St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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str Jonns COLLEGIAN T '-France was now- governed' by a nephew of the great Emperor, but like his ancestor he --was too fond of personal glory. He began .to look,-' about for some pretext to quarrel with Germany. This soon came through -the Spanish succession, and although every obstacle was removed that would rupture the peaceful relations of the two nations: Yetthe inso- lent demands of France soon brought on a declaration of warg -The strug- gle opened with the invasion of the southern states by France, but so rapidly did the German forces con+ centrate that .the French were driven across the Rhine in disorder. No longer did the Man of Destinyv lead the soldiers of France tostar the pages of rrorldls history with the glory' uf her arms. His splendid ar- mies seeizaed. weak and ineffectual . 1 1 . - Q 3 ' A . against the l'llYlllCllllt hosts Ger- nianyi She fought heroicallvi and cl.,-speruiely, but went -dowii in a sea of blood. flflren her l,'eaut.iful capi- tal was oecupied by the enemy, and amid the ruins of her ouxri gorern+ ment and the scenes ef her former glory, she was foreed to aeknou'ledge ' ' 'I l w 'fi u the forniation of tue :,icririau lgrnpire irith ihe King of llrussia as iirst il'illlPCl'Ol'. a ' r Thus after -1'eiLii'curies of deep hu- ..,. .- nnliarion and umenld snliering' Hier- inany at lust attained. the pogiiigu which rightfully l,ieligingerl to 1191- peeple. Marry contend that a nation depending alone upon her military power f'orexisie11c:e, as filciuriaiiy does, is not permanent. The old eX-Chan- cellor Bismarck, spealii gf fullness of his ripe experie ee, recently: That y any 'coupntryg p V had got past the point wlierefitj tg wage wars and fight battles, was deed to be pitiedg for its condi- must be like that of. Persia or China, a fossilized hopeless state, where prod? .gress was impossible, where .dissoluji tion was in'evitable,', and who will say that he was not right? ' ' p C. H-. Sz, ',96Q T W 'fl y l Hnrnnror-I HEINE. y The position of German literature is assured, she yields the palm for literary excellence to no I nation or people. The two great classic periods in her history produced iniperishable names, and shed lustre oyer the lit- erature of the World. There is a Ger- man Iliad, .the'Nibelungen-Lied, and a German Odyssy, the Grudrun-Lied. In the novel alone is' she decient, eyery other department she has mast- ered and enriched. She 'has con- tributed her share to the Worldis his- torians and philosophers,'men of pro- found and logical intellect, and the author of Faust is HOH16l',S greatest rival. ' .The positions of Heinrich Heine, among German poets is unique. Men ef such brilliant and somewhat er- ratic genius are rare, and Well repay a study of -the influences that mould- ed their career. Outside his native land, in France, Russia and Italy, the irorlfas of Heine are receiving more consideration than is' generally sup- posed. They have been translated

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I K4 I 'X ST. Jornvfs COLLEGIAN. . 212 .wrought by the tide of French inva- sion, which had rolled over Germany for a quarter of a century, and aimed to reconstruct it as nearly as possi- ble like it was before the revolution. Germany was now but an incoher- ing multitude of independent states, for the old combination under the Emperor who was supposed to repre- sent the Geesars, was dashed to pieces by Napoleon, who substituted the confederation of the Rhine to parti- ally fill its place, but this fell with its author. y The Congress of Vienna organized the German states into one great con- federation with Austria at its head. Each State sent its representatives to the diet which met at Frankfort. The principal objects of this diet were to preserve 'the internal peace and to protect Germany against for- eign invasion. For ages Austria had been supreme in Germany, and had treated Prussia with the scant courtesy generally due an inferior. But Prussia-compact, wisely governed and in the enjoyment of a long and prosperous peace-in- creased rapidly in power, while Aus- tria, taxed with widely separated and dissatisfied provinces, wasted by ex- pensive wars, and hindered in her progress by an incompetent govern- ment, was gradually dwindlingaway. Prussia now began to aspire to the supremacy. For a while the trouble was averted by skillful diplomacy, but it was obvious that the solution of the question by the sword was in- evitable. While the quarrel was some distance from its culmination, Prussia was able to draw Austria into an alliance to wrest from Denmark the duchies of Schleswig and Hol- stein. The booty was easily obtain- ed, but its distribution widened still more the breach between the two jealous powers. By 1866 Prussia had completed the reorganization of her army. War was declared June 17th, and the Prussians under Gen. Von Moltke invaded Bohemia. The Austrians fought bravely against her invaders but were worsted in all the prelimi- nary combats and finally received a bloody and crushing defeat at Sado- wa. Only seven weeks after the de- claration of war the treaty of peace was signed. The power of Austria was completely broken. She was compelled to withdraw from the con- federation and allow a new organi- zation of Germany with Prussia at its head. - Beyond-the Rhine, however, France regarded the aggrandizement of Prus- sia with an evil eye. For centuries France had been a most undesirable neighbor to Germany. It had always been her policy to weaken and repress the loosely knit confederation of Germany. For fifty years after the fall of the great conqueror 'she was free from French aggression. But with the- signal defeat of Austria and the close union of Northern Ger- nianv, it was clearly seen that the southern states would soon join also a.nd there would be formed a power that would threaten the supremacy of France in Central Europe.

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ST JOHN S into English, but no translation can do him justice. To be appreciated they must be read in the original, where the full charm of the verse can appeal to the reader. Heine possessed the lyrical faculty COLLEGIAN also knew the outside world with itS foibles and insincerity. The pas- sionate predominated, and he gave fierce outcries to the emotions that stirred his ardent nature. He com bined the dual character of Faust H. 214. in an intense degree, and stands the foremost lyric poet of Germany. His lyrics are sweetly musical, but often marred by their ironical tone. His ballads are popular and his prose strong and vigorous. His later works, 'fGods in Exile, 'fAtta Troll and Romancero, reveal his true poetic stature. 'Here there is har- mony oflthe conflicting traits .that ruled his imagination. These are aesthetical, not ethical, and to be enjoyed must be approached with the mind fully prepared to bend to the rapid changes and brilliant transi- tions of his verse. True he mocks, lltughs, and derides, but he thrills us with forbidden pleasures. We quaff the sweetness of stolen waters. We are concerned with him as an individual. Only by studying his personality can we understand his dual nature, and account for his seeming eccentricities. Heine,s na- ture was emotional and passionate, which fired his fancy to give utterance to ideas and truths that the more composed and intellectually balanced Goethe did not feel. He did this at the expense of that sanity and unity which characterizes the earlier and greater poet. Besides this, he had a cool and calm faculty of judgment. .He was acquainted with the world of the spirit, purity and faith, but he and Mephistoles, and was unable to entirely disassociate the two. He de- lighted to unite the purest pathos with the most repulsive incidents, and to encircle low vulgarities with the most brilliant flashes of political fancy. a It would naturally be supposed that these opposite tendencies of his imagination would have neutralized each other, but this was not the case. And it is here that Heine's genius displays itself in rising above obsta- cles, that would ordinarily destroy, on the one hand, keen humor and a Bohemian caste of character, on the other, pure feeling and lofty aspira- tions. We sometimes see a minglingof lamentation and mockery, in which he confesses that his soul has been torn, and his li fe.-blasted, but on the whole his works are singularly free from allusions to himself-quite the opposite from what we should expect from one of his temperament,when we recall to mind the universe filled with the scoffs, sncers and fancied woes of Lord Byron. But here it must be borne in mind that Heine, although he sneered and satirized, was not a pessimist, and misanthropy did not cause him to lose 'faith in' mankind, but he only ridiculed that he might lead men to the consummation of his