234 HERMANN VON HELMHOLTZ 



in his task, which required much concentration, by the troubles 

 in South Germany, consequent on the war between Prussia 

 and Austria. A Prussian by birth, and devoted with his whole 

 soul to his own father-land, he was greatly distressed by the 

 position which Baden occupied, in consequence of the peculiar 

 development of affairs. Helmholtz never courted extremes in 

 religious and political matters ; just as by education and con- 

 viction he was religious in the noblest sense, but never ecclesi- 

 astical in the orthodox signification, so while he had never taken 

 an active part in politics, he had been from his youth up, owing 

 to the traditions of his parents' house, and to his own clear and 

 deliberate judgement, a Liberal in the best sense of the word, 

 keeping clear of reactionary passions and radical agitations. 

 The letters give us no indication of the political views which 

 he professed in his youth during the heroic and stormy period 

 of 1848 to 1849 ; the vicinity of his father enabled him to dis- 

 cuss the political situation by word of mouth with that old 

 soldier of the Freiheitskampf, and his post as military surgeon 

 naturally imposed upon him the greatest reserve in letters to 

 his friends. But his youthful mind, inspired for all that was 

 good and noble, was deeply shaken by the struggle of the 

 nations for political unity and freedom. 



' I know as an absolute truth/ writes his sister-in-law, ' that 

 he sympathized in the conflict almost too passionately for the 

 balance of his nature. On the day following March 18 he was 

 in a passion of excitement, of which a little trait gave striking 

 illustration. He came straight to us from Berlin on one of 

 those days, and when I showed him my two-weeks' old infant 

 for the first time, he beamed, and drew a red, black, and gold 

 cockade out of his waistcoat pocket, fixed it on to the child's 

 little cap, and congratulated the "citizen mother, on her first-born 

 in freedom ".' The quip was a sign of his passionate sympathy 

 with the growing spirit of nationality. At a later period he 

 followed the debates in the Paulskirche, the sad decline of the 

 movement, and its final decay and extinction, with the com- 

 pletest and most heart-felt sympathy. 



So in the tumult of the year 1866, he was in his enthusiasm 

 for the unity and freedom of Germany entirely on the side 

 of Prussia, in which he recognized the centre of power to which 

 all must gravitate, if external equilibrium were to be maintained, 



