It is only by merit that a German can now acquire an honourable position in society; nay, the rich and the noble feel a pride in showing the world that in them these merits are not wanting. Here is an example of this honourable sentiment.
"Shall you soon depart to your estate?" inquired a foreigner of the Graf von Sch----, one of the richest nobles of Germany, who studied jurisprudence in Heidelberg.
"No," replied the Graf, "I shall first submit myself to a state's examination."
"Indeed!" replied the foreigner, "will you then really become a legal practitioner?"[2]
"No; but I will show to the world, that without my possessions I could have made my way by my acquirements."
And to this diffusion and recognition of the claims of knowledge, to the scattering abroad of science amongst the people, what has more contributed than the foundation of our universities? Out of them go forth the distinguished men who guide the helm of the state with circumspection; out of them the teachers of the pulpit and the folks-schools,--to diffuse light and improvement throughout society.
CHAPTER II.
GENERAL VIEW OF STUDENT-LIFE.
The word freedom sounds so sweetly that we could not be without it, even did it indicate errors--Goethe's Leben Wahrheit und Dichtung.
"Free is the Bursch!" exclaims a beautiful student-song--a song beaten so threadbare with continual singing, that now we seldom bear it sung by the student himself. And true is the cry; or tell me who is freer than he? Where see we the idea of freedom so beautifully realized as in the German student-life? He who has learnt to know this life, may even doubt the truth of that otherwise so true expression of Schiller's--
Freedom is only in the realm of dreams.
The life of the university is an admirable school, which brings the young man quickly to a sense of self-dependence, which in a few years brings him to manly knowledge, and builds him up to a fitness for intercourse with other men. The freedom which the student enjoys in a high degree, is truly a strong touchstone,--a dangerous rock, on which many a one splits,--but it is the only ground on which genuine knowledge can attain its noblest bloom. Suddenly liberated from the fetters of school, from the strict oversight of parents, steps the young man into this life. He is distant from the friends who, as it were, shaped his early being,--from his nearest relatives. His whole life's plan must be now fashioned after his own judgment; he may enjoy his pleasures with a freer, choice, and pursue his studies in a great measure according to his own discretion. He stands free to choose his friends from his numerous fellows; and it is only by his own qualities and endowments, that he can convert them into friends. When entering on this new scene of life, may he never forget the words of Goethe--
No single thing can suit itself to all.
Let each look to his ways,
Where he goes, and where he stays;
And he that stands, take heed he do not fall.
There is a prejudice which yet prevails abroad, that the student, especially the foreigner, is exposed to many unpleasantnesses through the necessary intercourse with his companions; the obligation to take part in their customs and amusements, which are often denounced as sufficiently rough and barbarous. This prejudice is totally groundless, at least in the present times. The necessity of intercourse, the compulsion, have no existence whatever. On the contrary, every one lets another act as he likes, and troubles himself no further about him, than as his society may be desirable to the individual himself. It is perfectly at the option of the new comer whether he will isolate himself, or in what society he will live; whether he will participate to a certain degree in the student life, or even enter into one of their Chores. If he seeks not the society of the students, he is perfectly secure not to be sought after himself. Nor let any one, especially the foreigner, imagine that he may claim distinction on account of his wealth, or his high birth; or that he may expect from his university acquaintance particular homage on that account; thereby would he certainly expose himself to ridicule and annoyances. Nobility holds in Germany no longer such absurd estimation; few Germans seek a man's acquaintance exclusively on account of its possession, and those few are despised. This is a necessary consequence of the constitutional structure of our German states; and hence are the Germans freer than the English, who pride themselves so much on their political liberty, and yet are such slaves to the nobility. This singularity of the English often becomes very ludicrously conspicuous in constitutional Baden, to whose cities they so numerously resort; and the students of Heidelberg have often made themselves merry over it, especially when the English families in a neighbouring city have, each term, picked out the address calendar of the university--a list of the students published each half year--those names which had any mark of nobility about them, and invited these elite to their entertainments. If this is a prominent feeling throughout Germany, it is in the universities, at least in the majority of them, the ruling one; and to make clear what I have here said, I may quote the following words of Lichtenberg. "An equality like that of the French people, exists amongst the students of the universities. The poorest thinks himself as good as the Graf, and stoops not to him, though he freely leaves him to enjoy any advantages that he may possess. Should he set up haughty pretensions, that were the way effectually to ensure a denial of any claim. They are only proud assumptions, that are intolerable to the free man; for the rest, he is thoroughly disposed to allow to him every distinction that he deserves, and what these distinctions are, he has generally correct means of determining."
The academical freedom is a possession dear to the student. He has defended it with zeal from the ancient times; and a conceived encroachment upon his privileges has often occasioned general risings of the whole student body against the infringing power, which though they may not be wholly commendable as excesses, were always highly remarkable, and indicate vividly the spirit of student life. We allude to the marching forth from the university cities, and the denunciations which the students have sometimes pronounced, as a severe bann upon them. But of this more anon. This freedom has the most beneficial influence on the prosecution of the study, and the manifold accomplishments of the students. This has become perceived and acknowledged by the greatest men; and it has made itself conspicuous that exactly in those colleges which enjoy the highest degree of freedom, amongst which Heidelberg is numbered, there also prevails the most active pursuit of every academical advantage. This free associate-life of the students has, moreover, the most decided influence on the general cultivation of mind and manners. Flowing from different countries, these diverse elements meet in the most varied points of contact, and mutually impart their experience and their customs.