtered from all superstition which
could there be had in the churches. which was
free even from the divinity Of Christ like turtle
soup without turtle" lie here for time a
disciple of IIege though he afterward said that
he could never understand that profound and
inexplicable diaectIcan. lie did not go SO far
as To affirm that nobody could. though he de-
clared that the philosopher rather preferred OBJ
tuseness in his proselyt"s: II enabled him to go
on endlcssiy without troublesome pauses and
rctrogrcss.Ons, and reiterated explanations of his
explanation, commonly necessary In metaphys-
cal exposition when the pupil thinks he comprc-
hends anything. one thing Hcgel did for him,
however Of which he was proud. lie Informed
! him that the true God was not as his grand
mother had believed. the God who lived in
heaven. but himself here earth" 1t cleared
Nd his RELIGIOUS Ideas prodiginiAiv and gave him