The Park in Muskau 



131 



As it is a town which was formerly subject to 

 me and is still dependent upon me, its inclusion 

 in the project had an historical significance ; for 

 the main idea which formed the foundation of 

 the whole conception was nothing less than to 

 present a sensible picture of the life of our fam- 

 ily, or of the aristocracy of our country, in such 

 a way that the idea should, as it were, become 

 of itself apparent to the beholder. For this pur- 

 pose it was only necessary to utilize what was 

 already there, to elevate and enrich in the same 

 spirit, but not to violate its locality and history. 

 Many ultra-liberals will perhaps smile at such a 

 thought, but every form of human development 

 is worthy of honor, and just because that of which 

 I speak is perhaps nearing its end, it assumes a 

 universal, poetic, and romantic interest, which 

 so far cannot be extracted from factories, ma- 

 chines, or even constitutions, suum cuique. Yours 

 is now money and power — leave to the poor, 

 worn-out nobility its poetry, the sole thing which 

 is left to it. Honor the weak old age, ye Spar- 

 tans ! 



I selected, therefore, as the central point, the 

 mountain dominating the region, as the ruins of 

 walls and the old legends sufficiently indicated 

 that it had once been the site of a feudal castle, 

 and it was decided to erect a building in the 

 simple style which was predominant in the Mid- 

 dle Ages for buildings of this kind, much like 

 some of the oldest castles on the Rhine in a 

 fairly good state of preservation. It was essential 



