The  former  wrote  "Letters  from  Paris,"  of  which  the
import  may  be  given  in  a  few  words  : — "  We  must  have  a
revolution,  and  it  must  take  place  immediately/'  He  was
sincere  and  earnest;  but  patience,  as  he  confessed,  was  not
numbered  among  his  virtues.  In  one  of  his  declamatory
passages,  his  fervour  thus  bursts  forth  in  an  odd  form  of
prayer : —

"  O  Patience !  Queen  of  the  German  People  and  of
tortoises  !  Patroness  of  my  poor,  languishing  native  land  !
Germanize  me,  0  Goddess  !  from  the  sole  of  my  foot  to  the


CHAPTER   XIV. — THE    ROMANTIC   SCHOOL,    ETC.  361

crown  of  tny  head,  and  then  stow  me  away  in  a  museum  of
old  curiosities  and  in  a  case  filled  with  the  most  singular
petrifactions  !  I  vow  that,  henceforth,  I  will  be  thy  most
faithful  servant.  I  will  regularly  peruse  '  The  Dresden
Evening  News/  and  all  the  theatrical  criticisms.  Yes,  I
will  read  Hegel  until  I  understand  what  he  means,  and  I
will  stand,  in  rainy  weather  and  without  an  umbrella,  in
front  of  the  hall  where  the  German  Diet  is  assembled,  and
there  I  will  wait  patiently  until  somebody  comes  out  and
proclaims  the  freedom  of  the  press. "

The  fervour  of  this  petition  is  partly  humorous,  but  tells
something  true  of  the  time ;  at  least  of  the  feelings  spread
among  many  hasty  young  men .  They  professed  no  reverence
for  the  institutions  of  their  native  land.  Democratic  move-
ments, that  for  some  time  had  prevailed  in  certain  "  Unions
of  Students,"  had  now  become  more  negative.  In  1817
their  festival  had  something  like  a  religious  character ;  but
in  later  years  it  was  found  impossible  to  unite  their  voices
in  singing  even  one  Lutheran  hymn — so  great  and  manifold,
they  said,  were  their  differences  of  belief !  To  tell  more  of
their  movements  might  lead  us  too  far  into  German  politics.
