Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 06.pdf/26

 German yurists and Poets. tenstalle herausgekommen. Romische Casuisten hatten mir den Geist wie mit einem grauen Spinnweb iiberzogen, mein Herz war wie eingeklemmt zwischen den eisernen Paragraphen selbsiichtiger Rechtssysteme, bestandig klang es mir noch in den Ohren wie Tribonian, Justinian, Hergomenian und Dummerjahn,' und ein ziirtliches Liebespaar das unter cinem Baume sass, hielt ich gar fiir ein Corpus Juris."2 He is never theless one of the favorite poets, especially among women, owing perhaps to his trifling disregard of women's virtues, as some one has pointed out. The empress of Austria is said to be especially fond of Heine. His style may be imitated more readily in French than in English, for which language he had little taste, deriding constantly its barbarous "A Quidnunc boasting, said : ' I follow none, pronunciation, and making epigrams on the I owe my wisdom to myself alone; "large feet of the English* ladies." Just To neither ancient nor to modern sage Am I indebted for a single page.' now a great part of his correspondence has To place this boasting in its proper light : been published, and the popularity of Heine The Quidnunc is — a fool in his own right." is certainly as great as that of any other The next best known German poet, German poet. Johann Ludwig Uhland is the most con trained theoretically in the study of law, is Heinrich Heine, the vacillating satirist. spicuous representative of the so-called After his studies in Bonn, Berlin and Got- Swabian School of poets. Born in 1787 at Tubingen, he commenced the study of tingen, graduating from the latter univer sity, he lived in Hamburg, Berlin and jurisprudence when still in his teens, and Munich, and. after 1830 almost exclusively became a doctor of law in 1810. After a in Paris, where he drew an annuity from the sojourn through France he settled in Stutt government, and became greatly estranged gart, where he was employed in the Justizfrom his native country. Dissipations of ministerium. When in 18 15 the king of the most extraordinary kind caused his Wiirtemberg attempted to change the con confinement to his bed during twelve years, stitution, Uhland manfully took sides with until in 1856 death released him from his the people, his patriotic songs kindling the unendurable pains. His prose writings are flame of liberty which was to break forth anything but deep; rather loose sketches thirty years later. From 1829 to 1833 he replete with acrimonious allusions and bit was a professor of the German language ing sarcasm. He never entered upon the and literature in the university of Tubingen, practice of law, and his chief delight during and a member of its philosophical faculty. his studies seems to have been to deride During twenty years, from 18 19 to 1839, as the merry doings of his fellow-students. 1The word means literally "foolish John" (dunce). The Their "Comment" he declares as properly last syllable in "Justinian" and the other law digni belonging to the "legibus barbarorum." He taries mentioned sounds (in German) exactly like the last syllable in " Dummerjahn," hence the effect of the scornfully complains of his studies : " Ich play upon words. war die ganze Zcit nicht aus dem Pandec2 Harzreise, p. 7.

through a century and a half and still seemed far from decision. This was not the place to impress the sincere and eminently prac tical mind of Goethe with a high idea of jurisprudence." We have some difficulty to reconcile the theme of his dissertation "that it is the duty of every law-maker to establish a certain religious worship binding upon clergy and laity" and the contents of a letter by Kestner to the effect that " he (Goethe) does not go to church or to sacra ment, and seldom prays. For, says he, I am not hypocrite enough for that." Upon the whole, he strove after truth, yet valued the feeling of truth rather than the demon stration. His peculiar trait was submission to constant teaching.