Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/124

 118 Heine's "Buck Le Grand" In 1821 Heine attended a course of lectures by Hegel, but what he absorbed of the Hegelian philosophy he doubtless owed in much greater measure to the stimulating influence of Moser, both by personal contact and correspondence, rather than to the words of the master himself. Of course, what we know to have been true of the letters applied also in all probability to oral discussion: Heine had much more to learn from his friend in matters of philoso- phy than to contribute. Moser's letters, unfortunately, have not come down to us, but they must have been veritable philosophical dissertations, since we find Heine complaining to other friends of Moser's boring him with endless reflections (mit ellenlangen Kon- templationen), for Heine desired a letter to be above all things an expression of the writer's individuality (letter to Christiani, March 7, 1824). In writing to other friends Heine frankly confesses his debt to Moser in matters of philosophy. Thus he tells Wohlwill, April 7, 1823, that his essay on the historical Germanic law of the mediaeval era had been almost ready to go to press; "but the many ideas which I gleaned from the study of Asia, as well as the example of the method employed by Cans in his 'Law of Inheritance,' and above all philosophical suggestions on Moser's part caused me to consign the greater part of my book to the flames. " During May of the same year he writes Moser that when he catches himself thinking a bright thought or suddenly finds even Hegelian ideas stirring in his brain, he can explain this only by a sympathetic rapport with Moser (exact date unknown). After writing an essay on Goethe in June for Varnhagen's disposition, he confesses to Moser that he will find a quarter of a dozen of his own ideas in these pages; and when that essay was later returned to him, be- cause it was either too late or did not suit Varnhagen's purposes, he jokes about the incident as follows: "If the essay is really poor, your ideas, incorporated in it, are to blame. Really, my essays are always no good when they contain any sensible ideas" (ver- nunftige Idee) (August 23, 1823). Moser's philosophical discus- sions of the 'Idee' that pregnant term of Hegel's at times, however, got on Heine's nerves, and in mock despair he struggled against the determination of his friend to make a mere 'idea' of Heine himself. "For heaven's sake, don't say again that I'm a mere idea! I go mad at the thought. So far as I care, you can all become ideas, only leave me out of it" (June 18, 1823).