the established dress of the various profes- | good-natured impartiality with which Masions and classes among the natives, com- dame Schopenhauer describes the absurd pleted the motley variety. Among the and troublesome fashions, the follies and most remarkable of these were the physi- the abuses of her early days; she sees cians. Madame Schopenhauer's father was them with as clear and unprejudiced an eye the first to brave the prejudice against in- as if they were not surrounded with the oculation, which seems to have been as bright morning mist of youth. strong in Danzig, as, according to Goethe, it was among the free citizens of Frankfort. After reading her description of the doctors, we can easily imagine what a determined opposition they would give to "theory," "experiment," and the like.

"My emancipation from the school-room," says she, "fell in the spring; balls, concerts, plays, &c., had ceased. A few late evening parties alone remained; the brilliant part of these was the two hours' long hot supper, under which the tables groaned. In Danzig, as everywere not thought of. To such a party, for the where, supper was the social meal; dinners first time in my life, was I invited, as a confirmed, i. e. grown-up young lady, of scarcely fourteen years of age. With a frisure in the most fortunate state of preservation, I had alighted from my father's carriage; not a grain of powder had fallen from the lofty tower, the broad summit of which was crowned with a labyrinth of feathers, flowers, and beads; my new silk

"The character of our Danzig physicians of that day left my father not the faintest hope of effecting his purpose by their means. In the first place, they were all and several extremely old, and petrified in obstinate prejudices. Whether they had ever been young, where they had lived, and what they had done in their youth, I know not; but I can affirm, that up to the twelfth or fourteenth year of my life, I had never seen nor heard of a young physician. These reverend gentlemen enjoyed the title of excel-gown rustled proudly over the large and stately hoop. Holding the hand of the eldest daughter lency, and not only in their own houses and of the house, who had advanced to meet me, I from their servants, but in society generally; tripped lightly on my gold-embroidered shoes, only very intimate friends could sometimes ven- with heels at least two inches high, up two steps ture on a respectful 'Herr Doctor.' Their head leading into the room. Never had I been so was covered by a snow-white powdered full-handsomely dressed-never had my heart beat bottomed periwig with three tails, one of which so violently-the folding-doors were thrown hung down the back, while the others floated open-ah !" on the shoulders. A scarlet coat embroidered with gold, very broad lace ruffles and frill, white or black silk stockings, knee and shoe buckles of sparkling stones or silver gilt, and a little flat three-cocked-hat under the arm, completed the toilette of these excellencies. Add to this a pretty large cane with a gold head, or mermaid carved in ivory, upon which, in difficult cases, to rest the chin-and certainly every one will admit the impossibility of so much as thinking of an innovation in their presence."

"Our mammas

"Ball-dresses," she continues, "properly so called, we had not, for the simple reason that the varieties of spider net, tulle, organdie, gauze, or whatever be their names, which now float like a mist around the graceful forms of young ladies, as yet reposed in the wide and distant domain of the possible. And yet we danced in our heavy silk company' gowns-danced with passionate glee; were sought, admired, and now and then a little adored; just exactly as our grand-daughters are at the present day. How England, the leader in all such enterpri- this was possible, in the disguise we were, is ses, seems to have mainly contributed to still a mystery to myself.”the spread of this great discovery in Ger- were more richly dressed, in other words more many. Goethe speaks of "travelling Eng them its fashions, somewhat obsolete, indeed, heavily-laden, than their daughters. Paris sent lishmen" as the only inoculators in Frank- and deformed by exaggeration; but still they fort; and the Dr. Wolf who introduced the were eagerly received. One alone formed an practice into Danzig, "came from England exception-rouge. The few ladies who dared recommended to Dr. Jameson." Madame to act in defiance of the opinion that it was sinSchopenhauer remarks, that "he was one ful to wear rouge, were forced to do it with the of a race of physicians who just then came utmost secrecy, if they did not wish to expose themselves to a public rebuke from the pulpit." into fashion, but are now extinct; they set at defiance all the established rules of deco- It seems from Madame Pichler's Sketchrum and civility, and affected a simplicity es, that the consciences of the Vienna ladies of manners bordering on rudeness. Pro- were less scrupulous, or their spiritual bably from contrast, they were the especial guides more indulgent. There, the same favorites of fine ladies and princes." rule obtained as in Paris. Married women

The description of our heroine's inocu-alone were permitted to wear rouge. Was lation, the preparation for it, the anxiety this a sort of symbol or affiche of the fran and terror it occasioned, and its final suc-chises conferred by marriage? We have cess, is amusing enough. But we have not room for it.

It is impossible to praise too highly the

always wondered why the whole virtuous horror of artificial aids to beauty was di rected against red and white paint. Ladies

are delicate casuists, and we should like to see a treatise from some fair hand, on the innocence of a "front," the venality of a "tournure," and so on, through all the gradations of criminality, to rouge. In what part of the scale patching would come, we know not. Madame Schopenhauer says nothing of the attempts of the clergy of Danzig to repress this practice, though nothing could be more felonious than the animus it displayed.

we now turn from with dizzy eyes. The only merit of a dancer of the present day, seems to be the power of spinning round like a frantic Fakeer. We rather wonder that some of the venerable chroniclers of German manners have not moralized upon it, as a symptom of the change which seems to strike them more than any other-the incessant demand for novelty and excitement; and the no less constant weariness and disappointment consequent upon it. Things which were formerly events, are "Another fashion found great acceptance with our fine ladies, so absurd that I should have which were formerly looked forward to for now every-day occurrences, and pleasures doubted the possibility of its existence, did I not remember the long flat little mother-of-pearl months with beating hearts, are now regardbox, with a looking-glass in the lid, which often ed as childish, insipid, and tedious. And served me as a plaything. This all ladies car- if Germans find cause to complain of this ried about them, that whenever a patch fell rapid and wearing action of all the wheels from its place, the void might instantly be filled. of life, what shall we say of our vast and These little bits of so-called English plaster tumultuous metropolis, compared to which were cut in the forms of very small full and half the capitals of Germany are quiet, homely, moons, stars, hearts, &c., and were stuck on the face with a peculiar art, so as to heighten its and stationary? But as the distance becharms and increase its expression. A row of tween given points may be equal, though moons from the very smallest gradually cres- the point of departure is different, we have cendo to larger, at the outer corner of the eye- no doubt the change is quite as great in lid, was intended to add to the length and bril- Germany as in England. We remember to liancy of the eye. A few little stars at the corner have heard or read of nothing at home like of the mouth, gave a bewitching archness to the smile; one in the right place on the cheek, set the absolute monotony in which, according off a dimple. There were larger patches in the to Jacobs, childhood was passed in Gotha; form of suns, doves, cupids, &c., which were then, no doubt, a fair specimen of the smallcalled assassins." er cities of Germany. Such a state of ex"Every thing," continues Madame Schopen-istence would now be thought fit only for a hauer, "in domestic, as well as in social life, penal colony, or a bettering house. If we wore a different air from what it now wears, had not good evidence for it, we should be even the greatest joy of youth-dancing. One of the elegant dancers of the present day would unable to believe that children grew, proshardly bear the tedious Vandalism of a ball of that pered, and were happy in a life so entirely age for an hour; and no doubt they will pity their gray upon gray, (to use an excellent Gergrandmothers in their graves when they hear manism.) We forget what a glow and that no dancing soul among us dreamt of such brightness are diffused over all things by a thing as waltz, gallopade, or cotillon. These the sunlight of youth; how the imagination dances are all of south German origin, and had not yet found their way to the shores of the of childhood (if not blunted by excitement) Baltic and the Vistula. Our northern popular can give shape, color, life, meaning, to the dances were the Polonaise and the Mazurka, most ordinary objects, and find, not "serand are so to this day. Then, as now, the ball mons," but romances and dramas, in stocks opened with a Polonaise. But what a differ- and stones. ence between that stately and graceful dance, "The life of the middle classes," says Jacobs and the lazy, slouching walk which has usurped its name! To understand what I mean, it is in his Personalia, was then very simple. My necessary to see it danced by Poles. Our trains father's income was precarious, and we grew having been carefully fastened up by our moth-up under restraints which would appear melers, an Anglaise followed, then Mazurka, quadrilles, and lastly, minuets, till an abundant hot supper, which neither old nor young disdained, was served. After this, dancing was resumed with fresh vigor, and continued till morning

broke."

grace

But the amusements to which the children of ancholy and oppressive to children of our class. the present day are accustomed, were unknown to those of a former; and they missed not which keep asunder the members of a family, what they did not know. Spacious buildings, were rare, and those who had them, used them only on rare occasions. Parents and children were generally together in one room; the children worked and played under the eyes of their

Madame Pichler, in her description of a Vienna Carnival ball in the last century, laments over the disappearance of the ful and decorous Allemande, (as the slow in this companionship. Filial obedience, the waltz of that time was called all over Eu-beginning and foundation of all domestic and rope,) which has degenerated into the whirl civil virtues, was a matter of course, and parents

parents, and a great part of education consisted

midst of the same furniture, pictures, etc., with which they had first adorned it. The effect of this unchangeable plan of life on the character and happiness, was incalculably different from that produced by the mobile, striving, allattempting, all-overturning existence of the present generation, both for good and for evil. And if we hear those times spoken of as perruque, and reproached, not unjustly, with routine, Phillisterei, etc., I must still think that the absence of the continual exciting movement which now prevails, favored the possibility of deep thought and steady feeling; the character, though more one-sided and narrow, had a depth and consistency which is now rare."

were the better for the constraint which the
presence of their children imposed on their
words and actions. The respect which they
(with few exceptions) inspired, spared parents
much admonition, teaching and preaching-the
cheap but feeble substitute for practical educa-
tion. So at least was it in our house. Com-
pany was hardly thought of; at the utmost,
families assembled after afternoon service on
Sundays; the women to discuss the sermon, the
men to talk of business or news, or, if they had
nothing to say, to play backgammon. Family
festivals were rare. On New-Year's day and
birthdays, relations wished each other joy; the
boys generally in a Latin or German speech,
got by heart. Presents were not thought of.
Those for children were reserved for Christ-
mas eve, when the tree, with its sweat-
meats and angels and wax-lights, gave an
appearance of festal splendor to things which
were, in fact, mere necessaries. Bethlehem,
with its manger and crib, was indispensable; and
this sacred spot was surrounded with a blooming
landscape, gardens, and ponds, which my father customed.
had for weeks employed his evening hours in de-
corating with his own hands. He thought his
labor richly rewarded on the long expected eve-
ning, by our delight and admiration. The nar-
rative of St. Luke, which it had not at that time
occurred to any body to regard as a myth, was
always read. The joyous recollection of this
pious festival, caused me and my brothers to re-
tain the same custom with our children."

In all Madame Pichler's personages of the middle class, we find the contentment, with the uniform and inflexible recurrence of the same amusements, which characterizes children. Children in a natural state prefer an old book, a story which they have heard a hundred times, to any thing unac

The narrator who thinks to

please them by various readings and new fioriture, finds himself completely mistaken. At the smallest departure from the authentic version, he is called to order, and brought back to the established form of the history, every deviation from which is disappointment. So it was with the amusements of our ancestors. Each holiday had its Goethe's description, in the work before appropriate and obligé diversion, its peculiar quoted, of his grandfather, is a charming dish or confection, its fixed form of salutapicture of contented monotony in advanced tion. To alter these was to invert the orlife. Every day the same business was fol- der of nature. Surprises were unwelcome. lowed by the same simple pleasures, in ex- People liked to know exactly what was comactly the same order. In such a life, dis-ing-what they had to see, to feel, to say, appointment was scarcely possible. His ex- and even to eat. pectations were extremely moderate, and he knew exactly what he expected. "In his room," says Goethe, "I never saw a novelty. I recollect no form of existence that ever gave me to such a degree the feeling of unbroken calm and perpetuity." Yet this was in the busy and wealthy city of Frankfort, on the high-road of Europe. Even the tumult and luxury of the capital of the empire did not materially disturb the tranquil and regular habits of its citizens. Madame Pichler gives the following description and summary of the life of a Vienna employé in her youth:

"Between sixty and seventy years ago, the income of a K. K. Hofrath, (an imperial Conseiller de Cour,) who generally had, besides his salary, official rooms, enabled him, with good management, to live in a respectable manner, keep an equipage, and still lay by something yearly. He and his wife thus lived in tranquil comfort, and in the enjoyment of competence; they settled themselves in the dwelling which cost them nothing, as handsomely as was consistent with an accurate calculation of their means, and in twenty or thirty years died in the

We have already noticed the broad line of demarcation which formerly existed between the several classes of society. It was the object of the legislature of every country to perpetuate this; and one of the expedients most commonly resorted to, was the enactment of sumptuary laws. By no class of rulers were these more rigidly maintained than by the municipal aristocracies of free cities. Even in Madame Schopenhauer's youth they were still in full force.

"At the weddings of the wealthiest and most respectable artizans, an officer, whose especial business it was, invariably presented himself in full dress, with a sword by his side, to count the guests, and see that they did not exceed the prescribed number, and to ascertain that the bride wore no forbidden ornaments, such as real pearls. But the fear of being ridiculous in the eyes of their neighbors and equals had still more effect than the law. No woman of that class thought of wearing the hoops, the richlytrimmed trains, or the high head-dresses of the

ladies."

We find the same remark in Madame

Pichler's description of the Vienna citizen | vestiture (lehensbrief) required the claimof the same date. ant to drink out (vel quasi) the great feuda. "The wealthy saddler, who'was supposed to tory goblet, (lehensbescher), as a proof that be able to leave each of his three sons thirty he was a German nobleman and an ablethousand florins, lived in a few simply-furnished bodied warrior. In that principality, even rooms, surrounded by his family and journey-about fifty years ago, there were no glassmen, ate well, but without elegance, dressed the es holding less than half a schappen, (a same, and placed his pride in never affecting half bottle.) The Homburger chronicle any thing above his station. For this reason records the feats of two sisters, who drank he never allowed his wife to wear any dress worn by women of the higher ranks, no hoop, thirty-two schappens at a sitting, and then no open gown—that is, a gown with folds walked quietly to their home, half a league hanging from the shoulders and ending in a distant." sort of train. These were peculiar to ladies. The citizens' wives wore those folds confined at the waist by a black silk apron, and ending at the feet. The worthy citizen's rigor was so great, that he once hacked to pieces a beautiful lace cap which his wife had made in secret, that she might see it was not the cost, but the pretension, of such luxury which he objected

to.

The Ecclesiastical Courts were distinguished for this jovialty. It was a canon of Mainz to whom the world was indebted for the admirable excuse, that "there was too much wine for the mass, and too little for the mills."

There is still a good deal of drunkenness among the lower classes in some parts of "So thought, so lived, the Vienna tradesmen Germany, although not nearly so much as sixty or seventy years ago. Their journeymen in England. Among the higher classes it ate with them at the same table; the discipline, though paternal, was strict, and often enforced is very rare in both countries. The beeron both children and workmen with the stick drinking of the students is not to be classor the strap. Rough words and coarse jokes ed with ordinary intemperance. It is part formed the scanty conversation at table. of a system, (the studenten wesen,) and whatever their admirers at home or abroad may tell them, not the best part. It is difficult to understand the enjoyment of pouring down the throat gallons of beer, neither pleasant to the taste nor exhilarating to the spirits. But "sic Dii voluerunt ". so the Burschen have decreed. It begins by being a fashion, and ends by being a want; like its kindred abomination-smoking.

"On Sunday, after the huge and indispensable roast was dispatched, the party separated to their several amusements. The master and mistress went to church to hear the benediction, which they received with great devotion, and then returned home. The Sunday clothes were now laid aside. The master went with a few neighbors to a grocer's shop, and there indulged rather freely in an Italian salad and foreign wine; while the wife regaled herself and her gossips with excellent coffee served in a massive silver pot. At eight or half past eight the master came home, somewhat more excited than usual, joked a little with one of his pretty neighbors, gave his wife a hearty smack to appease her rising jealousy, and ended the Sunday with the same homely simplicity as he began it."

แ

Madame Pichler, who, as we have remarked, is apt to insist on the degeneracy of the age, laments over the galloping speed at which Austria has joined in the mad race after novelty and change. This will surprise our readers, who are accusIn justice to the present age, upon which tomed to regard Austria as the drag on the it may be thought we, as well as these gos-wheel of European life. We should have sips, are rather hard, we must express our thought the easy contented character of surprise that none of them have said any the people, and the insurmountable barriers thing about the astonishing decline of which surround the higher ranks, would drunkenness in Germany. "Not a century have kept down all ambitious imitations ago," says Carl Julius Weber, "German and restless change. sotting (saufen) was proverbial. Different In some respects we venture to think the towns and cities claimed precedence in it. revolution is not alarming. Madame SchoTo drink more palatino, was to get dead penhauer's description of the precautions drunk. The collections of antiquarians of the police on the Austrian frontier, forare full of drinking cups, and horns not ty years ago, is wonderfully exact to this made to stand. Trink alle aus, was the day. You are still detained half an hour, motto of the Oldenburger Wunderhorn. at the least, while the accomplished funcThe last Count of Gorz used to make his children drink at night, and, if they wanted to go to sleep, he grumbled at their degeneracy, and doubted if they were his own children. The Hohenlohe deed of inVOL. II. No. II.

11

tionary is spelling out your passport; you are still asked your religious confession, the maiden name of your grandmother, and other particulars not less important to the interests and safety of the Austrian