Page:Diary, reminiscences, and correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson, Volume 1.djvu/22



xviii works of art, for the country rather than the towns, for fresh life in bird, or flower, or little child, rather than for the relics of the things of old—his annoyance at the long streets of Bologna—his eagerness to depart from the fashionable watering-place of Ischl—the wide difference in his interest in those places which have influenced the character and works of a great man, and those which have only been outwardly associated with him—his being allured by the sound of a stream, and led on and on till midday, notwithstanding that he was expected back to breakfast, and the relief his anxious friend felt as soon as he heard the same sound, knowing that it would be likely to be irresistible to the truant, and tracking him out by this clue:—these and kindred touches of character have in them the material and colouring of genuine biography.

The time spent by Mr. Robinson in Germany, as a young man, was a turning-point in his life. And he did not derive the advantage of between four and five years' study there, in the best society, without leaving a very favourable impression on many, whose esteem and friendship were, in the highest degree, honourable to him, as well as a rich possession. He must have been a tolerable German scholar to have been able to personate Professor Fichte to the lionizing landlord and the confidential priest. What warm greetings he invariably received at Jena and Weimar, Frankfort and Heidelberg! So thoroughly had he entered into the thoughts and customs of his German friends, that they felt themselves to be understood by him, and fully trusted him to represent them on his return to his