207 



If it were needed, " the towns should be swept from 

 the face of the earth/' is the wish of our diplomatist at 

 the Diet.* 



With warmest attachment, yours faithfully, 

 Tuesday, late at night. A. HT. 



In the enclosed letter of Augustus Gran, dated Montgomery 

 County, Ohio, 6th February, 1852, we read: "A gentleman, who 

 has travelled through a great portion of the globe, who, by the pub- 

 lication of so many distinguished writings, has raised for himself, 

 on the field of literature and science, such a lasting and brilliant 

 monument, can never have his name mentioned by any German 

 otherwise than with the greatest respect. When the names of great 

 warriors, who have spilt the blood of their fellow creatures on the 

 battlefield, will be long forgotten, "yours will shine in the annals of 

 history for hundreds and thousands of years. But it is strange that 

 the greatest naturalists, philosophers, and astronomers, who have 

 spent the greater portion of their lives in trying to make new dis- 

 coveries, and in inquiring into the powers of nature, are often quite 

 careless with regard to their own happiness or unhappiness in the 

 world to come. Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, and Kant, besides many 

 others, were all of them distinguished characters and brilliant ideals, 

 and they led, more or less, what is called a moral life, so as pro- 

 bably to keep aloof from card-playing, the bowling-alley, the play- 

 house, and the dancing room ; but their sphere of action was not 

 in the direction of eternity, and they cared nothing about the sal- 

 vation of their fellow man in the next world." Expatiating further, 

 in unctuous lamentation, that true fear of God was so rarely to be 

 found, and was often missing even among princes and court preachers 

 (almoners), the writer continued : " The late King of Prussia, and 

 that truly Royal lady, Queen Louisa, knew something of the new birth; 

 as did also the late King of Sweden, the former French Marshal Berna- 

 dotte, Prince of Ponte Corvo. A poor peasant was able to give him 

 more light on the means of salvation than one of the first bishops of 

 the Lutheran Church. Alas ! Mr. Privy Councillor, ready as I am 



* Count Otto von Bismark-Schonhausen. TE. 



