New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-16
AMERICANS ABROAD.
THE ENTHUSIASTIC DILETTANTE.

subject in the sphere of art letters to winch ne
feels himself attracted. The spur OF necessity ha'
failed him, and that spur is competing ioioo
which little short Of genius can anord 10 dispense
with But the dilettante's weakness is a thorous"'
amiabe one and he is generally an interesting per-
sonaity: an entertaining one III any i"'e' ~
| withal a gentleman.
Such man it was Talbots good fortune TO kho"
when he was spending some Of his student years ~
German cities Being student OF more thihgs 'ha'i
the books furnished him. Talbot, who was rea"y
fond of his friend Friedrchs. found In his charac-
ter subject for curious observation as wei as
sympathy His memories Of this friend were re-
newed at n gathering where types of Americans
were under discussion
II had met Friedrichs one summer In bayreu'h'
said he and spent few pleasant days with nm
there Then our paths had dverged and had
buckled down again to the somewhat severe course
of study had mapped out for myself In certain
German cities My researches took me from place
to nlace and the following November found me In
Berlin There at the Philharmonic, | met Fried
richs again.
'Fr.edrichs and had been at Yale together he
was the son of "A rich Philadelphia banker but for-
tunatey had avoided most Of the pitfalls that are
set for the sons Of rich men, and so far from follow
| ing the routine of peasure-lovng Americans, had
| devoted himself with anxious care to great variety
| of intellectual pursuits But his lines had fallen
| in such places that he not only cultivated out
| urbanc: something of man of the world as well
as n student.
! "Fredrichs insisted my dining with him IN
his pension 1t was place to which Ameri-
! cans resorted. Frau Muliers husband was POST
| dreltor-a high official in the German postal SER
| vice. whose particular business was 10 care FOR the
| Emperor's mail. He had fine apartment IN
| one OF the most fashionable streets AT his tape
| sat young Fdrst Mohrenhe!m. who unlike most
young German noblemen. studying at the UNI
| .rnd Of at he
| cousin young Graf Forster. Frledrchs Informed
me comfortably that he had looked up the furst
| In the 'A.manach de Gotha,' and he was tnere!
| Further, there a Jacques Baudouin, Berlin
correspondent Of the Paris 'Gil Bias. ana young
Russian medical student. Into this circle Fried
rlchs had fitted to the manner born Couid a
young American of wealth and education. yearnns
| for COSMOPOLITAN experience have lighted upon
| more fitting 'nieu?
"Frledrlchs that tine had the university III
contempla tlon-the higher training in matters OF
| transcendent intellectually that only the German
scholarship could give. which. as he explained to me-
was the only fitting Keystone to the arch oil perfect
| educatlon such as he was resolved 10 gain. He
| was then making that preliminary experiment with
various Of study. and personalities OF pro-
fcssors ordcntch' and 'ausserordentlch ana
/ prvat Docents,' that the freedom OF German uni
versty methods allows and that was also eminent
~ characteristic OF Fredrichs | started OFT Win
him the first morning at his invitation 10 make
some tests with him. He just then hoverinS
upon the verge OF Aesthetic and. accordingly,
went with him 10 OF Won Treitschkes lectures
Now. Aesthetic is a Enthusiastically German
subject OF study. know OF no other race that cui-
! tivates &, IN precisely the way, as something
IN and of itself it relates TO the principles OF
hoauty in general and Is about as far away from
ANYTHING that can be laid mold of FOR contempora-
neous application to anything In particular as can
be thought Of Its devotees Will combat this Fried
rchs did when gave forth ny views after iS'ei-
ing TO the distinguished aesthetican. 1t was the
,.srv thing he said that WAS needed for Americans
IN lsayen their intensely practical character. For
his part he gong to preach the gospe OF Aes-
the,lk after learning that the University OF ber-
lin knew about ID and he would return 70 Amer
tea and prove to such scohers as rnysel the '''us
OF Il 10 4 nation
"I, WAS a few days anerward that saw Fried
rcbs again He insisted that should go with
him 10 hear Professor Wagners lecture on pohtlcai
economy There vas new doctrine ne uecld'ed,
that this great thcorlst had evolved, one destined
to make It's mark speedily In the civilized worid as
a solution OF the difficulties that beset modern So
cety heard ths doctrine eXpounded. or as much
NJ II as the dry old professor could get into a
single lecture. I didn't understand IT very well,
and az it has not revolut.onized the modern worid
uo 10 the present time judge 1t must have had
IFS defects: but Fr!edrchs was for It, heart and
soul He had already projected series Of articles
II
were TO win recognition for it in this counry-an-
other one OF his methods OF leavening at long
range But 1t hasn't yet leavened much and Fried
richs has long since dropped It. as he did Aesthe-
tik.' after he had drunk number Of not very
deep draughts at that Pierlan spring.
IN these were the absorbing and varied pursuits
OF Friedrichs's working days he desired them
to be called, his diversions less varied.
and they too. always had Illuminating pur
pose. They were always advanced and always In
telectual. and FrieIrichs always insisted upon
viewing the arts in which he Observation-Disclosures
the drama. painting. music or literature-from a
strictly technical point of view. though it is GER
tain that In most OF them he had real technical
point OF view.
THE Berlin theatres were at that time admirable.
The German theatres are always extremely catho-
lie In their repertory. and reach out both forward
and backward with remarkable breadth OF view.
Where else. for instance. can the historical plays
OF Shakespeare be heard in their sequence? Moth
ing could be more improving from literary point
OF view and Friedrichs fully possessed of the
Gee man love for giving and hearing cycles OF
things. The rising star OF Ibsen, then not visible
above the American horizon. beginning to
shed certain radiance in the German theatres
"Of course. Friedrchs was attracted by It's ,lin,-
mer; it was new thing, and he was. from the mo-
ment he had heard of Ibsen and his views and
methods, an ardent Ibscnte. II in a whirl Of
enthusiasm that he attended the first performance of
Nora and all his friends the next day had TO listen
to Frielrichs's Rhapsody about technique con-
strurtion. character drawing and everything els.
that Is heard Of from the lbsenltes nowadays
Il had just recovered from a slight Illness and
was bdsking in the mild gcniality of First Mohren-
helms innocuous discourse the pension (he was
the most genilcmanly prince metz. when
Fricdrchs came In. all excitement. He had been
with VI. Baudouin to Bergmanns clinic at the hos
pitaL 1t was the thing to do; sensation
Bergman had Just come into popular fame from
his connection with the Crown Prince Frederick's
Inflated throat. and his subsequent quarrel with
tho English surgeon. and nobody was 'up-to-date'
who had not seen him operate In the University Hos
pltai.
so Frlelrchs made up party for this grewsome
amusement am not going describe the scene